Vegas Trip Report, part 3

Fri, Mar 16 (continued)

(warning - post is long; maybe I should have broken it up into 8 chapters)

After the UTH session with Don and Mike, I gleefully watched the Lehigh Mountaineers defeat a small school from North Carolina. It was clear that the Lehigh players were more talented, so I couldn't understnad why people thought Lehigh's win was an upset.

(Side note - I really should just go to Vegas and check the lines against my gut. When I saw this line at only 12 - Duke -12 - I should have jumped on Lehigh. Every square within 100 miles of Vegas was going to put their money on Duke.....the casinos know things they don't. They were begging you to take the Dukies. )

I joined up with Wiz and Layup for some BLT burger - except that after the Fried Oreos the night before and the sliders/fried twinkie for lunch, I was in no mood for a 3/4 pound burger. So I got the 3/4 pound chicken sandwich!

Later that night, it was time for a craps run at the green chip tables - except they were all fairly full. I think I headed on my own to find a table, and found a nice spot in the straightaway position at a fairly crowded (but not packed) table. I will clearly remember these people for a while. Starting on my right next to the dealer, we had:
 - a fairly non descript guy from West Virginia
 - an older guy from Denver who all the dealers knew; he comes to Vegas about 12 times a year; he has a row of purples and is consistently betting $640 across the board every shooter;
- me;
- 2 late-20s something ladies in a short dress, pretty darn attractive; both were craps newbies
- a late-20s something guy who was with the ladies - boyfriend? friend? not sure
- and, next to the stick, Laura from San Francisco, who was early thirties and (I think) dressed in leather.

It was clear that this was the first time for one of the ladies next to me at a craps table; the other may have been gambling once before and tried to explain the game, but failed. Of course I helped them out by explaining the pass line and the numbers.

And then the table started to get hot.

Just before it got hot, Wiz, Layup and Don appeared at the table and found spots at the other end. They saw me chatting with the 2 ladies and immediately gave me the thumbs up; I was not subtle in returning the thumbs up sign.

Once the table got rolling, it was a loud party. We all knew where each other was from - I told everyone I was from Cincinnati, as I wasn't in the mood to explain a "China" answer. High-fives at every point made, and then at every 6 and 8. Hugs (no kisses, however). Emphatic yells. Green chips everywhere. It was a great party for a good hour and a half where I was up four digits at the table. It wasn't as hot as the infamous Sahara roll from 2010 - not even close - but it was a good roll. The Laura lady had the best roll of them all, lasting for about 30 minutes.

We started talking about jobs, background, etc. - and I learned that the ladies (and the guy, who was actually the boyfriend of one of them) were from Washington DC. In town for a long party weekend to have fun. What do they do in Washington? Well, they are on the politicial staff for Senators. The one immediately next to me was on the staff for Sen. Dan Coats (R-IN); before that, she worked for Sen. Wayne Allard (R-CO), and the Denver guy started in on what a horrible personality Allard had.

Now, these Washingtonians were not interns - they were out of school for a while. So - I have to assume - they are pretty senior people on the staff. Taking it a step further, these are the people that are helping the Senator with policy decisions, writing bills, etc. Am I right?

If so, it made me depressed afterward thinking about it. I know I am making a lot of assumptions here - but it jives with what I read about the Washington insider's circle. Here are a bunch of late 20-something people - who I have to believe are very intelligent, of course! - that really control a lot of the power in Congress in this country. And I don't think this is good for us as a whole.

We have developed this whole class/major of people whose sole purpose in life - their career goal - is to go to college, graduate in Poli Sci or something similar, then go to work in Washington and then get elected somehow. That's not healthy. That's not the "real world" - and I have a bad taste in my mouth with this arrangement. It's unsettling. I would like my politicians - and staff ! - to have a well-rounded life, excelling in both academia and the private sector - before they start to make policies/laws that affect us all.

I don't want to get off on a partisan diatribe here - recall, these craps players worked for Republicans! - but a perfect example of this is Anthony Weiner. He went to school in political science, and his first job out of school was an aide for a NY congressman. He was "the next in line" and then got elected.....voila! No real world experience whatsoever.........and he became pretty powerful in Congress. There are absolutely examples of that on the Republican side as well. 

It just seems that we have a whole lot more of the full time political "class" in our Congress now than we ever did before. I don't think it is healthy, and I think it is a reason why we have less trust in our government now than in olden days (say, the 1990s!)

Anyway - if I was more sober and more pissed (and losing more), I may have turned to my good lady friends and asked them if they every worked a day in the private sector before. But we were winning, and none of these governmental manifestos came to my mind! Laissez les bon temp roulez!

Back to the action at the tables....as I said, the roll that Laura from San Francisco had was an excellent one - and when it was done, I saw that Don, Wiz and Layup all colored up at that point. I can't blame them - a nice profit was attained, why not cash it in? However, I was having fun with Denver, Laura and the government ladies, so I decided to stay.

As the table became hot before and during Laura's roll, a crowd started enveloping table. At one point, there were 10-15 people on my side just wathcing the action. Included in these spectators was an African American guy, about 25 or so, trying to understand and get invovled in the game. He was inching his way in between me and the government girls. He was hovering there, deciding whether or not to get in - and how exactly to get in - for a good 30 minutes.

He finally decided to take the plunge shortly after Laura's roll. He unfurled 2 twenties and a 10 for 2 green chips. I started to help him to explain what was going on and what wins on what roll; I told him he should bet the pass line; he did and the point was "5". (it would have been too cruel for the dice rolls to be 2 and 12, sending him on his way.

I asked if he wanted another number, and he shook his head; I don't blame him with his $50 bankroll. No odds either. Well, all of us continued to play our regular way - 6s, 8s, and Denver with all the numbers.

You know what happened - the numbers started hitting. 6, 10, 4, 9, 8, 8, 6, 11, 6, 4, 10, 8......maybe a hard 4 or 10 thrown in there for me.....and when those hit, our end started jumping up and down again. Woo hoo! High fives all around!

Except for the guy next to me, stuck on his five.

The dice were on the other side of the table, being rolle directly toward us. In a move of desperation, our hero - in need of a 5 - started invoking Michael Jordan's name. " I need a Twenty Three!" he stated. "Two Three!"
And then , right before the dice were thrown, he took off his shoe and raised it to the table.
"See? I got my Jordan's on! Air Jordans! 2-3! Twenty three!"

The roll was (another) 9.

Now I was getting discombobulated. As most of you know, I am extremely superstitous at the craps table. (only at the craps table? Have you shared your story of how you almost broke up with Janice during a 1992 Browns game when she came in the room when the Browns had a 14 point lead, and then 10 minutes later the game was tied - and you blamed it on her? -ed).
How superstitious am I? I do not give tips for the dealers as line bets, because back in 2002 or so I did this - and I lost 14 straight times on the pass line when I bet for the dealer (over multiple casino visits). So I never do that.
If things are going well at the table, I don't change things up. I don't change the position of my chips, most importantly. Why move things around on the rail when things are going well?

So my chips are on the rail during all this commotion, but as the people started moving around a bit and my "friend" entered the table, I somehow got moved a bit to the right. But hell, I'm not moving my chips!

In the end, this meant that the Air Jordan was directly over my black chips.

And I didn't really have a big problem with that, but it was a bit...awkward. He started leaning over the rail, touching my chips with hhis forearm - and I had to guard them with my hand. He seemed that he could have been a bit high - I am horrible at judging this in people; see last year's diary with the "Let's Make Some Money!!" guy - but there was no immediate threat.

Of course, the roller sevened out; everyone made money on the roll except our friend.

The next roller came up, he did not bet on the pass line but bet a $25 8; good for him, the 8 hit a couple of times (quick, what's the payoff for a $25 8-place bet? ) and he was in business. The roller hit a few points, which meant more shrieks of delight at our craps table.......

......that could be heard around the corner to the blackjack table where Layup, Wiz and Don were playing. I didn't know it at the time, but they could hear the celebrations at our table (me? no!) and were cursing me, Laura, the government girls and everyone else at that table.

I stayed for another hour, making some more money, and the government girls and Air Jordan were both up. One of the more memorable craps sessions in history.

Could we match that later in the night? Two hours later, walking around with Wiz, Ira, Leland and Layup, we found an empty craps table and started rolling. The four of them were on one end - and I, not wanting to be boxed in, went by myself to the other end. I was expecting one of them - just one! - to join me....but no, they left me alone.

The table we chose was the high traffice table at the Mirage. This is the table nearest to the atrium on the main walkway aisle. I was on the side of the table nearest the sportsbook, so my ass was in the busiest intersection of the casino on a Friday night of NCAA weekend.

We were there for maybe 45 minutes - and it was absolutely amazing to me to see all the degenerates stop by the craps table, peek in, place one $25, and was on their way. Numerous people stopped at my end - again, I was by myself at the end - pull out $50, place it on the field, lose, and walk away.

One couple stopped by - a typical midwestern couple in their 50s - joined by the mother of the man ( I think). She was at least 75, and could have been a stunt double for Estelle Getty. The man placed $50 on the pass line - when the point was already established as a 9 - and waited.

The grandmother went to the other side of me and peered into the tub. She was no more than 4'10", and can barely see what was going on. It struck me as odd that she seemed to want nothing to do with, and kept her distance.

After two rolls, Leland did not help them and threw a "7". The man and wife quietly walked away, while the mother stared at them with a look of "what in the hell was that bet you made?"

Went upstairs around 3:30, called Janice around 3:45 am - 6:45 pm in China - and they were just finishing up dinner and getting ready to start the bath.......on Saturday night..........that threw me for a loop.

Vegas Trip Report, part 2

Fri Mar 16
Again, a good deal of sleep as I got up at 9. That's 12 hours in the last 2 days - more than the total in some previous 4 day trips. Similar to yesterday, I thought it was one day later than it truly was. It was Friday, not Saturday - a full day of basketball and gambling with no activities.

After running and placing early bets before tip, I joined Don at the tiles table; good to see him playing tiles in the morning and having a least one white man presence at the tiles early every morning. Curt the tiles dealer was forcing me to call out the dealer's hand and have me figure out if I won or not - that's too hard with the Oreos still in my system from the night before.

At about 11 or so, the group decided to head downtown for the day. Everyone except Don and Brian joined in the trip. Ira was with us in one taxi with me and Mike; Layup, Wiz and Leland drove in the other car.

We meet at the Nugget, see our annual partner in Dick (who we never saw again after the first 20 minutes), and head to a completely empty downtown scene. It was weird to see the main area of the downtown casinos before noon in pure sunlight. It looked like a suburban shopping plaza on a tuesday mid-day.

Ira decides to jump start the fun in the group by getting us all a slushie - a  flavored frozen alcoholic drink in a yard-long test tube. There are reports that some of the drinks may have had extra Everclear in them. (Noooo!)

We are holding our yard tubes walking around the barren downtime trying to find an empty craps table - and we find one at the fabulous "Las Vegas Club" casino. We walk up to the empty half table - the six of us in order (Ira, me, Mike, Wiz, Leland and Layup) plop our money down. The dealer on our side was at least - at least!- 80 years old. He valiantly tried to stay with us as we threw our money on the table and starting making bets, but couldn't. Once we got our chips, it was taking him about 2 minutes between throws to take care of the place bets, come bets, and keeping the hardways straight. The boxman, of course, knew that this (we?) was a disaster to happen, so after the required 20 minutes, he was quickly told to work at the other craps table in the casino - and we never saw him again.

We played craps for a good 2 hours, storing our tubes below the table (how none of us spilled a drink, I'll never know), with a moderate loss for all of us (I'm estimating). Some memories:
- Layup and Wiz having a contest to see who could finish the drink first; Mike and I wanted no part of that, so we created our own "B" flight competition for finishing the drink;
- At random times, Ira was convinced that a 9 was going to be rolled; he suggested to me that we should hop the 9. He put $5 on the 4-5 hop. I asked him "What about the 3-6?"
He said "No one rolls the 3-6".
So that started a mini competition betweenus the whole trip; every time a 4-5 was rolled, I paid him $5; when a 3-6 came up, I received $5. I always got out to an early lead each craps session, but as the session wore on, the 3-6's disappeared and so did my red chips.
- Great adventures in line setting; the Price is Right was on the TV near the craps table - the annoucner told us that the "Showcase Showdown" was coming up!
So I offered the table the over/under on the winning score - 90.5 was the line.

All the suckers (Layup, Wiz, Ira) took the under.....and when the second spinner spun a 95, I was the richer one.

(Looking back, a better line would have been 87.5. I may have to write into Wizard of odds for this one).

- I had Norfolk State +21.5 over Missouri; the game was on another TV while we were rolling. We caught glances of the game in the 1st half, when it was close; as the game wore on, and Norfolk stayed close, we were more and more interested. A new chant was made in support of the Spartans:
"We don't drink.....We don't smoke....Norfolk!"
Yes, it was funny after 3/4 of the yard was gone.

After we were done with craps, it was time for lunch - and what better food than sliders and fried twinkies! I have to say, the fried twinkie was better than the Fried Oreos of the night before. The complete meal for $1.98!

The alcohol caught up to me, and I don't exactly remember how I got back to the Mirage; Mike, Ira and I took a taxi while Layup, Leland and Wiz split away from us. I asked Mike about the taxi trip and he said that I was asking about Ira's connection to Wiz. It may have come out as "So, Ira, how do you know Wiz? Did you hire that ass, or did he become an ass after working for a while?"

The afternoon/evening was spent playing UTH with Don and Mike; those sessions are a little foggy, but I do remember the Cheshire-cat like smile on Don's face at first base. Neither Mike nor I could catch many cards, but Don stayed there, smiling, with his cheerleading chant, racking up the green chips.

More to come on Friday later, including the craps session with our future leaders of the government, an Air Jordan resting on my chips, and Estelle Getty making an appearance......

Vegas Trip Report (part 1?)

Here we are again, time for the annual Vegas trip diary! A little different vibe to the trip this year, mainly (I think) due to the different arrival day (Tuesday!) and staggered arrival times for everyone. Here we go with the stream of consciousness diary, based on my notes and foggy recollections:

Tue, Mar 13
The trip over this year was much less of an adventure; a long flight from Guangzhou to LA where I slept about 6 hours on the plane, a nice total. Got about 75% of my game reviews done on the flight to LA; landed in LA at 6 pm local time and was exhausted. Slept the whole way on the puddle jumper to LV. but awoke in time to see the strip upon landing. Are all flights into McCarran required to come in from the east - so the strip is seen prominently off the right side of the aircraft? It was heart warming to see the strip at night from the air again.

After landing, meeting Layup and checking in among all the hotties in the lobby (Tuesday night is industry night, apparently, so Layup and I were checking in among 50-100 twenty something ladies from LV/Southern Cal), our first and only game that night was UTH, where we met Don and Mike. We disbanded around 1:00, 1:300 to sleep.....I took a sleeping pill to make sure I would get some sleep to adjust.....

Wed Mar 14
.....and I awake at 4:15 wide awake. I finally rouse myself out of the room at 5:00 or so and head downstairs. First game to play, solo, in the morning? Tiles! Of course! I had the white dealer (Curt) who is a health fanatic; we talked a while about living a healthy lifestyle without McDonalds (I agree), soda (of course! I have given that up since January and have felt much better), and Head & Shoulders......

uh, what?

He talked about all the chemicals in those processed shampoos and how the body ingests them just by their use and all those preservatives/toxins just build up in your body and cause all sorts of health issues. After about 10 minutes, I picked up......

...and met Layup at the craps table! I think this is before we left for Target - we played craps at 7 in the morning. A good session, with a key lesson I learned. Layup was rolling, I was betting my hard 4s and 10s.....and Layup hit a $5 hard 4 for me. I parlayed it - made it $40 hard 4 - and Layup hit it again! Woo hoo! $280!

In all the celebration, I forgot about the original bet. The dealer even asked if I wanted to press - I said no, half paying attention.

Three rolls later, Layup hit it again.......... the celebration for that hard 4 was much more muted, since I should have had even more out there after the first hit.

But still, can't complain about a winning session as Layup and I did our Target run that morning, searching in vain for Clairol Nice N Easy color 106G. We bought 6 bags of Easter candy that I am shocked stayed unopened through the whole trip.

It was very weird heading out to golf that afternoon without rushing to place any bets. The whole morning felt out of whack as I didn't have my stack of bets for the first day of action. Wednesday felt free!

Golf was uneventful - somehow, Layup, Jason and I won money even we all played badly. My highlight was a -60 yard chip; I drove into the weeds on the left on #6 at Rio Secco. I planned to chip out from a horrid lie, and I did! Clean chip out sideways, where it almost made the fairway, but rolled back down a hill to the cart path. The ball then settled on the cart path - and the path was sloped back toward the tee; I watched in shock as the ball rolled ever so solwly backward down the path - 10 yards back....20....30....slow enough where it never left the path but keeping momentum...40....50.....60.....

We got back from golf and had about 2 hours until dinner; I laid down for a bit and (I think fell asleep). I awoke to Layup getting out of the shower.

Wow, I said groggily. How long did I nap for? 
"You were asleep? You were awake when I went in the shower."
No, I fell asleep, dammit! How much shut eye did I get?
"Ok, maybe 5 minutes, top."

So on that rest, we went to dinner at Bouchon, where the dinner laster forever and we had to read the menus by the flashlights on our iPhones. Bouchon does breakfast well, but dinner? Eh - I'd say a B+. The best thing about that dinner is that a new tradition is born - the group parlay. Everyone threw in some money for a parlay the next day and picked one game - one game only - for the parlay. If we won, great! If the parlay had just one loser, the person who picked the losing game would pay for dinner the next night. (And, if the parlay had just one winner, then the person with the winner would eat for free the next night).

I decided to pick the first game of the tournament, Murray State -5. My fate would be decided early.

After dinner, I have in my notes that we played craps and UTH, although I remember none of it.

Thu, Mar 15

Got up around 8 - 6 hours of sleep, a record for the first day of the tournament. The whole day felt weird - it felt like Friday all day, probably because it was the start of the 2nd full day in Vegas. Didn't have time to do any gambling before we left for golf that morning; I got my wagers in, including a special lock for the Kansas St - Southern Miss under. Murray St. decided to do me a favor and pull away in the second half to cover for me; I held off our parlay with a solid single.

That pattern would keep up the rest of the trip, as we entered two more group parlays for Friday's morning and evening games; I chose Cincinnati -2 in the morning for Friday and St Louis +3 in the evening, starting each of our 3 parlays with a winner. Just call me Kenny Lofton.

Golf was a mixed bag, as usual. We played Southern Highlands for the 2nd straight year - and I can't rave enough about the course. Just a wonderfull layout and test, putting all of us in tough situations every few holes. Who can forget Mike's adventures on 12 - with the 45 degree downhill chip shot then leading to a 110 foot par putt?  The pressure on #17 was intense, when Wiz, Don and Mike all hit into the water on a 180 yd par 3 ---- how am I supposed to hit a long iron into the wind after that? Somehow, I made 4 to win the hole for Mike and I. With my game falling off a cliff, Mike and I tied Wiz and Don for the final 6 holes - even when Wiz/Don combined for 3 birdies in those last 6 holes.

My game is all mental - I have the yips. Most normal people have the yips on the putting green, where they can't take the putter back on a 2 foot putt. Me? I can't take the club back when I am on the tree. I swear, the most nervous I have been on a golf course in 2 years was the tee shot on #1 at Southern Highlands. I wanted to get it overwith as soon as possible - I popped up a 3 wood 195 yards down the middle.

I can drop a ball in the fairway and hit a 3 wood fairly straight, 230 yards. Put it on a tee? I quiver and pull the hell out of it, or top it, or pop it up. It's embarassing and frustrating.......and since I can't get to a range, I can't work my way out of it. So I think I have to suffer with the tee yips for at least another year. Nice.

(Oh, that Southern Miss game? I heard there  was a wild ending and the over covered by a half point. Nice. )

Dinner that night was at Lavo, the Italian restaurant at the Palazzo; two things I will remember about that dinner:
1. I ordered the seafood ravioli special when 3 others ordered the Chicken Parmigian. My mouth was watering when the Chicken Parm came to the table; their entree was the size of a blackjack table. My order consisted of 6 or 7 raviolis in a huge bowl. The appearance definitely underwhelmed.
2. Many people raved about the Fried Oreos for dessert, so of course I had to have it - served with a vanilla milkshake. Oh God, that was a mistake. It was 20% Oreo, 80% pure grease. It was wonderful to eat, but I should not have had 4.
(That being said, I want one NOW).

Light gambling that night, as I found Leland at a Pai Gow poker table. Shortly after I sat down, a new dealer came to the table; her name on her name tag was "Kyung". Well, I wanted to impress Leland with my multiculturalism, so I decided to try to talk to her in her native (?)language.

"Ni Hao!" I said proudly.
Without missing a beat, she said coldly "I'm not Chinese...."
Leland leans over and whispers "The Big K!"

Ah yes! Chinese don't have y's in their names. She's Korean, of course.

That little event may have been the cause of Leland banking against me later on at that table - where he actaully beat me and the dealer with his Q-10 on top vs. my Q-10 and the dealer's Q-10. Damn copy rules. I got him later, however.

Some more UTH and a late night black jack session with Mike, and it was time to call it a night. Little did I know what was in store for Friday.

By far, this is the worst day of the year. Exhausted and depressed. Will post some items tomorrow.

Less than 24 hours

By this time tomorrow evening I will be in Vegas....unsupervised....waiting....it will test my self- control. I will try and work out, wrap up some work, grab some food, finalize my research, and then go pick up Eric, Don, and Mike. More than likely, I will have a few drinks on the plane, change clothes at the Mirage, camp out at the UTH table, loss a shit ton, forget to pick up everyone and then pass out around 1:00am all depressed.

But I can't help myself. I'm so excited for this trip. On Sunday I had to get out of the house because I was just too amped up for the trip. So I tivo'd the selection show, took Morgan swimming, and then came back to have dinner with Carol. My dinner consisted of me just standing in front of the TV watching the selection. Something about the selection show on the Sunday prior to our trip that really just makes it all real. It's like Christmas eve. Once church is over on Christmas eve, it was then Christmas seemed real and right around the corner. That's the selection show for me and Vegas.

And I don't really like doing brackets anymore because I suck. I tend to flip flop every year between picking all the favorites or all the underdogs. I honestly get more excited looking at the NIT bracket than the NCAA bracket now. I will fill out one bracket for a pool I'm in with my Zurich buddies back in MD, but I'm forced too because that is how we decide the ranking order for our fantasy football league. I hate the NCAA bracket so much I have outlawed it my offices.

So after the selection show, I just can't get focused. I was getting into a heated argument with a lady in product management today, and in the middle of the argument, my mind wandered and started thinking about how to measure who is the best and worst craps roller in the group. Should we keep track of how many points and hard ways each of us hit to determine this or should it be measured by the length of time of all of our rolls. How great would that be that on Sunday Eric announces that Mike D is the best roller because he rolled for a total of 282 minutes during the entire trip while Derek rolled for measly 52 minutes. Should we pay someone to keep track of this for us? We probably could, but how much would that cost? Where is Bill James when you need him to make sure that we are using the right measurement. And let's just say Audrey, whom I was having the discussion with, told me to call her back because it was obvious I was distracted.

So just some last minute thoughts on objectives, stretch goals, and pitfalls for the trip:

1. What unchartered gambling aspect will we venture into during this trip. $50 craps? $300 BJ? Highroller Slots? I can say that I'm excited and nervous to find out.
2. I watched a lot of mid major basketball this year and I'm wondering if this is tainting my view on the games. Why do I look at every mid major and think they will cover or win. Davidson vs Louisville? Easy, Davidson. South Dakota St? Layup. Montana, Belmont, New Mexico St, Iona, and Ohio? Done. If I hadn't watched so much basketball, would I do better or worse? We will find out.
3. I need to see Dick this year. I hear from so many people at work that he just raves about our trips and looks up to us as gamblers. Every January he calls to make sure I'm still coming and asks personally about Lee, Eric, Wiz, and the "other couple" which is Don and Mike. I ignored him last trip because he was at the Hilton, but this year he is at the nugget and will find time to get with him to watch some games. He is a blast to drink with and was there for my greatest craps moment ever. I can't ignore him this trip.
4. I will try to share what Rock Chalk Jay Hawk means to the group without being called an idiot or asked to leave the table.
5. Since Don told me he was going to wipe his ass with the present I was going to buy everyone, I will need to look for a new present. Still thinking on what that could be....
6. Carol put the guilt trip on me finally. Looks like I'll be on the hook for a new Pottery Barn bedroom set for Morgan upon my return. She is 6 months pregnant and miserable, but still wants to go.
7. I think we need more pictures. Not of anything bad, but just of the group. I was going through some old photos from college and it was bringing back some great memories. I think the only picture we have is of the royal flush that the board was dealt in UTH.
8. I packed 6 pairs of shorts. I'm going to do my best on not wearing any long pants during the trip.
9. I just get so excited thinking about hitting the hard ways. And I really don't get all that excited with $5 or $10 on it anymore. I need at least $25 to let out a yell. That's not good at all is it.
10. I think that while we will lose out on the eye candy going in and out of Revolutions, I do think we will love the new setup for UTH. Its right next to the craps table and I think that it will create a lot of hard decisions on what we will play. Someone will try to play both and I can't wait to see what the pit bosses will do.

Can't wait to see everyone. I will try and post some updates this year.

Gambling Problem??

I found this article in a magazine I was reading about college kids and their gambling problems. The issue is, I think I answered "yes" to about eight of the questions. I know Layup probably has at least six I can think of...

The NCRG, Gamblers Anonymous, health professionals and gaming executives offer their assessment on when it’s time to realize the presence of problem gambling. These questions pertain to those viewpoints.
It’s time to obtain professional help if you answer yes to at least five of the following questions:
Did you ever lose work or school time from gambling?Did gambling make your home life unhappy?
Did you ever gamble to win money to pay debts?
Did losing make you want to return quickly to get it back?
Do you often gamble until your last dollar is spent?
Have you ever sold anything to finance gambling?
Do you gamble to escape problems?
Have you ever contemplated suicide in the aftermath of gambling?
Have you ever suffered a loss of self-control in the middle of gambling, e.g., throwing drinks or slamming a glass off the table?
Have you ever taken a cash advance in order to chase your losses? (Many carry an interest rate of more than 30 percent.)
Do you drink more than you normally would while playing?
Has more than one person ever told you that you cannot control your gambling?
Have you ever missed a rent or mortgage payment because of gambling?
Have you ever committed an illegal act to finance gambling?
Have you experienced high blood pressure for an extended time after playing?

Vegas Budget Planning

So now it gets serious. Vegas is right around the corner and I'm struggling with my bankroll. With the recent move, the savings account is a little low as we await the check for the loss of sale on our home and reimbursement for paying a duplicate mortgage. Carol's dividend check which is more than enough to support the trip to vegas, still hasn't come yet, and it is also holding up our taxes. And my yearly bonus doesn't get paid until 10 days from now. The timing is so far off this year, I should be super stressed out and wanting to cancel the trip. But I can honestly say I don't think I've been this excited in a very long time. I'm attributing it to a couple of things:

• Living in the midwest. Gone are the days of 80 degree weather and the 10 minute drive to the beach. Why would anyone want to live here? The wind is constantly blowing and its cold as shit. I'm tired of hearing people tell me how I will never want to leave KC after I get used to it. I think these people have given up on life. Why would you want to live here if you had a choice to move? Ugh.



• Renewed focus on College Basketball- Maybe its all the time I'm spending inside, but man I've watched a ton of college basketball. While I'm not killing it, I'm holding my own on the gambling front. I can't wait to watch some of these games and just relax.



• Quick trips to Holywood- What a jolt of energy it is to have a brand new casino 14 minutes away from my house. Door to Door. It seems like Carol and I are getting a babysitter every other day and making a quick trip up to the casino. Its gotten my juices flowing for craps especially and finialized my decision on UTH.



• Renewed focus on tracking play- Had an amazing trip last year. The highs and lows were impressive. I was tapped out and had to utilize the old "pay for dinner on the CC to get cash" trick to fund one last craps run that resulted in a run back up to even. My goal this year is to be even (+/10%) by the end of the trip, but to be able to articulate where the money went.

So I felt bad last year that we really didn't have any pre-Vegas posts and not that much chatter post trip. I won't let that happen again. So to get back to basics, below is my planned budget for each type of game/activity starting with the biggest dollar events:

Craps ($4,300): If you have an hour to waste, read some of the old posts on our craps play. Simply hilarious. To put it in perspective, if I was on my death bed and make a wish foundation came to me to grant me one wish, it would be to play craps with this group of guys coming on this trip (and Jay/Laura) one last time. We simply have the best group!!! Playing with Wiz a couple of weeks ago for 2 hours was simply fantastic and now we have a full couple of days? Man, I just can't wait. I agree 100% with Eric on the need to have all of us at one table a little more often. I plan on spending as much time at these tables as possible.

BJ ($2000): Salon play only. Ready to put in some good sessions here. I'm done playing BJ just to kill time like the old days. Oh there's a $10 table, lets just sit down and have some fun. Not this time. That's what I'll use UTH or Pai Gow for in this trip. I will only play when I'm ready to go for the kill. And unlike Eric, I have no problems referring to the card. I love doing this when I have 15 against a 10. Pisses Wiz off to no end.

UTH ($1000): OK, so I'm going to just set a loss limit here and be done with it. I plan on scaling back the $$$ amount of my play and just do this to waste time. No more $25 per hand play like before. I'll be ok with just going a little smaller and being ok with slowly losing my $800.

Sportsbook ($750): I don't need a lot of money on each game. Maybe just $25 to have a great time and keep me interested. So the budget allows me to lose roughly 30 games. That should be more than enough.

Roulette ($600): 2 sessions seems to do the trick. I don't need to play this all the time, but I love to just smoke a cigar and relax at an empty roulette table during the mid afternoon.

Pai Gow ($500): Played a couple of times recently and I'm really starting to like this game again. I've stayed away for too long since UTH swallowed up all my time. Now with the new strategy, I'll have more time to play here and relax. Too bad they don't have TVs up yet.

Wiz ($380): I owe Wiz some money for the golf pool and the UNC win. Will pay this off the second he gets off the plane.

Spa ($200): Hopefully will be able to fit one massage in.

BJ Switch ($100): Will sit down for one session, get yelled at by Eric and Wiz, will pick up shortly there after. Hopefully I will only lose $100 during that time.

Video Poker ($100): Video Poker with Dick. Yes Dick is back again. Missed him last trip. He will be at the Nugget and will try and get down to see him if possible.

Food ($70): Will get everything comp'd I guess.....

So that ends up being a pretty nice budget. Wow. That added up pretty quickly.

Pre Vegas thoughts

This time next week, I will be on the plane to LA for the annual Vegas trip. This will be the 10th straight March trip for me - either the tournament weekend or the weekend before. Some quick thoughts going through my head 7 days before the trip:

1. I think there will be a slightly different fell to this trip given the timing. Some of us will be out there on Tuesday evening, and all will be in Vegas by 11 am on Wednesday. This is a first. Just think, by Friday morning, the trip will be half over.
2. I'll try to have some self discipline and not go overboard on Wednesday with the NIT games.....lots of luck with that.....
My resolutions in the gambling arena:
3. Would love to play more tiles.
4. Craps - I have a feeling this group will set a record with the number of hours spent on the craps table. I am committed to playing more hardways, less horns, and pressing more of the 6s and 8s. And I would like to dip my toe in the buying the 4s and 10s too.
5. More group sessions at craps. All 6 (7? 8?) of us need to be at a table for at least 2 hours every day.
6. Could do with less BJ Switch.
7. I want to finally - FINALLY - have a winning Pai Gow Poker session with John the Dealer.
8. Can I try to become more self sufficient at the black jack table and not go running for the card every time I have a questionable hand? I'm getting worse at the "book" plays as I get older. A-7 vs an 8. 3-3 vs a 7. 3-3 vs a 3? I'm not 100% sure what to do.......
9. I'll be at the UTH table a lot, I fear.....
10. Sports betting - I know I say this every year, but bigger bets, less games. It's just that I can't help myself........
11. I could use more alcohol in my system this year.
12. Excedrin PM every night. That really did help last year to get consistent sleep. (Is that compatible with #11?)
13. Let's try to eat some breakfast every day, ok? The buffet is good to tie you all the way through dinner.
14. And exercise....at least twice.
15. And one spa session too.

The problem with #12-#15 is that those activities interfere with the gambling time. How many hours in a day are there?

1 week to the tournament

One week from today, the tournament tips off in Dayton! And Selection Sunday is just 5 days away. You know what that means - it's time to look at the latest Bracketology and view the projected games for the 2nd and 3rd round. Most of these categories are familiar ones, but some new ones have been created just for this year!

The Kampen Game
(8) St Mary's v (9) Purdue

Layup's 5-12 Lock
(5) UNLV v (12) South Florida

Eric's Ohio Underdog game
Layup's New Homeland game
(8) Kansas St v (9) Cincinnati

Layup's $1000 on the Money Line Game
(3) Marquette v (14) Belmont

The 7-10 Game No One Cares about
(7) San Diego St v (10) St Louis

The Jay Memorial 9 am Thursday 1st upset of the Tournament Game
(6) Vanderbilt v (11) Washington

Wiz's ACC Lock
The Game Most Likely to create Eric-Wiz Side Action
(8) Iowa St v (9) Virginia

One of these years it will happen for Don game
(3) Georgetown v (14) Akron

Mike's Philly Cheesesteak game
(4) Indiana v (13) Drexel

The Game only Eric cares about
(7) Creighton v (10) California

The Random over/under that Laura is passionate about game
(6) Gonzaga v (11) Harvard

Leland's Dino Gaudio Bad Coaching Memorial Game
(7) New Mexico v (10) West Virginia

Eric & Layup's Summer Sports Camp Game
(2) Michigan St. v (15) Loyola-MD

Catch of the Day

Today, after basketball, we had our weekly trip to the supermarket. The back of the store was the seafood section, an area of the store I usually do not go into - but today was different.

I noticed a small counter set up on the floor with about 10 people around it. I got closer and took a look.

The seafood department worker was cutting up these beautiful Norwegian salmons in front of all the customers. I joined in when he was just starting the first fish. The butcher (is that the right term?) started cutting up all the parts of the fish - head, skin, tail - and instead of throwing it away, he would put those parts in the blue trays that you see in the picture.

A mini skirmish then ensued as the customers all fought over who would have these parts of the fish.

At the end, the filet was left; more trays were brought out, and filet portions were placed in the trays....but no takers for that.

I'm horrible at guessing weights of these things; I'm guessing it was a 15, 20 pound salmon?

Then the next fish was brought out, and people started jostling to get in position. The lady in black at the top of the phot already had one head, and wanted another.

I went over to the seafood case, picked out a shrink wrapped package, and that was dinner for Janice and I tonight. I got .35 KG - about 3/4 of a pound - for 42 RMB , which is $7. Is that a good deal?

If it's 2:00 pm, it must be time to.....

Took Warren to the hair cut place (yes, the "salon") across the street. I took him in at about 1:50 pm. At 2:00 on the dot, music started playing on the loudspeakers.....and all the idle staff at the salon (yes, about 20 of them) went outside and started dancing.

(Yes, of course, another video clip of Chinese dancing!)

The guy closest to the window in the beret seemed to be the ringleader.

Does the CDC know about this?

It's spring in Guangzhou, where the weather is extremely humid 12 months out of the year. The days/weeks when it transitions from 50 degree highs to 65-70 degrees is dramatic. Whenever this occurs, massive amounts of condensation forms on the walls, glass, stone floor- anything with a hard, cold surface is coated with water. It can be dangerous!

In response to this hazard, the apartment staff has put up this helpful notice - well, I think it has to do with the weather.....maybe I am completely mistaken and we should move out now......

A restaurant for Layup

OK, I've got a backlog of posts ready to go - just no time to post them! It's almost at the point where I'm not sure where to start.

To get the juices flowing, here's an advertisement for a restaurant in Guangzhou that I will save for when Layup comes. I'm sure it's delicious!








Also - we are in the process of planning our next vacation. I went by a travel agent and saw this ad on their window - cruising! Take a cruise offered by the renowed Costa cruising fleet!

If you look hard enough, the name of the ship is seen in between the sets of windows in the middle-left of the ships. You can barely make it out.....the "Concordia".....