Yes, yes, I know...2 months between parts. Let's try to knock the last day out with the final part of the diary. As per a usual Sunday, some great stories on the quietest day of the trip.
Sunday, Feb 8
Finally got some sleep and I think I woke up around 9 or so. The best night's sleep of the trip. I think we had the champagne brunch - I'm starting to believe that mimosas are highly overrated - and then the three of us (Wiz, Layup and I) headed to the UTH table. I think Don and Mike golfed this morning.
The morning UTH session was not going well. First, as I mentioned before, management of the TVs sucked at the tables. It's 10 am on Sunday - we have some wagers riding on the early round action at Torrey - and what's on TV? BeIN sports showing some 3rd-level European league game. If not soccer, then some women's swimming on CBS Sports Network.
And trying to get the pit boss to change is like an Act of God. They don't know how to work the remote, and apparently there's only 3 stations on the "standard" network they get. We were a bit testy with the pit boss as we pleaded/demanded him to change the channel. This went on for about 30-45 minutes. The TV never changed....and the pit boss was starting to dislike us.
Anyway, the session was not very good to me. Almost immediately I started losing, and never got back to even. I was betting greens - and I was slowly, slowly, slowly going downhill. Then a guy sat beside me and Wiz (Layup was to my right) and started talking to me. I wasn't in that good of a mood, but he seemed nice, so we started talking a bit.....
So it's now about 11:30 or so, I may a bit buzzed, and the stranger is talking about Royals at the UTH table - he saw one just earlier at Let It Ride. I then told him our story of the Royal at UTH..... I just folded a hand, so I didn't have any chips in play - so I turned to him and started talking about the time - 6 years ago?- where the dealer put a Royal on the flop. No money for us -since we didn't play the trips!
As I was telling this story,the previous hand ended and the delaer was starting a new hand. I took my stacks of chips, put one on the blind, one on the ante, wasn't paying attention, and kept telling my story. Someone won $750 on the trips - good for him!
There was a slight pause in the conversation and I heard Wiz in the background say "cmon, cmon, deal the cards!" What the F was his problem?
I finished the story - I don't think I had a final point - then looked down at my spot. The dealer had already started dealing - I had 1 card, and three other spots had cards..... and I see that there were blacks in my spot instead of greens.
Huh???? Oh shit.... oh no no no no. "Wait, wait, wait!" I asked the dealer. He paused.
"I didn't mean to do this--- I've been betting $25's all morning!" I said. This was a mistake. I picked up the wrong stack! "I didn't look at any cards...can I change the bet?"
The dealer thought, and then pulled the pit boss over. Oh no....the one we have been harassing about the TV....
"Boss, he's been playing greens all morning, now he says the blacks are a mistake. Can he change the bet?"
The pit boss thought for about maybe 3 seconds. "Cards have been dealt...the wager stays. Play on".
Oh dear. Please let me get out of this with minimal damage.
The cards are dealt..... first card is an 8....the second card.....another 8. A pair.
Oh shit, as Layup and Wiz starts laughing hysterically. "You have to go 4 times!!!!" I do, don't I.....ok, 4 blacks go in the circle....
Flop comes...something random like K-10-2. No eights.
Last two cards......K-5.
Dealer flips over his cards, and realizes what's going on, so he does it very slowly. First card is a 5 - so he has two pair, like me, but his is lower.
Second card - exposes just a bit, like baccarat ---- finally shows a 3. No harm. My Kings and 8's beat his Kings and 5's. Winner!
I let out a scream of relief. Tipped the dealer, tried to tip the pit boss as a nice gesture, but he was not allowed to accept any from me. Got out of there about even with that win.
Afternoon consisted of a massage at the spa - all 3 of us were in there, and we were waiting for our massages and relaxing watching the end of the Farmers. We all had money against Clemson's own Lucas Glover, and he missed a 2 footer on 17 for par to seal the win. Yes! A loud scream (mine was the loudest) emanated from the spa to the chagrin of the rest of the customers.
There was a four way playoff - Day, Stallings, Holmes and English - and the three of us took sides in the playoff....I took Stallings as a lark, and that was $50 down the drain. Not much better than betting on multiple-man playoffs on the PGA tour.
Dinner was at Japonais that night - the sushi, as always, was wonderful, and the final dinner with the entire group was bittersweet. I'd have that sushi sampler plate every week if I could.
We had one final run to the craps table. We all fit on one side, and I think the order was Layup, Don, Mike, me and Wiz. Things were going ok for a while at the table...lot of strange people on the other side, but nothing stood out until we saw $100 hard ways coming up in the middle of the table.
We all noticed about the same time - there was an old white guy - about 6'1", 250 pounds, about 60 years old in a white buttoned down shirt and jeans with a John Deere hat on. He was obviously drunk. Next to him was a black guy - about 30 or so years old - and it wasn't clear if he was with him or not, but he was giving the John Deere guy some advice. The $100 bets were coming from John Deere. Most did not win.....but every once in a while he did win - and when he did, he said nothing.
The bets started increasing - $200, $300 on the hard ways, $1000 on the field. The field seem to be winning for him. The dice passed to Layup - and he did not vary from his usual results: maybe 4 rolls and out. Thanks a lot. John Deere was not happy.
The dice passed to Don. John Deere now had $1000 consistently on the field. Don started rolling well - made a point and was hitting some numbers. Everyone on our side * was making some money. Then we were all rendered speechless....
"$500 on boxcars" came the bet from the other side.
Don rolled a 9. "Dammit".
"Do it again - $500 on 12". The purple chip was tossed.
Don rolls........a 12. I can't believe it. No one can. A $15,000 winner.
John Deere said nothing. The dealers - who seemed to know him and were pissed off - quickly paid him in 3 orange $5000 chips.
Two rolls later, the same bet returns. "$500 on 12". Don rolls a 4.
"God dammit, you suck!" And he was serious!
All of us were winning money, but we couldn't take our eyes off the car crash of John Deere throwing $500 chips around. He started putting $5000 on the field, and hit the double a few times, making all the workers pissed off. We picked up shortly after and headed to a new table.
(* - Don did not make any money on his roll; not sure why not. He was not betting big and did not change his betting style as he was rolling better and better. Thanks for taking one for the team, Don!)
Of course, Wiz, Layup and I found our way over to the Salon. We entered - and the room was blaring the music from the Grammys. It was about 9:30, 10:00 pm - when the West coast coverage of the Grammys was broadcast on CBS. There were 4 people sitting in the seats - not playing - near the TVs in the high limit salon; they were enjoying the telecast and they were the ones that asked for the volume to be set on "aircraft carrier".
For whatever reason, we sat down.
"CAN YOU TURN THE VOLUME DOWN???" we asked the dealers and the pit boss. The answer was no. Those special guests asked for it - and so it was.
We never found out who those people were - and I can't believe we were stupid enough to play. That was a quick beatdown.
OK, one last UTH session for the night. We head out there, sit down and join Don and Mike, and play for a while. After about 20-30 minutes, Wiz starts looking over at the craps table.
"He's still there! What an asshole!" He's talking about John Deere, of course. "I gotta do something about this".
Wiz gets up, and heads over to the craps table. I'm not sure what he said or did, but then we look - and John Deere has picked up and moved to another craps table, away from Wiz ----- and there goes Wiz, picking up and following him. This went on for about 10 minutes - with John Deere finally arriving at an empty craps table and the limit going to $100.
Wiz returned, defeat. "he's a dick. Afraid of me". "He's like the white rabbit - we're all chasing him but we can't catch him".
We went to bed that night - saw the John Deere white rabbit playing $10 blackjack at the CSM table.
Layup left extremely early on Monday - like at 4 am; he needed to be back in CA by 9 am or so. He was thinking about leaving on Sunday morning after his good fortune on Saturday, but we all knew that wasn't going to happen. Wiz left about 5, and Don, Mike and I weren't going to leave until 6:30 - so I had an hour to myself at the craps table for one last run; the final roll was a good one for me as I left with a profit for that final session.
Another great trips is in the books; next year we hope to have a full complement of people (especially from the Golf Side Pool) with Leland and others (like Mr. Chik-Fil-A and a celebration from someone returning from China); I'm sure we will all vote to go in March again and avoid February. See you in 2016!
Sunday, Feb 8
Finally got some sleep and I think I woke up around 9 or so. The best night's sleep of the trip. I think we had the champagne brunch - I'm starting to believe that mimosas are highly overrated - and then the three of us (Wiz, Layup and I) headed to the UTH table. I think Don and Mike golfed this morning.
The morning UTH session was not going well. First, as I mentioned before, management of the TVs sucked at the tables. It's 10 am on Sunday - we have some wagers riding on the early round action at Torrey - and what's on TV? BeIN sports showing some 3rd-level European league game. If not soccer, then some women's swimming on CBS Sports Network.
And trying to get the pit boss to change is like an Act of God. They don't know how to work the remote, and apparently there's only 3 stations on the "standard" network they get. We were a bit testy with the pit boss as we pleaded/demanded him to change the channel. This went on for about 30-45 minutes. The TV never changed....and the pit boss was starting to dislike us.
Anyway, the session was not very good to me. Almost immediately I started losing, and never got back to even. I was betting greens - and I was slowly, slowly, slowly going downhill. Then a guy sat beside me and Wiz (Layup was to my right) and started talking to me. I wasn't in that good of a mood, but he seemed nice, so we started talking a bit.....
So it's now about 11:30 or so, I may a bit buzzed, and the stranger is talking about Royals at the UTH table - he saw one just earlier at Let It Ride. I then told him our story of the Royal at UTH..... I just folded a hand, so I didn't have any chips in play - so I turned to him and started talking about the time - 6 years ago?- where the dealer put a Royal on the flop. No money for us -since we didn't play the trips!
As I was telling this story,the previous hand ended and the delaer was starting a new hand. I took my stacks of chips, put one on the blind, one on the ante, wasn't paying attention, and kept telling my story. Someone won $750 on the trips - good for him!
There was a slight pause in the conversation and I heard Wiz in the background say "cmon, cmon, deal the cards!" What the F was his problem?
I finished the story - I don't think I had a final point - then looked down at my spot. The dealer had already started dealing - I had 1 card, and three other spots had cards..... and I see that there were blacks in my spot instead of greens.
Huh???? Oh shit.... oh no no no no. "Wait, wait, wait!" I asked the dealer. He paused.
"I didn't mean to do this--- I've been betting $25's all morning!" I said. This was a mistake. I picked up the wrong stack! "I didn't look at any cards...can I change the bet?"
The dealer thought, and then pulled the pit boss over. Oh no....the one we have been harassing about the TV....
"Boss, he's been playing greens all morning, now he says the blacks are a mistake. Can he change the bet?"
The pit boss thought for about maybe 3 seconds. "Cards have been dealt...the wager stays. Play on".
Oh dear. Please let me get out of this with minimal damage.
The cards are dealt..... first card is an 8....the second card.....another 8. A pair.
Oh shit, as Layup and Wiz starts laughing hysterically. "You have to go 4 times!!!!" I do, don't I.....ok, 4 blacks go in the circle....
Flop comes...something random like K-10-2. No eights.
Last two cards......K-5.
Dealer flips over his cards, and realizes what's going on, so he does it very slowly. First card is a 5 - so he has two pair, like me, but his is lower.
Second card - exposes just a bit, like baccarat ---- finally shows a 3. No harm. My Kings and 8's beat his Kings and 5's. Winner!
I let out a scream of relief. Tipped the dealer, tried to tip the pit boss as a nice gesture, but he was not allowed to accept any from me. Got out of there about even with that win.
Afternoon consisted of a massage at the spa - all 3 of us were in there, and we were waiting for our massages and relaxing watching the end of the Farmers. We all had money against Clemson's own Lucas Glover, and he missed a 2 footer on 17 for par to seal the win. Yes! A loud scream (mine was the loudest) emanated from the spa to the chagrin of the rest of the customers. There was a four way playoff - Day, Stallings, Holmes and English - and the three of us took sides in the playoff....I took Stallings as a lark, and that was $50 down the drain. Not much better than betting on multiple-man playoffs on the PGA tour.
Dinner was at Japonais that night - the sushi, as always, was wonderful, and the final dinner with the entire group was bittersweet. I'd have that sushi sampler plate every week if I could.
We had one final run to the craps table. We all fit on one side, and I think the order was Layup, Don, Mike, me and Wiz. Things were going ok for a while at the table...lot of strange people on the other side, but nothing stood out until we saw $100 hard ways coming up in the middle of the table.
We all noticed about the same time - there was an old white guy - about 6'1", 250 pounds, about 60 years old in a white buttoned down shirt and jeans with a John Deere hat on. He was obviously drunk. Next to him was a black guy - about 30 or so years old - and it wasn't clear if he was with him or not, but he was giving the John Deere guy some advice. The $100 bets were coming from John Deere. Most did not win.....but every once in a while he did win - and when he did, he said nothing.
The bets started increasing - $200, $300 on the hard ways, $1000 on the field. The field seem to be winning for him. The dice passed to Layup - and he did not vary from his usual results: maybe 4 rolls and out. Thanks a lot. John Deere was not happy.
The dice passed to Don. John Deere now had $1000 consistently on the field. Don started rolling well - made a point and was hitting some numbers. Everyone on our side * was making some money. Then we were all rendered speechless....
"$500 on boxcars" came the bet from the other side.
Don rolled a 9. "Dammit".
"Do it again - $500 on 12". The purple chip was tossed.
Don rolls........a 12. I can't believe it. No one can. A $15,000 winner.
John Deere said nothing. The dealers - who seemed to know him and were pissed off - quickly paid him in 3 orange $5000 chips.
Two rolls later, the same bet returns. "$500 on 12". Don rolls a 4.
"God dammit, you suck!" And he was serious!
All of us were winning money, but we couldn't take our eyes off the car crash of John Deere throwing $500 chips around. He started putting $5000 on the field, and hit the double a few times, making all the workers pissed off. We picked up shortly after and headed to a new table.
(* - Don did not make any money on his roll; not sure why not. He was not betting big and did not change his betting style as he was rolling better and better. Thanks for taking one for the team, Don!)
Of course, Wiz, Layup and I found our way over to the Salon. We entered - and the room was blaring the music from the Grammys. It was about 9:30, 10:00 pm - when the West coast coverage of the Grammys was broadcast on CBS. There were 4 people sitting in the seats - not playing - near the TVs in the high limit salon; they were enjoying the telecast and they were the ones that asked for the volume to be set on "aircraft carrier". For whatever reason, we sat down.
"CAN YOU TURN THE VOLUME DOWN???" we asked the dealers and the pit boss. The answer was no. Those special guests asked for it - and so it was.
We never found out who those people were - and I can't believe we were stupid enough to play. That was a quick beatdown.
OK, one last UTH session for the night. We head out there, sit down and join Don and Mike, and play for a while. After about 20-30 minutes, Wiz starts looking over at the craps table.
"He's still there! What an asshole!" He's talking about John Deere, of course. "I gotta do something about this".
Wiz gets up, and heads over to the craps table. I'm not sure what he said or did, but then we look - and John Deere has picked up and moved to another craps table, away from Wiz ----- and there goes Wiz, picking up and following him. This went on for about 10 minutes - with John Deere finally arriving at an empty craps table and the limit going to $100.
Wiz returned, defeat. "he's a dick. Afraid of me". "He's like the white rabbit - we're all chasing him but we can't catch him".
We went to bed that night - saw the John Deere white rabbit playing $10 blackjack at the CSM table.
Layup left extremely early on Monday - like at 4 am; he needed to be back in CA by 9 am or so. He was thinking about leaving on Sunday morning after his good fortune on Saturday, but we all knew that wasn't going to happen. Wiz left about 5, and Don, Mike and I weren't going to leave until 6:30 - so I had an hour to myself at the craps table for one last run; the final roll was a good one for me as I left with a profit for that final session.
Another great trips is in the books; next year we hope to have a full complement of people (especially from the Golf Side Pool) with Leland and others (like Mr. Chik-Fil-A and a celebration from someone returning from China); I'm sure we will all vote to go in March again and avoid February. See you in 2016!
1 comment:
Great recap. A couple of quick comments/additions:
1a. UTH- Don't take for granted on having TVs at the table. While the Mirage was slow to act on getting the TV to the right station, at least they have nice TVs and are willing to eventually change the channel. Aria and Mandalay don't have any TVs at their BJ or UTH tables which takes away a lot from the experience.
1b. UTH- Ummmm...On your $100 a hand session you forgot what happened the next hand. Wiz and I said that you had to keep the $100 up there since you just won. You chickened out and pulled it back and just put $25 on the blind and ante. We were irate and what happened next? You won that next hand as well.
2. Salon- Those people watching the grammys were the same folks from MN that Wiz and I gambled with several times in the Salon. There was one session where Wiz and the guy were killing it and I couldn't win a hand and I was forced to play and not even look at them, because they were winning. I did this, despite losing money and the favor was not returned to me later in the trip, when Wiz stopped playing mid shoe when I was on a roll because he had hit his win limit. Thanks Wiz.
3. Salon Continued- Once again, we take for granted how nice the Mirage Salon can be when the TVs aren't cranked to the max level. The dealers, lighting, and the limits fit our play perfectly.
4a. John Deere- Eric, you forgot about a couple of things. Wiz yelling at John Deere right after Don's roll. "He just made you $17k, so shut the fuck up for Christ sake." And since it was my roll right after Don, I received a polite request from Wiz to hit John Deere with the dice. After my incident with the TX man earlier in the trip, I was sober and did not want to particpate in causing another scene as well as I was on "Rolling time out" so I declined. That's when Wiz made it his mission to hit John Deere with the dice. But little did we all know, John Deere liked to jump tables after each roll, so we watched John Deere move tables and then Wiz jump from table to table to catch up to him. Very funny to watch from the UTH table.
4b. John Deere continued- Eric, didn't we roll with John Deere late night, where now he had almost an entire row of $10k chips. He had a younger black guy next to him now who was skimming money off of him. At one point, he had $5k on the field and then walked over to the handicap BJ table and trip to play a $5k hand there as well. He was the craziest player I've ever seen.
4c. John Deere continued- My memory is a little foggy, but didn't Wiz join forces with the Boston meat head from the other end of the table who was betting the don't pass to beat up John Deere?
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