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.
The two older boys had a birthday party to go to last night (laser tag!), so Janice, Martin and I teamed up with another family (that had 2 boys also attending the party, so their 21 month old daughter came along) and we went out to an unknown restaurant in Guangzhou. It served Yunnan food,which is a province in Southern China - bordering on Myanmar, Thailand and Laos. The food was reviewed as "tasty, but not overwhelmingly spicy". Ok, we will give it a shot. 
