i’m not saying that just cause i believe the ads that i goto vegas and expect the stench of smoke or cheap perfume to suddenly vanish from my aura as i took off from the airport. nor do i expect the indigestion issues related from changing alcohol every 2 hours and eating twice a day but within a 4 hour window to suddenly disappear as the safety instructions are announced via the overhead speaker. and the rashes – it’d be really convenient if they vanished without a trace as we reached our cruising altititude…but history has taught me that usually, the money i change for those cute little circular chips – that money – usually stays in vegas.
but not this time. breaking a streak of bad trips, this last trip was pretty bad until the last 4 hours when things went pretty darn well. those trips are nice to have – but certainly not as fun as starting ahead and staying ahead. but i’m not complaining.
got up after 3 and half hours of sleep, so i could check out Wynn’s new place without the big crowds. Got downstairs at Harrah’s and felt – i gotta try one more time here – at worst, to just get myself on the list for the world series of poker tourneys.? and i had that vision for winning the fire bet.? Well, no one was making points really. and the only guy that should have been winning – cause he was betting don’t, wasn’t winning much – cause he didn’t really know what he was doing. though he did know not to bet don’t against me. possibly, it’s cause i was standing next to him. possibly cause he sensed i was do. i made one point and that was it. so – he did save himself money. money that he put on the pass line and on the fire bet for himself. and he goes and makes 5 points, but 1 was a repeater, so he got credit for 4 points and 25-1 payout on the fire bet. which was $1 for him. still, he was happy. I was doing okay cause of his 5 points made. left a little later, after turning the 300 into 600.? Oh – a guy hit a $200 hard 10 a couple of times – 1400 paid out.? but he bought in for 1k and when i left he had around 1200. So percentage wise, he hasn’t convinced me to play the hardways.
So i trek over to Wynn’s. it’s nice and all that. (ha – chapo’s trying to walk in his doggy door with a stick he’s chewing on and can’t fit. i like his mentality that if he tries and tries again, it just might work. that’s the sign of insanity, right? runs in the family – watch us play craps…)
anyway – wynn’s is nice – but not that different to me from any other nice hotel/casino. i like the ceilings and lights. and the carpet’s floral print reminds me of my tattoo – stylewise. but that’s neither here nor there.? their chips are simple. almost cartoony simple. but i suppose the rich and stylish call that “understated”. either way – they’re brand new and have good edges. i sampled another $300 dollars worth to see how they work.
Well, 4-5 rollers later, as people are leaving the table and new people are walking up and asking “is the table hot?” and the dealer’s responding “it was till about 10 minutes ago” i’m looking at less than a handful of chips. less than a catheirne handful of chips even. I get the dice. again – just one point and i’m out. but i did roll a 3 on the come-out roll, which finally paid the dealer’s off on my two-way horn high ace-deuce…but came out about even for the roll, cause i of course don’t qualify myself when i’m rolling. 52 across right away – i’m here to make money fast – cause i’ve got a plane to catch…oh well.
next shooter gets a point and i’m across and i’m short 5 bucks for full odds and i do think about pulling out the chip i’m gonna take home for catherine but shelve that idea quickly. i do also have 6 blue chips – but i don’t want to build a tower of chips for the dice to hit. so i just play with my chips. the stickman puts his and out and tells me to put all my blues on the hard 6 – the point. and i do. i mention two ways as i give up all my chips. and i think – well, i kind of use those 1 dollar chips to press the 5, 9? and 8…but oh well.
first roll is a 4 – and i buy it – and i get 3 blues back and i’m not worried proper change for pressing numbers anymore. and then another 4 and i press it all the way. that’s the system we figured after the river boat…and things went well.
and i figure i was 2 bets away from being able to say i was betting the table limit at Wynn’s. i’ll work on a table fo progressions later on. but i went 10, 25, 75, 150, 300, 600, 1000, 1500. and would have gone 2500 and 5k – which was the limit. i know i kind of chickened out on the 1k to 2k bet – but since it didn’t hit, no harm done. as i was drifting to sleep on the plane, i was dreaming of at the 1k mark betting 50 for the shooter and 50 for the dealers on the 4 – i’d control. then i transformed to me winning a 5k hit and betting 1k for the dealers and the shooter. then saying – let’s play conservatively – and betting only 500 and giving the 500 to them right away. i’d like to that one day.
the stickmen were nice – one was talking about how i was the toughest customer – the hardest one to beat – cause i had no money in the rack. i don’t really know what he was talking about, but it was nice. he was saying that when i had 1k on the 4. and another was talking about how i got to 1500 from 10 bucks…and he had never seen a streak of 4’s like that before. he needs to goto riverboats with me and catherine and crazy rollers. and the roller – he was nice too – and older fellow in a shirt that those in the know call “salmon” colored – even though he had no money on the 4, he kept on saying he was gonna roll another 4 for me. very kind.
when the stick did change – at around the 1k or 1.5k mark, i did go off 1 roll. it was a 5. i had maybe 150 on the 5. didn’t mind. and the next roll wasn’t the seven, so stickmen change was executed without any bad events. the guys did comment – when the roll was over and i was coloring up my chips – how the come out roll was a 4. yes. fabulous. good point.
actually – i didn’t mind. and part of my little daydreams on the airplane made me realize that i do really think “money’s just a number”. i’d love to bet 500 for the dealers and the shooter. when the bets were getting high – i wasn’t more nervous or intense about a 4 coming up – i was just happy to have the action. i think the shooter wanted the 4 more than i did. and he was rolling lots of 6’s and 8’s, which he was on – and i was happy for us – though he didn’t press his bets often enough – i think he turned his 12 bet into 30 by the end, while i had 210. yeah – it was a good roll…but anyway – i feel that as the amounts grew/grow, i’d get more generous/reckless with the money. it is fun. but it’s not about the money. just the thrill. to write this story. to now say – i was 2 bets away from betting the limit at Wynn’s.? yes – it does sound better to say i was betting the limit. next time…
i ended up tipping the shooter 200 and the dealers around 120 and when the cashier counted out my 2900 and she asked i had any markers – i was very pleased to say – “this is my first time here.” i guess i could have been less cocky and gone with my usual answer of – “[sigh] not here.”
so – a happy ending to my “last vegas trip for a while”…unless – we try and see how long this winning streak can go? yup, their money ain’t staying in vegas. for now. brilliant.
and i won the weekly baseball bet.
probably the only thing that didn’t go right was that ian emailed me today saying the URLs is having a nacho cheese fiesta with the baked potato section…and i missed that.? but, he had more positive news – like that Zoe‘s in the NYT saying “hell” on the same page as a story on the pope…I like it – who’s got a subscription/username/password for the site that i can use? or will email me a copy?
yeah – to the skeptics – i’ll detail next trips just as much – win or lose…the losing stories are just a little more repetitive though – like – i bought in and no one could roll and there went another 30 minutes. and then i went to casino X and bought in and no one could roll and there went another 30 minutes…but we’ll see. maybe i can add some variety to it along the way.
No mention of drunken phone calls at 2AM in the morning?