Wednesday, August 12, 2020
Thirty Years
Good morning everyone. It seems like a good time to fire up the blog again. Well, yesterday seemed like a good time also, since it marked thirty years since I graduate from college. In the almost YEAR that I have taken off from blogging, it seems that Blogger has decided to transition to a new format. You can switch to the new format, or in the new future, Blogger will automatically switch your blog for you. At the current time, regardless of which format I try, I'm unable to upload photos (or at least unable to figure out how). When I tried yesterday, they uploaded as link text. I tried to figure out why, got frustrated, and gave up on writing. This text looks small as I type it, and I can't figure out how to adjust that either, but I'm going to publish this anyway, and see what it looks like. In the preview window it doesn't look horrible, but we'll see...
Obviously a lot has happened in the last year, with the presence of Covid-19. The virus was a major factor in my decision to leave my sportsbook position in Biloxi, Mississippi. I just recently moved back to San Marcos, America. My reasoning was that I didn't see team sports (especially football, which I wrote the most bets on at work, and bet the most myself)having much success in the near future. If there's not going to be much football, it makes more sense for me to be in Texas than in Mississippi, or in Las Vegas, etc. I think that the NBA has the best opportunity for success, because they have the smallest number of players, or they're keeping them isolated ("The Bubble," if you will). I think that the NHL has the next best chance for success, as they have the next smallest number of athletes, and are also staying isolated. Major League Baseball, and then football are next in the pecking order, and they have more challenges because of their expanded rosters and the traveling that they are doing. The Big Ten and Pac-12 just postponed their fall sports seasons yesterday, so it appears that my decision wasn't completely without merit (for any haters out there)... Don't get me wrong, I'm whole-heartedly hoping that we find a vaccine as soon as possible, and I want to see EVERYTHING played, but it wasn't worth the gamble for me to sign a lease in Biloxi til the end of next July based on the information that I had available to me at the time.
As for myself, I'm finally getting my sleep back on a normal schedule. Just this past week, I'm finally sleeping eight hours consecutively. It rained practically the whole week that I was preparing to leave Biloxi, and I wanted to leave the yard at my rental house as short as possible, so I was trying to find spots between the rain drops where I could cut my grass. Managing my yard came in addition to packing my stuff and cleaning the house of course. On the day that I did move from Mississippi to Texas, I woke up at 1:00 a.m., finished packing and cleaning until about 8:30 a.m., returned my cable box and internet modem, turned in my house keys, and then drove over nine hours to San Marcos, where I unloaded my stuff and ate my traditional "moving pizzas..."
The pizza is about the most unhealthy thing that I've eaten recently, as I've lost about 20 pounds from my peak weight this summer, and plan on losing about another 20-25 more. Maybe by then I'll figure out this photo-posting riddle, and I'll be able to give you some comparison pictures. Other than eating smaller portions, while also eating more healthy food, I've also been spending a lot of time playing DraftKings fantasy golf, while I slowly unpack and get my sleep schedule right. Until this last week, I had won money three weeks in a row, scrambling up a bunch of different lineups of golfers, and having a few hit each time. I'm also starting to watch more NBA and NHL, as they may represent the majority of team sports that we'll have for a while. I've also continued to play a bunch of free poker on an app called 'Poker Legends' that I found early in the spring. I'm thankful to have found it, because I was watching way too much t.v. when our sportsbook closed on St. Patrick's Day. NOT that the t.v. hasn't been on while I chip away on the poker site, but at least I haven't been glued to it nonstop... : ) I'm hoping to get this apartment in order pretty soon, and then to have some job information for you. Which reminds me, I was finally able to buy the car that I had been saving up for this spring, which helps tremendously on the job front (and many other fronts). ; )
Well, I have a day full of unpacking and watching hockey games ahead of me (did you see that FIVE overtime game yesterday/last night?!). I have stated before, I LOVE playoff hockey games with multiple overtimes, where it just becomes a battle of attrition. Oh yeah, I'm also putting a few bucks each day on the fantasy hockey, just to have action. : P Have a great week, and I'll see you soon!
Thursday, January 16, 2020
August 23rd
Well, well, well... The last time that I saw you, it was the eve of the college football season (a pair of games on Saturday, August 24th, before the crush of games during the following week and Saturday). At the time, the possibility that I wouldn't visit with y'all again until January 16th didn't cross my mind. I apologize for the delay my friends. I tend to keep myself pretty busy during football season.
So, now it's January 16th (HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!), and I'm sitting here at the keyboard playing Pearl Jam through my YouTube, with a muted tv showing the Nuggets at the Warriors sitting off to my right. To my left, we have the pair of goldfish that I got just over a year ago (that's a pretty good lifespan for any fish of mine)... Okay, it's time to catch up. Again, I'm sorry about the delay in writing. I'm quite sure that this is the longest time between posts since I started this blog a little over eight years ago (the blog turned eight on September 28th - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!)
Alright. So I'm still living in Biloxi, Mississippi. I'm still working in the sportsbook, and I've now been with Caesar's Entertainment for over three years (you know, since my last blog post)... I've yet to miss a day of work, or to even be late for a shift. :D When I last saw you, the football season was just starting. Now we're down to just four teams in the NFL, and on February 3rd, I'll surely be crying, because we won't have any football again til almost September (and don't get me started on the XFL, or any other startup that you have an affinity for)... ; ) So, during football season, I work 40 hours per week, from Saturday through Wednesday this season. I work on the swing shift (which I prefer to work for several reasons - I'm a night owl, there are always games on during my shift, etc...), and after work, I normally go to another casino (I'm not allowed to bet on sports at my casino) with one of my friends/coworkers to either place bets on the next day's/week's games, or to cash winning bets that I have. Long story short, my personal football betting is pretty much like a part-time job for me during the season. I'm not trying to make excuses for why I haven't written for so long, but here I am making excuses for why I haven't written for so long... I do feel bad when I haven't posted for a while, because I have so many friends who read this blog, that it's like I'm writing a personal letter to X number of people each time that I post an entry. You know what I'm talking about. I don't ever go into this much detail about my personal life on Facebook or Twitter, because that would just be weird (plus it would be difficult to do in 160 characters on Twitter). However, I can get on here and let you know what's going on in my world (or just write about pretty much whatever I feel like talking about), and I can ramble on forever. My one guilty pleasure if I haven't written for a long period of time is that my haters and stalkers have to wait to find out what's going on in my life (ex-girlfriends, personal relationships gone bad, people who are basically just internet peeping tom's). I'm sure that you have a few in your world too... Well, I'M BACK.... Ha ha....
Okay, when I last left y'all, I had just returned from a June visit to Las Vegas, which I summarized in a flurry of August posts, because I had already taken my next trip, which was to central Texas (San Antonio and San Marcos, America)... Now I've been in Biloxi for about another five months, and I've been saving up money. In the near future, I'll be looking into getting a car. I haven't had a vehicle for several years now, and frankly, I haven't really needed one. I've lived close to where I worked, I've had access to public transportation, and/or I've had friends willing to give me rides when I've needed them. I do hate putting people out (although honestly, my friends have been great, and don't make me feel like I'm imposing on them at all), and plus, I'd like to have a vehicle so I'll be able to visit Texas more easily. I take the lion's share of my paid time off (PTO) each year between the end of the NCAA Basketball Tournament and the start of football season, so I'll be seriously investigating getting a vehicle pretty soon. Since we're talking about money and time off, another thing that I'm pondering is whether or not I want to make another visit to Las Vegas again this summer. The obvious pitfalls are the money I'd have to spend, and the amount of PTO I'd have to use. Oh, if I'm visiting Las Vegas, and already paying for the round-trip flight, I'm not going for just 2 or 3 days... That's not my style. In case you weren't following the blog last year, or you don't remember, I stayed in Las Vegas for ELEVEN nights last June. :D Anyway, so there's that, and if I do go, when do I go. When is the World Series of Poker? Will Blue October be touring through Las Vegas again this summer? All important questions that have to be answered....
I left work at 11:30 last night, but I had to be up by 8:00 this morning (today is my Saturday) because I had an appointment for a haircut. What I'm trying to tell you is that my sleep was really messed up today (I normally wake up at 1:30 p.m. to be at work for a 3:30 p.m. shift). In spite of the nap that I took after I returned home today, I'm "hitting the wall" all of a sudden, but I'm going to go ahead and publish what I've written so far, because I've made promises on Facebook... : ) Barring any unforeseen circumstances (and excluding the Super Bowl and college basketball in March), you should be seeing posts from me more frequently. So to all of my friends and long-time readers, and to all of you stalkers and haters, I'll see you soon.... ; )
So, now it's January 16th (HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!), and I'm sitting here at the keyboard playing Pearl Jam through my YouTube, with a muted tv showing the Nuggets at the Warriors sitting off to my right. To my left, we have the pair of goldfish that I got just over a year ago (that's a pretty good lifespan for any fish of mine)... Okay, it's time to catch up. Again, I'm sorry about the delay in writing. I'm quite sure that this is the longest time between posts since I started this blog a little over eight years ago (the blog turned eight on September 28th - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!)
Alright. So I'm still living in Biloxi, Mississippi. I'm still working in the sportsbook, and I've now been with Caesar's Entertainment for over three years (you know, since my last blog post)... I've yet to miss a day of work, or to even be late for a shift. :D When I last saw you, the football season was just starting. Now we're down to just four teams in the NFL, and on February 3rd, I'll surely be crying, because we won't have any football again til almost September (and don't get me started on the XFL, or any other startup that you have an affinity for)... ; ) So, during football season, I work 40 hours per week, from Saturday through Wednesday this season. I work on the swing shift (which I prefer to work for several reasons - I'm a night owl, there are always games on during my shift, etc...), and after work, I normally go to another casino (I'm not allowed to bet on sports at my casino) with one of my friends/coworkers to either place bets on the next day's/week's games, or to cash winning bets that I have. Long story short, my personal football betting is pretty much like a part-time job for me during the season. I'm not trying to make excuses for why I haven't written for so long, but here I am making excuses for why I haven't written for so long... I do feel bad when I haven't posted for a while, because I have so many friends who read this blog, that it's like I'm writing a personal letter to X number of people each time that I post an entry. You know what I'm talking about. I don't ever go into this much detail about my personal life on Facebook or Twitter, because that would just be weird (plus it would be difficult to do in 160 characters on Twitter). However, I can get on here and let you know what's going on in my world (or just write about pretty much whatever I feel like talking about), and I can ramble on forever. My one guilty pleasure if I haven't written for a long period of time is that my haters and stalkers have to wait to find out what's going on in my life (ex-girlfriends, personal relationships gone bad, people who are basically just internet peeping tom's). I'm sure that you have a few in your world too... Well, I'M BACK.... Ha ha....
Okay, when I last left y'all, I had just returned from a June visit to Las Vegas, which I summarized in a flurry of August posts, because I had already taken my next trip, which was to central Texas (San Antonio and San Marcos, America)... Now I've been in Biloxi for about another five months, and I've been saving up money. In the near future, I'll be looking into getting a car. I haven't had a vehicle for several years now, and frankly, I haven't really needed one. I've lived close to where I worked, I've had access to public transportation, and/or I've had friends willing to give me rides when I've needed them. I do hate putting people out (although honestly, my friends have been great, and don't make me feel like I'm imposing on them at all), and plus, I'd like to have a vehicle so I'll be able to visit Texas more easily. I take the lion's share of my paid time off (PTO) each year between the end of the NCAA Basketball Tournament and the start of football season, so I'll be seriously investigating getting a vehicle pretty soon. Since we're talking about money and time off, another thing that I'm pondering is whether or not I want to make another visit to Las Vegas again this summer. The obvious pitfalls are the money I'd have to spend, and the amount of PTO I'd have to use. Oh, if I'm visiting Las Vegas, and already paying for the round-trip flight, I'm not going for just 2 or 3 days... That's not my style. In case you weren't following the blog last year, or you don't remember, I stayed in Las Vegas for ELEVEN nights last June. :D Anyway, so there's that, and if I do go, when do I go. When is the World Series of Poker? Will Blue October be touring through Las Vegas again this summer? All important questions that have to be answered....
I left work at 11:30 last night, but I had to be up by 8:00 this morning (today is my Saturday) because I had an appointment for a haircut. What I'm trying to tell you is that my sleep was really messed up today (I normally wake up at 1:30 p.m. to be at work for a 3:30 p.m. shift). In spite of the nap that I took after I returned home today, I'm "hitting the wall" all of a sudden, but I'm going to go ahead and publish what I've written so far, because I've made promises on Facebook... : ) Barring any unforeseen circumstances (and excluding the Super Bowl and college basketball in March), you should be seeing posts from me more frequently. So to all of my friends and long-time readers, and to all of you stalkers and haters, I'll see you soon.... ; )
Friday, August 23, 2019
"Christmas Eve"
"I tear my heart open, I sew myself shut, my weakness is, that I care too much, and my scars remind me, that the past is real, I tear my heart open, just to feel..." -Papa Roach- (Scars)
"That's when she said, 'I don't hate you, boy, I just want to save you, while there's still something left to save,' that's when I told her, 'I lvoe you, girl, but I'm not the answer, for the questions that you still have'..." -Rise Against- (Savior)
Good afternoon everyone. It's shocking not to see "Vegas" up there in the title of the post, isn't it? : ) I figured that I'd do some catching up on me today, and then I'd return to backtracking to write up my visit to Texas, my poker forays in Las Vegas, etc... I'm not going to make any promises, but I'm going to ATTEMPT to write at least one blog post a week once football season starts. I've written so many posts recently summarizing my trip to the desert that banging the keyboard once a week should be a breeze. We'll see.. I need to give y'all credit for showing up and reading about my visit to Las Vegas. Barring some unforeseen catastrophe (like the internet completely crashing), the views that this blog receives for August 2019 will be the most in a month for the last FIVE years (since August 2014).
I teased my trip to Texas, and like I said, I'll write a more detailed summary in the near future. I hadn't been to the San Marcos/San Antonio area for any substantial length of time for at least five years. I left my job at the University of Texas four years ago next week, but my Montero Sport had died long before that. Since I didn't "need" a vehicle, living so close to campus, I didn't buy one (and still haven't, as I keep landing jobs in a fairly close proximity to where I live). Between that and good friends who are willing to give me a ride every once in a while (or even lend me their car), I'm just saving up my money for something nice (plus it gives me a healthy bankroll for betting football games, which we'll get to shortly)... : )
Anyway, the Cliff Notes version of my trip to Texas is that the visit was exactly what I needed. Although I went to Las Vegas for a week and a half in June (read the last seven entries here if you want to catch up on the details of that trip), I always held out hope that I would be able to make a quick trip to Texas before football started. I have a niece and nephew who graduated from high school in June, and they are both attending college this fall. I never mailed them any congratulatory money, as I wanted to deliver it in person. My nephew skipped town to Colorado, as I had wavered on making my visit a complete surprise, and then I finally thought better of that to make sure I had a place to sleep while in Texas. However, I did get to see my niece, and gave her the "standard" uncle line, "I couldn't find an envelope or a stamp, so I decided to bring this to you myself." You're accustomed to my amazing sense of humor by now... : P Regarding my family and the people in San Marcos, everyone is cool, just like always. Like I said, I hadn't visited San Marcos, America in at least five years (WAY TOO LONG), but it didn't matter if I was seeing old friends or meeting new Bobcats - everyone was just awesome... Go figure, we didn't get a family picture at any point (although we do have a picture of Dazie here for you, because you HAVE TO take a snapshot of the cute dog), but I've got one shot with an old friend and one shot with a new friend from the 78666 here for you.
NOTE: I have to stop wearing my yellow Texas State shirt if there's a possibility of a photo being taken. If you follow this blog or you're part of my Facebook world, you've seen this particular shirt several times... :D
Like I said, we'll have more details on this trip in the future, but for the limited amount of time that I spent in San Marcos, I had a great time. For those of you I didn't get in touch with before making my way to Texas, again, it was a short and hastily planned trip, and I absolutely plan on visiting again in the future when I have much more time to visit. I was telling people on the Square that if Texas had casinos and legal sports betting, I'd be living there in a second... : ) Oh, and the song lyrics at the top of the page are brought to you courtesy of 94.5 The Buzz, a station out of Houston that I listened to during my travels. Depending on traffic, construction, etc, the drive from Biloxi to San Marcos/San Antonio is about 9-10 hours, and you can tune in The Buzz for at least a quarter of that time due to it's signal strength on either side of Houston. Somehow I missed knowing the artists for both of these songs during their heyday, but I'm sure that I'd heard both of them, and I had the volume cranked up as I cruised along I-10...
"Christmas Eve..." Believe it or not boys and girls, we have REAL FOOTBALL TOMORROW!!! The reason that I'm not working today is that my schedule is being realigned to its fall/winter version, where I work on the weekends. Most of you already know that I would rather work on the weekends if it means that I can have football. We have two college games to kick off the meaningful football tomorrow, and the fun will last until February 2nd this season, when the Super Bowl is played in Miami. Again, the poker is coming to you in a future blog entry, but with the variance that poker brings, I really like my chances better when I bet on football games right now. Lucky for me that it starts tomorrow I guess, huh? : ) If you weren't aware, we've got Florida vs. Miami from Orlando at 6:00 p.m. CST, followed by Arizona at Hawaii starting at 9:30 p.m. CST tomorrow. The schedule will start ramping up on Thursday, including Texas State at Texas A&M, and the NCAA will offer a jam-packed schedule next weekend. The first NFL game is Thursday, September 5th.
That's all for now boys and girls, Due to this schedule readjustment, I only have one day off before working five more in a row, so I probably ought to get some chores done today. Have a great football weekend and I'll see you soon!
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
Vegas 2019: Pt. 7/The Delta Nightmare
Good morning everyone. I didn't intend to wake up this early and type this blog post, but 'The Talented Mr. Ripley' just started fifteen minutes ago, so I have ample background noise to get me through sharing this horrific story. When I left you yesterday, I had spent several hours betting horses at Paris with my friends (they were working, I was betting), and now it was 8:00 p.m. and time to head to the airport for my flight home. My flight wasn't leaving until 10:30 p.m., but I'm the person who always gives himself ample time in case the TSA lines are long, etc, etc... Traveling is stressful enough, and there's no need to add to it. My friend and former coworker Mike picked me up at Paris for my ride to the airport. Again, if you've been following this little vacation miniseries, I was so blessed to have friends giving me rides everywhere. Mike and I caught up and made it to the airport without a hitch. And then........
Now my BELIEF was that taking the 10:30 p.m. red-eye flight nonstop from Las Vegas to Atlanta, followed by a more than three-hour layover before my connection to Gulfport, THAT would be the punishment for saving some money, the inconvenient flight times. OH BOY, was I wrong... I guess that if you're one of those "look on the brightside" people, I had seats on both airplanes and I got home safely. However.......
So they announced that our flight was going to be full, yada yada yada. I didn't have a specific seat assignment (shown in my app), but I was assured that I had a seat. When it was time to board, I received my assignment, and walked to the back of the plane..., the VERY BACK of the plane. Funny thing when you're seated in the last row on this flight: your seat doesn't recline. Your seat is basically backed up against a wall, at 90 degrees, right angle style. This was awesome, since I would only be in the air for hours, from Las Vegas to Atlanta... My plan was to sleep on the airplane. You know, I hadn't been sleeping the greatest, I had a three-hour plus layover in Atlanta. Good time to catch some zzzzzz's. I closed my eyes for a little while, and then, BAMM, BAMM, BAMM!!!! GOODNESS GRACIOUS, WHAT THE ???? I was seated on aisle, and I turned to see the flight attendant wielding an ice pick, BANGING on a block of ice. Apparently Delta is squeezing every cent out of this flight, and ice cubes just aren't in the budget, so they have blocks of ice, and this poor young lady has to slay them, meaning that yours truly wasn't getting any sleep. The flight was on a modern plane (minus the ice and the non-adjustable seat), so I had a touch-screen in front of me with games that I sleepily played for most of the flight. Then we landed in Atlanta...
Now the one thing that I had on my hands was time. No stress leaving the plane, I've got more than three hours to spare. Everyone exits, I look around, get the directions to my next gate, get on the tramway, and off I go. No problem. I look at the food options (it's like 6:00-something in the morning), and at the very end of the row, with no one in line yet, is an Italian place. Pizza by the slice - TOUCHDOWN!! I get my slice of pizza, grab a table near the window, and look out over the MONSTER that is the Atlanta airport. The next hour and a half was pretty peaceful, just me playing in my phone. I had my charger with me, so no issues here, just surfing the net. Then......
I found out that my flight to Gulfport was going to be delayed. I've only been awake for the most part of the eighteen hours, so whatever. A little while later, we had a gate change, to another gate in the same terminal, less than a hundred yards away. Alright, our flight was delayed, so they're rearranging things, so whatever. About fifteen minutes later, they announce another gate change. and THIS change is to a gate in a different terminal. I wasn't happy... This change involved walking several hundred yards to the tramway, riding to the terminal (duh), and then walking another several hundred yards to the new gate. LOVELY...... I'll give you ONE GUESS what happened within five minutes of my arrival at the new gate. Tick tock, tick tock.... They SENT US BACK to the original gate............ I was LIVID. After making the announcement, the gentleman and lady at the counter were smiling and cracking jokes with each other, having some sort of wonderful conversation, and I was giving them a DEATH STARE across the seating area as I started hiking BACK to the tramway. The lady at the counter caught my eye, my evil eyes, and I didn't break my focus. I was composing nasty e-mails to Delta in my head (the Atlanta airport is Delta's hub), getting ready to DESTROY THEM on social media once I returned home, as I once again trekked back across the airport, and to the new gate. Just because this sundae needed a cherry on top, about fifteen minutes after returning to our original gate, they switched our gate again, to another one about a hundred yards away. And despite the extra pounds I'm carrying, I've been a lifelong athlete, but they've got elderly people, and children, hiking around the airport. It's a good look. Way to go Delta...
Long story short (too late for that), the flight from Atlanta to Gulfport was fine. I got some rest, picked up my rental car with no problem (this turned out to be easier than having someone pick me up at the airport early that morning, plus I had some errands to do (grocery shopping, etc...)). When I returned my rental to the airport the next morning, my friend Don picked me up. All of that rage and anger, and my plans to light Delta up. Don talked me down from the ledge really quick. As we traveled back to Biloxi from Gulfport (a fifteen-minute drive), I bombarded my friend with the details of this travel nightmare. Don actually lived in Atlanta for several years, and with the nonchalance of a person who is checking their mailbox, or flipping a light switch, Don informed me that the Atlanta airport has always been like that. That took the hot air out of my balloon instantly, and figuring that contacting the good folks at Delta would be fruitless, I just decided that I would wait until I did my little trip write-up to vent... :D
An interesting (to me) side note to this trip... After completing a pretty normal work week following this vacation, on one of my days off, I slept for SIXTEEN hours straight. I've done my share of sleeping, but even I was impressed by that. : ) I hope that all of you have a great week, and I'll see you soon.
Now my BELIEF was that taking the 10:30 p.m. red-eye flight nonstop from Las Vegas to Atlanta, followed by a more than three-hour layover before my connection to Gulfport, THAT would be the punishment for saving some money, the inconvenient flight times. OH BOY, was I wrong... I guess that if you're one of those "look on the brightside" people, I had seats on both airplanes and I got home safely. However.......
So they announced that our flight was going to be full, yada yada yada. I didn't have a specific seat assignment (shown in my app), but I was assured that I had a seat. When it was time to board, I received my assignment, and walked to the back of the plane..., the VERY BACK of the plane. Funny thing when you're seated in the last row on this flight: your seat doesn't recline. Your seat is basically backed up against a wall, at 90 degrees, right angle style. This was awesome, since I would only be in the air for hours, from Las Vegas to Atlanta... My plan was to sleep on the airplane. You know, I hadn't been sleeping the greatest, I had a three-hour plus layover in Atlanta. Good time to catch some zzzzzz's. I closed my eyes for a little while, and then, BAMM, BAMM, BAMM!!!! GOODNESS GRACIOUS, WHAT THE ???? I was seated on aisle, and I turned to see the flight attendant wielding an ice pick, BANGING on a block of ice. Apparently Delta is squeezing every cent out of this flight, and ice cubes just aren't in the budget, so they have blocks of ice, and this poor young lady has to slay them, meaning that yours truly wasn't getting any sleep. The flight was on a modern plane (minus the ice and the non-adjustable seat), so I had a touch-screen in front of me with games that I sleepily played for most of the flight. Then we landed in Atlanta...
Now the one thing that I had on my hands was time. No stress leaving the plane, I've got more than three hours to spare. Everyone exits, I look around, get the directions to my next gate, get on the tramway, and off I go. No problem. I look at the food options (it's like 6:00-something in the morning), and at the very end of the row, with no one in line yet, is an Italian place. Pizza by the slice - TOUCHDOWN!! I get my slice of pizza, grab a table near the window, and look out over the MONSTER that is the Atlanta airport. The next hour and a half was pretty peaceful, just me playing in my phone. I had my charger with me, so no issues here, just surfing the net. Then......
I found out that my flight to Gulfport was going to be delayed. I've only been awake for the most part of the eighteen hours, so whatever. A little while later, we had a gate change, to another gate in the same terminal, less than a hundred yards away. Alright, our flight was delayed, so they're rearranging things, so whatever. About fifteen minutes later, they announce another gate change. and THIS change is to a gate in a different terminal. I wasn't happy... This change involved walking several hundred yards to the tramway, riding to the terminal (duh), and then walking another several hundred yards to the new gate. LOVELY...... I'll give you ONE GUESS what happened within five minutes of my arrival at the new gate. Tick tock, tick tock.... They SENT US BACK to the original gate............ I was LIVID. After making the announcement, the gentleman and lady at the counter were smiling and cracking jokes with each other, having some sort of wonderful conversation, and I was giving them a DEATH STARE across the seating area as I started hiking BACK to the tramway. The lady at the counter caught my eye, my evil eyes, and I didn't break my focus. I was composing nasty e-mails to Delta in my head (the Atlanta airport is Delta's hub), getting ready to DESTROY THEM on social media once I returned home, as I once again trekked back across the airport, and to the new gate. Just because this sundae needed a cherry on top, about fifteen minutes after returning to our original gate, they switched our gate again, to another one about a hundred yards away. And despite the extra pounds I'm carrying, I've been a lifelong athlete, but they've got elderly people, and children, hiking around the airport. It's a good look. Way to go Delta...
Long story short (too late for that), the flight from Atlanta to Gulfport was fine. I got some rest, picked up my rental car with no problem (this turned out to be easier than having someone pick me up at the airport early that morning, plus I had some errands to do (grocery shopping, etc...)). When I returned my rental to the airport the next morning, my friend Don picked me up. All of that rage and anger, and my plans to light Delta up. Don talked me down from the ledge really quick. As we traveled back to Biloxi from Gulfport (a fifteen-minute drive), I bombarded my friend with the details of this travel nightmare. Don actually lived in Atlanta for several years, and with the nonchalance of a person who is checking their mailbox, or flipping a light switch, Don informed me that the Atlanta airport has always been like that. That took the hot air out of my balloon instantly, and figuring that contacting the good folks at Delta would be fruitless, I just decided that I would wait until I did my little trip write-up to vent... :D
An interesting (to me) side note to this trip... After completing a pretty normal work week following this vacation, on one of my days off, I slept for SIXTEEN hours straight. I've done my share of sleeping, but even I was impressed by that. : ) I hope that all of you have a great week, and I'll see you soon.
Monday, August 19, 2019
Vegas 2019: Pt. 6/Cars & Horses & Fridays
Good morning everyone. It's sure looking like this recap of my trip to Las Vegas is going to slide right into football season... : ) Honestly, I've been watching as much football as I can already, with all of the preseason games being rebroadcast on the NFL Network. Basically, it's already football season for me, aside from the amount of money that I'll be betting on the real games (right now I'm most just studying). So I'm seeing this post, and an entry about my trip home, and then a write-up that is just dedicated to poker, and that's if I'm not neglecting any odds and ends (which I surely will).
I think you've figured out already that I've mixed and matched days when recounting my little Vegas Vacation (my summary hasn't been in sequential order). I'm saying that just to say that my friend Geoff didn't hang out with me every single day of my trip, although his name is popping up in pretty much every blog entry. : ) On the morning of the Blues' Stanley Cup ticket being cashed, Geoff picked me up at Harrah's, and we ventured down Flamingo Road out towards Sam's Town. Just shy of this casino in eastern Las Vegas, my friend Joey has opened up an auto shop called ATL (All Tune and Lube) Vegas. His shop is located at 4728 E. Flamingo Rd. for those of you who live in the desert and might need an oil change or some work done on your car. If you mention my name, Joey probably won't charge you more than double the normal rate for any work done on your vehicle. ; ) For those of you who have been following this blog for a while (Bikini Hill turns eight years-old next month), this is the same Joey who made weekly football picks here (along with myself and my brother Pete). I decided to stop posting the weekly picks because it started to seem like a homework assignment, having to meet the deadline every week, but Joey is still going strong. I worked with Joey at the Riviera when I dealt poker (going on fifteen years ago now), and from there, Joey went to Palace Station, working as a ticket writer in their Race & Sportsbook (speak up when this starts sounding familiar)... Geoff and I got to spend significant time with Joey when we visited, and we got to see his whole operation. If you've followed my adventures, you know that I'm good at DRIVING cars, but repairing them is a whole other world to me. It was cool to roam around in the "back of the house" and see what an auto shop looks like behind the scenes.
Joey is the superstar pictured on the left, and if you need any work done on your car, the number to his shop is shown in the top left of the photo.
Fridays. Now we're fast forwarding to my very last night in town. I had planned on being at the Ladies' No-Limit Hold 'Em event at the World Series of Poker right when it kicked off at noon, but my sleep was all out of whack (neverending story), so shortly after my alarm went off, I vetoed it and went right back to sleep. Later in the day, my friend Mike (who I met at my orientation in Las Vegas when I became a part-time employee with Caesars's) and I made plans to meet up later to go check out the WSOP and get something to eat. As any good blog writer should, I'm COMPLETELY BLANKING on his friend's name right now, but the three of us met at the Flamingo poker room (total miracle that I was able to find that, huh?), and we ventured over to the Ladies' event. Since I hit the 'publish' button earlier this morning, we"ve confirmed that Mike's friend is named Geoff (yes, the same as my friend!). I thought it might be Jeff, but I couldn't pull the trigger... :D Once we arrived, they were at the point in the tournament when players were beginning to drop like flies, fast approaching the pay bubble. Once we had roamed our way through the tables at that event, we ventured around the action in the other convention rooms (hosting the WSOP), and we collectively saw several people that we knew. Our visit was capped off by a visit to TGI Fridays at the Gold Coast Casino. Our meals were fine, but what made this visit memorable was that we were all starving, and having been slow, the restaurant had just cut a bunch of their staff. Sure enough, after you cut people, that's when you're going to get a rush... : ) Regardless, it was great hanging out with Mike and Geoff, and afterward I went straight back to my room, because I had a long day on the horizon...
Now the day after the poker and Fridays was ACTUALLY Friday, which meant that it was time for me to check out from Harrah's after my mammoth eleven-day stay. The problem was, what was I going to do all day after I checked out? Check-out is at 11:00 a.m., but to make my trip cheaper, my initial flight for Biloxi wasn't leaving McCarran until 10:30 p.m. that night. I only had one carry-on bag, so it wasn't like I was lugging a bunch of bags around, but still. Long story short, I made some phone calls (Jonni) :D , and the result was that I found out that I was allowed to bet horses at one of my former properties. So I ventured to Paris, knowing that there was no conflict of interest, and after hanging out with my former coworkers for SEVERAL HOURS, I felt lucky to have lost only $20.00. : D Now this was on a Friday, and there weren't many tracks running, so I was betting on EVERYTHING, but I was only betting a few dollars at a time on everything...
Alright boys and girls, that's all for today. Next time we'll talk about my LOVELY trip back to Biloxi, and then we'll summarize my poker and this trip at a future date. Have a great week everyone!
I think you've figured out already that I've mixed and matched days when recounting my little Vegas Vacation (my summary hasn't been in sequential order). I'm saying that just to say that my friend Geoff didn't hang out with me every single day of my trip, although his name is popping up in pretty much every blog entry. : ) On the morning of the Blues' Stanley Cup ticket being cashed, Geoff picked me up at Harrah's, and we ventured down Flamingo Road out towards Sam's Town. Just shy of this casino in eastern Las Vegas, my friend Joey has opened up an auto shop called ATL (All Tune and Lube) Vegas. His shop is located at 4728 E. Flamingo Rd. for those of you who live in the desert and might need an oil change or some work done on your car. If you mention my name, Joey probably won't charge you more than double the normal rate for any work done on your vehicle. ; ) For those of you who have been following this blog for a while (Bikini Hill turns eight years-old next month), this is the same Joey who made weekly football picks here (along with myself and my brother Pete). I decided to stop posting the weekly picks because it started to seem like a homework assignment, having to meet the deadline every week, but Joey is still going strong. I worked with Joey at the Riviera when I dealt poker (going on fifteen years ago now), and from there, Joey went to Palace Station, working as a ticket writer in their Race & Sportsbook (speak up when this starts sounding familiar)... Geoff and I got to spend significant time with Joey when we visited, and we got to see his whole operation. If you've followed my adventures, you know that I'm good at DRIVING cars, but repairing them is a whole other world to me. It was cool to roam around in the "back of the house" and see what an auto shop looks like behind the scenes.
Joey is the superstar pictured on the left, and if you need any work done on your car, the number to his shop is shown in the top left of the photo.
Fridays. Now we're fast forwarding to my very last night in town. I had planned on being at the Ladies' No-Limit Hold 'Em event at the World Series of Poker right when it kicked off at noon, but my sleep was all out of whack (neverending story), so shortly after my alarm went off, I vetoed it and went right back to sleep. Later in the day, my friend Mike (who I met at my orientation in Las Vegas when I became a part-time employee with Caesars's) and I made plans to meet up later to go check out the WSOP and get something to eat. As any good blog writer should, I'm COMPLETELY BLANKING on his friend's name right now, but the three of us met at the Flamingo poker room (total miracle that I was able to find that, huh?), and we ventured over to the Ladies' event. Since I hit the 'publish' button earlier this morning, we"ve confirmed that Mike's friend is named Geoff (yes, the same as my friend!). I thought it might be Jeff, but I couldn't pull the trigger... :D Once we arrived, they were at the point in the tournament when players were beginning to drop like flies, fast approaching the pay bubble. Once we had roamed our way through the tables at that event, we ventured around the action in the other convention rooms (hosting the WSOP), and we collectively saw several people that we knew. Our visit was capped off by a visit to TGI Fridays at the Gold Coast Casino. Our meals were fine, but what made this visit memorable was that we were all starving, and having been slow, the restaurant had just cut a bunch of their staff. Sure enough, after you cut people, that's when you're going to get a rush... : ) Regardless, it was great hanging out with Mike and Geoff, and afterward I went straight back to my room, because I had a long day on the horizon...
Now the day after the poker and Fridays was ACTUALLY Friday, which meant that it was time for me to check out from Harrah's after my mammoth eleven-day stay. The problem was, what was I going to do all day after I checked out? Check-out is at 11:00 a.m., but to make my trip cheaper, my initial flight for Biloxi wasn't leaving McCarran until 10:30 p.m. that night. I only had one carry-on bag, so it wasn't like I was lugging a bunch of bags around, but still. Long story short, I made some phone calls (Jonni) :D , and the result was that I found out that I was allowed to bet horses at one of my former properties. So I ventured to Paris, knowing that there was no conflict of interest, and after hanging out with my former coworkers for SEVERAL HOURS, I felt lucky to have lost only $20.00. : D Now this was on a Friday, and there weren't many tracks running, so I was betting on EVERYTHING, but I was only betting a few dollars at a time on everything...
Alright boys and girls, that's all for today. Next time we'll talk about my LOVELY trip back to Biloxi, and then we'll summarize my poker and this trip at a future date. Have a great week everyone!
Tuesday, August 13, 2019
Vegas 2019: Pt. 5/Blue October & The Blues
"First time I've seen this band and I have to say ... VERY IMPRESSED !!! I've been going to the Brooklyn Bowl since it opened and I've seen a lot of great bands there but I don't think I've ever seen it as crowded or as enthusiastic as it was tonight. Crisp, tight, powerful set ... good show. Check out "Hate Me" and "Your Love is Like A Car Crash" for a taste on YT..." -Dennis Macklin-
Good morning everyone. It's slowly but surely sinking in that I can't spend eleven nights in Las Vegas, and then wrap my whole trip up in two blog entries... : ) I'm still determined to summarize this trip by Christmas..., ummmm, the beginning of football season. In today's edition of 'What I Did On My Summer Vacation,' we're going to combine two completely different events because we're playing on the word 'blue...'
So Blue October has been my favorite band for quite some time. I first saw them perform live about twenty years ago, and WOW... Back when I started seeing them in San Marcos, tickets were $8.00 presale and $10.00 at the door, and I have friends who have an even earlier history with the band. Actually, I've seen them perform live probably 30-40 times, and that could be a whole other blog entry in itself, but I have to FOCUS... :D Knowing that Blue October was going to be in Las Vegas on June 14th is one of the major reasons that I booked my trip when I did. I also knew that the World Series of Poker would be going on, and my friends were going to be there regardless of when I went (although I'm not going anywhere during football season or that big college basketball tournament in March, so that easily eliminates more than half of the year that I can travel and visit people...).
I was content to attend the concert myself, but I was fortunate to meet my friend Dennis at the show. Dennis was a ticket writer with me in the sportsbooks of Caesar's Entertainment, and he now works for our 'hub' (the group which puts out our betting lines, among their many jobs). Usually when I attend sporting events and concerts, I prefer getting to venues really early and watching everything unfold. It's almost empty when you arrive, you get to watch the crowd file in, take in warm-ups, watch the roadies set up for the band, etc... With Blue October, you get to watch an opening act, etc... On this particular night, I wasn't feeling any of that. The last time that I saw them perform at Brooklyn Bowl, I stood outside in a really long line for over an hour, which didn't really make much sense, because I had no desire to fight for a position right by the stage (been there, done that), or to see the opening act. No offense to the opening act, but on this day, my gameplan included a pre-concert nap, a meal at Outback Steakhouse (one of seven during this trip), and then I'd casually stroll in about the time that the opening act finished. Plan worked LIKE A CHARM. : ) I told Dennis that I'd be sporting a Texas State t-shirt, and right after I cleared the last ticket checkpoint, there was Dennis. Easy peasy... Dennis had never seen Blue October in person, and it was cool to take in the show with someone who was about to be really impressed. The review at the top of this entry was written by Dennis, and he gets to see A LOT of concerts in Las Vegas, so I was really glad that he enjoyed it. We were lucky to get a really good spot where we had a wall to lean against, unobstructed view, and like I said, the band didn't disappoint. Lucky for y'all, Dennis got some great photos from the show. When I go see Blue October, my phone normally stays in my pocket, as I'm just trying to take everything in, but as I said, Dennis was a team player, so here you go...
Transitioning from Blue October to the Blues... First off, I was already going to write about this event, but since my friend Jordan was so excited about making it into a blog a few days back, I thought to myself, "Why not twice in one week?" : ) That day that I wrote about recently, when I first went to visit my friends, and the news of the Anthony Davis trade broke, etc... Well, I also learned of this event taking place a few days later. Surprisingly enough, this story hadn't hit my radar until I was in Las Vegas, talking to my friends. At some point during the hockey season, the St. Louis Blues weren't very good evidently. Now I don't usually start paying too much attention to hockey until the NCAA basketball season has come to an end, but the Blues were actually 250 to 1 to win the Stanley Cup with Caesar's at some point during the season. I don't know if they were ever a longer shot to win it all, but I know that the gentleman in the photos below bet $400 on the Blues when they were 250 to 1. 400 x 250 = ??? Anyone wanna guess? Yep, he won $100,000, plus he got his $400 back. $100,400. I seemed to have an opening in my vacation schedule, so I decided that I was going to go check it out. I was with my friend Geoff again, and after we went to see my friend Joey (who we'll talk about in a later episode), we thought that we'd catch the big payout before we went to the buffet at Paris (because heaven knows that I wasn't eating enough on this trip...). At my property here in Biloxi, we had a customer bet $7,000 on Tiger Woods to win the Master's Tournament at 14 to 1, so he won $98,000, plus got his $7,000 back, for a total of $105,000. However, I wasn't at work on either end of that fun (the bet being placed, or the cashout), so this was kinda cool to see. And hey, if it meant Jordan could make it into the blog again... : ) Here are a couple of photos with Jordan and the happy winner...
I actually have to work today myself, so I'm going back to sleep now. :D Have a great day everyone!
Good morning everyone. It's slowly but surely sinking in that I can't spend eleven nights in Las Vegas, and then wrap my whole trip up in two blog entries... : ) I'm still determined to summarize this trip by Christmas..., ummmm, the beginning of football season. In today's edition of 'What I Did On My Summer Vacation,' we're going to combine two completely different events because we're playing on the word 'blue...'
So Blue October has been my favorite band for quite some time. I first saw them perform live about twenty years ago, and WOW... Back when I started seeing them in San Marcos, tickets were $8.00 presale and $10.00 at the door, and I have friends who have an even earlier history with the band. Actually, I've seen them perform live probably 30-40 times, and that could be a whole other blog entry in itself, but I have to FOCUS... :D Knowing that Blue October was going to be in Las Vegas on June 14th is one of the major reasons that I booked my trip when I did. I also knew that the World Series of Poker would be going on, and my friends were going to be there regardless of when I went (although I'm not going anywhere during football season or that big college basketball tournament in March, so that easily eliminates more than half of the year that I can travel and visit people...).
I was content to attend the concert myself, but I was fortunate to meet my friend Dennis at the show. Dennis was a ticket writer with me in the sportsbooks of Caesar's Entertainment, and he now works for our 'hub' (the group which puts out our betting lines, among their many jobs). Usually when I attend sporting events and concerts, I prefer getting to venues really early and watching everything unfold. It's almost empty when you arrive, you get to watch the crowd file in, take in warm-ups, watch the roadies set up for the band, etc... With Blue October, you get to watch an opening act, etc... On this particular night, I wasn't feeling any of that. The last time that I saw them perform at Brooklyn Bowl, I stood outside in a really long line for over an hour, which didn't really make much sense, because I had no desire to fight for a position right by the stage (been there, done that), or to see the opening act. No offense to the opening act, but on this day, my gameplan included a pre-concert nap, a meal at Outback Steakhouse (one of seven during this trip), and then I'd casually stroll in about the time that the opening act finished. Plan worked LIKE A CHARM. : ) I told Dennis that I'd be sporting a Texas State t-shirt, and right after I cleared the last ticket checkpoint, there was Dennis. Easy peasy... Dennis had never seen Blue October in person, and it was cool to take in the show with someone who was about to be really impressed. The review at the top of this entry was written by Dennis, and he gets to see A LOT of concerts in Las Vegas, so I was really glad that he enjoyed it. We were lucky to get a really good spot where we had a wall to lean against, unobstructed view, and like I said, the band didn't disappoint. Lucky for y'all, Dennis got some great photos from the show. When I go see Blue October, my phone normally stays in my pocket, as I'm just trying to take everything in, but as I said, Dennis was a team player, so here you go...
Transitioning from Blue October to the Blues... First off, I was already going to write about this event, but since my friend Jordan was so excited about making it into a blog a few days back, I thought to myself, "Why not twice in one week?" : ) That day that I wrote about recently, when I first went to visit my friends, and the news of the Anthony Davis trade broke, etc... Well, I also learned of this event taking place a few days later. Surprisingly enough, this story hadn't hit my radar until I was in Las Vegas, talking to my friends. At some point during the hockey season, the St. Louis Blues weren't very good evidently. Now I don't usually start paying too much attention to hockey until the NCAA basketball season has come to an end, but the Blues were actually 250 to 1 to win the Stanley Cup with Caesar's at some point during the season. I don't know if they were ever a longer shot to win it all, but I know that the gentleman in the photos below bet $400 on the Blues when they were 250 to 1. 400 x 250 = ??? Anyone wanna guess? Yep, he won $100,000, plus he got his $400 back. $100,400. I seemed to have an opening in my vacation schedule, so I decided that I was going to go check it out. I was with my friend Geoff again, and after we went to see my friend Joey (who we'll talk about in a later episode), we thought that we'd catch the big payout before we went to the buffet at Paris (because heaven knows that I wasn't eating enough on this trip...). At my property here in Biloxi, we had a customer bet $7,000 on Tiger Woods to win the Master's Tournament at 14 to 1, so he won $98,000, plus got his $7,000 back, for a total of $105,000. However, I wasn't at work on either end of that fun (the bet being placed, or the cashout), so this was kinda cool to see. And hey, if it meant Jordan could make it into the blog again... : ) Here are a couple of photos with Jordan and the happy winner...
I actually have to work today myself, so I'm going back to sleep now. :D Have a great day everyone!
Sunday, August 11, 2019
Vegas 2019: Pt. 4/Representing Texas State Pays Off
Good morning everyone. I didn't know that I would be writing again so soon, but if I'm going to finish telling you about Las Vegas, and then start telling you about San Marcos and visiting my family (with football right around the corner), the words have to start hitting the computer screen. I really intended to write more yesterday, but I "hit the wall" as far as my sleep goes. For the second night in a row, I will be awake in the middle of the night, but I will take a long early morning nap this time, waking up around noon, to get me closer to my work sleep schedule. Returning from San Antonio to Biloxi, I left at about 8:30 p.m. and reached Biloxi before 7:00 a.m., so that's the current sleep pattern that I have to break. Luckily I cut my overgrown grass this morning, as the forecast for rain did come through, and it would have been a real pain in the a** to do so after the rain. Much like last night, the NFL Network will be along for the ride as I type this entry. Honestly, in my mind, it's football season already (minus me making bets). The NFL Network replays every single preseason game, and since I was driving Thursday night, I haven't changed my channel, watching EVERY SINGLE GAME that they've been showing in my waking hours. Okay, off we go.......
As my most recent stint in Las Vegas was coming to an end, I ordered a handful of Texas State shirts so that I could represent my alma mater when I was at the poker tables. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you: On this day (August 11th) "a couple of years" ago, I graduated from college. This is a photo of me during my college days, and one at my graduation...
I wonder why this is the story I chose to share with you today.... : ) Anyway, this story occurred during the wee hours of Sunday morning, in-between visiting my friends at the sportsbook, and attending the birthday party at Sunset Park (both topics that were covered in yesterday's blog post). My friend Geoff (who for working two full-time jobs during the World Series) was a great friend in helping me get around the desert during my visit, and we got the chance to hang out quite a bit, considering his work schedule. I arrived at the Rio after midnight on this Sunday morning, my first visit to the World Series of Poker during this trip. I wanted to check the scene out while things were more quiet, hoping to catch my friend during his lunch break. I also knew other people who were working the series, and I thought I might run into some of them. In addition to the well-publicized bracelet events that many of you are surely familiar with, there are also round-the-clock cash games and "daily tournaments" during the series, so there's never really a complete shutdown of action while the WSOP is running. As luck would have it, Geoff was going to forego his full lunch break and seek an EO (early out) since things weren't hectic at the Rio on this particular night. He told me that he would give me a ride back to the Strip if this happened, so I was watching some poker near his work area when this occurred.......
I was on the rail (there was literally a small wall in this case) of a high limit PLO (Pot Limit Omaha) cash game, wearing one of my Texas State t-shirts. There were MANY black ($100) and green ($25) chips on the table. FYI, these are much higher stakes than any games that I play in. The player who was the most talkative was really giving a hard time to the player that I was standing right behind on the rail. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail, other than to say that the words "sister" and "whore" were used in the same sentence, when referencing the player's family. Now the guy that I was behind was REALLY calm and collected, at one point replying, "Hey, she's got to live her own life..." After a while, the guy who was doing all of the chirping suddenly exclaims, "HEY, TEXAS STATE!" I instantly responded, because..., DUH, we know he's talking to me. Then the guy goes on, AGAIN targeting the player sitting in front of me: "Hey, did you know that he was cut from the gymnastics team at Texas State in 2003?" The table starts laughing, and the player in front of me replies, "You know, that's the funniest thing you've said all day..." And then every few hands, the chatty player resumed his conversation with me. "Where is Tecas State?" I told him, "It's between San Antonio and Austin, a half-hour between each, in San Marcos." After a few more Texas State and San Marcos-related questions, he asks if I play poker. I respond that I do, but for MUCH smaller stakes. Then he asks if I'm up for the trip, and I respond, "Yup, a little." I even used a hand-gesture to explain this, like the team needs an inch for a first down.... "How much?" I finally tell him that I'm up just over 100 bucks. THEN he reaches down, grabs a black chip from his stack, and TOSSES IT ACROSS THE TABLE towards me! He must have been throwing into the air-conditioning, as the chip falls short, hitting the other side of the short wall, before falling to the floor. I was that close to 100 dollars. But wait. A player on my side of the table picked up the chip, and handed it to me. Then the player who tossed the chip, knowing that it had hit the wall, asked where it was (I believe he had gotten into a hand). I showed him that I was holding the chip, and at that moment, one of the floor people came over, to take the chip from me. Seeing this, the player said, "NO, NO, let him keep it." The floor walked away, and I kind of sheepishly shrugged, like, "Are you sure?" I guess since I had been watching the game for about half an hour, he thought that I was down on my luck. I actually enjoy watching people play poker, whether I have money or not, which I did in this case. I watched the game for a few more minutes, and then Geoff finished his shift and motioned for me that it was time to go. And that's how I left the Rio a hundred dollars richer....
That's all for tonight, but I'll have another installment for you soon. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!
As my most recent stint in Las Vegas was coming to an end, I ordered a handful of Texas State shirts so that I could represent my alma mater when I was at the poker tables. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you: On this day (August 11th) "a couple of years" ago, I graduated from college. This is a photo of me during my college days, and one at my graduation...
I wonder why this is the story I chose to share with you today.... : ) Anyway, this story occurred during the wee hours of Sunday morning, in-between visiting my friends at the sportsbook, and attending the birthday party at Sunset Park (both topics that were covered in yesterday's blog post). My friend Geoff (who for working two full-time jobs during the World Series) was a great friend in helping me get around the desert during my visit, and we got the chance to hang out quite a bit, considering his work schedule. I arrived at the Rio after midnight on this Sunday morning, my first visit to the World Series of Poker during this trip. I wanted to check the scene out while things were more quiet, hoping to catch my friend during his lunch break. I also knew other people who were working the series, and I thought I might run into some of them. In addition to the well-publicized bracelet events that many of you are surely familiar with, there are also round-the-clock cash games and "daily tournaments" during the series, so there's never really a complete shutdown of action while the WSOP is running. As luck would have it, Geoff was going to forego his full lunch break and seek an EO (early out) since things weren't hectic at the Rio on this particular night. He told me that he would give me a ride back to the Strip if this happened, so I was watching some poker near his work area when this occurred.......
I was on the rail (there was literally a small wall in this case) of a high limit PLO (Pot Limit Omaha) cash game, wearing one of my Texas State t-shirts. There were MANY black ($100) and green ($25) chips on the table. FYI, these are much higher stakes than any games that I play in. The player who was the most talkative was really giving a hard time to the player that I was standing right behind on the rail. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail, other than to say that the words "sister" and "whore" were used in the same sentence, when referencing the player's family. Now the guy that I was behind was REALLY calm and collected, at one point replying, "Hey, she's got to live her own life..." After a while, the guy who was doing all of the chirping suddenly exclaims, "HEY, TEXAS STATE!" I instantly responded, because..., DUH, we know he's talking to me. Then the guy goes on, AGAIN targeting the player sitting in front of me: "Hey, did you know that he was cut from the gymnastics team at Texas State in 2003?" The table starts laughing, and the player in front of me replies, "You know, that's the funniest thing you've said all day..." And then every few hands, the chatty player resumed his conversation with me. "Where is Tecas State?" I told him, "It's between San Antonio and Austin, a half-hour between each, in San Marcos." After a few more Texas State and San Marcos-related questions, he asks if I play poker. I respond that I do, but for MUCH smaller stakes. Then he asks if I'm up for the trip, and I respond, "Yup, a little." I even used a hand-gesture to explain this, like the team needs an inch for a first down.... "How much?" I finally tell him that I'm up just over 100 bucks. THEN he reaches down, grabs a black chip from his stack, and TOSSES IT ACROSS THE TABLE towards me! He must have been throwing into the air-conditioning, as the chip falls short, hitting the other side of the short wall, before falling to the floor. I was that close to 100 dollars. But wait. A player on my side of the table picked up the chip, and handed it to me. Then the player who tossed the chip, knowing that it had hit the wall, asked where it was (I believe he had gotten into a hand). I showed him that I was holding the chip, and at that moment, one of the floor people came over, to take the chip from me. Seeing this, the player said, "NO, NO, let him keep it." The floor walked away, and I kind of sheepishly shrugged, like, "Are you sure?" I guess since I had been watching the game for about half an hour, he thought that I was down on my luck. I actually enjoy watching people play poker, whether I have money or not, which I did in this case. I watched the game for a few more minutes, and then Geoff finished his shift and motioned for me that it was time to go. And that's how I left the Rio a hundred dollars richer....
That's all for tonight, but I'll have another installment for you soon. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!
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