This was another takin’ it easy day. The only deadline we held ourselves to was the 11 AM craps lesson at New York New York, a really cool and frustrating time. Thankfully the cool outweighed the frustrating which was really the obtuseness of people polluting the gene pool.
We arrived early, killed some time with a little video poker which was quickly becoming…Somara beats up Steve at gambling.
The craps lesson was given by a gentleman who had 31 years under his belt in the business. Probably explained why his name tag had the title of gaming supervisor on it (the modern, politer term for pit boss). Somara’s initial question was how he usually knew how many chips were in his hand: easy, at most there’s only 20 in a stack and over the years one learns to instinctively grab five, 10 or 20 at a time without looking. I knew the essentials: bet on the pass line, betting on sixes and eights, hard numbers and how to bet for the employees (say “you and me”). Most importantly, put the money on the table, never hand it to the dealers. I did need further assistance on the slang, namely how to tell them to when I didn’t want to press (letting it ride) a bet; you say, “please take my bet down.” As I’ve always said, I know I’m going to lose, I just don’t want to come off as a complete rube.
I won’t bore you further on what else I understand better but if you ever want to join me next time, tell me. Craps is a social game, the more people playing, the better!
Does Somara understand it? You’ll have to ask her. I think she just needs additional practice at a table without any heavy smokers. Somara did join me for a few rolls at M (somewhere we went the following day).
What about the frustrating? Oh the usual social retards that show up late and slow down the lesson with dumb questions…since they weren’t paying attention the first time or they’re math impaired (odds and probability are similar but not the same!) These people gave me flashbacks over the idiocy I remembered during my experience with jury duty.
I want to come back to the instructor. Another vital element he explained was dice handling due to movies and television showing things the casinos don’t allow: can’t switch hands, can’t have your hands leave the table, dice must hit the wall, a polite method of rolling, no blowing and if a die hops on to the floor, the supervisor inspects it, puts it back in the ‘cup’ and only the shooter can request it back. To me, the dice all the same. Obviously, the nice man didn’t mention gambler’s fallacy. Without it, Las Vegas wouldbe the size of Bismarck, ND as the population crested in the Forties after the Boulder/Hoover Dam got completed.
Afterwards, I put down some money on the Mavericks to finish off the Heat. Jose managed to catch me in time so I could spot him five. We all know how this panned out. Hard to believe the Heat remained favored after the outcome on Game Five too.
We then just strolled along on foot. New York to Monte Carlo. Monte Carlo’s tram to Bellagio. Bellagio to Caesar’s Palace. I got an answer from a nightclub guy regarding Kendra Wilkinson’s birthday party from the previous evening. People pay to get in normally. The celebration is an incentive for people to go. They are allowed to say ‘happy birthday’ to the guest of honor, maybe get an autograph. Sounds like an R-rated book signing sans the book because Kendra’s fan base isn’t very literate. I thought it was a fundraiser for the celebrity and/or the ultimate butt-kissing.
Another oddity around Caesar’s Palace. We were hungry enough to eat at its Cheesecake Factory without a second thought. There’s been one in Austin for years and we usually avoid it for Fresh Choice.
The walk back was a tad arduous because the car remained in New York New York’s parking lot. We managed. I credit my newfound love of running on a treadmill five or more days/week.
We unwound at the timeshare as expected.
With a nice nap completed, I went to the neighboring bar (Tahiti Joe’s) to watch the Mavericks win Jose and me 10 smackers each. It’s a great thing the other players picked up the slack. If Dirk Nowitzki weren’t snakebit, the Mavs would’ve slaughtered the Heat. The concierge provided some nice drink coupons which were great when I didn’t have to drive back to the room.
We finished up the evening with a fun swim at our timeshare’s lazy river. These special pools rock when they’re relatively private.
Days like number six are the low-key types which make vacations rock!
Gambling Report:
- Somara: -$30.50
- Steve: -$119 (but I won $10 on the Mavericks at 2-1 against!)