So I got about 3 hours of sleep on Saturday night, but I was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as I headed down to the Hilton to meet up with Doc Al and spend the day in the sports book watching football.
I called him as I was on the road heading to the hotel, but he said that he and Ross were having breakfast at the Four Seasons of Fremont Street, the El Cortez, and that he'd be back in time for kickoff.
No problemo said I, I'm sure I could find something to do to keep me occupied until he showed up. I left the truck in the capable hands of the valet, but noticed a few of them rodeo cowboys casting lustful glances at it as I made my way inside. The first stop was the sports book, and honestly, even though I'm having about my worst year ever football-gambling-wise, a lot of the games looked juicy. On my Great Giveaway card, I'd already picked Miami and Jacksonville as upset specials, but when it came down to actually digging more money out of my wallet, I didn't want to touch those games with a ten-foot pole. I browsed the odds for a few minutes before decided that I'd parlay two crummy teams playing two other crummy teams, and laid twenty bucks on both the Falcons beating the Bucs by 3, and Tennessee getting 2 points against the Texans (What the... ? Houston is favored??? Was Fredo setting the lines that day?).
Once I kissed that money goodbye, I decided to hit the poker room, figuring it was never too early to start tuning up for the March Madness tournament (yeah, the rest of you chumps are competing for second place! Heh.), but there was only one game going and the waiting list was about six people short of starting a second game. So I gave up on that idea. I took a moment to stand on the steps and fiddle with my cell phone, paying tribute to the time Derek and I got tossed out of there on that Sunday morning five years earlier. I got away with it, this time, and then headed into the casino proper looking for a time-killer while waiting for Al and Ross to show up.
There was no Pai Gow table open, and I didn't feel like playing blackjack, so I wandered over to the dice table for the first time in months. I bought in for a hundy, but got crushed within five minutes. So what's the proper course of action when that happens? Walk away? Anyone? Hell no--you get out another hundred and win it back!
Unfortunately, my bankroll is a plaything of the gambling gods, and I was down to my last fifteen bucks before somebody finally caught a roll and brought me back. I got the dice after that, and once I had all the numbers covered, I was $5 short of breaking even.
Seven out!
Of course.
By that time, there was still no sign of Doc Al, but there was life at the Pai Gow tables, so I went over there. I bought in there for a hundred also, but again, I got off to a less-than-glamorous start and was down about $75 before I decided I'd go from betting $20 per hand and $3 on the bonus and went to table minimum with a dollar on the Fortune Bonus.
Next hand--Mikey gets a Royal Flush! Woo Hoo! Of course, at a 150-1 payoff, I really liked the $150 I got paid, but would've been a bit happier with the $450 I would've gotten had I not been getting my ass kicked the previous five hands. Oh well. The black and the green went directly in my pocket and luckily the cards started falling in my favor after that. Doc Al finally showed up and joined me, but Ross headed off to play some golf.
We played for about an hour, enjoying bloody marys, coffee with Bailey's, and a couple of premium cigars while having a good time there at the table. When I got to the point where I had $200 worth of red, I called it quits, up $200 for the day. Doc doubled up, also.
There were no seats available in the sports book, but they were showing all of the games in the Barry Manilow theatre, so we went there instead. There were not only plenty of seats available, but they also offered $2 beers and dollar hot dogs at the snack bar. Doc offered to spend the first six bucks and fetched us some grub, while I kept our seats warm and figured out if any of the tickets we'd bought earlier in the day were still worth anything.
Luckily Atlanta was putting a beating on Tampa Bay, so the first half of my parlay was safe, but Tennessee and Texas were tied up going into overtime. I was getting two points, so I was cool with a tie game, but when Vince Young busted out with that 40 yard touchdown run to end the game, nobody was more excited than I was.
Doc Al, however, threw a little bit of reality my way.
Dude, look what gambling has done to you--you're actually rooting for the Titans now!
Oh god. That's just wrong. I hate the Titans. Suddenly I felt very dirty. Like a porn actress the first time in front of the camera. But all scruples disappeared when I went to the window and cashed my ticket for $72. Hell yeah. Clearly I have a price. And it ain't very high, either.
Since I didn't get much sleep the night before, I was starting to get a little sleepy during the second games, and left just before halftime. But it was a great day in the sportsbook. All the teams I hate got their asses handed to 'em--Seattle, Dallas, and New England, and I won my first parlay in a month. Oh, and I won a bit of money at the tables, too.
But I came home and got a nap in for a couple of hours before heading back to work.
When I got there I found out that I'd be dealing Rapid Roulette and a bit of $10 blackjack. No more Pai Gow for Mikey, it seems--most of those tables go to the seven o'clockers. It wasn't too bad, though. Rapid Roulette is off by itself, there are two dealers, it's a mellow game, and there are no pit bosses or floor people around. I enjoyed it.
Once I got to the blackjack table, I found out that I was dealing to fellow Cardinal fan and occasional comments poster 'Big Head'. Unfortunately, I couldn't really give him any good cards, but he lasted the whole hour, which is more than can be said for Doc Al and Ross, who showed up a few minutes later and I promptly beat on them like I was Ike and they were a couple of Tinas.
It was most ugly. Only LV Terry would've been amused at the beating Doc Al took.
I was hoping to help them win lots of cash, but the shoe was just too damn hot and I couldn't bust. Luckily they wised up and left long before my usual players do, and still had some bankroll left to play the slot machines with. But Doc Al says I still owe him a reach-around. Or at least a kiss.
I'm thinking he's probably not gonna collect, though.
Anyhow, the night went downhill after that, and I was extremely bored until 4 am when I finally got to go home. But I had three days of freedom to look forward to, and at least six hours of uninterrupted sleep.
Mikey
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