Ok time to rise and shine - normally, when I am going to sleep I listen to a podcast or sports talk radio -- also, normally, I set a sleep timer - however, I apparently forgot to do so last night and I woke up about 4am hearing callers discussing various teams - at first I thought I was dreaming and totally forgot I was at Mohegan Sun, thinking I was at home - by the time I oriented myself I fell back asleep - Fast forward to a few hours later, secured a late checkout and headed to the casino floor--grabbed a Starbuck's and headed to the tables
Sat down to play head's up with another $250 free bet in my bankroll holster -- halfway through the first shoe I had regained a couple of chips but gave those back by the end thereof
Second shoe was nice, winning a couple of double downs, then losing a few and then finally unholstering the free bet - I was dealt an 8,7 v dealer 5 - so you're saying there's a chance - dealer flipped over a 6 - then drew a...wait for it...2, then a 10 YES won the free bet and, by the end of the shoe, I had regained another 500 - Trip -300
As a side not, I am seeing a plethora of younger people wearing these Brookstone Cat's Ears headphones
Headed back to the tables after a short walk and played four shoes with another gentleman at the table - he complained he was always "one card away" from getting the card he needed (haven't we all been there?) - So, on the last hand of the fourth shoe, I was dealt a blackjack - yes, I would be +50 and heading home--not so fast, dealer had an Ace hiding under his King - From there, you can already predict what happened--lost everything back I had regained and was once again -2k
I took another walk trying to figure out why the blackjack gods couldn’t have just let me have that blackjack and go on my way - I walked over to a different pit and ran into the same guy I had been playing with previously - we started up a new shoe and a woman then sat down (an acquaintance of his) and we played...---Another side note - there were 5 other tables (all empty) and yet three people came and wanted to squeeze it in our table - the guy I had been playing with told them all we were playing two hands -- the pit boss allowed this as he and the woman were averaging 1k per hand and would have given him a Reserved table anyway---So back to playing and none of us had any luck -- after two shoes I left the table down another 1k
After switching tables yet again, I won the first three hands - then, naturally, a dealer switch followed by two dealer blackjacks in a row...The dealer could not bust his hands but, towards the end of the shoe, I won a couple of doubles and had regained 500 - trip -2500
Yet another side note: I had arranged for a 12 noon checkout and, as it was 11:55am, I did not want to run back to the room to check out so the pit said they would arrange a later checkout for me -- apparently their "juice" only got me a 12:30pm checkout time...If I had called my host she would've just comped me as many more nights as I wanted yet the hotel portion was "nickel and diming" me over a late checkout -- is this typical?
Although I was hungry, I wanted to try to regain some more chips and sat down to play again (after checking out of my room) and went on a nice run almost immediately and then, naturally, a dealer change and a reversal of fortune - I decided to stop the bleeding and, after having gained back 1k, left regaining 850- trip -1650
I returned to the pit and watched a bird snacking on a cracker the waitress gave it (apparently birds fly in and out of here all the time - hell, if you're a bird, why wouldn't you hang out it here where it's warm and there is an abundance of food around to peck at) After the bird flew away I once again sat down to play (hey, I'm a poet and I didn't know it) -- the pit boss told me getting back to even would be easy and the dealer told me to bet 2k on the first hand--I should have listened as I was dealt a blackjack - From there, not many good hands came my way--the dealer made it a habit of getting 21 when I had doubled a hand--if I had won those, would have been almost even--alas, by the end of the shoe I had regained another 350 - trip -1300
After grabbing some water and some mints, I headed back to play - Nothing really to write home about other than losing a couple more doubles that, if i had won, would have gotten me back to even--but, I did pick up a few more chips and the trip was -900 — Alright, headed back to play and the blackjack gods decided the dealer would get 20 or 21 whenever I had a double -- once again, if i had won the four doubles I lost, i would have been even - That shoe ended and a woman around 65-70 sat down complaining how she was losing every double - I replied "Join the club" and wished her good luck
The shoe started and about 5 hands in I was dealt a 7,8 v dealer K - I hit and was dealt an Ace for 16 - Based upon content dependent basic strategy, I stayed - Well, the sounds that emanated from my table mate sounded as if she was being anally probed by aliens (and not in the good way!) She then informed me that if I didn't know how to play, I shouldn't be playing - I didn't say anything and continued to play - The next hand was dealt and she was dealt a 17 -- immediately, she began laying into me saying that I caused her to have a 17 and she was going to lose -- once again, I stayed quiet - She lost the hand and on the next hand she was dealt a 12 and busted - once again she turned to me and said "you know, it's people like you who ruin the game of blackjack for people like me - you don't know what you're doing and you end up costing other people at the table money" -- I could hold my tongue no longer and inquired of her: "Did you know what the next card was going to be?" she ignored my question so I followed up, asking: "Did you ever win a hand you wouldn't have because someone played a strategy you didn't believe to be correct?" -- she ignored me again and I finally asked her: "If you truly knew what cards were coming next, why didn't you double your 19 earlier when the next card out of the deck was a 2?" -- she finally yelled at me again, exclaiming: "I cant be bothered with you - you don't know what the hell you're doing and I'm not going to let you cause me to lose any more money" -- she looked for a sympathetic ear from the female dealer and did not receive it - she then stormed away
at that point, my positive mental outlook had dwindled so I pushed the chair away from the table and took a break - Trip -900
I bought it an a table with a man and his wife, later joined by another lady -- the other lady, an elderly asian lady, bought in for 400 and consulted the table and dealer on each and every hand -- sometimes she listened, sometimes she did what she wanted -- she won about 3k in 7 shoes - The husband, wife and I all got utterly destroyed. I cannot describe the a$$-beating we suffered other than to say it was reminiscent of one of my 2015 trips to Aria, wherein I busted virtually every 12, lost virtually every double and split and was wiped out unceremoniously -- it is weird in these situations when dealers laugh nervously as, any type of laughter is not something I want to hear at that point - I think about what might have been - had the dealer not pushed me on that earlier blackjack, I would have left winning $50 - Instead, rather than calling it "even" at being -100, I chased the $100 and lost 4k — I have nobody to blame but myself but that's no fun...and, I am coming to believe that blackjack has changed, variance has been horrific for two years now -- although I am scheduled for a NYE weekend casino trip, it is about 50/50 now as to whether I will go and, if I do, I think it might be a last hurrah before I take a 6 month hiatus from blackjack
As always, I welcome your thoughts.