Heading down the White Horse spike was quite an adventure in the torrential rains happening here on the East Coast today. The swamp waters of New Jersey rose above street level, enveloping a Mini-Cooper halfway up its tires. I half expected to see some of Nucky Thompson's enemies rising from the deep. I needed a new players card as it's been so long since I've been to GNAC -- apparently, taking a 6-month hiatus from a casino can really wreak havoc on your tier level. No longer was I Chairman - I had been demoted to Premier.
So, Starbucks in hand I headed to the tables...and 3 out of the 5 tables open in the High Limit room were "reserved" and the two open tables had about 3 players each and, considering that they were $50 tables, even if I asked for the Late Surrender option and the table unanimously agreed with me, it would not apply (Late Surrender option only at black chip tables) - I waited until they opened some more tables - Apparently, many of the dealers were late due to the aforementioned flooding on the White Horse Pike
A table finally opened and I began playing black chips - the first shoe was a loss of 600 as the dealer dealt herself 5 blackjacks -- I started the second shoe losing the first 5 hands before the dealer was tapped out, only to lose the next 3 hands as well - I won a few hands here and there but, bad news, after the second shoe I was down 1100
I was a bat out of hell in shoe 3 - winning the first 5 hands - However, the dealer then took over the role of Meatloaf and won 6 in a row of her own - However, I then had the following hands:
8,8 v dealer 10 with $200 up - split the 8s: First 8: dealt a 3, doubled for 21; Second 8: dealt a 10 for 18 BAM! dealer turned over a 7
Next hand dealt a 6,5 v dealer 10 - doubled and dealt a 7 for 18 BAM! dealer turned over a 7 - The shoe ended a couple of hands later - Trip +100
The Table HopperS — So, I figured out why all the tables were "Reserved" in the High Limit room (now 5 of 7 tables are "Reserved") - this player who plays anywhere from 100/hand to 5k/hand is here and he likes to be able to switch tables at a moments' notice - basically, he has all those tables set aside just for him should he not like the current table he is at (he did this back in the day at Revel as well) - kind of annoying to take up that many tables but, money talks
Alright - had a corn muffin with butter and skim milk for a snack and headed back to play - sat down and within half a shoe I was up 1500 - lost two hands in a row and figured the magic had run out - trip +1300
headed over to Harrah's AC - The Bayview Tower has refurbished rooms: I know Mitch from @tippingoddslv likes a good hotel mattress - Just took my mom out for a Mother's Day dinner at "The Steakhouse" - afterwards, I stopped by the Total Rewards desk to obtain my newly minted Diamond card - so bragadocious huh - Upon getting to the front of the Diamond line, the clerk asked if I had newly earned the card tier or I was an "honorary member" (I told her I became a member of the Founders Club) - she said "oh, very nice" and she printed my card - Does anyone know what an "honorary member" of a tier level means?
I then headed back to GNAC and, after entering the building from the parking garage, was surprised to see a room with the live dealers for GN online games (I found out it is one way glass - like a police lineup)
Moseyed back to the High Limit tables and, after catching up with some dealers and pit crew members I have not seen in ages, sat down for a session--things started out well, winning the first 4 of 6 hands but then, whenever I would press, the dealer would get the high cards I thought were coming out for me -- however, a couple of blackjacks and doubles and, by the end of the shoe, I had claimed an orange chip for myself - Trip +2300
After some reflection I decided to call it a night as far as gambling goes - getting the 2300 back (plus 300 won on horse racing this week) has gotten me back to pretty much even from my Mohegan Sun trip from a few weeks ago