The phone rang at 5:30am - my slumber shockingly disturbed - It was opposing counsel on a case informing me that the Judge wanted to do an immediate conference call. The attorney stated he reminded the Court that I was on vacation, to which the Court apparently replied "So‽" - About an hour later, I was on the phone with the Court and spent an hour on that phone call...so, that being said, I had been in Vegas almost 24 hours without having played a hand of blackjack -- a rare situation. Having been rudely awakened, I decided to make an early day of it, got ready and proceeded to seek out a blackjack game. Armed with the knowledge that the Linq did not have any high limit room or any games with comparable rules, I headed south towards the Flamingo. I encountered their High Limit room and was informed that they only open their high limit area on weekends. Ok - duly noted. However, having visited Vegas many times and never checking out the "habitat" at the Flamingo, I decided to take a stroll
Before leaving the Flamingo, I noticed a very large pair of legs that seemingly went on forever -- knowing that Mitch from @TippingOddsLV podcast loves tall women, I took a pic for him and texted it to Chicago
It was a very nice walk which eventually led me to seeking out a game at the Cromwell
I was met with another closed High Limit room -- apparently, they too, only open on the weekend. Disheartened, I walked over to Caesars and came across the High Limit room with only 2 games open - a $100 6D game and a $200 2D deck - both being played by one man each who did not look like they were at all in good moods ---I took that as a sign and made my way to the food court for some breakfast -- Starbucks :) Around this time I received a text from Chris at @FacesAndAcesLV and we met up to go check out the Lucky Dragon where Chris hit a nice 4OAK and tried some Bao
After relaxing in the room for a while, I got ready and headed over to Caesars as I was going to see the Adam Carolla Show Live.
I stopped to have a light dinner at Seersucker, ordering the sliders and duck fat fried potatoes:
I am a fan of Mr. Carolla but, this show was not one of his best - perhaps because it consisted of Penn Jillette - who I normally enjoy as well, bashing Trump for about an hour (some people even walked out).
Thereafter, I walked the Strip down to Planet Hollywood and sat down in the High Limit room at a $100 6D game. At first, I was alone, but was quickly joined by a bachelor party. However, only one of the bachelor party members was playing - a fun-loving guy from San Diego who proceeded to wager $1,000/hand from his $30k bankroll. Within half a shoe, he was already down to $10k, in the form of two chocolate chips. He proceeded to bet both on two spaces and was rewarded for his boldness with a blackjack on each spot. At this point, he kept the $5k chips up on each spot, dealt a double down on one and a 20 on the other -- he won both of those hands, and was gone, out of sight.
Moments later, an asian gentleman who looked familiar sat down at the table playing two hands at $500 each. He was wearing a Philadelphia Flyers hat and I began to remember where I knew him from -- the Revel in Atlantic City -- I had played with him numerous times in the Ultra Lounge back in the heyday of the Revel. Such a small world -- we exchanged pleasantries and carried on. For the first 90 minutes of play, I could not win a double down and was only dealt one blackjack -- the dealers were friendly and fun but, after 90 minutes, I was down $1200. It was at this point that "T-Wild" joined the game with his girlfriend -- Vegas locals who were not shy about sending in the chips -- beginning with a $200 bet and quickly escalating to $2k bets. This lasted for about 30 minutes before he had exhausted his bankroll. Now 2 hours into play, I was still down, at that point, -$1k. "T-Wild" departed and Mr. Revel and I remained -- he kept winning and winning and I kept losing and losing -- double downs were not my friend and I would routinely push on the 20s I was dealt.
Finally, after 3 hours of play, I received a nice run - the final ¼ of a shoe wherein I got back to even plus $250. As it was about 2 in the morning at this point and I had a hike back to the Line, I decided to wrap it up for the night and grab something to eat and go to bed