After a restful night’s sleep, I awakened, did a little bit of work and then readied myself for the day ahead.
I headed down tot he casino floor looking for some caffeine but the line at Starbucks was prohibitively long and, as such, I made my way to the blackjack tables and sat down at an empty 2D $100 min. table.
The first hand was a beauty as I was dealt a 7,4 versus a dealer 6. I doubled and was dealt a Queen. The dealer turned over and Ace for 17 - excellent first hand. However, the rest of the shuffle did not go my way as the dealer only busted once, continually making hands. That shuffle resulted in my dropping $600.
The second shuffle was much more even-handed and, by the end, I had recovered $200.
However, shuffle number three proved tricky as the dealer dealt herself four naturals - there are only eight Aces in the two decks and she gave herself four of them, attached to a ten card. Crazy - I’ve never seen that before in a double deck game.
The fourth and final shuffle before I would notice the line at Starbucks diminishing, was good to me. I was able to split 8’s on the first hand against a dealer 7 - dealt a ten on each and, astonishingly, the dealer actually turned over a ten of her own. From there, I pushed a couple of hands then won a fe while pressing, bringing me not only back to even for the session, but $100 to the good.
Trip is now +$2050
I made my way to the Starbucks and there were only about seven or eight people ahead of me. I placed my order and proceeded to wait approximately 30 minutes before it was given to me. The entire waiting area was a sea of people. Luckily, almost everyone kept their cool with the long wait times - a couple of people kept approaching the counter every 2-3 minutes just to ask for an order update. Hey, listen, your order will arrive when it arrives, keeping the employees from making others’ drinks will certainly not help your drink arrive any faster.
Right about this time I received a message from Lucky and, as I had yet to see him this trip, we planned to meet up, along with Detroit, to check out the new Virgin Casino. One word: embarrassing.. I felt embarrassed that, on what was supposedly the official grand opening weekend, that the casino was virtually empty. The decor was generic and it seemed “small”.
After touring the Virgin Hotel/Casino we decided to check out the Seven Magic Mountains, a sculpture in the desert about 20 minutes south of Las Vegas. The heat was unbearable and it really made you think how early travelers were able to cross the country on horseback or in wagons without the modern conveniences we take for granted.
The sculpture itself was interesting, seven towers made up of large rocks painted in mostly bright neon colors. There were two plaques at the entranceway describing the exhibit:
Exhausted from the heat, I spent the afternoon relaxing in the room before the pangs of hunger hit me and I made my way through the Park MGM over to Aria for an early dinner at Javier’s, my favorite Mexican food restaurant. Per my custom, I ordered a chicken quesadilla with a side order of yellow rice and refried beans. Muy delicioso.
As always, the food at Javier’s was delicious and, as much as I wanted to indulge in an order of the fried ice cream for dessert, I was so fully satiated that I had to pass.
After relaxing in the room for a bit I headed downstairs to see what the blackjack gods had in store for me this evening. I walked into the high limit pit — the 2D table was full, one of the 6D tables was reserved and there was another 6D table with only one player on it. I sat down and within 5 seconds of doing so, the older asian gentleman at the table gave me a dirty look. There was no “Reserved” sign on the table so I asked the dealer if it was reserved — she stated “No” and so I proceeded to reach into my pocket to withdraw from my denim ATM. It was then that Mr. So-and-So decided to state that he “would rather I not sit at the table”. WTF? I asked if he had reserved it in the time it took me to pull my chair out —- he replied that he “always plays alone” — WTF? You are in a crowded casino on a Saturday night without a reserved table and you think that nobody is going to sit down to play??? It was then that a guy I had played with at a table yesterday saw me — he was at another 6D table that I did not notice when I walked in and, as such, I went over to hang out and play.
The table was BRUTAL! I lost the first 6 hands before I even had a push as my first non-loss. The first card on almost every hand I was dealt was a 2 through 6 while the dealer almost always had an Ace or face showing. After one shoe, I was somehow only down 600 from my buy-in of 2k. The next shoe commenced and I was dealt a 7,4 versus a dealer King — I doubled and was dealt a 9 for 20 — the dealer flipped over a 6 and then dealt herself a 5 for 21. It was then and there that I decided to take a brief respite.
Trip is now +1250
In the elevator, a few of us were commiserating about our losses and one guy said “Oh, I’m sure it’s not rigged” and gave one of those classic Rodney Dangerfield eye rolls:
After grabbing a couple of slice of Greca pie from Eataly for a delayed dessert, I headed back into the blackjack pit. I sat down at an empty 6D $100 min. table, bought in and, just prior to the first hand, there was a dealer change. The dealer who came in moved as if in slow motion — that was not a complaint — there was something soothing about the way she dealt, as if each turn of a card was done with the utmost of care. I think it helped put my mind at ease as, the first hand I was dealt was a 6,5 versus a dealer 5 — I was dealt a 10 for 21 and the dealer ended up busting. Although the second hand was a dealer blackjack, I did not feel any stress. I then got a nice run of winning three hands in a row. naturally, the ebb and flow of variance hit about midway through the shoe and I was still at my $1200 buy-in. However, I was then dealt a blackjack of my own, followed by another two winning hands in a row. I then pushed a few hands, lost one and then was dealt a 2,2 versus a dealer 2 and split: on the first 2 I was dealt a 9, doubled and dealt a 7 for 18; on the second 2 I was dealt an 8, doubled and was dealt a Queen for 20; the dealer turned over a 4 then drew an 8 and then a 3 for 17 — YES!!! At that point, I had regained what I lost earlier and was once again +2050 for the trip.
As I was coloring up, I noticed a couple walking in - the guy looked familiar and he was also looking at me - he approached the table and almost simultaneously told one another that the other looked familiar. Apparently, we have played blackjack at the same tables on the east coast. Such a small world and always nice to see a familiar face.
I headed to the lobby shop, grabbed some snacks and headed back up to the room for the night. Another great day in Vegas with more to come tomorrow.