Good 1st Day

Thursday, 6:00am

Good first night.

Went to the sports book and placed two $20 bets on the Red Game
Over 5.5 runs after 5 innings @-105 (Meaning, I would win $19.05 on the bet)
Red Sox to win @+130

Red Sox had men on 2nd & 3rd in the 5th trailing 4-1. I lost my first bet
Of course, they also lost 6-4. 2nd bet goes down the tubes.
I did debate on the full over/under of 9.5 runs, but I want ‘something different’. Plus after I played Black Jack, I watched some the game (till the 5th).

I played Black Jack at $5.00 table. At first, I sat alone. That is bad thing to do. The game goes very fast and you can lose very fast. I was down $50 before I knew it. They were bad beats, too. One hand I was dealt 20. The dealer had 14. Of course, she drew a 7. A pregnant woman then sat down next to me, and my luck changed.

I have a system of betting. I start with minimum bets. Stay with that for a while. If I’m over my buy in (in this case $100), when I win I’ll increase my bets. At first I up it to $10, and then to $15. When I lose a single bet, it’s back to $5. But as long I’m over the base $100, I’ll again increase on the bets. I don’t always go straight from $10 to $15. I’ll play the $10 for a while, but on wins, I always go from $5 to $10.

I played for about 2 hours (goes by fast) and left the table with $254. I gave $11 that to dealers. (On a $5 Black Jack, you get a pay out of $7.50). I had 6 one dollar chips plus the table minimum of $5 = $11.

I came away the game $103 up.

After that, I was planning on heading out the Hilton to check out the Star Trek prep. I really went out side for the 1st time. IT WAS HOT. Though the wind was blowing. I didn’t really know where I was going, so spent time walking around things to get where I wanted to go. I stopped at the Coke store & M&M’s Store.
Went though the MGM Grand. They have a lion exhibit, kind of cool. I decided to stop at the Hooter’s Casino next door for $100 free slots play to sign up. As I expected it was a bit a ploy. Up played promotional machines and the minimum bet was $10.00. You only one cash if hit the top two jackpots. Though, I did OK enough to spend about ½ hour playing. That cured me of any desire to play slots. I was about 8:00pm & I was hungry. Hooter’s has a Dan Marino’s in it. I had dinner there. OK BBQ beef brisket. Nothing to right home about (Oh, wait a minute.). Dinner was $14.00 w/tip.

Note to all: I don’t drink, and with food I mostly have water. I don’t do it not spend the money, but that is the way I like.

Plans for today include brunch and checking out the monorail and Trek convention. I thinking I may spend two days there

Las Vegas, Baby

Wednesday, 1:30pm

The flight out here was fine. Typical Southwest style. Everything ran smoothly. The flight was courteous and efficient. There was incident with a bottle of water and two glasses of cranberry juice. It took place in the bathroom during a bit out turbulence. Not to worry, I was not injured and I cleaned up after myself.

I sat in the emergency row and my seat mate was Greg. Nice guy. He just got or is getting a job with FDIC. He also sells sporting goods on eBay, SportsPlus 2000 & at the Raynham Flea Market. He was a mortgage broker and does financing on high end auto sales. We’re talking 100K plus. He was heading to Reno for a classic car auction. It sounded cool.

I am staying at Monte Carlo. So far I’m not impressed. Room is pretty standard, I got a double though I wish I had single. I can live with it. Scoped out the casino. Stopped by the Sports Book. I didn’t make any bets yet. I will though, tonight.

Baseball is the only real action right now and it’s kind of funky. Take the Red Sox – Rays game. The Rays are -130 and Red Sox are +110. If I bet on the Rays, I would need to bet $130 to win $100. Cashing in the bet, the casino would give $230. If I bet on the Red Sox, I bet $100 to win $110. The odds change if the pitchers change. You can bet just on the team or the team & pitcher (the bet canceled if the pitcher doesn’t start). You can also be on the over/under. In this game it’s 9.5. The also have 5 inning bets. I’m going to put $20 on Penny & Red Sox (I get 22+20) and 20 on the over.

I’m also going to play some Blackjack. Maybe an hour or two ($100) Then I’m going to head out to the MGM Grand and take the MonoRail. At end at the Las Vegas Hilton, site of the Star Trek convention this weekend.