Summer of Tournaments – Day 31
This is one of those days when I have absolutely nothing planned or need to be anywhere. There’s not tournament to play, no one meet, no new hotel to move from or to. I don’t plan on doing anymore gambling this leg of the trip, so I’ll do what I do when one of these kinds of days happen: I’ll just get in my car and start driving.
I headed west towards the Avi Hotel and Casino and was thinking of stopping by, but as I drove by, I changed my mind and drove across the bridge into Arizona. It’s pretty amazing to me that the VERY moment I get off the bridge crossing the Colorado River, my car clock advances one hour (AZ doesn’t recognize time changes). I pulled into the Fast Lane gas station where I always fuel up before heading back to Vegas because gas is always fifty to seventy cents cheaper than California. Today is was $3.33 per gallon.
It was then back to Laughlin and let’s face it, if you’re not gambling, and you’re not a river or sun worshipper, there’s very little to do. I decided to see a movie and stay out of the heat (110 today), and I’ve seen almost every movie showing in both theaters here. The only one left was Think Like a Man 2. I pulled into the Laughlin Outlet Center. This is the shopping mall that continues to struggle to stay open. It’s only two-thirds occupied, and there’s rarely many shoppers patronizing the stores that are there. The only good sign was that the food court, down to two, went up to three when some brave soul reopened the pizza outlet.
The Outlet Center in Laughlin
Now three food outlets open (they’re charging $18.99 for a large pizza—not a good sign)
I bought my ticket and it was a private showing as I was the only person in the theater. Rotten Tomatoes gave Think Like a Man 2 only a 24% fan rating and after watching it, I’m surprised that it was that big. The movie simply tries too hard to be funny and fails on almost every frame. It’s certainly one of the worst movies of the year for me. On the bright side, I really enjoyed my kid’s pack of popcorn and the air conditioning worked great.
As I drove out of the parking lot, the Tropicana Hotel and Casino was on my right, and it occurred to me that I hadn’t visited this place in a couple of years, so I pulled into the parking structure to have a look. The first thing I noticed and was disappointed to see was that the small snack bar that made great chili dogs had been closed and boarded up. As for the rest of the casino, there appeared to be less than 50 people in the entire casino playing. With the exception of the café, all of the remaining restaurants were closed until dinner. There was a time when this was a daily stop for Martin and I as they had a great poker room that has since been closed. There’s new hope that with the selling of the River Palms to Dolly’s, which is shutting down in a couple weeks, that perhaps they will re-open the room.
The Tropicana in Laughlin, in need of some paint and exterior fixes
I walked across the street to the Colorado Belle to swipe my card to see if I could catch some free play. I got a “lose your turn.” I walked over to the Edgewater and swiped again, but this time hit gold—won $3 in free play—soon lost in a Gladiator machine. It was only 1:30, and I didn’t want to go back to Harrah’s, so I thought I could chew up more time playing some live poker at the Colorado Belle. I played yesterday was just killed losing $60 after only winning one hand. It can’t happen two days in a row, can it?
I again bought in for $60 and joined the only table going, a 2/4 limit game. Again, the promotion is Aces cracked. I started off by winning the first two hands of the game—a good sign. At one point I was dealt pocket red Aces during triple time (good for $150 if someone beats me), but unfortunately, I won the pot. And things just got crazy as I continued to win, win, and win. I was playing any suited connector (I won with 6/4 suited cards four times). On one hand, I had K/J of hearts and a third heart came on the turn. I raised and then raised again on the river and everyone folded. I turned over my two cards to show I had the flush and it turns out I misread my cards and had a King of hearts and a Jack of Diamonds. I could see the irritation on some of the players and tried to assure them that I misread the cards. If I were bluffing, I would never have turned the cards over because I don’t believe in “sticking it” to other players. I’m not sure if they believed me. After almost two hours and busting out six of the players, we broke the table down and I had to cash out. I had won $235 (quite a sum for a 2/4 table). The dealers, who remembered me from yesterday, remarked what a difference a day can make.
I finally went back to Harrah’s, bought a sandwich to take to my room and called it a day.
More tomorrow
Totals:
Tournaments: 21 Cost: $290 Won: $2150 Balance: $1860
This is one of those days when I have absolutely nothing planned or need to be anywhere. There’s not tournament to play, no one meet, no new hotel to move from or to. I don’t plan on doing anymore gambling this leg of the trip, so I’ll do what I do when one of these kinds of days happen: I’ll just get in my car and start driving.
I headed west towards the Avi Hotel and Casino and was thinking of stopping by, but as I drove by, I changed my mind and drove across the bridge into Arizona. It’s pretty amazing to me that the VERY moment I get off the bridge crossing the Colorado River, my car clock advances one hour (AZ doesn’t recognize time changes). I pulled into the Fast Lane gas station where I always fuel up before heading back to Vegas because gas is always fifty to seventy cents cheaper than California. Today is was $3.33 per gallon.
It was then back to Laughlin and let’s face it, if you’re not gambling, and you’re not a river or sun worshipper, there’s very little to do. I decided to see a movie and stay out of the heat (110 today), and I’ve seen almost every movie showing in both theaters here. The only one left was Think Like a Man 2. I pulled into the Laughlin Outlet Center. This is the shopping mall that continues to struggle to stay open. It’s only two-thirds occupied, and there’s rarely many shoppers patronizing the stores that are there. The only good sign was that the food court, down to two, went up to three when some brave soul reopened the pizza outlet.
The Outlet Center in Laughlin
Now three food outlets open (they’re charging $18.99 for a large pizza—not a good sign)
I bought my ticket and it was a private showing as I was the only person in the theater. Rotten Tomatoes gave Think Like a Man 2 only a 24% fan rating and after watching it, I’m surprised that it was that big. The movie simply tries too hard to be funny and fails on almost every frame. It’s certainly one of the worst movies of the year for me. On the bright side, I really enjoyed my kid’s pack of popcorn and the air conditioning worked great.
As I drove out of the parking lot, the Tropicana Hotel and Casino was on my right, and it occurred to me that I hadn’t visited this place in a couple of years, so I pulled into the parking structure to have a look. The first thing I noticed and was disappointed to see was that the small snack bar that made great chili dogs had been closed and boarded up. As for the rest of the casino, there appeared to be less than 50 people in the entire casino playing. With the exception of the café, all of the remaining restaurants were closed until dinner. There was a time when this was a daily stop for Martin and I as they had a great poker room that has since been closed. There’s new hope that with the selling of the River Palms to Dolly’s, which is shutting down in a couple weeks, that perhaps they will re-open the room.
The Tropicana in Laughlin, in need of some paint and exterior fixes
I walked across the street to the Colorado Belle to swipe my card to see if I could catch some free play. I got a “lose your turn.” I walked over to the Edgewater and swiped again, but this time hit gold—won $3 in free play—soon lost in a Gladiator machine. It was only 1:30, and I didn’t want to go back to Harrah’s, so I thought I could chew up more time playing some live poker at the Colorado Belle. I played yesterday was just killed losing $60 after only winning one hand. It can’t happen two days in a row, can it?
I again bought in for $60 and joined the only table going, a 2/4 limit game. Again, the promotion is Aces cracked. I started off by winning the first two hands of the game—a good sign. At one point I was dealt pocket red Aces during triple time (good for $150 if someone beats me), but unfortunately, I won the pot. And things just got crazy as I continued to win, win, and win. I was playing any suited connector (I won with 6/4 suited cards four times). On one hand, I had K/J of hearts and a third heart came on the turn. I raised and then raised again on the river and everyone folded. I turned over my two cards to show I had the flush and it turns out I misread my cards and had a King of hearts and a Jack of Diamonds. I could see the irritation on some of the players and tried to assure them that I misread the cards. If I were bluffing, I would never have turned the cards over because I don’t believe in “sticking it” to other players. I’m not sure if they believed me. After almost two hours and busting out six of the players, we broke the table down and I had to cash out. I had won $235 (quite a sum for a 2/4 table). The dealers, who remembered me from yesterday, remarked what a difference a day can make.
I finally went back to Harrah’s, bought a sandwich to take to my room and called it a day.
More tomorrow
Totals:
Tournaments: 21 Cost: $290 Won: $2150 Balance: $1860
