Summer of Tournaments – Day 37
After an excellent night’s sleep, I worked on my trip report while “Waking Up with the Wagners” was on the TV. The walls seem to be excellent here as I can’t hear anyone or TVs from any other rooms. It’s been a few days since my last tournament of any kind, so I drove out to Sam’s Town to make the 10 AM starting time. I’ve now played this tournament perhaps seven or eight times. The poker supervisor sees me coming and says, Jon M., welcome back as I hand him my $23 entry fee.
I’ve noticed that of the three tables filled, I recognize at least half the players. I talked to one, Jeff, who said he, like most, come every single day. “Some old folks meet at McDonald’s for coffee every morning; I choose to meet my friends here over a friendly poker game.” Sam’s Town is their home away from home. One of the regulars is called “Judge” as he was a Superior Court Judge for 30 years when he retired. He brings a small gavel as his card protector. It’s a nice and relaxing way to spend a couple of hours in the morning and socializing—and every so often you win. I’ve no doubt that if I lived here (and I never will), I’d be here right along with them.
I managed to get through the first hour, but when the game changed to no limit, I was down to only three big blinds, and so I went all in with an 8/5 Diamonds and was called by A/J. A five came on the flop, but an Ace on the turn, so I was out. Wednesday is Senior Day here, so I swiped my card and received a voucher for a $4 movie ticket, and up to 50X slot points. Six boxes appear and you pick one. I am the master of crappy pickers and this was no exception as the box I picked was 10X video pennies, 6X reel slots, and nothing for video poker. I decided to use my $4 movie ticket and the only movie showing I haven’t seen is Earth to Echo. I was expecting a kind of ET story, but this turned out to be quite a bit better than I thought. I enjoyed it.
The Sam’s Town atrium today—never get tired of it
My favorite bank of 9/6 Jacks progressive was almost $1100 and though I’ve yet to catch a royal on these machines, I decided to give it a hundred. As a Sapphire card holder, I do still get 2X points on everything. For the first twenty minutes or so, I was catching all kinds of hands included quad fours and then as these things do, the machine began to get cold. I was all the way down to $47 and decided I’d try to at least get back my hundred or lose it all. I started catching some full houses and flushes and then quad 10s put me at $125. I cashed out and then ran the $25 profit through a triple flaming 7s machine that has a progressive of over $5K. I pulled out at a $100 and called it. So, I managed to break even and still add another 1000+ points on my card.
I drove back to the Plaza. It is downright toasty today, 114 degrees. The weather reports did say we’d be hitting a heat wave for the next week and they were right. I pulled into the Plaza covered parking garage. The attendant doesn’t even open the window as I flash my room key—makes me think that if didn’t turn it in when I left; I could just continue to park here for as long as they don’t change the key design. But it’s much easier to simply park in the Fremont Hotels valet.
Yea, it’s toasty today
I decided it was time to play the two $5 match coupons I received with the room. I went to the craps table, waiting for the previous point to be decided and placed the coupon with my $5 on the pass line. The very first roll was a 7 and I collected my $15 and left. I went right next door to the roulette, and placed the coupon and $5 on black…damn…red. I lost. But I still ended up with a $5 profit. I went over to the tour desk to pick up my free ticket to the Louis Anderson show and was about to pull out the coupon when the attendant said that while to show is free, there’s a two-drink minimum that costs $25. I said, “Then the show isn’t really free.” She says as if surprised, “Oh, the show is free; you’re paying for the drinks.” It’s not that I would be okay with paying $25 to see Louie Anderson with two free drinks, but I bristle when they think they’re pushing one over on me. I’m going to have dinner tonight with LVA readers Mike and Janice at the El Cortez at 5:30, plus considering it’s Wednesday, I’d be missing “So You Think You Can Dance.” After all, I do have my priorities.
I hung out in the room and watched a couple of episodes of “Seinfeld” (can watch it over and over) before heading out to dinner. I’m meeting Mike and Janice at El Cortez in the café as Wednesday is senior night and everything on the menu is 50% off. They each had steaks and I had a sourdough melt. All the meals were excellent. We had a great time catching up on the last couple of years. During my National Casino Run, I met Mike at his office and factory. He makes all kinds of rubber mats and other like products (see what the bartender is walking on, and it’s likely that Mike’s company made it). He brought me a surprise picture of a mat he’s making me saying my name and 7 Stars member. I’ll take a pic and share it when I get it. They have a condo here and were giving me some cool tips on great places to eat I hadn’t tried yet.
Mike and Janice at the El Cortez café
They were going to go to the movie and I highly recommended CHEF. I told them that if they’d come to the Suncoast tomorrow (one of only two places it’s showing), I go with them. I’m moving to the Suncoast tomorrow for one night. We agreed to meet in front of the box office at 1:30. If you’re in town and reading this and would like to join us—please do)
The night is just beginning for the Fremont Experience
After saying our goodbyes, I had a $10 free play coupon from LVA with me, so I made a fast stop at the slot booth and had it added to my account. I chose a Four Card Keno for dimes and ran the ten dollars through it. I had a couple of nice hits and cashed out $24. On my way back to the Plaza, I made a stop at the D to use the $25 match play chip that was mailed to me. I put it on black at the roulette table, and won! So, that made for a $50 win. It was a nice way to end the night.
It was back to the room and So You Think You Can Dance.
More tomorrow
Totals:
Tournaments: 23 Cost: $336 Won: $2150 Balance: $1814
After an excellent night’s sleep, I worked on my trip report while “Waking Up with the Wagners” was on the TV. The walls seem to be excellent here as I can’t hear anyone or TVs from any other rooms. It’s been a few days since my last tournament of any kind, so I drove out to Sam’s Town to make the 10 AM starting time. I’ve now played this tournament perhaps seven or eight times. The poker supervisor sees me coming and says, Jon M., welcome back as I hand him my $23 entry fee.
I’ve noticed that of the three tables filled, I recognize at least half the players. I talked to one, Jeff, who said he, like most, come every single day. “Some old folks meet at McDonald’s for coffee every morning; I choose to meet my friends here over a friendly poker game.” Sam’s Town is their home away from home. One of the regulars is called “Judge” as he was a Superior Court Judge for 30 years when he retired. He brings a small gavel as his card protector. It’s a nice and relaxing way to spend a couple of hours in the morning and socializing—and every so often you win. I’ve no doubt that if I lived here (and I never will), I’d be here right along with them.
I managed to get through the first hour, but when the game changed to no limit, I was down to only three big blinds, and so I went all in with an 8/5 Diamonds and was called by A/J. A five came on the flop, but an Ace on the turn, so I was out. Wednesday is Senior Day here, so I swiped my card and received a voucher for a $4 movie ticket, and up to 50X slot points. Six boxes appear and you pick one. I am the master of crappy pickers and this was no exception as the box I picked was 10X video pennies, 6X reel slots, and nothing for video poker. I decided to use my $4 movie ticket and the only movie showing I haven’t seen is Earth to Echo. I was expecting a kind of ET story, but this turned out to be quite a bit better than I thought. I enjoyed it.
The Sam’s Town atrium today—never get tired of it
My favorite bank of 9/6 Jacks progressive was almost $1100 and though I’ve yet to catch a royal on these machines, I decided to give it a hundred. As a Sapphire card holder, I do still get 2X points on everything. For the first twenty minutes or so, I was catching all kinds of hands included quad fours and then as these things do, the machine began to get cold. I was all the way down to $47 and decided I’d try to at least get back my hundred or lose it all. I started catching some full houses and flushes and then quad 10s put me at $125. I cashed out and then ran the $25 profit through a triple flaming 7s machine that has a progressive of over $5K. I pulled out at a $100 and called it. So, I managed to break even and still add another 1000+ points on my card.
I drove back to the Plaza. It is downright toasty today, 114 degrees. The weather reports did say we’d be hitting a heat wave for the next week and they were right. I pulled into the Plaza covered parking garage. The attendant doesn’t even open the window as I flash my room key—makes me think that if didn’t turn it in when I left; I could just continue to park here for as long as they don’t change the key design. But it’s much easier to simply park in the Fremont Hotels valet.
Yea, it’s toasty today
I decided it was time to play the two $5 match coupons I received with the room. I went to the craps table, waiting for the previous point to be decided and placed the coupon with my $5 on the pass line. The very first roll was a 7 and I collected my $15 and left. I went right next door to the roulette, and placed the coupon and $5 on black…damn…red. I lost. But I still ended up with a $5 profit. I went over to the tour desk to pick up my free ticket to the Louis Anderson show and was about to pull out the coupon when the attendant said that while to show is free, there’s a two-drink minimum that costs $25. I said, “Then the show isn’t really free.” She says as if surprised, “Oh, the show is free; you’re paying for the drinks.” It’s not that I would be okay with paying $25 to see Louie Anderson with two free drinks, but I bristle when they think they’re pushing one over on me. I’m going to have dinner tonight with LVA readers Mike and Janice at the El Cortez at 5:30, plus considering it’s Wednesday, I’d be missing “So You Think You Can Dance.” After all, I do have my priorities.
I hung out in the room and watched a couple of episodes of “Seinfeld” (can watch it over and over) before heading out to dinner. I’m meeting Mike and Janice at El Cortez in the café as Wednesday is senior night and everything on the menu is 50% off. They each had steaks and I had a sourdough melt. All the meals were excellent. We had a great time catching up on the last couple of years. During my National Casino Run, I met Mike at his office and factory. He makes all kinds of rubber mats and other like products (see what the bartender is walking on, and it’s likely that Mike’s company made it). He brought me a surprise picture of a mat he’s making me saying my name and 7 Stars member. I’ll take a pic and share it when I get it. They have a condo here and were giving me some cool tips on great places to eat I hadn’t tried yet.
Mike and Janice at the El Cortez café
They were going to go to the movie and I highly recommended CHEF. I told them that if they’d come to the Suncoast tomorrow (one of only two places it’s showing), I go with them. I’m moving to the Suncoast tomorrow for one night. We agreed to meet in front of the box office at 1:30. If you’re in town and reading this and would like to join us—please do)
The night is just beginning for the Fremont Experience
After saying our goodbyes, I had a $10 free play coupon from LVA with me, so I made a fast stop at the slot booth and had it added to my account. I chose a Four Card Keno for dimes and ran the ten dollars through it. I had a couple of nice hits and cashed out $24. On my way back to the Plaza, I made a stop at the D to use the $25 match play chip that was mailed to me. I put it on black at the roulette table, and won! So, that made for a $50 win. It was a nice way to end the night.
It was back to the room and So You Think You Can Dance.
More tomorrow
Totals:
Tournaments: 23 Cost: $336 Won: $2150 Balance: $1814
