Smart Baccarat

2010-10-07T17:24:00.001-04:00

my only comment...... the sweet taste of a player streak!

I'm back... again....

2010-08-08T07:24:00.003-04:00

Last summer, I thought I would make my return with an overview of the gaming situation in Atlantic City.

It was an incredible trip, up until the point that my dear SO had to return to New England for business; and was involved in a horrible car accident.

"NATURL9" brought us much luck that day! Amazingly, the injuries (in what was a head on collision, where the other driver had passed out) were rather minor. My darling recovered fully, and went on to run her first half marathon (The Vegas Rock-n-Roll half) in December of 2009.

While I've tried to mostly stay focused on gaming topics (and particularly baccarat), I figured I would take a moment to muse about my own personal life philosophies (heck, it's my blog, so I can do whatever the fuck I want... LOL)

The card I chose after my Venetian Canyon Ranch Massage last week seems fitting :

"Behave
as if you see
the best
in the people
you love
all the time."

One of the strongest concepts in my life, is trying to find the positive (intent) in one's everyday actions.

If we take a few moments to focus more so on the good, it just makes life that much prettier. At the end of the day, we control the the direction of our lives; and how we choose to view others. Perhaps, just focusing on the fact that people really do yearn to 'do the right thing' is enough for us to set aside the 'little things' people do that bother us. And, if you can't find that positive; then, just maybe, that relationship isn't worth the effort.

Here is hoping to full, happy and positive life!

I shall return to gaming topics; possibly wrapping up 2009 and early 2010 in the next post.

Cheers! Michael

I'm back! off to the AC

2009-07-15T09:36:00.005-04:00

Well, my pledge to take a Vegas hiatus during the summer is actually happening. While I booked trips for 31 July and also in August (for the Venetian Carnival of Cuisine), this year, I really do think I'm going to avoid the Vegas heat. (Well, at least for a few months).

Off to Atlantic City in a few days, staying at the casino that just turned 30 on 26 June 2009 (surprisingly, also my birthday).

If you still don't know which property it is, this picture will give it away :

Luckily, they have managed to update things 'just a bit' since 1979. A nice little article on Atlantic City's second casino, turning thirty. Amazing, still quite a few employees working at Caesars who have been there since the original opening.

I plan on focusing quite a bit of time this trip on finally doing a baccarat overview of all of the Atlantic City properties. I'm also going to share some of the Caesars Atlantic City history, since I find it fascinating. Maybe even get into a bit of discussion about the departed Playboy Casino, which I spoke about last year.

I also have a number of interesting observations and thoughts from my previous Vegas (April) and Atlantic City (May) trips that i'll try to summarize and share. Unfortunately, I haven't had the time (or desire) to write extensive trip reports, but most definitely have quite a few great tales.

A little more M

2009-03-15T07:49:00.003-04:00

Not really a surprise, but it's nice to know that the casino management @ M-Resort is on the right page, with regard to how they treat mistakes and their customers. Nice story in The Bear Growls.

On its first full day of operation, the M Resort in Henderson had a single-line 25-cent video poker machine with a progressive starting at $10,000 instead of the undoubtedly intended $1,000. A patron hit the jackpot. Rather than hassle the winner or try to outright cheat him, as many casinos have done in similar situations, after a thirty-minute delay, the M Resort paid the patron the $10,009,

In other news, seems the first month of M-Resort, has proved to be a bit more popular than originally anticipated.

Overall, M was twice as busy as anticipated that first week. A total of 20,000 customers signed up for the iMagine rewards Club in the first few days of operation when the hotel set a goal for 25,000, total, for the entire month.

and a LINK to an M-Resort opening video.

I think my friend Rob put it best, in text message yesterday.

"Beautiful casino without the arrogance."

Diane was kind enough to share some of her great pics of M-Resort. [Thank you Diane!]

another great shot of the table

my favorite sink

the view from your bed in the morning, WOW -- those window are incredible

more seating, more view! love those windows

nice tub, in the master bath, of course, with a view of the strip

this shot really shows the absolute coolness of the wine bar area

I heart M Resort Las Vegas and cheating on Sheldon

2009-03-07T11:43:00.009-05:00

Yes, sometimes you just have to do it! After Foo convinced me to travel to The Vegas to spend some "quality" time with him for 24 hours, and help set him up @ Palazzo; I was a bit unconvinced that my mind and/or body could really deal with a one day trip to The Vegas.

Well, turns out, that my first trip to Vegas for 2009 @ the beginning of February (AKA, the "Pimp Daddy Trip" -- need to post some stories 'bout that soon..) on a fare sale ($92+ tax $130'ish all-in) had me arriving in Vegas on Friday night @ 11PM and departing on Sunday morning at 6AM. I had meant to book the return for Monday, but alas, I didn't and I was unable to change the return flight; even though it was within the Delta 24 hour change window. (Turns out, all of the cheap fare buckets for Monday returns were long gone). I lamented about this, and in the end, was able to get a 25K mile Delta free (roundtrip) ticket (with no fees for last minute booking, since it was coming out of Ellen's Platinum Medallion Account). Of course, NOW, I had a one way ticket left to use that was only applicable to return me to Vegas (BOS-LAS). Oh, the dilemma.

All of this played perfectly into Foo's master plan of convincing me to come out to Vegas, as I already had a ticket TO VEGAS, and only need a return home. Lo and behold, I was able to pick-up a Southwest return ticket on the nonstop from Vegas to Manchester, NH (LAS-MHT) for a mere $137+tax.

The plans were in motion, but still wasn't convinced the body was ready for it.

Yep, it was going to be a 30 hour trip to THE VEGAS!

Departure was the 6.30AM BOS-SLC-LAS on Delta flight with a swift sub 40 minute connection. Timed everything perfectly with a pick-up from my house at 5AM from Dave. We like to punish each other with flight drop offs at very early hours. Used elite security (next to CLEAR) because of my Crown Room Membership (purchased as a companion off of Ellen's Platinum Delta Medallion Status). Arrived at the gate just in time for zone 1 boarding, which was great, as my exit row was zone 1. Flights were on time, and pretty perfect. Exit row coach seating was fine, and IFE was available on the DL 757 from BOS-SLC. Used my expired drink coupons to have two Woodford Reserves (yes, Woodford, and only on Delta) with a single rock for the flight, and watched the pilot and next two episodes of season 1 - Sopranos on my iphone; with a mophie attached to extend the battery. A very nice flight attendant (definitely in her 50's) was totally hitting on me, and making fun of my expired drink coupons. She kept saying "I knew they were expired......" -- but, I'm gonna let you get away with it... actually, I'm just gonna tear them up and give you the drinks... she stopped by later in the flight to offer me another cocktail, but two was more than enough; along with a few club sodas.

Arrival in Vegas was uneventful, and on time. Was happy to see that both trams from terminal D were operating, so there was no wait for the tram. Went to check-in at Encore, which was very red, just like everything else at Encore.

It was just about noon, and I was using a pretty decent offer from Encore, considering I haven't had any play at Wynn since the opening. It was a $129 room rate with $150 in FREEPLAY, so effectively a free room.

Of course, my requested smoking room wasn't available (this always seems to be the case), but the check-in agent felt bad about not getting me into my room immediately as this was a one day trip. To make up for the lack of a smoking room, she decided to "upgrade" me to the top floor, floor 63. Not really sure this is really an "upgrade" even though, she made of point of saying she wasn't even going to ask her supervisor. So, after waiting a few more moments (their computer servers were having issues), and then the check-in person having to go "manually" make my key, I was almost on the way.

Since this was my first stay @ Encore (or Wynn, for that matter), I asked the nice lady to have a 1L bottle of Pellegrino, ice, and limes sent up to my suite. She didn't flinch, and called in the request right away. So, I was on my way to floor 63 of the Encore Resort Tower.

The room (well, they call it a suite) was very nice, extremely well done.

It even came with a view of the Stardust, which was great at bringing back many incredible old memories......

Pellegrino arrived moments after I got to my suite/room, and after getting over the shock of the auto-gratuity and additional service charge, I thanked the very nice server. She did make a point of telling me that the gratuity was already charged. As if, I wouldn't have figured that out by the $18 total price on the check for a single 1L bottle of Pellegrino. Amazing thing, this is even more expensive than at Palazzo (by around $5) --- so, I guess they need to make $$ somewhere. Only complaint, if you want to call it that, is that they delivered lemon slices, not lime slices with the water. Personally, they should have delivered both.

While we're on the subject of Encore versus Palazzo comparisons, I'll mention a few.

Requested turn down before leaving my suite in the evening, and it was not performed. Also, did my late night chicken wing order (around 4AM), at which time I order DRY deep fried buffalo wings with the sauce on the side. I'm very specific about the sauce being on the side, and the order taker repeated the order back. Unfortunately, the wings arrived within a half hour, but drenched in hot sauce. A little annoying, since it took another 30 minutes for a replacement. Though, I must say, the presentation for the french fries was really nice.

Even with these very minor service setbacks, I must say, I totally love Encore. Why, it has a small casino feel, and the dice tables are right outside of the elevator bank to the resort tower. And, it works well. Nice functional suites. Lovely casino floor, lots of sunlight! Actually, that's it.. there is just so much light in Encore during the day, it's incredibly refreshing.

Would I stay here again? Absolutely! Do I like it more than Palazzo? Well, that's not completely fair, and I didn't get a chance to check out the gym or spa. But, I love the vibe and the aesthetic of the property. It just feels clean, open and LUCKY! (I can't believe I said that) --- more on the gambling action a bit later.

Went over to the Mirage, and to my wicked happy surprise, got in a cab (yeah, I was in a rush) where the driver was playing my favorite opera, Turandot. I noticed it immediately, and it turned out that it was a recording with Sutherland and Pavorati.

Got to Mirage to meet Lion, but it turned out, that I was supposed to be meeting him at M. This was a total senior moment on my part. I saw the text with "M", and just translated that into Mirage, as I knew he was checking into Mirage that day.

Well, killed some time watching the dice tables, playing a bit of $1/$2 Top Dollar; and Lion, being the gentleman that he is, arrived to pick me up and wisk me off to M.

I was very excited to be going over to M Resort. The newest hotel/resort/casino in Las Vegas. Being a Vegas history buff, I've always been fascinated about the old, pre-Harrah's RIO that was open by the Marnell's (who are opening M). At the time, the RIO was cutting edge, and was considered way off strip. Something that was never tried before. Well, M is even further off strip --- and opening at a rather difficult time for Vegas; but being that this is a small Marnell property, I have high hopes.

First impressions, wow, I just love the scale. Very well done, and not too big. Place just has an incredible vibe. (Between Encore and M, I felt like I was in VIBE HEAVEN!) Employees are terrific, including the cocktail servers on the casino floor. Great classy details, such as proper glassware (including funky martini glasses) on the casino floor. Hosts very available and very focused on customer service (as was everyone we interacted with). An example was a slot tech who was in the process of unlocking a machine after a jackpot overhearing one of us (not me) lamenting over not being able to get a particular single malt scotch. He immediately took the initiative to call for a supervisor, and bingo, scotch problem solved.

The Loft Suites are incredible. Really lovely interiors, just the right amount of furniture bordering on slightly minimalist. In the late afternoon light pours into the duplex suite, really lovely. This is most definitely a suite for entertaining. Also, if I recall correctly, Bulgari bath accessories! Nice!

the downstairs living room of the suite

stairs to level 2

awesome marble table, with Lion and Foo

love this Loft Suite powder room sink

view from upstairs, the amount of sunlight is amazing

Veloce is the fine dining restaurant on the top floor (16th floor) of M. What an incredible setup. Sweeping view of the strip in the distance from all seating in the dining room. And, the "automat" automated wine service machines in the bar (these are also in another wine bar in the hotel). Basically, tons of glasses on top of the machines, and then you use a "debit" type card to "self-dispense" your wine (in three different pour sizes starting with 1oz). Another feature is that they comp wine debit cards, so you can have easy access to wine currency. There are also cocktail waitresses in the bar, but it's great to be able to pour your own win (and no gratuity).

Love the wine "auto-mat"

Speciality drinks (such as "I'll have what she is having") are great and totally underpriced for a place of this level. $8.50 per specialty drink.

Only problem, is that we had a wait a while for our table, even though we had a reservation, but we loved hanging in the bar. (and Chandler our cocktail server was a hoot, to say the least! I Chandler!) Dinner was terrific. They have an awesome sushi bar, and we started with sushi/sashimi (including uni), bluepoint oysters, kobe beef sliders, and gourmet popcorn shrimp. All around entrees were terrific, I had the pepper filet; and it was incredible. Also tasted the veal chop and rack of lamb, both excellent.

Wine service was excellent, with a great sommelier. They have great glassware, and were constantly on top of making sure we had the proper glasses for our cold sake (appetizers) and red wine. Wine was decanted flawlessly, into a lovely crystal decanter. For the life of me, I can't recall the red we were drinking that evening, but it will eventually come to me. Waiters always knew who was drinking sparkling water (Pellegrino) and still water (Panna); and never made any mistakes.

Service was very polished for a brand new restaurant. (actually, amazingly so... if it wasn't for the wait, it probably could be considered very close to perfect)

Desserts were interesting, though we only sampled the coconut "lolipops" --- once again, great drink list to go with dessert. They have a "homemade" Limoncello, as well as a Limoncello cocktail. Both were very good, with the cocktail being a bit too sweet. I keep picturing an old Italian man in the basement, making the house Limoncello.

Pricing was incredible for a restaurant of this caliber. In addition, they don't rape you on cocktails or wine. Really nice! --- great to see your comp dollars going twice as far as they do on the strip. Value, beauty and service! It's a winning combination!

amazing view from our dinner table, with the strip in the distance.

I can't wait to go back... oh, and the topper! $5 dice! (and $5 3/2 blackjack)! (and I swear they had a $10 2 deck pitch game that was 3/2 --- but I "might" be mistaken, as I don't really pay too much attention to BJ)

The pre-Harrah's RIO VIBE IS BACK! Long live M Resort!

I can't help but think, that the M Resort executives are peering at all of the soon to be bankrupt hotels on the strip in the distance, and laughing.

Actually, and stay with me on this for a moment,

But, peering out the window at the strip in the distance, during dinner, I couldn't help but think of Star Wars and Death Star.

The Death Star was the code name of an unspeakably powerful and horrific weapon developed by the Empire. The immense space station carried a weapon capable of destroying entire planets.

Well, after seeing the City Center monstrosity, all I could think of was DEATH STAR!

MAYBE, the Jedi warriors are being launched from M-Resort to destroy MGM-Mirage and Harrah's and allow for us to regain the OLD VEGAS! or, just a more gambler friendly Vegas....

Finished up the evening with a bit of fun gambling at M-Resort, and then called it a night, being dropped off by AK and Andrew at Encore. I wandered around a bit, but realized that I needed to get some rest (it was after 3AM, and I had been up for over 24 hours at this point).

Went back to my Encore suite, ordered a bit of room service, and watched some mindless TV to end a wonderful whirlwind of a day.

Of course, I was up just a few hours later and was ready to hit the casino floor. Got my $150 FREEPLAY loaded very quickly at the Red Card desk, and immediately play some 3-play $1 STP short pay video poker. I was hoping for some good CHI, but the machine was just sucking $100 bills, and sucking... and sucking.. so, after 2 glasses of champagne and a few sparkling waters, I decided I needed to hit the dice tables.

$10 dice, with standard 3X/4X/5X strip odds. Great, and I do mean great dealers. (even greater after another glass of Champagne) It was up and down for a bit, and then it started to go up very nicely. My rolls were pretty decent, as well as this one other lady shooter, and this other dude who would hunch over (stick left) and always knock over my odds (I was stick right). Once I was up a few, I knew I should leave, but I really wanted to make a score (I really should know better). Needless to say, that didn't happen, and it was a losing session. At which point, I did what every proper degenerate gambler would do..... take a final shot at the $25 Top Dollar machines ($50 per spin). Hit the bonus at the second spin, and really thought I was in the money. Heck, all I need was like a 100 unit bonus to really make some cash. Instead, I wound up with a 35 unit bonus ($875), played it to around $750, and immediately cashed out. Thankfully, I had recovered my dice loses. What a way to end a whirlwind (3+ hour gambling session).

Went to the Encore Resort Store to pick up some presents, including something sexy for Ellen and a shirt for Joe (my trainer). I'm always promising Joe a present from Vegas, so I figured a nice Encore shirt would do the trick.

Back up to the room, and quickly arranged my limited stuff (it was only a 30 hour trip), and re-packed my backpack. Called down to speak to a host to see if my action warranted anything. Turns out, my 2+ hours of dice was worth $100 in food and beverage credits. Though, I only had around $50 on my room folio (Pellegrino and chicken wings). Luckily, the host said she would carry the $50 forward to my next visit, and gave me her name and email to contact her for my next reservation. Very nice! Impressive, Wynn really does like table players (well, at least a little bit!). Called down to the front desk to check-out, and was on my way to Burger Bar @ Mandalay Place. In addition, requesting a 1PM check-out was no issue (though, this was a midweek stay).

Was very glad to have a final lunch @ Burger Bar with Lion, Foo, AK, and Andrew. It was a great relaxed time (like the entire stay), and I had more than enough time to enjoy lunch before my flight. I had an angus burger topped with Foie Gras, super yum and highly recommended. I also had cole slaw and a side of sweet potato fries!

Lion wisked me off to the MaCarran, and after a stopping by the kiosk to print out my Southwest boarding pass (of which, I checked in online on my iphone); I was off to the gate and a rather quick (due to nice winds) slightly over 4 hour nonstop from Vegas to Manchester, NH!

Wow, what a trip! Too short, but most definitely worth it!

Neglecting the blog, and the beauty of baccarat plaques

2009-02-25T19:53:00.012-05:00

So, I've been neglecting the blog lately.

But, can you really blame me? Well, maybe... but, the ice storm of December 2008 set me back a bit, and now I'm super behind on my stories. Yes, it was a pretty great run at the end of the year. Some of the highlights I promise to talk about further :

- The Caesar's baccarat curse of 2006 is broken, and broken in style. It was destined to happen, and I must happily report that it did happen in the lovely Palace Court at Caesar's Atlantic City. The triple tie at the end of the first shoe was definitely a sign; but I was unstoppable (for a bit) while dealing from very close to the top of my second shoe. Harv witnessed it all, and I predicted that I'd be betting purples! It was amazing, but... you'll have to wait for some details.

Actually, my inspiration to finally get my lazy ass going, and actually post something was a text from Rob C. this evening, from the lovely Eldorado Casino in Reno, Nevada. Seems, that the Eldorado didn't get the memo that it is currently 2009; and that baccarat plaques haven't been used in mainstream casinos (in lower than $5,000 denominations) since the lovely 1980's.

But, plaques are alive and well at the Eldorado in denominations of $100 and up. Rob sent me a text message about the oddity, and was able to snap some pics.

These are used instead of chips for wagers at the Eldorado baccarat tables. The $500 is a little difficult to see, as the color is pink. Rob will have to chime in about the other denominations available at the tables. Pretty sure this was at a mini-baccarat game, which makes it even more odd.

So, now that I've finally posted something,
what I have in store for my upcoming blog posts :

- The epic November baccarat and dice trip to Atlantic City, and a step back into yesterday with dinner at Bacchanal.
- The early December Vegas Palazzo trip, with the most amazing dinner of 2008 at Alex (Wynn) thanks to a most awesome friend
- The final Atlantic City trip of 2008, and also the rush to re-qualify for harrah's diamond. 2+ days, 21+ hours of rated play -- it was a whirlwind
- Back to Vegas again, the first trip of 2009, and the "Pimp-Daddy Suite" sans disco ball

and... well, next week, the super crazy one day trip to Vegas (don't ask!)

POWER IS BACK!

2008-12-20T14:00:00.000-05:00

POWER IS BACK!

as of approximately 2PM this afternoon!

Photos of the Ice Storm "ADVENTURE!"

2008-12-20T11:31:00.002-05:00

some photos of the ice storm 2008 adventure...

[pics via a public album on facebook]

UPDATE 20th December, Saturday 11AM

2008-12-20T11:10:00.001-05:00

STILL NO POWER!

Not much more to say..... But, we are making the best of this adventure!

Saturday, December 20, 2008
5:00 a.m.

Find more information at psnhnews.com, including town-by-town outage listings, and a link to follow PSNH updates on Twitter.com/psnh.

Nearly 93 percent of PSNH customers affected by the ice storm have been restored since outages peaked on Friday evening at 322,000.
Today, PSNH’s restoration fleet will grow to its largest count yet, with about 1080 line and tree-trimming crews working to restore power to the nearly 23,500 PSNH customers still without electric service.

Snow or No, Work Continued Around the Clock
Snow fell over many parts of New Hampshire yesterday, and more is predicted for the Sunday. Despite the inclement weather, line and tree crews continued to press on to restore power to affected customers. While the pace of restoration was affected to some degree due to travel and visibility issues with the heavier snowfall that materialized yesterday, progress on major backbone circuits was made, and a number of individual services were restored. No matter what the weather brings, crews will continue to work around the clock to restore power.

UPDATE 16th December 5AM

2008-12-16T06:00:00.001-05:00

STILL NO POWER for us, our town has approximately 2,800+ homes of 4,000+ with no power....

and snow is on the way.... but hopefully only around 6"..... hopefully....

Latest News

Tuesday 12/16 5:00 a.m. Update

Service has been restored to about 223,000 PSNH customers since 9 p.m. on Friday evening, as line crews continue to repair damage inflicted by the worst ice storm in New Hampshire history. As of 4:30 a.m. today, about 96,000 PSNH customers remain without power.
More than 550 tree and line crews pushed hard yesterday to restore power to as many PSNH customers as possible, knowing that the “wintery mix” of rain and snow predicted for much of New Hampshire could challenge restoration efforts today and tomorrow.

This morning, over 400 crews will be fully rested and work to restore power to customers during extremely long shifts. This will be another important day for our customers, crews, call center employees and management team. Every employee is focused on restoring power to our customers. They certainly understand what our customers are going through. Most of our employees and their families have been affected as well during this monumental storm event. Many still do not have power at their own homes.
Outages More Extensive in the Southern and Western Areas of the State

The great progress so far has been made in the North Country and Seacoast areas of the state. The Western, Southern, and Central regions of the state still require more work. Crews in these regions have experienced more extensive damage and widespread outages—particularly in the greater Monadnock area, and the communities of Nashua, Derry, and Hudson.

Efforts Monday focused on restoring major and secondary circuits, as well as clearing wires and electrical equipment off roadways, and reconnecting school facilities throughout the state. Given the sheer magnitude of damage, we continue to believe it will take several more days for power to be restored to all of our customers. Customers without power are encouraged to continue to make alternate arrangements for shelter.
Install Generators Correctly to Avoid Potentially Fatal Hazards

One person has been killed and several others injured due to carbon monoxide exposure related to improper generator installation in New Hampshire during the ice storm and its aftermath. PSNH reminds customers that it is critical for their safety and the safety of line workers repairing the electrical system that portable generators be installed correctly. Generators must be properly ventilated to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning.

To protect line workers, a generator should only attach to the house wiring isolated from the utility supply. Without isolation, power that is being generated through the home could also feed into the PSNH electrical system and possibly electrocute a utility worker. Please take care when installing a portable generator. For more generator safety tips, visit www.psnh.com/Residential/SafetyCenter/Generators.asp.

Lots to share... but, I'm currently a refugee in Boston

2008-12-14T10:58:00.002-05:00

Well,

Had a "historic" trip to Atlantic City a few weeks ago (at both dice and big baccarat @ the palace court casino @ Caesar's AC)... had an INCREDIBLE trip to Vegas last week...

But, you're going to have to wait just a "bit" longer for all the stories...

Since, I'm currently a refugee @ the Omni Parker House in Boston, due to the largest ice storm in the history of New Hampshire.

Some details HERE :

Federal State Of Emergency Declared For New Hampshire
Lynch: Expect Prolonged Outages, Seek Warm Shelter

So... spending a few days (and hopefully only a few more) in Boston, making lemonade out of lemons... and of course, enjoying this wonderful city.

The 8AM update this morning from Public Service New Hampshire :

Sunday 08:00 a.m.
As of 8:00 a.m., PSNH reports that about 191,000 customers are without power.

Crews working overnight were able to restore power to approximately 30,000 PSNH Customers. As of 8:00 a.m., PSNH reports that about 191,000 customers are without power, a significant decrease from the 322,000 customers reported at 5 p.m. Friday.

Public Safety – A Top Priority
As the restoration effort is underway, public safety continues to be a top priority. For your safety, customers are warned to refrain from cutting trees and branches that are on top of or touching power lines. Always assume that these wires are energized and can be extremely dangerous. If a downed wire is found, notify PSNH of its location immediately. Please remind children who go outside, to avoid any wire that is on the ground or hanging near the ground, and to notify an adult if a downed or loose wire is seen. Additionally, please recognize that the work being performed by line and tree crew requires strict attention to detail. To help assure the safety of these crews, we ask that you refrain from milling around the employees and their equipment while work is in progress.

Power Restoration – Progress is Steady
The company’s power restoration workforce will be enhanced further today with over 120 additional crews from Maryland, Ohio, and Canada, who arrived throughout Saturday evening and early morning hours on Sunday. In total, there will be 335 line crews on the PSNH system working to restore power. With clear weather expected today, it is anticipated that considerable progress can be made during the day.

Understandably, customers who have been without power are anxious to know when it will be restored. At this time, we are unable to provide precise answers to individual locations, given the magnitude of the damage and debris that must be removed before wires and equipment can be reconnected or replaced. We continue to expect that it will take several more days before power to all customers is restored, and we strongly encourage customers without power to make alternative arrangements for shelter.

The strangest casino in the world... Can you guess?

2008-11-01T15:58:00.015-04:00

It was conceived as a classy casino center boardwalk in Atlantic City. A bit too classy for American Gaming tastes. It was casino number seven in New Jersey. It was constructed on a very tiny piece of land on Florida Avenue and the boardwalk. The unique three-level casino with the minimum 500-room hotel opened on April 14, 1981.

From the Elsinore company history profile "In 1980, Playboy/Elsinore Associates began construction on a $159 million hotel and casino in Atlantic City. The Playboy Hotel and Casino offered 500 hotel rooms and suites, 52,000 square feet of gaming space, 25,000 square feet of convention and meeting facilities, and a 1,000-seat entertainment lounge, the Playboy Cabaret. Elsinore and Playboy sought to attract the international, high roller market with a design modeled on European casinos and Playboy casinos in England. Spread over three floors in small rooms the Playboy provided an intimate setting for gaming, including European favorites such as European Single O Roulette, American Double O Roulette, and Chemin de Fer, a game similar to baccarat. The Playboy Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City opened on April 14, 1981."

doorman photo used with permission of Michael Price Photography

The Casino Connection Article, Bunny on the Boardwalk provides some insight on the original design for the hotel.

"The casino ran into obstacles before it was off the drawing board. The Federal Aviation Administration blocked Playboy from building a 33-story hotel tower on its Convention Hall-adjacent plot, claiming it would impede air traffic at Bader Field.

In response, the building’s height was reduced to 22 stories. Las Vegas architect Martin Stern, Jr., who built the Las Vegas Hilton and MGM Grand, designed a green glass tower with a three-level casino and a Playboy Key Club, among other amenities."

On the right and below, are initial artistic renderings of the property.

"After the 1976 referendum allowing casinos in Atlantic City, Playboy shifted gears, since gaming was limited to Atlantic City and not all of New Jersey. In ’77, Playboy Clubs International President Victor Lownes testified at a public hearing that his company was prepared to spend $32 million on a casino project. He further urged that the “English system” be adopted—casinos would be limited to 16 hours and barred from offering players drinks at tables. Casinos would be forbidden from offering live entertainment, and credit would be tightly restricted.
Luckily, Lownes didn’t carry the day—Atlantic City’s casino laws, though stricter than those of Nevada, were decidedly more liberal than Britain’s. But his attitude foreshadowed future problems the Playboy casino would have."

The actual completed Playboy Casino tower, which was quite a bit shorter than originally anticipated.

A number of interior photos show off the classy "English style" casino that Victor Lownes conceived. But, as most know, Atlantic City up until quite recently, has always been driven by the daily (bus-crowd) visitors. Not having a casino level that opened to the boardwalk, as well as an entrance difficult to locate were not going to help this ill-conceived property. In addition, it had the smallest amount of gaming space (split into three levels) of all the Atlantic City properties.

The lovely baccarat pit, which I assume was on the third floor looks like it was an incredible sight.

Of course, this brings up the very interesting topic of Baccarat versus Chemin de Fer play in the state of New Jersey. As far as I know, Chemin de Fer is still authorized by the gaming commission (in New Jersey) as a legitimate casino game.

In my never ending quest for knowledge about Baccarat -- I happened upon the website with the Official Rules of the Games in New Jersey

I was stunned when I saw two entries for Baccarat :

Subchapter 3. Baccarat - Punto Banco
and
Subchapter 4. Baccarat - Chemin De Fer

Now, the first is really just what we would refer to as "American Baccarat" --- but, the "Chemin De Fer" version really surprised me. Now, I know there were some experiments with Chemin De Fer in Vegas (Stardust et al) in the early 70's but it never really caught on. In "shimmy" you actually have a choice, if the [player] card total is a 5 --- you do not disclose the cards, but instead (based on the cards) advise if you will be drawing a 3rd card. The bank hand (with respect to the 3rd card draw) then proceeds by the regular rules.

Per the NJ gaming commission :

19:47-4.9 Procedure for dealing of additional cards
(a) After the initial four cards have been dealt, the Dominant Player shall look at the two cards dealt to the "Player's Hand" without disclosing them to the Banker. If the Point Count of the "Player's Hand" is:
1. A zero, one, two, three or four, the Dominant Player shall request one additional card by announcing "Card";
2. A five, the Dominant Player shall exercise the option of requesting one additional card by announcing "Card" or not requesting one additional card by announcing "Stay";
3. A six or seven, the Dominant Player shall not draw an additional card and shall announce "Stay";
4. An eight or nine, the Dominant Player shall announce "Natural" and all cards in both hands shall be turned immediately face upwards with no additional cards being dealt to either hand.

So, does anyone actually recall playing Chemin De Fer in Atlantic City? It was most definitely listed as one of the games offered at the opening of the Playboy Atlantic City casino. Also, upon further examination, this does seem to be the game that James Bond was playing in the original Casino Royale book.

And, one cannot emphasize enough how amazing it was that the casino floor and public spaces looked out onto the beach and Atlantic Ocean

There has only been discussion very recently, of re-engineering some of the beach zone casinos to actually have windows that look out onto the beach. Casino design for the last 30 years has often focused on no distractions to the outside world, instead creating casino environments that are totally self contained, without clocks or windows. It was great to see Caesars and Ballys open up new Diamond Lounges with incredible views of the ocean and beach.

And, we can't have a "real casino" without a great dice pit. Though, as much of this property was, this gaming area was probably way too upscale for the New Jersey gaming market in the 1980's

"In the end, the CCC issued a license to Elsinore but denied one to Playboy. Playboy then agreed to sell its share in the casino to Elsinore, which re-named the resort the Atlantis—a poor choice, when one thinks about the original fate of the Lost Continent. By the summer of 1984, Playboy Bunnies were out, the giant bunny logo on the crest of the building replaced by a seashell, and the age of Atlantis had begun.

Almost from the start, the casino took on water. In November 1985, it filed for bankruptcy, and continued to struggle for nearly five more years. In the spring of 1989, Donald Trump bought the Atlantis for a mere $63 million. Trump closed the casino and operated the property as the hotel-only Trump Regency.
In May 1996, after a regulatory change allowed him to own four casinos, Trump reopened the property as Trump’s World Fair at Trump Plaza. But this world’s fair was no cash cow; three years later, Trump closed the casino, citing its failure to turn a profit, and demolished it, promising to build a newer, more fantastic resort in its place."

A pretty amazing story, when you consider the classiest and most unique casino to be designed and built on the boardwalk was also the first casino to go bankrupt in Atlantic City. But, also a testament, to the overall corrupt nature of the New Jersey CCC with regard to licensing requirements. The denial of Hefner's license due to a liquor license dispute (in New York City - 20 years earlier) and the controversy over the London Playboy Casino violations would be minor in comparison to the future junk bond financing and suspect financial activities (all considered legal, of course) of the Trump (and Merv Griffin - Resorts) organization over the next few years.

Baccarat for the iphone

2008-10-21T19:37:00.007-04:00

Yes, the wait is over.

There is now an iphone application for baccarat.

The Baccarat Pro interface is pretty snazzy.

The application provides easy access to the rules of the game, as well as a scorecard, and history.

You can keep track of high scores on the leader board. I especially like the card burn feature at the beginning of the shoe, though you are not shown the burn cards. The only odd, or unnatural thing about the game interface is that it sets aside the commission for bank bets when they are placed. This is to prevent you burning through your bankroll and still owing commission. In real life, the casinos know you are on the hook for the commission, and you would just have to dig in your pockets for the balance, if you didn't have it in chips.

A detailed review can be found at the iphone games network website.

Now, one can practice their baccarat strategies all day long!

Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal dead at 79

2008-10-21T18:07:00.004-04:00

On the evening of Oct. 4, 1982, Lefty Rosenthal, the talented professional gambler and gangster-when-necessary who had brought sports betting to casinos in Las Vegas and illicitly run an empire of four hotel casinos, walked out of Tony Roma’s on East Sahara Avenue with an order of takeout ribs. He had just finished dinner with some fellow handicappers, and he was bringing the food home for his two children. When he got into his car, it blew up.

Mr. Rosenthal survived the explosion — later he could not remember whether he had turned the ignition key — but the attempt on his life, for which no one was ever prosecuted, ended his career as one of the most powerful men in Las Vegas. He left the city early the next year and on Monday, at home in Miami Beach, he died. He was 79 and had lived in Florida since the late 1980s.

more details HERE

NY Times obituary is HERE

Rosenthal interview with the Miami Herald in 2008

A nice NPR tribute, Man Behind "Casino" Dies

The Stardust was my absolute favorite Vegas property for many years.

I was friendly with a few baccarat supervisors who worked directly for "Lefty." --- the stories were awesome, one of the many reasons I loved playing big baccarat at the 'dust.

I played the final day-shift big baccarat game at the 'dust back in 2006.

and, I'll never forget the great times I had talking to Shirley in the baccarat room --- the "first" female baccarat dealer in Vegas, trained by "Lefty." Lefty helped train Shirley to be a baccarat dealer, back in the day.

Oh, yes, and they had a great Loyalty Program @ the 'Dust. Chairman and Gold Level were ripe with lots of discretionary perks. ;)

Lefty was one of the last of the true Vegas legends.

ACY

2008-09-13T15:18:00.001-04:00

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Bye Bye Atlantic City

2008-09-13T15:04:00.001-04:00

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Harrah's Waterfront Tower Suite Living Room

2008-09-13T11:06:00.002-04:00

This is the living room and dining area for the new one bedroom suites at the Harrah's Waterfront Tower. These suites are located at the end of the halls, and have sweeping views. The suite can connect to the adjacent room, to make a two bedroom configuration.

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I especially like the funky furniture "divider" that separates the dining area from the living room.

and, of course, no suite is ever complete, without the wet bar!

Pool Cabana

2008-09-13T10:48:00.001-04:00

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Harrah's Indoor Pool

2008-09-13T10:42:00.001-04:00

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Three in the row Banco... trying to make it four!

2008-09-13T00:35:00.002-04:00

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If you look closely, "Os" on the scorecard represent bankers, there were just 3 Banks followed by a TIE (represented by a --).

I always bet the "repeat TIE" (yes, I know it's a sucker bet, but TIEs often repeat... LOL....)

Also decided to use this opportunity to throw out a bet for the dealer,
so you can see my bet (two black chips $200) with a bet for the dealer (on TOP of my bet) --- and the TIE bet (above the Banker bet).

Dealer is pulling the cards from the shoe, and about to hand over the "Player hand" to the highest bet "Player" to face those cards ("Player" cards are always faced before the "Bank" hand)

Baccarat and Harrah's Atlantic City

2008-09-12T23:58:00.002-04:00

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This is a MIDI-Baccarat game @ Harrah's Atlantic City. $25 is the minimum bet, which is great for a table where you can "handle" the cards. Notice how crumpled the PLAYER (hand on the left side) cards are.

While my favorite Baccarat game is Big Baccarat, I can deal with a MIDI game, since you at least get a chance to face the cards. Only big difference from the Big Baccarat game is that the players don't deal (and the shoe doesn't travel around the table).

Players at this table were spreading from approximately $25 to $800, with one woman sitting next to me who was wild with her consistent $75 tie bets (and $25 to $50 Dragon Bonus bets).

Yes, this table has the additional sucker bet, the Dragon Bonus. For more details on the Dragon Bonus, please refer to the Wizard of Odds tables.

From the ShuffleMaster web site :

Dragon Bonus is the industry’s most popular baccarat side bet, and doesn't corrupt the drawing rules or commission structure of baccarat.

To play the Dragon Bonus side bet for baccarat, players must make the Dragon Bonus wager before the dealer reveals any cards. The dealer will then deal and reconcile the traditional baccarat hands according to house procedures.

Natural winners pay even-money on the Dragon Bonus wager and in the event of a natural that ties, the Dragon Bonus wager pushes. Non-natural winners that win by at least four points pay even-money, and the larger the margin of victory, the larger the payout.

Sand Castle

2008-09-12T15:09:00.001-04:00

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ROYAL !!!!

2008-09-12T14:26:00.001-04:00

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A great evening with Sev, starting with a great view of the beach and boardwalk from the Caesars Diamond Lounge

2008-09-11T17:55:00.005-04:00

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Met Sev at the Caesars Diamond lounge, where we had great conversation over Grey Goose Martinis (lots of olives for Sev, as they were out of onions) for a few hours. Couldn't decide where to go for dinner, so I suggested we try to seek out Valentino who was a previous waiter at Primavera (Caesar's Italian joint) for over 20 years. He moved over to Mark Anthony's (which is the Trump Taj's Italian joint) around a year ago.

Valentino immediately started us off with an awesome antipasto, and it was like dining with an old friend again!

Had a lovely dinner starting with a seafood tower trio, accompanied by some great wines. I can't recall what the exact wine was we had with the seafood trio (it was German and sweet, if I recall correctly).

UPDATE : Sev was able to provide some details about our first wine :
Our wine to accompany the starter was a "2003 Berncastler (often also spelled Bernkastler) Doktor Riesling Spaetlese (meaning late picked); those tend to be richer and more concentrated. From the town of Bernkastel in the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer. There are several producers of this high-end German Riesling; I forget which one we had but I think it was probably Dr. Thanisch. The "Spaetlese" is a higher quality than the generally-drier "Kabinett," and there is also occasionally an "Auslese" which is even more concentrated/sweeter. Though this is Germany, these are grapes grown on hillside terraces on the river banks and are harvested and selected by hand."

A nice shot of Sev and our lovely seafood tower (enjoying his wine).

Sev made sure that the folks were on their toes, confirming the specific vintages available; as the wine list was lacking this very pertinent information. The 2003 Tommasi Amarone was a most excellent choice to accompany our prime. I wasn't particularly familiar with Amarone, and was really glad Sev had suggested it.

The details about Amarone are quite fascinating (probably more details than necessary, by Tom Hyland from the Guide to Italian Wines)

Amarone is one of Italy's wine treasures that is loved by wine drinkers looking for ripe fruit, power, roundness and a sense of adventure in their red wine. Put a combination like that together and it should come as no surprise that Amarone is so popular these days.
Why is Amarone enjoying such renown and acceptance these days? Being a big – read 14 percent alcohol – wine doesn't hurt and either does the name which most people can pronounce, unlike some Italian words. But it may be the singularity of this wine that makes it such a favorite.
Amarone is produced in the region of Veneto by estates that make Valpolicella, one of the most popular wines of this area in Northeastern Italy. The same grapes, primarily Corvina (usually the leading component in the blend) along with Rondinella and Molinara, are used to produce Amarone. But the difference between the two wines is usually striking; where Valpolicella is a medium-weight wine meant for consumption with lighter fare with in its first 3-5 years, Amarone is a much more robust wine that is perfect with game birds or other such sturdy fare over the course of 7 to 15 years.
The reason for the stylistic difference in these wines is in the winemaking. To produce an Amarone (properly known as Amarone della Valpolicella Classico), a winemaker will take the harvested grapes and lay them on a straw mat, often in an attic or other warm room. The grapes then dry over the course of several months creating a raisiny flavor that is a distinctive character of Amarone.
As Amarone comes from the Italian word amaro ("bitter"), most examples have a tartness or slightly astringent edge to them. Alternatively, you may notice a sweet edge to them that can be explained in the concentrated sugars the grapes pick up during the drying process. Certainly, the combination of raisiny and sweet black fruit can make Amarone an irresistible temptation.
That slightly sweet edge in the finish can also come from the fact that a particular Amarone may not be entirely dry. Amarone is actually a recent innovation, dating back only from the 1950s. Before that, the process of drying grapes in this fashion (known as appasimento) resulted in a sweet, super-rich wine known as Recioto. Legend has it that the first Amarone was a mistake, as a winemaker had let a barrel of wine ferment too long and the wine's residual sugar had been eliminated. Recioto is still made today and its sweetness and richness make it a perfect choice at the end of a meal, often with powerful cheeses. (Many producers of Amarone also produce a Recioto – the official name is Recioto Della Valpolicella – with Masi and Tedeschi among the best.)

The only let down for dinner, was the dessert which was an edible basket with berries (I forget all the details), but the edible basket was not particularly inspiring, and was very heavy and "doughy."

Upon examining the check, Sev noticed a pricing error for one of the wines (seems that some of the wine lists for the restaurant had not been updated recently). It wasn't hugh, but was a bit annoying, nonetheless. Since we had already settled the check, we convinced Valentino to finish off our evening with two glasses of Hennessy XO; which he graciously poured for us directly from the bottle at our table. This more than made up for the error, as this was a $30'ish glass of Cognac at Mark Anthony.

At some point during dinner, the handy iphone totally lost it's charge, so I was a bit unconnected for the rest of the evening (which was fine...) We went over to Showboat for a bit, as I had a 6x multiplier bonus for September 11th. Played some video poker, $5 Top Dollar (which, was just eating and eating my $$$$), and a little bit of dice. We also were able to partake in a Davidoff Grand Cru #4 Cigar; while being ever so cautious to make sure we were in a proper smoking area. Which, for only a few more weeks includes high limit slots and the rather small section of video poker machines near the center bar. Seemed that both of the dice tables (at Showboat) were non-smoking on this evening. There are only a few more weeks left of smoking in Atlantic City Casinos. Starting next month, the casino floor will be 100% smoke free.

For those interested, the dice table minimum at Showboat had been lowered to $5 (with standard Harrah's Atlantic City 5x odds). But, the table was pretty dead, so I decided to cut my losses and depart Showboat. Sev and I said our goodbyes, and I was back to Harrah's for a bit more gambling.

Got on a very hot dice table, and was able to make a nice hit in the first half hour or so. Actually, got another fire bet (this time, 4 points 25 for 1). Earlier in the evening, got a fire bet for 250 for 1 (5 individual points). This is a total sucker bet, so I only put up a $1 on the chance, I might win. Considering this day, I've probably pre-paid my "fire-bets" for the next 10 years.

Managed to drop back a significant amount of my dice winnings playing some more Top Dollar at Harrah's (can we say "addiction"); but, overall it was a pretty successful evening. I sort of wish I was a little less, "into the action" as I probably should have packed it in (along with a larger win) much earlier in the evening. Such is life in the gaming world!

Finally got to bed around 5'ish!

2008-09-11T16:14:00.001-04:00

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2008-09-11T16:06:00.001-04:00

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TOP DOLLAR $2 - 3 Coin

2008-09-11T12:19:00.002-04:00

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Had to kill some time before getting my room key (rooms were to be ready @ 12.30PM).

So, a quick hit & run at the TOP DOLLAR MACHINE.

Knew I should I played $5 instead of $2 denomination. Oh well!

ACY

2008-09-11T12:00:00.001-04:00

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ON MY WAY!

2008-09-11T10:18:00.001-04:00

A very smooth trip through Boston Logan this morning. Delta was handling all of the ground services which was sort of cool; even joked with the check-in agent about adding my Delta Medallion number to the record. Interesting to see a BOS-ACY flight printed on Delta stock. Security was super fast, and the boarding pass checker at the metal detector told me "good luck!" Obviously a reference to my flight's destination. Typing this mid-flight, with an estimated flight time of 45 minutes. Now it's about time for a vodka & soda!

ACY Boarding pass on Delta Stock

2008-09-11T09:49:00.002-04:00

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2008-09-11T09:37:00.001-04:00

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2008-09-11T09:36:00.001-04:00

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Delta Terminal A Boston Logan

2008-09-11T09:00:00.001-04:00

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Off To ACY

2008-09-11T08:00:00.001-04:00

On the way to Boston Logan for a flight nonstop to Atlantic City. I'll be mobile blogging for the next 48 hours.

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Dinner & "The Roll" Day #1 26th June 2008

2008-07-03T05:57:00.017-04:00

I must say, they did such a nice bar setup in our suite. I'm all about the glassware, and they were very good about making sure we were always supplied with sufficient quantities of proper drinking vessels.

I also wanted to mention, that I had a number of requests that were handled very well by the Palazzo resort concierge Helen (mostly via email) before our arrival. This included pre-blocking a concierge level suite. In addition, the concierge wasn't able to get us a smoking Bella Suite, but got approval for us to smoke in our non-smoking suite and proceeded to send ashtrays (approximately 10) to the suite. I must say, the ventilation and air circulation was so good, the room always smelled fresh, even though we were smoking in the suite.

Alex picked us up in his convertible rental car, and we proceed to the Golden Nugget.

We arrive at the GN for dinner with quietlion and Andy. This was such a nice treat, and I was very happy to be sharing my birthday dinner amongst such fine company.

I started with some oysters on the half shell, and had a very nice medium rare 8oz filet mignon sans butter. Numerous vegetables were ordered and shared among everyone at the table. We started off with a Laurent-Perrier Rose Champagne, which was a perfect compliment to my oysters. The wine with dinner was Darioush 2004 Shiraz, which was exceptional, and went very well with the variety of entrees ordered at the table. Of special note was the quail appetizer, which Richard had suggested, and I tried a piece of from Alex's plate -- it was very nice.

After dinner, we took a nice walk down Fremont street, so that we would have time to enjoy our cigars. Cigars included Davidoff Grand Cru No 4 and some Cubans Dave had brought me back from his trip to Cancun.

We got back to the Nugget and were just hanging around in front of a dice table. Alex mentioned we should give it a whirl, and both stick left positions were wide open... so, why not. Alex stood immediate stick left, with me to his left. When the dice finally came to me, I was one fire! 6 Points (ok, it might have been 5) --- tons of numbers, back to back hard 10's --- it was by far my best roll in the past year. And, what did I do, I fuck'ed it up. Yeah, I won hundreds... but it should have been thousands..... (Alex won around $700 since he was being pretty aggressive on the 4 & 10). But, I was just so distracted by our friends, and arranging for the "Georgia Girls" to meet us. I was on the line for $10 and backing up full (Vegas) odds, with the 6 & 8 for an average of $24 each, and the occasional 4 & 10. For the life of me (well, actually, because I was distracted) --- I still don't know why I didn't press up my pass line bet (to secure more odds) after the 2nd or 3rd point rolled. But, how can I complain, it was my birthday..... and I had a great roll at the dice table. During all this, there were also goodbyes to Dave and Merf who were fading fast... so, as you can see --- lots of distractions, but at least I can say it was a conservative controlled roll. And, after my roll (which had to be at least 20 minutes) --- Alex and I colored up; with the "Georgia Girls" arriving just moments before.

I really wish I had a picture to show, but these girls really dressed themselves up for the town; but heck, it was their first night out in Vegas.

We went to the bar and Richard picked up drinks for us to bring back to the split level suite, and we all hung around for a while. Just after we got to the suite, Lisa (MissL) arrived, and I met her downstairs and we proceeded to pick up 2 splits of Champagne (Laurent-Perrier) to bring up to the suite to toast our birthdays. My birthday of 26th June was just about ending, and Lisa's was about to begin on the 27th of June --- so, we had a toast at a time appropriate to celebrate both of our birthdays.

After a bit more relaxing and hanging out, Alex, myself and Lisa left with the "Georgia Girls" with a plan to potentially go to Pure. But, we hit a wicked horrible traffic jam (like 30 minutes) -- and we were all beat (especially me, who had been up since 4AM Eastern Time for the flight to Vegas). I decided to just go back to Palazzo, and Lisa got off there, with the intent to walk back to Paris, just hours before her return flight to Phoenix.

It was a great arrival in Vegas --- and a great way to celebrate my xx birthday!

Thanks to EVERYONE for sharing it with me, and making this a very special and memorable birthday!

bday trip (x2) Day #1 26th June 2008 - Arrival in Vegas

2008-07-03T04:45:00.006-04:00

So..... we land in Vegas, and since we have checked bags, I absolutely refuse to rush off the plane; as we need to wait for the bags anyway. We say our good byes to the awesome flight attendants and are on our way to baggage claim.

The Venetian Limo dude is waiting with a sign in baggage claim, and we proceed to pick up our bags. While waiting for our bags, I start chatting with these two nice girls from Georgia; who just arrived on the ATL-LAS flight (we were on the SLC-LAS flight). Of course, we are a bit anxious about our bags, since our connection from BOS (in SLC) was only 20 minutes. Alas, the bags come off the plane -- much to our relief. I ask the "Georgia Girls" if they want a ride in our limo, as no Vegas Virgins should be forced to deal with a cab to their hotel, of course, they say yes.

First stop is the liquor store, and we procure the requisite Sparkling Wine, Beer (Sam Adams - for Merf), Grey Goose L'Orange, and a few other items.

We do a short strip tour (it's also Merf's first time to Vegas) --- and then stop at the Palazzo first (Georgia Girls will continue to MGM). Upon arrival at Palazzo, since we are prebooked in a concierge level suite --- we get to check in at the private concierge desk right at the entrance of Palazzo (no need to walk all the way to invited guest check-in). Dave hands over his credit card, and we are checked-in in under 5 minutes, and on our way to the Bella Concierge Suite on the 25th floor.

Our bar setup in the suite (notice the copious quantities of glassware)

A lovely cheese plate send by my friend executive chef TS

After we get settled, everyone realizes they are hungry --- and there is still a bit of time before my shave at "Art of Shaving - Palazzo Shops." We decide to get a quick bite at Woo

Woo: The folks behind the Las Vegas legend Mayflower Cuisinier have cloised that place and opened Woo in the Palazzo. The menu is pan-asian and the food is served family-style, meaning enough to share. Order a lot of different things since the portions are small, and you'll want to sample many dishes.

Alex joins myself, Dave and Merf - and we have a blast. The food is terrific, and includes a tuna tartare and some excellent ribs! Yum.... I break away from lunch early, to go get my birthday shave (a few shops down) at the "Art of Shaving."

After an awesome shave (THANK YOU - Dave!) -- Alex drives us over to Paris/Bally's as it's time to get him checked into his room at Bally's. Alex tends to spend 2-3 weeks at a time in Vegas --- so, I offer to get him 5 nights @ Bally's to use between his other comp night stays. We valet at Paris, and walk over to Bally's -- using Diamond Check-In I make it known to the lovely lady that it is indeed my birthday. BINGO - score a junior suite for Alex (for a stay which includes a weekend). I tip the nice lady, and we are off to check out Alex's very 1980's junior suite in the north tower.

We decide to get a quick drink at the Paris Diamond Lounge, which is super crowded at the point.
We manage to find a table, and I grab some food for the table. I'm actually surprised there was hot food, such as egg rolls and chicken fingers --- I grab a selection and some cheese for everyone. Since we don't have a lot of time, we order quite the round (or two) of drinks. A lemon drop martini for Merf. Dirty Martini's for myself and Alex. Dave wants a chocolate martine (what is that boy thinking).. in addition a round of sparkling wine for everyone x2 (remember, it's also Merf's birthday celebration, as it was her birthday a week earlier)... and a few Perrier waters for the table (hydration and drinking water is always key to staying healthy in Vegas, especially in the summer).

We finish our drinks, and go to get a cab back to Palazzo. The cab line is hugh, but the Diamond card gets us to the front of the cab line, managing to piss off around 20 people.... but, heck, that's one of the perks... so, you might as well use it. Unfortunately, there is no signage (or not very good signage) at Paris with regard to the "Diamond-Cab Line Cut --- so, you just need to by-pass the line, and get the cab dispatcher's attention (and, of course, I always tip).

Back to Palazzo and a bit of time to freshen up before dinner downtown at Vic and Anthony's at the Golden Nugget. QL has invited us for dinner, and that was very gracious... did I mention, it's my birthday!

bday trip (x2) Day #1 26th June 2008 - Flying to Vegas VEGAS STYLE

2008-07-02T09:55:00.024-04:00

This was my Vegas birthday trip that was planned back in March/April. I originally had a comp'ed Palazzo offer for March -- but, I basically postponed that offer for a June trip. This would be my first trip to Vegas for 2008, the last being in September of 2007 during the VMA awards.

The Palazzo offer got sweeter, as a birthday offer, and included :
Comp Palazzo Suite for up to 4 nights with an upgrade to a Concierge Bella Suite
2 Bottles of Sparkling Wine
2 Bathrobs
The Ultimate Birthday Dinner for 2 (tasting menu) at Jade (Palazzo)
2 Venetian Monkeys (gotta love that)
Chocolates
and some free slot play

This offer was très bon, and was a bit hard to figure; as I only played some video poker a few times last year at Venetian.

So, it was June 26th, my OFFICIAL birthday and I was off to Vegas for the first time in 2008.

Our flight departs 7'ish from BOS (Boston Logan) so Dave and Meredith (Merf) pick me up super early, so we don't need to stress with our arrival at the airport. We get to BOS in record time, and I suggest we pull up at departures and Merf and I jump out and got to First check-in to drop the bags and grab our boarding passes. This works perfectly, and we are all set in under 10 minutes. Hop back into the car, and drop off at Logan long term economy parking. Luckily, just moments after we get to the bus shelter a bus arrives to take us to the terminal. We chuckle at all the people schlepping their bags on the bus --- and mention how sweet it was we dropped the bags first, before parking.

At the terminal, we use the First (& Shuttle) security line and clear TSA security in under 10 minutes. Merf has a bit of extra screening, but it's not much of an issue. I of course get my lighter through, as I'm expert at placing my lighter in the carry-on bag. Though, my real Colibri lighter is de-fueled and packed in my checked luggage. Can't risk having a $100 lighter taken by the TSA security folks.

We go to the Delta Crown Room by our gate (A17 if I recall correctly) --- of course, I tell the Crown Room desk lady that it's my birthday --- I just can't help it..... as I'm so excited to be going to Vegas on my birthday. (By the way, I score a present --- a Business Elite amenity kit --- as a birthday gift... very nice!)

Gotta love this pic of two of my favorite places, Israel and Vegas

And for those who thought we got trashed at 6AM at the Crown Room, unfortunately, there is NO alcohol until 8AM due to Boston liquor laws --- so, it was just coffee, orange juice, and sparkling water.

We got to the gate (which was pretty close to the Crown Room) in time for Zone 1 (First Class) boarding, and used the Delta Breezeway to board immediately. Once on the plane, I had my usual sparkling water and lime for pre-departure drink.

after we were airborne, I ordered a mama-mia martini; the flight attendant searched the entire first class galley for the new premium tequila --- but, alas, there was none to be found (and also none in the economy section).

Delta's description of this new drink :

Margarita
The thought of a top-shelf
margarita—served at your seat—
available only on a Delta flight . . .
kinda leaves you speechless. With
Tequila Herradura Silver–100% de
Agave and Midnight Bar Collection
Margarita Mixer

instead, I ordered a pomegranate martini per Delta's menu :

Pomegranate Martini
One of the hottest flavors going
today, this Pomegranate Martini
is fabulous.

at first, they brought it in one of the funky party glasses that Delta uses for specialty drinks when sold in economy.

of course, I quickly asked the lovely flight attendant (and she was very nice) if she could swap that out for a proper REAL FIRST CLASS glass.

For breakfast (pic to the right and below), I pre-ordered an Asian Vegetarian meal. It was actually pretty good, though I think I would have preferred the breakfast cheese quesidilla with spicy sausage. I continued drinking vodka (with just a splash of the juice) as well as sparkling water with lime (hydration is key when flying).

After lunch and my few beverages, I was able to catch around 2+ hours of sleep, which was awesome -- as I went to sleep the night before around 11PM only to wake up at 4AM. I'd been super busy over the past week (work, OpenSkies trip to Paris) -- so, I really did need to get a bit of rest on this flight. Can't remember what the movie was, but I had no interest. Just sleep and listening to some tunes on my ipod.

OH, and I almost forgot..
Guess who was in row 6 of the First Class cabin on this flight from BOS-SLC,
CELTICS #0 Leon Powe. And, what an exteme gentleman. I was originally in row 6 (next to Powe), but switched to row #1 so he could sit next to his SO and child. And, what a cute little boy, especially when he was sleeping on Powe's chest. I really wanted to snap a pic, but that would be bad form. I chatted with Powe for a few moments when I woke up from my nap, and he gladly signed BOTH of my Delta boarding passes... ahhh... an autographed boarding pass to Vegas --- that really rocks (in my opinion).

What a nice person he was... I was so impressed, and was glad to tell him that I was in the garden on that first Sunday of the finals. GO CELTICS! YOU ROCK!

We arrived in SLC with 20 minutes to make our connection from SLC-LAS --- Merf needed a smoke (real bad), so we obliged and stopped in the smoking chamber on our way to the next gate (and of course, she was impressed when I pull out my lighter to light her Camel Red Lights --- I really am trying to turn her into a Dunhill Red Girl). We arrive at the gate while they were in the middle of boarding, but were able to cut the boarding line (hey, we're in First Class --- and I'm a Medallion) using the Delta Breezeway.

Got situated in our seats, and immediately asked the flight attendant if they had any tequila. I didn't want a repeat performance of no tequila, like the BOS-SLC flight. Of course, she had some, but this flight was only 1 hour --- so, I'd have to get ready to really drink heavy, to catch up on my initial loss of margariatas... No worries, since I was now well rested --- and consumed by tobacco smoke after a few moments in the smoking lounge.

This flight attendant from Puerto Rico was a real blast....

ahhh....... I finally get my margariatas! (notice I splased in Amaretto, since Delta no longer stocks Grand Marnier on domestic flights --- BOO!)

1 hour later, and well, just a few margaritas later.... we touch down in THE VEGAS.....

With flights like this, you can just imagine what's in store for the trip........ You'll never guess.... well, maybe you will.....

OpenSkies Blog

2008-06-30T11:53:00.001-04:00

Looks like my picture made it into the official OpenSkies Blog.

Very Cool!

this pic really sums things up

2008-06-21T21:19:00.005-04:00

I can't wait to provide a complete photo (and video) blog of my two day trip to Paris.

Especially, since this was a Paris trip in celebration of FlyerTalk's 10th anniversary and the OpenSkies/Paris Do.

But, this was more than a trip to Paris.

This was a celebration of the FlyerTalk community.

This photo was the culmination of an awesome two days in Paris!

My final dinner with a bunch of awesome FlyerTalkers was at Pershing Hall --- and, I must say, the mood --- the company --- and the atmosphere were all Très Bon !

2008-06-21T11:00:00.000-04:00

I wandered by the Starbucks near the Louvre Museum;

and realized.....

sometimes you just need a Starbucks break....

and sometimes, you just need a venti iced americano....

and so, I present a Starbucks moment in Paris

This is NOT Prem+ meal service

2008-06-19T23:00:00.001-04:00

A quick video of meal service along with Ben (lucky9876coins) my neighbor on this inaugural flight.

This is NOT a departure from JFK

2008-06-19T20:00:00.007-04:00

Let's take a look at the OpenSkies Prem+ Cabin.

Boarding was great, but isn't it always when you have a cabin that hold a maximum of 82 people. Pre-departure drinks included sparkling wine (of unknown origin) and lots of smiling flight attendants.

More details to follow.... but, I have to go make the most of Paris during this short trip.

OpenSkies Plane!

2008-06-19T15:26:00.002-04:00

compliments of rubbernyc

The awesome folks @ OpenSkies

2008-06-19T15:12:00.002-04:00

The AWESOME FOLKS @ OpenSkies!
Wendy & Craig.... you guys are great!

Check in for OpenSkies

2008-06-19T14:56:00.007-04:00

Check in @ JFK for OpenSkies

Baccarat_King and YYZPrincess checking in at OpenSkies.

OpenSkies!

2008-06-19T12:42:00.006-04:00

I don't know where to begin; but I promise a plethora of blog posts this weekend.

I'm sitting in JFK right now, BA Terminal 7 (Near First Class/Club/OpenSkies check-in).

So, I'm off to Paris; and a week ago, at this time --- I didn't have even a dream of taking a last minute trip to Paris.

I'm on the inaugural flight of a brand new airline --- taking the first flight from JFK-ORY (Yes, ORY NOT CDG)

The airline is OpenSkies

THIS IS NOT your usual airline!

Life is good --- very good!

I guess, this would be a great place to start my story.....

It's about time....

2008-04-05T06:44:00.008-04:00

Just in case a few folks out there were losing sleep.....

Atlantic City casinos will have a new casino chip!

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - It's enough to pay for a decent car, a wedding, or a year at Rutgers University, with some money left over for beer.

And it fits in the palm of your hand.

Atlantic City's casinos are getting a new gambling chip worth $25,000 for high rollers.

The state Casino Control Commission approved the new top-value chip Wednesday. The gold chip edges the yellow chip, which at $20,000 apiece is now the second-highest chip denomination.

This is going to join the current ensemble of AC casino chips in denominations of $1; $2.50; $5; $10; $20; $25; $100; $500; $1,000; $5,000; and $20,000.

New Jersey is known for very consistent regulation of casino chip colors --- so, you can count on the colors (basically) matching the denomination at any of the properties. For example, purples are always $500 and oranges are always $1000.

For a long time, plaques (very James Bond) have been the staple of high-roller (whale) currency. Bond wins $65,000 playing craps in Diamonds are Forever
and if you look closely, they use high denomination plaques at the dice table when Bond buys in.

Actually, there are two non-chip varieties of casino currency :
jetons which are round acrylic pieces
and
plaques which are rectangular, or square acrylic pieces.

A good example of a baccarat plaque is this one used many years ago at the Sahara.
Currently, you would be hard pressed to find any plaques in use that are in denominations below $10,000. More commonly, they are in denominations that exceed $20,000, such as this Trump Taj Mahal Plaque.

Seems that players really prefer the convenience of chips, which explains the decision for the $25,000 chips by the Atlantic City gaming commission. This also coincides with the decision by Caesars Atlantic City to raise their maximum bet to $50,000 per hand. There are still plaques available for bets of $50,000 or $100,000 per hand, though, I honestly am not certain which properties in Atlantic City raise to these limits. "Alyce Parker, a spokeswoman for Harrah's Entertainment Inc., which operates four casinos in Atlantic City, including Caesars, said the casino has been using $50,000 and $100,000 plaques for its top customers for the past 10 years." In Vegas, this is a more common situation; and Wynn, Bellagio and Caesars all have chips in the $25,000 range (and above).

"21 - The Movie" - yawn....

2008-03-30T16:06:00.009-04:00

I made it a point to see 21 last night, and I found it to be a bit of a bore. I guess it wasn't so much that it didn't follow the book, or even the over emphasis on the evil professor (played by Kevin Spacey).

Fundamentally, my issue is that the MIT team is just not that interesting. I promised myself I would "try" to not knit pick a number of scenes that were unrealistic in this flick. This involves such things as the lack of table limits (were those $25,000 checks I saw on the main casino floor at Planet Hollywood), or the fact that they were going to change the chips over after a minor snafu in the casino (not like the real event when MGM had to replace their high denomination chips after the infamous Tyson fight and ensuing riot). Also, they managed to not really show the "grind" involved waiting to jump into the positive situations. Quite frankly, I would have figured things would have been a bit more exciting, considering you hardly ever saw much waiting around --- or distressing positive counts that do not yield a positive cash result (i.e. variance). Don't get me wrong Bringing Down the House was a pretty good read, but I always found Ken Uston's team (Al Francesco et al) and their story to be a bit more intriguing.

That's right, the MIT Team did not develop the BP (Big Player) strategy, that brilliance was the work of Al Francesco

The scene: a Lake Tahoe casino. The cast of characters: Al Francesco, Al's brother, Al's sister, and Al's sister's husband. The Francesco family was hanging around the casino, waiting for their dinner reservation. Al's brother, a card counter himself, killed the time by playing small-stakes blackjack with bets of $1 to $5. Al was standing nearby, chatting casually with his brother-in-law. When he saw his brother make a $5 bet, Al would throw in another $100. When he saw his brother make a $1 bet, Al would hold onto his money. After half-an-hour, when the family went to go eat dinner, the pit boss begged Al to stay and keep plying blackjack.

The significance of the event was immediately apparent to Al Francesco. From the pit boss's point of view, Al had appeared as an unsophisticated tourist, barely paying attention to the game, with plenty of money to throw around, who had simply gotten lucky on a few hands. Thus was born the persona of The Big Player.

Al would go on to finding and training the best blackjack player EVER --- aka "the Roadrunner," "the Phantom," the "Mad Bomber," and "the Wandering Jew." That's right --- Ken Uston.

In 1971, Al started playing with teams of seven: six counters and one Big Player. Al recruited the team members and taught them basic strategy and Lawrence Revere's Advanced Point Count system. When they were ready to play, the counters would sit at different blackjack tables, each one counting the cards and making small bets. When the count was favorable, the counter would signal the Big Player, who would come over to the table and bet big until the count turned against him, and then walk away. Like Al Francesco in Lake Tahoe, the Big Player never appeared to be anything other than a wealthy, unsophisticated tourist who happened to get lucky. In this way, Al Francesco's teams won millions of dollars over the course of a few years.

One of the blackjack players recruited and trained by Al Francesco was Ken Uston. To the dismay of Al and the other team members, Uston revealed their secrets to the world in his 1977 book The Big Player. The publication of Uston's book effectively spelled the end for Francesco's teams. Many of the team members hated Uston after that, but Francesco refused to carry a grudge.

Virtually all of the most successful blackjack teams that came after The Big Player was published—the Hyland team, the MIT team, the Czech team, the Greeks—used Al’s BP concept to disguise their attacks, and that approach is still being employed profitably by teams today.

Anyone interested in blackjack team play should get themselves a copy of Ken Uston's book, The Big Player. One of the most amazing stories in "The Big Player" was when Uston won $27,000 in 45 minutes at the Freemont in downtown Las Vegas. The incredible thing was that the "maximum" bet at the Freemont was $500. At one point, Uston was playing twelve hands simultaneously -- and managed to win all twelve for a total win of $6,000.

What I personally find incredible, with respect to the Francesco/Uston Teams, is that they made made millions in the early 1970's. Another fascinating read involves how Uston and his team took Atlantic City by storm in 1979 (winning $145,000 in nine days), as well as the legal battles fought by Uston, to prevent counters from being barred. "One Third of a Shoe" is perhaps one of the best gambling reads ever, though, it is rarely mentioned and it is difficult to locate copies. (of course, I have multiple copies of all of Uston's books in my personal gaming library) These efforts eventually allowed for the "open environment" in Atlantic City, and to this day, card counters cannot be barred from AC casinos.

Another more recent chronicle of card counting, You've Got Heat is a great book (in journal format) of a card counter's multiple trips to Vegas from 1999 to 2003. What is fantastic about this book, is that it follows the ongoing journey trip to trip. At the end of each trip (chapter) the author gives you his starting and ending bankrolls (and net win/loss) for the trip. A bit different than the team player (and at a much lower bankroll) it is still very interesting to see the highs and lows of advantage gambling.

One final good (recent) read on the subject is Dave Stann's book Hollywood Blackjack. This one time starving actor's very frank accounts of his journey playing Blackjack is pretty entertaining. It starts with "Chapter 1 - Fuck the Stardust." Stann gives a pretty good historical account of the game, and also spends some time discussing tournament strategy and the Ultimate Blackjack Tour.

At the end of the day, I have to say that a bit of emphasis on Blackjack is refreshing in the current poker-centric world. I'm sure that the casinos will be happy to host a new group of folks trying to beat the house. I have always said that the fact that blackjack was beatable (even though "unlikely" beatable for the vast majority of folks) was probably the best advertising a casino could ever wish for, with regard to attracting players to their properties.

Got volatility?

2008-03-24T20:21:00.009-04:00

An interesting article published a few years ago by Andrew MacDonald & William R. Eadington is one of the few available that discusses high stakes baccarat.

They have a rather fascinating discussion of volatility, the law of large numbers, and fear of the unknown; and how this all relates to the high stakes baccarat business. They go on to explain "Extending this, there is about a 95 percent chance the player will end up within two standard deviations of the expected result (between 75 units behind and 51 units ahead), and a 99.7 percent chance he will end up within three standard deviations of the expected outcome (between 107 units behind and 83 units ahead)."

Upon first glance --- you figure, yeah, I knew Baccarat was not particularly volatile for the casinos... but, what many don't figure in their analysis is the often perverted (and excessive) table limits that need to be offered to the baccarat whales. While "normal" games will often have a maximum bet of $5,000 to $15,000 --- the "whale" table limits are what make it such a volatile business. (These maximum bets often exceed $100,000 per hand)

As they go on to say "Thus it is very rare that outcomes are beyond three standard deviations. However, if one unit is $150,000, the “unlucky” outcome for a casino with our hypothetical baccarat player at the two standard deviation (95 percent confidence) level would be a player win (or casino loss) of 51 units, or a rather painful $7.65 million (before expenses)!"

In addition, you have the problem with the limited number of decisions (or hands) played by the high end baccarat player. As we all know, more hands (or spins on a machine) equal less "sweat" for the house. But, with baccarat, a shoe (with only around 70 decisions) can take up to 3 hours in high end big baccarat play. This small number of hands coupled with the über high maximum bets is a volatility disaster.

"At a 1.2 percent house advantage, a maximum bet of $250,000 played for 1,000 hands will result in an expected win of $3 million but (within two standard deviations) will vary between a loss for the casino of $12.5 million and a casino win of $18.5 million in 95 percent of occasions."
HOLY VOLATILITY BAT-MAN!

We are going to continue this discussion and looking at why the RIO got out of the high-end baccarat business, when the propellor heads at Harrah's purchased the property from Marnell in 1999.

In an effort to blog on a more consistent basis; I'm going to be setting out an agenda for each week (every Sunday or Monday).

So, this week's agenda will include :

- continued discussion of big baccarat and volatility
- brief history of the RIO Casino, the purchase by Harrah's, and the end of high stakes baccarat at the RIO
- a look at the Palazzo Suites (at RIO) built for the high stakes baccarat royalty

and just in time for the new movie release, we will look at the new movie "21!"

but, take a trip back to the "original real deal blackjack team" --- yeah, NOT the MIT Blackjack Team --- but the "wandering Jew" and his crew in the 1970's.

Macau Report (from civicmon) - March 2008

2008-03-04T16:07:00.004-05:00

a great report on Macau from civicmon Very much appreciated!

I was just in Macau last week and just wanted to give you a quick report since as the Baccarat king you'd have a heart attack if you saw Macau.

It's the game of choice, no doubt. It's known that 85% of Macau's gaming revenues come from Baccarat alone. In reality, I'd estimate 90% of all gaming tables at all casinos are Baccarat. I'm sure you're aware of the Chinese superstitions with gambling so I'll spare you the bulk of my comments but it's quite a sight.

I went to the Grand Lisboa (think the new Stanley Ho/STDM "Leaf" tower casino) and did fairly good at my game of blackjack. Went down pretty good but won most of it all back. That casino has 3 floors, effectively as the Chinese number floors with the "1st" floor actually what we call the 2nd floor, of gaming.

Baccarat is obviously king with minimums running into hundrends of thousands of HK$ and VIP rooms for parties and stuff but for the average guy, minimums are either $50/$100 HKD, so about US$7.5/$13 (US$1 = HK$7.75 at a fixed rate) I was there over a weekday night and the places weren't packed but there was more than enough business to make the place work.

The Grand Lisboa claims to offer the first craps game in Macau and Hold'em.. had two live hold'em tables with pit bosses from Australia running the games as well as one craps table. I'm unsure if the other majors have them as I never independently verified that. Typical Chinese games such as SicBo, their wonder-wheel sort of games are there but not in the sheer numbers that one finds the Baccarat tables.

There's a huge boom there but now there's arguments of oversupply. I was in the Wynn Macau which is a carbon copy of the Las Vegas property, but just smaller. Even has an Okada restaurant. There's a MGM, Crown Casino (an Aussie group) the infamous Venetian, the Sands, Pointe 16, most of the older STDM joints and a couple more (Macau "Studio City" for one) coming down the pipe. That's what is just opened now and there are already more under construction which includes expansions.

That being said, I think you'd enjoy a trip to HKG/Macau. Chinese casinos are not known to be lavish on the comps but that being said, if you got real money it can be done, however "real money" in numbers is always up for debate, just avoid the major Chinese holidays to up your chances (May 1, Chinese NY and some other time in August or October). I didn't even recall if alcohol was comped at tables as I just normally stick to water anyways. No one tried to sell me on player cards or anything, but I believe the Grand Lisboa and I know the Wynn had their own cards. Not sure about the Wynn's convertibility between their Las Vegas and Macau sites, likewise for LV Sands properties. Just watch the summers there.. imagine Orlando with casinos. It was in the low 70s F when I was there so it was really nice.

There are non-stop flights EWR/JFK-HKG and via ORD, SFO, LAX, YVR, YYZ etc. Spend a few days in HKG which is an awesome place if you never been and then a few more in Macau with some gaming and sight seeing as there's a slew of historical and culturally significant sites due to the unique heritage of the area.

Shanghai is about 3 hrs away flying from Hong Kong/Macau. There's some tricks to getting to Macau cheaper from Shanghai if you tag along on the trip itself (basically, gotta fly into the Chinese border city which can be more work than it's worth) as flights between Shanghai-Macau are overloaded with Taiwanese who are flying back/forth to Taiwan, thus the prices can be insane even at the best of times. Not sure about Seoul/Tokyo although a Macau-based charter get was supposed to fly Macau-Tokyo but not sure if that ever came about. HKG is an amazing airport inside and out, however, the train can have you at HK Island in about 25 minutes.

Macau can be done in one day as they're "turbojets" which are basically high-speed catamarans that run between a couple of HK (and Chinese) spots and back out in the evening. Tickets are easy to come by even just minutes before a launch, provided it's not a Friday or anything. Run something like every 15 min during peak times and once a half-hour in the overnight hours

One day will NEVER do the place justice if the visitor is a gambler.. Even the wife should be able to enjoy a few things there, I would think as the territory itself is pretty neat with a lot of Portuguese-inspired architecture and narrow, fascinating back streets and a nearly 500 year European history which is unparalled for anywhere else in Asia just based on it's uniqueness. The city is changing in a major way and I'm almost tempted to say that it really has turned into a mini-Vegas, it's not always all for the better. That being said, the territory was nothing more than a weird backwater until gambling hit the city and despite China closing off, Hong Kong became a world financial power.

I was last in Macau 5 years ago and it's insane how different the place is. The Wynn/MGM are on a stretch of reclaimed land called "Nape" (or, Na-Pay) which is directly opposite where the classic Lisboa is. North of there is some sort of Fisherman's Wharf complex which is designed to suck some of the people away from the Casinos but hasn't really taken off very well. The Pointe 16 is weird, it's on the opposite side of the territory directly opposite the Chinese mainland (and a very pleasant Chinese city called Zhuhai with some AWESOME food! Probably the best local cuisine on the Chinese mainland). Most of the rest of the developments such as the Venetian and some more local joints are a bit south of the peninsula proper on another stretch of reclaimed land called the Cotai Strip, between COloane and TAIpa islands (hence the name). There's a ferry that runs straight from HK direct to Taipa now although most go to the "Termino Maritimo" as it's known in Portuguese in Macau.

Weird stuff with Portuguese language there (case in point: "STOP" is like we see here, but they'll have DUI warnings in Portuguese...) but virtually no one speaks it other than the handful of Portuguese who are still there and most anyone who speaks anything other than Cantonese/Mandarin will speak English.

I stayed at a small guesthouse instead of one of the casinos but while I'm sure the service and facilities are top notch, don't expect a slew of "side activities" as Tryst at the Wynn Macau is closing (or closed, unsure the actual status) due to lower than forecast usage and aside from the usual gold-crusted rolexs and ferrari dealer, the shopping in the territory is bland at best. Most people from Macau just go to China these days as the prices are a lot better anyways.

Good deals can be had on the weekdays as well. The Macau Ferry Terminal aka "Shun Tak Center" on HK Island has a hundred travel agents who can usually give you a good deal on a room and get the turbojet tickets thrown in for free on top of that. Weekends see the obvious price rises that AC sees.

FWIW, and this is somewhat important, but HK$ are the currency of choice there. Macau has a currency known as the Pataca (usually signed "MOP") which trades at US$1/MOP 8.15 vs. US$1/HKD$ 7.75 - The Chinese RMB is just about at US$1/7RMB but the cages and dealers usually only want HKD but will change anything else into HKD to buy chips at a currency change booth. Virtually everyone outside the casinos will take HK$ at an assumed 1:1 rate but surprisingly they didn't at McDonalds when I wanted a soda and some nuggets as an entry fee to use their bathroom. So I just ran in and split Long story short: If you go, don't sweat not having MOP but get a fistfull of HK$. Most ATMs outside the casinos give HK$ or MOP, it'll ask. You can also change USD as well but MAKE SURE YOU HAVE PERFECT, CRIPS BILLS at the casinos This cannot be stated enough as they reject bills for the most minute problems. It was the source of most North Korean forged US$ which is a lot of the reason. Most moneychangers on the streets and alleys will accept the imperfect ones but they're typically not near the casinos.

In Macau, you can also bet on soccer and NBA using typical Vegas lines but there's not a lot of that going on at all. The Grand Lisboa had it.

If you really want to see an old Chinese gambling hall, the "Lisboa" is your best bet. This may be torn down in the near term but it was the original "resort" casino that the city had for 30 or so years before the Americans came in. It's everything you expect from a gambling hall, crowded tables, lots of screaming and no fresh air. It's crowded, clustered and interesting although the new casinos do have a more "fresh" appeal to them. There's a few more shadier ones out there as well from the old Stanley Ho monopoly days.

Mattress Poker Tour - 2008 Edition

2008-03-04T15:41:00.004-05:00

Yep,

It's back for 2008; and even bigger and better (well, I guess we can't say better.... YET...).

First event of the season is the weekend of 26th, April.

Special thanks to the Tourney Director, Harv and the blog-master (and photographer), Bob.

Check out the new MPT Blog!

If there is anyone out there interested in joining this fun, social event --- give a shout!

gotta love a good Baccarat scam...

2008-03-01T20:02:00.001-05:00

believe me, it's still going on now!

also, love how it was a player streak! --- no commission!

2008 US Presidential Election Results Leaked

2008-02-28T20:30:00.002-05:00

Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early

The "Roll".........

2007-10-28T11:17:00.000-04:00

My love of casino games is mostly limited to baccarat and dice. By far, my favorite game is dice. I just love the action and excitement around an active craps table. There are few casino games where you can hit such highs and lows in a rather short period of time. In addition, for the most part, everyone is on the "same" team and nothing compares to the "group" feeling when you have a bunch of people at a table rooting for the shooter (not counting the few darksiders, of course).

Last weekend in Atlantic City, we I played around 6-7 dice sessions mostly at Showboat, with one quite memorable session at Caesars. After my buy-in of $300, my money was disappearing pretty fast at this choppy table... and then Harv decided to show me how to really roll 'dem bones. Since his description of the action is amazing (might be because he doesn't consume as much champagne as I do... hmmmmm.... ) I prefer to just let him tell the story. Eric (my brother in law) was also along for this wild ride.

I also want to further emphasize that I was a BELIEVER IN HARV from the moment he started to roll, and did back up my pass line bet with FULL 5X ODDS!

We search around for a craps table that has room for all three of us. After walking around a bit, we find one that has three spots on the end, stick left. I usually like to be immediate stick left, since you have the shorter throw, but beggars can’t be choosers, eh? So I ask Michael what he is buying in for, he says $300. I usually buy in for $100, but what the hay, I just won $350 (well, I’m only down to $150, since I lost $200 back to the machine). The table is really choppy, no one can get a good roll, and soon I’m down around $150. I’m thinking, if I could just hold on to throw the dice again. I make a few don’t bets and win a few, but just as soon as I win there, someone hits a seven. All the while we are talking, saying that we just need that one “hot roll” and we’ll be okay. I’m now under $100 and I’m thinking Cath is going to be pissed that I just lost $300. Now Michael is shooting and I bet $15 on the don’t. He sets a point and after a few rolls sevens out. Nothing personal.

So I get the dice, 8. I place my odds (sorry, only $25 on a 5x table), place the 6 for $12 and drop a $5/$1 two-way hard 8, leaving me with $25. Next roll, 8 (easy), WINNAH! Next one, a six, I think. A few more rolls, WINNAH, 6, the easy way! Next point, 9. A few more number, WINNAH, 9! We are hooting it up! Michael is going crazy, I see him pulling cash out of his pocket, $50, full odds, buy the 4 & 10 for $25. After another 8, I throw a hard four, then after a few more rolls a hard 10 (making Michael very happy). Heck, give me all the hardways for $1! I’m still on the 6 & 8 for $12 and I throw a hard 8. PARLAY THE HARD 8! Next point, 6. another $5/$1 two-way hard 6. After a few more rolls, I see one die that shows a “3”, what does the other one say?!?!?!? I hear the guy on the other end call, “SIX!!!” HARD SIX!!! WOOHOO! $10 pass, $30 odds and $45 for the hardway, YEA! I shoot another 9. I never hit my hard 8 or another hard 6, I end up sevening out. I immediately color up, as does Michael and Eric. I get $240, loss of $60, not bad. Michael, since he “believed” in me, was taking full odds behind me and said he recovered his losses, Eric said he lost about as much as I did. What a ride!

Origins of the MPT [Mattress Poker Tour]

2007-10-27T05:15:00.000-04:00

After posting about the most recent MPT [Mattress Poker Tour] that took place on October 20th; Harvey reminded me the story of the humble beginnings of the MPT.

Harv has been the driving force (along with a few other ECLVA'ers) of the event; and can be seen here preparing for the July 2007 event in the House of Blues Suite at Showboat, Atlantic City.

The origins of the MPT, as told by Harv :

It was created on my wedding night! After Cath, one of her bridesmaids Katie, her friend (who also walked her down the aisle Jon and I cleaned up the reception hall (since we didn't think that far in advance of who was doing that) we headed back to the hotel. I told Catherine and the other people that we were going to have a poker game afterwards.

We get back to the hotel around midnight and the hotel bar had just closed. Catherine calls us up (we had just gotten changed) and I hear her voice off of the phone, she was just two rooms down from us! Jon and Katie are still arranging things and Jon has a set of chips in his truck. So he brings them up and we set up in Catherine's room. There isn't a table large enough for everyone, so we play on the mattress (unfortunately she had two beds. Cath was so tired, she didn't play, but was laying across the top of the bed. Catherine and Katie sat on the other side of the bed, I sat on the footstool part of the chair that was there and Jon sat on the desk chair. We couldn't decide whether to play for money or not and since everyone didn't have cash, we played for fun. Cathy ended up falling asleep so much she went back to our room.

I think Catherine went out first and then I did (the two "most" experienced players went out first and second). Katie eventually lost to Jon, who won the first MPT but no money or trophy. Jon and Katie went to their rooms and I was chatting with Catherine (as I often do) and lost track of time. It was around 4 am when I was heading back to my room but my key didn't work. In fact none of the keys I had worked. I knocked on the door but Cathy was dead to the world. I went back to Catherine's room and tried to call her, she didn't answer. Catherine suggested I go to the front desk and get another room key. I said I didn't have any ID on me but she suggested I try.

So I shlep down to the front desk, athletic shorts, t-shirt, no shoes. . .

Me: I got locked out of my room, can I get another key?
Clerk: Do you have any ID?
Me; Uh, no, it's locked in the room.

At that time, the phone rings.

Clerk: Are you Harvey?
Me: Yes.
Clerk: Cathy's awake.

And I do the walk of shame back to the room. . .

And now you know the background story of the MPT!

MPT Tournament October 2007 - Showboat Casino

2007-10-24T12:51:00.000-04:00

Just got back from a great weekend in Atlantic City, which included a dealt Royal on a 9/6 JoB (after throwing away 5 cards) LOTS of drinking and relaxing with friends... and perfect 70F and breezy weather! Just fuck'in loverly all around ! Now, if I could only get up the energy to write a complete trip report (hopefully, by the weekend....)

Saturday, October 20th, 2007 11PM

MPT Tournament - Showboat Casino

The MPT is the Mattress Poker Tour, created by Harv on his wedding night --- to be discussed in a separate post.

Here are the results;
Can you guess who won :)

(w/ special thanks to Harv and his wife for providing this poker blog)

The players:

Seat 1 - Mrs. Betdponies – aka Cathy
Seat 2 - Meredith – a friend of Michael’s
Seat 3 - Eric – Michael’s brother-in-law
Seat 4 - Harv29 – aka Harv
Seat 5 - Mtohio – aka the “baccarat king”, Michael *** That's ME.... ***
Seat 6 - Bigfus – aka Catherine
Seat 7 - Dave – another friend of Michael’s
Seat 8 - Rowanb – aka “Row”, Bob

At stake:

$100 for first place and the MPT trophy and the right to come back in December for the MPT Tournament of Champions
$60 for second place
$40 for third place

Buy-in was $25 + $5, $26 went to the trophy cost and $14 went to a high hand of the night jackpot of aces-full or better. If no high hand, the money will be rolled into the ToC prize pool.

The action:

The rounds were 10 minutes long with blinds starting at $5-$10. There were a couple of all-ins early but no one was busted out during the first hour, which according to Cath’s count there were 17 hands before the chip up break, with Michael leading at the break. Then with the blinds at $75-$150, Eric goes all-in for $475 and is called by Meredith. Eric is holding Ah9d, Meredith AdJc.

The flop comes out 5d-Ks-Kd. Turn is 3c and no 9 for Eric with a Qc on the river and ending Eric’s tournament.

Later in round 25 with the blinds at $200-$400, I hold 8h10d in the BB. Michael called and Meredith limps in and I check.

Flop: 2h, 10c, 4c

I check the top pair, it is check around.

Turn: 6d

I check, Michael bets $500, Meredith folds. I have $525 remaining, if I call, I’m going to have to be all-in. Michael is an unpredictable player, but I have a feeling that I am in front. I go all-in and he, of course, calls, showing 4dKd. He is down to 5 outs, I like my chances, I (being the dealer), burn and turn the river of:

Ks

KING?!?!? And just like that, I’m out of the tournament.

Apparently the action got really fast and furious, as in the next hand Michael, Catherine and Meredith see the flop of:

Js-8d-3c. Michael bets out $300, Catherine folds and Meredith calls.

Turn: Jh. Michael bets $500 and Meredith calls.

River: Qh. Michael bets all-in, Meredith calls.

Michael shows Jd8c, Jacks full of eights. Meredith shows 9h10h for a queen high straight. Meredith is eliminated from the tournament.

In the next hand, Catherine, Dave and Michael see the flop:

Qh-10d-10h. Dave bets out $1,000, Michael calls, Catherine folds.

Turn: Kd. Dave bets $875 all-in, Michael calls.

River: 2s

Dave shows QsJd, two pair, Queens and Tens. Michael shows Jc9d, King high straight. Dave is eliminated from the tournament.

Now there are four remaining and three paying spots. Someone is eliminated in the next hand:

Catherine goes all-in and Michael calls.

Catherine shows AcQh and Michael shows 8c7c.

Flop: Ks-4d-7s

Turn: 5d

Catherine is looking for an ace or queen but:

River: 7h

Michael wins with three-of-a-kind, sevens, Catherine has a pair of sevens. Catherine goes out on the bubble.

With the blinds at $200-$400 and a $25 ante, we find Cathy going all-in with Michael calling.

Cathy shows Qs9h, Michael shows Js8d

Flop: 10s-Jc-10d. Michael makes two pair but Cathy has the open-ended straight draw plus the queen for a higher two pair.

Turn: 4h. Cathy still has 11 outs to win.

River: 7c

No luck on the river. Cathy goes out in third place and collects $40.

We are now head’s up between Bob and Michael. Bob having finished second in the July MPT at the House of Blues, which was Michael’s first MPT.

Michael won hand 34 and Bob folded preflop on hand 35. Bob won hand 36 when they both checked down the river.

Hand 37: Bob moves all-in preflop and Michael calls.

Flop: 9d-10d-7d

Turn: Qh

River: Kc

Bob shows 6dJc for a straight, king high.
Michael shows Ah2c for high card, ace.

Hand 38: They see a flop of 9c-Ks-9s and Bob folds to Michael’s bet of $900.

Hand 39: Bob goes all-in preflop for $2,400 and Michael folds.

Hand 40: Michael raises $600 preflop, Bob folds.

Hand 41: Michael raises $600 preflop, Bob folds.

Hand 42: Michael raises $800 preflop, Bob folds.

Hand 43: Bob raises all-in for $700, Michael calls.

Flop: 5s-3h-9d

Turn: 10c

River: Kd

Bob shows 6c8d for king high, Michael shows 5d2d for a pair of fives.

Bob is eliminated in second place for $60.

Michael wins the MPT and $100!

So not only is he baccarat king and thread hi-jack king he can now call himself an MPT Champion! After Meredith knocked out Eric, Michael was the Terminator, eliminating everyone in his path. Of course, it didn't hurt that he gained an early chip lead. . .

I'd also like to thank my lovely wife for keeping the poker blog. I just told her I wanted to keep a record of who knocked out who and with what hand, but she kept a record of all of the action. Bob, if you want me to investigate any chip dumping, let me know, we will review the play. . .

No high hand qualified, so the $14 rolls into the Tournament of Champions prize pool (along with $20 from betdponies (and TSS777 should kick in a $20 as well, perhaps two since he won two this year).

The ToC is currently scheduled for December 27th (or 28th) at Harrah's Marina in Atlantic City

MILF Weed... need I say more

2007-10-01T19:06:00.000-04:00

a tribute to the best show on TV (Showtime) WEEDS

Yeah, it is a bit silly sometimes,
BUT, the vailed darkness of it all is absolutely hysterical!

Luxor comps after the VMA party at LAX

2007-09-29T12:39:00.000-04:00

I know I still owe a trip report from the most recent (September 8-11) Vegas trip,
but, alas, it is basically written -- just haven't had time to post it with pics (yet).

Anyway, I was thinking about a strange COMP situation Alex and I ran into a Luxor after the VMA party at LAX.

So, we go into the barren high limit pit at Luxor; and Alex insists on playing the double decker. This is definitely the best BJ game at Luxor;
the stats (from what I can recall, after numerous Red-Bull & Grey Goose and glasses of sparkling wine) :
2 decks ($100 minimum - probably $5K Maximum)
Double Down after splitting is OK, and the dealer stands on a soft 17.
We can figure that the casino edge on this game is around 0.25%
(in non-technical terms this game only gives the casino a quarter of a percent edge --- if you play perfect basic strategy)

Now only Alex was playing, since I personally hate Blackjack - but, we were having a good time joking with the dealer and pit boss. Though, I must admit that one of the dealers was an absolute ice queen. Visions of that Blackjack scene in Vegas Vacation started to flash before me :

anyway, after dropping a decent bit of skrilla to the ice queen dealer; things started to look up, and a recovery was in order; and accomplished (once again, details are fuzzy.. but, those black chips started to finally stack up again).

Well, Alex, on his quest to separate himself from HET was looking to get in some nice play at Luxor (we then went to the dice pit) and had them setup a players card account for him. In the infinite wisdom of Vegas pit-bosses trying to deal with non-US players while creating a players club card, they decided to put a comp (which we had asked for) on my players card, since it would "just be easier" -- though, the rating would go on Alex's card. For this very short session (around 45 minutes, but lets call it one hour for ease) they gave us a full coffee shop comp for 3 people (drinks, appetizer, entree, dessert) -- estimated value of around $40 per person ($120 total comp).

Of course, the irony of all this, is that I just wanted a few french fries and a drink; I wasn't really in the mood to have a complete dinner at 3AM (gotta love Vegas).

Since people are always asking, what "should" I expect in comps, I usually do my little analysis for comp expectation --- and then try to compare it to what one actually gets.

Of course, we need to make a number of assumptions
1 Hour of Blackjack play
60 hands per hour (assumption of number of hands played for comp'ing purposes)
$175 average bet (based on $100 minimum table with a $100 to $200 bet spread)
2% (assumption of % used by the casino for comp'ing purposes)

Action = 60 hands x $175 x 1 hour = $10,500
Casino Edge (based on 2%) = $10,500 x 2% = $210
So, based on the above set of assumptions, a casino can expect to win $210 for this hour of play (otherwise known as the theoretical win)

Now, the question is, HOW much of this $210 will a casino give back?
If they gave back 40% of the theo (which would be considered pretty large)
Then you should get a comp for around $84.00

So, this example proves a few things (since, we really have no way of knowing all of the assumptions; though, on a game with a 0.25% edge --- figuring 2% for comp purposes is very generous).

- Luxor Pit Bosses in high limit are very bored and just loved our stunning personalities
- This comp was more discretionary, and since we were 3 people, they just wrote it as a 3 person coffee shop comp (even though, it should have been for 2 people)
- Since we were basically new table players (in an otherwise empty high limit pit) they were being extra nice --- to suck us in a bit)
- MGM-Mirage is much nicer to their table players than HET

Anyway, it is all very interesting; and goes to prove the most important point of COMPS --- that is ASK! ASK! ASK!

Personally, $100 Blackjack is a very dangerous game; unless you are stepping up to the plate with around $15K. Even though the rules (and edge) for this game made it a very good play, the variance (and risk of ruin) for Blackjack can be quite evil; and unless you get lucky (and run away very quickly) --- you might have to endure some substantial loses before things turn around a bit. And, of course, the biggest problem with playing heads up Blackjack is the speed of the game. Though, in a double deck game, they still spend a decent amount of time shuffling the cards (and, in our case, had to also introduce 2 new decks at some point --- since it was at the 2 hour mark, where they change out the cards).

Good Luck!

Some pics from the Red Sox game....

2007-09-17T11:58:00.000-04:00

The Box

Ryan in the outside portion of the box

Ryan and I enjoy the moment...

the dessert cart --- now, I didn't know this was part of the package...
My favorite part of luxury boxes (after the food & beverage) is the private bathroom.

Ryan inside the box watching the Patriots -- imagine Multi-tasking a Red Sox and Patriots game at the same time.

Red Sox vs Yankees tonight @ Fenway Park

2007-09-16T13:13:00.000-04:00

WOW!!! What a surprise!

I'm going to my first Red Sox game tonight (vs the Yankees)!

UPDATE

3PM Limo is booked, and I think considering everything -- it will make for a much more relaxing evening; and will allow me to consume a bit more in the "adult beverage" category..... I'll leave around 5.45PM to get there a bit earlier... as I want to really soak up the experience.

Game scoop :

Schilling closes season set with Yanks

On Sunday at Fenway Park, fans will witness a pitching matchup so steeped in the tradition of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry that the stuff might as well be oozing through Gates A-D onto Landsdowne Street and Yawkey Way.
It's a formula part toxic and wholly beguiling: Roger Clemens and Curt Schilling, nemeses of the Red Sox and Yankees, facing each other from each side of the Boston-New York axis for the first time.

They are 45 and 40 years old, respectively. Yankees manager Joe Torre recalls catching Warren Spahn, who was a 42-year-old winner of 23 games in 1963. This is something else.

"That was remarkable," Torre said. "But he wasn't a power pitcher, and these guys are basically still power pitchers."

Yeah, Baby we were there - and it Rocked ! VMA after party at LAX @ Luxor

2007-09-15T14:44:00.000-04:00

Thanks to my man Alex being up on everything Vegas...
We dumped Pure and went straight over to the VIP entrance at LAX @ Luxor

P. Diddy Hosts the VMA After-Party at LAX
September 9, 2007
LAX Nightclub was built for a king on Sunday night as P.Diddy and DJ AM hosted a star studded VMA after party. Entering the club wearing a jeweled crown and gold medallions, Diddy reigned supreme over the entire VIP stage. With DJ AM spinning hit after hit, Diddy grabbed the microphone and began his impromptu emceeing for the evening. With the packed house in frenzy from the duo of Diddy and DJ AM, Britney Spears entered the club and hung out with a small group before leaving for the evening. Seated at the table just next to Diddy was Paris Hilton who was joined by Palms owner George Maloof and local funnyman Jeff Beacher. As Hilton and her group danced at their VIP booth, she eventually made her way over to Diddy's table to spice up the party a bit. Surrounding Diddy in his entourage were singing sensations Eve, Ne-Yo, Cassie and Young Joc as well as Taye Diggs, Ray J and Los Angeles Clipper Shaun Livingston. While Diddy held court on the VIP stage, Tommy Lee and Criss Angel tore it up on the opposite side of the stage with a plethora of women and Ryan Starr of American Idol fame. The two buddies rocked all night and took in the electric vibe at LAX while fans tried to catch a glimpse and snap pictures. Son after Pamela Anderson dropped in to check out the nightclub and say a quick hello to Lee. Meanwhile the dance floor VIP tables were lined with celebrities including Adrian Grenier of Entourage who was joined by The Hills cast members Brody Jenner, Frankie Delgado, Lauren Conrad and Whitney Port as well as hip hop legend Too Short, rocker Cisco Adler and actor Josh Henderson. Too Short decided to give Diddy a break and took the microphone for a few minutes to sing along as DJ AM blared his old school hits. Shortly after Diddy took the microphone back and addressed the crowd partying Sunday night at Las Vegas' top nightclub destination. Also making LAX the VMA after party of choice was musician Robin Thicke, actors Jesse Spencer of House and Kevin DuBrow of Quiet Riot.

Baccarat musings...

2007-06-26T16:12:00.000-04:00

Since it is my birthday, figured I'd talk about one of my favorite topics ---- BACCARAT.

gotta love James Bond at the Baccarat Table. Of course, he is playing some bizarre form of Baccarat, which is not quite Chemin de Fer and not American Baccarat. Of course, Bond now plays Hold-em poker --- if you recall, I bitched about this when Casino Royale first hit the theaters. And, I continue to bitch about it (how consistent).

I really wish I was around for the cash Baccarat days in Vegas. Unfortunately, our silly government put a bit of pressure on Vegas to convert "cash-only" Baccarat to "chips" Baccarat in the early 70's. Something about folks who launder money and like to play a bit of Baccarat.

Baccarat was such a posh game when you just played with cash. I still enjoy cash-play Baccarat in Vegas --- though, it was a whole different animal when everyone at the table was playing with cash. On the right, you can see Sinatra dealing a Baccarat game in the 1960's. Unfortunately, Atlantic City requires that cash be converted to chips --- so, alas, you can't leave all types of bills in play on a Big Baccarat table in AC.

Above is a pic of one of my final days at the Stardust, playing for cash and dealing the cards at the Big Baccarat Table.

If anyone is in AC, I am trying to get a group together for some Baccarat play on July 5th. According to a recent New York Times Article and due to the popularity of Baccarat with Asian gamblers; we seem to be having a bit of investment by the casino properties in Baccarat (and other "Asian-popular" games).

"At the start of 2006, Harrah’s opened a gambling and dining area inspired by the Ming- and Song-dynasty architectural elements at the Showboat in Atlantic City, in what Gary Loveman, its chief executive, described as “the country’s first authentic Asian gaming pit.”

"The company imported carved woods from China to house a dozen baccarat tables — the preferred game among many Asian players — and several more for pai gow poker, which is based on an ancient Chinese dominoes game."

"Over all, table game revenue at Showboat increased 35 percent last year, to $63 million, up from $46 million, and the casino more than doubled its business among Asian players. Table games include baccarat and pai gow but also craps, blackjack and roulette."

Was thinking, it might be about time to check out the new Baccarat pit at the Showboat. I really liked the new Asian Pit at Caesars AC -- but, the Big Baccarat table there is pure evil.

today is my birthday.... sigh....

2007-06-26T09:10:00.000-04:00

Today is my birthday ! Without any further notice, I will officially take on the age of 31. From now on, I will remain this age.

Since nobody listened to my birthday request last year. I have a new one. If possible, one of these puppies would satisfy my current birthday wish list (along with a nice bottle of Chianti).

If anyone needs a bit of advice on how to procure such a lovely ROYAL --
Please see quiet lion.

Not much else to report, though, I think I deserve a really big stuffed lobst'a tonight. And, stuffed lobst'a I shall have !

WN musings

2007-06-25T18:03:00.000-04:00

Well, I had to go to MHT today to drop off Adina and Yael for a WN flight. Now, I have a lot of respect for WN. They are profitable, basically run on time, have a great cancellation (refund) policy, pretty good coach seating (pitch), and no fees for unaccompanied minors (UM's). Of course, they also have a few drawbacks. No First Class, no Elite program, no assigned seats, no Elite Security --- and basically, nothing Elitist at all. I can deal with that, but golly, these folks also have absolutely no style. Point in fact, the current WN uniform. Even worse, all the employees at the airport basically wear a similar shorts and sneaker outfit.

I just don't know, there is something so unprofessional about it. And, lets face it, a lot of folks (especially those that are a bit overweight) just don't look real good in shorts. Anyway, it got me thinking.... the WN of yesteryear was pretty progressive with their outfits.

In the 1970's the uniforms were rock'in (for lack of a better term). I can't help but think, WN just needs to get a bit of style going on. Now, Delta, they got it right. Maybe that is why I'm just feeling the Delta love lately. Good drinks (love those Mojitos !) and sexy new uniforms.

The Delta Boston Terminal A is also... S.E.X.Y. -- it has great vibe and style (especially the really nice Crowns rooms). Heck, even the older Delta uniforms weren't that bad... It was revealed that the new Delta uniforms cost $1,000 per employee, or $20 million in total. "Richard Tyler, a designer based in Los Angeles, created the uniforms and they look pretty snazzy; glamorous but functional, especially compared to the drab grey coats of Delta last generation uniforms. We're not sure if they can go toe to toe with Christian Lacroix's new Air France uniforms, but to afford him, Delta would have likely had to reenter bankruptcy."

So, along with ratings on food, seats and service --- I think we should have an official "SEXY" airline rating chart. I like the new Delta.... it has style, good drinks and an evening nonstop from BOS-LAS ! Now, if they would just bring back real glassware in domestic First Class --- life would be totally peachy !

Final Days... May trip....

2007-05-08T12:15:00.000-04:00

Woke up on Sunday morning, and started the day with some Starbucks and a light breakfast in the Diamond Lounge. Enjoyed reading the Sunday morning paper about the fight. Today was going to be a more serious gaming day for me, and I intending to put in a bit more time gaming today. I was looking forward to this, and spent some decent time banging away at the $1 STP machine. Things were back and forth, but I was only down a little bit by the end of my morning and afternoon sessions.

Interrupted my gaming to join our good friend Carrie and her awesome boyfriend Louis at their favorite local sushi place. They picked us up, and after a 15 minute ride up Flamingo we arrived at this great restaurant that had an all you can eat Sushi lunch special for $20.95. The menu was quite extensive and we let our hosts do most of the ordering, since they were very familiar with a number of the specialty rolls. We washed everything down with a most refreshing iced green tea. It was great catching up, and I am so glad lunch worked out on Sunday.

Ellen and I were going to go to Neiman Marcus to do a bit of shopping, but we decided to go back to RIO. The weather was finally nice (no more wind !) and Ellen spent around 3 hours at the pool while I took a great nap in the room. Once again, it was awesome that we were able to relax so much on this trip. In addition, we needed a bit of time to rest up for another uber exciting evening.

My lovely aunt invited us to a VIP reception and a performance of Phantom of the Opera at the Venetian. We went over a bit early, and relaxed in the Venetian gold lounge, before heading up the reception. The VIP reception and cocktail hour was at the top floor of the theater. Oh my god, they had the most incredible hor d’oeuvres ! Baby lamb chops, coconut shrimp, spring rolls, ahi tuna canapes, crab cakes; it was better than a wedding ! The open bar was also awesome, the Champagne pour was a non-vintage Mumm Champagne. Considering that Ellen spent $16/glass the night before at Le Reve, this night was turning out to be a real bargain. Our seats were incredible. Third row orchestra, perfectly centered. I must admit, I was a bit hesitant about the new re-worked shorter version of Phantom (only 95 minutes with no intermission). I had seen Phantom twice before in New York (once on New Years Eve and both times over 10 years ago). The production was spectacular. The theater was incredible, and this production takes the Phantom special effects to a whole new level. I strongly urge folks to see this show, especially if you have never seen Phantom. We were invited to a post performance dessert reception and private audience with the stars; but we had another party to go to.

The cab line at Venetian was incredibly long, but since we had many ladies in high heals, I was vetoed with regard to walking over to Caesars Palace. I impressed everyone by going directly to the cab guy, showing my Venetian gold card and tipping him $15. I felt the tip had to be a bit strong since we needed 3 cabs and the cab line was so long. He held back the line, and gave us the next 3 cabs. My friends were very impressed; and I probably saved us 40 minutes ++ of waiting for a cab. Got over to Caesars Palace for a private party at Pure. Entrance took a second, and we proceeded to the private table area that was setup right in the center of the club. Incredible ! I never do bottle service, since $400/bottle of Grey Goose just doesn’t work for me. This private group had around 12 tables, each setup with Grey Goose and White Wine. It was so nice, and we had waitress service which I hadn’t expected, so we didn’t even have to mix our own drinks. Our server was super nice, and her outfit was great. I especially loved her heals, which I snapped a picture of. It was still a bit early (only around 10:15PM) but Pure was slowly starting to fill up.

Of course, we were in our own space roped off from the general public; but just close enough so they could watch us hang out in our own little personal piece of Pure. Some of the girls were hungry so we eventually left to have a snack at the Augustus Café. The table shared the great onion rings and I had my favorite Cuban sandwich (without the bread). Ellen and I went back to Pure (which was now getting crowded) and we proceeded to dance a bit and have a few more drinks at our private tables.

Left around 2AM, and hit the RIO dice tables. Ellen was only able to hit one point, and I didn’t have very much success. I was down around $250 and slowly started to make my money back, then the table went a bit cold again. I dropped around $300 during this 90 minute dice session. I was rated $71 average bet (checked at the total rewards desk the next day). Now, how the hell does someone rate you $71 ??? why not $75; not only is HET stingy with the bonus points for table players, but why the heck do these pit bosses not round up the average a little bit. Don’t think it would really kill anyone to rate you $75 average instead of $71…. (ok, rant over). I was basically even before this session, and should have just gone to bed. But, this was my last night, and I was really enjoying the Champagne (lol). Anyway, hit the Baccarat table at the beginning of a new shoe. Tried to bet just $20 Bank and $20 Tie but, wanted it to be cash on the table. Stupid dealer said that he couldn’t let me play cash bet on the Tie at the mini-baccarat tables --- so, I said, OK --- just put $10 on tie and give me the change. Of course, the hand is a tie; so I would have had a very very nice hit with that $20 on tie, boy was I ever pissed. I played one more hand and then left the table.

Proceeded to play more Video Poker and just had the worst luck. Ended the night (and the trip) with a loss, not an incredible loss, but a loss nonetheless. Lets just say my loss was less than the face value of a Mayweather vs De La Hoya Ticket (lol). This was my strongest day of play, and I got around 1100 tier points on this day (combination of dice and video poker).

Went to bed and before I knew it, it was 8AM and Ellen was getting ready for her flight to Tokyo. She was flying this morning on Northwest Las Vegas to Los Angeles and then a short connection time to her Northwest Flight #1 Los Angeles to Tokyo non-stop.

The limited sleep was a good thing for Ellen, since she would be nice and tired for the 11 hour ++ flight; and would be able to get some really good quality sleep in the lie flat business class seat on the upper deck of a 747-400 series plane.

I made sure she had a seat in row 77 upstairs, one of the coveted exit rows with no seats in front. Though, in business class on Northwest there is quite a bit of distance between you and the seat in front of you (even in a non-exit row seat).

I was taking the late afternoon Southwest Las Vegas to Manchester, New Hampshire non-stop, so I basically had most of the day to relax. I spent around 2 hours at the pool (a perfect sunny and 80F day) and had a burger and a pina colada while reading the newspaper. The burgers at the RIO pool are much better than I expected. Went to the Diamond check-in area to settle up my bill and arrange for the limo to the airport. Talked to a host for a minute and noticed on her screen that my ADT had hit a new all time low (though, play from this trip might help boost it a bit). This is to be expected, because of the high number of comp room nights so far this year, and a bit of short play in March over a few days.

Had a relaxing shower, finished packing and got the airport in plenty of time. Since this was my first time on Southwest, and there is no first class or elite security fast track line, I didn’t want to take my chances. I also had 3 bags to check, since Ellen gave me her Vegas stuff to take back home. Had another great female limo driver from RIO, and she told me some great stories. She had driven De La Hoya before when he stayed at the Palazzo at RIO; and once even had him alone in her limo from RIO to Aladdin without his entourage. It was nice to hear that De La Hoya is as nice of a person as he seems in the media. She also had Don King and Trinadad in her limo once before.

I sit here typing on the airplane reflecting on another incredible weekend in Vegas. The flight left on time, and I have 3 seats all to myself in an exit row --- a great way to end my trip ! Don’t know if there will be any more trips to Vegas this year…. But, can’t wait for July 4th in Atlantic City !

May 5th De La Hoya vs Mayweather

2007-05-06T02:00:00.000-04:00

Saturday May 5th
FIGHT NIGHT !!!
DE LA HOYA VS. MAYWEATHER
THE WORLD AWAITS MGM Grand Garden Arena

On Saturday morning, we woke a bit later than we usually do, and just relaxed for a while. We went to the Diamond lounge for our morning coffee and champagne. Also had a bit of fruit and shared a croissant for breakfast in the lounge. This was Kentucky Derby morning, so I had to spend a bit of time deciding on my bets for the derby. In addition, I had to decide on how much I was going to bet on De La Hoya. We caught a late lunch with Marcie and Nathan at Sao Paulo Café and then went to the sports book to watch the derby.

The vibe in the RIO sports book was great, and we really enjoyed watching surrounded by a bunch of screaming people. Took the shuttle over to Paris, since I needed to meet a messenger from the ticket agency to pick up my fight seats. This was a bit of a James Bond scenario, with my friend giving the number to her contact, and him calling me to arrange the meet with another contact to pick up the tickets. Anyway, I was so excited, and the meet went very smoothly. I debated the prospect of selling the seats (since we could have probably gotten around $2,000 each), but folks worked very hard for me to be at the fight. Though, I have to admit that $4,000 ++ in extra bankroll was very tempting. Ellen and Marcie went off to have dinner at Nobu at Hard Rock followed by the performance of Le Reve at Wynn Las Vegas.

I went back to the RIO to relax a bit and take a nice shower and prepare for the fight. I decided to wear my back velvet jacket, true religion jeans and a juicy t-shirt along with my black suede puma sneakers. I forgot my bling, though, I don’t really have any real flashy bling. Nathan was dressed a bit more conservative than me --- but, he had at least the watch bling going on. I just LOVE his Rolex, and the blue face is just so sharp. I really want that watch. He let me wear it one night on the Queen Mary 2, and it is just an awesome timepiece. Nothing like rolling the dice with a $10,000 watch on your wrist. I think if I am going to continue to attend major fights, I really need to get myself some substantial bling.

I got over to MGM around 6:30PM, and just wandered around a bit and waited for Nathan outside (and enjoyed the great people watching and ticket sales transactions going on). We walked over the the MGM Garden and had no problems getting in right away. Everything was very organized, and they had metal detectors set up for security, as well as a number of MGM security folks wanding folks to double check for metallic objects. The security presence was enhanced by the very visible anti-gang units of the Las Vegas police department. We had a bit of time, and purchased shirts and programs. We got to our seat around the 6th round of the final under card fight. The seats were centered perfectly, though a bit higher than I had been in last year for Judah vs Mayweather. The angle was perfect, and had nothing blocking our view. My joke, was that we were sitting in $1,000 nose-bleed seats (the face value of the ticks was $1,000 + $40 service charge). I had given up my much better single seat (provided by HBO) to get 2 seats. While it would have been nice to sit in the VIP section, I still prefer to share an event like this with a friend. IMHO, it just makes things that much more memorable.

It took forever to announce all the stars; and we got to get a peak at a few of them (Nicolson, De Caprio, Lopez, Tom Jones, Michael J Fox, 50 cent, Senator John McCain etc etc etc). They proceeded to do both the Mexican and American national anthems (sung by Mark Anthony). I don’t know how to truly express how awesome the fight was. By the 6th round, it was seriously looking like De La Hoya might just pull off a win by decision --- AMAZING. While I wanted (and bet on) De La Hoya to win, in my heart of hearts, I really thought that he was out classed by Floyd. Well, he absolutely wasn’t. I was so glad to see Mayweather put into his place after all of his trash talking over the past few weeks. Yeah, Floyd won the fight, but it was by no means a blow out; and considering everything, he was just not that impressive. The icing on the cake was the split decision, and we all know that is going to haunt Mayweather.

Now, after you have gone to probably one of the biggest fights, you really need a superb place to dine. I made a 10PM post-fight dinner reservation at SHIBUYA @ MGM grand. We got there just on time, and were seated very promptly. Our waiter Matt was awesome, and started off with his suggestion for a carafe of sake and some San Pellegrino sparkling water. We ordered a number of cold plates which included the incredible toro with beluga caviar and gold shavings on top (yes, it is real gold… I asked). The mushroom salad was orgasmic good, like I remembered from January. Incredible fresh yellowtail with an awesome marinade.

We finished off our selection of Sashimi with Uni (Sea Urchin) topped off with raw quail egg (one of my favorite yummy yummy wake up your senses foods). Skipped dessert, but had a lovely soothing tea. Ahhh…. What an awesome way to finish the evening.

We walked around MGM a bit, and got to see (only 2 feet away) Mayweather Senior (he was joking and taking pictures with folks off the casino floor). We walked over to Luxor and met up with the girls. We did our final goodbyes since Marcie and Nathan were leaving on an AM flight on Sunday morning. Got to bed on the early side (early side = before 3AM) again, and no late night gaming (once again).

The FIGHT Trip !

2007-05-05T06:00:00.000-04:00

Vegas May 3 to May 7, 2007

Thursday May 3rd and Friday May 4th

WOW ! basically that sums up a number of moments during my most recent trip to THE VEGAS. I’m writing this as I sit very comfortably on my nonstop Southwest airlines fight from Las Vegas to Manchester, NH.

The trip started out on Thursday, May 3rd; but the most exciting news came on Tuesday evening, May 1st. I was anxiously awaiting the start of my son Ryan’s first baseball game of the season (as well as his first game ever, since this is the first year he has decided to do Little League). About 25 minutes before the game, I get a call on my mobile that they (my contact) finally came through with getting me a ticket for the fight. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. HOLY SHIT, I was actually going to the Mayweather vs De La Hoya bout. I had given up all hope a few weeks ago, since the increased press and hype had made the tickets a real hot commodity. I originally planned the trip around the fight, but I always knew that my prospects for getting seats were not great; though, my contact thought they would be able to work it out --- just no guarantees. I had such fond memories of my previous big fight, Mayweather vs Judah, which Steve (tex2mex) was so kind in allowing me to accompany him (compliments of HET). Last year’s fight was a pretty big deal, but this was going to be the fight of the year (if not the next 5 years).

We departed on Thursday evening choosing to take the Delta non-stop to Vegas (from Boston). This was a great getaway for my wife (Ellen) and I, since the kids were going to be at home with my parents. It also was a quick pleasure trip for Ellen before she departed for a 12 day business trip to Asia (Japan, Korea, and China). We got to Boston airport pretty early for the evening flight, but it was better than hanging around the house, since I wanted the kids to adjust to us being away --- and that extra time in the house right before departure can be stressful for all parties. We had a decent amount of time to relax in the Delta Crown room, and sample a few of the Mile High Mojitos that Delta has been promoting as part of their upgraded beverage service (both on the planes and in the clubs). It turned out to be a very full flight with no empty seats, and only one of us was fortunate enough to be upgraded.

Being the gentleman, I let Ellen have the first class seat for the flight. Though, 5 foot tall women don’t really have leg room issues in coach; but she said I wouldn’t have wanted to be in first class anyway, since I would have had to eat her pre-ordered vegetarian dinner. Funny, the excuses some will give to get out of giving away their first class seat. Anyway, she boarded the flight very early (with the special first class people) while I was trying to have a gate agent fix the frequent flyer number on my boarding pass (I wanted them to change it to my Northwest not Delta number for the flight). As I’m boarding I say hello to my wife as she is enjoying her pre departure cocktail. The guy sitting next to her (who is on the way to a double bachelor party) says that he’ll give me his first class seat (next to my wife) for $100 --- I look at him in shock, and then he says “I’m serious dude, $100, and you can sit in my seat.” I decided to pass on the offer, since I had a very good coach seat (2nd row of coach, aisle); and figured that the $100 would be put to better use at Video Poker or Dice.

Flight was pretty good, and Delta comp’ed the entire flight Champagne (actually Prosecca) since they had just relisted on the stock exchange and come out of bankruptcy. I had heard that this was going to happen on all flights (on May 3rd); and it was amazing seeing the flight attendant come down the aisle with a cart filled with open Champagne bottles on top. What a great way to start a flight to Vegas !

We arrived at McCarran on time, but had to wait for our bags. I always carry on, but since Ellen was going to Asia, we had a bit more luggage than usual. It took forever for our bags to come off the plane; close to an hour. But, our lovely limo driver was there waiting, and we had a great time chatting with her. Arrived at RIO at 11:50PM and was able to do Diamond check-in (right before they closed at midnight). We got a very standard RIO room with an awesome view of the strip on the 33rd floor of the Masquerade tower. At check in I was told that they had nothing in the Ipenema tower, though, I am certain they were holding back since it was Thursday night. It was going to be a sold out weekend at RIO (due to the fight, cinco de mayo, Kentucky derby, and motor cross). The guy who checked us in was very nice, and I was happy to just have a room with a good view. Didn’t even try my usual $20 ++ trick, since I thought there would be very little chance with the fight this weekend. Considering the number of rooms I have used so far this year (over 25 nights) and my ADT continuing to plummet, due to my new --- “I don’t give a fuck about my ADT philosophy”; I was happy to get the entire four days comp’ed at RIO (Thursday to Monday). Got up to the room, and our bags arrived in under 10 minutes.

We got ourselves set, and then went downstairs to the All American Grill for a quick bite to eat; since some of us (hint : those flying in coach) didn’t have dinner yet. After a bite, Ellen and I headed up to VooDoo lounge; and were amazed that there was quite the line of people to get in. To me, VooDoo is so past its prime, but I guess they still manage to attract people. (and charge a nice cover) Of course, Diamond gets you in at the front of the line and cover comp’ed for 2 people. It was beyond windy and most of the outside of RIO was closed off. The little bit that was open outside was super windy and not comfortable at all. We went back inside, but it seemed overly crowded since everyone was packed into the inside section of the club. We left right away, and were so glad that Diamond provided free cover, since it would have been very disappointing to have spent money on a 10 minute visit to VooDoo. We went upstairs and relaxed and got to bed relatively early (by Vegas standards) --- and yes, I didn’t gamble at all on our first night. Now, that was definitely a first.

We woke up around 9AM on Friday morning and were hoping to spend a bit of quality time by the pool, but unfortunately it would be too windy for any pool time on both Friday and Saturday. My wife was off at the Gift Show at the convention center with her friend Marcie. Our very good friends Marcie and Nathan (from Cincinnati) joined us for this trip. After meeting Nathan at the Luxor we took a leisurely walk over to Paris for the breakfast buffet. The line was hugh, but the Diamond entrance did its magic. I also had a $10 coupon for the buffet, which I was quite proud I actually remembered to bring along. After lunch, we returned to the RIO and I played a bit of Video Poker (mostly 25 cent 9/5 JoB spin poker and a bit of $1 STP Bonus Poker which was not the best paytable). Nathan played next to me, and since he was a total VP newbie, I was able to instruct him a bit on proper procedure. Nothing incredible about the gambling sessions, and was down a bit, after a few not very long sessions.

I had a hair appointment at AMP Salon (at Palms) at 2PM, and had given up my pedicure to Marcie, so she could get her toes done with Ellen. I have to say, AMP is just awesome, and is always a great and consistent experience. The girls opted for French pedicures and they looked awesome. The lovely Stella did their nails, and my hair was coiffed by the incredible Kristie. I only got a trim and no highlights this trip, since I got highlights in March. Had fun chatting with Amy, who is one of my favorite nail ladies @ AMP. Nowhere but in Vegas, can you have a semi-degenerate 6 foot tall incredible looking bade in Rock n Republic $250 jeans do your nails while discussing dice strategies. Amy swears that she really does have the vibe at the dice table and is the queen of rolling hopping hard nines (5 and 4). I really must gamble with that woman sometime; I’m trying to get her into Baccarat; though, she likes to play a bit of Blackjack also. AMP set us back around $300 (Hair, Pedicure, and eyebrow wax for Ellen)

After AMP the four of us went back to RIO to join Judy (judykq) and her husband at the Wine Cellar. It was awesome meeting them, and I really wish I had a bit more time to spend trading gambling war stories. The wine flights were terrific as well as the cheese sampler. We had a little bit of time to get relax and get ready for dinner; which was early by our standards (7:15 PM). I went down a bit early and played some more the the $1 STP BP and managed to win back some of my losses (and drink 3 glasses of Champagne) from earlier. For convenience, we made reservations for dinner at Buzios at RIO. I had arranged to have a bottle of Moet White star at the table when we arrived, and dinner got off to an excellent start. I had a very nice surf and turf with an Australian lobster tail, and started with some oysters. We managed to polish off another bottle of White Star, and the service got a bit slow after the appetizers. The entrees seemed to take forever, and our waiter had disappeared for quite a bit. Due to the slow service, we really had no time for dessert or coffee since we had tickets for the 10PM George Wallace show. Luckily, I had RIO VIP reserve a limo for us at 9.30PM, so we wouldn’t have to stress about getting to the show, and since we were a party of 5, we probably would have needed 2 cabs anyway.

OK, without trashing it too much… as George Wallace likes to say (over and over and over) during his show “I be think’in” --- we’ll during the show and afterwards, I also “be think’in.” --- basically, “I be think’in that this show absolutely SUCKS…” probably the worst show I have seen in Vegas in the last 3 years. Of course, I am certain there must be some hard core George Wallace fans somewhere. At different points during the show, we all fell sound asleep (the best part, IMHO) In addition, it is NO longer one of the two free tickets shows for Diamond, instead it is only 2 for 1. The lady at total rewards told me that there were complaints from the show folks that there were too many comp tickets for the show, so they had to change it to 2 for 1. Well, “no shit” --- the show “sucks” and personally, the only way one should consider seeing it is if it is FREE !

Ellen and I returned to RIO and had a very very short session of Video Poker (more $1 STP). After hitting 4 aces I played a bit more (dropping about another $100), but cashed out right away, since I wanted to retire for the night with a small win erasing my previous video poker session losses. Ellen and I treated ourselves to a late night room service snack that was delivered very quickly by the most lovely RIO room service employee. She set up the table really nice, and was such a pleasure. Once again, I didn’t gamble late into the night, and instead concentrated on relaxing a bit more than usual (which goes very well with my new philosophy regarding ADT).

the world awaits.....

to be continued.....

Vegas trip #2 --- 2007 I really don't care about my ADT !

2007-03-25T11:52:00.000-04:00

Trip #2 of 2007 -- March 15 to 19th 2007.

Departure : Thursday, March 15th via NWA BOS-MSP-LAS arriving around 4PM in the afternoon. Upgrades cleared 7 days prior to the trip ! Great flight from BOS-MSP with an absolute rock-star flight attendant in First Class; who even treated my good friend Dave (who was in the back) to free drinks. Nice service, lousy First Class seats and horrible food --- that is Northwest Airlines First Class in a nutshell. Though, it still is better than sitting in coach. Had a few drinks in the BOS worldclub before the flight (with Dave); and enjoyed a few drink from the great espresso machines now in all the worldclubs. Flight from MSP-LAS was delayed a bit, but managed to push back around 45 minutes late, but we still arrived in the Vegas on time. Sat across the aisle from a nice lady who was going to a Harrah's slot tournament --- and got to share some of her very lucky stories over the past year. I just love hearing about other peoples good fortunes, even if, I do find some of it to be a bit unbelievable. Flight attendants on this flight were NOT a happy bunch of ladies. They served a foccacia bread sandwich or pasta salad. I had the sandwich and just removed the bread (which was rather disgusting) and definitely not worth the carbohydrates. The one flight attendant (the happier of the bunch) did manage to keep the wine flowing -- and by the 7th glass, I switch to sparkling water; which on Northwest is La Croix water.
I tend to drink vodka on the rocks or white wine while flying on Northwest. I think the white wines are much more drinkable due to the chill factor and the altitude; though, in real life (i.e. not flying) I really do prefer red wine. I also always make sure I drink a significant amount of sparkling water, since being hydrated is so important while flying; and the bathrooms are never too far away when you are in first class. IMPORTANT AIRLINE COMPARISON NOTE : Northwest Airlines still serves ALL DRINKS in First Class in GLASS CUPS and NO PLASTIC. Anyone who knows me a bit, knows that I hate plastic --- and find drinking vodka in plastic cups to be well --- totally sucky (for lack of a better way to say it) !

Last year, Northwest Airlines introduced a new larger high-ball glass (picture above, large glass in the center) which is just great for vodka. You can also see the standard issue small stem glass they use for wine and after dinner drinks. In addition, they have a ceramic mug for coffee, which I find to be a bit too clunky. I usually only fly Skyteam (specifically NWA and Delta) and have been very pissy about the fact that Delta eliminated ALL glassware on domestic flights about a year ago. PLASTIC IN FIRST CLASS --- YUCK !!

Arrival : Got to LAS on time, didn't check bags and rolled my Uber Sexy (but only slightly functional) gold Tumi rollaboard off the plane. Limo was waiting, and we were at Caesars Diamond check-in in under 15 minutes. Room on the 34th floor with a great view of the Bellagio fountains (picture of view above). I joked with the check-in person that we were supposed to get an Augustus SPA SUITE --- she didn't find that very humorous. I really love standard Augustus rooms, they just have such a spacious footprint. And, for standard rooms, the bathrooms are quite nice and I just love baths. I personally feel that the overall spaciousness and layout of the Augustus rooms are nicer than the Wynn standard rooms -- but, maybe I'm just a Harrah's whore.

Went to the Diamond Lounge for a few drinks and a quick bite, and then basically made the rounds over the next few hours losing my money rather consistently everywhere I went. I was trying to follow my usual procedure of keeping accurate records -- and I did keep track for ONLY this evening of the trip. The balance of the trip I didn't get in much gaming (and was too drunk most of the time for record keeping), but this first night went something like this :
Session #1 -$102 Dice at Flamingo
Session #2 -$100 $1 8/5 Bonus Poker
Session #3 +$20.75 Lousy pay table 50 Play 25 cent VP
Session #4 -$60 Wheel of Fortune (I don't know why I even bothered)
Session #5 -$20.00 Lousy pay table 100 Play VP
Session #6 -$400.00 $3 Play $1 8/5 BP

Regularly, I would have just hunkered down at the $1 9/6 Single Line JoB at Caesars, but I was with my friend that evening, and we wanted to wander around a bit. So, since I was mostly playing on his card, I didn't mind the short sessions (most of which were at Flamingo). I did want to go over to Flamingo since it had been reported (either falsely or it was fixed) that the ONLY $1 9/6 JoB machine in the High Limit room at Flamingo (can you believe they ONLY have one machine with that paytable) was registering double tier points. But, alas, the machine was always full , but when we did get a much closer look, it is NOT registering double tier. So much for the rumor.

Got to bed around 1AM which was a first in a long time (on arrival day); and was looking forward to a relaxing night of sleep. New Hampshire was due to get around a foot of snow, and I was happy to be in 90F sunny Las Vegas.

I decided that for this trip, I wasn't going to worry about the gaming -- and if my ADT (average daily theoretical) suffered, so be it. I already have my comp rooms booked for May and a comp week in Atlantic City in July. I think sometimes, you just need to have a let loose party weekend in Vegas --- and this weekend was definitely going to be that. Also, in the end, I still think Harrah's gets a really good chance at my money -- flashback --- that EVIL $100 Baccarat table I battled with (all by myself) for over 3 hours at Caesars Atlantic City in November (NEVER AGAIN !! - I hope !)

The ULTIMATE CASINO Comp

2007-03-24T07:18:00.000-04:00

Now I just got back from another Vegas trip a few days ago. (Trip #2 for 2007) I have lots to share, and am working on the trip report (I promise) --- but, just had to share a text message I received last night from my friend A while he was playing $2 25 hand Video Poker in an undisclosed high limit slot room. Now, I won't divulge the HET property, but anyone who says they are NOT doing discretionary comping these days at Harrah's; should think again. I was ROTFLOL after I got this text.

Not sure what your ADT has to be to get this comp (I know there are a few out there who will get a good laugh from that !)

Respect the probability of the improbable

2007-03-09T11:32:00.000-05:00

"The scene was the baccarat table at the Aladdin. As the shoe went around the table, I built up my stake. Each time I had the shoe, I bet $4,000 on Bank. Four times the Player hand beat me with a natural nine.

The shoe was passed to me for the fifth time. I pushed forward my last $4,000 worth of chips. I don't care if I lose this one, I announced to one and all at the table, but I'll be very annoyed if I lose it to another natural nine. The other players smiled. My hand was a natural eight. Worthless against the Player's eight and ace ---- another natural nine.

Five hands and each defeated by nine. $20,000 worth of experience in relearning that the improbable is always possible."

This is from the late great Lyle Stuart in Winning at Casino Gambling

Enjoying Vegas

2007-01-28T13:13:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite chips
Originally uploaded by smartbaccarat.

Had a pretty nice evening at the Dice Tables --- also, mild success at Video Poker. Nothing monumental --- but, nice nonetheless. Limited my play to Bally's/Paris since I'm trying to make sure I don't short play my Harrah's ADT. Hit a $250 fire bet at dice ($1 wager) --- that was definitely a first !

Saw Society of Seven with Lani at the Flamingo; excellent show !

More soon......

"BIG" Baccarat arrives at the Gold Coast and Double Fortune Dragon @ Wynn

2007-01-27T12:41:00.000-05:00

Baccarat arrives at the Gold Coast
Originally uploaded by smartbaccarat.

A few data points on some new Baccarat Games in town.

Gold Coast :
Now has an "official" Big Baccarat game in their high limit room (slot room). The table was $50 to $5000; but can sometimes go to a $25 minimum bet. Has an interesting "large" flat screen TV attached to the table which displays a horizontal format scorecard (in full detail) and statistics on the current shoe (bank, player, tie, maximum runs). They also display the overall statistics from the prior shoe (this is the first time I have seen this data). In addition, there were 12 mini-baccarat games (with Dragon Bonus) operating --- all with a $10 minimum and all pretty crowded (though, there were a few spots available) on a Friday night.

Wynn Las Vegas :
Just introduced from Macau one week ago; "Double Fortune Baccarat" This game is located on the main casino floor (right outside of the posh Baccarat Room). It is a full size baccarat table with two shoes; one on the left and right hand sides of the table. These shoes are designated as RED and BLUE and there is a double betting grid on the table. The dealers deal the cards simultaneously from each shoe; and you have the option to bet on 1, 2 or none of the hands. The main reason for the two shoes is to create an array of crazy proposition bets on the center of the table (since you now have double the cards in play). For example, so of the props you can bet on are :
Fortune Pair Doubles
4 Pairs (100 to 1)
3 Pairs (20 to 1)
2 Pairs (10 to 1)
1 Pair on each game (5 to 1)
1 Pair on either game (2 to 1)
and Double Fortune Ties
A Tie of Equal Value on Both Games (50 to 1)
A Tie on Each Game (25 to 1)
A Tie on Either Game (3 to 1)
Of course, these are all crazy sucker bets.

Players can NOT face the cards on this game, due to the fact that the house needs to deal two hands at the same time. Minimum bet is $100 and maximum bet is $15,000; didn't happen to see the min/max for the ties or propositions. Can't really figure out why you would want to play this game, except if you possibly regularly wager $200+ per hand at Baccarat and would prefer to "split" your bet on two different hands --- or, if you have some crazy desire to play wacky props in addition to the regular Tie Wager.

Per the pit boss, they are moving this game into the regular Baccarat room in the next day or so.

I'm off to check out EZ Baccarat at Paris today; and "might" try to get to the Orleans to see the progress of their new Baccarat Room; which I was told is going to be much nicer than the room at the Gold Coast.

Yael loves Formal Nights !

2006-12-28T08:32:00.000-05:00

Yael
Originally uploaded by smartbaccarat.

So far, we have had 2 formal nights (black tie) and 1 informal night (jacket and tie). Yael has really enjoyed posing for pictures on these nights.

Check out the pictures :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/smartbaccarat/sets/72157594442639955/

Santa Arrives on the QM2

2006-12-25T09:18:00.000-05:00

Santa arrived on the QM2 !

Everything has been fabulous; Yael was very excited. All the kids got presents and some time with Santa. Reindeer were resting in the QM2 kennels.

We are off --- Queen Mary 2 Holiday Cruise !

2006-12-24T09:12:00.000-05:00

THIS WILL BE A "LIVE BLOG" direct from the Queen Mary 2; photos will follow throughout the week !

Day #1 22 December Pre Cruise Travel to Florida

We departed from MHT on the 6AM nw flight to DTW. Flying MHT-DTW-FLL; flight was a bit too early for all of us; but we wanted to avoid Logan and still get to Florida early in the day. Flights were full, but we had excellent service on both flights -- with an awesome crew on the DTW-FLL segment; First Class service was way above average, and I have been consistently experiencing on my NWA flights over the past month.

Arrival in FLL was very easy, all priority tagged bags came off right away --- and Ellen went with Adina to the Hertz Gold counter to pick-up the rental car they were using for the day to do shopping and to pick-up the new MacBook battery at the Mac store in the Aventura Mall. I waited for the driver Arturo to take the rest of us to the Hyatt Pier 66 hotel along with the 12 bags. Cruises always require a lot of luggage, and this trip is no exception, especially since there is an extra Formal night due to the Christmas holiday. Since Ellen is Hyatt Diamond, the front desk was very helpful in finding a suite with a connecting room. We had the Admirality suite which was configured as a two bedroom suite with multiple terraces, 2-1/2 baths, full wet-bar with automatic ice maker and a really lovely and spacious living and dining area. This suite was in the Lanai section of the hotel, and we overlooked the yachts in the pier. I took Ryan and Yael to the lovely pool which is 3-1/2 to 4 feet deep around and heated to around 85F; it was awesome. They were having a smashing time, and I ordered them french fries and shirley temples. By this point, I was also starving, so asked Jennifer our server at the pool to bring me a Grey Goose with a splash of cranberry and the steak sandwich and boursin wrap. Really lovely relaxing lunch by the pool. The kids liked the fries since they sprinkled parma cheese on top of them.

After the pool, we just relaxed in the suite and finally started to unwind from the very hectic and stressful day of travel. Ordered a great room service dinner with a bottle of Chilean Chardonnay and we even lit candles for Shabbat and the last night of Hannukah. Dinner included the most sinfully amazing rolls. Also, as part of the Hyatt Diamond Amenity package; we were given two food presentations which served as snacks in the late afternoon. Cheese, crackers and wine along with fresh fruit and sprite for the kids.

Day #2 23 December QM2 (Queen Mary 2) Departure from Fort Lauderdale at 5PM

Woke up on the 23rd --- which is Ellen's birthday, feeling incredibly relaxed and glad to be starting our vacation. Since most people get to the ships very early, we decided to just hang out (Ryan and Yael went back to the pool) for most of the day at the Hyatt. Port Everglades pier in Fort Lauderdale was packed, with 13 ships departing on this Saturday. I'm certain you can imagine that 13 ships with an average passenger count of around 3,000 pax makes for some incredible traffic getting to your ship. We took things very slow and relax, and made the right call leaving for the ship after 2PM --- long after many had left to arrive since boarding began around 11AM. Boarding took around 30 minutes and we met up with our friends and their kids at security and check-in, so it made the whole process an incredible social event. I joked with Nathan that the folks who were doing the bag screening at security were actually TSA rejects that didn't make the cut for protecting us at the nations airports. Of course, this just a joke, and all of the folks including security and check-in were very professional and courteous. It was a great process --- and we were able to get a nice group picture of the 10 of us before boarding the ship.

Once we got on the ship, I checked out our connecting cabins, which were the same two cabins we had two years ago on the New York Caribbean Dreamer cruise. These cabins are awesome, since they are 2 of only a few connecters that are actually connecting quads which "could" have up to 8 passengers. Of course, we setup the kids room dorm style (2 upper beds and 2 lower beds) and our parent room is just setup with one king size bed. I always have them remove a bit of furniture so the kids have more room to play in their cabin, which connects directly to ours. It makes for a awesome 2 room suite with 2 bathrooms; and in cruise ships terms is relatively spacious (but, no where near the type of spacious we had in our suite at the Hyatt). I always marvel at the very smart design of the cabins. Since you bring so much stuff (3 formal nights, 1 informal night and all the beach wear) you really need to have the proper storage space. Also, I was so impressed that the cabin seems just as crisp as it did 2 years ago in the inaugural year for the QM2. Our cabin steward Edi is awesome, and he was immediately attentive to my requests in arranging and setting up the cabins; this is going to be an awesome cruise.

Location Note : Traveling from Fort Lauderdale to Montego Bay, Jamaica - tomorrow (Sunday, 24 December we will be at sea all day) Side Note : When I think British Ship and Jamaica, all I can think of is James Bond in Dr. No; in which James spends a good bit of time in Montego Bay.

Now, dining is a big thing on these cruises (really, no shit..) -- anyway, I hadn't been able to get the proper confirmations from Cunard regarding our table for 12 (2 families of 5 plus my mom and step father). Of course, #1 on my list was to speak with the head Maitre'de of the Brittannia to work this out. I didn't really have high hopes for getting a 12 top; but was at least hoping for two 6 tops next to each other. Seems that tables for 10 are the largest they regularly have. Well, after chatting it up with Persad for a few moments, and emphasizing the importance of us dining together; he was able to release the captains table (which is a table for 12) to our group. The Captain doesn't ever dine at 1st Seating (which is the earlier dining time around 6PM -- and is necessary with all of the kids) -- so, this table is usually empty. The best part about this table, which is table #82 is that it is right in the center of the dining room under the mural.

[ Note : we are the T-family and our friends are the B-family ]

Here are highlights from Ellen's point of view:
Meeting up with Marcie, Nathan and their kids to go through security and boarding was great. Everybody's been so excited to see their friends - I thought they'd jump out of their skin when the moment arrived! Yael was concerned that Ryan would have more fun then she would, but the moment she saw Ariel and the rest of the B-family she was cool. The kids were also thrilled to see Artie and Dianne. Dianne, as usual, had gifts for the kids (and for my birthday). Michael had ordered roses and orchids for the room as a birthday gift for me - beautiful.

We got the kids signed up for the Kids Zone (which is on 6 deck down the very long hall from our cabin). BTW, the QM2 is so long, you can not see from one end of the hall all the way down the other end of the hall; hard to imagine --- but, it is just that long. The kids were all thrilled with the set-up. Only concern is that because Micah is 8 and Ryan is 9 they fall into different groups. Marcie and Michael are 100% sure they'll solve that problem. Being separated is just not an option. Ryan and Micah took a quick dip in the pool while Adina, Liora, and Ariel scoped the map for evening fun.

When the ship was about to sail Yael and I went outside to watch. Since there were so many ships in port we didn't leave when planned, but we did go up to the 7 deck where a band was playing. She had a great time dancing wild, clapping her hands, and spinning in circles with me... these are the moments of life where I wish we could stay - pure joy, relaxation, and pleasure - for her and for me.

Dinner was great. The B-family met Dianne and Artie and hit it off well. Artie immediately began chatting with Micah and Ariel - teasing as usual. We were all impressed at how well behaved the kids were. Still seemed like people at the tables around us didn't appreciate the situation - but oh well - that's their problem. (this is a HOLIDAY CRUISE; and more children and families have to be expected especially at first dinner seating which is 6PM) As an aside, last cruise on the QM2 we did late dinner seating, but 8PM is rough for the kids and most of the kids programming begins at 8PM to align with the earlier dinner seating.

After dropping the kids we went for drinks in at the Commodore lounge on 9 deck. This place is totally out of the way, and I am convinced that a lot of folks don't find it until the end of the cruise. I find this to be one of the most intimate lounges on the ship and it affords stellar views during the day. We ran into Dianne and Artie and then all went to the Champagne bar. We had missed that one last cruise and I definitely wanted to get there. I was especially interested in the caviar - which I had - and enjoyed. It was Caspian see Ossetra Caviar --- and they had a wonderful combination of 1oz Caviar and a glass of non-vintage Champagne for $52. Ellen heads to bed, and Michael hits the casino for a bit. All alone at the $5 dice table, I make my first three points with maximum 2x odds. I'm just fooling around, and quickly wrap up the session when things go south. I hit a lousy pay table JoB (Jacks or Better) Video .25 Video Poker machine, hitting quads pretty quickly and wrapping up the session with a quick $70 win. The machine is NOT TITO (Ticket in Ticket out) and I get a bucket of quarters --- weird for such a new ship and casino. Finish up my session playing roulette black and low $10-$5-$10 regression. Lock up a profit of around $30 and call it a night. You still need to pay for drinks in the casino, and I manage to polish off another 2 grey goose and cranberry splash.

First day ends - tired, but relaxed.

Prada Watch

2006-12-20T20:39:00.000-05:00

Prada Watch
Originally uploaded by smartbaccarat.

So.. I thought I did really really well with picking the Birthday present for Ellen this year. This is just a hip, sexy watch, IMHO.

But, alas, Ellen doesn't "like it enough." --- (I have to admit, I don't really know what that means.)

So.... It will be returned to Neiman Marcus tomorrow --- and we will procure a new watch in Grand Cayman, early next week.

Ladies (and gents).... I would love your opinions !

How crazy people leave THE VEGAS - a timeline

2006-12-20T17:33:00.000-05:00

Originally uploaded by smartbaccarat.

OK, anyone who is familiar with Las Vegas airport knows that even arriving 1.5 hours before flight time can be risky.

So, this is the timeline of an unstable (YES, ME !) wacky person's approach to leaving Las Vegas this past Sunday morning.

Flight Scheduled : 6:55AM LAS-MSP

Times are approximate (but, pretty accurate), but, you get the idea !

5:15AM --- Baccarat_King tells pit-boss to contact VIP services and let them know to hold the Limo.
5:35AM --- Baccarat_King finally colors up and leaves the dice table.
5:40AM --- Baccarat_King realizes that he forgot to do OLCI (online check in), since he was planning on arriving at LAS early (had scheduled the car for 5:15AM)
5:42AM --- Baccarat_King goes online with NWA.com while on the phone w/ the front desk at Paris Las Vegas asking for their FAX #.
6:00AM --- Still packing, call down to front desk to make sure they got the FAX (saved a PDF of Boarding Pass to the desktop just in case)
6:10AM --- Baccarat_King leaves Paris Las Vegas for LAS
6:24AM --- Baccarat_King arrives at LAS (and tips the driver $60 --- since he has been waiting since 5:AM for the pickup) --- I enter LAS and beg to check my bags (I have "4" Bags) --- but, the awesome gate agent says they can't check-it (even for a later flight) and that she is getting on the phone to inform the gate I am on my way
--- Baccarat_King trys to hide as much of the Penhaligons purchases (shampoo, body wash etc. etc.) --- no line at FC security --- but TSA manages to find 2 of the body wash products (but, totally my fault, since I was supposed to arrive earlier -- nice TSA lady, I tell her she should keep them for herself since the body wash is $30 per 10 oz. bottle.... she laughs)
--- arrive at Gate D14 at appoximately 6:47AM
--- I'm the last one on the plane, apologize to the flight attendant Alison C. for all of my bags -- she helps me find room for all of them --- and gets me 2 glasses of water. (ABSOLUTE best flight attendant and first class service of the year.... and I will write into NWA about her... absolutely superb !)
6:54AM --- Cell Phones OFF push-back begins
7:20AM --- Bloody Mary in hand (and a sparkling water on the side); waiting for my Breakfast

* Do NOT TRY THIS without Adult Supervision *

FINAL VEGAS TRIP OF 2006 !!! and what a trip it was !

2006-12-20T12:36:00.000-05:00

Pure
Originally uploaded by smartbaccarat.

AWESOME, INCREDIBLE.... I just can't say enough.

3 Days.... Tryst @ Wynn, Pure @ Caesars, Risque @ Paris (x2), and VooDoo @ RIO

Mandara Spa @ Paris and AMP Salon @ Palms

LVA Member Meet @ Caesars

and.. the absolute APEX of the trip, Wing Lei Peking Duck Tasting Menu at Wynn with ACEMAN from Flyertalk.

and of course, great gaming --- including a very sweet hit and run session at the $100 RIO Big Baccarat table with ACEMAN !

Full trip report coming soon.......

The news is so much better...

2006-12-11T19:33:00.000-05:00

Just a bit of Monday humor.

A story is told of a Jewish man who was riding on the subway reading an
Arab newspaper. A friend of his, who happened to be riding in the same
subway car, noticed this strange phenomenon.

Very upset, he approached the newspaper reader: "Moshe, have you lost your
mind? Why are you reading an Arab newspaper ? "

Moshe replied: "I used to read the Jewish newspaper, but what did I find ?
Jews being persecuted, Israel being attacked, Jews disappearing through
assimilation and intermarriage, Jews living in poverty. So, I switched to
the Arab newspaper.

"Now what do I find ? Jews own all the banks, Jews control the media, Jews
are all rich and powerful, Jews rule the world. The news is so much better ! "

Buffalo has arrived !

2006-12-07T13:14:00.000-05:00

Just got my shipment of free range grass fed super duper organic Buffalo.

Short Ribs, Rib-eye bone in steaks and chopped meat.

Blackwing Bison has amazing product --- strongly suggest you check it out.

If you are still eating meat that is grain fed in feedlots ---- you should really think twice about putting that "shit" in your body.

If nothing else.... make sure you are eating MEAT that is GRASS FED !!!!

Good Morning ! New Hampshire

2006-11-19T09:22:00.000-05:00

Pre-Winter in New Hampshire (November 2006)
Originally uploaded by smartbaccarat.

A wonderful brisk morning. Took a walk a little before 8am enjoying our new neighborhood. We really love the area -- I can't say enough great things about living in NH. The town beach was empty and tranquil this AM --- and was able to enjoy a really dry cappuccino as soon as I got home --- I've really become quite the expert with my new Jura Capresso
machine.

Looking forward to a relaxing Sunday !

Bond DOESN'T play POKER !!! He just doesn't !

2006-11-18T09:02:00.000-05:00

OK,

I guess this is more of a personal pet peeve. But, I am just so upset that in the new James Bond Movie Casino Royale Bond plays POKER and NOT Baccarat. Now, this might NOT be a big issue; but in Ian Fleming's original BOOK Casino Royale the whole plot revolves around a HIGH STAKES BACCARAT GAME. "Agent 007 lives an intensely hard lifestyle, and he's known to be the best gambler in the Service. He's therefore assigned to break Le Chiffre's bank at the baccarat tables of the Casino Royale, in the French Riviera."

Anyway, I guess I'll get over it... but, annoying, nonetheless.

What is interesting is that this is a modified version of American Baccarat (or Punto Banco); since you (the player, or in the case of the Book, Casino Royale, Le Chiffre) are acting as the bank. I am NOT certain why they didn't just play Chemin de Fer; since this is the usual routine at that game -- and in this "modified" Baccarat game (which, very well might be "European Baccarat") I "think" you can make a decision if you want to draw a card when you have a 2 card total of 5.

Now, according to the rules of "American Baccarat" :

If the player has a 2 card total of 5 or less, the player will ALWAYS DRAW a 3rd card. This 3rd card, would determine if the BANKER draws a third card. So, If you had a 2 Card "5" for the Player and a 2 Card "5" for the Banker --- based on the rules, the BANKER would ONLY draw a 3rd card if the Player's 3rd card value was 4,5,6, or 7.

Shoe #1 Final Day Shift Oct 28

2006-11-05T09:28:00.000-05:00

Shoe #1 Final Day Shift Oct 28
Originally uploaded by smartbaccarat.

My final day of day shift at the 'Dust. I played 1 full shoe and a partial. This is an analysis of the final day shift FULL SHOE played. It was an awesome shoe. Just one note, I keep track of the decisions and my bets --- but, I do NOT track my tie bets. In general, I bet tie after a tie or possibly a skip tie at the table minimum $10 level. If I win a tie bet, and then bet tie again, I note any larger than normal tie bets. In the future, I will try to record how much I bet on tie... though, I don't bet tie that often, since it is a lousy bet. I have been very lucky with Tie Bets (over the past 2 years...) but, quite frankly, I think it is probably a wash (i.e. tie wins versus bets placed) ---

Buy in for $300 on a $25 minimum ($10 minimum tie bet) Big Baccarat Table at the Stardust around 12:30PM on Saturday, October 28th --- I am the only player at the table for around the first 15 hands... another player joins and we both play to the end of the shoe. There were NO free hands taken in this shoe.
The #'s refer to the running count of player or banker for the shoe. Dashes --- refer to TIES; and SQUARES around the number are the BETS WHICH I WON !

Banker #1 Bet $35 WIN
Player #1 Bet $25 LOST (this is noted incorrectly on my card.. it is player #1 NOT player #2)
Banker #2 Bet $30 WIN
Banker #3 BET $25 win
Banker #4 BET $50 win
Banker #5 BET $75 win
Banker #6 BET $125 win
Player #2 BET $175 lost
Banker #7 NO BET
Banker #8 Bet $50 win
Player #3 Bet $25 lost
(note the use of regression)
I like a $50-$25-$50 or a $35-$25-$35 at a $25 table
Banker #9 Bet $50 win
Player #4 BET $25 lost
Player #5 NO BET
(I was basically follow the bank at this point of the shoe)
Banker #10 BET $25 win
(notice, I screw up the numbering on my card (happens often) -- and I didn't follow the bank, but wanted to bet bank - so I did the minimum of $25)
TIE PUSH
B #11 WIN $50
B #12 WIN $75
B #13 WIN $125
B #14 WIN $175
B #15 WIN $225
B #16 WIN $300
B #17 WIN $375
B #18 WIN $475 (This was 8 in a row banker)
TIE PUSH
P #6 LOST $600
B #19 WIN $75
(at this point, shoe has had 6 players and 19 banks... I really feel good about the banker trend... I am jumping back on banker; I feel so strongly about banker for this shoe, I will NOT use regression again during this shoe)
B #20 WIN $100
P #7 LOST $150
B #21 WIN $75
B #22 WIN $100
B #23 WIN $150
B #24 WIN $225
B #25 WIN $350
P #9 LOST $500
You can review the card for yourself at this point (just add 2 to the banker total and subtract 1 from the player total if you want a running count of player and banker)
There will be 3 sets of 3 in a row, in which I bet banker
betting series of $200, $250 $300 then lost $425
$100, $175 and $250 then lost $300
and $100, $150, $200
also, near the end of the shoe, there was a skip then triple tie --- I always bet these sequences and won both a $25 Tie (pays $200) and a $50 Tie (Pays $400) mind you -- these are CRAZY bets, and you really have to feel good about your luck and the trend.
Cash out was $2,120 from a $300 buy-in
I bet at least $150 for the dealers (also hitting the tie) throughout the shoe; since it was the last day for them at the 'dust --- thought they deserved a crack at my winnings. This shoe ended with 49 Banks, 23 Players and 9 Ties. As expected, 5% commision was quite a chunk of change (due to the high $ bets) --- BUT the $2,120 was the NET color UP after commission and tips.

Shoe #1 TOP of Tracking Card Card Final Day Shift Oct 28

2006-11-05T08:57:00.000-05:00

Shoe #1 TOP of Tracking Card Card Final Day Shift Oct 28
Originally uploaded by smartbaccarat.

It was a very strong banker shoe. Biggest single run was 7 Banks in a Row --- but, it was a solid banker trend.

At the beginning of this shoe, we got 5 in a row banker, 7 in a row banker, 5 in a row banker (again) and 4 sets of 3 in a row banker.

Also, there was one skip tie and a triple tie; since I ONLY bet ties after a tie (or a skip tie) this was a very nice shoe to catch a tie bet. Next post will be a complete analysis of my play (of this shoe which had 49 Banks, 23 Players and 9 Ties.

Carol Geraci at the Stardust

2006-11-04T16:25:00.000-05:00

Carol Geraci at the Stardust
Originally uploaded by smartbaccarat.

Autograph from Carol reads "
"Michael :
Thanks for your loyalty and your fun at the 'Dust.' We will miss you."
Carol was a cocktail waitress at the Stardust from 1966 until the casino closed in 2006. There are a few additional photos of Carol (and Carol and Shirley) in THIS flickr photoset.

Shirley Brancucci and Baccarat at the 'dust

2006-11-04T08:19:00.000-05:00

Shirley and Baccarat
Originally uploaded by smartbaccarat.

She came from Newport Kentucky to The Vegas in 1952. She really did teach me everything I know about baccarat (bet the tie on the first and last hand of the shoe... wink wink...)

from the recent book "The Stardust of Yesterday.. Reflections on a Las Vegas Legend"
"Around here is way always a party," says Shirley Brancucci, who started at the Stardust as a cocktail waitress and eventually became a baccarat pit boss.

She continuously tangled with Rosenthal. He would scream at her, but knew she was a skilled dealer. "It was a love-hate relationship," she said.

Brancucci remembers the beginning of the end.
"It was in December '83, right before Christmas," she said. "I was in the baccarat pit when the federal agents came in."
"And they fired just about everybody. Almost all the floor people were fired. And management."

For those who didn't know... just watch the movie CASINO. The Tangiers is supposed to be the Stardust and Robert De Niro (Sam 'Ace' Rothstein) is playing the character of Rosenthal. In the movie, Joe Pesci (Nicky Santoro) is playing the character of infamous Tony Spilotro.

"He was a scary guy," Brancucci said of Rosenthal. "But I stood up to him. I didn't know how not to."

Shirley is an amazing woman, who turned 77 a few months ago. I joked with her last week, saying that they were imploding the Stardust, just so they would finally be able to get her to retire. Not only will I miss the relaxing atmosphere of the Baccarat room at the 'dust... I will also miss all of her incredible stories of old Las Vegas and the 'dust.... though, I can't really imagine that she will stay retired.... who knows... maybe she'll wind up at the new Baccarat Room at the Orleans...

Great Baccarat Shoe

2006-10-30T13:49:00.000-05:00

Great Baccarat Shoe
Originally uploaded by smartbaccarat.

Final day at the Stardust Big Baccarat Table. This was shoe #2 of the day shift.

What an incredible shoe, and a great way to end a stay at the 'dust.

More details to follow; but it was an absolutely amazing trip !

Crazy harrahs.com pricing

2006-10-25T08:49:00.000-04:00

Crazy harrahs.com pricing
Originally uploaded by smartbaccarat.

harrahs.com website does some crazy things.

check this out... a room at harrah's las vegas for only $10,000 USD.

Stardust Closing

2006-10-24T08:01:00.000-04:00

STARDUST is closing in a week

Was able to get in ONE FINAL trip to the 'dust before it closes. I will be there for the final weekend. Very exciting; though a sad time of Las Vegas folks.

This is one of the last of the "original" properties --- and has an incredible history (opened in 1958).

Check out this LINK
for a great review of 'dust history.

REAL Gamblers...

2006-10-07T11:17:00.000-04:00

Something to think about; from a great book "Super Casino"

"People come to Las Vegas and they lose $300 or maybe even $1,000 and they go home and really feel like they're big gamblers. Well, they aren't. They are playing at gambling. Let me tell you what real gambling is all about. Real gambling is standing at a craps table and shooting the dice with your entire paycheck spread out on the numbers, okay? It's knowing if the dice hit, you are going to win two or three or maybe five times your weekly salary, and if they don't hit, then you will be broke for the entire week ---- I mean, not even have enough to buy a can of dog food."

Something to think about; since it really isn't about the money; it's about RISK. It's about pushing the envelope, taking chances that have real and immediate consequences.

So... I guess I'm not really a gambler... some more insight tomorrow....

WHY ? WHY ? WHY ?

2006-09-26T11:06:00.000-04:00

From one of my favorite shows.

I'm BACK !

2006-09-02T17:47:00.000-04:00

OK,

The move was a bit of a nightmare.... but, things are finally starting to come together...

something fun... and I'll be back to my regular posting by next week... happy Labor Day Weekend !

Live Free or Die

2006-07-17T09:40:00.000-04:00

New Hampshire
Originally uploaded by smartbaccarat.

It is official.

We are moving to Windham, NH

Link :

http://www.windhamnewhampshire.com/

Exact house has NOT been decided on yet, but we have narrowed our options.

In transit to BWI to pick up Yael (MHT-DTW-BWI-DTW-DAY) --- and posting from the Main DTW Worldclub.

Atlantic City trip report is coming soon.

CASINOS ARE OPEN !

2006-07-08T14:22:00.000-04:00

Quick report...

I was on the casino floor at 7:53AM --- got in a good few hours.

Logged on and checked the news (very early) --- as soon as I heard they got the go ahead to re-open at 6AM --- I was ready to go.

I played (by myself) the 1st mini-baccarat shoe to be dealt in the entire casino after opening. I also bet and won the first tie bet to be won after the casino opened. Things are getting very very busy... asian games room started to get filled up around 11am.. I have a very detailed record of that shoe --- unfortunately, only won $50 off of that shoe --- I did have a run of 8 in a row; needed it to go just a bit longer (lol).

Well... we are finishing our packing... and we are off to Cincinnati around 3PM. I'll have a more complete trip report upon my return.

BTW, I did get my CASH BACK for NEXT TRIP due to the 72 hour hiatus.

AC Casino Update - early AM Saturday

2006-07-08T03:00:00.000-04:00

AC Casino Update
Originally uploaded by smartbaccarat.

Well, it is NOW 2:56AM on Saturday, July 8th ---
GUESS WHAT --- the Casinos never opened; but to recap the great day (Friday July 7th) and evening :

So, for our anniversary night (July 5th) --- Mia at Caesars was open, and my wife and I had a most wonderful and relaxing (no rush to get to the casino --- lol) dinner. Last night, we had dinner with friends from Cincinnati (staying in Margate w/relatives) and friends from north Jersey (staying at Ballys -- I booked the comp room online --- no problem) --- we went to Cuba Libre at The Quarter, and it was a truly excellent dinner --- though, after 4 mojitos and multiple daiquris ---- how could anyone complain... also bought some great CAO cigars there, which I enjoyed on the walk back to Caesars. Spent today at Caesars Beach and Pool --- and weather was just perfect, low 80's, breezy and really relaxing.

Club Athena was CLOSED yesterday, but reopened today at 11am --- but, NO alcoholic beverages -- they said the bar staff was told to stay home -- Buffet at Caesars and Bally's was closed yesterday --- this morning the buffet at Caesars was closed, and the only place open was Cafe Roma (coffee shop) and Club Athena (Diamond Lounge) --- so basically, operations have been scaled back to reflect the limited number of people. Per the front desk at 1am Caesars was at 50% occupancy.

Information about the casino opening has been inconsistent (to say the least) --- some say by 11PM tonight (friday night) --- others say "definitely" by 8AM Saturday morning --- so, I guess well have to wait and see... I think it is an under commit and over deliver situation --- and that the casino WILL be open late this evening.

Regarding my ADT --- I have checked and my ADT did increase (80 points) because of my play on Sunday and Monday --- I am certain they are NOT counting the closing against me --- because if they did, my ADT would have dropped with the 2 days of no play. I was also told, that since there might be a 72 hour break in play, I might actually get my next visit cash back --- once the casino opens --- though, we will have to wait and see how that works out.

It will be interesting to see what the table minimums are when they open (hopefully) later this evening....

btw, my dad just called, and an interview by NBC Channel 4 NY on the Boardwalk was just aired, with me quoted as saying I was "anxious to get my hands on the dice again...."

2:42AM :
Show at Caesars was great tonight --- and we closed the Bikini Bar at Bally's --- got over 14 drinks free (thanks to xtra coupons from Caesars and betdponies --- ) --- so, we were basically able to drink ourselves silly on Harrahs Corp.

Well ---- it is now 2:42AM early Saturday morning the 8th --- CASINO FLOOR is absolutely dead --- no signs of life... so, the hope that things would open tonight NEVER happened... guess i'll have to see what things look like when I wake up in the AM. Got some great pictures of the casino floor and empty poker room, which I will post this week.

Good Night to all..... Michael

AC Day 2 of Casino Closing

2006-07-06T10:38:00.000-04:00

AC Day 2 of Casino Closing
Originally uploaded by smartbaccarat.

Well, it has been a full 24 hours since the Casinos shut down yesterday. Caesars Palace is pretty empty, and they even closed the buffet yesterday. A number of restaurants are closed, and they have started to limit some services --- though, things are operating as normal, though walking around such quiet casino properties is an interesting scene.

Casino CLOSED

2006-07-05T09:26:00.000-04:00

Casino CLOSED
Originally uploaded by smartbaccarat.

It is official ! Atlantic City CASINOS ARE CLOSED !

I was at Caesars AC casino floor till the very end. Dice tables were already ALL CLOSED at 7am --- 1 midi-baccarat table and a pai gow was operating in Asian Games. Only 1 roulette wheel on the main casino floor and 1 bj in high limit palce court were open.

Decided to play 9/6 JoB till the very end. At around 7:50am security game over and asked me to CASH OUT. Annoucements were made every 10 minutes that casino was closing. I was videotaped playing VP by the news and had numerous interviews including the NY Times. Once on the boardwalk, you cannot re-enter the property through the boardwalk casino doors, you need to walk around to the front entrance. Absolutely amazing scene.... all the slot areas are roped off, and the main casino floor (1st floor) is roped off, including the escalators to that level.

Interesting to see how the day develops...

The Beach in AC from Caesars Palace

2006-07-04T09:31:00.000-04:00

The Beach in AC
Originally uploaded by smartbaccarat.

Atlantic City has been great so far. Weather has been great, and we have had a really great time relaxing on the beach. Caesars is nicer than I expected, and our view from the 44th floor in the Centurion Tower is excellent.

Still waiting on the "potential" casino closing; due to happen on Wednesday morning at 8AM. A description of the closing process (from the Star Ledger) gave me a good laugh :
An hour before closing, the casinos' public address systems would begin broadcasting announcements that all gaming would stop in 60 minutes, then 50, and so on. Some games, notably craps, may close before 8 a.m.

"At a craps table, a player's turn continues until they roll 7," Casino Control Commission spokesman Dan Heneghan explained. So if a player rolled 7 at, say, 7:58 a.m., the pit boss would stop the game, to prevent the next player from running past the deadline.

According to Heneghan, a contingent of 70 State Police and 60 state gaming enforcement agents is available, if needed, to escort patrons off the floor. Then it is a matter of collecting and securing all the cash, chips and keys -- hundreds of them for each casino.

I'll report more when I have a chance later; including a gaming report. Very impressed by the VP at Caesars; 9/6 JoB at the 25 cent level is just something I never expected. Also was glad to see they have my favorite 5 Play $1 VP. Craps is also great, with LOTS of tables and really good crews working the tables.

Now... I'm off to Cape May....

NJ State Government is SHUT DOWN

2006-07-01T10:29:00.000-04:00

7/1/2006, 9:40 a.m. ET
By TOM HESTER Jr.
The Associated Press

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — In a dramatic and extraordinary pen stroke, Gov. Jon S. Corzine Saturday morning closed state government amid a bitter dispute with fellow Democrats in the Assembly over his plan to increase the sales tax.

That conflict has left New Jersey without money to operate. The state lottery and road construction are among the first state services expected to be closed.

Parks, beaches, historic sites and possibly casinos may shutter in coming days.

After Saturday's constitutional deadline to adopt a new balanced budget passed without agreement, Corzine inked an executive order just after 9:30 a.m. in his Statehouse office, a grim climax to weeks of budget squabbling among Democrats who control state government but haven't been able to agree on a budget bill.

This is the first time state government has had to close amid a budget dispute.

AC Developments

2006-06-30T20:54:00.000-04:00

While I don't think it will really happen, some interesting tidbits concerning the possible closure of the Atlantic City Casinos, this weekend.

"The state Casino Control Commission met Friday afternoon and voted 5-0 to authorize "orderly closure" of the 12 casinos should Corzine order a government shutdown. Casino executives asked that they be given days rather than hours to prepare."

Casinos, which require monitoring by state gambling regulators to operate, lost a bid in Superior Court in Atlantic City on Friday to get state monitors declared "essential employees" who could keep working during a shutdown.

Judge Steven Perskie said that while he thought the casinos should remain open, he did not have the authority to tell the governor what to do. He said a higher court would have to make that ruling. Casino officials said they were to file briefs with the appeals court by 8 p.m.

"It's very hard for me to attempt to find the words to express how irreparable, how damaging, how catastrophic this would be for the people of this state — not just the licensees — but the people," Perskie said.

Joseph A. Corbo Jr., a vice president at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa and head of the state casino association, said if casinos were forced to close for the five-day holiday weekend, it would cost the state $10 million in tax revenue and casino workers about $3 million a day in wages and tips.

"We believe that it would be counterproductive for the state, which is in a budget crisis, to close businesses that generate millions of tax revenues, particularly since we directly pay for the state employees who regulate our casinos," Corbo said.