MOHEGAN SUN TRIP

ROOM

I came to this Groton Super 8 because it was the cheapest alternative for my one night Saturday stay. I had a few points and with under $35 I got a room when others were quite expensive.

My leaving home this weekend gave my wife and her best friend from Rochester some sister time without me in the space. It was a good time to go gambling.

One fellow at my poker table had priced a room at Mohegan Sun at the last minute. It was $900. I just don't understand that kind of pricing. Another told him that he might be about to arrange it for about $200 if the fellow was willing to buy out another guy's points. I don't get it. For $900 I can fly to Vegas.....Twice!!.

Since I usually go solo, just driving down the road for 20 mintues to Groton is a good choice for me.

For the Super 8 I read the mixed reviews at Trip Advisor. I read the last reports of bed bugs at the registry. That was in 2010. I think the word is out and most places are pretty good at monitoring infestations.

The reviews mentioned poor upkeep. I saw that in my room in the broken lights by the bed. I said something on the way out, but I did not want to have folks coming in to fix things for a one night stay.

I also see some burn holes in the bed covering. However, it was clean and I don't use the top covering anyway. The blanket was pretty flimsy. The mattress was not those in the upscale hotels. But I did not need a blanket and I slept very well.

The bed was easy to inspect for bed bugs; I could get right down to the mattress and check the ridge. Both of them were very clean of anything.

It was quiet. Out my window there is a parking lot, but from the second floor there is only the look of green trees. Very nice.

When I arrived the AC was off and the window was open so the room smelled fresh. I put the AC on, closed the window, and by the time I had unpacked the car, the room was very comfortable. It was a quiet AC. It went off when the set temperature was reached.

The refrigerator was cold and the little freezer area refroze my little ice bags for my cooler and a quart plastic milk carton fit there as well. I stocked it with seltzer and food. Too much really for just one night, but I can't depend on the free breakfasts because they are all carbs. This one did not have even one piece of fruit. They did have some English Breakfast tea and good coffee. I made good tea in the room. I carry my own tea cup and my own green tea.

There was very accessible electrical plugs for my computer and for my sleep apnea machine. The wifi was just grand, fast and with no passcodes to mistype.

A long desk table easily held my computer.

There was an elevator, one cart that no one else seemed to want, and so I got all my things up and back down without incident.

Folks were pleasant. Some guests were not quiet and I heard them in their rooms ranting as I walked the hall, but once in the room I heard nothing. There was no AC in the hallway or the rest of the hotel. That made it a muggy walk in.

The bathroom was very nice. It looked newly painted and there were no issues with plumbing. There was a tub, but I forgot my epsom salts. The shower head adjusted to two settings.

The television did not have Turner Classic Movies, but did have a number of good choices. I don't watch much television. It was an old style television.

The clothes hanger was mounted on the wall and convenient. The little coffee pot worked fine. For the tea I put hot tap water in the cup and ran the water through twice with the bags in the little pitcher on the second run. It worked great.

I was very comfortable just spending a quiet early morning in the room and I was rested enough that I played until 9 PM and drove 3 hours home that night.

The Super 8 was very easy to find from Mohegan Sun. No twisting and turning. It was right on a main road. Nearby are little diners that would entice me for breakfast if I had not brought a cooler of food with me.

Going solo, I like just hanging in the room and eating with the television or the computer and drinking all I want of coffee and tea as there is little to do in the poker room until about 10AM.

So, I get that there are some minor issues with this place, but I'd come again.

THE BUFFET AT MOHEGAN SUN

I had $4 off Saturday's buffet and $11 off Sunday's , so the food expense was very low. There were no Facebook or Twitter deals; those are only M to F.  In the poker room I earn a dollar an hour for 2-4 and 1-1 play.  Perhaps my $4 was left over from last November and the $11 accrued on this trip.  Compared with Vegas buffets, this one is a bit overpriced, but using the points brings it down to a pretty decent deal.
I was thinking of going to Springville to a restaurant I like there called the Student Prince, but I was just not in an adventurous traveling mood and I wanted to keep playing poker as long as it was good.

I enjoyed the food, but did not relish it as much as I usually do. That was disturbing because the food was as good as it usually is. There was still the no sugar cheesecake and one night there was a no sugar chocolate almond mousse. I wish they would bring back the little melting fluffy meringue cookies in no sugar format.

I am not avoiding meats lately, so the meatballs with marinara were my favorite and the sausage and peppers was good as well. I liked the baked pollock although the cajun spice needed a good bit of help from Frank's hot sauce.

I liked the succotash and collard greens. Both were tasty. The steamship beef had good flavor. I had just a small bite because I could get an end piece.

One nice thing about this buffet is plenty of hot sauce: Frank's, Tabasco, Cholula, and one green.

The iced tea that was good as was the one cup of coffee before driving back the 3 hours to home. It worked to keep me awake.

I ate one buffet a day and filled it with food I brought along. I do like having breakfast in the room in the early morning, writing, watching the news, having coffee and tea.

GAMBLING

I was up and down both on video poker and live poker. I played a 9-5 DDB and an 8-5 Bonus and ended $100 down with a few close possibilities but no royals or Aces and only one quad, Kings. The Bonus machine said it did not give points. I did not notice if the DDB gave points.  The poker room allows a dollar per hour. 
Points matter less to me at Mohegan Sun than in Vegas because I don't go enough, but I am curious to know more about it. Perhaps Momentum $ are different than points.

I played the 1-1 live poker which I love and some 2-4 when the 1-1- was unavailable or I did not like the table.

One interesting hand was my A-4 that flopped 4-4-7. Two players were all-in before me. I thought that no on else was in and turned my cards, but a fellow stopped me because there was a guy behind me who was still live.

The turn came another 7. I checked, thinking that I could not win since he had seen my hand and would only call with an 7.

He checked.

The river came and I checked again, but he went all in for $23. I was puzzled. I called and he had nothing much, perhaps a pair. He had not seen my cards, so he perceived my checking as weakness that he might exploit. So I took down two other players for a healthy pot.

I had pocket Aces in fairly early position. A fellow before me bet all in for ten dollars. I made it twenty-five. Everyone folded. No high hand, but I did win the pot.

I had one nice royal in clubs draw. I needed the queen on the turn or the river. The turn gave me a queen of spades and so I won the hand, but sadly no royal.

Generally, here the high hand awards went for straight flushes. They paid every three hours. However, today I think they pay every 15 minutes, as they do at Foxwoods today also. The crowds are just crazy in line for seats when they offer that promotion, so I expect it will continue. Of course, since I play that promotion in Ocala every Saturday with $500 going every half hour, and plenty of seats, I am not so attracted.

My worst table was a table full of young men who all were joking with each other and playing a strange and very aggressive game. This was late Saturday night. I lost the last of my $60 buy in when I called pocket kings all-in when I had A-9. It was not a good bet, but it was time to go home.

My best run was actually on a 2-4 table where I had a very lucky streak. Often the 2-4 games there are looser than those in Vegas, and a new table, opening late in the evening will bring the passive callers who pay off top hands. My K-K held up for a huge pot my last night. I like the 1-1, but in this case the 1-1 table was just dead rocks and I had not made a bet in a long, long while, so I moved to 2-4. I knew that were I to bet, I'd not get called. They called me on the 2-4. I was in a seat where seeing was hard and I held 3 jacks with a possible diamond flush on board. I kept betting into the flush because I did not think anyone had it. A guy with J-K folded because he thought I had the flush. When I showed my hand, it turned out that the river 8 had given me a full house. I had seen it as a 6. And yes, someone had called my river bet without either a flush or a jack.

At this same table I am nervous betting my Ace because I only have a 6 kicker. However, the guy who stays with me has a seven for a pair of sevens. The river gives him another seven, but he checks to me and is very disappointed that I don't bet out, but check as well.

The dealers for the most part are very good, but every once in a while there is a dud, and I got one at this table for a while. I explained that I could not see to know when the bets were over or sometimes to know the cards. It did not matter to her. When she was relieved, she heard me tell the fellow next to me that I was happy to be getting a new dealer because she would call the game. And she did. If I was in the hand, she read out the flop to me. That was very helpful.

I drank some wine called Copper Ridge. It was good. It sells for about $7 a bottle. This just proves that casinos can offer drinkable inexpensive red if they look for it. This was a cabernet.

It may have affected my play. It did on one hand, although I thought my healthy $30 bet would push off my opponent. On other plays, having a bit of wine and getting a bit talkative seems to encourage folks to call when they should not call.

There was only one high hand at any of my tables, and he did not get paid. His quad 9's were beat. There were a few full houses, but I don't really count them. They won't hold up over 3 hours.

In the end I lost $266 over the two days. This was not too bad for the hours of play. But it was not too good either.

Some of the people were interesting and funny. Some were boring. There were few story tellers. One woman named Merrill from NYC (with a strong accent) was just delightful and attractive. We had some good time. Her husband was there and he was the most grumpy unsociable guy. Such a contrast. She consoled me when I lost with trips twice within a few hands. I liked her. She left because she felt a migraine coming on. I could not remember the new medicine I take for those. Sumatriptan.

None of the players were very good at stories. The best I got was just good joking and humor, most of it centered on the cards and the game.

Some of the players I have seen before and I think they play every day. Two old cab drivers, Neil and George, did tell some stories but nothing really dramatic.

Vegas is much richer in players and variety.

Perhaps I am staying too quiet lately, but the noise of the casino and the crowds on Saturday night did not absorb my interest. And while I liked the poker room, I did not engage my aesthetic senses in the abstract lighting as I usually do.

I did enjoy one blues piece on my way out by a band I think is Nick Forte. It was a BB King tribute song. “The Thrill is gone” and very well done.

In general I was not up to music or shows this weekend. I would have bought a cheap scalped ticket to see Bette Midler, but she is not my favorite and there were none in the lobby anyway nor would they have been very cheap.

The ride home was a bit of a hassle. Just minutes out I got stuck in a half hour delay due to an accident. The rain made it hard to see. The glare bothered me more than usual. I would just get something interesting on the radio and the station would fade.

One of those was a show I did not know was on live radio. It is hosted by Dan Akroyd as Elwood Bluesbreaker. The show I heard featured this fellow. It is now your usual blues.

http://thebluesmobile.com/pokey-lafarge-takes-a-spin-in-the-bluesmobile-this-weekend/

It was ironic because a Blues Brothers impersonation was at the Wolf lounge the night I was at Mohegan Sun. I regret not going to that.

Some shows are streamed, but I can listen live here on Sunday night : WPYX 106.5 8-9 PM  I managed to drive the 3 hours home without a break.  I'll need my nap today.