Issues with my personal blog

Some of you read another more personal blog and I've decided to make that  a private blog by invitation only.   Let me know you want access, the gmail account you would like to use, and when I can, I'll send you an invitation.
I'll keep this blog, the vegas blogs and others public as long as I don't get spammed so much it is not worth the bother doing the moderation.
Sorry for the confusion.  I liked being public but that is just not practical anymore.

Foxwoods:there are guys more frugal than I

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130117/LIFE/301170302

I find it odd that this fellow did not think to bring a book, both for the bus and for the dead time when exploration was over. It would seem to me that a day away from the chance that the baby would interrupt a good novel, would be welcome.  Unlike Vegas Foxwoods has areas where sitting is very easy.
I also missed his interest in watching gambling.  I love watching the games I would never play, like Sic Bo or roulette.  I do it as a break from the gambling when I go. 

TURNING STONE WITH RON

I have not always liked Turning Stone as a place to play poker.  In limit there are only 2-4 games and generally only one table with the same regulars.  

These folks are very tight.  

Overcoming the rake is impossible.  

And seating is at a premium.  Sometimes I have to wait an hour.  Friday night I came with my Four Fisgh book, but that night they seated me right away. There is no changing tables for better selection of opponents. I left that 2-4 table and played 1-2 no limit because the table was just too tight.

Foxwoods and Mohegan are both better venues for limit poker.

I have been hesitant to play no limit because I don’t really have the bankroll to play it, and I’m not ready to put $300 at risk in a single hand, especially to the risk of a bluff when I end up with second best after the river and my opponent is representing the best hand.

 

However, I’ve been developing a low chip no limit play where I buy in close to the minimum, rebuy if I lose,  and then leave if I win.  

I like it.  I think it rewards good play because everything is not risked on one hand.

 

It reduces the ability of my opponents to bluff.  They might draw out on me, but they can’t represent a river hand that they don’t have.  Meanwhile, I can often bet just a small amount on the river when I have a good hand and get called.  I might even have second best hand, bet, and get called by third best.

This happened when a river 4 of clubs made my opponents flush and my full house.  I did not have a 4, but I had a deuce, slow played from the beginning. It was second best, but I could bet $30, and I was called by the flush.

If I win, then I have to walk away and do something else for an hour or so, until I can buy in again for  the minimum amount. Or I can go and play 2-4.  

I played a good bit of poker, much more than the 4 hours required for the poker rate.  And I had a fine time.  

All of my winning sessions on this trip were on no limit tables, and I’d have come out well ahead had I played much less poker and just skipped the 2-4 games.  I ended behind $242.

Later on Friday night and then on Saturday night I was in loose 2-4 games that do offer good action and can be beaten by luck more than skill.  Once playable cards are selected, they often need to be played until the end, even on a draw; preflop aggressive raising and capping creates pot odds if the turn and river are not bet aggressively.  

This happened the last day at a table where most of my losses were realized.

On Friday night I played against an old fellow who was “off the leash” because his wife had gone to Buffalo from where they lived near Utica/Rome.  He had gone to a cheap movie in Oneida, was playing poker, and would go to the movies again at midnight. They wintered in Santa Barbara, California, and he was delightful for sharing stories and banter.  
He told about his neighbor who had been shot down in WWII and then paraded by the Germans in uniform to show they had captured the enemy.  German soldiers wanted to switch uniforms with him just so they might get something to eat.  He was fed.  They were not.

Next to this old fellow was a reserved young girl, but we managed to her laughing a bit.  She was pregnant and her husband was playing at a no limit table.  She was pretty reserved, but with a bit of banter, she opened up and laughed and joked some.  She plays no limit.  I played with her the second day.  Her manner at the table was a no limit manner where body language can make or break a win.

On Saturday a friendly fellow bought some of my silver strikes. This $8 sale brought my return on my $100 investment up to about $53.  It might be more; I lost count last Vegas trip.  My goal is to break even and have plenty of rings left to use as chips for poker games or to live a long, long life and so sell them all.  It is a fine hobby.  I have expanded to collecting and making card protectors out of "found" materials. Perhaps I’ll start a business.  Here is the one I made from two rocks found on Headwaters Beach, Ohio.

The photo does not do it justice.  What I like is that the white stone is a great handle and the piece is both heavy and yet can be set up on a stack of chips between hands.

The Turning Stone dealers were very good.  There were very few mistakes and only one that seemed at all a bit in a daze.  Dealers were better than Foxwoods, especially when Foxwoods has a poker tournament, pulls the poker dealers for it, and replaces them with blackjack dealers who don’t even know the game.  
I hate that.  
I pay for the dealer to pay attention to the game for me.  I don’t want to have to correct dealer mistakes.

Tony, the brush recognized me from an earlier trip report, perhaps on Blonde’s Board.  That was an odd coincidence. Nice of him to shake my hand.

On Friday night I played a $15 tournament and went for 3 hours.  I was exhausted, but it was a lot of poker for that little bit.  67 started, and I guess I left with about 17 players yet to go to the 3 who would be paid.  I played pretty well.  I just got blinded down and then had to go all in on a close possibility. No rebuys.  No bounties.  The cheapest tournament I have seen in a long while anywhere.

It does seem they are trying new promotions to attract players.  The bad beat was up to $208,000 and an incredible fantasy, but they are talking of high hand awards every so often or specials on club flushes.  I wish they would do cracked Aces.

Other gambling included a run using the slow hedge at the craps table.  I came out after a few times around down $10.  

I had not used my matchplay and that was a mistake.  The matchplays are only good weekdays, and I should have used mine on Thursday.  I lost the use of it.  Hard to imagine my missing a matchplay. It reinforces the idea that coupons need to be played off early in a visit.

I watched some of the young ones play “Beat the Dealer,” a new game that looks a bit like SicBo and a bit like craps, is simple to understand, and has a much higher vigorish than craps.  It is located in the same area and attracts those intimidated with craps play, perhaps confused by all the choices and the game itself.  I like watching this game.  I’d never play it.  Not at an 11.27% house edge.

http://wizardofodds.com/games/beat-the-dealer/

Poker buddy and old neighbor Ron went up for one overnight, and I went for two.  The poker did not go well for Ron, and he did not have as much fun as I did.  Too bad.
We used coupons for $20 off the poker rate and so stayed right in the hotel for $66 a night.  I liked the room, loved the pool and the easy access, enjoyed myself.  I’d do that again.
The room was better than most of those I get in Vegas.  The view was of the parking garage, but it was not right under the window.  Directly in front of me were plenty of green trees that had been places around a driving circle.  Pines were full of cones, and maples were scattered in between.  

It was pleasantly quiet.  There were no noises.  I liked that.  
The room did not have a refrigerator, but it had a safe and a great coffee pot that made 3 large cups with Seattle coffee, and a nice flat screen TV that worked easily.

The bathroom was plenty big enough with good directions on how to switch the water to the showerhead, plenty of towels, Nice large soaps, good water pressure.  The flush did make a bit of too much noise, so I skipped that in the night so as not to wake my light sleeping buddy.  

Plugs were abundant, so it was simple to put in the apnea machine and to plug into the lamp base for use of  my little traveling computer for the free wifi. Wifi was easy as well, although I could not seem to get two people on using the one computer and move between them, so I could not play the MyVegas for Elizabeth.  She kept that up to date from home.  

There were two desks, so there was plenty of room.

I have stayed in their cheaper Inn down the road and this room was a definite upgrade.

I went up to the Savoy restaurant in Rome twice,
http://beta7.ictgllc.com/theromesavoy/Home.aspx once with Ron and once on my own.  It is one of my favorite places to eat in the world.  It feels to me like going back into the 50’s and going to an old fashioned Italian restaurant with linens on the table and an old and interesting bar as well as a wild collection of wall hangings that include sports banners, photos of officers from the old Rome Air Base, odds and ends of things, even a painting of Langston Hughes.  I sat under that on my second visit and watched the traffic in and out of the kitchen and listened to the live piano player as he wandered through old music.  For “Luck be a Lady” he included the usually skipped introduction.  “When you wish upon a Star” was followed with “Somewhere over the Rainbow.” There was "When Sunny gets Blue." I loved all of it.

The greeter is a very old woman in a shawl like sweater with a bun who escorts people to tables and moves chairs in spite of the fact that she walks with a cane.  She is just a wonderful character.
I was solo and it was a crowded night on Friday, but she gave me a choice of seats, and I picked one against the back wall in the center where I can watch the pretty girl waitresses (especially the blond with the sexy librarian look) and also see the pianist and any entering customers.  The movement keeps me entertained. 

Then the servers and clearers all bustle about and take very good care of the customers.  The place was packed.  There was a din of conversation like we might hear in an old live recording of a jazz club.  I did overhear one conversation.

“Beets, beets, I just love beets!  And I can’t figure out why.”

“Martha...now she makes the best beets….I love them, he beets.  Really!  I just love beets.”

Ron seemed to like the place.  He likes Sam Adams on tap.  However, his meal did not agree with him. Probably too much garlic.  He had a pasta dish with hat pasta, mushrooms, and vegetables.  I had some of it, and it was very good.  I ate some of the mushrooms and broccoli cold for the next days breakfast.  I had two chicken dishes, one a French dish and one with another marinade.  Both came with great risotto.

 

When I asked for a side of anchovies for my Caesar’s salad, they came without an extra charge.  Nice.  
I had the house wine.  There was a cheaper wine called table wine, but I went for the $6 chianti.
http://www.concannonvineyard.com/wines/glenellenreserve/

 

Casino Food was a bit more expensive than Vegas, and I did not bring my usual nuts and fruit for the morning.  I ate free at the buffet twice.  I liked the breakfast offerings better than the lunch offerings, but on Friday lunch included some old time music for seniors and a sale price of $10 so it used up less of my karat comp points.   There was a place to dance. I just watched.  

This weekly event is a great DJ presentation with two large screens showing black and white videos of the performers back in the days of the Dick Clark show. The performances were not perfectly in sync with the sounds, but it was still great to watch them.  I loved it.  I’d like to go with Elizabeth or some dancing partner.  I am no longer good at dancing with strangers.

Also, in that area was the Scare-a-thon, a convention for folks who like old horror movies.  Many of them were dressed gothic or in horror costume.  One fellow actually had the beginnings of two horns growing out of his head.  I really think they were implants and not makeup.  He had them on when he went on the elevator to his room with his wildly dressed girlfriend.
It takes a good bit of dedication to a hobby interest to have horn like nubs implanted in the forehead.  I would not have my card protectors growing out of my forehead.

I did not pay to see the main displays or the B movies but just walked about to see the people.
They were entertaining.

I also watched the dancing in the lounge on Friday night around midnight.  It was like being in a nightclub with no cover and the opportunity to watch the dancing girls and people over the short wall without even needed to buy a drink or being in the lounge.  I liked that for entertainment as well.
  

There were paid dancers in two places and plenty of pretty girls dancing on the floor.  Most everyone was about 18-25, but mixed in was a woman of about 70 having a fine time dancing and singing along to all the modern music.  I loved watching her.  It is so fine that some older folks can keep active and feel comfortable mixing with the younger ones and I loved seeing what a grand time she was having.  Perhaps she was there with her grandchildren.  Nice.

 

I swam three times and loved the pool.  The water was not super hot and did not seem chlorinated.  It seemed to help my psoriasis.  Perhaps there were salts in the water.  The Jacuzzi was hot and it worked fine too. It was empty except for one family on one occasion and shaped in a way that made swimming in circles easy.  

 

On Saturday I saw this show.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_Albums_Live

They were doing Abbey Road by the Beatles.  It was just great.  I got a seat very near the front and in the center.  The sound is the thing for this group, not costume, not egocentric talks, just the album, note for note, cut for cut.  

Then they took a break and followed with another set of songs the Beatles had sung, again with the intention of doing them just as they were done:

“Hello,Hello”

“Long and Winding Road”

“Oh La Dee, Oh La Dah, Life Goes on”

“Mother Nature’s Son”

“No Where Man”

“I am the Walrus”

“This Boy”

“Mr. Postman”

“You Say its Your Birthday”

“Let It Be”

“Twist and Shout”

So it was a fine mix and an amazing performance with so many musicians to pick up any small nuance that the Beatle’s included in their music.

I was particularly moved by “Let It Be” and amazed that after all the times I have heard this song, a live presentation could have that affect.  I wish I could let things be more often instead of having them wear on me.

The drummer in particular was spectacular and wonderful.

And since the entire show was about sound, the sound was perfect.  It was loud, but it did not grate on the ears.  There were no mike aberrations.  Sound was adjusted constantly, new for each song as were often the instruments.  Just one of the best things I have seen.

Fine too was to meet Jimmy and Sherry, old and loved friends, at the casino. They were playing bingo but not shouting much.  They had a room as well.  It was great to catch up on old times.  We don't see one another enough.

 

******************************

ATLANTIC CIY

This trip to Atlantic City has been very satisfying in spite of some snafus.  The driving was particularly easy.  The ride down on Sunday missed traffic.  I left very early, having packed the night before and arrived around noon with plenty of time to enjoy my first day.

I did not check in until exactly 3 PM.  There was about a half hour line and a ten dollar early check in fee.  I asked when that was lifted and the clerk said at 2:55, so those just ahead of me in line must have paid it.  What a rip off.

The fellow gave me a nice quiet room at the end of the corridor.  It was very comfortable and I had no immediate neighbors so the TV at 3AM was not a bother to anyone.

 

Driving home was easy as well.  Instead of trying to have as much of the last day as possible and then worrying about rush hour, I played poker until 3 AM the night before, slept, woke up after seven and packed myself out on the road so that by the time I was tired, I was nearly home. 

I’ll do that again.

Also, I’ll stop in Paramus for gas and to get money at the bank.  That is a fine plan.  Were I hungry there was a nice bagel shop across from the gas station and away from the highway.  Also there was an A and P and I stopped and bought snacks for the trip.  That was a great idea because food prices in the casinos are high.  I only bought two meals while there and had the rest in my room.

I indulged myself with the Showboat seafood buffet.  Even with my $3 in points, it was a hefty price.  However, I was not disappointed.  I found the crab was very good. 

We are spoiled with the winter stone crab we get in Homosassa, and no king crab matches that wonderful taste.  Still, this was a good meal and most of the legs were done right so that just a twist and pull and the meat came out easily and firm.

They also had mussels.  I’ve become very fond of mussels.  And I had a small piece of catfish, but I could not tell if that was American or not. 

 

My second purchased meal was at the Irish Pub.  This is a wonderful place.  I went there early in the morning just to see the menu, and that allowed me to tour the wall hangings. The place is a small museum of articles, photos, and memorabilia.  Much of it is focused on baseball and some of that is very unique and rare.  Much of it would be valuable on eBay.  All was interesting. 

Even the ceiling is covered in old newspaper articles although that is too dim to be read. 

The food was affordable.  It was not exceptional, although the “pub salad” would make a fine meal by itself. It was good. I had a few chicken wings with that salad.  They were very good.  I also had a couple drafts of Great Lakes amber and those were very good, two draft mugs were just $5.50 for both, so they were priced right. 

I ate at the bar and listened to some folks tell a few stories and react to the baseball game on the flat screen.  I liked it all.

I had enough salad to take some back to the room for my early morning breakfast and that meant I did not need to stop for food on the way home.

Also working as good room food was a couple organic red peppers.  I sliced them up with humus.  It made a meal.

Showboat had free bagels and that was breakfast a couple times.   

Video poker.  Using VPFree I located 4 full pay video poker machines.  I played a bit of the JOB, but I better like the Double Bonus, so I switched to that. It was 9/7 but still a good pay table, just about equal to JOB, but perhaps a better play for me because I have the idiosyncrasies down in DB and don’t have all the penalty card plays down in JOB. 

At first I really got drained.  Then I hit quad Aces and got some back, and then I got drained again.  There just were not many quads hitting.  I had one frustrating hand where I was dealt 3 to the Royal as well as a pair of tens.  I drew for the Royal only to see the other two tens come.  Had I drawn for tens, I’d have hit quads.  Later, I had quad tend dealt to me.  And that was all the quads I saw over two days of play.

However, on day 2 I held A-K-Q of hearts and caught the 10-J for the Royal.  A nice $1000 and it all just went to the ticket with no hand pays needed.

 

LIVE POKER

 

Live poker did not increase my profit, but again luck played a huge part.  The limit games are too tight and too much is raked to give me much hope.

I should not have played at Showboat at all.  The Taj was a much better game.  They rake $1 less and they offered 1-4-6, a game much more likely to overcome the rake. 

I lost plenty on that game, however, getting no cards except a few second best, including a nice full house beat by quads.  My last hand was K-K cracked by trip 8’s.   A guy with J-J built the pot.

At the table was the most annoying player I have ever met.  He could not stop talking about anything and everything, not for two seconds.  On and on he talked and folks kept trying to change their seats to sit away from him.  For a while he gave so much information to the woman next to him, that I could tell her hand or his.  Once he just told her he had pocket 4’s, but when those caught another, she stayed with him anyway.  She was pretty dumb.

 

Everyone was very tired of him.  He cursed too, and then apologized.  Over and over he was warned by the floor, apologized and just did it all again. 

 

All the players were pretty good.  Regulars for the most part.  I liked the game, just not my cards.

 

The Showboat bad beat was hit the first night I was there, well… at about 2:30 in the morning.  I had not played at night, but had played the video poker.  I was in bed by midnight anyway.  So the next day, the bad beat required 4 kings be beaten, and they were still taking $2 per pot. 

Their high hand awards were very hard to understand.  The dealers did not know the rules, and often did not listen to the questions.  Sometimes their answers did not agree with the floor.  They seemed to know the rules, but once I had to ask a floor guy to stay three times, so I could finish all my questions.

$20 in the pot is too high for limit games.  And to have to have the hand be a “called hand” is just stupid.

 

There too the line on the table means nothing.  If your chips are in front of your cards, then it is a bet.  This was explained to one fellow, but not enforced as it was with me at Foxwoods.  He had $12 out on the river, threatening a raise as he watched his opponent, but ended up folding.  It was not called as a bet.

 

The Taj had a high hand award, but it went away at midnight.

 

I played a bit of no limit while waiting for the limit the second morning at Showboat, and saw that I could beat a few of the players if I had the bankroll to take a risk when a couple of them tried a bluff. 

I bought in for the minimum, $100 and was dealt A-K of diamonds my first hand.  There was one decent raise and when it went around, a fellow went all-in and another called that bet.  I guess I should have figured them for Aces and Kings and folded, but I put my $100 in.  The diamonds came, in fact I almost hit a royal flush, needing just the ten on the river.  After my win, I had $300 in front of me, and I did not want to lose all that in one hand.  I called a couple hands in late position, then folded after the flop missed me.  I called a decent after flop bet while holding A-K of clubs with two on the flop.  There was no more betting.  No club came and I lost to trips. 

After a long, tight time I held 9-10 in the big blind and the flop came 10-8-6 rainbow.  I bet $30 trying to represent “tight guy” who finally initiates a bet when he catches a straight, and everyone folded.

Then I went to play limit and gradually lost a bit of money.  I quit with a profit of over $100.

When I hit the royal on the VP that day, I was $703 up for the trip but when I went home I was up exactly $500.

 

THE BEACH

 

I liked the beach, but it was not what I expected.  It was icy cold.  That amazes me because we have had such hot weather in the Northeast that I thought the temperature would have warmed the ocean.

They are still working on the beach, but I found a fine place right in front of Revel.  I could even sit in the shade, wade, come back, sit with the tide coming in and cooling my feet.  A fine cool breeze blew off the ocean. After all these days of high heat and high humidity, just sitting there was a treat.

On Sunday the beach was busy but not crowded and I enjoyed watching all the people.  Many were friendly and started conversations with me.  Here was Black and White and Asian and Latino all romping together in the cold waves or playing in the sand.  One Black lesbian couple stood right at the water’s edge and were very close and looked lovingly in each other eyes while they talked, hugging occasionally.  They drew no attention.  So nice to have us all blended together.

I was asked and watched a young woman’s glasses and jewelry while she went into the water.  She had lost $1800 that day, got back $1000 and then lost that. She was not delighted.  It was more than she intended.

Sadly, she chose an area to swim where there is some rebar out beyond the first little bit of shallows and the life guard came and called her out.  He did it in one adjacent area too.  I said that it could save him a lot of time if there were some signs.  A hundred people must have said that because he was clearly tired of hearing it.  “I’m your sign” he said.

On Monday there were no life guards when I went late in the afternoon. We could go in anywhere we wanted and there was no warning sign of rebar out a ways.   

Sunday five of these life guards all gathered around the life guard wooden seat and joked around.  Once in a while they patrolled and when they did there was always something to blow the whistle about.  No signs warned of anything.  It all had to be explained when folks came back on shore.

At one point one fellow took the long wooden boat out and rowed it in the high waves.  It was a joy to watch. 

There was plenty of activity.  Motor boats were out and sail boats and some sorts of working boats.  A strange shaped old plane carried banners advertising banks or deals or food.  A heliocopter gave rides from the end of the pier.  At that end there is the sling shot, a round cage with two seats that drops and rises on bungy like cables on both sides. 

It looked very scary.

Another rided has four seats on the end of a very long shaft that spins.  The seats also spin. 

That also looked scary.

Also there is a ferris wheel and a Crazy Mouse. This is a really old ride that I liked at Crystal Beach.  It is a small roller coaster, tiny really, and once I rode it with Kathy Duzen and loved being close with her as our bodies bounced together around the turns.  I imagine that was in the summer of 1967.

 

I liked walking along the pier and seeing all the rides and games and such.  There was a place where on another trip I could bring a tuna fish sandwich and sit and have a table.

 

The humidity has slowed my desire to explore much here.  I did walk the boardwalk this morning, starting at 6 AM and already it was very humid.  I was going to ride my bike, but the back tire is flat. I filled those tires before I left so I expect it needs replacing of the tube.

I walked up to that gyro spot which is decorated with one dollar bills all across the ceiling and over the backs of the chairs.  I used to love eating there, but nothing now was really on my diet. 

I best like the boardwalk at night, although it was still brutally humid.  I could not ride my bike due to a flat tire, but I’d have tired quickly in that heat and humidity.  Hours to ride were 6-10 and the morning I was ready at 6.  I walked in the humidity.  Men were cleaning up everything on the beach and it looked like the sand was being raked.

Up closer to Showboat there was a machine spewing sand to make more beach.  That section was closed.

I found some of that NJ/NY attitude in people, but very little.  None of it was on the beach.  There folks were all friendly and easy and many engaged me in conversation.  It is not what I remember from years ago, but a milder, gentler community.

 

I liked sleeping here.  The AC at home is just not doing the full job.  Elizabeth sleeps upstairs, but I hate to move all my equipment.  Still, it was a treat to be in the quiet room that I could make as cool as I wanted.  I napped a couple times.  The water and the salt air tired me out as did all the walking.

 

 

The elevator needs a room key to operate. This may make things more secure, although one room key lets up a dozen people. It is annoying, especially when a key loses magnetic ability. Mine did.

 

There was a fine table in the room, but no plug for the computer.  I packed an extention cord but it is not three prong, so I just used the  computer on its battery and plugged it in during the day near the bed.

I forgot extra batteries for the camera and some other things.  It is not easy to buy such things here.

I did come home with two souvenirs, a nice big hat for my big head that was from the Negro Baseball Museum.  And a cup with my heart royal on it.  The dollar stores are still operating there on the boardwalk.

The poker was okay, but

I miss Ocala where the rake is easy, I can play no limit on a small bankroll and the rules are consistent and simple to understand.

The AC limit games are often regulars, all who know each other, all who check down one on one poker play to avoid adding to the rake.  I don’t like such play.  It is boring.

They are tight.  Each day there has been just one fish at the table.  So, if we are all good players and there are no tricks to play, the rake just eats us up.

 

There were not many shows.  I had my car, but did want to replay for parking and drive anywhere else.  I miss the Vegas buses.

 

I walked through Revel and it was something to see, but mostly it was sadly empty.  There are plenty of folks signing up for player’s cards.  The rebate deal gets them in.  I got one, but there is nothing for me to play there and the large and beautiful poker room was very hard to find, located way upstairs and in the back.  One no limit game was going. All young players. 

There are some spots for great views of the ocean. They did take advantage of that instead of closing us off and away from that natural wonder.

While walking to the poker room I went through the empty conference section and it reminded me of a very frightening nightmare in the movies where you walk down an odd corridor and there are doors and perhaps people come out of them.  I did not like them.  But then I am not modern and minimal in my taste in architecture.

It did have a new and fresh and clean feeling.  Perhaps that will be enough to draw in people.  The location is not very good.

 

I won’t be tempted to drive out there much.  I wanted the cool of the waves and to sit by the ocean.  Things have been upsetting me lately and this was therapy.  It worked.

I like it better than Turning Stone, but not as well as Foxwoods.  Sadly, the bus deals to Foxwoods have dried up except on weekends.   I may decide to drive there before going back to Atlantic City.  I went because they gave me free rooms.  And it was fine to have the full pay video poker available.  Still it is a good bit farther with more threats of traffic and about $12 in tolls and much more aggressive, obnoxious drivers.

Some Days are just about losing

Some days are just about losing

Yesterday was one of them.
First, I failed to note that the bus left at 8 and not the usual 9 on Sundays.  The driver was kind enough to call me.
I decided to drive because my fleece jacket was up there in security.

I actually arrived while the driver was still there and asked if I could get the freebies attached to my bus seat purchase.
He tried to get those for me, but ....

"The gaming commission does not allow us to give them unless you arrive on the bus and leave on the bus."

Then I went to security to pick up my jacket, but they could not find it. 
"We donate these to charity after a couple weeks."
"Yes, I know that, but this was only last Tuesday."
"Sorry"

Then I started low chipping a no limit game. I held Q-J of spades and it flopped Q-8-X rainbow and a fellow bet twelve dollars so I went all in.
He hemmed and hawed and vacillated.
"Will you show me if I fold/"  he asked.
"No," I answered so quickly that the table laughed.

So he called me with his pocket 7's.
I was way ahead.
Until the 7 on the river.

He was embarrassed, but I just said, "Hey, the river is part of the game."

With no other bets I was over on a 2-4 table where I continued to lose until I gave up at about 1:30 and drove to my favorite restaurant, the Savoy in Rome.
Every weekday it opens at 11:30, but on weekends not until 4.

Okay, I drove home.

It was an easy drive at least until I hit Schenectady and the rain was pretty intense at times.  Once home and watching TCM I saw flood warnings for this area burst into the movie.  I was happy when Elizabeth came home from her dancing adventure at Jacob's Pillow with two friends

Pineapple

I finally convinced the weekly boys to play Pineapple when they get down to a small table.  They tried it, and they got that it did not much change the Hold Em and it did make for larger pots and less fold, shuffle, deal to get hands that were playable.

We played tossing in the third card right away rather than Crazy Pineapple which is tossing it in after the flop.  That is more complex in no limit because some of the thinking has to do with all the possibilities in three cards.

Wandering back from Florida to be home again after a wintering  as a snow bird, I stopped at Foxwoods/Mohegan Sun for a couple days. My wife jumped van in North Carolina to fly to Denver with her sister and comfort a dying family member there. Niece Nora hopped into my wife's seat and drove with me to Boston, where I dropped her for a conference, and I went to the Groton Inn and suites, using the HotelSaver coupons for a fine rate of $45 anight.
 We left Durham NC at 7:15 AM and I arrived in Groton at 11:45 PM. It was the longest car ride I have had in recent years, but being in the company of this delightful young niece made the time zip by. She lives an exciting life and told tales of living in Bolivia, Geogia(country near Russia) and plenty of family stories I had not heard. She also listened to my stories, none of them as interesting as hers.
She is also very easy, mild mannered, good humored, and beautiful inside and out.
I think this is more time than I have had one on one with her in all the years I have known her.
We did not stop to eat.  That was all travel time, except for bathroom stops.  We caught one traffic jam near Washington and exited for bathroom and learned how to drive around it. From NYC to Boston we were not so lucky.  Also, that stretch included two bridges with tolls of $13 each.  Outrageous!!  I better like our usual inland route with less traffic and fewer tolls.
So I slept well and on Friday headed to Foxwoods about noon.  Once again they game me 10 points just to show up. They seem to always do that. It is a standard mailer. This amazes me because for the most part I only play live poker.
I like Foxwoods. This time I just played 2-4 limit and lost. Then I tried a DDB video poker (really bad 8-5 pay table) and lost the other half of my bankroll. I rolled in about midnight.
That Friday night I did not sleep as well, but woke at about 5AM. I wish I had headed to Mohegan then, but I did not suspect that games would still be happening. They have a new early morning promotion, so four hours of play would have given me a buffet coupon which could even be saved for supper. That is worth over $20.
I played a bit of video roulette, where I can play with just one zero.  I quit at a dollar profit.  I always play a dollar on black and a dollar on the third row.  This decreases the volatility by giving me some action on almost all the numbers, and gives me a few spins for fun with usually little loss.
I don't think I get points for playing because single zero roulette has a low house advantage. They never let me play out my bus freeplay on those machines.

On Saturday I went to Mohegan Sun. I don't get to play much at Mohegan Sun as the Albany Yankee Trails heads mostly to Foxwoodsm and I rarely drive down there, the bus being such good value.
I like the poker room better at Mohegan Sun.  It is bright and just off the casino rather than hidden in what feels like a dungeon (as happens to the limit players in Foxwood.)
However, I like the bad beat at Foxwoods better than the money for high hand awards at Mohegan.  The high hand is the highest in 4 hours.  When I arrived it already was four kings and then someone hit the royal.  Compare that to the $500 every half hour on Saturdays at Ocala in North Florida.  I don't know what they do with the rest of the promotion money.  Pay out breakfast comps I guess.
At neither casino was the competition as soft as I have been playing in Florida.  Mohegan did deal a 1-1 NL that I can play on my bankroll, but I did not feel rested enough.  The 2-4 competition was very tough and I left before I thought I would on Saturday, having supper at the buffet on my way and getting home before dark.  I'm going to miss Ocala this summer.
Also, compared to Vegas the other players were not as colorful as collects around a 2-4 at Flamingo or at the Golden Nugget.  They are friendly enough but there is little chatter.  There was at Foxwoods a bit of chatter around the Boston Red Sox playing the Toronto Bluejays.  They just assumed everyone rooted for Boston, but I have a friend who is equipment manager for Toronto.  Also, I'd seen a couple games in Florida spring training, and I was for the BlueJays.  I am not much of a fan of any sports, but it was cool to see Cabrera hit after seeing him in Florida a couple weeks earlier.  Anyway, who wants a sock on a hat when you can have a fine looking bird?  I just wish they were the Toronto Bluegills.
The Bluejays lost that Friday game, but it was very close.  I should have been watching on Saturday to see them win.  Today the loss was a slaughter.
I could watch the game from my seat at Foxwoods on Friday, and so that was a bit more entertaining than just the poker and the mild tone of verbal exchanges, some of it a bit stuffy and critical of others.  As if there were any way to really play 2-4.
At Mohegan on the second day I found a 9-5 DDB and tossed in a hundred.  My reasoning is that given the poor pay tables, I'll play high volatility and either win or lose, grinding much less.  Being short paid on Full houses and flushes, a high volatility game with quitting ahead or broke will limit the number of times I am short paid, since I risk less in a session.
I played before the Mohegan poker and cashed out $30 to find I'd miss my seat and had to wait.  Then after live poker I put in the $30 and ran it up to almost $200 with three quads, one the them being 4-4-4-4 before drifting down again and quitting with a $50 profit.  I was pleased to come from $70 behind and make $50.
I was up a bit on Wednesday in both VP and live poker, but not enough to offset my losses on Friday.  Overall I lost $266.
Of the two buffets, the Mohegan Sun was superior, especially for my needs.  They had many more vegetables and fully labeled sugar free foods.  The strawberries were labeled as "no sugar added."
Mohegan Sun had brocollini, sauteed zuchinni, some mushrooms without sauce, and other salads and vegetables that add variety to the usual fare. 
 Only the mussels were better at Foxwoods.  Crab was at Foxwoods too, but it was not as tasty, a bit overcooked, and nothing I'd go to eat.  Of course, I am spoiled on fresh stone crab all winter in Florida, bought in large bags and cooked at home.
Mohegan Sun has a lightly battered haddock that was good.  What they called "cod" was swai I think.  They had a raw oyster/clam bar, but I'm not doing raw lately. They also had suichi.
I really liked the food and service better at Mohegan Sun. 
It may be that I'm just bored with Foxwoods because I've had their buffet so many times on the bus trips.
I ate on my points at Foxwoods and paid half with my points at Mohegan so my meals for the two days cost $11.
The Foxwoods table server had ignored me so much that I skipped any tip, rare for me. 

Rooms are outrageously expensive around any of the casinos, especially on the weekends.  Groton is the place to find frugal beds.  I've stayed there before and been satisfied, but I was surprised and very pleased at the Groton Inn.   Saturday night would have cost me $65 plus tax, but Thursday and Friday were just $45.  The clerks were very friendly.  I called them from Boston about 10 PM asking what my chances were to walk in with a coupon and the girl was easy and friendly and encouraging.  I figured that I could find someplace in Groton, but I did not want to shop around after that 17 hour car trip at midnight.
The place is right off I-95 and very easy to find.  I was packed up with a van full of winter stuff, and this place seemed isolated enough that I did not worry about getting robbed overnight.  I don't worry much anyway.  Most of what is in the van is inexpensive and replaceable were it to be stolen, but it still must add up to about $1000 in value and Elizabeth's bike is worth $300. 
My room was very large for a cheap room.  There is no elevator, but I found the stairs easy to manage to the second floor.  I can see how it might be noisy through thin walls, but it was very quiet and there were quite a few folks there.  It is 8 miles from Foxwoods and 10 from Mohegan.
What I really liked was breakfast.  This was a sit down breakfast in a restaurant with a waiter and the choices were great.  I had a mushroom omlette one day and eggs over easy another, both day with grits.  Coffee and juice come as well.  It is included in the room.  Now it is not all one can eat, but it was a fine breakfast and the coffee was good.  The ambiance of the place is more upscale than most of these Super 8 type places.
Also, they had Turner Classic movies on the TV.  That is the only station I watch.

The girl at the counter said that sometimes when things are slow, they offer a deal on Saturday night and I might call ahead and see.  I liked staying Thursday and Friday as it gave me most of Saturday to gamble anyway.  But if the third night was $45, I'd stay that Saturday night as well.  It takes over 2 hours to drive back, so getting three days value out of one trip is good money management. 
Overall, I had  a fine time and I'd like to do that again.  The Groton Inn and Suites makes that a reasonable possibility, especially if I get a poker buddy to share the room.