Dawson City, Yukon TR

I've enjoyed the TR so far. Thank you, PG! Looking forward to the last entries. Safe home and get some rest. You don't have to become "TRGrinder" - it'll come when you're ready.

Well I'm home and I made it in one piece. I'm going to bed now, I'll be waking up in 2-9 days I figure probably closer to the latter.

Quote: PokerGrinder

Well I'm home and I made it in one piece. I'm going to bed now, I'll be waking up in 2-9 days I figure probably closer to the latter.

Glad to hear you made it back safely PG. I'm looking forward to the wrap up. I'm especially curious how the Kia survived the trek.

I am back and somewhat well rested.

On Saturday September 16th we drove 493 miles from Prince George to Penticton with a few stops on the way. The tables at the Billy Barker Casino don't open until 4 PM and the drive is just over a hour so we slept in and went to Denny's for breakfast. When we got to Quesnel, BC we walked around downtown for a bit, it is a very nice downtown. They have murals painted on buildings and the fire hydrants are painted to look like workers in local businesses ie. the hydrant outside of the hair salon is a hair stylist. The casino is very cool as the building is made to look like a river cruise boat. The inside is small, the casino has just over 100 slot machines, 3 table games and a poker table. I seem to have forgotten to make a note of win/loss there but I recall we broke even or just about there.

Next we drove to the new Cascades Casino in Kamloops. I have been to Kamloops once before when I collected a chip from the now closed Lake City Casino. The drive is down a two way highway and the lighting isn't great. I was driving along when all of a sudden my headlights caught 3 does (female deer), I hit the brakes and tried to swerve between them and almost made it... sadly I smoked one of them in the neck/head and the other two ran away. I stopped, as did the car in front of us to make sure we were ok. We were fine but the doe was laying on the road. We decided we should move it off to the side of the highway when it started to seize. We waited and then it moved it's front legs. It stood up and we were amazed and then it instantly fell back over. It tried to stand again clearly struggling. After about 5 minutes it was standing sturdy but not moving, it clearly had no idea where or what it was. It managed to not get hit by a car and walked a few feet over to the side of the road where it stayed for a long time before we finally drove off. I am pretty sure it went off somewhere to die because that animal was not doing well when we left it. My car has minimal damage, a dent on the driver side door which my insurance will fix for free since hitting wild life is not a drivers at-fault accident.

We got to Cascades and won $30 each playing BJ and then we went to the bar there for dinner and I got dry salted ribs which I had been craving since Dawson where the restaurant was out of them. We then made the drive to the new Cascades Casino in Penticton which replaced... you guessed it the Lake City Casino. We broke even on tables but I won $96 on the slot machines that I AP (thank you again to the forum member that showed me these), I was thrilled as this was the first time on this trip that I had found those machines. We called it a night and found our motel so we could grab some sleep as it was around 2 AM.

Chips collected 49 (13 for my collection)
Total miles - 5228
Gas - $302.77
Hotel - $331.00
Food - $517.41
Miscellaneous - $13.45
Souveniers - $109.73
Gambling +582.35
$25FP = $23.75
Poker -2664

Glad you survived your " If this is Tuesday, I must be in the middle of nowhere" excursion.

Sorry about the poor deer; internal bleeding usually. Always check local laws. In NY state you kill a deer and keep driving its a pair of handcuffs for you (and also for the tow truck driver if he towed your car without the State Trooper's deer-tag number on his paperwork).

I would guarantee the doe had internal bleeding, I know I would if the I got hit by doe driving 80km a hour lol. The doe was still alive when we left the scene of the crime so not our problem.

I did survive and I'm slowly writing up this TR. I only had time to do one day of it before dinner with my cousin tonight.

Thanks for the update PG. Pretty scary to be in any car accident. Sucks that the deer was probably not okay =/ but at least you guys were with minimal damage to your car. After all, you were going 80 kings merlins... or whatever/however fast you were going ;-).

I can't believe you haven't found more slot machines you could play on your random trips. When we scout new places and hit a few casinos in a weekend we ALWAYS find at least one or two that we end up playing. There's usually a lot of them. Do you like to typically make the full circle around the casino and look in every corner (my usual habit)?

Looking forward to hearing about the rest of the days. Glad you got home safely!

Quote: PokerGrinder

I would guarantee the doe had internal bleeding, I know I would if the I got hit by doe driving 80km a hour lol...

Hehe..That's pretty funny.

Without a gun or a big knife, I wonder if the more humane thing would be to run over her head to put her out of her misery?

Thanks Romes. Kings merlins got a good laugh out of me! Sorry for all you southies 50 miles per hour.

I do make full rounds of the casinos wherever I go. I only learned how to AP slot machines in April, before that I was just vulturing UX. It was weird that most casinos in Alberta and BC don't have the games that I'm looking for on their floor.

Aye we were going to call the cops who would have come out and shot it if needed but it got up and walked itself off the road so there was no need.

On Sunday we drove 304 miles from Penticton to Vancouver. We slept in since we had a shorter drive to Vancouver. We went back to the casino restaurant since the food was really good and they had all the football games on. I had a really good chicken and bacon flatbread pizza that was on special and I splurged for chocolate cake for desert. A random patron gave us a buy one get one coupon for our entrees so lunch was pretty cheap even with us both getting dessert.

From the casino we drove to Elements Casino in Langley just outside of Vancouver. We managed to lose most of our hands of BJ and quit down $30 each. From there I found a Chipotle which always makes me happy. It was about 150% of the price of the locations in the states which makes it a decent amount more, even with the exchange. Not that I care much just something I noticed.

We went to the Hard Rock Casino since that was where the bigger poker games were last time I was in Vancouver, sadly they were no longer there and had moved to Grand Villa Casino. We sat the 1/2 and the game was below average. After about 45 minutes I told Eric we should head over to Grand Villa so we did. I won $153 in the game and $68 more on AP slots. The game at the Grand Villa flat out sucked! I got sat, Eric gave up waiting for a seat and went to his buddies place where he stayed for a couple days before flying home. I played for a hour, maybe a bit longer but it was such a reggy game and not worth playing at all. I was basically even in the game. I ran good and won $325 on my AP slots before calling it a night.


Chips collected 53 (14 for my collection)
Total miles - 5532
Gas - $302.77
Hotel - $364.51
Food - $553.68
Miscellaneous - $13.45
Souveniers - $109.73
Gambling +945.10
$25FP = $23.75
Poker -2488

Quote: PokerGrinder

... The game at the Grand Villa flat out sucked! I got sat, Eric gave up waiting for a seat and went to his buddies place where he stayed for a couple days before flying home. I played for a hour, maybe a bit longer but it was such a reggy game and not worth playing at all. I was basically even in the game...

Too bad about the Vancouver poker. What's "reggy"?

Reggy game= lots of regulars/grinders

Quote: PokerGrinder

I only learned how to AP slot machines in April, before that I was just vulturing UX. It was weird that most casinos in Alberta and BC don't have the games that I'm looking for on their floor.

Are some games better house edge or something?

Quote: FleaStiff

Are some games better house edge or something?

Without giving out exact info, there are slot machines that depending on certain factors can make them +EV for the player. I look for those conditions on a few types of machines and play them if I find the conditions that I'm looking for.

I drove 186 miles on Monday, I took I think the most indirect route possible from Langley to Seattle. I stopped at Tim's for breakfast and coffee before heading to Silver Reef Casino which is a Indian casino. They gave me $5FP and $5MP which I won $18 off of and $5 for the cafe which I got a giant peanut butter cookie and a drink with, the cookie was sooooo good!

I gassed up and headed on with my collecting list. I stopped at Slo-pitch Casino which is just 4 tables in a bar which is attached to a restaurant. I lost $50 here quickly while playing BJ. Skagit Casino I lost just under $20 and all I remember is wondering why the table limits were so high at noon on a Monday. None of these places were overly memorable, I didn't stay long because a lot of them the smoke was so thick I didn't want to be in there.

I won $30 at Swinomish and a free burger with sweet potato fries which was actually pretty good for free food. Angel of the winds I won $5 and I don't remember it at all. Tulalip I won $35 off $15 of FP and $41 overall after a very short craps session. My next stop was Quil Ceda where they let me steal a handful of pens (I like having pens in my car but I lose them like crazy) and I won $10 and bought a chocolate ice cream cone for a whole dollar. Talk about splurging lol.

I broke even at Great American (I visited a few of these) and won $3 at Royal playing Pai Gow and again I do not remember this place. I then stopped at Silver Dollar Mill Creek and won $15 before heading to Caribbean Casino.

At Caribbean Casino I got lucky and not in the gambling way, and not that way either Romes. I went in and played 3/6 limit which is the only game that a seat was available for. I played for about 20 minutes when a guy picked up his chips and said good luck, I'm going to the other casino next door. I asked the dealer what he meant, turns out the poker room is called Caribbean Card Room and is different from the Caribbean Casino that is next door, it runs on a different gaming license and has its own chips. So I racked up a $65 profit from the incredibly boring game (I dislike limit poker) and went over to the other casino where I lost $40 but was able to collect another chip that I wasn't expecting.

After that I visited Crazy Moose, Red Dragon, Club Hollywood and Goldie's winning $8 between them. My last stop of the night was at Hideaway Poker room where I played 2-20 spread poker and lost $35 after being up almost $100 in the game.

It was pretty easy to find the hostel I was staying at, parking however was interesting but a local eventually helped me and told me that I could park for free until 9 am on the street so that is what I did. The hostel was excellent, much nicer than the hotels I usually stay in and I don't mind the dorm style sleeping. I chose a hostel as it was 25% of the price of getting a hotel. I stayed at the hostel for 2 nights.

For the US part of my trip I only grabbed chips for myself.


Chips collected 70 (31 for my collection)
Total miles - 5718
Gas - $319.11
Hotel - $424.73
Food - $583.53
Miscellaneous - $13.45
Souveniers - $109.73
Gambling +945.10 Canadian
+$24.90 American
$25FP = $23.75 Canadian
$30FP = $48.90 American
$15MP = $5.00 American
Poker -2488 Canadian
Poker +$30 American

Quote: PokerGrinder

...At Caribbean Casino I got lucky and not in the gambling way, and not that way either Romes...

Good hand... good hand... =)

My plan for my second day in Seattle was to go to Pike Place Market which I didn't know about last time I was in Seattle and then do my collecting, play a poker session and if there was time go to the Mariners game (there wasn't time).

On my way to my car I stopped for a cinnamon bun at this hippie coffee shop. It was weird as I was eating it I realized that there was chocolate and banana in the cinnamon bun, just a very odd mixture of flavours. I got to Pike Place Market and found street parking pretty easily. I spent just over a hour looking at a bunch of the booths. I bought a t-shirt that had Jimi Hendrix's head stencilled onto the shirt using coffee as the colour, it looks really neat. My dad is a huge Jimi fan so I knew he'd love the shirt. I got some mac and cheese at a cheese shop across from the market which was ok but nowhere near as good as their cheeses. These were on par with some of the cheeses that I've had in my travels through Wisconsin.

Also very cool I found this fish stand called Pike Place Fish Co. There is a video they show at different jobs where you are interacting with your guests like a Mongolian restaurant I worked at when I was 17 where we cooked the guests food in front of them. As I walked by I realized this was the place where the video was shot. It isn't a act, I was talking to one of the guys and apparently the film maker was walking by 15 years ago when he saw them tossing fish back and forth with all the workers yelling out each order. He loved the fun that all the workers were having and how into it the crowd was so he asked to make a video for businesses to show to employees.

After the market I started my collecting. I got to Roxy's casino and lost $25 playing Pai Gow but the cashier has stepped out for a couple minutes so I went and wasted $3 on the basketball game at the arcade. When I got back I had missed her again so I played BJ while waiting and got my $25 back. Finally she showed up and I was able to cash out. In the Seattle area most of these little cardrooms give out daily match play to anyone who comes in. In total for the day I got $85 in MP but I only managed $35 from it.

Next up was Wizards Casino and won $5. Then I went to Macau Casino (first of two) and won $60 very quickly playing BJ, I had a really nice dealer that was very chatty, probably the only reason I stuck around long after I got there.

My next stop was at Lucky Dragonz which apparently closed a few years ago, oh well. Here comes a weird one, so I get to Roman Casino which is the next one on my list and it looks familiar. I went in and knew instantly that I had 100% been there before as I knew where each game was located before actually going to each table. I remember being there last time but I don't remember playing, I'm not sure why I wouldn't have played or why I wouldn't have collected a chip but now I have.

From Roman Casino I was on my way to Fortune Poker to play a session. As I was driving I was getting hungry and almost immediately saw a sign for the daily special of gumbo. I stopped at this little soul food place the size of a motel room and ordered my gumbo. It was one of the best I've ever had, it's made from scratch and you can taste it. It had crab legs, prawns, shrimp and chicken in it, some of the chicken was still on the bones. If I had any room left I would have gotten more but the rice is very filling.

At Fortune Poker I played 1/3 NL. First hand I sat down I got coolered with top two to a set. I bought back in and then realized my table was super nitty so I got a table change. My new table was great, passive stations everywhere and one Asian lady pushing action. She usually plays much larger home games she said but this is the biggest available during the day. She was splashing around which made for a great game. Quite a few hours later I cashed out up about $50.

I then visited Silver Dollar where I broke even. Next I visited Great American Casino in Des Moines (thanks for the heads up Paradigm) where I won $20. This card room was inside of the Four Points hotel and was much nicer than the other Great American casinos. At Iron Horse I won $30 and I have no recollection of the place.

I lost $90 at Muckleshoot between their two properties which are connected. I checked out the new game there from mrsuit31 and I didn't get to play sadly as both of the tables were full which is definitely good for him. I made a quick stop at Emerald Queen and won $165 and had a little snack that they were serving.

At this point in the night it was getting late so I just wanted to finish up my list. I stopped at Palace Casino which is attached to Chips Casino, I won $42 between them and was given $25 for free food. I got salad rolls (not good) and salt and pepper shrimp (edible) and then left. I ate enough of it to not be hungry anymore but it wasn't good lol.

My last two stops of the night were Macau Casino Lakewood and Great American Lakewood where I won $30 and $25 respectively. At this point I made my way back to the hostel to get some sleep before leaving Seattle in the morning.

Chips collected 85 (46 for my collection)
Total miles - 5860
Gas - $333.53
Hotel - $424.73
Food - $620.08
Miscellaneous - $18.95
Souveniers - $134.73
Gambling +945.10 Canadian
+$329.65 American
$25FP = $23.75 Canadian
$35FP = $56.65 American
$100MP = $40.00 American
Poker -2488 Canadian
Poker +$78 American

Fish Company: they also have a fish packed in ice with its mouth open and a stick to suddenly push it out a few inches when a pretty girl walks by and the fish monger will say 'you are cute'.
The episode of Real World that was filmed in Seattle featured the fish company briefly. Tourists seem to love it and the Fish Company knows how to ship things fast. One restaurant there gets its fish on the dock cooks it one flight up and serves it.

Did you know there is a hostel in the Pike Place Market? And one on nearby Capitol Hill. There is also a hotel on Lake Union that is a converted tug boat but its way over priced.

Thanks for the update PG! Did you get a sense that most of the customers in Washington were locals and regulars? I wouldn't think there is a big tourist appeal for casinos in the Pacific Northwest, but is there?

Is there a difference in the offerings between the indian and non-indian casinos there? Limits, dice games, roulette?

Yes most of the patrons of the casinos and card rooms were locals. I found that most of these places weren't meant as destination spots.

The Indian casinos are full casinos, they have slots and all the tables you can think of. The card rooms if I remember correctly are allowed a maximum of 12 tables and they have most games except roulette and craps. They have lots of carnival poker games. The table limit is why some owners will build two card rooms right next door to each other with separate licences like the Chips Casino and Palace Casino, this is there way of bypassing the laws.

Quote: PokerGrinder

I lost $90 at Muckleshoot between their two properties which are connected. I checked out the new game there from mrsuit31 and I didn't get to play sadly as both of the tables were full which is definitely good for him. I made a quick stop at Emerald Queen and won $165 and had a little snack that they were serving.

Thank you for this PG!

Quote: mrsuit31

Thank you for this PG!

Your welcome, I wish I could have tried the game but I'm thrilled for you that it is doing so well!

Quote: PokerGrinder

Your welcome, I wish I could have tried the game but I'm thrilled for you that it is doing so well!

All good. I appreciate you even making the attempt. Reports like yours are always wonderful to hear! Fingers crossed that you'll have the opportunity to give it a go at several facilities within the next year... I'll obviously keep you and everyone informed in that dept.

Keep up the great content you post on here bud!

On Wednesday I drove 287 miles from Seattle to Omak, Washington while stopping at 5 casinos.

As I left my hostel and walked towards my car I saw a jewish influenced breakfast spot. I stopped in and had Challah French toast which was so good! I love Challah French toast, my mom has made it from time to time. After breakfast I made my way to Snoqualmie Casino where I lost $100 minus the couple bucks I got from the FP.

My next stop was at Buzz Inn Casino which is attached to a steakhouse. I lost $100 there very quickly. They had a massive wall mural of the Las Vegas strip from the late 90's which I spent about 15 minutes checking out. I love pictures of Vegas that I never got to experience.

My next stop was another cardroom attached to a restaurant. It was called Clearwater Casino but for some reason they use chips from an old casino in town called Mavericks. As a collector I really hate when places do this, you should have to have chips that are for the establishment that the gaming license has been given to. Not sure why this is allowed, I mean could you imagine if the Venetian used chips from the Stardust? I mean that would be crazy. There's my rant lol.

I then stopped at Mill Bay Casino which is owned by the 12 Tribes. There chips have different casinos that they own on them so I had to collect a $5 chip to get one from Mill Bay casino. I won $70 here and got to chat with a couple of locals from the area. The area is very rich, they have beautiful massive houses along the water, they all said it was a beautiful place to retire to.

My last stop of the night was the 12 Tribes casino where I got stuck about $150 before ending up even. I grabbed my chip, picked up a pizza from Pizza Hut and watched tv and relaxed for the rest of the night. By this point in the trip I was a little worn down from all the travel so I figured an early night with a good sleep was a good plan.

Chips collected 90 (51 for my collection)
Total miles - 6147
Gas - $362.64
Hotel - $464.15
Food - $672.14
Miscellaneous - $18.95
Souveniers - $134.73
Gambling +945.10 Canadian
+$408.55 American
$25FP = $23.75 Canadian
$45FP = $62.30 American
$100MP = $40.00 American
Poker -2488 Canadian
Poker +$78 American

Are you travelling alone now???

What makes "Challah" French toast different from the French toast at say, IHOP?

On Thursday I drove 286 miles from Omak to Spokane with 5 casino stops.

I left Omak early since I had fallen asleep early. Turns out that Two Rivers Casino doesn't open until 11 and it's in the middle of nowhere so... I had time to roam lol. I found a little shack like place that was a gas station/convenience store and had a restaurant called Bob's in the back. I ordered Bob's breakfast which had so much food but everything was really nice. I was sitting on my phone playing games when my food came, I was finishing the game I was playing when Bob the owner came by and ordered me to "put that down and eat my food while it's hot" which made me chuckle. After breakfast I drove 20 miles to the nearest town for coffee and wifi. I made a post on this thread and then attempted to drive back, got slightly lost and eventually got to the casino. When I got there I found out that the BJ tables were seasonal and they wouldn't sell me a chip at the cage so I guess I will have to make my way back there at some point. I did however win $30 off the FP they gave me.

My next stop was Northern Quest Casino where I won $15 off FP and broke even on BJ. In Spokane I visited three cardrooms, Aces, Black Pearl and Lilac Lanes and lost $150 between them.

I went to the movie theatre and saw Kingsman 2 which was really silly and not anywhere near as good as the first one. The funniest part of the night was when I bought the ticket for the movie I got ID'd. I thought she was joking so I made a joke and laughed. She didn't appreciate that and insisted on ID which I provided. It was really weird, I don't look anywhere near 18 but apparently they have been caught too many times letting minors into R movies so there has been a massive crackdown. Still funny though.

After the movie I stopped at Carl's Jr and had terrible food before calling it a night.

Chips collected 94 (55 for my collection)
Total miles - 6433
Gas - $378.24
Hotel - $519.58
Food - $694.28
Miscellaneous - $33.87
Souveniers - $134.73
Gambling +945.10 Canadian
+$273.05 American
$25FP = $23.75 Canadian
$70FP = $82.80 American
$130MP = $45.00 American
Poker -2488 Canadian
Poker +$78 American

What's the "season" for blackjack? They don't even offer it on friday/saturday?

Speedycrap, wellI am home now and just really late on finishing this thread but yes at this point I was traveling alone.

Aye have you ever had Challah? It's sweet which makes the French toast sweet too and it's just better, I'm not really sure how to explain it. Also the crust is bigger and is also sweet. I highly recommend you try it sometime if you have the chance.

Quote: Ayecarumba

What's the "season" for blackjack? They don't even offer it on friday/saturday?

I don't remember exactly what they said but it's only open for the summer months. Like I said the casino is in the middle of nowhere so I guess it's not worth having BJ other than the main months of probably June through August.

On Friday I drove 469 miles from Spokane, WA to Shelby, MT. I stopped at Chewelah Casino about a hour from Spokane and lost $200 without much effort. The casino is pretty small and only had one table open when I was there.

One thing that I noticed across Washington that I don't remember seeing in other states was that it seemed like every parking lot had a shed looking coffee spot with a drive thru. These places were tiny but always super busy, seems like a cheap business model with a high mark up.

I drove most of the day with a few stops for food and fuel. The place I had lunch was this Amish convenience store that also had a sandwich shop in it. The bread is baked fresh there and all the veggies looked super fresh. I had a turkey sandwich on a garlic cheese bun that was excellent. Fresh baked goods are my weakness.

I got to Glacier Peaks Casino quite late and found out that the poker game only runs until 10:30 PM which seems really odd on a Friday night but luckily the cashier sold me a chip. I'm not sure why but I had to sign a release form saying that I had received my $1 chip lol.

Here's where I wish I had paid closer attention to my trip plans, turns out my hotel was about 70 minutes away when I thought it was 5 minutes away, whoops. I eventually got there and passed out from exhaustion from a long day on the road. That hour drive from the casino was tough as I thought I was basically done driving for the night.

Chips collected 96 (57 for my collection)
Total miles - 6902
Gas - $393.87
Hotel - $576.45
Food - $720.68
Miscellaneous - $18.95
Souveniers - $134.73
Gambling +945.10 Canadian
-$76.35 American
$25FP = $23.75 Canadian
$85FP = $99.80 American
$100MP = $40.00 American
Poker -2488 Canadian
Poker +$78 American

On Saturday I made the much shorter 181 mile drive to Havre, MT. I stopped for breakfast at this little home cooking spot, I like these over chains when I travel as I find you end up with higher quality food. The old guy next to me was very chatty and told me how he was a fighter pilot in I think the Vietnam war... don't quote me on that. He also had been flying commercial planes for most of his life, I was happy when he said he doesn't fly anymore because his hands were very shaky. He was in his mid 80's but was talking like he was still a pilot. He told me they won't let you fly after 65 which made me feel better lol.

I made my way to Havre, when I got to town I went to my hotel and I was able to check in early. This was a nice hotel to end the trip as it was a 3.5 star hotel, very comfy. It was the cheapest hotel in town and still wasn't a bad price. I went to the casino and found out that poker wouldn't start until later that night. I won $230 while playing the old Black Rhino game. I don't know why but I always have to throw $20 when I see one of the old style black rhino games, I mostly see the revamped one now. I hit all five scatters while betting I think $0.45 for $250.

I went back to the room and took a nap. I then went to the poker game. I wrote about that experience earlier in this thread here https://wizardofvegas.com/forum/gambling/trip-reports/29442-dawson-city-yukon-tr/14/#post607448

After the game I stopped at this nicer looking Italian restaurant across the street from my hotel. They were closing in 30 minutes but were happy to make me something to go. I got the sausage spaghetti on the waitresses recommendation. I'm not sure what she loved about it but I wouldn't have ordered that again. It tasted like they threw some Ragu on noodles, at least the sausage was good.

Chips collected 97 (58 for my collection)
Total miles - 7083
Gas - $415.75
Hotel - $645.11
Food - $763.95
Miscellaneous - $18.95
Souveniers - $144.73
Gambling +945.10 Canadian
+$153.65 American
$25FP = $23.75 Canadian
$90FP = $104.90 American
$100MP = $40.00 American
Poker -2488 Canadian
Poker +$92 American

Can't fly professionally. He still retains his airman's certificate and ATP rating all type endorsements but can't fly passengers. He can still fly as long as his medical is valid. Vitamins, particularly B vitamins, should always help with tremors that is why Olympic pistol shooters gobble them: they work and don't violate any rules.

What you got against Ragu? I used to have to eat spaghetti with ketchup packs from fast food joints. Ragu is much better than that.

I have nothing against Ragu until I'm paying $25 for pasta then I expect a better tasting sauce.

On Sunday I checked out of my hotel and headed over to PJ's where I was told they play poker in the afternoons. I got there and found out that I had about a hour before the game would start so I went into the restaurant half and had a bacon blue cheese burger. It is weird, I am not a big fan of blue cheese but if you put it on a burger with bacon I find that the flavors mix really well together. Am I crazy or is there anything that you are like that with? P.S I know I am crazy in general lol.

The game started with me and four other players, it was a dealers choice game but everyone was playing Omaha Hi. As the game filled out one guy would choose Hold'em, I was choosing Crazy Pineapple which I love to play and everyone else was sticking with Omaha Hi. It was a fun group with mostly players between 50-75, 2 guys I would say around 35-40 and me bringing down the average age (26). The whole table was chatty and the players weren't very good, oh by the way it was a 2-10 spread game meaning you could raise/bet a max of 10 when it was your turn. I won $110 and left after about 90 minutes as I had decided to make a detour on my way home with a stop in Calgary first. It was about 338 miles to Calgary.

I crossed the border with no troubles which is always nice and I was on my way to Lethbridge. For people who follow the chip of the day thread you know that I have been to Casino Lethbridge back when I was living in Calgary. However they were still using Casino ABS Lethbridge chips when I visited in 2014 when they had changed their name something like 12 years earlier. They finally got proper chips about 2 years ago so I wanted to pick up a proper Casino Lethbridge chip for my collection since I haven't ever been to Casino ABS. I stopped in and won $105 while collecting my replacement chip for my collection. I then made my way to Calgary where I had booked a hostel for the night.

Here is another weird chip scenario that I needed to replace. One of the first 10 or so chips I collected when I was 19 was from Elbow River Casino in Calgary. I hadn't really worked out my rules for collecting yet, which are that I must personally collect the chip in the casino. Well back then I was in Calgary to play poker for a week with a friend and as we drove by he offered to jump out of the car and grab me a chip which seemed fine to me at the time. Now it is a big no no but at the time I didn't think anything of it. I also couldn't grab a chip from there when I lived in Calgary for a short time because I actually dealt there for about two months since nobody would rent me an apartment without a job so I got a job PT there as I had previous dealing experience. Since I dealt there I obviously couldn't replace the chip and then for six months after I quit I wasn't allowed to gamble there because of gaming regulations. Then I moved away from Calgary. For these reasons I went to Elbow which happened to be about 2 blocks from the hostel and I grabbed a new chip for my collection that I could call my own since I had collected it under proper conditions, again yes I know that I am nuts. (I won $80)

I got to the hostel. checked in and spent the next two hours chatting with a few of the people staying there. Mostly we were just exchanging travel stories about our current trips and then about my trip that I am taking in the new year.

Chips collected 100 (61 for my collection)
Total miles - 7421
Gas - $439.80
Hotel - $671.94
Food - $792.14
Miscellaneous - $18.95
Souveniers - $144.73
Gambling +1130.10 Canadian
+$153.65 American
$25FP = $23.75 Canadian
$90FP = $104.90 American
$100MP = $40.00 American
Poker -2488 Canadian
Poker +$202 American

I have made the 851 mile drive from Calgary to Winnipeg quite a few times and most times by the end of the drive I regret doing it in one drive. I left Calgary early and headed for home. There isn't much to tell you about the drive as it is just a long flat drive through the prairies. I ate a lot of junk food and listened to sports radio for most of the day. I stopped at Casino Regina for two reasons, they have the best smokies that I have ever had, they are just about the only good thing that that stinky town of Regina has to offer and second I usually have some FP on my card when I show up. By the way the reason that I dislike Regina is because of their expensive hotels, inconsistent poker games although I have been told they have been better lately and because my hometown football team and theirs are bitter rivals, so basically I hate Regina. Back to the smokies... they changed the smokies that they sell!!! I was so sad, I bought one and was very disappointed by them. I also for some reason had no FP on my account, I can't remember the last time that happened. I played for a little bit before getting back on the road and won $70.

The rest of the drive was uneventful, I got home around 6 am in the morning and crashed (sleep not the car) for the next day or so.

Chips collected 100 (61 for my collection)
Total miles - 8272
Gas - $517.68
Hotel - $671.94
Food - $822.09
Miscellaneous - $18.95
Souveniers - $144.73
Gambling +1200.10 Canadian
+$153.65 American
$25FP = $23.75 Canadian
$90FP = $104.90 American
$100MP = $40.00 American
Poker -2488 Canadian
Poker +$202 American

Overall this trip was amazing! For starters the Yukon portion of the trip was one of my favorite places that I have ever visited. The people were amazing, we made a bunch of friends and I would definitely go back to Dawson City. The accommodations and food were solid up there. The poker tournaments were beyond soft and really well run by a great staff. Some of the dealers were a little weaker but they were eager to learn, and the veteran dealers and poker bosses were very knowledgeable and knew how to properly run a poker room and tournament series. Of course the toe! Lol who could forget that disgusting toe, I will upload some pictures tomorrow and post them here.

I also really enjoyed my week in the states. Seattle is amazing, Spokane was fun and although the poker sucked in Montana it was still a beautiful part of the country to be in.

My total mileage for this trip was 8272 or just over 13,000 kilometers. I know Romes is going to say something like "what's a kilometer?". My total expenses for the trip were about $2175 US or about $2800 Canadian. Between poker and sides I was down about $645 US or $830 Canadian. I know Romes is also going to say something about me combining those two but they are broken up on the previous post. In total the trip cost me $2820 US or $3630 Canadian, I am not upset with that at all. I knew it be an expensive trip where expenses would be high and I was ok with that, I am glad Eric and I did the trip.

Well that is the end of this TR, now I have to go get my new chips cleaned and photographed before Doc starts getting on my case for not posting any new chip of the days.

Thanks to everyone who followed my TR and thank you as well for those who posted as sometimes when I do these I feel like I am talking to myself when people are just reading and not responding.

I forgot to post this yesterday, I was thinking it would be easier to write a blog for my trip to Asia in January, does anyone know how that works exactly?

Quote: PokerGrinder

I forgot to post this yesterday, I was thinking it would be easier to write a blog for my trip to Asia in January, does anyone know how that works exactly?

I think it's like a post, but just in a different section of the site. You can test it out before you go, and see if you prefer it.

There was an article recently in the AAA magazine by a driver doing the whole Trans Alaskan Highway. He took a side trip to Dawson and wrote about the toe. I tried to look for it, but couldn't locate it. However, I did find an article that the toe was stolen this summer. (even stranger, the bar keeps back-ups).

Quote: PokerGrinder

I forgot to post this yesterday, I was thinking it would be easier to write a blog for my trip to Asia in January, does anyone know how that works exactly?

Click on the box with your profile info in the upper right hand corner. Select "My Blog", then click on "New Blog Post" and write away.

Yes we heard about that when we were there. The article is wrong though, the fine for stealing the toe is $25,000 not $2,500. Apparently the guy was plastered and got the hell out of dodge. When he sobered up he mailed back the toe with an apology but there is still a warrant out for his arrest.

How a few weeks time changes things UP NORTH


https://weather.gc.ca/city/pages/yt-6_metric_e.html?unit=imperial

Lol it's much colder in Winnipeg today. -13 and -30 with the wind chill.

I bet its warm in the casino and in its poker room.

I bet its warm in the casino and in its poker room.

No poker today, I'm staying indoors today.

I have a few questions for professional poker player please.
1 What is the minimum amount to keep you going?
2 What is the expected amount to make you happy.
3 What is the amount to make you say "This is a good year"

Quote: PokerGrinder

Lol it's much colder in Winnipeg today. -13 and -30 with the wind chill.

Wonder if the Kia would start up there today??

https://weather.gc.ca/city/pages/yt-6_metric_e.html?unit=imperial

and i see the windchill at home is nearing the MINUS 50*F mark

https://weather.gc.ca/city/pages/mb-38_metric_e.html?unit=imperial