GamblePalooza trip report
May 10th, 2019 at 10:14:08 AM
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It’s over 6,800 words, so buckle up!
If you don't know what GamblePalooza is, you don't listen to enough Vegas and/or gambling related podcasts. Several podcasts were talking about it and attended.
It's a gathering of fans of specific gampling / casino related podcasts, held in Atlantic City, Sat 4/13 thru Mon 4/15. Some early arrivals got together on Friday 4/12. One diehard degen arrived as early as Tuesday! It was organized as a collaboration of the Cousin Vito podcast and another podcast (can't remember which), with Vito taking the lead and, I assume, doing the most work. www.GamblePalooza.com redirects to a page on Vito's website. Many thanks to Vito for putting this together. Also check #gamblepalloza for other comments.
I get the feeling that many of the attendees were high tier players, because they were talking about thier comped rooms, and access to VIP lounges. Me? I'm bottom level at most players clubs. The best I could get for a Saturday hotel was in the $300 range, while Sunday and Monday were free (OK, $26 for the resort free and tax), I decided to join on Sunday and stay thru Tuesday.
Listening to podcasts discussing details of the Saturday events, then reading the Twitter updates as they happened, was making me a little nuts, but it turned out OK, for me anyway. Most of the reports indicated that group gaming on Saturday did not go well at all.
I live in Northern New Jersey, a good 140 miles from AC. I hit the road at 8:00 Sunday, and rolled into the Ocean Casino self park garage at 10:30. Since there was no line, my first stop was the front desk. Although I did not expect to get a room key, I was hoping I could check in and be able to pick up the key later. I've done this at other casinos, particularly in Vegas. Ocean doesn't do that. Can't check in before 3:00. Best I could do was confirm the reservation.
No time to play, but a quick tour of the Ocean casino showed two craps tables open. $10 which was packed, and $15 which had nobody playing.
Brunch Buffet - Capriccios - Resorts International
The first item on the schedule was brunch at 11:15, so I head out to the boardwalk. Checking twitter, Mark & Dr Mike from the You Can Bet On That podcast tweeted that they are at craps in the Resorts high limit room. As I'm walking, I run into Vito and Amanda (Mrs Vito). We get to the high limit room at 11:00, just as Mark & Dr Mike are leaving the craps table. With a few minutes to kill, I went to the promo counter while they head up to the buffet.
No line, I got my replacement card, and was told I have two $10 direct bets. For what it's worth, the last time I was in Resorts was in June for the Oceans 14 C2C event. I was given a couple direct bets then too. The visit before that was in the 1990's. Go figure.
I have to return after 1:00 to pick up the direct bets coupons. Also, they don't have kiosks for that. Whatever, I head to the buffet.
Unless I missed some people, there were 18 of us. It was $50 per person. I think that was a little pricey for what they were offering. Then again, I'm more of an Main Street Station buffet kind of guy. I think that one is $12. I gave Mark & Dr Mike $100 to pay for theirs. They tried to refuse, but I reminded them that they refused last year when I tried to pay, and although they have a method of donating to their show (Patreon?), I avoid using the credit card for stuff like that. So keep the damn $100! They did.
Capriccios isn't really a buffet place. I think they only do it for Sunday brunch. There were several items in between the bar area and the main dining room. Plus, outside, by the hostess stand, in a spot that made us ask if that was part of the buffet as opposed to being for the restaurant next door, was the omelette and waffle station and desserts. Although arranged strangely, there were plenty of options, and all very good.
Afterwards, we had a few minutes to kill, and some people were meeting us at the restaurant, so we started to gather, and collect the slot pull money while waiting in the rather large open area outside the restaurant. We had 8 players involved when it was time to go to the high limit slot area to meet the rest of the gang, and our host.
Group Slot Pull
More people were showing up and Vito was struggling to handle the paperwork and the money at the same time, so I stepped up and took the paperwork to help him out. It grew to 22 people for $2,500. (A couple people were in for more than one share). We selected a single line $100 Wheel Of Fortune machine. Everyone on the list got to spin. There were a couple small wins, so we had $900 after the first run thru. A quick vote, and we decided to continue to spin until double or nothing. Four spins later, and we finally got to shout, as a group, "Wheel! ... Of! ... Fortune!" It hit for $4,000, triggering a hand pay. There was some discussion whether that qualified as "double" or if we should keep going. However, it took nearly half an hour to get this rather small hand pay, which kinda made our decision for us. $1,100 was taken out for taxes. Add the $500 still in the machine and we shared $3,400. $136 per share. I called for a vote to make it $130, leaving an extra $150 for Vito for all his efforts. The idea was quickly approved.
That's Vito next to our machine, as we're waiting for the hand pay.
Private / Reserved Table Games
As each person was paid, they headed off towards the tables, while I worked with Vito, checking off all the names, getting everyone paid.
When I got to the craps table, I was shocked to see it was a $25 table. Unsure if I wanted to play at that level, I walk towards the promo counter, but could see a line a mile long. I return to the craps table. I prefer $10 tables and will play $15 if I have to. But the gang is at this $25 table, so I pull out $200 and just put bets on 6 and 8. After a couple shooters I'm at about $300, so I start placing four numbers. While my own roll wasn't stellar, I did hit a couple numbers. A couple hours later, I left with over $1,300!
Note that when I took the second photo, the pit boss gave me crap about taking photos inside a casino. I responded that I was pretty sure the rule was regarding taking pictures of other patrons, or the insides of slot machines, etc. She just grumbled not to take any more pictures. Whatever.
During our time at the table, for whatever reason, there was room near me and people occasionally came up. I would mention that it was a private / reserved table. Sometimes the person claimed to be in the group, so I asked for the password. Mind you, no password was pre-arranged. But I got several good passwords: Vito, Gamblepaloza, and Muckleshoot!
Also, one rather sketchy looking guy tried to squeeze himeself in on the other side of the table. Obviously not part of the group, and it was making our people feel uneasy. While the floorman and security was trying to get him to leave the table, the shooter was still shooting good numbers, so the players were kinda at odds as to what to do.
Finally, the shooter sevened out. I then told the stick person, "Hold the dice." After another couple minutes, the guy, who is now surrounded by five yellow shirt security guys, finally leaves. To their credit, the security guys never touched him, not even in a 'leading the way out' sort of way.
After he leaves and play resumes, I asked the stick person what he would have done if I didn't say to stop the game. He said that as much as he wanted to stop, until a player says something, he's gotta keep the game going.
We later learned that the guy had been kicked out earlier in the day, and this time, the police got involved.
As I was walking out, I noticed this vintage slot machine near the boardwalk entrance.
Check In - Ocean Casino & Resort
Free time until the next activity, so I head out on the boardwalk, grab some pizza for dinner, then get to Ocean and check in.
There are ropes set up at the Ocean check-in, with enough space for maybe 75 people, but there's only about 8 people on line, and it moves quick enough.
I get a room on the 25th floor. Pretty standard looking room. Not sure why I didn't take a picture.
The bathroom had a roomy area in front of a double sink vanity. Nice size shower and toilet area. Both have frosted glass privacy doors.
Two queen beds, with a nightstand in between. Desk/dresser unit, and a small fridge. No mini-bar. Good size plasma screen TV. I've seen in other modern hotels an easy access A/V patch panel. I didn't see one here. I assume if needed, I could have pulled the TV foward and plugged in directly in the back.
There are electric outlets built into the nightstand and desk that don't work. The table lamps don't work either. Nor does the clock. The fridge feels cold but it's kinda hard to tell since everything is plastic or plastic coated inside. (I put a couple water bottles inside, and one of them was partially frozen by morning.)
After some struggling to move the nightstand, I see that there is a single duplex wall outlet behind the nightstand, but NOTHING is plugged in. And there are three loose plugs (clock, lamp and the nightstand itself). Three items with two outlets? I wonder if a prior guest stole a power strip or something. Whatever. I plug the nightstand and lamp into the wall, then plug the clock into the nightstand, leaving one outlet in the nightstand for my own use, which is fine. The clock has two usb charging jacks.
Looking under the desk, I see plugs for the table lamp and desk outlet that also need to be plugged in with a wall outlet right there. That makes me scratch my head since there isn't a third item, so there's no missing power strip and no reason they weren't already plugged in.
Also, the one floor lamp, behind the single seat couch type chair, is also unplugged, and again, there's an outlet right there. WTF? Am I the first guest in this room since Ocean opened, almost a year ago?
Also, I can't figure out how to get the bathroom lights to come on to full brightness. Pressing the switch, which IS labeled 'lights' produces only a dim light. Also, there's little led indicators on the side of the switch that shows it's only partially lit.
Here's the really sad part. My day job is working at an electrical supply warehouse. I remember seeing these switches demonstrated at an employee Lunch & Learn. I recognize them as Lutron brand. However, I can't remember jack shit about them. On the other hand, I work in the accounting department, so product knowledge isn't really required. But I still can't figure out how to get the lights on full brightness.
For what it's worth, the dim level is perfect for late night when you need to pee and don't want to wake up anyone else. (I finally figured it out on my last morning there. Press AND HOLD the switch, and it will get brighter, in steps, until you let go.)
It's now about 6:15. Next is a meet up at the Hard Rock lobby bar at 7:00 followed by group gaming at 7:30. So, figuring it's gonna be a late night, I take a quick nap.
Cab vs Uber
I get to Ocean's front door at 7:00. I figure it's a 15 minute walk. Missing part of the bar meet-up is fine since I'm not a drinker. Except it's raining. I check Uber. It's $8.15. There's a line of cabs waiting for customers, so I ask, and am told it would be $8.00. Cabs are cheaper. Go figure. (I think the AC cabs are flat fee and or pre-determined fee based on distance rather than metered.)
Hard Rock Casino
I visited the Hard Rock last summer, so I knew that the promotions desk was just upstairs from where the cab dropped me off. Not a drinker, so I had a little extra time and figured I'd see if I had any promos. Except there was only one clerk and a long line. I had time, but not that much time. Pass.
But at least I had time to take a couple pictures of the much talked about guitar chandelier. This is above the main escalator. The black/pink marble looking wall is actually a curved video wall that stretches the entire length of the opening for the escalator. Compared to the plain wall when it was the Taj, this improvement is just one of the many changes made when the Hard Rock redesigned the place. And it's one that I particularly love to just look at.
Here's what this same area looked like in the Taj's day. Elegant, but boring. I once described the Taj as "Many casinos look gaudy, but the Taj takes it to a whole other level." Fans of the movie Rounders will recognize this as the spot where Mike turns to go play poker while Worm, fresh out of jail, goes the other way, to 'take care of some personal needs.'
Hard Rock doesn't have a poker room. The area that was the poker room at the Taj is now an enalrged arena lobby area.
Here's another angle, that I found online. Note that the floor has inlaid images of guitar picks. Elsewhere, there are plenty of other examples of music inspired design. Although I have no picture, along the walls are trim and lines that look like guitar strings and frets. Elsewhere, curved lines suggest sound waves.
In this photo (rendering?) of the main entrance I found online, the guitar / music inpsiration is obvious.
Group Gaming
I joined the group as they were leaving the bar. Perfect timing. Several of us went into the Asian gaming room, looking for Pai Gow Tiles. I've played a couple times with Mike Shackleford (the Wizard of Odds), but wondered how I would do without his help.
The Asian room was fairly spacious, and not very busy. While there were only 2 players at the tiles table, they were both playing 3 spots. A second tiles table was scheduled to open at 8:00 so we split up, with intentions to return. I found a bunch of our guys at a craps table.
It was bad. In short, I wish I would have simply walked around, taking pictures of the decor.
We returned to the tiles table as it was being opened. Since I'm rusty, I asked for an instructions sheet.
For those that don't know. Pai Gow is played with 36 dominos type tiles. You get 4 tiles that you arrange into two 2 tile hands. Unless you have pairs or something else that's special, you add the dots, subtracting 10 if necessary, hoping for two totals that are high. I.E. A tile with 6 spots plus a tile with 7 spots, is 13 spots total, subtract 10 for a score of 3. Not good at all. "Pai Gow" means 'Make Nine'. However, pairs rank higher than 9.
Most of the tiles have unique designs, but there are a couple of pairs where two tiles are identical. Unfortunately for the novice, there are also several that have different patterns but the same number of dots and make pairs, as well as several that have the different patterns and the same number of dots but aren't pairs. An illustrated instruction sheet would have been very helpful. Except, unlike the instruction sheet I've seen elsewhere, the sheet at Hard Rock had no pictures! It's rules used all of the Chinese names for the tiles. No help to this dumb white guy! Sigh...
On the other hand, once the other players set their hands, you can expose your tiles and get help from the other players and dealer. Sometimes I had set my hands right, but not always.
Mind you, there are only three ways to arrange four tiles into two groups of two. Still, if you don't know the game, it's a struggle.
Just like Pai Gow Poker, if your two hands beat the dealer's two hands, you win. If both lose, you lose. One each is a push. There are lots of pushes. And considering the rather slow method of mixing and dealing the tiles, and you get a nice, slow paced game. Even at $25 minimums, you're not gonna burn thru a bankroll too quickly.
In the end, I left around 9:30, down about $50. Not bad.
I met up with the gang at craps and played a bit before calling it a night. I should have called it a night sooner. Sigh.
Instead of going back to Ocean, I went back to Resorts to get my direct bets. There was still a line at the players booth, but a short one. I played craps with the direct bets. They both lost, and overall, I should have simply not bothered.
I got to Ocean around 11:00, but was still itching to play. The craps at Ocean were a full table at $15 and an empty table at $25. Instead I played $1/$2 poker. Nothing eventful, although I went to bed a few hours later, up about $100.
Pool / Jacuzzi at Ocean
On Saturday morning, the host of the Seven Out podcast, along with Stevie Mad Dime, tweeted that they were in the 'cooz' at Ocean. Had it not been for the previous Seven Out episode talking about plans for the 'cooz', I might not have known that he was talking about the Jacuzzi. LOL.
I responded that I'd do it Monday morning. The pool opens at 8:00. I got there around 8:10. I assume there would be lounge chairs outside in the summer, but for now, they're all inside. But the outdoor area is open. It's a nothing special pool except nicely heated, and it's actually and indoor / outdoor pool. Get in, then swim to an opening that leads outside to a pool about the same size. Except the water out there is a lot cooler. I assume that the heated water is fed into the inside pool, but it might be that outdoors it's too damn cold for the water to stay warm, even if the system feeds warm water out there.
Whatever. It's not terrible. And having swam thru, it's easy to acclimate. On the other hand, it's a very weird feeling, swimming while it's cold and raining. At least I'm not the only idiot to do so. There are several people in the Jacuzzi. Unfortunately, going from one to the other requires getting completely out and crossing over about 15 yards.
The Jacuzzi is even weirder since the water is hotter, making the cool air feel even cooler.
Either my timing was off, or the others from the group never made it that day. All in all, it was very enjoyable.
<knock> <knock> Housekeeping...
I get back to my room around 9:30. I see that housekeeping is already at work in other rooms, so I make sure my Do Not Disturb light is on (it already was), and swing the security latch into place. While getting ready to shower, I can hear them knocking on other doors and going in to clean. I'm generally an early riser, but if the wife was with me, she would have been pissed at being woken up by the noise.
As I'm getting out of the shower, I again hear the knocking and announcing themselves, but it sounds like they're at my door. Then I hear the sound of a door opening, only to get stopped by the security latch, then the door closes. I'm thinking, "I think that was my door."
I step out and look at the door. Sure enough, the security latch is in the part-way position where it would be after doing it's job of stopping someone from entering. WTF??? Does the 'Do Not Disturb' light mean nothing? For the record, next to the Do Not Disturb switch is a switch labeled 'Housekeeping'. That was NOT on, so why did they try to come in?
Sigh, I'll put that on the list of things to complain about when I check out.
Dealer Tokes Button
Long time fans of Mark & Dr Mike will recall that they like their toke bet wins to stay on the table, but one time a new box person didn't realize what was happening, and almost put the stack of tokes into the house bank.
My solution was to make these Dealer Toke buttons as a gift to them so they can have them used at their home casino.
I could have sworn that the Gambler's General Store, in Vegas, has them for sale. But on my next visit after getting the idea, I learned that the store never had them. They DO have a large variety of other buttons. On the other hand, I DID see them in use at a couple Caesars properties in Vegas, so I know I'm not totally crazy.
So when I saw a chip / button company's booth at G2E this past November, I told them the story and asked if they could make them. They had 20 for me the next day. I finally delivered them to Mike & Mark on this trip.
But I kept a few for myself, and used one Monday morning at Ocean.
Craps - A tale of two cities casinos
For reasons that weren't made clear, GamblePalooza's Monday schedule got cancelled. It was supposed to be a poker meetup at Borgata. While Borgata was doing their big Borgata Open Poker Tournament, that wasn't the reason (or not the entire reason) the plans got canceled.
Instead, several of us were gonna meet up at Caesars to play craps with Mark & Dr Mike, until they left town that afternoon.
I decided to play craps at Ocean first, since, other than poker, I hadn't really given them action for the free room. I also made some toke bets. When they won, they placed the winning toke chips on the table number plaque, with an "Off" button. This is very typical. I tossed them one of my Dealer Tokes buttons and suggested they use that instead.
They were very excited to have a proper button for the task, and without me even suggesting it, kept the tokes on the table rather than dropping them into the toke box. Sure, they colored them up periodically, but kept them out, almost as advertising.
After about 2 hours, I left, up $600, and there was a bit over $100 under that Dealer Tokes button. :)
I leave Ocean, where the $5 parking fee is waived for anyone that has a players card of any level. When I get to Caesars, I learn that the parking fee is $10, or free for Platinum or higher. Not a problem, I have a Platinum level card since I have the TR Visa card. Except I forgot to bring it. So I make a stop at the rewards counter. They tell me the platinum status is only for the first year of the Visa card. I'm back to gold. Parking is gonna cost me $10. I'm already thinking that I'm gonna cancel the Visa card.
I meet up with Mark & Dr Mike. Three other people from our group are also with them.
As I start to play, I hand the dealers one of my Dealer Tokes buttons. They ask what it's for. I explain it to them and they respond that they can't use it, since it hadn't been approved by the Casino Control Commission. (Really? Ocean had no problem...) The bullshit gets deeper when they say they also can't allow the winning toke chips to accumulate on the table, since it would be a problem if one of the dice hits that stack. I said it's OK if they color up, but we'd like them to stay out. Nope. Can't be done.
Considering all the other chip stacks that make equally (or MORE!) inviting targets, I decided I wasn't gonna win this argument, so I let it go. Interestingly, although they refused to use it, they kept that Dealer Tokes button!
On a side note, both Resorts and Hard Rock had a plastic do-hickey on the rail where the tokes could be held vertically, and colored up before being dropped. My button would not be used, or needed, there.
After a couple hours, Dr Mike offers to use his excess of comp dollars to buy us lunch. First we go to the buffet, which, at 1:50, was closed to switch from brunch to dinner. It'll open at 2:00. Then we go to the coffee shop next door, which is empty, but we are told that, if we don't mind, they're gonna give us our check right after ordering, because they are closing at 2:00. Although we said OK, this left us with a bad feeling. Plus it was a somewhat limited menu, we went back to the buffet as it was already 2:00.
While the company and conversation was great, it was an unspectacular buffet, but nothing really to complain about.
Except, of course, the soft-serve ice cream. Since the dispenser didn't have the star nozzle, it provided chocolate ice cream that looked like dog poop.
After lunch, we went back to the craps table until it was time for Dr Mike and Mark to leave. During this session, I was on a good roll, when Dr Mike made a couple nice sized hardway bets for me. I didn't ask, but I'm thinking it was payback for buying their lunch yesterday. Unfortunately, I couldn't hit either of the hard ways. I was hoping I would so I could pay him back, as I'm sure that would be the only way he would have accepted it.
On a side note, I'm not sure if I ever thanked him for those bets. Thanks Doc!
Finally, it's their time to leave and we say our good byes.
Afterwards, I'm kinda just wandering around for a bit, when I check my comps. I have a $10 free direct bet, as well as a free parking coupon. Sweet.
Back to the craps table where that damn free bet cost me about $100! :(
Bally's - Poker
Checking the Bravo Poker app, I see that Bally's has a high hand promo, and that there are only 4 tables running. Seems like reasonable odds to hit the high hand. So I go play.
I get seated at a $1/$2 game immediately, but on my left is a guy who raises to $10 on every hand, often without even looking at his cards. While I don't usually play at that high level, it occurrs to me that most of the players at this table probably don't play that high either. And that most of them that are calling are doing so because the crazy guy is raising blind. It's what players call "dead money".
The crazy guy is also complaining that the waitress is not giving him full doubles when he is ordering doubles. And that he's down $400. As the day wears on, his complaints about the drinks never end. In fact, the waitress actually tells him that he needs to skip a drink every now and then. Effectively she cut him off - or at least stopped for now. At the same time, the amount he's down has grown to $1,200!
Talk about a juicy game! It seems everyone had taken money from this guy. Except me. Sigh. On the other hand, I've taken a few pots when he had folded after the flop - after he looked at his cards. So my stack is slowly growing.
Then, when he stepped away to use the rest room, no pre-flop raise resulted in comments such as "Wait, I don't know how to play a $2 game..." LOL
The High Hand promo requires a minimum qualifying hand of Aces Full. Every half hour when it isn't hit, the prize grows. Finally, when the prize that started out as $150 has grown to $650, there is a qualifying hand. Funny thing is, before the half hour is finished, it gets beat, and then THAT gets beat.
Finally, with no hands worth writing about, I leave, up about $125. I run my card thru the kiosk at Bally's and have a $10 free direct bet here. OK. Now to a Bally's craps table where that free bet cost me another $80! :(
Ocean
By now it's about 8:00 and I'm starting to get hungry. I recall that there's a Wallburger at Ocean. I've eaten at the one in front of Bally's LV, and thought it was pretty good, so why not.
But first, I take a tour of Ocean. One of my stops is the old Revel poker room, which is on the meeting room level. This photo was from when I took the same tour last July. If you didn't know what this used to be, you'd probably really scratch your heads wondering. There are several couches and coffee tables strewn about, but in no real organization. There is a bar in one corner that is obviously not used. I didn't take a picture, but the area behind the bar is in total disarray. Along the back wall is a three position cashier. And scattered about are floor power / network connection boxes. I added the circles, including a cirlce around the power cords hanging from one of the TVs. While in the 10 months since I last visited, they cleaned up that hanging wire, and all the TVs were working, it still looked like they had no real plans for this space, and the bar still hadn't been cleaned up.
It was a nice poker room, except it was far from everything. The only nice feature was that it had it's own restrooms (to the right of the cashier.) It wasn't near any exit, in fact not near any elevator or escalator either. Since Revel was 100% smoke free, smokers were frequently gone for close to an hour.
In contrast, Ocean's poker 'room' is just a few tables at the back of the casino.
Nothing else of note that I saw in my tour. I then wander around the casino looking for Wallburgers, and what do I find? A craps table. LOL. It's the same table where I they used my Dealer Tokes button this morning, but I don't see it. Nor do I ask about it. About an hour later, and down a little, I've had enough, so I cash in and go looking for Wallburgers. As it turns out, it's right next to the poker room. I hadn't seen it when I was playing yesterday. Whatever. There's a promo kiosk nearby, so I figure I'd check my comp balance to see it I earned enough for dinner yet. I kinda doubed it, but not only did I have enough, but I also had a $10 food voucher! So I had dinner. Yeah, it was as good as the Las Vegas location. Then I asked about using the voucher as well as comp points for the balance. Yep. They will let you 'double dip'.
Poker ... "You fat fuck"
After playing $1/$2 for almost 2 hours, I get into an interesting hand. It started with me beating the guy two seats to my left, two hands in a row. He's a somewhat aggressive player, young white guy, in his late 20' or early 30's. For those that haven't met me, I'm a heavy white guy, 59. Two hands later, I'm under the gun, and have a hand worthy of raising. I honestly can't remember what I had. I think I raised it to $12 pre-flop, and that aggressive guy two seats to my left is the only one to call.
Thinking back, I *think* I had AK or KK and hit a K on the flop. Really, I can't remember.
But I hit the flop, and was reaching for chips when that guy takes his stack of about $50, moves it kinda in front of the guy between us, and says, "You want it? Here. This is how much it is." A strict interpretation of the rules means that was action out of turn. If I bet, or attempt to call his 'bet', that will change the action to him, enabling him to take his chips back and fold. If I ask the dealer what the rule is, the player may realize what I'm thinking and claim that his 'action', along with his statement, was just to show me how much it was, again, enabling him to pull the chips back. So instead, I simply said, "I guess I check." Then I just looked at him for a few seconds. With no indication of his intention, I turned to the dealer and finally asked, "Is that a bet? Is he all in?" The player immediately snarled, "Yeah, I'm all in. Whatcha gonna do about it?" With no hesitation, I pushed a stack forward, "I call."
The turn and river gave me nothing to be concerned about. I then look at him and wait. He's looking at me, giving me the stink eye. Finally, I say, "I called your bet, sir." The 'sir' part was my attempt to needle him, since he's about 30 years younger than me. He just grumbles and throws his cards into the muck. I then ask the dealer if I need to show my hand. Nope. The pot is coming my way.
The guy then gets up and says to the dealer that he's coming back, save his seat. As he leaves, he walks behind me, grumbling and says, "... You fat fuck." I ignore him and wait for him to get out of the area, before talking to the other players. "He just called me a fat fuck. I main, I know I'm fat, but really? 'Fat fuck'? That's the best he could come up with?" Several players laughed along with me.
Then, the player to my right, a black woman in her 60's who hadn't played many hands, speaks up. "No honey, he didn't call you a fat fuck. He called me a BLACK fuck." I burst out laughing and said, "No he didn't. I mean, thanks for making me feel better, but there's no way he said that."
A minute or so later, I told the floor what happened. I asked that he not tell the player that I said anything, but to just be aware that he's something of a hot head.
Sure enough, maybe 10 minutes after returning, he gets into a situation with the guy on his left, and both stand up, nose to nose, like they're ready to go at it. Another player steps in, and things calm down. A few minutes later, I notice there's a security guard hanging out a short distance from our table.
High hand!
A little while later, I get KQ and make a small raise. A couple people call. The flop is 7K7. I make a bet, and a young guy calls. The turn is a K. I make another bet and he calls again. The river is a Q. I have completely forgotten that my kicker is a Q and think we both have kings and will chop the pot. But I make a bet which he calls.
I turn over my cards and say, "Are we chopping?" He says, "I hope so" and turns over A7. I turn over my KQ and he says, "Oh. No. Not even close." I then realize that even if he had a king, I would have beaten him. I'm suddenly glad he didn't because I would have felt like a dick if he had the king and I didn't realize that I had that beaten.
Then the dealer shouts, "Floor! High hand!" Oh, cool! I totally didn't realize that. It's obviously way past my bedtime. So I play a few more hands until the hour is up, collect my $100 high hand bonus, then head to bed. As I leave, I notice that the guard is still there.
Housekeeping...?
So despite trying to come in when the Do Not disturb light was on, the entire rest of the day, they never returned. No big deal. I'm alone. I've still got plenty of clean towels. And an untouched bed if I was really fussy. Of course, in retrospect, I probably should have used the second bed, just for spite.
I wake up around 8:00, shower, and head out. I don't check out yet, but I'm all packed, ready to go. And I turn off the Do Not Disturb. I wonder if they'll clean the room while I'm out. They ARE already working in other rooms...
I go to that same craps table. As soon as I get there, the staff tells me that my Dealer Tokes button is gone. Someone from another shift must have taken it. I replied that it might have been someone in management with a stick up their ass. I then told them what happened when I tried to give Caesars one.
After a while, I leave, get some breakfast, then back to the room at 10:40. They have not cleaned yet. I take my stuff, turn the Do Not Disturb back on (F--- 'em!), then go down to check out. While checking out, I tell the clerk what happened yesterday, and I get a somewhat unconcerned, "That shouldn't have happened" but no offer of compensation. Frankly, after that lack of concernt, I didn't bother mentioning the electrical problems.
Golden Nugget
Checking the Poker Atlas app, I see a cheap tournament is about to start at GN, so I head there. I play for a couple hours, with nothing significant happening. I did not cash.
I then went to craps. The floor person said my player card didn't work. I said it worked when I played in the poker tourney. I even showed him my receipt with my player number printed on it. Nope. Doesn't work. So after playing a bit, I head to the reward desk.
Apparently, the individual Golden Nugget locations no longer have seperate player rewards accounts. After getting in the tourney, somethine happened, and my AC account got merged with my Las Vegas account. And since I play more at the LV GN (even though I live in NJ) the LV account became my main account, and the AC account was deleted after merging.
Even the rewards clerks were confused as how that would happen, and why it would happen while I was on property. Whatever. They issued me new cards, and I went back to the craps table so I could get my credit.
And play a bit more. And lose. Sigh.
Although I didn't lose much, I didn't like the idea of leaving town a loser, so I went back to the poker room and played $1/$2 for a couple hours.
After almost 3 hours, someone mentions the free buffet for poker players. I ask the boss what that's about. He says 3 hours of cash poker earns a free buffet, and I have 10 minutes more minutes to get mine. Sweet. I was getting ready to leave anyway.
10 minutes later, I'm getting up, cashing out, and heading to the buffet.
While not a bad buffet, it was nothing to write home about. But for free, it was fine.
After the buffet, I hit the road, heading home.
Conclusion
All in all, I had a great time.
I can't wait for 360 Vegas Vacation. And if you don't know what THAT is, it's similar. A bunch of degenerate gamblers, fans of the 360 Vegas podcast, meet in Vegas for a similar group gamble. And, obviously, it's put together by the 360 Vegas podcast.
It's 5/26 to 5/28, so it's not too late to join if you want to!
For more info, go to http://bit.ly/360VV or check #360VV8
Hope to see you there!
If you don't know what GamblePalooza is, you don't listen to enough Vegas and/or gambling related podcasts. Several podcasts were talking about it and attended.
It's a gathering of fans of specific gampling / casino related podcasts, held in Atlantic City, Sat 4/13 thru Mon 4/15. Some early arrivals got together on Friday 4/12. One diehard degen arrived as early as Tuesday! It was organized as a collaboration of the Cousin Vito podcast and another podcast (can't remember which), with Vito taking the lead and, I assume, doing the most work. www.GamblePalooza.com redirects to a page on Vito's website. Many thanks to Vito for putting this together. Also check #gamblepalloza for other comments.
I get the feeling that many of the attendees were high tier players, because they were talking about thier comped rooms, and access to VIP lounges. Me? I'm bottom level at most players clubs. The best I could get for a Saturday hotel was in the $300 range, while Sunday and Monday were free (OK, $26 for the resort free and tax), I decided to join on Sunday and stay thru Tuesday.
Listening to podcasts discussing details of the Saturday events, then reading the Twitter updates as they happened, was making me a little nuts, but it turned out OK, for me anyway. Most of the reports indicated that group gaming on Saturday did not go well at all.
I live in Northern New Jersey, a good 140 miles from AC. I hit the road at 8:00 Sunday, and rolled into the Ocean Casino self park garage at 10:30. Since there was no line, my first stop was the front desk. Although I did not expect to get a room key, I was hoping I could check in and be able to pick up the key later. I've done this at other casinos, particularly in Vegas. Ocean doesn't do that. Can't check in before 3:00. Best I could do was confirm the reservation.
No time to play, but a quick tour of the Ocean casino showed two craps tables open. $10 which was packed, and $15 which had nobody playing.
Brunch Buffet - Capriccios - Resorts International
The first item on the schedule was brunch at 11:15, so I head out to the boardwalk. Checking twitter, Mark & Dr Mike from the You Can Bet On That podcast tweeted that they are at craps in the Resorts high limit room. As I'm walking, I run into Vito and Amanda (Mrs Vito). We get to the high limit room at 11:00, just as Mark & Dr Mike are leaving the craps table. With a few minutes to kill, I went to the promo counter while they head up to the buffet.
No line, I got my replacement card, and was told I have two $10 direct bets. For what it's worth, the last time I was in Resorts was in June for the Oceans 14 C2C event. I was given a couple direct bets then too. The visit before that was in the 1990's. Go figure.
I have to return after 1:00 to pick up the direct bets coupons. Also, they don't have kiosks for that. Whatever, I head to the buffet.
Unless I missed some people, there were 18 of us. It was $50 per person. I think that was a little pricey for what they were offering. Then again, I'm more of an Main Street Station buffet kind of guy. I think that one is $12. I gave Mark & Dr Mike $100 to pay for theirs. They tried to refuse, but I reminded them that they refused last year when I tried to pay, and although they have a method of donating to their show (Patreon?), I avoid using the credit card for stuff like that. So keep the damn $100! They did.
Capriccios isn't really a buffet place. I think they only do it for Sunday brunch. There were several items in between the bar area and the main dining room. Plus, outside, by the hostess stand, in a spot that made us ask if that was part of the buffet as opposed to being for the restaurant next door, was the omelette and waffle station and desserts. Although arranged strangely, there were plenty of options, and all very good.
Afterwards, we had a few minutes to kill, and some people were meeting us at the restaurant, so we started to gather, and collect the slot pull money while waiting in the rather large open area outside the restaurant. We had 8 players involved when it was time to go to the high limit slot area to meet the rest of the gang, and our host.
Group Slot Pull
More people were showing up and Vito was struggling to handle the paperwork and the money at the same time, so I stepped up and took the paperwork to help him out. It grew to 22 people for $2,500. (A couple people were in for more than one share). We selected a single line $100 Wheel Of Fortune machine. Everyone on the list got to spin. There were a couple small wins, so we had $900 after the first run thru. A quick vote, and we decided to continue to spin until double or nothing. Four spins later, and we finally got to shout, as a group, "Wheel! ... Of! ... Fortune!" It hit for $4,000, triggering a hand pay. There was some discussion whether that qualified as "double" or if we should keep going. However, it took nearly half an hour to get this rather small hand pay, which kinda made our decision for us. $1,100 was taken out for taxes. Add the $500 still in the machine and we shared $3,400. $136 per share. I called for a vote to make it $130, leaving an extra $150 for Vito for all his efforts. The idea was quickly approved.
That's Vito next to our machine, as we're waiting for the hand pay.
Private / Reserved Table Games
As each person was paid, they headed off towards the tables, while I worked with Vito, checking off all the names, getting everyone paid.
When I got to the craps table, I was shocked to see it was a $25 table. Unsure if I wanted to play at that level, I walk towards the promo counter, but could see a line a mile long. I return to the craps table. I prefer $10 tables and will play $15 if I have to. But the gang is at this $25 table, so I pull out $200 and just put bets on 6 and 8. After a couple shooters I'm at about $300, so I start placing four numbers. While my own roll wasn't stellar, I did hit a couple numbers. A couple hours later, I left with over $1,300!
Note that when I took the second photo, the pit boss gave me crap about taking photos inside a casino. I responded that I was pretty sure the rule was regarding taking pictures of other patrons, or the insides of slot machines, etc. She just grumbled not to take any more pictures. Whatever.
During our time at the table, for whatever reason, there was room near me and people occasionally came up. I would mention that it was a private / reserved table. Sometimes the person claimed to be in the group, so I asked for the password. Mind you, no password was pre-arranged. But I got several good passwords: Vito, Gamblepaloza, and Muckleshoot!
Also, one rather sketchy looking guy tried to squeeze himeself in on the other side of the table. Obviously not part of the group, and it was making our people feel uneasy. While the floorman and security was trying to get him to leave the table, the shooter was still shooting good numbers, so the players were kinda at odds as to what to do.
Finally, the shooter sevened out. I then told the stick person, "Hold the dice." After another couple minutes, the guy, who is now surrounded by five yellow shirt security guys, finally leaves. To their credit, the security guys never touched him, not even in a 'leading the way out' sort of way.
After he leaves and play resumes, I asked the stick person what he would have done if I didn't say to stop the game. He said that as much as he wanted to stop, until a player says something, he's gotta keep the game going.
We later learned that the guy had been kicked out earlier in the day, and this time, the police got involved.
As I was walking out, I noticed this vintage slot machine near the boardwalk entrance.
Check In - Ocean Casino & Resort
Free time until the next activity, so I head out on the boardwalk, grab some pizza for dinner, then get to Ocean and check in.
There are ropes set up at the Ocean check-in, with enough space for maybe 75 people, but there's only about 8 people on line, and it moves quick enough.
I get a room on the 25th floor. Pretty standard looking room. Not sure why I didn't take a picture.
The bathroom had a roomy area in front of a double sink vanity. Nice size shower and toilet area. Both have frosted glass privacy doors.
Two queen beds, with a nightstand in between. Desk/dresser unit, and a small fridge. No mini-bar. Good size plasma screen TV. I've seen in other modern hotels an easy access A/V patch panel. I didn't see one here. I assume if needed, I could have pulled the TV foward and plugged in directly in the back.
There are electric outlets built into the nightstand and desk that don't work. The table lamps don't work either. Nor does the clock. The fridge feels cold but it's kinda hard to tell since everything is plastic or plastic coated inside. (I put a couple water bottles inside, and one of them was partially frozen by morning.)
After some struggling to move the nightstand, I see that there is a single duplex wall outlet behind the nightstand, but NOTHING is plugged in. And there are three loose plugs (clock, lamp and the nightstand itself). Three items with two outlets? I wonder if a prior guest stole a power strip or something. Whatever. I plug the nightstand and lamp into the wall, then plug the clock into the nightstand, leaving one outlet in the nightstand for my own use, which is fine. The clock has two usb charging jacks.
Looking under the desk, I see plugs for the table lamp and desk outlet that also need to be plugged in with a wall outlet right there. That makes me scratch my head since there isn't a third item, so there's no missing power strip and no reason they weren't already plugged in.
Also, the one floor lamp, behind the single seat couch type chair, is also unplugged, and again, there's an outlet right there. WTF? Am I the first guest in this room since Ocean opened, almost a year ago?
Also, I can't figure out how to get the bathroom lights to come on to full brightness. Pressing the switch, which IS labeled 'lights' produces only a dim light. Also, there's little led indicators on the side of the switch that shows it's only partially lit.
Here's the really sad part. My day job is working at an electrical supply warehouse. I remember seeing these switches demonstrated at an employee Lunch & Learn. I recognize them as Lutron brand. However, I can't remember jack shit about them. On the other hand, I work in the accounting department, so product knowledge isn't really required. But I still can't figure out how to get the lights on full brightness.
For what it's worth, the dim level is perfect for late night when you need to pee and don't want to wake up anyone else. (I finally figured it out on my last morning there. Press AND HOLD the switch, and it will get brighter, in steps, until you let go.)
It's now about 6:15. Next is a meet up at the Hard Rock lobby bar at 7:00 followed by group gaming at 7:30. So, figuring it's gonna be a late night, I take a quick nap.
Cab vs Uber
I get to Ocean's front door at 7:00. I figure it's a 15 minute walk. Missing part of the bar meet-up is fine since I'm not a drinker. Except it's raining. I check Uber. It's $8.15. There's a line of cabs waiting for customers, so I ask, and am told it would be $8.00. Cabs are cheaper. Go figure. (I think the AC cabs are flat fee and or pre-determined fee based on distance rather than metered.)
Hard Rock Casino
I visited the Hard Rock last summer, so I knew that the promotions desk was just upstairs from where the cab dropped me off. Not a drinker, so I had a little extra time and figured I'd see if I had any promos. Except there was only one clerk and a long line. I had time, but not that much time. Pass.
But at least I had time to take a couple pictures of the much talked about guitar chandelier. This is above the main escalator. The black/pink marble looking wall is actually a curved video wall that stretches the entire length of the opening for the escalator. Compared to the plain wall when it was the Taj, this improvement is just one of the many changes made when the Hard Rock redesigned the place. And it's one that I particularly love to just look at.
Here's what this same area looked like in the Taj's day. Elegant, but boring. I once described the Taj as "Many casinos look gaudy, but the Taj takes it to a whole other level." Fans of the movie Rounders will recognize this as the spot where Mike turns to go play poker while Worm, fresh out of jail, goes the other way, to 'take care of some personal needs.'
Hard Rock doesn't have a poker room. The area that was the poker room at the Taj is now an enalrged arena lobby area.
Here's another angle, that I found online. Note that the floor has inlaid images of guitar picks. Elsewhere, there are plenty of other examples of music inspired design. Although I have no picture, along the walls are trim and lines that look like guitar strings and frets. Elsewhere, curved lines suggest sound waves.
In this photo (rendering?) of the main entrance I found online, the guitar / music inpsiration is obvious.
Group Gaming
I joined the group as they were leaving the bar. Perfect timing. Several of us went into the Asian gaming room, looking for Pai Gow Tiles. I've played a couple times with Mike Shackleford (the Wizard of Odds), but wondered how I would do without his help.
The Asian room was fairly spacious, and not very busy. While there were only 2 players at the tiles table, they were both playing 3 spots. A second tiles table was scheduled to open at 8:00 so we split up, with intentions to return. I found a bunch of our guys at a craps table.
It was bad. In short, I wish I would have simply walked around, taking pictures of the decor.
We returned to the tiles table as it was being opened. Since I'm rusty, I asked for an instructions sheet.
For those that don't know. Pai Gow is played with 36 dominos type tiles. You get 4 tiles that you arrange into two 2 tile hands. Unless you have pairs or something else that's special, you add the dots, subtracting 10 if necessary, hoping for two totals that are high. I.E. A tile with 6 spots plus a tile with 7 spots, is 13 spots total, subtract 10 for a score of 3. Not good at all. "Pai Gow" means 'Make Nine'. However, pairs rank higher than 9.
Most of the tiles have unique designs, but there are a couple of pairs where two tiles are identical. Unfortunately for the novice, there are also several that have different patterns but the same number of dots and make pairs, as well as several that have the different patterns and the same number of dots but aren't pairs. An illustrated instruction sheet would have been very helpful. Except, unlike the instruction sheet I've seen elsewhere, the sheet at Hard Rock had no pictures! It's rules used all of the Chinese names for the tiles. No help to this dumb white guy! Sigh...
On the other hand, once the other players set their hands, you can expose your tiles and get help from the other players and dealer. Sometimes I had set my hands right, but not always.
Mind you, there are only three ways to arrange four tiles into two groups of two. Still, if you don't know the game, it's a struggle.
Just like Pai Gow Poker, if your two hands beat the dealer's two hands, you win. If both lose, you lose. One each is a push. There are lots of pushes. And considering the rather slow method of mixing and dealing the tiles, and you get a nice, slow paced game. Even at $25 minimums, you're not gonna burn thru a bankroll too quickly.
In the end, I left around 9:30, down about $50. Not bad.
I met up with the gang at craps and played a bit before calling it a night. I should have called it a night sooner. Sigh.
Instead of going back to Ocean, I went back to Resorts to get my direct bets. There was still a line at the players booth, but a short one. I played craps with the direct bets. They both lost, and overall, I should have simply not bothered.
I got to Ocean around 11:00, but was still itching to play. The craps at Ocean were a full table at $15 and an empty table at $25. Instead I played $1/$2 poker. Nothing eventful, although I went to bed a few hours later, up about $100.
Pool / Jacuzzi at Ocean
On Saturday morning, the host of the Seven Out podcast, along with Stevie Mad Dime, tweeted that they were in the 'cooz' at Ocean. Had it not been for the previous Seven Out episode talking about plans for the 'cooz', I might not have known that he was talking about the Jacuzzi. LOL.
I responded that I'd do it Monday morning. The pool opens at 8:00. I got there around 8:10. I assume there would be lounge chairs outside in the summer, but for now, they're all inside. But the outdoor area is open. It's a nothing special pool except nicely heated, and it's actually and indoor / outdoor pool. Get in, then swim to an opening that leads outside to a pool about the same size. Except the water out there is a lot cooler. I assume that the heated water is fed into the inside pool, but it might be that outdoors it's too damn cold for the water to stay warm, even if the system feeds warm water out there.
Whatever. It's not terrible. And having swam thru, it's easy to acclimate. On the other hand, it's a very weird feeling, swimming while it's cold and raining. At least I'm not the only idiot to do so. There are several people in the Jacuzzi. Unfortunately, going from one to the other requires getting completely out and crossing over about 15 yards.
The Jacuzzi is even weirder since the water is hotter, making the cool air feel even cooler.
Either my timing was off, or the others from the group never made it that day. All in all, it was very enjoyable.
<knock> <knock> Housekeeping...
I get back to my room around 9:30. I see that housekeeping is already at work in other rooms, so I make sure my Do Not Disturb light is on (it already was), and swing the security latch into place. While getting ready to shower, I can hear them knocking on other doors and going in to clean. I'm generally an early riser, but if the wife was with me, she would have been pissed at being woken up by the noise.
As I'm getting out of the shower, I again hear the knocking and announcing themselves, but it sounds like they're at my door. Then I hear the sound of a door opening, only to get stopped by the security latch, then the door closes. I'm thinking, "I think that was my door."
I step out and look at the door. Sure enough, the security latch is in the part-way position where it would be after doing it's job of stopping someone from entering. WTF??? Does the 'Do Not Disturb' light mean nothing? For the record, next to the Do Not Disturb switch is a switch labeled 'Housekeeping'. That was NOT on, so why did they try to come in?
Sigh, I'll put that on the list of things to complain about when I check out.
Dealer Tokes Button
Long time fans of Mark & Dr Mike will recall that they like their toke bet wins to stay on the table, but one time a new box person didn't realize what was happening, and almost put the stack of tokes into the house bank.
My solution was to make these Dealer Toke buttons as a gift to them so they can have them used at their home casino.
I could have sworn that the Gambler's General Store, in Vegas, has them for sale. But on my next visit after getting the idea, I learned that the store never had them. They DO have a large variety of other buttons. On the other hand, I DID see them in use at a couple Caesars properties in Vegas, so I know I'm not totally crazy.
So when I saw a chip / button company's booth at G2E this past November, I told them the story and asked if they could make them. They had 20 for me the next day. I finally delivered them to Mike & Mark on this trip.
But I kept a few for myself, and used one Monday morning at Ocean.
Craps - A tale of two cities casinos
For reasons that weren't made clear, GamblePalooza's Monday schedule got cancelled. It was supposed to be a poker meetup at Borgata. While Borgata was doing their big Borgata Open Poker Tournament, that wasn't the reason (or not the entire reason) the plans got canceled.
Instead, several of us were gonna meet up at Caesars to play craps with Mark & Dr Mike, until they left town that afternoon.
I decided to play craps at Ocean first, since, other than poker, I hadn't really given them action for the free room. I also made some toke bets. When they won, they placed the winning toke chips on the table number plaque, with an "Off" button. This is very typical. I tossed them one of my Dealer Tokes buttons and suggested they use that instead.
They were very excited to have a proper button for the task, and without me even suggesting it, kept the tokes on the table rather than dropping them into the toke box. Sure, they colored them up periodically, but kept them out, almost as advertising.
After about 2 hours, I left, up $600, and there was a bit over $100 under that Dealer Tokes button. :)
I leave Ocean, where the $5 parking fee is waived for anyone that has a players card of any level. When I get to Caesars, I learn that the parking fee is $10, or free for Platinum or higher. Not a problem, I have a Platinum level card since I have the TR Visa card. Except I forgot to bring it. So I make a stop at the rewards counter. They tell me the platinum status is only for the first year of the Visa card. I'm back to gold. Parking is gonna cost me $10. I'm already thinking that I'm gonna cancel the Visa card.
I meet up with Mark & Dr Mike. Three other people from our group are also with them.
As I start to play, I hand the dealers one of my Dealer Tokes buttons. They ask what it's for. I explain it to them and they respond that they can't use it, since it hadn't been approved by the Casino Control Commission. (Really? Ocean had no problem...) The bullshit gets deeper when they say they also can't allow the winning toke chips to accumulate on the table, since it would be a problem if one of the dice hits that stack. I said it's OK if they color up, but we'd like them to stay out. Nope. Can't be done.
Considering all the other chip stacks that make equally (or MORE!) inviting targets, I decided I wasn't gonna win this argument, so I let it go. Interestingly, although they refused to use it, they kept that Dealer Tokes button!
On a side note, both Resorts and Hard Rock had a plastic do-hickey on the rail where the tokes could be held vertically, and colored up before being dropped. My button would not be used, or needed, there.
After a couple hours, Dr Mike offers to use his excess of comp dollars to buy us lunch. First we go to the buffet, which, at 1:50, was closed to switch from brunch to dinner. It'll open at 2:00. Then we go to the coffee shop next door, which is empty, but we are told that, if we don't mind, they're gonna give us our check right after ordering, because they are closing at 2:00. Although we said OK, this left us with a bad feeling. Plus it was a somewhat limited menu, we went back to the buffet as it was already 2:00.
While the company and conversation was great, it was an unspectacular buffet, but nothing really to complain about.
Except, of course, the soft-serve ice cream. Since the dispenser didn't have the star nozzle, it provided chocolate ice cream that looked like dog poop.
After lunch, we went back to the craps table until it was time for Dr Mike and Mark to leave. During this session, I was on a good roll, when Dr Mike made a couple nice sized hardway bets for me. I didn't ask, but I'm thinking it was payback for buying their lunch yesterday. Unfortunately, I couldn't hit either of the hard ways. I was hoping I would so I could pay him back, as I'm sure that would be the only way he would have accepted it.
On a side note, I'm not sure if I ever thanked him for those bets. Thanks Doc!
Finally, it's their time to leave and we say our good byes.
Afterwards, I'm kinda just wandering around for a bit, when I check my comps. I have a $10 free direct bet, as well as a free parking coupon. Sweet.
Back to the craps table where that damn free bet cost me about $100! :(
Bally's - Poker
Checking the Bravo Poker app, I see that Bally's has a high hand promo, and that there are only 4 tables running. Seems like reasonable odds to hit the high hand. So I go play.
I get seated at a $1/$2 game immediately, but on my left is a guy who raises to $10 on every hand, often without even looking at his cards. While I don't usually play at that high level, it occurrs to me that most of the players at this table probably don't play that high either. And that most of them that are calling are doing so because the crazy guy is raising blind. It's what players call "dead money".
The crazy guy is also complaining that the waitress is not giving him full doubles when he is ordering doubles. And that he's down $400. As the day wears on, his complaints about the drinks never end. In fact, the waitress actually tells him that he needs to skip a drink every now and then. Effectively she cut him off - or at least stopped for now. At the same time, the amount he's down has grown to $1,200!
Talk about a juicy game! It seems everyone had taken money from this guy. Except me. Sigh. On the other hand, I've taken a few pots when he had folded after the flop - after he looked at his cards. So my stack is slowly growing.
Then, when he stepped away to use the rest room, no pre-flop raise resulted in comments such as "Wait, I don't know how to play a $2 game..." LOL
The High Hand promo requires a minimum qualifying hand of Aces Full. Every half hour when it isn't hit, the prize grows. Finally, when the prize that started out as $150 has grown to $650, there is a qualifying hand. Funny thing is, before the half hour is finished, it gets beat, and then THAT gets beat.
Finally, with no hands worth writing about, I leave, up about $125. I run my card thru the kiosk at Bally's and have a $10 free direct bet here. OK. Now to a Bally's craps table where that free bet cost me another $80! :(
Ocean
By now it's about 8:00 and I'm starting to get hungry. I recall that there's a Wallburger at Ocean. I've eaten at the one in front of Bally's LV, and thought it was pretty good, so why not.
But first, I take a tour of Ocean. One of my stops is the old Revel poker room, which is on the meeting room level. This photo was from when I took the same tour last July. If you didn't know what this used to be, you'd probably really scratch your heads wondering. There are several couches and coffee tables strewn about, but in no real organization. There is a bar in one corner that is obviously not used. I didn't take a picture, but the area behind the bar is in total disarray. Along the back wall is a three position cashier. And scattered about are floor power / network connection boxes. I added the circles, including a cirlce around the power cords hanging from one of the TVs. While in the 10 months since I last visited, they cleaned up that hanging wire, and all the TVs were working, it still looked like they had no real plans for this space, and the bar still hadn't been cleaned up.
It was a nice poker room, except it was far from everything. The only nice feature was that it had it's own restrooms (to the right of the cashier.) It wasn't near any exit, in fact not near any elevator or escalator either. Since Revel was 100% smoke free, smokers were frequently gone for close to an hour.
In contrast, Ocean's poker 'room' is just a few tables at the back of the casino.
Nothing else of note that I saw in my tour. I then wander around the casino looking for Wallburgers, and what do I find? A craps table. LOL. It's the same table where I they used my Dealer Tokes button this morning, but I don't see it. Nor do I ask about it. About an hour later, and down a little, I've had enough, so I cash in and go looking for Wallburgers. As it turns out, it's right next to the poker room. I hadn't seen it when I was playing yesterday. Whatever. There's a promo kiosk nearby, so I figure I'd check my comp balance to see it I earned enough for dinner yet. I kinda doubed it, but not only did I have enough, but I also had a $10 food voucher! So I had dinner. Yeah, it was as good as the Las Vegas location. Then I asked about using the voucher as well as comp points for the balance. Yep. They will let you 'double dip'.
Poker ... "You fat fuck"
After playing $1/$2 for almost 2 hours, I get into an interesting hand. It started with me beating the guy two seats to my left, two hands in a row. He's a somewhat aggressive player, young white guy, in his late 20' or early 30's. For those that haven't met me, I'm a heavy white guy, 59. Two hands later, I'm under the gun, and have a hand worthy of raising. I honestly can't remember what I had. I think I raised it to $12 pre-flop, and that aggressive guy two seats to my left is the only one to call.
Thinking back, I *think* I had AK or KK and hit a K on the flop. Really, I can't remember.
But I hit the flop, and was reaching for chips when that guy takes his stack of about $50, moves it kinda in front of the guy between us, and says, "You want it? Here. This is how much it is." A strict interpretation of the rules means that was action out of turn. If I bet, or attempt to call his 'bet', that will change the action to him, enabling him to take his chips back and fold. If I ask the dealer what the rule is, the player may realize what I'm thinking and claim that his 'action', along with his statement, was just to show me how much it was, again, enabling him to pull the chips back. So instead, I simply said, "I guess I check." Then I just looked at him for a few seconds. With no indication of his intention, I turned to the dealer and finally asked, "Is that a bet? Is he all in?" The player immediately snarled, "Yeah, I'm all in. Whatcha gonna do about it?" With no hesitation, I pushed a stack forward, "I call."
The turn and river gave me nothing to be concerned about. I then look at him and wait. He's looking at me, giving me the stink eye. Finally, I say, "I called your bet, sir." The 'sir' part was my attempt to needle him, since he's about 30 years younger than me. He just grumbles and throws his cards into the muck. I then ask the dealer if I need to show my hand. Nope. The pot is coming my way.
The guy then gets up and says to the dealer that he's coming back, save his seat. As he leaves, he walks behind me, grumbling and says, "... You fat fuck." I ignore him and wait for him to get out of the area, before talking to the other players. "He just called me a fat fuck. I main, I know I'm fat, but really? 'Fat fuck'? That's the best he could come up with?" Several players laughed along with me.
Then, the player to my right, a black woman in her 60's who hadn't played many hands, speaks up. "No honey, he didn't call you a fat fuck. He called me a BLACK fuck." I burst out laughing and said, "No he didn't. I mean, thanks for making me feel better, but there's no way he said that."
A minute or so later, I told the floor what happened. I asked that he not tell the player that I said anything, but to just be aware that he's something of a hot head.
Sure enough, maybe 10 minutes after returning, he gets into a situation with the guy on his left, and both stand up, nose to nose, like they're ready to go at it. Another player steps in, and things calm down. A few minutes later, I notice there's a security guard hanging out a short distance from our table.
High hand!
A little while later, I get KQ and make a small raise. A couple people call. The flop is 7K7. I make a bet, and a young guy calls. The turn is a K. I make another bet and he calls again. The river is a Q. I have completely forgotten that my kicker is a Q and think we both have kings and will chop the pot. But I make a bet which he calls.
I turn over my cards and say, "Are we chopping?" He says, "I hope so" and turns over A7. I turn over my KQ and he says, "Oh. No. Not even close." I then realize that even if he had a king, I would have beaten him. I'm suddenly glad he didn't because I would have felt like a dick if he had the king and I didn't realize that I had that beaten.
Then the dealer shouts, "Floor! High hand!" Oh, cool! I totally didn't realize that. It's obviously way past my bedtime. So I play a few more hands until the hour is up, collect my $100 high hand bonus, then head to bed. As I leave, I notice that the guard is still there.
Housekeeping...?
So despite trying to come in when the Do Not disturb light was on, the entire rest of the day, they never returned. No big deal. I'm alone. I've still got plenty of clean towels. And an untouched bed if I was really fussy. Of course, in retrospect, I probably should have used the second bed, just for spite.
I wake up around 8:00, shower, and head out. I don't check out yet, but I'm all packed, ready to go. And I turn off the Do Not Disturb. I wonder if they'll clean the room while I'm out. They ARE already working in other rooms...
I go to that same craps table. As soon as I get there, the staff tells me that my Dealer Tokes button is gone. Someone from another shift must have taken it. I replied that it might have been someone in management with a stick up their ass. I then told them what happened when I tried to give Caesars one.
After a while, I leave, get some breakfast, then back to the room at 10:40. They have not cleaned yet. I take my stuff, turn the Do Not Disturb back on (F--- 'em!), then go down to check out. While checking out, I tell the clerk what happened yesterday, and I get a somewhat unconcerned, "That shouldn't have happened" but no offer of compensation. Frankly, after that lack of concernt, I didn't bother mentioning the electrical problems.
Golden Nugget
Checking the Poker Atlas app, I see a cheap tournament is about to start at GN, so I head there. I play for a couple hours, with nothing significant happening. I did not cash.
I then went to craps. The floor person said my player card didn't work. I said it worked when I played in the poker tourney. I even showed him my receipt with my player number printed on it. Nope. Doesn't work. So after playing a bit, I head to the reward desk.
Apparently, the individual Golden Nugget locations no longer have seperate player rewards accounts. After getting in the tourney, somethine happened, and my AC account got merged with my Las Vegas account. And since I play more at the LV GN (even though I live in NJ) the LV account became my main account, and the AC account was deleted after merging.
Even the rewards clerks were confused as how that would happen, and why it would happen while I was on property. Whatever. They issued me new cards, and I went back to the craps table so I could get my credit.
And play a bit more. And lose. Sigh.
Although I didn't lose much, I didn't like the idea of leaving town a loser, so I went back to the poker room and played $1/$2 for a couple hours.
After almost 3 hours, someone mentions the free buffet for poker players. I ask the boss what that's about. He says 3 hours of cash poker earns a free buffet, and I have 10 minutes more minutes to get mine. Sweet. I was getting ready to leave anyway.
10 minutes later, I'm getting up, cashing out, and heading to the buffet.
While not a bad buffet, it was nothing to write home about. But for free, it was fine.
After the buffet, I hit the road, heading home.
Conclusion
All in all, I had a great time.
I can't wait for 360 Vegas Vacation. And if you don't know what THAT is, it's similar. A bunch of degenerate gamblers, fans of the 360 Vegas podcast, meet in Vegas for a similar group gamble. And, obviously, it's put together by the 360 Vegas podcast.
It's 5/26 to 5/28, so it's not too late to join if you want to!
For more info, go to http://bit.ly/360VV or check #360VV8
Hope to see you there!
I invented a few casino games. Info:
http://www.DaveMillerGaming.com/ —————————————————————————————————————
Superstitions are silly, childish, irrational rituals, born out of fear of the unknown. But how much does it cost to knock on wood? 😁
May 10th, 2019 at 10:32:43 AM
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I took screen shots of post so I can read it on plane. That should take about half my trip from the east coast.
Expect the worst and you will never be disappointed.
I AM NOT PART OF GWAE RADIO SHOW
May 10th, 2019 at 10:50:10 AM
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A+ for your trip report. As far as the hot head, he will get what’s coming for him. Karma’s no joke.
May 10th, 2019 at 1:05:14 PM
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Great trip report. Thanks for sharing. I may try to attend some of the Las Vegas event.
Beware, I work for the dark side.... We have cookies
May 10th, 2019 at 2:52:32 PM
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I have to admit it's testing my endurance to finish the whole thing here, but I left off before I got to "you big fat f...." or somesuch and I will definitely have to return
the next time Dame Fortune toys with your heart, your soul and your wallet, raise your glass and praise her thus: “Thanks for nothing, you cold-hearted, evil, damnable, nefarious, low-life, malicious monster from Hell!” She is, after all, stone deaf. ... Arnold Snyder
May 12th, 2019 at 12:08:14 PM
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I’ve told that poker story to dozens of friends and coworkers in the last few weeks. Beating a guy at poker so badly that he has to resort to such an immature insult as “you fat fuck”, is like a badge of honor. 😁
I invented a few casino games. Info:
http://www.DaveMillerGaming.com/ —————————————————————————————————————
Superstitions are silly, childish, irrational rituals, born out of fear of the unknown. But how much does it cost to knock on wood? 😁
