Spending Christmas at the Church of the Loaded Dice

Well... maybe not "loaded" dice, but you know there's gonna be a lot of praying there...


Being the good Jews that we are, my brother and I and the wives go to a casino for Christmas every year.

This year we're heading to Mohegan Sun, 12/24 thru 12/26.

Anybody else going there for Christmas, and want to meet up?

Jews? I thought you were a minister in the umm...not-so-Holy Church of Dave?

Quote: DJTeddyBear

Well... maybe not "loaded" dice, but you know there's gonna be a lot of praying there...


Being the good Jews that we are, my brother and I and the wives go to a casino for Christmas every year.

That's rather gratuitous, isn't it? After all, there are no strictures that apply to Jews concerning Christmas, unless it also happens to fall on the Sabath.

Oh, wait....

Quote: rdw4potus

Jews? I thought you were a minister in the umm...not-so-Holy Church of Dave?

The Church of Spiritual Humanism does not believe in God. We believe spirituality comes from within, not a higher power.

Does that make it "not-so-Holy" ?

FYI: Go to my website, and to my FAQ page for more info.

Quote: Nareed

That's rather gratuitous, isn't it? After all, there are no strictures that apply to Jews concerning Christmas, unless it also happens to fall on the Sabath.

Oh, wait....

LOL.

FYI: If it weren't for my involvement with the Church, I'd describe myself as a non-practicing Jew. I STILL enjoy spending the Jewish Holidays with the family, and respect the choices others have made, including my other brother, who is this close to being a Rabbi. And, yeah, he respects my decisions too.

Quote: nancyd589

Hello, I now became a member of this community here and I would love to be a part of it. Just enjoy the environment here.

Welcome.

And thanks for posting in this thread. It reminded me that I intended to respond to those two jokers.

Are you sure that previous post is not some sort of spam? (not clicking on it!!!)

Which Mohegan? PA, or CT?

Quote: Nareed

That's rather gratuitous, isn't it? After all, there are no strictures that apply to Jews concerning Christmas, unless it also happens to fall on the Sabath.

Oh, wait....

If you were to exchange your paper money for chips before sunset, would you be permitted to gamble with just chips, or is it against the spirit of the sabbath?
I've been somewhat lenient in the past, although I don't play the electronic games.

Quote: DeMango

Are you sure that previous post is not some sort of spam? (not clicking on it!!!)

Ofcourse it is SPAM. It is a generic post entered all over the web solely to get that link displayed for those who are foolish enough to click on it. I hit the Flag button long ago but I don't think anything happened.

Quote: DeMango

Are you sure that previous post is not some sort of spam? (not clicking on it!!!)

Spam? While *technically* those links may be considered spam, my intent was to provide them in case anyone here is curious, and to boost my inward link count. They're safe to visit.

Quote: Mosca

Which Mohegan? PA, or CT?

Oops. I keep forgetting they have a new location. I haven't been there yet.

We're heading to CT. If we do well, we may stay thru Monday, and may go to Foxwoods for Bingo. I'll have my laptop. If they have free wifi (I think they do), I'll update this thread.

Quote: jmaftir

If you were to exchange your paper money for chips before sunset, would you be permitted to gamble with just chips, or is it against the spirit of the sabbath?
I've been somewhat lenient in the past, although I don't play the electronic games.

The short answer is chips are like currency and should not be handled on Shabbot.

Having lived in a somewhat religious household, and have had many great religious conversations with my brother, I can give you complete answers to those type of questions.

"Against the spirit" is a catch-all for a variety of prohibited activities, as well as activities that an observer may question. If you're observant, then on Shabbot, you're prohibited from merely being in the casino, and may even be prohibited from being anywhere in the resort, for the sole reason that it looks bad. There is no *specific* biblical rule against it. Similarly, even at home, on Shabbot, you should not play any games that require keeing score.

When taking a road trip (duh, not on Shabbot), you should not stop at a restaurant to answer Nature's call, because someone observing you, doesn't know your intention. Highway rest stops are acceptable, since providing public rest rooms are one of thier intended functions, and the rest rooms are separate from the restaurant.

Taking a cruise that includes Shabbot is acceptable, since the ship is not doing anything specific for you. However, do not take a cruise that starts or ends on Shabbot. If the ship is in port on Shabbot, do not take the excursion if it requires a shuttle boat. If it's at a dock, then *I believe* it's OK to get off, although activities would be limited.

Food is another entirely separate topic.


Yeah, I realize you were just jokingly busting my chops, but aren't you glad you asked?

Good Job Flea! SPAM_B_GONE!!!

Quote: DeMango

Good Job Flea! SPAM_B_GONE!!!

Ya know, I had no idea you were talking about Nancy's first time post. I notice that it's gone - I have a copy quoted above.

Yesterday. that same person posted a similar post in one of the DJ forums that I'm a moderator at. I deleted it! LOL.



Anyway, slight update: I'll be at Foxwoods for a couple hours tomorrow, and then Mohegan Sun for the rest of the trip. We're 99% sure that we're coming home Sunday.

If you're there and want to meet up, call or text: 973 896 7905.


Happy Holidays everyone!

Trip report:

My brother and I, and the wives would spend Friday thru Sunday at Mohegan Sun. However, his daughters wanted to stay at MGM at Foxwoods, because they like the beds there. Whatever.

We got better rates than the kids could have, so we went to MGM to check them in. The line was relatively short. Ropes for Wendy's style. It moved quickly.

Because the girls had to work, we got there a few hours before them. So we hung out. I lost about $150 real quick at craps. Lunch was at David Burke Steakhouse. Excellent food. All of us liked it. I got a Caesar Salad and a cheeseburger with Applewood bacon. They made the dressing at the table and tossed the salad right there. I forget what everyone else had, but everyone was happy.

After lunch, we walked thru the bowling alley. This is brand new - it opened just a couple months ago. A very upscale looking place, with leather couches at the lanes, mood lighting, etc. One weird thing was they open at noon, but the bar doesn't open until 2:00 because of some quirk in the local liquor laws.

After lunch we played some more craps, and I lost some more. I'm done with craps. FYI: The minimums were $10, field payed double and double, and they have the firebet at Foxwoods, but not at MGM.

Then we went to the MGM bar to play bar top poker because the girls were due any minute. Free drinks at the bar while playing. But the bartender put a receipt in a glass behind my screen. I checked it. My bottle of water was billed at $4. My brother's beer was $8. Because of discussions about it in other threads, I asked the bartender about the slip. He said it's so they can see that he's doing his job. And he knows that in some casinos, they put a pen because the patron is supposed to sign it. Hardly anybody does, so they don't bother with the pen.

The girls finally showed up. We chatted briefly, then left them behind and went to the Sun.

Mohegan Sun has ropes for a Wendy's style line, but at 4:00pm, there was nobody on line. The clerk was very nice, and gave us an upgrade to a suite with a connecting room, right near the elevator. Sweet!

Then I went to play poker. $1/$2 no limit. Nothing to write home about, but I left slightly ahead.

Dinner was at Birches. My brother knows how much I like the Mac & Cheese at Michael Jordan's - a different restaurant at MS. Birches has five different Mac & Cheese varieties. We had the Steak version as an appy. We all loved it. I forget what else we ate, but everyone was happy. The menu also featured "All Day Breakfast" so we made plans to have breakfast the next day there.

After dinner, I played some more $1/$2 poker. Only one had worth remembering. I had As Ks. I raised it a little and got a few callers. The flop was Qs Ts 6h. I have a Royal draw. I checked, and called a $15 bet. The turn was Jh. I caught the straight. I bet $30. Got one call, then there's a raise to $75. One call and it's my decision. Although I REALLY wanted to see the river, to see if I made the royal - which would qualify for the high-hand jackpot, I went All-In for almost $200. The $75 raiser eventually called. He had a set of tens. The river was a blank, and my straight held up.

The next day, we go to Birches for their breakfast. They don't open until 11:00. WTF? The menu advertises all day breakfast, but they aren't even open breakfast time? We went to Johnny Rockets instead. Service was slow, and the food was nothing special.

More poker. I had a good hand beat out by one guy. About 15 minutes later, there were 7 players in an unraised pre-flop pot. I flopped a set. We bet a bit. Nothing on the turn, more bets leaving me heads up with that same guy. The river gives me quads. He bet, I raised hoping he would bite, thinking I was still steaming about the beat he gave me and be bluffing, but he folded - it seems he was bluffing in this hand! Anyway, the hand qualified for the high hand, but it didn't hold up.

FYI: Mohegan Sun doesn't have a Bad Beat. Instead, they have High Hand jackpots. For three hours, the collect $1 out of each pot of $20. Then for one hour, they stop collecting, gather and count those chips, and award them to the high hand from the room for the prior 3 hours. It's usually around $1,200. Personally I like that a lot better than Bad Beat since SOMEONE wins it every 4 hours.

Unfortunately, about half an hour later, there was an announcement that the new high hand was quad tens. I didn't expect to win. Often a high straight flush wins it. But, since the poker room only had 3 tables running Christmas morning, I had high hopes....

I then hit a string of good starting hands that went nowhere or got beat. I ended up busting out right when it was time for lunch.

The girls came over for Lunch, at Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana. We've eaten there before. It's casual, but gourmet pizza. The soda was flat and the waitress had a serious bad attitude, but the pizza was as good as we remembered it.

My nieces wanted to play craps, so we headed over. But that walk took over an hour, because they went into several stores and shopped. When we got there, I was going to take them to an empty table to give them a rundown of all the types of bets, and rules. They decided to not bother, and simply watched their father play. When the dice came to him, the dealer offered to let him put an extra pass bet down so the girls can throw.

At that point it became exceedingly apparent how much I should have insisted that I give them the little class. My niece reached down and took two dice, and THEN, while holding the dice, decided to remove her jacket, and had the dice all over the place. Everyone was yelling at her. Finally she put the dice down, took off her coat and THEN threw. My brother, who likes the C/E bet and presses it, did OK. She threw 3, 11, 11, 6, 7.

After that, the girls left then my brother and I headed to poker. The poker room got a lot busier since we left.

I wanted to kill the poker room manager and floorpeople because of the way they handled seating me for this session. I'm still pissed, but I'm getting over it.

We put ourselves on the list for $1/$2. I was sixth. Somehow someone got in between, so my brother was eighth. A minute or two later and there's nine names on the $1/$2 list, and not more than 3 names on any other list.

So I pointed out to the room manager that there's 9 people waiting for $1/$2, will he open a new table? Without acknowledging, he looks at the board, then goes to talk to someone, then comes back (the list is up to 12 by now), then proceeds to ignore me. About 5 minutes later one person has been seated, and the list is up to 14.

Another is seat opens, and he reaches into a drawer to pull out a drop box and a plaque to open a $1/$2 table. I point that out to my brother and comment that I prefer new tables. A few minutes later, another seat opens, so I'm now third on the list.

The manager then takes the box and sign to an empty table. I follow him so I can pick my seat. He says he's not sure there are any available dealers. While I realize that's possible, if true, why bother putting the sign on the table? Whatever. We sit. Another open seat. I'm now second and my brother wonders if a seat will open for me before the table opens.

There's still about 17 people on the $1/$2 list. Another seat opens and the person at the top of the list doesn't respond. After a minute or so, they call me. Sigh. So I get up, and ask the manager if I can stay on the list until the table opens. He ignores me. The list clerk points me to the floorperson to get seated. I tell him that I prefer to stay on the list and wait for the new table. He says that they don't even have dealers for that table.

So I take the seat. It seems like everyone at this table has considerably more chips than the maximum buy-in. I'm not comfortable. I play one hand when they announce ten names for the new table opening. I'm PISSED! In the next 10 minutes or so, I drop about $90, when ANOTHER $1/$2 table opens. But they only announce 7 names, so I grabbed my chips and move.

While waiting for the table to finish opening, I top-off my chips. A few hours later, I leave up slightly for the session.

Dinner was at Dubliner's Irish Pub. This is a relatively small pub, that gets very busy late at night. For dinner, it was us, one other table, and some people at the bar. I had the Shepard's Pie. Nothing special, although the specialty martini was excellent. Then again, for $13, it BETTER be!

More poker after dinner. Nothing special, but left up slightly.

The next morning, we started to worry about the weather. Originally, we were planning on lunch at the sports bar, then my bother, a BIG Jets fan, would watch the 1:00 game, and we'd leave when it was over.

Instead, we planned to leave around 11:30, after the girls check out of MGM.

So, just a quick Starbucks breakfast, then poker. Another small win with nothing spectacular, and we ended up leaving at 10:45.

Very little snow while driving home, but boy did it come down afterwards. This morning, it was taller than the top of the snow blower opening!



Summary:

I lost well over $300 at craps, but came home down only $25. Not bad at all. The wife broke even. My brother and sister in-law also broke even.

Those two snot-nosed kids (ok, not kids) were the big winners.



I never saw more than one craps table per pit priced higher than $5 at Mohegan Sun. $10 at Foxwoods.

The wives had no problem finding $10 blackjack, and equally reasonably priced Three Card and Let It Ride.

Good report.
Quite odd about the Bar in the bowling alley. I assume the rest of the bars were open.
As to Foxwoods and the bar drink service. MSun has had the rule of 1 drink every 20 min and they are served in a 6oz glass. Not bad if you are having a TnT but 6oz of beer doesn't last. Is Foxwoods better? I know Msun was doing it after getting heat for a bunch of DWI crashes


Thinking about doing a nite at FWoods in Jan. I prefer MSun but the room rates at FWoods are great.

Quote: Wavy70

Quite odd about the Bar in the bowling alley. I assume the rest of the bars were open.

Probably because the bar is in the bowling alley, and the bowling alley is open to minors.

But it still seems silly.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

LOL.

FYI: If it weren't for my involvement with the Church, I'd describe myself as a non-practicing Jew. I STILL enjoy spending the Jewish Holidays with the family, and respect the choices others have made, including my other brother, who is this close to being a Rabbi. And, yeah, he respects my decisions too.

I would describe myself as a former jew, except Judaism goes a lot farther than religion. Part of it is culture and another part is ethnic. I can't speak Yiddish anymore, if I could at one point which seems ludictrous, but I do speak "Jewish" if that makes any sense to you.

And no way I'd ever give up the priviledge of telling Jewish jokes:

On the eve of Yom Kippur the congregation gathers at the temple to say the prayers of Kol Nidre. But the rabbi doesn't show up. As sun down nears, the congregation goes out in search of the rabbi. One man finds him inside a restaurant, eating oysetrs.

"Rabbi!" the man says "How can you possibly be eating oysters? And on the eve of Yom Kippur, for God's sakes!"

"Why?" the rabbi replies calmly. "Isn't there an "R" on Yom Kippur?"

Teddy, even I know that anyone who says they "broke even" had all they could do to rationalize how having had a good time along with all their losses meant they just couldn't admit that they had lost.

Quote:

Sabbath/Shabbot

Saturday, Donny, is Shabbos, the Jewish day of rest. That means that I don't work, I don't drive a car, I don't fucking ride in a car, I don't handle chips, I don't turn on the oven, and I sure as shit DON'T FUCKING ROLL CRAPS! SHOMER SHABBOS!

Quote: wildqat

Saturday, Donny, is Shabbos, the Jewish day of rest. That means that I don't work, I don't drive a car, I don't fucking ride in a car, I don't handle chips, I don't turn on the oven, and I sure as shit DON'T FUCKING ROLL CRAPS! SHOMER SHABBOS!

Not even if it falls on Christmas?

Quote: Wavy70

Quote: wildqat

Saturday, Donny, is Shabbos, the Jewish day of rest. That means that I don't work, I don't drive a car, I don't fucking ride in a car, I don't handle chips, I don't turn on the oven, and I sure as shit DON'T FUCKING ROLL CRAPS! SHOMER SHABBOS!

Not even if it falls on Christmas?

Shomer fucking shabbos.

Quote: wildqat

Quote: Wavy70

Quote: wildqat

Saturday, Donny, is Shabbos, the Jewish day of rest. That means that I don't work, I don't drive a car, I don't fucking ride in a car, I don't handle chips, I don't turn on the oven, and I sure as shit DON'T FUCKING ROLL CRAPS! SHOMER SHABBOS!

Not even if it falls on Christmas?

Shomer fucking shabbos.

Ok
God is Love

Quote: DJTeddyBear

Trip report:

Lunch was at David Burke Steakhouse. Excellent food. All of us liked it. I got a Caesar Salad and a cheeseburger with Applewood bacon.

I don't think shabbos or kashrut is a big issue for DJ.

Quote: jmaftir

I don't think shabbos or kashrut is a big issue for DJ.

You're right. And that goes for a lot of Jews.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

You're right. And that goes for a lot of Jews.

I'd say it goes for about 90% of all the Jews I know. Of the rest, 9% are sticklers for the dietary laws and observe all the holidays, and 1% are very religious. At my house growing up we thought nothing about eating pork or other forbidden things. Back then my parents even worked on Saturdays.

On the other hand, did you ever read Harry Turtledove's story about a genetically modified pig that winds up being kosher?

Quote: Nareed

On the other hand, did you ever read Harry Turtledove's story about a genetically modified pig that winds up being kosher?

While I never heard that name, I have heard of the pig. (Or rumors of such a pig.)

As I've said above about other things that "appear" bad, although that pig may technically be kosher, it should still be avoided by observant Jews.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

While I never heard that name, I have heard of the pig. (Or rumors of such a pig.)

Back in the 80s there were news in the science mags about an asian pig that's a semi-ruminant, or something like that. And genetic engineers think a ruminant pig could produce meat at a lower cost in feed and time, so there may be efforts in that direction.

Quote:

As I've said above about other things that "appear" bad, although that pig may technically be kosher, it should still be avoided by observant Jews.

In the story the genetics people consult with a rabbi (a conservative one, not orthodox) and even get him to try the finished product. He finds it very hard to do.

Edited to add: I don't recall what book the story is in, but I'll look it up when I'm home. Turtledove writes msotly about alternate histories. He's best known for his Great War/American Empire/Settling Accounts series (10 books all told) which tell the sotry of WWI, the post-war period and WWII in a North America where the CSA won the Civil war.

Quote: wildqat

Saturday, Donny, is Shabbos, the Jewish day of rest. That means that I don't work, I don't drive a car, I don't fucking ride in a car, I don't handle chips, I don't turn on the oven, and I sure as shit DON'T FUCKING ROLL CRAPS! SHOMER SHABBOS!

I was wondering how long it'd take someone to bring up The Big Lebowski...