It's the Knuckles

Day 7 - Friday - continued

On the way, I snap a pic of the moon rising over the Cal.

The moon looks bigger in person. That's because the moon is 2,159 miles in diameter. But in this picture, it's only an eighth of an in diameter. Another mystery... solved!

I've sure met some nice people by jotting all of these words in this here blog and one of them is Texas Steph, who is in town with Hubs.

I don't actually remember Hubs' name, but online she calls him Hubs, so I'm going to stick with that.

Texas Steph and Hubs have invited me to dine with them at the Triple Seven as their guest and at the appointed hour, I head over.

Not Texas Steph.

We have a delicious meal featuring Onion Rings for me. If you haven't tried the rings at the 777, you must.

We share the Southwestern Egg Rolls, which I find to be excellent. If I remember correctly... let's see... they feature marinated grilled chicken, diced peppers, onions, sweet corn, fresh cilantro, black beans and jack cheese, and are fried in chinese egg roll wrappers and served with chipotle sour cream dip.

I'd definitely have these again.

Also not Texas Steph.

Definitely not Texas Steph.

We have a terrific time together with interesting conversation and great food. Thanks again for dinner, you two, I very much appreciate your hospitality!

Back at the Cal, I visit Pinchy and Flashy. But the quads aren't coming. I had done 1200 hands at the Boar's Head, and another 400 in the alcove with P and F. And I have but one quad and no royals (natch) to show for it.

Time to see how my blackjack luck is. Because I'm down $300 on the machines.


I buy in for $100 and settle into my place, arranging everything just so. Drink holder moved to the right. Adjust stool. One foot on the bar, one foot on the stool. Remove a few bits of lint from my betting circle. Ask woman next to me to crack her knuckles - for luck.

She won't.

Ask woman next to me to crack my knuckles - for luck.

Endure awkward silence and then crack my own knuckles.

It's the two deck pitch game, between deck changes. I decide I'm going to come out with a $10 bet instead of my usual $5 and see how it goes. And the cards come out, floating, spinning, landing at my hand.

That feeling before you look, I love it.

In my case, I'm looking at a loser. The hand goes south - I bust.

I decide to play another hand. Blackjack!

I win the next couple of hands and get another blackjack! And with that I'm off and running. Next hand is a double, which I win, and then another blackjack.

The other players are starting to comment - hey you are getting all the blackjacks.

"It's the knuckles," I tell them.

The wins and blackjacks are coming and my stacks start to grow. After ten minutes, I press to $15 a hand.

After fifteen minutes, I've doubled my $100 buy-in. I've had eight or nine blackjacks in that time.

This little session is one of the best I've ever had. I run up my stacks to about $265. Could this be the time I get my first purple chip? Will the run continue?

After half an hour, I've dropped $100, to $165. But I don't flinch, I'm going to stick with it this time. I want to put my time in, and I believe I can recover.

It becomes a more typical see-saw battle, and after two hours I'm back up to about $245 or $250. I have consumed drinks. Delicious comped drinks. Delicious comped tiny, tiny drinks. It's kind of hard to get a buzz at the Cal - the drinks are so small! They might even be 3/4 of an ounce.

Before long, I'm at the $200 mark. I'm thinking jeez, should I color this up? I've made $100, put some time in... I could easily get felted if I keep at it.

Around my stacks are all the bits and pieces - white chips and fifty cent pieces. I form them into a stack and bet them, keeping my $200 in the vault. If I lose this hand, I'll cash.

And I win!

It's almost like a new session - can I parlay the crumbs into a cake?

At $235, I decide I'll make $225 untouchable, and whatever I can make on the $10, I'll keep. If I keep winning, more goes in the untouchable vault.

Long story short, I hit the $225 and that's it - I color. $125 profit, a great time, three hours at the table, and a set of sore knuckles!

I go to the bar to get a decent snort, pop $20 into a bartop video poker machine - and lose the first ten hands in a row. Rather than describe this sequence of events in excruciating and meticulous detail, characterizing every emotion felt, and every move made, I'll just say this. Fuck video poker.

I play two more machines at the bar, and some different machines in the casino, and each time I lose around the first ten hands in a row. I play another one, number six.

Same thing.

Not the kind of streak one hopes for. I've lost my blackjack profit in twenty minutes

I can feel myself going on tilt, wandering the casino, looking for some sign of a super high volatility game to play - like Ultra Bonus or something.

Pinchy seems like a good thing to try. I reign myself in and play Bonus Poker. A twenty goes. But the second one finally gives me some play. I play for an hour. Weird. Seven hundred hands come out of that twenty, and I never get the machine up higher than $40. Weird weird.

It's been a long day, and I'm tired. It's time to pack it in. So I opt for one final twenty on something with big prizes.

Within a couple of minutes, I'm dealt three Aces and get the fourth for $200.

Four Pointies! No kicker, though.

Oh if only I had gotten that kicker, I would have been even for the day, even up some.

With remarkable precision and determination, I do the right thing and cash out after a couple more hands, and wobble off to bed.

Day - Machines: -$355
Day - Blackjack: +$125
Trip: -$1,171

I've used most of my budget. I'm in trouble.