Because I have such a terrible memory for things I don’t do often, I always have to practice online before we go. I make sure to play the blackjack simulator and Pai Gow. I’ve practiced playing online poker, too, but haven’t gotten up the nerve to actually sit down at a table. My most recent discovery was craps, which I practiced a few times online before heading to Vegas last time. I lost a bunch at Pai Gow, so I figured I’d go blow the rest on craps just to say I’d tried it. Instead, I won all my money back, plus more. I decided to walk away before my luck changed, but later that week I really wanted to show Matt what it was about at the Flamingo, so I played only one more roll and won again. So now, of course, I need to try again. New goal? Play craps in Monte Carlo. I assume that their minimum bet is probably a little more than the $10 or $20 in Vegas, so I’ll be arriving prepared. And if we don’t come home, you’ll know why.
Because we have nowhere near enough trips coming up in the next year (um, five more this fall), we decided to redeem my Delta companion voucher and get tickets to Las Vegas for Matt’s birthday next year. We’ve managed to get there almost every year for the past several years, and we definitely wouldn’t want to mess up that tradition.Wendy and Amelia are planning to come along, and hopefully we can convince other people as well. I have big goals this time: to finally (FINALLY) jump off the Stratosphere, and to visit the Neon Boneyard. I want to introduce them to the wonders that are the Double Down and the Chandelier Bar at the Cosmopolitan, which are approximately as far apart in atmosphere as possible.And then there’s the gambling. We’ve played blackjack pretty regularly lately, and my luck has been way better than it has been in the past few years. I follow basic strategy as much as possible, but part of my problem is my inability to remember when to do things like split 7s or double on A-4. (Realistically, my major problem is just the cards. Because how often have I really been faced with A-4 or 7s against anything but a face?) My luck at blackjack has been balanced out exactly by my recent attempts at Pai Gow… I love that game because you tend to be able to at least break even for long periods of time, but I haven’t gotten the cards at all lately. I’m planning to fix that in Vegas.