Ok - Carson City report -

Flew in Sat. Morning at around noon in Reno - drove over and found a nice detour for what was a 5 mile parade. - (what, Nevada joined the USA as a state on the day before Halloween?)

My time here was exclusively Fandango which was on the edge of Carson City - a nice place - nice room and the staff are courteous and top notch - players are very loose passive - I should point out that the one game going every time I was there was 3/6 Limit but with 1/2 blinds - this seemed to encourage a LOT of passive limping. I played there for two days and in an 40 player tourney where I took 6th out of 40th (4 pays) when I tried a steal with A4 and got called by 44 - That was painful.

My first two sessions were bad because I think I too was reacting more passively and loosely - realizing I have an advantage makes me think I can play 58 suited and try to outplay everyone so I limp in - no...and you can't outplay tanks charging in the center anyways. You simply will have to have the best hand - so wait for them. The last two were a bit better once I made the adjustment - .

I made my first sports bet - My mother is a diehard 49'ers fan with a signed jersey of Joe Montana's on the wall of the house - and Tampa was playing the 49'ers who had recently lost 54-17 or something like that and were on their 4th string quarterback - and the bet only had to have Tampa score over 11 to score -

and she told me to bet on Tampa beating the spread - and I did and then not only do they not beat by over 11 points, they lose - jeezzz...

I should have gone with my gut instinct - as Amarillo Slim said - when in total and complete doubt as to who is better - go with the underdog cause he'll try harder to win it -

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One last thing on the Fandango - Cheri? - cocktail waitress - dressed as hippie chick on the 30th - If you are reading this, I love you - if you ever come to Minneapolis - please drop me an email -
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Yesterday was the Atlantis in Reno - on Halloween - cool room - the 1/2NL game had a ton of fish dumping, but I couldn't snare one - I was there for 6 hrs and left down 150 dollars of my 200 buyin - but I was the last of the 4 original players on the board - Interesting enough, the other three who lasted as long as me all had large large stacks, from 400-800 bucks on a 200 buyin - but they got that one or two hands where an idiot pushed on a gutshot draw to the idiot side of a st8 that missed - I never got one of those....

but I lasted longer then most of them and I think my losses were half as much - I think it was just an off night - lost a lot of money on two pots where I kept drawing to a nut flush - just couldn't get it.

Two cute dealers - - well, one that looked cute in pictures but had a wart the size of Lake Calhoun on her nose in her witch costume - the other was a mol (mobster's girlfriend) dressed in a sort of pink "Clockwork Orange" costume -

OH, OH, OH - I almost forgot biker chick dealer who looked really butch and glam and tough in black leather and a couple press-on Harley tattoos but actually THANKED me and really appreciated that I turned my head away from the table when I sneezed - (I was on her immediate right) - she was a real sweetheart -

really good beef stew and a lot of promotional stuff going on - they passed out tickets for a contest running all week on the scores of Monday Night Football and I got one and won a gift from the prize pool, which I chose a clay humidior from. Seemed like they had a LOT of promotions for their players - They also had cocktail waitresses on Monday for Monday Night Football, but they also wheeled a couple kegs of beer in there for players to just walk over and fill up from. Lots of good food and so forth either way and I liked it - felt a bit like a party or a home game with friends, and a lot of them were, and they let me into that group for one night.

so I would recommend both rooms to the casual poker player - I mean, they're not the Wynn or Bellagio, but overall, they're pretty damned loose passive and the locals are mostly friendly. Only a couple of cranky old bastards in the bunch, and I cut one off at the knees on each of my two days.

Lost a lot of money on Roulette and Keno and Video Poker, but some of this was a relaxed release - being with my Mother on vacation in Reno made me take a less casual approach to my gaming and treat it like most Americans do, as an entertaining diversion that we realize costs us money but we believe is worth the entertainment it brings. I'll sit next to her and talk for a couple hrs. while playing a bad version of Cleopatra Keno that has the virtue of 12 free spins when I hit a bonus, all of which roll automatically and saves me from having to press start 12 times. But then we can talk and she can do her thing and I can do mine...

The only time I felt bad about losing money was in the tournament - about $60 - so that makes me think I should really, REALLY focus exclusively on tournaments - it's not a question of making a living - it's simply what I love to do more then anything - a 500 player jousting contest that has a definate beginning and an ending and a monetaru reward that far exceeds any rewards I could make in a 3/6 game with the same investment of cash for the same time frame.

So that will be my resolution - renewed focus on tourney and put Ed's book on the back shelf - but moving on, anyways..

So I went to Reno/Carson City - didn't drive out to get laid legally by prostitutes, didn't get stoned or [censored] up drunk - lost 700 bucks in fruitless and useless gambling that I could have just have thrown on a fire and burned - and I got to spend three days with my Mother who I rarely see and has had a couple melonoma scares recently -

A rousing success? - the seriously educated 2+2'er would say yes

I [censored] it up....It was barely a success - Yes, it was good. But I caught a cold on the 3rd day and that plus all my constant losing made my mom think I had a bad time and I think that made her feel sorry about the vacation cause she apoligized to me twice for it. That plus her usual patient and somewhat lucky winning streak at Keno didn't pan out too well either - we both sorta take it hard when we lose -

I have GOT to send her flowers tomorrow - look up the office address and order on the internet or call - tell her I had a great time and it was the best $700 I ever lost and say thanks for the three days.

Come to think of it - I always sorta felt like I [censored] up Luv2DriveTT's trip to Atlantic City by being such a downer and dropping so much money on the $1/2 NL and 10/20 Limit games there - plus something else that could been misinterpreted if heard from another poker table away - that's probably why I didn't give him flowers when I left but left my copy of the Stu Unger bio to read (I liked it a lot actually, though it may not have been strategy oriented enough for him) - - I should probably do a re-assessment of whether I should be gambling with people I enjoy being around....hmmmm...

(and for what that trip was worth, I've been watching episodes of Sex In The City trying to get a feel for Manhattan and how people live - ever since I went - I have said if I won a couple big tourneys I'd just go and spend 6 months at an apt in NYC - so I'd waste another $1000 going to visit you guys again

Holy mother of god - I think all this weed is dropping some scale and crust off the brain - feeling more poetic again....and severly off topic.

So anyways, with my mom. Nothing too big or anything - you just never know - the older we get - we never know when we may suddenly not get another visit - I drove a couple times for her in Carson City and Reno cause she was nervous - until this trip I never saw her as I would see a Grandmother. - But as it turns out, she is.

Goddamn it - this was a normal and happy go lucky trip report - why the [censored] did I suddently feel the urge to edit it into this sad [censored] downer of an ending...

EDIT again - I know why - cause I was writing on both 2+2 and my blog and I kept wanting to get more and more honest for the blog - I don't even think this sappy sentimental crap flies on 2+2 even outside the OOT forum - hard to believe I don't feel I can be totally honest on there like I can on here - )

FINAL EDIT - I can't be as honest on 2+2 as I am on here - scroll up - see that line about the trip not being a rousing success - I just deleted everything below it after threatening to kick anyone in the nuts who disagrees with me.

ah well - fuck em - who are 2+2'er's anyways. :) They're not my fucking social life that virtually my whole social world revolves now anyways....are they?

actually, that's a damned good question....are they? - I've made special plane trips to see Felicia, NJChick, and TT, but only saw my mom once this year.

Maybe that group is my last group of friends I have left. And blogger world - I've lost most of my musician friends over the years to various forms of ensnarement - so now I depend on online relationships of a sort....

man oh man - heavy crapola...

RB