Monique on the Casino Cruise

At 5:35pm, my friend Tommy called and asked if I wanted to practice BJ with a live dealer since my vegas trip is a little over three weeks away. I figured what the heck, I'll take $200 of my bankroll- if I lose, I'll short myself for LV- if I win, Yay for me.
I told him to give me an hour and pick me up. "Hell No!" he screamed, the boat leaves Port Canaveral at 7:00 and we have to be ON it by 6:45. (The port is 40 miles from my house.) I quickly threw on a pair of jeans and a my shoes (yes, a shirt too) and Tommy was at my house by 6:05. We had to stop at a gas station, as I NEEDED dramimine- He was driving, doing about 85 in a 70-as we were so worried we would drive 45 miles to be turned away from getting on. We made it to the terminal entrance at 6:48. The entrance to the terminal is one lane in and one lane out. We were behind the SLOWEST driver in the state, doing approx 6 miles an hour. All of the sudden, a left passing lane opened up and Tommy whipped around and passed the car on the left. I yelled at him for doing such a stupid thing, and WHAM! Blue lights!! 45 miles doing 85-90, no cops, and we get pulled over AT THE DOCK!! We were literally staring at the boat as the cop lectured Tommy on correct driving procedures. Overall, the cop was really nice-I flirted and said it was MY fault, I said I TOLD Tommy to turn, and then yelled at him not too at the last minute. The cop said that it was bordering on reckless driving, and asked for Tommy's License, registration and insurance. Of course, Tommy did NOT have his registration in the car- as he had cleaned out the car in the morning to sell it. The cop went back to his car and started writing the ticket as we saw the lobby of the terminal emptying out. We figured we were screwed, and would never make it. The cop came back with a ticket for not having the registration, and a verbal for the passing! Whew! We pulled into the valet lot at 7:02 on 2 wheels, and in Indiana Jones like fashion- jumped the plank as they were pulling it up!! We were ON!!

I had NO cash on me, as I hadn't had time to stop on the way- all I had was my debit card for my checking account and my debit card linked to my vegas account. I hit the ATM for $200 of my vegas money and went to find a $5 table. They were full of course- The same 18 people sat in the same chairs for 5 hours! We found a $10 table and as soon as we hit the 3 mile mark- the games began. I started out with a $60.00 buy in, and lost it in 6 hands straight. The dealer hit 21 THREE times in a row and I busted twice-hitting on a 12 to the dealers 9 and an 8 to the dealers 10. I got up as I didn't like the feel fo the table and plopped down at a $1 spin till you win machine. I fed a $20 in- nothing. I fed another $20 in and on the third pull, I hit a Spin till you win. Spin till you win automatically pays out 4 credits when it shows, and it kept landing on it- It showed five times until finally stopping on an $80 payout. I cashed out and headed back to the BJ table- where a new male dealer had taken over. He was AWESOME and busting left and right. The previous female dealer semmed annoyed when people won, like it was her money being lost. This guy Joe was great- he would hoot and cheer when we won and ask the card gods for a bust card for himself. Long story short- My $100 buy in was at $1200.00 in less than an hour and a half! I was HAPPY!!! I tipped Joe a Green chip when he went on break and back came the female. I played down to $1000.00 with her and decided she was bad karma. I went outside and got some air for an hour, and then found Tommy at a $25 table with a STACK of blacks in front of him! He started at the $25 table with a $200 buy in, and was up to $1952.50! I headed back downstairs to my $10 table and there was Joe. It was now 10:45 and we had until 12:30 to play. I bought in with $400.00 and started playing $25 hands, which kept winning, and turned into $100 and $200 bets. I could NOT lose. I was in heaven!! The pit boss announced that there were three hands left, as we were about to reach the 3 mile mark. I figured what the hell, and placed a $300 (GASP!) bet on the first of the three- BAM! NATURAL 21. I almost DIED. CHA-CHING! Second hand, I placed $300 again and BAM- 2 lovely ladies to Joe's 6! Last hand came and I went for broke- $500 bet- I almost peed in my pants when I got dealt a 20- I was already deciding what color Prada bag to buy for vegas and wouldn't you know- I pushed. GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME. I handed Joe a BlackChip( what am I? Rockefeller??)and he asked for my number- I gave him the number for Papa John's. ( He was really sweet and my good luck charm, but about 15 years to old for me!) Met Tommy at the cage and had to re-adjust my eyes when I saw his cradle full of greens and blacks. He said he had gotten up from the table twice the whole night. He cashed in $4535- and laughed about his $96 ticket all the way to the bank. It was my turn and since I truly believe Kenny Rogers when he says to never count your money while your sitting at the table- I really had no idea what I was up. I glanced down quickly while in line, and saw a lot of black, so I figured I was up $1700-$1800. Imagine my surprise when the read-out said $3450.00. Ok, wait- surprise is not the word- more like SHOCK. I was absoultey amazed that *I* had done that. This was only my third occassion playing a live game, and my first ever when I actually KNEW basic stradegy.

So..... I am going to vegas with a much bigger bankroll than I planned on. Most likely, I'll give it all back- but- damn! That was FUN!!

Total Profit for 5 hour boat trip- $ 3250.00

Times I screamed "whoot there it is!"- 9

Times the guy next to me "discreetly" picked his nose- 27

Times Joe had to ask the drunk at first base if he was " sure he wanted to hit that 17"- 4

Times I was glad I had taken dramamine- 3

Times I did a "Go monique! it's your birthday!" dance in my head- 3250!

Thanks for reading!
Mo

 

Woohoo!!! You go girl! Great report; what fabulous luck!!! Hope some of it holds for LV!

 

that was a great, funny story.

Hope your luck holds for your upcoming trip.

 

Funny read......thanks for the report! He might be sad to realize you gave him a bogus number, but at least he'll get a good dang pizza out of it!! Mmmmmmmmm, Papa John's!

 

You could have given the guy Domino's number...at least he would have been able to get a good pizza out of the deal

Good story and good luck in Vegas.