Blue Men, Pooling, Partying, and Gambling at Beau Rivage in Biloxi

As always, this will be long and detailed, so be forewarned. We were back down on the MS Gulf Coast two weeks ago. Our main impetus for going was that The Blue Man Group was going to be doing 3 shows at the Beau Rivage. We loved their Las Vegas show and were very excited to have the opportunity to see them again. After an uneventful drive down, we were soon pulling up to the West Valet parking. BTW- the West Valet (in the parking garage) is about 10 times faster than the Valet at the front entrance in case you ever drive to the Beau Rivage. The only downside is the longer walk thru the shopping promenade. Check was pretty quick for the BR and we were soon in our room calling the bellman to get our bags. We were on the 11th floor directly over the pool area with a nice view of the Gulf of Mexico. The room was very nice and had a great bathroom. For some unexplainable reason, the rooms in this middle section of the hotel always seem larger to us than the rooms in the East and West wings. Soon the bags joined us and I headed for the casino floor after a hurried unpacking. The Baboo assured me that she would catch up to me at the Breeze bar. Since I had driven down, I was ready to finally have a cool beverage.

There were plenty of seats available and I quickly got down to some Video poker business. Feeding in a $100, I started chasing that progressive that was at $6,129. For some reason, this machine was less happy to see me than I was to see it. In way too short a time, I was down to 0 credits. For my C-note, I had only hit 1 straight and 1 flush. Hard to stay in play like that. Hoping for better luck, I fed in another bill. Thankfully, this did produce better results, including a 4OAK (8's). Combined with some other hits, I played this one for a pretty long time and even pulled slightly ahead for a while. Then I hit an extended dry spell that pulled my meter down to 100 credits. Wanting to keep my loss at $100, I took off for greener pastures.

I went for a stroll around the Beau to see if anything had changed since we were here two weeks ago. I quickly noticed some signage for a 100K blackjack tournament called the "Home Run" tournament. Unfortunately, it was by invitation only and I was without the required invite. Dang, I truly love gaming tournaments and this was two visits in a row that the Beau was holding big tournaments without me. I sure wish I was held in higher esteem by the Beau. As I was walking around, I noticed that the Caribbean Stud jackpot was up over $179,000. Despite knowing the long odds I faced, I had to take a few shots at that big jackpot. I only play Carribean Stud when the jackpot is over 100K and this one had been over that threshold for a while.

I was able to grab my favorite seat (3rd bse) which gave me a great view of one of the main walkways in the Beau Rivage. The constant flow of people kept me entertained when the dealer was occupied and we were waiting on our next hand. It seemed that taking a swing for the 179K jackpot fence was a pretty popular idea. I would wind up playing on this table for about 3 hours tonight and there was a steady stream of people sitting down at our table. The Baboo spotted me on her way to the Breeze and let me know that she would be over in the slot area close to the Players Club. We quickly made plans to have a drink at 875 (the closest thing to an ultralounge in Biloxi) later. We had a pretty fun table and a few of us were fortunate enough to actually win a little money. I had 2 sisters from Arkansas in the two seats to my fight for the first 2 hours that I played. They had been in the Margaritas pretty early and were having a whole lot of fun. They had played this same table for a long time the previous night and were determined to win that 179K jackpot before they went home in the morning. It turned out that they play NTN trivia at a bar (West End Smokehouse) in Little Rock that one of my best buddies frequents pretty regularly. I told them to be on the lookout for him They kept the table lively the entire night. Their mom eventually joined us and I thought they might tone it down a little. WRONG! Their mom was just as much fun as they were and the table got even livelier after her arrival. That type of lively and fun interaction between players (and dealers too) is one of the main reasons that table games are so much more appealing to me than most machines. This was a very entertaining two hours.

There were 2 other notable players on our table this night. The first was a younger guy with a Crimson Tide shirt, a Crimson Tide hat, and a Crimson Tide watch. He definitely wanted you to know who he supported. What made him memorable to me was the fact that he was betting $25 on the ante and $50 on the bet without ever looking at his cards. In other words, he was playing blind. He had bought in for $500 and also had brought 5 $100 promotional chips with him. Whenever he wanted to play one of his promotional chips, he had to jump his ante up to $50 so that he could play his promo chip. (you have to bet exactly double your ante on your bet in Caribbean Stud) At Beau Rivage, you canot change promotional chips to smaller denominations. You have to bet it all on one bet. His playing in the blind strategy wasn't working out too well and soon he had lost all 5 of his $100 promo chips. At least he had the good sense to get up and leave with some of his original $500 cash buy-in intact. To me, CSP is hard enough to beat even when you look at your cards. It gets a lot harder if you play blind. The other guy who stood out in my mind was a guy who came in and started out betting $100 on the ante and $200 on the bet. This was a $10 table so he was definitely betting pretty big. Fortunately for him, he got better cards than the other guy. Plus, he was looking at his cards before adding that $200 bet. He caught a good run of cards and was soon up over $3,000. Once he got that big pile of chips, he vamoosed with his winnings. Smart guy.

I wasn't doing anything nearly as dramatic as the big winner but then I was only betting $15/30. Still, I had eked out a couple of hundred in profit by the time The Baboo showed up with the good news that she had won $400 on the slots. YeeHaa, let's celebrate. I colored up and we made or way over to the 875 lounge. They were having a promotion in which all customers who were wearing pink got their choice of a free pink drink. (there were 5-6 choices) Unfortunately the sign clearly said that pink underwear did not qualify. Well, The Baboo asked anyway and was able to do so in a way that the bartender laughed and gave her one anyway after documenting that she did indeed have on pink underwear. This bartender was very fun-loving and quite friendly. The Baboo chose a "Chunky Monkey" as her pink drink. The name was derived from all of the fruit that was in the drink. It didn't just have a normal garnish, it had a mini fruit salad in that tall pilsner glass. I got a sip and it was delicious. With no pink of my own, I went with a more mundane Beck's beer. We were able to snag a couple of seats on the couches next to the rail with a great view of the main walkway from the theater. On the couch opposite us was a thirty-something who said that she and her husband had come down from the Grand in a limo. She was slightly perturbed at him for going off gambling without giving her any money. We offered to buy her a drink but she said that she would go find him when she needed one. We hadn't been sitting here long before the crowd from that night's Blue Man Group show started traipsing by. This was an early show and included a good many kids. Most people looked like they had enjoyed the show, especially the ones who still had on their ponchos and who obviously had seats in the very front. There were a few people who had that perplexed look on their faces who didn't connect with the Blue Man show but the vast majority of the crowd walking by were smiling and discussing their favorite parts of the show. Once that parade thinned out, we got a fresh round of drinks (Baboo switched to White Russians), bid adieu to our new friend and hit the casino floor.

We decided to try our little gambit of playing $100 together on a couple of $5 machines. She got to choose first and led us to a nearby "Pinball" machine. (What? No Top Dollar?) It didn't matter because we didn't hit squat on the Pinball. I then found a Triple Diamond to serve as my choice (so I guess I am about as predictable as her). One reason I gravitate to the Diamonds is that they seem to hit at least a little and this one was no exception. It gave up a number of small hits but never enough that we could double our money and cash out. Eventually we went broke but at least it took us a little while to do so. The Beau Rivage had a scratch-off game going on so we went by the Players Club to pick up our tickets. The line was long but that was no surprise. On the bright side, it did move pretty efficiently. Once we got to the front, I discovered that I did not have my photo ID and couldn't get my tickets. The Baboo got a handful of tickets but only won $5 freeplay and a $5 discount in the shops. The next day I got my 3 tickets and only won the same $5 discount in the shops. With that behind us, we had to decide what to do. Since she had won a little, Baboo was still in a gambling mood and went off to try her luck. I decided to go back to the Caribbean Stud table I had enjoyed so much earlier.

When I got there, the table was full so I went and found a seat at The Breeze. I piddled around with a $ JOB game and wound up $50 ahead when I saw a seat open up over at the Caribbean Stud table. I immediately moved over there. Unfortunately, the Arkansas contingent was gone and our table was much quieter and calmer. I played for an hour and squeezed a slight profit from the game. Combined with my good fortune earlier, I had managed to take $250 from this table tonight. I was happy because winning on a CSP table is not an easy thing to do. One thing that helped was that I had one "clipboard" hand. (a flush or higher gets a bonus paid from the jackpot money and has to be recorded on a clipboard) when I hit a full house ($100 bonus) of sevens over fours. The dealer even opened on that hand so close to half my profit on this table came from that one hand. Since the table wasn't hopping like it was earlier and I had already played over 3 hours on this table, I decided to shift gears and try a different game.

I went over and played blackjack for a while and won $100 but I guess nothing all that noteworthy happened because all I have is an entry in my notes that stated I played and won the hundred. From there, I spent a little time at The Breeze playing VP and apparantly lost the $100 I had just won. So I guess that just illustrates the give and take nature of a night in the casino.

By now I was ready for some poker and made my way in that direction. The poker room was busy but I was able to get a seat on a 4/8 limit hold-em table right away. Our table was a pretty friendly bunch for the most part and it seemed like everyone was having fun. (that is the best kind of table) I was able to make a little headway on building my chip pyramid (when I complete the pyramid, I have doubled my buy-in..it's a good way to keep track of how you are doing without having to actually count chips) I felt like I could win on this table as long as these fun-loving people stayed here. Two events stood out during my time here. One was good, one was not so good. The Beau Rivage has a poker room promotion in which they come to each table at midnight and deal everyone a card. The high card wins $50. When they did our table, I first looked down at the Ace of Spades and soon thereafter, two green $25 chips. Man, I like this promotion!

Later on, a good news/bad news type situation occured. We were on into the early morning hours when I had the good fortune to make a full house and win a pretty substantial pot. (good news) Making a full house or better also earned me some drawing tickets for a drawing the Beau poker room was having on Sunday. (more good news) Knowing I would not be there Sunday, I asked if anyone else would be able to use the tickets. The only person who spoke up was a young black guy who had been keeping us laughing all night with his running poker commentary. I threw the tickets down to him and wished him luck. He started filling out the first ticket and then this old crone of a sourpuss shrilled out "He can't do that, he can't take those tickets!" . (bad news) This old (and when someone as ancient as me calls you old, you are truly old) woman was a regular (two dealers knew her by name) and she just threw a fit over these 5 tickets. Anyway, the floor came over and confirmed that the tickets werer indeed non-transferable. While it didn't matter that much to me anyway since I wouldn't be there Sunday, I was still a little ticked with the annoying way the woman had reacted. (Yeah, I know that technically she was within her rights but it still irritated me that she made such a big deal over a few drawing tickets) So I took the tickets back and decided to try a little of my humor on the Beau Rivage poker room. I took my 5 tickets and filled them out with fictitious names that we used to occasionally put on our name badges back during our fraternity rush days at college to clown around on the naive guys going thru rush. These are names that look innocent enough in print but sound pretty funny (mostly a little risque) when spoken. If this same floor man was calling out the names of winners drawn from the drum, he was likely to be a little red-faced on Sunday. I wanted to be sure that I put these tickets in the drum myself without anyone else having the chance to read them so I just stuck them behind my chips with the intention of dropping them in the drum on my next bathroom break. Before the next hand was even completed, the same "bundle of joy" woman was once again (with a slight touch of hysteria) screeching "he can't keep the tickets on the table, he can't keep the tickets on the table!". Now I fully understand the non-transferable aspect of these drawing tickets but what could it hurt if I waited until I took a break to drop them in the drum? So here comes the floor guy to take up the tickets. By now I just figured these drawing tickets were waaay more headache than they were worth and just tore them in half. Two things made this unpleasnt experience more tolerable. The first is that the mood of the table totally turned against this woman who had brought our care-free fun atmosphere to a screeching (literally) halt. The second thing is that she went broke and had to leave while I was still at the table. Despite the distractions, this table had been good to me. By the time I colored up, I had 3 full racks of white ($300), my two green chips from the promotion($50), and a handful of red chips ($5's). I had bought in for a rack ($100) so my time in the poker room had been relatively profitable.

The poker room at the Beau is a really nice one. They have enough tables that you can get a seat almost anytime. Their chairs are very comfortable and their dealers are competent. As my story shows, they have a number of fun promotions going on and they also run good tournaments. The one thing they might have a little deficiency in is their poker room cocktail service. Twice I got tired of waiting and just stopped by the Breeze to pick up a beer on my way back from the restroom. But then again, who knows? Maybe they had me cut off after all that drawing ticket controversy. Nah, they eventually got us a waitress after others complained.

Since it was now after 3 AM, I figured it might be a good time to get some sleep. Riding the elevator up to the 11th floor, it dawned on me that I hadn't eaten anything since we made our mandatory stop at Rose's BBQ in Hattiesburg on the way down. I didn't really feel like going back downstairs so I made do with some room snacks and finished my first night at Beau Rivage with a delightful repaste of mini-oreos topped with canned cheddar cheese. Don't ask how I discovered that combination but I love em.

Friday morning rolled around we were up by 9 AM. The Baboo convinced me that I wouldn't mind running down to the Roasted Bean and fetching her some coffee. While I was there, I also got a big ole brownie and one of their minature pecan pies for us to enjoy. Once back in the room, we split those wonderful desserts and compared tales. I told her about the poker room (both good and bad) and she told me of her adventures at the Coast nightclub. After we played the $5 machines together, she tried to find a friendly dollar machine but they were all cold and tight. She was over close enought to Coast to hear the band and decided to go inside and check them out. After taking a seat on the rail overlooking the dance floor, she spotted our couch-mate from 875 out on the dance floor getting her groove on. BTW- this girl had been dressed for clubbing even back at 875. She came here to party , not to gamble. The Baboo went down to say hello and the girl immediately dragged her onto the dance floor. Baboo didn't stay out there but two songs but she did show them a few steps. I hate I missed it. Though she stopped dancing, she stayed there at Coast a pretty good while as she enjoyed the music and people watching. On the gambling front, I had enjoyed a nice night with decent wins at Caribbean Stud and Poker with a small win at blackjack. I lost a little at video poker and on the slots. The Baboo finished the night in the black also so things looked OK in that regard.

One of my goals ws to get in some pool time. Unfortunately, the weather guys kept saying that it would be raining most of the afternoon. At 11 AM it was a little hazy with some cloud cover. I decided I had better get on down there if I wanted to get some sun before it really clouded up or rained. Just before I went downstairs, The Weather Channel showed a report from Minnesota telling about the 5 ft show drifts that they had gotten overnight. It made me very appreciative of the warm Gulf Coast weather I was about to enjoy. So I grabbed my pool bag with oil, my book (Hunting Fish), and my 3 beers and took off. When we were down here two weeks earlier, it seemed like they hadn't officially opened the pool. But this trip, they were wide open with pool attendants, towel service, and cocktail service. There were around 50 people at the pool when I first got there and there never got a whole lot more folks as the afternoon wore on. Nevertheless, the pool had enough activity and traffic to make it enjoyable. The weather was nice and warm with a gentle Gulf breeze blowing.

After reading for a while, I had a sort of epiphany. While I guess I have always believed it subsconciously, it just dawned on my concious mind that I EXPECT TO WIN every single time I sit down at a poker table to play limit hold-em. My win rate supports that expectation and it surprises me when I have a losing poker session. Conversely, I EXPECT TO LOSE when I sit down at a blackjack table. Of course, when playing a negative expectation game like blackjack, you should expect to lose more often than you win. Still, it just struck me out of the blue that I have that strong positive expectation for limit poker. Maybe it was the book I was reading. People who play poker poorly are often referred to as "fish" and the complete name of my book was "Hunting Fish....A cross country search for the worst poker players in America". Ha! he might have been looking for me. BTW- I don't feel nearly as confident on my occasional forays onto a no-limit table. Even though both are hold-em poker games, there is a vast amount of difference in the way that they are played.

So there I was, just laying around soaking up UV rays, enjoying a 3-pack of cold beer and reading a poker tale. Things got even better when the haze burned off and we got one of those really bright "not a cloud in the sky" days. HA! Meteorologists missed another one! Good for us! By now, I was out of beer and flagged down a passing cocktail to order one of their aluminum long necks. They only had Anheuser Busch products and I am a Miller guy but I could deal with that. Things were good at the Beau Rivage pool. They got better a few minutes later whe The Baboo joined me. After a while, she got thirsty and started perusing the drink menu to see what looked good. After a short debate, she settled on a Tropical Trouble, mainly because it had banana liqueur in it. We had enjoyed some really memorable (The Earl Special) banana liqueur drinks at Sandals in Jamaica a few years back. Since she was having one, I had to join the fun too. Once we got them they were delicious. Like a certain brand of potato chip, she couldn't have just one. I skipped out on the next round and returned to my aluminum long necks. So that is how we passed the next couple of hours.

Once we got to the room she wanted to soak in the tub (slight sunburn) so I ran down to Snacks to get us a couple of sandwiches (Roast & Ham/Cheese) to hold us till dinner. They were good and certainly hit the spot. After our lunch, I once again made my way to the casino floor. Other than sleeping, I don't spend a great deal of time in the room. Another round of VP at the Breeze seemed in order. Feeding in a C-note, I checked all the jackpots. The Sure Fire was untoched and still over 162K, the Rapid Fire had been hit but was back to $864, and the Quick Fire had also been hit and now stood at $5,146. The JOB progressive had not been hit and was over $6,500. On this trip, the Rabid Fire was the only one that played while I was on a machine and of course someone else won it that time. The 2 bartenders at the Breeze today had very different styles. One was super friendly and always had a smile. He was also a very concientious bartender who constantly circled the Breeze looking for a thirsty patron. The other guy was more reserved and business-like. He also like to stand around more, sometimes chit-chatting with the cocktail servers and sometimes just piddling around with busy work. Guess which one had me on his side of the bar? I spent an enjoyable hour or so sipping beer and chasing that 6 thousand dollar progressive. Finally tiring of VP, I set out for something a little more exciting.

Well, what can be more exciting than a craps table? I walked around the craps pit trying to make my table choice and finally picked a table that had a little more room than the others. I quickly bought in for my usual $600 and got ready to play. Since a point had already been established, I dropped a green ($25) chip and instructed the dealer to give me "12 dollars on the 6 & 8". He politely informed me that this was a $25 minimum table. So that explained why there was more elbow room on this table. I dropped another $40 dollars and made my bet $30 each on the 6 & 8. The shooter crapped out two rolls later without hitting either of my numbers and there went 10% of my buy-in. To make my normal bets on this table, it would cost me $135 for each shooter. ($25 pass line/$50 odds, a $30 six and a $30 eight). I knew I didn't want to play that high so I colored up and went in search of a less expensive table.

Fortunately, I was able to get a space on a $10 minimum table that was only one space away from my favorite spot (1 right of stick). While that $25 table had some impressive chips stacks ($$$thousands), this table was no slouch itself. Just on my end of the table, there were 3 players with at least 3-4 thousand dollars in their racks. I guess it was the time of day or something. The dice had just passed to the other end as I was getting settled in. Putting down my regular pass line, odds, and place bets, I started hoping for a hot shooter. Unfortunately, there was no hot shooter on that end of the table. Shooter after shooter would establish a point and then you would hear "7-OUT, pay the don'ts and take the line", which meant that most of us had just lost. In no time at all, I had less than half of my original buy-in left and the dice hadn't even made a full loop of the table.

Now you may think that this next paragraph is the hokiest thing you have ever read but this is just how things happened. As shooter after shooter lost the dice and everyone's bankroll dwindled, I began to try and get mentally prepared for my roll. All my academic background is in psychology and I believe in positive self-talk. On the other hand, it might have been the effects of the heat & beer at the pool. Anyway, when the dice got one shooter away from me, I started mentally repeating a mantra that said "You are STRONG, put this table on your back and carry it". Of course that was just a metaphor, I wasn't about to attempt any feats of physical strength. I just wanted to carry our table to the promised land of craps players and win us some money. After the player to my right crapped out, I took the dice and began what would be the best roll I have had since a memorable one last summer. I normally start out with a $10 passline bet and $20 odds. With the 10X odds at the Beau Rivage, I could press those odds up several times before I had to add to my pass line bet. I also start out with $12 placed on the 6 & 8. I press those bets up $6 every time they hit until I have a $30 bet. Then I press them up by $12 each time they hit until I hit $102 and then jump to $24 presses from then on.

You have all heard the phrsase "he was on a roll". Well, that is a perfect description of me that day. While I made multiple (at least 5 , maybe even 7-8) points, I was absolutely killing the numbers. I know I popped those 6's and 8's a lot because I wound up with well over $100 bet on each of them by the end of the roll. The 5's and 9's came pretty frequently also. That didn't help me but it sure helped a lot of my table-mates. When I get on a roll like this, I zone out everything around me and develop a sort of tunnel-vision in which all I see is that little 6" by 6" landing zone I am throwing the dice to. I hear almost nothing and by the time a really good roll develops, the dealers know my betting desires so I don't have to speak to anyone much. The only thnig that even slightly jarred me out of this ZEN-like state happened about two-thirds of the way thru the roll when the man to my right moved away from me further around the table. I glanced over to see if I had somehow offended him but he quickly reassured me that he "just wanted to give you more room to shoot". Astute craps players often go to great lengths to not disturb a shooter who is on a good roll. While the dealers were paying off winning bets, I continued to murmer my mantra to myself. Everyone on the table was in tune, including the dealers. I always put a bet up for them on top of my odds bet so they were winnng along with the rest of us. The stick was bringing me the dice back in the "flying V" formation I like to throw (3/3 on top) and the only delay was the time it took the dealers to pay off the many winning bets. By the time I finally rolled a 7, I had won over $900 on this one roll. Several of the players with those big chip stacks won 4 or 5 thousand dollars. I have no idea how long the roll was because I was so zoned out. I do know that we were all very happy after that long dry spell before my roll. The next shooter didn't do much and I decided to take my money and run. I rarely have two really good rolls in the same session and no one else had shown anything so it seemed like a good time to go get Baboo.

Since she was dressed and ready, we immediately made our way down to Memphis Q ( A great BBQ place) for some dinner. Thinking I was really hungry, I ordered the sampler platter (ribs, sausage, brisket, & game hen) while The Baboo got the Brisket dinner. Our service was great and the food was delicious. I am usually on a low carb diet (when not on vacation) and eat a lot of grilled stuff. This meal at Memphis Q was an outstanding example of some great grilling. The only thing we could complain about was that we got full too early and couldn't finish everything. After thoroughly enjoying our meal, we got a go-box and took our leftovers up to the room. It was time to get ready for Blue Man Group. ( To get psyched up, we had listened to our BMG CD most of the drive down) After seeing the kids at the 7 PM show the night before, I had been admonished for wanting to wear my favorite "Betty Page" shirt. Afte reconsideration, The Baboo decided that there would not be many youngsters at our show due to the late starting time. (10 PM) Therefore, I got the green light to wear my slightly risque but oh so fun shirt with Betty Page in all her glory.

We quickly made our way to the 875 lounge for a pre-show drink. Once again we were able to get a seat on one of the love-seats next to the rail. There was no pink underwear promotion going on tonight so we both got White Russians. By the time we finished those, it was about time to get to the theater. We knew from previous BMG shows that you do not want to come in late. Entry into the theater was a piece of cake and we had plenty of time to stop by the concession stand to get us a "signature frozen drink" in a souvenir glass. I wasn't as concerned with the souvenir part as I was that it was the largest drink glass offered. I didn't want to miss any of the show while fetching another drink. After procurring our refreshaments, we made our way to our seats which were on the second row of the second level. I was on the aisle seat, she was one seat in. Looking around, I noticed quite a bit of diversity in years lived among the audience members. I hoped everyone would connect with the BMG show and have a good time.

We both loved the show but there were a few differences from the show we had seen a couple of times at the Luxor. The theme for this show was "Rock Star Instruction Kit". I don't want to spoil anything for people who might see the show later but I will reveal that they now include vocals on a few songs. Personally, I prefer their music without vocals but others may think that it adds to the show. Different strokes and all that. Still, it was a great time and we really enjoyed it. For a moment , I thought I might be going on stage. One of the Blue Men came up our aisle and stood right next to me. Thankfully, he grabbed the guy sitting immediately behind me. Maybe my beard saved me since paint would be hard to remove from there.

After the show, we made our way over to the $5 machines by the players club to try our combined luck. Tonight was even worse than Thursday night. We only had 5 spins on our respective machines and the only thing we saw was one lonely cherry symbol on a Double Wild Cherry machine. Since it was after midnight, The Baboo decided to call it a night. I am a little more of a night owl so I stayed.

I returned to the Caribbean Stud table I had enjoyed so much the night before. For some reason, it was not nearly as popular at it had been last night. I played for almost 2 hours and never had more than 3 players on the table. The first thing I noticed was that the big Royal Flush jackpot was down to $162,000 which meant that someone had hit a regular straight flush after I quit playing the night before and had collected $18,000. The dealer told me that someone had hit a straight flush around 2:30 AM the night before. I guess that was when I was in the poker room. Darn! I would have liked to witness such an event even if I wasn't the one who won it. Since the table had fewer players, I wound up talking one on one with the dealer more tonight. He was a very nice guy from London and had dealt in a lot of different places. He definitely had some interesting stories. There was a lady a couple of tables over who had been in the sauce a bit and would scream out with regularity when she won something. We spent a good deal of time at our table laughing and speculating on how big a win it took to trigger her yelling celebration. Everyone in the vicinity would have to look to see what the commotion was every time she screamed in celebration. She was very entertaining. One thing that was not entertaining was the cards on this table. I endured a slow bankroll drain that pulled a little over $200 off my stack. When my London dealer went on his second break, I decided to take a break too.

Since I hadn't played any blackjack all day, I made my way to the pit over by the Coast nightclub. There is always a lot of interesting foot traffic over there on weekend nights. I found an open seat on a quarter table and commenced to play. I quickly figured out that this dealer was brutal. I just could not get any traction at all against him. But it could have been a lot worse. I had a fellow join the table who had a BIG pile of chips with him. He even had stacks of yellow ($1,000) and purple ($500). Not one or two chips, but stacks. I would estimate that he had at least $15,000 when he sat down. The other remarkable thing about this gentleman was that he was flat-out plastered. I had been drinking off and on for most of the day but this guy was waaaay further down that path than I was. He sure picked the wrong table to bring a big pile of money to. He varied his bets based on whims and hunches but even his small bets were pretty substantial. Some were merely big while his others were huge (by my standards). He lost down to $3,000 and then made a bit of a rally to get back up around 8 or 9 thousand but it didn't last. He once again lost down to 3k and this time he quiit. I wasn't doing any better. A couple of hands after he left, I was down to my last $75 from my $600 buy-in. It galled me for this one dealer to absolutely break me so I got up and moved over to the next table. I had my choice of seats since the table was empty. I sat down and pushed out my three green chips. Finally, a Winner! I collected my winnings and left the $75 out there. This time I dot a doubling hand and doubled down. Another Winner! I upped my bet to $100. Oh man, another doubling hand. Oh well, no guts, no glory. Out went another 4 green chips. Yeah Baby! Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner! That put me back even for blackjack and it only took 4 hands and less than 5 minutes to get there. I knew I was one lucky duck. I decided to take my good fortune (and money) and get out while the getting was good.

I walked down to the poker room and saw that it was packed. There were four people ahead of me on the 4/8 list. Since it was late and I was tired, I didn't even have them put me on the list. Still, I couldn't quite call it a night. I went back to my lucky blackjack dealer for one last session before bed. Alas, the magic was gone. I lost $200 in my first 10 hands and took that as a sign to call it a night.

We checked out the next morning but spent a little time in the shopping promenade before leaving. After all, The Baboo had 10 dollars in discounts from our scratch-offs. I got a brownie from the Bean and sat outside on the patio while she found something to buy. That didn't take long and soon we were headed over to the Hard Rock.

Our first stop was the middle bar for a drink and some VP. As usual I was on a $ JOB and she was on her usual .25 machine. I burned thru that first hundred pretty quickly (my only hits were 2 flushes) and had to reload. Things didn't get any better and I was soon down to 50 credits. Thinking something had to give, I switched down to .50 even though that took my paytable from 9/6 to 8/5. One thing that did not change was my luck. My first 8 hands at .50 were non-winners. Finally, things started to come around and I was at least able to hold my own for a while. We were sitting at the last 2 machines on the end of the bar where the servers get their drinks. These 2 machines were set about a foot lower than the other bartops but we still had the same high stools. It felt a little strange but it worked OK. Being down there, we were able to talk and visit with the real friendly bartenders. With 2 bartenders right in front of us all the time, we were constantly asked if we were ready for another drink. This continued even when The Baboo started playing 1 coin on her .25 machine. So there isn't much heat for players not playing max coin. Since Baboo was driving home, I was all for this personalized drink service. She showed some restraint though.

Eventually it was time to do something else. Since I had neglected to play my daily Wheel of Fortune allotment the day before, I decided to take that $30 and combine it with today's $30 in an attempt to win the 12 million dollar jackpot. Baboo decided she would give it a whirl too. We made our way over to the bank of WOF $ machines and were able to get the 2 seats on the end and play side by side. I was fortunate enough to at least spin my wheel but Baboo's machine didn't even let her spin the wheel. My WOF spin only netted $25 so all it did was let me play for a little longer. There was one other person on this bank of machines and that lady was sitting two seats to our left. Her machine was "hot". In that short period of time that we were there, she got to spin the wheel four times. (25,25,100,500) She told us that she had been there in that same chair for four hours. I believed her since she looked a little tired, even with her feet propped up on the chair between us. Plus, she would have had plenty of credits if the frequency of her wheel spins was any indication. Since our daily "big progressive" allottment was gone, so were we.

By now we were both a little hungry and we made our way over to the buffet. They told us that they would be closing in less than 30 mintues. Obviously they take a break between lunch and dinner. Baboo pointed out that since they were about to close, the selections could be limited. Therefore, we chose to eat at 24/7 the Hard Rock's coffee shop type restaurant. We were quickly shown a booth and a very friendly waitress came over to serve us. I wanted to show my stomach some love after all the alcohol abuse I had put it through the last 2 days and ordered the 24/7 double-decker grilled cheese with home fries. The Baboo looked over at me and said "I wish they had a BLT on the menu". Our waitress overheard her and promised that she would find a way to get her a BLT even though it was not on the menu. Her word was as good as her bond. Once we got the ticket, I saw that she had charged us with : 1. one order of bacon ($1.25) and 2. one order of toast ($.75). She then instructed the cook to add the rest of the fixings to construct a BLT. What ingenuity! What service! My double-decker grilled cheese came on Texas Toast and used both American and cheddar cheese. It was outstanding and just what my long suffering stomach needed. The Baboo gave big kudos to her BLT also. Not only was it tasty but it was also super cheap. That waitess took care of us and we did hte same for her when we paid the bill.

There was a bit of amusement while we were at 24/7. Not long after we were seated, they seated a bachelorette group in the booths next to us. The bride had on one of those tiara looking things with a mini veil/train and all the bridesmaids had assorted beads and buttons on. There were 8-10 of them and they walked in carrying their drinks. You could easily tell that those were not their first drinks of the day. (and surely would not be their last either) They were having a great time laughing and carrying on with each other. What had The Baboo and I laughing was what they had balanced on the back of the booth nearest us. The bride had come in holding a pink, inflatable "Mr. Happy" that was about 3 feet long and had a grinning face painted on the end of it. She placed it on the back of her booth for safe-keepng while she ate. It was hilarious to watch the in-coming customers as they were being seated. The looks on their faces when they realized what was staring back at them from the top of the booth was priceless and kept us both tickled the entire time we were there. The bridal party was still having a lot of fun when we paid up and left. I just hope the wedding was as fun as the bachelorette party.

By now it was time to go. After taking a few pictures of the shrimp boats moored at the Hard Rock marina, we hit the road. Even though it was a little out of the way, we went across the new Biloxi/Ocean Springs bridge and went to the interstate that way. It was our first time to go that way since Katrina demolished the previous bridge. That sure is a pretty bridge with the cream colored concrete and soaring structure. We both loved the pedestrian walkway. The next time I stay at the Grand, I intend to walk across it.

So that is the story. We both had a lot of fun with no real big disappointments or aggravations. I played more tables this trip and less VP. I am curious how that will affect my relationship with Beau Rivage. (I hope they invite to some of their table tournaments) I know this tale got really long. I hope y'all didn't mind. I put everything in it because I figured one day I will be old and decrepit and might enjoy reading about the fun I had in the good ole days.

 

Nice TR. If I can't go to Vegas the Beau is my next favorite place!

 

nice detailed report.

I've been trying to learn craps for years; standing by the sidelines, having Stanley explain it pre-trip. Nothing worked. Then....we found a $1 table, yes, $1 in Carson City at the Nugget, a couple of weeks ago. The table was dead, the crew welcomed us (we tipped on EVERY pass and odds bet), so when we won, they won $12. So I actually got to put my lessons into action. The only way to learn I guess.

One thing I don't understand, and Stanley wasn't sure of, is placing bets. We usually put a buck into the come area, then moved it up after the win. However, that required two wins to pay. Placing would be better, right? Stanley thought you might have to bet more to do this. What is the difference between placing, and starting off in the come area? Thanks!

 

Nice report. That was quite a roll at the craps table.

 

Excellent TR!

 

Sierra.

One big difference between a come bet and a place bet is that with a come bet, you get whatever number is rolled and with a place bet, you get to choose what number you want to bet on. (a come bet is very similar to a pass line bet)

Also a number has to come up twice for you to win on a come bet. First when the come point is established and then the second time it comes up, when you win the come bet.

Once you place a number, you win on it the next time it is rolled.

One other consideration is that you can take your place bets down at any time. Once a point is established on a come bet, it stays up until a decision is reached.

 

So why would anyone want choose the come over a place bet?

 

Just as you can do with a pass line bet, you can take odds on your come bets once a point had been established. There is no house advantage on odds bets. Also, while you cannot take your come bet down once a point has been established, you can remove your come odds bet at any time.

 

Thanks for the help! Stanley and I will be there next over the 4th. Reno this weekend.....

 

Nice TR RDM. Loved the craps mantra, I coulda used it last Sunday. I need to get down there sometime when visiting the inlaws.

Where is Rose's BBQ in Hattiesburg?

 

As you leave Hattiesburg on Hwy 49 headed south towards Gulfport/Biloxi, Rose's is on the right in a very non-descript building that is part general store, part 2 pump gas station, and part restaurant. As you might know, the best BBQ usually comes from these type locations. Fancy looking places depend more on decor than great food to generate business. This building is about 500 yards down the road from where you intersect with Hwy 49 if you have come on the bypass from Interstate 59. If you see a sign for the North Gate of Camp Shelby, you have missed Rose's and gone about a mile too far. If you love BBQ, I think you will like this place.

 

Cool. I know right where thats at. I'll try it when we go down for the holidays.