Hi Gang:
As our 2009 casino visits dwindle to a precious few (we'll be out of
action the entire month of December after my hip replacement on Dec. 1), Hedy
and I continue to edge ever closer to finishing in the black (with cashback,
of course) for a second straight year.
Our latest foray into positive territory came this past week at Harrah's
AC during a Wednesday-Thursday, two-night stay. Again, playing exclusively
9/6 DDB at the dollar level, we started the trip on the right foot Wednesday
when I held three aces and drew the fourth with a kicker for a $2G score.
Hedy was doing her thing as well, building her credit bank above the $1,000
mark, but in the blink of any eye the brutal variance of DDB reared its
ugly head and we found ourselves finishing Day One of our trip showing just a
modest profit.
Day Two started slowly, especially for me, but Hedy was holding her own
with a few bonus-quad hits, so I stopped playing and watched her while giving
her some moral support from the sidelines. Around mid-day, I watched as
she held three aces, hit the draw button and up popped the fourth ace and a
four for another $2G hand pay. At this point, we took a break for some lunch
and a quick trip to the nearby Hamilton Mall to do some shopping. We were
up over $1,500.
When we returned, we decided "to play a little" before we had dinner and
watched a free (Seven Stars perk) movie in the room, but, as Yogi would say,
it was deja ju all over again as the VP poker Gods put their foot down.
All our profit disappeared and as we chowed down in buffet all we could think
about was how stupid we were to have frittered away a sizable profit two
days in a row.
We pretty much decided to not play on Friday, just to have breakfast,
collect some bounceback at a couple of casinos and go home, but over eggs in
Reflections Hedy batted her big blue eyes at me and asked, "Can't we just
play a little this morning? I promise if we make a hit we'll run like thieves."
I, of course, can't say no to her so we headed back to the WSOP carousel,
sat down and put $200 each in adjoining machines. We were playing no more
than five minutes when Hedy was dealt three aces. She looked over and said,
"One more ace and we're outta here!" I nodded. A fourth ace for $800 would
have been beautiful.
Well, unbelievably, she not only got the fourth rocket, but a deuce as
well and we had our third $2G hand pay in as many days! When her machine
locked up, Hedy thrust her hand into the air and screamed, "God must love me!"
And, you know what, I think He does!
We did not play another hand, cashed out both machines and headed on our
merry way.
It was our sixth straight substantial win over the last couple of months
and moved us within $1,000 of the break-even point for the year.
What continues to amaze me is how many times we hit aces with a kicker in
DDB. We are way above the curve with this hand, and that continues to make
the roller-coaster ride of DDB a lot more palatable.
Another quirky thing about our three sets of aces with a kicker on this
trip is that every time we got them the aces were all together, with the two
red ones next to each and the two black ones next to each other, with the
kicker in either the far left or far right position. Strange.
Anyway, we will attempt to finish 2009 in the black on our final trip of
the year Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving at Harrah's. Are there any
more sets of aces in our future? We can only hope.
Regards,
CoachVee & Hedy
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