vpFREE2 Forums

Back from our cruise

#1

Hi Gang:
Hedy and I just got back from a glorious eight-day cruise in the Caribbean
aboard Royal Caribbean's brand new mega-ship the Independence of the Seas and
we had a great time, including some dabbling in the ship's casino.
Although the VP paytables onboard are truly atrocious, we had fun most days
throwing in a few 20's, taking our chances on the "wonderful" 6/5 DDB offered
at the quarter level. I also played a little blackjack and took part in
three no-limit Hold 'Em sit-and-go tournaments.
First, the VP.
We lost a few bucks the first day of the cruise but on Day 2 (a sea day),
something truly amazing happened. I was playing blackjack when Hedy came over
to my table with a big smile and a cashout ticket in her hand. I knew she hit
something but I never expected to hear what she told me.
"I was just dealt a four-card royal in clubs," she said, "needed the 10 of
clubs ... and I got it!"
Oh, my God! We've hit royals on cruise ships before, but it's been quite a
while since our last one (we play very little on cruise ships these days as
compared to what we did when we first starting cruising) and this was truly a
surprise.
The $1,000 didn't last too long as I guess most of you suspect, but by Day 5
we were still ahead a couple of hundred dollars. That night we stopped in
the casino after dinner and the evening show to play a little. Hedy hadn't hit
aces with a kicker yet (her staple hand) but she broke that schneid when she
held three aces and got the ace of spades with a three kicker. We pocketed
the 500 bucks and went to bed with big smiles on our faces.
The next day (another sea day) she hit the same hand twice within five
minutes for another $1,000. That kept us going for the rest of the cruise and we
actually showed a $355 profit for our VP play for the cruise.
As far as Hold Em goes, the casino offered 10-payer sit-and-go tournaments
almost every day and on the sea days they had three, one at 1 p.m., one at
2:30 and one at 5. The entry free was $125 and they paid two places. First place
got $700 and second got $300 (a 20% vig, or $250 profit for the casino). The
blinds started at $25-50 and went up every 10 minutes. Players started with
$2,000 in chips.
The tournaments were always full, with a list of alternates for every one.
The tournaments also were played on a table with a real dealer. I really
expected the ship to have a Poker Pro automated table like others I've seen on
these big RCCL ships, but that wasn't the case.
I wound up playing in three tournaments, finishing third (just call me
Bubble Boy) in the first, getting knocked out on the FIRST HAND in the second and
redeeming myself a bit in the third by finishing second. So, I wound up
losing $75 playing Hold Em for the trip.
The first-hand knockout was a killer. I had pocket kings from late position,
raised pre-flop and had three callers. The flop was 5-8-10 rainbow and the
woman to my right was the lone caller of my $300 bet. The turn was a deuce and
I bet $700. The woman called. The river was a three. She then went all in!!
I hemmed and hawed, called and she turned over 3-8 off suit for two pair!!
Gotta love those cruise ship players!!
I could only laugh as I walked away, shaking my head. I had fun, though, in
the three tournaments and met some nice folks from all over the world.
Hedy and I also used our Sea Pass cards while we played VP and at the end of
the cruise we had earned $25 cashback ($15 for Hedy and $10 for me).
The ship was amazing, our ports of call (San Juan, St. Thomas, St.Maarten
and Labadee) all very interesting and, best of all, the weather (80-85 and
sunny everyday) was great.
Coming home to see 2-3 inches of snow on the ground was a bummer but we had
great memories of a wonderful cruise.
We return to Harrah's AC Friday for a one-night stay and welcome a return to
more sane paytables!
Regards,
CoachVee & Hedy
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#2

coachvee wrote:

Hi Gang:
Hedy and I just got back from a glorious eight-day cruise in the
Caribbean aboard Royal Caribbean's brand new mega-ship the
Independence of the Seas and we had a great time, including some
dabbling in the ship's casino ...
I was playing blackjack when Hedy came over to my table with a big
smile and a cashout ticket in her hand. I knew she hit something
but I never expected to hear what she told me.
"I was just dealt a four-card royal in clubs," she said, "needed
the 10 of clubs ... and I got it!" ...
The $1,000 didn't last too long as I guess most of you suspect,
but by Day 5 we were still ahead a couple of hundred dollars. That
night we stopped in the casino after dinner and the evening show to
play a little. Hedy hadn't hit aces with a kicker yet (her staple
hand) but she broke that schneid when she held three aces and got
the ace of spades with a three kicker.

Congrats on another very fine cruise, Coach. Particular kudos go to
Hedy, who truly was walking "in grace" while in the casino (only
something bestowed from the firmaments will see you end any length of
ship vp play a winner! :wink:

You've periodically made use of the word "schneid" in your reports.
There was little doubt that it's a racing editor carryover, with an
unmistakable meaning given the context of your use. This time I was
prompted to investigate further. For the benefit of those who also
are in the dark, the following is excerpted:

···

------------

http://www.word-detective.com/122099.html

I'm not what anyone would call a sports fan, but I have to say that
the field of sports has produced some of the most colorful slang and
metaphors in the English language ...

"The schneid" is a good example of such a term. To be "on the
schneid" means to be on a losing streak, racking up a series of
losing, and especially scoreless, games. "Schneid" is actually short
for "schneider," a term originally used in the card game of gin,
meaning to prevent an opponent from scoring any points. "Schneider"
entered the vocabulary of gin from German (probably via Yiddish),
where it means "tailor." Apparently the original sense was that if you
were "schneidered" in gin you were "cut" (as if by a tailor) from
contention in the game. "Schneider" first appeared in the literature
of card-playing about 1886, but the shortened form "schneid" used in
other sports is probably of fairly recent vintage.

------------

- H.

#3

"The first-hand knockout was a killer. I had pocket kings from late
position,
raised pre-flop and had three callers. The flop was 5-8-10 rainbow and the
woman to my right was the lone caller of my $300 bet. The turn was a
deuce and
I bet $700. The woman called. The river was a three. She then went all
in!!
I hemmed and hawed, called and she turned over 3-8 off suit for two pair!!
Gotta love those cruise ship players!!"

She's saying the same thing.

And the cruise ship operator is laughing the most at everyone gambling
on their ship.

···

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, coachvee@... wrote:

#4

Let them laugh. On my last RCCL cruise I identified four very positive
(and very dated) machines. One of the best thing about cruise lines
are some slots/vp machines are quite old....

···

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "jw776655" <jw776655@...> wrote:

And the cruise ship operator is laughing the most at everyone gambling
on their ship.

#5

>
>
> And the cruise ship operator is laughing the most at everyone

gambling

> on their ship.

Let them laugh. On my last RCCL cruise I identified four very

positive

(and very dated) machines. One of the best thing about cruise lines
are some slots/vp machines are quite old....

Sounds intriguing. Glad you were able to find worthwhile plays there.

···

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "hockeystl" <vegasstl@...> wrote:

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "jw776655" <jw776655@> wrote:

#6

Harry,

I'm a big fan of your posts. I've learned a lot from your contributions.

But I think that your source for the word "Schneid" is wrong.

Yes, "Schneider" is german for "tailor". "Schneider" is also
used in cardgames like "Skat" to denote unfavorable outcomes.

"Schneid" however is very different from "Schneider" and means
"courage". Please look at this dictionary entry:

http://tinyurl.com/cwwrgy

Regards,
  heppel

···

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "Harry Porter" <harry.porter@...> wrote:

You've periodically made use of the word "schneid" in your reports.
There was little doubt that it's a racing editor carryover, with an
unmistakable meaning given the context of your use. This time I was
prompted to investigate further. For the benefit of those who also
are in the dark, the following is excerpted:

------------

http://www.word-detective.com/122099.html

I'm not what anyone would call a sports fan, but I have to say that
the field of sports has produced some of the most colorful slang and
metaphors in the English language ...

"The schneid" is a good example of such a term. To be "on the
schneid" means to be on a losing streak, racking up a series of
losing, and especially scoreless, games. "Schneid" is actually short
for "schneider," a term originally used in the card game of gin,
meaning to prevent an opponent from scoring any points. "Schneider"
entered the vocabulary of gin from German (probably via Yiddish),
where it means "tailor." Apparently the original sense was that if you
were "schneidered" in gin you were "cut" (as if by a tailor) from
contention in the game. "Schneider" first appeared in the literature
of card-playing about 1886, but the shortened form "schneid" used in
other sports is probably of fairly recent vintage.

#7

heppel58 wrote:

But I think that your source for the word "Schneid" is wrong.

Yes, "Schneider" is german for "tailor". "Schneider" is also
used in cardgames like "Skat" to denote unfavorable outcomes.

"Schneid" however is very different from "Schneider" and means
"courage". Please look at this dictionary entry:

http://tinyurl.com/cwwrgy

Quite possibly, although the first source draws a reasonable link
between tailor/cut/bad run of luck. The link between "courage" and a
bad run of luck it a little more tenuous.

- H.

#8

Read this entry for a good explanation.

http://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2008/03/schneidenfreude.html

Regards

A.P.

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