My wife and I lit out Friday afternoon after I got off work for the weekend with play at AmeriStar (supposedly the 9th largest casino in the world.) We had a comp'd night Friday night in a Player's Suite but couldn't get a room for New Year's Eve. The suite was nice though there was no Jacuzzi in it...and that's something I was looking forward to! We got there at around 6pm and Friday and it was unbelievably crowded! I waited around for 2 hours before a seat came open. All the $3, $5 and $10 tables were backed up with people hanging around like buzzards for a seat. Once I did get a chair I didn't dare leave it until I was ready to hit the hay! I bought in for a $80 and colored for $300 Friday night. I was extremely lucky in that I was varying my bets on a 6-deck game by card-watching. It seemed to be working during that 7 hour session.
Got up Saturday morning and hit the tables around 10:30. I played until somewhere around 2pm at which time we had to "move" to the Super-8 about two miles from the casino. Hate that place. We had a mini suite reserved. Turned out to be right next to the Ice machine and vending machines. Strangest place I've ever slept (or tried to sleep!) There was no light switch for the bath (only a heat lamp) and it had an exhaust fan that sounded like a 318 Mopar with a thrown rod! We grabbed a nap for a couple of hours and headed back to AmeriStar around 6pm.
I got very lucky this time. Found a seat in an already crowded casino almost as soon as I got to the table! That place was a ZOO Saturday night. I could shoot management for providing those stupid noise makers! You couldn't hear yourself think! With the demand for table games, there were people standing two and three deep behind every table waiting on open seats! You had to fight your way through the crowd to find a sandbox and then fight your way back to the table hoping that the dealer would keep your spot marked! Never did get anything going that night. Left at around 2am and had lost around half of what I'd won the previous night.
Sunday, we woke up after a very fitful night's sleep at the glorious Super-8! I think the people next door were practicing wild monkey sex.....all night long! I swear I heard beasts from Africa and once, I'm pretty sure there was a bull fight in progress at one point!
We stopped at AmeriStar Sunday morning on the way back to Wichita, supposedly to use up a meal comp...they do have some good restaruants there. Verna wanted to plug some slots that she'd not been able to play the previous two nights (people standing in line for the slots too!) So, I went on up to the BJ tables and located one of the dealers that I know pretty well and was talking to her as she went through the routine of opening the table. Turned out there were over 6,000 people in the casino NYE. 56 were "escorted" to cabs that KC provides free of charge to intoxicated party-goers on NYE. Probably a good practice.
Anyway, Verna was having a good time at the slots so I bought in on the table when it opened. Was not a good run. I lost the rest of what I'd won on Friday night plus another $25. So, as for blackjack, I played for probably 20+ hours in total, and came out $25 down. Average bet was probably $7.50 or $8. I think my largest was a double down with a $30 stack out (I won that one) when I was expecting a run of high cards. I didn't get high cards on the first two but got a 7/4 instead. The dealer had a 10 showing and most of the other hands were made up of faces. My double drew a face and I beat the dealer's 20. Most of my bets were in the $5 or $10 range though.
I killed some time on poker machines while waiting for a table Friday night and while waiting on the tables to open on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Those are the worst poker machines I've ever played! 8/5 JOB was the best I could find. The only good thing was, they were nickle machines! Even at that, I think I must have lost $25 or $30 on them! You seldom ever hit trips and I think I only got one Full House. Forget about hitting flush! Oh well, it was a not so expensive way to sit down while waiting for BJ to become available.
Had fun for the most part. Met up with a roulette dealer I had met on the LVA forum and though he couldn't get a seat, we were able to visit a bit as I was playing Saturday night. It's nice being only 3 hours away from a fairly good choice of casinos. That's far enough that you don't feel compelled to hit them every night but close enough that you can sneak in a couple of trips a month if you wish.
Sure looking forward to the Vegas trip on Jan 11 now!
Got up Saturday morning and hit the tables around 10:30. I played until somewhere around 2pm at which time we had to "move" to the Super-8 about two miles from the casino. Hate that place. We had a mini suite reserved. Turned out to be right next to the Ice machine and vending machines. Strangest place I've ever slept (or tried to sleep!) There was no light switch for the bath (only a heat lamp) and it had an exhaust fan that sounded like a 318 Mopar with a thrown rod! We grabbed a nap for a couple of hours and headed back to AmeriStar around 6pm.
I got very lucky this time. Found a seat in an already crowded casino almost as soon as I got to the table! That place was a ZOO Saturday night. I could shoot management for providing those stupid noise makers! You couldn't hear yourself think! With the demand for table games, there were people standing two and three deep behind every table waiting on open seats! You had to fight your way through the crowd to find a sandbox and then fight your way back to the table hoping that the dealer would keep your spot marked! Never did get anything going that night. Left at around 2am and had lost around half of what I'd won the previous night.
Sunday, we woke up after a very fitful night's sleep at the glorious Super-8! I think the people next door were practicing wild monkey sex.....all night long! I swear I heard beasts from Africa and once, I'm pretty sure there was a bull fight in progress at one point!
We stopped at AmeriStar Sunday morning on the way back to Wichita, supposedly to use up a meal comp...they do have some good restaruants there. Verna wanted to plug some slots that she'd not been able to play the previous two nights (people standing in line for the slots too!) So, I went on up to the BJ tables and located one of the dealers that I know pretty well and was talking to her as she went through the routine of opening the table. Turned out there were over 6,000 people in the casino NYE. 56 were "escorted" to cabs that KC provides free of charge to intoxicated party-goers on NYE. Probably a good practice.
Anyway, Verna was having a good time at the slots so I bought in on the table when it opened. Was not a good run. I lost the rest of what I'd won on Friday night plus another $25. So, as for blackjack, I played for probably 20+ hours in total, and came out $25 down. Average bet was probably $7.50 or $8. I think my largest was a double down with a $30 stack out (I won that one) when I was expecting a run of high cards. I didn't get high cards on the first two but got a 7/4 instead. The dealer had a 10 showing and most of the other hands were made up of faces. My double drew a face and I beat the dealer's 20. Most of my bets were in the $5 or $10 range though.
I killed some time on poker machines while waiting for a table Friday night and while waiting on the tables to open on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Those are the worst poker machines I've ever played! 8/5 JOB was the best I could find. The only good thing was, they were nickle machines! Even at that, I think I must have lost $25 or $30 on them! You seldom ever hit trips and I think I only got one Full House. Forget about hitting flush! Oh well, it was a not so expensive way to sit down while waiting for BJ to become available.
Had fun for the most part. Met up with a roulette dealer I had met on the LVA forum and though he couldn't get a seat, we were able to visit a bit as I was playing Saturday night. It's nice being only 3 hours away from a fairly good choice of casinos. That's far enough that you don't feel compelled to hit them every night but close enough that you can sneak in a couple of trips a month if you wish.
Sure looking forward to the Vegas trip on Jan 11 now!