Here are earlier journeys
http://foxwoodspokertr.blogspot.com/2016/06/mohegan-sun.html
http://foxwoodspokertr.blogspot.com/2016/08/hartford-bushnell-park-and-mark-twains.html
http://foxwoodspokertr.blogspot.com/2016/06/mohegan-sun.html
http://foxwoodspokertr.blogspot.com/2016/08/hartford-bushnell-park-and-mark-twains.html
Thursday, August 4, 2016
Hartford: Bushnell Park and Mark Twain's house
I was tired getting up on my second day and decided not to try gambling again, but to see something. I had many destinations from my hotel in Westerfields (46 minutes from Mohegan Sun.) However, it was really raining, and I was up and out by 7 AM, so I decided to have breakfast and head out to the Twain house because it opened at 9:30 while the Westerfield museums did not open open until 11 on Sunday, and the interesting graveyard seemed not so interesting in the rain.
I tried the Rooster Company
http://www.roostercompany.net/
but they did not do breakfast.
So, I went about a mile away to Sophie's
https://www.bing.com/mapspreview?&ty=18&q=Sophia%27s%20Breakfast%20Lunch%20Newington%20CT&ss=ypid.YN155x2948377&ppois=41.6967010498047_-72.7205123901367_Sophia%27s%20Breakfast%20Lunch_YN155x2948377~&cp=41.696701~-72.720512&v=2&sV=1
and that proved a great choice.
Sophie's is a one woman operation with a few tables. She is a fairly large woman probably in her 60's and she wears the old fashioned kitchen aprons our mothers wore. She cooks as things are ordered, and she let me order the pierogi special even for breakfast.
I don't eat pierogi on the low card diet, but one choice was one filled with sauerkraut and mushroom. The shell is very, very thin, so I thought it would not add too much to my carbs that day. I had mine fried. Yes, she does make them herself and they were fantastic. 7 pierogi cost $8.50.
Coffee came in a large cup and was delicious. Perhaps a refill would be free; I don't know because I did not need more.
I'll be back there again.
From there I tried to go to the ancient burial ground in Hartford.
http://theancientburyingground.org/
However, it was chained up. There was lots of construction and road closings. Parking was all paid parking. I did find a place where other cards were parked near the downtown park, but I was nervous about being towed.
I walked in the Bushnell park and took photographs of the Soldiers and Sailors arch and of the carousel. I was too early for a ride.
http://www.bushnellpark.org/attractions/soldiers-sailors-memorial-arch
Then I went off to the Mark Twain house.
MARK TWAIN HOUSE HARTFORD CONNECTICUTT
The Mark Twain house is located on the same grounds as the Harriet Beecher Stowe house. I know I have been there before, but I did not remember anything much. It may be that we did not take the tour. I hope so. This loss of memory is very disturbing.
Well, it makes me more appreciate the blogs.
There are some exhibits in the welcoming center. They are interesting and worth seeing. It is the one area where we can take photographs. Here is Mark Twain in leggos.
To see the interior of the house itself we need to pay for a tour. $16 for seniors. There is a good deal to then go to Harriet Beecher Stowe's house with $3 off that ticket. However, I was tiring. Another house may have been too much.
It was a fine tour. We had a young woman who knew a good bit about Twain. She took us to each room and talked her talk. The next tour was right on our tail. That was a bit disconcerting. However, in no case was there going to be any lingering allowed, so it really did not make much difference. I did hear enough of the other tour to see that they were not duplicates on one another and it would be worth going again and getting a different tour guide.
We opened in the foyer to an intricate inlayed wall and ceiling, more detailed than anything I've seen and quite delightful. In the gas light Twain would have used, there would be a flickering that would even more enhance the affect of all the shapes and colors.
The stairs were constructed to make it appear that the house was higher than it seems. That was also delightful. Utility was considered, but primarily ornate display was the theme of the place. So it was not only a look into Twain and his wife Olivia, but also into 19th Century style.
The bifold doors were especially delightful. They too were thick and full decorated. The bifold construction allowed for a large door to open and not so restrict space in the adjoining room.
From there we went into a room with a fireplace that had a diverted chimney so that directly above the fireplace mantel was a huge picture window. It was a fine design. Here are on the walls was a painting of hollyhocks with a humming bird and assorted sea shells.
Of course, not everything was exactly what it would have been, but I did ask if Olivia would have had such a clutter of objects and was told that she would.
The dining room was next. Twain would have used it for dinner parties 5 nights a week. He would try out his material on the guests. If they all bored him, he might leave them to Olivia and walk out to read a book in the next room.
There was a library room with an attached arbor. He would sit in an adult chair and the children in little rockers. He would read to them. In this room was a huge mantle from Scotland. It was so big that the top part of it would not fit the room, so they had it removed and mounted above a door. It was some unknown coat of arms. It had been thought to have been lost in a fire at another house, but a visitor to this house recognized it as something in his grandfather's garage and subsequently gave it to the Twain museum That was fortuitous. This ornate piece was one that Twain bought and had shipped back from Scotland.
There were shelves of books. When I asked how authentic they were as representative of Twain's library, the guide explained that there was a library historian who had assembled lists of the books Twain read and liked and then built the library collection to reflect the results of her research. The bookshelves were built to match the Scottish piece.
Olivia had her own library/sewing room.
In their bedroom was an ornately carved wooden bed with angels. Twain actually slept backwards so he could see the headboard of angels. Most photographs of him in bed are from this bed. He had a gas line that went from the overhead gas lamp directly to a light for reading in bed. He smoked in bed. This was very unsafe.
The cherubs on the headboard were removable and the children named them and took they to play with during the day, like little wooden dolls.
The Langdon grandmother had her own room upstairs as did the girls.
Clara's room had a piano. She had seen a woman play in public once and asked if girls were allowed to play in public. He bought her a piano to prepare. In this room was a speaking tube. There were a few scattered around the house. Clara learned that if she stood on a stool, she could speak into it and get almost anything she wanted.
Sophie loved horses and the carriage house was depicted in her room along with some horses.
The wallpaper reflected the "Frog Went a Courtin'" folksong, but the dark version, in which the frog and his loved mouse are eaten by wedding guests.
George Griffin has his own guest room not far from the billard room. He did all sorts of supporting things for Twain.
The billiards room was just as I have seen it in photographs, or perhaps I do remember that one. In that room Twain would meet friends and tell tall tales of the wild West. There was a depiction of cues crossed on the ceiling.
At one time in my life I wanted such a room. We thought about making one here at the lake, upstairs, when the boys were younger and might have played. I should get a folding table and put it up in the garage in the good weather. Perhaps I will. I loved pool as a boy. My dad bought a table for $10 and balls for $25 and we played often in the basement.
I had not known that the manuscript of Huck Finn had spent 8 years in a cubby before it was printed and released. Odd that there was so much doubt about such an important work of fiction, one that changed the American novel forever.
In the bookstore on the way out I saw scores of books I don't own on Twain, some that I have never seen. The most interesting was peripheral to Twain, it was a memoir of Hal Holbrook, who does a grand impersonation of Twain in lecture mode and has now for many decades.
https://www.amazon.com/Harold-Boy-Became-Mark-Twain/dp/0374533598
***********************************************************************
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
I tried the Rooster Company
http://www.roostercompany.net/
but they did not do breakfast.
So, I went about a mile away to Sophie's
https://www.bing.com/mapspreview?&ty=18&q=Sophia%27s%20Breakfast%20Lunch%20Newington%20CT&ss=ypid.YN155x2948377&ppois=41.6967010498047_-72.7205123901367_Sophia%27s%20Breakfast%20Lunch_YN155x2948377~&cp=41.696701~-72.720512&v=2&sV=1
and that proved a great choice.
Sophie's is a one woman operation with a few tables. She is a fairly large woman probably in her 60's and she wears the old fashioned kitchen aprons our mothers wore. She cooks as things are ordered, and she let me order the pierogi special even for breakfast.
I don't eat pierogi on the low card diet, but one choice was one filled with sauerkraut and mushroom. The shell is very, very thin, so I thought it would not add too much to my carbs that day. I had mine fried. Yes, she does make them herself and they were fantastic. 7 pierogi cost $8.50.
Coffee came in a large cup and was delicious. Perhaps a refill would be free; I don't know because I did not need more.
I'll be back there again.
From there I tried to go to the ancient burial ground in Hartford.
http://theancientburyingground.org/
However, it was chained up. There was lots of construction and road closings. Parking was all paid parking. I did find a place where other cards were parked near the downtown park, but I was nervous about being towed.
I walked in the Bushnell park and took photographs of the Soldiers and Sailors arch and of the carousel. I was too early for a ride.
http://www.bushnellpark.org/attractions/soldiers-sailors-memorial-arch
Then I went off to the Mark Twain house.
MARK TWAIN HOUSE HARTFORD CONNECTICUTT
The Mark Twain house is located on the same grounds as the Harriet Beecher Stowe house. I know I have been there before, but I did not remember anything much. It may be that we did not take the tour. I hope so. This loss of memory is very disturbing.
Well, it makes me more appreciate the blogs.
There are some exhibits in the welcoming center. They are interesting and worth seeing. It is the one area where we can take photographs. Here is Mark Twain in leggos.
To see the interior of the house itself we need to pay for a tour. $16 for seniors. There is a good deal to then go to Harriet Beecher Stowe's house with $3 off that ticket. However, I was tiring. Another house may have been too much.
It was a fine tour. We had a young woman who knew a good bit about Twain. She took us to each room and talked her talk. The next tour was right on our tail. That was a bit disconcerting. However, in no case was there going to be any lingering allowed, so it really did not make much difference. I did hear enough of the other tour to see that they were not duplicates on one another and it would be worth going again and getting a different tour guide.
We opened in the foyer to an intricate inlayed wall and ceiling, more detailed than anything I've seen and quite delightful. In the gas light Twain would have used, there would be a flickering that would even more enhance the affect of all the shapes and colors.
The stairs were constructed to make it appear that the house was higher than it seems. That was also delightful. Utility was considered, but primarily ornate display was the theme of the place. So it was not only a look into Twain and his wife Olivia, but also into 19th Century style.
The bifold doors were especially delightful. They too were thick and full decorated. The bifold construction allowed for a large door to open and not so restrict space in the adjoining room.
From there we went into a room with a fireplace that had a diverted chimney so that directly above the fireplace mantel was a huge picture window. It was a fine design. Here are on the walls was a painting of hollyhocks with a humming bird and assorted sea shells.
Of course, not everything was exactly what it would have been, but I did ask if Olivia would have had such a clutter of objects and was told that she would.
The dining room was next. Twain would have used it for dinner parties 5 nights a week. He would try out his material on the guests. If they all bored him, he might leave them to Olivia and walk out to read a book in the next room.
There was a library room with an attached arbor. He would sit in an adult chair and the children in little rockers. He would read to them. In this room was a huge mantle from Scotland. It was so big that the top part of it would not fit the room, so they had it removed and mounted above a door. It was some unknown coat of arms. It had been thought to have been lost in a fire at another house, but a visitor to this house recognized it as something in his grandfather's garage and subsequently gave it to the Twain museum That was fortuitous. This ornate piece was one that Twain bought and had shipped back from Scotland.
There were shelves of books. When I asked how authentic they were as representative of Twain's library, the guide explained that there was a library historian who had assembled lists of the books Twain read and liked and then built the library collection to reflect the results of her research. The bookshelves were built to match the Scottish piece.
Olivia had her own library/sewing room.
In their bedroom was an ornately carved wooden bed with angels. Twain actually slept backwards so he could see the headboard of angels. Most photographs of him in bed are from this bed. He had a gas line that went from the overhead gas lamp directly to a light for reading in bed. He smoked in bed. This was very unsafe.
The cherubs on the headboard were removable and the children named them and took they to play with during the day, like little wooden dolls.
The Langdon grandmother had her own room upstairs as did the girls.
Clara's room had a piano. She had seen a woman play in public once and asked if girls were allowed to play in public. He bought her a piano to prepare. In this room was a speaking tube. There were a few scattered around the house. Clara learned that if she stood on a stool, she could speak into it and get almost anything she wanted.
Sophie loved horses and the carriage house was depicted in her room along with some horses.
The wallpaper reflected the "Frog Went a Courtin'" folksong, but the dark version, in which the frog and his loved mouse are eaten by wedding guests.
George Griffin has his own guest room not far from the billard room. He did all sorts of supporting things for Twain.
The billiards room was just as I have seen it in photographs, or perhaps I do remember that one. In that room Twain would meet friends and tell tall tales of the wild West. There was a depiction of cues crossed on the ceiling.
At one time in my life I wanted such a room. We thought about making one here at the lake, upstairs, when the boys were younger and might have played. I should get a folding table and put it up in the garage in the good weather. Perhaps I will. I loved pool as a boy. My dad bought a table for $10 and balls for $25 and we played often in the basement.
I had not known that the manuscript of Huck Finn had spent 8 years in a cubby before it was printed and released. Odd that there was so much doubt about such an important work of fiction, one that changed the American novel forever.
In the bookstore on the way out I saw scores of books I don't own on Twain, some that I have never seen. The most interesting was peripheral to Twain, it was a memoir of Hal Holbrook, who does a grand impersonation of Twain in lecture mode and has now for many decades.
https://www.amazon.com/Harold-Boy-Became-Mark-Twain/dp/0374533598
***********************************************************************
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Connecticutt trip
I have had quite a few funny looks and even some criticism when I tell folks that I spent my birthday on a solo trip to play poker while Elizabeth went to Mexico's Copper Canyon with Ann Marie. It is odd I suppose. Perhaps it helps to understand how Elizabeth and I celebrate birthdays. We celebrate all month. So the actual date holds less meaning. Elizabeth and I do like to think out of the box.
Actually, I had quite a party on my birthday. I was in Mohegan Sun at the wildest table of the trip, drinking 1800 Tequila with a 38 year old very gregarious black woman named Jen on one side and a quiet, but friendly, 50 year old woman on the other. We were loud and crazy and toasting my birthday and the older woman's 29th wedding anniversary with rounds of tequila. It was very funny, and a great party.
The date coincidences were really funny. I also played with an older fellow named Dewey at a table earlier the same day. Very odd. In the last hand he played before he went off to supper with his wife I beat his 3's full with my 6's full so perhaps he will not remember our meeting with joy.
And when the woman with the October 13th anniversary left, she was replaced by a fellow who was celebrating his 50th birthday that same day.
As the tequila took affect, I got plenty of hugs and cuddles from Jen who seemed to like me quite a bit. Jen is a drug counselor so there were plenty of jokes about her "counseling" me on 1800 Tequlla which is better than Cuervo because it's made from 100% Agave. (Cuervo is made from bleached sugar.)
The other woman talked to me about literature. She was Irish and liked to hear about William Kennedy and his writing about Albany. She remembered seeing Ironweed in the movies. Her sister lives in New Mexico so she was happy to hear of Tony Hillerman's mysteries (ps: Hillerman died 10-26-08)and even got some paper to write down the author's names. No one knew I had been a teacher either. I rarely mention that.
I told her too about the duck races
http://www.racingducks.com/
which I first heard about from my sister Gladys when when she lived in New Mexico. Being a great lover of all animals, Sis was so hopeful that one day she and daughter Beth might own a duck and get in in the races. Sadly, that small pleasure never happened. They lived a pretty tough life and now both are gone. So many changes.
Jen's boyfriend and the woman's husband hovered about trying to get them to go eat, but they were cool about all the attention I was getting and joking around with me. It was quite a party.
Then suddenly, like all poker parties, it was over. Jen actually went all-in (tough to do at limit) with second best straight and lost. The other woman went to have a late supper and never returned.
The rest of the night was one of my poorest. An old grump rejoined ourtable. He was one of those grumblers and whiners who always have a tough break, even when they win. I had had enough of him when he was there before and I guess the tequilla loosened my tongue a bit. I was not polite.
I had to wait for the tequila to wear off and over the next few hours out drained a good bit of money. It was another aggressive table with raises preflop, and I payed on my good hands without good flops to win the big pots.
Plenty of second best hands and a long, long draining of blinds with two aggressive players at the table who would have paid me well had I been lucky with hands. They were friendly enough. But it was not the same party mood. Finally, I folded my two pair on the flop hand and called it a night.
The dealers were very friendly everywhere. At Foxwoods they are all waiting to see who gets layed off. 700 layoffs planned.
There were plenty of pretty dealers to watch too in between playable hands. Poker gives you plenty of time to study the delightful faces of pretty girls. Turning 62, I was singing that sweet song for seniors, "Beautiful girls, walk a little slower when you pass by me" and laughing to myself.
I found the fellowship this trip was better than average for local casinos. It was more like Vegas. On my last day I played with Joe, Tom, Gary, and Dave and talked a blue streak with them about Laughlin and silver strikes and Vegas. Tom had a Colorado Belle hat which he had bought for just $2. he told me where to look at the Belle. They were all interested and I'll actually write Gary and send him discussion board links. Along with them was a young black woman who laughed and teased. She was very funny.
Tom also introduced me to Sambuca and coffee, with the alcohol served on the side so you can see that you actually get a shot of it. It is a great drink. It woke me up and made me cheerful.
I wish I could attribute my losses to alcohol, but in neither of my drinking sessions did I lose much money. My losses were ground out over time. I lost almost $500 in 34 hours of poker. I discuss the math here:
http://foxwoodspokertr.blogspot.com/2008/10/foxwoods-and-mohegan-sun.html#links
I went to see Mohegan Sun and play poker so I did not do too much sight seeing. I did make a visit to the ocean at sunset and eat lobster on a picnic table in view of a Marina. Abbot's in the Rough
http://www.abbotts-lobster.com/
was ending their season and I was there for the festivities along with dozens of other folks. I found the place on the Internet and used the GPS to get me there. It was really wonderful but very basic. The lobster was steamed to perfection and cracked to make it very easy to eat. The meat just lifted out. It was wonderful to be outside in just my shirtsleeves in October with the water all about and the boats coming by. It was a bit pricey ($24 with clam chowder, corn, cole slaw) but worth the fee.
Without the GPS I would never have found it. The route wound down to the water with turns every mile, perhaps six in all. It ended with a ride down a dead end small street pat beautiful old fashioned sprawling ocean homes built in the late 19th century.
This was my first really long solo trip using the GPS to work against my geographic inabilities and it is just such a thrill to be able to go anywhere and do anything. I stayed at a motel for $50 that was 15 minutes from the casinos, again through winding streets, yet at midnight I could find my way back without difficulty.
The only time I was lost was when I tried to find my way to Foxwoods from Abbott's without using the GPS. I had not programmed Foxwoods into it and that casino did not show up in points of interest. Finally, I gave it up, used my player's card to call for their address and plugged it in. I was a couple miles away, but would not have known which way to go and was on country roads with no source of verbal directions. I had stopped earlier for directions and they had seemed easy enough. Just one turn the fellow said. However, the road had two V's where I had to choose a path.
Over the course of the trip I made a couple early turns, but Lorry always simple redirected me and I found my way without any anxiety.
I ate in buffets the rest of the time except for one birthday extravagance. I had a sample at the Oh Boy 50's diner. All kinds of deep fried things I am no longer eating: wings, fries, onion rings, poppers. And it was good too. I ate it at midnight on my birthday.
http://www.ohboydiner.com/aboutUs.html
This place was like a 50's diner with a space comic theme. Inside was a rocket ship painting and some framed posters of old space movies and play robots from the 50's.
So I was off my diet, but I did not overdo and came back with no weight gain. It was fine to taste deep fried, and meat, and have a cookie, but I'll be back in the groove today. I was amazed to drink so much and not gain. I have been staying away from alcohol too here at home.
Along with the GPS, coffee has also changed my life. I still enjoy tea more than coffee, but that black liquid sure works to keep me awake. I could not sleep much after 6 AM and played usually until midnight with no naps. My last day I played and had supper just before 9 and drove home in the dark without much difficulty.
I was uncomfortable driving out. I dropped Elizabeth and Ann Marie at the airport at 5AM and headed out from there, starting in the dark and I was a bit anxious. I needed lots of bathroom breaks and they were not easy to find along that route. Finally, the sun came up and the road burst into the colors of autumn. Then things got a bit better. I had a nice breakfast at Old Tymes
http://www.oldetymes.com/
when I hit Norwich. It was a fine, inexpensive meal or eggs, grits and blueberry muffin. The coffee woke me up. Their prices for lunch and supper (lots under $10) are also very reasonable. I will stop there again.
While the tables are less cosmopolitan in Connecticut. I met some interesting people on the trip. At the motel was a poker player who has made his living since he took his $3000 in college money to Vegas and turned it into $30,000 playing high stakes games. Since then I suspect he has not done so well. He did not have a car and lived in this cheap motel, paying by the week.
Joe was a young college fellow who studies and sings opera in Pottsdam.
Foxwoods was filled with locals who knew one another and played a good, predictable game.
My motel was basic, but nice with a kitchen that I only used for tea in the morning while showering and watching the news. It seemed odd for me to be squandering my money gambling while the economy goes to hell. I was cheered by the election news. I think Obama has it in the bag. And generally I have been more and more frightened by McCain and Palin. He seems grabbing at any straw to win. She is just nuts. And it was not nice to see how hateful some American voters can be and see racism still so alive and well here in the Land of the Free. That one town meeting turned so ugly that McCain had to take the mike and shut down the shouted abuse. Thankfully we don't seem to produce Hitler like demagogue's here who would represent some of these nasty crowds.
What Republicans will do for issues now is very hard to imagine. Already they have spent more than Democrats, so fiscal conservatism is out the window and now deregulation and faith in the free market is gone for many decades. So odd to see McCain having to call for regulation and government help for people. I guess the Republicans still have militarism and the conservative social agendas as well as representing the wealthy class. But I expect we will see a Democratic government at least until folks realize that there are no miracles coming and get disillusioned again.
Hillary and Bill finally actually got some energy to campaign for Obama when it was clear he was going to win and she could not plan ahead another four years but needed to get on board. Bill really disappointed me this past month. So many disappointments in folks I admired. Jesse Jackson just disgusted me.
Well, I don't usually discuss politics.
It was a fine trip except for the score. I listened to old radio shows on the way home. And here I am ready for one of Greg's games and the last Presidential debate.
************************************************************
http://foxwoodspokertr.blogspot.com/2016/09/mohegan-foxwoods-super-8.html
Good review of the Groton Super 8
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Actually, I had quite a party on my birthday. I was in Mohegan Sun at the wildest table of the trip, drinking 1800 Tequila with a 38 year old very gregarious black woman named Jen on one side and a quiet, but friendly, 50 year old woman on the other. We were loud and crazy and toasting my birthday and the older woman's 29th wedding anniversary with rounds of tequila. It was very funny, and a great party.
The date coincidences were really funny. I also played with an older fellow named Dewey at a table earlier the same day. Very odd. In the last hand he played before he went off to supper with his wife I beat his 3's full with my 6's full so perhaps he will not remember our meeting with joy.
And when the woman with the October 13th anniversary left, she was replaced by a fellow who was celebrating his 50th birthday that same day.
As the tequila took affect, I got plenty of hugs and cuddles from Jen who seemed to like me quite a bit. Jen is a drug counselor so there were plenty of jokes about her "counseling" me on 1800 Tequlla which is better than Cuervo because it's made from 100% Agave. (Cuervo is made from bleached sugar.)
The other woman talked to me about literature. She was Irish and liked to hear about William Kennedy and his writing about Albany. She remembered seeing Ironweed in the movies. Her sister lives in New Mexico so she was happy to hear of Tony Hillerman's mysteries (ps: Hillerman died 10-26-08)and even got some paper to write down the author's names. No one knew I had been a teacher either. I rarely mention that.
I told her too about the duck races
http://www.racingducks.com/
which I first heard about from my sister Gladys when when she lived in New Mexico. Being a great lover of all animals, Sis was so hopeful that one day she and daughter Beth might own a duck and get in in the races. Sadly, that small pleasure never happened. They lived a pretty tough life and now both are gone. So many changes.
Jen's boyfriend and the woman's husband hovered about trying to get them to go eat, but they were cool about all the attention I was getting and joking around with me. It was quite a party.
Then suddenly, like all poker parties, it was over. Jen actually went all-in (tough to do at limit) with second best straight and lost. The other woman went to have a late supper and never returned.
The rest of the night was one of my poorest. An old grump rejoined ourtable. He was one of those grumblers and whiners who always have a tough break, even when they win. I had had enough of him when he was there before and I guess the tequilla loosened my tongue a bit. I was not polite.
I had to wait for the tequila to wear off and over the next few hours out drained a good bit of money. It was another aggressive table with raises preflop, and I payed on my good hands without good flops to win the big pots.
Plenty of second best hands and a long, long draining of blinds with two aggressive players at the table who would have paid me well had I been lucky with hands. They were friendly enough. But it was not the same party mood. Finally, I folded my two pair on the flop hand and called it a night.
The dealers were very friendly everywhere. At Foxwoods they are all waiting to see who gets layed off. 700 layoffs planned.
There were plenty of pretty dealers to watch too in between playable hands. Poker gives you plenty of time to study the delightful faces of pretty girls. Turning 62, I was singing that sweet song for seniors, "Beautiful girls, walk a little slower when you pass by me" and laughing to myself.
I found the fellowship this trip was better than average for local casinos. It was more like Vegas. On my last day I played with Joe, Tom, Gary, and Dave and talked a blue streak with them about Laughlin and silver strikes and Vegas. Tom had a Colorado Belle hat which he had bought for just $2. he told me where to look at the Belle. They were all interested and I'll actually write Gary and send him discussion board links. Along with them was a young black woman who laughed and teased. She was very funny.
Tom also introduced me to Sambuca and coffee, with the alcohol served on the side so you can see that you actually get a shot of it. It is a great drink. It woke me up and made me cheerful.
I wish I could attribute my losses to alcohol, but in neither of my drinking sessions did I lose much money. My losses were ground out over time. I lost almost $500 in 34 hours of poker. I discuss the math here:
http://foxwoodspokertr.blogspot.com/2008/10/foxwoods-and-mohegan-sun.html#links
I went to see Mohegan Sun and play poker so I did not do too much sight seeing. I did make a visit to the ocean at sunset and eat lobster on a picnic table in view of a Marina. Abbot's in the Rough
http://www.abbotts-lobster.com/
was ending their season and I was there for the festivities along with dozens of other folks. I found the place on the Internet and used the GPS to get me there. It was really wonderful but very basic. The lobster was steamed to perfection and cracked to make it very easy to eat. The meat just lifted out. It was wonderful to be outside in just my shirtsleeves in October with the water all about and the boats coming by. It was a bit pricey ($24 with clam chowder, corn, cole slaw) but worth the fee.
Without the GPS I would never have found it. The route wound down to the water with turns every mile, perhaps six in all. It ended with a ride down a dead end small street pat beautiful old fashioned sprawling ocean homes built in the late 19th century.
This was my first really long solo trip using the GPS to work against my geographic inabilities and it is just such a thrill to be able to go anywhere and do anything. I stayed at a motel for $50 that was 15 minutes from the casinos, again through winding streets, yet at midnight I could find my way back without difficulty.
The only time I was lost was when I tried to find my way to Foxwoods from Abbott's without using the GPS. I had not programmed Foxwoods into it and that casino did not show up in points of interest. Finally, I gave it up, used my player's card to call for their address and plugged it in. I was a couple miles away, but would not have known which way to go and was on country roads with no source of verbal directions. I had stopped earlier for directions and they had seemed easy enough. Just one turn the fellow said. However, the road had two V's where I had to choose a path.
Over the course of the trip I made a couple early turns, but Lorry always simple redirected me and I found my way without any anxiety.
I ate in buffets the rest of the time except for one birthday extravagance. I had a sample at the Oh Boy 50's diner. All kinds of deep fried things I am no longer eating: wings, fries, onion rings, poppers. And it was good too. I ate it at midnight on my birthday.
http://www.ohboydiner.com/aboutUs.html
This place was like a 50's diner with a space comic theme. Inside was a rocket ship painting and some framed posters of old space movies and play robots from the 50's.
So I was off my diet, but I did not overdo and came back with no weight gain. It was fine to taste deep fried, and meat, and have a cookie, but I'll be back in the groove today. I was amazed to drink so much and not gain. I have been staying away from alcohol too here at home.
Along with the GPS, coffee has also changed my life. I still enjoy tea more than coffee, but that black liquid sure works to keep me awake. I could not sleep much after 6 AM and played usually until midnight with no naps. My last day I played and had supper just before 9 and drove home in the dark without much difficulty.
I was uncomfortable driving out. I dropped Elizabeth and Ann Marie at the airport at 5AM and headed out from there, starting in the dark and I was a bit anxious. I needed lots of bathroom breaks and they were not easy to find along that route. Finally, the sun came up and the road burst into the colors of autumn. Then things got a bit better. I had a nice breakfast at Old Tymes
http://www.oldetymes.com/
when I hit Norwich. It was a fine, inexpensive meal or eggs, grits and blueberry muffin. The coffee woke me up. Their prices for lunch and supper (lots under $10) are also very reasonable. I will stop there again.
While the tables are less cosmopolitan in Connecticut. I met some interesting people on the trip. At the motel was a poker player who has made his living since he took his $3000 in college money to Vegas and turned it into $30,000 playing high stakes games. Since then I suspect he has not done so well. He did not have a car and lived in this cheap motel, paying by the week.
Joe was a young college fellow who studies and sings opera in Pottsdam.
Foxwoods was filled with locals who knew one another and played a good, predictable game.
My motel was basic, but nice with a kitchen that I only used for tea in the morning while showering and watching the news. It seemed odd for me to be squandering my money gambling while the economy goes to hell. I was cheered by the election news. I think Obama has it in the bag. And generally I have been more and more frightened by McCain and Palin. He seems grabbing at any straw to win. She is just nuts. And it was not nice to see how hateful some American voters can be and see racism still so alive and well here in the Land of the Free. That one town meeting turned so ugly that McCain had to take the mike and shut down the shouted abuse. Thankfully we don't seem to produce Hitler like demagogue's here who would represent some of these nasty crowds.
What Republicans will do for issues now is very hard to imagine. Already they have spent more than Democrats, so fiscal conservatism is out the window and now deregulation and faith in the free market is gone for many decades. So odd to see McCain having to call for regulation and government help for people. I guess the Republicans still have militarism and the conservative social agendas as well as representing the wealthy class. But I expect we will see a Democratic government at least until folks realize that there are no miracles coming and get disillusioned again.
Hillary and Bill finally actually got some energy to campaign for Obama when it was clear he was going to win and she could not plan ahead another four years but needed to get on board. Bill really disappointed me this past month. So many disappointments in folks I admired. Jesse Jackson just disgusted me.
Well, I don't usually discuss politics.
It was a fine trip except for the score. I listened to old radio shows on the way home. And here I am ready for one of Greg's games and the last Presidential debate.
************************************************************
http://foxwoodspokertr.blogspot.com/2016/09/mohegan-foxwoods-super-8.html
Good review of the Groton Super 8
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Thursday, July 9, 2015
Mohegan Sun
On the way down to Mohegan Sun, I stopped in East Hartford to try the Pho restaurant that Westie had recommended and found it fairly uncrowded.
https://www.google.com/search?q=east+hartford+pho#q=PHO+501+East+Hartford,+CT&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAGOovnz8BQMDQyUHm5SQmYWlgamFpZGhgampkZmZibG5EhYxL-aCjPwg3tTE4hKFjMSikrT8opQoQRSuAlDFIUZVgwoLy1QzU-O0NHOz5BRzwzRLK6CQhXlaknEa0FyT5KSUpMSvbzsEXto6CPl_nPyV5bp7n_bmleoAQUrAH5YAAAA&rlst=n
No lines. Plenty of parking. It was about 10AM on July 5, a Sunday when everything was closed in the city. That probably helped.
I had rice noodles, but next time I'll ask for no noodles and just have the bean sprouts and so reduce the carbs.
I added all the extras, the mint, the small hot peppers, the bean spouts.
Everything was good. $12 including tip.
The old gruff fellow taking my order had an air force cap. I could not see where it had come from. I wondered if it were Tan Son Nhut Air Base. I should have asked.
It dawns on me that with all the chicken soup base I cook myself from left over roasted chicken/turkey I should be able to make this Pho. I grow my own mint. I always have some sort of hot pepper. I should buy some spices and experiment.
Useful too was a Bank of America ATM just down the road where I could gather my bank account for the trip.
This is a nice little break as it is a bit beyond half way.
I don't much enjoy the driving these days, but I did rearrange my CD's and have a huge selection now. I took one of those old plastic towers and set it down between the front seats. It makes a great caddy, and the tower easily sits up when I want to arrange the stow and go van seats. I like it. I just need a bit of velcro on the bottom.
I used to like having the CD's on the visors, but I found over time they go scratched. Keeping them in unmarked cases lets me take out one and put the one I just played in that case. This seems to keep them in pretty good shape.
I have used the Crosby record player to make CD copies of old swing records. I'm pretty old school in technology. I loved having these for the trip. Some great mixes of Big Band era music and not the old chestnuts we hear over and over. More obscure pieces, some I have never heard. I also have a good bit of Sinatra, but I'm mostly playing Big Band between NPR reports of the Greek election on Euro Zone issues and other news.
DAY ONE
I played at the casino and did really terrible, getting close to $300 down at live poker, moving between the 1-1 NL and the 2-4 limit games. Then things go better and by the end of the day I was down just $111 on the poker, but lost more on the VP.
Hands I remember:
A-K Two Aces flop and there is a K on the turn. I don't bet because they are betting in to me, but I am not in good position. On the river I sense I had better bet. I toss in $25 and of the two players, one calls. it was a nice pot.
Oddly, I had bet just the same way when I had nothing earlier with the same opponent. That time he thought for quite a while and finally folded.
"You must have had me beat." he said.
"Well, you never know," I answered and the table chuckled.
Perhaps this time he had to see it.
He was a friendly fellow with a very slight Scadinavian accent. He was a good player and there all day. I left, checked in to the room, came back and sat to his right again.
Pocket Aces on the 2-4 and pretty good betting. It slows down so I senses I was in good shape. I bet the river, have two callers and win.
A of spaces with X. I catch the flush on the river. The fellow right afterwards had K-X. He just called the river.
The 1-1 was fairly full of regulars. Louie was talkative and he got into it with a young fellow when Louis pointed out a string bet made by a young girl. The young fellow gave up the verbal battle and on we went.
Louie is doggedly narcissistic.
Moses and Julius played on the 2-4. There were also two fellows there who were very funny, bull of banter and jokes and teases and even a some bits of song lyrics. I had a good time with them.
And there was a woman from Oklahoma.
I liked the last 2-4 table. I drank a good bit of the Copper Canyon cabernet wine and it was more of the kind of a party a 2-4 often is in Vegas. I had good cards and won some money.
Generally, I move tables when the 1-1 is down to only a few players and they are all rocks so the pot is a few dollars. Or when I've been there long enough that when I bet out, everyone folds.
I like 2-4 when it is full of passive callers and that is what happened at Mohegan Sun. I can do my preflop button raises with suited connectors or with flop straight o flush draws and be fairly certain of not getting raised and getting a free card as well as confusing everyone when I raise after the flop, check when they wait for me to bet the turn, and the reraise them if I catch on the river. Sometimes that $2 raise preflop will let me see two free cards. A player who might have bet his/her high pair after the flop will wait until the river and by then I'm out.
I am not certain chasing straights and flushes or both in late position is the best play, but it is fun to be in that action. And when I'm lucky, I generally get paid.
Raising and then folding also breaks up my otherwise fairly tight play, so my table image is not as a rock.
I went to find the 9/6 JOB that a poster on one of the boards had mentioned. I thought it was at the Bow and Arrow bar, and so I found my way to that end of the casino. It was not at the bar, but it was in that area. This was fine as I did not want to play at the bar, or drink anymore, but to sober up so that I could drive to the hotel with no issues if stopped.
I had the worst hand I ever remember.
I was playing 8/5 Bonus and dealt A-K-Q of diamonds and another Q. The correct strategy is to hold the pair of Q's. I did that. The next two cards were 10-J of diamonds. Had I played the incorrect strategy, I'd have hit the royal.
I ended up down $80 and so down $191 for the day. Not a good day, but it was a long day, so not terrible. I am not certain if this earns any points of any sort. It does not earn what they call Momentum Dollars but it might earn something. The little signs are too hard to read in the dark.
I did like the feel of the casino late at night on Sunday, the end of the holiday weekend. Plenty of pretty girls and interesting colors and shapes. There was not much live music offered over these couple days.
The Super 8 room
This was still the rock bottom cheapest I could find. July 5-6 for a total of $103 booked on booking.com so that I could have cancelation without penalty. Super 8 booked at their site often offers no chance of cancelation.
I don't think booking on booking.com always gets me the Wyndam points, but instead of asking, I just gave them the Wyndam card with my credit card and they punched in my number. So perhaps I will get points.
I like the position of this casino because late at night it is easy to find without traffic. I leave Mohegan, go straight to 2East, turn right on 12 and go directly there. In the middle of the day I got twisted up and went 2West and my GPS got me there eventually but with highway traffic and a roundabout route. I need to remember just to go the easy way.
The clerk remembered my complaint about the broken light last trip, and I asked her that if she knew of a room where everything worked, that was the one I wanted.
She gave me a nice end room and the second floor 227. I'll ask for that room by number next trip.
Of the three lights, one is missing a blub.
However, I don't need it and everything else does work. The room is comfortable, clean, and quiet.
I did not go down for breakfast as I'm making tea and chicken soup in the room and hoping to go back for a short nap before heading out today.
I like having the microwave and heating up my home made chicken soup. I can't remember and did not make note of whether I had that last trip.
This time I have a king bed and slept well, but had some tough dreams probably based on eating just before going to bed.
The hotel is underbooked this trip. There were more people on my last visit.
The television worked well to entertain while I had food even though it did not carry Turner Classic Movies.
I did not go down for the breakfast at all the first morning but made tea and soup in my room.
********************************
DAY TWO
I slept quite well here. I had some strange dreams, and of course I woke up at the same early time, but I felt rested and as it turned out I gambled from about 11 until midnight at one thing or another.
I was bought in for $200 almost immediately. I start with only 60, but there were a few tough hands. In one I held a small flush on the turn that needed a five of hearts for the straight flush and a potential high hand award of several hundred dollars.
My opponent bet $20 on a river king of hearts. He had the Ace along with the five I hoped to catch. I should have folded, but I had not played long enough with this fellow to know that he did not bluff.
For those of you used to no limit games, that might seem like a very small bet. Actually, it is a substantial bet in this game.
The rest of my losses were all bleeding. Did I play too loose? Maybe.
However, I soon got all that back and made a profit in spite of drinking 5 glasses of the Copper Ridge cabernet.
I know it is not good to be tipsy and play no limit, but in this 1-1 game it matters less than in a high stakes game. There is less bluffing to read.
Sometimes I think being a bit drunk helps my table image. In limit it loosens up my opponents and tightens me because along with the wine I become quite talkative and so the dull wait between playable cards is diminished. Either that, or I just rationalize.
But for me the experience is not at all about winning big money and not always about the poker. I like the interaction with strangers, the banter, the joking, the stories. At this table I get to tell my newest joke:
"What do you call a prisoner who looks down on everyone as he walks down a staircase."
"A condescending con..........descending."
Then when there are groans I can follow with,
"Yeah you groan now, but you'll be telling it all week."
When my pocket jacks flop trips and I slow play them and even get a $12 call on the river, and everyone talks about how much they hate jacks, I get to say:
"Well, there are four ways to play pocket jacks...............................................
and they are all wrong."
At a 1-1 game of strangers I have the right audience. These guys are not quoting Dan Harrington or figuring pot odds to the dollar. They will talk a bit about the death of Andy Griffith and repeat a few old scenes. They talk a bit about Trump's speech.
And my old jokes are often new to them.
At any rate, if I am going to drink, it has to be in the afternoon. Unlike Vegas, where I can stumble on a bus, here I have to leave and drive sober, so the drinking is before the buffet.
And that fits my diet as well. Red wine will lower my blood sugar if I over indulge in the buffet.
I went to the buffet just before the price went up at 4 PM. They had a Facebook special discount (M to F you say Facebook or Twitter...a verbal coupon, my favorite kind.) With my points, or Momentum dollars, or whatever builds on the card, I ended up paying under $5.
I am still not certain if that is all live poker or if the full pay VP adds value to my meals.
There seemed to be even more things on my diet there. One medley of peppers and onions was just great. I put the meatballs and sauce on that. I had a slice of the end of beef, all crunchy and full of the spices they use. I had a tiny piece of the fried chicken. The sugar free cheese cake and the mousse were there again and very good. Next time I'll ask immediately for a carafe of coffee as that is about two cups and then I don't have to wait. Service was fine, but still not like having the coffee right there.
I carry in my own Truvia. Once my Truvia and Stevia are depleted, I may be carrying in leaves of the two Stevia plants I pot planted this last week. I can't do sugar and I won't do these carcinogenic substitutes whenever I can remember the more natural sweetener.
My sister-in-law has a new sweetener for me to try. And I'm going to try Yacon Syrup as well.
I tasted a few fried clams and shrimp. The clams I mixed with roasted cauliflower and a bit of Frank's hot sauce and that was a very good combination.
After supper I wanted to let the last of the wine play out, so I slowly played a bit more of video poker and lost $40 and then went back in the early evening for poker.
First I was on a 2-4 table, but I did not like the ambiance there. I won the one and only hand I played with most of the table in, but when they called me for a new 1-1, I went to that table.
These were very friendly and easy players, but more skilled than the earlier games. And two to my right was a young fellow whose style was erratically aggressive on purpose.
I could not put him on hands, and so did not know what to do.
He left for a while, and that made the table easier. He then came back.
Two poor players had by this time lost all their money.
One was a really sad call. He held the 7 for a straight but could get beat by 7-J or J-Q and it was crystal clear that one of the two opponents pushing all-in had one of those hands. Last to act on the river he called over $50.
He asked about the hand and the table was kind, but he wanted to know. I explained to him how in the best case scenario he would split the pot three ways, and in the best guess, he had lost.
Too bad. He was a friendly kid.
I was tired, the table now was a totally tough group, and I figured everyone had my tight style down, so I went to play more video poker.
I had made almost $100 at that table before I left.
I like having the flexibility here to move from a 1-1 to a 2-4 and now to some VP. I'm convinced that table selection in these low games is key to everything.
I think overall I did well in the poker because in all my play during the first two days, I can't remember having a full house or better. Much of my winning was lucky river.
Take this hand.
I have K-J and a J X X flops. The J stays high on the turn and nothing else connects. I make small bets and they are called. On the river comes my K and I make a large bet. It too is called. My main opponent held A-J and had me right up until the K hit.
Here too my tight table image helped me. He never tried a raise, figuring if I were betting, I had more than top pair.
My rivers were like that.
One good hand I played A-9. I caught two pair on the turn after calling small bets. I still just called. On the river both of my opponents checked. I bet $25. They both called. Each had two pair smaller than mine. One had K-8 and another A-3. I know that $25 does not seem like very much to NL players, but in this game it was a large bet. I made that river bet only a few times this week. I won each time, one time stealing a pot with nothing.
I then played VP for about 3 hours on $100, went up and down and in the end I was up $5. That 2 pair payout really helped me grind from quad to quad. I'm hoping I get some points or something for all that coin in. In Vegas I'd be getting room offers.
I played so long because I found a fine full pay, new game in the smoke free area (with the help from a board friend) and it was just a very comfortable game. I like to use the buttons rather than touch the screen and all these buttons worked. I really liked it. Earlier it was dominated by some regular who gave me bad looks when he saw me checking pay tables in that area.
Drink service was slow. Otherwise it was great.
Max Coins on these machines is 25 quarters. I play just 5, but there is one button near the deal button that says, "Bet Max"
At one point some pretty girls came around the machines bantering with their fellows, and I got a little distracted. I was watching them and listening to their banter.
All of a sudden I noticed that there was a leap in my dollar amount when I hit two pair. Apparently I had by mistake hit the Max Coin and then whenever I hit the Deal button, I was betting 25 coins.
I was lucky. I won a bit and pulled myself out of a losing slump with that error.
After I was too tired to play any sort of game, I walked over and watched the roulette for a while. It is such a colorful game and the wheel is just such a graceful machine. I love it. I never bet it, however. Too much house advantage. But I love to watch. This one was particularly clean. It looked very new. The colors were all very intense.
I played $20 in assorted slot, but was not impressed with them. Some I played just a few pennies. There would be no hits at all. In Vegas I can be in this mood and play a game like Texas Tea at the El Cortez and it will hit here and there for a few cents and give me that entertainment. I ended on an old reel machine taking 2 quarters and just paying the top hand 5.000 quarters. I was up and down. But I lost my $20.
Part of me wanted to stay later, but the rest of me was overtired. One of my earlier opponents in a very colorful shirt came and shook my hand. He had lost the tournament and was getting it back on the blackjack. He seemed new to poker.
On the way out I noticed the large dome of a light just before the elevators. It is really wonderfully colorful. I don't think the newer casinos coming in Schenectady or Springfield will have the ambiance of this casino where décor is unique and well considered.
LAST DAY
This last day really put a sour spoil on the trip for me.
I lost all my bankroll, down about $600. I got a bit grumpy. The dealer misheard me say "Call" when I tossed a $5 chip and counted it as a raise which was reraised. I got grumpier. I should have just used a quiet one chip rule. I'll not play without some ones again so I can put in the pot exactly what I want to put, and I'll check what I say with the dealer's perception before I push.
Then I had pocket 3's and a fellow turned his cards over on the fold preflop. One was a 3. I was big blind, but there was a raise to $3 and so I folded.
A 3 flopped. It would have won.
After the hand someone said something about more 3's and I said there were not more because I had folded pocket 3's. A fellow next to me said sarcastically, " I really doubt that."
I now this is poker, but why would I lie and being called a liar twice in a row, really broiled my beans and I said so.
Then another fellow had something wise to say a bit later after he showed cards that I missed and I just asked what he had. Perhaps he just wanted to rattle me. In any case, I just picked up my chips and left. What I had left over I put through the double bonus VP. No mirables, so I went home.
I played a bit more video poker and nothing.
The drive home was fine, however. No traffic. Easy roads. I was not so tired. I wave very glad to see my quiet old house and the calm lake and make a cheese sandwich. I slept very well.
It will be while now before I go again.
I have to reserve my bankroll for Vegas.
I got $60 back at the home game the next day. That was good.
https://www.google.com/search?q=east+hartford+pho#q=PHO+501+East+Hartford,+CT&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAGOovnz8BQMDQyUHm5SQmYWlgamFpZGhgampkZmZibG5EhYxL-aCjPwg3tTE4hKFjMSikrT8opQoQRSuAlDFIUZVgwoLy1QzU-O0NHOz5BRzwzRLK6CQhXlaknEa0FyT5KSUpMSvbzsEXto6CPl_nPyV5bp7n_bmleoAQUrAH5YAAAA&rlst=n
No lines. Plenty of parking. It was about 10AM on July 5, a Sunday when everything was closed in the city. That probably helped.
I had rice noodles, but next time I'll ask for no noodles and just have the bean sprouts and so reduce the carbs.
I added all the extras, the mint, the small hot peppers, the bean spouts.
Everything was good. $12 including tip.
The old gruff fellow taking my order had an air force cap. I could not see where it had come from. I wondered if it were Tan Son Nhut Air Base. I should have asked.
It dawns on me that with all the chicken soup base I cook myself from left over roasted chicken/turkey I should be able to make this Pho. I grow my own mint. I always have some sort of hot pepper. I should buy some spices and experiment.
Useful too was a Bank of America ATM just down the road where I could gather my bank account for the trip.
This is a nice little break as it is a bit beyond half way.
I don't much enjoy the driving these days, but I did rearrange my CD's and have a huge selection now. I took one of those old plastic towers and set it down between the front seats. It makes a great caddy, and the tower easily sits up when I want to arrange the stow and go van seats. I like it. I just need a bit of velcro on the bottom.
I used to like having the CD's on the visors, but I found over time they go scratched. Keeping them in unmarked cases lets me take out one and put the one I just played in that case. This seems to keep them in pretty good shape.
I have used the Crosby record player to make CD copies of old swing records. I'm pretty old school in technology. I loved having these for the trip. Some great mixes of Big Band era music and not the old chestnuts we hear over and over. More obscure pieces, some I have never heard. I also have a good bit of Sinatra, but I'm mostly playing Big Band between NPR reports of the Greek election on Euro Zone issues and other news.
DAY ONE
I played at the casino and did really terrible, getting close to $300 down at live poker, moving between the 1-1 NL and the 2-4 limit games. Then things go better and by the end of the day I was down just $111 on the poker, but lost more on the VP.
Hands I remember:
A-K Two Aces flop and there is a K on the turn. I don't bet because they are betting in to me, but I am not in good position. On the river I sense I had better bet. I toss in $25 and of the two players, one calls. it was a nice pot.
Oddly, I had bet just the same way when I had nothing earlier with the same opponent. That time he thought for quite a while and finally folded.
"You must have had me beat." he said.
"Well, you never know," I answered and the table chuckled.
Perhaps this time he had to see it.
He was a friendly fellow with a very slight Scadinavian accent. He was a good player and there all day. I left, checked in to the room, came back and sat to his right again.
Pocket Aces on the 2-4 and pretty good betting. It slows down so I senses I was in good shape. I bet the river, have two callers and win.
A of spaces with X. I catch the flush on the river. The fellow right afterwards had K-X. He just called the river.
The 1-1 was fairly full of regulars. Louie was talkative and he got into it with a young fellow when Louis pointed out a string bet made by a young girl. The young fellow gave up the verbal battle and on we went.
Louie is doggedly narcissistic.
Moses and Julius played on the 2-4. There were also two fellows there who were very funny, bull of banter and jokes and teases and even a some bits of song lyrics. I had a good time with them.
And there was a woman from Oklahoma.
I liked the last 2-4 table. I drank a good bit of the Copper Canyon cabernet wine and it was more of the kind of a party a 2-4 often is in Vegas. I had good cards and won some money.
Generally, I move tables when the 1-1 is down to only a few players and they are all rocks so the pot is a few dollars. Or when I've been there long enough that when I bet out, everyone folds.
I like 2-4 when it is full of passive callers and that is what happened at Mohegan Sun. I can do my preflop button raises with suited connectors or with flop straight o flush draws and be fairly certain of not getting raised and getting a free card as well as confusing everyone when I raise after the flop, check when they wait for me to bet the turn, and the reraise them if I catch on the river. Sometimes that $2 raise preflop will let me see two free cards. A player who might have bet his/her high pair after the flop will wait until the river and by then I'm out.
I am not certain chasing straights and flushes or both in late position is the best play, but it is fun to be in that action. And when I'm lucky, I generally get paid.
Raising and then folding also breaks up my otherwise fairly tight play, so my table image is not as a rock.
I went to find the 9/6 JOB that a poster on one of the boards had mentioned. I thought it was at the Bow and Arrow bar, and so I found my way to that end of the casino. It was not at the bar, but it was in that area. This was fine as I did not want to play at the bar, or drink anymore, but to sober up so that I could drive to the hotel with no issues if stopped.
I had the worst hand I ever remember.
I was playing 8/5 Bonus and dealt A-K-Q of diamonds and another Q. The correct strategy is to hold the pair of Q's. I did that. The next two cards were 10-J of diamonds. Had I played the incorrect strategy, I'd have hit the royal.
I ended up down $80 and so down $191 for the day. Not a good day, but it was a long day, so not terrible. I am not certain if this earns any points of any sort. It does not earn what they call Momentum Dollars but it might earn something. The little signs are too hard to read in the dark.
I did like the feel of the casino late at night on Sunday, the end of the holiday weekend. Plenty of pretty girls and interesting colors and shapes. There was not much live music offered over these couple days.
The Super 8 room
This was still the rock bottom cheapest I could find. July 5-6 for a total of $103 booked on booking.com so that I could have cancelation without penalty. Super 8 booked at their site often offers no chance of cancelation.
I don't think booking on booking.com always gets me the Wyndam points, but instead of asking, I just gave them the Wyndam card with my credit card and they punched in my number. So perhaps I will get points.
I like the position of this casino because late at night it is easy to find without traffic. I leave Mohegan, go straight to 2East, turn right on 12 and go directly there. In the middle of the day I got twisted up and went 2West and my GPS got me there eventually but with highway traffic and a roundabout route. I need to remember just to go the easy way.
The clerk remembered my complaint about the broken light last trip, and I asked her that if she knew of a room where everything worked, that was the one I wanted.
She gave me a nice end room and the second floor 227. I'll ask for that room by number next trip.
Of the three lights, one is missing a blub.
However, I don't need it and everything else does work. The room is comfortable, clean, and quiet.
I did not go down for breakfast as I'm making tea and chicken soup in the room and hoping to go back for a short nap before heading out today.
I like having the microwave and heating up my home made chicken soup. I can't remember and did not make note of whether I had that last trip.
This time I have a king bed and slept well, but had some tough dreams probably based on eating just before going to bed.
The hotel is underbooked this trip. There were more people on my last visit.
The television worked well to entertain while I had food even though it did not carry Turner Classic Movies.
I did not go down for the breakfast at all the first morning but made tea and soup in my room.
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DAY TWO
I slept quite well here. I had some strange dreams, and of course I woke up at the same early time, but I felt rested and as it turned out I gambled from about 11 until midnight at one thing or another.
I was bought in for $200 almost immediately. I start with only 60, but there were a few tough hands. In one I held a small flush on the turn that needed a five of hearts for the straight flush and a potential high hand award of several hundred dollars.
My opponent bet $20 on a river king of hearts. He had the Ace along with the five I hoped to catch. I should have folded, but I had not played long enough with this fellow to know that he did not bluff.
For those of you used to no limit games, that might seem like a very small bet. Actually, it is a substantial bet in this game.
The rest of my losses were all bleeding. Did I play too loose? Maybe.
However, I soon got all that back and made a profit in spite of drinking 5 glasses of the Copper Ridge cabernet.
I know it is not good to be tipsy and play no limit, but in this 1-1 game it matters less than in a high stakes game. There is less bluffing to read.
Sometimes I think being a bit drunk helps my table image. In limit it loosens up my opponents and tightens me because along with the wine I become quite talkative and so the dull wait between playable cards is diminished. Either that, or I just rationalize.
But for me the experience is not at all about winning big money and not always about the poker. I like the interaction with strangers, the banter, the joking, the stories. At this table I get to tell my newest joke:
"What do you call a prisoner who looks down on everyone as he walks down a staircase."
"A condescending con..........descending."
Then when there are groans I can follow with,
"Yeah you groan now, but you'll be telling it all week."
When my pocket jacks flop trips and I slow play them and even get a $12 call on the river, and everyone talks about how much they hate jacks, I get to say:
"Well, there are four ways to play pocket jacks...............................................
and they are all wrong."
At a 1-1 game of strangers I have the right audience. These guys are not quoting Dan Harrington or figuring pot odds to the dollar. They will talk a bit about the death of Andy Griffith and repeat a few old scenes. They talk a bit about Trump's speech.
And my old jokes are often new to them.
At any rate, if I am going to drink, it has to be in the afternoon. Unlike Vegas, where I can stumble on a bus, here I have to leave and drive sober, so the drinking is before the buffet.
And that fits my diet as well. Red wine will lower my blood sugar if I over indulge in the buffet.
I went to the buffet just before the price went up at 4 PM. They had a Facebook special discount (M to F you say Facebook or Twitter...a verbal coupon, my favorite kind.) With my points, or Momentum dollars, or whatever builds on the card, I ended up paying under $5.
I am still not certain if that is all live poker or if the full pay VP adds value to my meals.
There seemed to be even more things on my diet there. One medley of peppers and onions was just great. I put the meatballs and sauce on that. I had a slice of the end of beef, all crunchy and full of the spices they use. I had a tiny piece of the fried chicken. The sugar free cheese cake and the mousse were there again and very good. Next time I'll ask immediately for a carafe of coffee as that is about two cups and then I don't have to wait. Service was fine, but still not like having the coffee right there.
I carry in my own Truvia. Once my Truvia and Stevia are depleted, I may be carrying in leaves of the two Stevia plants I pot planted this last week. I can't do sugar and I won't do these carcinogenic substitutes whenever I can remember the more natural sweetener.
My sister-in-law has a new sweetener for me to try. And I'm going to try Yacon Syrup as well.
I tasted a few fried clams and shrimp. The clams I mixed with roasted cauliflower and a bit of Frank's hot sauce and that was a very good combination.
After supper I wanted to let the last of the wine play out, so I slowly played a bit more of video poker and lost $40 and then went back in the early evening for poker.
First I was on a 2-4 table, but I did not like the ambiance there. I won the one and only hand I played with most of the table in, but when they called me for a new 1-1, I went to that table.
These were very friendly and easy players, but more skilled than the earlier games. And two to my right was a young fellow whose style was erratically aggressive on purpose.
I could not put him on hands, and so did not know what to do.
He left for a while, and that made the table easier. He then came back.
Two poor players had by this time lost all their money.
One was a really sad call. He held the 7 for a straight but could get beat by 7-J or J-Q and it was crystal clear that one of the two opponents pushing all-in had one of those hands. Last to act on the river he called over $50.
He asked about the hand and the table was kind, but he wanted to know. I explained to him how in the best case scenario he would split the pot three ways, and in the best guess, he had lost.
Too bad. He was a friendly kid.
I was tired, the table now was a totally tough group, and I figured everyone had my tight style down, so I went to play more video poker.
I had made almost $100 at that table before I left.
I like having the flexibility here to move from a 1-1 to a 2-4 and now to some VP. I'm convinced that table selection in these low games is key to everything.
I think overall I did well in the poker because in all my play during the first two days, I can't remember having a full house or better. Much of my winning was lucky river.
Take this hand.
I have K-J and a J X X flops. The J stays high on the turn and nothing else connects. I make small bets and they are called. On the river comes my K and I make a large bet. It too is called. My main opponent held A-J and had me right up until the K hit.
Here too my tight table image helped me. He never tried a raise, figuring if I were betting, I had more than top pair.
My rivers were like that.
One good hand I played A-9. I caught two pair on the turn after calling small bets. I still just called. On the river both of my opponents checked. I bet $25. They both called. Each had two pair smaller than mine. One had K-8 and another A-3. I know that $25 does not seem like very much to NL players, but in this game it was a large bet. I made that river bet only a few times this week. I won each time, one time stealing a pot with nothing.
I then played VP for about 3 hours on $100, went up and down and in the end I was up $5. That 2 pair payout really helped me grind from quad to quad. I'm hoping I get some points or something for all that coin in. In Vegas I'd be getting room offers.
I played so long because I found a fine full pay, new game in the smoke free area (with the help from a board friend) and it was just a very comfortable game. I like to use the buttons rather than touch the screen and all these buttons worked. I really liked it. Earlier it was dominated by some regular who gave me bad looks when he saw me checking pay tables in that area.
Drink service was slow. Otherwise it was great.
Max Coins on these machines is 25 quarters. I play just 5, but there is one button near the deal button that says, "Bet Max"
At one point some pretty girls came around the machines bantering with their fellows, and I got a little distracted. I was watching them and listening to their banter.
All of a sudden I noticed that there was a leap in my dollar amount when I hit two pair. Apparently I had by mistake hit the Max Coin and then whenever I hit the Deal button, I was betting 25 coins.
I was lucky. I won a bit and pulled myself out of a losing slump with that error.
After I was too tired to play any sort of game, I walked over and watched the roulette for a while. It is such a colorful game and the wheel is just such a graceful machine. I love it. I never bet it, however. Too much house advantage. But I love to watch. This one was particularly clean. It looked very new. The colors were all very intense.
I played $20 in assorted slot, but was not impressed with them. Some I played just a few pennies. There would be no hits at all. In Vegas I can be in this mood and play a game like Texas Tea at the El Cortez and it will hit here and there for a few cents and give me that entertainment. I ended on an old reel machine taking 2 quarters and just paying the top hand 5.000 quarters. I was up and down. But I lost my $20.
Part of me wanted to stay later, but the rest of me was overtired. One of my earlier opponents in a very colorful shirt came and shook my hand. He had lost the tournament and was getting it back on the blackjack. He seemed new to poker.
On the way out I noticed the large dome of a light just before the elevators. It is really wonderfully colorful. I don't think the newer casinos coming in Schenectady or Springfield will have the ambiance of this casino where décor is unique and well considered.
LAST DAY
This last day really put a sour spoil on the trip for me.
I lost all my bankroll, down about $600. I got a bit grumpy. The dealer misheard me say "Call" when I tossed a $5 chip and counted it as a raise which was reraised. I got grumpier. I should have just used a quiet one chip rule. I'll not play without some ones again so I can put in the pot exactly what I want to put, and I'll check what I say with the dealer's perception before I push.
Then I had pocket 3's and a fellow turned his cards over on the fold preflop. One was a 3. I was big blind, but there was a raise to $3 and so I folded.
A 3 flopped. It would have won.
After the hand someone said something about more 3's and I said there were not more because I had folded pocket 3's. A fellow next to me said sarcastically, " I really doubt that."
I now this is poker, but why would I lie and being called a liar twice in a row, really broiled my beans and I said so.
Then another fellow had something wise to say a bit later after he showed cards that I missed and I just asked what he had. Perhaps he just wanted to rattle me. In any case, I just picked up my chips and left. What I had left over I put through the double bonus VP. No mirables, so I went home.
I played a bit more video poker and nothing.
The drive home was fine, however. No traffic. Easy roads. I was not so tired. I wave very glad to see my quiet old house and the calm lake and make a cheese sandwich. I slept very well.
It will be while now before I go again.
I have to reserve my bankroll for Vegas.
I got $60 back at the home game the next day. That was good.
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