Musica es amor

If I could pull myself away from the casino at night, then I would have loved to catch the cover band that plays here. My next trip will most likely not be spent playing games every night though because there is no way I can be that lucky again.

My last full day. Sucks.
I won a $2000 jackpot at the .50 cent slot machine, $300 at the $5 machine, $240 and $320 at a couple of $1 machines.

On the other end of the spectrum, I was also the 2nd person out at the poker tournament. It's been a year since I played poker at all.. let alone in a tournament (5 or 6 years). Not my finest moment. And I didn't even get to sit at the same table with the only person I knew. Plus, I don't speak Poker Spanish. So there's that too. I got out of there pretty fast and immediately won back my buy in at the blackjack table.

My secret to winning at the blackjack tables:
Basic Strategy -- hit on 16,15 against 7-A, double down when recommended, always split As and 8s, split 9s against 8,9 but stand against a 7, etc. I don't split 10s or 5s. (After the horror of the first few days seeing people splitting 10s and the entire table losing, I've gotten over it and I won't leave a table if other players do that.)

1-3-2-6 Bet Progression -- Play a minimum table bet first ($10 in this case), if I win, move it to $30 on the next hand, if I win that it's down to $20. After winning that hand, it's up to $60. After the $60 bet, it's back to either $10 or $20. It seems to work. You don't increase your bet unless you're winning. Doubling down and splitting with the $60 bet out there is a little nerve-racking. But awesome when you win $120 or $180 in one hand. Just talking about playing is making me want to play right now. Maybe I'll go to Lake Charles this weekend and get back in the casinos.

Don't Lose -- This is not a very hard concept to understand. The goal is to win. So... don't lose.
-- If you are playing in a losing streak, don't ever reach back into your wallet beyond your pre-determined stake. It's not worth it. You can win it back later. But of course, blackjack is never in the players' favor.

David, Renata, Nicola, and Fabio played with us at the same table tonight. Unfortunately, the only people that ended up losing were Renata and David. Dave did make a comeback with a $150 blackjack though. Pretty lucky, mi hermano.

Disclaimer: In order to document taxes for the IRS, I did not end up with any winnings from gambling this trip. Maybe next time.