|
| Blackjack |
| Tuesday, April 15, 2008 |
Just when you think you are a grown-up, busy, working couple, matured, sensible, responsible, money conscious ready to enter the next stage of life,and all that, hehehe, I can hear some of you laughing at this, but do listen me out, a weekend happens and every aforementioned quality is shed like the fur off of sheep in summer, and you turn into excited ten year olds high on sugar.
How many of you like gambling? Vegas? Atlantic City? Reno? I was not a big fan at all, till a couple of years ago, when we didnt have any other place to visit than Vegas for a long weekend. We enjoyed it very much. I guess Vegas does that to you, Proof is in an episode from Friends, in which Ross and Rachel are so drunk in Vegas, they get married and dont realize it the next day when their friends tell them. We had plans to visit the Grand Canyon for a day from Vegas, but we enjoyed the Casinos so much we cancelled Grand Canyon! Yes, I havent seen Grand Canyon yet, saving some places to see for a nothing-to-do-boring long weekend. We were like a bunch of kids at the airport, almost in tears, in no mood to leave the lively, casual, fun place, Vegas. I should also add that we didnt get to see half of the big casinos on the strip. Mainly because we spent most of our time in our own Casino, eating, spending time on the slot machines and roaming around the board game tables, watching folks lose money with a dream to make some big money.
So, the past weekend, we made an impromptu trip to Reno. I am refusing to crib about so many things that went wrong this month. My trip to Seattle is jinxed. This is the second time that we have had to cancel my tickets. It was supposed to be our anniversary trip. We go somewhere every year, I mean, we have been somewhere the past two years. This year our Anniversary trip had to be preponed, and only I am to be blamed.
So anyway. After getting a lot of chores done on Friday, like renewing my license, thats a whole another post I have to write about, getting the car serviced, actually thats about it :--P, we set off early in the evening towards Reno. Some traffic hiccups and some beautiful snow capped Sierra Nevada mountains later, we entered the Biggest Little City, so Reno called itself. Of course we knew not to expect anything remotely close to Vegas. As long as there were Casinos we were happy. We checked in to our hotel and within minutes, an eager super enthusiastic couple set off in the direction of the Casinos. My initial plan was 'to party all night, until 2, 3 in the night, and then go to the hotel and sleep, and then wake up whenever in the morning and head back home'. Both of us had a lot of pending house hold chores plus work to get back to. We lost some money in the night, and I was depressed, as expected. All those poker games and blackjack games did not seem to help us at all. Afterall we seemed to be total amateurs among the pros at the Casinos. It was 10:30 and I was totally dizzy with sleepiness. DH had to laugh at me, because he did not believe me when I said I will stay up till 2 in the night. ;--) I got a cuppa coffee, erm, to stay awake and play. We ambled out of the Casino, a little disheartened, but too sleepy to feel the loss.
The next day dawned with a perfect weather. Our room patio had a nice view of the Sierra mountains. Reno itself is surrounded by mountains which is a lot more than what I thought I would have to say about the city. We looked up some tips on Blackjack yet again on the internet and set off to the Casinos, hopeful, and persevering. This day proved to be a much better day than the previous. We didnt lose too much money. And we had a lot of fun. Since we hit the Casinos in the morning and afternoon, many tables were empty. So to entertain some of the employees, we went to them and asked them how to play the game. So this day we learnt a lot of new games, like Let it Ride, Texas Hold Em,, three card poker, four card poker, even PaiGow Poker. Our money was in good rotation, we lost, we won, and we lost again and we won again. Eventually by 4 in the evening, we had lost all the money. We dont think of it as losing it, we think of it as the price we paid for having fun the whole day.
We had already checked out of the hotel in the morning. As evening approached we knew we had to start home at some time. We went to Circus Circus, and our eagerness to gamble got the better of us, we ditched all work, chores, they all seemed so distant and trivial, what was important was the present and it was so much fun, we wanted to prolong it as much as possible. DH called up the hotel, thanks to him being a Platinum member and all, we got free accomodation, and immediate availability in the hotel. With the problem solved, we went on to play into what was yet another fun filled long night.
Me and DH would go from table to table, play a couple of rounds, watch, move on, order pinapple juice, play some, win, lose, be overjoyed, walk jubilantly with the chips won in our hands, even if for a little while, before we lost it again in some other game, feel a tinge of sadness.
The most annoying part of the day was I was asked for my ID at every single table!! :--( And DH was not. I am only 8 months younger than DH. I mean I am by no means of small stature to be mistaken for a minor, less than 21 yrs of age. DH says when I smile I look like a kid. Whaaaat? Height was this one female, who asked for my ID and said, 'you dont look like you are 21 yet, can I see your ID'! And then she saw my ID and said, 'oh you are older, a lottt older'! From then on I tried to keep a super serious face, and not smile at all at any of the table games. It seems that was the trick. It seemed to work most times. We sauntered out of the Casino at half past midnight, with some money in our pocket, won. Ah, the happiness of leaving a casino with money in hand!
The next day, we were supposed to head home. I say supposed because when we woke up in the morning, one of us again suggested that we spend an hour or so at the Casino before heading back home. So much for living close to the Casinos. we just didnt feel like leaving at all!
So finally at around half past one, we took the highway to head home. Finally! I was feeling bad. DH was like, 'We have only come 5 miles, you say one word and I will turn this vehicle right around'. Sigh! All good things have to come to an end. If we delayed our return any further, we would end up jetlagged from the vacation into the week, and we definitely didnt want that.
The last time we drove on this same highway was when I moved to California. I had packed all my belongings in my car and as
newly weds, we drove all the way from the freezing midwest to sunny California. I was so super excited to enter California. The beautiful mountains, the pine trees, the winding roads, it was heavenly, having driven from the flat plains of the midwest. The scenery had the same effect on me this time as well.
Overall a nice trip. Ate some amazing gourmet meals. I am sure I have put on a pound or two at the very least. We didnt do anything fancy, but getting to forget the daily pressures and stresses in life, is always a welcome change. When you get back to reality its a pain though :--(( Dont know when would be the next time we will get to go on such a trip, the two of us alone. Sigh!
Have a great week, friends.
PS: And no we werent stupid enough to lose some hugge money in the Casinos, so those willing to give us advice be warned. |
posted by SK @ 8:46 PM  |
|
| 9 Comments: |
-
Sounds like a typical Vegas experience :D
-
good experience u had... its always nice to get lost in a place. That too every moment spent in a place will be enjoyable when we are extending our stay there...
-
wow I am surprised you liked reno after Vegas.. but I guess its the gambling experience that you liked.
I did the exact opposite packed my bags from lovely sunny southern california and moved to the mid west.. yes I am still kicking myself for that amazing decision. I hope I will be returning some day to it.
& hey Reno is closer than Vegas for North Cal people ..so u really dont have to wait for a long weekend right ;-)
-
-
Cha! I was hoping to give advice;).
In any case you have no business feeling bad. DH takes you out every weekend. I mean he is one really really nice guy.
Hmmm.. and I thought it is good to look young. So you should be happy only no?
-
Sounds a fun unplanned weekend :-)
-
Ooooh! I SO want to go to Vegas too now! This whole gambling this brings back to mind the number of poker and flash games I had with friends in 2007. We used to stay up entire nights over the weekend doing nothing but "gambling". :D
And isn't it nice to look young? Yeah, of course not for people at my age but if you "older, a lottt older" than 21, you ought to be flattered. ;)
-
i love gambling too.. when we were off to vegas we spent the whole night gambling and still wanting to do the same until we fell asleep on the table :)... and btw r u sure those guys didnt ask u ID coz u didnt look younger, they might just be scared by ur put-up serious face :)
-
Divs,
Heheh yes!
Sankar,
Very much right.
SSK,
Yes, Reno was nowhere compared to Vegas, but all Casinos are the same inside na. :--)
Yes, CA is the place to be :--P
Laksh, it was. :--)
Ok, hehe the PS was esp for you :--D. And oh, wait till I post my next-to-next post :--((, I have every business.
Shilpa, it was. ;--)
Drenched, hehe. Thats what we have been doing the past couple of weekends. ;--))
Regarding age, well, I was flatterd the first couple of times, but it became a nuisance after that, I had to carry my licnese in my hand, whenever I moved tables, which I did pretty often that night. :--)
Ok, answer for you yoo here.
Maverick,
Glad to know we are not the only ones with such temptations ;--)
And hehehe, its is quite possible, I gave the 'You dare not ask me for my ID' look. :--D
|
| |
| << Home |
| |
|
|
|
|
Sounds like a typical Vegas experience :D