I dunno, I am killing blackjack in San Diego County here recently. I haven't actually played any poker since April 13th. I have however killed blackjack at Barona and Pala here recently.
I prefer playing at Barona, because they have a much better double-deck game. A survey was done by the Wizard of Odds surveying the San Diego blackjack scene a couple of years ago. The double deck game at Barona offers resplitting aces and late surrender, while the double deck game at Pala does not. The resplitting aces does not really account for much, but the late surrender is a big deal. Even still you can find a better game in Vegas.
I went to Pala last night, because they were celebrating their 10th anniversary and were giving away a $100,000 in free drawings. No I didn't win any drawings, but I did pick up 6.4k playing their double deck game.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Zing!
Gambling is a funny thing. You can go on wild rides, swing way up and swing way down. If you are not careful, it can consume you, destroy you financially, and be a major problem in your life. I have a buddy, who has a major gambling problem, and I hope that he finds a way to get it under control. I have some feelings of guilt, in that I have been complicit in enabling him. I didn't realize how bad it really was for him until just recently, and I have loaned him money in the past. I now realize that I can no longer do this for a couple of reasons. For one, it puts strain on the relationship, and two it does nothing to actually help him resolve his problems, and worse just enables him to continue to gamble. So I have decided to no longer loan him any more money, and just hope that he will eventually be able to pay me back the rather large sum of money that he owes me. I know that I won't be getting it back anytime soon. Fortunately, I don't need the money, but that's not really the point.
In other gambling exploits, I have been on a major blackjack rush. I turned $400 into about 12,000 in one night. And another night, I got down to my last $100, that I turned into $11,600 in the span of about 90 minutes. Go figure, I am running way positive on the wheel of variance, while my buddy is running way negative on that wicked wheel of fate.
In other gambling exploits, I have been on a major blackjack rush. I turned $400 into about 12,000 in one night. And another night, I got down to my last $100, that I turned into $11,600 in the span of about 90 minutes. Go figure, I am running way positive on the wheel of variance, while my buddy is running way negative on that wicked wheel of fate.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
To Kill a Black Jack Dealer
A strange feeling came over me yesterday. I left work a bit early to go play some poker at Oceans-11. Lately, the 40/80 game has been going on Wednesdays, and since I haven't played that game in a while I figured I would knock off work a bit early and go play. I couldn't have been more wrong.
As it seems to have become more routine, Oceans-11 was dead. No 20/40 game, no 40/80 game, only 1 8/16 game when I arrived at around 5:30pm. I got into the 8/16 game and played for a little while, before they finally got a 20/40 game going around 6pm. I played for a while, and just seemed to be getting coolered left and right. I got into this game for 5 racks total. Around 10pm, my buddy shows up. Magically his car brought him to Oceans from Santee. We play a bit, and around midnight for whatever reason we decide to head on over to Pala casino to play some blackjack. At this point, I have recovered some from my low point and have about 2 and half racks in front of me. We play until our blinds hit and I see my buddy pick up two kings under the gun and lose.
We get to Pala and play some blackjack and we both book a small win in a double deck game. On the way out, I decide to play one shuffle of a double deck game before we leave. I quickly lose and decide to play one more shuffle. 2nd or 3rd hand of the shuffle this monstrosity played out. I played two hands, $400 each. First hand I get dealt two sixes with the dealer showing a five. I split, and get another 6, I split again and get another 6, split for a third time, and get dealt a 9. So now I have 5 active hands with $400 on each.
I stay on the 9,6 and get a 6,5 and double. At Pala in the double deck game, double downs are dealt face down and I don't usually peek. The next 6 I get a 4, and double again. The last 6, I get another 5 and double again!
My other hand, was guess what 6,5 as well, and I doubled on that one too! All together I had 5 active hands, with 4 of them having $800 bets riding on them and one having a $400 bet on it for a total of $3600 in action (THE MOST I HAVE EVER HAD IN A SINGLE BLACKJACK ROUND IN MY LIFE!). Also, I only had enough to cover the initial splits in chips, all the doubles I pulled hundreds out of my pocket and told the dealer that cash plays.
Now I am sweating the dealer's hand to collect a sweet penny. Dealer opens and he has 15, sweet! With almost all the sixes gone at this point, there is almost no way he can pull a 21. Fortunately the dealer pulls an 8, busts and I don't have to sweat any of my doubles, which as it turns out were all good cards anyways. I think I made 19, 20, 21, 21, but wasn't really paying attention after I saw the dealer bust and was doing my little happy dance!
As it seems to have become more routine, Oceans-11 was dead. No 20/40 game, no 40/80 game, only 1 8/16 game when I arrived at around 5:30pm. I got into the 8/16 game and played for a little while, before they finally got a 20/40 game going around 6pm. I played for a while, and just seemed to be getting coolered left and right. I got into this game for 5 racks total. Around 10pm, my buddy shows up. Magically his car brought him to Oceans from Santee. We play a bit, and around midnight for whatever reason we decide to head on over to Pala casino to play some blackjack. At this point, I have recovered some from my low point and have about 2 and half racks in front of me. We play until our blinds hit and I see my buddy pick up two kings under the gun and lose.
We get to Pala and play some blackjack and we both book a small win in a double deck game. On the way out, I decide to play one shuffle of a double deck game before we leave. I quickly lose and decide to play one more shuffle. 2nd or 3rd hand of the shuffle this monstrosity played out. I played two hands, $400 each. First hand I get dealt two sixes with the dealer showing a five. I split, and get another 6, I split again and get another 6, split for a third time, and get dealt a 9. So now I have 5 active hands with $400 on each.
I stay on the 9,6 and get a 6,5 and double. At Pala in the double deck game, double downs are dealt face down and I don't usually peek. The next 6 I get a 4, and double again. The last 6, I get another 5 and double again!
My other hand, was guess what 6,5 as well, and I doubled on that one too! All together I had 5 active hands, with 4 of them having $800 bets riding on them and one having a $400 bet on it for a total of $3600 in action (THE MOST I HAVE EVER HAD IN A SINGLE BLACKJACK ROUND IN MY LIFE!). Also, I only had enough to cover the initial splits in chips, all the doubles I pulled hundreds out of my pocket and told the dealer that cash plays.
Now I am sweating the dealer's hand to collect a sweet penny. Dealer opens and he has 15, sweet! With almost all the sixes gone at this point, there is almost no way he can pull a 21. Fortunately the dealer pulls an 8, busts and I don't have to sweat any of my doubles, which as it turns out were all good cards anyways. I think I made 19, 20, 21, 21, but wasn't really paying attention after I saw the dealer bust and was doing my little happy dance!
Monday, April 4, 2011
Out on the Town
Saturday was a nice day. The kids went to their Korean class in the morning, while I watched the baby. My wife brought me home some lunch, and then took the kids off to a friend's going away party. After they got home, kids did their piano practice, and then we headed off the Balboa Park and visited the San Diego Zoo.
Did the zoo, and then went to Prado for dinner. Dinner was nice, we had a nice table outside on the patio near the terrace. My kids were able to run around and play on the terrace while waiting for dinner. I got a nice salad and an appetizer for dinner, since I didn't see any entrees that caught my eye. My wife got the seafood paella, which wasn't bad. One kid got macaroni and cheese, the other got macaroni with marinara sauce.
After we got home, I put the older kids to bed, and then headed out. I called Oceans-11 and there was no 20/40 or 40/80 game running! This is a fricking Saturday night! Sheesh, well that kind of ruined my plans for the rest of the night. So I stopped by 7-11, got a red bull, and mulled over my options for the rest of the night. I called a buddy of mine, but he was still working late.
So I decided to go to a casino I had never visited, before, Barona casino. It was a pretty large casino, and the poker room was packed! However, the biggest limit game they had was 4/8 and some smattering of no-limit. The lists were huge, like 20+ names on every game.
I decide to play some blackjack, which I have heard is the best blackjack in San Diego. I started off at a single deck game, but I didn't like it. At a full table, they only deal 2 hands per shuffle, which means there is constant down time due to deck changes. Plus, I like to start off betting a single unit, and each time I win a hand, I press 1 unit. However, at this game, I can never get above 2 units, since I reset at each deck change. I asked the floor man, if they had a shoe game available, and they said they did not at the moment, but they would open a game for me.
So eventually they opened a game for me, and I played this all night. I got in for 4k, and eventually ran it up to 8k+, before cashing out around 5.8k. Playing my normal game, starting at 1 unit, and pressing 1 unit whenever I won a hand, and starting over whenever I lost a hand. Most I ever got it up to was 8 units.
Nice room, nice floor people, and a VIP host even came and introduced herself to me.
Did the zoo, and then went to Prado for dinner. Dinner was nice, we had a nice table outside on the patio near the terrace. My kids were able to run around and play on the terrace while waiting for dinner. I got a nice salad and an appetizer for dinner, since I didn't see any entrees that caught my eye. My wife got the seafood paella, which wasn't bad. One kid got macaroni and cheese, the other got macaroni with marinara sauce.
After we got home, I put the older kids to bed, and then headed out. I called Oceans-11 and there was no 20/40 or 40/80 game running! This is a fricking Saturday night! Sheesh, well that kind of ruined my plans for the rest of the night. So I stopped by 7-11, got a red bull, and mulled over my options for the rest of the night. I called a buddy of mine, but he was still working late.
So I decided to go to a casino I had never visited, before, Barona casino. It was a pretty large casino, and the poker room was packed! However, the biggest limit game they had was 4/8 and some smattering of no-limit. The lists were huge, like 20+ names on every game.
I decide to play some blackjack, which I have heard is the best blackjack in San Diego. I started off at a single deck game, but I didn't like it. At a full table, they only deal 2 hands per shuffle, which means there is constant down time due to deck changes. Plus, I like to start off betting a single unit, and each time I win a hand, I press 1 unit. However, at this game, I can never get above 2 units, since I reset at each deck change. I asked the floor man, if they had a shoe game available, and they said they did not at the moment, but they would open a game for me.
So eventually they opened a game for me, and I played this all night. I got in for 4k, and eventually ran it up to 8k+, before cashing out around 5.8k. Playing my normal game, starting at 1 unit, and pressing 1 unit whenever I won a hand, and starting over whenever I lost a hand. Most I ever got it up to was 8 units.
Nice room, nice floor people, and a VIP host even came and introduced herself to me.
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