jeez....where does the time go? i think that i'm having too much fun on this trip...
the day begins with a few hours at the 1-4-8-8 hold 'em table at the biloxi grand, sitting next to nolan. he makes a straightflush, and is awarded a gold spinner! :) also at our table is david, a prop player. david plays an awful lot of hands, and plays nearly every hand in middle and late position. he wound up a winner for the session, and i don't know how he did it. david told us that he's paid $ 4.25 per hour to play. jeez. that ain't a helluva lot of money....
soon after nolan and i both take a couple of horrendous beats, to wipe out virtually all of our day's profit (i won seven bucks; he won a whole dollar), nolan, marietta and i take a cruise on the "grand advantage ii," a 64-foot cabin cruiser that leaves from a dock adjacent to the casino. it's a beautiful boat, that spreads canapes and hor's douvres, and has an open bar (nolan notes that two of rgp's most favored expressions are "open bar" and "seat open"). we cruise out into the gulf for 45 minutes, and then turn around to come back. on our outgoing voyage, we are accompanied by four or five dolphins, who run with the boat about 10 yards off the port beam for about 20 minutes! our return is highlighted by a spectacular view of an ocean sunset, directly aft! thanks, god! :D
we learn that the three of us are the only people on the boat who have paid the $15 admission fee. everybody else was comped to the tour due to their heavy losses in the pit!! lol!!!
let's check out the poker room at the president, about five miles west of the grand. this ship is owned by the same group that owns the president in st. louis, and the president in davenport. once again, the glory and splendor of times gone by is apparent - but the chips are just as dirty, and the rest of the place is just as dissipated as what i found in st. louis. the poker room is upstairs, off in a corner. there are four tables, two of 1-5 stud and two of 1-5 hold 'em. there are two open seats at one hold 'em table, and nolan and i jump right in. the room is kind of smoky, and kind of loud, but the tables are always full. that's because of the $50 per hour high hand giveaway, and the bad beat jackpots offered in the room.
nolan wins a hand with pocket fives making a set on the flop, and i proclaim, "presto!" there's no response. nolan's on a rush. he raises with ace-ten offsuit and gets a couple callers. he flops a ten, bets, and gets one caller. this is an older guy, nearly toothless, who's watching the monday night foot- ball game. the turn brings a second heart. check, nolan bets, and call. the river is the heart ace. check, nolan bets, and the guy throws away his hand. it's the 5 and 6 of hearts. lol!! he was so busy watching the tv that he didn't even realize he had a flush!!
i'd give the room a "c" grade. the atmosphere is somewhat "clubby" although the shift/floor "ray" was a very friendly guy. dealers were good, but definitely tended to favor the regulars (one old codger who wasn't in the hand urged a player, "throw it away! throw it away!", when nolan check- raised with a set on the turn - i objected to the coaching as a violation of the "one player to a hand rule" and the dealer claimed not to have heard anything). but you can't beat the action in this place.
nolan wins a couple stacks of whites, and i lose $25. it's off to treasure bay, about a half mile away. although it looks like a real old ocean-going sailship, i'm told that it never sailed the ocean. it's now permanently moored to the dock. it really is beautiful! we find the poker room, on the main level, set off to the side and walled off by glass windows. there are six tables in the room, and one 1-5 stud game is in progress. i'm wearing a poker hat, a poker t-shirt, and a poker jacket. nolan is wearing a poker hat. marietta, of course, looks great in whatever she's wearing. but the three of us walk into a poker room, obviously in search of a poker game. no one greets us. the shift/floor guy is getting a back massage at an empty table. two off-duty dealers are at the same table, smoking cigarettes. the guy in the cage is on the telephone. we pick up a cardplayer magazine, and a poker digest magazine, and another local gaming newsletter. nolan sees a plaque from the bad player's poker association on the wall, and calls me over to look at dave miles' signature! we are *still* ignored. i sit down at an empty table to make some notes in my trusty green notebook. apparently, nobody gives a rat's tail about our purpose in the room.
so we walk out.
back to the grand biloxi, where i play 1-4-8-8 hold 'em; win a rack-and-a- half of white; stack 'n' rack; bye, bye! :) nolan plays for a few hours and did pretty well, too.
stay tuned!! i think that there's something special coming up soon! };)
tiger