The beginning of the week and I don't have to come into work. It's an awkward feeling in a way to have no responsibility, but it's a pleasant awkwardness. Arkansas is a suprisingly pleasant state which doesn't really have the hillbilly stereotype atmosphere. I've always been afraid of passing through here because I've alway thought it was a very conservative state whose people may not always welcome outsiders, but I never felt uneasy once here this trip.
Last night there was a misquito in the tent, and it was a bit annoying. I tried my best not to kill anything, including insects, so I just covered my head in the sleeping bag. And it was also suprisingly cool last night- at around 5:00 pm the temperature was in the 60's degrees Farenheit. I thought the sleeping bag (The North Face Superlight) would be too hot since it was rated down to 0 degrees (-18 Celcius), but I unzipped it and used it like a blanket and it was comfortable.
At 6:45 am I drove out of Lake Pointset State Park heading east. The car tires were purchased at K-Mart in 1998, and I wanted to get them a very needed free balance and rotation at K-Mart, but there just won't be many K-Marts in Arkansas.
I crossed the border into Missouri at 7:30 am on county road 119, but there was no welcome to the state sign. Missouri is a beautiful, clean state, but I didn't do much here, but stopped at a tributary for a few minutes.
I had crossed over a big bridge into Tennessee at 9:00 am, but I wanted to take a picture of the Missouri welcome to state sign on the other side of the bridge, so I headed back over the bridge to Missouri. After I took the picture, I had to drive further down the road to take the exit and make a u-turn. And that was the beginning of the end. I saw a sign for a riverboat casino, which was nearby in Milford, Missouri. So I examine the American Casino Guide 2001, and decided to break my promise not to play anymore. No, I'm not a gambling addict.
It was past 10:00 am by the time I located the casino at the town's edge. The casino opened at 11:00 am, and so I drove around trying to find an ATM machine. Plucked $300, and went back to the casino for action. I won $165 (after giving $45 away) and took a free catfish meal to go. - it's always a nice feeling to have some money for food, not like 2 nights ago.
I headed back into Tennessee during early noon and went north on the Albert Gore Sr. expressway. (Al Gore Jr. was Bill Clinton's Vice President, and probably could have been elected President in 2000 had the President's image had not been tarnished by many scandals). I stopped at a park to eat the catfish meal and took a short hike. The park trail was hardly used and full of insects. The worst ones are the flies which bite like misquitoes.
Casino journal: Missouri law limits the amount of money a player can buy in ($500 limit per 2 hours or something like that). The casino gives you cards which dealers use to check off how many dollars the players have bought in with. At this casino, you were not allow to hand chips over to other players. (I think this would circumvent the buy in limit if a player can get someone else to buy in and give them the chips.) Winnings are unlimited.
This casino charged a $3 entrance fee, but waived it if I joined up and got a membership card. I did that, but told them not to send me any advertisements because I was just passing through.
The rules here were hit on soft 17 (very bad), 4 decks (decent) and my dealer cut about 1 1/2 away (bad), double any first 2 cards, double after resplitting, split up to 4 hands total, ace underneath is not revealed until all players are done- only original wager is lost if dealer has blackjack with ace in the hole. (They don't have the peeker to see what card is underneath.) If a player wanted to play 2 hands, the player had to have at least double minimum on both hands (in this case $10 per hand since minimum is $5). The rule for hitting on soft 17 happened on 2 hands: The first time, the dealer improved his hand but I would have lost anyhow since I stayed with a breaking hand, and the other time, the dealer busted and I won with a breaking hand; ironicly, the hit on soft 17 actually helped.
There was only one blackjack table open, and it a $5 table and 5 guys were already there. My nerves were a little shaky since I had already lost $450 and didn't want to lose another $300. So I played around for a while, and I managed to be the only player left after everyone else had lost. Playing with basic strategy and consistently really does go the distance. I was down about $150 until the final shoe when the dealer would break or I would get 20/21 on most double downs. At this time, another lady and me (playing 2 hands) were left. I should have really increase my betting at this time, but I didn't- maximum bet was $25. I left the casino up $175 and got a free meal.
A Tennessee college guy had lost about $500 and asked if I would let him in (I think he couldn't cash his check) and I gave him $25 under the table. After I cashed out I gave him another $20 to try to get his money back. When I first sat down at the table, there was a drunk player who was playing for the first time getting on everyone's nerves because he was so slow and didn't know what the objective of the game was.
This renew my faith in my game, but I should have just not played at all. Winning some now may cause me to lose more later. I told my dad one time, a player who plays the first time and loses is probably lucky since the player may be disgusted or fearful of playing again; a player who wins the first time may test his luck again and will probably eventually lose more in the long run. I did do one good thing: left when I was up even though I didn't double my bankroll of $300.
I realize that the problem with not being able to win is because my bet spread is too small- I have a rule about not betting more than $25, but that will change in the future- I really need to put the card counting into good use. When the cards are good, I need to increase the spread- I should have played approximately $75 a hand on the last shoe- that would be a 1-7.5 spread ($10-$75). But when you don't have the right funds to back yourself up, a couple of losses playing 1/4 your bankroll per hand is a financial and pyschological disaster. Also, when not counting, I play by pure basic strategy except hitting and doubling down on soft 18, in which I case I will stand.
