We got up late in the afternoon and I was able to do my laundry before heading off to eat at Sushi on Bloor somewhere in downtown Toronto. The prices are very cheap at this restaurant- the same food at a Japanese restaurant across Niagra Falls casino is more than twice as much.
Eileen said I there was a bunch of grass and bugs in the shower after I was done, but I still find that difficult to believe.
Downtown Toronto is a very trendy place with many young people. Unlike downtown Houston, which consists of mostly business buildings, Toronto has shops and restaurants, as well as business buildings. Down the road towards Lake Ontario, it gets even more congested since the stadium and the beach are there. Also, the University of Toronto is in this area.
They seem very liberal in the downtown area- I saw many homosexual men and women holding hands. In fact, there is a strip where the queers and lesbians hang out. When we think of homosexual men, we think of them as more passive and not aggressors to non gays, but Eileen has told before that a guy was ganged up on by a group of gay men and got aids years ago. Scary.
Anyways, I don't really see myself fitting in with the preps and the yuppies. Maybe about 5 years ago, I would like to fit in, but I've found my calling on the road. Downtown Toronto is a really nice, clean place, but I definitely would not want to live here.
After lunch, Eileen had to go back to work. And after work, we headed to Blue Heron Casino, supposedly a charity casino, but it didn't look any different than any other commercial casino. It was packed, but the casino didn't have enough slot machines- every machine was occupied, and practically every seat at the blackjack tables were filled. The difference between Blue Heron and the other 2 casino in the area is the they play triple 7's, which I've never played before. It was so crowded, most of the tables were $25 minimum.
So we headed to Casino Rama, about 1 1/2 hour away from Blue Heron Casino. When we got there, it was about 10:30 pm, but the casino was packed here too. Doesn't anyone have to go to work in this country? We stayed to about 2:00 am, and I lost $300 Canadian, which put me down $750 US for the trip. Of course again, I made a promise to not play again for the rest of the year.
After the casino, it was very late, and we tried to find a place to rest. I wanted to just hit any of the nearby 3 state parks, and set up a tent for us to sleep, but Eileen wanted to stay in a room. Well, it turns out there must have been some event because there was not an available room for miles. The one room which was available was at Quality Inn, but it wasn't prepared and they would have charged $140 Canadian, which is way too much. I could put that money to more practical use, like gambling. No, I am not a gambling addict.
After driving all night and trying to hunt a room down, we gave up and kept heading back to Toronto. Again, we ended up crashing at Angel's place when the sun was rising.
Casino journal: The Blue Heron had three 7's on some of the blackjack tables. I suppose that means you win something if you get 21 this way. This casino was way too crowded on the weekend, so I didn't play. Like any casino I've gone too, hardly anyone knows full basic strategy, the optimum way to play without counting.
At Casino Rama, I was back and forth, and should have bet more when the cards were good. One humorous, at least to me, there was this one guy who told a new player who didn't know whether he should hit on his breaking hand (the dealer had a low face card, so he should not have, and didn't eventually): "If you don't know how to play, you should leave." First off, that is rude, and if he knew that each player plays independently against the dealer he may not have; however, he didn't know how to play himself, so it was really inappropriate for him to comment. Here's what happend: The dealer had a 5 card up (the best up card, since the dealer must hit- with a 6, there may be an ace in the hole) so everyone held on their breaking hand except the guy who made the comment, he had a 12 and hit. He got a 9 for a 21. The dealer flip his hole card, a 10, for a total of 15. Now if that schmuck had not pulled, the dealer would have busted, but instead he made his hand and everyone lost except that guy who drew a 21. Now, if he didn't know how to play, he should have left. No, I didn't get upset, I just sighed; it was ironic the comment he made. The casino crowd started dying down early in the morning.
The other thing of note is I got very few double down hands. It was an amazing drought. And the only split I recall is splitting a pair of 9's and lost both hands.