Tuscany in Vegas Wednesday

GAMBLING

Well, the downward spiral of poker continues in spite of finding good games and playing extremely tight. I played more at the O'Shea's but the game was very different with almost all experienced players this time. I lost a bit there. There were still some loose players and had I caught cards, my kickers would have reaped some benefits, but flops matched nothing and I threw away junk until I just gave it up.

I tried no limit at Oshea's and at Bill's. Bill's was the best game, but again I lost. My losing hands were:

1. Limped in pocket sixes flop a set, and beat by a set of jacks that draws two spades for a flush. (first and last hand played at Oshea's )

2. Pocket aces bet strong enough to only keep two opponents, each all in. Both the pocket sevens and the queen seven draw straights.

3. Ace queen lost to pocket kings that flopped a set. I'd have folded early, but again my opponent had very little money left.

4. I can't remember the little ones that may have cost me a bet preflop. The rest of the losses were small folded hands. Few of my cards made anything on the flop.

My wins were small as well. One was good. Ace eight caught two pair and a weak opponent stayed with me with queen eight. An eight came on the river and my opponent paid me my solid value bet. I did not go all in as I thought I'd scare him. I think he was tempted to come over the top, but he played it safe.

I liked the games and I liked my play. No regrets. At the low limit game I did try two $5 push out river bets against good players, and then gave that up as I was called out.

Bill's at night was easy to play with $100 replenished as the small bets drained it to $80. That put me well within reach of almost all the bets even from those who were stacked heavier. Bill's this morning was as Slink described it. A bunch of regulars get together to hit the busted aces and kings bonus hands. They buy in small so when they lose, they don't lose much. They rarely bet and hands are very small so I could not get paid. I also made some mistake judging because the pockets that pay bonuses are basically invisible. Also, the guys stay so that pocket kings stayed while I bet my jacks full and caught a king on the river to beat me. In any other game he would have been pressured by my large bets to fold.

So I won cracked aces and cracked kings, but still did not win money. I left just nine dollars up.

I also chose this scenario to play some borderline hands. That is a mistake. If the pots can't get very big, then what good is calling the dollar blind and hoping to connect? I should do as the others do and just buy in for $20 at a time, hoping to get aces or kings cracked without spending much on the hand.

So, I am confused about all the poker in Vegas and ready to play downtown where I know the games.

I expect I'll just play that really small game at the El Cortez for the rest of my trip. No matter what now this will have been the worst trip for losses of my life and the stats are huge, approaching $3000. I have generally held a lifetime loss of about $5000 so this is incredibly volatile with just nothing winning anything much at all.

FOOD

I went to Himalayan Cuisine where I had a ten dollar restaurant.com coupon that cost me 80 cents. Most restaurant.com coupons require two people, but they agreed to honor it. It is just down the street across from the atomic museum. To get there you get off the bus one stop beyond Terrible's and walk away from the stip a block and cross the street into a small strip mall. Getting back is walking a half block away from the strip to the nearest bus stop.

It was a great treat and a change from buffets. I ordered half portions liberally in order to get a few tastes. That made the meal a bit more expensive, but I was treating myself. I did not drink any of the wonderful assortment of Belgian beer but had mandarin iced tea and it was very good. I had two. No free refills and $4 each.

I did try to note the names of the beers, all unknown to me ( I can't read my own handwriting) and perhaps I'll try one on my next trip after I have to time look at them on line:

Piraat Flemis IPA

Gulden Draak

Urthel Vloam se Bock

St Bernadus Abtis

Du chessede de Brugogan

Bornem Double Abben Ale

Nostradamus Brown Ale

Cherish CherryLambic

Cherish Rosberry Lambic

Troubadour Obscura

I ate:

vertical vindaloo with lamb – spicy chuncks of lamb in a gravy. Very good with bites of Naan.

Organic Tantric chicken Tandoori – I suppose I should have tried dishes new to me, but this favorite was very, very good.

Chana masala – chick peas in garlic and other spices.

All was a great treat. This is more pricey than my usual Indian food at home, but I'm happy I went. The atmosphere is quiet. Other customers were for the most part native to the food. That is always a good sign.

The menu is very well written. Here is one bit I collected on a dessert I did not have room to try.

Himalayan Snowball: Mango and passion fruit sorbet with raspberry sorbet core covered in white chocolate and drizzled with milk chocolate stripes. Looks like a snowball on the outside but when cut open it blooms like a bright Himalayan spring flower.

One traditional dish I passed on was called Lamb Saag Dhindo and the menu joked that it was LSD but not mind altering. Lamb, spinach, corn meal.

As well as individual dishes, an assortment of sampler platters that cost about $30 were available. These seemed a good value, especially when using a $10 coupon. One was a vegetarian sampler. Much of the food was organic and vegetarian.

Spice level could be chosen. I chose hot and found the vertical vindaloo well spiced and very good.

A take out menu was also available.

LAST TUSCANY DAY

I don't know if I will get on line again. This is my last full day here. Tomorrow I will go to the Plaza taking the 202 Flamingo bus to Swenson and then the 108 to downtown.

I have enjoyed the quiet and the comfort of these large Tuscany rooms and will come here again if I can get a good price. They were a good substitute for Eastside Cannery rooms as the trip to and from the strip takes just minutes. My thinking for future trips is to continue to concentrate on staying on Flamingo and collecting possibilities along this route. Even with all the construction and the one lane of traffic, the ride on the bus was not long either way.

RELATIVES

The Tuscany also gave my relatives fairly easy access to me with a room for chat as well as poolside. I'll see Chris tonight for supper and hear all his stories. Gayle is still thinking of when it might be comfortable for her. She has not been feeling well again.