Bahamas Cruise Trip Report - Day 1

Day 1

I flew Southwest Airlines to Orlando where I met up with Luis, Jody and Kim at the airport. We took a 1 hour shuttle from the airport toward a town called Coco Beach where we would be staying for the night. Luis and Kim and I were on our first cruise, invited by Jody who ran the poker room on the cruise. Kim was going to be a cashier and to hang out with Jody, Luis and I were there to deal poker. We had to stay overnight at a hotel then board the ship the next morning, so we had some time to kill on a Sunday night.
Our shuttle driver was good enough to stop at a grocery store so we could buy some beer on the way to our hotel, the fabulous La Quinta Inn. Jody and I went in and bought a 12 of St. Pauli and another of some assorted local beers. We also got a six pack of 7oz bud lights for Kim, which Jody referred to as Strip Club Beers – for their potential to be sold for $10 each in a strip club. We got back into the van and headed to the hotel. The moment we got out we were assaulted by bugs, big slow ugly Atlantic mosquitoes. I caught one in the face and was teased mercilessly for the next 2 hours for the quarter size lump on my cheek. Legs, arms, everywhere.
While joking around with Andy, the Australian front desk clerk, we asked him about the local action there in town. He gave us directions to Sandbar around the corner. After a couple of beers and posing for a few wacky and vaguely sexual pictures with the life size astronaut statue in the lobby, we sprinted to our rooms and cracked open a few more beers and decided what to do.
Luis claimed he was hardly touched by the bugs and quickly concluded that it was some lotion he had on. 30 seconds later the rest of us were coated in lotion and ready to go. We called a cab and waited up by the lobby so we could head over to the Sandbar for drinks and some dinner. The cab driver was hilarious; I can’t remember her name but her “name your own cab fare” policy was pure genius. She must have got $20 from us for a $5 ride. We took a booth inside and checked out the menu. We were in luck; the Sandbar was a sports bar/meat market/dance club right on the Atlantic Ocean. There was literally no back wall; you could just walk right out on the beach. Nice place, tiki themed with beach signs, surfboards and bikini tops hanging from the ceiling. We were there on industry night - $1 Drafts, $2 Jaeger shots and $3 Jaeger bombs. We ordered appetizers like coconut shrimp and deep fried alligator too. I spent $50 myself that night on food and booze, worth every penny.
The place turned into a dance club soon after we finished eating. We wandered around for a few hours posing for facebook and drinking bomb after bomb until it was time to go. I wish I could say that something wildly exciting happened to make the night epic, but it wasn’t like that. It was calm, chill. Dance. Drink. Go smoke on the beach. Dance some more. Buy another drink. Do a shot. Dance. The music was bumpin, the weather was perfect and we were all smiling. I don’t remember what time we left, but I do remember it was time.
Hammer time.
We headed back to the hotel to finish of the rest of our beers and go for a swim and meet Jason, another dealer who was coming on the cruise with us. Couple laps in the pool and I was out cold. Perfect Day.

November Nights

Good night in the poker room last night. Off at 1am, perfect time for my "after shifter", the free beer I get when I work - thank you Nugget. Ran into Jody and Kim right away and I knew I was in trouble. If you are gonna have a beer with Jody, you're probably going to have 20. We did pretty much that - drinking Coronas 'till nobody was ugly. Tim was there too but had to depart early due to passed out girlfriend in the chair syndrome. Spent an hour or two at the sportsbar/dancefloor watching a dance? battle between a kid jerking everywhere (he was pretty good too) and another dude who looked like a triple gold medalist at the Paraguayan special olympics. Tight polo shirt tucked into some khakis that came up to his nipples. Kept waving his hand to the jerkin guy like Oprah waving in a plateful of seconds. Comical stuff. We had an Annie Lennox look alike contest last night too, there were a couple tall blondes with crew cuts hanging out. Not even together either. We choked on our beers when the spunky one on the dance floor grabbed her date and dragged him to who knows where. Poor guy was half her size and twice her age, kind of a cross between Moby and the singer in REM - so wasted he could barely stand. Cute couple. Once the herd thinned out we headed to the martini bar for a visit to bartender Shane. Shane does not pour tequila shots. Shane pours glasses of tequila. Three fingers later and I am feeling pretty good. Passed the time talking about our past and upcoming cruises and poker stuff. I miss NBA highlights on Sportscenter. It's November dammit!!!

Tipping

Tipping is tricky. You rely on them for your income, and when the money isn't coming it makes the night seem very long. Last night was like that. I had a few Georges but everyone else was a stiff. How do you teach them? I have a few ideas, but the best way is by example. Check out the link...

Camping Cleanup

I finally unwound my tents from the Echo trip and set them up in the garage to dry out. They were still a little wet and a lot dirty. I want to keep them up for next time. I had to waste well over a 12 pack of coronas, it almost made me cry. I put some uncooked hamburgers in the cooler in a box on top of the beer and then forgot about it for a day or two. You know the rest of that story. I had to dump them in the garbage outside, which had just been emptied. When they hit the bottom of the can, glass went flying everywhere. I just kept my head down and waited for it to stop. I actually drove the hamburger to the dump, it was so bad. Should've drank the beer at Echo... I am ready for another trip!

NUGGET!

The last few weeks have been interesting. I quit the Rainbow. It was just too hard to watch them destroy the room. I hope everyone lands on their feet from this one. I had to bail early. I was able to get a swing shift dealing job back at the Nugget. It is my fifth? time working there. Had to do it. Better schedule and more money. more flexibility too. Rainbow took all the fun out of poker. Now I get to screw around and deal like I want too. Plus Rainbow shrinking guaranteed we'd get more action up the street.

Went to Echo reservoir last week. DISASTER! It rained, and I wasn't able to make much back on my investment. Next time... I'm already looking into houses for Vegas.

Props to Casey, the grave supervisor at Montego Bay. He spent like $600 of his own money to put on a fireworks show for us out at the salt flats. Pretty epic. Town is also full of new students, a lot of people made it out to the BBQ before the fireworks.

Next big thing is Lagoon on Tuesday. Unless a party breaks out over the weekend. I'll keep you posted.

New Stuff...

Ok, its been awhile again. I am tired of saying that, I hope I can continue to post more. BIG changes to the poker scene in Wendover. I started as the swing shift supervisor at the Rainbow Casino last August, and it has been one hell of a ride. We are going from one extreme to another. We just finished up a 25 table tournament, now we are shutting the room down and going to 4 tables only. Thats right, only open Fri, Sat and Sun... We'll see how that goes. I will be working Mondays and Tuesdays at Montego Bay. The good news is that we are going standard on all of the tournaments - There will be one every night at 8:30pm at Montego Bay. Same buy in - $60 during the week and $80 on the weekend. 4000 in chips for the entry and 2000 for the dealer add on - 6000 total. Decent blind structure too, I will be trying to play at least one or two a week. Were still debating the structures on the games at the Rainbow. I am all for getting rid of the kill and going to a 2-6 spread limit. 1-2 NL and 2-5 NL will be a staple too. It will be fun to see what happens there...

A Quick Exit

I finished the tournament last night in record time. I believe I was out in the first round, probably 5 or 6 hands in. No focus. I should have stayed around. Last night was very slow in Wendover and I’m wondering what’s up. I think we have lost a lot of business to the home games in Salt Lake. I know players don’t just quit, so they’ve got to be somewhere. All the dealers from around town were stopping in to see if we had any action going because their rooms were quiet too. Kind of eerie. I hope it’s busier tonight because I have a 6pm start again and Ill be one of the first ones out – I want to work late!

We started the Spin the Wheel promotion yesterday. Basically, it goes like this – get your aces cracked, or have a hand of aces full or better and you get to spin the giant wheel. It’s about 4 ½ feet around and has spaces from $20 up to $100, Steakhouse dinners for two, and free Jacuzzi suites. It hit twice in the first hour when I came in last night, so there definitely will be some free money flowing at work now. That is a very good thing! We’re even adding extra money for straight flushes and royals. Get in while you can.

Lakers Jazz rematch in SLC. Stay tuned.

J

Party Training

I got to run the tournament last night at the Nugget. It was fun, we had about 30 players and everything went super smooth. They played down to five players and chopped up the money. Part of the deal included a generous tip from all the players, which was a great bonus. I love when you get a take charge player in the end who demands that the dealers be included in the chop. Thanks, man!

I was able to get a small no limit game going after the tournament. We’re trying out a single $2 blind no limit game with a $50-$500 buy in. It was lucrative – lots of action. I wanted to sit in, I really did. I’m still retired, kind of like Allen Iverson, except that age has only helped my skills. I’ll play when the time is right.

There was another “party” downstairs in the billiards bar when I got off work. The Brazilian girls were in for cocktails and made me promise to come join them after my shift. I stayed for a bit, and even did my part by calling the guys to come out for a party. I didn’t know it would last only an hour or so. The girls started leaving 2 or 3 at a time – tired I guess. I tried buying a round of shots, but apparently the definition of party in Portuguese is to sit for 1 hour with 1 drink then go to sleep. Party training USA style must begin immediately! I think the plan was to go up to Southern X, but I am trying to save $$$ and I’ve got that Mrs. Jones type thing going anyway. Yes… I went home early! ;)

I’m working swing shift at the Nugget tonight. Come on out and play some poker!

Some Fun Quotes I posted years ago...

Take away the right to say "f**k" and you take away the right to say "f**k the government!”

-- Lenny Bruce

Do you wake up in the morning feeling sleepy and grumpy? Then you must be Snow White.

-- David Frost

An American girl hit on me in a club and asked me to make her an Egyptian princess. So I threw a sheet over her head and told her to be quiet.

-- Ahmed Ahmed

I bet a lot of mimes choke to death because nobody believes they're really choking.

-- John Gephart

Yes, time flies. And where did it leave you? Old too soon...smart too late.

-- Mike Tyson

I have six locks on my door all in a row. When I go out, I only lock every other one. I figure no matter how long somebody stands there picking the locks, they are always locking three.

-- Elayne Boosler

Skill is successfully walking a tightrope over Niagara Falls. Intelligence is not trying.

-- Anonymous

Life in the Big City

Wednesday was the last of two day shifts this week. I had fun both days, but it was pretty slow. We held on to our game until about 2pm, when the aces cracked promotion ended. We’re changing that up in the next week, so that should help get some asses in the seats.

On Tuesday Paul and I put the wheel together, but I guess that we are waiting for some signs to show up before it gets spun for real money. The deal is that you get to spin the wheel if you get your aces cracked or if you get a high hand – aces full or better I think. It will be a great promotion. You can win up to $200 on the wheel, rooms, slot play and some other stuff I forgot. I’ll update as soon as it’s up and running.

There is student frenzy here in Wendover. New folks have come to town from Brazil and Peru. I have met several students and everyone seems cool. It’s funny to see how everyone behaves around the new girls. Reminds me of high school but with adult themes. MTV should look in to this for a reality series.

Speaking of reality, the Jazz were hanging good with the lakers last night until the middle of the 3^rd. Then the tires popped and the Jazz were running on empty. 6 points in the 4^th quarter. I have a tough time even following the Jazz this year. For those of you that really know me, that is huge. I have been a big Jazz fan my whole life but this team stinks. Where’s Kyle Korver when you need him?

I have to mention here that Metallica and Nirvana are great bands to listen to when you write.

Back to poker, yesterday we lost our game at 2pm or so, but we got it right back up again. 4pm brought us a couple players that saved the day. Tossing money everywhere and not looking at cards until the river, stuff like that. One hand I told one of these guys it was $20 to call. (The pots got real big for a 1-5) He grabs a $20 stack of white and plops it on the Cocktail Waitresses tray behind him as a tip, then he looked at everybody and said “Guys – the dealer said twenty dollars! What was I supposed to do?” It was great and it finished my day off well. I’ll have to see how swing shift did with them.

Open invitation to all big tippers – you are welcome on my table all the time!

Working the Thursday tournament shift tonight. See you there!

J

Things that have changed since I last wrote in my blog.

1. I got back together with Marina.
2. I opened a clothing store and quit dealing poker at the Rainbow. Call it the Steve effect.
3. I closed my clothing store because everyone shops out of town. There were some other reasons too.
4. I started dealing poker again at the Wendover Nugget.
5. I broke up with Marina. Its nasty. Don't ask.
6. I watched the Jazz game last night and it was disgusting. 6pts in the 4th. against the lakers.
7. I woke up this morning and decided to write in the best poker blog in Wendover again.

I wish it was Thursday.....Guess Why?

I only worked a couple of hours yesterday, but I made great $$$. I topped it off with a second place finish in the Montego Bay Sunday tournament. $20+$20 rebuys. I was only in $40 this time, and second was a little over six hundred. Not bad for a Sundays work. I am still on the wagon, sucking down sugar free red bulls in record numbers. I had to quit after five of them yesterday, because I hadn’t eaten anything all day and I was beginning to feel a little weird. It did give me some wings in the tournament, as I felt hypersensitive to everything around me. I was really on and got an early chip lead. I managed to win a few more pots after that, and outlasted all but one for the final prize.

Sources at Montego Bay tell me that they are looking at starting a deep stack 30 min. round tourney every Sunday with a $100 buy in. Start time would be around 2pm. I am all for it, I would love to see some more tournaments in town with good structures and rounds that enable you to see more than a few hands.

I am planning a SLC trip today. My sister is coming from Logan to see my daughter and me tomorrow. I think an afternoon of bowling and pizza will be in order tomorrow. I am trying to find excuses not to go, but I owe my lil’sis a visit, she would be disappointed if I cancelled.

The Jazz have clinched a playoff spot due to a GS loss yesterday. I wish it started today, because the Jazz would have a great path to the finals with the brackets in their favor. A few more wins for home court would be nice.

J

Slow.

I have been writing letters of a similar theme all week. It isn’t getting old one bit yet.

Almost nothing to write about in Wendover this week. The poker room is slow and there isn’t much going on.

Bill Cosby was at the concert hall this weekend. I heard the show was good but that coz was showing his age a little. Rick Springfield, of Jesse’s Girl fame, played on Saturday. Brian summed it up best with his reply when I asked him if he went to the show. He said”: Hell, no. I don’t want anyone thinking I’m gay!” It kind of cracked me up.

I went out for the first time in a while. I went to the Wendover Nugget Billiards Bar with Paulin. His wife showed up later and we hung out playing pool for awhile. I played pretty good. It was weird hanging out at the bar and not drinking at all. It was pretty easy, even though Paulin started offering me wild turkey towards the end of the night.

Apparently it got busier after I left, but the casinos didn’t really get going until after 8 or 9 that night.

I could really use a vacation myself soon. June sounds good. Maybe the whole month, who knows? I wish.

J

I wish I were in Vegas.....

I think today was a record low. I still made good money because I came in early and pushed a lot. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a 2 table tournament on a Friday. We ended up with 4 games – 2 live and 2 tournament at 8:30 tonight.

Pitiful

Where did everyone go? I don’t know, but there weren’t any regulars in today. That is getting kind of regular itself.

The Jazz looked really good tonight in a 20+ point win against the Spurs. I didn’t get to see much at work, so I am waiting for the replay on ESPN.

J

Just Another Thursday

I am forcing myself to write today. I don’t have much to report about last night. I was looking for a catalyst for a no limit game, but it never appeared. We closed around 2am. I have taken to playing 13 quite a bit with Jerry and Tiff after work. I may host a 13 party in the neat future, I don’t know. I guess that’s all today….. Booooring.

Somebody come in tonight and make it memorable. Nothing to get me fired or anything, but let’s shake it up. A bad beat would be nice for sure.

J

Smooth Saturday

Well last night was great in the poker room. I started the fourth game when I went in early at 1:00. Thanks everyone for coming out. I loved all the two buck tippers (and more). Don’t get me wrong, I really appreciate everyone that throws me a buck while i'm working, but there is just something special about a roomful of multi-buck tippers. It makes my day smoooooooth.

I played 13 again last night with friends. It is a card game for 2-4 players. Pretty fun and fast paced. Basically, you get 13 cards dealt and you are trying to get rid of them by playing singles, pairs etc. and straights. Good strategy game.

Pretty simple day otherwise. I have 2 more days for my truck to be legal, and then the registration expires. I am trying to sell it and buy something smaller and newer. Looks like I might be spending some bicycle time soon.

Let’s hope for a rockin Sunday. The Jazz play early and I work all day. Then, who knows….

J

I'm still fighting!

I feel better today. I had a rough one yesterday, but I finished it well. Sometimes it helps to just say exactly what is on your mind. Sometimes you talk yourself into a corner, but usually you get your point across. I am a graduate of listening 101 now too. Listening when you talk with someone is probably the single most important thing you can do in a relationship. It is the key, because a lot of the things she’ll tell you are between the lines, and you have to figure it out. If you’re not listening in the first place, you are dead in the water.

I did have a typical Friday otherwise. Average crowd with an average tournament. The $$$ was ok. Two more days like that will be just fine with me. I’d like to see Sunday busy, I hope the March madness doesn’t cut into our business too much. The cigar crowd has been missing so far, and I haven’t heard one guest complain in their absence.

I had a player fold the second nut face up like he was making this great lay down. There were two kings and two eights on the board. This guy didn’t see the eights, and his king he was holding was accompanied by a 4 of 6 or something. He muttered something about being beat and laid it down face up. The other player then showed his king rag and took the whole pot. The poor guy got shit from everybody on that one.

I went dancing in the cabaret after work for awhile and then went home. I’m still going strong on the no booze thing. WORD!

I got to stay strong over these next few months, because I feel like my entire life as I know it is up for grabs. I have hit a major crossroads in my life, and I can go anywhere from here. I lost the one I love to my ignorance, but she is not far away. I have a lot to prove, mostly to myself. But I can do it. You gotta believe in yourself man!

J

I cant sleep but I still dream of her.

Twelve and three quarters hours of dealing poker last night, and I cant sleep well. I should be exhausted. I finally got to bed around 7:30 this morning, but I am back up for good and it’s just after 11am.

We had a pretty decent no limit game last night. It started out as a 2-5 Limit game with several players holding “over” buttons, which allow them to play no limit if only overs players are left in the hand. It was one of the most solid games I have seen in awhile, in that no one got stuck to ridiculously bad, and we really didn’t see much turnover all night. Most of the players stuck around till the wee hours of the morning. Finally a couple quit and a couple others busted, so we called it a night. It evolved to a 1-2 no limit after we lost the last limit player around midnight or one.

Players. Come to the Rainbow this weekend. Our room is nice, and the bad beat jackpot is getting juicy at around fourteen grand. Plus, I need the money. C’mon – orphans and homeless and stuff.

P90X is still going well. I am about 12 days in and feeling good. It was hard to develop a good routine at first, but I think I am getting the hang of it now. Yoga sucks. Final answer. I am the least flexible person I know. I think I have touched my toes like, never. Unless I bend my knees. I can do that easy….

J

What I'm Doin'

I am pretty much done with television. I don’t need it except for sports. I have stopped watching TV entirely. I have been watching several DVD movies, and the workouts I’m doing are all on DVD too, so my monitor wont die of loneliness.

I want to thank all of you, my friends. You know who you are. I have had several people check in on me this week. It’s been really nice, because no one has let me get too lonely. I even had someone special I never expected step up as a friend yesterday and call me to just hang out. It’s nice to know I am still loved. For those of you out there who don’t know, I accept invitations to all dinners, bbq’s, parties, and social excursions on a regular basis. Great fun, yeah.

I made it to the golf course for the first time in a long while with Chef Joe the other day. I just hit a bucket of balls to see where I am at. I love going to the driving range, because I almost always get some comment on how hard I crush the ball. I just wish I had some control over the damn thing.

I am kicking ass in the furniture department. RC Willeys called me the other day to set the delivery of the rest of my couch for April 1st. I deadpanned to the guy “No Joke?” Don’t worry; it took him a minute to get the reference too. Not that good….

My poker table is done and ready for a challenge. I will be hosting a sit n go next week sometime. I’m thinking full out BBQ too. BYOB ‘cuz I aint drinkin. Not till Fathers Day. Tuesday or Wednesday. Night next week probably.

Well, today kicks off another week of work at the Rainbow Casino. Texas Hold’em Poker on a Thursday night. I hope we get 2 games tonight. We need to establish a good no limit game during the week. I think we just need a couple of regulars to glue the thing together. Maybe we could come up with a comp or two for some guys to stay during the week. Something to kick start business a little. It was good last week; I got plenty of hours last Thursday.

I miss the girls. Things sure are quiet around here.

J

No Woman No Party No Cry

I don’t even know who this long private letter is to anymore. I feel a need to write, but to whom do I show it? My problems seem so personal, do I dare share them? I think not, as my personal life should be semi private when it comes to matters of love. Let’s just say that it’s been a rough few weeks and I’m tired. I think my friend may be right when he says that an artist needs to suffer to be productive. I haven’t written anything to be published for a while, so here goes.

I am on a 90 day personal introspection. No Booze. No Dessert. Exercise Everyday. I started doing P90X, a 90 day fitness program to aggressively train myself into shape. I am a week into it and feeling it. It is hard to do an hour or two every day, but i'm sticking with it and seeing improvements already. My goal is to be super fit by father’s day. I am definitely throwing a big party when I’m done to celebrate.

Work has been a little strange, slowing waaaay down since the last spectrum tournaments a week or two ago. Easter didn’t help, as the weather was too nice for most people to bother coming in. I did benefit from several generous quirks in my favor in the lineup the past few days. I have mixed emotions about our Saturday tournament, because it has really cut into my hours this week. I hope we pick up some and it does well. $50 buy in and one $50 rebuy allowed for anyone interested in a good Texas hold 'em tournament at the rainbow casino. It starts at 8:30pm Saturday night, with signups starting at 7:30pm.

2/3rds of my new couch is here. I got what they thought was the last set from RC Willeys, and 1 of its 3 pieces was the wrong color and had to be special ordered. 6 to 8 Weeks they say I have to wait. Pretty nice pieces though. It works for now.

My daughter came out for the week and having her around for a while has been great. I will be sad to see her go tomorrow.

J

I finally got with the program

I gots me a myspace. Check it out kids!

http://www.myspace.com/wendoverpokerdealer

J