Musical Dice -- My Craps Blog

     I am reminded that today marks exactly 12 years since I first gambled in Lake Charles Louisiana. I had first arrived at Lake Charles about 11:30 at night on 7/3/2013, when I went to the Isle Of Capri casino (now known as the Horseshoe). The only reason why I chose that casino was because I was already familiar with the Isle Of Capri casino in Kansas City Missouri. Anyway, my first gambling session in Lake Charles was a very long craps session, where I had fallen behind to the point that I had to invest $1500 before getting it back. The last hour before the bus was due to leave and head back to Houston, was when a big rally occurred, during which I hit a lot of Hardway bets--32 in all! I ended up winning $775 at Isle of Capri, a feat I've yet to surpass there. But that happened 12 years ago today.

     My first trip to L'Auberge occurred just two days later. Say...!

     It is hard for anyone who has heard of the massive Kerr County flood that occurred in the wee hours of the 4th of July, not to be affected. The storm and resulting flood seemed to come out of nowhere, and it took the residents of Kerr County, and especially Kerrville, by surprise, and the death toll, at last count, was at least in the 70's. For me and my wife, we've been going to a religious retreat out that way for the past three years, and we've known people from our church, who went to Camp Mystic, the summer camp that was the hardest hit in the flood, and we know for a fact, that some of those church members are among those killed in the flood. It's a real sad tragedy. Now my wife and I had made the reservations for this trip long before this tragedy, so we decided to go to Lake Charles anyway. I made the decision to dedicate this trip to the victims of the flood.

     We stayed at L'Auberge this time around. It was exactly 12 years ago when I first came here. I'm hoping this time around, I can have some good results (it hasn't been that way lately).

     The gambling started at the craps table at L'Auberge, after Mrs. MusicalDice had a substantial rest. I got onto a $15 table, at Stick Left 2. For the most part, I was focusing on the 6 and the 8, along with the Pass Line. I fell a bit behind, and my roll, only 6 rolls long, wasn't enough to get me out of the hole. Fortunately, a good shooter, a random shooter, no less, came along, getting me out of the hole, helping me win $205. Not a bad way to start.

     Normally at this point, I'd be incluned to try to add to that at the blackjack table. But since that hadn't gone so well for me in recent trips, I decided against that.

     We had dinner at Ember Steakhouse, like we usually do. As I proposed a toast, like I usually do there, I decided at that point to dedicate this trip to the flood victims.

     After dinner was when I played blackjack for the first time on this trip. It was still at L'Auberge, and I managed to win $125, surviving a choppy table.

     One more gambling session took place this first day, and that was at Golden Nugget. First, I played blackjack at a $50 table, but unlike at L'Auberge, I didn't have to double my bets when playing two hands, which is what I normally do. I won $200 at that table, amidst a lot of drama.

     I then went to the craps table, where, apparently, the drama continued. Fortunately, I didn't have to make any additional buy-ins, but it came close, before I started getting my money back on another shooter. I was a bit drained by the time the shooter crapped out. I even turned down a chance to shoot the dice, opting to stay $28 ahead, instead.

     I thought I'd try to get a 500 Club by going back to the blackjack table. But after even more drama at this table, when I found myself $200 ahead here too, I decided to stop right then and there. For I was really exhausted by that time. I left the casino $428 ahead. $758 ahead for the first day. Not earth-shattering individually, but collectively, not bad!

     The main purpose of this particular trip wasn't the gambling. We don't have cable (we don't watch TV enough to make that worthwhile), so we decided to stay at a place where they have cable TV. You see, there was a program that came on tonight, on Lifetime, called The Pimple Popper, on which, a longtime friend of mine, Dot Campbell (called Dee in the show) was on it. My wife and I were determined to watch the program. Since the show aired on this day, that's why I gave it this strange title.

     The gambling actially started at the craps table at L'Auberge. This time, I was at one of the ends. I got off to a bit of a rocky start, but fortunately, I had a decent roll, shooting 11 times, using the Yo-Yo dice set, JUST enough to get my money back, plus one dollar. I stuck around for the next shooter, which added a little more to that for a total craps win of $23. I fif add another $100 to that at the blackjack table, for a total casino win of $123.

     Next, we went to the Golden Nugget casino. I tried to get into a craps game, but the table was full. Instead, I played blackjack. After a long battle, I got my money back plus $20. I once again tried to play craps, but the table was still full. So then, against my better judgment, I played poker (I had lost at the last five poker tables I'd played at--I'm now doing worse this year at poker than I am at craps). Anyway, I was at the poker table for 1½ hours, and despite being down for most of the session, I ended up $73 ahead, after winning two big pots at the end. A total casino win of $93. At leasy it's still a win.

     From there, we returned to L'Auberge, had dinner taken out from a Chinese restaurant, and watched the Pimple Popper show. We saw my old friend, called Dee in this episode, and I was stunned at how big the lipoma she had in her shoulder area--big as a grapefruit (the show didn't show that the doctor actually removed two lipomas, the second one was a smaller one that I'd noticed when we first knew each other over 20 years ago. The other one was near her lower spinal column). It was an amazing transformation my friend went through as a result of the procedure. We were really glad we watched the show.

     After watching the show, we went down to the casino floor, and I first got into a craps game. This particular session illustrates why I prefer playing craps in the daytime, rather at night (ironically, my favorite gambling session was a craps session at the Monte Carlo casino, which took place at about 9:30 at night back in December, 2001. This session, although it was a winner, it was a big turn-off, because the dealers weren't really paying attention. At one point, a dealer took a no-8 bet away, when I had a Place Bet on the 8, and he took that away too, when an 8 rolled. The dealer tried to say that a 7 rolled, and that's why my Place bet was taken away, but me, Mrs. MusicalDice, and others pointed out that the roll was a 7-WINNER. The bet was placed back, and I had a few more hits, then I took my 6 and 8 bets down, for there were a couple of guys (including the guy who had the No-8 bet), playing the Don'ts, and they were pretty vocal about wanting to see the bad 7. Fortunately for them, the 7-out came, but just after I'd pulled my bets. I left the table $110 ahead, one could argue, for all the wrong reasons. Bottom line: There were too many bad vibrations at that table. I then went to another craps table, where once again, it was crowded. Better vibrations at this table, but the problem was that there were too many people who didn't know what they were doing. Although the people were much friendlier, the fact that they didn't know what they were doing, was slowing the game down, and was another big turn-off, and another reason why I prefer to play during the day, rather than at night. I left the second table after winning only $16 at the second table, for a total craps win of $126.

     I then played blackjack, intending to add to the craps win. It only ended up being $25 that I added, for a total casino win of $151. The blackjack table was very choppy, and I didn't feel like going through any more.

     Overall, I won $367 for the day, and $1125 for the trip thus far. Again, none of these sessions were earth-shattering individually, but put them all together, i dare say, not bad at all!

     Those of you who know me, know that one of my other hobbies is writing fictional stories. During the course of this trip, I was putting the finishing touches on my latest story. I finished it today, and I refer to finishing my story, to having a baby (I also refer to writing computer programs like this--singers Billy Joel and Gloria Estefan have also referred to writing songs in this manner). So that's why this day has this title.

     I guess I had to have one losing craps session, huh? It occurred before me and Mrs. MusicalDice checked out of our room at L'Auberge. This was one of those sessions where, apparently, I came at the end of a good roll, and following proper etiquette, I didn't buy in until the come-out, which occurred after the shooter crapped out. I tried playing the Don'ts for that reason at first, but that didn't work. I then tried the light side, and that didn't work. I was standing at Stick Left 1, my favorite position at the craps table, and when I shot the dice, I used the Hardway dice set. The result was a PSO. The smartest thing I did was cut the session off before I lost all my profits for the trip. I lost $523 at the table, declaring myself all gambled out for the trip.

     Admittedly, seven casino sessions for a multi-day gambling trip, but again, the main purpose of this particular trip wasn't really for the gambling. Besides, I did end up ahead for this trip ($602), and I hadn't been able to say that in a while. Overall, I'm still happy with these results. Until next time! ☺