It’s been a while since I’ve caught up on the forum, and since I don’t work from home anymore, it’s a little more difficult to take a few minutes out and check out the posts. I really like reading the reports and such, and see a lot of new faces… great that the family keeps growing!

This year has seen some ups and downs as we usually see, but at the risk of jinxing it (although none of us are superstitious) I’ll report on several of the outings.

In April, I joined a number of folks on a cruise out of NYC hosted by Midnight, and it was great. It was my first time on that line, as I’d been a snob on another line that only has 1x odds, which I’ll be going on a boat casino hosted cruise in December and looking forward to it. No choice but to be a place bettor and double dip on the point; but I digress. The ship had 2 craps tables, and the hosting company had talked the Casino Manager into setting 1 table at $25 for most of the cruise. I’ve gotten comfortable playing a $25 table, especially when you know 80% of the people on the table and there were usually only 3-4 people on the table. I was up for the trip, though not substantially due to one downright STUPID session with STUPID betting, STUPID decisions, STUPID play. However, the next session, while down, I refocused and determined where the issues were at, and had a $2600 swing to be up for the session. In addition to action at the quarter table, I was able to get in at Base Right position 1, effectively, IMHO, replicating SL3, from which my 50 and 40+ roll hands have come from. Other than dealer stacks sitting there, I threw without worry, found a spot, and ripped off a serious money making hand. One of the floor managers did note afterwards that he only let me throw like that because the table was so crowded, and I thanked him. Their rules!

Early summer was very slow as I was with my mom a lot in visiting her and dealing with her final days with us. She loved playing on the Keno machines, but in a visit late last year, she got so winded that it ended up being her last visit to the casino with me.

Late summer, we spent several weekend in NC retirement house hunting. I was able to hit a few places on the way there and back, as well as try out a brand new venue in western NC, which will be about 45 minutes from the retirement digs which we’ll transition to in the coming years, but spending plenty of time at…. I may need a second table!!!

Enter a trip that Big Daddy Revs took to Chicago. Scooter and I took him to venues in MI, IN, and IL as well as a great day at my home venue which has added a Crapless table that we had some good play on. Overall, the long weekend was a loss, but we had a great time. IF, that is IF, we’d have taken the time to analyze our issues earlier, not the last night he was here, we’d have done A LOT BETTER! We each found minor issues in each others grip (mine) and alignment (his) that really made a difference. HUGE difference for me as we continue the report.

In September, I finally got my lovely bride to join me on a junket out to southern NV. What a great trip. Although my wingman Scooter couldn’t join us, my buddy DiceDiver and his lovely bride joined us for part of the trip and we had a great time together. I love the early morning sessions when I’m fresh and the tables are empty. The crews at this place are dynamite and learned my tipping method and progressions quickly and by the second day, rarely had to speak instructions. I love those times! During one of my longer rolls in the 30’s, I started wondering where my wife was as we were to meet up, but kept the focus on the table. The table had so much positive energy and I’d been hitting about 3 of the box number very heavily. When I finally hit the nasty, I turned around and my bride had a huge smile on her face, she loved the energy being displayed by everyone there. For the second time of the trip, I’d tripled my decently-sized buy-in, and was ahead for the duration, though had a down session on the final morning before the trip home.

Upon returning, I was able to squeeze in a nice winning session at my home venue before heading to NYC for another hosted casino cruise.

In late September, Midnight again hosted my bride and me on which is apparently quickly if not already has become a tradition. This brand has a magnificent Brazilian Steakhouse on board, and Midnight and I have now twice enjoyed a meal together, including the best part; GRILLED PINEAPPLE!!! He told me about it in April and it came right before we were ready to go. This time, I made sure they knew we were expecting it, and again, it far from disappointed!!!

The ship this time only had one table, and it was unbelievably hot whenever there were more than 20 people in the casino! When the table got full, it was all one could do to try to stay cool without disrobing! The table was a little choppy for the first day and a half, then our group started getting dialed in, first Kay, then Rob, then me, then Midnight. I struggled for much of the remainder, but WOWZA, did Midnight cap it off right!!! I had moved over to the right base to get a away from another player, and as it were, Midnight came in next to me after taking a break. As the night went on, we were holding our own, but the night was wearing down and we were approaching NYC shortly. About 1am, Midnight went on a bender from straight out, finding a lane that stayed clear of chips. When I say a bender, I mean a BENDER!!! It included these stats:
– Note 3x4x5x odds
– mid 60’s on roll count
– 2, count them TWO, fills of purple and black chips DURING THE ROLL (no pumpkins)
– Hardway bets were at $75 or more on the 8 and 10 (half of the 8’s and 10’s were hard) for multiple players AND HITTING!!!
– The 8 and 10 had multiple max bets and others (mine) close to max
– the 5 and 9 also had serious bets on them, though the 4 and 6 (correct me on memory, Midnight) had relatively low bets on them as the rolls were so concentrated on the other numbers.
– The color up after this roll was quite a scene, though in reality, any purples just stayed in your rail.
The crew and management on these cruises have been incredible. They’re not used to having betting at this level, and on this trip, they only had a small number of dealers who knew craps, making it tough to get the table open early.

After catching up on some things post-trip, I was able to get to my home venue this past weekend. It was a crowed table, so I took a spot at right base 1 and had a decent hand. My wingman Scooter was in his favored spot, and one of my spots opened so I moved to SL2. Over the next few shooters, the table got fairly empty and I was hoping to get the dice past me and around to the right side so that I could shoot again. Well, there were several good hands, and some dealer changes, so when the dice got over to left, I was able to shoot again, I just confirmed that it was OK with a woman straight out as she shoots decently; but she said to go for it. Again, a good, money-making hand and I knew I’d found my rhythm and spot. The dice went around relatively quickly, Scooter shot then left for a Poker tourney, and I got the dice again. I was able to turn out a 45 roll hand and absolutely killed the 4,5,8,10. I hit 6 points, but only 3 to the fire, missed the bonus by the 2 and 12 (which is the way it should be). By time it was over, I’d reset the 4 as the point and had $300 behind it, had a $300 5, a $450 8, and a $115 10. FYI, we have 100x odds so you’re pretty free to do what you want on bets. it was a great session, continuing the success after Big Daddy Revs tweaked my shot using our iPhones.

I can’t wait for the December cruise and session from now until them, some hopefully successful sessions in NC as I take up residence for a couple of weeks in Dec, and of course, the now-traditional NYC cruise with Midnight next April.

I LOVE THIS GAME!!!! It’s great taking trips with the GTC family and having a blast both at and away from the tables. Oh, and unbelievable Rum Cake and Fudge in Bermuda!!!!

Until next time,
Don

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