"The Book"

Hello everyone,

The recap for this week work-wise is really short...except for the fact I have finished updating the Behind Closed Doors scenarios, and have disbanded my theme committee! Oh, the satisfaction of completing tasks! I did pick up a new task Friday afternoon...the updating of the Community Standards online...so that should take me out to the end of my time here!

Friday night, we hit up the River Cree Casino, which according to locals, is the best casino in the area. After signing up for a Player's Club card (which apparently does nothing...), we hit up a Blackjack table. Let me let you in on a little secret...promise not to tell anyone though! Always let the dealer know that it is your first time in a casino, as they will help you out. Case and point, I read up on Blackjack before I went, so I generally knew when to hit and when to stay. Most people use that knowledge to show off and look smart. I did not do this, as I thought it would be better to use the knowledge of the person who actually does know what is going on, the dealer. At River Cree, the dealer takes both of their cards in the beginning. They have this magical mirror thing that shows them what cards they have, in order to check for blackjacks and such. By building rapport, and asking their advice, one would get a "legal" advantage, and would get to know what "The Book" says to do in certain situations. Now this won't work at every casino, as dealing rules are different, but it worked here. Also, it won't work with dealers that have no personality, so be careful! I was up $90 at one point, which isn't bad considering I started at the table with $40...I ended up walking away up $50.

The next secret I will share with you is to avoid games you don't understand. I was going to play poker, as I have played many times, and generally can bluff pretty well. However, it was a crazy setup they had, and I really didn't understand what was going on, so I avoided it. On the search around for another game that I knew, I ran into this weird Texas Hold 'Em game, in which you played against the dealer, and not the other players. This takes away the advantage from the player, but I did not know this until later on. I was just going to observe how it worked, when this guy called me out. He noticed my Virginia Tech shirt, and asked if I was from there. I said yes, and he told me he was from Texas, and that this game was awesome, and I should play. I told him, I was just going to watch first, to try and understand how it worked. After a few hands, I figured I could try one hand, and see how it is. I pushed on the first hand, and the others at the table were willing to offer advice. The Texan ordered me a drink, and I felt obligated to play a little longer. You probably already guessed the ending to this story, and you are correct. I lost the money I won playing Blackjack, and the $40 I started with. Looking back, it really wasn't that bad, considering we were there for about 3 hours, and I only lost about $50 (including $10 more to slot machines). It was a really fun time, and now I know what to do and not to do when I go to Vegas next summer! Afterwards, we went to Denny's, where I ran into a guy whose daughter toured the Tech campus the previous weekend. It's apparently a small world for people connected to Tech!

On Saturday, I got some homework done, and went to a silent auction sponsored by a friend's soccer team. I successfully bid on and lost many items...but felt good about raising the prices! The craziest thing was that I spoke with an Irish accent most of the night...thanks ridiculous riverdance music that they play at pubs! Also, the weather was really bad. Since I got here, we have had maybe two nights of thunderstorms, and they were really short and weak. Last night was one of the worst storms I've seen in a long time! Winds were recorded constant at 106 KPH (66 MPH), and there were reports of tornado warnings in the area. Lightning was bright and constant, and the thunder was loud! On the drive back, we saw many trees down, and the power was out in most of the city. The people I was with said they have never seen it this bad, and were shocked. It was kinda crazy! I checked the news this morning (which by the way, is slower then our breaking news) and it talked about a lady who was downtown and concrete fell on her from the top of a 26-story building.

As for this upcoming week, schoolwork as usual, and on Friday I am going to Jasper (the mountains) to camp for the weekend. It should be a lot of fun, and hopefully I will get to see the mystical wildlife of Canada (elks, bison, and bears...oh my!). More to come later this week!