A Day of Rest, A Day of Work, POD one

Sunday morning was dreary, wet and cold. We left the Memphis hotel and found our way to Graceland. We never planned to tour Graceland just a drive-by and photo op but with the rain and windy cold weather it was even difficult to get out of the car to grab some pictures of the mansion from the sidewalk. After a call to his daughter Megan who was celebrating her birthday, Mel did brave the weather and grab some shots. His recklessness actually encouraged another passer by to do the same thing.

We quickly found our way to US 61 South (or as we call it, Highway LXI) and headed on our way to Tunica.

We arrived at the first casino area which we call POD one and which contains, the Roadhouse, the HorseShoe and the Gold Strike. Our first stop was the Roadhouse. It was still early, before 9 am when we arrived and the tables were mostly empty. The gambling started at a table that was completely empty and was right next to a second empty table. The dealers were assigned single deck low limit tables that had a 6/5 payout on black jacks instead of the usual 3/2 payout. The trend towards using a 6/5 payout on low limit tables has been sighted in Vegas and reportedly also occurs now in Atlantic City casinos as well. The return of the low limit table, maybe a result of the economy but is also an opportunity for people to learn the game, 2/3 dollar tables can be an expensive way to spend an evening but it makes a lot more sense to be a newbie there than at a $15 table that had become the norm in AC. It is irritating that the casinos feel they need an incentive to sponsor that type of table by cutting the payout but it also teaches players to earn money in non-blackjack situations.

Our first round turned out well. Although I don't like single deck or even double deck games, Mel believes there is a Karma when you handle your cards. We both did very well at the table and attracted a crowd until the table was completely filled. This led the dealer to shuffle after every hand and in a few minutes I decided it was time to cash in and move on. Mel joined a few minutes later and we walked over to the HorseShoe.

The HorseShoe is a local favorite and even though still early there were a lot more players and tables open. I grabbed a seat left vacant when a player got up just as I was walking up-always a good sign-I was meant to be there. The dealer Jimmy was an entertaining guy who kept up a steady repartee some of which was even pretty funny. He missed a bet I made, thinking I wanted to double down a pair of fours instead of splitting them. But the casino's pit boss was called and quickly rectified the situation. With thousands of hands being dealt a dealer will make mistakes especially a dealer who keeps the game moving. Good casinos can fix things so no one feels cheated and the HorseShoe certainly had a good system. Later in the session I got another pair of fours and Jimmy smiled and asked sarcastically what I wanted to do. I left a winner and so did Mel, we had played almost two hours and the pit boss gave me two buffet tickets. We had brunch and left for the third casino, the Gold Strike.

GoldStrike which according to an Arkansan who we met later in the day has the best food in Tunica was crowded and the Sunday visitors to Tunica were mounting. We both found seats though and both won again. Our first work sessions had resulted in a rare occurrence, a double hat trick, we both had three winning sessions in a row at three different casinos. So rare in fact that neither of us could remember it ever happening in over 20 years of playing.