VEGAS BABY VEGAS!!!
That’s right. Just got back from a weekend in Sam’s Town in honor of Matt’s upcoming nuptuals. I guess as far as Vegas bachelor parties go we were pretty tame. Pretty much a bunch of married or almost married guys drinking heavily, gambling a lot, and talking about life, sports, and Robocop (yeah, that’s right…robocop)
We stayed at Planet Hollywood which was fantastic! I’ve only been to Vegas one other time, but from what I have seen of the other casinos on the strip PH is right up there with the best. There were 8 of us in the Back to the Future II Suite which never stopped being awesome to me. We had all kinds of random stuff from the movie decorating our suite including hoverboards, costumes, and props from the best Back to the Future of the 3 in my opinion. One thing I was really dissappointed in was the lack (nary a mentioning!) of the Flux Capacitor. I know it was somewhere in that hotel and my failure to see it in all it’s 1.21 jigawats was the major dissappointment of the weekend. Well that and all the money I lost. But mostly it was my failure to see the Flux Capacitor that will hang over this trip with that one-that-got-away feeling.
Oh, yeah…the money. It could have been a lot worse, but I was still peeved to walk away from the weekend down $200. Mostly because three separate people in our group walked to the Airport with 4 more figures in their bank account then what they showed up with! More on that later. I wasn’t jealous. Well, yes I was. BUT that’s not really the issue I have been dealing with in the wake of my poor performance. I’m sad to say that the Varela Kiss of Death is still a looming presence in what is otherwise a terrific existence for yours truely.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the VKOD, here’s how it works. When Richard Varela (that’s me) wants something. When, in his heart of hearts, he truely believes something can be attained. When he is CONFIDENT (that’s the real key) in the likelihood that whatever it is he has an opinion on is true…the oposite is what will happen.
A couple of examples. I went to UNCW. Not because I wanted to go to UNCW, but because I DIDN’T get into Carolina. I had the grades. I had the scores. Dumber kids than me from my high school got in. But not this guy! Why? Lot’s of reasons I’m sure, but the foremost being that I truely believed I was a lock to be accepted. The same thing actually happened 7 years later when I applied to Law School at UNC on the heels of what I thought was quality work at UNCW and a few years of real world experience under my belt. I surely couldn’t be snubbed twice! Alas…
The VKOD basically is that when I want something badly enough and subsequently have the confidence that I will get what I want. I don’t get it. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining. I just thought the VKOD was vanishing into obscurity. Between marrying a girl as wonderful as Pam, getting a job I actually like, and a number of other positive results for your boy in the game of life I was sure the VKOD had moved on to another poor soul.
Well, then I hit the Blackjack table. See the first time I went to Vegas I was very unprepared for gambling and was thusly punished for not respecting the table. I didn’t learn the rules before sitting down. I did stupid things. I lost a lot of money. I even had trouble doing the math quickly which led to this exchange:
(Cards are dealt and I have 13 against a dealer 7)
Me: Hit (it’s another 3), Hit (Ace), Hit (9)
(with a straight face like I am concentrating on my next move) Stay.
Dealer: You already busted.
Me: Oh yeah, I knew that. I was just testing you. Good work! Now punch me in the face as hard as you can and I will be on my way.
You get the picture. ANYWAY I was not going to let that happen again, so I have been studying my blackjack. I had been playing it on my phone, studying odds, and talking to more experienced players about techniques. I was ready! But worse…I was confident. I thought if I played the right way there was no WAY I could lose. I figured the worst case scenario was going to be that I log a couple of marathon sessions at the tables, crack jokes with the boys, drink the complimentary vodka, and possibly walk away from the table after a couple of hours at break even or just slightly down.
One of the big problems with the VKOD is that it’s too smart for me. I can’t reverse it by saying I feel differently than I actually do to throw it off the scent. So if I had tried to combat the VKOD by saying I wasn’t sure about gambling and that I wasn’t planning on winning I would have, of course, been lying to the VKOD and possibly causing it to further incur it’s wrath! I didn’t tempt it, but it got me anyway.
I walked down the the tables with Chris and Matt with the confidence of a Matador and promptly lost $100 before I even got my second drink. Yipes. I made a mini-comeback during that session and ended up coming out of it relatively unscathed, but without logging the hours at the table I had planned on. We didn’t even make it an hour at that table but I didn’t want to risk it when the dealer who had just given me some of my money back switched out with some lady that looked like what I can only best describe as a PirateNinja. I can’t explain what that means really, but I think we can agree you don’t want to play against one in Blackjack.
So we were out of there. We had other stuff to go do that night so there wasn’t anymore blackjack until the next day, and at that point I was poised to strike! Riding the confidence that got me through my comeback I sat down prepared to win. I brought $175 (I was only down $25 at this point and $200 was the limit I set for myself) and I told myself I wasn’t going to get up until that money turned into $1000. And the crazy thing is…I almost had it.
I have a feeling I’m going to have nightmares about the number 11 for years and years. Or at least until my next Vegas trip. I was up. I was up pretty big, but not quite to my goal. And it happened. I was increasing my bets little by little which is how I got up, but a couple of bad hands saw the dealer chipping away at me. After a few up and down series I hit 11 against a 6 and doubled down. Dealer blackjack against a 17 for me. A couple of hands later I hit 11 again. Against a 2! Double down. I hit 19. Dealer hits 20. I hit 11 four other times against weak dealer hands, doubled down each time, and lost EVERY ONE OF THEM! I wonder what the odds are of something like that happening. I’m gonna say pretty slim, but the VKOD came through BIG TIME on that one.
I left the table shaking my head, but in my battle with the VKOD I will NEVER surrender. “We will not go quietly into the night. We will not give up without a fight!”
On to the winners. Eric had to get back home to his new baby boy and his lovely wife but he got a 24 hour pass to come out there for the first night. And boy did he. Eric was in a cab to McCarran airport on Saturday morning with $1300 more than he showed up with thanks mainly to a video roulette machine. Yes. A video roulette machine. Whatever Eric has is the polar opposite of the VKOD and he has been using it to his advantage his whole life. It came through once again. Maybe he and I are some kind of cosmic force that was separated at the creation of the universe and now we’re best friends because our opposing states of being are somehow attracted to each other like a magnet. That’s for another blog though.
Scotty sat down at a blackjack table long after I had given up on it, and made $1000 in about an hour. He was betting big, but he was getting the cards. Well done.
Mitch is the story of the weekend though. There was a point on Saturday night when he was down $2000 and sporting the not-sure-if-I-will-still-be-married-when-I-get-home face. I had never seen him so visibly upset about anything. Well, in an unprecedented display of softball shaped cohones, Mitch walked to the roulette wheel.
Mitch: What do you think? I’m gonna put $2000 down on Red or Black.
Me: WEll, that’s insane, but if I have learned anything from Wesley Snipes in my life it’s to always bet on Black.
Mitch: I’m going red.
The wheel spins…………and spins………..and spins…………..
bounce, bounce bounce….RED!
The color returned to Mitch’s face as we cheered. The VKOD was poised to strike. But Mitch countered it. And defeated it. I’m just glad someone did.
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