leastbest - but still one of the best
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Oh Canada
posted Tuesday, 23 August 2005
A couple of weeks ago I got a surprise phone call from my first cousin Betty. She invited me to go with her and my two Aunts (my father's sisters) to Casino Windsor in Canada. I don't spend nearly enough time with that side of the family so I jumped a
t the chance.
I called up my mom and told her about our upcoming trip and she immediately started giving me advice. "Don't you realize you are going to a foreign county?" she asked. I told her I did and she asked, "Didn't you see the movie Midnight Express and what happened to him?" I tried to explain to my agoraphobic mother that going to a casino in Windsor Canada wasn't quite the same as going to Turkey and trying to smuggle drugs out of it. She wished me luck and I told her to warm up the car in case she had to come and break me out of a foreign jail.
The day arrived and I was excited. I hadn't been to Canada since I was around twenty. The meet point was in a parking lot near the m
all but since I am direction challenged I got a little lost and only through the miracles of cell phones was I able to meet up with the family.
The bus arrived a little early and we got right on. The bus driver was a lot older than I expected and my cousin hoped out loud that he could stay awake the entire trip. I looked around and my cousin Betty and I were the youngest people on the bus.
This bus was a lot
nicer with more leg room and a feeling of being less cramped. Thanks to my writer friend Sally I brought along Joe Eszterhas' autobiography Hollywood Animal. This is a truly compelling book and I'm grateful to Sally for the recommendation. Joe is a fellow Hungarian and was born in Cleveland. His first wife was born in Lorain and his second in Mansfield. I've only had a chance to read the first fifty pages but I like it.
Betty and I had a lot to catch up on. Due to my father's early death and my mother's agoraphobia we've never been as close that side of the family as we would have liked. We told stories back and forth and tried to catch up on forty years of family history.
Since it was a Tuesday, traffic wasn't bad and the only surprise for me was going through downtown Detroit. They have some beautiful outdoor sculpture and the city looked surprisingly new and clean. We were warned that they would be checking birth certificates at the border but they didn't. The only thing we had to do was show our birth certificates to the bus driver when we boarded. When I got my birth certificate in downtown Elyria ($16) they told me that soon we'd have to use passports to get into Canada. I hope that isn't the case, it will really devastate the tourist industry.
We arrived at the casino in record time and I was excited. The view of Detroit is fantastic and the outdoor fountains give it a classy look. We went inside and split up. I walked around the place trying to get my bearings. It is a lot bigger than Greektown and seemed to be on a whole other level. I went upstairs and found the poker room. They don't allow spectators in the room and I felt a little intimidated. I sat outside and watched the computer screen that shows players and games offered. Finally I signed up for a Texas Hold 'em 1$-2$ No Limit game and waited. While waiting I studied the people coming up. Many kids would come, look in the room and walk away. A few older gentlemen would come, look at the computer screen and walk away. A few signed up after me.
After about twenty minutes my name was called and I sat down at the table. I pulled out $120 to give to dealer but the guy in charge of the room took it and got me $5 chips. He gave me $100 and told me to put $20 in my pocket. I didn't know that at this table you could only bring $100 to the table.
I started playing and within five minutes was told to pay a session fee. I didn't know but at the low end tables you pay $6 to the house every half hour. The first hand I got a pair of aces and overbet. I was beaten by a straight and relaxed. I only played three hands in the first hour and a half, just watching and learning. My second betting hand was trip twos (three twos) and I got beat by a guy who won with a flush on the river (last card) with two and four of hearts. I was surprised he held out for the flush and realized if I had bet a higher amount before the river I would have taken the pot.
Going into the second hour I really started playing. I understood the guys at the table and was playing tight. I was dealt a pair of Kings and slow played them. On the flop I got trip Kings and let the other guy bet. The way the other guy was betting I figured he had two pair and after the river I reraised him and won a pot of over $200 without showing my hand. I was feeling good.
The rest of the time I just did as the books said. I played tight and watched the other players. I noticed one player always raising trying to steal the pots so when I got a marginal hand on the button and he raised everyone out of the pot but me, I put in a big reraise and he folded (as my daughter would say, like a cheap suit).
Each hand I learned something and I walked away with money in my pocket. It was just like playing chess, trying to figure out what the other guy was going to do. I can't wait to take my father-in-law next week. We are going to have some fun!
When I left the poker room I wandered around the casino looking for my family and found a beverage server. I asked him what it was like to work there. He said it was a lot better than it used to be. He said that right after the strike they wrote them up for everything and it was a tough place. It took a long time to get back to normal. That is what I like best about going someplace new. Talking to people and hearing their side.
After the trip we were all tired but happy. My cousin Betty won on a random slot machine. They brought her balloons, a T-Shirt, took her picture and gave her $500. Life can be good.
We got on the bus and munched on some delicious ground bologna sandwich
s that my Aunt Dorothy made. The trip had been a success so we settled in for a nice ride home.
Unfortunately the bus driver had different plans and punched the VCR and on the tv screens came Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome. I was never a big Boris Karloff fan but even if I was I don't think I'd pick this 1947 'B' movie to entertain the crowd. The tv screen closest to our seats flickered and turned differing shades of purple giving it a Timothy Leary effect that made the movie almost enjoyable. I probably would have enjoyed the movie a lot more if they had served liquor on the bus.
A woman came by after a little bit carrying a plastic bag asking for cash as a tip to the driver which seems customary. I happily threw in a couple of bucks because I was returning home safely without the battle scars of Billy Hayes. I had braved a foreign country and returned to talk about it. Was mich nicht umbringt, macht mich staerker
After a few minutes I gave up on the movie and went on talking to my cousin Betty, telling her jokes or family stories, and intermittently reading my book. The ride back went by very quickly and when we stopped one of the passengers said they should have taken up a collection for me for telling my stories. Another elderly woman said I should have been a comedian. We parted ways back at the parking lot. Aunt Dorothy gave me the remaining ground bologna sandwiches and hugs all around. I headed home exhilarated but tired.
t the chance. I called up my mom and told her about our upcoming trip and she immediately started giving me advice. "Don't you realize you are going to a foreign county?" she asked. I told her I did and she asked, "Didn't you see the movie Midnight Express and what happened to him?" I tried to explain to my agoraphobic mother that going to a casino in Windsor Canada wasn't quite the same as going to Turkey and trying to smuggle drugs out of it. She wished me luck and I told her to warm up the car in case she had to come and break me out of a foreign jail.
The day arrived and I was excited. I hadn't been to Canada since I was around twenty. The meet point was in a parking lot near the m
all but since I am direction challenged I got a little lost and only through the miracles of cell phones was I able to meet up with the family.The bus arrived a little early and we got right on. The bus driver was a lot older than I expected and my cousin hoped out loud that he could stay awake the entire trip. I looked around and my cousin Betty and I were the youngest people on the bus.
This bus was a lot
nicer with more leg room and a feeling of being less cramped. Thanks to my writer friend Sally I brought along Joe Eszterhas' autobiography Hollywood Animal. This is a truly compelling book and I'm grateful to Sally for the recommendation. Joe is a fellow Hungarian and was born in Cleveland. His first wife was born in Lorain and his second in Mansfield. I've only had a chance to read the first fifty pages but I like it.Betty and I had a lot to catch up on. Due to my father's early death and my mother's agoraphobia we've never been as close that side of the family as we would have liked. We told stories back and forth and tried to catch up on forty years of family history.
Since it was a Tuesday, traffic wasn't bad and the only surprise for me was going through downtown Detroit. They have some beautiful outdoor sculpture and the city looked surprisingly new and clean. We were warned that they would be checking birth certificates at the border but they didn't. The only thing we had to do was show our birth certificates to the bus driver when we boarded. When I got my birth certificate in downtown Elyria ($16) they told me that soon we'd have to use passports to get into Canada. I hope that isn't the case, it will really devastate the tourist industry.
We arrived at the casino in record time and I was excited. The view of Detroit is fantastic and the outdoor fountains give it a classy look. We went inside and split up. I walked around the place trying to get my bearings. It is a lot bigger than Greektown and seemed to be on a whole other level. I went upstairs and found the poker room. They don't allow spectators in the room and I felt a little intimidated. I sat outside and watched the computer screen that shows players and games offered. Finally I signed up for a Texas Hold 'em 1$-2$ No Limit game and waited. While waiting I studied the people coming up. Many kids would come, look in the room and walk away. A few older gentlemen would come, look at the computer screen and walk away. A few signed up after me.
After about twenty minutes my name was called and I sat down at the table. I pulled out $120 to give to dealer but the guy in charge of the room took it and got me $5 chips. He gave me $100 and told me to put $20 in my pocket. I didn't know that at this table you could only bring $100 to the table.
I started playing and within five minutes was told to pay a session fee. I didn't know but at the low end tables you pay $6 to the house every half hour. The first hand I got a pair of aces and overbet. I was beaten by a straight and relaxed. I only played three hands in the first hour and a half, just watching and learning. My second betting hand was trip twos (three twos) and I got beat by a guy who won with a flush on the river (last card) with two and four of hearts. I was surprised he held out for the flush and realized if I had bet a higher amount before the river I would have taken the pot.
Going into the second hour I really started playing. I understood the guys at the table and was playing tight. I was dealt a pair of Kings and slow played them. On the flop I got trip Kings and let the other guy bet. The way the other guy was betting I figured he had two pair and after the river I reraised him and won a pot of over $200 without showing my hand. I was feeling good.
The rest of the time I just did as the books said. I played tight and watched the other players. I noticed one player always raising trying to steal the pots so when I got a marginal hand on the button and he raised everyone out of the pot but me, I put in a big reraise and he folded (as my daughter would say, like a cheap suit).
Each hand I learned something and I walked away with money in my pocket. It was just like playing chess, trying to figure out what the other guy was going to do. I can't wait to take my father-in-law next week. We are going to have some fun!
When I left the poker room I wandered around the casino looking for my family and found a beverage server. I asked him what it was like to work there. He said it was a lot better than it used to be. He said that right after the strike they wrote them up for everything and it was a tough place. It took a long time to get back to normal. That is what I like best about going someplace new. Talking to people and hearing their side.
After the trip we were all tired but happy. My cousin Betty won on a random slot machine. They brought her balloons, a T-Shirt, took her picture and gave her $500. Life can be good.
We got on the bus and munched on some delicious ground bologna sandwich
s that my Aunt Dorothy made. The trip had been a success so we settled in for a nice ride home.Unfortunately the bus driver had different plans and punched the VCR and on the tv screens came Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome. I was never a big Boris Karloff fan but even if I was I don't think I'd pick this 1947 'B' movie to entertain the crowd. The tv screen closest to our seats flickered and turned differing shades of purple giving it a Timothy Leary effect that made the movie almost enjoyable. I probably would have enjoyed the movie a lot more if they had served liquor on the bus.
A woman came by after a little bit carrying a plastic bag asking for cash as a tip to the driver which seems customary. I happily threw in a couple of bucks because I was returning home safely without the battle scars of Billy Hayes. I had braved a foreign country and returned to talk about it. Was mich nicht umbringt, macht mich staerker
After a few minutes I gave up on the movie and went on talking to my cousin Betty, telling her jokes or family stories, and intermittently reading my book. The ride back went by very quickly and when we stopped one of the passengers said they should have taken up a collection for me for telling my stories. Another elderly woman said I should have been a comedian. We parted ways back at the parking lot. Aunt Dorothy gave me the remaining ground bologna sandwiches and hugs all around. I headed home exhilarated but tired.
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