Detoxing and flashbacks

From the beginnin' to the end/losers lose, winners win/This is real we ain't gotta pretend...
-50 Cent

So I'm driving OTP on assignment and the suburb vaguely reminds me of the last leg of the drive to Tunica. I see these pinkish blossoms and they immediately remind me of the great decorative blossoms that line the little mall of shops in the Bellagio heading out toward Caesar's, or Bally's.

I'm totally detoxing (a term the goddess used to always use, coming off of hard weekends of chili cheese fries and who knows what else) after the Vegas trip. On the last night there, Sham and I ate at the Bellagio's buffet. But not before going back to the poker room after we cashed out in an attempt (my idea) to bluff a comp there, as I don't think we played nearly long enough there to have qualified this trip around.

Talking to the poker room manager in the back office is a lot like going to the principal's office. The manager didn't really mind us getting a comp. Only thing is he was going to give them out later on in the evening. But we wanted to eat right then, so we just got a line pass and scampered past the long line of would-be diners who are not gamblers and ate our fill. Sham says I was not a good bluffer. Only a really tight player would say that. LOL.

One thing about Sham: He really knows his fucking way around food. He is to diners what an engineer batallion is to the Deuce Four. I followed his lead in one of the city's best buffets -- green light on the Chicken Wellington and the roast turkey, staying clear of the buffalo sirloin. He even munched on the Hawaiian Ohno, a fish I'd never heard of. "Oh, yes!" -- unlike the phonetics of its name, it's good.

That was only part of the problem. I ate so much other great food last weekend! There was this really great steak I had at the Sherwood Cafe in the Excalibur, one of the best that I've had. Sham and I ate brunch at the always dependable Main Street Station buffet, which has these great Hawaiian dishes. And, as always, we had meals at the Coffee Shop in Binion's, which is always must-do on any visit there. I previously mentioned Mr. Lucky's at the Hard Rock, which is on my heavy rotation list.

But now I'm trying to be good, at least until New Orleans and the wedding of the Girl-With-the-Strawberry-Blonde hair. I am so not ready for the trip, as I should never be allowed to have nice things. At this moment, I know where exactly one of my $300 Bally tassel-loafers are. I should buy a new suit but I likely will make do with what I have. I'm really going to be down there to gamble, after all.

On the plane to Vegas I convinced Sham to play in one of my patented do-anywhere H.O.R.S.E. freezeouts. We went more than six rounds before I beat him. It was more an endurance match than anything. At one point, in the Stud Eight portion, I made a runner-runner-runner-runner royal flush. How about them apples? I was sad that I typically only get a royal flush once a year and this was for a $1 buy-in freezeout. Loved winning, though.