Addicted to addictions.........

I wonder where the time has gone. So much has happened since the last post.

My mother turned 60 on 8/8. Is it possible? Dad turns 65 on 9/5. Someone please figure out how to stop time.......................

July 31 marked the two month point in my "no slots" campaign. So, on August 1st, to celebrate, I hit the slots hard and long........The first two days of August found me a few hundred ahead of the infernal machines. I'm sure that this was NOT a good thing. So, I played and played and played and, as expected, the machines won. They won BIG. One of these days I will learn how to not punish myself. Until then, the struggle continues.

I have been collecting casino chips for about 19 years. The highlight of the year for the past 4 or 5 years has been the internation convention of the Casino Chip and Gaming Token Collector Club. I have made many friends through chips. It is always nice to see those friends, many of whom I only see during the convention. Another convention has come and gone. More memories for the mental scrap book. Rumor has it that a new record price has been paid for a chip. $70,000. Is it possible? Yes, it is. The run up in prices for truly rare vintage Vegas chips has been building for a few years and there is no end in sight. Everyone should ask their grandparents/parents if they have any old chips sitting in the junk drawer or jewelry box.

The poker room boom continues. Tuscany recently opened a small room. Caesars is recruiting poker room management, so I guess that they will finally re-enter the fray in the near future. I was at the Hilton a few days ago and they have their room under construction. It will be directly across from the sports book. They have one poker table assembled with a sign stating that they will be open for business on Sept. 2. The Venetian is rumored to be bringing 40 tables to the scene soon. I believe that the 40 number will give them one table more than Bellagio. Green Valley Ranch looks to finally open their room. I've heard that with everyting in the pipeline, there will be 100 additional poker tables in the LV Valley by early spring. Can this city absorb that many table? It remains to be seen, but I doubt it. Let the canibalization begin!

Today I had the pleasure to deal in the Stuff Magazine poker tournament at the Palms. There was a large contingent from a TV show that I won't name (Think about three decades ago and call it That ____Show). I will say, however, that "Fez" was noticably absent. I don't usually fuss too much about who I deal to , but it would have been a hoot to deal to Fez.

The passport finally arrived and plans for the Aruba trip are coming together. Now all I need to do is request some time off for late September/Early October. Leave it to me to put the cart before the horse. I really don't anticipate any issues with the time off, but this is ME were talking about.

After finding Big 2 on Superior Poker I obsessed a little and played it and played it and played it. My newest passion/addiction is Chinese Poker on Superior. I may have stopped the bleeding as my last deposit was last Tuesday and I still have 135% of that deposit in my account. May it continue. The biggest disappointment so far was when I had TWO straight flushes and a pair while playing $3 Chinese. I figure I stood to win upwards of $150 on that hand alone. Not to worry, two other people had bigger straight flushes and my total win on that hand was something like $11. Amazing.

I'm looking forward to Linda's return from the wilderness. I've missed the Saturday night card games. I wonder if they want to play Chinese the next time we play.