Our Last Vegas Show

This is the part of the trip I like the least… getting ready to leave! We’re not done vacationing, but we still have to make sure the loose ends are tied. Helaine’s in charge of all this and I marvel at her efficiency and organizational skills.

Dinner tonight was the Grand Wok, a very nice Chinese restaurant here in the MGM Grand. We shared two appetizers. Helaine ordered a shrimp lo mein dish while I had beef tenderloin, asparagus and a black pepper sauce.

Mine was marked spicy on the menu, but it was more flavorful than hot. All in all we were very pleased with our dinner. As in nearly always the case in Vegas, the service was attentive and friendly.

We headed across Las Vegas Boulevard to the New York New York Hotel. We had tickets for a show tonight and this one was an interesting choice. Actually, it was a difficult choice – not a slam dunk by any means.

We saw Roseanne Barr.

I remember watching Roseanne the first time she appeared with Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show. She was truly a breakout star from that very first moment on-camera. A Jewish housewife from Salt Lake City, her performance was totally unexpected – words and actions!

Some people can take success, others cannot. Roseanne was in the second category.

After burning white hot, he career careened. There were work related difficulties, canceled shows, bad marriages and that incident with the National Anthem. It was as if she was working hard at being a failure.

We had heard rumors the original Roseanne was back. That’s why we bought tickets to see her in the Cabaret Theater, a small (450 seat) venue.

Opening was Jackie Beat, a female impersonator/comic. It was, to say the least, a little strange. Though engaging, Jackie was doing (mostly) predictable shtick. Hey – it’s an opening act.

Roseanne came on and she quickly won over the house. She’s a grandmother now. She a little more realistic and fatalistic in choosing her subjects. Still, the observations of life that made her domestic goddess persona so enjoyable came through.

It was a reasonably tight set by an (obviously) professional comedienne. Both Helaine and I laughed a lot. I hope Roseanne can maintain.

We returned to the MGM and I headed directly to the poker tables. I needed a little more before going.

I played astoundingly tight. For 45 minutes, I played one hand! Considering a ‘blinds’ of $3 per round, I was down $15 before I really began to play.

I started to build a nice stack until getting clobbered in a big hand. I mean really clobbered. I reached in my wallet and bought more chips.

One the next hand… the very next hand… another monster pot. Again, I went all in. This time it went differently. I was within $25 of my starting point.

It never happens like that… except when it does! I continued to play, finishing the night nicely up.

I’ll probably play a little tomorrow before leaving, but right now I’m up. It’s not a lot, but I’m not down! I lost all the tournaments I entered, but won nearly all my cash sessions. That was the difference.

I had a great time and really can see a difference in my no limit cash game play. I was cautiously aggressive. When I had a hand, I did my best to keep ‘limpers’ out. I never got ‘married’ to my cards… OK, seldom did I get married to my cards.

There surely was some luck in my winning. Over time, luck evens out. I hope my good play stays.

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