Happy Birthday, Scooter J!
September 19th, 2006

I...rule.

As many of you know, the whole Ameristar is going to buy us each an HDTV deal was a well-planned ruse to win Scoot a hell of a birthday present. My goal was simple -- between now and November 3rd (Scoot's actual birthday) -- I was going to try to win $200 per week to sock up the cash so that, in essence, the Ameristar paid for a really nice birthday gift for my best friend.

After winning during my initial outing and tucking the $200 into a drawer at home I figured I was well on my way. As fate would have it, Scoot's true colors showed as the week progressed and he voiced how he'd much rather have a new digital camera and a new iPod rather than the HDTV. Try as we might, The Fellas and I weren't able to gently steer him around to getting the TV. Oh well, less money I have to win. Little did I know how quickly it was going to land in my lap.

Heading up to the casino on a Monday night rather than our newly pre-planned Tuesday ritual, we each plunked down the $100 start-up we'd agreed upon and sat down to do battle with Kimberly and Nanette, our dealers for the evening. After a rough twenty minutes, my chips had decreased to around thirty bucks. Scoot was slightly up and I was simply not feeling the luck at this table. Another twenty minutes of close wins and bad beats, I hit a blackjack on a $15 bet and inched up a little. Back to back losses put me down to $12.50 in chips. I slid it out into the betting circle, figuring I was playing my last hand. Nope, I managed to stay in with a win. Another twenty mintues and Scoot's up over $100 while I'm back down to that damn $12.50 again. Grr. Come on, now, I'm doing a noble thing...surely there's some luck left in the deck. All good things to those who wait.

Before I know it, I'm back up. I begin to catch black jacks and 20s right out of the shoe, bringing me back up over my initial $100 and onto the march towards $200. Half an hour later and I've caught Scoot's chip count and surpassed him. I was close to losing a pretty good portion of my chips on a double down opportunity (I had a ten to the dealers five) when the dealer puts my final card face down...and then hits a twenty. I looked Kimberly dead in the eye and said "okay, Kim, show me my ace" -- the one and only card that could win me that hand. Bingo, she flips over the ace. Score, I'm way up now.

Shortly thereafter I lean over to Scoot, tell him that I'm tired of dicking around, and that I'm gonna have $300 before the end of the shoe. Three hands later and I've reached my goal. What a ride. I had been down twice to my final bet but rocketed back up to $310. I cashed in the $300, bet my final two chips, and decided to call it a night. I'd root on Scoot, who was continually wavering between $150-$225. Rarely, if ever, do I drink when I gamble as I want my mind at 100%. It's me against the house, you know, and I want every advantage I can muster. But since I was done for the night I decided to hoist back several stiff drinks and just enjoy the atmosphere.

Once I was off the table, the dealers turned against everyone...hitting 20s and 21s almost every hand after that. "I've had enough of watching you bust down my boys," I said, as I reached into my pocket and pulled out $25 in cash. I'd decided that I was going to make wild bets with this money in an effort to help Scoot reach the $300 mark. Am I glad that I made that decision.

The $25 quickly turned into $50...and then $100...and then I dropped back down to $70. "Oh hell," I announced, "let's let it ride." Kimberly looked at me, shook her head, and said "What a waste"...before dealing me a black jack. That paid $105. So there I was at $175, having been at $25 about ten minutes beforehand. I continued making crazy bets before putting out a huge stack (it was $110) and won on that as well. Hello, profit!

In the end, I cashed out for $600 on the dot. I had made half a grand and, combined with the money I'd won last Tuesday, I had enough to get Scoot both his digital camera and an iPod...and had a little money left over for me. Scoot had won $125, basically putting him up $25 after dropping a C-note last week on Tuesday night.

I had done it...in less than one week I'd managed to get the Ameristar to buy my best friend two really kick ass birthday gifts. As we walked out of the casino, I confessed what I'd been up to the whole time much to Scoot's surprise.

Happy early birthday, Scooter J! Be sure to send a thank you card to the Ameristar...and tip Kimberly.

I love it when a plan comes together.

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