124 Degrees is Too Hot - Leaving Scottsdale

Yes, you read that right. 124 Degrees a few days ago. Now I know the poker games are great and the casinos are nice in Scottsdale, AZ - but come on. Yes, it was 124 degrees as I rode from one casino to the next. I'm surprised my tires didn't dissolve. Laughlin, NV wasn't much better. It was 110 degrees and no, I wasn't surprised that the poker games were bleak. The rooms are free to about $29.95 a night right now, but the poker rooms are nearly empty. Trying to find a $1-2 NL game at Harrah's and the Riverside was a no-go.

Blackjack is available for $5 at most of the clubs and they have gone away from the terrible 6 to 5 payout for blackjack that threatened to take over the industry here in Southern Nevada.Smaller clubs started offering single deck $5 games with the lousy blackjack payoff, but many have gone back to simply offering the regular 7.5 to 5 or only having $10 games. The lower payoff is a killer for blackjack players and I'm happy to see fewer properties using that gimmick. There are plenty of decent games to beat in the south right now. So many I can't even list them all. Just make sure you are getting good deck penetration. I had to move from one game to another quite often because many dealers have been instructed to just deal two rounds and shuffle. With six players I can manage, but with three or four players this is fine for basic strategy players, but if you are counting, forget it.

With the WSOP going there are good games all over Vegas. Sure, the side games at the Rio in the convention area with the WSOP tables nearby are great, but there are a lot of good players. I'll be back next week to hit 'em again and photos will be available. I need the cool calm weather right now. Lake Tahoe got snow yesterday. That's very wierd for June, but I'm still heading there.

Thank you to the Highway Patrol for passing me and giving me the "thumbs down" signal to slow down as I passed at 85 mph, instead of a ticket that would have wiped out my meager Thursday win. The simple warning worked and I drove just five miles over the limit after that, all the way to Reno. I'm so proud of myself, especially since that is a really long and boring 450 miles from Vegas to Reno.

In Reno, the Peppermill just got awarded the AAA Four Diamond award. I called to check on the no-limit games tonight but no answer in the poker room. Back to the operator, back to the poker room...........no answer. Oh well. Nice room, usually a couple good $1-2NL games and maybe a $2/3 NL. Not for me tonight. Headed instead to Harrah's. Smaller room, less tables going. Two decent $1/2 NL games. Money to be made.