High On Poker

Back in the old days, my family visited the Tropicana on a yearly basis for Thanksgiving, when my mother was feuding with her sisters and my paternal grandmother suggested a different type of Thanksgiving. This lasted for several years until my mother’s sisters forgot about the drama and we reverted back to the traditional family gatherings. Turkey clubs at the Trop’s Seaside Cafe were replaced by homemade turkey with all of the trimmings, but those formidable years at the Trop, which continued albeit during non-holidays, became a second home to me.

The Trop had everything three brothers could want. There were ample room to play elevator tag. Back then, the casinos were still catering to families, so there was plenty of walking space, which has since been replaced by wall-to-wall slots. There was an arcade in an area now turned into a series of little shops. And best of all, there was a mini amusement park called Tivoli Pier in an area that has, like most of the casino, been filled with more slots.

The Trop was where I honed my casino sonar, something that Roose and any other person who has stayed with me in a casino can attest to. What is casino sonar? It’s my uncanny ability to find my way through just about any casino by feel. It’s also where I probably developed my casino speed. Casino speed is the rapid pace with which I walk through most casinos. I can’t help it. I know where I want to be and I want to be there fast, especially when gamblin’ is involved. So at any casino, I seem to naturally pick up my pace at least twofold if not signficantly more, without even intentionally doing it.

In a way, the Trop coddled me to become the gambler I am today. I wanted to change the word gambler to poker player, but honestly, I didn’t even know casino poker existed when I was a tyke running around the Trop.

But the only thing that is constant is change. The Trop changed and I changed. I just didn’t realize we were changing together.

The Trop was like my grade school girlfriend who suddenly had her growth spurt a bit earlier than me. Gone were the amusement parks. The slot sprawl began and suddenly we couldn’t walk freely around certain parts of the casino. Finally, the arcades went, and with them, my love for Trop. It just became another casino and I was still too young to gamble.

The Trop and I grew further apart as I moved several hours and hundreds of miles away for college.  I got my first taste of actual casino gambling in Niagara Falls, Canada, where the legal age was 18. I still did not know about live poker. Casino Niagara was like the girl who took my virginity. It was awkward at best, and I remember a particularly bad two nights that pretty  disastorous, but at least I got a couple of sessions under my belt.

I returned to New York for law school. With the only casinos hours away, the temptation to go was never really present. And then came poker.

I knew about poker. In fact, I had a one night stand once with a girl called Foxwoods. I was still inexperienced and while Casino Niagara was my first experience, Foxwoods was my first time doing it right, poker-style. But as I said, I was inexperienced, and I learned none-too-fast that I had chosen the wrong dance partner. I ended up playing Stud. Just thinking about it now makes me feel dirty. I think I need another shower.

It only happened once, though. I soon fell into a steady thing with another New Jersey gal from a good family, lady Showboat from the Harrahs fam. I won’t deny it. Showboat and I had a thing. She seemed to have everything I wanted. Her poker room was very well appointed, clean, away from the casino noise, the right stakes and the right skill level of player. She put out in the way of cheap rooms and freebies during the week, along with poker comp dollars. The only shortcoming was her food selection. There was no place to grab a quick bite. The only option close to it, the Canal Market, had bad food and worse service. But with Showboat’s big plusses, I was able to overlook her negatives. And it wasn’t bad being a part of the Harrahs family, since I was also sorta seeing Showboat’s trashy adopted cousin Imperial Palace whenever I was in Las Vegas.

Things wre going so well with Showboat, I introduced her to my friends. She became the official unofficial Atlantic City Casino/Hotel of High on Poker. Hell, she was even at my bachelor party. But times kept changing and by chance, the Tropicana was about to re-enter my life.

Christmas, 2009. I remember it like it was last year. The family had returned to the place of our old Thanksgiving pilgrimage, which had now been replaced by a Very AC XMas tradition. Using the High on Poker AC casino/hotel system (cheapest rate for a casino/hotel on the Boardwalk), the family had returned to Tropicana. She had fallen on hard times having gone through a bankruptcy, but the new management seemed to be righting the ship.  More inviting room rates were a good start.

It had been a good year with Showboat and my local gal, Tuna Club, so wifey Kim and I were gambling a bit more liberally than usual. She had gotten the Wheel of Fortune bug and decided to play around there for a while. It wasn’t too long. Maybe $200 worth of losses over a few days, but it was enough to catch the Trop’s eye.

A few months ago, I received the best offer I had ever received from an AC casino/hotel: two free nights, per week, weekends included, every week through April 8…with a $40 food comp. It was Tropicana, and she was wooing me back.

And so, wifey Kim and I returned recently, and I have plans again to return next weekend for a pokercentric trip. And I guess once again, Tropicana took notice. Because I received another letter in the mail today. Two free nights. Per week. Weekends included. Every week through May 27.

We’re a match made in heaven.

Until next time, make mine poker!