Trippin in Vegas!

Firstly, a big thanks to my friend, Vishal Kalsi. He made my trip to vegas unforgettable. We met after 3 long years, had a couple of drinks together, discussed old times, gambled and had a mini bachelor party!!! But, it was absolutely fantabulous.

So, back to trip. Yes, 1500+ miles of sitting in the car, the heat of Nevada and Arizona and the heartache of losing 300 $, worth it ? Of course yes. Hell Ya!

The highlight of the trip was the gambling session at 'The Mirage'. The three of us, Kalsi, me and Sumeet were hell bent on making some quick buck. Now, Sumeet is a friend of Kalsi's. He is an absolute dude. I met him for the first time. And by the time it was 5 AM, i felt I knew this guy since childhood. The 3 of us were just killing it in Vegas.

Yes, so we are at 'The Mirage'. None of us had played 'BlackJack' before. Sumeet, called a friend of us and got a high level understanding of what the game is about and tried to explain to Kalsi and Me. Smart ass that we are, we said 'Ok, why dont you try, we will follow!'.

The sport that Sumeet was, he willingly picked a table to rest his ass for the night. Nancy was the dealer. A grandmother kinda woman, very enthusiastic and would mumble.. "Son of a ...", whenever she would get a BlackJack!

For most of the evening, she wanted the three of us to win and become millionaires. But as fate had it, Kalsi and I lost.

Ok, so Sumeet sits on the table and tells Nancy, "I am playing for the first time, can you please explain some rules". She happily explains that the others at the table are novices too and she would be more than glad to assist.

So Sumeet starts with a 100$ bill. The aim of blackjack as i understood that time, was to have cards that summed closest to 21. If you get 21 in 2 cards, then you basically have a 'Blackjack'. The payment in this case is not even but 3:2.

In the meanwhile as I stand there to understand the game, Sumeet has suddenly made about 50 $. I am like, 'WOW'. This guy did not even know how to play and is not making big bucks. So, your truly, jumped into the arena.

Got out some change and sat. Did not understand one bit of what was happening. Nancy, was helpful though. She would tell me whether I should hit or stay. Suddenly, even I started to make some money. As it happens, you win for sometime, then you start losing and it goes on and on and on.

But, what does not happen frequently is what happened to Sumeet. As I told you, getting a 21 is a 'Blackjack' or a 'Natural'.
So a 'A' (Ace) card is 11 and any other face card (Jack, Queen, King) or 10 is 10 points. So for a blackjack one needs a 'Ace' and a 10 point card.

After, about 4 Long Island Ice tea's tripped, Sumeet got 2 'Ace' cards. He decided to split the cards. Split would mean, play those 'Ace' cards are individual games. So he added more cash and played on. His third card was astonishingly another 'Ace'. So he decided to split that card too.

So now, Sumeet is basically playing 3 games. And all 3 have a slight probability of being 'BlackJack(s)'.

So Nancy, draws the fourth card for Sumeet. Please forgive my memory, but thanks to the LIIT, i dont remember whether it was a face card or a 10. But yes, he got 10. So he had one blackjack.

Kalsi, Me and another friend who joined us gave high fives and let out a small yell.

Nancy, drew the fifth card for Sumeet, it too was 10. 'Man this is crazy shit happening' I said. The yelling got louder. The high fives got harder and higher. We were enjoin this. 'Can Sumeet get a third BlackJack? Is it possible? I would get like 1 blackjack in 4 games. And here he was, a possibility to get 3 blackjacks in 1 game.'

So Nancy, drew the 6th card. And all hell broke loose. It was a another freaking 10.
We screamt like crazy. The entire bay would look at us. We stood, gave high fives!! I looked at the cards and it was amazing.

It was improbable that something like this would have happened. But it did. And it was rocking!!! Nancy, kept repeating 'I have not seen that in a long long time'. She was in her fifties. 'Her long time would have meant a real long time', I thought.

Sumeet, made about 75 $ in that single game. But money was irrelevant. It was the fun, enjoiment, thrill, excitement that hit us.

Soon, I lost about 200 $ and Kalsi about 160 $. We decided to stop. Sumeet, cashed out too. When at the finish line(losing money), 2 of my ex-college friends came to our table. 'Ashley!', one said. I wondered, who knew me in Vegas. Chandan and Sameep, 2 friends whom I had not met for quite sometime, were in Vegas too. Had a word or two with them and then the 3 of us left 'The Mirage'.

I was leaving for Phoenix the next morning. I would have loved to stay with these guys and enjoy one more gambling guzzle, but things were not to be that way.

To be frank, I was playing Blackjack for the first time. I dont know how frequently does a player get 3 'Blackjack's in one game, but it for sure is a thrill feeling.

Hope to make some money the next time I am in Vegas. What I do take from the last trip are good memories and the below picture of Kalsi and Sumeet.




Cheers and Love,
Ashley