Another Saturday Night At Thunder Valley

Arrived at 8:30 p.m.: left at 5:00 a.m.

The first table started well, but then the fellow at home base split tens, and then split tens again, and then thoroughly ruined the hand for everyone else.

The second table was much better, and soon the money began flowing - $500, $1,000, $1,500. I even won the split 8's, where many small cards emerged from the shoe, and I managed only a 15 on one hand and a 16 on the other. I saw the same fellow I saw last week, the one who told of having lost $19,000 in one day. I asked him how he was doing, and he said: "Terrible." From where I was sitting, I could see the pretty girls heading into DJ night at the big bar they have there. Feeling good....

Soon, I was totally wired and betting very aggressively: $100, $200, $300 a hand. Winnings peaked at $3,000, then slid to $2,000. Then, before I could quite grasp, I was crashing, like a European swallow roped to an anvil, tossed off a rope foot bridge into a gorge.

Final win = $1,220 - $650 = $570, minus $40 E. stake, minus $13.45 ATM fee = $516.55.