MOHEGAN SUN

On the eve of my 26th birthday, I decided to take my quarterly trip down to Connecticut to do some casino gaming. Though I've never been to Las Vegas or Atlantic City, I'm somewhat of a familiar face at Foxwoods and Mohegan. I feel like I'm doing a civil duty for Native Americans- We took their land years ago and now they take our money.
Anyways, I used the smart formula: I left the credit and debit cards at home and took only a couple Benjamin Franklin's to the casino. In all likelihood you're going to lose. What you don't want to is lose big. Being on the NH border, my stepdad and I took 128 to the Mass. Pike until we eventually hopped on 395 and took that into Webster, Massachusetts. Webster borders Connecticut until you hit Norwich and 2A. 21 exits later and we get into Uncasville CT and the Mohegan Sun Hotel and Casino. After well over 120 miles and 2 hours we arrived for our day trip destination.
That's where and my stepdad part ways. He is a card playing junkie who settles in tables of five for Let-it-ride, blackjack and poker. Not me. I see card playing as tedious. You can lose really quickly, especially on a holiday(it was Presidents Day) where the place is packed and the tables are often a $25 minimum.
I go with roulette. I thrive off the numbers. It took about an hour to find the right table. There was roughly 18 of the 22 roulette tables open for business. What's the right table? I make sure there are not too many smokers first. Nobody wants to breathe that crap in when you want to concentrate. Then make sure the employee running the table is lucky. I prefer the Caucasian female who smiles but is all business as well. You don't want the depressed old man who spins the ball to slow and wants to press his luck-free aura all over the table. You then got to make sure the pit boss, or at least the head honcho in that section, is not eyeing the table's every move. Most importantly, the waitstaff/ server. You need to pick a table where they come around early and often. Water, beer, wine, soda and coffee. The drinks come in handy. Lastly, choose a table near a bathroom. That's a given.
Anyway, I found my roulette table with none of the things a mentioned. Instead, I chose the table that had a fair $10 minimum bet. To make a long blog short, my c-note lasted me 4 hours of fun. I relied on my lucky numbers- 12, 14, 19, 21 and 24. I was up and down and finally started to do well but had to pea real, real bad. Eventually, it got to the point I had to roll the dice per say, and bet all my chips. No luck, of course. But at least I got to release those 2 diet coke's and 3 bottled waters I chugged while playing.
On my way to the race book, I noticed the best shirt of the day; at a dude in his late 30's wearing a ripped and torn Metallica Ride the Lightning black t-shirt. Priceless. I wanted to give him his props, but he looked very consumed with his nickel slots. Oh well.
Speaking of slots, I thought for a second of playing one. I hate the combination of elderly people chain-smoking light 100's, loud noises that leave your head ringing and the concept of 1 cent, 5 cent and so on slot machines. I'll pass. Though hearing of the new a college student from Somerville MA hit 3.5 million a day earlier on a slot machine almost was enough positive news to play............almost.
I met up in the safe-haven(the race book) with my stepdad around 4pm. That's where I usually go and hide if I'm down big early on. The place was freakin' packed. Not a seat to be found among the estimated 100+ seats in the race book. I found a seat later and bet on dogs-not horses. The horses are too slow and the excitement disappears halfway through the race.
Overall, I did pretty good with the dogs. I hit a few times, but unfortunately no exacto, quinella, or trifecta paid out. I did leave a couple hours later about $40 richer.
With about 2 hours to go, I walked around for a bit and noticed the beauty. The magnificent waterfall near the mall at the Tuscany Restaurant is fascinating. So is the martini bar near the Wombi Rock. I contemplated hitting either The Dubliner, a nice Irish Pub or Ultra 88, a night club. Still reeling from the Magic Hat the night earlier, I passed on the Pub.
And with ringing from the slots already bothering me, I passed on the techno/dance music I'd have to deal with at 88. I already had my fill of music on the way up.
I tried out Sirius radio for the first time and came way unimpressed. Sirius 27 Hard Attack was boring with it's plays of Ill Nino and Static X- luckily they played Machinehead's "Halo".
Instead, I went with Sirius 19 Buzzsaw. It had better music with Megadeth and Metallica classic's from the 80's. Though the deejay's on both station's were beyond annoying.
Anyway, I had about an hour so I looked at the blackjack tables. All were still $25 and up. Eventually, I found a roulette table and went with that. A few minutes later, 2 smokin' chicks came to the table and found a spot to my right. I paid very little attention to them as I was playing with cash and wanted to win some back before I left. Yeah, they were hot. All the guys at and around the table were checking them out. They wore very little and wore a ton of unneeded makeup. We made some smalltalk but the combination of their heavy smoking and tequila-esque breathe turned me off. I stayed awhile and won broke out even. they did mention they were going to a hard rock concert and I got excited.....maybe Shadows Fall, Diecast or Atreyu.
Nope. I remembered my sister was at a Foo Fighters show that night and figured that was it.
Should I make fun of them. Nah. Then I finally asked in curiosity and they said that Mohegan was putting on a show at the Mohegan Sun Arena. The band was.........................Matchbox 20!
As I left, a few things amazed me. First, how beautiful the place is. Though it's much newer than Foxwoods, it looks like it. Spotless. And all the restaurants and shops are brand new looking. Expensive though. So was the $4 Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream, the $5 Starbuck's Iced Coffee and the $7 Marlboro's. Good thing I don't consume either of three places items.
Also the Asians. If I had to put a number on it, at least 1 0f 3 the people there. Maybe more. They all smoke and rely on pen and paper for all the games at the casino. I think I'll stop there.
I want to be nice. Overall a great time though despite losing. Next time I'll try my luck at Foxwoods. Thanks for reading.