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[Saturday, August 7, 1999: Past the forks, money well spent.]
We got out of bed early, since BSB told us that there would be a huge number of people eating around 9am. The breakfast was a buffet of some sort, where they had all you can eat bacon.. mmm.. bacon.. After eating half a pig, MJO and I felt a little sick of pork.. However, BSB's prediction was quite accurate, for as soon as nine o'clock rolled around, a huge wave of Japanese girls came in and assaulted the buffet area. The line up for food was quite long, but by then, we were basically full (except me.. I got some more pastries).
We were fortunate enough to find a windshield repair shop that was open on Saturday. We had them look at the chip and do what they could do for it. Since the shop was on the edge of a residential area and there was nothing else around, we played on the train tracks for a while. About an hour later, they finished fixing up the chip. I didn't notice any difference, but the guy told us that he vacated the crack and filled it with some clear stuff that would prevent the cracks from growing. Oh well, I guess that's the best we could hope for for now.
I took over driving and took us out of the province. Stopping at the TIC to pick up a map of Manitoba, we headed directly for Winnipeg. The rest of the guys fell asleep on the drive there, and I nearly did myself. (Shh!) It was a lot easier to stay awake when everyone was talking, so by the time we reached the city, I was back on my toes.
The only thing that were were going to see in Winnipeg were the forks, since it was the only thing that BSB hadn't seen before and his friend's mom told him to check them out. Unfortunately, the forks were smack dab in the middle of the city, which meant that we had to drive into the downtown core. The traffic lights screwed me up a bit, since one set of lights had both a green and red light lit up. The green was an up arrow, which meant that through traffic was allowed, but no turning was. Geez, couldn't they just not light up the red light then? Ah well.
The area around the forks were jam packed with people and cars. The oppressive heat and intense sunshine didn't help matters either. Nobody really brought along any sun screen, and this was an ideal time to use some.
The cause for all of this commotion was the Pan Am games (PanAmonium so they say). We were actually thinking of going to watch some events until we found out that most of them were too late for us, and required money. Ack, whatever.
After wandering around for half an hour or so, we finally found the forks. It was a little.. less than exciting. The forks were basically the junction of two rivers.. and that's it. We did take a picture before leaving and BSB talked to some woman as she passed by. We stopped by one of the buildings which was full of shops, so that I could buy some post cards, and stamps. This girl was passing out these cards for free cell phone time, so I took one. I'll try it out later.
![[Day 4: The Forks.]](../Pictures/1999-07-21/1999-07-24a.jpg)
As we were approaching Winnipeg (and even before we started the trip), BSB was telling us how one of his friends mom told him to go and visit the Forks while he was there. He never did, and so he wanted to check them out on this trip. I had no idea what the Forks were until we got there. Let's just say that I was a little underwhelmed. We still took a picture to show off that we actually did stop by.
That's an excited me pointing on the left and a surprised MJO on the right.
BSB took over the reigns and on the way out of the city (and in) we passed by a sign that originally Laz only saw.. it said something to the effect of:
"Criminal record? Get a pardon!"
Oi.
We burned past the rest of Manitoba and made it to the border a couple of hours later. Making it to the TIC, I was a little horrified to see that the closing time of the TIC was 6:30. It was already 6:45. But a little brain cell reminded me that weirDo told me that Saskatchewan didn't switch to daylight savings time, which meant that.. yes! Opening the door, I looked in and saw that the time was only 5:45. This weird turn of events meant that the time zone boundary actually moves from the Alberta-Saskatchewan border to the Saskatchewan-Manitoba border when the rest of the country switches to DST. Quite bizarre.
Without much else to do in the province, we headed directly to Regina, where we holed up at a local Comfort Inn and got ready to check out Casino Regina. The traffic lights used in Saskatchewan where horizontal. Similar to those used in Quebec, without the funky shapes nor the double red lights.
![[Day 4: Casino Regina.]](../Pictures/1999-07-21/1999-07-24b.jpg)
Without much to do in Regina, we had planned (after days of debate) to go to the Casino to blow some money, and karaoke for the rest of the night. After we got to the Casino and started playing around, we found it to be much more fun than we had expected. To top it off, we even won a fair bit of change! Happy with our winnings, and tired from gambling the night away, we never got around to singing karaoke.. but that's probably a good thing.
Hiding in the dark with our loot are MJO, BSB, and me, with Casino Regina glowing behind us.
We had dinner at the Casino, and listened to the live band. The waitress told us that if we paid at the counter, we'd get free parking and 25% off for our food. What luck! I bought 80 bucks worth of chips and started wandering around the tables. We headed over to the poker room where we watched for a little while. BSB inquired to the custodian the rules for the games being played and if we could play. (Can we play too??) The guy signed him up for seven card stud, and I signed up as well. MJO and Laz opted out. We had to wait a while for a spot to open up, so we headed to the other end of the building where we tried out Let it Ride. The dealer was nice (and apparently cute a la BSB) so we sat there for a while. I lost around 40 dollars at that table, and refused to go any lower, since I wanted at least forty to play with at the poker table.
I didn't have to wait much longer, our names were called, and we headed off to the poker room. BSB and I sat at the same table, and we played. The first hand I won, since everyone folded at the first round of bets. The second and third hands I went all the way.. and lost, leaving me with a measly 13 bucks. As you didn't have to bet anything unless you had the lowest card showing on the first round (a force bid), I kept quiet for most of the game. Our dealers changed and the guy deals me a two (showing). I had a two and a three hidden, which was a pair of twos, but by then I had to bet. Crap. The next card I got was another two. Wow.. that was kind of nice, so I stayed in. The next was a seven, or nine, but a three of a kind wasn't that bad a hand, so I stayed in. A number of people also stayed in. Then I got the last two, so I had three twos showing, and one underneath. Oi. I only had four dollars left, so I bet it all, two other guys stayed in and they had a side pot. they both had full houses, so the side pot winner turned to me and mentioned something about not being able to beat his full house, so I turned over my hidden two. I said "Thank you gentlemen." and took the pot. The dealer turned to me and said:
"I'm glad to see you smile again sir."
That got me to smile.
The guy who lost to me told me later that if someone loses with a four of a kind or higher, the table would win the jackpot (which was around 30,000 that day) around two thirds would go to the winner, one third would go to the loser, and five hundred bucks would go to everyone else at the table. Woo wee! Something to remember for next time.
After that hand, the other players seemed to respect me more, since I was able to win three more big pots, twice I actually was bluffing and had nothing. (Heh heh) BSB hung in there for a long time, I only went down to nothing once, but BSB was down to his last chip three times in the entire night, but was able to come back from the brink. He was even able to win a hand with only a pair of threes, which the players at the table remembered, and would always mention "Hmm.. maybe he has a pair of threes under there?"
I found it quite entertaining, and had considerable fun with the other guys at the table, who were very nice considering that I won back all my money and even went up 80 bucks. BSB came out even. MJO and Laz, who were still at the Let it Ride table came out up 80 and even respectively. So by the end of the day, we were up a pretty penny. We were quite happy about that so we went home, and I got some post cards at the Inn.
Saturday, June 17, 2000 at 11:47:04 (UTC)
I liked that game, but I think the next time I'm in a casino, I'm going to have to check out the poker tables... Might be a bit more entertaining.
(Though it WAS rather entertaining when Hwan freaked out as I left the "Let it slide" table with my money. The dealer looked rather alarmed..)
mikeO