no longer in shreveport

 at least i finally have a hotel with very good wifi and since i wasted $129 on this hotel for nothing when i still had a room in shreveport for the night, it better have good wifi. i got tired of the wifi never working at my old hotel at the eldorado in shreveport unless i went thru my phone service. for some reason their wifi only worked the first day, and then never would again. i think the problem is with my laptop since so much is on it slowing it down since i refuse to pay for the free AVG installed on my laptop which wont work unless u pay for it and it also is unable to be uninstalled unless u pay for it. 

id been winning so regularly on blackjack lately, i thought i was becoming immune to taking big losses. of course the machine at coushatta is a whole lot better machine with a much better cashback rate and rate of return, since it dont shuffle every hand. but id even won on the bad type at marguaritaville Bossier city and on live blackjack lately too, so i was over confident. plus the main problem was the old one of carrying way too much cash i had no way to deposit in the atm. 

well i dont have that problem anymore. the $5788 in cash i had on me earlier today is $1452. and the only way i could stop myself from losing that too at the eldorado shreveport was to leave immediately. regardless of the fact i couldve booked a cheap allegiant into vegas tomorrow at 1148 am for $133. regardless of the fact id have to find a driver willing to go long distances, and pay a lot of money. and he didnt take me nearly as far into texas as i was hoping he would. but im out of shreveport at least. but this is such a small town theres no uber or lyft here or at least not tonight. supposedly in longview not too far down the road they have it but not here. just an amtrak station, and i also found out theres no cabs. 

so im going to need a cab from longview to drive me to an amtrak about 7am in the morning and i called to set it up. that will be about another $65, and then a train into dallas is $25 more. i shouldve stayed in shreveport and took that plane into vegas, but i was worried id lose more at the tables and wouldnt have the self control to not gamble. 

i wish my friend Courtney from dallas wouldve came to pick me up like we had discussed but then she quit answering. the one on my facebook page u guys seen commenting if i needed anything. i dont think she understood the urgency in getting me out of shreveport before i lost all the money. and that only happens when i have too much cash on me. u notice i didnt lose the money in the bank or use a debit card to withdraw. but i was worried of what i might do if i was still on that boat all night. 

shouldve found out what kind of comps i couldve got for a $2600 live BJ loss and about another $1700 loss on the video machine. but i didnt because i had no interests in more free nights to keep me in shreveport any longer.

damn that hurricane, or i couldve still been around coushatta. and damn the uber driver in lake charles who thought id be better off going to shreveport instead of houston to get away from the hurricane. and damn the fact coushatta wouldnt reopen because they had no way to reinstall their phone services. 

i sure wasted a lot of money including the money wasted to get out of shreveport and pay for a 2nd hotel but this sure is a lot nicer room. and hopefully it saved me about $1000 since now i wont be doing any more gambling until im in dallas or durant. 

i cant believe im down to about $13700 of a $18,400 roll. but before todays big loss, it kept growing and growing. remember how quickly it grew from $10,300? id had so many wins in a row from either poker or blackjack it was unbelievable. 

and theres a laundry facility here and i need to use it but i kind of just want to relax in the room. 

Louisiana trip report

 For the first time in a long while, i finally feel like im getting somewhere. i now have more than i left houston with ($15,800 instead of $15,300) and ive also got a new ID, an address in lake charles good til sept 4, about $180 in comp dollars at Coushatta, and about halfway to $375,000 total coin-in required for the highest level players card at coushatta. so i must no longer be behind overall on the VBJ here in coushatta. 

Im also better off than i left Florida with. i had about $11,900 when i left florida, after losing over $3000-4000 on their vbj machines 3 times or more. the vbj machines in florida were much worse because the cashback and comp rate was much lower and they reshuffled every hand with a $5 min. some places it was $10.

of the 14 days off and on ive been at coushatta in either the hotel or the RV park cabins ive only had to pay 3 of those days and each time i had enough in comp dollars to not pay any cash. 

so its pretty easy to live here without charge if u play heavily enough on the machines. 

only sad thing is the action in the poker game is so horrible, i dont think ive even come out ahead on the poker. only place ive come out ahead on the poker is Nugget lake charles where my friend Kim on facebook manages the room. she is from eldorado shreveport. there the game is only 5 handed compared to the 7 handed game in coushatta. but people buyin deep and play wild in the nugget and it seems that even though i hate playing 5 handed and very nervous having more than $100 in front of me when only playing with 5 people, my wins in the nugget were much bigger. several times i turned $100 into $300-400 and quit for an hour, then sometimes returned and sat with $100 again. 

the morning game at coushatta every pot is either chopped, sometimes 4-5 hands in a row, or is below $20 and ended on the flop or turn. the only good news is at least u arent out your blinds because of the chops. same regulars all the time, all of whom are elderly. Garrett and Charles seem to be the best dealers. and the Britni who works the floor some nights. 

i need to find a way to get money into my bank, i dont think they will, but i need to see if theres a way to get a check i can deposit by phone, or wire the bank. i couldnt anywhere in Lake charles because im not a customer of any of the lake charles banks. i tried. if there was one trusted friend here id give them cash to ship me on cash app or paypal to send to my bank account. 

and a big hurricane is coming this week with a ton of rain, so i dont want to have to switch rooms back to the rv park because its like a 5 block walk. i hated that walk in the dark. i hope the rooms dont sell out too much because the host wont let me do it in advance only day to day 

still trying to decide where to fly or take an amtrak too when my month is up. doesnt seem like any more new poker rooms are reopening that havent already opened by now. 

going to Louisiana to get ID was a devastating financial decision. i couldve filed for the new REAL ID for less that what im spending and losing.

 i've been hanging out at the Indian casino because theyve been comping my rooms (except weekends) and because im too fearful of being at home at night because ive been told by every Uber driver thats one of the most dangerous suburbs of lake charles. and theres very few white people in that area. and ive been told by everyone he way overcharged me with that $1500 monthly lease August 4 to Sept 4, but who else can u rent from without ID, credit, or proof of income? this is happening to millions of poor people who cant get housing any other way, its not just me. Landlords take advantage of people and charge them higher prices than its worth when they have trouble getting a conventional lease. the privlidged few, (those with good jobs and credit like lightning) they can pick any apt of their choosing including luxury ones in good areas and still get them cheaper. 

and besides even if i was at home, its still at least $40 or more to get to the casino plus another $40 or so back. so its kind of worth it to be right here. if i was NOT getting the room free, the motel 2 blocks walking distance i could get for a little under $400 a week on priceline even though the hotel told me it only rents daily. (i guess to avoid people establishing residency). which isnt much different than the $1500 i paid for the lease. 

also the lease had no deposit, but it did say i would have to pay for any damages and must be the only one living there. i wonder how that will be enforced without a deposit? only thing i could damage would be the bedsheet or pillow though. 

and now ive got almost $200 in casino comp dollars which i guess could be used for like gas or cigarettes for other people and if i wasnt getting it free, they can also be applied towards hotel rooms u purchase. this VBJ has a very good comp rate compared to the one in deadwood. 

so if i was to return to Houston, i need to find out who wants cigarettes and how much they would pay for a carton and what brand. 

and it was so dead in there this morning i had no issue being alone the whole time i was playing for a few hours but it didnt seem to help. i lost over $4400 and cannot get no more money out of the ATM til tomorrow, and have only $1200 left of $5700. (what i woke up with and what i withdrew). the only good news i have to report is my roll is a little bit more than what i last told u guys it was. 

back in Houston, i started worrying for my safety in the clubs and underground games if people knew what i had, so i reduced the roll by $7000. i figured that would make it easier for them to understand how stressed i am about money and how much i value $3. i told Ray and only Ray this. i told others, such as Vince, Dustin, and Lightning that id reduced the roll by $4000. 

which the other day when i posted on twitter id dropped all the way down to $10,800, it was actually $13,800. and had i not added the $4000 back, the twitter roll wouldve said $6800. most of the time last month i was giving figures like $7000 $8000 and $9000 it was actually $14k-16k

but today, with this huge drop its not even $13,800. yesterdays $1700 win had me back to around $15,500 (including all the hidden money). and with the big loss, im almost at $11,000 but not quite since i have Uber and Lyft fees and deposits out of my roll. this is the lowest ive been in a long time, except for the brief moment right before receiving my $1200 stimulus check, when i was at $9709 in real money and only $2709 had the $7000 been subtracted. (which is what eddie in houston thought i had left). the lowest i had in real money in florida, when i was being honest with my figures, was $11,900 about the time i left. 

so i not only gave back on VBJ this morning all that i had won yesterday, but over $2500 more besides. martingaling is a nasty business. when i had one really large bet up i thought i was going to win a lot of doubles and splits with a few 20s and have 1 of the spots with more bets out lock up for another w2. dealer had 8 showing and then turned over another 8 and then a 4 for 20. so the hand i shouldve won several bets on pushed on most and all the other hands lost quite a bit. almost every hand was 18, 19, 20 and many of them were double downs. and i shouldve won over $2000 on the hand instead of losing $1200 or more that hand. 

and im sick of hearing every employee always saying good morning when they walk by. do u have to hear it 50 times from 50 employees? u dont want to be reminded of how happy and joyful they all are when u are miserable and just want to be alone away from everyone. and theyre not even saying it because they really mean it, they feel its their job to say it. they should use judgement and common sense to realize people are miserable losing alot of money they cant afford for the most part and just want to silently slip off to their room. almost everyone cant afford to lose that kind of money. its a lie that people can. they cant, but its often well hidden. they lie to themselves even thinking that they can. 

the microwave is down the hall, only a fridge is in the room. ive still got a few of my meals, but i ate some and a box of crackers. and my house in lake charles sure has a lot of food i bought still in it not here with me. i should just leave for NV or my mothers immediately or somewhere in TX or OK, but i dont really know where to go. i used to go to reno but its not cheap to live there anymore. i remember when i lived for $150 a week within a short walk of the peppermill. Grump is right when he said i shouldnt feel committed to staying for the whole month and he needs to explain that to Koala who disagrees. i feel the longer im here the more ill lose. i cannot believe the ID cost me so much. the true roll when i left houston (with the $7000 added) meant i left houston with $15,300 and now im at $10,900. so u can see how much ive lost in paying the lease, a few Uber fares, food, and the rest on video BJ. approximately $2500 on video BJ. since i had some poker wins, probably closer to $3500 lost on VBJ in the short 2 weeks or less ive been in louisiana. 

only way to survive is to go somewhere i feel safe and live at almost no cost and play poker. its a horrible shame i cant win online, but the lowest microstakes $3 sit n gos are far smarter and more skilled than the live $5-10 NL professionals are. so the only way to win is to not play online but to play live. u just cannot win by playing on acr.

finally have a new ID

well it cost me a bunch of money to do it, and to get an apartment in an area where im not really comfortable living in that i paid a months rent for up til sept 4, but at least i now have a louisiana ID that wont expire until August of 2024. its NOT the REAL ID with the gold star that will be needed to fly next year, but at least its a legal ID for all other purposes, such as showing it to the casino or renting a hotel room. 

a lease agreement/rental contract was one of the documents listed to prove an address in Louisiana, so that was the route i took. and everyone in this area said i got really overcharged to pay $1500 for a place in such a bad neighborhood. but remember he is renting to someone without credit or proof of income or even without ID, but im sure the entire neighborhood is filled with people whove been in prison a lot. its worth about $800 a month or less and its a house, not an apartment. 

went to a casino before i got the new ID and bet too much on the VBJ without thinking, and it locked up for a jackpot. so for a $600 bet (5 $100 bets and a $100 double down) i got paid $912 of the $1200 win (which was actually only a $600 win and the tax laws are seriously out of date and unfairly applied). they were supposed to be for big winners. and the other 24% was withheld for taxes. and of course my income isnt nearly high enough to owe 24%

the law was never corrected so no one ever bets high on vbj. imagine being at a table game, betting $600, winning $600 to make the dealer pay u $1200 and it being considered a $1200 win and u owe taxes on the whole $1200 including the $600 u bet. 

if these laws were fixed casinos could go to electronic gambling and people could do it all electronically betting even $1000 a hand without this issue every single hand. 

still would like to discuss certain issues with playing in Houston but now isnt the time yet, but i feel ive postponed updating the blog long enough. 

i will however say it bugged me to no end how no one at 52 social would ever listen to my concerns about them constantly having the cleaning woman going into the mens bathroom. who of course doesnt speak english. at least other casinos where i was annoyed by this, they leave if someone goes in there. but this particular establishment just doesnt give a damn no matter how often i complained. shows how far this country has fallen that every other man in there doesnt complain just like me. 

and another issue, its awful hard to get drivers for Uber or Lyft in this area. i will be glad when my month is up. still holding close to $8400 after paying for the month and all expenses, but luckily i won about $1000 in the past week or so it helped pay for some of my housing costs and my trip to lousiana.