Hail Caesar!!!!

On Saturday, we (Pat and I) made another trip to Caesars to play in the 2008 WSOP Ladies' Poker tournament. This is the second year in a row that we have gone to this event. I don't know why we love these tournaments so much but, truth be told, we do. We love everything about them -- the comraderie of the other women, the competition, the feeling you get when you rake in those chips and, most importantly, finding the best place in Atlantic City to have dinner. We're almost ready to put out our own Zagat's Atlantic City edition.

We usually leave the night before so we're well rested and fresh by the time we sit down at the poker table. This time, however, we weren't able to get a room at Caesars so we decided instead to leave home at 8AM, which would get us there in plenty of time for the "Shuffle Up And Deal" call at noon. Our initial plan was to leave early enough to get there in time to register and have breakfast before playing. Once Pat's husband Bill heard of our plan, he offered to make us breakfast before we departed, which meant getting to Pat's house a half hour earlier. Might I add here that it was well worth it. He made us a breakfast that rivals any IHOP or Denny's or any other restaurant known for their breakfasts. He had gone out early in the morning and bought special raisin bread from which he made the most delicious French Toast I've ever eaten. This scenario worked out so well that we might have him make us breakfast before we leave for any of our future tournaments. Thank you Chef Bill.

Now on to the tournament, the reason for our trip. Once again, I didn't cash but I'm definitely getting closer. Out of the 365 players who entered, I came in 65th place but, unfortunately, only 36 people cashed and I wasn't one of them. I make no excuses for not getting there. I'm doing everything I've been taught by the best of them (Michael and friends) but the powers that be have not aligned for me to win as of yet. I will keep trying and will definitely have fun doing so.

A funny thing happened before the tournament started and I feel obliged to report it. Since we had an hour or so to kill, we decided to window shop all of Caesar's famous Pier shops. When we got to the end of the stores, we walked up to the third level where most of the restaurants are so we could pick out where we would eat later on that night. We couldn't make up our minds and looked for somewhere to sit to discuss the options. Lo and behold, we found these great Adirondack chairs that were set in sand in front of a huge picture window that looked out on to the ocean. It was heaven!!! We stayed there for at least an hour talking and laughing and people watching. Now here's the funny thing -- Pat says to me "Isn't this great? Don't tell anyone about this spot." "You don't think anyone else knows about this?", I whispered. "Okay, I promise not to tell anyone." So later on I'm still playing in the tournament and Pat has just been knocked out and she comes over to my table and tells me she's going to go back to "our secret spot" and relax. Fifteen minutes later, she comes back with a sad face and tells me that she couldn't even get a seat, they were all taken. Guess her secret's out. lol If any of you know Pat, you'll know how funny this story really is. She always says things like this. I'm chalking it up to yet another Patism and that's why we all love her.

So, getting back to dinner. While Pat was waiting for me to finish, she was able to scope out the restaurant scene and came up with a great place for us to eat -- Phillips Seafood. And guess where it was??? Close to our "secret" chairs. Rather than order a full blown meal, we opted for the soup, New England clam chowder, a salad, a wedge of Iceberg lettuce with blue cheese and bacon and dessert, coconut cream pie. Can you say DELICIOUS!!!! Dinner was beyond great and we would definitely go back there again.

We left Caesars shortly after dinner because we both had to work on Sunday. As we were leaving the casino, I realized I didn't have my wallet. What is it with Caesars? The last time we were there, we couldn't remember where we had parked the car. Now I can't find my wallet which was obviously much worse than losing the car. I decided to retrace my steps and headed straight for the poker room. Fortunately for me, it had fallen out of my bag and one of the ladies had picked it up and turned it in to security. At this point, we're wondering what we'll lose the next time we visit Caesars. Hopefully not our shirts!!!!

Until next year's event, Et tu Brute.