Left this morning in my coupe, heading north. Trip suggested my MWP. Beautiful day, sun shining, traffic minimal. Drove a couple of hours on I-61, through Mark Twain country (Hannibal, Mo, Quincy, IL) found the first casino in the middle of nowhere. A small casino, name of Mark Twain casino. A lot of old white folks. I walked in at 11:00 a.m., one 6 deck tables open (couple of carnival game tables open too) but no one playing. By the middle of the shoe, the table was full of ploppies. They do not offer DD tables. Guess they were waiting for someone else to be first. Table minimum was just $5. I played that shoe out, count went up to TC 2 on last round, placed remaining of my $100 of chips. Lost and left. Down $100.

Drove on into Iowa, drive became boring through corn fields and farms. Flat land. 2+ hours later, pulled into the Isle of Capri casino. It was a medium sized casino. Got there around 2:00 p.m. They don’t offer DD. Only one 6 DEck table open at that time. They said more open after 5 p.m. I joined two others at a $10 min. Game. Table soon got full. Penetration was about 4.8 decks, 1.2 cut off. I just played about $30 minutes, won $200. Up $100 for the trip.

I had planned to stay there overnight but saw no point in it. Games were mediocre at best. I decided to head on and drove another 2+ hour. Another boring drive. I ended up at Diamond Joe in Dubuque, IA at about 5:30 p.m. Nice medium sized casino with a lot more people. There was no DD and they don’t offer it. There was a 6 deck, $25 min. Empty table but I did not want to play it. Figured, I would get heat and moreover, to be honest, I am not ready for 6 deck green chips table. I just play DD at $25 min. In any case, I played the 6 deck, $10 minimum table (you have to play double the minimum if playing 2 hands). About a 1.2 cut. I played a full table but was feeling tired so, I left after about 45 minutes up just $30.

I am now in a motel, wondering if I should go home or head on to Nebraska or Wisconsin for DD games. It’s 7:00 pm.

I won $130 so far but my room costs $80 (weekend price), I spent about $50 in gas so far so I am even. However, driving 400+ miles, playing under 2 hours, mediocre games, feel like a loser.

If I keep going to play BJ, will post day 2 results tomorrow.