GamblerCelebrating 20 Years Serving Colorado’s Gaming Communitywww.coloradogambler.com coloradogambler cogambler

yr

Volume 20 • Number 33

BLACK HAWKBlack Hawk casinos offer great promos

Page 4

BUSINESS PROFILEMiracle-Ear, Haag family help people

reconnect to the worldPage 6

CENTRAL CITYCentral City casinos wind down summer with enticing promos

Page 7

TRAIL’S ENDLake City - Colorado’s Hidden

TreasurePage 17

C O U P O N S • C O L O R A D O H I S T O R Y • C A S I N O G U I D E • G A M I N G • M A P • E N T E R T A I N M E N T

September 13 - 26, 2011

See Valuable

Coupons on page 9SEE COVERSTORY PAGE 8

Smokers Patio

PAGE 2 THE COLORADO GAMBLER – Celebrating 20 Years September 13 - 26, 2011

Publisher’s ColumnBy Robert Sweeney

Now is time to start Colorado sports betting

Gaming has learned how to survive during tough times. We note that busi-ness was up 2 percent in July over last year. Last year $70 million, this year $71.3 million, good work casinos GM’s and hard working staffs.

The new Colorado Gaming Control Commission is at work and we can only hope they don’t raise any taxes on the already overtaxed gaming industry. It appears they’re not going to repeal the 5 percent tax break given by their predeces-sors who all got fired by the governor over giving the casinos a slight tax break. Gov. Hickenlooper erred on his hastily deci-sion to fire hard working volunteers who just looked at the gaming facts and decided not to kill the goose that has laid a golden egg for Colo-rado.

The new group may, or may not, reinstate a $75 tax on each slot machine, that would be unnecessary and almost harassment of an indus-try that has maintained an estimated 10,000 good jobs for Colorado residents. Supposedly the 5 percent took away $5 million from community colleges and gaming towns. But wait a minute, look at the latest news.

Guess again, in August the Colorado Di-vision of Gaming released casino revenue numbers for July and the state received 3.8 percent more in casino tax revenues than they did in July 2010.

What does that mean? Well, it means that despite the small tax break that creat-ed such an uproar, the state collected more in revenue – so no program is likely to be reduced proving that increasing business is a better way to go than taxing industries to death.

This smacks a little bit of the old Rea-gan “trickle down” economic theory, but increasing business to gather more tax revenues is the only way to go forward, in Colorado and the nation.

We would still advocate and urge casi-nos and the legislature to work together on adding sports betting to the list of approved games to be allowed under the limited gam-ing laws. A number of casinos would open legal sports betting facilities where sports fans could place wagers on the numerous professional sporting events.

Currently, betting has to be done ille-gally, online, local illegal bookies or wiring money to Las Vegas. The sports betting parlor knocks down about 10 percent of the bet and everyone is happy, especially if your team or horse wins.

Almost every casino in Las Vegas has sports betting areas and many fans par-ticipate in the legalized sports betting. It may be that we have to leave out the Bron-cos and Rockies since they’re local teams,

but that would remain to be seen in the new regu-lations because it would be better to keep them involved.

The new Colorado Limited Gaming Com-mission might be able to enact these new games without the Legislature, but the matter should be taken up with the Commission soon.

The best way to make more money for the state,

towns and community colleges is to do more business. Sports betting would put several million more dollars in the tax cof-fers that are being lost to illegal sources or sent out of Colorado. Sports betting is a huge industry and billions are spent on major events like the Super Bowl.

This would keep sports fans from adja-cent states visiting in Colorado longer and would promote more overnight weekend guests who would stay for the super bowl, final four games, horse racing, football and basketball.

In a tough business climate – we should be looking at new ways to turn lost rev-enues into casino profits and new state taxes rather than adding tax penalties on existing slot machines.

Urge the Commission to make this hap-pen!

Increase games, not taxes

http://www.canyoncasino.com

PAGE 4 THE COLORADO GAMBLER – Celebrating 20 Years September 13 - 26, 2011

www.canyoncasino.com

Where’s the GoldBetween 6 – 10 p.m., contestants will be randomly selected to pick from the prize board and win up to $500 instantly. To be selected simply use your Canyon Club card while playing your favorite slots.

Tablets for TablesWhile playing your favorite table games, you can earn entries for a chance to win one of three iPad 2 Tablets, plus two pairs of hockey tickets. The drawings will take place on Friday, Sept. 30, beginning at 8 p.m.

4X Points on Fridays and 2X Points on SundaysEarn 4X Points every Friday and 2X Points every Sunday in September all slots, all day.

Gold Rush Scratch TicketsEarn 100 base points and get a free scratch ticket that could win you a 1 oz. gold coin. Limit two scratch cards per day. Also be entered into the Gold Rush drawing on Saturday, Sept. 24 at 8 p.m.

Fleece Jacket GiveawayBe one of the first 200 guests to earn 300 base points on Sunday, Sept. 25 or Wednesday, Sept. 28 and receive a fleece jacket.

Connoisseur’s Club Prior to playing, register at Guest Services to receive double points and 50 percent off at the Canyon Grille every Tuesday and Thursday.

www.theisleblackhawk.com

$50,000 Balance For BucksIsle guests will have the chance to balance the scale and win up to $1,000 every Friday and Saturday in September, 4 – 10 p.m. Guests will receive one free entry daily and can earn additional entries on Friday and Saturday with just 10 unadjusted points.

Rollin’ For RichesTuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays in September, 4 – 9 p.m., guests will have the chance to roll a winning combination and win up to $500

Colorado Poker Showdown at The IsleThe excitement is building with Colorado’s first World Poker Tour Regional event will take place at The Isle, Oct. 5 – 16. Single table satellites will take place daily from noon to midnight now through Oct. 13. Each single table satellite will begin with 10 players. The WPT regional event will take play Oct. 14 -16. For complete details on all events, contact the Isle Poker Room or visit our website at www.theisleblackhawk.com.

Poker Room Pull up a seat to experience the comfort

and all-in excitement at Black Hawk’s newest poker room. Win $100 with the high hand of the hour Monday through Friday from 1-2 p.m., 4-5 p.m., 7-8 p.m. and 10-11 p.m. Join in the action on Tuesdays & Wednesdays Fridays with the Early Bird Hold‘em Tournaments, and the Early Bird Omaha Hi-Lo Tournament at 10 a.m. Registration starts at 8 a.m. and if you sign up by 9 a.m., you will receive a free buffet. For complete information visit the poker podium. Follow our poker room manager Matthew Dodd on Twitter @BlackHawkPoker.

New members All new members of the IsleOne club will receive $10 instantly after earning just 10 unadjusted points. Simply redeem at any of the cash redemption machines to collect.

Paradise 50 Plus All guests age 50 or better can join the NEW Paradise 50 Plus club Sundays through Thursdays. Take advantage of all the great benefits by registering at IsleOne® or the guest service center prior to playing. You will receive 2X points on all slots and video poker games, a free soft serve ice cream and a Free Calypso’s Buffet after earning five unadjusted points.

Play and stay at The IslePlay 30 unadjusted points on your IsleOne club card on Mondays through Thursdays between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. and stay the night on us. Check with Guest Services once you have earned your points to receive your hotel offer. This offer is valid only on the day the points are earned.

Bus fare refundsDo you ride the bus to Black Hawk? The Isle will now refund your bus fare up to $20. Simply earn 35 unadjusted points on your IsleOne card and present your return bus ticket to the guest service center. Table Games players will receive their bus fare back with four hours of consecutive play. This offer is available daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Table games The Isle has all your favorite table games including blackjack, three card poker, let it ride, bonus 6, Texas Hold’em bonus, roulette and craps with 10 times odds. The Isle will always have at least one blackjack game with a $5 minimum bet.

Farraddays’ Farraddays’ has a new menu that you simply must try. Many favorites from the old menu return this spring and Chef David Oliveri has added new original and delicious selections as well. Farraddays’ offers exceptional quality for a great value. Farraddays’ is open at 5 p.m. nightly. Reservations are recommended and can be made by calling 303-998-7777.

New menu at TradewindsTradewinds at the Isle has a new menu that features what we believe to be the best hamburgers in Black Hawk. Whether you try the classics, a green chile and chipotle, the black & blue or mushroom and Swiss burger you will not be disappointed. Tradewinds even offers a mouthwatering cheeseburger burrito! So the next time you are hungry for a great burger, visit Tradewinds at the Isle Casino Hotel Black Hawk.

The Isle Hotel is pet friendlyThe Isle Hotel has pet friendly rooms available for a small fee. Furry friends less than 50 pounds can enjoy a stay at the Isle with you. Pet friendly rooms will offer your pet use of a doggie bed, food and water bowls and a fenced doggie area. Disposable litter boxes will be available for feline guests. For reservations in a pet friendly room please call 303-998-7777. Rooms are subject to availability.

8933 E Union Ave, #230, Greenwood Village, CO 80111(303) 773-8313 • Fax: (303) 773-8456

Subscription rate is $60 per year

PublisherRobert Sweeney

V.P. MarketingSharon Sweeney cogambler@me.com

To advertise call Sharon (303) 503-1388Managing Editor

Elizabeth Dentongambler@villagerpublishing.com

ProductionTom McTighe

Jeffrey V. Smith production@villagerpublishing.com

Contributing Writers

www.coloradogambler.com

All articles and photos published in this newspaper belong to The Colorado Gambler and are not to be reprinted without our permission or consent.

Rosemary FetterCathleen Norman

Linda JonesRichard Harvey

Linda WommackAlan Krigman

Suzanne PaulmanDrew Chitiea

John BrokoppMargaret MalsamDorothy RosbyLarry JohnsonMike EikenberryRay LundinJan MacKellJeffrey Smith

www.coloradogambler.com coloradogambler cogambler

Gambler

The Colorado Lottery posted $518.9 million in sales for the fiscal year, which ended June 30, thanks to record sales of Scratch tickets and new Jackpot games. That figure represents a 3.5 percent increase from the previous year’s sales and the best Lottery sales performance on record. The Lottery also continued to gener-ate significant funds for its benefi-ciaries, returning $113.4 million to the state to support open space con-servation, wildlife protection, trail construction and other recreational efforts.

Scratch ticket sales were up 5.1 percent from previous year’s sales generating a record $344.9 mil-lion. Jackpot games sales were up .5 percent from previous year’s sales thanks to new offerings such as Mega Millions, which combined

with other jackpot games generated $174 million. Total sales were up $17.7 million from FY10.

The Lottery’s pro-ceeds partners - Great Outdoors Colorado, the Conservation Trust Fund and Colorado State Parks will receive the following contributions from sales of Lottery tickets in FY11:

• Great Outdoors Colorado: $56.0 million

• Conservation Trust Fund: $45.3 million

• Colorado State Parks: $11.3 millionIn addition, the Lottery will re-

turn $662,230 to the Public School Capital Construction Assistance Fund.

The Lottery also returned more to players in FY11. In total, the Lot-tery paid out $328.3 million in priz-es in FY11, compared to $307.7 mil-lion in FY10.

Colorado Lottery reports record sales at end of fiscal year

Crystal Palace Casino celebrates grand opening

Crystal Palace Casino owners Claud Davis, Tassy Davis and Chad Davis (not pictured) with General Manager Marc Garin enjoy opening week of Central City's newest casino.

Colorado Poker Showdown

Colorado’S Premier Poker TournamenT

EVENT:

October 5 – 16

401 Main Street, PO Box 777 • Black Hawk, CO 80422 1-800-THE-ISLE • www.theisleblackhawk.com

© 2011 Isle of Capri Casinos, Inc. WPT, World Poker Tour and Card Designs are trademarks of WPT Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved. *There is an optional $10 Dealer’s Special for each tournament. All proceeds go toward the dealer’s gratuities for each event. Players will receive the specified amount of additional chips if they purchase the Dealer’s Special. Must be 21. Management reserves all rights. For complete details, please visit the poker podium. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-522-4700.

Date Day Time Event Buy-In Entry Fee

Starting Chip

$10 Special*

10/5 Wed 6:30pm WPT Regional Event Mega-Satellite

$160 $15 7,000 3,000

10/6 Thurs 6:30pm WPT Regional Event Mega-Satellite

$160 $15 7,000 3,000

10/7 Fri 3:00pm No Limit Hold ‘Em $200 $25 7,000 3,000

10/8 Sat noon No Limit Hold ‘Em $500 $45 12,000 8,000

10/9 Sun 2:00pm No Limit Hold ‘Em (6-Max) $300 $35 7,000 3,000

10/10 Mon 6:30pm Limit Omaha Hi-Lo (Eight or better) $200 $25 7,000 3,000

10/11 Tues 6:30pm No Limit Hold ‘Em $200 $25 7,000 3,000

10/12 Wed 6:30pm “OH” 1/2 No Limit Omaha Hi 1/2 NLH

$200 $25 7,000 3,000

10/13 Thurs 6:30pm No Limit Hold ‘Em $300 $35 7,000 3,000

10/14 Fri 3:00pm WPT Regional Event NLH (Day 1A) Players eliminated from 1A may buy into 1B.

$1,500 $100 20,000 10,000

10/15 Sat noon WPT Regional Event NLH (Day 1B) $1,500 $100 20,000 10,000

10/16 Sun noon WPT Regional Event NLHFinal Day – Players remaining from 1A and Day 1B.

PAGE 6 THE COLORADO GAMBLER – Celebrating 20 Years September 13 - 26, 2011

Business Profile

By Jeffrey V. Smith

While it’s not exactly divine intervention, to his customers, Rick Haag is a miracle-maker. He literally brings the sounds

of the world back into the lives of those who thought they were reduced to a world without be able to hear. Even though it’s the Miracle-Ear hearing-aid products that Haag, his family and staff bring to their clients that returns the hearing, he usually gets the credit.

“It’s a real thrill when you have somebody with real hearing loss, and you open up the world for them,” Haag said. “What happens almost every single time is people get what we call the ‘welcome to the world look.’ All of a sudden their eyes are wide, and they are paying attention all the way around them.”

Haag, who owns and operates five Miracle-Ear Hearing Aid Center locations in the Denver metro area with his wife, Gayle, absolutely loves his job. And, by now, Haag knows what makes him happy in a career. He retired from the postal service after working 34 years and multiple positions, has worked for SkyWest airlines and a windshield repair business owned by his son Todd. Being in Colorado and helping bring hearing back to others, however, is

more reward than work.“It’s honestly the best, I should have

done it 34 years ago,” he said. “The reward of watching what it does to people is absolutely fantastic.”

It was Haag’s son who introduced him to the Miracle-Ear product and business several years ago. Todd commuted weekly from Utah to Denver to work for the former Denver-area Miracle-Ear franchisee. He even-tually was running the business, and named general manager. After being invited to join his son, Haag picked-up and moved to Colorado, and, about a year after coming to town, the owner gave up the Miracle-Ear franchise and Haag and his son found themselves working for the company’s corporate offices.

“They fired us and hired us the same day,” Haag said. “We worked for a year for them, then I asked, ‘Why am I working for a company again? They offer franchises, so why not see what we can do.’”

Despite an original, less ambitious plan, Haag and his wife started their company last year, on July 5, with a five-store Miracle-Ear franchise; and the family has not looked back. They own three stand-alone stores and two located inside Sears stores. In addition to their work, the family members also love being in Colorado – something else

Haag says he should have done 34 years ago – and are absolutely thrilled with the products they provide.

“I’m not one to stand still and do one thing and be happy, but this I could be,” he said. “What I love about Miracle-Ear, above other manufacturers, is their commitment to the individual and their hearing. It’s not like we’re here just to sell hearing aids, we’re here to help people hear. It engages them back into their family and everything else.

“The main thing, however, about Miracle-Ear is the service and the follow-ups,” Haag said.

He explained that when someone purchases a Miracle-Ear product, there are no service charges for any work done in-store.

Todd Haag and Brant Searle are two other providers who provide quality evaluations and excellent service to their customers. A great staff of front office assistants who really keep the business running smoothly, who include Loretta Wright, Diane Wilson, Meredith Seaton, Heather Murphy and Virginia Mangan, supports them. Rick’s wife Gayle keeps them on track fiscally and as an administrator and trainer.

“Once you buy a set of hearing aids, whatever we can do in the office here, you get that service for life. So, you’re not paying office visits and all that,” he said.

From accidently getting into the shower to feeding a curious pet, Haag has found hearing aids can be damaged in myriad ways. In one odd occurrence, a client even confused his hearing aid with a cashew, and bit into it.

“We do a lot of fixing right here,” he said. “We try to fix whatever we can in the store. If we can fix it, we will. We want people to hear right, and to come back.”

He also said a new client is seen once a week for four weeks to make sure “they are where they need to be, and the hearing aids are comfortable.” Four-month visits follow, but clients are always welcome to call and make an appointment when the unexpected

happens. The 63-year-old company’s innovative

products – like the recently-released Aquaví waterproof, dustproof, shockproof hearing aids – is yet another reason the family is enthusiastic about Miracle-Ear.

“There is always something new in the technology to meet the needs of everybody,” Haag said.

Unfortunately, there is no shortage of customers since 1 in 10 Americans — more than 30 million people — experience some degree of hearing loss. Hearing loss is the third leading chronic health condition among Americans, after arthritis and high blood pressure.

Haag encourages anyone that “feels a need for it” or is “experiencing issues,” to come in and get their hearing checked for free. For information about Miracle-Ear and its products, visit www.miracle-ear.com, or call one of the Haag family’s Denver-area locations.

Suffer from hearing loss?Miracle-Ear, Haag family help people reconnect to the world

Rick Haag owns and operates five Miracle-Ear Hearing Aid Centers in the Denver metro area with his wife, Gayle, and son, Todd. Photos by Jeffrey V. Smith

Advantage Hearing, LLC Denver Metro-Area Locations

Sears Hearing Aid Center Southglenn Mall

7001 S University Blvd Centennial, Colorado, 80122

(303) 347-2822

Miracle-Ear Center Willow Grove Shopping Center

1402 South Parker Road, Ste A-106 Denver, Colorado, 80231

(303) 755-1733

Miracle-Ear Center Belmar Medical Bldg

8015 W Alameda Av, Ste 110-a Lakewood, Colorado, 80226

(303) 936-9774

Sears Hearing Aid Center Southwest Plaza

8501 W Bowles Av Littleton, Colorado, 80123

(303) 904-4356

Miracle-Ear Center 5720 W 88th Av

Westminster, Colorado, 80031 (303) 487-0688

The Westminster location recently moved out of Sears at the Westminster Mall into a new stand-alone store across 88th Street from the old location.

September 13 - 26, 2011 THE COLORADO GAMBLER – Celebrating 20 Years PAGE7

www.famousbonanza.com

2X MondaysEarn 2X points all day on all machines, including video poker. $1 = 1 Point

40 & Getting BetterFor those guests 40 and older, earn 2X points all day on all machines every Wednesday. $1 = 1 Point. Earn 200 base points and receive half off one menu item at Millie’s Restaurant.

Bonanza BaseballJoin us from 8 p.m. – 12:30 a.m. every Friday night to play Bonanza Baseball and win your share of more than $2,000 in CASH.

New Players /Birthday’sEarn 2X points all day on all machines on your first visit or the day of your Birthday. If you choose to come in Monday or Wednesday, you could earn 3X points. $1 = 1 Point

The ParlourLocated on the second floor of the Famous Bonanza Casino, we offer 2 deck pitch blackjack, roulette and 3-card poker. $5

minimum to $100 maximum on 2 deck pitch blackjack and $3 minimum and all shoe games. The Parlour also offers pool and darts.

2X MondaysEarn 2X points all day on all machines, including video poker. $1 = 1 Point

40 & Getting BetterFor those guests 40 and older, Earn 2X points all day on all machines every Wednesday. $1 = 1 Point. Earn 200 base points and receive half off one menu item at Millie’s Restaurant.

New Players / Birthday’sEarn 2X points all day on all machines on your first visit or the day of your Birthday. IF you choose to come in Monday or Wednesday, you could earn 3x points. $1 = 1 Point

Fun for KidsBring your children to the lower level of the casino to enjoy a wide variety of arcade games for our younger than 21 guests.

www.fortunevalleycasino.com

Free wallet with 100 points Come in and get a wallet and a drawing ticket

for a chance to win your share of a $1,000.

Drawing Thursday, Sept. 29, at 6 p.m.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner dealsTall stack of pancakes breakfast and late night

for only $1.99. Big bowl of pasta lunch special

for only $1.99. Double pork chop dinner special

for only $7.99. Available 7 days a week in the

Café at designated meal times. All specials valid

with players card.

Bonus Points Earn up to 5X points on select machines.

Bonus drawings Win your share of $20,000. Fortune Valley has

$5,000 drawings every Saturday at 8 p.m.

Bonus jackpots Receive bonus entries for all jackpots.

Bonus cashExtra cash coupons.

Free bingo Come to the LAVA Room every Tuesday at 2 p.m. and play free bingo.

Free barbeque SaturdaysEvery Saturday in September there will be a free barbeque on the front patio from noon – 2 p.m. Must be a player’s club member. Limit 1 meal per member.

Ardore: A Tuscan Steakhouse and Wine ExperienceArdore is Fortune Valley’s gourmet restaurant, featuring steakhouse style dishes with an Italian and Tuscan flare. Upon walking through the doors, guests will experience a floor to ceiling glass wine display housing 500 bottles. The 60-person gourmet room is quaint and elegant with rich décor. Ardore is known for its 8-person chef’s table, different from any restaurant in the area. The chef’s table is a secluded table for friends and family to enjoy exclusive chef specialty dishes and a visit from the chef. Ardore is open Friday through Sunday starting at 4:30 p.m.

The largest casino guitar bar in the worldThis 100 linear foot monster houses 14 slot machines that sit directly in the bar top, where guests can belly up, grab a drink and play games like video poker while watching three 65 inch HDTV’s. Performing rock musicians and guitars of every shape and size adorn the walls throughout the guitar bar area and give guests something to look at while relaxing at the bar. Ask bartenders about Fortune Valley’s signature guitar bar cocktail, served in a commemorative take-home glass.

The Lava Room The Lava Room is Colorado’s largest casino and the only showroom in the Central City/Black Hawk area. This 300-person showroom isn’t just any showroom, it is an event room perfect for entertainment, live music, comedy, sports viewings and dancing. The Lava Room is fully equipped with a state-of-the-art sound system, HDTVs, dance floor, private bar, sunken stage with three levels of seating and standing area, specialty VIP section, and new smokers’ patio conveniently located opposite of the stage. This is the place to escape and enjoy entertainment of all kinds on weekdays and weekends.

Central City Nuggets

PAGE 8 THE COLORADO GAMBLER – Celebrating 20 Years September 13 - 26, 2011

New nightclub, other renovations provide distinctive casino experienceBy Jeffrey V. Smith

Change continues to be the norm at Central City’s Fortune Val-ley Hotel and Casino, as it debuts its new nightclub and the ongoing renovations that are part of a $20 million makeover of its property. The new, music-themed décor is almost finished and all the final de-tails are moving into place awaiting a long-anticipated name change.

Over Labor Day weekend, the casino celebrated the grand open-ing of its most recent addition, The Lava Room, a 300-person, Las Vegas-style showroom. It’s Colo-rado’s largest casino showroom and the only one in the Central City and Black Hawk area. The large, yet inviting, room features a sunken stage with state-of-the-art sound system, dance floor, private bar, three levels of seating and a special VIP area. Several areas around the room feature comfortable, inviting couches and Lava lamps, which is perfect for gathering as a group or finding an intimate spot with someone special. It’s also, hands down, the best room for music in any Colorado casino and ranks near the top of any venue its size in the state.

Colorado acts Firefall Trio, Under a Blood Red Sky (a U2 trib-ute band) and Hot Posse had the honor of breaking in the stage and venue during the opening weekend festivities.

The room isn’t just about music, however. It’s also well equipped for watching sports thanks to numer-ous HDTVs and a massive sound system. In fact, there are plans to use the room for various forms of entertainment, comedy, sports and fight-night viewings, as well as for live bands, dancing and a late-night club atmosphere. Casino patrons can enjoy the room’s entertain-ment offerings on any weekend.

The casino did not neglect any

detail. In fact, one of the more no-table features of the venue, surpris-ingly, is its large smoker’s patio conveniently located opposite the stage. With high-end heaters that appear to have large flames; com-fortable, spacious seating; and a one-of-a-kind Central City view, it’s arguably among the best spots in any Colorado casino to step outside and take in the mountain atmo-sphere while remaining in a lavish, comfortable location.

The Lava Room, like all of the new changes at Fortune Valley, features a sleek, state-of-the-art, boutique-style design that is almost calming compared to many older casino themes that feature bright lights, vibrant colors and a cacoph-ony of casino sounds. In contrast to that model, for example, Fortune Valley’s new accent lighting in-stalled throughout the casino floor slowly changes colors and elicits a rather subdued, yet warm, atmo-sphere. Overall, it’s sleek, sophisti-cated and classy. The changes, all of which revolve around a rock music theme, provide an experience and theme that is quite distinctive in Colorado.

Other recent changes made by owner Luna Gaming Central City to the 300,000-square-foot prop-erty include a 65-foot long guitar-shaped bar; a new Tuscan steak-house, Ardore, featuring a 500-bot-tle wine room and eight-seat chef’s table; a VIP media room called The Zone featuring five HDTVs with a headset for each guest, compli-mentary cocktails and snacks, and comfortable chairs; a new lobby, front desk and gift shop; and ma-jor changes to the overall décor of the entire property. Also, all of the rooms in the hotel are being re-modeled and will be named after rock musicians and bands.

More changes are in store for the casino as it plans to renovate its current café dining area into mul-tiple food venues including a coffee shop, pizza bistro and an area with a chef making food to order.

Also, according to casino of-ficials, Luna Gaming is in negotia-tions to rebrand the casino with the name of a major entertainment company. That means one of the fi-nal changes to the property will be the signs outside.

Changesunderway at

Cover Story

The largest casino guitar-shaped bar in the country is now at Fortune Valley. The casino has recently added several details to the interesting bar area. Photos by Jeffrey V. Smith

The casino’s new gift shop features a Harley Davidson motorcycle

as its centerpiece.

Details, like this glass chandelier, add a touch of class and style to the newly renovated casino

property.

New Lava Room, other renovations provide distinctive

casino experience

September 13 - 26, 2011 THE COLORADO GAMBLER – Celebrating 20 Years PAGE9

RISK FREE SLOT PLAYPlay $5 - Win $100

or Get $5 Back!Present coupon at cage for rules and details.

BLACK HAWK STATION141 Gregory Street • 303-582-5582

Bring In This Coupon

Prize Code: $5 Gambler Cash

Coupon can be redeemed at the Cashier’s Cage or Player’s Club.

Valid until date above. Limit one per person. Must be 21 years

of age and be a Player’s Club Member.

Management reserves all rights.

Earn 100 points on your Player’s Card and receive $5 in cash

New Player Sign-Up Offer

The Gambler Expires: 9/30/2011

Kato won $15,750 playing multicard Keno at Golden Mardi Gras Casino in Black Hawk.

Photo courtesy of Kato Oslen

Judy won the Camaro in Summer Cash andCamaros promotion at Canyon Casino.

A guest at Fortune Valley since 1994, Mary Miera of Northglenn, was the last lucky winner in the Summer Extravaganza Drawings!

Relax to live entertainment on the Caribbean Cove bar stage each Friday and Saturday from 9 p.m. – 1 a.m. and Sunday from 5 – 9 p.m.

The Lava Room entertainment – all concerts are free, from 9 – 11 p.m.

401 Main Street, Black Hawk, CO 80422 1-800-THE-ISLE

321 Gregory Street, Central City, CO 80427 1-800-924-6646

www.black-hawk.isleofcapricasinos.com

www.fortunevalleycasino.com/

Sept. 16 – 18: Ashley Buchart Band (Country)Sept. 23 – 25: JV3 (Pop & Rock)Sept. 30 – Oct. 1: Boogie Machine (1970’s)

Sept. 17: Hot Tomatoes (Swing/Dance Band)Sept. 24: Last Men On Earth (Rock)

Isle Casino Hotel Black Hawk

Fortune Valley Hotel and Casino

realdeals

AshleyBuchart

Band

Hot Tomatoes

PAGE 10 THE COLORADO GAMBLER – Celebrating 20 Years September 13 - 26, 2011

Book Review

By Rosemary Fetter

As summer fades and a chill creeps into the air, it’s time to lose the umbrella and sun-

tan lotion and curl up in front of the fireplace (or the space heater, as the case may be) with a good book and possibly a glass of wine. For Colorado history buffs, the following selections provide a variety of choices on a range of topics.

All are available locally or online.

Ladies of the Brown: A Women’s History of Denver’s Most Elegant Hotel

Author: Debra B. FaulknerPublisher: The History PressFrom the day it opened in

1892, Denver’s elegant Brown Palace Hotel has attracted the rich and famous, including some of the world’s most interesting women, celebrities like Sarah Bernhardt, Joan Baez and Zsa Zsa Gabor, and political royalty like Mamie Eisenhower, Ethel Kennedy and Hillary Clinton.

In her recent book, author

Debra Faulkner (who also hap-pens to be the Brown Palace historian) paints a vivid picture of the fascinating ladies who have visited, lived, played and worked at the hotel over the past century. The book is written in short vignettes, which makes it easy to read in slices.

From society doyenne Louise Crawford Hill, who is still said to haunt the upper floors, to

Hope Diamond heiress Evalyn Walsh McLean and the world-famous Helen Keller, each has a fascinating story to tell.

Readers may be less fa-miliar with other guests, including the privileged Jacqueline Hoefler Troyer, daughter of the African ex-plorer, who lived at the ho-tel during the 1920s, from age 6-9. When the child caught scarlet fever, the Brown’s management was forced to affect a month-long quarantine by blocking off the ho-tels suite. Not even her parents were allowed to visit.

Faulkner creates compelling profiles of her subjects, and her book is well

written. Interestingly, she also provides a glimpse of the wom-en who have been employed at the Brown over the decades, such as Marge Harmon, who joined the staff as an elevator “pilot” in 1955, and hotel musi-cian Barbara Goodrich, who set up her harp in the hotel lobby in 40 years later. Like the guests, they are important threads in the hotel’s colorful historic tap-estry.

Ladies of the Brown is a defi-nite must for readers of women’s history and anyone else who is intrigued by the past and the glamour of the legendary Brown Palace Hotel.

Colorado State Parks and Natural Areas

Author/Photographer: Frank Weston

Publisher: Westcliffe Publishing

Colorado State Parks and Natural Areas provides an impressive beau-tifully illustrated resource guide to Colorado’s most magnificent parks and natural ar-eas. Westin’s spectacular pho-tography illus-trates the diver-sity of flora and fauna that com-prises Colorado’s scenic areas and introduces readers to less familiar natural areas like the Sylvan Lake State Park, which boasts one of the most floristi-cally diverse aspen forests in the state.

Another unique area is Castle-wood Canyon State Park at the northernmost extension of the Black Forest on the Palmer Di-vide, near Castle Rock. Westin calls Castlewood “one of Colo-rado’s secret gems…an oasis in a sea of development.” An easy drive from Denver, the park ex-hibits “some of the most beau-tiful little scenes anywhere in Colorado.”

For newcomers to the state as well as those who think they’ve seen all that Colorado has to of-fer, this book is a real eye-open-er. Published in cooperation with the Foundation for Colorado State Parks and Friends of the Natural Areas program, it fea-tures 43 incredible Colorado get-aways with ecological and geo-logical background, park details (walking trails, etc.) and driving directions.

The book is available through Westcliffe Publishers in Boulder.

Images of America: The Cripple Creek District

Created by the Cripple Creek District Museum

Publisher: Arcadia PublishingAlthough Arcadia Publishing

publications seem to be ubiquitous throughout the country these days, covering nearly every neighbor-hood, ethnic group and landmark from Maine to Montana and beyond, they have done good work with this par-ticular publication. The staff and board of directors of the Cripple Creek Dis-trict Museum were directly involved in selecting photos and appropriate text to pro-duce an exceptional book that features several rare images and personal recollections.

“The World’s Greatest Gold Camp” was the purview of cattle ranchers and cow paddies until 1878, when rancher and ne’er do well Bob Womack spotted a “gold float” in Poverty Gulch, aka a piece of rock that has broken off and drifted downhill. Of course, nobody believed Womack, who was famous for his tall tales. Even after

folks started taking him seri-ously and the boom began, Womack jumped the gun and sold his claim too early, pro-ceeding to drink vigorously as he watched others get unbeliev-ably rich.

The Cripple Creek District flourished at the turn of the 20th century and kept the West alive after the Silver crash of the 1890s. As a tourist town, and now a gam-ing town, it continues to thrive.

The excellent images in this book vary from buildings to events and people, but the latter are par-ticularly interesting. Their faces capture the character of the district with remarkable accuracy, far bet-ter than words.

From the boomtown to ghost town and back, Cripple Creek is a jewel that, thankfully, has been preserved due in part to assistance from the State Historical Fund, which is supported through rev-enue from gaming in Cripple Creek, Black Hawk and Central City.

The Cripple Creek District is available at bookstores and through the Cripple Creek District Museum.

with aColorado twist

Fall reading

September 13 - 26, 2011 THE COLORADO GAMBLER – Celebrating 20 Years PAGE11

By Dorothy Rosbydrosby@rushmore.com

I grew up in a town of 385 people. I know that because my father did the census, among many other things. When I left home, the population dropped by one. Then a few other people left, and some came, and now it’s 313. That’s according to Google, which is probably not as accurate as my father was, since he would have personally known every single person in town.

At any rate, growing up in a town of 385 people certainly qualifies me as a Small Town Person or STP, not to be con-fused with a fuel additive. I have visited some large cities and even some REALLY large cit-ies (New York City, Tokyo), and it has given me the opportunity to study the differences between the STP and the Big City Person, or BCP, not to be confused with the Bicycle Club of Philadelphia.

As you know, STPs smile and say hello to everyone we meet on the street. It’s not be-cause we’re nice people, though we are, it’s just that it would be downright odd to pass the only other person on the block and not say something.

BCPs don’t say hello to ev-eryone on the street. It’s not that they’re unfriendly, though they may be, it’s just that it would be odd to say hello to every single person they pass in a city block, not to mention quite time con-suming. So BCPs look straight ahead and walk fast. They’re ei-ther always in a hurry or they’re trying to get away from the visit-ing STPs who keep trying to say hello to them.

STPs visiting a city do find it hard to break the habit of greeting everyone they meet. Fortunately, after a few blocks of it, we grow weary and start to scowl like BCPs. Scowling doesn’t come naturally to us because we nev-er do it back home, not that we don’t want to. It’s just that if we were seen frowning in pub-lic, word would soon be all over town. “Doro-thy Rosby was sure grumpy about something today.”

Similarly, STPs wave at everyone they pass while they’re driving. It’s not that we’re nice people, though we are, it would just seem peculiar not to acknowledge the only other driver we’ve seen on the road all morning.

BCPs don’t wave at everyone they pass in the car. It’s not that they don’t like people, though they may not. It’s just that they’d risk a repetitive motion injury if they waved at every passing motorist. Not to mention they might be distracted from driving, which is, as you know, somewhat more complicated in large cities. Where I grew up, your chances of hitting livestock were better than your chanc-es of hitting another car.

BCPs have an abun-dance of shopping available to them, including a lot of specialty shops. In large cit-ies, there are entire stores devoted to selling tape or socks or Legos. Obviously in a town with a population of 313, a store couldn’t possibly survive selling nothing but socks, even if all those 313 people went stocking-footed all the time like I do.

Naturally BCPs have a wider variety of employment options available to them, what with sock store clerk and Lego salesperson. I

once saw someone dressed as a giant shrimp and another person dressed as a shark on the same day in Minneapolis. No wonder STPs move to the cities – more opportunity.

More coffee too. BCPs have a lot of places to drink a lot of different kinds of coffee that

cost a lot of money. They also have a wider variety of restaurants available serving foods STPs have never heard of. This just happens to my favorite thing about big cit-ies. And when they eat, it’s at “breakfast, lunch or dinner.” I’m not sure BCPs even know what “supper” is.

Those of us from really small towns suffer from a bit of low self-esteem even though our population is not as dense – I mean densely populated. This is not helped by the fact that BCPs often

seem to think we are not as clever as they are. Maybe; maybe not. We’re smart enough to when supper is.

Contact Dorothy Rosby at drosby@rush-more.com or see www.dorothyrosby.com.

Humor

The difference between STPs and BCPs

Gamblerand casinos celebrating 20 years Oct. 1, 2011

SHARINGGAMING HISTORY

WITH YOU FOR20 YEARS

Don’t miss out on our“Keepsake Editions”Sept. 27 - Oct. 10Oct. 11 - 24To advertise in these special issues call Sharon Sweeney at303-503-1388 or emailcogambler@mac.com

AnniversaryEditions

ATTENTION ALL EMPLOYEESthat have worked in the gaming

industry 15-20 years. Please send us your picture with a 50 word bio.

Deadline is Sept. 18, 2011

September 13 - 26, 2011 THE COLORADO GAMBLER – Celebrating 20 Years PAGE13

CRIPPLE CREEK

Casino•Guide

CENTRAL CITY

BLACK HAWK

This information is subject to change without notice.

Ameristar - 24/7 BJ, P, C, R, VP over 1400 536 rooms B, D, SD, Starbucks free valet and self parking 720-946-4000/.ameristar.com/Black_Hawk.aspx

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Bullwhacker’s - 24/7 Fri/Sat VP 400 No SD free valet and self parking 1-800-GAM-BULL/bullwhackers.com

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Century Casino - 24/7 BJ, C, R, VP 437 21 SD free self parking 719-689-0333/cnty.com/casinos/cripplecreek

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J.P. McGill’s - 24/7 Fri/Sat VP 300 40 SD validated self parking 800-635-LUCK/triplecrowncasinos.com

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Wildwood Casino- 24/7 BJ, P, C, R, VP, TH 530 68 SD, D Climate controlled self parking 877-945-3963/playwildwood.com

Casino Table Slots Lodging Food Parking Contact Games

Table Games Key

BJ - Blackjack, P-Poker, C-Craps, R-Roulette, TH - Texas Holdem’, VP-Video Poker

Food Key

B-Buffet, D-Deli, SD-Sitdown, SB-Snackbar, V-Vending Machine

If you have ever thought about play-ing bingo it’s important to know what you’re up against when you play.

Bingo cards consist of 24 numbers and a “free spot” arranged in a square of five rows and five columns. The numbers on a bingo card range from 1 to 75. Un-der the “B” the random selection comes from 1 to 15, under the “I” from 16 to 30, under the “N” from 31 to 45, under the “G” from 46 to 60, and under the “O” from 61 to 75.

Bingo cards are as random as com-puter generation will allow. With this in mind, be aware that there are a stagger-ing 552 million billion billion possible combinations of number arrays.

This fact alone makes bingo far from the best gambling option you can find online. The odds against you, however, can be compensated by the fun, excite-ment, and enjoyment that you derive from playing. Even so, as with all gam-bling, it’s wise to become the smartest, most informed bingo player that you can possibly be.

For example, mathematical studies reveal that the probability of a player

getting a standard bingo (vertical, hori-zontal, diagonal) after 10 numbers are called is a miniscule 0.081 percent. The probability of the same occurrence after 20 calls is 2.29 percent.

You can see that you have to be mighty lucky to get a bingo. It’s kind of like lot-tery drawings in some respects. We all know the astronomical odds we face in some of the bigger lottery games. Well, the odds are similar in bingo.

Or how about the popular “cover all” bingo games that usually have the high-est jackpots? After 50 of the 75 numbers have been called, the probability of a player having a coverall is just 0.00048 percent!

After 60 numbers have been called the probability is still just 0.14 percent.

Another popular bingo game option is “four corners”. After 20 numbers have been called the probability of a player having a four-corner bingo is 0.4 per-cent. After 40 numbers have been called the probability is still just 7.5 percent.

So, to sum up my advice for playing bingo, here are some tips:

a) Remember that winning at bingo is based on pure luck

b) Keep in mind the mathematical odds against you

c) Play with responsible money and time management principles

d) Do some research on the prizes of-fered

Have fun with your bingo search and you’ll enjoy the best playing experience.

PAGE14 THE COLORADO GAMBLER – Celebrating 20 Years September13-26,2011

Gaming

Observations from the World Series of Poker – Part IVTips from

the best: Phil Hellmuth said to play small pots when you have a lot of chips. When you get near the money bubble or oth-er significant points (such as the redraw at one and two ta-

bles), recognize who is playing tight to just get there and who is taking advan-tage of the situation by playing loose.

John Chan said, one big difference in the 1980s (when I won two titles) and today is that back then I knew and had played with every player, while to-day I have known no one at my starting table the past few years. In the 2010 Main Event I was moved to my sec-

ond table and the very first hand was faced with an all-in from a player I had never seen. I pick up pocket kings and call. He turns over pocket aces and my tournament is over. This went against my basic tournament philosophy of not risking my tournament life with less than the “nuts”(early in a tourna-ment). Another major difference today is the players are mostly under 30 and the players used to mostly be over 30.

Joe Navarro (a former FBI agent who specializes in tells), said pursed lips equals a big hand, and crossing and uncrossing legs also means the player has a big hand. Opponent bets and looks away with seeming little in-terest means the player probably has a big hand. Opponent bets on the end with a shaky hand - although many players think this tell shows weakness, it actually shows strength since the player betting is releasing tension and has a big hand.

T h e F r e n c h E m p e r o r Napoleon Bonapar-te (Aug. 15, 1769 – May 5, 1821) was a r g u a b l y one of the

world’s greatest military tacticians. His soldiers often fought opposing forces considerably more numerous, yet through skill at deciphering enemy intent, maneuver, counter-maneuver-ing, troop placement and force mul-tipliers – most notably artillery – he won battle after battle. Right up until the failed invasion of Russia and of course, Waterloo.

A saying often quoted by later mili-tary instructors and strategists goes like this: “Never interrupt your op-ponent when he’s making a mistake.” Since poker is a civilized form of war-fare, this observation is also applica-ble to the felt battlefield. Implement-ing this tactic requires realizing your opponent indeed is making a mistake. The goal of every poker player – as stated in several books – is to play your hand in such a way that a better hand is laid down and a worse hand calls. In essence inducing or, said an-other way – allowing – your opponent to make a mistake. Of course you then capitalize on those mistakes.

This requires awareness of playing styles, betting patterns, hand read-ing, logic and a little guesswork. All of which is developed and strength-ened if one but pays attention to the game, especially when not involved in a hand. It just takes paying attention to the game and players; not the tele-vision or to the myriad other possible distractions.

I was at the local arena when mid-way through a $2/$5 - $100 No-Limit game I found myself with an 8-6 suited. Being in middle position, I elected to just call and watched as three more behind me limped in. The blinds checked and we saw the flop, 8-6-2 rainbow. A nice flop for my hand as no-one appeared to like it. I did not put anyone on a big overpair as there likely would have been a pre-flop raise, so I figured most players for face-card combinations. I became the first bettor when others checked to me of about 60 percent of the pot. I got two callers; the turn brought a four and a reaction from a player to my left. He seemed more intent and alert now than before and I felt the four some-how helped him.

Let’s see: He limped in before the

flop, called my bet and after the turn was now mentally very much in the game. As I watched him (surrepti-tiously), he glanced down at his chip stack. This, according to Mike Caro (the Guru of Tells), is an unconscious movement to ascertain the extent of one’s ammunition supply (chip stack) prior to going into battle (playing further into the hand). I thought my opponent had either tripped up with the four or held a 5-7 for the straight, both of which would tear my two pair to shreds. I made a probing bet of about 20 percent of the pot and he just called. Could he be slow-playing the two possible hands I put him on or could he hold something else, maybe a big pocket pair? Hmmm…

The river brought an eight mak-ing me a full house. If my opponent held either of the two possible hands I suspected – a set or a straight – then by slow-playing them to the river he made a big mistake by not raising my turn bet to win the hand then and there. Now the question was how to maximize profit from this guy; how can I capitalize on his mistake? I made a half-the-pot sized bet and he quickly went all-in. I got the feeling he was trying to bully me out of the pot, yet realizing the danger his hand was now in. I called and he showed 5-7 for the straight he had made on the turn. Showing my full house he said, “You got lucky” and to one degree he was correct. I had gotten lucky, however, he had allowed me to get there by making the mistake of not ending the hand after the turn with a large raise. I don’t think I would have called after the read I had gotten on him.

As a side note: Anytime you get a little bent because some doofus called you down to win with a miracle catch on the river, just tap the table and say “Nice hand, Pal” Do NOT let them know how angry you are and especial-ly do not lecture them on how badly they played their hand. Keep in mind, poker lessons are always “tomorrow;” today you’re playing the game. Do not educate the ignorant about how bad-ly they play. You want them to make mistakes; you want them to continue making errors, for in the long run you can capitalize greatly upon their dismal play. You must not educate – or interrupt – your opponent while they’re making a mistake.

Postscript: Years ago, I saw a shirt with the following on the front:

“Nice Hand, Pal”On the back it said:“By ‘Nice Hand’ I mean “How could

you play that s**t?”And by ‘Pal’ I mean “A**hole” Well said, Pal.

Thinking about Poker: Let them play that way

FULLHOUSEBy Drew Chitiea

Bingo is fun but odds are against you

September 13 - 26, 2011 THE COLORADO GAMBLER – Celebrating 20 Years PAGE 15

Gaming

Basic Strategy in blackjack is an exercise in optimization. It’s the set of decisions maxi-mizing players’ statisti-cally expected gains on favorable and minimiz-ing expected setbacks on inauspicious hands. “Ex-pected,” not in the sense of a specific amount any-one might gain or drop in a particular coup, but an average computed using probabilities with the laws of large numbers.

Once a person is familiar with ca-sino blackjack, much of Basic Strategy coincides with intuition. Much, but not all. When dogma and instinct con-flict, even experienced players aren’t always comfortable following “the book” rigorously and may stray from the straight and narrow.

The divergence sometimes de-velops when Basic Strategy says to take a card and gut feel to stay put. These tend to be situations where both choices have negative expecta-tions – projected losses. Hitting low-ers theoretical setbacks over many instances of the same hand. Standing avoids losses on the spot by busting.

The dilemma is most com-mon with totals of 15 or 16 against 7- through ace-up. Players realize the odds are they’ll lose to a bust if they draw and to a pat dealer’s hand if they don’t. Some bettors also balk at the rule about hitting 12s against 2-up or 3-up. They wonder whether to risk busting because they erroneously equate 2- or

3-up with 12 or 13 total and think the dealer is as weak as they are. Here are a few values of expected loss per dollar bet in 8-deck games for situations like these: 9-6 versus 9-up – $0.54 stand-ing and $0.47 hitting, 7-5 versus 2-up – $0.29 standing and $0.25 hitting, and 10-2 versus 3-up – $0.25 stand-ing and $0.23 hitting.

Some Basic Strategy doubles also instill doubt. These circumstances invariably have positive expectations for doubling as well as for their in-tuitive alternatives – usually hitting or standing. Either is good but one is better. Expectation for profit per dollar bet at the start of the round for the strongest sanctioned double, 6-5 versus 6-up, is $0.68 compared with

$0.34 by hitting; for the weakest Basic Strategy double, A-6 versus 3-up, it’s $0.06 compared with $0.03 by hit-ting. The primary reason solid citizens occasionally forego doubles is anxiety about placing extra money at risk dur-ing the course of the round. A second rationale is the thought that on some hands, after receiving one card, they’d take another were it permitted. For instance, when doubling on 5-4 ver-sus 6-up and finishing with 11, or on 6-4 versus eight-up and ending with 16.

Splits are the most frequently disobeyed Basic Strategy dicta. This, since players must raise what’s at risk during a round but may not perceive any benefit, or may even think their positions are worsening. The enigma arises in all three of the scenarios for which splitting is the rule.

• A pair has negative expectation for standing or hitting but is theoreti-cally profitable when split. The incen-tive to reverse a negative expectation should be compelling; however, the potential improvement may not be evident. A 6-6 against 5-up is an il-lustration. The pair is obviously weak when treated as a 12, but it’s not ap-parent that a six alone has an advan-

tage facing 5-up. In fact, per dollar bet when a round begins, a 12 is forecast to lose an average of $0.16 and $0.19 by standing and hitting, respectively, while splitting comes in at $0.10 prof-it. All told, 20 hands meet this crite-rion: A-A/A, A-A/10, A-A/9, 2-2/7, 8-8/7, 3-3/6, 6-6/6, 7-7/6, 8-8/6, 2-2/5, 3-3/5, 6-6/5, 7-7/5, 8-8/5, 2-2/4, 3-3/4, 7-7/4, 8-8/4, 8-8/3, and 8-8/2.

• A pair has positive expectation for standing or hitting, as warranted, but is predicted to win more when split. The total represented by the pair may seem strong, leaving players to wonder whether they should just take the money and run or if enough is to be gained by matching the amount already at risk and splitting the pair. An example is 9-9 versus 8-up. Stand-ing, prospects are to earn an average of $0.10 per dollar bet at the start of the round. Splitting, the statistical profit is $0.23. In all, 16 hands are in this category: A-A/8, 9-9/8, A-A/7, A-A/6, 2-2/6, 4-4/6, 9-9/6, A-A/5, 4-4/5, 9-9/5, A-A/4, 9-9/4, A-A/3, 9-9/3, A-A/2, and 9-9/2.

• A pair has negative expectation for standing, hitting, and splitting alike. Despite the extra dough up

for grabs, though, average losses are least by splitting. These opportuni-ties for splits are the most regularly ignored. The initial total is clearly bad, but intuition suggests that starting with the constituent cards may be twice as painful. The clas-sic illustration is 8-8 versus 10-up. Splitting leaves players with an ex-pected loss of $0.48 per dollar wa-gered at the start of the round. Next best, when allowed, is surrender with a certain loss of $0.50 on the dollar. Hitting and standing follow, each anticipating losses just under $0.54 on the dollar – the latter being fractionally worse. In total, 16 hands are in this class: 8-8/A, 8-8/10, 8-8/9, 9-9/9, 8-8/8, 3-3/7, 7-7/7, 6-6/4, 2-2/3, 3-3/3, 6-6/3, 7-7/3, 2-2/2, 3-3/2, 6-6/2, and 7-7/2.

The devil in all these situations is in the statistical details. Intuition goes just so far. And, although a player can win a round doing almost anything, over a period of time, the mathemat-ics associated with the laws of prob-ability triumphs. The poet, Sumner A Ingmark, said it like this:

‘Though intuition oft encumbers,The truths are lurking in the num-

bers.

Playing poker allows plenty of time for people watching, listening to interesting conversations, and interacting with others from across the globe.

You can sit next to an ordinary player (like me) – just trying to win a few bucks or you could sit next to a Denver Bronco. Yep, quite a few play up the hill: Rod Bernstein (former bruising running back), Rod Smith (one of the best receivers ever) and Reggie Rivers (former Bronco and current radio talk show host) among others.

In fact – just the other day I was

involved in a quieter than normal $30 - $60 Hold-em game with one of the above players heads up. I was in the blind, he was across the table and had raised. I was up a bit so made a very, very bad call for $30 with 6H – 2H.

The flop came 6C, 6S and 2 S – giving me the full house. I let him bet, check raising quickly. As he called

he smiled and asked “Larry, do you have a 6?” (He is known for his smile.) Well, with no help coming for his pocket 9’s on the turn and the river he lost $120 more and tossed his hand in when I showed my sub – par (yet win-ning) full house.

The best part is a bit later the same situation came up and instead of call-ing his raise with my 5 – 2 off suite (not sure what his hand was) I loudly announced as I tossed them in face up, “I’ll never beat you with a 6 – 2 or worse again” gaining a smile from him.

I can remember another time at The Bellagio Poker Room playing $10 - $20 No Limit Hold-em up with the big boys (I had the smallest stack by far) and Spiderman Tobey McGuire jumped into the game.

Seriously – he was a heck of a player and built his chip stack quickly. He put a beat on a lady and as he was dragging the chips she said, “Now, that’s how Spiderman does it.”

He looked up and said with a deadpan voice, “Yeah, but Spiderman would have made the chips sticky” as he continued to drag the chips.

Lou Diamond Phillips (Young Guns, La Bamba) was also at that table – a much wilder player.

The Card Player Magazine has a famous columnist named Roy Cook – I played with him once in Las Vegas and remember his piercing gaze.

He sat down at the $15 - $30 Hold-em game at The Bellagio and after his hello’s (seemed to know everyone in the room), spent a few minutes study-ing the players at the table – seem-ingly analyzing them and moving on.

When he got to me – it was a quick glance. I felt he categorized me as a poker playing tourist … more than likely someone who would play more hands than they should.

At the time, I think I brushed these thoughts off thinking, “I can beat him, just give me the chance.” Well, look-ing back – he was right and had my game pegged.

I can remember losing a bit dur-ing that session (maybe $500) but also playing way too many hands. If I hadn’t, I more than likely would have won.

My luck head’s up against Mr. Cook – he stole my blind.

We have a celebrity player here in Central City / Blackhawk. A few weeks ago, I was playing in a $1 - $2 game at The Ameristar Casino Poker Room and a player leaned over to me and asked, “Do you know Jamal?” Well, of course I do – Jamal has been beating me for 15 years.

If you travel to Las Vegas at all – he is well known in the rooms and finished 74th in the final event of The

World Series of Poker a few years ago.He has been written about in all

the big poker publications and he could be called the Colorado Poker Ambassador with many players part of the community because of his wel-coming influence. One poker fact you may not know … he opened the Lodge Poker Room as the manager back in the early 1990s.

The other night, I played next to a player in a $2 - $5 game early in the evening who claimed he was 73 years old and had just finished climbing 3 of our 14-thousand foot peaks (Democrat, Bross, Lincoln) and was “winding down” with a little bit of cards – whew, I’ve climbed those and I was on the couch by 7 p.m. / tough guy (he showed me the pictures).

So – pay attention to those around you, listen in when possible (but not intrusively) and take the chance to in-teract with players when you can. It’s fun and is a cheap side benefit of play-ing the game.

Remember – play your game!

Why breaking up is hard to do... pairs, in blackjack, especially

Poker people: The cheap side benefit of playing the game

Visit us online:www.coloradogambler.com

and follow us on Twitter :COGamblerGambler

pokertalk

BYLARRY

JOHNSON

PAGE 16 THE COLORADO GAMBLER – Celebrating 20 Years September 13 - 26, 2011

By Anna Lee Ames Frohlich Researcher, Western His-torian, Writer, Presenter / Speaker

“A gold mine is a hole in the ground with a liar on top.” - mis-attributed to Mark Twain.

The gleam in men’s eyes at the thought of gold in the Rockies did not end with the 19th century. As a matter of fact, in 2011 the gleam is alive and well. With the rise in the price of minerals, there is in-ternational interest in valuable properties in Colorado and else-where. That gleam had been in the eyes of my father, Lawrence Ames Nowell, for a long time.

His decision to move West was based on this long time pas-sion. His father would not send him to M.I.T., where he wanted to go to study mining engineer-ing, because “no one who is any-one goes anywhere but H a h -hvahd.” Dad com-pleted his under-graduate work and a master’s degree in business at Harvard before fighting in WWII.

During the war his mathematical skills paid off in the trenches. The long nights there were described by him

later as inter-minable bore-dom punctuated with moments of sheer terror. Poker filled in the time, and dad’s gambling abil-ity paid off. He

would send his winnings home to mother with instructions on how to invest them. By the time he re-turned home he had enough from his earnings to buy a new car and put down a down payment on a house in Old Greenwich, Conn.

He worked for Johns Manville and General Foods in New York but was never really happy, When at age 35 he came into a very generous inheritance from his grandmother (about $1.5 million from the Ames Shovel fortune), he pulled up stakes and moved the family to the West where he could pursue his dreams.

We lived in a large, comfort-able house in the Park Hill neigh-borhood of Denver. Mother had a nanny for the baby and to help

with cooking, cleaning and iron-ing. This allowed her to spend a lot of time with her five children. We had family outings in the mountains, and mother would take us back to Massachusetts to spend time with our grandpar-ents in the country.

Meanwhile, dad was feeling his way into the mining busi-ness. He had business skills but no real knowledge of the mining business. I have vague memories of going to one of his mines near Montezuma in the Snake River valley in Summit County. I can picture climbing up a mine dump that had a corrugated building off to one side. That area is known for silver deposits. The first silver discovery in Colorado was 1 mile south of Montezuma in 1864. I also remember the mention of “molybdenum,” which is a min-eral used to toughen steel. The word stuck with me. It rolled off my tongue and over my lips.

He often mentioned the names of his mining partners, and I met a few of them. Mother would not let them come to the house. She considered them hard and “not the right type.” It seems that she was right in a way. His dreams did not survive for long. Lack of knowledge, partners who led him in wrong directions and used his money for their gambles in the mining industry, and just plain bad luck conspired to wipe out his inheritance in about three years. He was certainly not the first to

lose it all in the mining business in Colorado. In the 1800s, only a handful made it big. Some earned enough to make a bare living, and the rest just faded into obscurity.

Dad’s loss was probably hardest on my mother. She continued to talk about how he had managed to “pour his inheritance down a hole in the ground.”

Dad went back to his business training and worked in banking for the rest of his working years. Despite their hard start, they stayed in Colorado and grew to love the West and to take on its ways, though a part of their East-ern roots was always strongly in-grained in them.

A few years ago while doing research on different family mat-ters at the Western History sec-tion of the Denver Public Library, I came across a newspaper article that added an almost spooky el-ement to dad’s mining experi-ence. The article was in the June

9, 1866, Rocky Mountain News. It referred to the Bullion Con-solidated Mining Company of Colorado. Listed among manage-ment from New England was the Hon. Oakes Ames of Union Pa-cific fame, my father’s great-great grandfather. The company had holdings in Clear Creek County and Summit County. In Summit County the company had “74,700 feet upon lodes in Ten Mile and Snake River Districts,” and 16 water power claims of 250 feet in the Snake River District.

How strange that my father should have been led from New England to the same river valley in Colorado where his ancestor had had a mining venture close to 90 years before. It is highly un-likely that he could have known about it. Was this coincidence or the hand of fate?

I, for one, am glad that he was led to Colorado, as the West and it’s history, and my family’s role in it, have become my passion.

Larry and Betty Nowell, 1941, shortly after their marriage and before he went overseas Photos courtesy of Anna Lee Frohlich

Lawrence A. Nowell and his daughter Anna Lee in 1983

Oakes Ames by Matthew Brady

WESTERN FOOTPRINTS

September 13 - 26, 2011 THE COLORADO GAMBLER – Celebrating 20 Years PAGE17

Uncorked Lake City Wine & Music Festival, Sept. 17

C onsider this your personal invita-tion to visit Lake

City. The picturesque little town awaits your discovery, and is a perfect getaway for a weekend. Perched on the eastern edge of the San Juan Mountains — the only town for 60 miles around — Lake City is a speck of civilization amongst rearing Fourteeners.

The silvery San Juan region in southwestern Colorado was one of most isolated places in the coun-try when thousands of prospectors stampeded into the region in 1874 – following the Utes’ forced departure. Town builders laid out Lake City in a lovely river valley and named it af-ter Lake San Cristobal 4 miles south, the second largest natural lake in Colorado. Lake City boomed over-night, a speculative townsite devel-oped by toll road tycoon Otto Mears and other hopeful investors

Mears profited immediately by building the first toll road into the San Juans, from Saguache in the San Luis Valley through Lake City and over Cinnamon Pass drop-ping into Silverton. Then Mears dispatched freight wagons from his mercantile center at Saguache ship-ping supplies, building materials,

groceries and other goods.

Lake City merchants pros-pered by outfit-ting prospectors and miners, who flowed through the town and spread into the s u r r o u n d i n g mountains in search of silver and gold depos-its. Several rich

strikes attracted attention. Most famous was the Hotchkiss Mine, later renamed the Golden Fleece, discovered by Enos Hotchkiss as he was building Mears’ toll road. Thriv-ing as a supply point, Lake City also became an ore milling center with three of the earliest ore mills in the San Juan mining region.

The only town in Hinsdale County, Lake City became the coun-ty seat and flourished as a haven of culture, class and comfort on the mining frontier. Pioneer citizens regarded the place as a commu-nity rather than a camp, and they re-created aspects of their home-towns. Citizens laid out wide city streets and planted cottonwoods to provide shade and beauty, and they cultivated flower gardens. Towns-folk constructed houses and com-mercial buildings in styles popular “Back East,” so that today the town remains an architectural showcase

from that Victorian-era.A center of commerce and cul-

ture, Lake City boasted the first church and the first schoolhouse on Colorado’s Western Slope. Pioneer residents embraced a civi-lized lifestyle in the remote wilder-ness, enjoying costume balls, liter-ary societies, musical concerts and elaborate festivities to mark every holiday.

The town boomed but the most accessible mineral deposits were soon exhausted. Lake City dwindled, as miners and prospectors departed for richer silver strikes at Telluride, Rico, Leadville and Westcliffe. Lake City’s civic leaders lobbied the Den-ver & Rio Grande to build a branch line for ore shipment, and the train arrived a decade later.

The D&RG line finally reached Lake City in 1889, to resurrect “one of the deadest camps in Colorado.” After another brief boom, Lake City’s mining era closed for good at the turn of the 19th century. Major ore deposits depleted, mining pro-duction petered out and the town shrank as residents moved else-where. By World War I, the town had fewer occupied buildings than empty one and weeds were growing in the middle of Main Street.

The town turned to tourism. Mo-toring vacationers “discovered” Lake City in the late 1920s. Col. Frank French opened the Lake Shore Inn beside sparkling Lake San Cristobal, a 30-room lodge with 18 roughly fur-

nished cabins. Visitors came from the sweaty states of Texas, Okla-homa, Nebraska and Kansas, often staying all summer long. Some folks bought houses vacant since the min-ing heyday and Lake City became a beloved summer haven.

Tourism blossomed in the 1930s and 1940s. A dozen different “auto camps” opened in and around the town. Folks roughed it in one- or two-room log cabins clustered around a common shower house and shared bathroom. The remote location gave people the feeling of escaping from civilization. Honky-tonk taverns and gambling provided Saturday night entertainment. Out-doors, folks loved hiking, trail rides, fishing, boating and just plain loaf-ing. By the 1950s, four-wheeling be-came extremely popular and Jeeps scrambled up the steep old mining roads.

The town’s haunting historic ap-pearance enchanted visitors, such as Muriel Sibell Wolle. The artist-author-college professor photo-graphed and sketched Lake City’s haunting historic scenes for her terrific book on Colorado mining towns, Stampede to Timberline.

In the 1970s, came measures to preserve the town’s architectural heritage. Investor/philanthropist John Parker purchased two beauti-ful business buildings at the main intersection and revamped them inside and out. The Baptist con-gregation rescued and repaired the exquisite gabled church that stood vacant and derelict. The Hinsdale County Historical Society incorpo-rated and opened a museum in a historic house. The Lake City Na-tional Historic District was created, and soon the town council adopted a local preservation ordinance to help ensure the district’s authentic ap-pearance.

Today, Lake City burgeons in summer, nearly tripling in size. By late June, nearly every cottage, cab-in and motel room is filled; RV parks and campgrounds overflow. Some summer families have returned to their beloved cabin each year for

three generations. Family reunions and romantic mountain weddings abound.

Summer highlights include the San Juan Solstice – a 50-mile foot race run over the summit of the Con-tinental Divide. Residents perpetu-ate traditions of culture, education and spiritual worship begun by town founders. The four historic churches host classical concerts. Theatrical productions and art events unfold in the historic stately, Italianate-style Hough Block, now converted into the Lake City Art Center. Visitors also enjoy the “Carpenter Gothic” churches, handsome commercial buildings of wood, brick and stone, and the tree-lined neighborhoods filled with houses in varying Victori-an-era styles.

The fine Finley Block, once a premier mercantile palace, contains the Hinsdale County Museum with its exciting exhibits about lively lo-cal history including, this summer, displays of brands from the county’s several cattle ranches. Lake City also prides itself on possessing Colo-rado’s oldest operating courthouse with its second-story courtroom where infamous Alferd Packer was tried in the late 1870s for dining on his travel companions.

Tourism subsides by mid-August – Texans return home and RV’s start heading south. The pace slows only a bit. Aspen gold lures Colorado visi-tors during September and the Lake City Wine Music Festival attracts lovers of vino and music. Uncorked Lake City Wine & Music Festival, on Sept. 17 in Town Park, features vari-ous vintages and tasty tunes in Town Park.

So, by all means, feel free to head down to Lake City and enjoy one of Colorado’s hidden treasures. The town is 55 miles beyond Gun-nison – 10 miles west on U.S. 50 then 45 miles south on State High-way 119. Another route is via Creede, Lake City 50 miles northwest of Creede, just take Highway 119, over Slumgullion Pass. Come on over!

By Cathleen Normancatnorman@earthlink.net

Trail’s End The faded look of Lake City in the 1930s and 1940s captivated Colorado artist and ghost town historian Mabel Sibell Wolle.

Photo courtesy of Stampede to Timberline, by Muriel Sibell Wolle.

Lake City’s historic district is distinctive for its well-preserved false-front commercial buildings from the 1870s mining rush.

PAGE18 THE COLORADO GAMBLER – Celebrating 20 Years September13-26,2011

VIRGO - (Aug. 23 - Sept. 23)You will be able to recharge yourself this month and make changes for the year ahead that can manifest a wish come true. You will make a good impression on someone. There are times when your first duty is to yourself, and if you don’t, you are little use to anyone else. Avoid nervousness with relaxation techniques. Ohm is the word today. Lucky Numbers: 1, 14, 16, 41, 46 60

LIBRA - (Sept. 24 - Oct. 23)We all broadcast two kinds of signals to the outer world. What we think we are trying to do, and the subconscious response that may send a different message. Get clear on your message. What is it you are truly wanting and how do you go about it. You may be called upon to help someone or become involved in some kind of charity. Lucky Numbers: 5, 50, 56, 58, 60, 65

SCORPIO - (Oct. 24 - Nov. 22)Your creative intellectual work is still running strong. You may find it important to defend your beliefs. It is always a good idea to leave the ego out of the equation. Not the best time to travel, but if you do, plan well. Examine the roll your friends and new associates play in your life. Practice balance and cooperation. Lucky Numbers: 4, 14, 21, 24, 49, 52

SAGITTARIUS - (Nov. 23 - Dec. 21)This is an excellent time to enjoy good health, or to take a new step towards a healthier lifestyle. Avoid putting on any unwanted weight. Everything tastes good to you now. You will find a certain personal pride you joyfully express in the work area. You may find it hard to contain your feelings. Others appreciate.Lucky Numbers: 15, 18, 20, 21, 28, 29

CAPRICORN - (Dec. 22 - Jan. 20)For the next year you are still in a transition period where you are can reap the rewards of all the hard work you’ve applied to your goal.  If you have prepared well, the results will be excellent. You will gain many responsibilities in your professional life. Great achievement if you are ambitious for leadership.  Lucky Numbers: 3, 16, 30, 36, 60, 61

AQUARIUS - (Jan. 21 - Feb. 19)Your usual casual conversations with others take on an emotional depth that others can appreciate. Female relatives play an important role in your life right now. You have something to learn from them. You may be forced to look at life in a new way. To see things different, to communicate differently, even your habits may change.Lucky Numbers: 11, 16, 17, 25, 46, 59

PISCES - (Feb 20 - March 20)Guard against emotional spending. If you find you are buying to give yourself a sense of well being, you may regret it later. Meeting new friends and experiencing new surroundings will give you a boost. Family plays an important role right now too.  Adjustments need to be made with partners. Cooperation is needed. Lucky Numbers: 11, 15, 16, 51, 56, 67

ARIES - (March 21 - April 20)Expect the un-expected this week. Others may challenge you, which can only make you stronger and more vocal. But more so, you may be surprised by your own response to external stimuli.  This is still a favorable time for financial ventures, especially one that involves a female partner. Volunteer your time to someone in need. Lucky Numbers: 1, 5, 6, 14, 25, 26

TAURUS - (April 21 - May 21)You may be tempted to withdraw and keep to yourself, especially if you are processing something; a decision is to be made. Communication may not be at its best; use this time for mystical or spiritual discipline. You are willing to work well with others to achieve the immediate goal. Lucky Numbers: 1, 14, 10, 19, 41, 61

GEMINI - (May 22 - June 21)Use this week to reflect and think about all the ideas you have encountered recently. This is a good time to examine your personal life and make or change a plan if you need to. Emotional contacts with friends are important to you. Be sure to let them know how important they are to you. Lucky Numbers: 4, 5, 10, 54, 55, 56

CANCER - (June 22 - July 22)Professional and business concerns come into focus. You may be asked to come to your forefront and show someone what you are capable of. This is a good time for public relationships. Your interactions with friends, neighbors or relatives are heightened. Life is moving pretty fast this week. Keep smiling. Lucky Numbers: 12, 17, 18, 21, 28, 49 LEO - (July 23 - Aug 22)It may be time to look at your life and see what is the most valuable to you. You may feel like showing off one of your prize possessions. Just don’t be obnoxious about it. You may attract financial gain or people who can get you there. Care in spending is still advised. An unexpected turn shows up in the work area. Lucky Numbers: 3, 8, 12, 37, 38, 50

Horoscope

Contact Mary Nightstar at marynightstar@yahoo.com and type “horoscope” in the subject line.

Rollin’ Doughin the

My grandfather, father, me and now our children and grandchildren hunt

North American game and eat it.I believe the best tasting

meat is a bear that has fattened on serviceberries and acorns in the fall. Next and always good is elk. A buck deer with horns in the velvet that has been in the high country or in an alfalfa field is excellent meat. A buck deer that is living on sagebrush or in the fall rut tends to be very gamey and sometimes they are so strong they are not fit to eat. The first item is to have an animal that has not been ran, but is quiet and killed with one single shot so they do not suffer, and there is no running and chasing to get the meat hot.

Next, quickly bleed and gut the animal and on deer remove the scent glands on the inside of the back legs. If possible, skin and quarter the animal.

Cool the meat as quickly as possible. A really nice time to hunt is in late November when there is snow on the ground so the animal quickly cools.

We like to make every piece of meat into steaks 1/2 inch thick that you have removed the striffnin from between the muscles. Use a meat tenderizer and pound the meat to break down the muscle. Then pat the steak on a plate of flour, one side then the second side, salt and pepper lightly to taste.

Place the meat in a frying pan that is hot (a small drop of water dropped on the pan will quickly hiss and boil away) and cook until the red liquid comes out the top side then turn over. Depending on the temperature of the frying pan, it may require turning the steak a couple of times. The steak will have a brown crust from the flour. If the meat was properly handled, it can be cut

with a fork and light knife and the taste is unbelievably good.

The fried flour left in the pan makes excellent gravy, just add a little cold water and stir with a spoon until bringing the gravy to a boil and cooking it until all the flour is done. It goes great on mashed Pontiac (red ) potatoes.

Send us your recipes!To be featured in Rollin’ in the Dough: Send us a recipe, your name, a little about yourself, why you chose that recipe, a little about your cooking style, and of course your phone number in case we have questions. Email gambler@villagerpublishing.com or mail to 8933 E Union Ave., Suite 230, Greenwood Village, CO 80111. Questions? Call Sharon at 303-503-1388.

Ed SmithOwner Of wild Card,

BlaCk Hawk StatiOn, and SaSquatCH CaSinOS

September 13 - 26, 2011 THE COLORADO GAMBLER – Celebrating 20 Years PAGE19

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