Goodbye, Jacksonville

Those Florida renegades have won me in.

After stealing $19,000 from Best Bet Casino in Jacksonville, FL. in a poker at beat jackpot, I thought I was King of the Hill in Jacksonville. I decided to ride Lady Luck in the poker games, hoping to double or quadruple my bankroll.

Unfortunately that was not to be the case.

Jacksonville has avid poker players. They come in all ages and both sexes and they are tough.

Make no mistake about it. That girl with the braids who looks like she's barely out of high school will pull some moves on you like a serpent. And that hick with the front teeth missing wearing the John Deere railroader's cap is capable of making a major move when you least expect it.

They waylaid me and flogged my bankroll until I was forced to yield. Enough is enough. And so I bid you farefwell, Jacksonville. I still have most of my bankroll intact and will look for more gullible opponents in Arizona and Nevada.

Ah, I look forward to my trip. I will leave Charleston, S.C. tomorrow morning and head west into the sunrise.

I will pass through my old stomping grounds like Alabama and Louisiana. My former wife was born in Cullman, Ala. Her 92-year-old grandmother had never seen a Yankee before and wheeled herself out of her bedroom to take a good look at me.

She was satisified and we became good friends. She used to play checkers with her blind husband, moving the checkers for him.

I lived in Mandeville, LA. where I worked as associate editor for a commercial fishing magazine. The Mississippi casinos were only an hour away and I would drive there to spend an evening playing poker.

Yes, I will definitely spend a part of my trip in the Mississippi casinos. I will test those slow-eyed Mississippians and see if Lady Luck is on my side before pushing off for Texas and New Mexico. The Land of Enchantment where I spent my younger reporting years offers great casinos. They are a bit off the beaten path and I'll have to drive a couple hundred miles out of my way. But it will be worth it to see my old dives again.

Onward I will go to Tucson, which has a couple of good casinos with poker rooms. Then it'ss off for my destination which is Phoenix, AZ.

As I angle through the scenic desert country of Arizona, I will lean back in my seat and admire the scenery. There is nothing so stately as a tall saguaro cactus. The small greenish-brown Joshua trees give a spiritual quality to the desert. They look like little old men lifting their arms to the Saviour.

When I hit the outskirts of Chandler, I will look for the Wild Horse Pass exit. There I will greet my old friends and card dealers. I will give them some poker action before leaving for my destination, Fountain Hills.

My apartment is just a couple of miles from Talking Stick, a casino that spreads a wonderful mixed game of $6-12 Omaha High-Low and seven-card stud high-low. I will play in tournaments and write stories. Keep in touch. I promise to share all my gambling adventures with you.

Author: Geno Lawrenzi Jr.

(Geno Lawrenzi Jr. is an international journalist, magazine author and ghostwriter and poker player who lives in Phoenx, AZ. He has published 2,000 articles in 50 magazines and 125 newspapers. If you want to share a gambling story or book idea with him, send an email to glawrenzi@gmail.com ).