A new athletic club is opening near my house, and it'll have better facilities and be less expensive than my previous one, so I decided to cancel it. I had been paying $41 a month for the membership. This is how the call went:

Rep: "Good afternoon Mr. Matthews. How may I help you today?"

Me: "Doing well. Thank you. I'd like to cancel my membership."

Rep: "Mr. Matthews, I would like you to be aware that we have a special program if you won't be using the gym for several months. You can put your membership on a hold status for only $7 a month for up to 6 months. Would you like me to make that change for you?"

Me: "No thank you. I would just like to cancel it."

Rep: "Because you're a valued customer I will waive the $7 fee for 6 months."

Me: "No thank you. Please just cancel my membership."

Rep: "OK, Mr. Matthews. I will cancel your membership. Your final charge will be on June 14 and your membership will end on August 14."

Me: "Is it possible for me to cancel immediately, so that I'm not charged on June 14?"

Rep: "OK, Mr. Matthews, I have canceled your membership and you will not have any further charges."

Me: "Thanks."

I will say that the person was friendly and was not trying to hustle me in a sales pitch or abusive way. He did, however, make me go through step after step after step in terminating the contract. The last one is particularly insidious because I'd imagine most people think that they have to allow that one last transaction. The gym company probably makes a bit of money off that one.

Any ugly cancellation stories of your own to share?

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The Kroger company family of grocery stores is offering a 10% bonus when you buy grocery store gift cards. In many places the stores are called Kroger but they have numerous different names. In Las Vegas, they're called Smith's. For a complete list of their brands visit their site at http://www.thekrogerco.com/.

I decided to try this today at a Smith's store near my house. I asked the person at the cash register about it and he confirmed that an individual is eligible to do it once for an amount of up to $1,200 (hence a $120 bonus.) These gift cards are good at any Kroger company grocery store throughout the country.

They decided to ring up the transaction as 4 cards each with $330 on them, and then charged me $1,200 for them. I also used my credit card that gives me a 2% rebate on grocery store purchases for another $24 in value.

Since I know that I'll always be buying groceries, I figure I just made $144 in a few minutes buying the gift cards. A husband and wife could each do it together and double the benefit.

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I found this interesting blog page that contains old smoking television ads. The page includes an I Love Lucy ad for Phillip Morris containing the requisite 12-year-old boy singing a Phillip Morris ditty. (Isn't that sweet?) Also, on the page you get to see Fred and Barney light up a Winston along with Wilma catching a smoke at the end.

These two ads had me laughing out loud because they would seem so out of place today and would stir up a world of controversy if they were broadcast on TV. Times were so very different.

The last video is Yul Brynner saying not to smoke, from the grave. An effective ad as well, I'd say.

Here's the link: Cigarette Television Ads.

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Actually, I don't know where he's living, but he's not living in the Nevada governor's mansion ... at least, according to this article he's not.

With the governor of the state not being able to live in the state mansion, this has to be one of those truth-is-stranger-than-fiction scenarios.

The article suggests that "Entire sitcoms have been built on less" and I'd have to agree. Imagine a show that's a combination of Seinfeld and the Cosby show where the premise is the governor is living in a weekly hotel, while his wife lives in the state mansion. Could make for some good TV. (If anyone uses that idea, I want 10% royalties.)

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If you can somehow afford to not work for 3 months straight and feel like being a NASA guinea pig, they are offering $17,000 to people to spend 90 days in bed. All you have to do is spend 90 days straight in bed as part of their study and they'll give you a cool $17,000. I had considered this at first because I thought it was $17,000 a month which I thought was pretty decent, but at slightly above $5k a month, I'd have to pass.

What's the gambling tie-in? Well, this offer reminded me of the Brian Zembic live-in-a-bathroom-for-a-month bet and other wacky gambler bets I hear about at the poker table. Only thing, in this case, it's sanctioned by a respected government agency. This could even be an opportunity for someone to make a side bet over and above the $17k from NASA to make it worthwhile.

For more information on this excellent opportunity for a broke and lazy guy or gal, visit this link: NASA Offers $5000 a Month For You to Lie in Bed.

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In the all-good-things-must-come-to-an-end category, the Payard breakfast that I reviewed in April has raised its price from $16 to $22. It's still a great breakfast, but now it's not as great of a value. Rising food prices are probably forcing this upward shift at restaurants everywhere.

Also, my review of Sedona, Kennedy, and Al's Garage mentioned a free players menu with great entrées for anyone playing VP even at the 25-cent level. I received feedback from someone who said he went to Al's Garage and they had no such menu. Kennedy is immediately next door, however, so if you want the free food, go there.

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Here's an ad for the Cafe Martorano. I took this picture at the walkway from the Strip to the Caesars sports book. I originally saw this same ad in a Rio hotel elevator.

My question is this... would you be more likely or less likely to visit this restaurant after seeing this ad? According to some reviews I read, this is his normal kitchen attire:

You gotta read these reviews though! (Trust me.. read all of them if you have a few minutes.)

Cafe Martorano Reviews at TripAdvisor.

Cafe Martorano Reviews at Yelp.com.

And a couple positive reviews at:

Cafe Martorano Review at VegasPopular.com.

Cafe Martorano Review at LasVegas.net.

And onto the next picture....

I have never seen them changing the enormous letters on the sign at the Palms before. I happened to be there at 3:30 am this morning and had to catch a picture:

Any idea what he's spelling out? I think the next letter was a "C".

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MGM Mirage just made a significant change to their point system, They now give you one point for $4.50 coin in on video poker where they had previously given you a point for $3.00 coin in. This changes the free play from .33% back to .22%. Slot play is a point per $1.50 coin-in.

The MGM Mirage casinos in Vegas offer a lot of full-pay games, and are likely still a good choice if you're looking for a good gamble and good comps, but tighter is tighter.

On a positive note, they are offering double holiday gift shoppe points for all play from June 1 to August 31. These points can be redeemed for gifts or free play at the end of the year. Last year this offer was only during the month of August so they've added two full months to the promo. This would be a good time to plan your trip since you'll get the added benefit of double holiday points.

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Caesars' poker room just completed a WSOP circuit event that was a sizable $5,000 + $150 buy-in, with the $150 going to the house to pay for dealers, overhead, and yes, go to Harrah's profit as well.

Larger-than-life tournament pro Allen Cunningham won the event. I say larger-than-life because with his boyish looks and his subdued personality, he's had as much NLHE tournament success as just about anyone. He's either a machine, or a luckbox, or a combination of both. After all his successes, I'd have to go with the "machine" label.

Anyway, I know most of the dealers at Caesars. Some of them don't like me I'm sure. Most of them do, I hope. One came up to me in a bitter mood saying that Cunningham tipped nothing. He won a half-million dollars but left nothing for the dealers. This dealer was not all-too-pleased with it.

This is a difficult argument from all sides. The house charges a fee to play. Should the players still tip on top of the house take out? It's not the players' fault if the house decides to keep the majority and pay the dealers the minority, is it?

I'd say that the biggest detriments to being a professional gambler are three-fold. One is discipline. Two is taxes. Three is tips. Tips come right out of the bottom line, but in many cases, they're absolutely required. A professional gambler who never tips will have a much harder time in many instances.

So who's right? Should Cunningham have left $10,000? Think about that. That's enough to buy a small new car. And would that have been enough? Do the dealers expect 10% or $50,000? Some dealers may think that way.

What I find in gambling and tipping is that there is very rarely a number that is within reason for the gambler to tip that the dealers will also be happy with. In other words, if you tip what they expect, you'll never make any money. If you tip less than they expect, they'll hate you.

Some may say, "Let them hate me." But there are intangibles that come along. Let's say there's a dispute at the poker table that you're involved in and you're a known stiff. They might rule against you. Sure they gotta play by the book, but there are always subjective situations that come along. And while it may not apply to tournaments, if you play cash games, you may want to get in a juicy game that has a long waiting list, but if you're a known tipper, you might get in the game ahead of others.

I think the battle between professional gamblers and dealers concerning tips will be never-ending as long as they're allowed. I've heard in other countries, such as Australia, you are not allowed to tip the dealers and the dealers are paid a higher wage. This is probably the best way to keep your customers happy since there's no pressure on either side.

Question to you, if you had played this tournament and won $500,000, would you have left a tip? And if so, how much would you have left?

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This isn't going to be helpful to most people because it's at a small bar far West from the Strip (about 10 miles) and also because it's at very odd hours, but it's a good offer nonetheless of you can make it. The Lodge at Haulapai gives you $20 free when you put $20 in one of their video poker machines between 11 PM and 7 AM Sunday night to Monday morning.

I didn't go there Sunday night to get the $20. I went there because I was hungry and they have a pretty good menu. I put $20 in the machine so I could get free drinks and the bartender walked over and put another $20 in for me. I did have to fill out a little form with my name and address.

I ended up losing about 10 hands in a row, but I was still up and had $25 left when I was done. Always nice when you're losing on the game, but you still cash out a winner.

Another nice thing about this bar was that that they offer 7/5 Bonus Poker. While I would likely not play that game in a casino because casinos offer better paytables, it's a 98% game and one of the highest returning video poker games I've seen in a bar in Vegas. Most bars offer 97% and lower games.

So if you happen to be on the far west end of Vegas late on a Sunday night, and especially if you've got a small group where you can maximize the $20 bonus (get 4 or more people to each get $20 free), this is a nice stop for a nice edge over the house and a couple free drinks. The food is good here and the bartender was very friendly as well.

This is also a non-smoking establishment. Smokers have to go outside. So if you'd like some smoke-free air, this is probably a good choice as well.

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