Hit ‘em All Nevada – Day 34
Once again (and the final time this trip), it is moving day as I head to my final hotel, the Silverton, which you might note I was just here last week. They offer me two free nights per month, and I managed to work it out to be here the last week of July and the first week of August. So, I left Ballys and headed over to a Starbucks to send in yesterday’s report. I got a call from Terry (dorianmac) and we agreed I’d drive over to M Hotel where he and Louise are staying and we’d have breakfast there.
By the time I got arrived, it was 10:30 and the buffet was already setting up for lunch, but we wanted breakfast and end up going to the Hash A-Go Go, which took over the M’s coffee shop a few months ago. As most of you know, the portions here tend to be huge, so Terry and Louise split an order of French toast and fruit, and I had some kind of scrambled egg concoction. The food was good but we were all put back by the bill, which for two breakfasts and three cups of coffee came to $32. It turned out the coffees alone were $2.75 a piece—this ain’t downtown dive prices. Terry was gracious to use his points for most of the purchase.
We had some time to kill before our ECLVA meet at the Gold Coast today, so we decided to play some Quick Quads. I had an excellent session cashing out ahead, but Terry lost a little bit. Some of the quads that disappeared from me during this trip came back during this session. Louise had a massage and spa appointment today at the M and chose not to go along with us to the meet, so Terry and I set out for the Gold Coast. We did make one stop (after my missing the turn-off and dealing with some traffic) at the LVA office so Terry could pick up his coupon book for the year. They had the Kill Phil hats on sale for $2, so I bought one.
We made it to the Noodle House inside the Gold Coast where the meet was being held. A lot of members came and we had a wonderful time chatting it up and sharing stories. After an hour or so Terry and I said our goodbyes and headed for the door, but LVA member Judy had run out to her car to get me a coupon and we stopped at a wheel machine (I don’t remember the name but it’s the one where if you get a three-of-a-kind or higher you spin the wheel for a predetermined hand to play once—JM will have this in her report later). Jeanne Marie (noahcat) put in $40 and after one or two turns, hit the bonus. She came upon the four-to-a-royal triple play and hit a royal on the second hand—just like that. She was, of course, covered with lucky glitter. Our Queen of the LVA is having a great trip so far and it couldn’t happen to a nicer and deserving person.
I'm not even going to try to get all the names straight. Just look for your favorite member
The guy with his hand to his forehead is yesterday's MPT champ Harve
I still hadn’t checked in to the Silverton and it was almost 3 PM (I like to check in early and get it out of the way), so we pulled in and parked in the garage. Terry helped me with my luggage as it’s a trek all the way through the building from the garage to the registration desk. He couldn’t stop marveling at how much he loved my choice of suitcases. I had to laugh a bit when at the check-in desk, there were signs saying “No Resort Fees in August!” as if that’s a great deal—there shouldn’t be resort fees—EVER! It seems the Caesars’ campaign of no resorts fees is having some effect.
After dumping the luggage in the room, we headed down to the Mermaid’s lounge to have a couple of beers. We end up playing their close-to-full pay 8/6 bonus poker deluxe machines with progressive royals (currently over $1300) at the bar. Terry had soon been dealt quad 3s for a quick $100 profit. Though I didn’t catch any quads, I hit plenty of full houses and flushes so that I cashed out even. We drove back to the M to meet up with Louise and have some dinner. The breakfast was large enough that we weren’t quite ready to eat, so it was back to the Quick Quad machines for a little play.
The beautiful Mermaids Lounge at the Silverton Hotel
Here comes the story of the trip: All of us that play video poker know that there can be stretches were nothing hits. As you’ve been reading in these reports over the past month, you’re aware that I have been severely short of my quad production—sometimes going for days without hitting even one. I was playing Triple Double 5-play at both nickels and dimes. During this marathon session (with a dinner break in the middle at the buffet, which shockingly had no line for once), I was dealt four-to-the-royal four times (on 5-play, that’s 20 chances). I didn’t catch one. Even more remarkable (and we counted as we went along), I was dealt three Aces 14 times (that’s 70 shots at a quad Aces), I only hit one and that was with no kicker. So, one would think that my bad month of video poker streak continued. That’s not the case here. All of the quads that had eluded me came rushing back. These we did not count but there’s no question that I hit more than 40 or 50 of them (five times having them dealt), and yes, most were quick quads, but I certainly had more than my fair share of naturals including the 4000 Aces with a kicker (after being dealt two Aces and at nickels, this was $200) once and natural deuces with the kicker (at this point I’m up to playing dimes paying $200) twice along with a set of threes with the kicker and a quad set of fours with the kicker. By the time the dust had cleared, I had netted $1300—and that’s with never catching a royal. Unfortunately, all of luck this day was falling on me as Terry just couldn’t ever catch even one premium hand and had a losing session, which put a damper on the celebration. So (and this seems to be the case more than not for video poker players), though this didn’t make up entirely for the losses of this trip, it certainly cut a huge slice out of it. It’s a damn, crazy game.
It’s now LONG past my bed time, so we said our goodbyes, and I headed back to the Silverton where I have yet to unpack. On my way, I noticed up ahead on the I-15 a long line of brake lights ahead. Being an old vet of Las Vegas and a hater of congested traffic, I pulled over to the South Point exit, went west to Dean Martin Drive and on to the Silverton by way of the back roads. Even this little move, as I was passing all the stopped traffic, was a lucky twist as was the way of this entire day.
More tomorrow
Once again (and the final time this trip), it is moving day as I head to my final hotel, the Silverton, which you might note I was just here last week. They offer me two free nights per month, and I managed to work it out to be here the last week of July and the first week of August. So, I left Ballys and headed over to a Starbucks to send in yesterday’s report. I got a call from Terry (dorianmac) and we agreed I’d drive over to M Hotel where he and Louise are staying and we’d have breakfast there.
By the time I got arrived, it was 10:30 and the buffet was already setting up for lunch, but we wanted breakfast and end up going to the Hash A-Go Go, which took over the M’s coffee shop a few months ago. As most of you know, the portions here tend to be huge, so Terry and Louise split an order of French toast and fruit, and I had some kind of scrambled egg concoction. The food was good but we were all put back by the bill, which for two breakfasts and three cups of coffee came to $32. It turned out the coffees alone were $2.75 a piece—this ain’t downtown dive prices. Terry was gracious to use his points for most of the purchase.
We had some time to kill before our ECLVA meet at the Gold Coast today, so we decided to play some Quick Quads. I had an excellent session cashing out ahead, but Terry lost a little bit. Some of the quads that disappeared from me during this trip came back during this session. Louise had a massage and spa appointment today at the M and chose not to go along with us to the meet, so Terry and I set out for the Gold Coast. We did make one stop (after my missing the turn-off and dealing with some traffic) at the LVA office so Terry could pick up his coupon book for the year. They had the Kill Phil hats on sale for $2, so I bought one.
We made it to the Noodle House inside the Gold Coast where the meet was being held. A lot of members came and we had a wonderful time chatting it up and sharing stories. After an hour or so Terry and I said our goodbyes and headed for the door, but LVA member Judy had run out to her car to get me a coupon and we stopped at a wheel machine (I don’t remember the name but it’s the one where if you get a three-of-a-kind or higher you spin the wheel for a predetermined hand to play once—JM will have this in her report later). Jeanne Marie (noahcat) put in $40 and after one or two turns, hit the bonus. She came upon the four-to-a-royal triple play and hit a royal on the second hand—just like that. She was, of course, covered with lucky glitter. Our Queen of the LVA is having a great trip so far and it couldn’t happen to a nicer and deserving person.
I'm not even going to try to get all the names straight. Just look for your favorite member
The guy with his hand to his forehead is yesterday's MPT champ Harve
I still hadn’t checked in to the Silverton and it was almost 3 PM (I like to check in early and get it out of the way), so we pulled in and parked in the garage. Terry helped me with my luggage as it’s a trek all the way through the building from the garage to the registration desk. He couldn’t stop marveling at how much he loved my choice of suitcases. I had to laugh a bit when at the check-in desk, there were signs saying “No Resort Fees in August!” as if that’s a great deal—there shouldn’t be resort fees—EVER! It seems the Caesars’ campaign of no resorts fees is having some effect.
After dumping the luggage in the room, we headed down to the Mermaid’s lounge to have a couple of beers. We end up playing their close-to-full pay 8/6 bonus poker deluxe machines with progressive royals (currently over $1300) at the bar. Terry had soon been dealt quad 3s for a quick $100 profit. Though I didn’t catch any quads, I hit plenty of full houses and flushes so that I cashed out even. We drove back to the M to meet up with Louise and have some dinner. The breakfast was large enough that we weren’t quite ready to eat, so it was back to the Quick Quad machines for a little play.
The beautiful Mermaids Lounge at the Silverton Hotel
Here comes the story of the trip: All of us that play video poker know that there can be stretches were nothing hits. As you’ve been reading in these reports over the past month, you’re aware that I have been severely short of my quad production—sometimes going for days without hitting even one. I was playing Triple Double 5-play at both nickels and dimes. During this marathon session (with a dinner break in the middle at the buffet, which shockingly had no line for once), I was dealt four-to-the-royal four times (on 5-play, that’s 20 chances). I didn’t catch one. Even more remarkable (and we counted as we went along), I was dealt three Aces 14 times (that’s 70 shots at a quad Aces), I only hit one and that was with no kicker. So, one would think that my bad month of video poker streak continued. That’s not the case here. All of the quads that had eluded me came rushing back. These we did not count but there’s no question that I hit more than 40 or 50 of them (five times having them dealt), and yes, most were quick quads, but I certainly had more than my fair share of naturals including the 4000 Aces with a kicker (after being dealt two Aces and at nickels, this was $200) once and natural deuces with the kicker (at this point I’m up to playing dimes paying $200) twice along with a set of threes with the kicker and a quad set of fours with the kicker. By the time the dust had cleared, I had netted $1300—and that’s with never catching a royal. Unfortunately, all of luck this day was falling on me as Terry just couldn’t ever catch even one premium hand and had a losing session, which put a damper on the celebration. So (and this seems to be the case more than not for video poker players), though this didn’t make up entirely for the losses of this trip, it certainly cut a huge slice out of it. It’s a damn, crazy game.
It’s now LONG past my bed time, so we said our goodbyes, and I headed back to the Silverton where I have yet to unpack. On my way, I noticed up ahead on the I-15 a long line of brake lights ahead. Being an old vet of Las Vegas and a hater of congested traffic, I pulled over to the South Point exit, went west to Dean Martin Drive and on to the Silverton by way of the back roads. Even this little move, as I was passing all the stopped traffic, was a lucky twist as was the way of this entire day.
More tomorrow
