Do any of the other forum members go through any rituals or traditions before embarking on a Las Vegas Trip? I do. The week before leaving for the WSOP the past 3 years, I take the family to a Chinese buffet about 50 miles away from our house. It isn’t that the food there is all that great; rather they have some pretty tasty fortune cookies, which for the last 3 years have been dispensing all too accurate “fortunes”. Here is this years’:
I don’t know how thrilling you’ll find it, but I hope everyone enjoys these reports.
Sunday June 26
The Friday before the trip, my mother called to ask me when our flights would be leaving and coming back so she could book an airport shuttle service. I asked her how much it cost and she said that it would be $275!!! I told her that was ridiculous and I would just drive down to pick her up. It meant an extra 6 hours of driving time for me, but I really couldn’t justify paying the same amount of money for a lift to the airport as the flight itself.
My wife is one of world’s best luggage packers, and of course packed for me. I just put out what I want to bring with me and she does the rest. I’m one lucky / lazy guy.
“What are you bringing these for?” she asked as she held up a pair of my swimming trunks.
“The pools at the Golden Nugget, Flamingo and Caesar’s Palace are supposed to be among the best in Las Vegas. I thought I might go for a swim on some of the days I’m there.”
“Yeah right. When is the last time you went for a swim in Las Vegas?”
She did have a point as it’s probably been 5 years and 12 trips ago that I actually set foot in a Las Vegas pool. Maybe this time would be different?
It’s a three hour drive to my mother’s house, and I made the drive after I finished work on Sunday. It probably wasn’t a good idea to consume several cups of Tim Horton’s (famous Canadian coffee shop) coffee on the way there because by the end of the third hour, I needed to go to the bathroom badly. I pull into yet another Tim Horton’s and run to the men’s bathroom. Their bathrooms have 1 urinal and 1 toilet. Well, the urinal had a black garbage bag wrapped around it with an “OUT OF ORDER” sign taped to it and the toilet was occupied. Could my luck get any worse? Why yes it could. It appeared as if the toilet was occupied by an elderly gentleman with prostate issues.
PSSSSSSS
PSSS
PSSS
PSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
PS
PS
PSSSSSSSS
PSSS
PSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Seriously? I was hopping up and down on 1 foot when the stall door finally swung open, and an elderly man steps forward. He looked at me hopping up and down, then at the disabled urinal, then back at me.
“You know, I come to this place all the time and that urinal is always on the fritz!”
He stood in the doorway blocking my way and continued to babble on and on. I couldn’t take it any longer, pushed past him and locked the door. He continued his babbling while I finished my business.
I arrived at my mother’s at around 9:00pm.
Monday June 27
We were both awake quite early (pre-Las Vegas excitement), but unfortunately our flight didn’t leave until 6:30pm. My mother was itching to get going though, and after leaving her 5 dogs and 2 cats with a sitter, we were on our way. We were too early though, and as a warm up / time killer, we stopped in at a local horse racetrack with slot machines run by the Ontario government called “Flamboro Downs”. This turned out to be a bad move, since we probably lost $1000 between the two of us. What kind of sick, degenerate gamblers are we to stop in at a casino on the way to Las Vegas?
Our flight with American Airlines involved a connection through Dallas / Fort Worth. I deliberately selected seats in row 16 for both legs of the flight hoping if I took those 16s now; it would reduce the number of 16s I would get during the degenerate blackjack sessions to come. I’m weird that way.
I had a bit of a scare before the connection in Dallas. My mother was wandering around the airport shops, and had to be paged 3 times as the entire plane was already boarded and waiting for just the 2 of us! After the third page, I see her rushing up to the gate with a pizza box in hand. A close call!
That night time approach to Las Vegas still gets to me every time. Sorry these aren't that clear.
What do you think the feeling you get during that night time aerial approach to Las Vegas is most like?
a) A deer caught in the headlights of a moving vehicle, and about to be involved in a horrific accident?
b) A moth fluttering around a campfire, getting closer and closer to the flame until it gets too close?
c) The testimonials of people who have been declared clinically dead, been resuscitated and have said that they saw, and walked towards the light before being brought back?
We arrive at McCarran on time, and pick up a white Toyota Yaris with 33,400 miles on it. In total, the rental car cost us $148 for the 8 days. According to the breakdown on my receipt, the rental itself only cost $72, while the taxes and fees amounted to $76. Go figure.
We didn’t end up checking in at the Golden Nugget until after midnight. I was actually paying for this room ($39 per night) for 2 nights, and of course they no longer had any of the non-smoking rooms in the tower I wanted, so I had to settle for a smoking room in the old Carson Tower. After dropping off our luggage, my mother and I went down to the casino.
And so it begins.
You’ve all seen those huge community bonus slot machines like “e-bay”, “American Idol”, “Reel Em’ In Community Bonus” etc. These have got to be crack-cocaine for penny slot players and a boon for the casinos. One of the horrific features of these machines is that your own machine will have a bigger multiplier the faster you play and if you play maximum coin. Well, I was stuck $500 and pounding away at a Reel Em’ In Machine, until the bonus finally triggered while I had a 50X multiplier up. The bonus on the huge screen involved 4 fishermen in some sort of boat race. My fisher-woman picked up a 2 X multiplier on her way to the finish line in first place. I was pretty stoked, until I saw that first place only paid out the $9.32 progressive. I was about to give up on this money pit machine when I saw that the credit meter on my machine was now reading $987.44! I guess the 2 X multiplier coupled with the 50 X multiplier I had invested in resulted in a final payout of (100 X $9.32) $932.00!!
This would turn out to be the highlight of the evening. I spent the next 5 hours bouncing around from slot machines, to blackjack and craps. By 6:00am (9:00am back home) I stumbled up to the room.
Day 3 to follow.
I don’t know how thrilling you’ll find it, but I hope everyone enjoys these reports.
Sunday June 26
The Friday before the trip, my mother called to ask me when our flights would be leaving and coming back so she could book an airport shuttle service. I asked her how much it cost and she said that it would be $275!!! I told her that was ridiculous and I would just drive down to pick her up. It meant an extra 6 hours of driving time for me, but I really couldn’t justify paying the same amount of money for a lift to the airport as the flight itself.
My wife is one of world’s best luggage packers, and of course packed for me. I just put out what I want to bring with me and she does the rest. I’m one lucky / lazy guy.
“What are you bringing these for?” she asked as she held up a pair of my swimming trunks.
“The pools at the Golden Nugget, Flamingo and Caesar’s Palace are supposed to be among the best in Las Vegas. I thought I might go for a swim on some of the days I’m there.”
“Yeah right. When is the last time you went for a swim in Las Vegas?”
She did have a point as it’s probably been 5 years and 12 trips ago that I actually set foot in a Las Vegas pool. Maybe this time would be different?
It’s a three hour drive to my mother’s house, and I made the drive after I finished work on Sunday. It probably wasn’t a good idea to consume several cups of Tim Horton’s (famous Canadian coffee shop) coffee on the way there because by the end of the third hour, I needed to go to the bathroom badly. I pull into yet another Tim Horton’s and run to the men’s bathroom. Their bathrooms have 1 urinal and 1 toilet. Well, the urinal had a black garbage bag wrapped around it with an “OUT OF ORDER” sign taped to it and the toilet was occupied. Could my luck get any worse? Why yes it could. It appeared as if the toilet was occupied by an elderly gentleman with prostate issues.
PSSSSSSS
PSSS
PSSS
PSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
PS
PS
PSSSSSSSS
PSSS
PSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Seriously? I was hopping up and down on 1 foot when the stall door finally swung open, and an elderly man steps forward. He looked at me hopping up and down, then at the disabled urinal, then back at me.
“You know, I come to this place all the time and that urinal is always on the fritz!”
He stood in the doorway blocking my way and continued to babble on and on. I couldn’t take it any longer, pushed past him and locked the door. He continued his babbling while I finished my business.
I arrived at my mother’s at around 9:00pm.
Monday June 27
We were both awake quite early (pre-Las Vegas excitement), but unfortunately our flight didn’t leave until 6:30pm. My mother was itching to get going though, and after leaving her 5 dogs and 2 cats with a sitter, we were on our way. We were too early though, and as a warm up / time killer, we stopped in at a local horse racetrack with slot machines run by the Ontario government called “Flamboro Downs”. This turned out to be a bad move, since we probably lost $1000 between the two of us. What kind of sick, degenerate gamblers are we to stop in at a casino on the way to Las Vegas?
Our flight with American Airlines involved a connection through Dallas / Fort Worth. I deliberately selected seats in row 16 for both legs of the flight hoping if I took those 16s now; it would reduce the number of 16s I would get during the degenerate blackjack sessions to come. I’m weird that way.
I had a bit of a scare before the connection in Dallas. My mother was wandering around the airport shops, and had to be paged 3 times as the entire plane was already boarded and waiting for just the 2 of us! After the third page, I see her rushing up to the gate with a pizza box in hand. A close call!
That night time approach to Las Vegas still gets to me every time. Sorry these aren't that clear.
What do you think the feeling you get during that night time aerial approach to Las Vegas is most like?
a) A deer caught in the headlights of a moving vehicle, and about to be involved in a horrific accident?
b) A moth fluttering around a campfire, getting closer and closer to the flame until it gets too close?
c) The testimonials of people who have been declared clinically dead, been resuscitated and have said that they saw, and walked towards the light before being brought back?
We arrive at McCarran on time, and pick up a white Toyota Yaris with 33,400 miles on it. In total, the rental car cost us $148 for the 8 days. According to the breakdown on my receipt, the rental itself only cost $72, while the taxes and fees amounted to $76. Go figure.
We didn’t end up checking in at the Golden Nugget until after midnight. I was actually paying for this room ($39 per night) for 2 nights, and of course they no longer had any of the non-smoking rooms in the tower I wanted, so I had to settle for a smoking room in the old Carson Tower. After dropping off our luggage, my mother and I went down to the casino.
And so it begins.
You’ve all seen those huge community bonus slot machines like “e-bay”, “American Idol”, “Reel Em’ In Community Bonus” etc. These have got to be crack-cocaine for penny slot players and a boon for the casinos. One of the horrific features of these machines is that your own machine will have a bigger multiplier the faster you play and if you play maximum coin. Well, I was stuck $500 and pounding away at a Reel Em’ In Machine, until the bonus finally triggered while I had a 50X multiplier up. The bonus on the huge screen involved 4 fishermen in some sort of boat race. My fisher-woman picked up a 2 X multiplier on her way to the finish line in first place. I was pretty stoked, until I saw that first place only paid out the $9.32 progressive. I was about to give up on this money pit machine when I saw that the credit meter on my machine was now reading $987.44! I guess the 2 X multiplier coupled with the 50 X multiplier I had invested in resulted in a final payout of (100 X $9.32) $932.00!!
This would turn out to be the highlight of the evening. I spent the next 5 hours bouncing around from slot machines, to blackjack and craps. By 6:00am (9:00am back home) I stumbled up to the room.
Day 3 to follow.
