Day 1: This trip started out by stopping at the outlets in Barstow to make a couple of Xmas returns to Wilson Leather and I’m happy to say that the leather coat that I returned because it didn’t fit quite right was replaced by TWO leather coats for the price of the original one. Yay! We knew that we had left early enough to miss all the Friday traffic so imagine our surprise when traffic came to a grinding halt north of Barstow! It turned out to be a car fire. The car was off to the side but the fire truck was fully blocking a lane so the one-lane traffic was the problem. That added about 45 minutes to the drive.
Once we arrived at Red Rock, I went to the VIP check-in. Apparently, my host had not specified that we were getting a comped suite (which I had requested from her). They had us in the computer for a comped room. It took them forever to track her down (she was not on shift) to okay the upgrade. She did and we were all set.
Luggage was brought up promptly, we unpacked, and relaxed for awhile. My son was jockeying to go to Kids Quest, so we took him there for a few hours while we had our standard meal at Terra Rossa and enjoyed adult conversation. Picked Jesse up from Kid’s Quest and Jan took him up to the room to do some homework while she worked on her dissertation and I headed out into the casino to earn our keep. ?
Well, I realize that I have been extremely lucky playing slots and I guess my luck had to run out at some point, but I didn't think it would be quite so extreme. I found myself thinking that Red Rock had seen my winning videos on YouTube and seriously lowered the payback on Ruby Slippers. Seriously. I didn't hit a damn thing all weekend on those machines. Well, I guess I had two bonuses – one for $112 and one for $144 but those are not much given how long I was putting max bets of $4.80 in. The two times I hit the witch bonus, I picked her on the first and second picks – rotten luck for sure. I'm not even going to talk about how much time and $$ I put through them. The difference was so extreme that I’m beginning to think Friday the 13th really is a bad day. Went to bed early (11:00) way down.
Day 2: Okay, it’s no longer Friday the 13th and I’m ready to recoup my losses. We started out with an excellent Mediterranean Frittata at the café for breakfast and then it was my turn to help our son on a biography paper he has to write. That afternoon, we headed to the spa to relax in style. Lovely day. After another good meal at Terra Rossa, I was ready for a better evening of gambling than last night.
I started out playing Ruby Slippers again thinking that last night couldn’t possibly be repeated. I was wrong. That machine took my money so fast it was ridiculous. Moving on. I wondered around playing different machines: Vegas Shindig: nothing, Ghostbusters: nothing, oh, you name it, I was not hitting. Then I found a new penny slot (well, it’s not new but it was new to me) that was quite fun. It’s IGT’s Hot Roll slot machine. As a craps player, I enjoyed the concept of rolling the dice. Here’s the IGT video showcasing the machine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wa1fzPwfR8s
Here’s my hot roll: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP6OodaJNpc&feature=youtu.be
I got up to 22 rolls and then decided I should start videotaping (sorry to those of you that like to see the whole thing), and then rolled a 7 on the 24th roll!! I was betting the max ($2.00) and the 23 rolls netted me $168. That was a better bonus than I hit all weekend betting $4.80 on Ruby Slippers. I followed it up with this hit for $150:\ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n1ggx6x5Hk
After my luck on this machine, I was feeling like I should put my dice-rolling skills to work for real at the craps table. Best Decision of the Trip. I ended up at the craps table for about 2 hours and won back all the money that Ruby Slippers took from me. I only had one decent roll myself but that was followed by 3 good rollers in a row. It was one guy’s first time rolling and he wasn’t even going to try until the rest of us convinced him that virgin rollers do well. This may be a myth but it worked in our favor this time. He did quite well. The guy following him held the dice for about 35 minutes and I had pressed my place bets on the 6 and 8 up to $120, and had $50 buys on the 4 and 10 with $25 place bets on the 5 and 9. Smashing fun! I always enjoy the dealers at Red Rock and they did not disappoint that night. I was placing pass line bets for the dealers most of the time so everyone was having a pretty good time. I ended the evening having recouped all my losses from Ruby Slippers so I was pretty much back to what I came with. 2:00 am and it’s time for bed.
Day 3: We had a late check-out scheduled (1:00) so after breakfast I decide to give it one more try (no, not Ruby Slippers) so I head over to the craps table. Can’t get anything happening – I don’t normally play craps during the day b/c the energy is just not there. Now I’m convinced that I won’t do it again. Blah. It’s just different during the day than at night. We checkout at 1:00 and then headed across town to an award-winning Thai restaurant on Eastern Avenue. I don’t remember the name of it but it’s right across the street from one of our favorite stops, Nielson’s Frozen Custard. Of course, we had that for dessert. Both were good and when we return, I’ll be sure to get the name.
The drive home was uneventful and we’re gearing up for another trip in mid-February where we will be meeting friends flying in from Michigan, celebrating my wife’s 42nd birthday, and playing in my first craps tournament! By the way, if anyone has tournament tips, don’t hold back!
Once we arrived at Red Rock, I went to the VIP check-in. Apparently, my host had not specified that we were getting a comped suite (which I had requested from her). They had us in the computer for a comped room. It took them forever to track her down (she was not on shift) to okay the upgrade. She did and we were all set.
Luggage was brought up promptly, we unpacked, and relaxed for awhile. My son was jockeying to go to Kids Quest, so we took him there for a few hours while we had our standard meal at Terra Rossa and enjoyed adult conversation. Picked Jesse up from Kid’s Quest and Jan took him up to the room to do some homework while she worked on her dissertation and I headed out into the casino to earn our keep. ?
Well, I realize that I have been extremely lucky playing slots and I guess my luck had to run out at some point, but I didn't think it would be quite so extreme. I found myself thinking that Red Rock had seen my winning videos on YouTube and seriously lowered the payback on Ruby Slippers. Seriously. I didn't hit a damn thing all weekend on those machines. Well, I guess I had two bonuses – one for $112 and one for $144 but those are not much given how long I was putting max bets of $4.80 in. The two times I hit the witch bonus, I picked her on the first and second picks – rotten luck for sure. I'm not even going to talk about how much time and $$ I put through them. The difference was so extreme that I’m beginning to think Friday the 13th really is a bad day. Went to bed early (11:00) way down.
Day 2: Okay, it’s no longer Friday the 13th and I’m ready to recoup my losses. We started out with an excellent Mediterranean Frittata at the café for breakfast and then it was my turn to help our son on a biography paper he has to write. That afternoon, we headed to the spa to relax in style. Lovely day. After another good meal at Terra Rossa, I was ready for a better evening of gambling than last night.
I started out playing Ruby Slippers again thinking that last night couldn’t possibly be repeated. I was wrong. That machine took my money so fast it was ridiculous. Moving on. I wondered around playing different machines: Vegas Shindig: nothing, Ghostbusters: nothing, oh, you name it, I was not hitting. Then I found a new penny slot (well, it’s not new but it was new to me) that was quite fun. It’s IGT’s Hot Roll slot machine. As a craps player, I enjoyed the concept of rolling the dice. Here’s the IGT video showcasing the machine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wa1fzPwfR8s
Here’s my hot roll: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP6OodaJNpc&feature=youtu.be
I got up to 22 rolls and then decided I should start videotaping (sorry to those of you that like to see the whole thing), and then rolled a 7 on the 24th roll!! I was betting the max ($2.00) and the 23 rolls netted me $168. That was a better bonus than I hit all weekend betting $4.80 on Ruby Slippers. I followed it up with this hit for $150:\ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n1ggx6x5Hk
After my luck on this machine, I was feeling like I should put my dice-rolling skills to work for real at the craps table. Best Decision of the Trip. I ended up at the craps table for about 2 hours and won back all the money that Ruby Slippers took from me. I only had one decent roll myself but that was followed by 3 good rollers in a row. It was one guy’s first time rolling and he wasn’t even going to try until the rest of us convinced him that virgin rollers do well. This may be a myth but it worked in our favor this time. He did quite well. The guy following him held the dice for about 35 minutes and I had pressed my place bets on the 6 and 8 up to $120, and had $50 buys on the 4 and 10 with $25 place bets on the 5 and 9. Smashing fun! I always enjoy the dealers at Red Rock and they did not disappoint that night. I was placing pass line bets for the dealers most of the time so everyone was having a pretty good time. I ended the evening having recouped all my losses from Ruby Slippers so I was pretty much back to what I came with. 2:00 am and it’s time for bed.
Day 3: We had a late check-out scheduled (1:00) so after breakfast I decide to give it one more try (no, not Ruby Slippers) so I head over to the craps table. Can’t get anything happening – I don’t normally play craps during the day b/c the energy is just not there. Now I’m convinced that I won’t do it again. Blah. It’s just different during the day than at night. We checkout at 1:00 and then headed across town to an award-winning Thai restaurant on Eastern Avenue. I don’t remember the name of it but it’s right across the street from one of our favorite stops, Nielson’s Frozen Custard. Of course, we had that for dessert. Both were good and when we return, I’ll be sure to get the name.
The drive home was uneventful and we’re gearing up for another trip in mid-February where we will be meeting friends flying in from Michigan, celebrating my wife’s 42nd birthday, and playing in my first craps tournament! By the way, if anyone has tournament tips, don’t hold back!
