My wife and her sister went on a cruise during spring break out of Galveston for spring break. I had a commitment the last part of spring break and couldn’t go with the girls, so what better to do than take a five day trip to Las Vegas instead. This is my 1st solo trip in several years so I will spend most of it just gambling.
March 18th:
I flew out of Dallas since it was about 1/3 of the cost to fly out of there instead of Little Rock or Tulsa. I drove the 5 hours from my home in Arkansas to Dallas thru the night. My flight on Southwest was scheduled to depart at 7:00 A.M. Saturday morning. Since I had to work fairly late on the 18th, it didn’t make sense to get a room, so I left home around 8:30 PM and took my time. I did stop at the Choctaw Casino in Durant, OK. It is a huge casino, bigger than most strip casinos. I signed up for a card and got $10 free play. I used it on a triple play nickel wheel spin video poker game called deluxe wheel. I got dealt a few three of kinds and spun my way to a nice $30 profit and cashed out and hit the road.
I got to the airport around 3:30 AM. My intent was to get checked in and just snooze until it was time to board, but the seats at the Airport where just too short to sleep in so I just cat napped. We boarded on time and we arrived about 20 minutes ahead of time at 7:40 Vegas time. I did sleep a little on the plane.
I rented a card through Hertz. When I was riding the shuttle over to the rental area I started talking to the lady next to me. She was in town for her daughter’s wedding and had taken the wrong shuttle. She said she would just take a cab to the condo she is staying at. I volunteered to drive her to the condo and she accepted. I had booked 5 days at $140 thru priceline. I went through all the insurance scares and we were on our way.
I took the crappy Ford Fiesta to a high rice condo next to South Point and said goodbye and good luck to my new friend. First stop ended up being Ellis Island. I first cashed in $49.36 in loose change I had laying around my drawers. The cashier gave me $54 in free play. I couldn’t find the nickel triple play quick quads so I settled for some triple play nickel 7-5 bonus machines. I played it through and cashed out $49. I did hit quad queens once, but had a lot of dead hands. I then played $10 through and used the ACG and POV coupons. Between the two, I ended up with $30 more in free play. I played it through and cashed out with a net profit of $25.
I then went to the six deck black jack game and did the $100 buy in for the $25 bet chip. I managed to lose my first 5 hands. They switched dealers and I decided to play the ACG $10 match play. I was dealt a 20 and it held up. I then went on the skids again. I lost my $25 bet and cashed out $35 down. I used the ACG coupon for a free shirt, its red and says, “I won at Ellis Island”. I need to get some tape and mark out the “win” part of the shirt.
Next stop was the Tuscany for the ACG coupon that gives you $10 in free play for 300 points. They were giving away a tank top shirt for 200 points and had 6x points on video poker as well. My plan was to play some 10 play pennies, but none of the multi-line machines gave you 6x points. I found some single line nickels with crappy pay tables that did take the multiplier and played them. I played 1200 hands without a single set of quads. I ended up cashing out $42 down after my $10 free play, but I had another red shirt. This one had Tuscany with a sweet 16 on it.
I was starving right now so I headed out to the East Side Cannery for a free lunch buffet that I had earned through their Web Pass promotion. This was the first time I had ate their buffet. It had a small selection but served its purpose. My wife would have loved the fact that they had her favorite peel and eat shrimp without the peel part.
I stopped at the Henderson Fiesta and played the penny 10 play progressives with 9-6-4 double bonus. I put 50 points on both my wife and mine cards. I played the super hero kiask game and won 2000 points and $3 in free play. The free play resulted in a $2 profit for me.
I headed out and down the road to Laughlin. I couldn’t find a reasonable rate for this Saturday night since it was the first Saturday night of March Madness in Vegas. I had a comped room at the Aquarius so I opted for that rather than pay close to $90 for a room. The drive went uneventful other than fighting off the urge to sleep. I got checked into room 9093 in the California tower and laid down for a nap. I woke up an hour later and decided to go play some more.
I walked down to the Colorado Belle and decided to play some 2-4 limit poker. I started out by winning a couple of pots, then went the next 3 hours without winning one. I cashed out after 4 hours with a $60 loss. I had lost $10 before I got my seat playing the 10 coin joker wild machines next to the poker room. I went back to them and lost the other $10 of my $20 buy-in.
I went back to the Aquarius to put a little time on my card to keep the free room offers coming. I saw a crown gathered around the docks as I was walking by the Edgewater. Some teenagers were feeding the ducks bread. The funny thing was there were also two raccoons in the water going after the bread as well. These had to be the biggest and fattest raccoons in America. They had to both be pushing 100 pounds. A couple of observations…the weather was amazingly nice and I couldn’t believe how many people were in Laughlin. I had to go to the fourth floor of the Aquarius parking garage to find a spot.
I came back and played some triple play nickel progressives. I started out playing 7-5 bonus but quickly lost $20 in the first machine. The end machine became open so I jumped to it. I was still treading water and then started dropping a little more. I noticed I was getting a lot of 2’s so I switched to deuces wild. I was getting enough wild royals and 5 of a kinds to get me back even and even $10 up when things starting going south again. I hadn’t hit a set of natural quads yet and had been playing for about 45 minutes so I figured I was due. I switched over to double bonus. I hit quad 6’s on two lines when I was dealt 3 for my first quads of the session. My machine remained fairly hot, but would go through periods of nothing as well. I played for another 45 minutes and cashed out with a small $30 profit. I did hit quad aces twice during that time. I was also dealt four to the royal twice in clubs, but obviously didn’t connect on any line. It was almost 11:30 and I was ready for bed.
Total for the Day: -52 (Counting Choctaw)
Total Comps: $110
March 20:
I woke up at 6:00 and couldn’t go back to sleep so I wrote yesterday’s report and headed down for some more video poker. I took the $70 cash out voucher from last night and put it back in the triple play nickel progressives. I played for four hours before my $70 was finally drained. I was even dealt quad 10’s at one point, but it wasn’t enough to keep me in the positive. I kept track of my quads during the session for some strange reason. I managed to hit 21 quads during that time. I hit 5 sets of 8’s and 5 sets of 10’s for the most. I only hit bonus quads twice. I hit quad 3’s and quad aces once. In both cases I got the kicker, and in both cases I was only playing double bonus.
I then tried a shot at the dream card machine and my $20 evaporated in no time. For some reason, the hot roll triple plays seemed like they needed to be played. They had 9-6 double-double bonus, so why not give it a shot? About 30 minutes and $57 later I gave up without a single hint of a quad. I did hit a flush on a double six roll for 360 credits, but that was it. I had lost enough, it was time to quit.
I went to the café to use a coupon for $10 in RFB since I had opted to “go green” in my room. I ordered a gourmet burger and fries. I do have to say that the burger was very good. It had to be close to ½ pound. I went back to the room and packed my stuff for the trip back to Las Vegas and Sam’s Town. A quick stop into Bull Head City to top of the tank and get a drink and it is time to hit the road again.
The trip to Las Vegas went uneventful, I pulled into the Fiesta Henderson garage exactly an hour and ten minutes after crossing the Laughlin Colorado Bridge. I hit the 10 play progressives for pennies to put 5 points on our cards for the kiosk game. The game wasn’t hitting at all so I just put 10 points on my card and 5 points on Kim’s. I won 2000 more points and Kim won $3 free play. I played it through and took off with a $6 lost.
I took Boulder Highway down to Sam’s Town. I couldn’t believe I could hit every red light, but sure enough I did. I arrived at Sam’s Town and checked in at 3:30. I headed down to get a replacement card then activated it for 7x on video poker. I sit at my favorite low rolling triple play 9-6-5 double bonus 10 coin penny progressives. I lost $10 in the first machine quickly then switched machines. I went to a new machine and hit quad 2’s on the 2nd draw. The machine then went into a spiral so I switched again. Shortly in on the new machine I was dealt 3 aces. I hit the quad aces on the bottom two rows. I played until I heard that they were opening a new 2-6 spread limit poker game and cashed out after an hour of play up $40.
I wanted to try the promotion today which pays you $400 if you hit 3 heart flushes. The odds of this happening are extreme, but it appealed to me. Within the first four hands I were dealt, a lady in seat one hit two heart flushes. My plan was to play for about 3 hours and if I hadn’t hit a heart flush I would quit and go back to the video poker machines.
I hit a couple of nice pots early and never was really down for the session. My first big pot was when I hit an ace high flush and bet on the river and one guy then raised. The board had paired on the river so I just called. He had a king high flush to my ace high. By the time 7:30 had rolled around I hadn’t hit a heart flush, but the game was really fun and sociable so I decided to stay.
A younger guy had sit down to my right and we started talking. He was telling me stories about him playing 5-10 no-limit at the Wynn. He said he had over $40,000 in his bankroll at one time, but blew most of it one night in a drunken baccarat session. I wasn’t sure if I believed him since he was slumming at Sam’s Town at a 2-6 limit game which plays 25 times smaller, but he was entertaining.
About 8:00 the lady in seat 10 hit her 3rd heart flush for an extra $400. I hit my 1st heart flush and was stuck till midnight at that point. The main reason was that I had hit 4 other flushes and they had a drawing at midnight for $50 extra cash. I went on a streak from 6 to a little after 8 without winning a hand, so the heart flush was welcomed. I wasn’t real hungry for dinner so I opted for the snack bar $4 hot dog special which included a bag of chips and a drink. I paid with points.
My new friend to my right was texted a friend of his. He told me about him being an introvert who is real smart, but has no social life. He showed a picture of him playing 50 cent 9-6 jacks or better for 36 hands at Ceaser’s I believe. He had been dealt a full house for a $3300 W-2. He was trying to maintain his 7-start status by playing $90 a hand. My buddy said that he is a great poker player and needs to give up on the video poker since he had lost so much doing it. He was texting my buddy stuff like 99.5 payback, 3x cash back ect. He didn’t quite understand what his friend was texting so I explained it too him. I told him that he probably studies Bob Dancer. My buddy didn’t know who he is but he said he was going to text his friend and tell him that’s who he is playing with. His friend tested back that they had met at the 7-stars event in Reno. I thought that was funny.
I played until midnight when the drawing was held. Sue enough, my name was drawn for an extra $50 added to my bankroll. I played a few more hands and called it a night. With my extra $50 I cashed out a $152 win for a complete come back from the earlier losses of the day. I headed up to room 884 which I would be enjoying free for the next three nights.
Total for the Day: +40 (Down $12 for the Trip)
Total Comps: $64 ($174 Total)
March 21:
I slept in a little late today and didn’t get around until just before noon. Since it was so late in the morning I decided to just eat the buffet at Sam’s Town. The cost would have been $8 but I paid with points again. The buffet here I’ve always considered average, but today there just didn’t seem that many selections that caught my interest. I still had plenty to eat and was ready to take advantage of the 7x video poker day. I activated my card at the kiosk and saw that my table points hadn’t been credited to my account from my 8 hour marathon of poker from yesterday. I went to the poker room and the guy running the both said I would have to come back on Tuesday to get it straightened out. I said okay and went on my way. They do pay $1.25 per hour in comps for poker. I have over $200 on my card so it’s not that big of a deal, but I will see if they can get it right tomorrow.
It’s time to head to the triple play 9-6-5 double bonus machines that cost 20 cents a line. But wait! I pass an Anthony and Cleopatra slot machine with progressives on top. The machines have a major progressive that must go at $300 and a minor that must go at $40. I’ve seen some of these machines around in Vegas. We have several of them at the Cherokee Casino in Roland, Oklahoma where we go quite often. I’m actually ahead in the long run playing these strictly when one of the progressives are close. This machine’s mini was at $35.44 so I’ve almost always come out ahead if it is above $35. I sat down and started playing at 50 cents a pull. The max play is $3 but you don’t have to play at that level to hit the progressives. I did notice that it took $1.50 of action for the mini progressive to go up. It only takes $1 back home. I hit 8 free spins on my first spin. Usually the free spins net at least $8. Mine netted $2.30. I should have took this as an omen. This machine was about as cold as one could go. I was playing the $60 voucher that I cashed out yesterday. Once it was gone, I just gave up on the progressive even though it was at $36.57. The last $30 went so fast that I could envision losing another $100 trying to hit it. What a crappy way to start my day $60 down.
I headed over to the triple plays for a long session. I blew through my first $20 without a sniff of a quad. I was deep into my 2nd $20 when on a full throw away hand, quad aces came up on the middle line. The guy sitting next to me that I should have been playing his game since I had a kicker. I look over and it’s some triple double variant that pays 4000 for aces with a kicker, put pays 6 for a full house and 2 for all 3 of a kinds. I agreed with him verbally, but continued on with the better paying double bonus since I wanted to play for awhile. Wouldn’t you know it, but about 5 minutes later I was dealt quad fours with a two kicker. Boy did I get a “I told you so”. Just like most video poker sessions, there are long draughts followed by one good hit. Even with the dealt fours I cashed out after 4 hours of play with a $20 lost.
The plan was to drive down the Joker’s Wild Casino. They have a promotion on Mondays where if you put 300 points on your card you get a food voucher for $8 to use at the café. I stopped at the Longhorn Casino along the way to play a $5 match play from the ACG and a coupon for $10 in free play for $5. My match play meet a dealt blackjack to the dealer for a quick lost. I head over to the cashier to give her $5 for the free play and she says she needs to see the card that comes with the ACG. I go out to my car to get it then I realize it is in the room at Sam’s Town. I will try to do it later.
I head into the Joker’s Wild and decided to try my hand at some various All Star Poker games to get my 300 points. They have several games at the penny level, so I figured it would be a fun and relaxing way to get my food voucher. I played deal draw where each hand is dealt separate on the triple play machine. You are paid depending on what you are dealt on each line first. You then play the bottom line like regular video poker. It was only 30 cents a pull since it was pennies instead of the usual $1.50 if you were playing nickels. I was doing well on my dealt hands, but couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn with my redraws. I never hit quads and eventually blew through my $20 bill, but still had 75 points to get. I went over to the triple play nickels and played 9-6-5 double bonus. I continued to lose but just before I hit 300 points I finally hit a quad in 6’s. I hit $300 points, but was now down $40 even with the 6’s. I had steak and eggs at the café and they hit the spot. I was impressed with the food. It’s an old school casino café that still has a live Keno runner.
I stopped at the Eastside Cannery on the way back to use another Web Pass coupon for a $10 match play. I was dealt a 12 to the dealer’s 8 showing. I hit and was given a 3. Crap it is just not my day. I hit again and got a 6 for 21. I couldn’t believe it. The dealer busted and I actually won at something for the day with my $20 profit. I was still $85 down as I decided to head back to Sam’s Town and play a little more on the multipliers.
I took my POV to the both when I got back and got the $10 in free play activated on my card. I headed back to the triple plays. Again I lost my first $20 without a single quad. I was down 30 when I finally hit quad aces on the top line. Again I had a kicker, and again I was chastised this time by the lady to my left. I hit a couple of other quads, but that wasn’t enough to keep me ahead. I was down to $8 left of my $40 buy-in when the middle machine opened up. I went over to it. Shortly in, I was dealt quad 2’s to put the meter back to $58. After that it was a steady decline. I eventually lost my $40 without another quad for the session. It was still 10:00 PM, so I thought about heading up to the room but decided against it since it still was 7x for the next two hours. I was now down $135 for the day and getting close to my limit for the day.
I decided to take one shot at the Emerald Deuces machines. They are single line nickel 10 coins. The quad ducks pays $300 which is $200 more than regular deuces at this level, but the drain is heavy and quick since it only pays 4 on a regular four of a kind vs. 5 and 100 on a dirty royal instead of 125. I had been playing about 5 minutes when I was dealt 3 deuces. I held them and the beautiful fourth came up for a $300 win. Funny how one really nice hit can turn the day around. I decided to play the $20 down and cash out at $300. The machine stayed hot and I hit several 5 of a kinds, and straight flushes. Once again I was dealt 3 deuces. I hit the deal button and lighting didn’t hit twice, but I did hit a dirty royal. I played for almost 45 minutes when my buy-in was finally gone. I cashed out and took the $300 ticket to the cashier. It was still 11:00 so I had one more hour to go and I was now $155 up for the day.
I decide to try the upright Emerald Deuces by the pit area instead. My $20 lasted about 10 minutes. I went back to the slant top and tried another $20. I lost $10 in no time, so I decided to quit being $140 up for the day. I went to the poker room to talk to the lady who was running it last night. She took care of my issue and I was getting ready to head up to the room. I still had a $10 voucher to cash out. I looked at my watch and it was 11:30. I thought, what the heck, it is also 15x points days on the Buffalo slot machines. Why not give it a try. I was down to a little over $1 left when I hit the 8 free spins. During the free spin, I hit one hand for $54 while playing at the 40 cent level. It was some elk with a couple of wilds that had 3x multipliers during the free spin. I then spent the next 20 minutes bouncing around to different Buffalo machines. I had some other considerable hits and cashed out $70 up. My long time losing day had actually turned into a $210 winning for the day. I headed up to the room and wrote this report then am now heading to bed.
Total for the Day: +210 ( Up $198 for the Trip)
Total Comps: $66 ($240 Total)
March 22:
Well my intentions was to write this report each day and actually have it completed right before I left Vegas. Since today is April 22nd and exactly a month after my trip, I guess that is not the case, so my details might not be as vivid, but I do keep records of my results, so here goes the remainder of the report:
This is my last full day in Vegas, so I have plans to do as much playing as I can. I do have plans to go to a few casinos that are handing out swag to day. I will be on the road some for these. I had plans for lunch, so I just grabbed a doughnut at Dunkin Doughnuts for breakfast. I played a little at the 60 cent triple plays before leaving just to give Sam’s Town a little play on a non-multiplied point day. I cashed out after about an hour with a small $27 profit hitting a few quads here and there. It was now time for the swag trip.
First stop was the Eastside Cannery. They were giving away his or her watches with 400 points. I had a Web Quest promotion which lowered that by 100 points. I started out on the ten play penny machines that have 9-6 double bonus. I wasn’t getting a thing on the first machine so I moved. That trend continued on every machine I tried. I lost my first $30 doing this. I decided it was time to move to something different.
I went to a bank of nickel triple plays that have spinning wheels if you hit certain hands, some were four of a kinds, some for four of kinds with quick quads, and some for dealt 3 of a kinds or better. I opted for the quick quad game which with an extra 2 coins per hand, if you hit a quad you get to spin the wheel for each quad you hit. I lost the rest of my $10 and put a $20 in. Bang, they were both gone without a single quad. I moved to the machines that if you are dealt trips or better you get to spin the wheel that gives you another set of hands to play. Those hands vary greatly. This game charges an extra 5 coins regardless if you play triple or five play. So it makes sense to play five play to lower your exposure to the added charge of going for the wheel.
This game use to be at one of our local Oklahoma casinos, I had a love-hate relationship with it. It can be a blast to play if you are dealt a few three of a kinds, but a huge drain if you’re not. I opted for the five play 7-5 bonus since it would be less volatile in the run for 300 point and I only had 150 at this point already $60 down. It started out slow and I had to put another $20 in before I finally was dealt my first three of a kind. The 100 play game came up where you are already dealt 4 to a heart flush. You win varied amounts depending on how many flushes you feel out. I hit around 14 for a nice 400 coin win. It seemed like I started hitting a few dealt trips and getting to play the extra games. I was close to 250 points and at this point and the watch might cost me $60 now. I was dealt a three of a kind and the wheel for the extra game came up. I spun and got the triple play game where you are already dealt four spades to the royal. I hit the deal button and up popped the 10 of spades on the 2nd line for my first royal flush of the year. I hadn’t hit a royal on a regular game, but had to do it on a hybrid. I finally got my 300 points and cashed out $121 up.
My next stop was the Fiesta Henderson, where for 450 points you could get two bottles of wine. I don’t even drink, but I can give it to friends and relatives. I sit down at my favorite 10 play pennies with the progressives for the royals. I hit very little there. I then went to the triple play nickels that pay extra for the four of a kinds. I played 8-5 bonus and did hit quad jacks for 400 coins once, but that wasn’t enough. The two bottles of wine were going to cost me $79. Just when I thought I was going to have a great day, I was going the wrong direction again. I was still up $71 for the day and had a watch and wine to show for it.
It was now time to head to the Silverton. They had a promotion where if you put 100 points on your card you got a free lunch buffet. I hadn’t played there in a long time and was no longer in their system. As a result I qualified for a new player and their promotions. I got a logo hat and had options of winning free play based upon my play over the next 24 hours. Free play was based on tiers of play, so I decide to see how it went. I walked around and saw the three/five play games where you get to spin if dealt quads or better. They had 7-5 bonus so I decided to hit that again at 5 hands to see if lightning could strike again.
I put my first $20 in and quickly hit a three of a kind. I won 300 coins on the bonus game and was on my way. I was soon dealt a three of kind and hit the spinning wheel. Up game the game where you are dealt 3 kings with five hands. Your pay outs can be as little as 50 coins and on up. I hit three full houses on the draw which was good for 2500 coins. I was well on my way to the first tier which is 500 points and $10 in free play. As is the case with this game, the extra coin per hand can made a drain between hits. I was once $150 ahead and was only $30 ahead as I entered the 900 point level. I decided to hit 1000 points then go eat lunch and go make a couple of swag runs, then come back. The 1000 point level gave you another $15 in free play for a total of $25.
I was about 25 points away from 1000 when I was dealt four to the royal in spades. I hit the deal button and up popped the needed jack of spades for my 2nd royal of the day, and 2nd of the year! Both ended up being in spades. I was $200 up when I hit 1000 points and stopped. I planned on coming back since part of the promotion for new players was a buffet anytime and I could use that in the evening. I went to the lunch buffet and it was acceptable. The pizza was fantastic and I mainly ate it. The service was some of the worst I’ve ever seen at a buffet. No one ever came back to fill my drink. Oh well, it was free and filling.
I headed out to my next destination which was the Gold Coast. For 300 points you can get tote bag. I went to the triple play super pay machines. I didn’t describe these when I played them earlier at Fiesta. But for one extra coin on each line you are paid 1200 for aces, 600 for 2-4’s, and 400 for 5-K’s on the 8-5 bonus game. I hit quad 2’s early on and seemed like my tote bag was going to be at least free. I hit jacks a little later, but that was it. I ended up being $20 down when I hit the 300 point mark. I also played a $10 match play but lost that too. I grabbed my tote bag and was now up $41 for the day. I wasn’t figuring in the Silverton left, since there was still work to be done before the smoke cleared.
My next stop was the Orleans where for 300 point you get a T-Shirt. Now the last thing I need is a T-Shirt, but this gives me an excuse to play what might be my favorite game to play in Las Vegas. My favorite play is the triple play nickel progressives that pay 9-7-5. There are two banks of them in the casino. One is near the keno area and the other is back by the buffet. I like playing the ones by the keno session better for some reason. I had hoped to do well, but I really wasn’t able to hit much. My original plan was to play well past the 300 point mark. I decided to quit at 300 points being $51 down. I grabbed my T-shirt and did win a $10 match play to put me back in the positive for the day. I was now $10 up for the day.
It was 4 p.m. now and my original plans were to either play the progressives at the Orleans or go play some 4-8 Hi-Low Omaha in the Orleans poker room. Since I was still considered a new player at the Silverton, I opted to go back and go for the next tier which was 2500 points and $25 more in free play. I headed back to the Silverton and activated the $25 in free play I had already earned. I went back to the 5 play wheel spin game that had been so nice to me earlier. This time she was not ready to give back. I was a little over $200 ahead with $25 in free play when I entered, but was only $160 ahead when I gave up on my machine.
I had 1500 points at this point, so I looked around and found some super play machines line what I had played at the Gold Coast and Fiesta. They had 8-5 bonus, so I decided to give them a try. I was cruising along pretty good and had hit enough quads to put me around $250 ahead when 2500 points came up. The next tier was 5000 points for another $50 in free play. I was doing well, so I decided this is how I would finish the day. I also had the free dinner buffet and it was only 5:30 and I wasn’t really hungry yet.
I moved from $250 ahead to $200 ahead for the next 500 points. I would go through a streak of hitting nothing then hit a quad. Right before the 3500 point mark I got on a hot streak. I hit quad aces two times within 5 minutes. Shortly after I was dealt trip aces and hit them on two lines. By the time I hit the 3500 point mark I was now up around $400. The next 500 points was horrible. I went from a high of $400 ahead to being only $250 ahead again. The early 4000 points area saw a further skid. I was back to being $200 ahead when I decided to eat at the 4200 point.
I was chastising myself for not quitting when I was that far up while eating. The evening buffet was average at best. Again the service sucked. What is the deal with that? I decided to try some 100 play pennies after dinner. They had 9-6-5 double bonus so I went for that. I did okay at first, but then went on a huge slide. I quit when I was now only $140 ahead. I still needed 300 more points. I tried the wheel spins, I tried the super quad bonus, I couldn’t hit squat. I finally hit 5000 points but was only now $60 ahead.
I activated the $75 in free play that I had earned. I went back to the triple play 8-5 bonus that pays extra for the quads. I hit quad 4’s early, I then hit quad 2’s. I was dealt three aces, I hit the deal button and up popped nothing but garbage. (Bet you thought I was going to get quad aces on at least two lines). When I finished the $75 free play I made a full recovery to the level I had quit with earlier. I was $201 up. I did think about going for the last tier which was the 10,000 point tier and another $100 in free play, but it was a little after 10 p.m. and I had to fly out the next day.
I decided it would be better to just head back to my room and call it a night. I headed back on Hwy 215 to Henderson. When the highway ended I looked and it was 10 minutes till 11. Why not try a session of bingo at the Fiesta? I like playing bingo here since there are no machine players to battle. This one of only two paper only bingo rooms in Las Vegas. I bought in for a regular rainbow pack and decided to add on a six pack. Total cost for this was $28 with the added pack costing me an additional $6. Six dollars was what I thought the extra pack had cost me.
I use to play a lot of bingo, but most if it has dried up with the start of so many full blown Indian Casinos in Oklahoma. I thought I could keep up fairly easily with the original 12 pack I bought plus the 6 pack. Boy was I wrong, I was going full speed and really having a tough time keeping up. The last couple of games are cover-all games. I was close on a couple of cards and only needed one number on a certain card when the last two bingos were called. I was checking my cards when the numbers were being called out. I had one card where I still needed four numbers, however all four of those numbers had been called. Actually they had all been called a couple of numbers ago. Well crap, by $6 pack actually cost me $200. The bingo would have been on my original 12 pack rainbow on the biggest paying line of cards. I drove back to Sam’s Town with my tail between my legs, but still happy over a good day with lots of swag.
Total for the Day: +220 ( Up $418 for the Trip)
Total Comps: $126 ($366 Total)
March 23:
Back to home and back to reality day. My flight wasn’t until 3:30 so I did have a little time to play before I left for the airport. I packed my stuff and checked out of Sam’s Town. I decided to head back to the Orleans for one more session with my favorite 9-7-5 progressive nickel triple plays. It was the Young at Heart Day for the Boyd Casinos. I swiped my card and got 7x points for video poker. I set down at the machines and much like yesterday, just couldn’t get much going. I played for a couple of hours and ended up losing $65. I ate the buffet which is great as usual. It was comped for us old folks after getting just a few points. By the time I finished eating, It was about 1:00 and I needed to get gas so I decided to head back to the airport.
I topped off the tank at a station down from the Orleans on Tropicana, I dropped the car off and headed to the airport. I went ahead and checked my bags since I had two bottle of wine in my main bag. The line at security was….for the first time ever at Vegas, there was no line. I went through and was at my gate almost an hour and ½ before I had to fly. There is no way I was going to be able to resist the machines at the airport for that long. I was saved when one of my best friends called and we stayed on the phone for the next hour. Shortly after we hung up, the first call for boarding was done. The flight to Dallas had a little turbulence but wasn’t too bad. I arrived at Dallas about 9:30 PM and waited for the shuttle to take me to where I parked. I took almost an hour for me to finally get picked up and to my car. Just as I got into my car it begin to storm. The next hour I drove through a down pour. Between that and the fatigue I finally arrived home the next day about 4:00 in the morning.
Total for the Day: -65 ( Up $353 for the Trip)
Total Comps: $12 ($378 Total)
Notes:
• It was a nice trip from a cost standpoint. My only cost was for the rental car which was $139 and the fees for the plane tickets $10. Everything else was comped.
• It was fun going solo and just getting my gambling juices going for 4 full days.
• I was needing the two royal flushes, I had been getting killed for most of the year playing video poker up until that point.
• I didn’t go on the strip this trip…..I didn’t miss it either.
Next trip will be the annual summer trip with my wife in July for a couple of weeks. Thank you for reading.
March 18th:
I flew out of Dallas since it was about 1/3 of the cost to fly out of there instead of Little Rock or Tulsa. I drove the 5 hours from my home in Arkansas to Dallas thru the night. My flight on Southwest was scheduled to depart at 7:00 A.M. Saturday morning. Since I had to work fairly late on the 18th, it didn’t make sense to get a room, so I left home around 8:30 PM and took my time. I did stop at the Choctaw Casino in Durant, OK. It is a huge casino, bigger than most strip casinos. I signed up for a card and got $10 free play. I used it on a triple play nickel wheel spin video poker game called deluxe wheel. I got dealt a few three of kinds and spun my way to a nice $30 profit and cashed out and hit the road.
I got to the airport around 3:30 AM. My intent was to get checked in and just snooze until it was time to board, but the seats at the Airport where just too short to sleep in so I just cat napped. We boarded on time and we arrived about 20 minutes ahead of time at 7:40 Vegas time. I did sleep a little on the plane.
I rented a card through Hertz. When I was riding the shuttle over to the rental area I started talking to the lady next to me. She was in town for her daughter’s wedding and had taken the wrong shuttle. She said she would just take a cab to the condo she is staying at. I volunteered to drive her to the condo and she accepted. I had booked 5 days at $140 thru priceline. I went through all the insurance scares and we were on our way.
I took the crappy Ford Fiesta to a high rice condo next to South Point and said goodbye and good luck to my new friend. First stop ended up being Ellis Island. I first cashed in $49.36 in loose change I had laying around my drawers. The cashier gave me $54 in free play. I couldn’t find the nickel triple play quick quads so I settled for some triple play nickel 7-5 bonus machines. I played it through and cashed out $49. I did hit quad queens once, but had a lot of dead hands. I then played $10 through and used the ACG and POV coupons. Between the two, I ended up with $30 more in free play. I played it through and cashed out with a net profit of $25.
I then went to the six deck black jack game and did the $100 buy in for the $25 bet chip. I managed to lose my first 5 hands. They switched dealers and I decided to play the ACG $10 match play. I was dealt a 20 and it held up. I then went on the skids again. I lost my $25 bet and cashed out $35 down. I used the ACG coupon for a free shirt, its red and says, “I won at Ellis Island”. I need to get some tape and mark out the “win” part of the shirt.
Next stop was the Tuscany for the ACG coupon that gives you $10 in free play for 300 points. They were giving away a tank top shirt for 200 points and had 6x points on video poker as well. My plan was to play some 10 play pennies, but none of the multi-line machines gave you 6x points. I found some single line nickels with crappy pay tables that did take the multiplier and played them. I played 1200 hands without a single set of quads. I ended up cashing out $42 down after my $10 free play, but I had another red shirt. This one had Tuscany with a sweet 16 on it.
I was starving right now so I headed out to the East Side Cannery for a free lunch buffet that I had earned through their Web Pass promotion. This was the first time I had ate their buffet. It had a small selection but served its purpose. My wife would have loved the fact that they had her favorite peel and eat shrimp without the peel part.
I stopped at the Henderson Fiesta and played the penny 10 play progressives with 9-6-4 double bonus. I put 50 points on both my wife and mine cards. I played the super hero kiask game and won 2000 points and $3 in free play. The free play resulted in a $2 profit for me.
I headed out and down the road to Laughlin. I couldn’t find a reasonable rate for this Saturday night since it was the first Saturday night of March Madness in Vegas. I had a comped room at the Aquarius so I opted for that rather than pay close to $90 for a room. The drive went uneventful other than fighting off the urge to sleep. I got checked into room 9093 in the California tower and laid down for a nap. I woke up an hour later and decided to go play some more.
I walked down to the Colorado Belle and decided to play some 2-4 limit poker. I started out by winning a couple of pots, then went the next 3 hours without winning one. I cashed out after 4 hours with a $60 loss. I had lost $10 before I got my seat playing the 10 coin joker wild machines next to the poker room. I went back to them and lost the other $10 of my $20 buy-in.
I went back to the Aquarius to put a little time on my card to keep the free room offers coming. I saw a crown gathered around the docks as I was walking by the Edgewater. Some teenagers were feeding the ducks bread. The funny thing was there were also two raccoons in the water going after the bread as well. These had to be the biggest and fattest raccoons in America. They had to both be pushing 100 pounds. A couple of observations…the weather was amazingly nice and I couldn’t believe how many people were in Laughlin. I had to go to the fourth floor of the Aquarius parking garage to find a spot.
I came back and played some triple play nickel progressives. I started out playing 7-5 bonus but quickly lost $20 in the first machine. The end machine became open so I jumped to it. I was still treading water and then started dropping a little more. I noticed I was getting a lot of 2’s so I switched to deuces wild. I was getting enough wild royals and 5 of a kinds to get me back even and even $10 up when things starting going south again. I hadn’t hit a set of natural quads yet and had been playing for about 45 minutes so I figured I was due. I switched over to double bonus. I hit quad 6’s on two lines when I was dealt 3 for my first quads of the session. My machine remained fairly hot, but would go through periods of nothing as well. I played for another 45 minutes and cashed out with a small $30 profit. I did hit quad aces twice during that time. I was also dealt four to the royal twice in clubs, but obviously didn’t connect on any line. It was almost 11:30 and I was ready for bed.
Total for the Day: -52 (Counting Choctaw)
Total Comps: $110
March 20:
I woke up at 6:00 and couldn’t go back to sleep so I wrote yesterday’s report and headed down for some more video poker. I took the $70 cash out voucher from last night and put it back in the triple play nickel progressives. I played for four hours before my $70 was finally drained. I was even dealt quad 10’s at one point, but it wasn’t enough to keep me in the positive. I kept track of my quads during the session for some strange reason. I managed to hit 21 quads during that time. I hit 5 sets of 8’s and 5 sets of 10’s for the most. I only hit bonus quads twice. I hit quad 3’s and quad aces once. In both cases I got the kicker, and in both cases I was only playing double bonus.
I then tried a shot at the dream card machine and my $20 evaporated in no time. For some reason, the hot roll triple plays seemed like they needed to be played. They had 9-6 double-double bonus, so why not give it a shot? About 30 minutes and $57 later I gave up without a single hint of a quad. I did hit a flush on a double six roll for 360 credits, but that was it. I had lost enough, it was time to quit.
I went to the café to use a coupon for $10 in RFB since I had opted to “go green” in my room. I ordered a gourmet burger and fries. I do have to say that the burger was very good. It had to be close to ½ pound. I went back to the room and packed my stuff for the trip back to Las Vegas and Sam’s Town. A quick stop into Bull Head City to top of the tank and get a drink and it is time to hit the road again.
The trip to Las Vegas went uneventful, I pulled into the Fiesta Henderson garage exactly an hour and ten minutes after crossing the Laughlin Colorado Bridge. I hit the 10 play progressives for pennies to put 5 points on our cards for the kiosk game. The game wasn’t hitting at all so I just put 10 points on my card and 5 points on Kim’s. I won 2000 more points and Kim won $3 free play. I played it through and took off with a $6 lost.
I took Boulder Highway down to Sam’s Town. I couldn’t believe I could hit every red light, but sure enough I did. I arrived at Sam’s Town and checked in at 3:30. I headed down to get a replacement card then activated it for 7x on video poker. I sit at my favorite low rolling triple play 9-6-5 double bonus 10 coin penny progressives. I lost $10 in the first machine quickly then switched machines. I went to a new machine and hit quad 2’s on the 2nd draw. The machine then went into a spiral so I switched again. Shortly in on the new machine I was dealt 3 aces. I hit the quad aces on the bottom two rows. I played until I heard that they were opening a new 2-6 spread limit poker game and cashed out after an hour of play up $40.
I wanted to try the promotion today which pays you $400 if you hit 3 heart flushes. The odds of this happening are extreme, but it appealed to me. Within the first four hands I were dealt, a lady in seat one hit two heart flushes. My plan was to play for about 3 hours and if I hadn’t hit a heart flush I would quit and go back to the video poker machines.
I hit a couple of nice pots early and never was really down for the session. My first big pot was when I hit an ace high flush and bet on the river and one guy then raised. The board had paired on the river so I just called. He had a king high flush to my ace high. By the time 7:30 had rolled around I hadn’t hit a heart flush, but the game was really fun and sociable so I decided to stay.
A younger guy had sit down to my right and we started talking. He was telling me stories about him playing 5-10 no-limit at the Wynn. He said he had over $40,000 in his bankroll at one time, but blew most of it one night in a drunken baccarat session. I wasn’t sure if I believed him since he was slumming at Sam’s Town at a 2-6 limit game which plays 25 times smaller, but he was entertaining.
About 8:00 the lady in seat 10 hit her 3rd heart flush for an extra $400. I hit my 1st heart flush and was stuck till midnight at that point. The main reason was that I had hit 4 other flushes and they had a drawing at midnight for $50 extra cash. I went on a streak from 6 to a little after 8 without winning a hand, so the heart flush was welcomed. I wasn’t real hungry for dinner so I opted for the snack bar $4 hot dog special which included a bag of chips and a drink. I paid with points.
My new friend to my right was texted a friend of his. He told me about him being an introvert who is real smart, but has no social life. He showed a picture of him playing 50 cent 9-6 jacks or better for 36 hands at Ceaser’s I believe. He had been dealt a full house for a $3300 W-2. He was trying to maintain his 7-start status by playing $90 a hand. My buddy said that he is a great poker player and needs to give up on the video poker since he had lost so much doing it. He was texting my buddy stuff like 99.5 payback, 3x cash back ect. He didn’t quite understand what his friend was texting so I explained it too him. I told him that he probably studies Bob Dancer. My buddy didn’t know who he is but he said he was going to text his friend and tell him that’s who he is playing with. His friend tested back that they had met at the 7-stars event in Reno. I thought that was funny.
I played until midnight when the drawing was held. Sue enough, my name was drawn for an extra $50 added to my bankroll. I played a few more hands and called it a night. With my extra $50 I cashed out a $152 win for a complete come back from the earlier losses of the day. I headed up to room 884 which I would be enjoying free for the next three nights.
Total for the Day: +40 (Down $12 for the Trip)
Total Comps: $64 ($174 Total)
March 21:
I slept in a little late today and didn’t get around until just before noon. Since it was so late in the morning I decided to just eat the buffet at Sam’s Town. The cost would have been $8 but I paid with points again. The buffet here I’ve always considered average, but today there just didn’t seem that many selections that caught my interest. I still had plenty to eat and was ready to take advantage of the 7x video poker day. I activated my card at the kiosk and saw that my table points hadn’t been credited to my account from my 8 hour marathon of poker from yesterday. I went to the poker room and the guy running the both said I would have to come back on Tuesday to get it straightened out. I said okay and went on my way. They do pay $1.25 per hour in comps for poker. I have over $200 on my card so it’s not that big of a deal, but I will see if they can get it right tomorrow.
It’s time to head to the triple play 9-6-5 double bonus machines that cost 20 cents a line. But wait! I pass an Anthony and Cleopatra slot machine with progressives on top. The machines have a major progressive that must go at $300 and a minor that must go at $40. I’ve seen some of these machines around in Vegas. We have several of them at the Cherokee Casino in Roland, Oklahoma where we go quite often. I’m actually ahead in the long run playing these strictly when one of the progressives are close. This machine’s mini was at $35.44 so I’ve almost always come out ahead if it is above $35. I sat down and started playing at 50 cents a pull. The max play is $3 but you don’t have to play at that level to hit the progressives. I did notice that it took $1.50 of action for the mini progressive to go up. It only takes $1 back home. I hit 8 free spins on my first spin. Usually the free spins net at least $8. Mine netted $2.30. I should have took this as an omen. This machine was about as cold as one could go. I was playing the $60 voucher that I cashed out yesterday. Once it was gone, I just gave up on the progressive even though it was at $36.57. The last $30 went so fast that I could envision losing another $100 trying to hit it. What a crappy way to start my day $60 down.
I headed over to the triple plays for a long session. I blew through my first $20 without a sniff of a quad. I was deep into my 2nd $20 when on a full throw away hand, quad aces came up on the middle line. The guy sitting next to me that I should have been playing his game since I had a kicker. I look over and it’s some triple double variant that pays 4000 for aces with a kicker, put pays 6 for a full house and 2 for all 3 of a kinds. I agreed with him verbally, but continued on with the better paying double bonus since I wanted to play for awhile. Wouldn’t you know it, but about 5 minutes later I was dealt quad fours with a two kicker. Boy did I get a “I told you so”. Just like most video poker sessions, there are long draughts followed by one good hit. Even with the dealt fours I cashed out after 4 hours of play with a $20 lost.
The plan was to drive down the Joker’s Wild Casino. They have a promotion on Mondays where if you put 300 points on your card you get a food voucher for $8 to use at the café. I stopped at the Longhorn Casino along the way to play a $5 match play from the ACG and a coupon for $10 in free play for $5. My match play meet a dealt blackjack to the dealer for a quick lost. I head over to the cashier to give her $5 for the free play and she says she needs to see the card that comes with the ACG. I go out to my car to get it then I realize it is in the room at Sam’s Town. I will try to do it later.
I head into the Joker’s Wild and decided to try my hand at some various All Star Poker games to get my 300 points. They have several games at the penny level, so I figured it would be a fun and relaxing way to get my food voucher. I played deal draw where each hand is dealt separate on the triple play machine. You are paid depending on what you are dealt on each line first. You then play the bottom line like regular video poker. It was only 30 cents a pull since it was pennies instead of the usual $1.50 if you were playing nickels. I was doing well on my dealt hands, but couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn with my redraws. I never hit quads and eventually blew through my $20 bill, but still had 75 points to get. I went over to the triple play nickels and played 9-6-5 double bonus. I continued to lose but just before I hit 300 points I finally hit a quad in 6’s. I hit $300 points, but was now down $40 even with the 6’s. I had steak and eggs at the café and they hit the spot. I was impressed with the food. It’s an old school casino café that still has a live Keno runner.
I stopped at the Eastside Cannery on the way back to use another Web Pass coupon for a $10 match play. I was dealt a 12 to the dealer’s 8 showing. I hit and was given a 3. Crap it is just not my day. I hit again and got a 6 for 21. I couldn’t believe it. The dealer busted and I actually won at something for the day with my $20 profit. I was still $85 down as I decided to head back to Sam’s Town and play a little more on the multipliers.
I took my POV to the both when I got back and got the $10 in free play activated on my card. I headed back to the triple plays. Again I lost my first $20 without a single quad. I was down 30 when I finally hit quad aces on the top line. Again I had a kicker, and again I was chastised this time by the lady to my left. I hit a couple of other quads, but that wasn’t enough to keep me ahead. I was down to $8 left of my $40 buy-in when the middle machine opened up. I went over to it. Shortly in, I was dealt quad 2’s to put the meter back to $58. After that it was a steady decline. I eventually lost my $40 without another quad for the session. It was still 10:00 PM, so I thought about heading up to the room but decided against it since it still was 7x for the next two hours. I was now down $135 for the day and getting close to my limit for the day.
I decided to take one shot at the Emerald Deuces machines. They are single line nickel 10 coins. The quad ducks pays $300 which is $200 more than regular deuces at this level, but the drain is heavy and quick since it only pays 4 on a regular four of a kind vs. 5 and 100 on a dirty royal instead of 125. I had been playing about 5 minutes when I was dealt 3 deuces. I held them and the beautiful fourth came up for a $300 win. Funny how one really nice hit can turn the day around. I decided to play the $20 down and cash out at $300. The machine stayed hot and I hit several 5 of a kinds, and straight flushes. Once again I was dealt 3 deuces. I hit the deal button and lighting didn’t hit twice, but I did hit a dirty royal. I played for almost 45 minutes when my buy-in was finally gone. I cashed out and took the $300 ticket to the cashier. It was still 11:00 so I had one more hour to go and I was now $155 up for the day.
I decide to try the upright Emerald Deuces by the pit area instead. My $20 lasted about 10 minutes. I went back to the slant top and tried another $20. I lost $10 in no time, so I decided to quit being $140 up for the day. I went to the poker room to talk to the lady who was running it last night. She took care of my issue and I was getting ready to head up to the room. I still had a $10 voucher to cash out. I looked at my watch and it was 11:30. I thought, what the heck, it is also 15x points days on the Buffalo slot machines. Why not give it a try. I was down to a little over $1 left when I hit the 8 free spins. During the free spin, I hit one hand for $54 while playing at the 40 cent level. It was some elk with a couple of wilds that had 3x multipliers during the free spin. I then spent the next 20 minutes bouncing around to different Buffalo machines. I had some other considerable hits and cashed out $70 up. My long time losing day had actually turned into a $210 winning for the day. I headed up to the room and wrote this report then am now heading to bed.
Total for the Day: +210 ( Up $198 for the Trip)
Total Comps: $66 ($240 Total)
March 22:
Well my intentions was to write this report each day and actually have it completed right before I left Vegas. Since today is April 22nd and exactly a month after my trip, I guess that is not the case, so my details might not be as vivid, but I do keep records of my results, so here goes the remainder of the report:
This is my last full day in Vegas, so I have plans to do as much playing as I can. I do have plans to go to a few casinos that are handing out swag to day. I will be on the road some for these. I had plans for lunch, so I just grabbed a doughnut at Dunkin Doughnuts for breakfast. I played a little at the 60 cent triple plays before leaving just to give Sam’s Town a little play on a non-multiplied point day. I cashed out after about an hour with a small $27 profit hitting a few quads here and there. It was now time for the swag trip.
First stop was the Eastside Cannery. They were giving away his or her watches with 400 points. I had a Web Quest promotion which lowered that by 100 points. I started out on the ten play penny machines that have 9-6 double bonus. I wasn’t getting a thing on the first machine so I moved. That trend continued on every machine I tried. I lost my first $30 doing this. I decided it was time to move to something different.
I went to a bank of nickel triple plays that have spinning wheels if you hit certain hands, some were four of a kinds, some for four of kinds with quick quads, and some for dealt 3 of a kinds or better. I opted for the quick quad game which with an extra 2 coins per hand, if you hit a quad you get to spin the wheel for each quad you hit. I lost the rest of my $10 and put a $20 in. Bang, they were both gone without a single quad. I moved to the machines that if you are dealt trips or better you get to spin the wheel that gives you another set of hands to play. Those hands vary greatly. This game charges an extra 5 coins regardless if you play triple or five play. So it makes sense to play five play to lower your exposure to the added charge of going for the wheel.
This game use to be at one of our local Oklahoma casinos, I had a love-hate relationship with it. It can be a blast to play if you are dealt a few three of a kinds, but a huge drain if you’re not. I opted for the five play 7-5 bonus since it would be less volatile in the run for 300 point and I only had 150 at this point already $60 down. It started out slow and I had to put another $20 in before I finally was dealt my first three of a kind. The 100 play game came up where you are already dealt 4 to a heart flush. You win varied amounts depending on how many flushes you feel out. I hit around 14 for a nice 400 coin win. It seemed like I started hitting a few dealt trips and getting to play the extra games. I was close to 250 points and at this point and the watch might cost me $60 now. I was dealt a three of a kind and the wheel for the extra game came up. I spun and got the triple play game where you are already dealt four spades to the royal. I hit the deal button and up popped the 10 of spades on the 2nd line for my first royal flush of the year. I hadn’t hit a royal on a regular game, but had to do it on a hybrid. I finally got my 300 points and cashed out $121 up.
My next stop was the Fiesta Henderson, where for 450 points you could get two bottles of wine. I don’t even drink, but I can give it to friends and relatives. I sit down at my favorite 10 play pennies with the progressives for the royals. I hit very little there. I then went to the triple play nickels that pay extra for the four of a kinds. I played 8-5 bonus and did hit quad jacks for 400 coins once, but that wasn’t enough. The two bottles of wine were going to cost me $79. Just when I thought I was going to have a great day, I was going the wrong direction again. I was still up $71 for the day and had a watch and wine to show for it.
It was now time to head to the Silverton. They had a promotion where if you put 100 points on your card you got a free lunch buffet. I hadn’t played there in a long time and was no longer in their system. As a result I qualified for a new player and their promotions. I got a logo hat and had options of winning free play based upon my play over the next 24 hours. Free play was based on tiers of play, so I decide to see how it went. I walked around and saw the three/five play games where you get to spin if dealt quads or better. They had 7-5 bonus so I decided to hit that again at 5 hands to see if lightning could strike again.
I put my first $20 in and quickly hit a three of a kind. I won 300 coins on the bonus game and was on my way. I was soon dealt a three of kind and hit the spinning wheel. Up game the game where you are dealt 3 kings with five hands. Your pay outs can be as little as 50 coins and on up. I hit three full houses on the draw which was good for 2500 coins. I was well on my way to the first tier which is 500 points and $10 in free play. As is the case with this game, the extra coin per hand can made a drain between hits. I was once $150 ahead and was only $30 ahead as I entered the 900 point level. I decided to hit 1000 points then go eat lunch and go make a couple of swag runs, then come back. The 1000 point level gave you another $15 in free play for a total of $25.
I was about 25 points away from 1000 when I was dealt four to the royal in spades. I hit the deal button and up popped the needed jack of spades for my 2nd royal of the day, and 2nd of the year! Both ended up being in spades. I was $200 up when I hit 1000 points and stopped. I planned on coming back since part of the promotion for new players was a buffet anytime and I could use that in the evening. I went to the lunch buffet and it was acceptable. The pizza was fantastic and I mainly ate it. The service was some of the worst I’ve ever seen at a buffet. No one ever came back to fill my drink. Oh well, it was free and filling.
I headed out to my next destination which was the Gold Coast. For 300 points you can get tote bag. I went to the triple play super pay machines. I didn’t describe these when I played them earlier at Fiesta. But for one extra coin on each line you are paid 1200 for aces, 600 for 2-4’s, and 400 for 5-K’s on the 8-5 bonus game. I hit quad 2’s early on and seemed like my tote bag was going to be at least free. I hit jacks a little later, but that was it. I ended up being $20 down when I hit the 300 point mark. I also played a $10 match play but lost that too. I grabbed my tote bag and was now up $41 for the day. I wasn’t figuring in the Silverton left, since there was still work to be done before the smoke cleared.
My next stop was the Orleans where for 300 point you get a T-Shirt. Now the last thing I need is a T-Shirt, but this gives me an excuse to play what might be my favorite game to play in Las Vegas. My favorite play is the triple play nickel progressives that pay 9-7-5. There are two banks of them in the casino. One is near the keno area and the other is back by the buffet. I like playing the ones by the keno session better for some reason. I had hoped to do well, but I really wasn’t able to hit much. My original plan was to play well past the 300 point mark. I decided to quit at 300 points being $51 down. I grabbed my T-shirt and did win a $10 match play to put me back in the positive for the day. I was now $10 up for the day.
It was 4 p.m. now and my original plans were to either play the progressives at the Orleans or go play some 4-8 Hi-Low Omaha in the Orleans poker room. Since I was still considered a new player at the Silverton, I opted to go back and go for the next tier which was 2500 points and $25 more in free play. I headed back to the Silverton and activated the $25 in free play I had already earned. I went back to the 5 play wheel spin game that had been so nice to me earlier. This time she was not ready to give back. I was a little over $200 ahead with $25 in free play when I entered, but was only $160 ahead when I gave up on my machine.
I had 1500 points at this point, so I looked around and found some super play machines line what I had played at the Gold Coast and Fiesta. They had 8-5 bonus, so I decided to give them a try. I was cruising along pretty good and had hit enough quads to put me around $250 ahead when 2500 points came up. The next tier was 5000 points for another $50 in free play. I was doing well, so I decided this is how I would finish the day. I also had the free dinner buffet and it was only 5:30 and I wasn’t really hungry yet.
I moved from $250 ahead to $200 ahead for the next 500 points. I would go through a streak of hitting nothing then hit a quad. Right before the 3500 point mark I got on a hot streak. I hit quad aces two times within 5 minutes. Shortly after I was dealt trip aces and hit them on two lines. By the time I hit the 3500 point mark I was now up around $400. The next 500 points was horrible. I went from a high of $400 ahead to being only $250 ahead again. The early 4000 points area saw a further skid. I was back to being $200 ahead when I decided to eat at the 4200 point.
I was chastising myself for not quitting when I was that far up while eating. The evening buffet was average at best. Again the service sucked. What is the deal with that? I decided to try some 100 play pennies after dinner. They had 9-6-5 double bonus so I went for that. I did okay at first, but then went on a huge slide. I quit when I was now only $140 ahead. I still needed 300 more points. I tried the wheel spins, I tried the super quad bonus, I couldn’t hit squat. I finally hit 5000 points but was only now $60 ahead.
I activated the $75 in free play that I had earned. I went back to the triple play 8-5 bonus that pays extra for the quads. I hit quad 4’s early, I then hit quad 2’s. I was dealt three aces, I hit the deal button and up popped nothing but garbage. (Bet you thought I was going to get quad aces on at least two lines). When I finished the $75 free play I made a full recovery to the level I had quit with earlier. I was $201 up. I did think about going for the last tier which was the 10,000 point tier and another $100 in free play, but it was a little after 10 p.m. and I had to fly out the next day.
I decided it would be better to just head back to my room and call it a night. I headed back on Hwy 215 to Henderson. When the highway ended I looked and it was 10 minutes till 11. Why not try a session of bingo at the Fiesta? I like playing bingo here since there are no machine players to battle. This one of only two paper only bingo rooms in Las Vegas. I bought in for a regular rainbow pack and decided to add on a six pack. Total cost for this was $28 with the added pack costing me an additional $6. Six dollars was what I thought the extra pack had cost me.
I use to play a lot of bingo, but most if it has dried up with the start of so many full blown Indian Casinos in Oklahoma. I thought I could keep up fairly easily with the original 12 pack I bought plus the 6 pack. Boy was I wrong, I was going full speed and really having a tough time keeping up. The last couple of games are cover-all games. I was close on a couple of cards and only needed one number on a certain card when the last two bingos were called. I was checking my cards when the numbers were being called out. I had one card where I still needed four numbers, however all four of those numbers had been called. Actually they had all been called a couple of numbers ago. Well crap, by $6 pack actually cost me $200. The bingo would have been on my original 12 pack rainbow on the biggest paying line of cards. I drove back to Sam’s Town with my tail between my legs, but still happy over a good day with lots of swag.
Total for the Day: +220 ( Up $418 for the Trip)
Total Comps: $126 ($366 Total)
March 23:
Back to home and back to reality day. My flight wasn’t until 3:30 so I did have a little time to play before I left for the airport. I packed my stuff and checked out of Sam’s Town. I decided to head back to the Orleans for one more session with my favorite 9-7-5 progressive nickel triple plays. It was the Young at Heart Day for the Boyd Casinos. I swiped my card and got 7x points for video poker. I set down at the machines and much like yesterday, just couldn’t get much going. I played for a couple of hours and ended up losing $65. I ate the buffet which is great as usual. It was comped for us old folks after getting just a few points. By the time I finished eating, It was about 1:00 and I needed to get gas so I decided to head back to the airport.
I topped off the tank at a station down from the Orleans on Tropicana, I dropped the car off and headed to the airport. I went ahead and checked my bags since I had two bottle of wine in my main bag. The line at security was….for the first time ever at Vegas, there was no line. I went through and was at my gate almost an hour and ½ before I had to fly. There is no way I was going to be able to resist the machines at the airport for that long. I was saved when one of my best friends called and we stayed on the phone for the next hour. Shortly after we hung up, the first call for boarding was done. The flight to Dallas had a little turbulence but wasn’t too bad. I arrived at Dallas about 9:30 PM and waited for the shuttle to take me to where I parked. I took almost an hour for me to finally get picked up and to my car. Just as I got into my car it begin to storm. The next hour I drove through a down pour. Between that and the fatigue I finally arrived home the next day about 4:00 in the morning.
Total for the Day: -65 ( Up $353 for the Trip)
Total Comps: $12 ($378 Total)
Notes:
• It was a nice trip from a cost standpoint. My only cost was for the rental car which was $139 and the fees for the plane tickets $10. Everything else was comped.
• It was fun going solo and just getting my gambling juices going for 4 full days.
• I was needing the two royal flushes, I had been getting killed for most of the year playing video poker up until that point.
• I didn’t go on the strip this trip…..I didn’t miss it either.
Next trip will be the annual summer trip with my wife in July for a couple of weeks. Thank you for reading.
