Spring Break 2011 (part 6)
My room has a perfect view of the outdoor arena and if there were a concert going on I’d have a great view. To my left is the Colorado River. I’ve written and taken pictures that I’ve shared with you in the past about how at night the dam control officials slow down the flow of the river so that early in the morning here, all the boat docks are sitting on the river bottom and it almost seems like you could walk across. However, this year there’s been a good snow in the north and though it’s 5 AM, the river, though still lower than in the middle of the day, looks robust and flowing at a good pace.
I have to wait until the Fitness Center opens at 6 so I’m taking a walk along the beach area. I’m not alone. There’s a worker leveling off the sand with a jeep like you’d see between innings of a baseball game. Inside the casino, there are people playing the machines, one lone man is shooting craps, and one blackjack table is almost full. Are these people early risers like myself, have they been here all night, or do they work the late shift and this is their “evening out”?
After the workout I’m back up to room to write yesterday’s report while watching “This Morning with the Wagners,” which is the NBC local morning news and it just so happens the two anchors are a married couple. I’ve watched them in the morning for the past many years and though I only come to Vegas two or three times a year, it’s like seeing old friends. I also need to pack up today as I’m leaving Laughlin and driving back to Vegas, an unusual route for me but necessitated because of the promise of a drawing that I didn’t win (still bitter). I put the bags in the car and then walked back to use my free buffet coupon. The buffet here at Laughlin is good, but they charge way too much for what they offer. If it wasn’t free, I wouldn’t bother.
The drive back to Vegas on the 95 went smooth enough and even though they raised the speed limit here to 75, I am still passing people pulled over and being given speeding tickets by the Nevada Highway Patrol. I suppose it’s in our nature to always push the envelope. At school, when there is a week vacation, some parents pull their kids out a couple days early for some reason or another; when our vacation is two weeks long, those same parents still pull out their kids a couple days early. So, I’m sure that if they upped the speed limit to 95 MPH, I’d still be passing people getting speeding tickets. I have an intimate relationship with my cruise control (and how I managed to get through last summer’s 11,000+ mile National Casino Run without ever getting pulled over). I’m to the point where I get frustrated if someone is going too slowly and I have to take the cruise control off.
When I got into Henderson, I pulled into the Starbucks to send in the report. Many of replies have been terrific and many of your suggestions for this summer’s trip are awesome. There’s one that I’m favoring, which I’ll share with you later. Thanks for all the kind words and ideas. After filling up the tank at the nearby Costco, I drove over to Sam’s Town. It was only 10 AM, much too early check in, and I thought I’d play some of their full pay progressive VP.
I sat down at an 8/5 Bonus and slipped in a hundred. I soon caught quad 2s and enough full houses to get my first cash-out and slipped in another hundred. After about an hour I made another cash-out (now I’m guaranteed to not lose money and am playing with winnings). I slipped in another hundred. Things did not go quite so well this time and after about $8K play, I was done. Once again, the elusive Royal was not to be mine, but I at least broke even and added quite a few points on my club card.
I walked downstairs and the quarter full pay deuces wild coaxed me into playing a hundred (yes, machines can to that). I wasn’t doing well at all on this game, and my meter was down to 0 twice but I caught this or that to keep me playing. I some how got it back to $50 and raised the white flag happy to at least made this back. I still like Sam’s Town, and though we’ve had some issues in the long past, I want to keep my offers coming in for this place, so I was glad to have put up some solid points.
It was 3:00 PM (where does the time go? I’m spending too much butt time at these machines). Check in went well as the line consisted of only me. I asked and received a room on one of the “remodeled” floors (20th). The rooms are still exactly the same, but there’s all new furniture including a huge 50 inch flat screen TV. The bed mattress is one of those new all-foam types that really are quite comfortable. My view is of the southern dessert with the Strip to my extreme left.
After unpacking I headed down to see if the Bonus Poker Aces machines are still there. They used to be close to the lobby but not anymore. I check all the schedules of the VP machines and they are ALL short pay. The Rockabilly Convention was this past weekend, but there are still lots of tattooed guests in their 50s garb walking everywhere. It’s so interesting to me the paths and passions people take on in their lives.
In about the middle of the casino, I see the BP Aces. And yes, they are still full pay (8/5). I sit down and put in a hundred. My very first hand I’m dealt four-to-a-royal. I catch a blank. After about five minutes, I catch another four-to-a-royal in Diamonds. I need an Ace of Diamonds, hit the deal button and up pops the Ace of Diamonds for my first quarter Royal of the trip. And on top of catching the $1000, there is no hand pay. The credits just add up on the machine—very nice!
Caught the one card I needed
I played another hundred and after a couple of hours finally lost that with no quads (sometimes the quad droughts can seem to go on forever). It was after 6 PM and included with the free rooms was a $10 food comp. I went to the buffet and there was no line, so I used the coupon and charged the rest to my room. There isn’t much to say about this buffet. It’s pretty much the Las Vegas standard with the different stations. Though I just stuck to the veggies and fish (both were very good, especially the flounder), the rest of the food looked—just okay.
After dinner I walked down to the nickel triple play progressives. A few years ago, I had some pretty good luck on these catching two royals and quite a few quads. They still have 9/7/5 Double Bonus, which for a nickel progressive is a very good game. Unfortunately, despite being dealt many three-of-a-kinds, including Aces three times, I never connected on any of them—at all. The hundred went fast. I then squandered another $40 on penny machines (I admit it, there’s no hope for me), and finally headed upstairs as it was time for DWTS. Kendra has GOT to go, Kirsty is surprisingly graceful but I think it’s going to come down to Hines and the Disney girl. At first, I didn’t have much hope for this season, but I’m enjoying it a lot.
A great day for gambling: when I hit that Royal, I was up $130, so the other losses didn’t hurt me too much. I am over $2K for the trip. I’ve had four royals (three nickel and one quarter) and that DDB dealt quad. Believe me, I’m not all that excited knowing full well that all this goes into the “toolbox” to counter future losses. I still have four more days to catch another one—here’s hoping.
More tomorrow.
My room has a perfect view of the outdoor arena and if there were a concert going on I’d have a great view. To my left is the Colorado River. I’ve written and taken pictures that I’ve shared with you in the past about how at night the dam control officials slow down the flow of the river so that early in the morning here, all the boat docks are sitting on the river bottom and it almost seems like you could walk across. However, this year there’s been a good snow in the north and though it’s 5 AM, the river, though still lower than in the middle of the day, looks robust and flowing at a good pace.
I have to wait until the Fitness Center opens at 6 so I’m taking a walk along the beach area. I’m not alone. There’s a worker leveling off the sand with a jeep like you’d see between innings of a baseball game. Inside the casino, there are people playing the machines, one lone man is shooting craps, and one blackjack table is almost full. Are these people early risers like myself, have they been here all night, or do they work the late shift and this is their “evening out”?
After the workout I’m back up to room to write yesterday’s report while watching “This Morning with the Wagners,” which is the NBC local morning news and it just so happens the two anchors are a married couple. I’ve watched them in the morning for the past many years and though I only come to Vegas two or three times a year, it’s like seeing old friends. I also need to pack up today as I’m leaving Laughlin and driving back to Vegas, an unusual route for me but necessitated because of the promise of a drawing that I didn’t win (still bitter). I put the bags in the car and then walked back to use my free buffet coupon. The buffet here at Laughlin is good, but they charge way too much for what they offer. If it wasn’t free, I wouldn’t bother.
The drive back to Vegas on the 95 went smooth enough and even though they raised the speed limit here to 75, I am still passing people pulled over and being given speeding tickets by the Nevada Highway Patrol. I suppose it’s in our nature to always push the envelope. At school, when there is a week vacation, some parents pull their kids out a couple days early for some reason or another; when our vacation is two weeks long, those same parents still pull out their kids a couple days early. So, I’m sure that if they upped the speed limit to 95 MPH, I’d still be passing people getting speeding tickets. I have an intimate relationship with my cruise control (and how I managed to get through last summer’s 11,000+ mile National Casino Run without ever getting pulled over). I’m to the point where I get frustrated if someone is going too slowly and I have to take the cruise control off.
When I got into Henderson, I pulled into the Starbucks to send in the report. Many of replies have been terrific and many of your suggestions for this summer’s trip are awesome. There’s one that I’m favoring, which I’ll share with you later. Thanks for all the kind words and ideas. After filling up the tank at the nearby Costco, I drove over to Sam’s Town. It was only 10 AM, much too early check in, and I thought I’d play some of their full pay progressive VP.
I sat down at an 8/5 Bonus and slipped in a hundred. I soon caught quad 2s and enough full houses to get my first cash-out and slipped in another hundred. After about an hour I made another cash-out (now I’m guaranteed to not lose money and am playing with winnings). I slipped in another hundred. Things did not go quite so well this time and after about $8K play, I was done. Once again, the elusive Royal was not to be mine, but I at least broke even and added quite a few points on my club card.
I walked downstairs and the quarter full pay deuces wild coaxed me into playing a hundred (yes, machines can to that). I wasn’t doing well at all on this game, and my meter was down to 0 twice but I caught this or that to keep me playing. I some how got it back to $50 and raised the white flag happy to at least made this back. I still like Sam’s Town, and though we’ve had some issues in the long past, I want to keep my offers coming in for this place, so I was glad to have put up some solid points.
It was 3:00 PM (where does the time go? I’m spending too much butt time at these machines). Check in went well as the line consisted of only me. I asked and received a room on one of the “remodeled” floors (20th). The rooms are still exactly the same, but there’s all new furniture including a huge 50 inch flat screen TV. The bed mattress is one of those new all-foam types that really are quite comfortable. My view is of the southern dessert with the Strip to my extreme left.
After unpacking I headed down to see if the Bonus Poker Aces machines are still there. They used to be close to the lobby but not anymore. I check all the schedules of the VP machines and they are ALL short pay. The Rockabilly Convention was this past weekend, but there are still lots of tattooed guests in their 50s garb walking everywhere. It’s so interesting to me the paths and passions people take on in their lives.
In about the middle of the casino, I see the BP Aces. And yes, they are still full pay (8/5). I sit down and put in a hundred. My very first hand I’m dealt four-to-a-royal. I catch a blank. After about five minutes, I catch another four-to-a-royal in Diamonds. I need an Ace of Diamonds, hit the deal button and up pops the Ace of Diamonds for my first quarter Royal of the trip. And on top of catching the $1000, there is no hand pay. The credits just add up on the machine—very nice!
Caught the one card I needed
I played another hundred and after a couple of hours finally lost that with no quads (sometimes the quad droughts can seem to go on forever). It was after 6 PM and included with the free rooms was a $10 food comp. I went to the buffet and there was no line, so I used the coupon and charged the rest to my room. There isn’t much to say about this buffet. It’s pretty much the Las Vegas standard with the different stations. Though I just stuck to the veggies and fish (both were very good, especially the flounder), the rest of the food looked—just okay.
After dinner I walked down to the nickel triple play progressives. A few years ago, I had some pretty good luck on these catching two royals and quite a few quads. They still have 9/7/5 Double Bonus, which for a nickel progressive is a very good game. Unfortunately, despite being dealt many three-of-a-kinds, including Aces three times, I never connected on any of them—at all. The hundred went fast. I then squandered another $40 on penny machines (I admit it, there’s no hope for me), and finally headed upstairs as it was time for DWTS. Kendra has GOT to go, Kirsty is surprisingly graceful but I think it’s going to come down to Hines and the Disney girl. At first, I didn’t have much hope for this season, but I’m enjoying it a lot.
A great day for gambling: when I hit that Royal, I was up $130, so the other losses didn’t hurt me too much. I am over $2K for the trip. I’ve had four royals (three nickel and one quarter) and that DDB dealt quad. Believe me, I’m not all that excited knowing full well that all this goes into the “toolbox” to counter future losses. I still have four more days to catch another one—here’s hoping.
More tomorrow.
