Summer of Tournaments – Day 4
A few months ago, I was enticed into ordering the latest Total Rewards Visa card because the upside was just too good to resist. The card had no annual fee and along with the card, you received a coupon for a 24 hour buffet pass for two (a $100 value) and if you bought $1500 worth of merchandise within the first 90 days, another $100 in reward credits would be added to your account. I received my card at the beginning of the year and learned that the coupon for the buffets needed to be used within six months. I knew I would be cutting it close, so this morning I headed over to Harrahs to get it certified. Unfortunately, you have to get the two at the same time and couldn’t divide it up. My six month deadline was close, so I had to settle with just one (contrary to my insistence that the pretty Total Rewards clerk could be my companion, who courteously declined). They put the 24 hour period right on the slot card and I headed to my first buffet for breakfast. The plan? Use it four times: breakfast, lunch, and dinner today and then breakfast again tomorrow just under the wire.
The buffet at Harrah’s was what you’d expect and was good. I wanted to make sure I didn’t fill up too much, so I just took small portions and read today’s USA Today (now $2.00 per copy—wow!) I took my time as I was to play the first session of today’s tournament at 10:40. I walked up to the room and was soon approached by LVA reader Jim from Arlington, Texas who I met briefly last month at Rincon in Escondido. He had the same session as I did. When the session before ours ended, we each scoured everyone’s score and found only a couple were over a 1000 and the highest was 1800. There were many scores in the 400s.
The tournament area of old school video poker machines (Double Double Bonus)
LVA reader Jim from Arlington, Texas
Our session began and I was surprised to notice that I was assigned machine #15 for both days of the tournament. This is really unusual because they want people to feel that they don’t have “bad” machine for both days. When I sat down, I checked with both the folks on each side of me and they agreed noting they were on different machines tomorrow. Of course, I know that in video poker it makes absolutely no difference at all because the dealt cards are completely random. It’s all about how fast you play and how well you play that counts—but yes, you do need to get some lucky dealt cards along the way. The session was ten minutes long. The first four minutes went by and I finally caught quad Kings; that was soon followed by quad 5s and then quad 3s with the kicker. When the ten minutes were over, I had 2080 points—the highest score of my session (yea, I checked). This certainly will put me in a good position for a cash win for this tournament but it all depends on tomorrow. I’ll need a couple of quads to stay in the running. I went and checked with Jim, who didn’t catch any and settled for a 600+ score. The thing about a two day tournament is you could have a horrible day and then catch a royal the next and be right at the top.
As we were leaving, I was approached by LVA members Debbie and Larry who were waiting for their session next. I had met them in 2011 during my National Casino Run when a group of members from the Illinois area staged a meet at the Diamond Lounge in Joliet, Illinois. I was really happy to see them again and felt appreciative that they still follow these summer trips.
Here’s the picture of the meet in Joliet three years ago.(left to right) Fred (lvfrite); Bob (bboyserog); Bob (bbking); Pat and Dick (rgpups); Joyce (joyceaula); Marlyn (mmbroue); Larry and Deb (dlf1616); Glenn (marcisdave)
Deb and Larry today at the tournament
I was just leaving when LVA reader, George, who I also met last month at Rincon approached to say hello. The sessions were going to continue most of the day. I wondered just how many people that read my blog were going to be here throughout the day. We all agreed to try to meet up later at the Paris Diamond lounge around 4:30 and said our goodbyes. I picked up my car from valet and made a quick stop at Target for a few things. The only thing I had scheduled today was the buffets, the tournament, and now the meeting later this afternoon, so I thought I’d go to next best thing I do in Vegas: go see a movie.
I drove over to the Palms as they were showing MALEFICENT with Angelina Jolie. I had about an hour before the screening, so I sat down at my favorite machines at the Palms, the 9/6 Jacks or Better 50-plays. Unfortunately, there are only three machines left but all of them were open. You can now play this in penny, 2-cent, or 5-cent. I selected the 2-cent ($5.00 per dealt hand). I put in a hundred and after running a couple thousand through the machine, I was down $25 and kept the ticket to continue to play after the movie. I used my “old points” to pay for the movie (The Palms changed their system from cash for points to free play for points a couple of years ago, but they kept your remaining old points for you until you used them all up). My ticket was only $5, which leaves me another $57 still in my account. The movie was slightly better than I thought it would be, and I agree with the critics in that there were just a little too much CGI. However, I thought Jolie’s Maleficent was spot on and Ellie Fanning, as Aurora, was terrific. Aside from changing the story with a twisted version of who the good and bad guys were, I like the movie.
I sat back down and put in my ticket in the 50-plays. I had a nice little run there and was close to $200 when the machine went freezing cold and I cashed out at $103 for a three dollar profit after running close to 5K through the machine. Hey—it’s a win.
I drove back to Bally’s and up to my room for a little nap (okay, I don’t nap, but I laid down and watched old Seinfeld reruns on TBS. AT 3:30, I walked over to the Paris for a quick lunch at the buffet. All I did was hand them my card and say I’m on the 24 hour buffet promotion. The buffet at the Paris is a little over-hyped as far as I’m concerned. It’s certainly gotten better recently and their big claim to fame is the crepes. Again, I’m trying my best not to over-eat during this 24 hour period, so I just took small portions. As I was eating, the waiter came over and asked if I’d like the chef to prepare me some hot crap legs. I said I would and soon he came back with a cauldron of steaming, crab legs all cut in half for me along with a couple of portions of hot butter.
The crab legs delivered to my table
The Paris buffet certainly has the best ambiance.
I’m mentioning all of this because the couple at the table next to me called over the waiter and asked to have the crab legs sent to them. The waiter informed them that this was a service or perk reserved for VIP guests only. Though I suppose I shouldn’t be, I feel a little bad about this. I ask the waiter if he couldn’t make an exception for them, for me. He waited a second and said, “Of course, sir.” THEN the lady says, “Well, if we’re not supposed to have them, you can forget it.” Then she thanked me for the offer. Okay…now I’m a bit embarrassed about the whole scene. Geez.
I met up with Jim, his wife Jeanne, and George at the Paris Diamond lounge. I suppose Debbie and Larry couldn’t make it. We all had some drinks, they had appetizers (yes, chicken wings—big surprise), which I couldn’t eat anything more as I still had a dinner to consume later. We had the nicest chat about this and that. George, from British Columbia, and with me from San Diego, and Jim and Jeanne from Texas; we pretty much had the West locked up. Jim, like me, was in the Air Force and retired as a Lt. Colonel, me—just a staff sergeant, but we found common ground when discovering we both served some time at a small German town called Spandallum (sp?) at the Bitburg Air Base. I’m sorry for the spelling but cut me some slack, it was more than 40 years ago.
I headed back to my room and watched yesterday’s episode of Game of Thrones. I have Dish at home so I can access my Hopper DVR on my Ipad anywhere, anytime—very cool. Then I watched the John Stewart show and finally was ready for my dinner buffet, which I chose this time to go to Planet Hollywood. I would have tried the Bacchanal buffet at Caesars except that they wanted $30 in addition to my 24 hour pass—that would be a no. The line for the Spice Buffet at PH was crazy long (how can people stand in line for an hour for a buffet?—no way). Fortunately, there was no one in the 7-Stars line and I was seated immediately. Quite honestly, I wasn’t hungry at all, so I just took a tiny sample of something from the different stations. This is the only one that had a Middle Eastern station, so I tried a bite of their lamb, pretty good. Get this: As I’m eating, the waitress comes over to my table and asks, “Would like me to have the chef heat up some crab legs for you?” I smiled but declined the offer. It must have been a tad surprising to her that I had that small plate of food and left after about fifteen minutes.
So here’s hoping that tomorrow’s video poker tournament session produces some good results, which I’ll admit is my pattern—one good day—one lousy…but perhaps I break the pattern! We’ll see.
More tomorrow
A few months ago, I was enticed into ordering the latest Total Rewards Visa card because the upside was just too good to resist. The card had no annual fee and along with the card, you received a coupon for a 24 hour buffet pass for two (a $100 value) and if you bought $1500 worth of merchandise within the first 90 days, another $100 in reward credits would be added to your account. I received my card at the beginning of the year and learned that the coupon for the buffets needed to be used within six months. I knew I would be cutting it close, so this morning I headed over to Harrahs to get it certified. Unfortunately, you have to get the two at the same time and couldn’t divide it up. My six month deadline was close, so I had to settle with just one (contrary to my insistence that the pretty Total Rewards clerk could be my companion, who courteously declined). They put the 24 hour period right on the slot card and I headed to my first buffet for breakfast. The plan? Use it four times: breakfast, lunch, and dinner today and then breakfast again tomorrow just under the wire.
The buffet at Harrah’s was what you’d expect and was good. I wanted to make sure I didn’t fill up too much, so I just took small portions and read today’s USA Today (now $2.00 per copy—wow!) I took my time as I was to play the first session of today’s tournament at 10:40. I walked up to the room and was soon approached by LVA reader Jim from Arlington, Texas who I met briefly last month at Rincon in Escondido. He had the same session as I did. When the session before ours ended, we each scoured everyone’s score and found only a couple were over a 1000 and the highest was 1800. There were many scores in the 400s.
The tournament area of old school video poker machines (Double Double Bonus)
LVA reader Jim from Arlington, Texas
Our session began and I was surprised to notice that I was assigned machine #15 for both days of the tournament. This is really unusual because they want people to feel that they don’t have “bad” machine for both days. When I sat down, I checked with both the folks on each side of me and they agreed noting they were on different machines tomorrow. Of course, I know that in video poker it makes absolutely no difference at all because the dealt cards are completely random. It’s all about how fast you play and how well you play that counts—but yes, you do need to get some lucky dealt cards along the way. The session was ten minutes long. The first four minutes went by and I finally caught quad Kings; that was soon followed by quad 5s and then quad 3s with the kicker. When the ten minutes were over, I had 2080 points—the highest score of my session (yea, I checked). This certainly will put me in a good position for a cash win for this tournament but it all depends on tomorrow. I’ll need a couple of quads to stay in the running. I went and checked with Jim, who didn’t catch any and settled for a 600+ score. The thing about a two day tournament is you could have a horrible day and then catch a royal the next and be right at the top.
As we were leaving, I was approached by LVA members Debbie and Larry who were waiting for their session next. I had met them in 2011 during my National Casino Run when a group of members from the Illinois area staged a meet at the Diamond Lounge in Joliet, Illinois. I was really happy to see them again and felt appreciative that they still follow these summer trips.
Here’s the picture of the meet in Joliet three years ago.(left to right) Fred (lvfrite); Bob (bboyserog); Bob (bbking); Pat and Dick (rgpups); Joyce (joyceaula); Marlyn (mmbroue); Larry and Deb (dlf1616); Glenn (marcisdave)
Deb and Larry today at the tournament
I was just leaving when LVA reader, George, who I also met last month at Rincon approached to say hello. The sessions were going to continue most of the day. I wondered just how many people that read my blog were going to be here throughout the day. We all agreed to try to meet up later at the Paris Diamond lounge around 4:30 and said our goodbyes. I picked up my car from valet and made a quick stop at Target for a few things. The only thing I had scheduled today was the buffets, the tournament, and now the meeting later this afternoon, so I thought I’d go to next best thing I do in Vegas: go see a movie.
I drove over to the Palms as they were showing MALEFICENT with Angelina Jolie. I had about an hour before the screening, so I sat down at my favorite machines at the Palms, the 9/6 Jacks or Better 50-plays. Unfortunately, there are only three machines left but all of them were open. You can now play this in penny, 2-cent, or 5-cent. I selected the 2-cent ($5.00 per dealt hand). I put in a hundred and after running a couple thousand through the machine, I was down $25 and kept the ticket to continue to play after the movie. I used my “old points” to pay for the movie (The Palms changed their system from cash for points to free play for points a couple of years ago, but they kept your remaining old points for you until you used them all up). My ticket was only $5, which leaves me another $57 still in my account. The movie was slightly better than I thought it would be, and I agree with the critics in that there were just a little too much CGI. However, I thought Jolie’s Maleficent was spot on and Ellie Fanning, as Aurora, was terrific. Aside from changing the story with a twisted version of who the good and bad guys were, I like the movie.
I sat back down and put in my ticket in the 50-plays. I had a nice little run there and was close to $200 when the machine went freezing cold and I cashed out at $103 for a three dollar profit after running close to 5K through the machine. Hey—it’s a win.
I drove back to Bally’s and up to my room for a little nap (okay, I don’t nap, but I laid down and watched old Seinfeld reruns on TBS. AT 3:30, I walked over to the Paris for a quick lunch at the buffet. All I did was hand them my card and say I’m on the 24 hour buffet promotion. The buffet at the Paris is a little over-hyped as far as I’m concerned. It’s certainly gotten better recently and their big claim to fame is the crepes. Again, I’m trying my best not to over-eat during this 24 hour period, so I just took small portions. As I was eating, the waiter came over and asked if I’d like the chef to prepare me some hot crap legs. I said I would and soon he came back with a cauldron of steaming, crab legs all cut in half for me along with a couple of portions of hot butter.
The crab legs delivered to my table
The Paris buffet certainly has the best ambiance.
I’m mentioning all of this because the couple at the table next to me called over the waiter and asked to have the crab legs sent to them. The waiter informed them that this was a service or perk reserved for VIP guests only. Though I suppose I shouldn’t be, I feel a little bad about this. I ask the waiter if he couldn’t make an exception for them, for me. He waited a second and said, “Of course, sir.” THEN the lady says, “Well, if we’re not supposed to have them, you can forget it.” Then she thanked me for the offer. Okay…now I’m a bit embarrassed about the whole scene. Geez.
I met up with Jim, his wife Jeanne, and George at the Paris Diamond lounge. I suppose Debbie and Larry couldn’t make it. We all had some drinks, they had appetizers (yes, chicken wings—big surprise), which I couldn’t eat anything more as I still had a dinner to consume later. We had the nicest chat about this and that. George, from British Columbia, and with me from San Diego, and Jim and Jeanne from Texas; we pretty much had the West locked up. Jim, like me, was in the Air Force and retired as a Lt. Colonel, me—just a staff sergeant, but we found common ground when discovering we both served some time at a small German town called Spandallum (sp?) at the Bitburg Air Base. I’m sorry for the spelling but cut me some slack, it was more than 40 years ago.
I headed back to my room and watched yesterday’s episode of Game of Thrones. I have Dish at home so I can access my Hopper DVR on my Ipad anywhere, anytime—very cool. Then I watched the John Stewart show and finally was ready for my dinner buffet, which I chose this time to go to Planet Hollywood. I would have tried the Bacchanal buffet at Caesars except that they wanted $30 in addition to my 24 hour pass—that would be a no. The line for the Spice Buffet at PH was crazy long (how can people stand in line for an hour for a buffet?—no way). Fortunately, there was no one in the 7-Stars line and I was seated immediately. Quite honestly, I wasn’t hungry at all, so I just took a tiny sample of something from the different stations. This is the only one that had a Middle Eastern station, so I tried a bite of their lamb, pretty good. Get this: As I’m eating, the waitress comes over to my table and asks, “Would like me to have the chef heat up some crab legs for you?” I smiled but declined the offer. It must have been a tad surprising to her that I had that small plate of food and left after about fifteen minutes.
So here’s hoping that tomorrow’s video poker tournament session produces some good results, which I’ll admit is my pattern—one good day—one lousy…but perhaps I break the pattern! We’ll see.
More tomorrow
