I had just posted my July trip a couple of weeks ago. This is the follow up trip from that one where I had a court date in Henderson.
October 1:
I left home around 11:00 AM for the 5 hour drive to Dallas. My drive went pretty smooth and I arrived at Love Field about an hour and ½ before my flight at 6:30 on Southwest. I got the flight for $41 each way which was some of the best rates I had seen in a long time. The flight went real smooth and I was quickly off and on the shuttle over to the car rental. I had a five day rental with Fox rental for $99 all in. I walked around looking for the Fox check in and couldn’t find it. I finally asked a worker and she said it was at a separate site and I would have to take their shuttle outside. I got on the shuttle and we drove all the way out to South Point. I got my car after the clerk tried to scare me to death by refusing insurance. I had the pick of any of the economy cars on row 7 so I picked a Hyundai Elantra GT since they had XM radio.
I had one stop at the In-and-Out Burger at Eastern and I was on the road to Laughlin. It was a Saturday night and I had a free room at the Aquarius and decided to use it along with the fact that I had $100 in free play at the Tropicana for their new player sign-up I did in July. The trip went smooth and I was checked into the room a little before 10:00 PM. I went down and tried the triple play nickel progressives. The progressives on the deuces wild were all in the $300’s for the royal so I played that. Naturally I drew quad jacks for a nice 60 coin pay out. I never hit quad ducks, and eventually lost $50. I went to the 10 play nickels on the next row and played 9-7-5 double bonus and lost my last $50 without a single quad. I decided since it only took an hour and ½ for my $100 to disappear I would call it a night.
Total for the Day/Trip: -100 Day, -100 Trip Comps: 80 Day, 80 Trip
October 2:
I was up around 8:00 and tried to sleep a little longer. I couldn’t sleep anymore so I just decided to get around and head back to Las Vegas early. I checked out and headed over to the Tropicana and play the $100 in free play I got from the new players sign-up rebate plan back in July. I tried the first $20 in a triple play split card machine. I never saw a split card so I cashed out after one round with only $7 of my $20 left. I went over to a triple play nickel machine that had 9-6-5 double bonus. I never caught a quad and only played my free play for $64 in profits. It was so ugly that I decided not to play anymore.
I headed over to Bull Head City to top off the tank and get a biscuit sandwich at Carl’s Junior. I then headed back to Las Vegas. First stop in Vegas was at the Fiesta Henderson for their kiosk game. You needed 5 points on your card for the game. I won $3 in free play after being down just a little from the play. The free play allowed me to cash out $2 ahead.
Next stop was the Orleans. They had a promotion for a free baseball type shirt with 300 points in play. I went to my usual triple play nickel progressives and played the 9-7-5 double bonus. I hit aces early on one line then slowly gave it away as I progressed to 300 points. I was $10 up when I hit 300 points, but played a little longer and cashed out even. I got a small for my wife since she loves the ¾ sleeve type shirts.
I then headed out to Boulder Highway and the Eastside Cannery. I used a Web Pass promotion for a free hamburger and shake dinner at the Deli. The meal was great and hit the spot. It was fun to watch all the Raider fans celebrate a late touchdown by their team in upsetting the Ravens. Crap I had the Ravens at -1 on my pick six contest I do with friends.
I then headed to my home for the next three nights. I was staying at Sam’s Town with two of the nights for $30 and one night free. My offers at Boyd have been drying up, so maybe it is time to look at other options on staying. I checked in and got a room number 361 on the back side of the hotel and with an outside view. I didn’t mind the location since it seemed away from things and quiet for the duration of the trip. I went down and played a little video poker on the triple play 10 coin 2 cent 9-6-5 double bonus progressives. I played for about an hour and lost $33. I decided I was going to play poker since it was 4:00 PM and play the promotion where if you get 3 heart flushes from 4 to midnight you would win $400. I was on a waiting list so I went and played the 10 coin nickel single line Emerald Deuces. I had no luck and lost another $40 when my name was called.
I got a seat at the $2-$6 spread limit hold-em game. Next started 3 hours of pure torture. I didn’t win a hand in the first 3 hours of play. I lost my original $100 buy-in and rebought for $20 more. The pain continued for another 30 minutes and I had decided to just quit if I lost that $20. I was dealt two hearts and played them and hit a heart flush for a small win. I had $35 in front of me now and decided to play on since I had another 4.5 hours to get two more heart flushes. I finally started winning a few hands and actually was only $40 down when I decided to get something to eat around 8:30.
I went to the Deli and got chicken strips and fries. I used some points to cover the meal. I came back and chowed on dinner while playing. I looked down at a pair of fours and limped in for $2. It was called by several players when one player raised it to $8. I called his raise along with 2 other players. The flop came 6-4-4. I had flopped quad 4’s. I was first to act so I checked. It was checked around. The next card was a king. I again checked, and it was checked around. The last card was a king so the board was double paired with kings and fours and also had three hearts on it. I lead out for $6 hoping to get at least one caller. The lady to my left called. The next guy folding and the original raiser raised it to $12. I re-raised to $18 and the lady to my left said, “I know I’m losing but I have to call”. The original raiser capped the betting at $24, and both of us called. The lady had hit a heart flush and had to stay in for the promotion. The original raiser had Ace-King and had kings over 4’s for a full house. I pulled a big pot and also collected a bonus of $56 for quad fours. This put me ahead for the duration. I cashed out at midnight with a profit of $152 for a nice $260 swing back.
Total for the Day/Trip: +160 Day, +60 Trip Comps: 18 Day, 98 Trip
October 3:
I got up and went down to workout. I finished that and spent most of the morning in the room. I was working on last minute things to make sure I was ready for the main reason for this trip. I was to be in small claims court the next day. I was suing my former tenant for back rent and damages to my condo in Henderson. I finished my prep then headed out a little before noon.
My first stop was the Joker’s Wild right down Boulder Highway. They had a promotion where if you earn 500 points you get a $10 food voucher for the café. I started on single line 9-7-5 ten coin nickels. I put in $20 and slowly lost it never hitting a quad. I only had 230 points under my belt at this point. This $10 meal was going to cost me. I moved over to some triple play nickels that had 9-6-5 double bonus. This is a step down in the flush, but maybe I wouldn’t drain as quickly. I was holding my own when I kept two aces and hit them for quads on the 2nd line. I was actually now ahead, but I needed 150 more points. I played down and went into the negative territory again. I was at 450 points when I hit aces on the top line with a single ace kept. I was $11 up when I hit 500 points.
The café was old school, but I really liked the vibe. I got a chicken fried steak dinner which came with soup. The meal was really good. So I was lucky in getting paid $11 to enjoy the Joker’s Wild fine café food.
Since I was so close to Henderson, I decided to go up to the Emerald Island and use the MRB coupon for on free wheel spin for 150 points. I sat down and was playing some 9-7-5 triple plays when I saw a guy ask for a ticket. I asked the floor person what was the ticket about. He said that if you got 6 four of a kinds and a ticket with each one, you would qualify for the wheel spin. The deal was these had to be on single line machines. You could also do the promotion on nickels as long as you were playing the full 25 cents.
I looked around and saw that they had 8-5 bonus everywhere at the nickel level. I thought I might as well double up on the promotions. I sat down at one machine and it wasn’t too long before I hit quad kings. This also put me ahead about $7. My machine started to drain so I went to another. Shortly in I hit quad jacks for my 2nd ticket. Again my machine started going downhill. I was actually only $2 ahead of my buy-in of $20 and I switched machines again. I played for quite an extended period of time catching several full houses to keep me ahead. I finally hit quad 2’s with a kicker. Too bad it was bonus. I got my 3rd ticket. During that time my wife called so I went outside to talk to her. I came back in and went back to the same machine. It started to drain so I switched to another. Within the next 20 minutes I hit 3 more quads to get my 6 tickets.
I presented my 6 tickets to the floor worker. He filled out a voucher for me to get the wheel spin. However, I have to come back on Wednesday to spin. I’m glad I’m not flying out until then. He told me I could play for another spin if I wanted. I decided to just stop there since I was $16 up and not press my luck. I did cash my MRB coupon and went over and spun on it. I hit $15 so I left $31 up.
By now it was getting close to 5:00. I had another web voucher for a free Monday Night Italian buffet at the Eastside Cannery. I wasn’t hungry yet, so I decided to check out the Klondike on Sunset. It is new and clean. I signed up for a player’s card and got $5 free play on it. I didn’t find a whole lot desirable at the nickel level, but decided to play triple play deuces. I never hit the quad ducks, but hit enough dirty royals to cash out $5 ahead after 50 points. This allowed me to get a portable charging cord for a droid along with the T-shirt for signing up. The only size T-Shirts left were double X and smalls, so I got a small for my wife. I have an old school flip top phone so the charger was more swag for her as well.
I was hungry by now so I headed to the Eastside Cannery and had the buffet. It was average at best, but they did have a pasta station so I had some fresh shrimp and mushroom alfredo made for me which was excellent. I played a little on the five play super deluxe wheel spin after eating. I hit one wheel spin, and got 500 extra credits on the game that came up. I eventually gave most of those back but decided to cash out with a $5 win before going into the red.
I then drove out to check out where my former tenant was suppose to be living. She is living with her mom, but her mom called us in July and said she was living in New Mexico. I drove by slowly since they had the garage door open. There she was, so I figured mom was lying to me and confirmed the fact that she was living there. I wanted this for court the next day since I figure she might not show up. Her mom signed for the papers when they were served and my former tenant hid according to the Constable who served them.
I came back to Sam’s Town after my detective work. I sat down at the triple play 10 coin 2 centers. I lost my first $20 fairly quickly. I put a 2nd one in and wasn’t doing too much better when I finally hit my first quad(s) of the session. I was dealt quad jacks for the 2nd time this trip. This time I was playing a better game for that in double bonus. I played a little longer then settled for a $10 loss. It was still only 9:00, but I decided to head up to the room to get some rest for court tomorrow.
Total for the Day/Trip: +42 Day, +102 Trip Comps: 85 Day, 183 Trip
October 4:
I told my wife to call me when she headed to school. She called and I realized it was only 5:15 Vegas time. I don’t have to be to court until 8:00 so I will have plenty of time to get ready. I went ahead and went down to the workout room and biked for 30 minutes. I headed up to Henderson and went to Friendly’s Doughnut which are awesome. I got a couple of doughnuts then went to the court house. I checked it and I couldn’t believe that my former tenant actually showed up. We went into mediation instead of court. To make a long story short. We settled on her paying back the $2300 she owes me.
I was done at court by 10:00 so I called my wife to tell her the settlement. It was now time to get my gamble on for the rest of the day. I first drove out to the Orleans for some more swag. This time you get a pair of dish towels with 300 points. I went to the same triple play nickel progressives by the buffet. I put my $20 in and never had to put any more money in. I would hit a period quad to keep me a float. I was $11 when I hit 300 points. I decided to either get my buy in back or back up to $20 on the meter or just lose my $20. It did take another 30 minutes and around 120 more points for I finally lost my $20 buy-in. I got my dishtowels and more swag for my wife.
I failed to mention that I stopped at Hooters on the way to the Orleans to do the MRB getting $10 of free play for $10 of action. It was so ugly playing single line nickels that I did manage cashing out $2 up even with $10 free play. My other MRB stop was at the Palms after the Orleans for a $10 match play. I got an 11 vs. the dealer’s 5 card so I dug in and doubled up. I hit a 9 and the dealer busted for a nice $30 win.
I next decided to go to the Suncoast. They have 7x points and I decided to put 1000 points on my card for dinner and a movie. Well the omen should have been the message for me. It wasn’t 7 times points, but I decided to play anyway. I went to the triple play nickel progressives. A dealt royal was $5000. Well I wasn’t dealt a royal, or anything exciting and lost my $20 buy-in in very little time. I walked around the casino and found some ten play nickels that had pretty good pay schedules. I had an option of 8-5 bonus, 9-7-5 double, or 9-6 double, double. I tried all three games on all five machines and couldn’t hit crap. I hit maybe two quads. I went to the deluxe when spins that have 6-5 bonus. I couldn’t get dealt a 3 of a kind much less even two high pairs. I continued to look for something to play a bleed.
I went back to the deluxe wheel spins and was finally getting dealt some three of a kinds for wheel spins. I hit my 1000 points and was $240 down. I decided to play a little longer since I was getting dealt some trips. I hit a couple of good bonus games and worked my loss down to $139 when I finally decided to quit.
I got the voucher for the meal at “The Fan” and the free movie pass. We now have 7 of these movies passes to use during our Christmas trip. I had the flat bread meat lovers pizza at “The Fan” which was outstanding. I picked up a cute T-Shirt for my wife at the player’s club for only 1000 points and headed out.
I headed back to Boulder Highway and decided to stop at the Eastside Cannery to use my 3rd and final web voucher for a $10 free play. I sat down and got dealt a 20, but the dealer had a 10 showing and checked and sure enough hit a black jack. I then decided to give them a little play on the wheel spin quick quads, wheel spin, and wheel spin deluxe machines. About 45 minutes later and $78 later I was pissed and said I need to leave. I might have got to spin the wheel twice on the deluxe, but never saw a quad on the quick quads or wheel spin. I donated another $12 playing buffalos on the way out. I was really pissed with myself for going on tilt and putting in $20 after $20 in the machines when nothing was hitting.
I headed back to Sam’s Town and up to the room to cool off a little. I decided this was my last feel day so I might as well play. I went back downstairs to sign up to play some more $2 to $6 limit in the poker room. I lost a little at the Emerald Deuces waiting for my spot at the table. I got a seat and had one of those sessions where I wasn’t getting a whole lot of exciting hands, but winning enough periodically to stay ahead. Around 8 I was getting hungry so I headed over to the deli. It was National Taco day so they had two tacos for $1.50. I got 4 and paid with points. I finished playing the poker session after 5 hours of play around 11:30. I cashed out $45 ahead to recoup just a little of the earlier day loses. By the way the table is full of local characters who are absolutely hilarious. Both sessions I played were with some of the same guys and both were a blast.
I played a little more chasing the $300 dueces on the 10 coin emerald nickel deuces with no long. I settle on a $26 lost before calling it a night.
Total for the Day/Trip: -198 Day, -96 Trip Comps: 33 Day, 216 Trip
October 5:
Well it is time to return to reality. My flight is set for 4:00 back to Dallas so I have a little bit of playing left to do. I woke up at 6:00 and call my wife. While talking to her I get drowsy and decide to go back to sleep. I slept until 8:30. It is now time to get around if I am going to play anymore. I get a shower and all my stuff together ready to check out then head down stairs. It is Young At Heart day so I swipe my wife and my card both for multipliers. I get 7x on video poker and she gets 6x.
I head to the triple play 2 cent machines. I put 200 points on my wife’s card and another 200 on mine when I finally decide to go play some 3-6 Omaha Hi-Low in the poker room. I cashed out $30 down on the video poker to give me 4 sessions at Sam’s Town without a single winning session. I usually win a few sessions there, but this time it was not meant to be.
I played for 2 and ½ hours at the Omaha game and ended up $14 down when it got noon time and time to check out. I can’t find the game back in the Arkansas-Oklahoma area so I was a little rusty. Mainly I knew I was short on time and played too many hands which is never a good formula for success in poker.
I checked out and took my stuff to the car. I went back in and took advantage of the free buffet as a result of YAH. The buffet was good as usual. I then drove up to Emerald Island for the wheel spin from Monday. I got $15 for my efforts. I have spun the wheel 3 times and won $15 each time. I do have to say that the staff at the Emerald Island are some of the friendliest I’ve seen in the valley.
I decide to head over to the Orleans for one more shot at the triple play progressives. I run both our cards and we both get 6x on VP. I decide just to use my card and play turbo style since I only have one hour before returning to the car rental. I put my $20 in and was $5 down when I hit quad aces on the top line. From then I never really looked back. I hit quad 2’s, 3’s, and 4’s at one point to complete the double bonus winners. After an hour I was $70 up so I took my win and headed back to the car rental.
The return at the car rental was fast and the shuttle to take us to the regular car rental arrived just as I sat down to wait on it. We took that to the regular car rental, then a shuttle from there to the airport. I checked my bags and headed up. I got to the gate just when they were announcing for pre-boarding. I had a C entry so I decided to play a little Wheel of Fortune. I didn’t’ hit the wheel, but hit a multiplier for a $20 win. I cashed out $10 up to leave a winner at the airport.
The flight back was smooth and I got to Dallas at 9:00 PM. I headed home and laid my head on the pillow at 3:30 in the morning. The alarm went off at 5:30 for the next day at school.
Total for the Day/Trip: +49 Day, -47 Trip Comps: 10 Day, 226 Trip
Final Thoughts:
• This was my 2nd solo trip of the year. This one was a little shorter and I had things to deal with, but I still enjoyed all the playing.
• The casinos are starting to play more and more of the hip-hop type of music. What happen to tending to my demographics? 50 to 60?
• I’m getting fewer offers from Boyd’s over the past year. I finally make Sapphire and I’m not getting offered crap for rooms. I know I’m a low roller, but I’ve had nice offers for less.
• I usually have one or two winning video poker sessions at Sam’s Town when I play there. I wasn’t coming close to that this time.
• I haven’t won at Laughlin in 3 years. Not sure what it is, but I only won 64% on free play even.
• Rental car companies away from the main Rental Car Facility are cheaper due to fewer taxes, but on shorter trips I’m not sure if they are worth the hassle.
My next trip is during Christmas break with my wife and her sister. This should be interesting since her sister has never been to Vegas as an adult.
October 1:
I left home around 11:00 AM for the 5 hour drive to Dallas. My drive went pretty smooth and I arrived at Love Field about an hour and ½ before my flight at 6:30 on Southwest. I got the flight for $41 each way which was some of the best rates I had seen in a long time. The flight went real smooth and I was quickly off and on the shuttle over to the car rental. I had a five day rental with Fox rental for $99 all in. I walked around looking for the Fox check in and couldn’t find it. I finally asked a worker and she said it was at a separate site and I would have to take their shuttle outside. I got on the shuttle and we drove all the way out to South Point. I got my car after the clerk tried to scare me to death by refusing insurance. I had the pick of any of the economy cars on row 7 so I picked a Hyundai Elantra GT since they had XM radio.
I had one stop at the In-and-Out Burger at Eastern and I was on the road to Laughlin. It was a Saturday night and I had a free room at the Aquarius and decided to use it along with the fact that I had $100 in free play at the Tropicana for their new player sign-up I did in July. The trip went smooth and I was checked into the room a little before 10:00 PM. I went down and tried the triple play nickel progressives. The progressives on the deuces wild were all in the $300’s for the royal so I played that. Naturally I drew quad jacks for a nice 60 coin pay out. I never hit quad ducks, and eventually lost $50. I went to the 10 play nickels on the next row and played 9-7-5 double bonus and lost my last $50 without a single quad. I decided since it only took an hour and ½ for my $100 to disappear I would call it a night.
Total for the Day/Trip: -100 Day, -100 Trip Comps: 80 Day, 80 Trip
October 2:
I was up around 8:00 and tried to sleep a little longer. I couldn’t sleep anymore so I just decided to get around and head back to Las Vegas early. I checked out and headed over to the Tropicana and play the $100 in free play I got from the new players sign-up rebate plan back in July. I tried the first $20 in a triple play split card machine. I never saw a split card so I cashed out after one round with only $7 of my $20 left. I went over to a triple play nickel machine that had 9-6-5 double bonus. I never caught a quad and only played my free play for $64 in profits. It was so ugly that I decided not to play anymore.
I headed over to Bull Head City to top off the tank and get a biscuit sandwich at Carl’s Junior. I then headed back to Las Vegas. First stop in Vegas was at the Fiesta Henderson for their kiosk game. You needed 5 points on your card for the game. I won $3 in free play after being down just a little from the play. The free play allowed me to cash out $2 ahead.
Next stop was the Orleans. They had a promotion for a free baseball type shirt with 300 points in play. I went to my usual triple play nickel progressives and played the 9-7-5 double bonus. I hit aces early on one line then slowly gave it away as I progressed to 300 points. I was $10 up when I hit 300 points, but played a little longer and cashed out even. I got a small for my wife since she loves the ¾ sleeve type shirts.
I then headed out to Boulder Highway and the Eastside Cannery. I used a Web Pass promotion for a free hamburger and shake dinner at the Deli. The meal was great and hit the spot. It was fun to watch all the Raider fans celebrate a late touchdown by their team in upsetting the Ravens. Crap I had the Ravens at -1 on my pick six contest I do with friends.
I then headed to my home for the next three nights. I was staying at Sam’s Town with two of the nights for $30 and one night free. My offers at Boyd have been drying up, so maybe it is time to look at other options on staying. I checked in and got a room number 361 on the back side of the hotel and with an outside view. I didn’t mind the location since it seemed away from things and quiet for the duration of the trip. I went down and played a little video poker on the triple play 10 coin 2 cent 9-6-5 double bonus progressives. I played for about an hour and lost $33. I decided I was going to play poker since it was 4:00 PM and play the promotion where if you get 3 heart flushes from 4 to midnight you would win $400. I was on a waiting list so I went and played the 10 coin nickel single line Emerald Deuces. I had no luck and lost another $40 when my name was called.
I got a seat at the $2-$6 spread limit hold-em game. Next started 3 hours of pure torture. I didn’t win a hand in the first 3 hours of play. I lost my original $100 buy-in and rebought for $20 more. The pain continued for another 30 minutes and I had decided to just quit if I lost that $20. I was dealt two hearts and played them and hit a heart flush for a small win. I had $35 in front of me now and decided to play on since I had another 4.5 hours to get two more heart flushes. I finally started winning a few hands and actually was only $40 down when I decided to get something to eat around 8:30.
I went to the Deli and got chicken strips and fries. I used some points to cover the meal. I came back and chowed on dinner while playing. I looked down at a pair of fours and limped in for $2. It was called by several players when one player raised it to $8. I called his raise along with 2 other players. The flop came 6-4-4. I had flopped quad 4’s. I was first to act so I checked. It was checked around. The next card was a king. I again checked, and it was checked around. The last card was a king so the board was double paired with kings and fours and also had three hearts on it. I lead out for $6 hoping to get at least one caller. The lady to my left called. The next guy folding and the original raiser raised it to $12. I re-raised to $18 and the lady to my left said, “I know I’m losing but I have to call”. The original raiser capped the betting at $24, and both of us called. The lady had hit a heart flush and had to stay in for the promotion. The original raiser had Ace-King and had kings over 4’s for a full house. I pulled a big pot and also collected a bonus of $56 for quad fours. This put me ahead for the duration. I cashed out at midnight with a profit of $152 for a nice $260 swing back.
Total for the Day/Trip: +160 Day, +60 Trip Comps: 18 Day, 98 Trip
October 3:
I got up and went down to workout. I finished that and spent most of the morning in the room. I was working on last minute things to make sure I was ready for the main reason for this trip. I was to be in small claims court the next day. I was suing my former tenant for back rent and damages to my condo in Henderson. I finished my prep then headed out a little before noon.
My first stop was the Joker’s Wild right down Boulder Highway. They had a promotion where if you earn 500 points you get a $10 food voucher for the café. I started on single line 9-7-5 ten coin nickels. I put in $20 and slowly lost it never hitting a quad. I only had 230 points under my belt at this point. This $10 meal was going to cost me. I moved over to some triple play nickels that had 9-6-5 double bonus. This is a step down in the flush, but maybe I wouldn’t drain as quickly. I was holding my own when I kept two aces and hit them for quads on the 2nd line. I was actually now ahead, but I needed 150 more points. I played down and went into the negative territory again. I was at 450 points when I hit aces on the top line with a single ace kept. I was $11 up when I hit 500 points.
The café was old school, but I really liked the vibe. I got a chicken fried steak dinner which came with soup. The meal was really good. So I was lucky in getting paid $11 to enjoy the Joker’s Wild fine café food.
Since I was so close to Henderson, I decided to go up to the Emerald Island and use the MRB coupon for on free wheel spin for 150 points. I sat down and was playing some 9-7-5 triple plays when I saw a guy ask for a ticket. I asked the floor person what was the ticket about. He said that if you got 6 four of a kinds and a ticket with each one, you would qualify for the wheel spin. The deal was these had to be on single line machines. You could also do the promotion on nickels as long as you were playing the full 25 cents.
I looked around and saw that they had 8-5 bonus everywhere at the nickel level. I thought I might as well double up on the promotions. I sat down at one machine and it wasn’t too long before I hit quad kings. This also put me ahead about $7. My machine started to drain so I went to another. Shortly in I hit quad jacks for my 2nd ticket. Again my machine started going downhill. I was actually only $2 ahead of my buy-in of $20 and I switched machines again. I played for quite an extended period of time catching several full houses to keep me ahead. I finally hit quad 2’s with a kicker. Too bad it was bonus. I got my 3rd ticket. During that time my wife called so I went outside to talk to her. I came back in and went back to the same machine. It started to drain so I switched to another. Within the next 20 minutes I hit 3 more quads to get my 6 tickets.
I presented my 6 tickets to the floor worker. He filled out a voucher for me to get the wheel spin. However, I have to come back on Wednesday to spin. I’m glad I’m not flying out until then. He told me I could play for another spin if I wanted. I decided to just stop there since I was $16 up and not press my luck. I did cash my MRB coupon and went over and spun on it. I hit $15 so I left $31 up.
By now it was getting close to 5:00. I had another web voucher for a free Monday Night Italian buffet at the Eastside Cannery. I wasn’t hungry yet, so I decided to check out the Klondike on Sunset. It is new and clean. I signed up for a player’s card and got $5 free play on it. I didn’t find a whole lot desirable at the nickel level, but decided to play triple play deuces. I never hit the quad ducks, but hit enough dirty royals to cash out $5 ahead after 50 points. This allowed me to get a portable charging cord for a droid along with the T-shirt for signing up. The only size T-Shirts left were double X and smalls, so I got a small for my wife. I have an old school flip top phone so the charger was more swag for her as well.
I was hungry by now so I headed to the Eastside Cannery and had the buffet. It was average at best, but they did have a pasta station so I had some fresh shrimp and mushroom alfredo made for me which was excellent. I played a little on the five play super deluxe wheel spin after eating. I hit one wheel spin, and got 500 extra credits on the game that came up. I eventually gave most of those back but decided to cash out with a $5 win before going into the red.
I then drove out to check out where my former tenant was suppose to be living. She is living with her mom, but her mom called us in July and said she was living in New Mexico. I drove by slowly since they had the garage door open. There she was, so I figured mom was lying to me and confirmed the fact that she was living there. I wanted this for court the next day since I figure she might not show up. Her mom signed for the papers when they were served and my former tenant hid according to the Constable who served them.
I came back to Sam’s Town after my detective work. I sat down at the triple play 10 coin 2 centers. I lost my first $20 fairly quickly. I put a 2nd one in and wasn’t doing too much better when I finally hit my first quad(s) of the session. I was dealt quad jacks for the 2nd time this trip. This time I was playing a better game for that in double bonus. I played a little longer then settled for a $10 loss. It was still only 9:00, but I decided to head up to the room to get some rest for court tomorrow.
Total for the Day/Trip: +42 Day, +102 Trip Comps: 85 Day, 183 Trip
October 4:
I told my wife to call me when she headed to school. She called and I realized it was only 5:15 Vegas time. I don’t have to be to court until 8:00 so I will have plenty of time to get ready. I went ahead and went down to the workout room and biked for 30 minutes. I headed up to Henderson and went to Friendly’s Doughnut which are awesome. I got a couple of doughnuts then went to the court house. I checked it and I couldn’t believe that my former tenant actually showed up. We went into mediation instead of court. To make a long story short. We settled on her paying back the $2300 she owes me.
I was done at court by 10:00 so I called my wife to tell her the settlement. It was now time to get my gamble on for the rest of the day. I first drove out to the Orleans for some more swag. This time you get a pair of dish towels with 300 points. I went to the same triple play nickel progressives by the buffet. I put my $20 in and never had to put any more money in. I would hit a period quad to keep me a float. I was $11 when I hit 300 points. I decided to either get my buy in back or back up to $20 on the meter or just lose my $20. It did take another 30 minutes and around 120 more points for I finally lost my $20 buy-in. I got my dishtowels and more swag for my wife.
I failed to mention that I stopped at Hooters on the way to the Orleans to do the MRB getting $10 of free play for $10 of action. It was so ugly playing single line nickels that I did manage cashing out $2 up even with $10 free play. My other MRB stop was at the Palms after the Orleans for a $10 match play. I got an 11 vs. the dealer’s 5 card so I dug in and doubled up. I hit a 9 and the dealer busted for a nice $30 win.
I next decided to go to the Suncoast. They have 7x points and I decided to put 1000 points on my card for dinner and a movie. Well the omen should have been the message for me. It wasn’t 7 times points, but I decided to play anyway. I went to the triple play nickel progressives. A dealt royal was $5000. Well I wasn’t dealt a royal, or anything exciting and lost my $20 buy-in in very little time. I walked around the casino and found some ten play nickels that had pretty good pay schedules. I had an option of 8-5 bonus, 9-7-5 double, or 9-6 double, double. I tried all three games on all five machines and couldn’t hit crap. I hit maybe two quads. I went to the deluxe when spins that have 6-5 bonus. I couldn’t get dealt a 3 of a kind much less even two high pairs. I continued to look for something to play a bleed.
I went back to the deluxe wheel spins and was finally getting dealt some three of a kinds for wheel spins. I hit my 1000 points and was $240 down. I decided to play a little longer since I was getting dealt some trips. I hit a couple of good bonus games and worked my loss down to $139 when I finally decided to quit.
I got the voucher for the meal at “The Fan” and the free movie pass. We now have 7 of these movies passes to use during our Christmas trip. I had the flat bread meat lovers pizza at “The Fan” which was outstanding. I picked up a cute T-Shirt for my wife at the player’s club for only 1000 points and headed out.
I headed back to Boulder Highway and decided to stop at the Eastside Cannery to use my 3rd and final web voucher for a $10 free play. I sat down and got dealt a 20, but the dealer had a 10 showing and checked and sure enough hit a black jack. I then decided to give them a little play on the wheel spin quick quads, wheel spin, and wheel spin deluxe machines. About 45 minutes later and $78 later I was pissed and said I need to leave. I might have got to spin the wheel twice on the deluxe, but never saw a quad on the quick quads or wheel spin. I donated another $12 playing buffalos on the way out. I was really pissed with myself for going on tilt and putting in $20 after $20 in the machines when nothing was hitting.
I headed back to Sam’s Town and up to the room to cool off a little. I decided this was my last feel day so I might as well play. I went back downstairs to sign up to play some more $2 to $6 limit in the poker room. I lost a little at the Emerald Deuces waiting for my spot at the table. I got a seat and had one of those sessions where I wasn’t getting a whole lot of exciting hands, but winning enough periodically to stay ahead. Around 8 I was getting hungry so I headed over to the deli. It was National Taco day so they had two tacos for $1.50. I got 4 and paid with points. I finished playing the poker session after 5 hours of play around 11:30. I cashed out $45 ahead to recoup just a little of the earlier day loses. By the way the table is full of local characters who are absolutely hilarious. Both sessions I played were with some of the same guys and both were a blast.
I played a little more chasing the $300 dueces on the 10 coin emerald nickel deuces with no long. I settle on a $26 lost before calling it a night.
Total for the Day/Trip: -198 Day, -96 Trip Comps: 33 Day, 216 Trip
October 5:
Well it is time to return to reality. My flight is set for 4:00 back to Dallas so I have a little bit of playing left to do. I woke up at 6:00 and call my wife. While talking to her I get drowsy and decide to go back to sleep. I slept until 8:30. It is now time to get around if I am going to play anymore. I get a shower and all my stuff together ready to check out then head down stairs. It is Young At Heart day so I swipe my wife and my card both for multipliers. I get 7x on video poker and she gets 6x.
I head to the triple play 2 cent machines. I put 200 points on my wife’s card and another 200 on mine when I finally decide to go play some 3-6 Omaha Hi-Low in the poker room. I cashed out $30 down on the video poker to give me 4 sessions at Sam’s Town without a single winning session. I usually win a few sessions there, but this time it was not meant to be.
I played for 2 and ½ hours at the Omaha game and ended up $14 down when it got noon time and time to check out. I can’t find the game back in the Arkansas-Oklahoma area so I was a little rusty. Mainly I knew I was short on time and played too many hands which is never a good formula for success in poker.
I checked out and took my stuff to the car. I went back in and took advantage of the free buffet as a result of YAH. The buffet was good as usual. I then drove up to Emerald Island for the wheel spin from Monday. I got $15 for my efforts. I have spun the wheel 3 times and won $15 each time. I do have to say that the staff at the Emerald Island are some of the friendliest I’ve seen in the valley.
I decide to head over to the Orleans for one more shot at the triple play progressives. I run both our cards and we both get 6x on VP. I decide just to use my card and play turbo style since I only have one hour before returning to the car rental. I put my $20 in and was $5 down when I hit quad aces on the top line. From then I never really looked back. I hit quad 2’s, 3’s, and 4’s at one point to complete the double bonus winners. After an hour I was $70 up so I took my win and headed back to the car rental.
The return at the car rental was fast and the shuttle to take us to the regular car rental arrived just as I sat down to wait on it. We took that to the regular car rental, then a shuttle from there to the airport. I checked my bags and headed up. I got to the gate just when they were announcing for pre-boarding. I had a C entry so I decided to play a little Wheel of Fortune. I didn’t’ hit the wheel, but hit a multiplier for a $20 win. I cashed out $10 up to leave a winner at the airport.
The flight back was smooth and I got to Dallas at 9:00 PM. I headed home and laid my head on the pillow at 3:30 in the morning. The alarm went off at 5:30 for the next day at school.
Total for the Day/Trip: +49 Day, -47 Trip Comps: 10 Day, 226 Trip
Final Thoughts:
• This was my 2nd solo trip of the year. This one was a little shorter and I had things to deal with, but I still enjoyed all the playing.
• The casinos are starting to play more and more of the hip-hop type of music. What happen to tending to my demographics? 50 to 60?
• I’m getting fewer offers from Boyd’s over the past year. I finally make Sapphire and I’m not getting offered crap for rooms. I know I’m a low roller, but I’ve had nice offers for less.
• I usually have one or two winning video poker sessions at Sam’s Town when I play there. I wasn’t coming close to that this time.
• I haven’t won at Laughlin in 3 years. Not sure what it is, but I only won 64% on free play even.
• Rental car companies away from the main Rental Car Facility are cheaper due to fewer taxes, but on shorter trips I’m not sure if they are worth the hassle.
My next trip is during Christmas break with my wife and her sister. This should be interesting since her sister has never been to Vegas as an adult.
