From the start of the trip that was "supposed" to be starting at 10 am, we didn't leave until 1:15 pm. I figured with Friday traffic, that would get us there by 5:30 or so. I hit it right on the button, as we hit the Blue Diamond off ramp at exactly 5:30. I had to make a quick stop at the bank as my bank in CA. was busy as heck and I'm not one to stand in lines. Remembered that Vegas banks normally close at 5, but on Fridays at 6 pm.
This trip I rented a Chevy Transverse SUV as the MK-S was already rented out and they had no other Lincolns available. One nice feature on the SUV was a camera in the rear that gave you a view of the rear in your rear view mirror. Having never had this feature on a car that I drove, I thought I was seeing things when I put the car in reverse and looked in the rear view mirror and could see everything behind me. I first thought I had developed X-ray vision. It's a pretty nice feature.
Pulled into the valet area and thought we would be unloaded pretty quickly as we didn't bring hardly the amount of baggage we usually bring. I had ordered a scooter for Faye, and it had been delivered hours before we got there. One bellman brought out the scooter while the other one unloaded the car. I went to check in like I usually do, but I couldn't believe the amount of people in front of me ready to check in. Like I stated, I'm not the one who likes to stand in line. So I headed for my hosts office which is right off the reception area, and surprise, surprise, he handed me the keys to our suite and the room next to it for Faye's son. That was pretty sweet.
I knew she was going to be finishing her make up, and she knew I would be headed down to play. But first I had to get online and see if there was anything in college football to bet. I looked at the Missouri-AZ. St game and I loved Missouri getting 9 points. That was about all I would bet. I still had to put in my Leroy's NFL Challenge picks, but I had until Saturday at 8 pm to do that. Even though I would be in town, I still had my proxy put in my Hilton and Stations contest entries.
So downstairs I headed, and as usual played at the center bar. The progressive royal was up to $4950. That wouldn't be too hard to take. I would play until I got a call from Faye to come up and help her get downstairs. Since she now has a cell phone, she could call me directly without me having to get up and answer a page. Works a lot better.
I saw two of the locals playing and I stopped to say hello and wound up sitting next to them as the bar was quite crowded. And I sure picked a good machine. From the get go, this machine never went below $100 other than the first deal. I would hover for about a half hour between $100-$170. Finally got Faye's call and went upstairs to get her and bring her down. I tied up the seat next to mine so we could sit together.
When we got back down to the bar, Faye ordered her usual, only to find out there was no Zing Zang at the bar. But they got ahold of our host and he straightened the problem out quickly. That was the second mistake as they left the wrong cigarettes in the room also. But that was taken care of in due course.
I remembered that for our September offer, that I should receive $125 in FSP, so I checked it on our machine and sure enough, it was there to be played. Usually I have to remind them to put the FSP on my card. So we both started playing and it wasn't long before I hit my first 4OAK. I think it was 4 Kings. One of the locals had already hit the progressive 4 Aces, and the 4 2-3-4's had also been hit recently, so they were near their lowest point. We decided that we weren't going to eat until later, and I couldn't believe we were going to pass up their delicious Friday night buffet, and we weren't going to be here long enough to have another shot at it.
As we all know, unless you're on a big rush, the machine is going to start eating up those hundred dollar bills in a matter of time. Well that's what finally started happening. Her son and his GF arrived and I decided to order a pizza from the fast food pizza place here. We took a break from playing, and it was just what the doctor must have ordered as the machines started to pick up again. Faye stopped playing and started to BS with one of the floor people. Meanwhile, I switched to DDB, and hit two 4OAK's in a matter of two minutes. I cashed out when I got back to $500. Faye had also made a couple of 4 OAK hits and had cashed out two tickets for $200 each. At that point it was time to go to bed. When I made my final tally, I was down $304, and $100 of that had been given to our host. But I had forgotten about a $110 bet I made at the sports book here on Missouri +10. They lost, but covered the spread. I would collect that today when I went downstairs. So overall, it was about a $100 loss for the day with most of that going to tips.
Today, Saturday, is Faye's birthday, so we're up in the room now resting up as we got up at 2:30 am and stayed up the rest of the "night" with only another hours sleep. Eating dinner at Twin Creeks tonight with her son, GF, and her ex who I always invite.
I'll get back to you later or tomorrow after football starts with a report on how day #2 turned out. By the way, for those who might care, here are my Hilton picks for week one.
BAGIANT...... MONEYBAGS with my son
RAVENS -2.5 ..... RAVENS
BUCS -1.5 ....... BUCS
BEARS +3 ....... BEARS
COLTS +9....... COLTS
JETS -4 ........ JETS
In my Leroy's contest, I dropped the Jets and used the Cardinals -6.5 as my 5th choice
