It was now Sunday the 16th day of our stay. We were supposed to leave 4 days prior on Thursday. Well, obviously that didn't happen. We ordered room service and had breakfast in the room. I went down for a while only to find the progressive jackpot nearing $7900. This was craziness. It was sure to attract all kinds of pros by that evening..so I would have to hit it soon while the coast was clear...and clear it was. In the early session, I was the only one playing dollars, but when it was after noon, my "friendly" local couple was to join me playing for the jackpot.
I sat at the left two end machines alternating between the two when one cooled down. They took the seats towards the middle of the row and started "banging" away. We called out our "good" hands to each other while trying to beat each other to the progressive A-2-3-4"s. I was lucky to knock off the Aces before they got to it, while she knocked off the 2's and 4's before I got mine. Sure enough I got 3 3's while holding on two of the 3's.
I moved down next to them, and before long I held my breath as he got dealt 4 to the royal. Whew! He missed. They had been there when the jackpot hit a record $8400, but wasn't there when the bartender from NY-NY wound up hitting it. We reviewed how many thousands we had put through these machines in the quest to take it down. When you put that much through the machines...you either better hit it....or it was going to get VERY expensive. But we already knew that when we sat down. I mean that I had literally pushed this jackpot up from $5200 when we got there, to $6500 when others got interested. This jackpot was MINE. I left it before at $6500 when we had to leave, and that's when it got to be over $8400. But it just goes to show you, the machine doesn't know it's ready to "POP". It was "ready" at $6500...at $7000...and soon to be $8000. Problem is....no one tells the machine it's ready to POP!.
After playing a while longer...I was physically beat....I was actually seeing double, and took a 6-9 for a pair of sixes. I needed a break, and knew that they would be leaving soon. I cashed out and headed upstairs. It wasn't a bad session and I wound up leaving $600 ahead. If it was meant to be...the jackpot would still be there when we came back downstairs.
I took a well needed rest while she dressed to go back downstairs. We went back downstairs around 10 pm hoping the jackpot was still there. When we hit the bar area, I couldn't believe the bar was wide open. That couldn't be a very good sign. No players....no high jackpot. I wondered silently who the heck hit it.
We grabbed a couple of seats at the end, and I couldn't believe my eyes. The jackpot was now OVER $7900, and no one was playing. The bar was DEAD. The NBA and baseball games were long over and everyone must have hit the road. We quickly got seated and inserted the money and players cards and I prayed it was not going to be our day...or night. But I knew that at least Grace would show up...since she played late...as well as G-d knows what Pro's would make their appearance.
After playing for about an hour, Grace made her appearance...and she didn't look in a good mood. She had a friend with her and they were "mumbling" to each other in a language I didn't understand. I called over to her and asked her if we were still "saving" a thousand...and she shook her head denying our deal. Boy was she pissed. Found out later that she had pissed away $9000 trying to hit the jackpot. I don't care what she claimed, but I was no where near that amount and I played a lot longer than her, and I knew that she had hit at least as many 4 Aces as I had hit.
At least it was 2 against one. But it wouldn't be that was for long. In came a Pro from no where. He hadn't played one time since I was there and I put in some very late sessions. It was now about 12:30 am and Faye was getting tired. Fortunately, I had her son there to take her up to the room when she was ready to go. This Pro was playing very fast....as was Grace...but we were no where in his league. Faye called it a night, and I was now "forced" to speed up my play. Her son and GF came back down to help me "sweat" out the run for the jackpot.
I now had to increase my speed up to about 1000 hands per hour. He was probably playing at 1200 hands per hour....and to make it worse...he was "slapping" the machine. It was now past 2 am, and the three of us were playing at breakneck speed. He had to take a break to get more money, that thankfully wasn't my problem.
And then THE hand was dealt!! 10-J-Q-K of diamonds....all I needed was the ACE to end this insanity and be WAY ahead for the trip. I closed my eyes and hit the "draw" button! And there it was......but NO it wasn't...as the STINKIN' 9 of diamonds hit the board! How could it be? I needed the Ace diamonds for the royal...but instead I got the 9 d for the straight flush. Why were the poker G-ds doing this to me? WHY? WHY? WHY? I was now going into my 17th day and invested thousands of dollars trying to hit this jackpot. It just wasn't FAIR. I was physically and mentally drained. We were supposed to go home that day but I couldn't drive now. It was well past 2 am.
Grace had given up and left. But if you were to survive...you had to be tough. I switched to the other half of the bar to the right of this Pro. I had hit jackpots at the third machine twice before for nice..over $6900 jackpots. I wasn't going to give up....and this guy sure wasn't either. H had a GF that joined him in the next seat. Turns out she worked there and had tipped him off to the high jackpot. That figures.
One of the "tricks" that Pro's use to help speed up their play, is hitting the draw button while the machine is counting down the credits. It IMMEDIATELY gives you your full amount without waiting for the machine to count down your credits. So if you hit a full house or 4 OAK, instead of "counting down" a little at a time, it immediately gives you what you are owed. You hit a FH...then hit the deal/draw button, and you have your 35 credits posted right away. Hit 4 OAK...hit the deal/draw button and 125 credits are right there and you're ready to play your next hand.
It was now 6 am..I knew she'd be up in the room SCREAMING that we were supposed to leave today...Monday. But I was in no shape to drive 300 miles. I made the decision to QUIT!! I had had it. I hit the cash out button and collected my TITO. I still had plenty of money to play...but was it worth it? After all, he still hadn't hit it, and neither did his partner in crime. If it was meant to be...I would come down in six hours or so and hit the
SOB! I made my way back upstairs with my "escort" trailing behind.
The room was already packed up to leave and she was still awake. I knew I was going to hear about it for staying down so late. "WE WERE SUPPOSED TO LEAVE TODAY...YADA..YADA...YADA!!" Yeah right! I'm going to bed. But that wasn't really going to be the "right" move when thinking about it later. After all, I still had plenty of money to continue the "war", and although I was tired..I could have toughed it out and continued playing. After all...how many jackpots do you see of this size? I already hit a $10,588 jackpot online. What the heck would a couple of more hours be? But that bed sure looked sooo inviting. Damn those Silverton comfortable beds.
I awoke about 11:30 am and quickly set my mind to the royal. It had to be hit by now....didn't it? I called down for room service and asked the girl I knew to go to the bar and ask Tom if it had been hit. When she called me back, she told me she good and bad news. She then told me the jackpot had been hit at over $8100 by some guy. I already knew who hit it. So what was the "good" news? Turns out the jackpot was now nearing $6000. That's one thing nice about playing at the Silverton...there is always a "backup" jackpot that resets at a higher level.
There was now no reason to rush downstairs, and I almost breathed a sigh of relief. The pressure was now off, and I could eat an leisurely breakfast. It was now Monday afternoon, and there was no way we were going home...at least this day. Doing some Monday morning quarterbacking, she said that she should have gone downstairs to take my place since she was wide awake. GREAT..NOW YOU TELL ME!!! And I would have gone down with her also.
As I would find out later, after I gave it up for the "night", he decided to pack it in also. HOWEVER, another professional couple showed up to try and hit the jackpot. Once there was now new competition, he couldn't help but stay and play. The thought process is a little ridiculous, since if this couple didn't show up for 15 minutes later, he would have been gone, and the jackpot still might have been wide open. But he was meant to have this jackpot and in 15 minutes after I left, it was now his (theirs).
Oh well, there was now still a $6000 jackpot waiting to be hit. If hit I would still be ahead enough with nothing to complain about. But she wasn't going anywhere. She was in so much pain and itching like a flea had bitten her all over, there was no way she was going downstairs. And I was in no rush either.
I finally made it downstairs after the day shift had called it a day. The swing shift bartender was sympathetic for my "loss" and told me to hit it now. I pounded away at a controlled pace since there was no one to contest the still large but "unattractive" jackpot. I could even go back to switching between BP and DDB. After all, I still hadn't hit the 4 Aces/w kicker. That would take the sting out of it. But it wasn't to be, and I threw away about a thousand just trying to pass the time and possibly hit SOMETHING! I headed upstairs about 1:30 am with my posse who had come down to see how I did. I treated them to the buffet before they joined me.
It was finally day 18, and even though it was time to leave...we both wanted to stay longer. After all, our host had put us down for May 20th, and it was only the 17th. But we both wanted to see our "babies"...although it was still nice being away from them and all the dog hair and barking. Everything was ready to go and we went downstairs to take one last shot.
The bar was empty for a change as it was still early. I cashed in my last keno ticket for $20, and didn't even play it again. I was worn out as you could imagine after 18 days. Not that I really wanted to leave. Sure it sounds like a long time to stay in Vegas, but when you need a rest from the outside world, you know where we're coming from.
My only regret was spending soooo much time trying to hit that jackpot. Sounded like a good plan at the time...and it would have been...had we hit it. But it took away so many other things I wanted to do. Never got to visit the Trop where I heard that so many things were going on. Never got down to Sunset Station like we always do to visit our bartender and collect my 3X points. At least we got to the Carnegie Deli and had their DELICIOUS Woody Allen Special and their uncomparable potato knish. We blew off $600 before we left!
A few things to mention about the Silverton before I wrap this up. They've now changed their Players Card...and it's now for the better. It now takes 333 points to equal a $1, rather than the 1000 points it used to take or the 600 points it used to take for a restaurant comp. I'm sure this is a direct attack against the South Point which has been 300 points to a $1. So now if you want to use your points for something else besides restaurant comps and Bass Pro Shop, you can now redeem your points right from the machine for Free Slot Play. You just plug in your PIN # and the points go right to credits on the machine. Simple as that. Instead of my having to cash in 100,000 points for a $100 Bass Pro Shop, you can now redeem 33,333 points for a $100 card. And if you play slots, you get double points every single day for every slot you play.
Other perks that the Silverton give you are a $5 buffet on Mondays. You just have to sign up for a slot card. And when you do, they give you $5 in FSP AND a free buffet that you can use on any night. If you don't use it on Friday or Saturday night, or for the Sunday brunch buffet, shame on you. They also have drawings for $100 for ten people every two hours from 10 am to 6 pm.
On Tuesdays, they have a free slot tournament. You can play one entry for free before 4 pm, but can earn extra entries by gaining 100 points or more on you card. At the buffet, you can buy one $5 glass of Dos Equais beer and get it refilled for free. If you do the same thing at the bar, you spend $10 and drink all night with FREEE refills.
But the BEST deal has to be on Thursday! Starting at the Mermaid Bar, then the Mi Casa bar, then the Flare Bar, and finally at the Shady Groove Lounge...my bar...ALL drinks are $1...yes I said ALL drinks are $1. Any CALL drink you can name is just ONE DOLLAR!! These are spaced at 1 hour apart starting with the Mermaid Bar at 7 pm. At 8 you go to another bar and at 9 PM another, and finally at 10 pm the Shady Groove Lounge. You wouldn't believe the crowds that this promotion attracts. As you can imagine, it's mostly a younger crowd that is attracted to this offer, and I can't understand how the Silverton makes money on this offer. Most of these people are sooo drunk, you know they aren't giving the casino any action. If Metro sets up a "sting" operation once they get word of this...like they did for San Gennaro, there are going to be DUI's all over the place. But maybe they won't hear about it.
We finally left around 2:45 pm with the hope of arriving back home around 8 pm. Naturally there was a stop a World Famous Tommy's Chili Cheese Burgers in Barstow. Damn those burgers are good!!!
I sat at the left two end machines alternating between the two when one cooled down. They took the seats towards the middle of the row and started "banging" away. We called out our "good" hands to each other while trying to beat each other to the progressive A-2-3-4"s. I was lucky to knock off the Aces before they got to it, while she knocked off the 2's and 4's before I got mine. Sure enough I got 3 3's while holding on two of the 3's.
I moved down next to them, and before long I held my breath as he got dealt 4 to the royal. Whew! He missed. They had been there when the jackpot hit a record $8400, but wasn't there when the bartender from NY-NY wound up hitting it. We reviewed how many thousands we had put through these machines in the quest to take it down. When you put that much through the machines...you either better hit it....or it was going to get VERY expensive. But we already knew that when we sat down. I mean that I had literally pushed this jackpot up from $5200 when we got there, to $6500 when others got interested. This jackpot was MINE. I left it before at $6500 when we had to leave, and that's when it got to be over $8400. But it just goes to show you, the machine doesn't know it's ready to "POP". It was "ready" at $6500...at $7000...and soon to be $8000. Problem is....no one tells the machine it's ready to POP!.
After playing a while longer...I was physically beat....I was actually seeing double, and took a 6-9 for a pair of sixes. I needed a break, and knew that they would be leaving soon. I cashed out and headed upstairs. It wasn't a bad session and I wound up leaving $600 ahead. If it was meant to be...the jackpot would still be there when we came back downstairs.
I took a well needed rest while she dressed to go back downstairs. We went back downstairs around 10 pm hoping the jackpot was still there. When we hit the bar area, I couldn't believe the bar was wide open. That couldn't be a very good sign. No players....no high jackpot. I wondered silently who the heck hit it.
We grabbed a couple of seats at the end, and I couldn't believe my eyes. The jackpot was now OVER $7900, and no one was playing. The bar was DEAD. The NBA and baseball games were long over and everyone must have hit the road. We quickly got seated and inserted the money and players cards and I prayed it was not going to be our day...or night. But I knew that at least Grace would show up...since she played late...as well as G-d knows what Pro's would make their appearance.
After playing for about an hour, Grace made her appearance...and she didn't look in a good mood. She had a friend with her and they were "mumbling" to each other in a language I didn't understand. I called over to her and asked her if we were still "saving" a thousand...and she shook her head denying our deal. Boy was she pissed. Found out later that she had pissed away $9000 trying to hit the jackpot. I don't care what she claimed, but I was no where near that amount and I played a lot longer than her, and I knew that she had hit at least as many 4 Aces as I had hit.
At least it was 2 against one. But it wouldn't be that was for long. In came a Pro from no where. He hadn't played one time since I was there and I put in some very late sessions. It was now about 12:30 am and Faye was getting tired. Fortunately, I had her son there to take her up to the room when she was ready to go. This Pro was playing very fast....as was Grace...but we were no where in his league. Faye called it a night, and I was now "forced" to speed up my play. Her son and GF came back down to help me "sweat" out the run for the jackpot.
I now had to increase my speed up to about 1000 hands per hour. He was probably playing at 1200 hands per hour....and to make it worse...he was "slapping" the machine. It was now past 2 am, and the three of us were playing at breakneck speed. He had to take a break to get more money, that thankfully wasn't my problem.
And then THE hand was dealt!! 10-J-Q-K of diamonds....all I needed was the ACE to end this insanity and be WAY ahead for the trip. I closed my eyes and hit the "draw" button! And there it was......but NO it wasn't...as the STINKIN' 9 of diamonds hit the board! How could it be? I needed the Ace diamonds for the royal...but instead I got the 9 d for the straight flush. Why were the poker G-ds doing this to me? WHY? WHY? WHY? I was now going into my 17th day and invested thousands of dollars trying to hit this jackpot. It just wasn't FAIR. I was physically and mentally drained. We were supposed to go home that day but I couldn't drive now. It was well past 2 am.
Grace had given up and left. But if you were to survive...you had to be tough. I switched to the other half of the bar to the right of this Pro. I had hit jackpots at the third machine twice before for nice..over $6900 jackpots. I wasn't going to give up....and this guy sure wasn't either. H had a GF that joined him in the next seat. Turns out she worked there and had tipped him off to the high jackpot. That figures.
One of the "tricks" that Pro's use to help speed up their play, is hitting the draw button while the machine is counting down the credits. It IMMEDIATELY gives you your full amount without waiting for the machine to count down your credits. So if you hit a full house or 4 OAK, instead of "counting down" a little at a time, it immediately gives you what you are owed. You hit a FH...then hit the deal/draw button, and you have your 35 credits posted right away. Hit 4 OAK...hit the deal/draw button and 125 credits are right there and you're ready to play your next hand.
It was now 6 am..I knew she'd be up in the room SCREAMING that we were supposed to leave today...Monday. But I was in no shape to drive 300 miles. I made the decision to QUIT!! I had had it. I hit the cash out button and collected my TITO. I still had plenty of money to play...but was it worth it? After all, he still hadn't hit it, and neither did his partner in crime. If it was meant to be...I would come down in six hours or so and hit the
SOB! I made my way back upstairs with my "escort" trailing behind.
The room was already packed up to leave and she was still awake. I knew I was going to hear about it for staying down so late. "WE WERE SUPPOSED TO LEAVE TODAY...YADA..YADA...YADA!!" Yeah right! I'm going to bed. But that wasn't really going to be the "right" move when thinking about it later. After all, I still had plenty of money to continue the "war", and although I was tired..I could have toughed it out and continued playing. After all...how many jackpots do you see of this size? I already hit a $10,588 jackpot online. What the heck would a couple of more hours be? But that bed sure looked sooo inviting. Damn those Silverton comfortable beds.
I awoke about 11:30 am and quickly set my mind to the royal. It had to be hit by now....didn't it? I called down for room service and asked the girl I knew to go to the bar and ask Tom if it had been hit. When she called me back, she told me she good and bad news. She then told me the jackpot had been hit at over $8100 by some guy. I already knew who hit it. So what was the "good" news? Turns out the jackpot was now nearing $6000. That's one thing nice about playing at the Silverton...there is always a "backup" jackpot that resets at a higher level.
There was now no reason to rush downstairs, and I almost breathed a sigh of relief. The pressure was now off, and I could eat an leisurely breakfast. It was now Monday afternoon, and there was no way we were going home...at least this day. Doing some Monday morning quarterbacking, she said that she should have gone downstairs to take my place since she was wide awake. GREAT..NOW YOU TELL ME!!! And I would have gone down with her also.
As I would find out later, after I gave it up for the "night", he decided to pack it in also. HOWEVER, another professional couple showed up to try and hit the jackpot. Once there was now new competition, he couldn't help but stay and play. The thought process is a little ridiculous, since if this couple didn't show up for 15 minutes later, he would have been gone, and the jackpot still might have been wide open. But he was meant to have this jackpot and in 15 minutes after I left, it was now his (theirs).
Oh well, there was now still a $6000 jackpot waiting to be hit. If hit I would still be ahead enough with nothing to complain about. But she wasn't going anywhere. She was in so much pain and itching like a flea had bitten her all over, there was no way she was going downstairs. And I was in no rush either.
I finally made it downstairs after the day shift had called it a day. The swing shift bartender was sympathetic for my "loss" and told me to hit it now. I pounded away at a controlled pace since there was no one to contest the still large but "unattractive" jackpot. I could even go back to switching between BP and DDB. After all, I still hadn't hit the 4 Aces/w kicker. That would take the sting out of it. But it wasn't to be, and I threw away about a thousand just trying to pass the time and possibly hit SOMETHING! I headed upstairs about 1:30 am with my posse who had come down to see how I did. I treated them to the buffet before they joined me.
It was finally day 18, and even though it was time to leave...we both wanted to stay longer. After all, our host had put us down for May 20th, and it was only the 17th. But we both wanted to see our "babies"...although it was still nice being away from them and all the dog hair and barking. Everything was ready to go and we went downstairs to take one last shot.
The bar was empty for a change as it was still early. I cashed in my last keno ticket for $20, and didn't even play it again. I was worn out as you could imagine after 18 days. Not that I really wanted to leave. Sure it sounds like a long time to stay in Vegas, but when you need a rest from the outside world, you know where we're coming from.
My only regret was spending soooo much time trying to hit that jackpot. Sounded like a good plan at the time...and it would have been...had we hit it. But it took away so many other things I wanted to do. Never got to visit the Trop where I heard that so many things were going on. Never got down to Sunset Station like we always do to visit our bartender and collect my 3X points. At least we got to the Carnegie Deli and had their DELICIOUS Woody Allen Special and their uncomparable potato knish. We blew off $600 before we left!
A few things to mention about the Silverton before I wrap this up. They've now changed their Players Card...and it's now for the better. It now takes 333 points to equal a $1, rather than the 1000 points it used to take or the 600 points it used to take for a restaurant comp. I'm sure this is a direct attack against the South Point which has been 300 points to a $1. So now if you want to use your points for something else besides restaurant comps and Bass Pro Shop, you can now redeem your points right from the machine for Free Slot Play. You just plug in your PIN # and the points go right to credits on the machine. Simple as that. Instead of my having to cash in 100,000 points for a $100 Bass Pro Shop, you can now redeem 33,333 points for a $100 card. And if you play slots, you get double points every single day for every slot you play.
Other perks that the Silverton give you are a $5 buffet on Mondays. You just have to sign up for a slot card. And when you do, they give you $5 in FSP AND a free buffet that you can use on any night. If you don't use it on Friday or Saturday night, or for the Sunday brunch buffet, shame on you. They also have drawings for $100 for ten people every two hours from 10 am to 6 pm.
On Tuesdays, they have a free slot tournament. You can play one entry for free before 4 pm, but can earn extra entries by gaining 100 points or more on you card. At the buffet, you can buy one $5 glass of Dos Equais beer and get it refilled for free. If you do the same thing at the bar, you spend $10 and drink all night with FREEE refills.
But the BEST deal has to be on Thursday! Starting at the Mermaid Bar, then the Mi Casa bar, then the Flare Bar, and finally at the Shady Groove Lounge...my bar...ALL drinks are $1...yes I said ALL drinks are $1. Any CALL drink you can name is just ONE DOLLAR!! These are spaced at 1 hour apart starting with the Mermaid Bar at 7 pm. At 8 you go to another bar and at 9 PM another, and finally at 10 pm the Shady Groove Lounge. You wouldn't believe the crowds that this promotion attracts. As you can imagine, it's mostly a younger crowd that is attracted to this offer, and I can't understand how the Silverton makes money on this offer. Most of these people are sooo drunk, you know they aren't giving the casino any action. If Metro sets up a "sting" operation once they get word of this...like they did for San Gennaro, there are going to be DUI's all over the place. But maybe they won't hear about it.
We finally left around 2:45 pm with the hope of arriving back home around 8 pm. Naturally there was a stop a World Famous Tommy's Chili Cheese Burgers in Barstow. Damn those burgers are good!!!
