The Heart Attack Grill in the Neonopolis building was full of diners dressed in hospital gowns.  Although the couple had passed it before in former visits, it still amused but didn’t attract their business.  The old man commented, “I’ve had one heart attack – don’t need another! And that goes for riding the zipline too.”

However, close by, a new food outlet since their last downtown visit did attract their attention, a memory jolt-back to their days living in Indianapolis where they would often head to a White Castle restaurant for a late-night fast-food snack favorite.  Although there had been some food at the cocktail party, one can always eat a couple of these little sandwiches anytime, so they stopped in.  The man parked his walker beside a tall stool to enjoy a rest, while the lady stood in the long line to order.  When she got to the cashier, she ordered just like she had done for decades – “burgers,” – refusing to call them the fancy new name of “sliders.”  A White Castle is not a slider!

On they went down the street, stopping to enjoy some of the sidewalk entertainers performing in their assigned “circles.”  They were pleasantly surprised that they were, on the whole, in good taste, not the crude or skimpily dressed presentations they had had seen in past years – at least those they saw on their brief walk on just part of the street. The couples energy level was going down fast – and progress had come almost to a stand-still because they were running into a packed-in raucous crowd in front of the 3^rd Street stage where a very loud band performance was going on.  The man was muttering, “They call that noise music?”

“Should we duck into the D Casino and discuss what we want to do next?” asked the woman.

The man quickly agreed, “Anything to get out of this pandemonium.”

Resting at slot machine seats, the lady pulled out from her purse their LVA coupon books and found the D coupons:  “Two $25 matchplays.  Should we do these?”  It would involve finding a ramp for the man’s walker to get up to the raised players club to activate the offer, but he was re-gaining a little strength and said he was up to it.

Back down on the casino floor walking amongst the table games, they discussed whether to use the matchplays on roulette, where their loss on this one-shot play would be limited to $50.  If they chose blackjack, they could lose $50 if they lost both coupons – and even more if they had to double-down and/or split.  But as they were discussing this, they passed by a blackjack table where a jovial lone player noticed their indecision and gave a loud invitation as he pointed to sloppily scattered piles of green and black chips in front of him, “Come sit with me.  This is a lucky table.”

Now this couple had been looking for an uncrowded table.  When using a coupon for a one-time play, you don’t want a bunch of players ready to complain about your “holding up a game.”  But here was just one player and he wanted  company.  And you never know, a cheery inebriated player was just as apt to give you a lucky tip as a stone-cold sober grouch.  So, the couple sat down, each putting out $25 with the phantom $25 chip given to them at the players club.  Each was dealt a “9” and a “2” and the dealer turned up a “6” – that added risk they had discussed.   But there was no way they wouldn’t double down!

The woman whispered to the man, who had the bankroll in his pocket, “Get out a $100 bill.”  When the dealer gave him four green chips, the woman quickly grabbed them and added $50 to each hand.  Sometimes when you do this fast, the dealer will then give you a card right away.  Sad to say, this time it didn’t work. “Sorry, you can double only on your own money.”  Well, it never hurts to try when you don’t know the casino policy on this.

The disappointment didn’t last long, however.  She slapped a face card on each of the couple’s hands, and then pulled a face card and another “6” on her hand.  She smiled as she paid off, and the intoxicated cheerleader fellow player gave them both high-fives, laughing boisterously.

The couple didn’t really like this kind of hit and run, but while they were coloring up explained that they had to get back to their machines, that they really weren’t good at table games – perhaps only a partial truth.  But this excuse was good enough for a smile from the dealer after the man slid her a $5 tip as they were leaving.

Now it was time to proceed down Fremont, pressing through that concert mob – a pretty slow process with a walker although much of the friendly crowd was thoughtful to step aside and make way for the oldsters.  They wanted to get to the Four Queens, their old stomping grounds so many year ago.  Actually, back then the woman had been memorized with other VIP players with her name on the cement sidewalk in the front of the casino.  But fame is fleeting – and all those sidewalks have now been torn up for new more modern renovations.

Did the couple want to go in and look around, maybe use their two $10 free-play coupons? They looked at each other’s tired eyes. They were thinking about protecting that $150 profit from the D and $5 from the El Cortez.  Their muscles and bones were making a strong bid for a major rest.  And a nearby security guide was ready with directions for the nearby share-ride pickup area, in front of the entrance to the Binion’s garage, just a half a block up Casino Center Boulevard.  Some things never change – a few pedestrians were still taking their lives in their hands and crossing this traffic-heavy street against the light.

It was time for the ending of a perfect evening.  An unexpected $155 in their pocket.  And a big bright full Harvest Moon lighting the Uber ride back home as they snuggled in the back seat thinking of how they were still making happy Las Vegas memories.

Recently I heard from one reader who told about a good June promotion at the Vegas downtown Four Queens Casino.  Unfortunately, they don’t put details of their promos on their website, but you could have found them if you had regularly checked this Vegas Values one I highly recommend.   The Four Queens is not a fancy place, but a top choice if you are looking for reasonable room rates, with NO resort fee; some good restaurants, including the classic Hugo’s Cellar; a nice selection of good VP; and free parking for hotel guests and free validation parking for players and restaurant customers.  Here at the LVA website, it is one of their TOP TEN bargains – and very high on my frugal list.

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Q:  Jean, have you taken advantage of the Atlantis Resort trip that Caesars offers to customers in their 3 top tiers.  I hear things are pretty expensive down in the Bahamas.

A:  Brad and I haven’t done this trip and all I know about it is from the Caesars website.   But I did hear from a reader who was looking for frugal hints.

The most common tip I hear is to find a cab from a good company and pick up lots of groceries on the ride from the airport to store in the fridge. I also saw some tips on how to cook on the room iron, but I don’t think we will go that far…

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Q:  I’d like to get to the higher tier levels at Stations Casinos, like President or even Chairman, but I am losing too much money playing at the higher-level machines to get more points faster.  Any suggestions?

A:  I strongly discourage playing beyond your bankroll or comfort level just to achieve a higher tier level.  In almost all cases it would be cheaper to just pay for those higher-level benefits.  However, during your normal play you could choose to play on multiple-point days.  These extra points don’t up your tier score (which is based on “base” points) but you can redeem them for cash or free play which will cover some of your losses.  And here is one player suggestion on how to get to the higher tiers faster and have a vacation at the same time:

Your spending on rooms at Stations are 50X, cocktails at bars 30X, food at restaurants ranges between 10X at the cafe/buffet and 20X at steakhouses. That can add up fast. So, for every $100 you spend on rooms you earn 5000 base points. A nice $100 steak dinner, 3000 base points. That can get you to President quickly without putting a single dime in a machine. Use a staycation to boost your points and get some well-deserved rest.

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Q:  Hi, as an out of towner coming to Vegas in July/Aug, I was wondering what newspaper and day I would look to see if there were any Boyd dining coupons that you mentioned for that time. Thanks.

A:  There is now only one newspaper in town – since The Sun is now a section in the Review-Journal.  But I can’t answer your 2^nd question, since coupons flyers are slipped into the newspaper on no regular schedule.  In fact, I can’t count on checking casino ads on any particular day.  Most often they are in the front section of the newspaper on Sundays, particularly early in the month, but I never can depend on that.  And, as I have mentioned before, sometimes an ad with a new promotion will pop up mid-month!

If you want casino coupons, your best bet is to subscribe to the “Las Vegas Advisor” here at my blog home and you will get a whole book of coupons free.  You can also buy the American Casino Guide which has 182 coupons for casinos all over the U.S, including over 100 for Vegas.

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Not a question, but a comment.  A couple blogs ago I mentioned a July 4^th promotion coming up at South Point.  I had given the details (which are still correct) but stated these differed from past multiple-point days.  Scot Krause, who is always on the ball about promotions, said this one had always had the same details.  I think my 80-year-old brain may be getting a little tired!!!! 

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I hope readers here regularly go to another part of my blog home – the popular QOD (“Question of the Day”).  That’s another place to get your burning questions answered – and sometimes the QOD guru asks for my input. As sometimes happens with all casino information, there are a lot of details and, in trying to summarize in a brief manner, we might miss some of them that would make the answer more complete.  That happened in a recent answer to a question about “crazy VP paytables.”  We mentioned my “Frugal Video Poker Scouting Guide” as a great resource to find the EV of almost 200 of the most common VP paytables.  I – and many other knowledgeable students of the game – won’t ever go to a casino without this small booklet in a purse or pocket.  But it should be mentioned that this booklet is not the only resource you need.  You might occasionally run into an unusual or rare “crazy” schedule that doesn’t appear in the “Scouting Guide.”  Then you need a second important resource – a software program that allows you to modify paytables AND, very importantly, provides a strategy chart so you can play any schedule accurately.

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Down through the years I have tried to answer all of the questions players ask me, whether these questions are posed in the “Comments” at the end of each blog, in private e-mails, or in person.  Sometimes my answers will come to you in an individual e-mail or on an Internet forum.  And occasionally you will find answers in the QOD or in a blog like today’s!