Last week we left our elderly couple outside the El Cortez pondering their next move. They actually were surprising themselves by feeling perky and even a little adventurous. So instead of calling Uber and heading home for a usual early bedtime, they decided to head a block south. The Fremont East area was only moderately crowded at this early evening time, but they knew all those bars would be hopping later. However, they started encountering heavy crowds once they crossed Las Vegas Boulevard and entered under the Fremont Experience canopy.
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 3rd 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.
The Power of Love and Friendship
We are totally enveloped in the warmth of love as the flood of well wishes pour in for our upcoming retirement and move to GA. They have come here in the Comments, on Facebook, in my Inbox, and when you see us in a casino. So many many friends! We have met many of you in person down through the years, but we are amazed how many of you we “know” even though we have only “met” in cyberspace and recognize you only by your Internet moniker. And we are finding out that we have had many more friends than we knew about – those secret ones who we never saw in person or were never visible on the Internet but just now are revealing their long-time closeness to us via my writings.
If we didn’t have a dollar to our name, we would be super rich in friendships!
Many of you have responded to my call for questions you’d like me to answer before I close out my blogging here. One friend who has kept track of our families remarked that I hadn’t posted a recent picture of my sisters. Well, here is one that was taken recently when middle sister, from North Carolina, came to visit the two Vegas sisters and we were able to have one of our every-five-year pictures taken. Here, right-to-left, is Starr, 70, then June, 75, and finally the 80-year old!
Others have asked questions about Brad’s health, with those seeing him in person remarking that he is “looking good.” And he does get around pretty well, mostly with a cane and only using a walker when there are longer distances. He has recently been diagnosed with the beginnings of heart failure (a heart pumping problem) and with vascular parkinsonism, in which parkinsonian symptoms (slow movements, tremor, difficulty with walking and balance) are produced by narrowing or blockage of blood vessels, rather than by gradual loss of nerve cells as seen in the more typical neurodegenerative Parkinson’s disease. This is on top of his previous long-time heart problems after a heart attack in 2003 – A Fib and coronary artery disease – but thankfully modern medicine has had many answers for him – a pacemaker, 7 coronary stents, and an extensive menu of meds. He is slowing down – but with lots of naps, he continues to get out and about. As he says, he is probably doing better than most men coming up on age 88!
Many of the questions pertain to our future. I have already mentioned that I will continue this blog through December and into January. I may want to do some other writing but I don’t know what form that might take – I do love to write. I will probably continue to read and contribute to the vpFREE forum whenever I come across helpful gambling information. And I definitely plan to use my Facebook account to chat about Brad’s and my future activities. Search for “Jean Scott” and ask to be my friend if you aren’t already. But one thing I am pretty sure about: I won’t tackle writing another book or take any writing assignment with a deadline. I am retiring from stress!
And probably the most frequent query is about what gambling we will do once we leave Las Vegas. And most people don’t believe this answer – very little if any! It is hard to explain – but we almost never gambled in a casino just for fun after our first trip to Las Vegas in April 1984. After that trip, we decided this was the fun-est time we had ever had, but we knew we wouldn’t be in a financial position to lose $3000 very often– as we had that time – for this kind of vacation. So, I went to the library to start studying how we could have this fun without losing money. And the rest is history.
Actually, we have been “practicing” for our retirement from casino gambling these last couple of months in Vegas. First, we were learning to accept the reality that physical and mental limitations would majorly cut down on casino visits. And then, it had been very obvious for a long time that there are very few advantage plays that don’t depend on future benefits, like mailers with bonus-points dates and free play. So, we have played a few times just for fun since we would not be here to collect those future benefits. For example, instead of playing the higher EV but more boring single line NSUD video poker game, we would choose an 8/5 Bonus Poker game on Spin Poker, with a lower EV but more fun for us. We never had played the very exciting Ultimate X at the higher denominations in the past because we didn’t want to study a new very complex strategy. But finding it at 10-play nickels – or even pennies – paytables be damned – sometimes has provided us an hour or so of fun with just a small “entertainment fee.”
The closest casinos to Columbus, GA, are Harrah’s Cherokee and Biloxi, both a 4-5-hour drive away. We probably wouldn’t make a special trip that far just for fun play, and with no comps. Flying is getting very difficult for Brad so that rules out a trip to Vegas or any other casino city just for fun. We’ve had about all the fun we can stand in the 35 years visiting casinos. If we just happen to be in a casino sometime, perhaps on a family vacation, we probably would give the grands a few bills and watch them play the slots. Or, we might find a new VP game that looks interesting in which to invest some of our fun money. But we are definitely retiring from advantage play and leaving the casino lifestyle. And with no regrets – it’s been a fantastic life that will give beautiful memories forever. But now we are ready for a new adventure – just perhaps one a little less busy and more peaceful.
Next week I’ll answer more of your questions. Fire away!
And by the way, if you want to have a book autographed or just want to say good-bye, Brad and I will be at the Gold Coast on Wednesday, December 18, between 4-5 p.m. We will be in the drawing area.