Category: Lifestyle & Travel Tips

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Bobby Vegas — A Pirate Seeking Treasure

Bobby Vegas: Friends Don’t Let Friends Play Triple-Zero Roulette

On a North Carolina Barrier Island, true pirates abandoned horses hundreds of years ago and their descendants still roam. There, I collect seashells, bags full, then haul them back to my lair, happy in my discoveries and tickled by my finds.

I’m a lover of old vinyl. Searching through the dusty worn $1 bins for that elusive find, I saw Ahmad Jahmal’s One. It’s worth $25. A great jazz album or an old Four Tops in near mint condition. Nice.

And in Vegas, I search for that elusive golden moment where all the cards come up hearts or spades. Diamonds are fine too and no, I don’t hate clubs.

And having researched the venue and stacked my deals and coupons, I’ve tilted the odds in my favor, so the winning is just the confirmation. It’s “just a game” for me, less about the amounts I’ve won and more about the adventure. Though the money doesn’t hurt either.

I’ve found that this is what I love — learning a new field, finding some valuable knowledge, applying it and hopefully walking away a winner, then sharing that tale with you. These things leave me satisfied.

Searching for hidden values. Discovering a silver dish in a thrift store. Not quite as adventurous as Black Beard, but a 50/50 matchplay will do fine for me in 2025.

What do you search for? And why? Why do you come to Vegas? To pretend to be a high roller? Or maybe you actually are and just want to live it out guilt free. Your favorite performer’s incredible show? The exotic dining? A sexual fantasy fulfilled? For the whole experience?

Which games do you choose over others? What’s the psychology behind your game choice? The tight win potential of blackjack? The camaraderie of craps?

I like video poker. It’s clean, clear, thoughtful, absorbing. I can play at my own speed and am not at risk to the whims of a roller calling out stupid plays.

I really like craps, but the style of play and the decision tree don’t work well for me.

I’m way too transparent to bluff, so I’m not attracted to poker.

Moving right along to news of the day. With the media all over the Vegas crash, the LVCVA has come out with an embarrassingly awful ad campaign. They still don’t get it. Not surprised at all.

Vegas was once a mecca for many things, an adult Disney World, and most folks willingly came hoping for a score, ready to party and play. But when the hustles got so strong and things got tight at home, well, paying $75 to park and walk in the door just left a bad taste.

Will the house learn? Based on their track records, I don’t have a lot of faith in corporate types making good decisions. But Vegas still has ways to play. For me, rule one is simple: Avoid the Strip.

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Bobby Vegas — A Correction on “RF Money without the RF”

Bobby Vegas: Friends Don’t Let Friends Play Triple-Zero Roulette

Mistakes are made. I’m after all human and believe it’s important to correct misinformation I’m responsible for.

Sometimes I’m a little too enthusiastic in reporting my discoveries. Yeah, yeah, maybe not just sometimes. In this case, I apparently rushed to judgment, even after attempting to verify. But after publishing, I was informed by my source that my reporting was incorrect.

So I’m clearing the air here. And I asked Deke to take down the former piece.

In reporting on Carolina Mike’s royal flush money without the royal flush, I learned at a recent lunch that not only had he hit a royal, he instead made up his “losses in achieving the royal” through a combination of comebacks, extra bonus play, matchplays, comps, and some other nice hits.

This is a very different achievement, like the difference between $500 and $2,000. When you swing for the fences, you also strike out.

What I did learn is:

1) Clarify

2) Verify

3) Confirm

Thought I was onto something. I was, partially, but reality is a bear.

Last time I had a problem reporting was suggesting to Anthony Curtis that the Red Robin “Free burgers for a month deal” be publicized on LVA.com. That was a too-good-to-be-true opportunity. It was true; it just didn’t last.

Advantage plays are time sensitive, so it’s important to jump on them before they disappear. In the case of Red Robin, it was so popular, it sold out in minutes and crashed their website.

And about the recent free cookies for a month deal from Tiff’s Treats, I was wrong too. I reported a dozen free cookies every day for a month. It was, instead, for 45 days! I swear, I am so over cookies.

That last underreporting was a result of heading into major surgery when I discovered it and was pretty blurry in my thinking post-surgery. Still, too many cookies isn’t the worst error of my life.

On a separate subject, I want to alert you to a unique way to create a gambling bank or for that matter just get some extra moolah. It seems almost every bank I encounter has multiple bonus signup deals that are really juicy. I’d been getting mailers and used one to set up a separate account for the Frugal Video Poker Strategy Guide. These offers include Wells Fargo, Chase, Truist, and many others. There are deals for opening both personal and business accounts where you deposit a nominal amount of money in a new account and receive within 30, 60, or 90 days a very nice bonus. Deposit $500. Get $300.

There are deals for both straight deposit and direct deposit. I like the straight-deposit deals. Put money in. Get extra money soon after. You want to check the fine print, the type of account, and if there’s a monthly fee. But any way you look at it, it’s good money.

The adventure continues.

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Bobby Vegas — Why I Came To Hate AI and Luv the Hack

Bobby Vegas: Friends Don’t Let Friends Play Triple-Zero Roulette

“Hi, you’ve reached Orwellian Enterprises. Press six to be lost in an endless maze, seven if this drives you crazy.”

Used to be (in the good ol’ dayz), when I wound up in some company’s maddening phone tree, I could just keep hitting 0, eventually defaulting to a live, you know, human. But they figured it out and eliminated that option. Want proof? Try calling Verizon.

I also manage a number of websites that include BobbyVegas and KeepRaleighSquirrrely, etc., so I deal with web companies — a lot.

When Blue Domino eliminated live customer service, I eliminated Blue Domino and switched to GoDaddy. Go! Daddy!

Recently I encountered this worrying trend at two of my favorite places, the Plaza and Rio. And here’s another shoutout to Jonathan Jossel, president of the Plaza. Yo! JJ! Thank you! You dumped the AI girl on your phone system! My man! Back to old school is cool. Where humans rule!

Meanwhile, at the Rio, a very cheerful voice answers, “Hi! I’m Stacey! How can I help you?”

Being an OWG (Old White Guy) and an easy mark for the female persuasion, I hear a friendly voice, I assume it’s a human. Alas, after one or two questions, it’s clear Stacey is actually a GoogleBot.

When asked for a less-than-direct answer like, “I need to make a reservation using my LVA coupon, but I don’t have my Rewards number,” Stacey responds ever so cheerfully,
“Okay! I can help you with that!” then proceeds to do just the opposite.

My problem? I always have a question. AI’s problem? My query rarely fits auto response.

I recently read a critique of AI that it’s not “intelligent.” It’s just a ginormous database, scouring matching words like auto spell check … which also drives me crazy.

A friend recently used AI for a VP strategy query and literally got the wrong answer.
People, AI doesn’t THINK. It repeats what it finds. Right or wrong.

So I keep asking for a Rio AGENT and lo and behold … a human!

A note about using the LVA MRB coupon for an amazing 30% off the best rate and NRF (NO Resort Fee) saving $57 a night at the Rio: BE PATIENT. They always go, “Wow. Great rate. Let me check with my supervisor.”

Just chill. It’s worth the wait.

My five-night stay — Sunday through Thursday, king bed, Masquerade Tower (my fave, old school, great view of the Strip, and a tub!) was … Oh wait. In my last blog I claimed $135 for four nights. I lied. It was $122 for five nights. Oops. My bad.

I haven’t seen rates like that since the Stardust back in the day ($17 with $10 back and a $5 buffet coupon.)

Oh and one other thing. Why is it always Stacy or Tracy?

Why not KinkyRiotGrrl or UsedToBeASpearmintRhinoStripper? If you’re going to do Vegas AI, I mean, be Vegas. OK?

Better yet … delete!

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Bobby Vegas — Gift Cards, Points, and Straddles Oh My

Bobby Vegas: Friends Don’t Let Friends Play Triple-Zero Roulette

Who knew giving away a dozen free cookies a day would be so hard. Help me. Please. My blood sugar begs you. Or planning an almost free trip to Vegas.

With the launch of the Frugal Video Poker Strategy Guide ebook, the $10 discount offered to LVA subscribers (SUBSCRIBE ) or previous purchasers of FVPSG’s hard copy (HARDCOPY), I threw in a dozen free Tiffs Treats cookies (COOKIE) for pickup through End of July, making the whole package if not free ($48 in value for $9.88), at least a fantastic value play.

You get the FVPSG, my “Best VP on the Strip” booklet, and a dozen warm cookies (good till all cookies are sold). Go to my previous blog for details.

As for gift cards, I love gift card deals. If a retailer wants to give me 25% off on something I buy regularly, I’m in. Here’s the problem. People lose their cards. Or forget about them. Me too. Big time. It’s like TITO tickets at Caesars.

Example: I bought a discounted Alamo Drafthouse e-gift card and lost it recently. Then the excellent live customer service person located my card and noticed I had several in my account. Checking the balances, I had over $200 worth dating back four years ! Holy buttered popcorn, Batman! Would AI have found that? No way. That’s one reason I solicit companies with live customer service — and why so many companies are eliminating them.

Next, our local custard place, Goodberry’s, sells discounted gift cards as gifts for friends and well, me. While decluttering, I found four $25 cards I’d lost. It pays to declutter, at least at my house.

As for points and credits, I’m a big fan of Chase Ultimate Rewards points. I charge everything I can, then pay off the balance and accrue enough points for my Vegas flights. My card gives a 25% bonus using their points on their 24/7 live travel portal. $400 plane flight? Only $300. nice.

Next, casino offers and coupons, oh my. I have two comp nights a month at Downtown Grand where they let me straddle. After stacking, I love straddles. I’ll have four nights over Labor Day weekend — two in August, two in September — for free.

Straddling months also works on casino free-play offers like Four Queens. You get two offers on one trip.

Finally, using my Rio no-resort-fee LVA MRB coupon Sunday thru Friday will cost me $127 total for five nights, saving the $285 in resort fees.

I’ll be in Vegas for nine nights and 10 days, free flight on points. Total hotel cost $135.

I still have to pay for my car. Working on that next. Even paying for that, my out-of-pocket trip cost will be under $500. For nine nights. And there were other very good deals at Plaza and the Grand with no resort fee, free parking and daily food comps I didn’t use.

It’s a tough job, but someone’s gotta do it.

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Bobby Vegas — Free cookies AND a Video Poker Strategy Guide for $9.88 ? Heaven

Bobby Vegas: Friends Don’t Let Friends Play Triple-Zero Roulette

Talk about stacking. My “Video Poker Strategy Guide” e-book deal just got, much sweeter. Literally!

Using Tiffs Treats Summer Pass mentioned in my previous blog, I’m giving LVA subscribers a dozen FREE made-to-order warm cookies with the purchase of the mobile “Frugal Video Poker Strategy Guide” e-book and my “Best Video Poker on the Strip” booklet, for $9.88. I’m giving away one dozen every day this month until gone.

They’re packaged in one or two blue-ribbon-wrapped boxes (option for a personal message). You can also gift your cookies.

The cookies would cost $24/dozen. That’s $44 in value for under $10 and that’s a sweet value play.

You just have to pick up your cookies at one of 150 locations. Where? You can find them here.

There are four locations in Las Vegas (Henderson, downtown, Boca Park, and Arroyo), 100 (!) in Texas, 15 in So Cal and Georgia, 6 in Florida, 4 each in Arizona, Colorado, and Kansas and 8 each in North Carolina and Tennessee.

How it works:

1) Find a location you can pick up your dozen free cookies at.

2) Go to BobbyVegas.com. Order your Mobile “Frugal Video Poker Strategy Guide” e-book and “Best Video Poker on the Strip” booklet using code COOKIE for $9.88.

3) Once your VP Strategy Guide and Best VP Booklet are downloaded, go to the CookieDelivery website and choose up to two types of cookies (or order a mixed box), 6 each or 12. I’m into Double Chocolate Chip (I also like Double Bonus Poker) and Banana Nut.

Send an email to [email protected] with your name, email, the name you’ll pick up under, and your (preferred) date, time, and location for pickup.

If the location list doesn’t show the EXACT address, it’s in a Jason’s Deli.

4) Your warm cookies will be waiting for you.

Upon order confirm, we send you the address.

Limitations

LVA Subscribers only.

I have only one dozen free per day to give away, so once that day is claimed, we’ll suggest the next day available for you to confirm.

Pickups from 8:30 a.m. to 9:15 p.m. 7 days a week.

Best to order and then request delivery the next day.

Once all days are claimed, the promotion is over and we’ll announce it on LVA.

Most pick up locations are Jason’s Deli. Some are Tiff’s Treats.

Multiple orders? Yes. You can order as many days as you want ( until all days are claimed) @ $9.88 each.

If you want to get or give 6 or 12 cookies to friends, associates, or family, have at it; $10 for 12 cookies is a very good deal alone. You still get the VP Guides.

Once over, the “Frugal Video Poker Guide” and “Best Video Poker on the Strip” will still be $9.88 for subscribers (SUBSCRIBE) … just no cookies.

Enjoy!

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Bobby Vegas — Welcome to NoResortFeeNation

Bobby Vegas: Friends Don’t Let Friends Play Triple-Zero Roulette

Ya know what I love about Vegas? Casino competition. When they sweat, we win.

A couple corporate casino number crunchers are sitting around at the bar, cooking up short con schemes, and wondering, “So! How can we squeeze another couple of bucks — No, wait! How can we really hose these yahoos out of as many of their hard-earned scheckels as (in)humanly possible? Let’s add a resort fee and charge ’em for things they’re already getting! And a parking fee! And raise prices on everything, even coffee, and make it real hard to cash TITOs, and even charge for plates and tableware on room-service deliveries. And while we’re at it, let’s keep laying off employees to save on the expense side.”

Well, that worked like a charm, to the tune of a billion smackolas a month for a few years and you’re all fat and happy. But you know what? The regulars aren’t just grumbling, but are finally downright PISSED. “Vegas ain’t what it used ta be. Where’s value gone? I’m bein’ hosed six ways thru Sunday.”

A lot of them got their revenge. How? They stopped coming.

Empty rooms. Shows closing. Gross gaming revenue down 10 months in a row. International tourism down 20%. Corporate shills sweating. What to do? Sober up? Fuggedabouddit.

Lightbulb moment. “Let’s drop resort fees!” Brilliant.

Now, I don’t hate to say I told you so. I’m glad I said, “The trickle of No Resort Fees this spring is gonna turn into a river.”

I reported many no resort fee deals (call it NRF), like Treasure Island and Fontainebleau. And just last month Golden Nugget and just this week Resorts World. Ka-ching. Next!

Oh, and a shout out to Four Queens and Binion’s, which are always NRF (plus great video poker and points promos).

I’ve already written about the awesome $125-a-day package at the Plaza: 2 nights, 2 meals a day, unlimited drinks, NRF, and free parking. (Or try their bingo deal.)

Now Downtown Grand is running to catch up: two weekend nights, $100 food an beverage credit, 4 drink tix, upgraded room, free parking (that’s a given) NRF for (drumroll) 250 smackers. Add the food-bev credits, toss in the $50 matchplay at checkin, and you’re talking a Hilton-quality room for $50 a night. On the weekend.
(Use code SMRWEMD. During the week SMRWDAY.)

This is the Vegas I love. Great quality, low cost, gamble till dawn.

And here are a couple of other cool your ***off freebies. $2 ice cream cones at Baskin Robbins right now and my new favorite, at Tiffs Treats, 45 days of a dozen cookies delivered to you or a friend for $99! A $1,000 value. Yummy! And no Red Robin burger debacle either; I already bought it, but Summer Passes are limited, so if you have the munchies or just a sweet tooth, as David Lee Roth sings, JUMP!

Special Announcement: My next, and hopefully last, surgery is Wednesday July 2. Please say a prayer. Whether you believe or not, it helps. Well wishes, sacrificial goats, vestal virgins, it’s all good. Except what exactly is a vestal virgin anyway?

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Bobby Vegas: Living Well Anywhere Anytime

Bobby Vegas: Friends Don’t Let Friends Play Triple-Zero Roulette

I’m a stone cold Vegas nut and I actually live on Dare Street in Raleigh, North Carolina. Raleigh has been in the top five places to live for the past 25 years. I’ve lived here 23 years and still love it.

We have incredible tree cover (The City of Oaks) and on New Years we drop a giant acorn designed by my artist buddy Dave from Third Place Coffee. My yard is full of birds and squirrels. We have long springs (it’s cool and wet today), long gorgeous falls, and in summer we’re a few hours to some of the best beaches anywhere — Outer Banks, Crystal Coast, and Wrightsville — and the mountains to the west. Our 400-acre Dix park is one of the largest city parks in the USA and right behind it, the State farmers market runs seven days a week.

This holiday I was at the NC State Fairgrounds’ weekly flea market, hunting vintage vinyl (and bought a silver money clip; now THAT’S old school, my friends). I picked up 25 albums for $1 each, such classics as Nat King Cole Live at the Sands, Jackie Wilson Live at the Copa, Diana Ross, Herbert Mann, Dionne Warwick, and many more. Score!

The nearest casino is in Danville, Virginia, 90 minutes away (Caesars … yawwwnn). Which is one of the many reasons I love Las Vegas. We have easy access to an international airport (RDU) with a Wright Bros.-inspired design. Southwest flies nonstops to Vegas, along with American and Delta.

Yes, things are getting pricey there and everywhere. So? Watcha gonna do about it? Complain? Raise backyard chickens? (In Raleigh, you can.)

Or … Myself, I subscribe to “triangle on the cheap.”

Eggs are cheapest at Trader Joes. Yes, we have Aldi, Lidl, and Costco. At Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, Tuesday’s are $6 movies. I’m going to see Mission Impossible today. It’s $13 at the Regal.

Besides our original real Southern diners, Watkins Grill and Pam’s Farmhouse restaurant, we have Snoopy’s, where on Tuesdays it’s 2-for-1 hot dogs. Cook Out (our In n Out”) has them every day, with 50 flavors of milkshakes. And how about Fresh Market’s Thursday $5 sushi, $5 shrimp cocktail, and $6 roast chickens?

To top it all off, there’s the amazing $2 half-pound Monday burger deal just 5 blocks from my house and next to our historic 5 Points Raleigh Rialto Theatre, home of Indy movies, comedy, great music, and one of the longest running Rocky Horror Picture Show’s in the U.S., having played at least once a month for decades. It’s been there so long, the children and grandchildren of folks who used to go now go see it. Yeah, we’re that hip … or crazy .. or both.

What local bargain-hunter resources do you enjoy? It would be interesting to have folks comment on their favorite local value play. Tell us about your favorite local deals

Because while you’re waiting on your next Vegas jaunt, ya gotta have a good time, right? And keep your scuffling chops sharp.

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Bobby Vegas: Points on Points

Bobby Vegas: Friends Don’t Let Friends Play Triple-Zero Roulette

Want $1,000 for your next Vegas trip? It starts at home with the two of the five P’s — proper planning.

A recent Chase credit card promo for 100,000 points that was featured in LVA just ended. If you caught this, it’s a real winner. Those points are worth $1,000 or more. If you missed it, many promos throughout the year are worth grabbing.

I’m a big fan of Chase rewards points, along with a Chase Southwest card. Together they’ve provided me free flights, rental cars with free insurance, and more. Yeah, rentals are my big splurge, but they’ve paid off many times over. Case in point, I get to drive out to Rainbow and Emerald Island in Henderson, where good values abound.

The Chase promo required $5,000 in charges in three months. Paying food, gas, utilities, and other expenses got me there. Of course, it’s important to pay off your card every month to avoid the vicious interest rates, but if you’re charging basics, like food, gas, utilities, and other routine expenses, it should be easy.

When you book through the Chase travel portal, you get a 25% bonus. Let’s say your flight is $400. You use $300 in points. Nice.

I work the systems to get my one week trip to Vegas, complete with air, car, and hotel, for around $600. Yes, for the whole week. At that point, I’m $1,000 ahead even before I’ve landed.

Some folks like the comp route and if that works for you, fine. As for me, I don’t want to be obligated to a casino for playing several hours a day for comped RFB. I live by “stay where I want to stay and play where I want to play.”

I may stay at the Downtown Grand and play some, but will play more at Four Queens, Plaza, and out to Rainbow or somewhere else where the video poker is richer and the points promos are sweeter.

Downtown, your Southwest boarding pass is worth free matchplays at The D and El Cortez. Southwest has nonstops from my Raleigh airport several times a week and no baggage fee when using your Southwest Chase card.

I often do a one way on points to Vegas (Southwest) and a red eye back on another airline, which I prefer, as I don’t like wasting the whole day in the air. And leaving late gives me that whole last day.

If you missed the Chase $1,000 deal, there are still great offers. I find sites like Points Guy excellent resources to keep up on them.

At least once a year, Southwest has card deals where you can easily qualify for a free companion pass for a year. This amazing bonus can easily run $750 to $1,000 in value and that’s on top of your free points. I used to fly on points and my wife on a free companion pass. Again, we saved $750 to $1,000 before we landed.

So work the systems, folks.

You can create a bankroll from savings with proper planning. It’s a great feeling to be ahead $1,000 before you land.

Enjoy!

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Bobby Vegas: A Break in the Blog Dam

Bobby Vegas: Friends Don’t Let Friends Play Triple-Zero Roulette

I’ve been having severe medical problems over the last 9 months. After six trips to the ER/Triage, three surgeries and one under emergency conditions, and two months of catheters, I’ve lost 38 pounds. At several points in the process, my crew was very very concerned. So was I.

But I’m a tough old bird (it takes a lot to kill me), and though I’m not exactly bouncing back, I am up and grumbling.

I haven’t been publishing my blog every couple of weeks, which is another indication of how severe it’s all been. Writing this blog is an honor and a joy for this unrepentant old Vegas scuffler.

And now … sigh … my issues are exacerbated by flying, so I won’t be back in Vegas for at least another three months. I’ve got plenty to write about, but I’ll be pining for video poker, the dance floor at the Pinky Ring, comped meals, and scoping out the latest “shews,” as Ed Sullivan used to say.

I can’t get to Vegas unless I drive. And I live in North Carolina. Before you ask, no, Harrah’s Cherokee just doesn’t do it for me.

In short, life has slowed me down in a way I’ve not seen in nearly seven decades.

Please bear with me. I apologize that I may be slow in responding to comments on my blog. Our system doesn’t alert me when a comment posts, so unless I sign in I don’t see them, some time for weeks. You can also reach me at bobbyvegas.com

Luckily, I still have plenty to write about. I continue to see deals getting better (eternal optimist that I am). I get offers from over a dozen casinos, including juicy mailers from the Rainbow. Treasure Island, Fontainebleau, and Plaza are sending creative deals, such as no resort fee, free parking, and in the case of the Plaza, all-inclusive packages starting at $125 night that come with two meals a day (Hash House a Go Go included) , unlimited drinks, and access to all the resort-fee amenities including free parking, pool, exercise access, and more. The Bingo deal is even better.

Is this a sign of prices stabilizing and deals getting better? Are you seeing good deals? If so, tell us about them, please.

Finally, last year I cut a deal with Anthony to create a downloadable-app phone version of Jean Scott’s fantastic Video Poker Scouting Guide, which I’ve cheered on in my blogs as it’s led me to literally thousands of dollars in video poker wins. We expect it to be up and running in May. Stay tuned.

And please, keep me in your thoughts and prayers.

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Bobby Vegas: The Cat in the Hat

Bobby Vegas: Friends Don’t Let Friends Play Triple-Zero Roulette

Why gamble when some high roller buys the hat off my head for $1,720?

I’d come to town to celebrate the one-year anniversary of my favorite dance spot ,The Pinky Ring, squire my aspiring advantage player Sean, meet music friends, take meetings on projects, and of course hit the video poker hard.

Sean offered to get me a comped room at Aria ($500) and let me use his premium Caesars and MGM cards, so I didn’t have to pay for parking (saving $125 ). I always rent a car, my big splurge, and this trip it was $35 a day. Not too shabby.

I hustled over to Aria, checked in, and hopped over to Bellagio.

The Pinky Ring with Bruno Mars and the Hooligans is a madhouse, totally over capacity. The hosts are frantic, so it takes an unprecedented 20 minutes to get in.

I’m dancing with two lovely ladies — Jenny from Seattle and Serena from Santa Barbara — for a good 45 minutes (for perspective, I was older than both of their ages combined), then head up the riser to stand by the sound and light guys, have a Perrier, and catch my breath.

An inebriated high roller comes up to me holding out a wad of $20s and says, “I’m buying your hat.” Entitled? Anyone?

I’m wearing my iconic Kenyan Kente’ bucket hat, Afro-centric design crossed with Keith Harring.

I love this hat. Everywhere I go (Costco, on the street, even earlier at the Pinky Ring), I get compliments on it. I’ve been trying to find a copy online, but no luck, even with a Google image search. The guy I bought it from for $20 at a (of course) dance event had disappeared.

This swaggering high-roller has the back-center-court $10,000 VIP booth with Bruno in the next booth. Of the six lovely young ladies in his, one might have been his girlfriend and the other five her girlfriend’s. Who knows?

So I say to him, “Sorry, man but this hat? It’s irreplaceable. One of a kind. I can’t sell it.”

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out some purple and yellow Wynn chips, $500 and $1,000 each, definitely a big-time player in town for a $50K weekend. He puts a purple on top of the $20s.

“Man, you’re making this really hard …”

Then he places a yellow $1,000 chip on the pile.

Stunned, I take the $1700+. That’s 86-to-1. Best bet in ages.

He gets the hat. I later see one of the ladies wearing it.

I’ve been in town 48 hours. I cashed the chips. The next day I find the material online.

Cool cats? Get ready for Bobby Vegas bucket hats.