While doing laundry, I play some bad VP at the laundry place and end up hitting quads and adding 50 bucks to my 'roll.' Laundry for the trip is now officially complete, and has cost me nothing, inclusive of VP during laundry.

I head over to the palms about midnight and go on a serious video poker binge. During and After drinking 4 McCallan's (single malt), I lose 1000 at 10-7 Double Bonus, and then 2000 MORE playing assorted 3 play and 5 play DDB. At some point I made it over to a 'wheel poker' machine and spun the wheel to turn a 130$ ticket into about a 450 dollar ticket....I 'go for broke' (as this is almost all the money I have on my person at this time) and play $5 triple play DDB (75$ a hand) On about hand 8 or 9 I am dealt 3 aces, and pull the fourth one on the top line for 4150$ and turn a nightmare into a profit Palms + 1050

It's 3 AM and I'm sober enough to drive to the Orleans to play some cards. My key hand is thus;
1-2 NL, I'm on the button, and watch 4 people limp. I call with 4-2s and we end up 6 ways to a board of Q42. A tight old black man SHOVES 109$ into a 14 $ pot and I debate the odds he has a set of 4s or 2s. I'm putting him on kq. I snap call, and I watch the dealer turn over a 7 and a k. Sure enough, he has kq and rivered 2 larger pair than I and I congratulate him on his good fortune. Right. To end my session, I flop a set with JJ on a board of qj4 and lose to kt when the river brings an ace.

1.4 hours -295

I wander the Orleans, and bet the Don't Come on the craps table for 100; guy rolls an 11; -100

Walk over to check out the somewhat recently remodeled Alligator bar. I drop a hundred into the 1$ 8/5 Bonus Poker and look for the waitress. On the 11th hand (at the Orleans you can figure out easily exactly how many hands you've played ) I get dealt AQJT of spades. I discard the rag, and the most beautiful King of spades appears in the center of the screen for 4000$ Thus in the last 12 hands of video poker I've played, I won 8150 dollars.

While I am waiting to be paid, A white guy is on an absolute screaming tirade, complaining about "bleeping asian dealers'. This guy starts ranting in the pit area, walks WELL past the cage, and all the way back to the POKER ROOM area, (if you know the Orleans, you know how far a walk we are talking) SCREAMING and SWEARING about Asian dealers. Security takes little notice, and this goes on for OVER 5 minutes! Note to self: Don't count on security at the Orleans. Ya can't make this stuff up.

I go to my Rio room at 5AM.

I shower and clean up, and decide to take some of this lovely profit and do something with it. Well, I check out the high limit room at the Rio, which is pretty damn quiet at 7AM. I finally find a full pay (9-6 Jacks or better) VP machine...the problem? it is a 100$ machine. Just to say I'd done it, I put a 100$ bill in and play 1 credit. It deals me a pair of jacks! I draw and get a pair of 5s for 2 pair! Cashout! +100.

I decide to drive down to the Rainbow Peppermill in Henderson, to play the best (8-5, 99.94%) Super aces game in existance. (Though they have no slot club) I get up about 1200, and then my machine goes completely limp, and I drop a total of 3335. So much for that last royal at the Orleans. I ask the waitress what she has heard about the Mexican place across the street. "It's a good place to park if you work graveyard." Everybody's a comedian.

What a day this has been...lose 3k, win 8150 and then lose 3300...welcome to Vegas. I drive wearily back to the Palms, eat Mex, and head to my Rio room. I realize at 1 point after the Orleans Royal and the rainbow 1200, I had reached my high point for the trip; up about 18k. By the way it is now about noon on Weds, Day 39 July 14. I nap out and decide some 1-3 NL is in order at the 'normal' Rio Poker room, now that all the cash games in the Pavillion have been broken down for the WSOP. I go on a tear, getting JJ 4 times and KK once in 75 minutes, and win 581. I walk to the Gold Coast for more poker and food, losing 277 in 2 hours of 1-2, and dropping 120 at 1$ 9-6 VP.
While on a smoke break from the poker room, I play some triple play 9-6DDB and hit 4 aces with a kicker for 2 grand, putting me in profit from the 12 I put in waiting for my seat in the 1-2 game. I head back to the Rio and need something to gnaw on, and go to the gift shop. In front of me are these 3 drunk 22-ish year olds. They buy ***92***$ worth of candy, including every twix bar in the place (41 of them at 1.99 each)Then they start GIFTING them to everyone around ("Yes, I would love one, thank you very much.") I left it for the maid with my tip in the morning.

I am calling this the end of Day 39; up almost 14.5k.

Thursday Day 40 7/15

I move downtown today, and need to check in to the Cal. I get there about 11 AM, and am second in line. I remark to the Hawaiian (what else?) woman in front of me that I'm surprised there is only 1 person behind the desk. "Yes, and she's not too swift, either....." was the reply.....

By 1:30 I am sitting at the Main St Station Boar's head bar (my favorite) I win 40 bucks, and go up to the Sports book to bet the over on the Bosox-9.5 runs. Then I go play some 10-7 DB at the Cal....I put in 140 dollars and lose it, put in another 100, and am on my last 5 credits when I pull 4 aces for 800......VP +560.

I play some 5 and 10-play Super Aces and lose 715, then napped out in my Cal room; I then awoke and lost about 540 at MSS on 1$ DDB and Bonus poker.

I head to the Nugget to play some poker, and win 214 in 4 hours, including a great check-raise bluff with bottom pair. The guy to my left was giving the dealer a good-natured hard time, and he looked familiar.....I heard the dealer call him Perry, and asked if he was the famous "South Point Perry", and that he was. Perry played well, but I think he was down a small amount when I left, and he was headed out with 'Evil" for an event. Really enjoyed his company and comedy.

Back at MSS, I played Various VP while talking to Ronny, the poker-playing bar-tendiner at MSS. Then I hear the video poker 'jackpot' music behind me. I turn around and don't see anything good on the lady's screen. In fact, she has made a 3 coin bet, gotten 3 aces, and the machine is locked up, playing mucic.....weird. As I head back to my room, I walk down a row of machines and see a ticket sticking out of the machine. I walk up, pull the ticket out, and am 17.50 wealthier, bringing the 'found money' total for this trip to 49$. Another 'reverse miscellaneous expense".

Off to bed, end day -770, trip +13700

Fri Jul 16th day 41.

This is an ugly day.

I drive to Henderson and stop at the Skyline on Boulder HWy to play soem of the great VP paytables they have.....I drop about 125 there, and head back to the dreaded Rainbow Club.

There, I am dealt **18** 3 of a kinds, at triple play, and do not hit **1** quad. That's 0 for 54 on a 1 in 23 shot. Google tells me there is only an 8% chance of that happening. C'est la vie. Rainbow club.......-5360 (OUCH OUCH OUCH)

I drive back to the City and lose 300 more at MSS. I decide to do what I always do when I take a beating....sleep.

Sat day 42 7/17

I'm up at and pick up 200 at the MSS bar, then head to Boulder Station for a free buffet. I make 230 there on the 'Optimal Play' machines (10-6 DDB)

Then I play some cards, losing 110 at the 4-8 Omaha High game (I'm determined to be ahead in that game before I die) and 20 at 1-2 NL.

I sit down to play some VP and a guy from the OMAHA table comes and sits next to me. He recognizes me and says' Son, you got a lot of bad habits."

I proceed to continue yesterday's losing ways, dropping 1700. I sit down and think of my friend Mike back in Mass and say "what would Mike play?" (mike is a notoriously loose gmabler, not caring about paytables or 3 outers.) I decide Mike would play the bad Super Aces paytable, and strat feeding 100s into a 6-5 Super Aces (97.3%??) and sure enough, playing 10 coins on each line, hit 4 aces for 4k, and cash out 4500.

I head back to MSS and play some VP and Craps, adding 275 to my 'roll';

I head to the Nugget to start drinking and playing poker (ALWAYS a good combo....heh heh....)

I take a smoke break from the 1-2 game and head over to the 'always dangerous when you have money in your pocket' Hilimit area at the Nugget. Knowing I have about a week left, and being ahead, I want to take a few shots at a major Jackpot. And it's time to start. I lose 400 at $10 9-6 JoB and then start feeding 100s into the 25$ machine. 125$ a hand.....hmmmm....not smart.........after less than 12 hands, I am dealt 2 aces and pull 2 more for 125 credits....which at 25$ a credit is 3125$. BOOM!

I take 300 of this, put it on the Come at the craps table and watch the shooter throw a 7. Nothing is going wrong now......except I lose 64$ at the 1-2 game.

It's now midnight....bedtime for bonzo.

day +5121 (about what I lost at the Rainbow) trip +13k

End of Part 7

Coming soon.....Part 8, the finale...Laughlin, Boulder Station, crazy Dave, and the tallies