7 weeks in Vegas……Part 8 Week 7

Sunday Day 43

I am up early thanks to a sensible bedtime, and had toyed with the idea of going to Laughlin as I had never been there……It’s not too hot at 8 AM and I decide today’s the day.

I leave the Cal parking garage and get on 95 South……within 40 minutes, you’d never believe Vegas (or any civilization) existed as you drive through MILES of desert without seeing a manmade structure other than the tarmac, and a wire fence on the roadside. Talk about desolate.

I stop in Searchlight and think about getting breakfast, at the Searchlight Nugget, a casino that makes Casino Royale look enormous. I play an antique nickel slot there (cuz I think they are very cool) and lose 2$. I decide to continue to Laughlin and eat there.

I arrive in Laughlin about 10:30 AM, and cruise the ‘Strip”, picking the places I want to stop in. By now, it is HOT out, and getting hotter. The Golden Nugget and the Pioneer (?) sort of share a parking lot…I walk the nugget and the machines have bad paytables….don’t even think I placed a bet there……walk over to the Pioneer and sign up for a slot card for my collection. They have a Sunday buffet for 10 bucks, and the place REALLY has a 1940’s Western feel to it. I get Crazy Dave (his own moniker) for a waiter, and head to the buffet……They had something called strata which I am totally unfamiliar with….it was like a ground beef /chili/egg and potato layered lasagna thing, and was awesome. Everyone was very friendly, and the attitude is WAY more laid back than Vegas.

I also hit the Colorado Belle, a ‘riverboat’ style casino, and I stop at the original Don Laughlin’s Riverside, and see an awesome antique slot machine collection. Don’s and the Belle, both have poker rooms; I don’t think the others did. The Colorado Belle is really nicely decorated, and has a brewpub, and kick ASS air conditioning. I think I would stay there if I ever spent time in Laughlin.

I did minimal gambling (-25) and grabbed an ice tea and some gas for the road, and headed back….the temp by now (1:30?) was up to about 116. I worried about the car, but it was fine.

I stopped on the way back at Cal-Nev-Ari, an airstrip with a mini-town of trailers built around it, and grabbed a slot cup from the slot joint/bar/restaurant combo. Back to Searchlight, where I stopped at the only other casino besides the Nugget, some amalgam of Terrible’s. It was shit….no table games, and bad paytables.

I played some VP at Main St St, losing about 220, and got Ronny’s phone number….he and I made plans to get out on Weds or Thurs and do the Venetian 7PM 125$ buy in tournament….I turned in early, and suddenly it is……

Monday, 1AM Day 44

Head down to wander in MSStation and play some VP; lost 300, and started pouring hundreds in to a triple play 9/6 DDB (98.98%) machine…..was dealt 3 aces *3* times and couldn’t pull a fourth…..then I get a hand where I get dealt *one* ace, and the bottom line gives me 3 MORE aces, and a 3 of clubs for a 2k handpay.

I wanted to check out the ‘overs’ game at Texas StationI stupidly decide 2:30 AM on a Monday morning is a good time to play 2-4-8-nl…..I drive to TxSt and the poker room looks like Tiger Woods house on a recent weekend….nobody home. I play some Super Aces and pocket 280, then go next store to the Fiesta, where I fart around and win about 60 bucks.

Since I am up this way I decide I’ll kill some time at Sante Fe St. as I have a free buffet to eat. I lose 660, but use my 2 free buffets to buy breakfast for a guy and his wife, and he buys me one breakfast with cash. The Sante Fe poker room is equally empty…..buffet was above average….

I head back downtown. Park, and walk thru the Cal. I pull up to the 1$ 9/6 DDB machine that I hit the royal on on Day 2 and put in 100. First hand it deals me 3 deuces, and I pull the 4th deuce and an ace kicker for 800$..TYVM Cash out.

I bop around downtown and am waiting to check into my 4queens room; I play some stupid penny slot there and make 46$. I still need to kill time so I check out the Horseshoe poker room. Me and one other kid try to get a 1-2 NL game going…..we verbally agree not to bet more than 5$ until a few more people arrive, and the house agrees to no rake/no jackpot. We play for 20 minutes and can’t even get one more player. We agree that this is boring, and we decide to play Heads up 5-10 Omaha high. This was a good move for me, and after 20 more minutes of no one joining, I leave up 4 $ overall.

Checked in at QQQQ and napped out until 11PM…..But my 4Q room was WAY too noisy, so I went down to the front desk, and they move me to…..a SUITE? At the 4 whores? WoW! Well, as it turned out, it was nice-ER, but still not great….but well worth requesting room 1748 in the South Tower. Tell them it was your lucky room.

I decided to head to the strip, to play some cards, and decided to check out the Poker room at ClownTown (circus circus) I wait about an hour to get a seat and I’ve already sized up the table before I even sit down. Unfortunately, the biggest fish leaves 20 minutes later, but I manage to pick up 60$ in an hour. The game is boring, and I head to TI. As I descend the escalator, I see DOZENS of people speaking sign language (is that an oxymoron?) and get seated at the poker table (1-3NL) with a few signers. I spot 2 fish to pick on, make money on one good hand (kings I think) and they leave…….so do I.

I’m awake and feel like driving, so I head south and contemplate going to South Point, but am hungry, so I pop into the “Boulevard Restaurant” and get Italian food…at 4AM (love vegas)

I head back to my semi-sweet-suite

Tuesday Day 45 July something (20th?)

I’m awake after a nap and screw around at the QQQQ….Play some 10/7 DB and hit some quads for a nice profit. I go for food at Magnolias since I have to burn-or-lose some comps today.

The QQQQ has a 2007 blue Foose Mustang convertible you can win on a penny slot…I decide to throw 40 bucks at it. The machine is actually treating me ok, and I am still at 40 bucks 20 minutes later. I decide to switch to the machine to the right, cash out my ticket, and as I’m sliding my ass over I see a guy bee-lining to the machine I am about to play…..we look at each other and I say….”Go ahead…doesn’t really matter anyway”….he puts in 20$ and we play in silence….I make a good hit on my machine to get up to 100$, and he’s still hanging around 18 bucks….a minute later I look over, and he has hit for $800! I say something along the line of “nice hit!” in a cool/friendly way….he cashes out and leaves…….a minute later, he approaches me with 2 20s in his hand and says “ Hey, it was nice of you to let me have the machine…this is for you…..” WOW….very cool of him……! I politely declined the money (What was I thinking!) But who says there’s nobody nice in Vegas?

I end up making a wager on the Orioles to beat Tampa at +180, and they win 7-6 in 13 innings for a tidy profit….Back to sleep ending day 45 +14.6K

Wed day 46 7/21

I’m up at 1AM again…..play some 10/7 DB at the 4 ladies and pick up 230; I’m in the ‘vp’ mood so I go to the Nugget and lose 600 at 5$ 9/6 Jacks or better…decide to drive over to Sam’s town….again play 5$ 9/6, and the machine deals me 4 6s for 625$, I cash out up 675. I grab a donut and coffee at Dunkin Donuts (have missed them for 7 weeks!) and fart around on Boulder highway, hitting the Longhorn to burn a BJ match play (won 36 at BJ) and the Skyline (+230)

I stop in at the Joker’s Wild (it’s 7AM) and inspect their VP machines. I find exactly *1* good machine; It’s a single line 1$ 8-5 Super Aces (99.94%) and I pull two cards to trip nines for quads and do the Arthur Duffy with a 250 profit. I meander back downtown for more VP action.

I win here, lose there, nothing dramatic, and tally a 38$ loss for the day after a 700$ beating at the QQQQ.

Thursday day 47 7/22

It’s moving day, for the Final time, as I am leaving Saturday. I kill some time downtown and head over to Boulder Station where I have been comped….another Suite! This one looks like a room I would have expected to find at the Horseshoe circa 1980……no safe, so I have to be imaginative in hiding my ‘roll’, since I have now checked out of the Mirage Box (Thanks again Chris!)

I hit on a triple play Super Aces for 2k, and with some earlier miscellaneous play, I am up 1270 for today….I eat at the Mex place there, and they have a kick-ass salsa bar……One of the cocktail waitresses had recommended the shrimp thing that comes stuffed with cheese and wrapped in bacon, and the carne asada burrito. and it was excellent. (and she was hot!)

During the afternoon, I saw a humorous slot called ‘Hot Flashes,’, whose reel symbols basically depicted various things a woman with PMS might deal with….hilarious!

I played some 4-8 HE and lost 51, and had assorted other VP losses of 200$.

Ronny picked me up and we went to the Venetian Tournament. I played well but got pot-committed at the end in a 3-way pot against a very loose guy with a big stack, and a tight guy….finished about 24th out of 90. Ronny made the money and got knocked out when his AK lost to AJ. We had swapped 10% of our action, so I got 40$ back! Then he took me out for late night sushi behind the Italian place across from the Hard Rock….we feasted….Yumm-o.

Bedtime

( No more poker content) Friday day 48 July 23 and Saturday July 24th Day 49

I packed up and shipped home some items that I had no way to carryhome, and stopped at MSS and won about 600 at VP;

Met Mark, the owner of the brand new British Pub at the Riviera….say hi if you stop in…they have dart boards in the back room!

I end up losing about 600$ during these 2 days at various VP. Nothing noteworthy other than 1 more W2G at Super Aces and a huge loss at 5$ BP.

I return the rental car, and fly wearily home.

Some totals:

All Gambling +15675
Slots -1391
VBJ Video Keno -162
Sports +88
21 -742
Craps +1058
Pai gow, roulette, and other table games +145

All Poker (Cash and tournament) +3280 in 149 hours
1-2 NL +464/53 hrs
1-3 NL +364/10hrs
2/5NL -174/4hrs
All Limit -644/40 hrs
Tournaments +3216/ 42hours 1 trophy

All Video Poker +~13300

Video poker stats:

33 straight flushes, of which 11 were Royals;
474 Quads
23 W2G forms
3 wins of >4500$

Major Expenses

Car 1100
Tips 1600
Airfare 600
Misc (gas, uncomped food, etc) 750
Hotel rooms 57$ (F-you, Venetian and your stupid resort fee)

Net profit 11700

And, for anyone reading from the Internal revenue service, I made 3 5200$ craps bets on the way out of town and lost them all.

Thanks for reading!