Cameron's Trip Report, Nov. 8-15, 2008, part 2 of ?

Here is the 2nd installment of "Cameron's Trip Report, Nov. 8-14, Part 2 of
?"

GAMBLING CON'T.

PART III: SLOTS

Now, I don't usually play slots, but I can't resist a wacky slot with a
bonus round & a progressive jackpot, so I played some Wheel of Fortune &
Joker's Wild slots. Nothing like slot machines based on game shows. I didn't
do too bad on the JW machines, only played a quarter one @ Four Queens & a
penny one @ the Golden Gate. They had one at the Gold Spike, but I didn't
play it. I played a $1 WOF @ the El Cortez & that thing was tight. Oh sure,
I got to hit the wheel a few times, but it never paid more than $30. I
played a 5-reel penny WOF @ the Four Queens, which lost me a lot of dough,
but I won most of it back on a nickel video WOF slot. That was on Monday;
the incident at the Four Queens put out the fire to play them anymore for
the trip. Which is kind of amazing, because the next night when I was at the
LV Hilton, they had a room on the way to the sportsbook that was nothing but
WOF machines & they had a big sign stating that as well; I think it was in
neon. Fancy & as luring as it was, I didn't play, but I did take a look
around.

On my last night in town, Donna & I played these two penny machines at the
LVC that had these small progressives that hit regularly. The smallest one
started at $5, the next one at $15, the next one was around $240, and the
top one was $5200. We played for a couple of hours, competing to see who
could get the smaller progressives first, because once they were hit, they
went back down to $5 & $15. I think the highest they got were $10 & $28.
Anyhoo, I finally hit to 2nd biggest jackpot for $242.00. I split the money
with Donna, since she gave me some $20's to put in it. I was tapped out
except for a bundle of singles & was going to use the ATM, but she would
have none of it. After all, she's the Queen of AVLV.

I also got to see Donna work her magic on these $1 Flaming 7's machines @
the Golden Nugget. She said they were programmed to hit frequently & the GN
did have a sign saying that. Sure enough, she hit about 4 triple 7's, each
one for at least $200, including a jackpot, in the 20 minutes or so that I
was watching. That was freakin' amazing. I played one of them my last night
in town & promptly lost my money.

PART IV: BLACKJACK

I played over at the El Cortez with Cyberhog & Jim, one of the 'Hogs, & lost
about $40 (?). The only other time I played was my last night @ the Golden
Gate with some old guy who kept saying how bad the cards were & how bad the
table was, and how the table had been cold for hours, and how he was down
$1000's. Every time I lost a hand, he'd say "See, I told you." He was right,
though; the dealer was uncanny. Luckily for me, I only bought in for $100 &
left when it was gone. The guy had been there all day, was playing $25
chips, & bought in for another $500 while I was there for maybe 10-15
minutes. A few times when he whined about how bad it was going, I made some
crack about how he should maybe try another game, maybe some craps or video
poker. Man, what an idiot. Sure, I've gone thru $200 or $300 at a blackjack
table before, but thousands over many hours? I've learned that if the table
doesn't come around after a few hundred dollars (now it's $100), get up &
walk away. This guy acted like he was chained to the table.

PART V: HORSE RACING

I played the ponies a little bit on Wed., 2nd & 3rd race from Hollywood Park
@ the Plaza, then played the 4th & 5th races there @ the Golden Nugget. I
only won 1 bet, an exact for a lousy $8 & change, and that was it for horse
racing the trip. I only lost about $40 or so, but I just didn't feel it this
time out.

PART VI: VIDEO POKER

Like that line from that book, "It was the best of times, it was the worst
of times". Indeed, it was pretty damn sweet for awhile. Over at the (Las)
Vegas Club, they got these multi-hand VP machines called Wheel Poker, where
every time you hit a 4OAK, you get to spin a wheel on top of the machine &
win an extra 100 to 2000 credits. On Sunday, before the Hogs had supper @
Tony Roma's, I was playing 5-play 25 cent Wheel Poker, double bonus. Son of
a gun if I don't get dealt 5 4OAK's; four 2's. Five of them @ $100 each. Not
only that, but I got to spin that wheel 5 times! That won me an extra
$350-$400! WOW! I'd never been dealt a 4OAK on a quarter machine before, let
alone 5 of them! With me being flush with cash & all, I tried to pull a Tom
in CT & pick up the check at Tony Roma's, but the Hogs would have none of
it! However, Donna did allow me to pick up the bill @ Café Cortez & Sushi
Factory.

After the MNF debacle, I played some quarter 5 play Super Times Pay VP over
at the Fremont. I was down to my last $200 before I'd have to hit the ATM.
However, that wasn't necessary, as I was dealt 5 4OAKs again! Four 3's this
time! Man, that is super sweet! On Thursday morning, I was playing the
quarter 5-play Wheel Poker @ LVC & drew four 9's & got to spin the wheel. It
hit on the 2000 credits for $500! A little later, I drew 4 aces for $200 &
then spun the wheel & hit 800 credits for another $200! Man, I thought the
party would never end. Well, you know as well as I do that the party ALWAYS
ends, and sometimes it ends with a savage beating in a back alley. My back
alley was a couple of hours later in the Golden Nugget.

Donna was gracious enough to treat me to the lunch buffet @ the Golden
Nugget. She came back to town on Wed. & was staying at the Nugget. After
lunch, I decided to play a little craps. After losing $100, I decided to try
some of the 25 cent Super Times Pay VP they have near the cashier cage. I
think that machine was made by Hoover, because it sure sucked up my money
like a vacuum cleaner sucking bread crumbs off a living room carpet. Good
lord, what the hell was I thinking! After the smoke had cleared & the blood
had been cleaned up, I was down to my last $300. Right now would have been a
great time to take a walk, maybe down to the El Cortez & have a drink in
their lounge, maybe watch a little TV in my room @ the Golden Gate. But,
NOOOOOOO, I had to go across the street to Binion's & lose the rest of it
play VP. Later that night, I poured more money into a Wheel Poker machined @
LVC, a different machine, & didn't hit one damn 4OAK. I can grudgingly
accept the losses @ Binion's & LVC, but that loss @ the Golden Nugget gives
me chills & will probably give me nightmare for years to come.



PART VII: CRAPS

Overall, the craps tables were pretty good. Outside of dropping $200 in a
session at the Golden Gate & a few $100 loss sessions at various other
casinos, I came out ahead overall. I won money at the Fitz, California (a
first I think), Golden Nugget, Bellagio, Venetian, & Mirage. My biggest wins
were at the Golden Gate on my last night in town. After I said goodbye to
Donna, I had that $200 loss right away. Every shooter, including me, had
consecutive rolls of point, then seven- out. Not being one to quit, I hit
the ATM & was back for more. I didn't feel like doing any other kind of
gambling, so after the table had cleared I came back & bought in for $100.
Other players came & the table was up & down. Then some college age guys
came to the table, with there backwards-wearing baseball caps & other hip
young dud/frat boy manner. One of them got the dice & was a point-making
machine. I cashed out with $425 & said something like "Nice job, shooter!".

I hung around the Golden Gate, played some blackjack, lost $100, played some
$1 VP, lost $100, then went back to the dice tables. Again, I bought in for
$100 & was shooting the dice. I was to the stickman's left & an Asian
gentleman was on the stickman's right. I had a pretty good roll & made us
both some money. After I 7'd out, I put aside my buy-in plus some profit to
take with me, then played with about $60 or so. Then the Asian shooter
started rolling the dice. He was hitting numbers, too. It was fantastic. I
saw my red chips turning to green chips. Man, that is a great feeling. My
odds bets got up to about $85 or $90 when he finally sevened out. I took my
winnings to the cage & it came to $525. Not bad for a $100 buy-in. That was
my last gambling of the trip & it felt great to leave on such a positive
note. This morning I deposited the winnings from those craps sessions into
my savings account, perhaps be used on my next trip to Las Vegas. Do ya
think?

MORE TO COME..

Cameron


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