I must be boring
I waited at the Dollar Rental Car the night of July 1st for over an hour. "Out of cars"
because, get this
the car wash was broken. Apparently, Dollar doesn't want to rent a
dirty car. Even my generous offer to wash the car myself fell on deaf ears. But hey, I am a
patient sort, and the patience paid off because they offered me a free day, a free tank of
gas, and an upgrade to a really snappy red Mustang. That didn't matter of course
as I
said, I am boring.
I drove it straight to the Gold Coast where I was staying I promise, with all kinds of good
intentions to cruise the strip or head out to Green Valley Ranch and the Monte Lago for
some full pay video poker -- and all I did was park that puppy where it stayed until the
day I left.
Yep, boring.
But at least I am not nuts like the residents of Vegas. It was 116 degrees. Nuts, I say.
Instead of pretending to be James Bond (or at least as close as an American car maker can
get me), I spent most of my time playing the famous deuces progressive at the Palms.
(Pretty low brow, no?) I would have left the third day in order to see something else, but
that darned progressive made it up to $1500, and I figured "where else could I find a
better deal?
I played for hours, and as you might expect the jackpot didn't fall into my hands. No, that
would have been justice for all of the study, and practically going blind staring at the silly
thing. No, that jackpot (like the one the day before) went to the quiet little old guy who
sat down for less than 5 minutes. Boom. Game over. But that was ok with me. I was
actually praying for someone, anyone, to win it in order to set me free. Too bad that by
the time it was hit it was so late that the other sites were out of my reach. This isn't to say
that I didn't come home a winner.
One sees the darndest things in a casino. One lady had only just sat down next to me,
and she hit the 4 deuces. Frustrating enough for those who had spent many dollars at the
machines that day with no luck. But the really crazy thing was that she hit the 4 deuces
again on the very next hand! It seems that the deuces must have come to Vegas for the
4th as well. I had 6, 4 in one day! On my second day, I play 4 hands in a row that ran: 5
of a kind, 4 deuces, wild royal, wild royal. It was a twilight zone moment. All in all, I
should have come home a loser, given the hours played with no royal. But, the frequent
duckies and a few good runs made it profitable enough to pay for my trip. Statistically, I
think I was very lucky.
What I really want to comment on here are the locals. You guys can really make the
difference, you know? Playing those machines, I met Jean Scott's sister
a real sweetheart.
(not sure she is "local" per se) I had a great time with Vpfrees "Enigma"
from my
hometown. I played side by side "Derek"
"winner of the Caesar's high roller deuces
machine recently. All these folks, and several others, made the trip better than it would
have been had I hit 3 royals. To me, that is what it is all about.
Then, there were the folks that just can't be bothered. You know who you are
1.7 million
points on your players card with nowhere to spend them, and no time to be bothered by a
silly question from a visitor too dizzy with hours of play to remember whether or not the
Panda Express accepts slot club points. But it cost you
It seems that several Palms players have zillion of points with nowhere to spend them.
Then, there is that stealthy little play you could be making to get 20 dollars in cash back
per day from a casino that, as I understand it, doesn't allow cash back. I was all to ready
to mention this little discovery any who could offer even the slightest courtesy. But for
the indifference of, for example, this one "lady"
it cost you 20 bucks that day. BTW, that
is $140 per week, and $6240 per year for as long as the play lasts
or till somebody else
that knows tells you about it. Seems like a fair trade for an answer to a simple question to
me. And. I know that 20 bucks must matter a great deal to at least some Vegas folks.
There were about 2000 of you (no exaggeration) waiting in line for those free two buck
sunglasses the Palms was offering...and another group just as large waiting for an hour (or
more?) for a free pull or two on a mega bucks slot machine. (How much was the gas that
it took to get you there?) Actually, I am just having a bit of fun here. In all, the games and
most of the folks I met were a total blast! I want to thank you for some fine VP company.
And for those about to ask...no, I am not going to risk killing the cashback play by
explaining it here. Besides, my point is simply this
be kind to strangers! In the end, us
visitors help pay for your air conditioning. And God knows, you need it!
B