Part II
Tuesday.
Fully awake and in the shower by dawn's early light. As usual the EC shower worked well. Lots of hot water and excellent water pressure. The combination tub-shower is funny looking and old fashioned, but it serves it's purpose well. I emerged refreshed and up for the day's challenges. It definitely helped that I caught 8 hours of zzzzz's last night. I was deep in dreamland by 9:00pm.
I was down in the casino by 6:00am. This is quite normal for me in LV. Rising at 5:00am, is equivilant to my regular 7:00am wake up time at home. I felt really GOOD that morning, and was very optomistic about having a profitable day.
Looking around the "Classic Area" I noticed that the 8/5DDB prog meter was over $2600. There was not a seat to be found at that bank. The local early birds had gotten the word, and had flocked to the EC in hopes of catching the juicy worm. This did'nt bother me a bit. I can't bring myself to play 8/5DDB no matter how high the RF payoff might be.
One of my favorite .25 M/G machines was calling to me. It was next to another identical machine, against a pillar, facing Subway. No one was playing the other machine, and I thought I would try them both. JW was to be the game.
I played for a couple of hours on my Bennie, up and down no more than $10.00 to $30.00. Then I started to hit quads. It seemed as if every 5th hand was a quad. Lovely! By this time I had a neighbor sitting on my left. A young woman who smiled at me as she sat down, and asked how I was doing. Since I now had over $300 in credits on my machine, I told her that
I was doing just fine. We played side-by-side for awhile. My machine was not being quite so friendly anymore, and my winnings were diminishing rapidily. I had determined to cash out and go to breakfast, if my credits plunged to $200.00. My young neighbor (who was playing 10/7DB) was losing her 3rd twenty of a short session, and bemoaning her fate. As she and I were discussing the vagaries of VP, and I was telling her that I had a feeling that her fortunes would soon improve, she drew the K/J/10 of hearts to nicely match the A/Q she was holding. I promptly gave her my biggest smile, sincerest congratulations, and a hearty "high-five".
After she received her handpay, she tried to give me a $20.00 bill, saying, "This is for you because you were so nice and wished me luck"! Of course I thanked her but turned down her generous offer. I cashed out soon after this, at $225.00, with a net profit of $125.00.
I had breakfast at Careful Kitty's Coffee Shop, The usual eggs/bacon/toast/coffee. Ample and adequate, but nothing special. As is the norm in the coffee shop, the service is spotty, disorganized and frequently slow.
After breakfast I decided to try out the .50 M/G machine which was identical to the .25 machine I had been playing previously. Playing JW again, I soon popped a SF. Then a few quads came my way. I finally cashed out a profit of $180.00.
I machine hopped most of the morning, up a little, down a little. Nothing exciting. At about noontime I went up to the room for a short rest. I decided to skip lunch in favor of an early dinner at Roberta's.
Following this brief respite, I once again attacked the machines with great zeal. As right (side of the bell) as my play had been previously, it was now definitely headed in the wrong direction. In 3 hours I lost $350.00. I couldn't even buy a FH !
On the way back to the room to put my feet up and re-gather my forces, prior to dinner, I decided, on the spur of the moment, to play one more machine. One of the very few that did not already have a derriere planted on the stool, was a 9/6DDB in the Classic Area. There were 2 gentlemen playing machines on either side of that one. As I slipped my twenty into the bill acceptor, the fellow on my right said, "I wouldn't play THAT one. It just hit 4Aces with a kicker." The guy on the other side nodded his head in agreement. I replied, "Oh, that's okay. I like a challenge ! Besides, maybe the machine is hot!" Thinking to myself that these two geniuses would probably have the last laugh, I played a few hands, winning nada. On the 5th hand, I came in with A/J of Spades, and, expecting nothing on the draw, bought the rest of the royal family. Oh happy day! I was wishing that I had a camera to take a picture of my two bookend buddies, as I was being given the handpay. I was
also given a voucher for either a piece of Sterling Silver jewelry or a $10.00 Mobil/Exon or Arco Gas card. This was the current EC promotion for anyone hitting a $300 or higher jackpot on slots or vp.
After depositing my nice win in the SD box, I went to dinner and enjoyed another nice comped meal at Roberta's. This included a hearty beef/tomato soup, a salad and an entree containing chicken, artichoke hearts and mushrooms prepared in a delicate and tasty wine/cream sauce. Happy as a lark from my RF, I also indulged in a rich Tiramisu for dessert. Stuffed and satisfied, I headed for the alcove with fast TITOs.
I selected the end machine on the bank that awarded one point per one dollar played, and inserted a Bennie, again selecting JW as my game of choice. What transpired at that point was a FIRST (and probably a LAST) occurance for this very long time player. The first hand I drew was a DEALT 4OAK. The second hand was a DEALT SF. The 3rd hand was a DEALT JokerRF! I literally almost fell off the stool. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. In a moment of sheer lunacy (and glee) I briefly considered that the machine "was broken". I continuing playing the same machine for quite awhile longer, but it had reverted to a more normal win/lose pattern for the remainder of my playing time there.
Finally, as my lovely winning streak appeared to be over, I moved to the last machine on the other end of the bank. There I selected 10/7DB. Being fully cognizant of the perils of switching to such a totally different game and strategy, I initially slowed my play WAY down, in order to give full concentration to the new game. Within minutes, I scored the 4 Aces. I was jubliant, but also getting very tired. Outside of breakfast and dinner breaks, and a short mid-day break, I had been playing pretty consistently since 6:00am. It was now 8:30pm ! "Enough is enough", my intelligent little inner voice told me. Since my eyes seemed to be at half-mast, I sensibly called it day, and went up to bed. I was about $1400 ahead for the day. The last thing I remember thinking, before drifting off to sleep, was "I hope that tomorrow will still find me riding the right side of the curve".
Wednesday:
Up at 4:45am and in the casino by 5:45. A few of the same souls are still there, in the same seats that they were inhabiting last evening. I noticed that the 8/5DDB prog. meter now reads
$1256. There was one diehard still busily playing it. I also saw that his coin tray was filled almost to overflowing with quarters. I'm sure that he would have said, "Who needs 9/6DDB"?
I tried many different machines, in various areas of the casino, fruitlessly chasing my good fortune of the previous day. It eluded me with a vengeance. By the time I had decided that I was hungry and took a breakfast break, I was already down over $250.
After breakfast, It seemed like a good idea to walk down Fremont Street, to some of the other casinos. I thought that it would be beneficial to get the exercise, fresh air and a change in scenery.
I walked through the Fremont and lost $50.00 on a BP machine. There are a profusion of those, with and without the "double-up" feature, but not much else to play.
I walked through Binions and dropped $50.00 in a .25 Aces & Faces machine. I also observed 9/7DB, 9/6 & 9/5DDB and a non-inticing 3 play 9/5JOB. I never believed that Binions was VP heaven, but things have certainly not improved with the new ownership.
I walked through the Vegas Club and donated $50.00 to a FPJW and, for good measure, another $50.00 to a Dwnt.Deuces machine. It seemed that LOTS of good vp has been removed from both the rear and main casino areas, notably FPJW & DTD.
Skipping the Plaza, I moved on to MSS, where, at the very back of the casino, I located the bank of TITO machines that contained 10/7DB, as well Aces$ Bonus, DWBonus, & 9/6Jacks. I decided to play JOB for awhile, to take advantage of the lower volatility game. This proved to be a good idea, and after a few hands I scored a quad. Remembering about the scratch cards awarded for quads, I turned on my change light. A slot person came within a few minutes and gave me the scratch card. Of course, it was for $2.00. When my credits reverted down to my initial investment (plus $2) I moved to other side of the bank, and switched to DB. Again I was able to score quad fives, and received another $2 scratch card. I was able to play on that $62.50 for quite a long time, but eventually, it all faded away. Again I cashed out my initial investment and left MSS exactly $4.00 ahead for the session. Since that was the best I had done all day, I felt that things were looking brighter.
Back at the EC, I decided to try a 50c M/G JW game. The machine kept me playing on my original Bennie for about 2 hours. At one point, my credit was as low as $10.00. Then I came in with quad queens and drew the beautiful joker, for a $500 payoff. Another handpay and another jewelry/gas card voucher. This win got me just about even for the day, and I was more than satisfied.
Nothing much more of note happened on Wednesday. After some more losing sessions, I ended the day up by about $200.00.
Thursday:
I began playing by my usual 6:00am start. I decided that I had been neglecting the downtown deuces, one of my favorite of all games. This was mostly because there were so few of them left, and it was often not possible to find one that was not being played.
At this hour, my favorite one, directly in front of the rear lady's room, had no player. I started off with a Bennie, and almost immediately caught a WRF. This caused 125 quarters to tumble into the coin tray, as these machines can only hold a credit 400 coins. I continued to play until $50.00 of my original $100 was gone, and then proceeded to feed in the 125 coins in the tray. When those were also history, I played the $50.00 remaining credits. When that also took a cab, I gave up the machine.
It occured to me that DDB had been very kind to me on this trip. So, after enjoying a good blueberry pancake breakfast, I tackled a bank of 9/6DDB (unfortunately, to my knowledge, the best DDB pay schedule available downtown). I soon bought 3 aces to the original singleton that I had saved. I ran my credits up some more, but cashed out when they went back down to $200.
After playing a few more .25 DDB machines and losing a few bucks, I switched to .50 9/6DDB, where I managed to lose all the profit from the 4 aces. Slinking back to the .25 denom., I again scored the aces, and felt better about the session.
I then decided that it was time for another walk down Fremont Street. I walked though Golden Nugget, but didn't play there at all. Since this is one of "home" casinos, I did not want to impair my "daily coin-in average". I did note that nothing had changed since my last visit in April. I walked through the 4 Queens without feeling any compulsion to play there either. I by-passed Fitzgeralds totally. Since they were nasty enough to change their one great Loose Deuces quarter machine to a nickle machine, and then hide it in a corner, upstairs, I have not given them any action. I walked through a few souvenir shops on the way back to the EC, but managed not to part with any money.
After a short rest in the room, I decided it was Deuces time again, in the Classic area. This time, all the DTD were in in use. Reluctantly, since there were some unoccupied machines, I decided to try a DDW instead. The payoff on the DDW is less than the DTD for the RF (4000 coins instead of 4700 coins) and the SF (55 coins instead of 65 coins). O/W, the pay table is the same. However, these differences cause DDW to be UNDER 100% payback. Both games pay $500 for 4 deuces. There are some strategy changes, particularly in SF holds, but I had practiced it regularly on BDWP and was sure I could make the necessary adjustments. After about one half hour of unusually even play, I came in with 3 ducks and bought the 4th. Another big smile quickly appeared on my face. This was certainly much more satisfying than having my neighbors get all the handpays! Another jewelry/gas card voucher was added to my collection.
It was dinner time again. This time I had Crab Cakes, salad, and one of the best Filets I've ever tasted. It was a truly outstanding piece of beef, charred on the outside and blood rare inside. Exactly the way I like it. It was served with an OK Bernaise sauce on the side, some nice sauteed mushrooms and a baked potato. I enjoyed a good glass of Merlot with this repast, and tbroughly enjoyed the meal.
After dinner, I had an urge to try some multiplay. I looked for 3 or 5 play quarters, 50 play .02. or 100 play .01. Though I think that I looked at the pay tables for every multi-play machine in the EC, I couldn't find anything good enough to play at those denoms.
Instead, I walked over to the "high limit" room, where I knew that the $1.00 FPJW and 10/7DB
resided. I found a $1.00 M/G machine with the same pay table as the .25 & .50 that I had played earlier. Again I selected JW from the menu. I quickly lost $100.00 in just a few minutes. I switched to a $1.00 stand-alone JW on the other side of the bank. After swiftly losing another $50.00, I realized that I was really not enjoying myself at this denom. I cashed out and went back to quarters.
I wound up my play that evening on DDB again hitting the Aces but w/o the nice kicker.
Back in the room again by 9:00. When I totalled up the day's wins & losses, I was happy to note $600 in the plus column.
Friday:
The last FULL day in LV. Though this is one of my longer trips to LV, somehow, I'm never quite ready to go home.
I was in the casino by 5:45, pumped up and feelin' good. Debating on the best course of action this morning, I decide to play in the small casino behind Roberta's and the Lounge area. So far, on this trip, I have avoided this area. Though this location contains all the same good machines and paytables as the "Classic" area, plus a lot of nickle machines, it has even more local folks puffing away on cigarettes. It's really difficult to get a seat next to a non-smoker. I hoped that early in the morning, I might be able to sit in a "clean air" space for awhile.
Actually, there were only a few patrons playing in the "little" casino that morning. While they WERE smoking, I was still able to find a seat far away from the smoke, in front of my favorite kind of .25 M/G machine. Quickly hitting the menu button for JW, I began the day's play. After my 4th $20 disappeared down the hungry mouth of the machine, I decided to look for greener pastures.
I Played several JW, DDW, 10/7DB & 9/6DDB .50 coindroppers, until hunger pangs gripped me. The force was with me, and I was up about $300 for the morning.
After breakfast, I went back to the TITO machine, in the alcove, that had been so kind to me on Tuesday evening. After playing JW for a couple of hours, and winning about $200.00, all the good hands took a hike. I switched over to 9/6BPD for an hour or so, but couldn't score a quad. I finally cashed out my original $100, and considered myself very fortunate.
After my daily stroll down Fremont (which produced no financial gain) I once again tackled the DTD in the Classic area. The deuces were on vacation. I switched to JW, and couldn't buy a winning hand. Now down about $50.00 for the day, I went over to the Player's Club Booth, and selected a lovely Sterling Silver link bracelet in exchange for my 3 coupons. One of my daughters would be happy about this, though I would have some explaining to do to EH, since I had already mentioned the gas cards! While there, I also checked my CB amount, and was told that it was over $100.00. I decided to wait until Saturday, to withdraw the CB.
The rest of Friday was uneventful. I played some nice DDB machines, that insisted on giving me quads, before I went broke.
The last play of the evening was on a fairly new M/D, M/G TITO near the old gift shop and the room elevators. This bank of several machines had denoms. ranging from .01 to .25. It included some short pay games as well as 9/6DDB. I put in a Bennie, determined to play exactly 80 hands of DDB, and then cash out. After 55 hands I was down to $75.00 credit, and falling asleep where I sat. I cashed out and went upstairs, making a pact with myself to continue playing the additional 25 hands the next day.
When I tumbled into bed, at my usual 9:00pm, I was up approximately $100 for the day.
Saturday:
My last day. I'm still not ready to leave LV, though I have played vp for countless hours. Since my plane was not due to depart until 4:30pm, I had most of the day to further indulgec my passion.
For my initial play of the day, I went back to the same TITO I had left in a weary state the evening before. I put back the same $75.00 ticket I had cashed out. By the time I had drawn 23 hands, my $75.00 had turned into $46.25, and I was rethinking the wisdom of this play. With the 24th hand I came in with 3 Aces and miraculously popped the 4th on the draw.
I played one more hand, got nothing, and cashed out $245.00. Good start to the last morning.
Since I was leaving later in the afternoon, I opted to skip a big breakfast in favor of a bigger lunch. This left me more time for last minute winning.
I played all my favorite games and machines for the rest of the morning, mostly losing small
amounts.
After a pig-out lunch of Fried chicken, French Fries & Salad in the coffee shop, I played the last few machines of this trip.
All the sessions were uneventful until my very last play of the day. I selected a 9/6DDB in the Classic area. As I walked towards the two identical side-by-side machines, an older couple entered the casino through the back door. They headed right for the same machines that I was approaching. We both arrived at the machines at the same moment. I heard the man tell the woman to "play the one on left, because someone cashed out 200 quarters on the other one". She listened to his sage advice, and began to play that machine. I sat down at the other one. This lovely RNG immediately began calling up winning hands for me, An abundance of flushes, full houses, straights: almost every hand a winner. Then I held a pair of threes and bought the other two. Four hands later I popped the 4 aces. Then another plethora of full houses, flushes etc. It was time for me to be checking out and I knew that I was going to need a fill. I had 980 credits on the meter and a coin-tray full of
quarters. Reluctantly, I cashed out, and after getting a fill, with the help of a slot person, schlepped over $400 worth of quarters to the thankfully nearby change booth. A profitable last day to match the others. Plus $550 for the day.
I emptied my SD box, collected $125 in CB, and checked out, fully comped for each night and every meal.
I hopped into a cab that had just dropped off a passenger, in front of the EC. As I climbed in I noticed that fare, still on the meter, said $35.90. I asked the driver where his last passenger had come from, and he replied, "The airport." I told him that the cab fare from the EC to the airport, INCLUDING the tip, should not have exceeded $22.00, and that's what I intended to pay. He mumbled that his previous passenger "had been in a hurry, so he had taken the tunnel". I assured that I was NOT in a hurry, and he was not to use the tunnel. That was our last bit of chit-chat. I arrived at the airport in 12 minutes. The meter read $18.50. I gave him $22.00 and our business together was concluded.
To further enhance my winning day, I inserted $10.00 into the airport WOF. I got two chances to spin the wheel, and cashed out $15.00. When you're hot you're hot!
The flight home was uneventful and on time. The peanuts and lemonade served on TED were as usual. I enjoyed a nice Subway tuna sub on the way home.
EH told me that he had missed me and was very happy to see me and my expanded bankroll!
To all of you who have read through this very long tale, I wish for you, no worse trips than I had!
-Babe-
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