Trip Diary 8-20-06 (17 of 20)
It's my final moving day. I'm leaving downtown and Vegas
Club for the Silverton, my last stop on this trip. After packing
and putting my things in the car, I go back to Freemont Street
because it's occurred to me that I've now stayed downtown a total of
seven days, and I've yet to have a shrimp cocktail at the Golden
Gate. I walked over to the café and it didn't open until 11:00 AM.
It's only 10:15 and I'm not going to wait around, so either I'll
make one last trip down here, or I'll just have to wait until
December.
I play, and lose, a twenty in a couple of machines as I
leave Vegas Club. Next stop is Starbucks to file yesterday's diary
and catch up on some emails. It's Sunday and I want to drive over
to Casino Montelago, one of my favorite places to play at Las Vegas
Lake. I pick up a fast breakfast burrito and OJ at Jack-in-the-Box
(okay, I admit I also had a couple of their tacosI'm addicted to
the things).
I arrived at the Montelago and immediately hit the NSUD for
dimes. I don't catch a premium hand, but I hit enough good ones
that I'm able to make on cash out. I then play their nickel 10/6
DDB (one of the few places you'll still find this game). I do hit a
quad, but it's not enough to rescue my twenty.
For some unknown reason, I'm allured to the penny
progressive machines that have the train on the top (the name
escapes me). One of the machines in the progressive is the Wild
Water game, which I get a kick out of playing. The mini and the
minor jackpots are a little higher than usual, so I commit a
twenty. Not long and I have a bonus of six free spinsthen another
then anotherthen another. After it was all done, I had 60 free
spins. Unfortunately, these games being the way they are, I only
win a little over a thousand credits ($10.00), but that's still not
bad for a twenty-five cent bet. Right after that, I hit another
bonus with just a small profit, but then I get the train progressive
bonus. I picked up the mini prize for another $20.00 win. So, I
leave the Montelago with a nice little $45 profit. (It's not the
amount you winit's the fun of walking out a winner, something that
hasn't much with me this trip).
I'm supposed to meet up with some of the LVA folks at the
Diamond Lounge at Caesars at 3:00 PM. It's just before 2:00 and I
figure with the I-215 now finished, I just might have time to check
in at the Silverton and then high tale it to Caesars. It all works
out perfectly and I see Mare at the entrance of the Diamond Lounge.
For my family and friends that don't know about this, allow
me to explain. Harrah's has four tiers of playersthe lowest (me)
at Goldthen Platinum, then Diamond, then 7 Stars. In order to make
Diamond, you need to play 10,000 tier points per year (that's
$100,000 playing video poker). Needless to say, that's just a
little outside my gambling budget. Anyway, for these players, they
set up a "club" just for the Diamond and 7 Stars players (whose play
is even higher than Diamond). However, Diamond players are allowed
to bring in one guest. For this meeting, I'm Mare's guest.
The lounge at Caesars appears to be converted banquet room
with flat screen TVs, four or five free Internet terminals, and a
free buffet at one end. Today, it's filled with small finger rolls,
veggies, and little deserts. I lady in a suit takes our drink
orders. Shari orders a Lemon Drop, and not ever having one, I order
the sameyea! Great drink, it's on my list. Soon, joining Mare,
Scott, Shari (I learn today she pronounces it Sherry), and me are
Ken and Lynn from Atlantic City and later their daughter, Lauren.
We have a wonderful time chatting about anything and everything.
Lynn is a school nurse, so we compare districts. I learn Noahcat's
real name and other cool insider LVA tidbits. The Atlantic City
LVAers sound like a real kick and wish I could some day go there and
join them for a meet.
Before we know it, we've been in there for three hours and
it's getting time for everyone to go their way. Mare suggests I
join them on September 28th at Harrah's Rincon, which is in northern
San Diego. Hugs and handshakes and we say our goodbyes. Again,
even though I'm the only Gold player among all these Diamonds, these
are nicest people you'd ever want to meet, and it was fun hanging
with the hoy-poloy for a few hours at Caesars' Diamond Lounge.
I head back to the Silverton and enjoy watching the Red Sox
and Yankees play at the Mermaids lounge over a beer and a
fisherman's platter (3 forks). This is a GREAT place to enjoy a
small dinner either watching a game or just staring at the massive
fish aquarium. Though they've discontinued the "official" mermaid
shows, they still have mermaids in the tank feeding the fish and
swimming around for everyone's enjoyment.
I play another round of the Dark Side Star Wars and I hit a
big bonus round for a $96.00 win (one thirty cent bet). However, I
manage to lose that profit on other games before I finally called it
a night.
The Silverton rooms are very nicely appointed with wonderful
mattresses, great outdoor pictures and earth tones (a real "guys"
room). However, the bathroom is one of the smallest of any of the
rooms I've stayed at this trip. Silverton took over this place when
it was a "low-roller" joint called Boomtown. And though they've
done a very nice job of redecorating the place and the rooms (Joan
Rivers can buy a new face but under it all, it's stillwellJoan
Rivers), the building itself is still Boomtown. The walls are then
and you can feel the vibration in the floor when the person next
door walks around. This is, of course, minor complaints as I'm
quite happy here and it remains a great deal for the low-roller (4
sheets).
More tomorrow.