With deep apologies to my friend Jean Scott....please forgive all the
dangling participles as well as sentences, and I am too lazy to use spell checker.
So here goes the locals trip report.
I know , yeah, yeah, we are locals, but, we usually receive an invitation to
the Barbary Coast invitational slot tourney and since we have so many friends
that come in we sign up for Short pay heaven and play. This April was no
different. We left the house about 2:30 pm in our trusty mini-van and pulled in
to the BC garage about 3 pm. Our room was not ready so decided to play NSU for
several hours. At 5 pm we checked into our room. The rooms have not changed
since we started there in 1998. I now find them dark and the bathroom
cramped. But I am also older and don't see as well as I used to. I used to think
of the rooms as San Francisco bordello, now I just think they are tired. The
room as well as the occupants.
We met six friends for the reception and chewed the fat for over an hour over
what amounted to heavy "horsy doors" (I can't spell it either and am too
lazy to try spell checker) or pu pus as they say in Hawaii. Lisa Vios, our host
is from Hawaii and what a sweetheart she is. She knows all 200 particpants
by name and grandchildren and medical problems...what a sharp memory she has.
After din din, we adjourned to the crowded casino and short pay machines.
Early in the evening I was playing our old Ohio riverboat fave, 9/7 DB, with a
friend watching me play. She started to tell me I missed holding a pair of 5s,
I held a lonesome J of Diamonds, lo and behold it dealt me the other four for
a Royal Flush, a gross error turned into an amazing piece of luck. I was so
exhausted with this amazing bit of luck, I went up to bed a little after 9 pm.
Then I tossed and turned the entire night, but was too lazy to get dressed
and play some more. The mattress was way too soft and I never sleep well in a
strange bed/place. Did I mention I am getting older, more particular and
somewhat crotchety?
Saturday, was the first of two out of three sessions for the slot tourney.
In between I proceded to put the RF back in. Bounced back and forth between
short pay NSUD and 9/7 DB. Could not hit the broadside of a barn 4 feet from my
nose with a beachball. Lost almost $500.
My scores in the first two sessions of the slot tourney were OK but nothing
to get excited about. At the end of the second session I was sitting around 55
out of 195 entries. We ate supper using the BC meal cards. Played a little
more and went to bed about 9 or so. Did I mention I am getting old, etc?
Meanwhile, Stan had gone to the house to feed the kitties and pick up our bed
pillows. Fortunately with my very own pillow, I slept pretty well in spite
of the fire trucks, ambulances, drag racers, loud horns and party goers, and a
too soft mattress. Earplugs work wonders. My mistake was asking for a king
size bed and they are all on the Flamingo Rd side. If you want quiet and
accept two double beds, ask for Hilton side.
Sunday morning came way too early. I woke up about 5 am and simply could not
get back to sleep. I was moving very slowly, did I mention getting older?
Stan was dressed before I was and he headed down to the free pastry and coffee
set up for the slot tourney players and being the better of our two halves,
brought me coffee and two mini muffins, one raisin bran and the other chocolate
chip....have never heard of chocolate chip muffins. But then, I am getting
older, etc.
We gambled for awhile, continuing to lose.....remember short pay machines,
but today was different, double points yet, whoop de doo. My third and final
session, Stan came over to coach me (coach a red, white and blue slot....I
naturally had practiced strategy for weeks....yeah and I have a cactus to sell you,
not). Actually the cheerleading helped, his short skirt and pom poms helped,
sure. I had the best session of the event.
After we played our sessions, we continued to gamble, double points, but
continued to lose. Finally it was almost time to leave for the award banquet. I
was winding up and all of a sudden heard Stan shout, a Royal. He held four
diamonds and got the fifth. We had both gotten Diamond Royals for the short
trip. We put 28,000 points on my card (played on one card).
We drove to the Orleans ballroom for the banquey. While waiting for Stan to
park the car, I put $20 in a vp machine, and promptly hit a straight flush and
turned my $20 into a $100 win, love that when I do it.
The banquet was quite good. The BC Fun Club crew outdid themselves with
decorations, slide shows, just lots of good will. They are definitely the best
club around. The food was great too.
They started announcing the 25 places, top prize was $10,000, second was
$5,000, pretty decent for a free tourney. Actually I was very pleased too. I
ended up in 19th place with $150 and a nice BC jacket. After the banquet, we
headed home...did I mention I was getting old? Hit the old Sealy about 9 pm and
slept until 10 AM on Monday. I just cannot play long hours like I used to in
the old days before we moved here.
We now play 3 - 4 hours a day, for four or five days a week. When we used to
play on hit and run trips, it was 10 - 12 hours a day. Not any more, we live
here now and have "homely" thing to do. It is no longer a vacation, it is a
hobby. That makes all the difference. Anyhoo, there might be another trip
report come late July as we are up for another BC tourney then. VPQQ P S In
spite of losing a good portion of my Royal back in, I still ended up for the
weekend and so did Stan.
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