Friday, November 29, 2013 – Day Four of Eight

[This is part five of a ten part trip report.  To start at the beginning, go here.]

I slept so terribly last night.   I kept having really bad dreams.  I finally gave up and got out of bed at 6:37 am, and was out the door at 7:30.

First stop: The D Grill, located inside Fitzgeralds.  Yes, I am still refusing the name change.  I had a $5 coupon from checking in and used my comps to cover the rest.  I still have a $25 dining voucher here but it’s a one time use thing that is too much for breakfast so I am holding onto it for dinner one night.

After eating, I went to Dunkin Donuts for an iced coffee and then walked over to the El Cortez.  Today’s plan is to use one $10 free play coupon (these are in both the American Casino Guide and Las Vegas Advisor, but they only let you use one per day.)  I am also taking advantage of their ATM promo, where you get 5% of your ATM withdrawal back in free slot play.

My bank has a $600 limit on cash withdrawals that they will not budge on.  I attempt to take out my $600 limit to get $30 slot play.  I am asked if I want a receipt and out of habit I hit “no” and then got so mad because I need the receipt to get the free play.   Oh hey look, my bank rejected the withdrawal because it exceeds my daily limit.  I get to try again.  I assume that the fee brought it over $600 so they blocked it.  I try $580.  No.   I try $500 – we have a winner!

To get your ATM free play, you have to bring the receipt to the cashier first, before going to the player’s club.   The cashier offered up the information that it is $1000 limit per month (so $50 free play).   The first month is “free”, but if you want to do it more than once, you have to earn 1500 points in the previous month.  So if I want to do it Sunday, which is December 1, a new month, I would have to earn 1500 points between now and then.

So now I am armed with $35 free play ($10 from the LVA coupon and $25 from the ATM promo)  I put $20 in four card nickel Keno and get nothing.  The rest I played $5 at a time in Cleopatra Keno.  This gets me up to $20.  I cash that out and put it in a Monopoly Reel Estate.   I still cannot get the fucking free spin bonus.  I got the Board Bonus about ten times.  One was for $11.80, the rest were under $5.

I leave here without having spent any cash, but I am not bringing any winnings with me so it’s a draw.

Back to Fitzgeralds.   Uh oh, I feel degenerate coming on.  I lose $60 on Monopoly and another $60 on Cleopatra Keno.  The Keno was really bad because I should not have played it at all after the first $60 loss, but I could not stop.  Degenerate like a mother fucker.

I got back to my room around 10:30 am and I am already down half my daily budget.  Good job, dickhead.

I now try to get on the internet.  It doesn’t work.  I call the front desk, she tells me I have to call their IT Department.  This is a pet peeve of mine.  YOUR internet isn’t working.   Why do IIIIIIIIIIIIIII have to call the IT Department?   I call and he fixes it.   I have to say, Fitzgeralds has hands down, the fastest internet my laptop has ever seen.   This includes the wifi in my apartment.

I post a blog update, collect my My Vegas daily spin and then go back to bed.

I am up and back out at 5:30.  I am intending to play $20 each in Binions, California and Las Vegas Club.

Binions gives me a $35 win in nickel Cleopatra Keno.  I am off to a great start!  I walked through Binions to get to California.   The front now has an Elvis Museum and a crappy Las Vegas logo clothing store.  i noticed the deli is open again as well.  Maybe one day the  hotel will reopen too.

California.   This is one of my favorite views in Las Vegas.  I feel like this is what Vegas looked like on my first trip.  Dark windows with all neon.  This is the only place left that looks like this.

California has nickel progressive Keno.  The last time I played (we are talking like three years ago) the 10/10 prize was something like $13k.  Today it is $4k+.   I play 8 numbers, top prize is close to $3k. I don’t remember the exact number.  I lost my whopping $20 stake pretty quick.  While I was playing, someone came up asking everyone if they could spare $3 for his bus ticket.  Dude, we are all playing Keno at $.20/hand.  None of us have $3 to spare.

Las Vegas Club, you’re up next!  I walked over from California.  The doors closest to California are now locked.  So I walked around front.   This place sucks.  I don’t know why it’s still there.  It’s half empty.  But I play here because they have the best payouts on Cleopatra Keno that I have ever seen.

Well guess what.   That last sentence needs to be altered to “they HAD the best payouts on Cleopatra Keno that I have ever seen” because the Keno games are GONE.   Oh fuck you.  These machines were my low rolling heaven.  I can (and have) spent hours upon hours here playing.  And now my machines are gone.

I saw a China themed slot game and figure “well since I am going to China next year, I should play that”  I was wrong.  So wrong.

I crossed over to the Golden Gate, intending to just earn a couple of points here to keep my card current.   Most player’s clubs in Las Vegas keep your points/comps for 13 months.   A notable exception is all Caesars properties, where it’s only six months.

I put my card in a machine here and see I have zero on it. I guess I never made it here last December and everything is wiped out.  So I don’t need to play here.  But I have already sat down so I am going to.

I played a new version of Twilight Zone.  This game is degenerate heaven.  You get to pick between three levels of volatility.  Oh no.  Of course I pick the most volatile setting so I can get HUGE WINS.   It doesn’t happen.

Back to Binions.  I had won $35 here earlier, lost $20 of that at the Golden Gate, so I still have $15 winnings.  I put it in and play four card nickel Keno.   I hit big and cashed out with $70.  I put a $20 in and got that up to $40.

I cash out and have to go back one more time.   Some woman interrupts my play to ask me if I know where the “dome restaurant downtown” is.  Plaza.  Is it good?  I don’t know, I haven’t eaten there since it was the restaurant before the restaurant it was before the one it is now.   Wait, what?

Somehow “I don’t know, I have not eaten there in the version it is now” is not an acceptable answer.  She keeps asking me more questions.  Does it have a nice atmosphere?  I don’t know.   I haven’t been there since three restaurants ago.  When I was there, it was fancy.  Then it was something else.  I feel like it was a sports themed bar, but i don’t know for sure.  Now it’s “Oscars”.  I have not been there since it was the fancy place.  I don’t know what it’s like.  She makes it clear that she is not going to stop asking me about it until I give her the answer she wants, which is “it’s a great place, you should go!”  So I tell her that and she thanks me and takes off.

I continue losing my money.  I am now out of today’s budget.  But it’s only like 8:00 so I am not going to quit.

I walked to Fremont and sat down at Super Times Pay.  I love this game so much.

I am playing forever and ever on my $20.   I go up and down and up and down, I am not winning.  But I still have enough to keep going.  At some point I look up and realize I have accumulated over 300 points during this session.   This means I can use my American Casino Guide “play 250 points and get a free buffet” coupon.  So I do.

The boothlings had not seen this one before so it takes a while.  Finally a supervisor is called over.  They agree to write me a comp for brunch tomorrow.

I go back to my room at 10:30.  It’s still early but I just don’t want to keep playing when I am already into tomorrow’s budget.   Tomorrow will be a huge winning day, I can just feel it.

Here was today’s itinerary.  I did absolutely nothing on it.

Friday, November 29, 2013
Breakfast: El Cortez – comps
Suncoast 5x points acg
Lunch: Suncoast half off LVA 11-4 $8.99/4-9:30 $15.99
Dinner: Binions comps
Ellis Island 10x
Gold Coast 11x slots/6x video poker

Want to read more?   Here are parts  six, seven, eight, nine and ten!