Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Today I am traveling to Atlantic City, to catch a flight on Spirit Airlines to Las Vegas. The total cost of the flight was $81 round trip. I have never in my life paid that little for a one way, let alone a non-stop round trip. What a great deal.
Another monumental event in today’s trip is that I had ZERO problems at all getting to the airport/getting to Vegas. This has never happened to me before. What a smooth trip.
I left my apartment at 10:00 am and caught an 11:30 bus from Port Authority to Atlantic City. I use Academy Bus and with every ten trips, the 11th is free. Today is double swipe day so I only need to go one more time to get my free trip. Woooooo.
I get to Atlantic City after taking a very scenic route (the driver got off an exit early and drove us all through Absecon and then all over Atlantic City before stopping at the Taj Mahal). I got off and got my $20 cash back. My plans were to shuttle from Showboat over to Ballys to collect my whopping $5 cash back, and then to see if I had any cash at Trump waiting for me. I waited for the Ballys shuttle at Showboat for 20 minutes and it never came. There were a LOT of people waiting and I figured that even if it did come, I wouldn’t get on it. So I decided instead to play at Showboat, knowing this would be a huge mistake.
One $20 in, nothing. Second $20 in, nothing. Third $20 in, nothing. This all took place in about five minutes. Showboat was having a promo where every fifteen minutes, they were giving away $2008 – so five people got $502 each. I was entered into the 3:15 promo and it was 3:03 and I had already lost $60. I went outside to smoke and came back at 3:11 and decided one more $20 would be acceptable so I could try and win $502.
Well I didn’t win the $502 but I got four-of-a-kind 3’s with a kicker – $200. Yay! I should have stopped right there but of course, did not. I ended up losing $100 out of my winnings, leaving me with the exact amount I left my apartment with. So I guess my bagel and soda and bus ticket were free.
I headed off to the airport cursing myself because I know better. Somewhere in there, I got a straight flush, and it was only my second one ever. But even with that, I suck and ended up only even. Okay maybe flying out of Atlantic City isn’t a good idea!
I got to the airport and had the perfect amount of time to smoke, go through security, get something to eat and get on the plane. Except the plane was late. Not by too much, but it ruined my perfect timing.
On the plane were two dogs (one was a working dog; the other was a cute little mutt who seemed to just be going on vacation). I wish they had been in the seat in front of me, but instead I got three men who spent the flight talking louder than the sounds of a baby’s scream. When the pilot came on to update us on time and weather, I could not hear him over these three idiots.
The middle seat was empty. I have a knack for this. I can be on a full plane and still manage to either get my own row or at least, an empty middle seat.
The flight was non-eventful and I ended up landing like ten minutes early, woooooooooo. I love saying that. To me, it’s totally worth traveling alllllllllll the way to Atlantic City to arrive on time in Vegas.
I took a shuttle to Sahara. I’m here on an offer for three free nights. I got room 2070. It’s located right next to the Pepsi machine, which rules!
My room did not rule though.
Room view. Look how dreary it was outside. I love when Las Vegas looks like this.
[Editor’s note: This construction was the Fontainebleau Hotel, which was only 70% finished when it was abandoned in 2009. Now it sits empty on the Las Vegas Strip, just wasting space.]
I went downstairs to get a new player’s card and the boothling couldn’t find me in the system. I mentioned I know I’m in the system because I’m here on an offer. She then said maybe I’d have to go up to the room and get the mailer so she could see my account number. I’m not doing that. I traveled all day and my room is at the complete opposite side of the casino from the slot club. Finally she finds me. whew!
Sahara has a promotion where every day you can swipe your card and win either free slot play or show tickets. I did this every day and got nothing, but I still LOVE free promos like this. Just the idea of possibly getting something for free excites me.
Now it’s late and I’m tired. I know myself and I KNOW that the whole excitement of getting to Las Vegas always overcomes me. I always spend the first night losing but I can’t seem to ever stop because I just got here and want to stay out and play. I allow myself a small budget and the first $20 lasts forever on a nickel triple line Bonus Poker machine. This is a good sign! But it doesn’t last and soon I’ve lost $75. I recognize the pattern here and I remind myself of how I didn’t stop when I was back in Atlantic City and how I regret it. Somehow this worked to convince me to go to bed.
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