I went to sleep last night in my Four Queens suite, with the drapes open on purpose so I would be woken up by the sun.   I love looking out the window first thing in the morning and wondering what is going to happen to me out there today.Today’s goal is to play at Four Queens and get them to love me.  I am not sure if I succeeded, but I sure could not win a damned thing.  I started with a $10 free play coupon and lost that.  Then kept going.

Sometimes you put in money and you play.  And then other times, you put in money and it just vanishes and you do not even get to play.  This was one of those latter mornings.  It is so frustrating.  My coffee didn’t even reach a temperature where I could take a sip without burning my mouth and already I am halfway through today’s budget.

Finally, a win.

I cash out and go for breakfast at Magnolias.   Mushroom and swiss omelette, paid for with comps.

I head to the room to pack and get ready to move across the street to Fremont.   I had my choice of any hotel in the Boyd family for this stay and I deliberately picked Fremont.  I know the rooms are tiny, but I wanted to try being in the same building at Dunkin Donuts.  Every time I go out when I am downtown, that is my first stop.  I also thought it would be cool to be on Fremont Street, rather than one block off.  I thought it would save me the last minute degeneracy before going to bed at California.  I don’t really think I made a good decision here.

When I originally booked the room, I had to do so on the telephone since the website was malfunctioning for many days.  I told the woman my dates, she booked them, gave me a confirmation and I hung up.  Then realized she never asked me what type of room I wanted.  A quick check online told me she booked me a nonsmoking room.  For the wrong dates.  And the wrong amount of nights.

I called back and got that fixed. Then I checked in and for some inexplicable reason, instead of the required $100 incidental hold, I had a hold for a really weird amount, something like $280.80.   I asked at the front desk about it and he told me it was probably just a mistake.  The room was showing as comped.  This was really just the final straw for me ever staying here again.  Between the website not working, to the woman booking me the wrong dates / wrong number of days and now this.   None of these ruined my trip, but with the amount of mistakes made, I cannot trust this property to not make even bigger ones in the future.

I had a last minute win of $100 on a Buffalo slot machine while I was moving.  Literally sitting at a Buffalo machine with my bag, in the middle of a move.  To right across the street.  Because going longer than the twenty seconds it takes to move, without gambling?   Yeah nah.

I got room 435.  It was as tiny as I remember.  Actually, maybe the room isn’t THAT tiny, but the bathroom makes it feel tiny.  It makes it clear you are in an older property.

I headed out, stopping at Walgreens for some water.   Then went to El Cortez to use a free play coupon.  You used to get to stick your hand in a giant…thing….words escape me now, and pull out an envelope.  Now you do it digitally, which is kind of anticlimactic.  I won $10.  Played around and had it up to $100 before running out the door with $60.  I would like to get back on the El Cortez comp radar, but if I don’t, that’s fine too.

I went back to Fremont and found penny Ultiimate X Bonus Streak video poker.  These were so much fun, and very volatile.  They are also located right next to the bar. The bar is a big hang out place, without anywhere near enough seats for the hanger outers.  So they all spill onto the machines where they sit without playing.  You kind of have to kick them out.  Then once you do that, they are still RIGHT THERE.  Super loud and having fun as you are trying to gamble. GO AWAY.

My notes say I moved onto quarters and hit four of a kind nines and Queens, for a $120 cash out.  My photos say it never happened.  My memory says it is not getting involved in this argument.

As I continue typing my notes into sentences, here is the next block of indecipherable text: “SuperTimes Pay, $20-0?  Or $60-0?  I seriously just played ten minutes ago and I cannot remember how much I put in.”

Have I ever told you that I do not drink in Vegas?  Because I don’t.

Dinner was a Binions burger, that I used the $10 dining credit from Binions’s Motherlode promotion to pay for.  When I got to the cashier, she was so surprised to see me have my player’s card and ID out before she had to ask for it.  We talked a bit about why do people do this?  You know you need to show your card and ID if using comps.  Why do you never get it out?!  She remembered me for the rest of my trip.

I wanted to play in Binions but today was the day I was trying to get points at Four Queens for future offers. I lost around this casino until I could not stand myself anymore.  Then I went to the Player’s Club to use my double points coupon.  I had 397 points today.  I hope this gets me something.

I walked over to Downtown Grand.  I had $25 free play here.  Two coupons from American Casino Guide and $5 that was just randomly on my card.  I lost this playing Cleopatra Keno.

Next stop: The D.  I feel like they hate me here.  I always show up with either a super sized bottle of water or super sized coffee, and play at the bar. The bartenders here keep asking me if I am sure I do not want a drink.  I am sure.  Not sure if this is low self esteem talking, but I feel like they are mad at me for taking their tips away.  I lost $20 here, which fulfilled my “I want to play in every Downtown casino” wish and moved on.

I went back to Fremont and played Ultimate X Bonus Streak again.  A $20 can last either ten seconds, or ten hours on this game.  I did pretty well with making it last.  I eventually cashed out with $50 only because I was falling asleep at the machine.

I ended the day down $75.