Note:  This is an older Las Vegas trip report that I am posting for the entertainment of Las Vegas addicts and anyone else who loves fun.  It was written back in 2008.  Most of this information is now outdated and some places mentioned no longer exist.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008 – Day Six of Twenty One

My first thought of the day is “I can’t believe my trip is going so fast. Only 15 days left.” ONLY fifteen days left.  Yep, I wrote it.  And I meant it.

I am up at six, starting my morning at the El Cortez.  I turned on the news to see the weather and again they are yammering about snow. Yeah sure, just like the other day when you made a big deal about it and we got NOTHING, eh?

Today I am fully rested, had a great night’s sleep and my earache is gone.  On the way to get breakfast,  I lose $25. I am so sick of this.

After eating I went back to the room to shower and get dressed and go back out.

I stop at my nickel video poker machines to see if they want to change their mind about being cold.  On my first  $5 in,  I get 5 aces on Double Bonus Deuces Wild for 400 nickels. Wooooooo. I don’t take a picture because (a) I have gotten yelled at here before for doing this (b) I am still traumatized from being yelled at at Las Vegas Club yesterday (was that yesterday?) and (c) there is a security guard right behind me.

I do the El Cortez daily free slot tournament.  It’s automated now, so you just swipe your card and it tells you if you are eligible, no waiting in line and going to the booth. The new tournament machines are terrible.  Unless you get red, white and blue sevens, you have no shot because it seems all the other wins never surface.

I play around a bit. Rembrandt Riches, win a $30 bonus. Then lose on Davinci Diamonds and Horoscope.  After a quick stop at the gift shop to collect a Diet Pepsi, I head for the Deuce bus to the strip. It’s raining and the Binions sign tells me its 41 degrees and 1:43 pm.

I get off at Sahara to do their daily free pull promotion. I spot a Monopoly Real Estate Tycoon slot machine and want to play.  There’s two of them, but one isn’t working and Santa Claus is playing the other one. I’m sorry but it’s almost Christmas, doesn’t he have better things to do?

I win $5 free slot play on the free pull. I put it in a Chez Tabasco penny slot machine and get a $10 bonus. I lose that on a Survivor slot machine and then get four of a kind kings on a nickel video poker machine.

I leave down ten bucks.  I walk out back to take the 108 bus to Terribles and oh wow – it’s SNOWING! Eeeeeee!

Inside Terribles, I go to the player’s club booth to get a new card.  I am told I have enough points for two dinner buffets. I have not stepped foot in this casino in many years. I don’t know exactly how many, but it’s been a LONG time. So I’m glad to make this discovery. I play Star Trek for the first time and have a great run. I hit the jackpot progressive for $46.40 and then get a $10.60 line pay on the next spin. I work my way up to $110 and cash out at $100.

I try my luck at the Terribles free daily slot tournament and do awfully. I then stop at the buffet. It’s steak night.  The steak is great.  There aren’t too many other selections, but it’s comped and the steak is worth the $10 even if it’s not. I forgot I had a 50% off coupon, wish I had remembered. Oh well.

After eating I try an ULTIMATE X video poker machine. I put in $30 and never win a thing.  From here I try Monopoly Own it All and Monopoly Free Spin Bonanza.  Both steal my money. I try Star Trek again and get a $40 bonus and then I just give up.

Don’t you hate when you are doing well and then you do something like stop to eat and when you are done, you can’t win? I go outside and wait for the 202 bus. There are two pulling up but I still have to cross two streets so I miss them both. By the time another one came, I could have walked to the strip and back.

It’s still snowing.

I get off at Caesars and walk to Planet Hollywood via the Bellagio.

Once I get back outside, the strip is flooding from the snow. It’s still snowing.

At Planet Hollywood, I do their daily free pull and I win $5 free slot play. I put it in a machine called SOMETHING Pandas, I cannot read my handwriting. I got two back to back bonuses and cash out $23.10.

I play Deal or No Deal and get a $23.92 bonus and cash out at $24.98. It’s nice to note that I cashed out with this amount because normally I’d try and keep going until it gets to $25 and I’d end up losing it all.

Time for the Planet Hollywood free daily slot tournament.  I get nothing.

However I am up $70 from when I left the El Cortez this afternoon.

It’s still snowing.

I attempt to take the Deuce bus back downtown, but I don’t see the bus stop that used to be RIGHT THERE. So I walk over to Paris and wait for it there. There are two couples waiting, they are not together but they begin talking. One says McCarran Airport is closed because of the snow.  Then the other says they are supposed to fly out tomorrow morning and then they begin talking about “where are you staying” and so forth. These conversations pain me greatly. One couple is staying at the Imperial Palace because “we got a cheap rate for $55/night” and the other got a “really great rate” of $75/night at Ballys. These arent great rates at all. They are for hotels in a normal city, but they arent for Las Vegas. Especially not in December, ESPECIALLY not in this economy and definitely not for these specific hotels. In any other cities, these prices would be an unbelievable bargain. But not in Las Vegas. You Vegas people all know what I mean.

I keep completely quiet during this conversation because they are clearly excited to have scored such great deals. Who am I to ruin that for them by telling them that simply signing up for casino email would have netted them a better rate right off the bat?

I get back downtown and walk to the El Cortez. It’s still snowing:

Once back at the El Cortez, I play Multi Strike Super Times Pay video poker (aka CRACK)  and get kings. I take a cell phone picture so I don’t get in trouble for using my camera.   I am still shell shocked from the Las Vegas Club.

I try Monopoly, did the “I’m winning yay” and “now I’m losing booooo” things on here. I visit Rembrant Riches and win a bit and then lose it. I go to my room with $20 in winnings to add to tomorrow.

Watching the news – there is three inches of snow at McCarran Airport. While the airport isnt closed, no flights are leaving. I see all the stranded passengers and I begin to wonder if this happened to me, would I have to stay at the airport waiting or would I go back and get a hotel room and play all over again? It’s hard to decide because:

1. If I were a winner, I’d want to keep my winnings I would think
2. If i were a loser, I wouldn’t want to lose anymore money.

They also announced schools are closed tomorrow, making this the first snow day in 29 years. The last one was February 21, 1979. Wow.

[2014 called.  It wants you to know that the final snowfall total ended up being 3.6 inches at McCarran Airport, making this the record snowfall total for the month of December since they began keeping records back in 1937.  2014 would also like you to know that this much probably fell here in New York this past weekend and it was no big deal]