06.11.2018 A wonderful caricature of intimacy*
Hey Now! It's 4:20. 24/7. 365. Wait- that's a lyric from a Keller Williams song. But not this one ...............James??????
patently untrue
I'm on the 21st floor and I never had to use my key card for access. These elevators are iffy at best. It's not unusual for as many as 2 out of 6 to be out of service at any given time. I wouldn't doubt if Otis has an office set up here. Plus they are prone to "ghosting" which means at any given time they will stop at random floors even if the button isn't pushed. Bummer. Especially when it's busy.
Downtown morning today. It's a combo multi point/coupon/photo op run. Long time readers will know that the only time I usually venture under the canopy is early in the day. This day is no exception. Kujo takes us safely past the ongoing Project Neon fiasco and glides us into the Main Street Station surface parking.
orleans limo far from home
On the way to FSE I scope out the rapid progress the Stevens boys are making at Circa.
I for one am happy there's gonna be a sparkling new resort downtown. They are also doing a major rehab of the canopy.
It's really cool that they will now be able to do the shows even in the daylight. My first stop is at the Fremont to earn some points.
The Fremont is actually the only Boyds property that's offering bonus points today. I had pretty much used up my Bconned point before I came home from my Almost Vegoose trip last fall. Time to rack some up. I start out with some Lucky Lemmings.
I had really good luck on this particular machine last fall. .05 denom 5. bet. Not happening today. Didn't even get a bonus out of that first hundy. Next I go in search of Double Top Dollar. They have moved some things around but I finally find it. As I'm inserting coin I see this dude hit a jackpot. Boy, it's a nice one too. He wasn't even aware that there was a jackpot available on his machine.
3. bet = 12,392.
We started talking while he was waiting for his check. Him and his wife are from Palm Springs. She is up in the room packing and he decided to play a bit in the meanwhile. He was going from machine to machine in that row playing 3 spins on each one. When it hit he glanced up to notice the progressive. They have been gamboling for 30 years and never hit anything like this. Noice. I hit the Top Dollar symbol a few times but was only offered pittance. Time for something completely different. Hit it Jimmy.........
clack clack clack
I love the way they re-purpose these old cabinets. Obviously this machine started life as a simple 3 reel. They just keep clacking along. My running total here is 1894 daily points/383 tears. That's around 5. per tear. At the club I activate my 10. MP from one of the books and hit an empty roulette table. I buy in for 4 reds and put it all on odd. Winner winner lucky 13. I collect my 50. and toss the dealer one of the chips.
That puts my slightly up for the day. I print out a buffet voucher and make my way to the back of the Fremont. Place is near empty.
Tita sparkly soylent green lonely diner table
I still say the servers here have the best shirts ever. Back on our 2nd trip here in 2008 this was the first decent buffet had. Their seafood buffet was pretty frilling good if memory serves me right. Even had a BOGO. Can't say much for today's offerings.
11x points rocks
Time for a stroll down to the ElCo. I am joined by a couple of SoCal hippie dudes. Kent is pushing his son Adam West in a stroller. That's how they introduced themselves. Adam West is 3 years old. He does a great imitation of the actor Adam West as Batman. "Farewell Robin" Adam West tells me. Classic.
Adam West and Kent
They continue down further into the Arts District and I make my way into the darkness and smell that tells me I have once again stumbled upon "The ElCo Zone". There's no mistaking the ambience. After my eyes and nose adjust I queue up at the club and present my LVA coupon. There's 2 Philippine chicks working the counter and they are talking to each other in various dialects. I am informed there are at least 9 distinct dialects spoken amongst the various locales. She loads up my card and I try my luck at the kiosk.
Last time I choose 50. FSP. This time it's 10. I head straight for the Silver Strike machine. The offerings don't show any red or blue caps. Insert 20. and dial up FSP. I'm hitting Strikes pretty regularly until I fire up the video and can't hit shit. Let's watch Jim!!!!
I had all 4 of those strikes already in my collection so I cashed those in on my way out. 20. profit from the ElCo.
It's kinda like a mini Burning Man. That's where all of the strange creatures came from anyway. It's actually a ride staging area.
I bop in the D to hopefully exchange a couple of MP coupons for some duckies. The boothling at the club kindly let me use the 25. matchplay from each book at the same time. They wouldn't do that at Fremont even with each only for 10. . Here we go.
Red was black and black was red. Farewell 50. and the D. Hello 4 Queens. Player's club to redeem 10. FSP coupon. I find an empty Silver Strike machine again with a severe lack of showing colored strikes. Insert 20. plus my free slot play. Engage for us Jim.......
I ended up saving one strike and cashing in the other one. Plus I cashed out 10. Next up I try Scott's Old Faithful. Take it away James-
I more or less followed Scott's instructions. Maybe you ARE supposed to only play 1 credit per spin. If the stake is only 40. that makes more sense. But that 2m jackpot....... I walk across the street to Binion's for the obligatory photo. I have to do this every trip. It's all part of my Master Scheme. The photoling wasn't there so I hung out with 3 people who were ohhing and ahhing over the display. We started talking and I told them that the photo is free. And each person qualifies for one. They are from Kent, England. The chickadee finally showed up and they posed for a shot. My turn, and afterwards I spotted them leaving the casino. I quickly followed after and explained how to actually receive their souvenir. The photographer told them nothing. They nodded their understanding and I walked to the player's club to redeem yet another 10. FSP coupon. I found a giant Invaders from the Planet Moolah machine and couldn't do a thing. I love this game but the volatility is insane. Ray Ray called from work. Every trip he manages to call when I am downtown. I never tell him when I'm gonna be there either. We sort out his issue and I run out of bullets chasing bovines. I stop by and get my photo.
such a nerd
I ducked out thru the back and made my way towards California. I see that at this point I snapped a shot of my new waist pack thingy.
I used to carry a sling backpack but this is more better. Betterer. It's more or less a money belt for runners. Or non-runners.
One last coupon to dispatch. Well, 2 but they will only let me use 1. 10. MP. There isn't an open roulette table that I can find so I find an empty seat at a DD BJ table and wait till the shuffle to buy in. There's a couple at second and a dude at third. 10. table. I buy in for 20. and sit at first. I bet the minimum along with the MP. Dealt a 10 to the dealer's 8. I doubled and he busted. I take my winnings and bet 10. again. Dealt a 10 to the dealer's 6. I doubled and he busted. I take my winnings and bet 10. again. Dealt another 10 to the dealer's 4. Doubled and he busted. I take my winnings and bet 10. again. Blackjack. I take my winnings and bet 20. this time. I busted and colored up. I got a black and a red. I toked the dealer the red, wished luck to the other players, and pocketed the black. That was fun.
When I finished at the cage I thought it might be best to get my parking ticket validated at the front desk at the Cal. I'm pretty sure the Shiny green card will cover the parking, but with all the BConned nonsense afoot I don't want to take any chances. At this point it may take an Onyx the Brilliant mineral card to park for free. The deskling not only asks if I am staying there, but takes my driver's license and scans it for some reason. Then she gets on the phone and talks to god knows who. She finally stamps it and I'm on my way. Kujo has been patiently warming her seats for my arrival. Note to self: Always bring a towel from the room to lay across the roasting pleather sweats of the rental. The I-15 traffic wasn't too horrendous now that my driving is back up to Vegas Crazy speed. It did finally lock up just before Flamingo so I recklessly crossed 4 lanes and got off. I like coming in the back way. Since it's Tuesday I head to the Poker Bar.
the venerable Hank Bonefish
Boney immediately hits me up with a "Fine Irish Beverage" and we catch up. I am at our regular shorty machines. Hank has a new love interest which seems to be doing him quite a bit of good. I'm pleased and let Sweet Ti know right away. It's about time. Pretty soon I hear an unmistakable voice from further down the bar. Yepper, it's Gollum in the flesh. Ol' Toothless Mikey. He's pretty much always here.
Artist rendering of Mikey
Hank has enrolled in a Master Magic Class. They did a practice session to try out their routines under the canopy at FSE. Hank surprised the teacher by doing a trick he hadn't taught the class how to do. Worked like a charm! The World's Most Dangerous Card Trick. Hank said he passed the hat and made 40. Bear in mind this is around noon. Great job dude! He went on break and I started talking to today's local, Rod. Rod and Hank go back 30 years. They were both working at the Gold Coast and came here when the Orleans first opened. For the life of me I can't fathom how I've been hanging around here this long without meeting Rod. He shares a couple of Hank stories that I won't go into here. Nice dude. Meanwhile I do have a bit of luck at my machine.
I finally lost my stake and bid the boys farewell. Time for some Higher Limit. I insert coin into a 5. WoF machine. Better luck here??
250. wheel spin
I cashed out 300. and decided to go and shower. When I stepped out of the shower I heard a loud rapping on my door. "Security!!!!" So I quickly toweled off and slipped into a pair of shorts. No shirt. I opened the door and a security guard and a housekeeping supervisor were standing there. I did not recognize him. Or her. Dude tells me he has to check my room because I didn't get room service yesterday. I tell him the maid brought me some extra water and walked in the room to put it down . That's not good enough for him. He needs to check out the entire room. Whatever dude. He asks me if I'm alone. "Quite" I tell him. The supervisor looks embarrassed and proceeds to the bathroom while he is walking around. He is finally satisfied and leaves without a word. The chick thanks me and apologizes. At least I was in the room when they came. I got dressed and went back down. I settle in at the Cracked Glass Special and insert coin. Doesn't take long.
172.
Well, I think it was 172. I can't ever be sure on this machine. But it's fairly consistent. I'm pretty much feeling it until I can no longer breathe. Frillin' ciggies yet again. I know how to beat this though. To a certain extent anyway. I know just the place....
Fortunately I have the key to escape reality. While I was busy racking up credits, a lady hit the progressive directly to the rear of my machine. Woulda Shoulda Coulda. I cashed out a 300. profit. Trying not to stay too long at the fair. What's next on our plate Jim?????
Pushed
There's some upright VP here in the non-smoking area. I dial up some 1. 9/6 DDB. Dealt 3-2's. As always, I look away-
oh hells yeah!!
Well y'all, considering I haven't eaten anything since what passed for breakfast I need to eat. RB can't live on Ab'Dulls and Beck's NA alone. Plus I've got that 150. food comp with most of it left. I am switching to Sweet Ti's room comp tomorrow. Good ol' Boyds won't bridge the offers. I really shouldn't complain too much considering Sweet Ti is actually in Virginia. I do appreciate the way my hosts are so knowingly complacent to this fact. Plus May already hooked me up with a meal comp tomorrow at the Prime Rib Loft. She even made it for 4 people instead of 3 in case we wanted to order a nice bottle. So I think I'll do Big Al's Oyster Bar. Plus, it's oyster happy hour.
13 for the price of
12
Cioppino
I always sit at the bar. The kitchen right out front and it's fun to just watch them cook and interact. This crew especially. Jose, Teddy, and Josie.
Plus they have the best sourdough bread. I chowed down. Apalachicola oysters. The cioppino was loaded with crab, shrimp, clams and mussels. More horseradish over here please Josie! Here's all that was left.
urp.
I managed to use up a pretty good chunk of the comp. At the kiosk I see I'm only around 3k coin in here for the day. Time to step it up. I insert coin at W4 Tower. Dial up 4 Buffalo Gold. Maxi bet 8. I burn thru 2 hundy like right now. Ouch! Maybe the Mardi Gras bar.
I decide to cash out at an even grand. I've been using the same TITO since I got here. Not too shabby. I try some W4 Boost.
This was my first time trying this iteration of W4. I did manage to hit the bonus. I still like the original the best. But it's steadily eating up the credits, so I cut my losses and set about figuring out a way to use up some more of that food comp. I can only use it at one of the restaurants that Boyd's run. TGIF fits the bill. So I bop over and see my buddy Amanda. I ordered up several desserts.
sugar for days
Coin in: Orleans- 5613. Tears- 643
Fremont- 1200. 383
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06.12.2019 You can go to extremes with impossible schemes
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06.10.2019 But I don't really mind that it's starting to get to me
*Build God, then we'll talk, Panic at the Disco