Royal Hunting Beside the Ocean: 2015
10.09.2015 Down here it's just winners and losers....
Hey Now! First off, I'm supposed to be up at Bear Camp on the Rapidan River brook trout fishing. But with the recent storms in the area, that wasn't happening. And Monday is a government holiday, so it's a solo to A.C.Sweet Ti is home looking after our Feline Foursome. We just got back from Buffalo Hunting in the Desert:2015. I booked the 10:15 ferry. Let's go Yarma....
Maggie greeted me by name at the front desk and got me a nice room in the Rendezvous Tower.
Your standard room. I gave our host, Martha a call and she said she would see me later. Beautiful day here, 71° Great gamboling weather. Shall we??? Let's start with some 9/7 Triple Boner. I know y'all, shitty odds. But my choices here of really off the wall games to jones on are somewhat limited. I insert a hundy and download today's free play- $35. I'm playin' the slants between the pit and security.
Savvy Parley Time....
Cue da Dog?
Top Dollar!!!
Pretty profitable begining. They are giving away fleece jackets today, and I walk over and score one. Hey Now! This jacket is spiffy! A genuine Made In China Eddie Bauer Signature zip up.
Break time, upstairs go I. Sweet Ti is about to get off work, so I call her. "Welcome- to our Weekend" is our Friday 5 p.m. Mantra. Afterwards, I call Gallagher's and make a reservation.$50 Dining Dollars Comp. Hungry???
Lot's o' Sporks! That's a 10 oz. Filet with Onion Straws and the Mushroom Medley. While I was eating, Martha called. I told her I was eating, and she came on up. She had her handsome son Chazz and his girlfriend with. Quite the gentleman he is. Hugs all around. Whenever I eat here alone, I like to sit in the bar area. Great place to people watch. Tony took good care of me. And my comps took care of the bill After this huge amount of eating, I needed to take a walk. So I took the skywalk over to see what's left of the (still) Trump Taj Mahal.
It's about 7:45 on a Friday night. And the place is dead. The pit is all but empty. Depressing. I went back next door and it's hopping. But I do manage to find my slant empty. Insert coin.
And then things went south. I blew thru the rest of that hundy. Time for a diversion. I enjoy playing these Quick Hit 5x/10x dollar machines over by the food court. They have a progressive that resets at $1k. I've never seen one over $1200., so they pay out fairly often. It's a hand pay when they do. Only a single line machine, 2 credits a spin. One Quick Hit anywhere on the screen is a push, 2 pay $25, and 3 anywhere pays the progressive. 3 on the line pay $5k. I give it a shot. Jim?
That was truly a Quick Hit. It was about my 10th spin. Funny how they take your card out and replace it with theirs while they go get your duckies. But there is no paperwork involved. Dude was fast though, and of course I tipped him. Then I cashed out. I sent out the obligatory texts. Makin' it Rain. Time to go up and make a deposit. I look outside and it's raining. Sweet Ti and I chat. Buffaloooo! Jim?
Man it seems like they pay out better in Vegas. After I hit that bonus, I got smoked out of that section. Like on both sides. Slant time.
Jim?
I'm pretty much tuckered out at this point. It's been a profitable day, and I call it a night.
10.10.2015 Take a thousand dollars and go have some fun, but it all on a hundred to one.
Hey Now! Hang fire, hang fire, put it on the wire. Saturday morning, yet I'm up before the sun. I TCB and eat my cereal, Tune the bluetooth headys to some brand new Los Lobos, and hit the floor. First stop is Buffaloooooo!!!! Cause there is no air pollution . Jimmy?
Cash out time. The sun is just beginning to emerge from the ocean, and it looks like a beautiful morning. About 52°. Let's do a walkabout.
I walked up to the 2nd floor deck at da Taj and got some shots. Spot the kitty?
New mission. In the "Margaritaville Casino" there used to be a row of 8/5 BP uprights against a wall but they are gone. As a matter of fact, they have taken out a whole shitload of machines here. So I am checking behind the ramp to the bathrooms, and there they are.
Insert coin.
That went well, my version of the Savvy Parley. I switched to $1 Triple Boner. Roll it Jim...
My buddy Bill paid me. Just enough to get the IRS involved. We talked about the changes at Resorts. I asked if Mignon was working- they used to be part of the same shift, but Bill said her hours were still decimated. I tipped him and cashed out the remaining $305. I stopped by the MVille Caffeine Shoppe and said hello to Jackie. We shot the shit about Vegas. Her Mom lives there. I wandered around and ended up at a $1 Double Diamond Deluxe. Zilch. Back to the ol' Quick Hit 5x/10x. Butkis. I needed a break to talk to my Sweet Ti. And have an ice cold Kaliber or 3. Saturday afternoon is in full force downstairs. I do manage to find my slant empty. Inserting coinage.
Feelin' rather flush, I stroll across to Hollyrock Hills and tale a stab at Top Dollar. What few hits I scored weren't much.
Quick Hit??? Sorta.
Now I'm hungry, so I hit up the Club Epic. Let's just say there wasn't anything there that lived up to the name of the Club. Do yourself a favor there and aviod the brisket. I'm still chewing that cud. Back upstairs, with that brisket churning in me belly, I took a nap. 2 hours later I felt much better, which was good because today they are giving away cruise certificates. Last year the line was ludicrous, and I wandered which rap star name line I was facing. To my surprise it went quickly. They must have learned from their mistakes. The only line was to talk to the cruise representatives on hand. Next stop is Marshall Russo to pick up a trio of scarves for my Sweet Ti. Up to nestle my treasures, down to stake my booty. I consult with Zoltar to determine where to place my stake.
"Your fortune lies in the oblique"
If I'ma gonna get Quad Aces, let them be Triple Boners!
Let's see that one Jim....
AND that one too Jimmy...
Back to back Deltas. Well, once again it's been a positive outcome to the day. And I've still got one more to go. Don't touch that dial!
10.11.2015 The easier it looks, the harder it hooks.
Hey Now! Slept in till like 6:30. Looks like yet another perfect fall day outside. Except fall showed up. It's 43°.
I actually took those last 3 pics from the self park at the Tropicana, which is obviously where I was. Business time. Zephyr Gallery for an early Christmas gift for my Sweet Ti. The next trip to AC will be for New Year's Eve, so I need to take advantage of this opportunity. Harvey and Toby Quitel run this killer gallery. All original pieces. We have been coming here since they opened 10 years ago.
Harvey greeted me and we had a blast. We talked for about an hour. I finally got around to picking out a really nice piece of jewelry from a new artist there. I promise to bring Sweet Ti around for the Holidays. Yarma and I head upbeach. Time to gambol!
I loves me some Double Diamonds Deluxe. But I'm still mainly on the hunt for a Royal. It's been a year and a half , 2 Vegas trips and 8 AC trips since my last one. Back to the MVille uprights, one of the locals is there doing some mega $1 BP play. He asks me to watch his machine for a minute and leaves his throw down hat in the seat. It's a throw down because there is another one on his head. He takes out his TITO and card. No prob Dude. I'm playing at the other end of the row, and the other machines are empty. I couple of minutes later and Asian lady walks up and is eyeing his machine. I tell her it's being used. She hovers. Gets ready to move his hat. I tell her again, and she lets into me with "I see nobody here!! I no see his name on it." I shrug my shoulders. A few minutes later dude shows back up. I tell him my story and he thanks me and we have a laugh. The things that happen in casinos, huh?
At this point, it's around 1 p.m. I walk over to the Club and Manny takes my card. Entrance is $12 comps. I ask him if there is any chance of watching the Skins game on one of the many TVs. He tells me he will check with Ed the barkeep while I'm checking out the buffet. They have a much better selection for the NFL games. Brats 'n Sauerkraut, deli sandwiches, and carved roast beef. I pig out, and Manny sez they don't have the NFL package there. Bummer. I toss him a $2 bill for his effort. I catch the crawl along the bottom of the screen for game updates while I'm ignoring the Beagles. Good crowd around the bar area. This little club is pretty sweet. Back to work.
I'm at my usual machine next to security. I load up today's $50 free play. I have noticed that the cocktail waitresses are always walking up to the security window. I never really paid much attention to what they were doing there. I did this night. They are getting ciggies from security. So that's what they do there. Provide their clientele with cancer sticks. Yet another mystery solved. It's not that busy on a Sunday evening, even if tomorrow's a holiday. I've got this whole row of machines to myself. Then I notice a lady has sat down. She looks vaguely familiar, and we nod at each other. We are playing along and she hits something that is taking awhile to ding. I ask her if she got a Royal. Yepper, she says. Playing Deuces Wild no less. "Aren't you RB?" Sure am. Turns out I met her and her husband, who walked up about that time, a few months ago. They ask me how our Vegas trip went. They play at Sam's Town about once a year. We talked a bit, then they had to leave for dinner. Time for a change of prospective. I hit the 5x/10/ Quick Hits. They are busy. But I find one empty, next to the mirrored column. I.C.
One more James...
That was interesting. Slot Dude took way too long to pay me though. I was sitting next to this little old lady who was talking to me a mile a minute the whole time I was waiting. I couldn't understand a damn thing she was saying. So I put my earbuds back it and waited. Finally. Duckies on the hip. I cash out the remaining credits and head back to the slants. By the way, the Skins lost in OT. Fugures.
"Let me tell you something" to quote Ziggy. And I'm not talking about the big headed cartoon character. I put another 4 or 5 hundy in after that. Played for a couple of hours. Nuttin'. It was gettin' late, and I have to get up at around 3:30 a.m. to catch the early ferry. Now if any of y'all have read one of these ramblings before, ya know I like to end my last VP session of each trip with a 4OAK. But I am having a major drought. But at some point I'm gonna run out of hundys. I put in one last hundy. It's now or never.
Maybe just one more Jim...
Screw a 4OAK. I'll take the Royal. That puppy got cashed out. Time to call it a trip. I went up and called Sweet Ti to wish her goodnight, packed, and hit the hay. Got up, checked out using comps to pay the dreaded resort fees and $10 cash for the tax. Hauled ass back to VA and was home by early afternoon. I ended up earning 59 points. Whatever that means. And a shit load of comps. And the Bankroll I took ended up tripled. All this trip lacked was my Sweet Ti. But we shall return. New Year's Eve in A.C., then our 15th anniversary in Vegas!
