Day 13 Sunday April 6, 2003

I slept way too late today after you factor in the time change. I really hate this time change nonsense especially when I’m on vacation. After I got ready my first stop was over to the laundromat to pick up the clothes I dropped off yesterday. The next move was to casino hop center strip.

Before going to the strip I made a quick stop at Jokers Wild on Boulder. They have a 50-cent game here with 10X odds. It’s usually full of deadbeats and smelly people and today was no exception. I made a few pass line bets and beat a don’t player out of about $40 before I went out. Unfortunately the next shooter took all of my profits and I left with an $8 loss.

I valet parked at Bally’s and security made me pop open my trunk so they could look in. This is just another false sense of security. All she did was see there was nothing in there. Let’s think for a minute though. If I were going to have something like explosives would I be stupid enough to have them out in the open or would I bury them in the spare tire compartment where she didn’t bother to look?

First stop was the craps table at Bally’s. This was a pretty good table but I didn’t like the way the dealers were taking advantage of a rookie player telling him to keep making hard way bets and hustling him for tips without him really knowing what was happening. I expect this from low end properties and downtown but in a place like Bally’s it is unacceptable. This table had a few good shooters making points and repeating numbers and I left here with a $147 win.

The tables at Paris were packed so I skipped playing here and went next door to the Aladdin. There were a bunch of people playing the dark side on this game and I couldn’t wait to get the dice. I made 2 points before going out but the next 2 shooters killed all that profit and then some more on top of it. I left here with a $39 loss.

From the Aladdin I went over to the Barbary Coast. This place was actually dead and the craps game only had 2 players on it. Neither one of us could hit any numbers. I walked out of here with another loss of $27.

I wanted to play at the Flamingo next since I’ve never played craps here but the $5 game was packed and I didn’t want to get onto a $10 game that had some space so I went over to O’Sheas instead. Today the game was $5 with double odds. I find it odd that the Flamingo would have 3, 4, 5X odds but O’Sheas only has double odds. I was placing the inside numbers on this game and making a pass line bet. The game was pretty good with each shooter making some numbers before going out. I was glad I wasn’t making come bets here though because very few numbers were repeating. When it was my turn to shoot I established a point. The dealer passed me the dice for the next roll and as I picked them up and threw them the dealer on the far end reaches into the middle of the game to grab something. The dice hit him in the arm and what comes up? Of course a friggen 7. I muttered god dammit under my breath aggravated that of all people to reach into a game it was a dealer. When the stickman went to pass the dice to the next shooter, he looked at me and told me like I was 6 years old that I would have to watch my language. If god dammit upset him that much I wonder what he would have done if I yelled f*ck like I usually do. I cashed out of this game with an $89 win and moved on to the Imperial Palace.

The IP has a $3 game and I got in. The game was choppy with one good shooter and one bad one. I got out of here with a huge $9 win while I had the chance and moved on to the next casino. Harrah*s was packed and so was Casino Royale so I went over to the Venetian. There was a good shooter on this game and she held the dice for a while. I was only placing the inside numbers this time and as usually all she was hitting was the 4 and 10. She did eventually hit a few numbers and made her point a few times. The next 2 shooters killed most of those wins and I ran away with a $37 win here.

Treasure Island was the next stop and this is where the little casino hopping game started to get ugly. There were only 3 of us on the game and we all sucked when it came to shooting. I dropped $120 here and the whole time only got paid on one point.

Over to the Mirage and I found a $5 game with a guy on the other end betting blacks on the don’t and laying full odds. I needed to get the dice so I could wipe this guy out. When it was my turn I was able to make one point beating this guy out of $700. Unfortunately he got it back on my next roll because I didn’t make the point. I left here after losing only $27 and headed up to the Bellagio.

This was another nightmare as no one could make a point. Everyone was going out right away and instead of running I was hoping it would change. Of course it never did and I ended up losing $186 on this game before calling it a day on the center strip.

I went back over to Bally’s fetched my car and drove back up to Henderson to rest for a while before getting dinner.

For dinner I went back to the Baja Brach Café. Tonight I had the hot turkey sandwich. It was just the right amount of food with little going to waste.

It was getting late and I decided I would go back down to the Hard Rock and get in on some craps action. I bought in on the $10 game. Again, this is a little higher than I usually play but I thought I’d take another shot at a decent win. This table was up and down before it went ice cold. 5 hours later the table was empty and I was the only one shooting. Things weren’t working out as I would 7 out after establishing my point and 2 numbers. On a $10 game with full odds this can wipe you out in a hurry. Instead of come bets I decided to go with placing the inside numbers to try and build up a little money. Of course what happens? I hit 4 consecutive 4’s and 2 tens back to back only hitting 2 inside numbers before going out and losing my bankroll. It was amazing how as soon as I stopped making come bets I repeated on the money numbers so much. If I had been making come bets the whole time I would have still been in the game. I guess the lesson here is to be consistent and bet the same way. It was now about 4am and time to head back up to Henderson.

Total win/loss for the day -$1150
Total comps for the day $46
Total out of pocket expenses $16