Monday April 8, 2002

I never sleep well on the last night in town when I have a morning flight for fear I will oversleep and miss my plane. This had me waking up every half-hour. I finally got up at 3:30am and got myself ready. I packed up my remaining items and decided I’d go play some video poker for a while before going to the airport to head home.

I played at the Palms on the bank of FPDW progressive machines. No luck here but I got to play for about 2 ½ hours on $20. That was actually one of my better video poker sessions this trip.

It was now about 7:30 and time to head over to Alamo to drop off the car. This went smoothly and there were no problems with returning the car. The shuttle arrived in a few minutes to take me to the airport and before long I was in the check in line at McCarran. For the e-ticket passengers you can self-check in now. You simply swipe a credit card and answer a few questions, including the 2 worthless security questions and then proceed to the counter where they check your ID and tag your bags. Your boarding pass and everything is printed at the self-serve kiosks. I liked this it seems to really speed up the lone with the exception of having an agent at the counter that works in slow motion.

I made my way to the terminal and I had about an hour to wait. Or so I thought I did. On the monitors by the gate there is a message stating the flight is delayed 2 hours. Apparently the incoming flight was leaving from Houston and they were having severe thunderstorms. The flight from there took off 2 hours late. Nothing to do about this one other than ride out the wait and watch people play tight slots and video poker for the next 3 hours. Continental did offer soda and chips to all passengers that were ticketed for this flight. Not much but at least they did something.

The plane finally arrived and by noon we were on our way. I’m on flight 769 on a B-737. We are traveling at 33,000 feet. There is actually a meal on this flight unlike the America West flight I took on the way out. We were served a Pierre’s hot meatloaf sandwich. I think they forgot the meat in the loaf though. It tasted like nothing but bread. Even 2 packs of ketchup didn’t give this thing any flavor! The sandwich also came with a small bag of Ruffles and piece of Easter candy from Whitman’s.

After eating I pretty much slept most of the way home. This was fine with me because sitting in a tube for almost 5 hours really sucks and this was a great way to pass the time. I woke up to some pretty rough turbulence and we were making our approach to Newark. A few minutes later we were on the ground.

After the long walk to the baggage claim area I was able to get my bags in less than 10 minutes. This isn’t too bad at all for Newark standards. A few minutes later I was on the sky train on my way to Avis.

Things at Avis couldn’t have gone smoother and in less than 5 minutes I was in my Chevy Impala on my way home. This was a great car and only had 4,000 miles on it unlike the other crap I was driving the last 2 weeks.

I walked in the door of my house at about 9:30pm and another trip was history.

Total win/loss for the day 0
Total comps for the day 0

Final Thoughts

• America West should be ashamed of not serving a meal on a 4 hour flight

• America West will be getting a letter about the treatment I got from them

• Airport security was not a factor as far as delays this trip

• The wait at Alamo is totally unacceptable and they will be getting a letter about that as well as using scare tactic to try and sell insurance

• Coupons are the only way to go when renting a car. They save a ton of money

• Silverton rooms are basic with no amenities or extras

• The new thing of hotels leaving bottled water in rooms ranging from $3-$5 a bottle is VERY tacky to me

• The Feel Good Wonton Soup at Fiesta Henderson is one of my favorite foods

• I found quite a bit of money in machine trays and on credit meters this trip. People are really careless leaving so much behind.

• Hitting a royal is a great feeling but kind of sucks on a penny machine!

• I don’t usually do well with gambling coupons and this trip was no exception

• 2X points at the Coast properties are a great deal at .5% cash back. It adds up quick during these promotions

• Valet parking is the way to go at most hotels

• Losing at Binion’s really sucks especially when I used to do so well there

• I spent more time than usual downtown this trip and really enjoyed it

• The Plaza still (and probably always will) smells like piss

• I like the new combined slot cards that properties like Park Place, Stations and Mandalay have

• The 22oz porterhouse at Silverton was one of the best steaks I ever had

• The suites at Suncoast are some of the best rooms in town

• The beltway is a great way to get to the outskirts of town with a lot less traffic

• Rampart Casino needs to get their act together or they won’t be around much longer

• I played about 75,000 hands of video poker and hit 2 royal flushes

• The Sahara buffet is not as bad as people make it out to be

• I was begged for money more times downtown this trip than all previous trips combined

• Blackjack continued to kill me this trip

• Benihana was neat but you’re paying for the exhibition more than the food

• Multi line video poker is a great way to run a lot of coin in through the machines

• Palms is a nice property overall

• The rooms at the Palms are over rated based on other reports I’ve read

• The Palms beds ARE the best

• Main Street Station’s buffet is still pretty good. T-bone night is a great deal for steak lovers

• Comps seem tight at Main Street Station to me. I played over 12k one night and was only entitled to 1 dinner buffet

• Gold Coast rooms are tired and worn and could use some refurbishing

• Strip traffic sucks

• Main Street Station would be a great place if it were located in a better place

• The scratch card promo at Main Street Station is a great promotion

• Room comp requirements are way too high at the Palms at $20,000 coin in per day

• The FPDW progressives get vultures around them when the progressive gets high

• The Gold Coast buffet is a great buffet at a great price

• Stardust needs more restaurants, especially on the weekends

• The Fiesta Henderson buffet would be good if the foods were hot

• Airport delays suck

• Will people ever learn not to cross the street when the sign says “DON’T WALK”?

• Will anyone on the West Coast ever be able to make a decent pizza, egg roll, or canoli?

• Why do people congregate at the top and bottom of escalators and outside elevator doors?

• This trip showed my worst loss ever

• This was my second loss in a row bringing my record to 10-5-1

• Stations should be ashamed of themselves owning a place like Wild Wild West

• The weather was perfect at 70-85 degrees every day

• My next trip is in August and it can’t get here soon enough

Total win/loss for the trip -$2500
Total comps for the trip $1647

Email: stungazed@yahoo.com