Day 4 Wednesday July 28, 2004

Hotel:
Today I’m moving to the Las Vegas Hilton on a package deal. While I don’t normally pay for rooms this was a deal I almost couldn’t pass up. It offers 2 nights, 2 show tickets, 2 free buffets, and $10 in promotional chips for $55. You can also use comp dollars to pay for this and I plan on giving the Hilton some play this trip to start getting better offers in the future. It will also be interesting to see how things go now that they have new owners.

When I arrived the line to check in was out the front door. There was no way I was waiting in this mess so I went to the slot club to get a new card. The problem here was the line was a mile long too. I wandered around for a while and then finally got into the check in line. The wait was only about 10 minutes and I was on my way to room 2056. This is a king room with a small sitting area, work desk, and TV cabinet/dresser combo. I have a view of the airport, pool area, golf course and Boulder Highway. The bathroom is split into two rooms, one with the tub and toilet and one with the sink. The bathroom is spacious but it’s a lot of wasted space.

Dining:
Tonight was the traditional dinner at the Hilton Steakhouse with my friend Anne and her mother. I just snacked this afternoon saving myself for this big meal tonight. Mark was our waiter as usual. I went with the filet mignon, creamed spinach, and au gratin potatoes. Everything was great as usual. We were all too full for dessert even though the desserts here are very good.

Gaming:
After I got up to the room I hit the casino. I played back in the sportsbook area because that’s where the better video poker is. I started out with 8/5 bonus and only hit one quad in an hour dropping $100. After this I switched over to 15/8 Loose Deuces. A lack of deuces was a killer on this game and it seemed the only quads I was getting were natural ones. Too bad they are almost worthless on this game. I played this game for an hour and dropped $200 for a total of $300 in just 2 hours.

After dinner I took a shot at some short pay DDB in the main casino. After a little while I pulled quad 3’s with a kicker for $200. After this though the machine got tight. I did manage to cash out with an $85 win though.

After the short DDB session I hit the craps table. It was choppy at first then it went to hell. Every shooter (including me) would set a point, roll 2 numbers and then go out. I dropped way too much money on this table before giving up for the night.

Entertainment:
My room package came with tickets to any Hilton show. The show that was available during my stay was the Fab Four. They are a Beatles tribute band. My friend Anne and I went to this show before going to dinner. I had 5th row seats and we were only about 20 feet from the stage. The whole cast looks and sounds like the real thing and they add a little comedy and humor to the show. They sing all of the songs and play all of the music themselves. It was a good show but personally the nearly $50 ticket price is a bit much for a tribute band. The crowd was really into the show but a few people were taking it way too seriously. The guy sitting next to me acted as if it were the real Beatles on the stage. He was screaming at the top of his lungs every time they started a new song. What a loser!

Total win/loss for the day -$1200
Total comps for the day $93