Day 5
Sunday July 16, 2000
Slept in until 10 today. I wasn’t going to go to the pool since I got a little burned yesterday. Instead I started packing up my stuff since I would be moving to the Stardust today. After packing I went to the casino and got a comp for breakfast at Congo Jack’s Café again. This place was packed but I sat at the counter. I ordered their special called Deuces Wild. It’s 2 pancakes, 2 eggs, hash browns and either 2 bacon strips, sausage links or patties for $1.99. I chose the bacon and also ordered and orange juice. It’s pretty bad when your beverage costs more than the rest of the meal since the OJ was $2.49. The meal took over 30 minutes to arrive and there was a couple sitting next to me that was outraged. The waitress said they were swamped and if they would like to talk to a manager she would be happy to go get him. They declined to have him come over. The meal was good except for one thing. When I lifted up the top pancake to put some butter on the bottom pancake there was no bottom pancake! They only gave me one pancake. This was a first for me. I’ve been shorted things on my orders before like the bacon on Thursday night’s burger. But how do you short someone a pancake? I got over it and since it was so busy I decided I could live without the pancake. I didn’t want to end up waiting another 30 minutes for them to make another one.
After I checked out I went down to the strip and pulled into the Stardust. The line to check in here was really long so I went to the casino. I found a half-dollar Bonus Poker machine that was still 8/5 but had a progressive meter. The jackpot for the royal flush was over $2,500. I was doing well and then got dealt 4 deuces. Dammit. Why didn’t this happen when I was playing 50-play?
Three hands later I pulled 4 9’s and then four 6’s. Soon after I was dealt four to a straight flush with no gaps and actually pulled it out for another 250 coins. Coins were dropping into the tray at this point since the credit meter will only go up to 400. I emptied the machine and they came and filled it quickly. They actually keep a bag of coins under the machine now like the Reserve and Main Street Station does. This makes fills much faster. I finally cashed out $400 for a $300 win.
I went back up to the check-in area and the line was still a mile long so I decided to try my luck out with some Blackjack. There isn’t much to say here other than it was pretty bad. The dealer was pulling 21’s like crazy. I lost here and moved to another table. This table wasn’t much better. The only difference was instead of pulling 21’s this dealer was always sitting on a 20. It wasn’t very much fun at all. I tried some $1 video poker and couldn’t hit shit here either. I guess the fire is out and I really can lose.
The line was much shorter at check in now so I decided to go over and wait. I say the line was shorter but it was not short. There were about 30-40 people waiting to get checked in. That wouldn’t be too bad but they only had 2 agents working the counter. I think this is totally unacceptable. 2 people working the check in desk to take care of a long line is not enough.
I finally got checked in. I had 2 complimentary nights here and one night at casino rate of $35. The room also came with a check good for $25 in chips so that made the room only $10. While I hate to pay for rooms in Las Vegas I can handle $10/night, especially since moving for one night is a real pain in the ass. I was in room 11523. It had a great view of the strip and of the pool area. There was a king size bed, a table and chairs, 2 nightstands, a TV cabinet/dresser combo with a 19-inch TV and a desk. The bathroom was basic but was a decent size. The only problem I had with the room was it was a smoking room and it looked as if it hadn’t been dusted in a while.
After getting settled in I drove over to Palace Station to get something to eat. That’s one good thing about the Stations Casinos Boarding Pass. My points are good at all 4 (soon to be 6 and still growing) of their properties. I went to their buffet and it was actually pretty good. The meats at the carving station looked a little too cooked for my liking so I tried some of the other items they had. One dish that I thought was really good was the Shepherd’s Pie of all things. It would have been even better if the french fry lights hadn’t dried out the mashed potatoes. Of course that’s one of the standard problems of just about every buffet I’ve ever been to. The foods are usually getting cold and dried out from sitting there so long. I’d say this buffet is a pretty good deal at $8.99. They also have specialty nights here and they are priced a bit higher. The only other problem I had at this buffet was that parents let their small kids run around the dining room and climb all over the booths.
After dinner I played some Blackjack. This was a tough table but I wasn’t losing that badly. Things were up and down. It was one of those sessions where you win one or 2 hands and then lose one or 2 hands. Things started to get rough every time the dealer went to break. The relief dealer would get on fire and start wiping us out. Then our regular dealer would return and things would get better. This always seems a bit strange to me. I was almost busted out at this table and then I made a recovery. I was still having a bit of a problem winning with 20’s but I was winning with just about everything else I had. I eventually bumped up my bets. I eventually got ahead a little bit and my plan was to cash out with a $700 win or even. Whichever came first. I was at the $650 point and I was dealt a pair of aces, which of course I split. I pulled a 10 on each one of them. This win would put me over my $700 mark and I could now leave. But wait, no, the dealer didn’t have a 20. He had 12 and drew 3 cards. Shit, the prick just pulled a 21 and I pushed on both of my hands. Now I’m still at my $650 and on this hand I got a double down hand. I pulled a 10 on it for a total of 20 and the dealer broke. Now I’m at $750 and can play one more hand. I won this hand and cashed out at $800. This was a great turn around from earlier in the day. I logged in 4 ½ hours at this table and then headed back to the Stardust at about 2am.
Total win/loss for the day $100
Total comps for the day $59