Day 10
Sunday December 24, 2000
Sam's Town

After getting ready I had to finish packing up again and checking out. I didn't used to mind moving from hotel to hotel and I still don't but these 2 night stays are a real drag. It seems like by the time I get settled in it's time to move again.

When I reached the casino level from the hotel there were so many people there I thought there was some sort of an event. These crowds reminded me why I don't like to stay on the strip on the weekends. I got my car from the valet in just a few minutes and I was on my way. After a quick stop up to the Laundromat in Henderson to pick up my clothes I was headed to Sam's Town. I'm comped here for the next 3 nights with a silver card that's good for complimentary food in most of their restaurants. The 4th night that is actually the night I’m leaving is a room comp only. I'm not really thrilled about this but as many of you know Sam's Town has changed their comp policies. I am formerly a gold-card holder here and used to get a suite. The gold card is good for meals in all of their restaurants and well, a suite speaks for itself. Since the changes they now want nearly 3X as much play for those comps. As mentioned above I'm only getting a silver card now and a regular room and there has been no change in my play. No change in my play yet. That will change this trip. Sam's is going to be lucky to 1/4 of the play they used to get from me.

I got to Sam's a little early to check in even though I probably could have gotten in that early. I went over to the blackjack tables. I played for about 20 minutes and won $100. The table was tough so I took my win and left.

I went to check in. I was given my silver card and room 648. All of the standard rooms here are the same. After unpacking I was getting hungry so I headed downstairs to get some lunch.

I decided on Mary's Diner. I had the blue plate special. Today it was a turkey dinner. It wasn’t that great today as it was in the past when I've had it. The turkey was pretty dry today and they have changed the stuffing. It used to be sweet stuffing. Now it's full of peppers and that's all it tastes like. They are too overpowering besides the fact I hate them. When I went to pay with my silver card the computer said I was a cash only customer. The cashier made a quick phone call and it was fixed in a minute. She said this was the 5th time today that it had happened.

After lunch I went to the room to relax a little then headed back down to the casino again. I played some more blackjack. Things were tough here but I was somehow staying even. I was getting killed on my double downs and splits. I eventually had a good run, although short, and cashed out up $400. The cocktail service was pretty good tonight as well. Usually I don't drink but tonight I decided to have a few Tanqueray and Tonics

I walked through the casino looking at the new machines and checking some of the pay tables. They weren't very good but all of the older machines with good tables were still around. I saw a bank of the new Press Your Luck slots. These are the same old 9 line 45 coin games. This game is based on the old TV show. I played only 1 coin on each line and had only 1 good hit for 400 coins. I never played the bonus round at all. This kind of sucked since the whole idea of these new games is to play the bonus rounds. I played it for about 1/2 hour but ended up losing my $10.

I moved to another blackjack table and luck was horrible here. This table was as bad at the last one. The doubles and splits were killing me. I ended up losing $200 here.

I was going to take a shot with some $1 video poker. But as I walked past a Let It Ride table I decided that for a change I'd play this game. I know it's a bad game to play long term, but short term anything can happen. I played or almost 2 hours on $100 but didn't hit anything better than 2 pairs. The guy on my left got a full house. Prick.

After losing at Let It Ride I went back up to Mary's diner. I ordered a grilled cheese with bacon and a bowl of soup. The soup was filling and I only ate half the sandwich. I took it with me though in case I wanted a late night snack. I could have eaten the rest of it but I wanted to get some ice cream over at Calamity Jane’s. I did just that too. I ordered up 2 scoops of Rocky Road. The guy working there even threw in a third scoop. Looked like a good deal to me. Prices aren't too bad here for ice cream. It's $1.59 for 1 scoop, $2.29 for 2 scoops and $1.19 for each additional scoop. They also have sundaes too but tonight I wasn't in the market for one of those. I'm eating that ice cream as I type up this report tonight. After it's gone I'm going to bed. It's early but I want to get up early tomorrow and maybe catch a look at the eclipse. On the news they said it will be happening form about 7:30-9:30 with it peaking about 8:30. This will be the last Christmas eclipse for another 300 years!

Total win/loss for the day $200
Total comps for the day $ 79