Hollywood Royal Flusher

So how am I going to Reboot my heart, and find Redemption and Renewal in Las Vegas?

Maybe by accomplishing the sort of feat that made Hollywood Jack Davison famous back in 1979.

"Hollywood" Jack Davison, as pictured near Binion's men's room

What did Hollywood Jack do that was so special? Was it his flamboyant hand gestures or his 70s porno 'stache?

No, it was a feat of gambling. According to the picture that hangs in a hallowed place in Binion's (just up from the stinky men's room), Hollywood Jack made 34 consecutive passes of the dice "without a craps".

This, apparently, is allegedly the World's Record.

Been in town less than 24 hours, and had big plans for the evening - a double internet birthday celebration with Blue Skadoo and UKFanatic.

I took a perfect nap, showered, and headed out to the big-time - the Fabulous Las Vegas Strip to step out Flusher Glitz style. This consisted of throwing on my all-purpose Euro-jacket sport coat, and buying a 24 hour bus pass.

I hopped the SDX and got off outside Bellagio, just as the fountains were getting off. I felt the buzz of the strip, the people, the pornslappers, and the promise of a night of unknowns and raw fish.

Been a while since I was in the B and it was nice to see people who have actually purchased clothing someplace other than Target. There was an obvious dearth of walkers and oxygen tanks - a notable change from, say, the Las Vegas Club.

So, the plan was to meet up at the Baccarat bar at 7:30. I got there at about 7:10.

I felt kind of cool, being smartly dressed in my Euro-jacket, standing purposefully outside the bar. That was until people started asking me where they could cash in their TITO chits. Apparently, I was so nattily turned out, I looked like one of the staff.


I sort of wandered around, checking my watch every 30 seconds, looking around for anything birthday-like. I even did a lap of the bar, surreptitiously checking out people, looking for people who looked like they were looking for people. I felt like some kind of internet bar stalker.

Nothing.

Okay, dumb to be early. I wandered over to a bartop machine and couldn't get my card to work, and couldn't remember if they comp drinks for VP play at the Bellagio, and got scared, and walked around the casino for a bit. Finally I settled down in front of some slot which graciously let me play it on $20 for the 15 minutes I needed to kill while watching the crowd.

At 7:35 or so I bit the bone and went up to the two gorgeous bar hostesses.

"Hi, umm, I'm looking for some people..."

"Sure. Do you have a name?"

"I'm Royal Flusher," I said.

"No, I mean the name of your party."

I turned shade 16 of my 99 possible shades of red.

"Yes, its a birthday party."

"Okay, and is there a name for the reservation or..."

"Well, the thing is, I don't actually know these people. There are two of them with birthdays though. Did anyone self-identify as a birthday person? See, one of them is BlueSkadoo. But I don't know her real name, or actually, the names of anyone in the party."

Shade 38 of 99 possible shades of red.

"I see..."

"And, I sort of know what she looks like, from her avatar on the internet."

The hostess glanced over at security.

"And actually, she looks like that person right there."

Thankfully, BlueSkadoo had just walked up. We settled in and met a bunch of nice board folks and had drinks. I handed out some patented business cards and before long, it was time for dinner.

One of the party-goers had the Best Shoes Ever.

A few of us had a reservation at Yellowtail, courtesy of UKFanatic who was staying at the B and was a gracious host to us all evening long.

Dinner was delicious and the conversation stimulating. It was great fun, until I started belting out 'Happy Birthday' at the top of my lungs. I blame the sake.

We shot some dice after and I went through most of $100. Skadoo only hit one person in the eye, which I think is a personal best for her. Fortunately, the bleeding stopped pretty quickly, and with appropriate apologies, she managed to stay out of trouble, and even won us some dough.

Long term though, attrition had its way with me and I found myself with enough for just one more pass line bet with a red or two and a stack of blue behind the line - I was all in. Won that one which got me back to about $50. I survived $10 minimum and didn't lose too badly, while UKFanatic did pretty well I think, playing black, on the dark side.

It should be noted that he graciously didn't bet the Don't while I was shooting.

I said my goodbyes and trundled off the the bus stop and before long, found myself at the Four Queens bar for a nightcap.

A couple of quads (including a mercy dealt quad) kept me going but bottom line is I went through my stake for the day. There just wasn't enough quads.

But I did have a cheer in my heart, a little bit, and a spring in my step. The company of some new found friends seemed to be part of the puzzle of getting my groove back.

VP Day: down $400 VP Trip: down $40
Craps trip: down $50 out of $500