When the Dust Settled (in a Nice Little Split-level)

Day 11 - part 2

One of the reasons I had an inkling that I had to get back to the Boner Deluxe machine at the Fremont was that I still had a cash-out ticket from the morning's clusterWAX.

And so, over we went, ready to do battle.

What I wanted was to play the machine, get quads, keep playing, get more quads, keep playing, no parlaying or fooling around, just play for a long, long time and get as many quads as I could and when the dust settled...we'd see who'd won.

And I was going to do it on Boner Deluxe. Higher volatility, which means you lose steadily, unless you hit the quads. Any quad is 400 sweet little credits. No messing with kickers. It's kind of a low-maintenance broad that might not be that attractive, but eventually, you know she's going to put out. Credits.

I played through my ticket and put a hundy in. We had a great little cocktail waitress who kept them coming, was pleasant, and easy on the eyes. For me, that could mean female, and breathing. But in her case, yeah, she really was kind of pretty.

Our plan was to have dinner at the 2nd street grille. Our plan was to have free dinner at the 2nd street grille. Based on getting on a run at our respective games and doing a monumental amount of coin-in.

But I grew - shall we say - peckish. And about that time, they announced that someone had one a huge jackpot at some slot machine. I decided to go and see for myself, and possibly get a little snack.

An announcement came on the public address system - a lucky I.S.G. had hit a Burning Sevens or similar slot machine for a $32,000 progressive.

"Wow, thirty-two thousand! Imagine!" I said.

The Quad Queen replied without hesitation, "AND SHE JUST SAT DOWN!!!!"

This must have been the first time that slot had hit in decades, because it reset at a two and a half thou. It probably took forever to get that massive. (Ahem.)

I returned to my machine with the perfect snack - a half-bowl of chili and rice, with a generous helping of Rooster Srirachi sauce.

I felt so sophisticated!

I plodded onward on Boner Deluxe, but the quads weren't coming.

I had to put in yet another hundy and I was now down quite a bit on the day.

Mrs. F got on the board with this:

A tidy little Pick-a-pair aka Pick'em quad for $150. So she had some room to run.

We played on, and drank on. I was in some kind of self-destruct-or-bust mood, and not taking any guff! An hour went by. Still I played on and still I drank on. Another 20 minutes went by. And still and still. And another 8 minutes went by. And still.

And then another 2 minutes went by. And then, why and then....
Finally, a quad.

I was on the board at last! And it wasn't 2 more minutes later when this weird little beauty popped up - on the redeal:

Boner Deluxe Aces on the redeal!

I had credits! I was finally on a Boner Deluxe run! We played on.

"Aces on the redeal. Can you believe that?" I said. "The great thing about video poker is, if you play long enough, you get to see some cool things that are really rare. It's like having a two-headed calf born on your screen."

I felt like I had at least one more quad in me, and sure enough, I did. The Quad Queen had some cool action too.

My 9s

QQs

Yet another straight flush for QQ.

Our little waitress came by again and said, "Another?"

I said, "Actually... no thanks. I think I've had enough."

And in a Vegas first, she said, "Oh good. I think so too."

This was proof that she truly cared for me and I would treasure this moment for the 8 seconds I'd remember it for, until such time as I came across it in my notes.

We were getting hungry and we'd hit it pretty damn hard. The 3 winning hands you see before you (up there) meant that I was able to play for 3 hours, do $2,278 coin-in, and I lost $60 doing it. I was up a snootful of Absolut (after tips) and half a bowl of chili.

I didn't keep track of how the Quad Queen did. In any case, we trundled and weaved over to the slot club desk and asked the host for a comp to 2nd Street Grille based on our day's play (which had to be nigh on $5,000). Long story short, she had to call over to our host at the Cal, who okayed it.

Lydia asked if $70 was okay. I thought, well, we won't be drinking any more alcohol, and we just want a simple dinner - no need be greedy.

"Fifty will be enough," I said, and she printed out a comp slip and handed it to me.

It was for $100. She was talking $70 per person.

I suddenly hoped I hadn't mis-remembered the prices at Second Street! I was thinking about the $18 t-bone complete dinner special we'd had last time. (It's now $22, by the way.)

We were pretty early - just after 5:00 - so getting a table wasn't a problem. Tony served and did a fine job, and the meal was excellent.

Fremont's Second Street Grille is a little oasis in the frenetic Fremont excitement.

I started with the crab cakes. The were delicious, with a flavorful, but not overpowering Chinese mustard sauce. The accompanying salsa hit just the right notes to complement the crab cakes.

"You are very nice crab cakes!" it seemed to say.

Mrs. Flusher had some salad or other.

The main course for me? Rib eye. And it was outstanding. It was nestled on a bed of garlic mashed 'taters, which were nestled in a bed of some sort of home made steak sauce, which was nestled on a bed of ceramic plate.

The flower was edible - and I ed it. Quite tasty, actually.

It was a delicious surf and turf for the missus. The filet was done perfectly and was reported to be very tasty. The lobster tail was cooked as she'd requested an was served with an impressive butter soup - quite a technical achievement.

In the end we got the tab to within about a buck of $100, so the comp worked out perfectly. Service was excellent - thank you Tony - and we will definitely eat here more often.

After dinner, we hit up the Super Times Pay triple play uprights for a while. I got a couple of things...

After that, it was time to wander back to the Cal and I just happened to be all in. And actually, I was pretty broke on the day. It was a good thing I'd gotten those quads, because I was still down $600. Without them, I'd be pushing $1000 on the day, which is never a good thing.

But hey, the crab cakes were "free".

I'm a bit ashamed to admit it, but I crashed in the room while Mrs. F assaulted Main Street Station's triple play for a bunch more scratch cards.

Here are the photos of the damage she did, including Aces. Twice.

Quad Queen: +$140 on the day!, -$1690 on the trip (!)
Royal Flusher: -$600 on the day, +$1320 on the trip

All the hard winnings I'd won the day before, exactly, disappeared in a haze of smoke and Absolut and crab cakes.

And I'd had a fantastic time doing it. Onward to day... 12? Maybe I didn't adequately warn you that this trip... would be a brute. Lots, and lots more to come!