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Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Don't You Want To Be My Friend


Day 8 - Part 2

Because I had a big half-price buffet dinner planned, and because I am terminally cheap, I thumbed my nose at providence and treated myself to Punishment Lunch. That cheese wasn't going to keep much longer.

I'd left it on the bathroom counter (cool marble) since arriving at T.I., forgetting that there was a fridge in the room, in the closet. Oopsies.

Punishment lunch consisted of Babybels ('light' model) brought from Flusherville, emergency nuts (mixed) brought from Flusherville, bottled water (wet) brought from T.I., who, along with all the other strip properties, probably unknowingly sourced it from a megacorp that brings it in from a dodgy grey water recovery facility hidden deep in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Yeah, that's probably it.
Punishment lunch!
I was really feeling happy about how it had gone at T.I. I'd worried, ever since I conceived this trip a couple of months before, if I could get through the 12 days on $1000, let alone do $15K or $16K at T.I. But it had all worked out wonderfully, and the pressure was off. It was now up to me if I were to finish within budget - it was solely at my discretion.

And on top of all that, the virus that had been plaguing me (The Plague, actually) was finally, after two weeks, starting to get better.

A long, luxurious shower, shave, and a change of clothes made me feel like a million bucks, and smell like Phil Ruffin's trophy wife, Oleksandra.

My original plan was to head out and do a coupon run in the Poon Stang. But it was stinking hot, and it was Friday afternoon. It would make more sense to do that after checking out of T.I. the next day, to kill time before checking in at my next destination, the Tropicana.

T.I. had a promotion on in which you are awarded virtual drawing tickets for your play, and once or twice a day a day, they held drawings for freeplay, and merchandise prizes that you probably didn't want. But that was ok, I would take anything, and try to convert it to freeplay, assuming I won.

I had 270 tickets. So, the new plan was to eat Punishment Lunch, take a breather, do some internetting, have a couple of cocktails, and then head down to the casino for the afternoon to finally play some more blackjack, which was right near where the drawings took place.

After relaxing and polishing off the last of the lquor I'd bought at McCarran (at The Library), I headed down to the casino.

I bought in at blackjack with $100. And that was pretty much exactly all that I had on me. So I'd better win, right?

The table I joined turned into one of those great tables. The dealer, a small middle-aged Asian woman, was excellent, and hysterical too. She could give as good as she got.

I ordered a drink and tipped my last dollar. I have this superstition that I never tip the Cocktail Sheila with chips from my stake on the table. I always tip cash.

Well this was great until I ordered a second drink and had to root around my pockets for something to tip with. Fortunately, she was very understanding.

"I've got... some change here, hang on..."

"That's fine sir."

"No - just... hang on, I think some of these are quarters..."

"Uh-huh."

"There!!!! There you go," I said, dumping the quarters onto her tray. "I think it's even a dollar. I have this thing... I don't tip from my stack..."

"Uh-huh. Thank you sir."

We got talking around the table as my chips grew to about $150. The usual 'where ya from's and I just said to the guy across the table from me that I was from 'Canada'.

"Whereabouts in Canada?"

"Ontario."

And then out of the blue he freaking nailed it.

"Are you from Flusherville?"

HOLY CRAP!!!! Turns out the guy had lived in Flusherville and then moved to California. And, on top of that, everyone at the table was Canadian!

So, we had lots to talk about, and the dealer was keeping things fun. At one point I pushed out a five dollar bet for her, and it turned into a double situation, so I doubled up on her bet as well. And I won the hand, so everyone was happy about that.

When the drawing happened, I excused myself and left my chips and watched that. And I won nothing.

Some gray haired grandmother won, like, a GoPro, to fit to her scooter I guess. Her husband won a drone. Someone else won a Hitachi Magic Wand. That caused a buzz in the crowd.

Back at the table, I ordered another drink, and we played on.

Things turned bad for me and I was losing hand after hand. You know how it goes, she drops a ten on your eight, and then pulls 19. You draw to 21 and push.

"Awww, bummer," she said after I doubled to 20 and she pulled six cards for 21

"Please, take it easy on me! We were having so much fun before. Don't you want to be my friend?" I said.

"No speak English."

After splitting a gut for a while laughing, I said, "Come on... give me some cards, Remember when I tipped you....!"

"When, ten years ago?" she said.

My drink arrived and I realized I had nothing to tip with whatsoever. I showed the Cocktail Sheila my almost empty wallet.

"You take traveler's checks?" I asked.

She was cool about it though. I promised I'd catch her next time.

The game went on and I played down to my last $15, and shoved it out for one last bet. Pair of fives against dealer six. Great. I had no money to double down. I took a card, a beautiful Ace. Won the hand and stayed alive.

I worked my way all the way back up to $160, then down to $110, and cashed out after two and a half hours of great fun at $155. Another blackjack win for Flushiepants!

More to come!



The $1K Scrounge Trip - June 2016: All Posts

Planning the $1K Scrounge Trip - June 2016

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Don't be a Norbert fuddy-duddy!





    6 comments:

    1. The man in the photo of the Treasure Trove prizes... was that Gert Frobe?

      ReplyDelete
      Replies
      1. I have no idea. But if you think it was, and you know him, it probably was. Also, who's Gert Frobe?

        Delete
      2. "Goldfinger."

        Delete
    2. Did the cocktail waitress ever come back after you stiffed her?

      ReplyDelete
      Replies
      1. She had to, she was serving the table. I didn't imbibe anymore, too embarrassed. I usually make a point of getting $20 or $30 in singles and carry them separately from my stake.

        I'm reminded again that my crushing embarrassments in life make good reading for the Flushies.

        Delete
    3. I'm surprised you've never tried any of the variations of Royal Hunt poker.

      ReplyDelete

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