Let's All Go To The Lobby

Day 5 and time to get out of the Excalibum hellscape and move to where I am wanted and recognized - the Downtown hellscape.

Everything is chugging along well. My coffee setup continues to work perfectly. Snacks are on point. Haven't lost too much money. Lots of play!

I did my morning routine and didn't play at Excalibur except for burning $30 in point play. Nothing came of it but 3 minutes of fun, just like an Elko brothel.

Speaking of which, my buddy Bobby G was enroute to spend a day with me in Vegas, which is something, considering he was just here last week.

His trip started with nothing but stress, watching a storm move through the mountains the last couple of days, making it unsure what the trip to Salt Lake City would be like, where he would catch a flight to Vegas.

And sure enough, at 6:00 am, he was hitting the road after the biggest snowfall Elko has seen this season - 6" of the white crap dumped overnight. But he was on the road and making good enough time.

I packed up all my stuff, taking my time, had a shower, and finally checked out of the King's Shingles. My 'comped' stay was $285. Four resort fees at $45 per, and four days of parking at $20, plus taxes on all of that. One wonders, don't one.

It was still cold and windy in Vegas, and our own mountains had received a dusting of the evil fluffy shit.

I got to Main Street Station around 10:30 and checked in. I could get my room early - for a fee of $25. I really didn't want to leave all my stuff in the Honda Cletus until 3:00 pm.

"I'll do it!" I said, hoping in the back of my mind that maybe my host would pick up the charge at the end of my stay.

The room is... okay. At least, I got the sunny south side, which is noisy, as opposed to the north side, which is noisy.

The last time I'd stayed at Main Street was with the Quad Queen, some years ago. It brought back lots of memories. Main Street was our go-to before we shifted to the Cal.

As I punched the 'L' elevator button, I heard a voice in my head, singing, something I haven't thought about in ages. The Quad Queen used to torment me by planting the movie  earworm song "Let's all go to the lobby, let's all go to the lobby, let's all go to the lobby, and get ourselves some snacks."

There I was, tormented once again from the beyond. I smiled.

At the Cal, I took a selfie for YoLeven in front of the doors of what used to be the Maile conference room, site of the only place in Vegas I've been thrown out of. (See Curse of the Single Lonely Diner Table).

I needed a pre-gambling meal, and Loco Moco at the Market Street Cafe in the Cal hit the spot.

The updates from Bobby G were coming in occasionally - he'd made it through the worst of the weather and was looking good to make Salt Lake City on time.

I embarked on a gambling spree that begs the question: "Will I ever learn?"

These lessons come hard and you would think I could corral the degenerate in me a little better by now. I'm getting ahead of the events though, so let's take a look.

The game, Jacks or Better. I lost $100, and put in another $100, and finally I hit a quad on 50 cents. No, I wasn't bitter about it being Deuces with a kicker - that wasn't the game I intended to play. I was looking for longevity and maybe a trip to Dollar Land.

A couple more quads came my way. Nice!

It was time to employ the Strict Rules of Parlay and switch up to dollars.

And so I did. And boy, the hits kept on coming! It was a thrilling run!

I ran that sucker up as high as $580, trying to hit $600, where I would cash out, I reckoned.

In a situation like this, I almost always employ a strategy where I cash out a ticket, and put back $100 cash to continue the play. That limits how much I can lose back, because I know my tendency to chase when the meter is dropping down.

For some reason, I just forgot to do this and it cost me dearly. There's no cutesy way to say it, I blew it all back. Lesson learned. Yet again.

I'd taken a situation where I was up $380 to where I was down $200. Well done, Flushiepants!

Yikes. Angrily, I pulled my card and started walking. Anywhere.

Meanwhile, Bobby G had made the airport, gotten through security (with some glitches), and was waiting to board the plane. And it was snowing in Salt Lake.

So the flight was delayed.

I found myself over at Main Street Station and lost a couple of hundred more. This was not looking good. I was down $400 already on the day, and the trip total was looking like making it a winner was out of reach.

I cooled off in the room for a while and pondered how I was going to turn this around.