Day 8 Monday July 21, 2003

For some reason I woke up at 9am this morning even though I didn’t get to bed until almost 6am. I’m sure, as always this will catch up to me later today. Since it’s moving day I got up and packed up my stuff and got ready for today’s move to the Flamingo. I haven’t played at the Flamingo in over 3 years but for some reason they sent me an offer that’s good for 3 complimentary nights. I also have an offer for Texas Station tonight that is one free night. I will be checking in here also but I won’t be staying there.

My first stop was the south end of the strip. I did a little hitting and running down there before heading to the Flamingo. I think I got hit more than I did hitting though. I dropped about $90 at the Tropicana without getting paid at all. Then I went over to NYNY and won $45. One shooter hit a few points and then I ran before anything bad could happen. The next place was Monte Carlo and I got beat out of $85 there. Things really aren’t working out well at all.

From the south end I went over to the Flamingo to check in. There was a pretty long line but the VIP line was short. In just a few minutes I was on my way to room 23064. This room faces the strip and I have a clear view of Bellagio all of the way to the Mirage. I can also see Rio, Palms, and Gold Coast.

After I got settled in here at the Flamingo I headed up to the north side and checked in at Texas Station. I have never stayed here before and really only took the room to see what they looked like and to have a place to rest while playing the north end of town.

There was no one on line at check in so in just about 3 minutes I was on my way to room 307. The room is done in natural wood tones and has a dresser with a TV, small table and chairs in the corner, 2 queen beds and a nightstand between them. The bathroom is quite large with a long counter and plenty of space between there and the tub. They also have a coffee maker in the room and supply one package of coffee per day. Additional packs can be purchased at the gift shop. My view was of a wall outside my window but it wasn’t a big deal since I’m not really staying here.

After looking over the room I went down to the restaurants. I was going to go to the buffet but there was a huge line there and I don’t wait in line to eat so I went to the Texas Café instead. There was no line here and I was seated immediately. I started off with a bowl of chicken noodle soup that was excellent with bow tie pasta and a rich broth. I also had the hot open turkey sandwich and it had more food then 2 people could have handled on it. I used points to pay and headed back to the room.

I was a little tired now and thought I’d take a nap for an hour or so. Well I must have been a little more tired than I thought because when I woke up Jay Leno was on and it was 11:45pm. Damn, I quickly got up and gathered my stuff together and figured I’d be up all night after sleeping this long. I went next door to the Fiesta and played some craps for a few minutes to try a little hitting and running. I got hit here though for $25 and headed out to Santa Fe Station.

When I got to this lace it was like a ghost town. I got onto the craps game and it started off tough but I then had a good roll getting ahead about $60. I rolled one more time making nothing and getting out ahead with a $36 win and ran. This is how it’s supposed to happen!

On my way out the door I stopped and put a dollar bill into a 1-cent fortune cookies slot machine. I actually did really well here playing for almost 30 minutes on this dollar. Maybe I should start playing penny slots for the rest of the trip.

From Santa Fe I came all of the way back here to the Flamingo and called I a night at about 3:30am.

Total win/loss for the day -$150
Total comps for the day $94