Day 19
Sunday December 30, 2001
Up around 10 today. This afternoon’s plan will be to go grab some chips at the Boulder Highway casinos and then play a little video poker here at Sam’s before calling it a day and getting packed up for tomorrow’s trip home.

I went up and down Boulder Highway starting off at Arizona Charlie’s East, then to Boulder Station. From here it was on to Castaways before turning around and heading back to the area near Sam’s Town. I stopped into the dumpy Longhorn just to see what this place was all about. It was about being dark and dirty with a clientele that only a mother could love. Then it was on to Nevada Palace across the street. I remember a few years ago back when Lodestone’s site was free his comments about Nevada Palace were they got the Nevada part right! He couldn’t have been more on target. While it wasn’t as bad as some of the dumps that I visited on this trip it’s certainly no palace.

When I returned to Sam’s I decided to get some more play in. I went right to the same video poker machine that I had done well at the past 2 nights. I knew I shouldn’t have gone to the well too many times because this machine was a vacuum today. I lost $100 in what seems like no time. According to the players card display I earned 500 points so I didn’t really get much play out of that $100. I moved to the machine next to it and decided to play half-dollars. This would turn out to be a good play. Things were starting out slowly but I was holding my own. Suddenly the credits were disappearing though. Just as I was wondering when I would actually hit something I instinctively held a king and queen of diamonds and up popped the ace, ten and jack for a $2,000 royal flush and a W2G. This is a big help in the bankroll. While I’m still down it’s not nearly what it was. Now there is at least the chance of going home even or possibly head a small amount. I cashed out with a few dollars left on the credit meter.

I was getting really hungry now but I didn’t want to eat a full meal because I have plans later tonight to meet Anne and her mother for one last dinner at the Hilton Steakhouse and don’t want to spoil my meal there. I stopped over at the Race and Sports book deli and grabbed some soda and a bowl of soup. This hit the spot and would hold me over until dinner.

Now it’s time to start going through all the crap I have collected over the last 2 and a half weeks and throw out what I don’t need and start packing so I don’t have to rush into it tomorrow morning.

At 5:30 I left to go to the Las Vegas Hilton. I got there and met up with everyone but the earliest reservation would be at 9pm. I didn’t feel like playing the short play crap they had up where Anne and Terry were playing so I stood on the sidelines and watched. They both did well cashing out ahead. I had never seen the Hilton so packed before and most of the table limits were $100 on the black jack tables and they were all full. While I wanted to take a shot at getting even or ahead I decided to hold where I was and take my small loss rather than risk it on the high limits tables.

We finally got over to the Hilton Steakhouse and got seated. Our waiter was Mark who is a long time friend of Anne and Terry and a short term friend of mine having only met him earlier this year. The food here is very good. It’s one of the best restaurants I’ve ever eaten at but it’s pricey. The type of place I would only consider eating at if it’s comped. I had the filet mignon and it was perfect. It almost melted in my mouth. I also had a side of au gratin potatoes. Again, they were great. Mark followed the dinner up with a chocolate soufflé. It was very good but would have been better if I hadn’t been so stuffed from the rest of the food I had.

After dinner we went back to the casino and played a bit. I had no luck but everyone else seemed to be doing ok. After about an hour I decided I should get going back to the hotel to finish packing.

I really hate packing even to come out to Vegas but it’s even worse going back home. Everything would have fit fine except I had to go hitting 20 quads over the weekend and had 2 stacks of t-shirts to cram into the suitcase. I’ve got everything packed now except the essentials for tomorrow and those should all fit in with no problem. It was now going on 2am and the alarms are all set for tomorrow morning. My flight isn’t until 2 so I’ll have plenty of time to get to the airport and get checked in.

Total win/loss for the day $1800
Total comps for the day $103