My first stay at the Gold Coast Casino/Hotel in Las Vegas will probably be my last. The good: off strip location makes machines looser but it's close enough to walk to either the Rio or Palms for entertainment; complimentary shuttle bus to strip; the pool is open year round (outdoors!) for brave souls who want to swim when it's only 60 degrees outside; smaller size makes it easy to find someone even if you are directionally challenged. The bad: very limited number of eating choices -- or should I say GOOD eating choices; no spa; smaller size makes it possible to play practically every machine in the place the first four days you are there (3 days if you play as many hours a day as I do). The ugly: rooms are the equivalent of a Holiday Inn even the "upgraded" premiums (I'd hate to see what a Standard room looks like).
Our first day there Mickey didn't have to work so it was a full day of nothing to do but gamble and gamble I did (for about 12 hours straight!) but didn't hit a Royal Flush. Lots and lots of four of a kinds, but no Royal. The next day, Saturday, I had VIP tickets to a pre-game dinner with former NFLer Cliff Branch so we went to that and I also got us comp tickets to a comedy magic show that was a lot of fun. 12 more hours of gambling without a royal but I played bingo and won twice ($50 and $200) so it was a good day. Super Bowl Sunday we had lunch at a private VIP tailgate style party and I watched the Giants kick ass while sitting at a progressive VP machine where I again didn't hit a royal but lots and lots of four of a kinds kept my bankroll intact. Monday through Wednesday was more of the same: tens of thousands of hands of video poker, no royals!! Also some bingo and I ended up winning two more times ($67 and $375). The linked vp progressives at the bar machines never hit the whole time I was there but some of the other banks hit once or twice -- not by me :-(
Only other notable events was the morning I went in the hot tub in my underwear (forgot to pack my damn bathing suit!) and the night we attempted to eat at Ping Pang Pong which is a dim sum restaurant that we didn't understand. The hotel/casino itself definitely caters to the Asian community and PPP is fully staffed by Asians only -- most of whom don't speak English (surprisingly) and they don't seem to want whites there anyway. We walked out. This would be our second restaurant walk-out of the trip since this "trend" started at JFK airport on our departure day when we didn't pay for breakfast.
I was thrilled, as usual, to go to Vegas but would have had much more fun if I had a traveling companion who actually wanted to DO something....sorry, Mickey, you know I love you but you are a stick in the mud!
Saturday
Heading Back To Vegas
Once again I will be watching the Super Bowl from the gambling capital of the world! Mickey and I head to Las Vegas on Friday, February 3rd for a weeklong stay at the Gold Coast. This is the only Boyd property (not downtown) that we haven't stayed at and I am hoping that we get at least a Premium rather than Standard room. I've looked at the pictures and there seems to be quite a difference. Especially since I know I can have a lovely COMPED suite right across the street at the Rio! But I'm sure the machines are looser at Gold Coast so that is where I'll be playing.
I plan to make the most of this trip since it will probably be the last vacation I take for a while. I am starting a new job when I return and don't expect that I will be receiving any time off for the next year (unless, of course, I get fired or something). Mike and I already have a cruise planned for next January (Southern Caribbean and South America) which my new bosses don't know about! But even if I can pull that off, I'm pretty sure I won't be able to sneak in any other mini-vacations to Myrtle Beach, Reno or Las Vegas throughout the year. Or, will I???? Perhaps I should use my time in Vegas this week to play the big progressive slots rather than my usual video poker? If I hit one, I can say sayonara to a weekly paycheck and have my time back to myself!
Sunday
Grand Cascades Lodge @ Crystal Springs Resort
This is possibly the first trip I've taken in I don't know how many years that a casino either wasn't the final destination, nor was any gambling involved. So what is this blog posting doing under my Gambling Heading? Well, it was 100% of my luckiness that got us here and I'll tell you how it happened!
Last September, Mike and I again played in the Imus Ranch Fund Raiser golf tournament (which, by the way, is a very worthwhile charity and you can check them out HERE). One of the fundraising elements is a raffle -- they obtain a bunch of prizes from donors and you can buy chances at 25 bucks a pop to win a prize. Although the prizes are generally very nice, they are not usually something that I am excited about winning....however, I did see one that looked quite appealing: a round of golf for 2 at one of the Crystal Springs Resort courses. We bought a ticket that morning.
Later that night, during dinner, the emcee announced that they would start awarding the prize winners. I pulled out our one ticket and noticed that all around us the other attendees pulled out strings of tickets. "Great" I thought to myself, "there go our odds!" Not only do we have only one chance out of thousands, but we'd have to have our one little ticket drawn at the exact moment that they were awarding the golf prize. After the prize winners for a year's worth of gourmet jams and a custom designed tote bag were drawn, they announced that the next prize was the Crystal Springs golf. I informed my table mates that I was about to win this - the only thing I wanted. Unbelievably, my ticket number matched the one called! Jumping up out of my seat, I must have created quite a spectacle running through the sedate crowd of sophisticated professionals to claim my prize. In fact, I know they were all surprised at my excitement because later that night, Rob Bartlett asked the "crazy lady in orange" to come back up to the podium and they gave me a golf wedge "just because of my enthusiasm"! My notoriety lasted for a couple of weeks as my "performance" was featured on the WABC Radio website but luckily nobody I knew saw that.
In any event, when I got back to my table clutching the golf certificate, I opened it up and realized that not only had I won two rounds of golf but it also included a 2 night weekend stay at the Resort PLUS $1000 in food, beverage and spa credit!
My luck held out even further when I finally was able to book the actual trip -- they put us up in a one bedroom Vista suite in the exclusive Grand Cascades Lodge (their most luxurious property)!
At this point you might be thinking, "well, Linda, you AND Mike were at the tournament last year so how do you know it was YOUR luck and not HIS that caused the win?". To that I would say - Mike has NO luck! Here's the evidence:
This year I was unable to accompany him to the fund raiser so I sent him off on his own. Once again there was an opportunity to win a golf trip to Crystal Springs but the difference this year was instead of a random raffle, you had to buy a chance to sink a difficult putt. A max of 10 winners would be permitted so the odds of winning the trip would be no more than 1 in 10. Mike bought a chance to try and sunk the putt! Then he bought another chance, and sunk the putt again! Wow....the worst we could do is have a one in five chance of winning. By the end of the contest, only one other person had sunk one putt so there were only three tickets in the drawing -- and Mike had two of them! The only downside: I wasn't there to hold the tickets! When they reached in and drew out the winning ticket, however, it didn't have Mike's name on it :-( See what I mean?
Anyway, we enjoyed our trip to Grand Cascades Lodge so much that we plan to return. They offer a wide range of activities, tons of great restaurants, and the suites are so beautiful you could just stay in your room the whole time!
Last September, Mike and I again played in the Imus Ranch Fund Raiser golf tournament (which, by the way, is a very worthwhile charity and you can check them out HERE). One of the fundraising elements is a raffle -- they obtain a bunch of prizes from donors and you can buy chances at 25 bucks a pop to win a prize. Although the prizes are generally very nice, they are not usually something that I am excited about winning....however, I did see one that looked quite appealing: a round of golf for 2 at one of the Crystal Springs Resort courses. We bought a ticket that morning.
Later that night, during dinner, the emcee announced that they would start awarding the prize winners. I pulled out our one ticket and noticed that all around us the other attendees pulled out strings of tickets. "Great" I thought to myself, "there go our odds!" Not only do we have only one chance out of thousands, but we'd have to have our one little ticket drawn at the exact moment that they were awarding the golf prize. After the prize winners for a year's worth of gourmet jams and a custom designed tote bag were drawn, they announced that the next prize was the Crystal Springs golf. I informed my table mates that I was about to win this - the only thing I wanted. Unbelievably, my ticket number matched the one called! Jumping up out of my seat, I must have created quite a spectacle running through the sedate crowd of sophisticated professionals to claim my prize. In fact, I know they were all surprised at my excitement because later that night, Rob Bartlett asked the "crazy lady in orange" to come back up to the podium and they gave me a golf wedge "just because of my enthusiasm"! My notoriety lasted for a couple of weeks as my "performance" was featured on the WABC Radio website but luckily nobody I knew saw that.
My luck held out even further when I finally was able to book the actual trip -- they put us up in a one bedroom Vista suite in the exclusive Grand Cascades Lodge (their most luxurious property)!
At this point you might be thinking, "well, Linda, you AND Mike were at the tournament last year so how do you know it was YOUR luck and not HIS that caused the win?". To that I would say - Mike has NO luck! Here's the evidence:
This year I was unable to accompany him to the fund raiser so I sent him off on his own. Once again there was an opportunity to win a golf trip to Crystal Springs but the difference this year was instead of a random raffle, you had to buy a chance to sink a difficult putt. A max of 10 winners would be permitted so the odds of winning the trip would be no more than 1 in 10. Mike bought a chance to try and sunk the putt! Then he bought another chance, and sunk the putt again! Wow....the worst we could do is have a one in five chance of winning. By the end of the contest, only one other person had sunk one putt so there were only three tickets in the drawing -- and Mike had two of them! The only downside: I wasn't there to hold the tickets! When they reached in and drew out the winning ticket, however, it didn't have Mike's name on it :-( See what I mean?
Anyway, we enjoyed our trip to Grand Cascades Lodge so much that we plan to return. They offer a wide range of activities, tons of great restaurants, and the suites are so beautiful you could just stay in your room the whole time!
Friday
Ocean Tower
My trip this week to Caesars was a far cry better than my previous one. In the first place, I didn't experience any of the service issues that I encountered last month with the unhappy employees. In the second place, Sabiha at the hotel front desk hooked me up with a SWEEEEET suite in the Ocean Tower that was far superior to my last two trip accommodations.
We arrived on Sunday morning, a little before noon, and were able to have a room available. The Ocean Tower is especially nice in the summer if you plan to visit the pool (it closes after Labor Day) and/or the spa which are both in this tower. Our suite had a large marble tiled foyer leading into a living/dining area with a wet bar. There was a couch and side chair which I used at the dining table because the dining chairs were too low for me to reach the table (man, I really wish I had the chance to get taller!). The obligatory TV in the living room was smaller than the one in my bedroom at home, and not a flat screen, but that didn't affect my stay although it did surprise me. The separate bedroom boasted an unGodly comfortable king size bed and another one of those older model TVs. The bathroom was divided into 3 separate sections -- a vanity/wall-to-wall closet area, then a glass enclosed shower stall and jacuzzi spa tub area, with the final area consisting of a sink/counter and a separate water closet. The toilet area was the only one with a door so if you are planning a jacuzzi, be prepared to be naked in front of whoever you are rooming with.
I didn't hit a Royal Flush on this trip (hmmm, what's THAT all about) but I was almost able to achieve another gambling fantasy: a screen full of lions on the 50 Lions slot machine. As it was I got 10-10-10 on the upper rows of the first 3 columns and then the rest of the screen were all lions. Very, very exciting!!! $801 on a $1.25 bet. I took a picture with my phone but don't know how to upload it here, so here is a similar picture from someone else's win in case you don't know which game I'm talking about.
I did get a bunch of 4 of a kind hands on video poker and Jean got the 4 Aces with a low kicker so we were able to play A LOT!
We tried some different food options this trip: the Waterfront Buffet at Harrah's was very good. I don't know if they have it all the time because we went on a Sunday, but the steak was one of the best I have ever had in Atlantic City.... Morton's quality (really!) but of course much smaller. I also ordered room service for breakfast one morning just to enjoy my wonderful room and it came promptly, albeit costly (tea, coffee, omelet, 2 eggs, short stack = $56)
One other thing... oh, no two other things..... Diamond Lounge now has an admission fee and it's per person. So you have to pay for you AND a guest. Not a big deal I guess if you are going in there to hang out for a while, but I generally just used the Diamond Lounge to pop in and grab a drink if the service on the floor was bad and now you have to pay every time you go in so that won't be worthwhile anymore. The other thing is that you can no longer use reward credits to pay for internet usage in your room which I think is one of the stupidest things ever -- the internet isn't costing them anything more than they already pay so to gig you $15 when you are dropping thousands downstairs seems a little ridiculous, but, whatever!
We hit up the beach on Monday which was a gloriously sunny day. There were no lounge chairs (they also go away after Labor Day) so we sat on towels, soaking up the sun and even went into the water which was brisk but refreshing.
All in all it was a very good trip!
We arrived on Sunday morning, a little before noon, and were able to have a room available. The Ocean Tower is especially nice in the summer if you plan to visit the pool (it closes after Labor Day) and/or the spa which are both in this tower. Our suite had a large marble tiled foyer leading into a living/dining area with a wet bar. There was a couch and side chair which I used at the dining table because the dining chairs were too low for me to reach the table (man, I really wish I had the chance to get taller!). The obligatory TV in the living room was smaller than the one in my bedroom at home, and not a flat screen, but that didn't affect my stay although it did surprise me. The separate bedroom boasted an unGodly comfortable king size bed and another one of those older model TVs. The bathroom was divided into 3 separate sections -- a vanity/wall-to-wall closet area, then a glass enclosed shower stall and jacuzzi spa tub area, with the final area consisting of a sink/counter and a separate water closet. The toilet area was the only one with a door so if you are planning a jacuzzi, be prepared to be naked in front of whoever you are rooming with.
I didn't hit a Royal Flush on this trip (hmmm, what's THAT all about) but I was almost able to achieve another gambling fantasy: a screen full of lions on the 50 Lions slot machine. As it was I got 10-10-10 on the upper rows of the first 3 columns and then the rest of the screen were all lions. Very, very exciting!!! $801 on a $1.25 bet. I took a picture with my phone but don't know how to upload it here, so here is a similar picture from someone else's win in case you don't know which game I'm talking about. I did get a bunch of 4 of a kind hands on video poker and Jean got the 4 Aces with a low kicker so we were able to play A LOT!
We tried some different food options this trip: the Waterfront Buffet at Harrah's was very good. I don't know if they have it all the time because we went on a Sunday, but the steak was one of the best I have ever had in Atlantic City.... Morton's quality (really!) but of course much smaller. I also ordered room service for breakfast one morning just to enjoy my wonderful room and it came promptly, albeit costly (tea, coffee, omelet, 2 eggs, short stack = $56)
One other thing... oh, no two other things..... Diamond Lounge now has an admission fee and it's per person. So you have to pay for you AND a guest. Not a big deal I guess if you are going in there to hang out for a while, but I generally just used the Diamond Lounge to pop in and grab a drink if the service on the floor was bad and now you have to pay every time you go in so that won't be worthwhile anymore. The other thing is that you can no longer use reward credits to pay for internet usage in your room which I think is one of the stupidest things ever -- the internet isn't costing them anything more than they already pay so to gig you $15 when you are dropping thousands downstairs seems a little ridiculous, but, whatever!
We hit up the beach on Monday which was a gloriously sunny day. There were no lounge chairs (they also go away after Labor Day) so we sat on towels, soaking up the sun and even went into the water which was brisk but refreshing.
All in all it was a very good trip!
Sunday
Whining About Wine and Lack of Food at the AC Food & Wine Festival
If you are reading my blog, then you probably already know me and know that cooking is the farthest thing from my mind....ALWAYS! But for the uninitiated, let me just say that I don't cook, I don't care anything about cooking, I have never watched the Food Network and wouldn't even know of its existence if it weren't for my daughter (Sara) who is a major foodie. I think the trouble began specifically because this was something for her and not for always lucky, things always work out for me. But let's begin at the beginning....
As a VIP with Caesars Casino/Hotel Group, I am always receiving offers, tickets to events, etc. Recently I received an offer to attend the AC Food and Wine Festival as a VIP guest and when I read the names of the celebrity chefs to Sara she was totally psyched for a mother/daughter food & wine induced week end of partying! I booked my room for three nights and was provided tickets to the Grand Market and Italian Village on Friday night and a private dinner and cooking demonstration on Saturday night. Sara heard about a Food Network kick-off party on Thursday night starting at 10pm so I called my casino host (sending love out as always to Cathy Cudoni) and she got me tickets for that as well.
My flight was scheduled to arrive at Newark at 7pm which would put us in AC around 9:30 -- plenty of time to check in, change into our party frocks and head to the Pool at Harrah's for the party. First snafu occurred when the flight was delayed due to there not being an actual plane available to get me to Newark as scheduled; still not worrying because the party was going on until 1am and arriving fashionably late is de rigueur. The plane landed at 8:11 and then there was another half hour wait until a tram could tow us to the gate (don't ask me what that was all about, I have no idea) but I FINALLY got in the car at around 9pm which meant we wouldn't be hitting AC until 11. Okay, no sweat, let me just call Caesars and find out if the tickets are waiting for me at Caesars front desk or if I can just go straight to Harrah's and pick them up there or maybe my name is on some kind of guest list at the door? This is of course my first time at the festival so I don't have the "lay of the land" down pat. Going right to the party will save us some time and we can do a quick change in the car. Unfortunately, the woman on the phone informs me that the tickets to the event are waiting for me at Caesars front desk so that is where we go, arriving at 11:37. After a considerable wait for the only available clerk I go through the standard check in procedures and ask her where my tickets are for the party (at this point we figure we can still catch the last hour and if the party is really good maybe it will go on later!) She suggests that the tickets must be at Harrah's -- but she doesn't really know anything about it. Great! I tell her that I called and was told that the tickets were "here" at which point she disappears behind the wall to go find out if anyone knows anything. The clock is ticking, and at this point we're thinking about giving up on the whole party, but at 11:49 she comes back and says that the tickets are definitely at Harrah's. Now we have to make a decision. By the time we get to the room, change, get back to the car and drive to Harrah's it will be 12:30 giving us only a half hour to party. We decide to skip it, figuring that we will have lots more opportunities to meet the celebrity chefs this weekend. I jokingly tell Sara she is a jinx.
We spend the evening (morning really because it is, after all, after midnight) gambling at Caesars and then decide to grab a bite to eat at the only place open at 4am which is the Cafe Roma. Our waiter, John, is possibly one of the worst waiters I have encountered anywhere: surly, forgetful, brusk, inattentive. Sara's coffee is a cup of light brown liquid, the color of tea maybe but she doesn't get a chance to say anything because John's only other visit was to deliver our food which was also incorrect (especially strange due to the fact that he made such a big deal of saying that there would be an extra charge for chili on the fries -- okay, when isn't there? -- and then delivered her a plate of plain fries). Anyway, as soon as she mentioned the lack of chili he took off to bring a bowl of chili on the side that she could dip them in. Never even apologizing for the gaffe, he was gone like a flash and the coffee issue was still on the table (pun intended). We could have brought it up at the point in the meal when the waiter usually stops by to see how everything is going and if anyone needs drink refills -- but apparently John is unfamiliar with the workings of a restaurant meal. To be fair, John did have ONE other table he was tending to at this time so maybe it was too much for him? Hmmph! At least the food was good and he was the first inept/unsociable Caesars employee I had ever encountered so I put it down to a one-off. When I finally was able to track him down at the end of our meal to request a check, he brought it over and then was put out when I told him I was charging it to our room. Is this some new thing? You have to tell the waiter in advance how you're paying? It's not like I was using some kind of buy one-get one free coupon! It's a HOTEL FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!
Our next scheduled event was Friday night from 6pm - 10pm at the Grand Market at Bally's. We spent the day gambling and at the beach (Caesars does provide beach chairs, towels and an umbrella for Diamond VIPS which is a really nice touch even though the beach itself is a poor, pitiful comparison to my lovely MB and Surfside) before getting ready to attend the Grand Market/Italian Village and finally get to meet some of those TV chefs! Signage at Bally's was sparse, but I was able to ask some employees for information and we found ourselves aboard a very crowded elevator heading to the 6th floor to pick up our tickets by 6:30. Thank God we were late and the lines were shorter....I can only imagine what they were like an hour before that! We were given all access wrist bands and a very nice tote bag containing a souvenir wine glass for the tastings and a roll of Reynolds non-stick aluminum foil. There might be other stuff in the bag -- I haven't looked -- but I was happy to see the Reynolds because just recently I've seen a lot of commercials showing some guy taking salmon or some other fish off the cooking sheet and it doesn't stick at all. Of course I don't cook and even if I did, you can be sure I'd never be cooking fish! But the commercial guy looks so pleased that every time I see the commercial I think to myself "I would buy that" Back to the Grand Market....
the woman who gave us our tote bags said we should start at the Italian Village but using the Disneyland Tips (always go to the left when you enter, most people go right) I said we should head to the Market and save the Village for last. The crowd of people waiting to get in gave us pause (hell, no!) but having the wristband gave us VIP access so we strolled right in and were surprised...alarmed...dismayed at the sight before us. Wall to wall people! At a convention! I'm not sure what Sara thought it was going to be, but I had kind of expected like a "Marketplace" with all little food and wine stalls. This thing was the East Coast trade show without bowling balls. There were tons and tons of booths serving wine (lots and lots of wine booths) that you couldn't buy and then some booths offering kitchen knives, plates, aprons, cookbooks, etc. all of which you could buy. Where was the food??? There were a few booths that had small sample tastings but they were offering things like slivers of chocolate, slivers of cheese, a blob of crab meat, a Ritz mini cracker you could dip in some salsa..... certainly not enough to soak up the alcohol that was about to be consumed! And the people....masses of them....like sheep all walking in a row....are you kidding me? It would take until later than 10pm to get everyone in at that pace! Has nobody else ever been to a trade show/convention? Anyway, I spent the next hour and a half trying to find a place that wasn't overrun with people. Unsuccessful at that. But we did get to try some amazing wines (too bad we can't buy them without driving 3 hours) and then found our favorite booth of all -- SKYY Vodka who had an assortment of cocktails they were serving. Yummy! Unable to take the crowds any longer, we stepped out and into the smoking lounge (nice touch!) where we proceeded to gripe with all the other smokers who were as disenfranchised as we were. But, then we remembered we still hadn't been to the Italian Village so maybe some pasta and meatballs were going to be available to go along with some nice Italian wines? Alas, it was not to be! There was a food distributor with a rather large booth with some food samples but the lines for that were wrapped around the room so in the words of Cee Lo Green F[orget] You! 10 minutes later we realized that this was the same shtick as the Grand Market and instead headed to the Diamond Lounge where we could get some real food and drinks (not that we needed any more alcohol at that point). As an aside, surprisingly, Bally's Diamond Lounge is much more elaborate and sophisticated than is Caesar's. Our waitress, however, was only fair and I was starting to wonder if maybe something was going on on a corporate level because the cocktail waitresses on the floor the last two days also hadn't been too friendly. It just seemed like everyone we encountered wasn't too happy in their jobs.
Okay, so we had struck out at 2 of the 3 Food & Wine Festival events but Saturday's exclusive VIP Invitation Only Dinner & Demo had to be good, right? After all, it wasn't advertised, you couldn't buy tickets, so it must be something special!
Headed back to Cafe Roma for Breakfast Saturday morning, assuming that John wouldn't be working that shift and was happy that my Diamond status would allow me to avoid the long line of people waiting to be seated. Unfortunately, after 10 minutes, the hostess still had not come back to the podium from wherever he/she was so we decided to forgo any further wait and went to sit at the counter. There was only one other gentleman there and he was done with his meal so we were pretty confident that the service would be exemplary. We were wrong. And I was planning to speak with the restaurant manager before I left that day to talk about both visits. But here's where it gets interesting: as we were sitting at the counter a gentleman came to the counter and asked our server "how much is a cup of coffee" I don't think Mostafo understood him. The gentleman was clearly exasperated and was explaining that he was sitting at a table over there (which he pointed to) and was apparently having a hard time getting service so all he wanted to do was buy a cup of coffee while they waited on a waiter. During this exchange, a woman in a suit came out from the kitchen and observed what was going on. Sara and I both assumed she would either pour the poor guy a cup of coffee or direct Mostafo to do so. Neither of which happened! The customer threw up his arms in disgust and went back to his table, unhappy. The suit-lady asked Mostafo what that was all about and when he told her, she just went back into the kitchen. I asked Mostafo if she was the manager and he said she is the shift manager. Now I'm not claiming to know the first thing about Restaurant management; but I do know a little something about customer service and really all she had to do was hand the guy a cup of coffee or at least ask him what the problem was or if there was something he needed!
Spent the afternoon gambling at Caesars (I finally hit a Royal Flush but it was on the nickel Super Times Pay so only $200 and not the $1400-$1600 I had planned on!) before checking out to head to Harrah's for our VIP Dinner. Sara was reservedly anticipating the event, even hoping that all the celebs would be there but would be happy if it was Guy Fieri or Robert Irvine. The only ones she didn't care about were Pat & Gina Neely because she doesn't watch their show.
As I expected, getting there at 6:30 rather than the 6pm starting time was the smart move because everyone else was already inside and seated. (If we had seen another crowd I'm sure we would have skipped the dinner entirely). We got our requisite wristbands and seating assignments and then entered.....a wedding hall. That's basically what it was. 5 or 6 thousand people seated at tables of 10. There was a stage set up at the front center of one of the walls but from our viewpoint anyone standing on it would have looked like an ant. They did have large flat screen tvs set up all around the room so you could see what was going on -- but for that, you could just be in your own living room watching tv! Salads were already on every table, as were rolls and butter. We were told a waitress came by to take drink orders but she never came back so I just went to the bar myself. When I returned, dinners were being served. Everyone got the same thing: filet mignon with mushrooms, some kind of fish (halibut?), asparagus wrapped in a carrot and a little puff of something that someone thought was potato but I am pretty sure it was risotto. I ditched the fish but the filet was rather good and I was especially impressed that they were able to make 6000 dinners come out tasting like they had just cooked one so Kudos to the chefs at Harrah's because the celeb chefs weren't there yet. 25 minutes had passed. That's right -- it wasn't even 7pm and we were already done with the meal except for dessert which was on its way. Someone put a bullet in my head, please! I commandeered the waitress as she was removing our plates and asked if she happened to know which celebrity was coming to the dinner. After thinking for a minute, she said "yes the name is Neely". OF COURSE it is! Sara you are like a big black cloud! There was no reason to suffer through this any longer unless a magnificent dessert was coming.....but when the waitress said it was some kind of blueberry tart we said in unison to our table mates "we're outta here" to which 4 of the other 6 responded "we're right behind ya!"
Downstairs at Harrah's a circuitous journey brought us to the smoking area where we played slots for an hour or so before heading back up the Parkway to home.
All in all it was a great weekend because Sara and I got to spend it together but the Food and Wine Festival is a super dud and I feel sorry for anyone who spent a penny to attend any of the events we did. Maybe some of the other events were better....who knows? I did see the line for Guy Fieri's Cheese Steak battle and if all the events had admission lines like that I give credit to the people who have the time to stand around waiting. Maybe when I was in my 20's.......
Also, I'm still pretty sure that something is going on at Caesar's with the management because of all the disorganized and disgruntled employees but I didn't have any interactions with any employees at Bally's or Harrah's so I don't know if it's a "property" issue or a "chain-wide" issue. Maybe I'm more critical because I just spent a week in Vegas at a non-Caesar's property and a few days upstate at Turning Stone....both places at which the employees at least pretended to love their jobs and their customers even if they didn't really. But I think I can tell when a company's employees like coming to work and this attitude, albeit new since my last visit, is pervasive throughout the casino and hotel.
As a VIP with Caesars Casino/Hotel Group, I am always receiving offers, tickets to events, etc. Recently I received an offer to attend the AC Food and Wine Festival as a VIP guest and when I read the names of the celebrity chefs to Sara she was totally psyched for a mother/daughter food & wine induced week end of partying! I booked my room for three nights and was provided tickets to the Grand Market and Italian Village on Friday night and a private dinner and cooking demonstration on Saturday night. Sara heard about a Food Network kick-off party on Thursday night starting at 10pm so I called my casino host (sending love out as always to Cathy Cudoni) and she got me tickets for that as well.
We spend the evening (morning really because it is, after all, after midnight) gambling at Caesars and then decide to grab a bite to eat at the only place open at 4am which is the Cafe Roma. Our waiter, John, is possibly one of the worst waiters I have encountered anywhere: surly, forgetful, brusk, inattentive. Sara's coffee is a cup of light brown liquid, the color of tea maybe but she doesn't get a chance to say anything because John's only other visit was to deliver our food which was also incorrect (especially strange due to the fact that he made such a big deal of saying that there would be an extra charge for chili on the fries -- okay, when isn't there? -- and then delivered her a plate of plain fries). Anyway, as soon as she mentioned the lack of chili he took off to bring a bowl of chili on the side that she could dip them in. Never even apologizing for the gaffe, he was gone like a flash and the coffee issue was still on the table (pun intended). We could have brought it up at the point in the meal when the waiter usually stops by to see how everything is going and if anyone needs drink refills -- but apparently John is unfamiliar with the workings of a restaurant meal. To be fair, John did have ONE other table he was tending to at this time so maybe it was too much for him? Hmmph! At least the food was good and he was the first inept/unsociable Caesars employee I had ever encountered so I put it down to a one-off. When I finally was able to track him down at the end of our meal to request a check, he brought it over and then was put out when I told him I was charging it to our room. Is this some new thing? You have to tell the waiter in advance how you're paying? It's not like I was using some kind of buy one-get one free coupon! It's a HOTEL FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!
Our next scheduled event was Friday night from 6pm - 10pm at the Grand Market at Bally's. We spent the day gambling and at the beach (Caesars does provide beach chairs, towels and an umbrella for Diamond VIPS which is a really nice touch even though the beach itself is a poor, pitiful comparison to my lovely MB and Surfside) before getting ready to attend the Grand Market/Italian Village and finally get to meet some of those TV chefs! Signage at Bally's was sparse, but I was able to ask some employees for information and we found ourselves aboard a very crowded elevator heading to the 6th floor to pick up our tickets by 6:30. Thank God we were late and the lines were shorter....I can only imagine what they were like an hour before that! We were given all access wrist bands and a very nice tote bag containing a souvenir wine glass for the tastings and a roll of Reynolds non-stick aluminum foil. There might be other stuff in the bag -- I haven't looked -- but I was happy to see the Reynolds because just recently I've seen a lot of commercials showing some guy taking salmon or some other fish off the cooking sheet and it doesn't stick at all. Of course I don't cook and even if I did, you can be sure I'd never be cooking fish! But the commercial guy looks so pleased that every time I see the commercial I think to myself "I would buy that" Back to the Grand Market....the woman who gave us our tote bags said we should start at the Italian Village but using the Disneyland Tips (always go to the left when you enter, most people go right) I said we should head to the Market and save the Village for last. The crowd of people waiting to get in gave us pause (hell, no!) but having the wristband gave us VIP access so we strolled right in and were surprised...alarmed...dismayed at the sight before us. Wall to wall people! At a convention! I'm not sure what Sara thought it was going to be, but I had kind of expected like a "Marketplace" with all little food and wine stalls. This thing was the East Coast trade show without bowling balls. There were tons and tons of booths serving wine (lots and lots of wine booths) that you couldn't buy and then some booths offering kitchen knives, plates, aprons, cookbooks, etc. all of which you could buy. Where was the food??? There were a few booths that had small sample tastings but they were offering things like slivers of chocolate, slivers of cheese, a blob of crab meat, a Ritz mini cracker you could dip in some salsa..... certainly not enough to soak up the alcohol that was about to be consumed! And the people....masses of them....like sheep all walking in a row....are you kidding me? It would take until later than 10pm to get everyone in at that pace! Has nobody else ever been to a trade show/convention? Anyway, I spent the next hour and a half trying to find a place that wasn't overrun with people. Unsuccessful at that. But we did get to try some amazing wines (too bad we can't buy them without driving 3 hours) and then found our favorite booth of all -- SKYY Vodka who had an assortment of cocktails they were serving. Yummy! Unable to take the crowds any longer, we stepped out and into the smoking lounge (nice touch!) where we proceeded to gripe with all the other smokers who were as disenfranchised as we were. But, then we remembered we still hadn't been to the Italian Village so maybe some pasta and meatballs were going to be available to go along with some nice Italian wines? Alas, it was not to be! There was a food distributor with a rather large booth with some food samples but the lines for that were wrapped around the room so in the words of Cee Lo Green F[orget] You! 10 minutes later we realized that this was the same shtick as the Grand Market and instead headed to the Diamond Lounge where we could get some real food and drinks (not that we needed any more alcohol at that point). As an aside, surprisingly, Bally's Diamond Lounge is much more elaborate and sophisticated than is Caesar's. Our waitress, however, was only fair and I was starting to wonder if maybe something was going on on a corporate level because the cocktail waitresses on the floor the last two days also hadn't been too friendly. It just seemed like everyone we encountered wasn't too happy in their jobs.
Okay, so we had struck out at 2 of the 3 Food & Wine Festival events but Saturday's exclusive VIP Invitation Only Dinner & Demo had to be good, right? After all, it wasn't advertised, you couldn't buy tickets, so it must be something special!
Headed back to Cafe Roma for Breakfast Saturday morning, assuming that John wouldn't be working that shift and was happy that my Diamond status would allow me to avoid the long line of people waiting to be seated. Unfortunately, after 10 minutes, the hostess still had not come back to the podium from wherever he/she was so we decided to forgo any further wait and went to sit at the counter. There was only one other gentleman there and he was done with his meal so we were pretty confident that the service would be exemplary. We were wrong. And I was planning to speak with the restaurant manager before I left that day to talk about both visits. But here's where it gets interesting: as we were sitting at the counter a gentleman came to the counter and asked our server "how much is a cup of coffee" I don't think Mostafo understood him. The gentleman was clearly exasperated and was explaining that he was sitting at a table over there (which he pointed to) and was apparently having a hard time getting service so all he wanted to do was buy a cup of coffee while they waited on a waiter. During this exchange, a woman in a suit came out from the kitchen and observed what was going on. Sara and I both assumed she would either pour the poor guy a cup of coffee or direct Mostafo to do so. Neither of which happened! The customer threw up his arms in disgust and went back to his table, unhappy. The suit-lady asked Mostafo what that was all about and when he told her, she just went back into the kitchen. I asked Mostafo if she was the manager and he said she is the shift manager. Now I'm not claiming to know the first thing about Restaurant management; but I do know a little something about customer service and really all she had to do was hand the guy a cup of coffee or at least ask him what the problem was or if there was something he needed!
Spent the afternoon gambling at Caesars (I finally hit a Royal Flush but it was on the nickel Super Times Pay so only $200 and not the $1400-$1600 I had planned on!) before checking out to head to Harrah's for our VIP Dinner. Sara was reservedly anticipating the event, even hoping that all the celebs would be there but would be happy if it was Guy Fieri or Robert Irvine. The only ones she didn't care about were Pat & Gina Neely because she doesn't watch their show.
As I expected, getting there at 6:30 rather than the 6pm starting time was the smart move because everyone else was already inside and seated. (If we had seen another crowd I'm sure we would have skipped the dinner entirely). We got our requisite wristbands and seating assignments and then entered.....a wedding hall. That's basically what it was. 5 or 6 thousand people seated at tables of 10. There was a stage set up at the front center of one of the walls but from our viewpoint anyone standing on it would have looked like an ant. They did have large flat screen tvs set up all around the room so you could see what was going on -- but for that, you could just be in your own living room watching tv! Salads were already on every table, as were rolls and butter. We were told a waitress came by to take drink orders but she never came back so I just went to the bar myself. When I returned, dinners were being served. Everyone got the same thing: filet mignon with mushrooms, some kind of fish (halibut?), asparagus wrapped in a carrot and a little puff of something that someone thought was potato but I am pretty sure it was risotto. I ditched the fish but the filet was rather good and I was especially impressed that they were able to make 6000 dinners come out tasting like they had just cooked one so Kudos to the chefs at Harrah's because the celeb chefs weren't there yet. 25 minutes had passed. That's right -- it wasn't even 7pm and we were already done with the meal except for dessert which was on its way. Someone put a bullet in my head, please! I commandeered the waitress as she was removing our plates and asked if she happened to know which celebrity was coming to the dinner. After thinking for a minute, she said "yes the name is Neely". OF COURSE it is! Sara you are like a big black cloud! There was no reason to suffer through this any longer unless a magnificent dessert was coming.....but when the waitress said it was some kind of blueberry tart we said in unison to our table mates "we're outta here" to which 4 of the other 6 responded "we're right behind ya!"
Downstairs at Harrah's a circuitous journey brought us to the smoking area where we played slots for an hour or so before heading back up the Parkway to home.
All in all it was a great weekend because Sara and I got to spend it together but the Food and Wine Festival is a super dud and I feel sorry for anyone who spent a penny to attend any of the events we did. Maybe some of the other events were better....who knows? I did see the line for Guy Fieri's Cheese Steak battle and if all the events had admission lines like that I give credit to the people who have the time to stand around waiting. Maybe when I was in my 20's.......
Also, I'm still pretty sure that something is going on at Caesar's with the management because of all the disorganized and disgruntled employees but I didn't have any interactions with any employees at Bally's or Harrah's so I don't know if it's a "property" issue or a "chain-wide" issue. Maybe I'm more critical because I just spent a week in Vegas at a non-Caesar's property and a few days upstate at Turning Stone....both places at which the employees at least pretended to love their jobs and their customers even if they didn't really. But I think I can tell when a company's employees like coming to work and this attitude, albeit new since my last visit, is pervasive throughout the casino and hotel.
Thursday
Vegas Revisited
My son, Mickey, is employed as a Regional Sales Manager by the best company in the world: Storm Bowling Products. Seriously -- they are the best! Not that that has anything to do with this blog....I just wanted to point that out. Any hoooooo......
This year, Mickey was assigned to work the T-A-T which is a bowling tournament that is sponsored by Storm/Roto Grip and held at the Orleans Casino Hotel in Las Vegas. Being the loving and caring mother that I am, there was no possible way I was about to send my son to "Sin City" on his own so I used my FF miles to hop on the same plane.
Naturally there were only two real things that could occupy my time for the week: gambling and watching the Casey Anthony trial. I won't go into what transpired with the trial since there probably isn't anyone able to read who doesn't already know what happened. (and if you can't read, what are you doing trying to read this blog?) So gambling it would be.
Unfortunately, having been laid off just a mere 6 weeks before departure, the funds available for gambling were quite low. On top of that, I already had plans to fly from Vegas to Myrtle Beach for our annual family vacation once the Vegas Vacation was complete, and I knew I'd need money for that. Needless to say, I approached my first video poker machine with trepidation.
The first couple of hours started off pretty good with a few low card four-of-a-kinds and I had a few hundred more than I started. Aaaaaah, I though to myself, this is going to be a great week. NOT! By the time I went to bed, I had spent all of the money I planned to use for 4 days!
Day 2 was more of the same and I was starting to wonder how the hell I was going to make it through an entire week. I was also starting to wonder why anyone would consider this a good local's casino. Finally, I was starting to wonder how all of these progressive video poker royals were being hit and I wasn't even getting a sniff!
On the third day, after they were finished working, Mickey's co-worker Ernest drove us all downtown to visit a pawn shop that is the site of the tv show Pawn Stars. Although I had never seen the show, I went along just to get out of the casino for a while. In case you're wondering, yes, it's sort of cool but I guess you would appreciate it more if you actually watched the show and no, we didn't see "the old guy" whoever that is but that seems to be the most popular question people asked us. Returning to the casino from the parking garage, I spotted a bank of progressive penny video poker machine (100 coin max bet) and decided to sit down for a smoke. Sticking in a twenty, I hit the Royal on my second spin for $819. Very exciting and it was really funny, too when I found out later that Ernest had gone to get change and sat at my machine just a couple of minutes later and the guy next to him said "oh, some woman just hit the royal on that one"
That Royal must have been the ice breaker because suddenly all of the machines started to loosen up and though I wasn't hitting any royal flushes, I was hitting lots and lots of 4-of-a-kind (even some being dealt on triple play machines which is always exciting!) I was finally on the upswing....able to put some hundreds in my suitcase and still have plenty to play with.
Finally, on my second to last day, I hit a progressive royal for $1222 on a triple play machine. It wasn't dealt to me -- that would have made my jackpot over $10k -- but it was nice to pull one since I hadn't even been getting any straights or straight flushes.
All in all, it was a positive trip financially and I really did like the Orleans quite a bit more than Sam's Town. Definitely, cleaner rooms and cleaner casino area.... I give this trip a resounding two thumbs up!
This year, Mickey was assigned to work the T-A-T which is a bowling tournament that is sponsored by Storm/Roto Grip and held at the Orleans Casino Hotel in Las Vegas. Being the loving and caring mother that I am, there was no possible way I was about to send my son to "Sin City" on his own so I used my FF miles to hop on the same plane.
Naturally there were only two real things that could occupy my time for the week: gambling and watching the Casey Anthony trial. I won't go into what transpired with the trial since there probably isn't anyone able to read who doesn't already know what happened. (and if you can't read, what are you doing trying to read this blog?) So gambling it would be.
Unfortunately, having been laid off just a mere 6 weeks before departure, the funds available for gambling were quite low. On top of that, I already had plans to fly from Vegas to Myrtle Beach for our annual family vacation once the Vegas Vacation was complete, and I knew I'd need money for that. Needless to say, I approached my first video poker machine with trepidation.
The first couple of hours started off pretty good with a few low card four-of-a-kinds and I had a few hundred more than I started. Aaaaaah, I though to myself, this is going to be a great week. NOT! By the time I went to bed, I had spent all of the money I planned to use for 4 days!
Day 2 was more of the same and I was starting to wonder how the hell I was going to make it through an entire week. I was also starting to wonder why anyone would consider this a good local's casino. Finally, I was starting to wonder how all of these progressive video poker royals were being hit and I wasn't even getting a sniff!
On the third day, after they were finished working, Mickey's co-worker Ernest drove us all downtown to visit a pawn shop that is the site of the tv show Pawn Stars. Although I had never seen the show, I went along just to get out of the casino for a while. In case you're wondering, yes, it's sort of cool but I guess you would appreciate it more if you actually watched the show and no, we didn't see "the old guy" whoever that is but that seems to be the most popular question people asked us. Returning to the casino from the parking garage, I spotted a bank of progressive penny video poker machine (100 coin max bet) and decided to sit down for a smoke. Sticking in a twenty, I hit the Royal on my second spin for $819. Very exciting and it was really funny, too when I found out later that Ernest had gone to get change and sat at my machine just a couple of minutes later and the guy next to him said "oh, some woman just hit the royal on that one"
That Royal must have been the ice breaker because suddenly all of the machines started to loosen up and though I wasn't hitting any royal flushes, I was hitting lots and lots of 4-of-a-kind (even some being dealt on triple play machines which is always exciting!) I was finally on the upswing....able to put some hundreds in my suitcase and still have plenty to play with.
Finally, on my second to last day, I hit a progressive royal for $1222 on a triple play machine. It wasn't dealt to me -- that would have made my jackpot over $10k -- but it was nice to pull one since I hadn't even been getting any straights or straight flushes.
All in all, it was a positive trip financially and I really did like the Orleans quite a bit more than Sam's Town. Definitely, cleaner rooms and cleaner casino area.... I give this trip a resounding two thumbs up!
Monday
Back to Reno
The offers just kept on coming....either someone really, really likes me or there just aren't any people gambling in Reno. Whichever the reason, I got a sh*tload of offers to fly me and a guest back out to Reno for some more gambling fun.
Having already taken a very expensive luxury cruise in January, I was reluctant to spend any more money on travel this spring...but the enticement was there, and we had had so much fun this past fall, so finally Mike and I selected a long weekend to get away.
Things started off not too well. First of all, we were being flown on a different airline (not Southwest) and we had crappy seats on a crowded plane. But then that was cancelled out by the skycap not charging us for luggage so we were back to "even". Arriving in Reno I had hoped for a private transport to the hotel -- no such luck! I hopped on the first shuttle bus to the hotel with Mike staying behind to grab his golf bag and suitcase (smartly I had packed only a small carry-on!) and then catching the next shuttle. At the hotel, I got checked in immediately and was given a stunning corner suite. It's only a shame that the room is wasted on me since I spend so little time in it!
Mike had a horrendous ride on the shuttle to the hotel and was in a horrific mood when he finally arrived -- well, I did tell him he wouldn't need a FULL suitcase for a long weekend but it's not as if he ever listens to me anyway!
The casino was exactly the same as our last trip and we quickly found our way to our favorite machines. I had some small wins early on, after a series of losses. No royal flush jackpots -- but I was dealt four 4's with a deuce on a triple play double double bonus for $600 -- and more hands like that so I was playing.
Meanwhile, Mike was not planning on doing much gambling and, in fact, left the hotel to walk down to the bowling stadium to meet up with some friends soon after we arrived.
We decided to have an early dinner at the buffet -- courtesy of Harrah's -- and though we got to use the Diamond Express Line, the server forgot to give us linen rather than paper napkins and almost sat us in the "general populace" section. Oh, the horror!!! Strangely enough it was Mike who spoke up, before I did, to inform said hostess that we belonged in the OTHER section. He must not have gotten the memo: "we're big shots!" LOL
The next day dawned sunny and semi-mild and Mike headed off to Wolf Run for some golf. I didn't join him, electing instead to stay behind and seek fame and fortune at the video poker machines.
Later that day, we spent some time in the Diamond Lounge before dinner at a nice restaurant (again, courtesy of Harrah's) and then hung out at our favorite bar playing video poker. Again, still no royal flush but I still believe one is in my future. I am, however, making plenty of small wins so I have more than enough to play with and I end up playing a lot of dollar video poker at $5 a hand and triple play quarters at either $3.75 a hand or super times pay triple at $4.50 a hand. The royal flush eludes me and I head up to bed around 2am, snuggled next to Mike who has been there since 9 or so.
The ringing of the phone awakens me at 6am. Groggily I answer it, after having to roll waaaaaaaaaay across the huge empty bed (seriously this is living, but your bedroom would have to be at least 25 x 25 to put this thing in it). The first thing I hear is a woman with an accent saying, "we're calling about your husband..." Now, my heart starts beating a staccato triple time because at 6am it feels like the middle of the night and no good can ever come from a middle of the night phone call. Oh, my God, I'm thinking heart attack? mugging? arrest? what can it possibly be????
But she has gone on to tell me that my beloved has hit a jackpot and has no i.d.!!! Where is he, I croak out? Where else, but in the high roller room! That means he has been playing FIFTEEN DOLLARS a hand on the triple play machines there! I'm gonna kill him! And yet, I'm so happy that he has hit yet another royal flush this year -- except he made me give them my i.d. and tax info so now this is going to show up on my earnings for the year!
I'd love to say that we now had four grand to spend on a kitchenette for the Myrtle Beach house, or something else like, oh, groceries! gas! But, no, alas without my supervision he gambled it away over the next two days. Gotta love that guy!
Having already taken a very expensive luxury cruise in January, I was reluctant to spend any more money on travel this spring...but the enticement was there, and we had had so much fun this past fall, so finally Mike and I selected a long weekend to get away.
Things started off not too well. First of all, we were being flown on a different airline (not Southwest) and we had crappy seats on a crowded plane. But then that was cancelled out by the skycap not charging us for luggage so we were back to "even". Arriving in Reno I had hoped for a private transport to the hotel -- no such luck! I hopped on the first shuttle bus to the hotel with Mike staying behind to grab his golf bag and suitcase (smartly I had packed only a small carry-on!) and then catching the next shuttle. At the hotel, I got checked in immediately and was given a stunning corner suite. It's only a shame that the room is wasted on me since I spend so little time in it!
Mike had a horrendous ride on the shuttle to the hotel and was in a horrific mood when he finally arrived -- well, I did tell him he wouldn't need a FULL suitcase for a long weekend but it's not as if he ever listens to me anyway!
The casino was exactly the same as our last trip and we quickly found our way to our favorite machines. I had some small wins early on, after a series of losses. No royal flush jackpots -- but I was dealt four 4's with a deuce on a triple play double double bonus for $600 -- and more hands like that so I was playing.
Meanwhile, Mike was not planning on doing much gambling and, in fact, left the hotel to walk down to the bowling stadium to meet up with some friends soon after we arrived.
We decided to have an early dinner at the buffet -- courtesy of Harrah's -- and though we got to use the Diamond Express Line, the server forgot to give us linen rather than paper napkins and almost sat us in the "general populace" section. Oh, the horror!!! Strangely enough it was Mike who spoke up, before I did, to inform said hostess that we belonged in the OTHER section. He must not have gotten the memo: "we're big shots!" LOL
The next day dawned sunny and semi-mild and Mike headed off to Wolf Run for some golf. I didn't join him, electing instead to stay behind and seek fame and fortune at the video poker machines.
Later that day, we spent some time in the Diamond Lounge before dinner at a nice restaurant (again, courtesy of Harrah's) and then hung out at our favorite bar playing video poker. Again, still no royal flush but I still believe one is in my future. I am, however, making plenty of small wins so I have more than enough to play with and I end up playing a lot of dollar video poker at $5 a hand and triple play quarters at either $3.75 a hand or super times pay triple at $4.50 a hand. The royal flush eludes me and I head up to bed around 2am, snuggled next to Mike who has been there since 9 or so.
The ringing of the phone awakens me at 6am. Groggily I answer it, after having to roll waaaaaaaaaay across the huge empty bed (seriously this is living, but your bedroom would have to be at least 25 x 25 to put this thing in it). The first thing I hear is a woman with an accent saying, "we're calling about your husband..." Now, my heart starts beating a staccato triple time because at 6am it feels like the middle of the night and no good can ever come from a middle of the night phone call. Oh, my God, I'm thinking heart attack? mugging? arrest? what can it possibly be????
But she has gone on to tell me that my beloved has hit a jackpot and has no i.d.!!! Where is he, I croak out? Where else, but in the high roller room! That means he has been playing FIFTEEN DOLLARS a hand on the triple play machines there! I'm gonna kill him! And yet, I'm so happy that he has hit yet another royal flush this year -- except he made me give them my i.d. and tax info so now this is going to show up on my earnings for the year!
I'd love to say that we now had four grand to spend on a kitchenette for the Myrtle Beach house, or something else like, oh, groceries! gas! But, no, alas without my supervision he gambled it away over the next two days. Gotta love that guy!
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