After a good night’s sleep, I woke up to a telemarketing call. Fun fun fun!
I readied myself for a weekend in Vegas and, desperate for a caffeine fix, headed down to the casino floor.
I had to wait for three elevator cycles before I found one with enough room for me. It was not that they were crowded with people but rather, able-bodies young men and women on scooters. I had heard from Mitch from the Tipping the Odds podcast that people on scooters had become an issue in Vegas. This was to be only the beginning as, immediately after finally finding an open elevator and disembarking therefrom, I was almost run over by a posse of 6 people on scooters, all drinking and texting while “scootering”.
I made my way to the gift shop, grabbed an energy drink and protein bar and head for the seating area near the sports book.
Moments later, a father ride by on a scooter with his toddler (maybe 6 years old) so controlling the scooter while his teenage son, standing while driving the scooter, trailed behind them. As if on cue, they collided.
They then drove away into the sunset…or so I thought. A few minutes later, who should drive by but the teenage son, still standing while “scootering” and the toddler driving a scooter all by himself while the father watched. A Caesars security witnessed this but, there were more important things on his mind as I had just taken a bite of my protein bar and was in the process of masticating when he hurriedly walked over to me to castigate me - he admonished me that I could only pull my bask down to take a bite of food and then it had to be pulled back up immediately. Never mind the toddler driving a scooter through the casino, my chewing without my mask pulled up was the real crime here.
After finishing my energy drink I walked to throw out my rubbish and immediately saw a group of no less than 10 people on scooters, 3 wide, passing through at what appeared to be maximum speed. I anxiously await the first personal injury lawsuit against casinos for allowing this nonsense.
Ok, back to gambling.
I played a mini-session of $25 min. blackjack:
Hand 1 — dealt Ace, 9 v dealer Ace - no insurance - dealer blackjack
Hand 2 — King, 9 v dealer 9 - dealer turned a 10
Hand 3 — 8, 9 v 7 - dealer turns over a 10 - push
Hand 4 — 10, 9 v dealer 9 - dealer turns over an 8 - win
Hand 5 — 3,8 v dealer 5 - double down dealt a 10 - dealer turns over a 6 for 11 then draws another 6 for 17 - win
Hand 6 —Ace, 7 v dealer 7 - dealer turns a 2 for 9 then draws a 7 for 18 - push
Hand 7 —King, King v dealer Jack - dealer turns over a 9 - win
I left the table winning $100 and in disbelief at how many 9’s appeared in only 7 hands.
Trip is -70
Caesars Palace lobby at 1pm
Caesars Palace lobby at 3pm
Caesars Palace lobby at 5pm
Dinner tonight was at Oscar’s steakhouse downtown inside The Plaza. I had the pleasure of dining with Lucky and a new friend, @detroit1051 on Twitter. We ate, we drank and conversed on a multitude of topics ranging from NY, Detroit, Hawai’i and Vegas (although, the conversation was in no way limited to geography) and genuinely had a great time.
Fremont Street seemed, if that is possible, sketchier than usual. The vibe was weird, like a crime was about to be committed any second.
After dinner, I ventured down to the casino floor and decided to play some Wheel of Fortune. I put $100 in the machine and did not get my first cha cue at the big wheel until I was down to $30.
My credits on the machine dwindled down again and, again, I got a chance to spin the big wheel.
Despite the above 2 spins on the big wheel, fortune was not in my favor and, upon being almost out of credit, I got one final chance to spin the big wheel.
Yup, on 16 free spins I only won $24. A few spins later my initial $100 was gone.
Trip is -170
I made my way over to the table games area but all the tables were full (even the $100min. table although dealer still hits on soft 17 - not playing black chips with those rules). I hopped up the 3 steps leading from the table games out to the main floors where plenty of games were open. However, all the blackjack games circling the main pit only paid a natural at 6:5 - no thank you. I grabbed an energy drink and when I arrived back to the main pit, a spot had opened up at a $25min. game. I waited for the shoe to end and then bought in for $500 in green. The guy in the middle seat exited the game, leaving 1st base and me to play. This guy at first base either knew some quantum level card counting, was the luckiest SOB of all time or completely clueless. He stayed on a 2,4 v dealer Queen…doubles a 13 v dealer 2…and split Jack, Jack v dealer Ace — naturally, he won all of the above hands.
Meanwhile, I was not dealt any hand above a 19 before halfway through the shoe when I was finally dealt a 20. I did not received one natural, double down opportunity or split opportunity. I hovered around my $500 buy-in until the final hand of the shoe which I won when the dealer busted Ace, 6, 8, Ace, 6 for 22 - which allowed me to gain $25 on the shoe.
Trip is -145
I wandered around then thinking about playing slots again but ultimately decided to once again look for a blackjack table. Alas, ‘twas not to be as the 3 seats per table limit severely limited the opportunity to get in a game. After about 45 minutes I called it a night.
On my way back to the room I ran across two girls having an impromptu photo shoot for what I imagine to be their respective Instagram accounts. It was definitely time to call it a night as I had seen all I needed to see for the day.