As I am prone to insomnia, I did not fall asleep last night until about 1:30 am with my alarm set for 4:30 am and the car service set to pick me up at 5:30 am. I managed to get up out of bed, hopped quickly in the shower and was more than ready when the car service arrived. The drive started out smoothly but, about halfway tot he airport, I notice, through my barely open eyes, that the driver was getting off at an exit and heading north (the airport, from where I live, is due west). So, I managed to ask him where he was going and he informed me there was traffic on the highway and he “knew a shortcut”. OK = let’s see where this is going. He heads north about 3 miles, then heads west, then heads south and we are back to the highway we were on in the first place, but, one mile west of where we turned off. There was no longer any traffic which, had he just stayed on the highway to begin with, we would’ve found out within a quarter of a mile. What a waste of time. But, no big deal. After arriving at the airport I checked in, went through security and waited for boarding at my gate.
I was in and out of sleep the entire flight, being awoken a number of times due to the non-stop coughing of the lady sitting in the seat in front of me. I am quite sure there is a pre-boarding checklist wherein you have to state you have no symptoms of any illness, coughing being one of them. Oh well, karma did its thing as the back of seat television at her seat did not work and, ultimately, the airline offered her a $25 voucher for use on a future flight. This lady was none too please and demanded that she talk to a supervisor. I am pretty sure the only supervisor on the plane is the captain and I am sure he was busy with better things to do than deal with “Coughy Karen”
I had booked, courtesy of Mitch at Tipping the Odds Las Vegas podcast a car service and, while I was originally supposed to be picked up in a Tesla Model S, they upgraded me to a stretch limo:
The ride to the hotel was excellent and the driver was very friendly and talkative. As I had checked in via the MGM app, I did not need to check in at the front desk. My room was ready and the digital key on my phone. I headed up the elevator found my room:
I then headed over to CVS to stock up on some supplies for the room. I went through self-checkout and, as my credit card payment was finishing being processed, I remembered I had a $50 CVS gift card my family gave me to use on this trip. So, I asked the attendant if they could reverse the charge so I could use the gift card. They said I would have to go to another cashier. The cashier had to eventually call the manager over because my gift card was not being read. They tried the old plastic bag wrapped around the magnetic strip on the gift card trip, to no avail. Finally, they tried it without the plastic bag and, lo and behold, it worked. WOOHOO!!!
(This space reserved for something ridiculous that happened today. Will post after further investigation.)
As I was relaxing in the room, I thought it might be a good time to take a quick nap. However, that was not to be as there was much fanfare outside the hotel in front of the T-Mobile Arena, where the Golden Knights were taking on the Avalanche in a Game 6. Apparently, prior to home games there is a DJ entertaining outside T-Mobile and the bass from the subwoofers began to reverberate throughout my hotel room. There would be no nap today.
So, if you can’t beat them, join them. I took a shower and decided to just take a walk down the Strip prior to meeting up with Pennys4Vegas. I ventured over to Aria and noticed, at the MLife desk, that they were tier matching with other properties. I waited in line and, when it was my turn, I inquired as to whether the tier matching promotion was limited to new Life members only. To my surprise, they said the offer was open to everyone. Not one to miss out on a good promotion, I handed them my Caesars Diamond Card and was immediately made a gold level MLife member. Not bad for a few minutes’ work lol.
I then wandered through the Crystal shops, headed outside over the pedestrian bridge to Planet Hollywood and then Paris. It was about this time that Pennys4Vegas texted me asking where I wanted to meet. Since he was staying at Bally’s and I was already at Paris, we decided we would meet at Paris.
I soon spotted someone wearing a Caesar Time t-shirt sporting a fedora - yup, Pennys4Vegas had arrived. After exchanging pleasantries we discussed the pros and cons of long stays in Vegas, traveling, gambling and life in general. Pennys4Vegas was down to earth and I look forward to meeting up with him in the future and hanging out in Vegas or even Atlantic City.
As I was beginning to feel the pangs of hunger, I stopped to see if I might find an empty seat at the bar at Javier’s inside Aria. Not an empty seat to be found - Vegas has returned. So, I headed back to my room and had some baked Cheetos and a Monster Energy drink before heading down to the casino to try my luck at the tables.
I walked into the high limit room and there was an empty $100min. 2D game and a $100min. 6D game with one player at third base.
I walked over to the 6D game and told the guy at third base I would wait to enter the game until the shoe was finished. He replied that there was no reason to wait and that he had no problem with my joining in once he lost a hand. So, he lost the next hand and I was now in the game. Both of us then won the next five hands. However, third base guy decided that his fortune was not going to continue and that he needed to sit out a hand so that the flow of the cards would stay positive. Naturally, I lost the hand he sat out and then, upon his coming right back in, we both lost the next four hands. Of course, nobody could know whether his dropping out and then coming back in would have a positive or negative effect but, in the moment, blackjack players can think of nothing else but what might have been.
Over the course of the shoe, things hovered around even and then, as the shoe ended, third base guy headed off to use the restroom and another gentleman sat down between our seats. We both said we would wait for third base guy to return but, after a few minutes, it became apparent that third base guy might be having restroom issues so we commenced the shoe. Things were up and down with no hands to write home about, either positively or negatively. Moments later, third base guy returned and we were now three. On the next hand I was dealt Ace, Ace versus a dealer King. On my first Ace I was dealt a King and on the second I was dealt a 3. When things came around to the dealer, he flipped over a 4 and then, BAM!, another King for 24 - BUST!
As the shoe ended, I was +500 and decided to try to find some sustenance. Luckily, La La Noodles, and excellent Chinese food restaurant inside the Park MGM, was open, but, was set to close in mere minutes. I made my way over there and put in my order, General Tso’s chicken and brown rice (rice was not included, rather, it was a la carte). I conversed with the bartender who lamented that the restaurant was closing at 10 pm instead of staying open later, especially after a Golden Knights playoff game. I agreed and, moments later, my food was ready and I headed up to my room to devour the deliciousness from the plastic containers.
Having already been up since 4:30 a.m. EST, I decided it would be best to just relax and get some sleep and start fresh tomorrow morning.
So, all in all it was a fun first day in Vegas and, once I get some finality on the issue I mentioned that I cannot yet discuss, I will address it herein.
Sweet dreams everyone and thanks for welcoming me back into the Vegas fold.
