Upon waking this morning, I reflected on last night’s bloodbath and realized that today was a new day. I caffeinated myself, packed my bags and headed to my new home for the next few days, the Nomad.
I was comped the Grande Suite (still have to pay the resort fees) and wow, I am thoroughly impressed with the room:
So, since my bank does not have any branches in Nevada, I called them and asked the procedure for withdrawing from my account (it would be in excess of the ATM limit). They informed me that I could go to a bank in Nevada, such as Bank of America, go to a teller, and withdraw the money. I called Bank of America customer service and inquired as to what the fee would be to do this. Their customer service told me they do not charge a fee but that TD Bank probably does. As such, I called TD Bank back and was surprised to find out that they would not charge me a fee as they do not have a branch in Nevada.
As such, I opened the LYFT app and called for a ride to the nearest Bank of America. Upon arriving at Bank of America, the teller informed me that their system was down (no wonder the place was empty). They informed me that it was a local issue for them and that I could go to another Bank of America. So, I summoned another LYFT and paid for another ride to another Bank of America location.
As I walked in, a woman with a tablet approached me and asked me what I needed - I told her I was seeking to withdraw money from my TD Bank account. She told me to just wait on the normal teller line. Naturally, in Chinatown on a Friday afternoon, why would they have more one teller working. Par for the course, the teller spent half her time with each customer gossiping with them or one of her co-workers who happened to be on a break - the teller’s co-worker should have opened her teller window while she was busy doing nothing.
After waiting in line for almost an hour, the bank manager announced that their computer system was down.
Then, an elderly Asian lady started complaining and Mr. So-and-So, a roided up security guard came, literally, charging over, admonishing the asian woman that if she did not lower her voice, he would arrest her (do bank security guards have the right to arrest anyone (citizen’s arrest?) LOL). The woman replied - "I am calm, I'm just wondering why nobody told us the system was down before this" - she then left the bank
Then a a guy on the line who, it turned out was a comedian in Vegas, started telling me how he had continually complained about the lack of tellers available and was going to close his account - he was none too pleased.
Finally, the lady who first welcomed me into the bank approached me to tell me that the system I needed to score some cash from a non-Bank of America debit card was still working - why couldn't she have hooked me up with that an hour ago? #WTF
After getting back to my hotel and relaxing for a bit, I gathered up $500 and headed down to the casino to play some $25min blackjack, thinking I would just relax and try to win a little bit. The dealer, however, had other ides as she had a natural 20 or made a 20 on 75% of her hands. Amazingly, she did not have any blackjacks until I had my last $25 in the betting circle - she saved it until then to really drive the nail in the coffin. The lack of any positive variance is really making me question the game of blackjack. How is it possible that the dealer can have a 20 a vast majority of the time? When is it my turn to get dealt a 20 on 75% of the hands in a shoe?
When I was able to double down or split, I would be dealt nothing of consequence, for example:
Ace, Ace versus dealer 6 - split, dealt a 5 on the first Ace and a 3 on the second Ace - dealer turned over a 10 for 16 — then an Ace for 17;
Split 4,4 versus dealer 5 - first 4 dealt a 7, doubled and dealt a 5; second 4 dealt a 5, doubled and dealt a 10 - dealer turned over a 6 then, neutrally, dealt herself a Queen for 21;
Dealt an 8,3 versus dealer 9 - doubled and dealt an 8 - dealer turned over an Ace for 20.
This is pure insanity. This trip was supposed to help me relax and de-stress from work - it is having the opposite effect.
Trip -5475
YTD -1175
Just spoke to Mitch about the day’s events and now getting ready to head over to the Luxor to see the new Cirque du Soleil show “R.U.N” While I realize the reviews have not been positive, I had already purchased the tickets and welcome a distraction from the negative variance of the blackjack tables.
So I was in my LYFT over to the Luxor and the driver was telling me how a guy he drove last night told him he had won $8k during the day playing craps and hit a nightclub to celebrate. Apparently, he told the wrong women about his good fortune and, two of them accompanied him back to his room (where I am sure he thought he was going to keep his good fortune going) - they slipped something in his drink, stole his $8k, watch and laptop. Stay safe my friends.
After a slice of stuffed pizza at the Luxor food court (only the best for Epic), I made my way to the R.U.N theatre:
The show began and the first 10 minutes were basically a stylized animated story telling the tale of one Vegas gang leader breaking up the wedding of another Vegas gang leader. The story then progressed with live action motorcycle stunts, fighting, pyrotechnics and a mock car chase. The music was good, supplied by a live DJ and bassist/guitarist.
There was one scene during the car chase where they almost drove into a train wreck. Driving into a train wreck would probably describe this show. While I could see the attempt they were making, I think Cirque du Soleil would be better off sticking to whimsical acrobatic shows accompanied by epic music. The actors/stuntmen/dancers were all passable in their work but it was nothing to shout from the rooftops about. Luckily, the show was only 72 minutes long. I do not recommend this show but, at least it kept me away from the tables for a couple of hours (including the commute over to Luxor).
Now, let’s see where the night takes me. The night took me back to the same green chip table where I played earlier today. The new shift had started but the song remained the same. I lost the first 9 hands, including the following nonsense:
Ace, 6 versus dealer 6 - doubled and dealt another Ace for 18 - dealer flipped over a 5 and promptly dispatched me by drawing a King;
9, 9 versus dealer 9 - split and dealt a 7 on the first 9 - hit and busted — dealt a 10 on the second 9 - dealer turned over an Ace;
8, 8 versus dealer 7 - split and dealt another 8 a split that out: first 8 dealt a 3 - doubled and dealt a 4 for 15; second 8 dealt a 9 for 17; third 8 dealt a 6 then drew an 8 to bust — dealer turned over Jack for 18.
At the end of the shoe i had one green chip remaining out of the $500 buy-in but, I waited for the shuffle (which was a very brief period of time as the casino used an automatic shuffle machine) - I was dealt a natural on the first hand, pressed up the $12.50 and won the next 3 hands - I was finally winning some splits and doubles and, on the last hand of the second show, regained my $500 buy-in all from one lonely green chip. Now taking a break.
Trip -5475
YTD -1175
A cover band was playing inside a stage set up inside a ring of slot machines in the middle of Park MGM casino. The heavily tattooed female singer took to the stage and the band began the intro to Heart’s Barracuda. Something told me that this singer was going to kill it so I stuck around. Damn did she blow me away - such power to her voice a la Ann Wilson. Upon finishing the song, the band announced a break. I went to introduce myself to the singer to ask if she limited her vocals to rock songs. She said she was open to all styles. I told her about the type of music I write and she asked for my information so she could check it out. So, I obliged by providing her my Soundcloud page, name and number. Maybe a songwriting team in the making!
I headed up to the room to relax for a bit and ended up falling asleep on the couch watching television. A true Vegas Friday night lol.