PeteM's Blog

Swooped thru town Thurs night-Sat AM on my way to the bay area to see my Mom. 2 nights comped at Aliante.(As a side note, the last two mailers I've recieved haven't been nearly as good as the previous three. Did Station decide to tighten up?)
Went to see Zumanity on Friday night. First time I'd seen a live show in years. Really, really enjoyed it. I mean, what's not to enjoy? Great music and singing, great bodies with miniscule costuming and superb acrobatics. A Cirque show for adults, as advertised. The humor portion of the show seemed very European to me, not too subtle, shall we say? My seat was fantastic( 4 rows back) and my Military ID got me a 35% discount. Sweet!
Craps at Aliante was a classic picture of why we( well,I) gamble. Interesting people and a lot of action. I bought in for 1k at a crowded table. Had a conservative on my right(place 6&8 only until the shooter made a point, then go to PL&odds) and a wild man on my left(YBM in hiphop sweats who bounced back and forth from PL to DP, but who had a C&E or Horn bet on just about every roll.)
First hour and a half was OK, choppy with a little lean to the plus side. Anywhere from down 100 to up 200, enjoying the continuous patter of the wild man("hi-lo,hi-lo! that's how I roll!") as he tried to sell his "system" to his wide mouthed tyro buddy. I just grinned and shared a wink with the guy to my right.
Going into the second hour, I could feel it starting to slide away. Too many point 7 outs. I'm down about 300 and not enjoying myself. The stickman dumps the bowl to a guy who'd had a good hand the last time. Come out 7. Come out yo. I press up my PL to $10. Guy rolls 6 as the point. I mutter "Fuck it, now or never" to myself and drop a Black for my odds bet.I can almost hear the dealer/boxman eyeballs click. They haven't seen a black chip come out all night. About 10 rolls later the guy rolls 2/4 and I do a little dance in place. The guy on my right had come along for the ride and is pretty happy too. I'd had $24 on the 8 at the same time and that had come up at least 3 times so I'm back in it.
Mr. Conservative grabs the dice . He'd thrown a buck on the fire bet and I said "OK, I'll run with you." and do the same.He promptly goes on a 30 minute roll that includes 5 or 6 points( 4 to the fire bet)several naturals on comeouts and long rolls hitting those place bets. It was fun watching the boxman's face tighten up after the fourth fire bet point, luckily for him, Mr.C sevened out trying for the fifth point.
After I 7 out in 3 rolls, I color up and bail $401 up. So, a $700 shift in about 30-40 minutes. I'm drenched in sweat and my brain's fizzing with adrenalin.
So what happens next? Look at the title. I go back the the next night and give $395 back in about an hour. One of these times I'm going to come out ahead on the last night instead of the first. Still, I broke even and stayed on the hotel's dime. Not bad.

Blew into town on Friday the 18th. And I do mean blew! High wind warnings crossing the Tillman Bridge. If anybody's interested, the Colorado Springs/ Albequerque/Kingman/North Vegas route is 945 miles; about 108 miles more than Colorado Springs/Denver/I-70/I-15/ North Vegas. I much prefer the mountain route; the scenery in the Rockies and the San Rafael Swell in Utah is great. I always marvel at the engineering it took to drive the I-15 through the Virgin River Gorge. But with chain laws if effect on Vail Pass, it was quicker to take the southern route.
My wife and I came to celebrate our grandson's first Birthday. Twelve adults and one 1-year old at the party. That kid got enough loot to fill half the living room, which is good, because opening things and getting into stuff is his main mission in life at the moment.

Mrs M and I were comped three nights by Station Casinos. Two at Aliante and one at Red Rock. A total of eight free buffet meals and $50 dollars in free table play. I have a soft spot for Station in my heart. They've been very generous with the freebies, and as we almost always drive, their outlying locations aren't a concern. I was recognized by the dealers at Aliante's Craps tables before I pulled out my Players card. I tip, and I make an effort to be pleasant at the table, but it's gratifying to be remembered when they haven't seen you for four months. On that note, I would say that all the Station personnel I met at both properties were really on the ball; front desk, housekeeping, food service and dealers, everybody was a pleasure to deal with.

After two evening sessions at Aliante, I'm up $200 and I'm happy. First winning sessions in year! We go over to Red Rock to check in. Now, I think the Aliante is very nice, but WOW, Red Rock is like two or three steps up from there. Very plush. The review on this site quite good. Hey Wiz, I noticed the Breakfast buffet has bagels, cream cheese, smoked salmon, shaved turkey and ham with other condiments. My wife now has a new standard for hotel rooms while we're traveling.

I picked up my $ 25 in free chips at the cage and put them on the pass line. The shooter promptly rolls: come out yo, point 8 winner, come out seven, and point 5 winner. Took about eight rolls. He seven outs on the the next hand. I tipped the boys a five from my wallet, grabbed my $100 in real chips and beat it. So now I'm up $300. Unfortunately, I've got one session left downtown.

El Cortez, 8:30 Sunday night. I want to show a rookie friend some cheap Craps and pay tribute to Bugsy. Five dollar minimum and only one table open. The crew was all Chinese, and I mean fresh in from Vancouver,BC or San Francisco. The boxman was Chinese but middleaged. After my comeout the girl on the stick pushes the dice back to me with two and five up. I raise my eyebrows at her, no reaction. I gesture at the dice to the boxman, he looks over, then gives the stickgirl a volley of Mandarin or Cantonese, after which she flips the five to a four. Too late, I promptly seven out. $100 later, I toss my last few singles in for the boys. No reaction. I can't resist; In a nice calm voice, loud enough to be clear, I say" When I give you money, you say Thank You, OK?" No big deal, but I'm used to playing with professionals.

Wandering up Fremont, two of the live band stages have good looking girl groups. They're both covering Lady Gaga, which means lots of dancing and shakin'. Pretty nice. We look into Binions to see if they've got space. All the tables are packed, even the party pit has seven or eight shooters. Maybe the hotel's closed but craps still goes on at the Horseshoe. We end up at MSS, where the lighting is brighter, the crowd is happier(love those Polynesians) and the decor is nicer. I burn through another $200 in about an hour, but the beer is good and so are the shots of Black Jack.

I awake at 3:30 the next morning to the sound of sloshing and CNN. My wife is enjoying the TV over the 30" deep tub in the marbled bathroom. The sound is loud enough to wake everyone around us. We're out the door before Five. One final word of advice: never buy coffee at the Shell station directly across the 215 from the Aliante. Drink battery acid instead, it has to taste better. The coffee at the Love's Truck Stop 20 miles north on I-15 is quite acceptable.

So, overall, a good trip. Broke even a the tables, free rooms and meals, and an adorable grandson. Not bad at all.

Alright! For the first Thanksgiving in 10 years, I don't have to cook. Mrs M and I are driving in on the 23rd and are staying at the Aliante Station for three nights, two of them comped. Our son and his family(first grandchild!) live in one of the newer developments in north Vegas about a mile north of 215. He's an engineer at the Test Site and has lived in town for abot 2-3 years. So, best of both worlds; family time with my superior grandson, being able to gently tease my daughter-in-law the Dallas Cowboy fanatic about Romo the Homo, and just have to worry about bringing a few bottles of wine and maybe a dessert instead of busting my ass in the kitchen.
Friday we can visit the Conservatory at the Bellagio to see their Christmas display and visit the Venetian just to see the interiors, the Strip should be pretty quiet. Friday PM the Mrs goes back to cooing over the grandson, whilst I take on Aliantes craps tables. I've been ratholing 20-40 dollars a week since March and have 1K to offer up to Gods of Chance. I like the Aliante, it's a nice property and it's only 10 minutes from our sons place. Plenty of visiting but not in each other's pockets for three days. Here's hoping for decent weather crossing the Rockies on I-70!