Escapades started with a late flight on Allegiant, and late might be standard now that our local flight times have been changed to early evening. The wait wasn’t painful since I cleared security early enough to get a good seat for the Sunday night football game, but it was definitely new and strange to arrive in Las Vegas after 9 p.m. There was smooth sailing once we landed since I only had my carry-on and went directly to an almost empty rental car shuttle. I had my pick of the Thrifty lot with my “wildcard” reservation, and I picked a Dodge Charger since I had never driven one before. LOL, probably never will again – it’s a nice car, very comfortable, handles well, etc – just too large for my personal taste. It was definitely a nice ride for $55 for 3 days.

There were no other guests checking in at Flamingo’s Diamond-Platinum area, so I had 4 laughing clerks taking very good care of me, and I got my requested view of the Caesars fountains from the 23rd floor. It was kind of a novel experience for me to be staying three nights in the same hotel, so I actually unpacked, rather than living out of my suitcase as usual.

Gambling started out as a slow vacuum – I think I was dealt 4-to-the-Royal on every machine I played that night. It took a long time to hit my first quad, but I ended up hitting 3 or 4 for a small profit by the time I called it quits about midnight.

Usually, my only use for a room safe is to lock up my computer or camera, so it was really nice to be able to throw some money in there Monday morning before hopping in my car to drive all the way over to Caesars. Yes, I could have walked, but I wasn’t sure where I was headed afterward so I took the car with me when I headed to the Palm for brunch with Lee, Sharon, Sandy and the Taters. I couldn’t resist the $20 filet, with potatoes and steamed broccoli and started with cream of asparagus soup – BUT – I was casting covetous looks at Lee’s gigantic salad too. This was a great first meal and gathering for my trip.

I hung out with the Taters at Caesars until they left to check into their hotel, and then I continued to donate until I figured it was time to pick up my “free” Caesars medallion from the Gold Rewards Center. Sandy claimed hers brought some luck, and I have to agree because I hit my first quad deuces shortly after I tossed my medallion in my pocket. I must have hit deuces a half dozen times on this trip, but every set was on a DDB machine. Overall, I lost at Caesars, but it was a very slow drain, and I didn’t head back to the Flamingo until about 4:30 pm, when I decided I’d rather walk than drive in the rush hour traffic. I was sober, but I still didn’t exactly walk a straight line since I detoured to Bill’s Casino to see if Big Elvis was performing. I only caught the last 15 minutes, and I had read that he had lost over 400 pounds, but I was amazed at how much better he sounded, and it was really nice to see him able to stand up and move with the music. I’m going a little out of sequence here, but Wendell, Maxine & I caught his full show the next day, and they were equally amazed by the difference – I guess losing 560 pounds allows you to breathe a little better! The show is different now, with a second singer named Chuck Rawlings who does some Roy Orbison, Sam Cooke or Platters songs, and it’s a really pleasant way to spend an hour. I’m sort of surprised that Harrah’s hasn’t closed off the lounge and started charging for this show.

I headed back to the Flamingo and settled in at my favorite video poker carousel and played even for about an hour before heading up to the room to relax before dinner. LOL, I emptied my pockets in my room and decided to properly wear that Caesars medallion, just in case that would improve its magical powers. YUP! I detoured to the Garden Bar on my way to the buffet, and I started hitting – first with Aces + kicker, then the same machine dealt me quad 3s + kicker. I worked up a pretty good appetite, but I can only give an OK mark to the Paradise Buffet. The food was pretty good, and I found a decent assortment, but the $24 price tag seemed high – it wasn’t better than the Orleans which I think runs around $15-16 for dinner, and it definitely wasn’t anywhere near as good as Mandalay Bay which is only about $3 more – just not a lot of bang for the buck IMO. I played a little more after dinner and probably walked around the casino 2-3 times to walk off dinner, but I decided to quit while I was ahead and was in my room about 9:30 p.m.

I started Tuesday with a nice walk over to Caesars to pick up my car, and I drove over to the Gold Coast for breakfast at the Port O’Call buffet – another casualty of the economy IMO since the price went up a dollar, and the quality went down. They still have blintzes and nice desserts, but I missed the fresh fruit I used to find there. Oh well, at least I didn’t leave feeling like I should walk a couple of miles to undo the damage from overeating.

I was still wearing the Caesars medallion Tuesday (yes, I AM superstitious), and this would turn out to be one of my best gambling days. I hit deuces before breakfast, and I hit Aces + a kicker shortly after eating. LOL, I hated to leave the Gold Coast, but I needed to check in with the casino cage at the Orleans – I have one of those Italian names that people just love to misspell. We got my name straightened out just in time for me to meet up with Maxine and Wendell to escort them out to the Daisy shuttle for the trip downtown for the MSS meet.

LOL, the meet was fun as expected, but I really enjoyed my breaks too. I had started hitting deuces about 20 feet inside the door, and I continued hitting bonus quads for the next 2-3 hours. Every time I took a break from the meet, I would turn a $20 bill into a $100 bill – except for the last break when the nice machine dealt me four aces on my first hand; that time $20 turned into $175. I stopped one last time after the meet, but that nasty machine took my $20, so I left!

Wendell, Maxine & I went back to the Flamingo – picked up some tickets at the box office and then walked over to catch Big Elvis as mentioned earlier. The show had a third singer Tuesday –I think his name was Mike, and he had a wonderful voice, but I just didn’t like his music. The Texas Duo hopped on the Orleans shuttle after the show, and I headed back to my room at the Flamingo. I had been pushing caffeine all day, and the resulting headache made me cancel my plans to visit the Shark Reef and have dinner at Mandalay Bay – which turned out rather nicely because I discovered that the Flamingo’s coffee shop makes an excellent Cobb Salad. I played even for about an hour after dinner and was again up in my room between 9-10 p.m. – curled up with a Clive Cussler book on this trip.

I slept in Wednesday morning and checked out just before 11 a.m. LOL, I still wasn’t really hungry after that huge salad the night before, so I just grabbed a muffin & coffee from the Java Hut – which cost just a trifle more than my Gold Coast breakfast buffet on Tuesday<g>. I was determined to hit Deuces on a deuces game before leaving town, and that turned out to be a very bad thing. I really hate hitting Aces + a kicker when I’m playing a regular Deuces Wild game. That could almost make a gal choke on her muffin, and it was almost as bad when I was dealt four Aces playing Bonus Deuces over at South Point. Oh well, it didn’t kill me to give a small amount of my winnings back to the local economy<g>.

I thought the airport & security screenings would be busy on the day before Thanksgiving, so I allowed plenty of time – to sit and wait because there were darn few of us leaving town. There were only three people on the rental car shuttle, no line at the Allegiant counter, and I walked right through to the ID check for the D gates without having to stand in line. They only had one shuttle running out to the gate area, and it was packed with folks coming into town but maybe only half full with those leaving. The only crowd I saw was at the three Allegiant gates, where every flight seemed to be running 30-75 minutes late. LOL, I even came out ahead at the airport since I hit my second straight flush of the trip in the old smokers lounge. In fact, the only thing I didn’t hit on this trip was a Royal, but there’s always next time.

Busy, busy, busy, as usual - you sure manage to get around. Many thanks for the "Daisy Shuttle" service to MSS and the Meet. I thought we had a really good meet and the Canadians were a treat. as were all in attendance. The continued "shuttle service" to the Flamingo was also appreciated as well as over to Bill's for "Big Elvis". His apparant weight loss was noticeable even tho he still had 130 pounds to go. Sorry you missed your Royal, but knowing you, it will be there in the future. See ya next trip I hope.

i didn't know "deuces" was italian?<G>.sounds like a fun,busy trip daisy.state of washington is cutting over one billion out of the education budget and since i work at a school,i may get to see yawl all year. got an extra room daisy,jmt, taters,cajun??<G> next trip probably feb,maybe not till april.i got to believe that if there are deep budget cuts it would not be until sept 2010. come on school district make me an offer ,buy me out!!

It's always a pleasure to provide shuttle service for the two of you, but this wasn't a busy trip - I've given those up and am totally into relaxation.

I hit enough other things that I really didn't miss the Royal; I thought it was really nice of Nevada to pay me to visit, although it only seems fair since I've paid their taxes many times<g>.

Gee, DAG, you've never heard of Il Duce<g>?

Unfortunately, we understand school budget cuts here in California - I hope you have enough seniority to retire at a time of your own chosing, but I like your attitude on buy outs!

Again, this wasn't a busy trip - more like laid back<g>. No naps this time, although I was living on caffeine on Tuesday and really could have used one.

Daisy - what incredible luck you had - congrats! Sounds like DDB is your new favorite game. Maybe you should change your name to Daisy DDB? I keep meaning to check out Big Elvis but haven't gotten there yet. Sounds like a good show. Thanks for a great TR!

Daisy, Thanks for the report and the great visit at the Palm & at the meet, although, you didn't sit down much at the brew pub. But when your winning, who could blame you?
Thanks for the recording, even though it wasn't my cup of tea at all.
BTW, it almost killed me, not picking up that check! But I behaved! LOL
Now I got to get cracking on my trip report....maybe I can con Sharon into typing it for me.

Mike, this really was a lucky trip. I finally lost a little before I left town Wednesday, but it had to be one of my most consistent winning trips. I think I probably would have won that last day if I hadn't tried so hard to get four wild deuces<g>, and I do play more DDB now. I can enjoy $100 or $200 deuces on DDB so much more than the 75 coins I received Wednesday morning when I hit 4 Aces + a deuce on Deuces Wild at the Flamingo. LOL, I know I probably wouldn't have hit that combo on DDB at that precise moment, but I still think it was stinky of the machine to deal me four aces a few minutes later - while I was still hunting ducks.

I still can't get over the difference in Big Elvis - and I'm talking about his voice. I think it's been 2-3 years since I heard him, and you could hear a wheeze when he was talking. I guess the weight loss cleared up some of the breathing problems because he was really booming those songs out.

Lee, I really enjoyed handing you some money at the Palm, so I'm happy it didn't kill ya<g>... that brunch was a great start to my trip.

I wasn't really expecting you to like the recording, but I was shocked by your reason - and have been listening to that CD and laughing all the way around town this week. If I had tried, I don't think I could have picked a worse set of songs for you - if the song wasn't sad, it was country<g>. Different strokes for different folks.

No, I didn't sit down much at the Brew Pub, for which I will apologize, but I was living on caffeine that day and more than a little restless. I wasn't even having my MSS standard of Henry Weinhard's root beer<g>.

Now get cracking on that trip report - I want to read it before my next trip.