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Dave's Delayed trip report - 9/30/17 through 10/4/17 (Yes, that weekend)

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by Eusdawb, Jul 9, 2018.

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  1. gr8whitenorth

    gr8whitenorth VIP Whale

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    Thanks for writing this. I can only imagine just how terrifying it must have been. This is one of the first times I've seen and read how the strip felt the days after.
     
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  2. bshowell

    bshowell VIP Whale

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    Thank you for writing and sharing. I appreciate the difficulty you must have had in writing this. With high and low points, it was certainly a riveting read. Here's for a less eventful next trip (except for another handpay)!
     
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  3. Suekel

    Suekel VIP Whale

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    Like everyone else has said, thank you for sharing your experience with us. I can't imagine how surreal and frightening it must have been to not know what was going on, and to have people running and screaming all around you. It can't have been easy to make yourself relive that, so thank you.

    I hope your next trip is much less eventful but still filled with handpays!
     
  4. VivaSladeVegas

    VivaSladeVegas Low-Roller

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    Chilling and sad. Such madness. Thank you for posting this...hope there are many great trips ahead.
     
  5. Kobra2848

    Kobra2848 VIP Whale

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    Thanks for writing your report. The wife and I spent 5 nights a PHO starting the following Saturday. It was definitely slower with what I assume all the visitors from California not coming in for the weekend. I know we seriously thought of cancelling our trip but the wife had planned it for my birthday. Congrats on the handpay.

    Mark
     
  6. DeMoN2318

    DeMoN2318 The DERS

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    Chills reading this. Thank you for sharing, it must be hard to re-live that terrifying moment.
     
  7. Peachiekeehn

    Peachiekeehn High-Roller

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    Thank you for sharing this with us Dave. It brought the terror to me so I know it was probably very difficult for you to re-live it through your words and photos. Congrats on the hand-pay, here's to many more for you.
     
  8. Odelay77

    Odelay77 Low-Roller

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    Thanks Dave for sharing your story. I arrived a few days afterward for my 40th birthday trip with 12 friends. I made a point to shake hands with every employee I saw and give them an open door to talk with a stranger who would listen. Heard a lot of compelling and heartbreaking stories from bartenders, pit bosses, slot attendants, etc.

    The last big trip I planned with friends was for my bachelor party, just two days after the Sandy Hook massacre. I said it then, and I said it again last October... these are times when it is more important than ever to enjoy communion with friends and to create joy with those who you love. Good for you for continuing with your trip and enjoying those rare and beautiful times with your friends.
     
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  9. Eusdawb

    Eusdawb Tourist

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    Thanks everyone. It was definitely a very intense and scary few hours and it's amazing how sure people are that they heard or saw something that just didn't happen. As we waited to get back into the hotel around 2:00 AM a guy who was in line near me was telling people that he heard a gun shot in the Paris casino. He was 100% sure, no doubt. I don't doubt that he believed it, it may have been a stool being knocked over or something else being overturned, but when I looked back on everything the next day, read the news accounts - it was difficult to reconcile the fact that there had not been a gunmen at the Paris. Everything was a fog. Anyway, thanks for reading my rather long report.


    I just remembered another thing that happened on the trip which the craps players should appreciate.


    The evening of Day 3 I walked up to a $10 table craps table at the Flamingo. I had been hitting a lot of cold tables throughout the day so as I walked up I decided to play the don’ts. When I play the dark side, I prefer to not play the Don’t Pass and only make Don’t Come bets. I like to try to get 3 DC bets out there and see what happens. I also try to stand next to the dealer so I can place my DC bets down without reaching across the table. So as I walk up and buy in for $100, another older gentleman walks up and also buys in for $100. Once a point is established I put down my $10 DC and the guy next to me puts down a $10 come bet. Interesting timing…


    A number is thrown so it moves and we add odds, then I put down another $10 DC bet and the guy next to me puts down another $10 come bet. Ok….


    Same thing happens again and again we end up mirroring one another’s bets. Next roll is a 7 out. I collect my $45 winnings and the guy next to me shakes his head.


    Next shooter establishes a point, I throw down a $10 DC bet, the guy next to me puts out a $10 come bet. So we follow the same pattern and get the same result. I’m up $90 and the guy next to me is fed up and leaves. I felt kind of awkward about it at the time because normally the rhythm and pattern of my dark side bets don’t line up with anyone else. I am always hoping for the shooter to make his/her point and then get a winner 7 so we can all cheer together, but this time it felt like I was at war with this guy although I was not.


    Anyway, once he left I continued playing as I had, table started to get a little bit choppy but was still leaning toward the dark side. A few minutes later this woman at the far end of the table looks right at me and says “Why do you want me to lose?” At first I thought a friend of hers must have walked up behind me or something so I did a double-take and then when I realized there was no one behind me I asked if she was talking to me. She said yes so asked her what she was talking about. She said I was betting against her and I told her “No I’m not, I’m betting against the casino just like you are.” Then she said she would show me the right way to bet so they could all have fun together. I just kind of gave her an exasperated shake of my head and the game continued.


    Well, she continued to lose and I continued to win as the table was still not warming up. Again she comes back at me telling me I am making her lose. She wasn’t rude about it, I think she was just trying to be funny. The female dealer next to me told me that she hates it when other players get on the dark side bettors but I told her it was fine. The lady had obviously been playing there alone for some time as she knew all of the dealers names and was chatting up everyone at the far side of the table. The next time she yelled down to me I said “Lady, why are you busting my balls? We’re not even married!” and everyone laughed.


    So after another shooter or two the dice came around to me. I don’t like the shoot from the dark side so I switched to a pass line bet and my friend at the far end of the table starting clapping and yelling “now you know how to play!”, etc. I love the Fire Bet but this table had the All-Small-Tall which I had only played once before. Since I was shooting I wanted to throw out a long shot bet on myself so I threw out a buck each on those bets. The guy next to me had $5 each on them. I immediately threw a front line 7 winner, collected my winnings, prepared to shoot again and totally forgot that the A-S-T bets came down at that point. I hadn’t even gotten started so it didn’t occur to me.


    I proceed to go on a tear, quickly hitting my first point, then a second, then a third and a fourth. I start to lament the fact that the table didn’t have the Fire Bet and as I look at the bonus section of the table and see I only need 1 number to make the Small and three to make them All I see that my bets are missing. I asked the dealers about it, telling them I thought I had a buck each on the A-S-T and that is when the guy next to me who has $5 each on them tells me I had thrown a winner 7 right out of the gate. I didn’t even remember it at first and then slapped my forehead – DOH! Stupid, Dave – stupid…


    Well, I kept shooting, hit the Small and got to where we only needed 1 number to get the All and Tall. The guy next to me is calling for it over and over and I jokingly ask him if he’s going to show me some love when I do it. He didn’t even look at me or acknowledge the comment – oh well. Two throws later I hit it and everyone yells. I just laugh and shake my head. Eventually I seven out but not until after I hit a couple more points.


    The bonus player did give me a black chip although I told him I was just kidding around. He said he felt bad because I should have won more than that but he wanted to show his thanks. So that was really cool.


    So the game continues, the next two guys establish points and immediately seven out. I give it one more shooter and the same thing happens. So I decide to switch back to the dark side…. Right as the dice are pushed to my noisy lady friend at the other end of the table. LOL. She looked up after her first throw, saw my DC bet and shot me through the head with a glare from hell. Ha Ha.


    I colored up a few minutes later, up around $700 and wished her a good night on my way to the cage. It was one of the more memorable craps sessions I have had, only surpassed by the time I hit 5 points on the Fire Bet. Ahh, I can’t wait to get back in two weeks!


    Dave
     
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  10. Merrymeet

    Merrymeet Tourist

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    Thank you for sharing your experience. I wish you the very best karma.
     
  11. fcmonk

    fcmonk Low-Roller

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    It's called "The Fog Of War." I can remember the morning of 9/11 there were rumors going around all over the place that there were more planes out there, that one was going for the White House, one for the Sears Tower, etc. That confusion feeds off the panic, and vice versa.

    The part about the planes being grounded brings back memories. I live in the flight path to my local airport and get planes flying over the house pretty regularly, and the day that they grounded all the flights was so surreal. It was so quiet all day. My wife also had to fly to Washington later that week, so there was a lot of worry going around my house.
     
  12. LB9

    LB9 PH Blackjack Degen

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    Also really appreciate the TR as it was interesting to hear the POV of someone actually there instead of all the speculation and hearsay, glad you’re safe too.

    I live about a mile from the pentagon, remember 9/11 well. When that sort of stuff happens, you’re running on adrenaline, things don’t seem real. Thankfully you’re ok and I think I speak for many when I say one detestable individual won’t keep me away from Vegas. I can’t wait for my next trip back!
     
  13. amk121

    amk121 VIP Whale

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    Just catching up on this report- thank you for sharing, and I am glad the trip ended on a happier note.
     
  14. Eusdawb

    Eusdawb Tourist

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    Thanks again everyone for the comments. I let M read my report and he was able to find the texts that we were sending around that night. I wanted to add them to my original TR but couldn't figure out how to edit the post so I will put them here. It solidified the timeline a bit that I was pulling from time stamps on the photos and my memory and I think it's interesting to go back and read.




    11:35 AM

    Dave: There’s an active shooter at the Paris casino. We all just hit the floor and then took off running.


    11:38 AM

    B: Yep, I’m hiding under a poker table at Bally’s.

    B: M, are you in your room?


    11:39 AM

    Dave: I’m outside at the tram station now. They told us all to run and exit the building.


    11:40 AM

    B: It’s on the local news.

    B: And CNN


    11:41 AM

    Dave: You’re still inside?

    Dave: Are you ok?


    11:50 AM

    B: I was ushered into the convention center. Police all around.


    11:57 PM

    B: I’m safe at the Paris convention center. Dave, you still at the tram station?

    B: M must be asleep in the room.

    B. The police told us it is still a live situation.

    Dave: Past it now, out by employee parking. No one knows where to go


    12:00 AM

    B: S said they made an announcement telling everyone to stay in their rooms.


    12:01 AM

    S: I’m in my room. If you know M’s room number, I could try to call him. Hate to wake him but would like to know he is safe.

    Dave: I don’t know what room he is in

    Dave: My fucking heart is pumping. Police helicopters everywhere


    12:03 AM

    S: Confirmed one suspect is down. Still active scene. No one allowed to move this way.


    12:04 AM

    S: At least two dead with 20 injured so far.


    12:08 AM

    M: I’m in my room

    M: Watching it on news

    M: Where are you guys?


    12:12 AM

    Dave: I don’t know exactly. A parking lot a few hundred yards past the monorail.

    Dave: Dealers are doing head counts for their crews. I think it’s employee parking


    12:14 AM

    M: I heard an announcement but was in the shower and couldn’t understand what was being said.


    12:15 AM

    Dave: S said it was to stay in your room.

    M: they just repeated it.


    12:27 AM

    Dave: The headlines all talk about the one at Mandalay. Any news about Paris?

    M: All they’re talking about is Mandalay Bay


    12:28 AM

    Dave: That was on the t.v. at the craps table but then everyone started running and diving under tables.


    12:44 AM

    M: Are you two still in the same place?

    B: I’m still locked down at the Paris convention center.

    Dave: Yes, same place. Phone battery almost dead.

    M: Let me know when you guys move.


    1:05 AM

    Dave: Any updates?

    M: Police about to do a news conference.

    M: It sounds like there was a concert going on across the street from Mandalay Bay and Luxor. Someone was shooting at people from the top floor of the Mandalay Bay right at the end of the concert.


    1:08 AM

    Dave: That’s a long way from Paris.

    M: I believe it was a wave of people running this direction.

    M: Did you text your wife?

    Dave: called her.



    1:28 AM

    B: Security just told us anyone with a room key would be allowed to go to their room within the next 5 minutes.


    Dave: So I should start walking that way?

    Dave: Did they say where to enter?


    1:31 AM

    B: Don’t know

    B: On my way up


    1:42 AM

    Dave: waiting by employee entrance for someone to let us in.


    1:43 AM

    M: B, are you in your room?


    1:44 AM

    B: Yes.

    B: Security still wasn’t letting anyone out to the street.


    1:48 AM

    Dave: We are still waiting for them to let us in.


    2:16 AM

    M: Still outside?


    2:57 AM

    Dave: Finally was let in. Total chaos. No one knew where to send us.
     
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  15. LV_Bound

    LV_Bound VIP Whale

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    Thanks for the trip report.
    Next time you go let her know she looks better with her hair black. ;)
     
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