Trip Report- 6/8 to 6/10- aka- Going with the Flow.......

My thanks to David Berman for the title- this was a trip that I had to go
with the flow and adjust my agenda based upon events.

(This was originally posted to the Vegas@yahoogroups e-mail list and may include references to people or events you might not be familiar with- my suggestion is to join the group and find out! Thanks, Lee.)

As usual, I got off to a late start, leaving San Diego at 11:00am Friday
morning after my morning meetings running longer than expected. It is a 320
mile trip. Thanks to old age, I almost always have to stop once along the
way; however sign ups for the Bingo Bash at Caesars that I was participating
in were between 2 and 4 p.m. and I was hoping to make it there so I could
attend some of the Big Empire events on Saturday. Stopping in Baker for
SuperLotto tickets and to use the facilities, I pulled up to the stop light
at Flamingo and I-15 at 3:30- pretty good time- but the Strip was crowded
and it took me 15 minutes to pull up to the valet at Caesars- then the
person in front of me at check in was slow, so I wasn't able to get upstairs
and sign in for Bingo. This meant I would already have to re-arrange my
original schedule to sign up between 2 and 4 on Saturday. Oh well, I guess
I will just have to go and gamble until about 6 p.m., as I have two offers
for 25 tickets from Harrah's to enter a drawing to win a Hummer and that
drawing is at 7:00 p.m..

After loosing a quick couple hundred on what are usually good vp machines
across from Cleopatras Barge, I wander up to the Forum Casino to check out
the Craps action. I see one of the dealers I like-a nice guy named Ronnie-
and I step up to the table and cash in for $700. The thinking here is that
you can cash in for a big amount hoping to catch the eye of the supervisor,
but you don't spend it all at once. The first few shooters all make a point
or two and then crap out- I am holding my own. The next shooter makes a
couple of points and I am up a little. The next shooter make s a point and
craps out on the next throw- I am back to about even. The dice are passed
to me- it is 5:45 and I am thinking, okay, I can still have a good little
roll of about 15 minutes and make it over to Harrah's to get my tickets. I
look at my watch again at 6:00 and I am still shooting- oh well, maybe I can
hit Harrah's tomorrow- I am not leaving this table now as I am starting to
go from red to green chips in my racks. At 6:20, Ronnie moves off the stick
to become the dealer next to me and just says "keep it going". By this time
I am going from green to black chips and really thinking I might not crap
out again ever! But, 5 minutes later the stacks of chips for odds bets are
so big at the other end of the table that I can't help but hit one and of
course the 7 shows up. A 45 minute roll! I turned $700 into just over
$2,500! I am having a great time! When I started my roll, there were 5
people on the table- by the time I was finished, it was packed and the limit
had been raised from $5 to $10. I stay at the table for a while longer,
almost hitting my goal of $3,000.00, but sticking to my new stop loss of
$2,500. I end up cashing out at about $2,700 and leaving the table a little
after 8:00 p.m., thinking I can now afford to eat anyplace I want to. Hey,
I missed the Harrah's drawing, but there is always tomorrow- remember, I am
going with the flow.

I spent the rest of the evening trying to eat and then back to gambling
until after 2 in the morning- winning some, loosing some- having a great
time with Caesars money. I tried to get into The Palm for dinner, but an
hour wait at 9:00 p.m. scared me off, so I hit Nero's and had the special-
two 7 ounce Brazilian lobster tails- they were good- a little over cooked,
but it was kind of late and I was hungry. Was originally thinking surf and
turf for dinner, so after the gambling I still had the urge for the steak
and had Steak and Eggs for breakfast at Cafe Lago- the steak was a New York
with cracked pepper that was very good.

Now it is 3 in the morning- I was also thinking about checking out Cook E.
Jarr at midnight, so I have missed another thing on the original agenda and
I was doing the head-bob thing while waiting for my early (late?) breakfast-
I was so tired. So I make a decision to skip the Solar System Series of
Poker as put on by the Big Empire, mostly because I screwed up and didn't
submit my name and would just be watching in any event. I catch 8 hours of
sleep- getting up a little after 11:30 and finally rolling out of the room
about 1. I forgot to mention the room- 5002 in the Centurion Tower- a
smoking room, but it was ready on Friday so I said I would try it-
absolutely no problem- hardly a hint of smoke and then with the a/c on for
over 8 hours, it was fine. I like the Centurion Tower- separate shower and
Jacuzzi tub- older furnishings, but nice sized room with easy elevator
access- never had to wait long.

I next headed over to Harrah's- but even with 50 tickets in the barrel, they
didn't call my name for the 2 p.m. drawing. Once again I had a choice- catch
the Big Empire Ice Cream Social, or try to win a new car. Sorry, but a car
valued at $45,000 suddenly became the priority. I was going with the flow
again. So I went back to Caesars, hitting the Stage Deli for my favorite
Pastrami Sandwich with Swiss cheese for lunch and to check in for the Bingo
Bash- of course the craps table was in the way and I lost a few hundred in
no time. I next wandered over to the Sports Book, as the Belmont Stakes
were about to start. Point Given was going off at 7/5, so I gave the clerk
a black chip and sat down at a video poker machine. 10 minutes later, I was
out $20 on the vp, but cashed the winning ticket on Point Given for $235! I
head upstairs and check in for Bingo- and wander around for a while, playing
a little here and there until it was almost Bingo time, which was scheduled
to start at a little after 6. I was surprised to find a nice spread of food
and 300 other folks eager to take some of Caesar's cash. They started out
slow- a $500 pot- and worked up, kind of like "Millionaire", to a final game
of $30,000- boy was a fun way to kill an hour and half. I only got close on
one game- the $25,000 pot was a kite game- and my final square-"O-62"- never
came up, so I left well fed, but a loser. That meant it was Big Empire
time!

I hit the Strip headed north bound to find the Gold Spike- since I saw no
smoke billowing on the horizon, I just looked for one of the grungier parts
of Downtown and drove right up to it. After driving around for a bit trying
to find a parking place, I finally found an open space in the Spike's lot.
Wow, what a place the Spike is. I am pretty sure the old Aladdin was not
nearly in the shape the Spike is when they blew it up. Mark Sinclair was
nice enough to point out how things appeared to have been spruced up there
lately- although I am still not sure I believe him. I could see no damage
to the place from the fire, but rumor is the 3rd floor has more smoke stains
than it used to. As I got roped into playing golf with the family on Sunday
in San Diego at 12:30, I begged out of the festivities about 9:45, claiming
that I had to be on the road by 7:00 am. Matt Weatherford is obviously a
heck of a lot younger than myself (although that suit that he was wearing
was awfully nice for someone staying at the Spike), as he briefly tried to
convince me to stick around, saying I should be able to be on the road by 7
as they usually finish up at the craps table at the ElCo or Plaza by 3 or 4
(but it sounds like they went long this year- see, I told you Matt, I had to
leave). I will say again, this was a lot of fun and perhaps the most
enjoyable part of the trip (winning money is a very close second, though)
and maybe a move to a larger venue is due- heck, this may be the start of an
annual Vegas list meeting date also, as most of, if not all, of those there
read from and post to the list regularly. A right on 4th and I was on the
Freeway and back to Caesars at 10pm.

Having survived my first visit to the Spike, I was still a little too wide
awake to go to bed, so I sat down and played a little BJ until just before
midnight. At this point I was up exactly $1,000 for the trip- so I decided
to take one more shot at the vp across from the Barge. Put in a $100- and
turned to leave 15 minutes later and noticed two bills sitting in the chair
next to me- I hadn't noticed them before- the guy playing there left shortly
after I sat down and didn't come back after I had been there about 10 more
minutes. It was a $1 and a $100. So what would you do? Go to the security
booth around the corner and ask them if anyone has asked about lost money?
Ask the person two machines away to hold the money until the guy came back?
While considering this ethical dilemma, the cocktail waitress walked up and
handed me the bottle of water I had ordered. She reached for the $1 and took
it as her tip for the water. Well, that solves part of the dilemma. After
another 2 seconds, I decided this was fate's way of saying you will go out
up exactly $1,000.00. And who am I to argue with fate? In bed by 12:15, I
was on the road at 7:30- don't use the main valet at Caesars at 7:15 on
Sunday morning- boy are they slow- went to look for the gas- but the Chevron
station at Trop and Industrial is gone- just dirt now, so I hit the ARCO up
the street- it was nice to only pay $1.65 a gallon (I filled up today for
$2.01) and made the tee time with enough time to hit a few range balls to
warm up! What a great trip! Can't wait for the dates for next year's Big
Empire event- and I'll try to make more of the events and have an even
better time! Thanks for hanging in there- Lee. (see below for some updates
on changes at Caesars)


Ps- Caesars changes- things are starting to happen there- the bar next to
the lobby is gone- they are putting in a new, ultra posh Baccarat Pit- but
it is strange to have a wall on the east side of the round part of the Forum
Casino table pit area. The moving walkway from the corner of Flamingo and
the Strip is gone- a casualty of the prep work for the new tower. The Forum
casino is a bit strange with the escalators to the arcade, as well as the
structure of old arcade area now gone. The Sports Book now occupies the
race book- the race book as been moved down farther. The Magic Empire
entrance is also farther back and the Keno area is the old Sports snack bar.
The Shadow bar is up and running- and it was bringing in the hip crowd, that
is for sure. I think the craps dealers were getting whiplash watching all
the lovely ladies (maybe that is why I have crick in my neck today, now that
I think about it). It looks like the entrance to the new theatre will be
where the old Keno and sports book were. I think Park Place is doing a good
job with the changes and will restore Caesars to one of the premier Strip
properties. FYI and Thanks again, Lee.