Is 18 Hours Enough?

@Way2fast reaches out... Vegas November into December...

My message was clear from the beginning, unlikely... We have had many many things going in in the last few months. As any dedicated and responsible gambler, I started off with $500 at my local.

I did this same trick in September and stayed home...​

It went poorly, quick thoughts of why did I decide to do this? Bad idea... should have bought my wife something extra for Christmas... ALL of the thoughts.

I turned $500 into $80, rather quickly...

Then I switched Machines....

Turned that $80 into $641...




Now down to $120...

Not great, but won some back and off to my all time favorite... the Lucky Ducky...




$500 overall winner paid for our flights (More than) and we were just one yes from Mrs. BS away from seeing @Way2fast and maybe even @VegasMonkey in the flesh?

Oh yeah, as you may have noticed I hit the thunder game on my way out of town…




What if @Riders was in town too?

More to come…

 

Flights from OKC have always been a struggle... Every Thursday and Sunday Allegiant does a RT from OKC... so we had one leg figured out, maybe even FIRST CLASS?





"...but, @BS, why would you not stay more than 18 hours?" - @VegasMonkey , probably

This was the only option... family priority on Saturday morning that could not be missed.

Back to OKC by 11pm on Friday which makes me 24 hours door to door -- 6 or so in the air and 18 in the promised land... At least that is the plan.




Ok, this is my final tease as I write out the day of shenanigans... Somehow these trips never cease to amaze me. #52 to Vegas

 

After watching the Thunder top the Lakers I took an immediate Uber to the airport to arrive at 9:30, plenty of time at OKC for the 11:00PM flight. No checked bags, straight through TSA, fill up my water bottle and relax leading up to the flight.


On the flight I booked the front seat, but did not realize the front RIGHT seats were better than the front left. Four of the six were filled with two open… as you may be thinking I was in a row of three and one guy was in a row of his own. As soon as the plane door closed the flight attendant looked at me and said “do it.” Knowing exactly what I was thinking…

First win of the trip.



Napped for about 45 minutes, then woke up to the loud guy behind me telling a girl his life story, and not having any shame about any of it… I could not dare repeat what he shared (that was all I remembered, but it was so like what the fuck dude?!?)

I turned up my music and tried to shut my eyes for a little while longer…


ZzZZZZZzzzZZzZzzz


All good until there are minor screams/gasps/ohno's on the airplane and someone asking

“is he ok?”​

“What happened?”​

“Did he hit his head?”​

“Is anyone on the plane a doctor or nurse?” ​

Someone passed out in the aisle about three rows behind me… Luckily there was a nurse directly behind me and a doctor from a few rows back.


He survived. No threat to his life, anyone else’s or diverting of the plane. We were getting to Vegas…


I told a friend of mine, Dan, I always slip a bill at the airport to see if I am lucky or not for the trip. He suggested I skip it, until he learned it had been right 13/13 which includes five losing trips in a row…


TOUCHDOWN IN VEGAS


Flight was delayed initially for almost 30 minutes, due to a mechanical item that needed checked… all good, I was arriving late anyway so no skin off my back.


I see my name on a sign… approach him and tell him “I am Him.” He said my name outloud to which I said again, I am him. I shook hands with TJ and we were off.

Not a driver I recognized, but I also have not been to Vegas since March, so I thought anything could have happened with the merger or a plethora of other reasons




TJ, was indeed on his first WEEK with Cosmo. He came over from Caesar’s Palace, super nice and seemed like he would fit in well with all the other great drivers at the Cosmo. He also helped me out when I only had large bills (oops) to tip him.






I’M HOME




Checkin was super easy and quick. Updated my phone number in their system for the tenth time… super weird.

6098 - my favorite quick and easy room in Vegas.





WTF1??!

​

 

I let @Way2fast know that I am up in my room and check-in to see where he is…

“on my way up to you” – 12:38AM December 1st, 2023


6098 Boulevard… see you soon.




I barely unpack and am in need of another drink. Once he arrived (and raided the minibar) we had a quick catch up convo on the balcony (I was cold) then decided our time was being wasted and we needed to head to the nearest table to extract money from the Cosmo.


Quick peek into HL shows no $100 BJ tables so we head to the BJ pit by the craps tables. All of the tables were pretty packed. We had to squeeze in.


Being a responsible gambler I tell everyone at the table that I am only allowed to bet $100 (Black Chips) no increasing.


I pull a marker and @Way2fast has some chips as well. The table is FUN, there are two guys in from Minnesota and were loud and a lot of fun. Fun indeed until third base has a 14 against a dealer 4…


“You fellas are going to thank me when I take the low card.” - Mark


“No we won’t please don’t hit that, we all stayed Dumbass…” – Mark’s friend Chad


@Way2fast and I look at each other… here is what I was thinking… WHAT THE FUCKKKKKK???


I assume he was thinking something similar, but Mark smirks, taps the table and…

Spoiler

that resulted in a 24 for Mark and a… Table Loss


Dealer had a 13 and drew a 6. Thanks, Mark.

Did not matter much for me. True to my goal, I stayed at a $100 flat bet. This proved to be CLUTCH as I was a magnet for 13, 14, 15, 16s and they resulted in being down 17 units! My budget for night one was $2k…




I stuck with beer for the night. Having had six at the Thunder Game, water on the flight and back to beer - Modelo


@Way2fast played and then decided he had enough of a beating and went to retire. (He had been going much longer than me to be fair)

I am going on a little run, just $100 bets, nothing more, no increasing… but we win three in a row for the first time. We carry that to EIGHT in a row…

Then…

Travis from Oregon joins the table. Nice guy, likes the Ducks, kind of awkward – perfect me too… (not the Ducks though)

He wants to drink what I am drinking, he’s hammered (it is 2:30AM in Vegas) so we snag a couple of Fijis and beers.

…right in the middle of my heater he plops down $1500 and gets chips. I ask him to wait until the chips go into the tray, he obliges…


Jack for me. King for me.


Dealer 7 up card. Flips a Four… Please NO FACE>>>> Six. We win.


Next hand was a 17 and the dealer flipped a 20 and Travis was in.




Stayed pretty hot, was very tired and had a long day. Pit and Dealers might say I was drunk, but I went on another run after Travis left and cashed out up... maybe? I think so?



Called my wife on the way up as she hit me with the Good Morning Text and I thought oh shit…


She was not impressed that I gambled all night and won money. She needed her coffee.


Also, did I win? Once I colored up here is what the stack looked like:




I miscounted, but wisely did not chase... Down $40, especially considering tips - We were UP!


Time for BED







Re Drinks:

Hopefully I am this wise when I wake up at some point ToDaY

 

Waking up in Vegas is always a fun, exhausting experience… at least for me anyway.




Slept from 4 to 11… an insane amount of sleep for only an 18 hour trip. I am clearly losing my old ways of staying up all night and going hard at the tables.

If @VegasMonkey shows up today, I might be very glad that I got that much sleep…


I connected with @Way2fast and we agreed to meet in HL or Talon to get our gambling started for the day.


But… before I decided to pop over to the Conservatory to see what the Bellagio is up to.


I did not know about the new walkway that connected from Cosmo to Bellagio, so I missed that, but @Way2fast did mention it.


***Still under construction for the Holiday display***


Facetimed with my wife through the entire event so no photos.


After this I went back to use my freeplay – I am a sucker for the WOF. Played the $10 Machine in HL Slots and cashed out $600 LESS than I walked into HL with my freeplay. (Oops)




Someone walked up to the machine right as I lost so I sat at a nearby VP machine to watch and see if I warmed up the machine for him…


I won from this machine and watched the guy put in $600 more with ZERO free spins.





The text from @Way2fast arrives and we end up meeting inside high limit and after a quick survey of the tables, we walked outside to what I thought were 3:2 tables… Nope! They moved those to the closed side of the pit…


Cheers to the first of many drinks.




It was 12:57PM, I had a late checkout til 4:00PM. We had three hours to make our money back and get home...

@VegasMonkey spoke up and mentioned he would be at the cosmo soon…



Sometimes you see one in the camera roll and it all makes sense…

 

@VegasMonkey arrives and we all say hey, hi and hello and try to move into HL where we can play some Baccarat.


@VegasMonkey also shares that @Riders is waiting on a handpay at the HL bar (shocker)… we had not connected in some time, so it was great to see him even if we only got to catch up briefly.

Drink #1 - Veuve Cliquot




Drink #2 - Espresso Martini



Drink #3 and #4 - Shot of 1942 and Screwdriver




@VegasMonkey ‘s 1942 and results of some winning hands




(Not pictured – Drink #5 and #6 which were both additional shots of 1942 with the large ice cube)

Shit got really blurry from here…



Wellness check to my concerned parties


Somehow @Way2fast and I ended up in Talon. @JB in MN showed up too…





Drink #7 - Macallan 18 (sadly wasted on me, but always a treat when you can get it)




Drink #8 - Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice



These showed up….




Then we ordered them again…

Major thank you to @Way2fast for the treats.


I also had some duck from the Talon buffet/snack area. I grabbed the food and went to sit back at the table… No eating (for my limits) at the table.


I sat right next to the table and ate the duck with my hands and received a compliment on my prowess to eat without utensils.

COULD WE FINISH THE TRIP STRONG?

Drink #9 - Espresso Martini




FINAL INSTALLMENT NEXT…

 

I forgot to set up a car so I got with my host for a B1 Pickup to take me home.




I think we went on an absolute TEAR in Talon… Winning a lot of hands, carrying on, being loud, eating food, getting the best drinks… THIS is VEGAS.


We were winning so much the final bet I put into the circle was $600 a decent spread difference from the $100 we committed to the BJ table the night before… which also means we won a lot of $100 bets




Remember that late check out for 4PM? Well, they do inactive the room keys… I went up at 4:44 to snag my bags really quick, come back down to Talon and maybe win a few more before getting on the flight home…


WRONG. Key did not work!


Came back down to Talon, told everyone my good byes, colored up and went to the Talon cage to payoff my marker for the day… No one there… Had to go downstairs and settle that too.


Walked all the way over to check-in to explain my issue and simply needed access to the room for my bags and I would be out.


Single use key to get me in the room. When it was mentioned the key would only work once, I was stressed to the MAX…


Key worked, bags out of the room.

One last good bye strip pic before home.




To the blurry pic… probably accurate for my state of mind. Made it to the car at 5:15 and to my plane for the 6:40 take off.




Got the best seat on the plane and napped all the way home.





Started the morning with $4,960 and left Vegas with a little extra…

 

Thanks, Tring! Hope you’re well!

I have a friend that wants me to go this weekend… perhaps I should go and try to go all night?