Time to Get Tickets!

Thursday morning found me on the road to the Strip by 8:30.

On my way, I had to re-mail a Christmas card that was sent to Helen's sister Natalie on Monday, but for some unknown reason was returned to us on Wednesday. Postal Service failed us on that one, so we just re-addressed another envelope, slapped on another stamp and tried again.

Got down to Bally's about 9:15 and played a little blackjack. My plan for today was to walk the Strip, hitting several places and hopefully winning at several. Frankly, I lost precise track of the finances, but I played five different sessions and WON AT ALL OF THEM.

Ballys was my first victim for something over $100, then I crossed the street to The Cromwell. Hard to believe this formerly Barbary Coast is now this upscale, boutique hotel. Very nice joint and I took them for $125 before strolling north through The Flamingo. En route, I made a mental note to hit the Margaritaville gift shop on the way back to check out the T-shirts.

Headed into Harrah's where I went to the box office and scored two tickets for "The Million Dollar Quartet," a show about a rockabilly musical session that featured Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Elvis. The girl behind the ticket counter was kind enough to give me a "locals discount" even though I didn't have a local ID or even a utility bill to show our residency. The $95 tickets were only $75 each with the $20 locals discount. The 5:30 p.m. show is next Wednesday, Dec. 23.

I continued walking north to The Venetian where I again visited the box office and got two tickets for John Fogerty on Jan. 13.  These were $90 each.  So basically my BJ profit for the morning covered most of the cost of the four tickets. 

Then I retraced my steps and headed back toward Bally's. Along the way I stopped in at The Linq, which used to be the Imperial Palace. Now it's a shiny new joint and I found a blackjack table. Played for about 30 minutes and won $175. Then it was on to the Margaritaville gift shop were I bought two T-shirts for $49. And I stopped by the Ghiradelli chocolate shop and picked up a bag of chocolates that Helen and I enjoy.

Arriving back at Bally's, I took the shirts and chocolate up to the car, then headed back downstairs to find a bj table. Played alone against the dealer for about 45 minutes and left up somewhere over $80. Asked a pit boss where I could score some UNLV gear, hats or t-shirts. He whipped out his smart phone and sent me less than 2 miles east of Bally's on Maryland Parkway. So I drove over to the place in a shabby old strip mall...and it was closed up. Empty. Vacant. So much for the internet...

So I headed down Tropicana to the MGM for a final quick blackjack session. I only had about an hour before I was going to head home, but I found a table and racked up $125 or so before cashing in. So for the five stops, I won somewhere between $500 and $600. My phenomenal luck is continuing.

As a frustrating aside (and a sign of old age, perhaps) at MGM I bought 3 football teaser tickets, using the Thursday NFL game. I had the Rams on one, the over the total on the other, both winners. I teamed them up with a few nfl games and the Spartans bowl game. Anyway, for the life of me, I cannot find the tickets!!! I had them in my shirt pocket and now they seem to have disappeared. I checked all my pockets, my wallet, even in the car twice! I guess they may have fallen out somewhere, but soooo frustrating!

On the way home, I stopped by Albertson's and bought a few groceries. Whipped up a dinner of wild rice and vegetables, one of our diet favorites. Of course, we had to sample those Ghiradelli chocolates for dessert. And so our adventure continues...