Note: some of the names of hotels and details have been changed to protect the innocent.(Me, and future advantage players)
We arrived in LV in the late afternoon. The new airport, McCarran, was terrific I always wondered why, such an international and busy airport looked like some backwater airports that I have been to. Well no more, it�s very modern, efficient and looks great. We then took the shuttle to the hotel; the shuttle was clean, cool, quick and cheap. ($4.00 per person) In my opinion this is the best way to the hotels from the airport. You don�t have to worry about getting ripped off, getting into a grubby smoky cab where the air conditioner and seatbelts don�t work and then have to listen to inane chatter. I�m a little biased, as few years ago I got ripped off by a cabbie. When we jumped into the cab he asked if we had been to LV lately and like an idiot I told him I hadn�t been here since the early 80s, what he was doing was feeling me out to see if I knew the correct and quickest way to the strip, (I didn�t). I had a deal with my buddy that I would pay the way in to the hotel and he would pay the way back, when we left. The ride to the hotel was about $23.00 (like a fool I tipped him another 5.00), the trip back cost about $8.00. On a subsequent trip I asked a porter how not to get ripped off and she told me to make sure to tell the driver not to go through the tunnel. Keep this is in mind if you decide to take a cab.
We stayed at an expensive strip hotel fortunately, RFB, compliments of the wife�s company. It�s a great way to go, normally I avoid the mini bar like the plaque, this trip I had my way with it. After unpacking and conferring with Trackjack I walked to the best game that was close, (wife was in a short meeting), a similar game to what I usually play at home, because of that familiarity a good game to get warmed up on. I have been practicing and getting familiar with the one deck basic strategy, different betting spread and a different count. This game was a 6 deck at Caesars�. Not terrific, but the best that was close, familiar, and better than what I am used to playing, as they stand on soft 17, my local casino hits on soft 17, (approx. EV-25 vs. EV-54) everything else is pretty much the same. As it was not the best game, I watched for a while and wonged in at the pivot point. Before the end of the shoe the count dropped below the key point and I was tired from the flight so I checked out for a win of 16 units. I had also made an uncharacteristic error and didn�t take insurance quick enough when the count was one below the pivot point; this pissed me off and cost me $25.00. I then headed back to the hotel before the wife�s meeting was over.
I played again later in the evening at Bellagios, It�s tough to get a decent game there during the day (I had walked through there earlier on the way to Caesars) that isn�t high stakes $50.00 min or that doesn�t have a CSM. Believe it or not all the CSM tables were busy during the day. (Don�t these people know?) At night, however they opened the $10.00 minimum tables with a 6 deck shoe. I played there for two hours for a win of 29 units and headed back to the hotel for dinner with the wife and a terrific bottle of wine.
The next morning the wife was in a meeting again and I was anxious to head downtown and try out the single deck game that I have been practicing, while waiting for her I walked over to the Aladdin and played their 6 deck shoe game for about half an hour or so. I started out poorly and was down about 20 units, the count improved and I caught a few big bets for a quick win of 39 units. We then headed downtown in a dirty, expensive ($17.50) falling apart cab. I got to try out the single deck at the Gold Spike, this is my first time at the single deck game for some time and I found it quite relaxing and a lot easier than I thought. It�s a hell of a lot easier to keep the count for one deck than 6 decks and there are a lot more opportunities to raise the bet. It was still a relatively slow pace and quite enjoyable, as I was going heads up with the dealer for a while, when other players joined in the play they were pleasant, funny and didn�t hide their cards, they did however question the �foolish� plays that I made, but weren�t obnoxious about it. I didn�t want to overstay my welcome and split after about 1 and a half hours, for a win of 5 units (I was down during most of the play). The wife was getting a little antsy, as, lets face it this isn�t the most upscale place in town and most of the clientele looked a little rough around the edges. I took the hint, left and didn�t ask her to endure the Western.
I dropped her at Binions and went over to the Four Queens and played for about 45 minutes, it�s basically the same game at the Gold Spike but with poor (50%) penetration, had a win of 8 units, and called it a day.
The next day I took a cab to the Gamblers Book Store at 630 S. 11th Street. I had never visited there before and wanted to see it. The store itself isn�t much but they had just about any book on Blackjack (or any other gambling game) that you can imagine. I was looking for �beyond counting,� unfortunately, its out of print. I didn�t purchase anything but took home their catalogue (they were very helpful) and will order a couple of books online. I took a cab back to the hotel and walked over to the Aladdin, picked up a win of 13 units. The player on third base was constantly bitching in my ear about the guy on first base eating up all the cards. The dealer started placing the cut card ahead of the slot in the shoe, so with crappy penetration and this guy constantly complaining I left.
So far the blackjack Gods have been watching over me I have had 6 sessions and a winner at all, this was soon to change, I walked over to Bellagios and immediately got pounded for a loss of 40 units, never once was I in the black, I just lost hand after hand, it was terrible, it seemed that all the dealer got was a ten up card and all I got was 12 to 16. I gave up, jumped in another grubby cab with the upholstery falling apart (interesting driver though) and headed downtown.
I walked into the El Cortez (I didn�t get to play here) I was watching the play, waiting for a spot and the guy at first base was talking to the dealer and with the pit critter, both seemed to know him quite well. The Pit critter was bugging him to get rated, he had obviously played here before. She was asking him for ID so he could get free meals etc. he passed. I had noticed that he was spreading from 1 to about 12 as the count increased (not too smart at a single deck game), and I figured his stay was about to be terminated. I lingered behind just to watch the action, sure enough the pit critter was standing over him watching him carefully, and still he continued his large spread, unsubtly large stacks of red in front of him. The Pit Boss came over, watched him for a few minutes then went back and phoned (I guess upstairs) then came back and told him he didn�t want his action anymore. The guy seemed surprised and asked why?, and mentioned that he knew the pit critter and asked her if he could still play, she said no and the other Pit Boss was exactly that, the boss and his word was law. The player then asked her why he couldn�t play and she said, I don�t know, but you can�t play. He was pissed and said that he had lost thousands but the boss said not on my shift you didn�t. This incident was interesting, but I decided not to play and split. I would like to ask that fellow, if you are reading this 1) why would you play such a large spread? 2) Why would you play so long and so often? 3) Why argue? 4) Why didn�t you come up with a plausible reason for not being rated, or at least have some fake ID, for just such an occasion? 5) What did you expect in a place that it is known for barring counters very easily? Anyway, I didn�t play here, I had my reservations before going in anyway (who needs the hassle)
I walked over to the 4 Queens and edged out a 10 unit win after a couple of hours. I then walked over to Binions where the wife was donating money to the slot machines (I have to get her to learn how to play Blackjack or at least learn some video poker) Over at Binions it was crowded, smoky and a lot of tables only play 6/5 on a Natural, (Sadly the 6/5 tables were all crowded) I managed to get a spot at second base with a bunch of characters, at one of the few decent games, one guy was a riot and I suspect one other was a counter and two others were drunk and got wiped out pretty quick. I was sober and yet managed to lose 20 units over the next 2 hours. We then jumped in another terrific cab with no legroom (the driver had his seat pushed all the way back leaving no leg room) and the seatbelt didn�t work, I passed on the backseat and jumped into the shotgun seat that had some leg room and an actual working seatbelt. We then went back to the strip and played till about 4 in the morning as this was our last night. I was playing well, but managed to get hammered for about 40 units.
During the trip I played for about 13 Hours and managed a modest win of 35.5 units, and had a fun and interesting trip. You may have noted that I am less than impressed with the cabs and the next trip will rent a car, its cheaper, more flexible and a hell of a lot more comfortable.
