Hear no evil.........

Tuesday Oct. 11 found me dealing to several people who were in town for the Deaf Poker Tournament. We have a regular player who happens to be deaf, so I know how to say thank you in sign language, but that was about the extent of my knowledge of ASL. The live games proved interesting with a sprinkling of deaf players, but Wednesday night would prove truly interesting as over 200 deaf players played in the tournament. Wednesday is typically a day off for me, but I was asked to come in for a little while until the tournament tables started to break down. Of course I wanted to be first out since my parents were in town by then. I picked them up from the airport after work on Tuesday night. Their flight was delayed, and then there was a "change of equipment" so they were late leaving Baltimore. They just stayed at my place on Tuesday night. Wednesday morning we left here early and headed to Ellis Island for Steak and Eggs. At $3.45 for steak, eggs, homefries and toast, this is one of the best deals in town and it is available 24 hours a day. After breakfast we each threw some money into the kitty and played slots. After an hour or so we were down about $30 so we left there and headed to the Causarina. Again we played slots for a little while. I had some free play there so I threw the free play in the kitty. From there we headed to the Hard Rock, again for my free play. By then it was time to go to the Flamingo to check in. This is the 4th time that I have put them up at the Flamingo. I first put them up at the Flamingo because I had enough comps for the room. Since then I have continued to choose the Flamingo since I still have comps there, it is convenient to the center strip and they have come to know their way around there. When we arrived, the check in lines were very long, but the self-check-in kiosk not in use. Screw the lines, I used the kiosk. The only problem with this approach is that I was not able to request a higher floor. The kiosk assigned room 11004. This room had a lovely view of the Barbary coast parking garageand the side of Bally's. A tiny portion of the Bellagio fountains could be seen between Bally's and their marquee. Oh well, not a major deal. By the time we got settled into the room, it was time to head to the Palms for the poker tournament. Mom and dad got settled at side by side machines and I headed off to pitch cards. I ended up dealing two hours. Major FUBAR. As I was talking to a floorman over my left shoulder about being first out and when that may happen, I pushed a pot to the 3s when the 4s had actually won. An interpreter came over as I recreated the betting during the hand and the interpreter relayed that information and moved the correct amount of chips from the 3s to the 4s. It is probably a good thing that I don't know sign language. Who knows what I was called because of my screw-up??
In any case, I escaped and went to find the parental units. Sure enough, they were still sitting at the same two machines. Mom had two nice hits on the machines while I was slaving away at the tables.
I have worked at the Palms for nearly two years but had yet to eat at Nine Steakhouse. My parents birthdays were fairly recent and I had told them at the time that I would take them to a birthday dinner when they came to LV. Who knew what I was missing? Do yourself a favor and find a reason to splurge on a meal here. The steak is incredible. Dad had a 16oz bone on filet and mom and I had the 12 oz filets. Melt-in-your-mouth tender and believe it or not, worth the price. Of course, the fact that I had comps to cover the meal made it even better.
When we arrived back at the Flamingo around midnight, I went to the front desk to get another key to the room. While doing that, I mentioned the convenience of the check in kiosks, but the inconvenience of not beind able to request specific floors/rooms. The nice lady moved us to room 26034 which had our familiar view of the Bellagio fountains, the South Strip and beyond. She told me we had 15 minutes to vacate the old room.......race to find the parents, race to the room and we bugged out of 11004.
Thursday morning found us trekking back to Ellis Island for steak and eggs. On Thursday evening, I sprung the second part of the birthday package on mom and dad. Mystere at Treasure Island. Again, I would recommend that you find a reason to see this show. Like the Grand Canyon, descriptions and pictures cannot do justice. Mystere is simply incredible. After the show we headed down town. Dad wanted to see the Fremont street experience again, but our timing was off and we never saw the show there.
On Friday morning we checked out of the Flamningo and headed west. We hit Jean and Primm and the casinos there. Actually, it looks like there isn't much there except the casinos. In any case, it was a pleasant afternoon and we spent it eating at the buffet at Buffalo Bills and feeding the machines. Mom again had a nice machine hit at Gold Strike. When we arrived back at my place, my dad was beat and he decided not to head out with mom and I on Friday night. Mom and I went to the Palms to eat and play slots. We had dinner at the coffee shop simply named 24/7 at the Palms. It has recently been remodeled/re-opened. Disappointing to say the least. The service was sketchy, the prices have been increased and the food seems to have gone down hill. After eating we headed to the Bellagio with hopes of catching Linda. (We had also planned to meet Linda on Thursday night) The EO Queen had indeed already EO'd each night. Next time for sure, Linda. Since we were there, mom and I hit the slots HARD. This was the worst slot experience of the trip. We lost, and lost big. That's what I get for playing slots, but especially for playing slots on the strip.

It was a great visit and we all got precious little sleep. Dad's typical routine is to go to bed early, like 9pm and rise before dawn. My routine is to go to bed around 2-3 AM and get up in time to be at work by 1PM. We split the difference and got about 5 hours of sleep per night. My ass was dragging as I dropped them off at the airport shortly before 9AM on Saturday. Back to work I go at 1PM. I couldn't focus and struggled through the shift hoping for the blessed EO. HA!! Can you say overtime? Saturday OT, Sunday OT, Monday OT. Today is my Friday and I am hoping against hope that I can reclaim my title of EO King today.

One funny incident from Saturday at the Poker tables. I was dealing a $2-5 blind NL(LIVE) game and three friends were planted in seats 5-6-7. Aparently tipping was against the religion of these three, but that is NOT the funny part. Someone put the straddle on and I announced $10 to go, gentlemen, live straddle. The 7s looked up at me and asked if the blinds had just gone up?? I controlled my giggling and told him that no, the blinds don't go up in a live game. The 5s still wasn't convinced and he asked the 4s if the blinds had increased............
Toto, you're not in Kansas anymore.