Ace-little SUITED

In my never ending battle with the infernal machines I have claimed a small victory. Today marks 30 days of not playing casino slot machines. One WHOLE month. Don't get me wrong, I still WANT to play them, but I am resisting with every molecule of my being. Wish me continued will-power........
When I lived on the East Coast, I am sure that the mailman thought I was a lunatic. My mailbox was constantly jammed with offers from the Atlantic City casinos. Living 200+ miles from the casinos there tended to temper my, uh, enthusiasm for gambling. I still made that trip about 6-8 times a year. Now, living in LV, my mailbox is still crammed with offers. "Free" food, "free" trinkets, "free" slot play, "free" table match plays, "free" rooms etc etc. The strength of these offers ebb and flow based on the strangth of my will-power to avoid dumping every last hard-earned dollar into the coffers of the casinos. Yes, I've been a bad boy at times. I'm staying "free"at Wynn in two weeks based on one night of frolic with the Denver Duck slot machine. It will likely be my last offer from them since I intend to "stiff" them by only playing poker during my stay.
Today I headed to the HR for my free play. No luck. I tried the Let it Ride table and a bill disappeared without me winning a single $. Off to the roulette table to recoup nearly all the losses from the LIR Table.
I hadn't played poker at Mandalay for 6-8 months. I always mean to stop there because several dealers from there play at our house frequently. A $20 "free" food offer tipped the scales and I pointed the Buick toward the golden glassed Mandalay. I waited about 10 minutes and was seated in a $4-8 limit HE game. About 3 hands in I look down at A-2 SUITED. Oh well, it's only $2 to call, right? The flop brought the 4 and 5 of spades so a gut shot straight flush was within the realm of possibilities. The turn wasn't my perfect card, but the river was. Sweet trey of spades. The high hand bonus for that little gem was $500.
When I quit playing I headed to the players club to redeem the "free" food offer. The nice lady behind the counter looked over my information and then informed me that I really should have an executive host since, in her words, I play a LOT. (not necessarily at Mandalay, but at MGM/Mirage properties). Little does she know of my master plan.........to pay for my own damned food
Anyhow, the food at Raffles was quite unremarkable and I don't plan to eat there again--"free" or not.
I hope to have some tales from the Lederer Fantasy/Reality camp the next time I post.
Until then, may all your straight flush draws get there.