Came home from San Diego via Vegas last week. Stayed 3 nites at Boulder Station. Nothing really great about Boulder Station, but nothing really wrong with it either. It's like the Sears stores of my youth. You can get what you want at a reasonable price. Full pay video poker with lots of variety, and (this trip anyway) always an open seat or two.
There's also $3 craps with 10X odds (a 99.82% return -- tho we play 3X odds at 99.66 in deference to our less than robust dice bankroll). Double deck BJ, $5 minimum with a 99.6% return using basic strategy.
Food options include the usual Stations combo: a decent steakhouse, and adequate Mexican and Italian restaurants. A cheap breakfast buffet. And now, a stack of Stations mail reminds us, a bigger faster comp/cb system. In short, a pretty fair deal.
Soon after arrival I tour the bars, checking the quarter progressives. I find a $2120 play at the Kixx bar. The best game available on these machines seems to be 7/5 BP. I use rule of thumb (and my actual thumb, and several fingers) to determine that this is about a 105% play. (When I get home, Winpoker tells me it's closer to 106%). So I play for a couple of hours (the joint is pretty empty) and never get a hint of a Royal draw.Some quads allow me to cash in up $50. Meanwhile, the wife wins $960 at the "up to 99.8%" machines near the BJ tables. (only one game -- TB+ -- is at 99.8, but NSUD and SDB are close enough for her). She demands I get in on the fun, and soon I'm up $200 ( some quads at SDB, including Jacks).
Over the next couple of days I return frequently to the Kixx bar. Still no royal draws of note, but some well-timed quads and a straight flush keep me playing without too much bankroll leakage.
Time marches on with pretty much the usual results. The wife and I win some, lose some. Up and down at dice, the same at BJ (except for the wife's 3 hour +$250 session). A quick trip to Fiesta henderson is uneventful. Between us we are still slightly ahead at VP.
After MNF (and the destruction of an ill-advised parlay), I head for Kixx. By now the progressive is approaching $2200. Not approaching very quickly because of an obvious lack of action.I insert a twenty and an $8.75 ticket I find in my wallet. I play and play and play. Not much happens. I'm at the $10 mark when I'm dealt the 10-J-Q of diamonds. This is maybe only the fourth or fifth 3-card Royal draw I've seen in 3 days. I hit the Royal so quickly it startles me. The machine locks. A man with a clipboard comes a and pays me: $2196.25.
Excellent.
The wife happens by and asks me why I seem so cheerful. "Are you drunk?' she asks. "No, but I will be soon, "I reply, brandishing the W-2G. She is pleased. We celebrate with many margaritas, and, the next morning, head home winners. ( Yes, a $2500 profit is a significant deal for us quarter-half players).
