29
Over a period of 29 hours, starting on December 29th, we celebrated Amandi’s 29th birthday.
Amandi’s birthday is December 30th. To be in position to toast this event, we went down to the craps pit of the Monte Carlo’s casino at 11:30pm, December 29th to make sure we had some free drinks at hand. As midnight approached, Amandi had her pina colada and I had Jim Beam on the rocks and we were shooting dice at the Monte Carlo’s $10 table. All the dealers knew it has Amandi’s lucky day and she was hitting so many field bets that the lady playing the field beside her started giving Amandi drinking money from her winnings. Her birthday opened at midnight, we toasted to 29 and Amandi finished her birthday game with more money than she started.
Earlier, the four of us (Carlo, Prairie Jamie, Amandi and me) had done a casino hike south to the Mandalay Bay where our target show, Mamma Mia, is playing. While there weren’t tickets for the night of the 29th, there was a chance of securing half-price tickets for the 30th at the Tix4Half out on the Strip.
After a brief sleep, Amandi and me met at Tix4Half where 4 tickets on the mezzanine were scored for that very night.
Though we wanted breakfast at the Bellagio’s buffet, the line-up to enter was well into the casino. Indeed everywhere we went on this trip, starting from our first ‘quick cruise’ up the strip was much more crowded than was the norm for early/mid-weekdays due to the lead up to New Year’s Eve. Bellagio plans were abandoned for table service at the Palazzo’s Grand Lux Café.
After the day’s meal, we toured Madame Tussaud’s interactive wax museum at the Venetian where we had a lot of fun.
Amandi chillin' with Cameron Diaz
Amandi's giant leap
Jessica Simpson got a little friendly with me ...
... which had Marilyn changing her tune ...
... because last time she was all, "eew, get away."
George W. and I discuss the situation in Iraq.
Amandi and I hiked north up the Strip, stopping in at Casino Royal where she made some more money playing Blackjack Twist, a double-handed version of blackjack where players can mix cards to improve their hands.
Our goal was the Crapless Craps table at the Stratosphere, but en-route we stopped at Viva McDonald's which was billed as the Strip's "unique fast-food experience".
It looked promising from the outside.
And I was imagining some unique Las Vegas show-girl action, a la:
But it turned out to be a McDonald's with fancy furniture and HD televisions.
Crapless Craps at the Stratosphere was a bust, sadly, so we hopped a double-decker bus south again to rendezvous with Carlo and Prairie Jamie at the Mandalay Bay for Mamma Mia. While waiting, we played the crack-cocaine of slot machines, the ebay.
A work of evil-genius in slot machine design, the ebay compels you to spin the reels at a rate of at least once every seven seconds. Spinning the reels not only gives you a chance to win, it earns you time on the "community clock". When a bonus game is triggered by anyone playing an ebay machine, everyone with time on their clock gets paid by the bonus.
When the first bonus game was triggered, Amandi was the only person left out as the big reels spun. The rest of us alternated between being sympathetic to her, and cheering every time we hit a big score. Psychological evil genius.
to be continued.
Amandi’s birthday is December 30th. To be in position to toast this event, we went down to the craps pit of the Monte Carlo’s casino at 11:30pm, December 29th to make sure we had some free drinks at hand. As midnight approached, Amandi had her pina colada and I had Jim Beam on the rocks and we were shooting dice at the Monte Carlo’s $10 table. All the dealers knew it has Amandi’s lucky day and she was hitting so many field bets that the lady playing the field beside her started giving Amandi drinking money from her winnings. Her birthday opened at midnight, we toasted to 29 and Amandi finished her birthday game with more money than she started.
Earlier, the four of us (Carlo, Prairie Jamie, Amandi and me) had done a casino hike south to the Mandalay Bay where our target show, Mamma Mia, is playing. While there weren’t tickets for the night of the 29th, there was a chance of securing half-price tickets for the 30th at the Tix4Half out on the Strip.
After a brief sleep, Amandi and me met at Tix4Half where 4 tickets on the mezzanine were scored for that very night.
Though we wanted breakfast at the Bellagio’s buffet, the line-up to enter was well into the casino. Indeed everywhere we went on this trip, starting from our first ‘quick cruise’ up the strip was much more crowded than was the norm for early/mid-weekdays due to the lead up to New Year’s Eve. Bellagio plans were abandoned for table service at the Palazzo’s Grand Lux Café.
After the day’s meal, we toured Madame Tussaud’s interactive wax museum at the Venetian where we had a lot of fun.
Amandi chillin' with Cameron Diaz
Amandi's giant leap
Jessica Simpson got a little friendly with me ...
... which had Marilyn changing her tune ...
... because last time she was all, "eew, get away."
George W. and I discuss the situation in Iraq.
Amandi and I hiked north up the Strip, stopping in at Casino Royal where she made some more money playing Blackjack Twist, a double-handed version of blackjack where players can mix cards to improve their hands.
Our goal was the Crapless Craps table at the Stratosphere, but en-route we stopped at Viva McDonald's which was billed as the Strip's "unique fast-food experience".
It looked promising from the outside.
And I was imagining some unique Las Vegas show-girl action, a la:
Click to viewBut it turned out to be a McDonald's with fancy furniture and HD televisions.
Crapless Craps at the Stratosphere was a bust, sadly, so we hopped a double-decker bus south again to rendezvous with Carlo and Prairie Jamie at the Mandalay Bay for Mamma Mia. While waiting, we played the crack-cocaine of slot machines, the ebay.
A work of evil-genius in slot machine design, the ebay compels you to spin the reels at a rate of at least once every seven seconds. Spinning the reels not only gives you a chance to win, it earns you time on the "community clock". When a bonus game is triggered by anyone playing an ebay machine, everyone with time on their clock gets paid by the bonus.
When the first bonus game was triggered, Amandi was the only person left out as the big reels spun. The rest of us alternated between being sympathetic to her, and cheering every time we hit a big score. Psychological evil genius.
to be continued.