The Offer
I remember being excited upon receiving that first comped night offer sometime back in the mid 90's. Even though it was from the Excalibur, or maybe it was Stratosphere, it was just a matter of time before the casinos would be sending a private jet and treating me like the Vegas whale. The truth is twenty years later I'm pretty much still a low roller but have figured out how to get the most benefit out of my low rolling ways.
Win some. Lose some.
My wife and I figured out some years ago that if we concentrate our play on one casino brand we tend to get more bang for our buck. The Caesars Entertainment group is very low roller friendly when it comes to the free rooms. Our June stay at Caesars Palace went so well that I decided to look into my July offers and squeeze in a short trip. I had an invite for free entry into a $75,000 slot tournament as long as I took my complimentary stay at the Flamingo. The Flamingo has served me well many times, but over the last few years I find the rooms to be more miss than hit. Needless to say, I took the offer hoping for a possible upgraded room and some freebies for showing up. These invitational tournaments in the past had included food and/or a swag bag. My main hesitation with this offer was the possibility of being stuck in a real turd of a room. Not only did that become a reality, but as it turned out they had a different tournament format this time around that required me to be there for the entire tournament. The last time a took a similar offer each day was considered a seperate contest. I considered this my first loss of the trip.
Up Early
Being on a solo trip meant I only had half of the low roller budget I'm used to and a slightly different gambling strategy without my wife there to help out. I tend to play a lot of video poker on these type of trips. If I can find a video poker bar with that has sports on the tv and friendly bartenders, then I can grind away an hour or two pretty easily. After a quick loss at Bally's, I made my way over to the Linq and settled in at the Catalyst bar. I've been a fan of this bar ever since the remodel of the casino. The flair bartenders and constant flow of traffic for people watching help pass the time when I take that rare moment to look up from my machine. On this occasion, I received a nice boost to my budget from hitting a royal flush. This was my fourth ever royal but never had I hit one so early in the trip. Hitting one in your first two hours of the trip is nice but it's like being ahead by three touchdowns in the first half of a football game…too much time on the clock. 
Time to go
There are occasions in Vegas where time slips away. You may be playing a casual game of video poker in O'sheas only to find yourself hours later with your new friend Joe at the Pai Gow Poker table, wondering how you let this grandfatherly Italian guy convince you that he could teach you how to play and win. Then you're chip count dwindles and the cleaning crew is sweeping under your chair and you finally decide it's time to call it a night(morning). No Joe, we are not going to the bar, thanks for the Pai Gow lesson.
Back to Routine
The remainder of the trip was more routine. I hit the daily slot tournament over at Harrah's and then make the rounds to some of my favorite machines. It was only my second solo trip where I didn't know of another friend or coworker that would be out there at some point during my stay. Fortunately, I was able to pass the time with good conversation from some of the bartenders and locals that I've met over the years. I had intended to make this more of a room review but the Fab Room at the Flamingo didn't give me much inspiration. Instead, I will leave you with a little bit of flair from Dario, who works the Catalyst Bar at Linq, during one of his competetions. Vegas, I'll be seeing you again soon.
