Back from Sin City... · 9:41pm Jun 7th, 2023
Four days early. Your first guess might be that it’s because I lost my shirt out there, but thankfully, you would be wrong. This trip turned out to be cursed from the get-go, unfortunately, but it had one hay of a consolation prize.
The problems began right at the start, when I followed a three-day weekend road trip where I had to drive up to my parents’ place (4.5 hours travel by car), stay two nights, and then drive back on Monday so I could fly out on Tuesday. That meant that by the time I got back, I was tired but still scrambling to get ready, trying to pull together everything I needed. Made a big checklist of things I needed to do (Twilight would be proud!) but there was still stuff I missed, forgetting everything from my razor to my vitamin/immune boost pills. As it turned out, it was the latter I would really need.
One of the things I did not forget was making a taxi reservation to get me to the airport. But they never showed up. I called ten minutes after my pickup time to ask them where the hell they were, only to be told that they had somehow missed me and they would dispatch a cab immediately.
Unfortunately, by the time they could get to my location, it would be past the check-in deadline. So I had no choice but to hop in my car and drive myself to the airport (and speed the whole way there), which even for one of the remote lots would mean a large parking bill I would have to pay at the end of the trip.
It still wasn’t enough. By the time I got parked in a satellite lot and caught the shuttle in, I was literally a minute past deadline by the time I reached a kiosk. So then I had to wait in line to talk to someone at the front desk. That takes another twenty minutes, which pushes me past any chance of still getting on the plane. So thanks to the damned taxi service, I missed my flight.
They bumped me to a new one an hour later with a different connection which would get me into Vegas past midnight. Thankfully, it did get me there and by the time I got in and got settled, it was pretty much all I could do to collapse in bed.
I get up the next morning after sleeping fitfully, only to find an issue with my room in the form of a clogged tub drain when I showered. I also had a scratchy throat which I attributed to the dry desert air and a late night. And in another portent, one of my credit cards didn’t work when I tried to withdraw some cash, forcing me to use a backup. Fortunately, I had one.
Pro tip: always come on vacation with more than one form of id/means to pay, folks. And keep those second means of id/payment separate from your primary ones (like, in the hotel safe) unless you need them.
I played in a single poker tournament that first day (Wednesday), and did well despite my fatigue. Ended up finishing 12th out of 230 or so entrants after eleven hours of play, which put me in the money and earned me a $380 profit. Not a bad start on that front, at least. But the scratchiness of my throat was getting worse, so I purchased some zinc tablets, immune boosters and cough drops to try to keep whatever it was at bay.
I played in a single daily tournament over each of the next two days, and in both instances, I got decently deep but couldn’t make the money. Meanwhile, other issues were cropping up from a restaurant that inexplicably took three tries to get my burger doneness right—is it really that hard to do medium rare on a thick burger patty, guys?—to a hot tub by the pool that was anything but. In fact, there was an endless series of annoyances and things being off/going at least a little bit wrong that kept cropping up, leaving me wondering if the trip was in fact cursed. Especially as I was starting to suspect that I really was getting sick, with a growing headache and worsening cough.
Still, I persevered, and the next day (Saturday), I entered another tournament over at Caesar’s Palace. $150 buy-in, 108 entrants. So, a healthy size with a decent prize pool. And I’m proud to say that I went the distance, ending up as one of the final three players, at which point we ‘chopped’, meaning we agreed to end play and divvy up (chop up) the prize money for the top three places. My share was $2,500! My biggest poker score EVER!
It felt good, no question. But my congestion and cough were continuing to worsen, and by the next day (Sunday), was getting bad enough that I was starting to wonder just what I had and how much worse it was going to get. I did play one more tournament and survived six hours, but got knocked out when I made a dumb mistake, deciding to eat another burger as comfort food to salve both my pride and my worsening condition.
I should also mention that I was making use of the hotel spa, especially their dry sauna, to try to sweat out whatever I had. But it didn’t help. By the next day, I was starting to run a low fever and was only able to sleep with the help of NyQuil, which I purchased from the gift shop downstairs. I also looked and sounded very bad, and with my growing lethargy, I decided on Monday that I couldn’t continue my stay and to play would be to risk my prize money because I wasn’t physically or mentally sharp. So I called the travel site I booked the trip through to ask for a schedule change to an immediate departure, only to be told that the economy fare I’d chosen meant the trip package cost was non-refundable.
That would mean I was up shit creek, except that I had the foresight to purchase travel insurance when I initially bought the trip (and did so on a complete whim, which I’m immensely grateful for now). So if I had any recourse, it was through that. Calling them and explaining my situation, I proceeded to jump through all the hoops they gave me, including a telemedicine appointment with a doctor I think was in Columbia. She diagnosed me with acute bronchitis, which sounds about right.
She also directed me to test for COVID, which I did by going across the street to a drugstore and buying a test kit. To no surprise, it was negative—I know what COVID feels like from having it previously, and this wasn’t it. Once I proved to her that I didn’t have it, she gave me a ‘fit to fly’ form that meant I was cleared to travel, which would be necessary to make new trip arrangements or file a claim on my travel insurance.
I didn’t want to wait for them to make arrangements, so I made my own, purchasing a new return flight for the following day (which was yesterday). So I checked out yesterday morning and proceeded to the airport despite my loopiness, taking more zinc while dosing myself with all the Day-Quil and cough drops I could. It got me home safe and sound, so here I now sit at my desk, still down with bronchitis and quite tired. But also happy to be home.
The trip was indeed cursed from the get-go, and it was a mistake to try such a fast turnaround time from my road trip to the vacation. In the end, I played poker only five times, but moneyed in two, and since I didn’t play more than once after my big win, I leave with a very healthy profit.
Can I still call it cursed if I won? Well... that’s the funny thing. I actually enjoyed my trip last year more even though I lost. This time, my growing illness really cut into my enjoyment, along with all the other little things that went wrong. Still, I can’t deny that it did produce an excellent showing at the poker tables, even if I couldn’t continue it. The big win was certainly the highlight of my trip.
Regardless, I’ve filed a claim with the travel insurance since an illness interruption is a covered criteria. If—and this is a big if—they reimburse me for the lost days and flights, then that profit means I’ll have basically broken even on the trip. Meaning I basically got five free days in Vegas, even if they weren’t entirely enjoyed.
I’m not unhappy to be home right now, as that means I’ll get to relax, catch up on some stuff here and start writing again—illness permitting, of course. First priority is to get better. It does feel like I leave unfinished business back in Sin City, but I won’t be going back there any time soon. This is the kind of vacation you need a vacation to recover from, and not in a good way.
I’ll try to have some pics available later, but I don’t feel like uploading them right now. And for those interested in news on upcoming stories, I’ll post another blog tomorrow and hopefully resume work on Eros then.
Rough luck there, buddy.
I'm flying out on a trip myself this Sunday. Thankfully my body decided to get the sick part out of the way already right after Memorial Day weekend.
Sorry to hear illness cut your fun short, but maybe the payout is a good enough compensation.
Get well soon!
Hope you get to feeling better soon.
yeah there is a lot of sickness going around the country lately
You really had bad luck during that trip. I once had a holiday were we planned for a week but only stayed one night because my mom's hand wasn't doing well after she'd been bitten by deaf cat back home.
To Quote mechwarrior 2 mercenaries: Look at the bright Side Kid, you've gotta keep all the money!
Other than that, get well and don't stress about getting the next chapter ou t;-)
Congratulations on winning $2,500. I'm lucky if get a free ticket on a scratch off.
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Yes and no. I guess I sacrificed luck in one area to have it in another?
Then may you stay healthy and enjoy your trip more than me.
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Trying.
It’s been a slow recovery on this one with frequent coughing fits that have torn up my throat pretty badly. I could barely talk a couple days ago.
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Thanks. Finally starting to feel better as the coughing slowly subsides.
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Whatever this was, it was bad.
Left me feeling weak and my throat torn up from constant coughing. I was only able to get through the day with steady doses of cough syrup and droplets.
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That sucks. I’d say I had bad luck, except for the poker money I made. That doesn’t happen without some good luck along the way. Maybe my luck was bad in one area so it could be good in another?
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I sent all the money to my bank, and it arrived in my account safe and sound. Definitely hard to complain about coming out ahead!
I appreciate it.
Look for another blog update today.
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That’s why I don’t play those games. Vegas slot machines offer you far better odds than that. Even the penny slots pay out 90% of what they take in (with the 10% being the House Advantage), while the state lottery and related games generally pay out only 50%.
The entire reason I play poker is that it’s not against the House or the State--it’s against other players, so it is possible to be a consistent winner in them, with the casino simply collecting a fee for running a clean game. You have to be really good, but at least your outcome over the long term is up to your skill and not chance.