The final day of 2017 - it has been a good year and a busy one - perhaps the one thing I am most thankful for is all the friends I made on Twitter - a group of like-minded people obsessed with casinos.I woke up late, about 12:35pm and, with my eyes still shut, shouted "Alexa, what's today's weather forecast?" -- naturally, I was met with silence as there is no Amazon Echo in the room (I totally forgot I was not home lol).Woke up, got out of bed, dragged a comb across my head...Headed downstairs to grab some Starbucks so I could drink it while watching the Giants game (perhaps Eli Manning's last game as a Giant). When I returned to the room, housekeeping was in there and the supervisor was also in the hallway dealing with some sort of "issue"* -- he told me no problem to go in the room and watch the game while they cleaned.
*Well, the "issue" turned out to be the lady across the hall was quite upset that her hairdryer was missing. Not the hairdryer that is in the room, the hairdryer she brought with her. She berated the housekeeper (who was not the same one that was cleaning my room) and the supervisor and called for the supervisor's supervisor to come to the scene. About halfway through the screaming, which I had a front row view of as both her and my room doors were open -- obviously, she did not care about the attention/scene she was creating. Soon, however, the conversation veered away from the hairdryer issue as she began to then claim that she "couldn't give two fucks about the hairdryer" and was more concerned with the cleanliness of the toilet bowl. According to her diatribe, she stated she "pre-cleaned" the toilet bowl before housekeeping showed up and, according to her standards, the toilet bowl was not "clean". I wonder if Al Bundy was sharing the bathroom? As the supervisor, housekeeper and the woman all made eye contact with me during this nonsense, they each rolled their eyes -- good communication! Ultimately, she brought the supervisor's supervisor, who showed up after the woman threatened to call security (what security would have done, I have no idea) and she set forth on a n expedition that Lewis and Clark would have been proud off -- detailing the "cleanliness" issues she had with the room with the detail of a cartographer. She shut her door moments later and that was the last I know of what happened.
Soon thereafter, I headed down to the casino floor, but, this being NYE, the tables were packed. Eventually, I found a table where the dealer was shuffling with only one person sitting there. I bought in and set down my $250 Free Bet on the first hand. BAM! Blackjack for me!!! However, the Free Bet only pays even money on blackjacks -- oh well, $250 is $250.I then proceeded to lose or surrender the next 5 hands. Then, the following hand occurred, which annoyed me, but not for the usual reasons.The guy at third base was playing two side bets: (1) match the dealer and (2) some sort of progressive where you make a poker hand out of your first two cards and the dealer's up card. here is what happened:I was dealt a 19;The other guy an Ace of hearts and an Ace of Clubs;The dealer had an Ace of hearts as her up card.The other guy was excited because he won some money on his "match the dealer" bet then began cheering for a dealer blackjack because, apparently, it would have meant he would win an additional $750 on his other side bet.After him stating at least three times that he hoped for a dealer blackjack, I finally stated - "Well, I hope she doesn't as I have $500 on the table" -- he gave me the evil eye -- FUCK YOU OTHER GUY!!!Luckily, the dealer did not have a blackjack and I ended up pushing the hand.By the end of the shoe, I had scratched out a small win of $500.Time to go get ready for NYE!
So I ironed my shirt, showered and got all spruced up for NYE and headed down to the casino floor. After circling the High Limit pit for a few minutes, I finally sat down to play. A guy asked if I wanted to play alone and of course I told him he should join me -- why not. For an entire shoe of 6 deck, I lost, pushed or surrendered every hand. I did not win one hand the entire shoe. Lost the 500 I was up earlier plus another 2k.My language and demeanor during the shoe got the attention of the pit boss as, after one to many colorful phrases, combined with pounding my fist onto the table, I was warned that one more time and I would be removed.OK - fine - dealer shuffles and I lose the first hand of the next shoe. Naturally, I would win or push the next 14 hands. However, as I was now playing with 'scared money', based upon the first shoe, I did not take advantage of the situation. However, I did get the 2500 back -- leaving me, at the moment, +500 for the trip.As I strolled around the casino, seeing all the couples together out for New Year's Eve, I as has been customary when I am in a casino alone on New Year's Eve, I became depressed. New Year's Eve, alone, is a bitter pill to swallow - everyone smiling and dressed up (and yes, I realize outward appearances of a relationship are not always what they seem) holding hands, laughing, hugging, kissing - takes a toll on me. I decided I would grab some Chick-Fil-A and head up to my hotel room as, at least there I can pretend it is just another night at home, alone. Naturally, it is Sunday and Chick-Fil-A is closed on Sunday. So, I ventured down to the food court area and waited in line for a meatball sub. However, that was not in the cards as the young couple in front of me decide to turn deciding upon the options for their sub into a quest for the final digit of π.
I went next door to the Panda Express type place and was once again thwarted when the family of 8 (6 kids who appeared to be all 10 and under) could not decide what they wanted and started asking for samples for each of them from pretty much every item on display. If you are an adult and do not know what General Tso's chicken, teriyaki beef, or beef and broccoli taste like by this point in your life, I give up hope on humanity.So, back I went to the sub place but, guess who were still placing their order.Defeated, I took the escalator upstairs and bought two cookies from Carlo's Bake Shop (from Cake Boss), headed to my room, turned on Wedding Crashers and set my mind at ease knowing I would not have to continue to witness all the New Year's Eve happiness while the gray clouds of my existence become storm clouds.