Reaching for the Stars – Chapter 4
It’s Wednesday. I hadn’t planned on going to Rincon today as I was scheduled to substitute for a math teacher today through Friday as she was going to a conference. I worked yesterday and when I was finished, I was told the conference was cancelled and I wouldn’t be needed. So, I went online and booked Wednesday night hoping to play 2500 tier points (it’s a multiple point day), which would give me a bonus of 5000 tier points. I’m going for the second stage of 7 Stars.
Though I’ve achieved elite status, I’m anything but a big player. I simply play all the angles and take advantage of all the promotions. These have all been learned over the years from LVA friends and the columns you’re reading here. As a retired high school teacher, I don’t have the resources to endure long losing streaks that can happen in this hobby if you’re hot completely prepared.
This morning, I arrived at 8:00 AM, swiped my card in the kiosk to activate the multiple point day and then swiped in a different kiosk to print out my food comp, which has been raised to $60 per week, a good amount for two, but a lot for just one. I already get a free buffet per day using the 7 Stars card.
First, let me tell those who have inquired that all the VP machines at the bar still have 8/5 Bonus in all denominations. And there’s more good news: the machines that were taken out against the VP area wall that had 8/5 Bonus have been brought back but are now across the way against a wall where the old sports bar used to be. Fortunately, my Dream Machines are still there (I have no doubt they will be gone sometime in the future, but hopefully not for a very long time). I played until 11:30 and just about 1000 tier points, but I was down $500. I knew I was due for a losing day as the past couple of trips have been good for me with a couple of royals.
I stopped to go find my host. After calling for him from the front desk and waiting, I was able to check in. I was once again given a La Jolla suite but this time on the 13th floor. When she asked which “welcome basket” I’d like, this time I asked for the sweets basket. She handed me a bag that contained two waters, two diet Pepsis, along with bags of toffee-nuts, trail mix, frosted covered pretzels, dried bananas, and taffy. How 7-Star members keep their weight off is a mystery to me.
Mr. McDonald came and I talked to him about booking my New Orleans trip. I had planned on the weekend of Feb 14 thru 17, but he told me that the hotel was completely booked. It seems that the NBA Basketball All-Star game is being held in New Orleans and on that weekend. The hotel had been booked for months. He recommended that I try any other time except Mardi Gras week as it was booked as well. He suggested that I let my friends know (who I’m hoping to meet up with in New Orleans) and that after they book their hotel and flight, he’d see to it that I was booked at that same time.
I got the information I needed and went over to the buffet to eat lunch. I knew I didn’t want to eat too much as I would be having a large dinner tonight in the Fiore Steak house/oyster bar restaurant. After lunch I headed back to the Dream Machines. I played 5-play for quarters and not doing very well, so I switched to 50-cent triple play. Things were going along fine when I hit the button and a Club Royal Flush was dealt to me. The machine immediately locked up. I had just won $6000.00. This is the most I’ve ever won before.
Sweet hit
The attendant didn’t have enough cash on him to pay me, so he went to the cashier to get more. People were walking by glancing at the screen and offering their congratulations, the same as I do when I see others with a big hit. I filled out the W2G form and was handed 60 one-hundred dollar bills. I gave him a $60 tip (1% may not seem like much, but it’s enough on a win this big). I still had $146 to play on the machine, so my quest for the 2500 tier points continued. Having run that up to $300, I felt bold and switched to actually playing the Dream Machine bonus, which requires double the coin-in per game. Playing Double Double Bonus (when playing dream machine, the point is to get quads, so always play the game with the highest top pay-offs). I was soon over $1000. I let that get down to $700 and cashed out.
Believe it or not, I’m still not to the 2500 points (at one point I was playing 10-play dream machine--
$25.00 per hand). I’m now $7000 ahead for the day, and I still needed about 300 more tier points. So, this was the time for me to finally splurge and play some very low percentage, but high stakes games. I played the Mega Millions for a hundred. I played Green Machine (I always wanted to try this) that has five lines that flash amounts (I hit two $50s and a $100) and walked with a hundred dollar profit. I played 3-card poker (yes, a table game), and as is my habit, lost that hundred right away. I played Willy Wonka and actually had a $275 hit on an $.80 bet. It was simply one of those days when everything was clicking.
I finally had my 2500 tier points and it was time to quit. When the dust settled, I had $6700 more than what I came with this morning—a good day. Who said getting a room on the 13th floor was back luck? There’s still more to this day. Along the way, I also collected almost $150 in free play, and $185 in reward credits—there’s a promotion going on I wasn’t even aware of. These reward credits are in addition to whatever my multiple points come out being, which are added to my account in about four days.
It was time for dinner, so I went to the Oyster Bar and had a seafood clam dish that had shrimp, scallops, crab, oysters, clams, corn, and potatoes. It was SO much food. I gave the waiter my slot card and my $60 food voucher. He rang it up and came back to me suggesting that after my 7 Stars discount, the meal only came to $30 and wouldn’t I rather use my reward credits now and use the voucher later? That was nice of him; however, I told him the voucher was only good until tomorrow (the day after that, I’d get another one) and so it didn’t matter. I gave him a good tip.
It’s raining here in San Diego—we really need it, so I’m calling it a night. I have some business I need to take care of tomorrow concerning my move (I’m moving from Pine Valley down to San Diego), but I’m hoping to get in another 2500 tier point day in the morning.
I got up at 5:00 AM and was at the machine by 7. I decided I’d try to put on the entire 2500 tier points without taking a break or leaving the machine so I could get a better idea just how long it takes me to reach that threshold. During the long session, I was dealt quad Jacks and quad 2s, but there were no royals and many dead hands being dealt to me. At 11:30, I had reached the 2500 points (25K coin-in), but it had cost me $850…so they got some of their money back. I took me four and a half hours (and I play fast) alternating between 5-play and 3-play to get to that point. The only promotion today is you swipe your card and choose between food, free play, or reward credits the amount shown. Today it was $40 for me. Of course, I took the free play.
I had time to enjoy another buffet lunch while reading the newspaper (Rincon has a nice perk in that it leaves stacks of the day’s newspaper by the registration desk that is free for the taking by anyone). It occurs to me that if I were married, lived close to this place, we wouldn’t have to buy any food for the next year and a half…of course, I’m sure we’d get sick of the same food over and over (they buffet at Rincon is very good, but they rarely change up the menu).
I don’t look at my point totals so much anymore. My mindset is, “how many more days of 2500 tier points do I need to get to the next level?” I’m down to three. When I finish those three days, I’ll have reached 200,000 tier points and will be eligible for all the goodies associated with that (and they’re worth it). If I decide to renew 7 Stars next year, I know that I will need 20 days (2500 + 5000 x 20 = 150,000) to reach that level again. For me to even consider doing this, a lot would have to fall into place: decent pay scheduled VP machines would still have to be available (and that’s beginning to look shaky); I would need to decent toolbox with enough cash to weather a bad start; I would have to fill that it would all be worth it, which I’ll figure out as the year continues and I take advantage of as many of the offers as I can; and finally, I would need to have my fair share of royals along the way. It’s going to take approximately $20,000 real dollars playing at a high skill level to reach it. Obviously, this year I’ve done that. But will I be as lucky next year? It’ll be fun finding out.
I had a request by some of my long-time followers for a pic of the new car...
2013 Ford Edge
