Food, Fun, and Found Treasure in Las Vegas

Ms. Duck and I were up and at 'em around 7:30 Tuesday morning. After a shower, shave, and a couple cups of coffee, we began our morning ritual.

Me: "What do you want to do today?"
Ms. Duck: "Oh, I don't know. You pick."

After a few minutes of this, we decided to drive to the Silverton Casino for an early lunch. We took the elevator down (if an elevator is going down, is it still an "elevator?") to the Cosmopolitan valet booth and picked up our car. As usual, the valet service was efficient and cordial, and in just a few minutes we were on Dean Martin Drive, headed to Tropicana and then south on the freeway.

We arrived at the Silverton in just a few minutes and had some time before the buffet opened for lunch, so we decided to sit at a couple video poker machines to try our luck. We played a half hour or so and I cashed out $67 of my original $100 investment. I was afraid my run good at VP may have come to an end.

As we walked to the buffet, Ms. Duck spotted one of her favorite slots, "Invasion from the Planet Moolah." As she started punching buttons, I sat next to her and played the next door neighbor machine (another Moolah), losing around five bucks quickly before hitting a nice payout and walked away a $50 winner.

Sah-weet! Free lunch.

I won some moolah from these alien bovine!

We made our way to the buffet, and saw they had just opened. There were only two people in line, so we were seated almost immediately.

The lunch buffet is a good value at only $10, and I enjoyed my fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, and salad. A nice slice of German chocolate cake, washed down by a tall, cold glass of iced tea fueled my engine and I was ready to go. Ms. Duck went with a large salad, spare ribs and  a couple pieces of catfish. Sweet tea and a slice of cheesecake completed her meal.

The selection is limited, but both times we've eaten there has been a good experience. The food is not exotic, but it's tasty and the service has been good.

We then walked over to the 117,000 gallon aquarium in the middle of the casino. With over 4,000 fish, including sharks and stingrays, it's a very impressive display. To my disappointment, we missed the daily Mermaid Show, but I have a stock photo for you below :)

Mermaid Show at the Silverton.

They also have a huge Bass Pro Shop that connects to the casino, so we wandered in there for a bit. If you're into camping (no), fishing (yes), or hunting (yes), it's a great place to visit.

Ms. Duck wanted to play some more video poker, so she selected a machine, ordered an adult beverage, and seemed content, so I went to look for a table game.

The craps table only had three shooters, but the table appeared hot, so I waited for a point to be made. Once that happened, I bought in for $100, put a redbird on the pass line, and waited for the come out roll. Once the number was established, I backed up my $5 pass line bet with two more redbirds, then placed the 6 and 8 for $6 each.

The shooter continued to hit numbers, and hit both my 6 and 8 a time or two. When he sevened out, I had made $35. Not a bad start.

The dice were pushed to me, and after placing a $5 pass line bet, I picked two square ones and tossed them towards the far wall.

"Winner seven!" hollered the stick man. Not a bad start.

I established a number on my next throw, backed my pass line bet, and placed the 6 and 8 again. I had a decent run, hitting three or four numbers before crapping out, and turned another nice profit.

The dice were passed to my left as I dropped a redbird on the pass line. The shooter fired a hard ten, which is a tough number to hit. I dropped $10 to back my pass line bet, and then tossed $12 to the dealer, who placed half on the 6 and the other half on the 8. The shooter hit both my 6 and 8 before tossing a 10, paying off at 2-1 behind the line. Nice!

By the time he sevened out, I had doubled my $100 buy in and decided to cash out. I tossed a couple dollar chips to the dealer and said, "One on the bride's delight (hard 10) and one on the bride's nightmare (hard 4) for the dealers!"

I walked away before the next shooter threw, so I don't know if either (or both) hit, but it was a nice payout for them if it did.

I found Ms. Duck and asked her if she was ready to leave. We stopped at the sportsbook on the way out so I could bet on the Pirates, but the line had moved too high, so I put my money back in my pocket. I saw something on the floor as we were leaving and picked it up. It was a portrait of Andrew Jackson, a $20 bill! A nice finish to a fun time.

We had several hours of fun at the Silverton as my run good continued. But, as Ray Wylie Hubbard sings in his song "Mother Blues," there were dark clouds on the horizon.

Part three to follow.