Meet n Greet ...

So – to our Labor Day Meet n Greet; and E’s new slot playing fascination pays off…

At last I can happily set up camp!
Travel kettle - check. Tea bags …check...…Milk?

Quick look up and down the corridors ..a used tray outside another room …a jug of milk! Check!

I may be $45 down on the slots but I’ve got $75 dollars credit on my bill, a bottle of champagne, a stolen jug of milk ..and a room! So far…so good.

So tea brewed, clothes hung up, showered and primped – it’s time for our first Meet’n’Greet.

‘This is abit like internet dating,’ says E, as we head over to The Palazzo…
‘I wonder if anyone will turn up?’

‘Ofcourse they will’ I say optimistically….( but I wasn’t sure….)

Into the Palazzo which is all honey coloured in the sun and sparkly new, with impressively grand escalators …

We are early so we sign up for the Venetian and Palazzo’s Club Grazie -the only player’s card we forgot last year…
( Nb ..if you want the free $15 dollars slot play – you only get it if you sign up online!)

Go and lurk around the vicinity of the Grand Lux Café, keeping an eye out for anyone who may be a ‘forumite’. No-one looks likely yet… perhaps we should have had a secret sign?

At 5pm we approach the Café – and, as we do, a pocket Vegas Venus with big bambi eyes comes out to meet us …’you must be Lantana’ she says …’Malv?’ I say? Yes! …

'Malvlover' and I have been chatting on email and it feels like we know each other …

Grab a table near the entrance and keep an eye out for anyone else…a few minutes later a guy wanders past looking vaguely familiar …

I’d always noticed his avatar – a cool looking dude in shades posing next to a rather fetching camel….’Funinhounslow’! I shout to several quizzical stares

‘Yes’! replies the intended recipient ….

‘British’ handshakes all round …

A note for those not familiar:

“ Hounslow is the principal town in the London Borough of Hounslow, situated 10.6 miles south west of Charing Cross .( Wikipedia) “
A quick scan of local events reveals a day of fun with Mr Lolly the Magical Entertainer and a seminar on ‘How to buy property with no money’ …( what? No subprime?)

So you may safely conclude FuninH’s forum name is somewhat ironic …

He’s with his lovely other half, B, and we are soon a chatty merry group. Not long after, we are honoured by Forum Royalty …as warm and friendly as can be, it’s Texas Teejay and Mr Tex.

T and Mr T couldn’t stay too long, (thanks for coming- it was great to meet you !) so after our farewells the rest of us had dinner at the Grand Lux ..and very good food and value it was too.
Highly recommended by all of us …so much so, FuninH and B ate there 3 nights running!

FuninH regaled us with tales of his previous big ‘wynn’ - $800 – which had prompted the Wynn to email him with a special discount. So he and B are ensconced in luxury. E and I are much taken with this – and more than a touch envious. We UK Vegasites hardly ever get offered anything!

After dinner, ‘the Hounslows’ headed off to see a show and, as Malv had never played at The Wynn, E and I insisted. She was our Slot Queen and, we hoped, our lucky charm!

Well, what can I tell you….remember E ‘s scornful stance on slot playing? ‘Real gamblers play tables’? Now, a growing fascination had him in its grip….

Malv and I were side by side, playing I can’t remember what, and E was behind us at another bank of machines.

Suddenly I hear him urgently hissing my name. I look round- momentarily distracted.

‘What? ’ …
’Come over here’ …. indicating his screen with a nod.

I wander over to look…..

Forgive me, but my reaction came with a strong language warning

Let’s just say it began with F …

$1,239

F …indeed.

Scream for Malv and we all start jumping up and down.

Except E. It’s not his style.

If something big happens, his first reaction is not to react…
‘
Call the Attendant’ said the machine……………Alright!

Not one, not two, but 3 Wynn suits came over to process E’s ‘wynn’ ..and for a man not known for handing his details out lightly- he is now the proud bearer of an American tax number.

After that, I was in a state of hyper excitement.

E’s ‘Wild Waves’ had me surfing on a high - even though the slots weren’t being quite as kind to me …

Malv had indeed been our lucky charm that night, and I dubbed E ‘the Slot King’ …

I also called him ‘Slotty bigballs’ …
(Which still makes me laugh out loud!)