2021 Back in the AC Saddle Again!

So where did we leave off, from my last trip report in fall 2019? Anything new happen since then?

You know, beyond the global pandemic, the US Capital being stormed and the fact that most everything costs more these day.

The wife has kept us safe from the dangers of the outside world for the past year and a half by now. We pretty much stayed in our own bubble, and only wandered into the scary outside world just long enough to stave off too much cabin fever.

But with my immediate family being fully vaccinated along the wife and I being fully vaccinated, it is about time Grid got off his now fat ass and wandered around for another legit gambling trip!

In March, I got offers to fly for free to Borgata in Atlantic City. I usually take them up on these trips, as they are so easy to do. Flight out of a small Chicago suburb airport, charter jet that seats 24, no TSA and free close parking. MGM couldn't make it any easier to stay the weekend with them.

I con Dad into coming with me, and we both play hooky on a Friday for our 3 day adventure.

Day 1, Friday April 30th

Cute little plane pictured above. And while we could have sat next to each other, between Dad and I we are a good 600 pounds of beef. At least we can still hold hands if we had to.

See you again soon Chicago! We gots some Gambol to get on right now!

To be fair, our flight was filled with old geezers, so the temperature checks at the airport might have been pure theater. Next to no chance these old fuckers had COVID, and were A symptomatic.

We all had to wear masks on the plane. No big deal. Except for when we were eating or drinking. And considering they brought out the booze 10 minutes after we were in the air. And snacks 20 mins after that. Everyone had their masks off, in a fucking tube, so what good was wearing them for a total of 45 minutes on a 90 minute flight?

We did play air lotto though. Everyone tossed a $20 bill into a bag, with their seat number written on it. This seems like a game we play every flight out to AC. And once again, I didn't win. 1 in 15 chance to turn my $20 into $300. I knew the odds going in sucked, but it is still upsetting to be down gambling money, when you haven't even got to the casino yet!

Party buss ready to rock as soon as we get off the plane. She's a big one too! Kick back and watch ESPN for our 25 minute trip down the AC Expressway!

Now, a little background into what we are getting ourselves into. When I booked the trip, I knew every other machine would be shut off in the casino, to keep us socially distanced. I knew there would be plexiglass on the table games and that we were not allowed to smoke inside.

All acceptable trade-offs for getting to take a gambling trip to the shore.

About 3 weeks before we flew out, MGM announces that they will finally fully integrate Mlife into the Borg. Before this, it was a mish mash to make things work. You could earn Express Comps in Vegas, but had to go to the desk in AC to move them over. You would also need to get a new identical players club card, since your "outside AC" card didn't work in here.

Big deal! They said they would shut down the casino late at night April 21st, and it would be back up and running 12 hours later. Well, that came and went and I guess everything got fucked up. They then said April 28th for sure they will get it crossed over. Here it is, April 30th, and it is still a shit show!

To their credit, they put out plenty of announcements that things will be broken over this stretch. They even did away with any free play as well, which sucks for me as I normally have $250 on the house to play with during one of these weekend getaways. In my face!

They sure did scare a lot of people away, as there was no one in the casino or waiting to check in to the hotel at noon when we got there.

Above is the Boardwalk view from our room, and below is Dad taking a picture for Mom of said view.

Take a picture (and a piss) in the bathroom. Wash up, and head down to seek our fortunes!

Mother Fuckers! Damn, nearly everything is closed and roped off! The slots by the event center escalators, closed. The slots by the club desk, closed. The slots in the entry when you come in, closed. The slots by the food court, closed. The slots by the back of the casino where all the restaurants are, closed.

This shit was supposed to be up and running by the time we got here. This was not part of the deal Borgata!

What's a girl to do? Only 25% of the casino is operational. And half of those machines are shut off for social distancing already. This sucks. I had gone through the casino in my head so many times before we got out there. Picking out which of "my" machines I wanted to play for sure. Nope!

But, what good does crying about it do? It is not like we can just go back home. They got us! Those willy Bastards! Good thing the casino is empty, so we can at least find something to play.

And play we did! When life gives you lemons, go play an Ainsworth slot. Say what you want about Ainsworth, that their graphics are shit. That they lack any intellectual properties and that every game they kick out, is just a re-themed version of 20 other games they already made. But their math models are sound, the bonuses come easy and they don't take all your money too fast, usually.

The second game I play is the one below. And I take a quick hundred bucks off her.

Normally, I'd cash out after a decent bonus or once I double up. I am certainly not lacking when it comes to gambling discipline. But like I said before, the pickens are sort of slim when it comes to machines here. So I press my luck, as I actually like this one.

It was the right call! As I steamrolled my last win into a $577 bonus!

I cash that now $700 TITO out, and have my first interaction with a Borgata redemption machine. I had heard that some casinos stopped actually giving you your change back on a ticket. Instead, you get yet another ticket to go get your change from the cage. Like I would waste my time doing that for 99 cents or less.

They started doing this, because of the national coin shortage. I guess not enough of us were shopping with cash, to reintroduce our change back into circulation. Not entirely sure how that works, as everyone and their uncle uses a credit card or mobile pay anyway. The only time I use cash is at the casino or Flea Market.

Back when I was a kid, everyone I knew had jars of change on their counter, or even those giant water cooler jugs filled with it. That was the old fashion way of saving. Who still does that? The last time I brought any change to the bank, to turn into bills, they looked at me like I was an asshole for trying.

Anyway, all I ever did with my change from the casino was to leave it out for the maid.

They did put a box out next to the redemption machines, for you to donate your change tickets to some charity. That I like, and a few points with the big man upstairs isn't going to hurt when you are praying for luck. BUT, they did give you the option to donate part of your TITO directly to the charity when you redeemed.

They made it easy on you, with a suggested donation button. It was something like 8%. In my case, that would have been over $55. Fuck the orphans if they think they can get 50 bucks off me! My change, sure. but I need all my money to gamble with, so I can come home a winner for my family!

The above is a perfect example of a game I never would have played, if I actually had a better choice of games to play. I had rode my $100 seed money down to like 20 bucks before getting a bonus. That bonus was worth $230, so I'll take this happy accident.

I then rolled that $250 TITO into a $300 win on Dragon Rising, a game that I actually do play. By now, with the $700 win earlier, I am up like $900 and we just got here!

I'd like to say that I cashed that ticket out for $400, but I didn't. I played around and I lost most of it. Was nearly all out, before hitting a $145 bonus on the above wheel of fortune. That at least brought me back to $225.

I then invested that $225 into this super weird Icarus 3D slot machine. I got the world's dumbest bonus, as I sat there and watched that Greek prick fly back and forth, dodging fireballs for some reason. All I know, is that I collected a lot of lighting bolts, which got me a lot of feathers, which won me a bunch of progressives.

Told you it was weird. But with a $769 bonus, who's the son of Daedalus now Bitch! That line is funny to anyone else that studied Greek Mythology. Fun fact, and one I don't think I ever mentioned on my site before. I hold a Doctorate in Theology. Completely random, I know. One of those "It seemed like a good idea at the time" things. Does me zero good in my now chosen profession. But I do get to have Dr on my credit cards. So, there is that!

I was smart enough to cash that nearly $1,000 ticket out this time. But that didn't stop me from pissing away a few hundred more as we worked our way through what little of the casino was actually open.

I dropped a little too much in the High Limit room. When you are playing for $9 to $15 a spin, shit goes fast!

I did manage to get a few bonuses on $5.00 Top Dollar. Bonus 1 was like $75. Bonus 2 was $50, I know, fuck me right? 5 X my bet? Bonus 3 was $150. Not what I was hoping for, but better than the last 2.

Rinse and repeat the next statement. I go to find a game that I know where it was, only to find that section entirely roped off and not even under construction. I go to find a game I sort of like, in a section I know is actually open. Only to find my game shut off due to social distancing.

The entire time we were there, we saw hundreds upon hundreds of games popped open, as if someone was working on them. Only to see maybe one of two techs in the entire casino actually fucking with one. No wonder this has dragged on for 2 weeks!

I eventually settle on another Ainsworth I like playing. Dollaroo plays just like 50 other reskinned titles Ains puts out there. And while I have never once hit the Major or Minor "Must hit by" progressives before, I still try to play any that have them sort of higher up on the Must Hit By meter.

And while I didn't get a progressive, I did manage a $300 bonus game on just a $5.00 bet. I was $200 into this one, before hitting the bonus.

Again, Id normally move on after that, but really cant right now. I soldier on...

If I turned my $5.00 bet into a $300 win above, if I moved my bet up, I would win even more, right?

I start betting between $7.50 and $10 a spin. Trading off between each bet level every spin. And manage to turn my once $350 ticket, into a $150 one AFTER getting a bonus for just $115 on a $7.50 spin.

You'd think I would have just taken my lumps and moved on, right? I'm just not that smart. Now it is bonus or bankrupt time. I was OK enough to lose $215 chasing another bonus the last time. I might as well piss away the rest of my ticket betting $10 now.

When you are up, and your fresh in a casino, you can make ballsy calls like that. This time, it was good for a $650 bonus game! I took a $350 ticket down to a $35 ticket and back up to an $850 ticket! AC! AC! AC!

Cashed out, and played on. Losing a little with each stop, but still getting a ton of play in. Dad is holding his own! I know he isn't up, but he is hanging in there with me. Every time I see him lean back to snap a pic of his machine, I know the old fella hit for at least a hundo.

There was a bank of Asian Baby slots that always had shoppers on them when we walked by. Finally, there were a couple seats open, and since I have chubby Asian babies at home, they sucked me right in.

I get a bonus game of $155 on my $5.00 bet

I slide closer to Pops, who is playing them as well, and I land a $324.00 line hit on mine. Now I have even more money! I cash this ticket out pretty fast, as I have been fucking myself with larger tickets in hand this trip.

Dad heads off to hang a shit before we eat, and I play the below game. No clue what it was, I just know on my first spin a turtle covered in jewels swims off, and I'm left to pick for a progressive. I land one for $100, which is times two I guess, for a $200 win.

Dad gets out of the potty, and we head over to the Metro for dinner. The place was nearly empty, and they sat us in the back any way. I guess seeing our gnarly mugs wouldn't be good for business had we been out front.

In lieu of my free play, the Borg at least loaded $200 in Express Comps on my account. Better than nothing! So we splurged for dinner. A couple of cokes, 6 tiny cheese sticks, a Philly cheesesteak and some plate of pasta for Dad, came out to $60. It was all good enough, and a welcome meal since we haven't eaten for 12 hours at this point.

Dad is ready to tap out for the night, and I want to watch the rest of the NFL draft anyway.

I play a couple machines on the way over to the room, and I do well for myself.

A $200+ line hit on Cleo, which NEVER happens. And a disappointing $126 bonus, on a $9.00 bet on whatever the fuck this game is below.

Head back up to the room, hop in the shower, and climb into bed to watch TV. Dad is lights out in a blink asleep. I count my money to see where I am, and find out I am only up $1,200. Still, up is up but it sure as hell felt like I was winning more than this.

Either I didn't realize how often I was dipping into my wallet between bigger wins. Or, Dad robbed me while I was in the shower. Either way, I'm still up for the trip!

I'd like to say I went right to bed, but I couldn't. It was super windy, and we were on the top 43rd floor, and directly under the massive Borgata sign. That fucking sign was making all sorts of noise in the wind. And with that to my left, and Dad snoring like a fucking demon to my right, I just couldn't get to sleep.

What am I to do? If only there was a casino ripe for the plucking just below me! I wander down in my shorts and wife beater, and immediately start hemorrhaging money. $100 lost here, $200 bucks lost there. I'm taking the same swings as earlier, but I'm just not connecting.

I eventually manage to land a $188 bonus on good old Dollaroo.

Which I got down to like $80 playing this weird martian game, before getting a $121 line hit.

More losing, and only an hour goes by too. I stop to check my resources, and I just pissed away nearly $700.

But being the true degen I am, I try Just. One. More. Game. And I land a $191 bonus. Now I just pissed away only $500 of my $1,200 up, and I take my $700 first night profit up to bed.

Snoreeeeee. Bang, Rattle, Bang! Snoreeeeee. Bang, Rattle, Bang! I just cant sleep with all this ruckus! I know, I should go down stairs and gamble! It is only 1:30AM! The night is young!

I check my phone, to see how many points we earned. Borgata Mlife points are all sorts of fucked up. The best, and easiest math I can do, is knowing that $1K of coin, gets you $10.00 in express comps. And $10 in express comps gets you 750 tier credits. Life would be so much easier if that $1,000 got you 1,000 TC's, instead of 750. You get way more TC's for your play in Vegas.

But, all I do is take my points, since I started at 0 (I haven't been to an Mlife casino since 2019) and multiply them by 1.25. The 1.25 is to make up the difference from the 750 not being 1,000. I know, its complicated. I can do the math using the express comps I earned, but we keep using those as we go.

And with that, after a day of gambling, Dad and I drove through $14,785 of coin in on the slots. Rock Solid day for sure! I end up talking myself out of going back down, so I would have more money to play with in the morning. Eventually, I fall asleep around 3AM

Day Two

I wake up before Pops, even though I hardly got any sleep. The big prick accuses ME of being the snoring animal in the room. Even though I laid there watching him wake himself up with his ghastly snores!

I hear him tossing around in bed as I leave, so I know he wont be too far behind me.

I walk over to the buffet, which has now been turned into a giant players club lounge. Still all you can eat, except you only get to eat what they tell you you can.

My pallet is like a toddlers. I like to put cheese on my bacon. Or dip pizza into ranch dressing. A typical self service buffet allows me to be weird like that. But during a pandemic, they bring you a paper menu and a tiny pencil to select what you want. Your waiter/waitress then brings you what you marked off.

Don't let the menu fool you, the omelettes are nothing more than tiny little things like you would toss in the microwave of a gas station. You don't get to actually pick out what you want, it is all grab and go from the servers.

The sausage were giant links, thick like a babies arm! Bacon was good, very crispy. Omelet was edible, that is all I can say about that. I drank 3 large OJ's with ice, and for $12.50 each out the door, it was well worth it.

Quick note on the buffet, now lounge. On the weekends, they ONLY let Gold level or above players in. No riff raffs allowed! And even if you are Gold and above, if you do NOT have enough Express Comps in your account to cover the price of admission, you don't get to eat there! There is not an option to pay out of pocket. I watched some lady throw a tizzy over that, before the poor cashier agreed to call her host, who said she could come in.

Instead of saying Thank You to the poor cashier, Mrs Bitch blurted out "I told you so". Pissy old people are the worst.

I'm just chilling by the slots near the hotel elevators, which are now back open after being closed last night. I hit for $200 on this old Cigar slot, before we head out to the Boardwalk for the day.

I'd like to say this put me up another $200, but I lost at least as much waiting for Pops to come down to eat this morning.

The plan for today is a super fun one, and something I have been looking forward to for awhile. Now that Tropicana has merged their players club with Total Rewards, excuse me, Caesars Rewards, I now get credit there on a card I actually use.

They did their conversion in a blink. MGM bought out the rest of Borgata 5 years ago to the day, and those dummies are STILL trying to do the same.

We hop a cab from the Borg to Trop, with the plan being to gamble there, than Caesars and into the Wild Wild West, before taking the Boardwalk tram down to Oceans, where we both love to play.

THEN, after getting rich gambling at those joints, we will take a cab from Oceans over to Harrahs in the Marina, gamble there and just walk back to the Borg.

I have never once been in a nice cab in AC. And this trip is no different. What's up with that? There should be some standards for Christ sake. The fabric ceiling header was barley hanging on, and even that was managed with some hand stitching. One door handle was broken, as was Dads seat. I only had one half of a seat belt, and the fucking mini van was filthy!

We manage to make it to the Trop in one piece, and walk in through their mall. Just as nice as ever! Now it feels like I am actually back in Atlantic City!

I try to con Dad into buying a stupid stuffed animal thunder cloud for my Mom. I know she would hate it, and shit on him for wasting his money. He once bought her a light up salt block in Vegas, and that was good for a laugh, and a Mom shit-on. We still talk about it to this day, and that was like 15 years ago.

Dad takes the bait, and asks the clerk how much they were. $150!?!? For a stuffed cloud on a string? Good luck with that! He got off easy.

From the mall and into the casino we go. So many games in here that I love! A LOT of older games you just don't see anywhere else. The Trop selection is large and well appointed!

We both hunker down to play, and we both lose. Dad wanders off and sticks money into a busted slot machine, and sends me off to find a slot tech. The casino is hopping, but zero slot personal on the floor. I ask a cocktail waitress, who says she doesn't have a walkie to find one. I find a security guard who has a walkie, but he tells me to go to the club booth and have someone paged.

The line at the booth was at least 40 people deep! I tell Dad the bad news, and that I would keep looking. I stop and play a game here or there, I cant be in a casino and NOT gamble. Loose $100 over here, and $200 more over there. By the time I made a small circle looking for a guard, I lost $400 waiting for Dad to get his $20 back!

I tell him its not worth it, and that we are wasting time on vacation over $20. I offer him $20 to just leave, but he refuses my money and just gets up on his own. By now, we are both a little salty over the ordeal. This is not the plan we had when we walked in.

Fuck the Trop!

Out to the Boardwalk we go, and man was it crowded!

Only about 1PM on a Saturday, and people are packed in everywhere. And most of them scoff at the mask business.

We do get to see what is left of Trump Plaza. If you saw Trump Plaza at the end of her run, this actually looks better than that!

We finally make our way to Caesars, and I lose $100 right away on a older Monte Carlo slot. Still, undeterred, we make our way into the High Limit room, where I have been playing a Phoenix Gold slot there for the past 5 years.

Thankfully, she is still in there! In both the Caesars High Limit, as well as the Borg HL, all of the machines were on, with some having plexi in between them. Which was nice, as the players who drop actually bank in here would shit kittens if their machine wasn't available.

I give her a hundo, and nothing. I give her another, and get the bonus right away. $370!

We walk through the rest of the 1st floor casino, and take the escalators up through the lobby, which is hands down my favorite lobby anywhere!

I tell Dad I'll get us drinks, since there is a sundries shop in here. Nope! They closed that down. We grab a couple at the little cafe, only to find out it is 2 to 1 for reward credits. We drink our $15 worth of sodas, and move on.

A LOT of the slots on the 2nd floor casino here were either removed, at the entrance to the Pier. The same Pier they sold years ago, and just bought back. Or, some other slots were just turned off, for what I assume was some sort of maintenance.

Needless to say, we didn't play anything else, and we headed over to the Wild Wild West!

If anyone read any of my other AC trip reports, you would know just what a love hate relationship I have with the WWW. I used to love it! The theme, the cheesy animatronics, the show buildings. It was awesome!

Then, CET let it rot away, and eventually they started ripping it apart. What is left of the old girl, just seems random and out of place now.

A lot of games in here were down as well, and not just for social distancing. Not that it matters, as the shit machines thrown in here seem to be the ones that no one wanted to play at Caesars or Ballys anyway.

We leave from there without doing much of anything, not that there is much to do in there as it is. We don't bother going into Ballys, now that they sold off the place. I did get an offer from the new Ballys in the mail, shortly before we came to AC. $5 in slot play + $5 in food and on Sunday, I can get a frying pan! Awesome!

It takes wayyyy too long to get a stupid tram over to us. We see like half a dozen come down the wrong way, as we sit in the sun biding our time.

Finally one shows up, and to no ones surprise, he has 3 others right behind him. No clue why they travel in packs like that. $8.00 is a lot for 2 people to travel down the Boardwalk. But, if you think of it as a ride, than $8.00 isn't so bad. We got to do some people watching, and it kept our feet from being overworking. Being both of ours first vacation in well over a year, and with both of us being older, any ride is a good ride.

Not sure of the laws in AC, but everywhere we went on the Boardwalk smelled like weed. And not good weed, but rather that skunk weed your buddies cousin got for you in high school.

I'm no prude, but that whiff hits you pretty hard when you walk by. Same shit goes on in Vegas these days. Come on people, switch to edibles if you want to walk around high!

We get off at Showboat, because they announced that they put in a massive arcade into the old casino space. Only to find out that they opened it up for the press a few days earlier, but it is not actually open to the public just yet. Lame.

They were actually holding a job fair in there instead, to hire people to walk the space. We walked in, only to walk right back out. Well, after Dad was done taking yet another piss.

Finally! We get to Oceans! She is looking a little worn on the outside. The summer sun and winter cold has done a number on her once super shiny windows.

This side of the Boardwalk is nearly empty, which must suck for poor Oceans. I think she is on her 4th owner now. Fun Fact, in 2020, Oceans was the top earning casino in AC. Who ever would have thunk it?

We get inside, and its packed with players! I have never seen this casino so alive! Great for them!

I matched my players club here like 3 years ago, and the free play and comps they used to send me for next to no play were great. I go to get my card, and wait in the peasant line, only to find out I am still Black level here. That is to say, their second highest tier. Weird, but I'll take it. I like to fell all fancy!

I wish they did chartered flights like the Borg. I'd love to actually spend time in this place.

We both run around and play different games. They have a pretty awesome selection in here too. And after playing at Borgata, with their 50 working slot machines. This is like heaven to both of us.

I'd like to say we were winning, but we weren't. Slow loses, but loses nonetheless.

I finally swipe my card at the kiosk, and see I have $75 in free play PLUS a bottle of booze waiting for me. Score again! I turn that $75 into a $160 win on Top Dollar after a bonus. I started with a $20 bill, and cashed out at almost $200 on it with the Free Play. That certainly helps out some!

After losing about $700 on the Boardwalk, I am no longer up for the trip. But after last nights loses, this cluster fuck and me not doing so great in the morning at the Borg. I am only down about $500 from my bankroll. And with all this play, and me playing like an idiot with higher bets, that isn't all too bad!

Back to the safety of our home base. And Borgata is full of safety! From actual hand washing stations, with real running water in the casinos. To slot machines that have been shut off for my safety!

Not sure what dangers slot machines would be to me, unless some were ready to explode. But I appreciate the Borg shutting them off to "For my Safety".

Back to the grind some, before we grab dinner at the Buffet/Lounge. And I lose another $500 farting around, with just this lone hit below that was worth a shit.

We have the fake buffet again, and it was OK. My prime rib was really fatty. The mashed potatoes were good, but just a piss squirt of gravy on them. If I ran the ladle I would have dumped a lot more on for myself. Cant trust people to do these things for you!

We tried the hot dog, which was a typical Boardwalk rat dog. But I did suck down 2 beers, free booze in here, and once more for $12.50 each, it is a bargain.

After we are done eating, I do another wallet check. Not only have I lost the $1,200 I was up. But it looks like I am down $1,500 of my own money. That is a $2,700 swing, in just 24 hours. I do not normally go on tilt like this. And I knew I was losing, I just didn't think I was losing that much that fast.

I head out to grind some, and at least build up some points to keep these free trips coming. The above game was good for nearly 30 minutes of my time. Up and down, but really not much losing. My ass started to hurt from sitting there that long, and I wandered off to find Dad.

He was sitting by Dollaroo, which was sitting by Ming Warrior. I know I shouldn't have, but I sat down and big betted on it at $7.50 a spin. I was just swinging for the fences once more, and upped my bet from $5.00 to $7.50, and on the first spin at the higher bet, I landed the bonus.

All wins with the warrior were now 8X. I retriggered a bunch of times, but never got the elusive 5 of a kind which would have really set me up well. Still, I netted me a $1,417 handy, and that pretty much gave me back all my money.

Daddy is back!

I gave myself a few hundred bucks to play on for the night, and it took awhile to lose that. Dad went on an incredible heater as well, which I tagged along with for the ride.

By the time we turned in at 10PM, we had played through $11,377 today at the Borgata. And now $26,162 through on the trip here. Not too shabby! If only the Boardwalk trip didn't turn to such shit. To quote Bad Santa: "They can't all be winners kid"

Day 3, the last day

We both sleep in until 10AM local time, which is still 9AM Chicago time. No problems sleeping last night, I guess we are used to each others snores by now. And without that giant fucking sign rattling, I slept like a baby.

Once more, I beat Dad down to the casino. Eager to see if any more sections opened up over night. A new one did, over by the poker room. That's about 40 new games to explore!

By now, about half of the casino is back to being open. But still with half of those games shut off for social distancing. Really disappointing, but we have made the best of it so far. I have had some great hits on games I never would have played, had we had the entire floor open like in the Before Times.

Then again, had the floor been open, and I could have played other games, I might be a millionaire right now.

After losing a little, I find Dad sitting on the 3D American Gods slot he has been eyeballing the entire trip. He cashes out in disgust, after not winning anything after nearly a hundo through.

Normally, that would be a good enough indicator for me not to play. BUT, we all play this game of "It could have been yours" where we hop on the same machine one of us just lost on. Hoping for a big win to rub in the others face.

Dad did not like me plucking a $403 bonus game on his machine. And with that, I am now actually up once more for the trip!

With so many express comps to burn, we head over to their company store. Unlike in Vegas, you can actually use your EC's for tangible things in AC. In Vegas, its just for consumables. You just have to cough up 2 to 1 in order to do so.

The buss leaves at 4PM to take us to the airport, so we only have a good 4 hour window to pack in some more play after hitting the buffet once more.

I thought I could beat the system, by doing the Western Omelette instead of the prepackaged cheese I had yesterday. Nope. All they did was open up the cheese version, and lay some peppers inside of that. Like a little egg taco. Lame.

I sat on Fishing Bob grinding up points for awhile. It is a good slot for that sort of thing. No huge wins, but I got a $105 progressive and a $181 bonus on the below.

The bonus could be huge, as it is multiplied by your triggered lines. In my case, I got the 3 bonus symbols on 3 lines, so everything paid 3X.

From here, I go cold. I gave myself $800 to play with today, and I'm down to $500 of that left.

I manage a solid $128 quick hit progressive, which helped.

I was down to $13 from that, when I had a $100 line hit on whatever this game is.

I managed to grind that up to $232, after a $142 Wheel of Fortune bonus. That is $13 all the way up to $232, for those of you playing at home.

After that, I took a dump. About a good hours worth of losing, until a big Quick Hit bonus for $352!

We are running out of time, and my money wont lose itself you know!

$10 bets on SATC? That is a $150 win.

$155 win on the new dollar Monopoly. I'll take it.

From here, we break for a late lunch at Bread and Butter. Since we only get snacks, and probably COVID, on the flight home. It is now or never for some grub.

While Dad is eating his turkey sandwich, I run off and play some more, and lose some more. Nothing big, but enough to officially make me a loser for the trip.

Dad says he lost $800 in total. And after gambling, cabs, tips and anything else I spent cash on, the trip cost me $300. We did manage to pull through over $34,000 on the machines at the Borgata alone. And if not for my Boardwalk loses, I'd be a winner right now. Even though she hardly had anything to play, the Borg lived up to her end of the bargain.

All of our food and drinks were covered with Express Comps. The flight and room were free. For a combined investment of $1,100 for us both, to have a great getaway weekend like this, it was a steal.

Next up, Las Vegas!