As I drove across the desert Friday, should I have considered turning around as the full moon ascended into the night sky? Man! Anxious to get into the SD, cool rules game at the Slots O' Fun, I did my usual warm up at the El Cortez, leaving that evening with 31% more money than I brought to the table. From there it was downhill all weekend for EVERYBODY. I'm curious to hear how "Blue Nile" did as that person was there this weekend too.

I watched as hand after hand (after hand x 500) went to the house. I watched as an entire shoe at the Rio (all I did there was watch) went for the house with the exeption of one hand. There we're 2-3 players through the course of the shoe and only one hand resulted in chips coming this way across the table.

My entire session bankroll for the Slots was gone in very short order in spite of a female dealer who dealt so far into the deck she was forced to re-shuffle the remainder of the deck because I split 9s in the last deal and ended up taking more cards than she'd figured I would.

Everywhere, it seemed, the house was winning. I spent this morning back at the El Cortez, where I always win, and while it wasn't a loser, I went to bed at about 8:30a having won $20. I problably spent more on tips! The final session yielded another $60 of my money for the house in spite of a dealer on day shift there who dealt down to the last 3 or 4 cards in the deck. The entire weekend turned out to be an unfriendly grind worthy of Folger's.

If you care, that dealer announced it was his 3rd and last day there. He just got a job at the Barbary Coast. He's been a slots manager and decided to go to dealer's school. Look for a tall, thin hispanic fellow with hair short on the sides and slicked back on top. I don't play at the BC so I don't even know if the have hand-held games.

Thanks for listening. This will be the only pay-off I get for the weekend.

Good luck! (Because that's still a part of the equation)