I just got back this morning from my annual trip to Las Vegas. Unfortunately, again, my pre-planned trip for a Bowling Tournement didn't completely coincide with the convention. The days that did overlap unfortunately were occupied with other committments. One of these days I look forward to the opportunity to get out there and be able to stay through. Tuesday, I had the awards banquet for the Tournement and couldn't get over to Palms to meet some of those who frequently visit here. I did get there yesterday though. We had to check out of The Orleans by noon but our flight didn't leave till 12:40am. We went to RIO and to Palms in the afternoon/evening before returning to Orleans for a last round of Blackjack.

A few notable items from my trip that I thought might be of interest here.

First, while at The Palms, I got my slot club card and finally put some points on it. Pretty nice place but didn't have enough time to really get a look around. I love staying at The Orleans because it is a little out of the way of all the hustle and bustle of the strip and is so accessable via a short cab ride to most places or via the free shuttles. The Palms proved to be very convenient as it's driveway is right accross Flamingo with a light right there at the edge of The Gold Coast. Not a bad walk from the Coast Shuttle stop. Unlike RIO which while not really any farther is not as conveniently situated. You have to walk up the street to the lights which is a bit of a pain then walk back to the entrance or take your life in your hands trying to cross a busy street mid block. At the Palms, we went to the Food Court and I was going to play the slot for some Silver Strikes but couldn't get near it. Insetead I found a 5cent game called "My Rich Uncle"?. I put $10 into that and played a little. On about my second spin I got the bonus round with the reading of the will. I got that bonus 3 times in about the half hour that I played. The bonus that I played was the reading of the family will. There were pictures of relatives and family members and heirs. I don't know if it was coincidence but I found that I had best results when I picked Binky the Cat or Bamby the Mistress? One time when I picked Binky, he got everything including the antiques, art, jet, car... He was dreaming of getting the Art and when he received that it took the already large bonus and doubled it. I ended up getting nearly 1500 bonus points. As for the silver strikes, while I was dissappointed at not being able to get to the machine at Palms, I did get some nice ones at The Orleans and at the airport. Got ones of Big Al with a bowling ball, dressed as The Statue of Liberty, Holding a Checkered Flag and one of him doing some dance I think. At the Airport I picked up The Statue of Liberty, Liberty Bell and one of The American Flag. Didn't get the Twin Towers one although wish I could have. Put in $40 and got 3 tokens. Not bad I guess, A bit tighter than my last few experiences where I got 7 and 9 tokens on $20.

During my stay at The Orleans, I, as usual, found several LE chips in circulation and in decent condition especially considering their ages. Saw a 4th Anniversary Poker chip but couldn't catch it in one of my payouts. I did get a couple 2nd Poker Tournements a few Y2K and to my surprise, 2 7th CC>CC Convention Chips in very good condition. I cleaned them up with some mild soap and water. I have seen many poker tournement and Y2K chips there in the past years but this is the first that I have seen 7th CC>CC chips and I actually rescued 2 of them.

I finished my final round of Blackjack at about 9:00 so that I could hit the Gift Shop one more time and use up my Funbook coupons. I picked up my Crawfish Beads and 2 of the little bottles of crushed casino chips before going out to catch the Airport Shuttle. I saw those bottles of chip fragments down on Fremont Street on Wednesday also but thought that the price was a little steep. Considering that I had just turned $40 into $150 at blackjack and earlier turned $10 into almost $120 on "My Rich Uncle" at the Palms, and that I had a Funbook Coupon for 20% off I went ahead and bought the bottles of chip nuggets and stuffed them into my carry-on.

We arrived at the airport around 10pm and headed for our gate for our Spirit flight. As I reached the C concourse security point I went through with no problem. My bag on the other hand didn't get past the scruiteny of the security guards. The gentleman that took care of my situation was very good and professional. He came up to me and asked if I was carrying any gemstones or jewelry. I looked at him kind of funny and said no. He asked if there was any reason that I would want a private search. I said no. Again he asked about jewelry etc. I told him that the only thing that I thought I had were Mardi Gras Beads. Knowing that they have a shiny, maybe metalic, finish on them I thought that could be the cause of the shadows that He said he saw on the Xray. Upon searching my bags, he opened my backpack and right there found the bottles of crushed chips. "What are these?", he asked. I replied, ground up casino chips and he lit up with knowlege. He told me that they contain certain quantities of LEAD (coloring or security features?) and that that is exactly what they were seeing on the Xray. I guess the bottles looked like they might have been unfinished gems or something????? I had imagined that with security features built in chips that they could be visible through Xray. However it had never occoured to me that a couple bottles of little chunks like that could be so suspicious looking.

I guess I will just have to chalk this one up along with my trip a few years ago where at O'Hare a friend of mine carried his Bowling Ball on. The weight block inside looked odd and showed up in the Security Screening. Right Behind him I go through with a bag containing a bag full of rolled quarters and nickles. It so happend that (I swear it was coincidence and non intentional...) That my stopwatch(timing device?) just happened to be resting on top of the zippered bag of coins along with the wire from my headphones and walkman. I can only imagine what that might have looked like on the Xray screen.

For all that are enjoying the convention, Have a good time. While it is nice to be home, part of me wishes I was still there.

Bill Schelhas