14. With Bernie, Boppa, Mom, and Sue - Las Vegas Hilton

• This was Sue's first trip to Las Vegas.

• When I got to Vegas, I had maybe forty dollars in all. I knew this wouldn't be enough, but I had no money in my checking account. Of all my credit cards, only my Visa had any room to get a cash advance, but I had destroyed it a while back so I wouldn't use it for the very thing I now wanted to use it for.

  Well, as it so happened, I had one of those goofy Visa credit card checks with me that I hoped I would be able to cash at one of those check-cashing places on the Strip. I dropped Bernie and Boppa off at the hotel (Mom and Sue were coming on a later flight), and went to two of these sleazy places.

  While I was waiting for them to make some calls and decide if they were going to cash my check, I felt as if I was committing a crime or something. These places are the worst, and I hope I never step foot in one again. Anyway, neither place would cash my check, so I was out of luck. I didn't know what I was going to do. Vegas doesn't offer much for the vacationer with no money.

  Later, Bernie and Boppa and I went to the airport to pick up Mom and Sue, and afterwards we headed downtown to the Horseshoe for prime rib dinner. It was about 11:30 p.m. We sat down at the table, and I decided, "Well, I might as well play keno. I probably won't be able to afford anything else this trip." (Can you see where the story is headed now?)

  Numbers were starting to be called out for a game, so I grabbed a keno sheet and marked the first four numbers called (42, 44, 46, and 56). Luckily I'm not the kind of person who thinks, "Oh, God, the chances of the same four numbers coming up again are astronomical!"

  I lost the first game I played, but on the next game all four numbers came up. $112.00 pay-off. Suddenly, I had money to play with, and it lasted me until the morning of our last day in Vegas.

• So, what did I do once I ran out of money on that last morning? I thought, "Well, I might as well play keno. I probably won't be able to afford anything else before we leave." I played one game with the same four numbers -- and they all came up again. This time, however, the payoff was $168.00 because I was playing the card for $1.50 instead of $1.00. I had more than enough money to play craps until we left.