71. With Sherry - September 19-20, 1997

• This was an unexpected layover at McCarran Airport (due to bad weather) on our way home from a trip to Illinois. I played a little video poker.

70. With Sherry, Mom, Dad, Dana, Sue, Jody, Mimi, Karen, and Vic - New York, New York, March 16-18, 1997

• A very stressful trip. We decided to drive, and that turned out to be a mistake. With this many people it took us forever to get to Vegas and back. Even though the trip took three days, we were virtually only in Las Vegas for one.

• This time it was my turn for the fake magazine cover: Elvis in front of the MGM Grand.

• We stayed at New York-New York for the first and last time. (No ice on some of the floors, lengthy wait for bell service, etc., etc.)

69. With Mike Stefanidis - Caesars Palace, July 27-28, 1996

• Finally stayed at Caesars. The excuse for the trip was Helen had just dumped Mike. After the gambling, Mike had TWO things to be depressed about.

68. With Sherry, Mom, Dad, Dana, Sue, Jody, Lou, Mimi, and Barbara Konieczny -- The Mirage, March 1-3, 1996

• Sherry & I and Mom & Dad got rooms at the end of the "wings" of The Mirage, so there were windows on two walls in each room with great views of The Strip.

• This time Mom and Sue were the victim's of the fake magazine covers; Mom on Cosmopolitan, Sue as a sexy cowgirl.

67. With Sherry - December 23, 1995

• This was simply a layover during our plane flight to Illinois for Christmas. It was originally to be an hour, but it turned into four hours due to a diaper in the toilet on the plane. We played slots and won three dollars.

66. With Mike Stefanidis and Helen Blount - Harrah's, July 1-3, 1995

• We took advantage of the long four-day Fourth of July weekend by leaving San Diego Saturday and returning Monday. It was a losing trip.

• We did go to the Hard Rock Casino for the first time. It was pretty cool, but crowded.

• We rode the roller coaster at Circus Circus. Very fun.

65. With Mike Stefanidis and Helen Blount - April 21-22, 1995

• I was actually contemplating driving to Vegas by myself for the day since Sherry was going to be out of town visiting her friend Sarah in Davis, California. But after discussing it with Mike, we decided to go together and fly. We left at 9:00 p.m. Friday night with reservations for a return flight at 11:30 the next morning.

• We started at Center Strip and gradually worked our way south to Excalibur and Luxor. We were losing, but we weren't wiped out.

• Finally at 8:30 Saturday morning, we walked up to a table at the MGM Grand. It started out as a very, very slow game due to an elderly player next to the stick. After about twenty minutes he left, and the game picked up.

  A guy at the other end started a hand and I immediately went $137.00 across (basically $25.00 on each number). He was having a pretty good hand, making a point right away. After establishing a new point of eight, he rolled a ten and I collected the $50.00. A couple of rolls later he rolled another ten and this time I pressed it to $50.00. Almost immediately he rolled another ten, so I pressed it to $100.00. Not too long after that… another ten! He was rolling other numbers as well, but nothing like this ten. I pressed it to $200.00. Another ten. I pressed to $300.00. Another ten! Now I had it pressed to $500.00.

  I turned to Mike and said, "You know, if I just take that ten down, I'll be up for the trip!" But I kept it there. He continued to roll. I was starting to make money on the other numbers now: a couple of sixes, a few nines. About the only place I wasn't making money was on the pass line; he couldn't make his point of eight. Then, another ten. $1,000.00 winner. I decided NOT to press. Before too long… another ten!

  Mike said, "You gotta press it now! Up to $700.00."

  "Eh, I don't know," I said.

  Mike said, "Come on! You just won $1000.00. It'll only cost you $200.00 to go to $700.00."

  He was right, and I was up for the trip now. So I pressed it to $700.00. A few rolls later the shooter threw another ten. $1,400.00 winner.

  I pressed my bet to $1,000.00, but that was as far as it would go. He sevened out shortly thereafter; he only made one or two points the whole hand. But he had thrown nine tens before sevening out. When he was done, I had nearly five thousand dollars in front of me.

• Mike had not jumped on the ten during that monster roll; he didn't want to spook it. Even so, he ended up winning over $500.00 for the trip thanks to the hot tables at the MGM Grand. I won a little over $2,900.00.