Living Large in Atlantic City
I just had a wonderful weekend in Atlantic City. Got my first swim in the ocean, gambled some and won, and ate like royalty. All for ….
I met a couple of buddies for dinner at the Red Pearl restaurant in Bally’s, a nice Asian gourmet room. We all ordered off the $27.50 fixed-price menu, and shared another dish or two. Delicious. The cost? Well, nothing, except for the tip to our friendly waiter. I used my $50-off gourmet dining from the Harrah’s diamond book, one of my pals used his, and it took care of the $100 tab.
Then we went downstairs to the Blue Martini for after-dinner drinks. We used two coupons for two free drinks, but we went a little over the limit. I gallantly agreed to take the extra $14 out of my comp account. We sat for about an hour and enjoyed a live band and a couple of hotties dancing next to them. An older couple really cut up the dance floor, providing some quality entertainment. The cost? Again, nothing, except a tip to our hard-working cocktail waitress.
Sunday afternoon, my sister and her husband and kids came down from northern New Jersey. We met at the Harrah’s buffet. I used my two free buffets coupon from that wonderful diamond book (Gotta use them up before they expire on Tuesday.), and paid for the other three out of my comp account. We sat for three hours, engaging in wonderful conversation while stuffing our faces on crab legs, shrimp, sushi and other delectables. The bill? You guessed it. Only the tip to our servers. From there I went to the Borgata to pick up $50 in free slot play, played for an hour or so and went home.
Back in my abode, it was time to turn on the computer and add the last week’s gambling results to my spreadsheet. OK, I admit I’m a bit anal about that. When I looked at the bottom line, I’m down about $1,000 for the first half of 2009. Not bad. I’m a pretty good video-poker player, but don’t play perfectly and I like to feed the reel-spinners too.
But what I got for that $1,000 is amazing. More gourmet dinners than I can count: Max’s Steakhouse at Trump Plaza, Patsy’s at the Hilton, Asian Spice at Resorts, Casa di Napoli at Showboat, Bacchanal at Caesars. Sometimes I used comps, other times my friends treated me with theirs. But in almost all the cases, we never went into our wallets except to tip our servers. And that’s not counting countless buffets at nearly every joint in town. And we won’t talk about the gifts of name-brand jackets, clock radios, kitchen equipment, a TV and other goodies the gaming halls have given me over the years.
I could never afford all this stuff if I paid out of pocket. But the casinos allow me to live well above my means - without going into credit-card debt.
Yes, life is good in Atlantic City
Related posts:
- Atlantic City Diamond Players: Time to Use Those Coupons
- SOME “ADVANTAGE” IN ATLANTIC CITY
- Pamper Yourself in Atlantic City
- High-Roller Status in Atlantic City
- Going Overboard at Atlantic City Buffets