Ask the Slot Expert: The one about The Desert Inn limo

The landscaper drove her little utility vehicle onto the triangular island at the corner of the intersection. I'm lucky that the intersection I walk through most frequently has an island at each corner. The right-turn-only lane that comes into existence before each corner creates the third side of the triangle. Pedestrians have to dodge only the occasional right-turner to cross the right-turn lane to get to the island, called a Pedestrian Refuge Island, where they're supposed to wait for the Walk signal to cross the main road.

I was across the street on another island on my way to Starbucks. On my way home, the landscaper drove up onto the island on which I was waiting. She was going my way.

I thought about asking her if I could bum a lift across the street. I decided against it. Even though it might be fun and something to make her day a little different, I figured that there were probably liability issues with going Uber and giving civilians rides in company vehicles.

The incident reminded me of the one time that The Desert Inn gave me a complimentary limo ride. Sort of.

I stayed at The DI frequently in the 90s. Because it was the casino I played in most of the time, many of the columns I wrote for Gaming Today were about The DI.

I was at The DI for a slot tournament. When I opened the door to my room, I discovered that I was put in a two-room suite with two bathrooms and six telephones.

I thanked one of the suits I had become friendly with for the accommodations. He told me that he didn't have anything to do with it. I don't remember whether he called someone or just ran into someone from marketing on the slot floor. I can't recall the first part of what he asked this person. The second part was "or do we just like him?"

I had learned a long time ago that I was a minnow on The DI's scale of players. Whale was way out of my reach. They were willing to send me all sorts of wonderful offers to get me to come back, but there was no way my level of play would earn any additional freebies beyond the offer while I was there. And there was no way it was enough to warrant a suite upgrade.

As it turned out, the upgrade was because they liked me. ITT, the owner at the time, had lost interest in the property and wasn't promoting it even though it had just renovated the property. The folks at The DI said that I was their promotions department now with my columns about the property.

As much as I enjoyed the room, there was a hitch. A welcome basket of fruit came along with the tournament. Some wires got crossed and the basket was put in the room to which I was originally assigned, not my upgraded crib.

I lived in New Jersey back then, so I frequently woke up early because of the time change. I enjoyed walking the pathways through the golf course while listening to Howard Stern on my Walkman, despite the many signs saying that the pathways were for golfers and not walkers.

I think The DI didn't really care as long as I didn't get hit by a golf ball. I was almost always done walking before the first tee time anyway. Many of the groundskeepers would wish me good morning as I passed by. Besides, I wasn't the only one who did their morning constitutional through the golf course.

Despite having taken golf lessons in both high school and college, my level of golfing never got higher than miniature. That didn't stop me from occasionally eating at the golf course snack bar and buying a closet's worth of DI logowear from the pro shop.

One time as I walked from the pro shop back to the building with my room, carrying a bag with my purchases, a groundskeeper driving a golf cart pulled up next to me and asked if I wanted a lift. I don't know if he recognized me from walking the course or what.

I accepted his offer and told him which building I was staying in. We had a nice chat as he drove through the parking lot and then dropped me off at the entrance to my building.

And that's the closest I ever got to getting a complimentary limo from The Desert Inn.

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