I Couldn't Bet the Super Bowl in Las Vegas

I live in Las Vegas, so you would think it would be easy for me to get a bet down on the Super Bowl.  Think again.  I had made a $50 bet on the Ravens about 10 days ago when the line first came out at +3 1/2.  So I was already down with a bet and that was enough for me.  I usually don't go over my $50 limit even though it's the Super Bowl.

Then yesterday the line moved to 4 1/2 and today I decided to bet another $50 on the Ravens.  I have an account with the Station Casinos which permits me to bet online or by using my i-pad mini.  Except for today.  The Station Casinos website would not recognize my computer or my i-Pad.  This is not the first time I've run into a problem with my account; but I had only recently added my i-Pad to my betting account and had had no problems betting on my i-Pad, so I figured all was well.  Then today, of all days, Super Bowl Sunday, Station Casinos made it impossible for me to bet the game.  I tried betting on my i-Pad...no good.  Tried betting from my computer for about an hour...no good.  Tried again from my i-Pad...no good.  I was fuming.

True, I could have got dressed and driven five miles to the casino, made another $50 bet on the Ravens, and driven five miles back to my house, but I had other plans.  I intended to relax for the day and make pizza and enjoy the game; I didn't intend to drive around on Super Bowl Sunday when this town is a madhouse, and get involved in long lines of drunken bettors at the sports book.

Station Casinos also has a horse betting deal.  You can't bet online, though.  You have to bet over the phone.  Their phone system is crap.  At least half the times that I call them to place some horse bets something goes wrong with their phones.  The babe on the other end will be saying: "Hello? Hello? I can't hear you.  Something is wrong with our phones.  Can you call back please?  The last thing I got was you wanted to box the 2-4-6 in the 7th at Gulfstream Park.  Please call back."

Then I'd call back and not be. able to get through.  Then it would turn out that my exacta box won, but even though the babe said "The last thing I got was you wanted to box the 2=4=6 in the 7th at Gulfstream Park..." I'd lose.  I'd get the explanation that the bet didn't go through because I hadn't called back and confirmed it.

So it goes.  Now and then I'm forced to phone a friend in New York or Arkansas or California to put in a bet for me because I  live in Las Vegas and it's very hard to make a bet here.  So this afternoon I phoned some friends in New York and Arkansas and California, but everyone was out and no one returned my messages.  They were probably at Superbowl parties.

Well, it was a great game and I enjoyed it and I won $50.  When the Ravens were winning 28-6, I was pretty pissed off at Station Casinos because they wouldn't accept my $50 bet.  But then when San Francisco staged a powerful comeback I was kind of glad that I only had $50 riding on the game after all.

But if any of you are considering retiring to Las Vegas because of the gambling, think twice before you make your move.  One good thing is they have video poker here, and you can't get video poker outside Las Vegas....or maybe you can, now that I think of it.  But if you want to get away from winter, this is a nice place to be.  Today is February 3rd, and I had to turn on my air-conditioning system in the house.  It was eighty degrees.  They had only predicted sixty-eight degrees.  It will cool down tonight, so I've switched back to heat.

Tomorrow, or one day soon, I'll visit some other casinos and try to find one which allows me to bet sports and horses from home in a reliable fashion.  Now that football season is over, I'm champing at the bit for some baseball.