Vegas Message Board - Trip Reports http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/ en Wed, 08 Sep 2010 07:24:34 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/images/misc/rss.jpg Vegas Message Board - Trip Reports http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/ The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly…only in Vegas (8/3-8/9)! http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58581&goto=newpost Tue, 07 Sep 2010 23:07:50 GMT **WARNING** – this report is CRAZY long, and probably will be most enjoyable to those who want a bit of education on the ins and outs of where I ventured in Vegas. Either way, hope all of you enjoy for one reason or another! A little background – this is my 7th trip to Vegas in a little over... **WARNING** – this report is CRAZY long, and probably will be most enjoyable to those who want a bit of education on the ins and outs of where I ventured in Vegas. Either way, hope all of you enjoy for one reason or another!

A little background – this is my 7th trip to Vegas in a little over 4 years, and my longest by at least a couple days. I stayed 3 nights at Golden Nugget and 3 nights at California. My mom came with me for part of the trip, and my LA friend and her fiancée were with me for a latter part of the trip. During the times they weren’t there I was either on my own or with my friend (C) who was also in town for a week. So, here we go…

DAY 1 – TUESDAY 8/3
My mom and I picked flights based on using miles through Continental, so our flight to Vegas left at 730am Houston time. While I had considered first class when I first booked, I passed because it would use up twice as many miles for each leg. Well, the day before the flight, I wanted to print my boarding pass, and lo and behold it only cost $89 for each of us to upgrade to first! Considering the flight cost a measly $5 fee after using miles, and considering that the $89 would include ‘lovely’ bag fees, we pounced on it. Oh, and did I mention this was not only my first time using miles to fly, but also my first time in first class??? SCORE! :thumbsup:

We got to the gate and boarded practically right after that. I asked for champagne to drink, but disturbingly was told they only have it on international flights. What the eff. :( So I settled for a screwdriver but had them give me the baby vodka bottle by itself so I could add it as I pleased. We knew that breakfast wouldn’t exactly be great regardless of first class, and we were right. I got the same tasteless cereal and banana as coach, and Mom got an omelette with breakfast meat on the side (pork, which we don’t eat).

IMPORTANT POINT #1
Honestly though, I can’t complain much at all about our first class experience. The hot towel thing was a trip for a first timer like me (who had only seen it in the movies) and the free Direct TV (which would have cost another $6) worked out nicely. The best part for me was the seats. Everything about them. The comfort of the leather, the leg room, and the, um, seat size. I’m not a small person. I need space. This gave me the perfect amount! I realized I may have to do this again in the future (perhaps 6 days in the future)….. :D

We got to Vegas at 8ish and got our bags quickly. First time staying downtown (finally realized that made sense considering how much I loved being down there) so we decided on Bell Trans shuttle to get us there. Considering it was a Tuesday before 9am, we had very little issue. We rode with maybe 4 other pairs – the only other stop besides Golden Nugget was the Strat, and we maybe waited 15-20 minutes from the time we got on the shuttle itself before heading out from the airport.

Golden Nugget check in was relatively pain free. Would have probably been totally pain free had I not been awake since 230am Vegas time and here it was already 930. The hotel lady at the Gold Tower (which we stayed in the first night before moving to the Carson the next 2 nights) saved a room for us which someone had already checked out of, and told us to check back at 11 when it would be ready (the official check out time). I wanted to go ahead with our day but I knew from past experience that not getting your room as early as possible could result in a disastrous room assignment so I didn’t want to take our chances.

Before leaving for a bit we noticed that something was going on at the pool that a bunch of people were watching through the glass. That something was the filming of CSI! So random. Turns out the pool would be completely closed to guests til mid afternoon that day, and the majority of the pool would be closed til mid afternoon the next day. Thankfully we were there longer than a day but MAN if I had booked that hotel knowing I was getting one of the best pools in Vegas (in August at that) and then not been able to use it? Not okay. CSI isn’t one of my shows but I have to admit it’s not every day you have a top show filming at your hotel! Too bad I had no patience to wait around to see who showed up on set.

We walked over to Golden Gate to eat some food at DuPar’s. I had never been to Bay City Diner so I wouldn’t know one over the other but the pancakes were AMAZING as advertised. I’m pretty sure they were made with crack (or perhaps something legal that was just as tasty)! :wink Best part was that we inherited the LVA 2 for 1 coupon from a fellow VMBer and used it with no questions asked.


Wasn’t 11 yet so went across the street to Plaza to start gambling. Couple notes – I play VP and BJ only, Mom only does VP. Had updated my notes from VPfree on where to find full pay, and still spent extended periods of time finding it once getting to each casino. Turns out that’s not because it’s been moved (most of the time) but because slowly but surely it’s been eliminated. Eff my life. :grrr: I don’t do well enough on VP to risk not playing full pay, so yeah, not the most carefree experience I was expecting finding it to be! Either way, we found a few machines (ironically some in the exact same bank weren’t full pay) and went to work. I even got to use my ACG slot play, and having never used free slot play before I definitely am behind the concept! :nworthy:

IMPORTANT POINT #2
Since I did a ton of gambling this trip, I can’t specify what denomination I played each time or what game, but I stuck to $0.25 or $0.05 (solely $0.05 when I started losing LOL) and either JoB, Bonus Poker, or Deuces Wild. This was the first time I was playing anything besides JoB and it took some getting used to! So my first sitting netted me a few bucks before it was time to move on.

Back to the hotel to go to our room, but oh go figure, the room that the lady assigned us to wasn’t ready! We were reassigned to a 3rd floor room. I could care less what floor we’re on most of the time, but honestly, would it have been impossible for them to call housekeeping and tell them to make sure to tidy up the room we were told we’d have within that 90+ minutes? Just a thought. I then mistakenly asked about getting a fridge – we like to store water and other beverages in there. Apparently it used to be free there, now it’s $20 a night. Yeah – you already know from what I’ve written in this report so far that I’m a bit frugal to say the least. $20 a night? Forget it. :yuck:

Threw our stuff in our room and head by cab to Sahara to continue gambling. Gave my ACG matchplay coupon to the player’s club and got a voucher to be used at the table. Yeah – I could already tell this place wouldn’t let me use more than one matchplay during my week in town. Despite the matchplay I lost fairly quickly and took the monorail to Vegas Hilton before I could lose any more. Once at the Hilton, I lost a good amount more at both BJ and VP (esp since I didn’t want to wait for the $0.05 machines to open up and continued to play quarters instead – big mistake). Off to Venetian by cab, again.

IMPORTANT POINT #3
I’m a big time planner, but the one thing I guess I didn’t really plan for is how much the cab fees would add up. Next time I’ll seriously consider renting a car for a day or two and avoiding those fees like the plague.

Once we got to Venetian I tried to recover from temporary gambling crankiness by getting a cupcake at Bouchon bakery. Please don’t do what we did and trek to Bouchon restaurant and expect to find the bakery. Instead it’s on the casino level fairly near the pretty food court, and has its own kiosk. After feeling slightly refreshed I head to the player’s club to use my ACG coupon for $25 free slot play. Started using it on VP and, lo and behold, was able to cash out fairly quickly and spend $0 to get $30! Happiness and joy! :woot: Definitely washed the bad gambling taste out of my system for the time being.

Next off to Madame Tussaud’s wax museum. Had never been, figured Mom would like it, and had the ACG coupon for 2 for 1. My feet were already hurting but still managed to have a great time and ‘meet’ one of my favorite celebs – Buffy the Vampire Slayer (wax edition)!

Was really glad we went during the week to avoid crowds and save $$ (coupon only good from Sun-Thurs).

IMPORTANT POINT #4
I hate crowds. I hate walking. More than anything, I hate walking in a crowd. So even though my feet hurt pretty much the entire week, the crowds were non-existent and more than manageable. Thank goodness for the little things!

Was getting to be late in the afternoon so we cabbed it back to the Nugget for some rest before dinner. Made an 8pm reservation at Firefly at the Plaza and made sure to mention we wanted a good view of the Fremont Street Experience light show. We got a prime table right in the center up against the glass – no obstruction! First time I didn’t have to break my neck looking up at the lights, and first time my mom had ever seen the show.


Food ended up being pretty good – we kinda stuffed ourselves by eating the better part of 3 types of tapas each. My mom had gazpacho, veggie chimichanga, and tilapia; I had mac & cheese (sooo cheesy), lamb chop, and eggplant cannelloni. Once again, used an LVA Buy 2 get 2 free coupon to help with the cost a bit. Once again, no problems using it.

IMPORTANT POINT #5
Before I get to my further experiences with coupon use, this needs to be said. Who the heck cares if you use multiple coupons or use them without showing the book/card/receipt? Truly? Bottom line – someone paid for the book that contains the coupons, therefore that someone should be able to give them to whoever he/she wants if he/she doesn’t want to use them, and the someone who gets the coupon shouldn’t get crap EVER. When a person is prevented from using a coupon for whatever reason, the establishment who denies the usage most likely won’t get the person’s business. So in the end, they lose money! It’s not like they get a big cut just from being in the coupon book – they have to pay just to be in the book in the first place. As an avid coupon user this whole thing causes more stress than it’s worth sometimes. :bang:

Moving on – I realize this is the longest first day EVER but thankfully it’s about to be over. Even though I used matchplays from ACG, I lost at BJ at both Plaza and Golden Gate. I could tell that Plaza could care less how many duplicate coupons you have, while Golden Gate makes you sign stuff at the Player’s Club just to use the coupon. Again, a turn off, though there are ways around it. Thankfully, the night ended on a high note as I finished up on VP (using more slot play) and BJ (using yet another ACG matchplay) at Vegas Club. Off to bed I go!

DAY 2 – WEDNESDAY 8/4
Woke up at a decent hour because we had to move from our Gold Tower room to a Carson Tower room. The reason we started in the Gold Tower instead of spending all 3 in the Carson Tower was because apparently all the Carson rooms were booked for Tuesday. The bonus for spending $20 extra a night on the Gold Tower was that you get the Golden Nugget Values book which has a pretty good coupon selection. Either way, I was hoping the transition from one room to the other would be simple.

Was given a room on the 22nd floor of the Carson Tower apparently to make up for the low floor the first night. Unfortunately, it was a hike from the elevator. Either way, the new room was practically the same as the old room, sans desk but plus an actual view.

IMPORTANT POINT #6
Can I just say that while there are good aspects of having different ‘front desks’ in the same hotel, it can get a bit confusing? 3 towers in the Nugget – 3 front desks. Whatever works I suppose. :confused:

Oh, in case you were wondering, I got to witness more CSI filming when I was down in the lobby changing rooms. The yellow crime scene tape was all around the pool on Day 2. Let the autopsy begin! ;)

We finished getting ready in the new room and then hopped in a cab to head off to Hash Hash A Go Go @ IP. I knew this cab driver would be special – right after I said ‘hi’ he replied ‘not for about 15 years now.’ :evillaugh

After hearing about HH for some time, and being a great lover of (almost) all foods, I was really looking forward to at least getting full. I would have gotten full, except that what I ordered and what I received were subtly different. As a non-pork eater, I always order a version of eggs benedict at restaurants that have non-pork options on the menu. So, I ordered the smoked salmon version, expecting smoked salmon to be lox, as in what you put with cream cheese on a bagel. What I got is chopped/shredded pieces of cooked fish that did not resemble smoked salmon that I expected in the least.

The waitress already seemed to be having a bad day so I didn’t want to bother her with making it again. When I finally decided to say something (since the only fish I eat is either lox or sushi grade, and since regular cooked fish is not a breakfast food in this country), I told her that maybe she should let management know that the menu shouldn’t say smoked salmon when that’s not what you’re given. She tried to disagree with me on the fact the fish was smoked and then kept asking if I wanted something else. I was like, no that’s not the point (also I was halfway through what I could eat of the dish). I didn’t feel right about not saying anything though. I’m just grateful that I asked for sauce on the side – the sauce was some kind of chili sauce which determined from one taste that I would not have been able to handle.

Anyways, bottom line, the only thing I loved about HH was the mashed potato situation that was underneath my benedict. I could eat that for all 3 meals of the day! :thumbsup:

Way too hot at that point for us to start walking outdoors on the trip so we cabbed it again over to NY NY. Lost some more $$ at VP and even a few $$ down at my favorite old school video blackjack game. Went next door to Monte Carlo and made a good amount back at blackjack. Stopped at the new store Cupcakery and got a 4 pack to go. :licklips:

IMPORTANT POINT #7
Only take things ‘to go’ in Vegas when you are walking straight back to your room. Even if you have a car, whatever you put in it will melt. I carried those cupcakes around for basically the rest of the day. Thankfully, they stayed edible by the time I got around to eating them!

Found the tram to check out City Center, which I had skipped when it first opened last time I was in town. Didn’t do my research and wasn’t really sure where to head so briefly checked out Vdara (and the lovely canoe ‘art’ outside) before walking to Bellagio. Spent a few minutes at the conservatory as usual and then the plan was to walk to Mirage. Yeah. Of all the walks I had during the week that may win (or lose actually) as the most painful. I was hungry because I hadn’t actually eaten any of the cupcakes, and the heat started to really get to me. Thankfully, the walk would culminate in the Mirage buffet, so I pushed on and survived!! Go me! :banana:

Conservatory in August





I was expecting a line and there were maybe 5 people in front of us – huge bonus. When we got to the cashier she started yapping at us about not being able to use the LVA 2 for 1 coupon because it was already removed from the book. Another staff person came over to confirm this. I started making up some stuff about my dad having the book downtown and us not realizing the stipulation until after we had torn it out. The supervisor of these two people said it was fine to use it regardless, which was the right choice. Obviously there was no book downtown (I got all my LVA coupons in trade), plus who knows if they would have accepted it either way (because of it already being detached). I will tell you though that there is no way we would have paid full price after that walk I had – we would have just gotten something at either some other place there or TI. :wave2: Like I said, it can affect your business to be picky with the coupons.

I hadn’t been to the buffet since the mid 90s so obviously I have very little memory of it. Once inside, I was really impressed. My mom started with the made-to-order salad station while I got sushi. Sushi was definitely better than the usually cold tough stuff I get at other buffets. We took advantage of most of the other stations which included italian, rotisserie, chinese, greek/middle eastern dips, and carving – prime rib and turkey. There was BBQ and Mexican areas too but they were avoided.

IMPORTANT POINT #8
I’m Texan, therefore 99.9% of all Mexican food or BBQ I consume will be in and from the state of Texas. Was this percentage altered in Vegas? Heck no! :eek2

After a good selection of dessert, including the first of many bread puddings (my favorite dessert) sampled, we carried ourselves outside for the volcano show. Hadn’t seen it in years, and with it being redone wanted to check it out. Not bad – new music, more fire, worth checking out.

Took a while to get a cab – apparently always does right after the volcano goes off. Headed back downtown – lost $$ at VP at both Fitz and 4 Queens (at least finally found $0.05 full pay VP there) and called it a night.

DAY 3 – THURSDAY 8/5
Woke up earlier than usual since Mom was heading home that day and we wanted to get enough done. Started the day with a 2 for 1 breakfast buffet at the Nugget, thanks to a coupon from their book. Worth full price for sure. Got waffles (w/strawberry sauce!) and chicken fried steak, and noted that under the label ‘smoked salmon’ was ACTUAL smoked salmon/lox. *shakes head*


IMPORTANT POINT #9
I prefer that buffets overlabel as opposed to underlabel, but almost fell over laughing at the labels for ‘green apples’ and ‘red apples’! Amazing. :haha:

Managed to find room for the Nugget’s ‘famous’ bread pudding at the end – it lived up to expectation! Wouldn’t want to pay full price for a huge order of it down at the café but was thankful for the buffet all-you-can-eat (aka ‘eat-what-you-can-handle’) offering.

We got to breakfast towards the end of the shift and lunch stuff was being put out, and I confirmed that I was very thankful we chose breakfast over lunch.

IMPORTANT POINT #10
For those of you who aren’t seasoned buffet goers for whatever reason, it’s not always true that breakfast is better than lunch. If most of the time you have a taste for breakfast (like I do) to start your day, definitely wake up in time for it!

Finally off to the pool which I really enjoyed. I don’t like to spend a ton of time in Vegas not gambling (or eating) but a couple hours a day can’t hurt. I had to show my room key when coming down, but determined that only one person per group had to show a key. Also determined that you can save seats with a towel and leave and come back whenever. With the pool area being relatively small compared to what they have on the Strip, I highly recommend putting towels down right when the pool opens to ensure you get the area you want.

I sat on these interesting hard plastic water chairs in the very shallow end. Not two minutes after getting settled there I had to yell at some kids for splashing me and the women I was sitting next to. I don’t have kids – don’t want to deal with them on vacation. I made up for that stress by conquering the water slide! Besides that I just waved at the sharks and relaxed.







IMPORTANT POINT #11
People say ‘always wear sunscreen’ and I do since I’m a lovely pale white. Did I know that I needed to put sunscreen on underneath my swim shorts or else I’d get a horrendously painful sunburn that hurt with every movement I made? Obviously not! :cry: At least I got to have some fun in the water before the sunburn materialized but still, eff my life yet again!

After cleaning up Mom and I head off to more gambling. I finally got to Binion’s and was pissed to realize that they’ve taken full pay away from my special video poker bank – the one I play every time. I took my crankiness out on the blackjack table and lost. We then head back to 4 Queens to play some more cheap VP and I came out ahead by a little.

Mom had to get her stuff from the room and head off to the airport. 3 days/2 nights is enough for her! After she left I cabbed over to Aria to meet my friend C for the dinner buffet, which was comped in his room reservation. I enjoyed the room setup and design but that thankfully was not all the buffet had to offer that was good! They had nigri sushi instead of just rolls (which the Mirage did not). There were 4 meats at the carving station – chicken, longhorn steak, turkey, and prime rib. I tried the longhorn since I am Texan – not bad. Some good pizza and made to order pasta. A bit of Indian food (2 kinds of naan bread)! I made a note that there were 3 different types of potatoes – I think mashed, fingerling, and something else. The desserts looked fantastic but didn’t taste as good as they looked. All in all, very glad it was free, wouldn’t have paid full price but maybe 2 for 1.

The plan was to hit Bill’s, Orleans, and maybe Gold Coast to gamble that night, all via the free shuttle. But, we were really stuffed and not patient enough to walk to Bill’s and wait so we cabbed it to Orleans. I’d never been and was eager to try and win $$. I didn’t lose at either BJ (used my ACG matchplay) or VP so that was a plus. I forget if I ever found full pay VP – if I did it was very limited. We went outside Orleans to see about the shuttle and it came like two minutes after that – score! Took us directly to Bill’s where I, even using my ACG matchplay, lost a crapload at $10 and $15 BJ tables (I was playing only $5 before).

Feeling frustrated, I tried to drown my sorrows in a frozen drink from Spanish Steps just outside of Caesars Palace. We then walked across to Bellagio and trammed it to Monte Carlo so I could hopefully do better (since I’ve been doing great at MC for a while now). Sat down at a $10 BJ table – started out bad, did well for a while, then did HORRENDOUSLY yet again. Very depressing. Cabbed it back downtown and went to bed very cranky! :grrr:

DAY 4 – FRIDAY 8/6
Woke up at a decent hour to check out of the Nugget and into Cal. Schleped my luggage through deserted downtown to get to Cal – not a bad walk but with all my stuff and being exhausted I was sweating pretty nicely by the time I got to the front desk. No problem checking in or going up to my room right when I got there at 11 (even though check in wasn’t til 3 I think). Only problem was when I came into my room, the A/C was OFF. Totally OFF.

IMPORTANT POINT #12
I don’t care if someone hasn’t stayed in the hotel room I’ve been assigned for a MONTH. There is no excuse for A/C not being on in a Vegas hotel in AUGUST. Considering I was just drying off from my walk, this was not a happy time. :nono:

Thankfully, I was hungry and meeting C at Triple 7 Brewery for lunch right around then. I tried the Broccoli Cheese pizza! Yes – something I’ve never tried before. Ranch dressing serving as the sauce – YUM!

I only ate half of it and thankfully was able to walk across the street from MSS to Cal (without going outside, of course) to put it in my room fridge. I had never tried the Brewery and will definitely go back to sample more good stuff.

Gambling time after that – VP and BJ (with hotel provided matchplay) at Golden Nugget, VP at 4 Queens, $10 worth of slots at Fitz (+ Krispy Kreme for dessert). Didn’t win anything. That basically killed the afternoon.

I was due to meet up with my friends who drove in from LA after that. They had gotten in a few hours earlier and done the Star Trek convention, which I avoided like the plague. We hung out in the room at Cal for a bit and then drove over to Nora’s (per resident VMB food expert Ken’s suggestion) for an 830pm dinner reservation. Had to wait another 10-15 or so before getting seated but it was worth it. Great selection and quality. I ordered Pasta Alla Nora which had ground beef, marinara, eggplant, and pesto. Unique and filling. Only thing that I had a real problem with at Nora’s – our drink guy/bus boy was 100x more attentive than our actual waiter. I’d be exaggerating to say we saw the waiter more than once after we placed our order. Not cool. :nono:

LA friends were tired so back to the Cal we went. I played some BJ and lost, then messed around with VP for a while (like 3 hours at the same machine or so) and came out ahead by a little.

IMPORTANT POINT #13
I’m okay with places like Cal and Vegas Club still having some VP machines that use quarters, but please, make sure they all have the option to put dollar amounts in. Some of us like not having to feed money every time we press a button. Just saying.

DAY 5 – SATURDAY 8/7
Slept in due to being up half the night playing VP and ate the weekend brunch at MSS with the LA friends. My friend and I paid 2 for 1 for ours with the coupon from the Vegas Experience website. Her fiancée woke up much earlier and was anxious to eat, so yeah full price for him.

I had only been to MSS buffet for lunch before and was not a huge fan (though for the price you can’t beat it) but yeah I LOVE their weekend brunch! I love any place that has good waffles with strawberry sauce, plus they had lox spread (my favorite cream cheese flavor) and bread pudding. They also offered Chinese and other ‘Pacific Rim’ food, Mexican food, Southern food (like fried chicken lol), and carved ham/brisket. Made to order omelettes too. My LA friends are budding alcoholics so they were throwing back the all-you-can-drink champagne/mimosas. :beer: My friend made the mistake of having enchiladas with her spread so yeah, she had to pass out in bed for a couple hours after that with everything that was in her system. Her fiancée and I went off to Golden Gate and Plaza for some BJ – finally did well at both!

IMPORTANT POINT #14
As you’ve probably been able to tell, I have not done well at all gambling this trip. I usually come home up at least $100 on my gambling budget, and as a low roller, that’s great for me. Bottom line was that the cards just weren’t going my way, even at BJ tables where everyone was playing the basic strategy. So that made it twice as stressful to be at tables where people just played however they wanted to – thankfully no splitting 10s but still! One of the worst was a dude at my table asked the dealer ‘I should hit on that, right?’ EVERY SINGLE HAND. If you can’t catch on to how to play, maybe you should try another game or study up. Just a thought! That’s the cranky cynic in me. :mad:

LA friend woke up and we were off to Sahara to pick up tix to Comedy Stop for that night that we ordered from Goldstar (highly recommended). We went to Luxor to pick up our Titanic exhibit tix (ordered from Tix 4 Tonight), but since LA friends had already started drinking – buying half yard slushy drinks @ Mandalay - we couldn’t go in, so we decided to do M&M World first. Another ridiculous unnecessary walk – I didn’t realize that when you tram it from Luxor to Excalibur you have to walk through the entire Excalibur hotel to get outside. Then of course you walk across to NY NY, through part of it, across to MGM, then another block to M&M World. Yeah – tired and sweaty again. Then had to walk back – thankfully caught the tram right at the front of Excalibur back to Mandalay and then over to Luxor so not any more unnecessary walking. Friends were finally done with their drinks so we could go in.

IMPORTANT POINT #15
LA friend doesn’t like having her picture taken. She told me I could take two pictures of her during the trip and that was it. So this was the first time during the trip she and her fiancée told the Titanic exhibit photographer who wanted to take our picture (optional for us to pay to have it at the end) that they wouldn’t take the picture. I guess you had to have been there but it was childish as hell. Before the comedy show that night the same thing happened and I just posed for the picture by myself. SHOCKINGLY they actually posed with me with the million dollar display at Binion’s so that we could have a picture of the 3 of us. *sigh*

The exhibit was alright – my feet were killing me at that point and there was no where to sit so that didn’t help. Put it this way – I would have rather been gambling, and probably would have done that had I not gotten that good of a discount through Tix 4 Tonight. Either way, LA friends seemed to enjoy it.

We didn’t have a ton of time to spare for dinner before the comedy show so we went back to NY NY to get food from the best food court in Vegas (IMO). Yes, the Venetian has a good one but it’s pricier with less variety. Unfortunately being the weekend I couldn’t use my ACG coupons so I decided to get a to-go order from Chin Chin Café – favorite Vegas Chinese food of the Frugal. LA friend got sushi from there and went on and on about how sushi shouldn’t be at a Chinese restaurant. My opinion? If it tastes good – who cares? Just saying…

Drove to Sahara in time to wait in line for over 30 minutes to get into the Comedy Stop. No clue why the Rick Thomas Tiger show (that is in the same auditorium) went over or whatever but again my feet were killing me and it was very hot in the waiting area with no where to sit. Eff my life. Finally the line started slowly moving – apparently everyone gets escorted to their seats individually so yeah. This is an auditorium like I said and it was maybe 10-20% full. 3 comics – can’t remember any of their names. None of them were overly memorable. But, for the price, it is what it is.

Amazingly, LA friends wanted to go to bed after that (I don’t think it was even midnight). Perhaps because of the excessive drinking, most of which took place in the Vegas heat? Just a thought. Either way, I was a bit frustrated but knew that I’d stay up to gamble. I actually had a pretty good night – played BJ at Cal, Vegas Club, Plaza, and Golden Gate finishing about even and won at VP at Cal again. Off to bed – last full day ahead!

DAY 6 – SUNDAY 8/8
LA friends went to bed early so they woke up early and went to Aloha Specialties in Cal for breakfast. I ate my leftover pizza from Triple 7 and some Lappert’s ice cream for breakfast. Hey don’t judge – that’s probably the weirdest thing I did the whole trip! We head over to Gold Coast for some bowling. I was proud of my high game of 141 since I basically whooped my friends. No bingo for me yet since LA friend’s fiancée thinks there’s a huge conspiracy behind Vegas bingo which never gives you a chance of winning. The one time I’m not as cynical as someone on something, even though ironically I’ve never won at bingo anywhere!

We decided to drive to Henderson to see Ethel M’s Chocolate Factory after that.

I know there’s one in the Cal but this one was nice and big and wonderful. I stocked up on stuff for myself and was amused that there was a smaller M&M world right in front of Ethel M. That would have been great to know, but I have the feeling we would have gone to the other one anyways.

We then head back downtown for the culmination of my LA friends’ time in Vegas – 2 for 1 prime rib dinner from Magnolia’s @ 4 Queens! I must admit I’d been looking forward to it as well. We had to wait 10-15 to be seated though because we were told the other half of the seating area wouldn’t open til 5 and it was just after 4. Either way, I feel like the food was worth it. The mashed potatoes were awesome and the slab of beef was nice and thick.

Make sure you have patience as it takes a while to get food after ordering. Thankfully we had just gotten a fresh deck of cards from 4Q because LA friend joined the player’s club to get an extra Magnolia’s coupon so I taught her some blackjack. She’s a rookie to say the least but she seemed to catch on.

After LA friends got their stuff and prepare to head back to LA they were kind enough to drop me off at Rio where I was meeting my friend C and his friend (Mr. High Roller Comp man). After wasting time losing money at non-full pay VP for a bit I went with them to the buffet. I wasn’t all that hungry considering the prime rib but it surely helped that we didn’t have to wait in what appeared to be a 2 hour (!) line and instead got to go through the cool VIP entrance thanks to Mr. High Roller Comp man! Less than 10 minutes and we were at the table.

IMPORTANT POINT #16
For any of you who have been to Rio’s buffet, you know it’s the size of a city block. I can’t possibly review all the food, but I will tell you that Rio definitely has a lot more fried unhealthy fare than most of the other buffets I went to this trip and that is a turn off for me, even though I love the stuff. The desserts (especially gelato) were my highlight!


After dinner we head to Gold Coast where the Bingo finally happened. The boys had never played in Vegas and bottom line, none of us won. I did manage to win at BJ though and my ACG matchplay finally paid off.

With it being my last night in Vegas (*sigh*) I had to spend some more time downtown, so I stuck with heading back to Cal and played some VP (broke even) and eventually BJ. I wasn’t doing well at the first table so I moved over to one where only one other guy was sitting. I noticed that his chips were kinda scattered all over the place but didn’t think much of it. A few minutes in he started to fall asleep. The dealer smacked the table to wake him up. I was a bit amused at this point but that was nothing compared to what happened next.

As this was double deck BJ, all cards were dealt face down. Dude was playing 2 hands, and after hitting once on his first hand he exclaimed, “I don’t know what’s going on right now.” He proceeds to show the dealer that the 2 cards in his hand were a blackjack! He had hit on a blackjack! So yeah, we both realized he was drunk as a skunk, and the pit boss came over and said he should call it a night. Because the casino didn’t want to take more of his $$ than they had to, they helped him play out his other hand (he wanted to stay on a total of 10, lol), and then colored up his chips at my suggestion. Dude started getting a bit cranky but finally staggered away, supposedly staying at the hotel. Disturbing to say the least, but arguably greatest thing I’ve ever witnessed! :nworthy: I was thankfully offered a fresh shuffle and played a bit more, finishing up for the session. Had to call it a night after that!

DAY 7 – MONDAY 8/9
Woke up to check out of Cal and head to Wynn for my favorite buffet with C. They left the breakfast stuff out pretty much til early afternoon so I was happy about that and it delivered as usual. Favorite thing there is this chocolate oreo mousse thingie – delightful!



I then cabbed it to Sahara where I lost at BJ yet again. Head back downtown to gamble as much as possible before leaving. Won at 4 Queens playing VP, lost at Bingo and BJ at Plaza, won at Vegas Club playing VP, and won at Cal playing BJ.
Sadly that was all I had time for as I chose to cab it to the airport, looking forward to flying first class for the ride home. At least i got a better meal since it was an evening flight!


Final thoughts:
• While overall I did craptastic at gambling, I did hit a ton of good hands at VP which were memorable and which I documented!






















• I was very disappointed by how few good BJ tables there are downtown. I honestly feel like I would have found more on the strip even if they started at $10 instead of $5 most the time.
• I can’t stress enough how you need to spend a lot of time finding full pay VP anywhere, and then stick with it once you find it.
• Whoever said spending a week in Vegas is too long obviously doesn’t love it as much as I do, despite its challenges!

Hope you enjoyed! More to come in 2011 (G-d Willing)! ]]> Trip Reports LAURLUVS2BOWL http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58581 Encore 9-1 to 9-6 http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58548&goto=newpost Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:52:13 GMT Flew in from dulles airport in DC and landed 10 am Vegas time for our 3rd trip this year. When we arrived to Encore our room wasnt ready yet so we decided to head over to Peppermill for some lunch, which was great always. Went back to Encore to pick up our tickets for Friday's show of Le Reve and on the way to the box office we met Steve Wynn...that was cool...then got the call that the room was ready..I am not a big fan of the $20 per day resort fee which was started back in June. This does give you access to the fitness center and internet in your room which were previously seperate fees. Wed night dinner was at SW Steakhouse..wont bore you all with exact details of each item ordered but the dinner was great! Thursday all morning and day was spent by the pool. Agian, I really dont understand the concept of the new beach club, when the Euro pool is a great vibe and scene. Thurs dinner was at Picasso in Bellagio, another great dinner and got to meat chef Julian Serrano. Fri daytime we did the "walk the strip and shop" thing. Fri 930 show of Le Reve which we really enjoyed. We did the VIP package. If anyone has questions about that let me know..it was pricy but we felt it was a good decision. After the show we hungout at the Eastside lounge where they now have a nightly dueling piano show. Sat morning and day was spent at the pool followed by dinner at in my opinion is the best place in all of Vegas, Alex in Wynn. Another great expereince I highly recommend if you are a fan of great food and dining service. Sunday was more pool time and dinner at B & B in Venetian which was very good. As far as gaming, I was never up more than #00 at any point in the weekend and left down about $50. I really only play roulette and VP. Not that big of a player. Great trip. It was hot and we loved it! any more exact questions on what we ate and cost etc.. please ask. ]]> Trip Reports RVA http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58548 <![CDATA[Mirage & good times!]]> http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58523&goto=newpost Mon, 06 Sep 2010 08:35:30 GMT What's up guys/gals... 3rd trip to vegas this year, just another break from the daily grind of work, housework, and taking care of the baby! Had 2 nights comped at Mirage.. How? I have no idea. I usually bring $1000 for gambling/eating/tips/misc entertainment which is what I consider a low-midrange gambler. Celebrating 2 of my buddies 31st bdays, where have the years gone?

Did the usual 5 hr drive from So Cal, surprisingly no traffic, on the way home different story (8hr trip with no accidents that I saw). There were a total of about 8 of us heading up there, wifee included. Checked into Mirage approx 11pm, did a 'quasi' $20 trick (asked if there were strip views available with my wallet open, casually showing multiple 20's in my wallet - too chicken to put the sandwich together) the checkin clerk typed away for what seemed to be a couple mins and said there was no such luck which I understood since it was late Friday night-no biggie. The check in layout is terrible in my opinion, you wait in line next to all the drunkards waiting to get into Jet nightclub. Maybe I'm getting too old, but that was annoying to see a bunch of drunken frat boys "brah'ing" it up - and I'm only in my early 30's!
The Mirage did a good job of updating their standard rooms, the wifee and I enjoyed it. The only complaint is the actual hotel door which seems like venetian blinds, sound travels through those like crazy. We settled in, got dressed and headed over to Lavo lounge at palazzo where our drunken buddies were dancing it up. It's always weird to me when I'm the semi sober one and my buddides are yelling at the top of their lungs. Had a good time, a few drinks, and headed back to Mirage where I decide to hit up the craps tables.

I bought in for $800 where I proceed to lose about $600 right off the bat. SUCKS! Those jack n cokes sure were expensive. Crap out after crap out and when I decided to play the dont pass, BOOM shooter makes his point. Decide to lick my wounds and eat at the Carnegie deli on the Mirage casino floor, total rip off. Dont ever go there unless youre drunk and starving - like I was

SATURDAY
Wake up around 9am which is considered sleeping in my book (esp with a baby) and head over to our favorite place to eat -Earl of sandwich. Word must be spreading because the line gets longer and longer every time we head over there. This time the line strecthed to where the fancy lollipop store is in the Miracle Mile shops. Well worth the wait though. We walk the strip afterwards and hit up Flamingo which is where I historically have a good run at the craps tables. I play the pass line with max odds behind my bets and after only 30-45 mins I come up $300+!!! I'm back baby! Got the mojo going again, feeling a little better. Doesn't hurt that the wifee comes up $100+ in penny slots, I dont know how that happens on pennies!!
We get back to the room and rest then decide to hit up Mirages pool area.. mustve been 100 degress at the time. The pool area is pretty large, was easy to find a seat and cruise around the water. Gotta say Ive never paid $20 for a margarita, but it was worth it since they bring it out to you in the water.
Afterwards got cleaned up and while the wifee was getting ready for dinner/drinks that night, I decided to hit up the craps tables again. I'm surprised that the Mirage on the weekends has $10 tables and many of them! I play for about 2 hrs and come up another $300!! Back to even!! At this point Im thinking anything else from here on out is icing on the cake since I come to vegas expecting to lose everything.
For dinner we met up with our friends at Social House in City Center... Excellent food esp the kobe beef sliders... I recommend to all! Best kobe sliders Ive ever had. Afterwards we head to Eye Candy at Mandalay bay. I hate dancing/clubbing so I sneak out at one point while everyone else was drinkin dancing and hit up their craps tables. I play for maybe 4 hrs straight (while pounding jack n cokes) and start pestering the pit boss for a free buffet. Initally he tells me I dont play enough (I play a pass line and 2 come bets with close to max odds, roughly $30-$45 bet average since they dont rate odds-I hate how they do that but oh well, odds dont have any house edge really) and before I leave the pit boss reluctantly gives me free buffet passes. They also told me that Ive been overcomped for the Mirage stay and I didnt even deserve the buffet but since I was tipping the dealers nearly $5 per shooter he hooked it up. Just goes to show to TIP YOUR DEALERS! Makes a big difference when getting comped.. So after 4+ hrs of playing $15 craps (and coming up $200 in the process!!!) everyone leaves the club and we go home. Funny part is one of my buddies was so wasted he let my wife and her friends put full on make up on him, lip gloss and eye liner he looked so pretty. He walked around vegas like that the remainder of the evening, so funny! That was maybe the highlight of the trip, other things happened on the trip but I wont put them here on the message board, maybe another time!

SUNDAY
Went over to the players club booth to see if I played enough to get anything else taken care of on my bill and the lady said I had not played enough and that I got lucky about the buffet passes I got at Mandalay bay. Rude! The way she said it made me feel like such a cheap a$$. Anyway the Mandalay buffet was cool, nothing special but it did the trick. After a long grueling 8 hr drive home, it was good to see the baby, and yet another vegas trip in the books. No wild betting like the Beejay adventures (if I only had the bankroll/juevos to bet like that!), just another good time in my favorite city

Good luck everyone! ]]> Trip Reports Seven_OUT http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58523 Bellagio 8/20 - 8/23 http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58521&goto=newpost Mon, 06 Sep 2010 05:53:28 GMT Hi - I read regularly but don't post much. Posted this on one of my other Vegas boards and thought I would share here also.

This report is a little late but I’ve made a “mid year resolution” to get better about writing trip reports since I enjoy reading everyone else’s reports.

Friday August 22nd

I made a quick weekend trip to Vegas departing Orlando around 7:00 pm and arriving in Vegas around 8:45 pm. I realized it has been a year since I’ve flown at night after working all day and it makes for a real long day but it was nice to get that night view of the strip flying in. Most of my trips seem to be early morning flights but I was low rolling this trip so thought I would do better with less time to gamble. The cab line took a very long time and I was also “tunneled” but decided that was probably one of my only chances to view City Center at night from the freeway and I liked seeng it – just made mental note to confirm route next time.

Checked in at Bellagio and had nice lakeview room on the 23rd floor. I got a quesadilla from room service while I unpacked and freshened up and then it was time to hit the casino.

I love playing all types of slots, video poker, table games, sports betting…the only thing I haven’t tried is baccarat or pai gow but I’m sure that will happen sometime! I started playing The Price is Right penny slot and played for a long time and was up about $250.00 on this – variety of bonus rounds and good times. I also played the new Top Dollar six coin machines and got nothing. I became semi-obsessed with this machine and just could never get a bonus round. Walked around a bit more and found my dream machine – Breeders Cup penny slot machines. Combining my love of horse racing and slots – genius! Not quite as fun as Sigma Derby but pretty damn close. I hit the second highest progressive on this slot and then decided to go hit the tables with some of my winnings. I LOVE Crazy 4 poker but usually won’t play it with a limited bankroll so I decided to play 3 card poker. I did play for at least two hours but wound up losing my buy in…had a nice time and great drink service. I ordered a crown and ginger and had half the drink left and the waitress came up next to me and said “I just want you to know that is illegal in Vegas”. I’m thinking –I know I’m tired but pretty sure I haven’t done anything wrong. Then she laughed at my confused look on my face and told me that it was illegal to slow drink the drink and she already had another on her tray for me! Went to bed around 4:00 (7:00 eastern time ) so it was definitely time for some sleep. I don’t sleep a lot in Vegas no matter how late I stay up.

Saturday August 21

I had a spa appointment booked for a facial at 9:30 so I set my alarm for 8:30. The summer offer I was on had a $150.00 spa credit so most of the facial was covered…I really find a facial much more of a treat than a massage. I sat in the “tranquility room” for a whole ten minutes after the facial but then I just had to get going. Grabbed a diet coke and water and headed to my room to get cleaned up for the day. I wound up getting room service for lunch so I could do that while getting ready for the day with a mental promise to have a nice dinner and try to do something different.

I spent time in the afternoon at the sports book which is my normal daytime haunt at Bellagio. I was making an effort this trip not to spend as much here on video poker and just enjoy betting on the horses and slow pay the video poker…I did better with this than I have in the past! I will always play max bet so getting the drink comps isn’t an issue – just have had some dry runs for the last few trips – however have also gotten royals on three different machines in the past so when it is your lucky time it is your lucky time and you have to be ready for it! The horses started out good but quickly dropped off. Not good when you hit a trifecta and it pays $4.00! I hit up the Price is Right after the sports book for a while and did pretty well again.

I knew that Billy Idol was playing at the Pearl concert theater at the Palms so I decided I should have a “healthy non gaming activity” and I grabbed a cab from the north entrance and headed in to try and buy a ticket. I looked online a few nights before I left and all of the available tickets were in the upper area so I knew the cost and it was pretty reasonable – range of $49 and $59. There was a long line inside the casino and I started to worry that I wouldn’t find a ticket but there was a scalper hanging around the line and I “stepped around the corner” and bought a ticket from him at face value. It was fine – upper deck but first row of upper deck. There were two other solo people who bought tickets from the same guy (on either side of me) and oh my they were both pretty large guys. Both were very nice though and we all pretty much stayed in our seats as it was a pretty tight fit and the situation wasn’t really a good one for jumping out of the seats and getting back in without some adjusting. The concert was AWESOME and I would definitely come to another concert here. I did see a girl wearing an old wedding dress so she was all ready for her “white wedding moment”. I forgot how many of his songs I know and even though he is supporting a new album there were maybe three new songs and everything else was a beloved golden oldie!

After the concert I was hungry and decided my earlier promise to have a nice dinner was going out the window and I had a piece of pizza at the Palms food court (I made up for this on Sunday). I wanted to play at the Palms for a bit after the concert and found “my” DDBP video poker machine that I found on my first trip to the Palms back in May. I played a looooonnnnggg time and maybe was down $30.00 but played for over an hour and a half…when I would come up on a cash out point I would hit some quads and then I just kept going. Kept going a little too long but that happens all the time with me!

I took a cab back to the Bellagio and decided that I was going all out and was going to play my favorite game (Crazy 4 poker) and played for quite a while and think I wound up only down $100.00 which is great for that game and some of that was definitely drink tips.

Sunday August 22

On Sunday my plan was to rent a car and head out to Red Rock Casino. I really like it here and have stayed one night here on longer trips. If it was a nicer time of year I would probably head into Red Rock Canyon and take a little walk but I’m not doing that in August. I had a coupon for a free buffet from an offer mailer that I had. I had a nice surprise and it was brunch so I had a big meal and I thought everything was good. After brunch I played my favorite progressive video poker bank of deuces deluxe and didn’t have much luck. Moved around a bit trying to play games that they don’t have at Bellagio. After video poker found a “Press your Luck” game and won $50.00 on a forty cent bet. That was my best win…I played around for about three hours and then decided to head back to Bellagio. I went to the Sportsbook to cool off and played for a while – no big wins.

My plan for dinner was to try the Julian Serrano Tapas restaurant at Aria. I took the tram over and got there around 6:30 and there was plenty of room at the bar which is where I prefer to sit when dining alone. The bartender was very friendly and I had some mushroom soup, chicken croquettes and bacon wrapped dates…and three glasses of sangria – one red and two white. I liked the food but think I would choose some different items next time instead of the dates. The bartender pointed out Julian Serrano to me and told me that he is physically in the restaurant a few times a week which is different from many other “celebrity chef” restaurants. I did recognize him so that was kind of cool.

After dinner I went on an ill advised sangria fueled tour of the Aria slots floor. I actually had a few good hits but frittered them away! Headed back to the Bellagio and decided to play some $10.00 black jack to play for a while and then hopefully stop after a win and then get to bed at a reasonable hour like 2. Not to happen. I sat down at a table and had an immense string of bad luck…I built things back up and played until 4:00. At one point I was down $175 and then pulled that back to up $150.00 but of course kept playing so eventually cashed out with my original buy in. I really liked the people at the table and that is definitely why I stayed so long…

Monday August 23

Monday morning I woke up early again– why I don’t know. Went downstairs for a little while and played some new games that I have never seen before – got the bonus on some asian themed game and won $40.00 on 54 free games…Took that to a Panda game and got the free games bonus on that and got that to $110.00. I played around a while and had some good hits but played them all back. My mission for the day was to have a nice lunch at Olives so I went there right when they opened at eleven and sat outside (in the shade). Had a ceasar salad and flatbread and a martini and enjoyed it but could have skipped the drink – it was good but not great. I loved my salad and the bread and olive spread! My flight was supposed to leave at 7:30 so I was planning to leave for the airport around 5:45. I decided to play three card poker so walked up to the table and had a mini panic attack because I couldn’t find my chips from the night before. I went back upstairs and dumped my purse out and they were at the bottom of my purse. In retrospect, if I’d lost them somewhere they would have done me as much good because the three card was brutal – four hands in a row that you couldn’t play so I decided to chuck that and go play black jack. That also wasn’t good so since the only thing that I’d done well on was the penny slots I went back to what I knew! No big hits but I played around quite a while and eventually it was time to head to the airport.

Checked in, etc…and I was supposed to be flying from Vegas to LAX and then LAX to Orlando arriving around 5:30 AM. Sitting at the gate the flight out of Vegas was delayed about twenty minutes…then the gate agent called my name and told me that she rebooked me on the flight through Atlanta since I would only have five minutes to make my connection in LA…I couldn’t help myself because I asked her – the Atlanta flight that leaves at 11:30???? She confirmed this and OMG – now I’m stuck in the airport for another five hours and have blown through my gambling budget so I’m just stuck. I made the best of it and read my book and used the free Wi-Fi there and eventually it was time to board. I was asleep before we left the gate despite the smell of pea on the plane. I think it got better once we got moving but it was a bit overwhelming when you first walked in! The flight change now had me getting home at 9:30 AM instead of 5:30 – yuck.

Final Thoughts

A big thumbs up to all the trip report writers who take pictures of wins and can keep track of wins/losses as well as you do. A few times I’ve thought to myself “I should take a picture” but before I know it I’ve hit the button again!

I didn’t mention this but it is probably obvious by now that this was a solo trip. I love going solo and think Vegas is the best place on earth for solo vacations. I have met enough dealers and bartenders during my stays that I do have people to chat with that I’ve seen many times. My next few trips are with family so I cherished my solo time!

Thanks for reading! ]]> Trip Reports klevegas http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58521 <![CDATA[Thenuke's Live Trip Report 9/4 - 9/6]]> http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58481&goto=newpost Sat, 04 Sep 2010 05:05:57 GMT Heres my twitter link http://twitter.com/thenuke1 ill be doing picture and short updates from there ill be doing longer updates on this thread via blackberry ! first tweet post is already up ! Heres my twitter link http://twitter.com/thenuke1

ill be doing picture and short updates from there

ill be doing longer updates on this thread via blackberry !

first tweet post is already up ! ]]> Trip Reports thenuke1 http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58481 Cheerleaders and Golden Arm Training http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58475&goto=newpost Fri, 03 Sep 2010 21:32:07 GMT Monday August 30 thru Thursday September 2, then came home Friday Septembet 3, so Friday does not count. I stay at the Palms. I am a football bettor so my gaming experience is nothing compared to the rest of the posters here. I do dabble in other entertainment sources once in awhile; craps,... Monday August 30 thru Thursday September 2, then came home Friday Septembet 3, so Friday does not count.

I stay at the Palms. I am a football bettor so my gaming experience is nothing compared to the rest of the posters here. I do dabble in other entertainment sources once in awhile; craps, video poker, wheel of fortune(free spin only), and horse racing.

I walk around and I am get betting sheets from Palms, Gold Coast, and Rio. Find my best bet is at the Palms for Ohio State -28.5 versus Marshall(my big college bet) and the Rio I do Pittsburgh +3 versus Utah(my small college bet).

For pros, I had a short list of teams that I wanted on the UNDER and a short list of teams I wanted on the over. On Monday the Gold Coast had the Bears at +130, that means for every $100 dollars I bet on the Bears they would pay me $130. Good bet ,too bad I did not take it. I got some action on the college bets and tomorrow I can wander and get more serious.

I ate dinner at Alize by myself and drank a large quantity of wine.

Tuesday I wander Vegas and check out City Center. I go over to Gold Coast and decide to bet the under on the Bears, by then it had dropped to +$125, so I grabbed that bet with a good amount of cash, no comp for me over there, but that is very good odds. And then I ride the free shuttle from Rio to Harrah's.

Howdy Royal Flusher.

I wander the strip getting a grand total of seven(Palms, Gold Coast, Rio, Harrah's(same as Rio), MGM, Venetian, Wynn, and TI) different football odds sheets so I can figure out where I can get the best bang for my buck.

My football bets are Chicago Bears UNDER 7.5 +125. My other bet is Houston Texans -115 at the Palms and -105 at the Venetian. I grabbed the Palms bet as it was the best of the three I had plus that way I gave the Palms some action but when I found the Houston Texans at the Venetian I had to make a wager there to get those odds. I will write the odds that I had later from the seven places. Harrah's odds are just about always the worst.

Lunch was at Pecos in Bally's in the back. $1 tacos, $1 margaritas, $2 shots of tequila I do not drink tequila

treat was at O'Sheas 99 cents Frozen baileys, had two

I played wheel of fortune at the palms and had three free spins and was able to win money on that. I ate dinner at Alize with jasonargo.

Tuesday night is when I played Video Poker with JasonArgo. He wins, the guy next to me wins, and I donate my $100 into the machine calling it a very bad game. This is quite possibly the end of my video poker career other than just doing it for a little time kill, not trying to get four of a kind because everyone else seems to. Pictures to follow.

Wednesday I do some pony betting

I did fairly well, picture coming of that. I am experimenting with ponies as it is a game that actually involves data that can be used to make a reasonable wager. But I still think it is a rigged sport except for the major races.

Wednesday I hook up with BShowell for the birthday girl and treat them to some rounds of birthday drinks and off they go. Nice meeting the four of you. I did introduce them to a girl cocktail, the Lava Flow. I am a proud consumer of that drink.

That night I decided to begin my training for the Golden Arm Wall of Fame. I head over to the Gold Coast to use the $5 tables versus the Palms $10 tables. I do not have Gold Coast card or a Boyd gaming card which is B COnnected at this time. I play craps there for 5 to 6 hours, being down for the first 5 hours, then finally getting back to even and actually winning in the end on my second to last roll. I always try the second time to roll after a good outting but when I lose back some of the house's money I then decide it is time for bed. I ate at Ping Pang Pong for the first time ever.

back to the Palms to wake up Thursday morning to finalize betting strategy.

Thursday, I walk up the strip and head to the Sahara to get a cab to Cal. I had not walked the strip in a long, long time. I walked by the defunct Fontainbleu and the defunct Silver State Arena. I am trying to find some new sports books odds sheets but either I cannot find the sheets, I tried in Riviera(Crazy leroys?) and some other place, I decide I have had enough of trying for that and I just want to get to the Cal and go for the Golden Arm Wall of Fame.

This Golden Arm Wall of Fame is not well known. I mention to the person at the cab stand, no clue. I mention it to the Cab driver, no idea. I mention the CAL, neither of them know what I am talking about. I said just get me to Fremont Street and I will figure it out.

ON the drive I see the casino with at the Cal on the side of it and decide that HAS to be the place. Cab driver drops em off and I ask the bartender and they knew all about it. They even told me how to find the wall of fame. I head up stairs and find the Sportsbook and they did not have Pro football future picks but they did have college football.

I ask the security guard where the wall of fame is and he has NO IDEA. I mean, he works there, he is on the second floor, and he has no idea? Well, I see what looks like a glass wall that is between the Main Street Station and California and that is where the wall of Fame is.

NEWS

The new unofficial Golden Arm record is now at the Borgata where it is 4 hours and 18 minutes.

I settle in to play some craps until 3 PM or so because I am then heading back to the Palms to watch football. I did not make the Wall, yet, but the dealers all knew I was trying and they had a lot of fun mocking me at my feeble attempts. I did leave the Cal with winning a tiny amount at craps but I played for about four hours. If I did not want to get back to the Palms for football I would have stayed.

I have a new goal in Las Vegas now. Craps at the Cal. I did sign up for a B Connected card and I am good at the Gold Coast and Cal.

I head back to the Palms and make a teaser bet Ohio State -21, Pittsburgh +9, and Minnesota +3. That was a small wager, just 50 bucks to entertain me. I was not confident in Minnesota because I had not researched them yet. I did win the teaser for $125. Plus I got my Ohio State bet and I pushed the Pittsburgh bet at the Rio. A very good night overall. Multiple Benjamins made the flight home.

Jasonargo and I ate at Nine Steakhouse for dinner.

Once I load up pictures I will do some more writing. ]]> Trip Reports BackInVegas http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58475 <![CDATA[Macker, BeeeJay, JNCVH, and Alexanbo's Trip of Debauchery Aug.19-22]]> http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58450&goto=newpost Fri, 03 Sep 2010 09:41:43 GMT OK I hope the mod don't delete this link. I did this on Blonde's board because it is way easier to post pics on there. The crappy part is that there are video links, tonnes of pics, but the forum formats are different, so I just can't copy and paste. Here is the link: http://blonde4ever.yuku.com/topic/16762 ]]> Trip Reports macker69 http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58450 Back Home Already http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58435&goto=newpost Thu, 02 Sep 2010 19:28:01 GMT It has been a week since we returned from our last Vegas escape. I got a great deal through Southwest Vacations, accomodations for 4 nights at The El Cortez for 2, 2 roundtrip nonstop flights from Cleveland, Ohio for $576. For $288 a person I got flight and hotel, where the flight alone with... It has been a week since we returned from our last Vegas escape. I got a great deal through Southwest Vacations, accomodations for 4 nights at The El Cortez for 2, 2 roundtrip nonstop flights from Cleveland, Ohio for $576. For $288 a person I got flight and hotel, where the flight alone with Southwest was over $300. I usually do not "bundle" as I generally find it cheaper to book separate, but this was the exception.

The El Cortez worked out fine. The room was clean and everyone there was friendly. I requested a King room but upon check in all they had were 2 Queens. They gave me a room with a handicap bathroom which was quite large. Either I looked like a gimp or they had nothing else left. I have heard that the bathrooms at The Elco are small so this might have been an advantage. The hand rails around the toilet could come in handy for anyone out there who might have a derailment from the grain train.

I used Payless Car Rental and had no problems. Their rate for 4 days was far better than any one elses at the time. I got a compact Nissan Versa for $95 out the door. The gas gauge stayed on full for so long that I thought it was broken. It was half full when I filled it up before checking it back in. I did alot of driving from downtown, strip, nearby off strip casinos, Summerlin, and Henderson.

We came home down about $300 total for the 2 of us. My wife and I mainly play Video Poker. No royals this trip but got 4 Aces 4 times. Only 2 4OAKS for 2,3,4's which surprised me. We did some Blackjack, Craps, and Paigow. As a diversion we play some slots and video keno. I managed to hit 5 out of 5 twice on Video Keno. I played some matchplays and won two more than I lost. However, one MP was at the Golden Gate for Blackjack. I won the matchplay and continued to almost double my meager buy in when things got ugly. If only I had a crystal ball to tell me when the streak is going to end. usually I have enough discipline to walk away when I'm up. Sometimes the double down or split aces or eights come up and make or break the session. By the time I walk the damage is already done.

I had no problem with Matchplays except at The Hardrock. I plopped the MP along with a ten spot on red at the roulette wheel along with my player's card. The dealer (croupier) or whatever you call the casino employee who spins the wheel told me I had to get the matchplay validated at the Player's Club. The lady stamped it for me and initialed it. I go back to the same roulette wheel and the dealer looks at the MP using his glasses like a microscope for a good 30 seconds. He OK's it and gives me 2 red chips for the ten spot and I bet it on red. The wheel spins round and round and hooray lands on red. After having to jump through hoops, I'm so glad I won that bet. I gave him a buck and went straight to the cage. The Hardrock doesn't offer the Win Cards anymore either. I do like the new casino addition. The South Point also has a huge casino addition. If somebody blindfolded you and took you into the Tropicana and took the blindfold off, you wouldn't know where you were. There is alot to be done yet, but I like it.

We used the MRB (members reward book from LVA) at The Sahara. You give the casier $40 and get $50 in non negotiable chips. We played $5 blackjack and couldn't come out ahead. From there we went in the back to the $1 tables. Usually these tables are packed, but we had no problem getting a seat. Of course we got ahead playing dollars, but not when we were playing at the $5 table. I feel sorry for the dealers at the dollar tables. My wife and I were the only ones tipping. We still found all the dealers to be quite pleasant.

I hate the casinos that have to pump fragrance into the air. I would rather smell smoke or just plain old clean air. If it's just a slight hint of fragrance, I can deal with it. The Tropicana had a slight coconut aroma which was fine. The strong perfume smells are killers. I also hate The City Center. It swallows up everything around it. It's like a huge monster that towers well above everything else. It ruins the flow of the strip for me.

PLACES WE ATE.

The Orleans Buffet. This is still one of my favorite buffets. We had the dinner buffet. I like the selections better when it is not seafood night or steak night or some kind of specialty night. We went on a regular night and found it to be as good as it used to be. Used the 2 for 1 in MRB.

Main Street Station. We had the breakfast buffet here and it is always good. I have had dinner here before on a seafood night and wasn't all that impressed. I have never been disappointed for breakfast. Used the FSE 2 for 1 coupon.

The Rio. We did the lunch buffet at 3:15 which turns into a dinner buffet at 3:30. We have to get the evil empire some way. It was quite crowded, probably because of the 24 hour buffet pass. Always a ton of food to choose from. Used the ACG 2 for 1.

The Golden Nugget. This was our first time at this buffet. We did breakfast. I like the atmosphere in the room and we had a table right by the window overlooking the pool. The pancakes and french toast were fresh and not dried out. The omelet line was very short. Must have got lucky. I will go back. Used the MRB 2 for 1.

M Casino. I have been to The M before but never ate at the buffet. We went to the dinner buffet. They have some selections that you don't see at most buffets. Stuffed pork roll and grape leaves and baby clams come to mind. Decent buffet but the room seemed a little crowded. I felt like our table was too close to the parties around us. Nice open airy room otherwise. The M Casino has one of those aromas piped in that gets sickening after awhile. Used the MRB 2 for 1.

Green Valley Ranch. I've been away from this buffet for awhile. I think I over did it and needed some time away. I guess absence makes the heart grow fonder. It was very good. It seemed to have slipped but seems to be back on track. They had a sh#@ load of crab legs cold and hot. You got a pail if you wanted at your table to throw the eaten legs into. Used the MRB 2 for 1.
They also had a 5 cent DDB VP Progressive bank of machines in the casino which I hadn't seen before. This was not a ten or twenty nickle play. It was an honest play 5 credits max or 25c. The progressive was up over $700. Now remember a nickle VP returns $200 for a royal. I couldn't believe my eyes that the bank wasn't packed with locals. My wife and I sat down with no problem and banged away but couldn't get the royal. We did manage to get numerous 4 OAKS between us and walked out ahead.

Our last meal was breakfast at Burger King at the airport. I probably paid more for that meal than for the buffets. The MRB and ACG easily pay for themselves. Our flight home took off heading west. Sitting on the right side of the plane is ideal for this. We get to see the strip from Mandalay Bay to The Strat. Then as we circle around to head back east, we see the strip from the Strat to Mandalay Bay. It's kind of like a last salute before we head home.

Some pics of room 1210 at The El Cortez.
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]]> Trip Reports Jimbucc http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58435 8/4 to 8/9 40th Bday trip http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58428&goto=newpost Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:08:12 GMT Greetings. 5 nights will probably make for a long trip report, so I'll try to summarize when possible, like now:

Who: Myself (D, 40), Wife (M, 32); joined by her BFF (L, 32) and her boyfriend, (R, 32).
Where: We were comped 4 nights at Palazzo and paid casino rate for the other night. Friends stayed on our comp at TI, 3 free nights.
When: We stayed entire 8/4 through 8/9; friends joined late 8/5 and departed 8/8 in early afternoon.
Why: My 40th bday (was actually 8/12, but babysitters were not available then).

8/4- Direct flight out of KC was fine. M HATES to fly. Never liked it but since kids came along, she dreads it. She is tense the entire flight and has been prone to cry during turbulence. For this trip she popped a Xanax 4 hours before the flight and another as we boarded. She chased that with free bacardi and cranberry's (3) in flight, and found this then made her laugh during turbulence...a welcome change!!

We pour her off the plane, hit the car rental and proceed to Palazzo. Part of our comp was a $150 spa treatment, so she went there for, heck, I dunno, but she was there a while and seemed happy when she got back. I went to Venetian for my game, double deck blackjack and proceeded to win $350 in about 1.5 hours. I also play roulette a la BeeJay- my typical one spin is like this: $5 each on 4, 5, 7, 9, 26, 29, 32, 33, 35; $20 each on 17, 20, 21; $40 to $50 on 23 (yes, I lived in Chicago during the Jordan years). So I threw out my winnings, hit a 21 and gave a little back, but I left the V up $600 in 2 short hours. Head back to the room and shower up to head out to the Palms, our favorite place to gamble. Say what you will about that place, but we love it. Great music in the background, very friendly, fun dealers, and a wait staff that is muy attractive and very efficient. If you get to know the pit bosses, it can play to your advantage, as you'll learn later.

So we head there for dinner at Little Buddah. Outstanding meal! M had scallops that were the size of hockey pucks and I went for the Kung Pao with brown rice- both amazing. I believe with tip it was $125...and well worth it. After dinner we found a DDBJ game and we played for around 4 hours, up several hundy. Around midnight we wanted to maybe hit up a strip club. We get up to leave and my legs weren't working. My eyes were blurry...guess all the drinks that just kept getting shoved down my throat got to me, which rarely happens (M is usually the one being carried out of places). So I had over the keys and instead of partying more, we head back to P. M is a little upset with yours truly and she runs off to play WOF and loses $300. I lost a little chasing roulette, so the night ended with a thud. Still, up for the trip.

Thurs 8/5 has us awake and refreshed by 8am. We get the rental and head out to IHOP. We live in the sticks now (90 miles from any major retail or chain besides Wal-mart), so it was nice to get out from the strip. Did some shopping and headed back to the P. Did some gambling and had 2 hits on 23 so the bankroll is healthy. Had dinner at Laggasse Sports Bar in P, which was outstanding. $85 for both and again, well worth it. Picked up friends at airport and dropped them and car off at TI. We played in the Gilly's Pleasure Pit for a while (auto shufflers suck) and R was treading water. He asked how I was doing for the trip and I explained I had been very lucky with roulette and #23. He's never played but thought it sounded fun. It was getting late (2am) so M and I decided to hit the washroom before heading over to P. We come out and look to say goodbye when we see 23 had just hit on roulette (darn the luck). Well, R is standing there with a huge grin...his first spin ever he threw $25 on 23 and hit for $875. I told him to quit immediately and never play again! Very happy for them as they were on a limited bank...and this helped immensely. So off to bed we go after that great story.

Fri 8/6 saw us back at the Palms where M and I found our DDBJ table and L & R were moving and shaking throughout playing various games. We were there for hours and saw us win another $700. We went back to our rooms to get ready for the evening, starting with dinner at Dos Caminos in P. One of the best meals I've ever had. I had 'mexican paella' which is basically like the spanish version, but with shrimp only (no clams, mussels, lobster). Amazing meal for 4 was $225. Thumbs way up. We then grabbed a cab and hit up a strip club. Ended up a Deja Vu- it was called something else last time we were there...but we still had a great time. I only hit up clubs like this with M, as she loves to go and get lap dances...and who am I to say no? Even though it was my birthday, she certainly had more dances and fun than I did...and we'll leave it at that! We ran a $400 bar tab, but we were playing with house money, so I consider it a free night!

Sat 8/7 proved to be a slow start as we were all feeling the affects of running up a $400 bar tab (granted, at $10 each, but still...) We ordered $80 eggs from P and that was about $75 too much. We liked IHOP much better...We eventually meet up around 2 for lunch at Gilley's. Worst meal of the trip. I had $75 in comps at TI and thankfully we used it here as I wouldn't want to pay for this crap. The waitress was 'worn' and the food was even worse...bad service and bad food...bad times.

So R & L are fans of downtown and M & I haven't spent a lot of time there over the years, so we took the Deuce down (should have just drove). Did some various things here and there and ended up at the Nugget...found a shoe game for $10 that we could all play and had the weirdest experience ever. Older Asian lady dealer comes on...2nd hand she deals she has a 10 showing. We all manage decent hands (doesn't matter what we had, frankly, I can't remember). She turns over a face for a 20...and proceeds to pull another card...an Ace (now up to 21) and she pulls ANOTHER card...a ten so she's got 31 showing and she pays the table...swear to God!! We all silently looked at each other like "holy shit, she just paid us" and she went on as if nothing happened. The dealer at the next table saw it, said something to the pit boss a few minutes later, but nothing really happened. Freaky.

So I'm getting bored and I notice the roulette table behind me is hitting all kinds of my numbers. I buy in for $500 and get the immediate attention of the pit boss. Then I really get his attention when 21 hits back to back with $20 and then $40 on it. Up $2100 on 21! M comes over and she plays similar numbers to me, just not as much. I'm still up big, but am down to my last playing chips...about $35. I look at M and decide what the heck, and put it all on 21..and she throws $25 out there on it...and it hits!! At this point the pit boss is handing me a host card, inviting us to stay, etc...We go catch a light show and ended up in some bar that had a live band- great music and a padded wallet...good times downtown!

Sunday 8/8- we took the friends back to the airport and hit up Tacos and Tequilla at Luxor for some great grub. M had the fish tacos and I got the one with steak and bacon...outstanding! Then of course we had to go to Palms, again. I sat down at DDBJ and bought in for $100...lost it quickly. Another $100 and another bomb. Bought in for $200 and said if this losses that's it for the Palms. Well, the Gods must have heard me as the table got on a roll. Met this awesome couple that was house-sitting for poker player Howard Leaderer and they were a hoot...they did well and I turned my -400 into +$1600 in no time. Great dealers...and got to know the pit boss. She eventually asked M and I if we were having dinner. We were going to hit up Bellagio buffet, but instead got offered $500 at N9NE steakhouse...um, ok!!! Easy decision and amazing meal! Surf and turf for two, lobster bisque, bottle of wine...wow!!!! Head out to play some more and hit $50 on 23 so a nice $3500 win from the Palms and a free meal. I love this place!

Monday 8/9 was your basic getaway day. All told I was up $6k and M was down $1k. We flew for free, paid $150 for 5 nights at P. We put our friends up for free at TI and got $300 in comps there, plus food, so this was easily the most free, most successful trip to date, and I got to spend it with my lovely, amazing, fun bride. It was great to get home to the kids (boy is 5 and girl just turned 1...birthdays are 07-04-05 and 07-26-09, thus, some of my roulette plays). Hope to get some good offers from Palms and maybe even the Nugget.

Home for a few weeks now and wondering when we can go back again! Thanks for reading! ]]> Trip Reports Dutch34 http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58428 <![CDATA[Bally's 8/18 - 8/23- 21st Bday]]> http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58410&goto=newpost Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:36:15 GMT (cross posted)
Another epic trip report. Whenever I get home from Vegas, I don't think I have enough to warrant an actual trip report so I don't sit down and write one. Inevitably, about a week later, I sit at the computer and think I will put a short report up saying what we did. It shouldn't be that long, since we didn't do THAT much, but in the end my reports end up Very long. So grab a beer, a cup of coffee and go with me down memory lane....

This August trip was booked to celebrate my neice's 21st birthday on August 20th. Intially it was going to be me, dh, dd (22) and dn. My father and his wife joined us also. We were all booked into Bally's. I had written my first letter to Bally's management after our March trip celebrating a 50th birthday. I am starting to notice a trend here, lol. I have been to Vegas over 30 times and this was the first letter I have ever written regarding Vegas. My letter went up the food chain all the way to the top, with everyone acknowleding it and then forwarding it on. I had a suite last trip which was absolutely awful and then several other things were bad also. BUT I also mentioned several awesome things too, so it wasn't all bitchy. I was promised that "I would be taken care of" during my next trip and the apologized for the bad things and were going to try and fix them, yada yada. Great, so I thought, lol. About a week or so before our trip, hubbie and I realized that it would be awesome to spend several days together alone before our group arrived. He also had a conference call on Friday he couldn't miss and we would have been in the air then, so we changed our arrival time to Wed night instead, just the two of us. This left my DD and DN to get to the airport themselves and figure it out. Both have travelled alot, but never by themselves, and were a nervous wreck. We had my daughter (who isn't the best on directions) drive us to MKE airport so we could literally show her where to go, where to park, etc. She only got lost twice there with us in the car, lol. She got flustered when we told her to do something and the GPS said something else. Oh my. She drops us off and within seconds hubbie realized his crackberry had dropped in the car. Now my daughter has been busted texting and driving and the rule is now, her cell phone is to be OFF in the car. Of course, the one time she listens to us, is the one time we need her to answer her phone and turn around. Not to be. Hubbie still has a cell phone and hopes for good internet at the hotel until DD gets there and brings his crackberry. Not a good start.

We had paid the $10 for Early Bird Seating. I am a nervous flyer as it is, and wanted to ensure we get a seat within the first ten rows, because I read somewhere about these being the safest. Hubbie had already "Seat Guru'd" what seats he wanted and we did get them. No one sat in the aisle seat, so we were very comfortable going there. My doc has prescribed me Xanax for flying but I don't take these on trips to Vegas, or I can't drink, and that's not happening on a Vegas trip. I had purchased drink vouchers off of eBay and we each had several drinks. Arrive and made an easy switch on to the Car rental bus and picked out our mini van. I know, I know, who the hell wants a mini van in Vegas, but with six people thats all we could really get, lol. We didn't want to have to get two cabs every time we went somewhere and we had LOTS of travelling plans, as my neice doesn't like to gamble and I had told her there was tons to do besides gambling.

The deal was with hubbie is that if we rent a car, then I would only agree if we valet'd each and every time. I can't stand lugging luggage and walking sometimes a very long way if you park in the parking garages. Done. He insisted we use my Diamond card in the Diamond line every time, even though there was NEVER a line, lol.

Check in was simple and easy as usual in the Diamond lounge, even though the regular check in line was crazy crazy long. Someone posted not too long ago, about making friends in that line and even having someone go and get drinks while the wait. I can totally see that happening, lol. All five of my nights were free due to marketing, but with all of the back and forth with management, I truly thought I would be "taken care of". I swear in one of my emails they stated they would put me in a renovated suite. I haven't bothered to go back and read them. I did ask if our room was renovated and was told it was, so yeah. I didn't ask if it was a suite, which I was supposed to have. Our room was 2310, not even half way down the hallway, so that was awesome, BUT it most certainly wasn't a suite. It probably had been renovated within the last several years, but due to so many people using it, it needed it again. It was bigger than some of the rooms I have seen, so we didn't do anything but shake our heads and laugh it off. I had posted my last trip report that rooms other people got on my 'friends and family' offer were MUCH nicer than what we had, ie, plasma tv's etc. This room didn't have a plasma tv or a seperate shower or anything, pretty much a basic room. Whatever. We are going to move hotels anyway. We have been loyal Bally's people for a bunch of years now. You just can't beat the location and I love the casino, but it is really showing it's age. Lots of stuff in the room needed touching up, such as scratched paint, broken dresser drawers, burnt out light bulbs etc. I think we are going to change to Paris or Plant Hollywood from now on. Put our things away, make several phone calls home to check on kids and dogs. We have three dogs, and our son who is staying at our house to watch them and our daughter has a dog, PLUS my dad and wife have a dog that will also be coming over. So apparantly my house has turned into a dog kennel and smelled as such when we got home! But a bucket of Pine Sol soon took care of that problem, lol and I wasn't there to witness it, so all was good. As we unpack I realize I forgot to pack underwear! How the hell does that happen? Plan a trip for months and months, down to each and every outfit and then proceed to forget underwear. OMG. Another call home to DD to ask she bring them out when she comes. Pretty embarrasing for her to go thru that drawer, lol. Hubbie takes FOREVER to unpack, check his email, set up his computer, etc. He is not getting internet connection ($14 a day). Finally calls tech support and gets it all figured out, except the connection keeps dropping. He finds a cable behind the TV and all is well. It is now around 9 I believe. We grabbed something to eat at the little sandwhich place in the back and off we go to gamble. When we originally budgeted for this trip, we were only going for three nights, four days, but now that we added on two nights, we didn't add to our gambling budget, so things got interesting. Before we left, I was like "sure $x is good for me every day" Ha, once there, not so much, lol. We were both tired as it is two hours earlier and it has been a long day. Decided we would seperate and head up in an hour or so. I went up at 2:45 am, (4:45 at home!) instead of my alloted hour, lol. Hubbie was tossing and turning, so he knew what time I got in. No passing this by him, lol. No big wins, no huge losses, just played enough to keep me going. Found the new Lord of the Ring (??) slots and played them for a long while.

Up and at 'em at 6 am the next morning. Went down for what my hubbie calls my "$200 cup of coffee". The place is dead! Usually at this time you have people still up from the night before and the early risers like me, but the place was dead. Oh well, now I can play what I want to play and not just play whatever machine is open, which I hate. Hubbie worked in the room all day, and I did my thing. We obviously ate, but cannot remember. I think for bfast, I brought him up coffee, fruit and yougurt from the coffee kiosk in the lobby. Seriously can't recall what we did for lunch or dinner. After dinner, he played BJ till we had to the airport to pick up my father and his wife who were due to arrive aound midnight. I was playing alot of hit or miss. Throw money in this machine, play awhile, till it sucked it all up and move on. Went back to Lord of the Rings and I hit something I didn't understand so I asked the woman next to me and we just started talking. She told me she had been sitting at a machine by the front door just a little while ago and hit twice for a total of $3k! She was sitting next to a "dirty" kind of guy and when she won, she told me he got kind of nasty towards her. You know that happens. You sit on a machine for a long time, someone comes and sits down next to you and hits a big one. I get a little aggravated but I am also SO SO happy for that person. Why can't that ever be me? So she cashes out and then sticks another hundred in, and hits it again! Same machine, within minutes. For another handpay! So apparantly this guy totally goes off, stands up and starts screaming and swearing at her. She gets scared and calls security. This all happened minutes before I started talking to her and she thanks me for being nice, lol. I tell hubbie about all of this later. When dad and I are playing, I run into her again, she is playing her winning machine and it hits AGAIN for $1500! She has now pulled off $4500 from three wins on a penny machine. I sat there several times the next couple of days and nothing, lol. How totally cool for her. She is telling me she feels bad and is going to donate half to her church. I ask her why she feels bad and she tells me it a Sicilian thing. I tell her I am also Sicilian, I wouldn't feel bad, but if she does, then just tithe (sp?) 10%! We both laugh. I love seeing people win, but I have never seen someone win this amount over and over on the same damn machine. YEAH for her!

Earlier I had gone into the Diamond lounge to see if everyone travelling on this trip could be put in the same tower as us. I always get the two towers mixxed up, but I know if it is your first time staying there, they put you in other tower. They were able to get dad and his wife on the same floor as us, so that was good. I also verified the girls room would be on our floor. This was booked under hubbie's card and we usually check in together but with us changing our dates, it got a little crazy. I had asked they be put on the same floor but NOT next to us for obvious reasons. Lo and behold the only room they had and they had already put a hold on it for them, was 2310A. Yep connecting to us. It was either keep that or they would have to go on another floor. We kept that.

Got dad and wife fine. Airport was very quiet. Weird to see that. The line for check in was crazy again. We waited for probably 45 minutes to get them checked in. Dad and I played awhile, but not together. Hubbie and wife went to bed. OH, they had brought DH's crackberry, so his heart palpitations ceased, which was a good thing, lol. I was again up early and dad told me he was up playing most of the night, lol. All of us go to the airport to pickup the girls. It is officially my neice's 21st birthday. What a cool aunt I am 'eh?

They made it all right. I hadn't given them any drink vouchers, thinking WHY would they drink on the plane at 8 am? Silly silly me. Of course they had a pre boarding drink, mimosa and bloodies. Funny thing, even though I had purchased the Early Bird seating and they were low A's, they took seats towards the back of the plane. Silly girls. They had a blast on the plane. The SW flight attendants were a stitch. When they found out it was DN 21st, they had everyone close their window shields, turn on their lights (supposed to be candles they said) and had everyone sing happy birthday to her. How fun is that! They also made her a crown to wear out of peanut packets and she came off the plane that way. Some guys bought them a drink and they bought one themselves, so they were ready to go. Unfortunately for the, once the got checked in, had their first Vegas drink, they needed a nap, lol. The four of us gambled while we waited for them. They finally got up.

We decided to do a mini strip crawl. Headed out of Bally's and turned right. Started at Bill's. The game plan was that everyone put in a $20 into a machine, and see who lasted the longest or who had the most after a certain amount of time. Half the people followed the rules, half didn't. Some people put in a$10 and some people put in a $100. Geez! Grabbed a drink and headed down, hitting several casinos on the way. The next casino we all sat at a Three Card table. Dealer was dead quiet and BORING but within minutes switched out with a guy who was absolutely hysterical. We played there for a long time. First time playing for myself and the two girls. Everyone had a blast. What was funny, is that at every table we went to, Dh would pull out four one hundred dollar bills, one each for me, him and the two girls. The deal was if they win, they keep half and DON'T lose, lol. We were up at the end of the crawl, which worked out great for everyone. We took over entire tables at a bunch of casinos, BJ, Three Card, Roulette, BJ switch, etc, sometimes playing machines to break things up. Blast and a half. Crawled and limped back to Bally's. On our way past Bill's, Big Elvis was playing and I HAD to stop in and sing and dance to several of his songs, as we had missed his show the last several trips. He is looking great!

We were supposed to have a nice dinner somewhere and then go to Mandalay Bay to experience Minus Five, which we KEEP meaning to go to every trip, but never quite make it. I spend alot of that day at Sully's playing VP. Still waiting on my first Royal, but did hit 4oak several times and had a great time with the bartenders. At some point during that day, I had gone over to PH to pickup my free Peepshow tix, but the only time I could get them was Sat and we already had Cirque Elvis at that time, but I got them anyway. I ended up giving them to the bartender. I only hope he used them as he said he was and didn't sell 'em. lol.

Everyone got gussied up and we met at Sully's deciding where to go. On FB, I had read before I left, that Bally's Steakhouse was 20% off if you showed a room key. Hubbie went over to check. They had never heard of that, but sent someone to check. We made ressies for like an hour later and enjoyed each other's company while we waited. They did figure out the 20% off, so that made dinner even nicer than it was. They bent over backwards for us. Complimentary champage, hundreds of rose petals all over the table, complimentary desert, complimentary pictures of all of us, for all of us, sang happy birthday. It couldn't have been better, really. DH and I split, as did the girls the chateubriand (I have no idea how to spell that one!) and it was to die for. Drinks were good, apps were good. It was truly an incredible meal. Again, I can't remember what we did after, but I know we had fun. Both of the girls were dead tired and my father was beat from being up all night, so we never made it to MB or Minus Five....once again. The ink on my coupons is going to fade before we use them, lol. I was also supposed to meet up with some board members at some point, BeeJay, Macker, Alexanbo and ? (sorry, lol). But it was just hubbie and I playing at this point. The girls were supposed to be there to encourage luck at the craps table, since they were vegas craps virgins. But they were sleeping. BeeJee and I played phone tag several times. I did see them at a table but was leery to go over and just introduce myself. Why would they want to meet someone as old as their mother? I finally did get enough courage up to go and say hi when they were all playing craps and it was really good to meet them and put faces to the names. Fun, good group of guys. Their trip was an epic one, thats for sure.

Sat, I was up early, as was my dad and my daughter. Got hubbie and wife up and all met for bfast at the cafe, minus my neice, who would sleep 20 hours a day if we let her. We are in Vegas baby, get up and get moving! I have to tell you that the service in this place is awful and has been for years. My daughter orders a coke and it was like a bad movie, "a wha, cof-fe?" "No, a Coke" "wha?" "Coke" "cof fe?" . I was like "A COKE A COLA" "Oh, gracious". OMG. Funny at first, but not so funny time after time. For whatever reason, I always order a yogurt parfait in Vegas, never at home, but always there. Ordered it, got it, and the granola was stale. I am not a picky eater, but for like $11 or whatever it costs for a little thing of yogurt, fruit and granola it better be fresh. Please take this off my bill. Get up ourselves for more coffee. The waiter/waitress really gets an attitude if you don't eat off the buffet and order off the menu. Geez. We ate there again two days later, same thing, bad bad service, except now my egg benedict eggs were totally raw. With this huge egg recall, I couldn't get myself to eat them. I am normally not a picky person, but I had to send my food back. They did bring back my eggs, but by this time the toast and hash browns were ice cold. You just have to laugh.

I had rented a cabana today, and it was SO SO worth it again! The price was $225 which I though ridiculous, especially when only two out of, what ten, twelve cabana's were rented? Even though it was 105 out, inside the cabana was great, with the shade, fan and mister. Lots to drink and eat. Ordered a fruit plate and a cheese and cracker plate and lots of buckets of beer for hubbie and I . The girls were drinking foo foo drinks. Spend alot of time in the pool. I have to say, since they started advertising this pool as the party "Blu Pool" instead of just Bally's pool, things have sure changed from last summer. Lots and lots of 20 something's having a great time. The girls didn't want to leave, but we had to get ready for dinner.

I had made dinner reservations at Olives for five, so we got there at 4:30 to ensure patio seating. Another awesome meal and experience. I have to do this every trip! Slowly but surely we headed towards the tram to get over Aria for Cirque Elvis. I had bought tix for myself and hubbie months earlier on some promo and we had great seats. Later on, I bought four more for the rest of our group and they were in the balcony. Oh, I forgot to mention, I was double booked at Bellagio. The plan was after the show, the girls would get ready in that room to hit the club at Bellagio. I had gotten them passes to get in. They were SO looking forward to going to a Vegas club, they could hardly stand it. After dinner, myself, DH, dad and wife go over to Aria for tickets and to wait for the girls. They had gone back to Bally's to get their ourfits for the club and put them in my Bellagio room. When my niece first saw the B room, she was like "HELLO! WHY aren't we staying here?!!" LOL. We did take the toiletries since they are so much nicer, lol. While the four of us were waiting at Aria, we walked around a bit and played. Not a ton of penny machines here, at least not by the escalator to the show. Dad hit though, so that was good. Hubbie who also never plays slots, also hit a huge one. The girls find us unbelievable and they sit down. DD put in a ten into a penny machine, plays one hand, gets frustrated she doesn't understand the machine, hits the cash out button and gets $101 back! She was ecstatic! Until the next day when she lost $10 and whined and whined, not getting she was still up!! OH well, you gotta laugh.

While we waited for the doors to open for the show, they had people walking around asking to look at your tickets and point you to the right door. When they looked at ours, and realized we weren't all seated together, they told us to hold on. Came back several minutes later and asked if we would like to sit together in much better seats. Well Yeah! Escorted us down to the front section, second or third row, but no one was in front of us. Incredible!!

I still don't know how I feel about this show, I thought I would be standing and dancing the whole time. Not so. Initially, I thought the show was more like a High School Glee act, but it got better and better. It is more of a dancing show then anything else. They show a bunch of clips and stuff about Elvis, and it is his music, but... I did really, really enjoy it though. If Mystere is a ten, then Cirque Elvis is a five. The dancers and performers and incredible as usual, but you find yourself watching the monitor of clips instead of the dancers. Not sure if I would recommend it. I only hope they do a much better job on the new Michael Jackson Cirque show.

After the show, the girls were supposed to get ready and go the club. Dad and wife cabbed it back to Bally's. Dh, myself and the girls trammed it back to Bellagio. By the time we got there, the girls decided they were just way too tired to go. Had a quick snack at Bellagio's cafe and back to Bally's we went. The girls decided to do the club the next night.

Went downtown Sunday and did a MAJOR Casino crawl. Was only planning on being there a couple of hours, but it turned into more like eight, lol. We hit every casino, big or small, and either played a bank of slots or took over a table. Tons of fun! We were in one little itty bitty dive casino, the size of a tshirt shop and they handed us tickets when we walked in, "we have a winner every half hour!". About ten minutes later, they called my dad's number and he won a whopping, wait, wait....


TWO DOLLARS! ROFL. The girls were amazed that some casinos didn't have tickets, took and gave actual coins! Funny how things change and how fast you get used to them. Ate dinner downtown at a fast food court, lol. Subway never tasted so good.

Got back to the hotel. I had all intention of taking a shower and getting dressed up. Tonight was piano bar night. We love going to the piano bar at Bally's / Paris, do it every trip. I like to be there when it opens at nine. But we didn't get there till almost ten. Hubbie and I stopped in several days earlier and it was not crowded, so we assumed on Sunday it wouldn't be crowded either. Wrong, every table packed! We had to wait for people to leave to sit down. The girls found a table front and center and the singers made fun of both of them all night. It was fun. We found a table in the back. We ended up joining the girls about an hour later, when people left. Stayed there all night. They end at one, and hubbie and I left at like 12:45. On the way back to the room, he decided he was hungry and the $1 tacos at the little eatery/bar at Bally's would hit the spot. $1 margarita, $1 tacos, can't beat that. Weird experience, another bad server situation. People who had a different server, sat after us, ordered, got their food, ate and paid before we even got our food. DH had to go find the waitress in the back room to ask where our food was. Of course she forgot, but "the kitchen is SO slow". I had chicken tacos - just say NO, and hubbie had the regular beef tacos which was fine. DH had to go looking for her again when we were done. The bill was $12.45 and we left $13!! I was like, I DARE you to come out after us and say something. I am a VERY good tipper, usually 25%, but OMG! The girls closed up the piano bar, went up to the room to get ready. Went over to the club at Bellagio, stood in line for half an hour. Finally talked to someone, who looked at their tickets and was told "these are free before midnight only. You have to pay $40 to get in". They were like, hell no, and came home, lol. So no Vegas club for them unfortunately.

Monday, took dad and wife to airport. Had the girls packed and put stuff in our room at 11. Checked out at two. Headed over to Mandaly Bay. I had a restaurant.com cert for the cafe. We were also going to check out Luxor while we were down there. The Miss Universe pageant was that day, so absolutely no valet parking unless you were a guest. Directed us downstairs to another ("The Hotel") valet, which worked out great. Walked in, turned right and there was the cafe. No one at the front desk, but there were several people eating. Finally got sat, was told the kitchen closed after we ordered. We ordered burgers and clubs, that's it, no alcohol drinks, no apps, no desert and even with the $25 discount, the bill ws $62. You have to laugh. We were also laughing however at "The store" that was right there and thought that the bathrooms should too have a sign "THE bathroom". Obviously the pool is along that corridor and while 95% of the people were dressy and classy going to and from the pool, there was one very large girl in shorts and bra walking back and forth, with her shorts half way down. Not good, especially when you are eating, lol. Didn't have time to go to Luxor, brought car back and headed to airport. Had LOW A boarding passes, so we got right on. I took half my pill and was good to go. About an hour into the flight, we hit some pretty good turbulence and I took another half and pretty much was asleep till we got home, lol.

Since it was my neice's 21st, both she and my daughter got carded everywhere, obviously. THEN everyone wanted to sing, bartenders, waiters, craps dealers, cocktail waitress's. It was SO SO funny. I finally had to tell people No, please don't sing anymore, I can't take it anymore. My birthday was on Sunday and did I have anyone sing me happy birthday? NO, not once, lol.

All in all, a really, really fun trip. Now all three "older" kids have gone to Vegas for their 21st. This trip was good, no drama, no craziness, just fun. The dogs survided, the kids survived, we survived, lol. Our youngest child is 13, so it will be a LONG while before we do another 21st birthday trip. So next trip will be just hubby and I, and at a new casino! Maybe in the Spring. I better start planning! ]]> Trip Reports kel3420 http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58410 Mirage and Golden Nugget 8/8-8/13 http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58394&goto=newpost Wed, 01 Sep 2010 01:16:19 GMT Nothing super exciting, just pretty basic. This was a long overdue vacation as my husband and I have had a rough year and a half. Little background, we are in our 30's, no kids and this is our 7th trip. This trip was intended to be more of a relaxing time since we have been several times before, so nothing major exciting.

8/8: Left out of RDU on time on Delta flight. Short layover in Atlanta and arrived in LV around 10 I believe. Cabbed it to Mirage (two comped nights) and traffic was HORRIBLE. Lots of airport construction and there were several wrecks. Paid a little extra and took a back way which ended up being cheaper. Check in was easy and we headed up to our room. Very nice!! I was really impressed! Only thing bad was the overpowering floral room deodorizer. Whew it was really strong. We went to bad and didn't really explore the hotel because it had been a long day.

8/9: Woke up and had breakfast at Cravings. I thought it was really good and so did my husband. The mexican style potatoes were awesome! (We ended up just eating two meals a day which saved $$). I went to the already crowded pool and husband went to do his craps, blackjack and poker thing (which I don't have a lot of details about) That afternoon we went shopping at Miracle Mile Shops which I love. It was crowded! Actually Vegas was really really crowded. At late lunch/early dinner at Cheeseburger Cheeseburger. It was good but service is so slow. After that we went back to Mirage. I went to Fashion Show Mall (on the hunt for bathing suit and new shows) and DH went to do his thing. It was HOT out! I walked but whew it was a scorcher! Found suit and shoes immediately and headed to grab some sodas at Walgreens. Headed back to room for nap and some slots. I won't talk about my gambling because although I didn't do a whole lot of it, there was nothing exciting. I ended up hanging out in the room most of that night watching Nip Tuck on my netbook (had to pay $15 resort fee).

8/10: Woke up and went back to buffet for breakfast. DH received some discounts playing poker. Again it was good!! We decided to go see Fantasy that night so I went immediately to Tix 4 Tonight over at Casino Royale. It wasn't open yet so I played some slots and actually won about 70 which pretty much paid for our show tickets. Had to wait in line for maybe 30 minutes. Got the tickets and headed back. Only thing I can say bad about tix 4 tonight is that the lady who worked there told me the show was open seating, but it wasn't. Headed back to pool to get a spot and stayed there several hours. Met DH up for late lunch/early dinner at California Pizza Kitchen, it was good but the wait was absolutely absurd!!! After that, I think I went upstairs to relax because it was going to be a late night because of the show that started at 10. Headed to the Luxor around 8:30 to get tickets and that's when I realized no opening seating. The show was good, but not as good as Crazy Horse. Actually not even close. The main singer (can't remember her name) was really really good! Show ended we headed back and went to bed.

8/11: Woke up really early, packed up and headed to Golden Nugget for the remaining two nights. We ended up staying in the old section which wasn't that bad, considering only $39 a night. Got to check in really early and then walked around fremont street. I had a coupon (thanks VMB) for buy one get one free at Paradise Buffet so our lunch was like $7 and change for both!! It was good! Chocolate cake was awesome!! We went back and I went to the super nice pool! It was pretty packed but gosh I was really impressed. We ended up eating dinner at the cafe they have but I can't remember the name. It was okay nothing special. I ended up going back by the pool and just relaxing for a few hours because the weather was great!!

8/12: This was my BEST day!! Breakfast at Krispy Kreme. I ended up sucking it up and renting a chaise lounge at the hideaway pool! Best decision ever. Granted it's really small but it was nice with no kids running around. The waitress are very attentive. I stayed there all day pretty much, with only one break to come in to cool off. Oh my gosh, if anyone is considering this, it was really nice and relaxing. The chairs are so comfy and oversized, I really enjoyed it. We had dinner at the japanese restaurant and it was okay. I thought was really overpriced, it was like $80 for both of us and it wasn't worth that much. I ended up back at the pool that night to relax some more before we headed back.

8/13: Up REALLY early to head back on Southwest flight. Flight was good. Layover in Nashville and then home by 5:00 so we could pick up our dogs at the kennel.

Overall, very impressed with the Mirage and Golden Nugget and would stay at both again. Impressed with Tix 4 Tonight since we decided on a whim to do a show. No spectacular dining experience and the show was okay. It was a really good trip though. We both needed a vacation and I got lots of relaxation time. No big winnings but we pretty much go there knowing that's not happening.

We absolutely love Vegas and really hope my interview on the 17th works out! We always get home and are glad to be home but then a few days later we are ready to go back! I'd be happy to answer any questions. :) ]]> Trip Reports jsimpson http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58394 Michael Buble (now with more boob and extra lay...and pictures!) - 8/26 to 8/30 http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58385&goto=newpost Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:57:17 GMT The Skinny

Here's where you can decide if it's worth reading this trip report...I'll be discussing the following:

- Flight in first class from PHL.
- Limo to/from airport...clueless driver.
- 4 nights at Palazzo in a Siena Suite.
- Dinners at Carnevino and Mesa Grill.
- Michael Buble concert at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
- Some losing gambling.
- Some winning gambling.
- Too many W2-G's.
- Bad cab drivers.
- Flying back in coach with a bad back and a head cold.

Background

This would be trip #28 to Vegas for me. Accompanying me would be my girlfriend (GF) who is already up to her 3rd trip in 13 months. What prompted this trip was a conversation we had in mid-July. It went something like this:
GF: Michael Buble is playing Vegas in late August...I can probably take a couple days off work if you want to head out there for a long weekend.
ME: Booked.

I arranged for some comped concert tickets and also took advantage of a good offer from Palazzo which I'll discuss shortly.

Flight

I used miles to upgrade from coach to first class for the trip out. This was a little surprise for my GF. We'd be flying USAirways and considering how difficult they make it to use miles for flights, upgrading with miles is almost more efficient. Not a fan of USAir...but flying cross-country from Philly, they offer the most non-stop options. Plus they now have wi-fi on the plane...which allows for some in-flight bragging on Facebook.


This picture was taken before coach had even fully boarded!


Dinner is served.

One of the best ways to kick off a Vegas trip is to get that little ego rush when you take the escalator down to baggage claim to see a gentleman in a suit holding a placard with your name. Good stuff! Unfortunately, USAir/McCarran was SLOW with the bags. We waited for almost 45 minutes for the bags to arrive on the carousel. The driver was quick and efficient in handling the bags and escorting us down to Zero Level to his awaiting limo. I noticed immediately that Palazzo, like so many other companies, had outsourced my business! This wasn't a Palazzo driver...it was a Bell Trans driver.

The limo was nicely appointed...but I noticed something was up when he didn't take the tunnel. Almost all limo drivers take the tunnel/freeway for strip hotels. Instead we started down Swenson and then Paradise and then Flamingo and then through the Howard Hughes Industrial Park(!?!). I'm being long-hauled by a limo driver! Finally onto Spring Mountain, the strip, and the into Palazzo. As he unloaded my bags he said he'd find out where invited guest check-in was for me. Uh....thanks, but it's not my first visit to Palazzo. I tipped him well, considering with the bag wait and the long-haul we had spent over an hour together.

The Room

Check-in went smoothly...I prefer higher floors, not sure why, I just do. Unfortuantely, the clerk put me on the paltry 20th floor with a "golf course view." Ahhh...you mean Wynn's golf course? Yes, nice try. The offer I was coming in on was up to 5 nights in a Siena suite, $1000 freeplay, $150 food credit and the aforementioned limo transfers. Siena suite is approximately 1500sq ft. Not bad, but not a huge improvement over the standard suite at Palazzo. Here are some pics I shot as we were checking out...


The entrance way, a lot of the square footage is wasted here.


The living room.


The bathroom...the highlight of which is the shower with 6 shower heads. It's big enough for four people...but not five unfortunately. :evillaugh

Not pictured is the bedroom (which was a little too messy), the make-up/dressing area, and the guest bathroom. One very nice thing about this room is the location puts you far away from any neighbors. Our room was a serene getaway...and no matter what went on in the halls or nearby rooms we didn't hear a peep. It made for much more restful sleep and a relaxing stay. You don't realize how much you value quiet hotel rooms until you endure loud neighbors in other establishments.

Gambling Part 1 - Palazzo

I'm largely a video poker player. I'm comfortable playing any casino game, but I tend to play video poker for the comps and the solitary nature of the play. I never play in Vegas without a plan of attack. I'm careful where and when I use my players card to facilitate the best averages for comp purposes. I had not given any play to Palazzo in almost a year when this offer rolled in. In fact, I had planned to cut them out of my rotation for a while, choosing to focus on other properties. In taking advantage of this offer, I decided I'd give them approximately $80-100k coin-in on one day of my visit. This represents about twice my normal daily play amount and would hopefully trigger some future offers. If it didn't, I'm not giving up too much considering the freeplay they gave me on this trip. My other plan was to give Harrahs one day of decent play as well as Wynn one day. I was on the fence on whether to give MGM some play, but decided to do so in the end. I do not use my players cards for anything on days when I'm not playing at that property.

First up would be my play at Palazzo. I varied betwen $2 3-play, $1 Spin Poker, and $2 Spin Poker. At first my results started very good after being dealt a Straight Flush at $2 3-line. I didn't get a picture of this for some reason, but it resulted in my first hand-pay of the trip. $1500. Unfortunately, that was the only thing to go right on that machine and my session ended down about $1k. Later I moved to $1 Spin Poker...and after a few too many vodka/red bulls, I moved onto $2 Spin Poker. Surprisingly I held my own on the $90/spin Spin Poker. When I realized that Palazzo was giving me $3/pt and I already had $90k coin-in, I decided to go for 30,000 pts to reach Gold Level for the next year. Variance is a bitch at this level. I was down about $5k on the night at one point. Along the way, I hit hand-pays of $1380, $1430, and $2580 (4 Aces). No pictures of these...and well, they would have been a bit blurry. Finally, after many hours, I stopped my play at Palazzo. In the end I was up about $500 on the day. That's a pretty good recovery from the low-point and felt like a much bigger win than it was.

Dining Part 1 - Carnevino

Dinner the first night was at Carnevino in Palazzo. This is a Mario Batali restaurant and it is listed as an Italian Steakhouse. I had not heard many definitive reviews of Carnevino, so I wasn't sure what to expect. We were overwhelmed. Everything was done exceptionally. I had the NY Strip with a side sauce of horseradish black pepper zabaglione and sides of green beans and mashed potatoes. My GF had the Filet Mignon. Everything was extremely tasty. The steak was one of the best I've ever had (Bobby Flay's Steaks in Atlantic City is still the best I've had). The green beans were prepared with lemon zest, which gave them excellent flavor...the mashed potatoes had egg yolk as a topping which created a creamy, buttery consistency to the dish. No room for dessert, althought we did enjoy a nice cocktail to close out the meal.

Micheal Buble Concert

The highlight of the weekend for my GF was definitely the Michael Buble concert. I'm never a fan of seeing touring acts in Vegas because I feel like they don't put on as much of an effort because the audience is never as into it as they are in other cities. Buble actually mentioned this in his show...so I guess my suspicions are valid. That said...Michael Buble put on ONE HELL OF A SHOW. I'm not a big fan by any means...I'm just not his target audience. However, neither were most men in the audience. Buble has a strong charisma on-stage...and while most of the shtick is rehearsed and not nearly as sporadic as he wants you to believe, it works well. Buble is only 34 yrs old...and maybe when he gets older and tired of the road, he'll be a headliner in Vegas. He definitely could pull it off. Here's a couple pics from the show.




Gambling Part 2 - Planet Hollywood and Aria

My Total Rewards offers had dipped a bit for Vegas and while I normally do better going through hosts or other clubs, I still like to keep Harrahs in the picture for gifting rooms away when needed. I decided to give them some play on the 5-line $1 8/5 Bonus Poker at Planet Hollywood. This game somehow survived the Harrahs VP axe when they took control of PHo, and I'm not sure how much longer it'll stick around. $50k coin-in took a couple hours and cost me a little over $2k. Oh well, just wasn't hitting the premium quads.

That same night, the GF went to Aria to visit our favorite bar in Vegas...no, it's not City Bar, Todd English's Pub, Union, Duece....or any of the other high-end offerings off the casino floor...it's the Skybox Sports Bar located between the poker room and the sportsbook. What makes this our favorite bar are the friendly bartenders. Each one is more friendly and personable than the next. Seriously, these guys are first-class all the way. We've never paid for a drink here because they are quick to comp everything...no matter how much or how little you are playing on the bartop. While sitting there enjoying another well-prepared beverage, I decided to give Aria some play. The machines at the bartop have good paytables as far as bartops go, and $5 denom is full-pay on Jacks and Bonus Poker. I decided to play some Bonus Poker and after a little while of up and down, I got dealt three Aces and pulled the fourth (BeeeeeJay will note that had I been playing his beloved DDB this would have been $10k...however, I'm not much for the DDB variance. BP is as far as I go)



This hit helped me get through $50k of wagering at Aria and still turn a profit. One note about hitting big jackpots at bartop machines...in most places, the bartenders expect a big tip. As if they had something to do with your good fortune. While I don't mind tipping the clerk that brings the handpay, I'm really turned off by bartenders who expect something extra. I'm happy to report the bartenders at Skybox were genuinely happy for me and noted that at $5 denom, that might not insure a profit on the night. I would have tipped them generously regardless of the hit, but was glad not to get the hustle.

Cab Drivers

A side note about cabs in Vegas. It really is a necessary evil to take cabs when travelling with a woman who likes to wear short dresses and ridiculous heels. Cabs are direct, efficient transportation when done right. We experienced the extremes this trip. First the bad, going from Palazzo to MGM for the concert. It's 7pm on Saturday night...prime time. I get in and the cabbie asks me if I want to go via the strip or the freeway. "Uhhh...how about the road behind Palazzo that goes right to MGM, Koval." "oh, ok." The rest of the cab ride felt like we were at Gilley's riding the mechanical bull. Herky and jerky. Slam the gas. Slam the brakes. Rinse. Repeat.

Conversely, our cab ride from NYNY to Palazzo after the show was far more efficient. The cabbie used the freeway and even cut through TI to avoid the strip traffic. Getting a good cabbie in Vegas is like everything else in town, a gamble.

Dinner Part 2 - Mesa Grill

A friend of mine is Seven Stars at Harrahs and one of the perks of such is a $500 meal comp annually. He invited my GF and I along for the ride at Mesa Grill. $500 for three goes a long way at Mesa Grill. We had a generous array of appetizers, entrees, side dishes and desserts. I again had NY Strip...since Bobby Flay was my leader for best steak, I figured I'd give him a shot to top himself. The steak was excellent...but his east coast counterpart still wins out. Among the highlights of the meal: the goat cheese queso fundido, the roasted corn side dish, and the deep-dish banana creme pie. The only hitch was our sommelier...who came across as less than personable and was trying to upsell us on the wine. In the end, with two bottles of wine, a few cocktails, and more than enough food, our bill came out just shy of $500. A very enjoyable experience.

Gambling Part 3 - Wynn

For whatever reason, Steve Wynn doesn't like me much. I think I play games with a little too thin of a house edge for his advanced datamining. My offers from Wynn are usually fairly plain. In a continuing effort to get on their radar, I decided to give them roughly $50k in play. Wynn gutted most of the decent VP they once had, so I was forced to play single line $5 9/6 Jacks. This quickly turned into a money drain. I dropped a couple thousand and I hit the low-point of my trip during my first hour of play...-$5500. I decided to soldier through it. After gaining back about $1k, I decided to bump up to $10 denom for a while. I figured I'd either make a run at getting back to even, or lose back profits I had already accepted. After a few hands I got dealt this beauty:

Interestingly, the last time I played $10 denom was at Wynn in March and on that brief session I was also dealt quads. Perhaps this is why Steve Wynn doesn't like me.

With some wind in my sails, I dropped back down to $5 denom and plowed forward to reach my coin-in goal. I few minutes later I hit this:

I love hitting a Straight Flush on a two-gapper...it makes up for all those times you hold that hand and cringe. Shortly after this I found myself up pretty good for the session. My back had been bothering me (I'd explain why...but what happens in Vegas...) so I stopped short of my coin-in goal and booked the win.

Tipping

In the end on this trip I wound up with $11,500 in W2-G's...which means approximately 115 hundies being counted out one by one into my palm this trip. Which also means a lot of tips to clerks paying me that cash. As someone who plays a significant amount in casinos, the W2-G's don't bother me...sure my AGI is ridiculously high on my tax returns, but the income gets off-set mostly. What bothers me is how much I give up to tipping. I am very strict when it comes to handpay tipping...I tip 1% with a minimum of $20 and a maximum of $100. A lot of my hits were under $2k this trip, so my tips ended up representing closer to 2%. When I play BJ I rarely tip during play but rather at the end of my session. All gaming tips come out of my bankroll, while all non-gaming tips (cabs, food, etc) come out of my spending money. Overall on this trip I came home down $1700...but $250 of that were tips.

Flight Home

As I mentioned, I was dealing with a bad back and on my final day I woke up stuffy and congested. Combine a bad back, a head cold, and flying coach across country and you've already identified three circles of hell. The only thing that got me through the flight home was the wi-fi. Although the lady sitting in front of me nearly crunched my laptop when she reclined her seat as far as possible. I thought about writing this trip report from the plane...but I knew I had a zombie day at work ahead of me today, so I did it here instead.

Final Thoughts

- Palazzo is a very nice place to stay and the proximity to the northern end of center strip is very nice. The Siena suite is nice and quiet...although better suites exist at other properties.

- Flying first class for one leg makes flying coach even more painful on the other leg.

- Vegas is definitely getting busier again. I visit 3-4 times a year, I noticed an improvement in occupancy over March and a definite improvement over last year.

- Playing over $200k coin-in and not hitting a royal and coming home down less than 1% is a victory.

- Double Deck Blackjack is a strong play mid-strip these days. It used to be $100min was the norm for anything but the morning gambler, however I spotted $50min at plenty of high-end places with good rules.

- The best attraction in town is STILL the Fountains of Bellagio...they never fail to make me feel good...even after 28 visits. Here's a random picture. I must have hundreds of similar pictures from over the years.


Hope you enjoyed reading this...I don't know when my next trip out will be...but it never takes much arm-twisting to get me to live like a king for a weekend. ]]> Trip Reports CaptainJack http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58385 <![CDATA[Santana 'Quicky Trip']]> http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58366&goto=newpost Tue, 31 Aug 2010 03:17:08 GMT Well................I wasn't going to report on this little adventure any more than I felt like writing something on the DYLAN trip the week before, but it dose deserve some mention and that is............SANTANA's SHOW IS HOT!
The difference being, I usually don't report on Shows that are just 'casuals'...I like to stick to the ones YOU can see on your next trips and...SANTANA IS ONE OF THEM!

The reason for the DYLAN and SANTANA trips were, I'm using up my SOUTHWEST RT's I've earned before I loose money on 'em...and it's just been coincidence that there's been some 2,3 free nighters that have fit the same days as the Shows so.......I'M TAKIN' 'EM FOR ALL THEY'RE WORTH! lol.
Donald Fagen, Michale McDonald, Boz Scags as 'The DUKES of SEPTEMBER'... Van Morrison, KA', LOVE and MYSTERE are the same sort of deal coming up in the near future.

I stayed at The PALMS this trip...haven't stayed there for quite a while now. The deal was for their standard room in the old tower, 7th floor (view of the RIO, lol).
Those rooms are simple and comfy...nothin' special and they work just fine for me.

I've been playing there alot lately. They still have the best gaming for the areas I like to be in and I'm close to my new favorite indulgence...'BLIZZBERRY', the new frozen yogurt joint that's taken up biz in town. (there's another one in the Mirage) Their PRALINE flavor is terrific!
You fill up a tub...put some toppings on it if you like, then weigh it and pay for it...WONDERFUL.

For the first time, I ventured next door to PALMS PLACE.
There's a sky walk via an elevator in the food court that takes you across the parking area to the sister property.
Up on the 6th floor is SIMON KITCHEN...a great little restaurant, med. priced, good quality foods which over looks a variety of small swimming pools on the patio outside. I used it for breakfast...it was never crowded, and casual/classy...a great little place. Kerry Simon has several restaurants that are pretty successful and this one is a little gem.

NOW...if you haven't been to The PALMS before, be for warned. In the mornings and throughout the day, it's a great place to play. Full of locals (because the VP is good)
but in the evening...PLAYBOY CLUB, RAIN, MOON...fill the place with young folks, ready to party and PARTY THEY DO!. lol, just getting to the elevators after 9pm is a real
test of ones military maneuver skills...IT'S A REAL ZOO!

When I saw GARTH BROOKS they gave you free buffet pass for two which was good til the end of the year.
This was the perfect time to use it...my ol' guitar player Bill has lived there for years, and the two of us hit the buffet and Show together.
The Wynn buffet is one of the better ones...lots of choices that are always fresh and the excellent dessert selections!
We had plenty of time...had our fill and caught a cab over to the HARD ROCK and the JOINT for SANTANA.

Now the seats I like at the JOINT are in the first, upper level off the floor. There's one on each side of the room and are made up of about 8 tables that seat 4. It's not crowed, there's lots of room to move around...watch the show from lots of different angles and you have your own cocktail server.

These seats aren't reserved for comps....anyone can buy 'em but you can ONLY purchase them from one of the Hard Rock hosts which is a PAIN! but.....once you get 'em, you can't beat the view and sound AND...you're off the floor down below where it 'can' get a bit crazy, lol.

When I was in town a couple weeks ago to see DYLAN, I picked up the SANTANA tics. I'd talked to, emailed, and talked to again...'JON OPAS', one of their hosts prior to hitting town and we'd arranged to get all my upcoming Show tickets.

I've used Jon before for BRIAN SETZER's Christmas Show, the Australian PINK FLOYD and he's always been real helpful BUT...HE'S YOUNG, MOVES A MILLION MILES AN HOUR, IS HARDER THAN HELL TO TRACK DOWN but...that's what ya deal with at the ROCK.

Anyway...we get there...we head into the JOINT...and the ticket taker says..."your tickets are for tomorrow night sir"
OH JON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (guess I could have looked at the date huh...lol)

I go back up to the Box Office where I have my buddy Kim call Jon. He's running all over the place delivering other folks tics for that nights Show. She takes us the back way, through the heart of the ROCK off limits to the public to where she thinks we'll find Jon and sure enough...there he is. (AMAZING how quick you can get from point A to point B when you're not out in the public area of a casino, lol)

LONG STORY SHORT...we exchange the tics...same seats/right night and in we go.
The irony of the whole damn thing was...to avoid what had just exactly happened, LOL.
Jon's style is to meet his guest the night of the Show...he tells you where he'll meet you...you go there...no Jon...you wait (30min. to showtime)...you wait, NO Jon... (15min. to showtime)...you wait some more...THEN JON RUSHES UP....says HELLO, passes out the tics, then runs off again. I'D HOPED TO AVOID THIS BY GETTING THE TICKETS THE WEEK BEFORE but NOOOOOOOOOOOO! lol.

SANTANA was wonderful. He used his SUPERNATURAL band mates...just great. The Show started at 8:00 and was over around 10:30. No opening act, just CARLOS and the band. Most of the crowd were 'boomers' as I am but you did see some folks with their (probably grandkids) going in...explaining all the way who CARLOS SANTANA was, WOODSTOCK, the whole ROCK 'N ROLL history lesson. I noticed many of 'em coming out and they all had big smiles on their faces...IT WAS A GREAT SHOW!.

That was Friday night and I also had Saturday in the deal.
It was the anniversary of the last trip my Mom had made with me before she died and I was thinking of what we had done that trip. Having nothing special planned for the second night, I decided to re trace our evening.

I went over to The ORLEANS and ate at the PRIME RIB LOFT, then to Bally's and saw JUBILEE's 10:30 topless Show.

The PRIME RIB LOFT offers a great/no frills, excellent prime rib dinner, salad, bread, GREAT BAKED POTATO, coffee or tea for $24.30. I chose their standard cut...there's a BIG one, but it would take ONE BIG APPETITE to eat all of that!

I was entertained during dinner from the table across from me. 10 guys....all in their 50's-60's from North Dakota.
They'd all been in...THE SERVICE together and had all attended the same fraternity together in college. They were there having some kind of meeting to raise money for the frat...eating, drinking, eating, and DRINKING SOME MORE.
'Vini' was the most bombed and out spoken. He was 'toasted' and 'toasting' to everything and every one.
I couldn't see what happened, but it sounded like he dropped the wine bottle on his plate breaking it, spoiling is BIG CUT of prime rib AND... they just brought him another one/no charge. He shut up after his second dinner arrived and just ate, lol, but it was pretty entertaining.

JUBILEE is WONDERFUL. The last of the ol' Las Vegas showgirl productions...camp, glitz, show tunes, the sinking of the TITANIC, SAMSON AND DELILAH, and those
FANTASTIC BOB MACKIE costumes!!! FANTASTIC!!!

I still remember from taking the 'Back Stage Tour' years back, all the trials that stage presents to the dancers. There's holes in the floor, cracks where the staging moves in 'n out...IT'S VERY DANGEROUS UP THERE! The dancers learn how to walk without tripping in the flaws of the stage...some of those headdresses weigh over 30lbs. but
they pull it off night after night and we just sit back and enjoy...never knowing what 'could' happen up there.

Well...that's it. Ya know....even without these free flights and rooms...by not playing the slots any more, I've saved so much money on my trips lately. I play some video poker...I broke even this trip and will take that money back to the other Shows coming up...but it's still lots of fun...AND CHEAP!

I really (liked) to play a few of my favorite slots, but since they've lowered the payouts at most of the properties, it just doesn't make sense (for me...) to play 'em any more.
When ya win...ya win sooooo little, it's like throwing money down the drain.
At least with VP I can get my gambling jones off......
(have more of a say on how I loose my money, lol) and like on this trip...I won!...EXCEPT FOR THE FLIGHT BACK.

lol, we were all loaded up and the Captain came on the intercom and explained he'd seen a dent in one of the engines. They had called in...'the guys' who knew about these things and would let us know shortly if we'd have to change planes..............WE DID, lol.
EVERYBODY OUT...down to the next gate....EVERYBODY IN...and off we went with only 1hr. delay. GOOD TRIP! ]]> Trip Reports GREGRIO http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58366 <![CDATA[We're Here!!!!!]]> http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58339&goto=newpost Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:49:12 GMT :wave:My husband, Dave, and I left Albany,NY yesterday at 1:55pm on Southwest and arrive in Las Vegas at 3:55 a full 35 minutes early. We had to stop and get a Dine 4less card that I got for free so by the time we got to the luggage carousal our bags were there. Decided to try checking in to the... :wave:My husband, Dave, and I left Albany,NY yesterday at 1:55pm on Southwest and arrive in Las Vegas at 3:55 a full 35 minutes early. We had to stop and get a Dine 4less card that I got for free so by the time we got to the luggage carousal our bags were there. Decided to try checking in to the MGM right at the airport there was a short line but it moved quickly. Was too chicken to try the $20 trick because there were 4 clerks working, so I just asked how much it would be for a upgrade. Since we booked our room online at $55/night rate my hubby said to go for the suite.
So after a short taxi ride we were walking into MGM. The line at the hotel check-in wasn't too long but I'm glad that we did it at the airport before I knew it we were walking into a beautiful Celebrity Spa suite. The room is very large with a sitting area that is seperate from the sleeping area, which is nice since I'm up very early.We don't have much of a view but I did get to see the sun rise and it was beautiful. The bathroom is big too with marble and a big jacuzzi tub. Atfer unpacking we decided to wander around MGM. It is huge, we walked around the pool area and some of them were already closing. They all close by 8:00pm. I think that's kinda early. We saw the restaurants, shops and decided to have a bite to eat the Rainforest cafe. It seemed to be the only place with people in it. It was OK, we just needed some food since it was 10:00 NY time.
Then we gambled some I lost and Dave won. Headed up to the room @ 11:00, 2:00 NY time. The bedding is extremely comfortable but I agree with most, they need to upgrade their TV's. More to follow. ]]> Trip Reports levon10 http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58339 M resort/ Orleans 8/22 - 8/27 good and bad. http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58313&goto=newpost Sat, 28 Aug 2010 20:01:30 GMT Just got back from a Vegas/LA trip from 8/22-8/27. Day one flight out of Sioux Falls on Allegiant. Our flight departed at about 1:45pm and there were no delays. Arrived in Vegas at about 2:30pm. Got to the carousel to pick up one bag and it was there waiting for us. Hopped on rental car... Just got back from a Vegas/LA trip from 8/22-8/27.
Day one flight out of Sioux Falls on Allegiant. Our flight departed at about 1:45pm and there were no delays. Arrived in Vegas at about 2:30pm. Got to the carousel to pick up one bag and it was there waiting for us. Hopped on rental car shuttle and no line at the Enterprise counter. Things are going way to smooth so far. We had a midsize car for $158 for the 5 days. Get out there to pick up the car and there are no midsize cars left. So we get a Kia Borrego. A midrange SUV. Not bad for 158 for the week.
We are checked in at M Resort by a little after 3:00pm. We wanted to be there and settled in in time to watch both the Twins and Vikings play at 5:00pm local time. Did a little gambling before the games came on. We play pretty much exclusively penny slots. I really like the mix of machines at the M. Of course the slots are pretty much all newer ones, since the M is such a new resort.
Pulled up to the 32 bar at about 5 to watch the games. Twins won, Vikes did not. Played a little bit more after the games and did not win much, but didn’t do too bad for the day.
Now, I want to say how much I love the M. The rooms there are fantastic. Bathrooms are beautiful. We had 2 nights comped and 2 free buffets, and a little bit of free play. The beds have the thickest pillowtops. This was our first stay there and I think it is going to be our new home in Vegas. The staff was all very pleasant. Every one from the valet to the clerk at the restaurants asked me how to pronounce my name and made sure you felt like you were appreciated.
Second day we played a little in the morning, did win some, not a lot, but I was ahead. Then we had the breakfast buffet at the Studio B. This place is very pleasant. It was not busy, so got in right away. I would say everything I tried was good to great. I really liked the chili rellenos.
After breakfast we headed to the Venetian for a while. It was soooo busy. It was just such a change from the atmosphere at the M. We stayed for a couple hours. I won a little on the Zeus II machine and was still ahead for the day.
We left there and headed back to the M. Played for a while until the Twins game came on. We sat by the little bar over by the café, cant remember the name. Held our own on the machines, for a while, but eventually gave the wins back and then a little bit more. But for the 2 days, didn’t lose the budget.
Went to bed early. Had a day trip to LA to visit an elderly relative who is not in the best of health. The trip went fine and we got up early and got back to Vegas at about 11am on Wednesday.
Our last 2 nights were at the Orleans.
I have always loved the Orleans. But the 2 days there this time was not great. My mother is a smoker and so we got a smoking room. Now we have always gotten a smoking room at the Orleans, and usually can’t tell it was a smoking room, but we walked into this room and the smell was overwhelming. But, I wasn’t going to ask for a different smoking room, afterall, that is what we asked for.
The gambling this time at the Orleans was atrocious. I could not win at anything. In fact the money pretty much just evaporated the minute you got it out of your billfold.
Not going to go into a lot of detail about it, but by the time the Twins game rolled around on Thursday, I was wishing I could just go home. Now, I never want to leave Vegas early, but I did this time.
My other problem with the Orleans this time was on Thursday the place was a zoo. Not sure if something was going on, but it was just packed. We went to the bar back by the poker room and watched the game both nights and the bartender, can’t remember his name, but he was really nice and made me a secret drink Thursday night that threw me for a loop. He was the one good thing about the Orleans this trip.
Now the other bad thing. Thursday night about midnight the noise in the hallway outside our room started. There were some 20 somethings running back and forth between rooms on our floor and they were being as loud as possible. At one point I got up and stuck my head out the door. I didn’t say anything, but these people knew why I looked out at them. It didn’t stop them, but at least it made me feel better. Why do people have to be like that? Okay, rant over.
Got up at 4:30 for our 8:30am flight. Everything went smooth. Got back about 10 mins early and got home and collected my one cat that needs special handling when I am gone.
Needed a good night sleep last night and got it.
In summary, loved M. Please keep the offers coming.:thumbsup:
The rest of Vegas didn’t treat me so well this trip. But, they didn’t scare me away. :rolleyes2: I’ll be back sometime around March or April.

Thanks for reading. ]]> Trip Reports luvlv http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58313