Low Rollers Trip to Vegas - This is a little long, but detailed.
This weekend marked my return to Sin City after a 2 year hiatus. My older brother Matt was joining me for the trip, but he flew in Thursday, I left early Friday.
Landed in Vegas at 945 am and was greeted by The D/Golden Gate limo (!!). The driver was classy, the bar stocked and I had my first beverage before 1030. Matt met me at the GG valet with a drink in hand. I got my room and it was time to hit Downtown.
Actually, our first stop was Main Street Station for lunch. The buffet was great and the server was wonderful. We played at MSS for a bit then moved to the LVC. They now have the dancing girls for most, if not all of the day. It was odd seeing the front entrance of the LVC converted into a cheap gift shop.
We took a ride to the Strip for a quick coupon run. Wanted to take Matt to Stage Door Casino, but it was slammed, 2 deep at the bar (must have been a shift change somewhere). We walked to the Westin/Max Casino and like always, I had a great time. Played BJ for about an hour with a cute dealer that was chatty and her pit boss was also likeable. However, I noticed it still early and my bankroll is rapidly shrinking. Hmmm..
From The Max, I took Matt for his first experience at Ellis Island and he loved it. We played, drank, laughed. Nothing has changed. Still busy, still full of locals and smoke. Ok, seriously, where is all my money going?
Got a ride back downtown, played at D for a bit and walked around First Friday. We hit GG for dinner at DuPars and I called it a night while Matt continued to kill it at the Keno machines. Seriously.
It was relatively early Vegas time, but I was still on Atlanta time and had been going all day. This was a good idea as I was bleeding money everywhere.
Saturday I grabbed some Breakfast from HH and man, that place is just great. The portions really are huge and so damn good. From there we checked out The Downtown Grand and that spot is AWESOME. I was really, really impressed with the layout, the music, the people. We met the F&B manager Bill who gave us a behind the scenes tour of Picnic (the pool area). The cute bartender and hot blonde cocktail waitress were a treat. I cant express how pleasantly surprised we were with The Grand. I could easily see myself staying there.
After that I met up with Jenny, a friend from Atlanta who is now a Vegas local working for Zappos and we hit the Plaza pool. It was crowded, but not too bad. They could use some improvements on the music. They had the speakers out, but tuned to a soft rock station. We watched the temp go from 96 to 102. It was hot. The beer was cold. Life was good.
After pooling it, we changed and she took us to some hipster bar in the Fremont East district. Cant remember the name, but it was fun and Matt bought us drinks with his Keno winnings.
I figured since I have a coupon, lets finally try The Flame at the El Cortez. Bonus - you get a free bottle on wine on your birth month and since my birthday is a few weeks away, score!
I was not impressed with The Flame. The food was good enough. But the service was awful. We saw the server maybe twice? Once for drinks, once to order and that was it. We had to go get someone to help us if we needed a refill or when we needed the check. Wait, he did come back to give us our credit cards and was all smiles. From there, lost more money at El Co and Jenny had to go.
I tried to keep the party going, but was done. Lots of beer, shots and a day in the desert heat got me. This actually may have been a good thing because this this trip was full of great memories, but none involved me actually winning anything. Normally, Ill go on a good run at a few tables, maybe a few small jackpots at the machines, but nothing. Oh well.
Sunday was, well, painful. Matt had a flight to catch, so he was gone. I tried to muster some energy, but this old man and new dad realized his limitations. I made another walk around the FSE, avoided the bigger than normal homeless crowd, lost some more money and even tried a little hair of the dog, but no success.
Fittingly, my flight was delayed. Finally made it back to Atlanta, broke, beat and hungover around 2 am Monday morning.
Yeah, I may not be able to party hard and didn't make any money, but it was a damn good trip.
Before each trip I make a pre-checklist and like to compare it when I return.
- Coupon Run to Silver 7's and Ellis Island. Then hit the Stage Door Casino and check out The Cromwell - STAGE DOOR WAS SLAMMED. NEVER MADE IT INSIDE SILVER 7'S OR CROMWELL. HAD FUN AT EI.
- Go play at the Grand - REALLY IMPRESSED WITH THAT JOINT.
- Hit some of the vintage machines at the D and complain about the loud music at the Long Bar - I DID PLAY THE HORSE GAME AND THE MUSIC WASNT THAT BAD.
- 4Q Keno Lounge - I DID NOT. BUT MATT HAD MUCH SUCCESS THERE.
- Late night Roulette and Tropical Smells at The El Co - SMELLS YES. THATS ABOUT IT.
- Pool day at The Plaza - GOT BURNED. WORTH IT.
- Put money on the Braves to take the NL East - AFTER LOSING 2 OF 3 FROM AZ. I KEPT MY $$. I HAD LOST ENOUGH ALREADY.
- Bingo at The Plaza - NOPE. RAN OUT OF TIME.
- Find some good live music - DOES THE PIANO PLAYER AT THE FLAME COUNT?
- Hit it big and own this town - HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. YEAH RIGHT.
- Try and use at least 20 coupons from the POV - THINK I GOT TO ABOUT 15.
- Avoid 99.9% of the Strip - YUP.
Quick Random Observations/Recap
- More Homeless Downtown than in years past, or maybe it was more obvious this trip.
- After all the hype, The Flame was a big disappointment.
- Downtown Grand was EXCELLENT. Very Impressed.
- LVC needs a bath.
- GG Shrimp still a great value.
- If you see any of my money, stay away from it. It wont help you.
That was fun. Thank you Vegas!
marko..
