11/08-11/16 part 2

A couple more dining experiences to mention:

Nove at the Palms- we did the Travelzoo deal for dinner at Nove, and vip access into the clubs- I'm afraid this one was not a good deal. Firstly tho, we went on a Monday, and did realize that only 2 of the clubs would be open, which was fine as we really don't go to clubs, but thought it might be kind of fun to check out a couple of them.
Dinner was fine, but about as basic an Italian meal as you could get, and the service was pretty bad. The amuse were 3 very standard bruschetta, delivered at the same time as the kalamari, a green salad, and a pizza as the appetizer course served family style.
Next a pasta course, we both chose ricotta stuffed ravioli (this was my favourite course). The waiter dumped it on the table, and tried to walk away without taking any plates from the first course. i asked him to remove them.
Main course- I had chicken marsala (due to the toughness of the chicken, I believe it was cooked ahead of time, and warmed up), Chris had veal scaloppini which was ok. again service lacked, as i had to ask for cutlery.
Dessert was 3 scoops of ice cream shared between the 2 of us.
We were enjoying the evening despite being underwhelmed, the view was gorgeous, and the waiter pointed out the Ghost bar across the way at the other tower. We could see people on the outside balcony, and were looking forward to checking it out.
When the cheque came the waiter explained that the gratuity had been added, and was based on the full value of the meal. We were expecting this as I had read it in the fine print of the deal. However when we saw that the gratuity came to $100 we were a little taken aback. First the meal that we had was really not worth more than we paid, but we would have been fine with a 20% tip calculated on $200 ($99 was what we paid). Add to that the poor quality of the service, and there was no way they were getting $100 tip out of us.
As soon as we questioned him about it, however the waiter offered to speak to the manager, and came back shortly, saying that we could leave whatever seemed fair. We left $40 which was more than fair, but what we would have tipped if it had been left up to us from the start.
We were then given wrist bands to get into the clubs, and we decided to head over to Ghost bar, and then come back to visit the Playboy club. we went down the elevator, and across the casino to be greeted by a sign saying, guess what "Closed for private function". We did complain a bit to the lady at the entrance, but we knew that wasn't going to get us anywhere, so we went and played a bit of vp at one of the bars, feeling a little vindicated when Chris hit a 4oak for $200.
We headed back up to the Playboy club, where we did enjoy a drink, and the view, as well as some interesting people watching. I kind of felt sorry for the bunnies standing at attention at the blackjack tables, which were empty, they looked cold, and uncomfortable just standing there. I'm sure it's different on the weekends!
That's kind of a long story, but it doesn't seem to make sense to commit to a promo like this unless you want to attract customers back a second time, and believe me it didn't do that for us. Whereas Marrakech we will go back to again and again.

Our last dinner of the trip we had at the Eiffel tower, which we had so enjoyed last time we were in Vegas. We don't mind paying for an expensive meal if the atmosphere is good, the service, and food, as well. We were not disappointed here.

Enough talk about food, my next, and final instalment will include a review of Absynthe, and a few other notes about the trip, but sadly no big wins to post about.

Deb

Thanks, Debra, for your reporting so far!

As for Palms, I do like it but it's too bad that they have gutted a lot of the VP, but then again it's just been too high-end for me to get comps out of and now I would not want to be paying their rotten Resort Fee!

I hope that while you were downtown you got some Pick 'Em playing in at Fremont.

I did have a session there during my most recent visit (between 10/31 and 11/3) and did not do well at it either, but it was a nice change of pace.

RecVPPlayer

Yes Rec, we gave the pic em a good go at fremont, but just could not hit a 4oak, as a matter of fact i did not hit one at the hilton, either on pick a pair (yes I know the pay is not good). This is the first time I have been skunked on those machines.

Hi Debra,

I've just been checking on VPGenius and at least according to it, Four-Of-A-Kinds in Pick 'Em happen on average about once in 2,362 hands and so you really shouldn't be expecting them that often.

RecVPPlayer

That "averages" about every 3 hours which is not that impossible (if playing about 750 hands per hour).

However, I've been skunked too, but then at other times have fairly regular success.

There are also Pick'em (Pick a Pair / whatever) at Harrah's and Paris.
Not sure if at both, but I do know that Harrah's has the DD Bonus and Deuces Wild variety.


Rick

My Pick 'Em/Pick-A-Pair playing sessions tend to last around 30 minutes or so until I either hit my playing session Win Goal (which tends to be between about $20-$30 on a Quarter Machine) or my playing session Loss Limit (which tends to be about $60 on a Quarter machine).

And so I'm not too upset when I don't get a 4-Of-A-Kind at Pick 'Em (although I do dislike very much when I'm dealt a 4-Of-A-Kind in Pick 'Em since that means that there is no way that I will end up with a Four-Of-A-Kind.

As for Harrah's/Paris having Pick-A-Pair, I would have to know what % rate the game(s) is/are returning at.

And really, at least for me, the game's overall return in and of itself (most especially when factored into slot club return) is everything!

RecVPPlayer

Harrahs used to be full pay, now they are not. Paris never has been. Not sure the exact level, but it really doesn't matter to me if they are not full pay.