Here we go again, we are Bobby -78-BW, Martie-62-MJ and long time friend Bill -70-BB who is a craps expert,BW and MJ are residents of Smithville, TX population 4,800 a City 45 miles SE of Austin, TX. after spending 50 plus years in Austin, BB is a recent resident of Leander, 10 miles N of Austin after being born and spending his life in Austin. BB stayed Sept. 24 - Sept. 27, 2018 in Vegas.
This will be our 3rd trip to Vegas this year and our 50+ trip since 1996. We celebrated our anniversary on Sept. 29, 2018 we were married on Sept. 29, 2001 in Vegas at the Little Chapel by The courthouse and we stayed at Fitzgeralds.
TRANSPORTATION:
We used Super Shuttle Execucar to and from the South Terminal at Bergstrom-Austin, our drivers were Thadous, a University of GA fan and Lauro native of Brazil. We were pleased with the service and continued convenience, will continue to use them.
We used Personal Sedan to and from the Airport to The D. Our drivers were Kent and Chad, service was fair, will evaluate before next trip.
We flew Allegiant as times and date fit our schedule. Southwest & Allegiant price is comparable will continue to use both in the future. We had Row 12 A&B left side, plenty of leg room.
HOTEL:
We stayed at The D in a fully comped room #301, nice room but even numbered rooms are more desirable as there is more of a view. Housekeeping missed cleaning our room one day as they did on our last trip. Will continue to stay at The D, overall The D is our best bet. 4Q will only guarantee two comped nights and evaluate your play on the stay for other comped nights.
FOOD:
As mentioned in prior reports we are not foodies, we only paid for two meals both at McDonalds and this was by choice. All other meals were at 4Q Magnolia Cafe and The D Grill at The D. Magnolia food is good, the D Grill is only fair. Service at all food places was fast, courteous and with a smile. As usual the Coffee Stand at The D elevator is a life saver. David was on vacation in Lebannon, but his fine ladies Moesha and Milesha did a fantastic job, five star. We also always buy snacks and drinks to keep in the room.
BARTENDERS & COCKTAIL SERVICE:
At The D, Jason, Lucky, Chris, Rafael, Antuan etc. were very good at the 4 Q Alan, Nate, Dominic etc. were super. The Cocktail Waitresses were good at The D and the 4 Q. The Golden Nugget, Golden Gate and Fremont gets no evaluation as we spent very little time at each. It is always a pleasure to see our favorite security guy at The D Big Ray. Had a nice long conversation with this nice gentleman.
GAMBLING:
I have to rate this trips gambling as below par. As we came back with 70% of our gambling budget. We continued our streak of 0 Royals, my last Royal was Nov. 2015 and MJ May of 2015. I had 0 of 4 to the Royal dealt to me and MJ had only 2. Also during our entire weeks stay we did not see any hand pays at any time at any Casino. BW and MJ played double double bonus poker with 90% of it at The D and 4Q. We hit 22 4 of a kinds MJ 12 and BW 10 and 2 straight flushes. Of our 4 of a kind hits 15 were .25, 5 were .50 and 2 were $1.00. The straight flush was 1 at .50 and 1 at .25. BW missed a 3 team parlay on College Football damned you Notre Dame. Slots were a major dissapointment as MJ had only 3 nice hits and she usually hits well over 10. Her one good hit was on the Tiki Torch Machine for .01 and she hit $1,200.00. BW played Craps 6 times, 2 times with his friend BB and 4 on his own. Winning one time, breaking even 3 times and losing twice with only a 10% loss of his $600.00 budget. BW thoroughly enjoyed his Craps play and is feeling more comfortable each and every time. The staffs of The D, 4Q and Fremont were very accommodating and friendly. Only one session was marred by two jerks at the table. Overall a dissapointing gambling trip.
DEREK SIGHTINGS:
If you have read our trip reports before we are fans of Derek Stevens and what he has done to rejuvenate downtown. Usually once or twice a trip, I will be tipsy and either shake his hand, say hello or chat with him whether he wants to or not. Saw him both Saturday and Sunday at the Long Bar surrounded by huge men, possibly his body guards. Much to MJ's relief BW did not attempt any conversations.
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
Next trip, probably Feb. 2019. But would like to go on Dec. 1 for NCAA Conference Championships, but don't think our budget will allow.
Will fly SW or Allegiant
Use Super Shuttle Execucar
Will evaluate Personal Sedan
Will stay at The D
Will stay 4 or 5 nights
Need to find third casino to play video poker downtown besides The D and 4Q.
Will continue to play and learn Craps, really enjoy this game.
The D was entirely too loud and crowded particularly Fri-Sun, I guess we are paying the price of the Downtown come back.
Comps at The D and 4Q were super.
Food well over $300.00, free slot play over $400.00, free cash at 4Q $160.00. In excess of $300.00 in tee shirts, purses, trinkets etc.
This is a personal coment, in the past we have always found the Vue Bar to be a fun place to gamble, however by adding the extra horse race machine, video craps machine and video blackjack machine we believe it has made the area not only crowded but extremely loud.
We dearly love our Vegas trips and any of our coments should be taken as constructive criticism, but as said before we guess this is part of the growing pains of Downtown Vegas.
Thanks for reading this report
Bobby & Martie
Smithville, Tx.
