Another Royal Vegas Trip, June 3-7 PART 1, 2 & 3

PROLOGUE:
I started planning this trip shortly after getting back from my St Patrick's Day trip with Madman and Fingers. Booked Sun Country Airlines RT for $271, CET offered me two free nights in a Bally's north tower room, and I took advantage of the Golden Gate's offer for two free nights. I booked and re-booked with Enterprise and finally bagged a full sized car for $106(all taxes/fees included). Since my trip in April, we had an epic snowstorm the 1st part of May; had fifteen inches of snow...wonderful. It finally warmed up enough to melt the snow a week later, then came the rain, more rain and still more rain. It seemed like it rained every other day for 3 weeks, with heavy overcast skies when it wasn't raining...a very drab and dreary month of May. I really needed a dose of some Vegas sunshine.

MONDAY JUNE 3
I worked my 10 hour night shift, the last of 7 night shifts in a row, and hustled home to finish packing, tidy up the house a bit (don't want my cat-sitter to think I'm a complete slob) & take a 45 minute power nap. Unlike my last trip, the drive to the Cities was uneventful..actually saw some sunshine(briefly). I was able to ungrade to first class without any problem and the clerk filed a credit claim for my baggage charge. I grabbed my boarding pass and headed to the security checkpoint only to find a huge line...which I bypassed via my first class status. I walked right up to the TSA agent and checked in. I parked my butt on a stool at the bar and ordered up a Hendrick's gin and tonic and started to unwind...priceless.

Our flight left right on time and I chatted with "Minnesota Jim" a regular Vegas visitor. He was staying at LVH and is strictly a sportsbettor. He rarely takes in a show and eats on the cheap. Like me, he likes to take a day off from the Vegas madness and take a day trip outside of Las Vegas. We were served a dinner of Teriyaki chicken, which came back to haunt me(more on that later). I settled into my comfortable seat, listened to some tunes and tried unsucessfully to get some sleep. I had a brief wait to pick up my suitcase at baggage claim and was soon on the bus headed to the car rental center. There was no line at the Enterprise counter and after showing the clerk my ID and credit card, was on my way to pick up my vehicle. The lot attendant offered me a brand new Camaro, which to his surprise I turned down. I explained to him that I drove a '68 Camaro during my college days...the new version just wasn't going to be the same. I picked out a Chevy Malibu and was on my way.

I took the backway to the Bally's/Paris self parking ramp and after a short wait the lovely desk clerk checked me into room 2484 in Bally's north tower...a diamond floor. The room was large..comparable to a Rio room. Nice king sized bed, flat screen TV, desk, easy chair and a small couch. My only gripe is those damn new light bulbs..makes for a dimly lit bathroom. I unpacked, stashed some valuables in the safe and headed for the casino. Just as I opened the door I had an attack of severe cramps followed with a bout of diarrhea. Felt a little queasy, but duty calls....onward!

I parked my ass at Sully's bar and ordered up my first Heineken of the trip. I checked the pay table for JOB at the quarter level..I was shocked to see a 6/5 payout...shame on you CET. I moved down to another seat and the paytable was 8/5..good enough. I played long enough to guzzle a couple of brews and cashed out with a $30 profit. I played $5 craps for awhile at a choppy table and pulled out when they raised it to a $10 table. Left down $75. I decided to get some fresh air and wandered down to the Flamingo. I dropped $40 playing VP at Bugsy's bar and then lost another $40 my my Cash Time slot...didn't even get a bonus spin...sucks.

Back at Bally's, all of the 3 card poker tables were full...not playing 6:5 cet Crapjack, so I decided to play some LIR. I sat down next a very friendly young lady, which I will call touchy,feely Jennifer. Her friend, shapely Sharon was sitting a couple of seats away. Sharon was a hairdresser and Jennifer worked for the FAA...a couple of Jersey girls. An older gentelman...looked to be in his 80's, sat at first base. This was a fun table, with lots of interaction with my tablemates. Jennifer kept grabbing my arm and rubbing my shoulder. I can't recall what was exactly said, but Jennifer got up and walked over to the older gentleman and planted a full on the mouth kiss...I think a tongue was involved? The table roared with laughter. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a decent hand to save myself. A combination of not sleeping for 30 some odd hours, too many cocktails, and my flirtatious tablemates resulted in my staying way too long. I don't remember exactly when I called it quits, things were a little hazy about getting back to the room.


TUESDAY JUNE 4
I awoke around 06:30 and felt like I got hit by a bus. The cramps were back in force accompaned with nausea and body aches, but no headache. I spent a long time sitting on the john. I've had hangovers before, but this didn't feel like that. I took some pharmaceuticals and a dose of Pedialyte and went back to bed. I woke up at noon and felt even worse; another episode in the bathroom with cramps/diarrhea. I crawled back in bed and slept until 5 PM. Damn, I missed the LVA members meet downtown. I took a long hot shower and felt a little better. I checked my bankroll and started to feel sick again. I far exceeded my loss limit...I was down over $700....what a chump. I was feeling hunger pains; hadn't eaten in almost 24 hrs so I walked over to Margarritaville and had an order of their fish tacos and watched the bikini clad chick slide into the blender...ahh Vegas! I played VP at the Flamingo for a while and lost and then started to feel sick again. Damn it I'm in Vegas, suck it up boy!

I sat at the bar over towards Bally's south tower, ordered a G & T and stuck in a twenty and started to play JOB. I was having an up and down session when I received a call from vpRecplayer. We set up a time to meet at the 4 Queens in the afternoon the next day. I hung up the phone, hit the deal button and was dealt 3 to a Royal. Held the cards and hit the deal button again. Up pops the other two cards to fill in my 2nd royal flush this year... this trip just turned around for the better. High fives all around, bartender brought me over a huge Bombay Sapphire and tonic..tipped him $20. I love this town. I played it down and cashed out with an even grand. I played some 3 card for a couple of hours and left with my original buyin. Back to the room at 01:30 still feeling sick, but with my bankroll replenished. Feeling a little pissed that I slept most of the day away in Vegas. More to come.......

We missed meeting you at the Plaza members meet. I must say, you had a pretty good excuse. Congrats on the royal!!

Thanks for taking the time to post. Ugh stomach bug...................then you order fish taco's???? Very brave of you.

Larry, So sorry to hear you were sick for the start of the trip. Guess that's what a first class upgrade gets you, huh? Sounds like you found a super fun LIR table that first night! Glad you made it back to your room alright! And glad you persevered the second day and walked away with a tidy GRAND! Way to go! Especially nice when you were down $700 after day one. Could you have been in degenerate mode at that LIR table per chance?!!

Very nice, Biglar! Now I understand why you said that you had a long night at the tables and missed the LVA Members' Meet. And congratulations on your Royal! I'm now looking forward to reading about your take on our meet-up!

RecVPPlayer

WEDNESDAY JUNE 5
After a fitful night, I awoke still not feeling that great. I've been looking forward to having breakfast at Bouchon, so I showered and got ready for another day in Vegas. I walked over to the Venetian,,geesh it's 8:30 in the morning and it is already so freakin hot!. A lovely young woman guided me to my table on the patio area and my very capable waiter brought me my juice, coffee and those delicious beignets. I ordered the sourdough waffles and a side order of the country sausage. I spent a leisurely hour chowing down on my breakfast and enjoying the ambience. I walked back to my room at Bally's and laid down for an hour before packing up and doing the self check out on the TV....$3 per day charge for using the in-room safe?....damn CET weasels.

I drove over to the Gold Coast and sat at the bar, ordered a coke and played 9/6 JOB for the longest time, before losing my $100 buyin....put a bunch of points on my card. I pulled into the valet at the Golden Gate around 1 PM and checked into room 314 which faces Main St....no dumpster wake up calls this trip. I again unpacked and decided to play a little VP at the casino bar. I ordered another coke, stuck in a twenty and played deuces wild. I would play down to almost zero credits, then rally with a series for 4 and 5OAK to bring me back. I finally held two ducks and filled in the other two for a $250 payout. VP has been very good to me this trip...but, wait there's , more to come...hee, hee.

I took a leisurely walk down FSE and picked up a silver strike coin at the 4 Q's, then met up with David, aka RecVPPlayer. We made some small talk and then David suggests we play some pick'em poker over at the Fremont...I'm game, even though I have never played it. There is a small bank of these machines in the bowels of the Fremont casino..only one machine was available. I told David to play and I would watch and try and pick up the concept of this particular game. David is a very organized and meticulous player. He always has his strategy card sitting in front of him, and refers to it frequently. He has his set win and lost limits for each particular game. I watched while he played, stopping regularly to explain why he picked certain cards. I started to make sense of the game after about 15 minutes and when the lady sitting next to him abandoned her machine, I sat down and bought in. We played side by side for quite a while, David doing some deligent coaching on my play. His buy-in was slowly ebbing away. I, on the otherhand was having beginners luck. David said that it is really hard to get 4OAK in this game, but somehow I pulled one out, much to both our surprise. I cashed out with $200 and felt a little guilty when David busted out. Great introduction to a new game for me, thanks David!

It was now late afternoon and David wanted to get something to eat. His diet is strictly Kosher, which limits his dining choices especially downtown. I was still not feeling that great, so I opted to just heading back to the Gate to rest. We decided to meet later (midnight) and try playing the single beck BJ game at the El Cortez. We parted ways and I headed for the Gate. There is a promotional slot machine by one of the entrances to Binion...hit the button and win a prize....right! What the hell, I hit the button and won $25 in free play. I don't know who was more shocked...me or the attendant. I gave my voucher to the clerk at the players club booth and he loaded in the free play on my card. I wandered around and picked up a vibe from a slot machine, sat down and converted my free play into $48 cold hard cash...sweet.

I sat at the counter at Dupars and had their soup and half sandwich special. The chicken noodle soup was pretty good, but I couldn't finish my sandwich. I charged the meal to my room and then went back up to rest up a bit. I went back down to the casino a couple of hours later and played blackjack for a couple of hours. Tanya, one of the dealers asked me where my buddy Madman Mike was. I was down a hundred in no time, but clawed my way back to even a couple of hours later. I then played some craps, losing $25. It was getting close to midnight, so I exited the Gate to meet up with David and take on the Tez.

I met him in the lobby and we walked over to the El Cortez, weaving our way through the crowd. We found an empty $5 single deck table and settled in. David doesn't play here until after midnight..due to the "moron" factor....letting the less skilled players bust out earlier in the evening. It was an up and down session for the both of us at first, but gradually David was able to gain some ground. I group of 4 people came over to the table, bought in for small amounts and immediately ordered cocktails. After a brief period, only one player was betting while the others watched and enjoyed their drinks. I don't believe they tipped the CW either. They finally got up and left enmass, leaving the two of us alone at the table. David reached his win goal and stopped playing. He patiently watched as I slowly lost half of my buy-in and finally called in quits, losing $100.

We walked back to the Gate; David thought that he might have some free play there, which turned out that he didn't. He watched as I bought in at the craps table. The table was pretty cold and I was down in no time. I then had a nice run shooting the dice; hit three points and lots of inside numbers..best shooting session that I have had in a while. It was getting pretty late so I decided to call it quits for the night..leaving the table up $125. I had a great time spending the day with David, thanks for all your patience in teaching me pick'em poker. Hope we can meet up again sometime and play some more BJ at the El Co.

THURSDAY JUNE 6
I woke up at 05:30 feeling lousy again. I tried to get back to sleep, but gave up after an hour and turned on the TV and watched the news. I finally got ready for the day and went down to Dupars for breakfast. I couldn't finish my French toast, even though it was delicious. I had some free play which I quickly lost, plus a little of my own money. I walked down to the ticket outlet at the 4Q's and picked up a voucher for the early (5:30 pm) performance of the "Million Dollar Quartet" at Harrah's....price was around $45. I picked up the car from the Valet and drove down to the Strip and parked at Harrah's to exchange my voucher for a ticket to the show. I then played some VP at the bar and Harrah's, had a few cokes and did pretty well. After I hit 5OAK playing deuces for the 3rd time, the lady next to me turned to me and said "Stop that!!" I think I made a $40 profit.

I walked over to the Bellagio and took in the summer display at their conservatory. They took out the butterflies from the spring display and exchanged them for various varieties of finches in their glass "greenhouse". I then wandered around and finally found the fine arts center so that I could see their Andy Warhol exhibit. The clerk took my admission and gave me a device that looks like a TV remote. Each art display has a number assigned to it. You punch in the number on the device and it gives you an audio description about the artwork and the circumstances surrounding how it came about. I learned a lot about the artist and gained some appreciation for his genius and his work.

I left the Bellagio and played my cash time slot at the Flamingo and lost another $40 in that stupid machine. In the past, it has been my personal ATM, but the past few trips, it has just gobbled up my twenties. I walked back to Harrahs, lost $20 playing VP. I still had a little time before the show, so I wandered around the casino and finally sat down at a slot machine and stuck in $40. I wasn't paying any attention, hit the button and the credits started ringing up...what did I just do? Cashed out with a TITO for $284!!

I got to the theater about 20 minutes before the show, and there was already a long line waiting to get in. I felt like a teenager.....what a collection of blue-haired ladies and grumpy old men. The show was very entertaining; great music and vocals. Well worth the time and money. I then drove over to the Rio wine cellar and to my surprise Mary Ann was back working. She has been out with several different health problems for the past 18 months. She has had one hell of a time after she broke her femur..she still walks with a distinctive limp. I sampled several different wines...the Far Neinte Chardonnay was very good. I had a bread and cheese plate to go with my wine, which turned out to be my dinner. Mary Ann is a tough old New Yorker...lots of grit. I hope to see her again in the fall...great lady.

I spent the rest of the evening playing BJ at the Gate. I had a nice run was was up close to $250 at one point. The guy at 3rd base, Dennis, was one of those players that is an "expert" and wants to prove it by telling you how to play....sigh. The guy at first base was a knucklehead and was clueless about basic strategy.....which really grinded at Dennis. Dennis was doing okay, then hit a cold streak which spiraled out of control and he kept bumping his bets and losing. He busted out and bought in for another $200, bet large and lost it quickly. Buy in for another $100...lost it in about 2 minutes. He got up without a word and walked away. Five minutes later he was back and bought in for another $200...gone in 60 seconds. Buy in for $100, bet the whole amount, win, then bet it all on the next hand...lose. He gave a dejected sigh and left the table for good....painful to watch. The guy at first base split his tens against the dealers five....hmmmmm. He then took a hit on his 14 and busted...that's when I cashed out, leaving up $175.

I played craps for a while...all I could do was- point, seven out...3 times in a row....ouch. Fortunately a guy on the other end of the table had a good roll, so I ended up only losing $50. Lights out at 01:30
I'll finish up with the last day and my overall thoughts about the trip tomorrow. Thanks for reading.

Yes, it was great meeting up with you Larry and hopefully in the future we can meet up again!

As for Bally's (CET). that's also rotten of them to charge the $3 per night for the Safe usage! They're just Nickel and Diming people as much as they can!

As for Casino play, I was happy to help you learn the ropes of Pick 'Em (Pick-A-Pair) Poker! Yes, 4-Of-A-Kinds are harder to come by in this game (the cycle for them is a lot longer than the usual 1 in about 425 hands that happens with 9/6 Jacks Or Better). And if there is 4-Of-A-Kind on the screen (such as 4-4 plus each of the two stacks of cards to the right has a 4 showing), then you absolutely, positively will not end up with a 4-Of-A-Kind! But 4-Of-A-Kinds on this game pay 600 coins (which is $150 at the $0.25 level) which is very nice!

As for Blackjack at El Cortez, I find that playing later at night cuts down at least a little for the number of dopey players. It was interesting for me that I got clobbered on Pick 'Em (-$60 which was my Loss Limit) and you did very good and then with Blackjack, I did good (+$70 -- which actually exceeded my Win Goal [of $50]) and then you got clobbered!

With Craps, for me it just involves too much money to play (I'm a pretty low roller), but it was fun to watch you play and have a nice comeback (when you told me that you recouped your losses from El Cortez plus had some nice profit on top of that)!

And as for food (although I bring a lot of my own food from home), on my way out of town, my friend and I tried the new Kosher Dairy/Vegetarian place in Downtown, the Huntridge Soda Fountain (at Charleston and Maryland Parkway). We found it excellent and I will be back there (I've posted a review of it in the Restaurants section as well as in the LVA Restaurants Message Board). They're actually open (at least as far as I know) from 8AM-8PM Monday through Thursday, 8AM-2PM Friday and 8AM-5PM Sundays.

Well take care and I'm now looking forward to reading the finale of your report!

RecVPPlayer

FRIDAY JUNE 7
I'm up early again today at 06:30. I checked my I-phone to see when the California cafe quits serving their graveyard special oxtail soup. Surprisingly they serve it until 09:00..I just hope they haven't run out of it. I showered...the water in the shower comes out in a trickle, but at least I can control the temperature. I walked thru the Vegas Club..place was empty, out the backdoor and waited for the light to change to walk across the street to the California. I hear someone talking loudly coming up from behind me, so I turn and see some glassy eyed guy with polished combat boots, pants neatly tucked in the top of the boots, carrying on a spirited conversation with himself. He walked past me into the traffic, barely avoiding being clipped by a pickup truck. No wonder they have so many car/pedestrian accidents in this town. I sat down at the counter in the cafe and ordered up my oxtail soup and some coffee. A few minutes later my waitress brought out a huge bowlful the this steamy goodness. I sprinkled some fresh cilantro onto the soup and stirred in a good portion of the fresh ground ginger. Ginger is great for upset stomachs; and the flavorful soup broth really hit the spot. I finished the whole bowlful and felt much better.

I had some coupons for free play and some match plays at the Vegas Club and Plaza. Free play and both matchplays were losers. I don't think I have ever won a match play at either of these two casinos, and that's going back several years. I walked down to the D and sat at the long bar and played some deuces wild. The place was pretty empty this early in the morning (09:00) and there were about a dozen empty seats on either side of me. My radar went on alert when two young women, one was obviously very, very drunk or high, or both, sat down next to me....this isn't going to end up well. The girl next to me engaged in some small talk. My anwers were brief as I continued to play and watch the re-play of the Bruins hockey game on the TV. After a few minutes the drunk chick walks over to me ....why me god? Do I have "CHUMP" stenciled on the back of my shirt? Her speech was very slurred and she had a heavy Caribbean acent. From what I could gather, she was from Barbados and this was her first time in the U.S. and that she was very F'd up. She told me that I had to get F'd up too and she wanted to buy me a drink. My stomach was just getting back to normal..last thing I wanted to do this morning is to start pounding down shots. I politely declined, but she was persistent. She started to rub her ample breasts against my shoulder, "Come on, baby, let me buy you a drink". When she tried to plant a kiss on me is when I had enough. I quickly hit the cash out button and pulled out my players card, slipped off the stool and was ten feet away before she realized that I had escaped her clutches. All I wanted to do was quitetly watch the hockey game and play a some VP.....I don't need this kind of attention this early in the morning. I don't know if they were just a couple of drunk chicks or 'professionals' looking to score one last trick before calling it a night.

I left the D at a brisk pace and walked back to the Gate. I sat down at a blackjack table and played for a while with one other guy. The dealers were very pleasant and I walked away up about $75. I bought in at the craps table and played for about an hour, and lost my BJ winnings. The dealer standing across from me was very friendly and we engaged in some small talk. He asked me where I was from, then asked me what the winters are like in Minnesota. I laughed, pulled out my I-Phone and showed him a picture of my backyard with 15 inches of snow. I told him that I took this photo exactly one month ago...he was floored..couldn't believe it. On the way to my room I stopped and played one of the Playboy slots in the back of the Casino..hit a bonus round and made a quick $50 profit.

I went back up to the room to retrieve my suitcase and checked out. Room charges and food were
comped. Picked up the car from the valet and bid adeiu to the Gate...see you in the Fall. I parked at Harrahs and sat at the bar and played some more VP. Played JOB and Deuces, the magic was gone..couldn't hit anything. Time to wrap this trip up.

Dropped off the car at the rental center and checked in for my flight at Terminal 3...got another 1st class upgrade. Security checkin was uneventful and I walked down the long corridor and quenched my thirst with a microbrew at the Pub. I talked with a guy from Boston whose flight had been delayed. He was upset because he had tickets to the hockey game and was going to miss it.

My flight left on time...just 3 other people in first class. I had a glass of wine with my dinner and then dozed off. I was jolted awake a short time later from some heavy turbulence. I watched a brilliant lightening display off in the distance, then fell back to sleep. When I left Vegas it was 108 degrees; when I landed in Minneapolis it was 54...welcome home. The traffic was light on the drive home and I pulled into my driveway around 01:30. Nick, my cat was happy to see me..followed my around the house as I unpacked and curled up next to me when I finally crawled into bed. Another trip is Vegas history.

EPILOGUE
Financially, I had a good trip; I came back with over $700 more than I went out with. Physically I did not feel well for most of the trip, which kind of sucked. I like eating at Dupar's, the food is good...the pancakes are about as big as the hubcaps off an old Buick. You have to have a big appetite to finish a full stack. You can usually find immediate seating at the counter. The Million Dollar Quartet was an entertaining show..not on par with the Jersey Boys, but worth the time and money to see. I enjoyed it very much. The weather was great, I didn't see a cloud in the sky for the entire trip. I got a healthy dose of Nevada sunshine. My youngest son is interested in a fall Vegas trip and I'm sure it would not take too much of an effort to talk my daughter into joining us. I've set my sights on Mid September or October. I hope Mary Ann has a nice chilled bottle of that Far Neinte chardonnay waiting for me. It's a wrap folks...thanks for reading.

Larry, thanks for sharing your trip, I enjoyed reading it! The day that you got 15 inches of snow, Mankato got ZERO! Really sorry that you were not feeling well the whole trip; what a bummer. Must of been more than the plane food that made you sick? Glad you came home with bulging pockets once again! Will have to try that Far Neinte sometime; looks like it's around $60 a bottle when I googled it. Funny story about the Barbados chick! Can't blame a girl for trying I guess!! - Gail

Thanks, Larry for your posting the rest of your report and congratulations on coming out +$700 more than you arrived in town with (including that very nice Royal Flush)! I also came out positive, but not as much as you. I was definitely fine with that.

As for the Matchplays at Plaza, I came out a winner on both that I was able to use this trip -- one from ACG and one from the funbook that people get when they stay at Plaza Hotel.

It was good getting together with you, I'm happy I could help you with Pick 'Em (aka Pick-A-Pair Poker), and I guess that you definitely saw the affect of the "Moron Factor" at Blackjack with what happened to you.

I'll possibly return to LV the first week in October (it would be no earlier than Oct. 6th) and so if that works out with you, maybe we can get together again.

RecVPPlayer