Day 1
The trip didn’t exactly start off smoothly. I thought I was being clever using SpotHero to get a cheap parking spot near Reagan, but of course, no spots were left. Tried squeezing into a tiny space and ended up scraping my truck. Figures. At least the flight itself was good—although I wouldn’t recommend the Asian vegetarian meal. Way too coconut-y for me, so I stuck with the fruit cup.
Landed at Harry Reid, then headed over to Durango. What a nice place! The craps table was good to me right away—up $300, and that really set the tone for the whole trip. Blackjack, on the other hand, was tougher. I kept losing the count, but stuck to perfect basic strategy, even hitting soft 17 (and it paid off more often than not).
Checked into South Point—long lines, but I used the kiosk and got through quick. Even helped a few folks who were stuck. Back to the craps tables that night and walked away up $342. Not a bad first day once I got past the parking fiasco.
Day 2
Started the morning with some Pai Gow at South Point—playing $10–$16 hands and hanging in there for quite a while. Then headed to Ellis Island for breakfast with the trusty 2-for-1 coupon. The steak breakfast never disappoints. Funny moment: the cashier almost overpaid me $100 in change, but I caught it and gave it back. Figured maybe that honesty would turn into some good luck later.
The courtyard bar at Ellis is always a good stop. I used my $10 match play—lost it—but made it back doubling my 9 against a dealer 8 for a $40 win. Not bad. Then it was off to Circa to enter the Circa Millions contest ($1,000 buy-in).
In the afternoon, my dad wanted to take a road trip out to Rachel, NV—2.5 hours each way. We went to the Little A’Le’Inn, hoping to see a picture of my grandfather who worked in the area, but no luck. Still, a fun trip. Left a donation to St. Jude with my coin signature “Davescoins.” On the way back we stopped at a small museum.
Back at South Point, I hit the pool for a bit, then we had dinner at Don Pablos—pretty solid. I also bet the first half of the Bengals vs. Commanders and won $190. That covered dinner at Don Vito’s later—dad had the salmon, I had the strip steak. $151 with tip, all covered by the win. Nothing better than when dinner feels “free.” Ended the night with some video poker at the bar—didn’t win, but had a great chat with the bartender about Bitcoin and investing.
Day 3
Breakfast at Coronado Café, then finally made it out to Hoover Dam for the dam tour. I’ve been before, but this time I actually got to go down into the tunnels. Super cool experience—highly recommend. The tour picked us up and dropped us off at Excalibur.
Dad loves playing Buffalo, so of course we stopped there for a while. He did pretty well and was able to place his Super Bowl bets. I helped him work through those—it’s always a fun father-son tradition. We swung by Target afterward to pick up a flash drive he needed for converting old slides to digital.
Dinner was at NORA’s. Wow. What a great recommendation from LVA. The food was phenomenal and the service was excellent—definitely on my “do again” list. That night, back at South Point, I gave bubble craps another shot. Let’s just say it wasn’t my night.
Day 4
Back to Coronado Café for breakfast. Played $5 craps for about an hour and a half on just $75. Learned what a “2-way yo” is (thanks to Max Rubin’s stories on those old Anthony Curtis shows).
Headed downtown to the Plaza, played Buffalo to get my base 35 points, then switched over to craps for a small $42 win. Tried bingo with a coupon and actually won $60! Had lunch at Pop Up Pizza (BOGO coupon worked perfectly), then back upstairs for another bingo session.
Stopped at The D afterward to use my $25 match play. For the third year in a row, I hit it—won on the pass line. Played craps there too, and learned something new: when I see craps, the 7 usually follows. Calling off and on my bets more often gave me a nice cushion. Later I used $10 free play on Buffalo, hit 20 free spins, and tripled my money. Ended the day back at Plaza with one more round of bingo. Honestly, it’s such a relaxing way to gamble while sitting down and enjoying the atmosphere.
Day 5 / Wrap-Up
Back at South Point for my last night, I had dinner at Primarily Prime Rib—great food, solid service. After dinner I hit the craps table again and went on a massive roll, turning $100 into $652. The numbers are the numbers. Woke up the next morning, gave it one more go, and once again turned $100 into $300. And of course coranado cafe
After that, it was time to head back to the airport. South Point treated me well this trip—great food, solid tables, and plenty of wins. I’ll definitely be back.
