The annual solo trip to Las Vegas is in the books. This 5 day trip was shorter than all of my previous solo trips. I no longer seem to have the passion for gaming as I have had in the past.
I have really gotten hooked on tennis and I did not want to give up my weekend matches.
The 5 day trip was fairly uneventful. As a solo traveler, I did lots of gambling combined with some breaks to eat at various buffets. I will furnish the details of the trip by category. Hopefully some of the information may be useful and mildly entertaining.
Transportation: I flew Southwest out of Baltimore. The direct flights coming and going were very crowded. I have noticed that it is very hard to get an early place in the Southwest check-in line unless you pay the $10 early check-in fee. I tried to check in on-line almost exactly 24 hours before my flight and still received a B50 boarding pass. I was still able to get an aisle seat, it was just in the back of the plane.
I booked a rental car through Payless. Cheap rate but poor service. They had a $9/day rate for a mid-size car which was by far the cheapest option out there for my week. Payless offers a daily rate which is advantageous when you are traveling for 5 days and you cannot make full use out of a weekly rate which is offered by most of their competitors. Picking up the car was frustrating! The line was not long but it was taking forever because the rental agents were trying to upsell the rental coverages (insurance plans, upgrades) as if there jobs depended on it. I quickly told the agent to waive all of the insurance coverages but they tried to sneak a roadsize coverage on my agreement. I found this out when I noticed that my total exceeded my estimated cost by $15. The counter person told me that this coverage was mandatory. I told him NO WAY and that I had AAA. It took another 10 minutes to redo all the paper work. They put me in a Nissan Versa which is a small “junky” car which should not be considered a mid-size. However, it was adequate for motoring around Vegas and it did not eat up much gas.
Hotel: I booked all 5 nights at Ballys (North Tower). I don’t get free offers like I used to so I was happy to get a total rewards member rate of $21/nt for a North Tower room. The check in line was long but moved fairly quickly. The room was very spacious, had a nice Panasonic Plasma TV, and I had no complaints. Bally’s also did not charge me the $3/day safety deposit box fee which it has in the past.
As long as we are talking about hotels, I visited the Tropicana for the first time since their makeover. I must say that they did a magnificent job with the lobby, gaming and pool areas. I asked someone at the desk if I could check out one of their rooms, but it turned into a whole long process and it wasn’t worth the wait. It is a shame that none of the other original Las Vegas hotels were able to get makeovers similar to the Tropicana.
Food: It was all about eating to live not living to eat. Traveling alone it was buffet city or Ellis Island as I wanted a big selection and a quick meal. I tried the lunch buffet at the M for the first time and it was amazing. This buffet had the best selection and quality that I have ever experienced at a buffet (I would rate it slightly above the Wynn and Cosmopolitan). There was also no line around 1PM on a Thursday which was a surprise. Using the LVA $10 off coupons, I went to lunch at the Paris and Planet Hollywood buffets. For once, the line at the Paris around 12:30PM was not very long, however it still took a good 30 minutes to get seated. The lunch time selection was pretty limited and the only thing memorable was the delicious chocolate banana crepe I got for desert. The Planet Hollywood buffet was pretty good as there were lots of choices and everything was pretty tasty. I took in a buffet at the Orleans and it was fast, cheap and decent (but as expected nothing great). I had 2 dinners at Ellis Island which was hopefully cleaned up since the health department fiasco. The steak special was very good but the wild salmon was overcooked and dried out.
Entertainment: I am not big on entertainment when traveling solo. However, I did catch Andrew Dice Clay’s show at the Riviera. Using Tickets 2nite I was able to get a ticket for around $30. I was fan of the Dice Man in the 80's when he was selling out shows at Madison Square Garden. The opening act was his ex-fiancee from South Philly and she was pretty funny.
Dice was the dice. His humor is very one dimensional and it starts to get old after about 30 minutes or so (maybe I am maturing). The funniest part of the show was probably unscripted. Dice was chain smoking on stage and just dropping the cigarette butts on the floor one after another. He finally yells at his ex-fiancee to bring him an ashtray and she just brings him a plastic cup to use. He goes off on her which she did not appreciate. They trade some insults which did not appear to be scripted. She finally tells him to do his f”in nursery rhymes so they can all leave. Classic.
While going to the Planet Hollywood buffet I notice a line of about 40 Miss Universe Pageant girls who are also going to the buffet. These girls must have starved themselves for days because they were attacking the buffet with vengeance. It was a fun experience to be in the buffet line surrounded by the Miss Universe Pageant. Unfortunately, it also looked like many of the women were hitting the ladies restroom (bye bye buffet).
I typically do not read books, but to keep me company on this trip I purchased Blackjack Life by Nathaniel Tilton, which I read at all of my meals. It is a very detailed story about a 2 man card counting team. As a fellow card counter, who tried to grind it out full time in Las Vegas, in the early 90's, I could relate to a lot of the stories and strategies.
Gambling: It was a break even sort of trip from the very beginning. I could never get a head more than a couple of hundred dollars before stumbling back to even. I tried the $200 money back promotion at the Tropicana. New members are reimbursed for up to $200 in losses for slot/video poker play over a 3 day period via free slot play. Unfortunately, I lost the $200 in a $1 VP machine and could not get any big hits. I suffered a slight loss as I grinded out the free slot play.
I played a lot of 4-8 limit poker, downtown blackjack and some video poker (bonus poker). The Venetian offers a nice $2/hour comp for poker and a quick cocktail service including some nice Scottish Whiskey brands (Glenlivet, Glenfiddich etc). Unfortunately, their 4-8 limit games were super loose and there were always 6-7 people to see the flop regardless of pre-flop raises. These games are very volatile and I constantly got rivered after the pots were built up. The 4-8 limit games at the Orleans were not so volatile and they also featured a kill pot. Neither of these casinos offered a higher limit game. Reading the Blackjack Life inspired me to dust off my card counting skills and play some Blackjack at the El Cortez (which is probably the best low stakes game in Vegas). I kept my max bet at $40 so I didn’t get much heat from their usually paranoid pit. I also had some surprising success playing short pay bonus poker (7/5). It was hit and run as I was able to hit a bunch of 4OKs and a straight flush. I usually play lots of LVA and ACG coupons. However, given the shorter duration of this trip I only used coupons where it was convenient and actually had a pretty good success rate with the matchplays and the free slot play.
Conclusion: Overall a nice trip/getaway. After reading the Blackjack Life, I am giving serious thought into once again perfecting my card counting skills and going to war with the nearby East Coast casinos. There is money to be made.
I have really gotten hooked on tennis and I did not want to give up my weekend matches.
The 5 day trip was fairly uneventful. As a solo traveler, I did lots of gambling combined with some breaks to eat at various buffets. I will furnish the details of the trip by category. Hopefully some of the information may be useful and mildly entertaining.
Transportation: I flew Southwest out of Baltimore. The direct flights coming and going were very crowded. I have noticed that it is very hard to get an early place in the Southwest check-in line unless you pay the $10 early check-in fee. I tried to check in on-line almost exactly 24 hours before my flight and still received a B50 boarding pass. I was still able to get an aisle seat, it was just in the back of the plane.
I booked a rental car through Payless. Cheap rate but poor service. They had a $9/day rate for a mid-size car which was by far the cheapest option out there for my week. Payless offers a daily rate which is advantageous when you are traveling for 5 days and you cannot make full use out of a weekly rate which is offered by most of their competitors. Picking up the car was frustrating! The line was not long but it was taking forever because the rental agents were trying to upsell the rental coverages (insurance plans, upgrades) as if there jobs depended on it. I quickly told the agent to waive all of the insurance coverages but they tried to sneak a roadsize coverage on my agreement. I found this out when I noticed that my total exceeded my estimated cost by $15. The counter person told me that this coverage was mandatory. I told him NO WAY and that I had AAA. It took another 10 minutes to redo all the paper work. They put me in a Nissan Versa which is a small “junky” car which should not be considered a mid-size. However, it was adequate for motoring around Vegas and it did not eat up much gas.
Hotel: I booked all 5 nights at Ballys (North Tower). I don’t get free offers like I used to so I was happy to get a total rewards member rate of $21/nt for a North Tower room. The check in line was long but moved fairly quickly. The room was very spacious, had a nice Panasonic Plasma TV, and I had no complaints. Bally’s also did not charge me the $3/day safety deposit box fee which it has in the past.
As long as we are talking about hotels, I visited the Tropicana for the first time since their makeover. I must say that they did a magnificent job with the lobby, gaming and pool areas. I asked someone at the desk if I could check out one of their rooms, but it turned into a whole long process and it wasn’t worth the wait. It is a shame that none of the other original Las Vegas hotels were able to get makeovers similar to the Tropicana.
Food: It was all about eating to live not living to eat. Traveling alone it was buffet city or Ellis Island as I wanted a big selection and a quick meal. I tried the lunch buffet at the M for the first time and it was amazing. This buffet had the best selection and quality that I have ever experienced at a buffet (I would rate it slightly above the Wynn and Cosmopolitan). There was also no line around 1PM on a Thursday which was a surprise. Using the LVA $10 off coupons, I went to lunch at the Paris and Planet Hollywood buffets. For once, the line at the Paris around 12:30PM was not very long, however it still took a good 30 minutes to get seated. The lunch time selection was pretty limited and the only thing memorable was the delicious chocolate banana crepe I got for desert. The Planet Hollywood buffet was pretty good as there were lots of choices and everything was pretty tasty. I took in a buffet at the Orleans and it was fast, cheap and decent (but as expected nothing great). I had 2 dinners at Ellis Island which was hopefully cleaned up since the health department fiasco. The steak special was very good but the wild salmon was overcooked and dried out.
Entertainment: I am not big on entertainment when traveling solo. However, I did catch Andrew Dice Clay’s show at the Riviera. Using Tickets 2nite I was able to get a ticket for around $30. I was fan of the Dice Man in the 80's when he was selling out shows at Madison Square Garden. The opening act was his ex-fiancee from South Philly and she was pretty funny.
Dice was the dice. His humor is very one dimensional and it starts to get old after about 30 minutes or so (maybe I am maturing). The funniest part of the show was probably unscripted. Dice was chain smoking on stage and just dropping the cigarette butts on the floor one after another. He finally yells at his ex-fiancee to bring him an ashtray and she just brings him a plastic cup to use. He goes off on her which she did not appreciate. They trade some insults which did not appear to be scripted. She finally tells him to do his f”in nursery rhymes so they can all leave. Classic.
While going to the Planet Hollywood buffet I notice a line of about 40 Miss Universe Pageant girls who are also going to the buffet. These girls must have starved themselves for days because they were attacking the buffet with vengeance. It was a fun experience to be in the buffet line surrounded by the Miss Universe Pageant. Unfortunately, it also looked like many of the women were hitting the ladies restroom (bye bye buffet).
I typically do not read books, but to keep me company on this trip I purchased Blackjack Life by Nathaniel Tilton, which I read at all of my meals. It is a very detailed story about a 2 man card counting team. As a fellow card counter, who tried to grind it out full time in Las Vegas, in the early 90's, I could relate to a lot of the stories and strategies.
Gambling: It was a break even sort of trip from the very beginning. I could never get a head more than a couple of hundred dollars before stumbling back to even. I tried the $200 money back promotion at the Tropicana. New members are reimbursed for up to $200 in losses for slot/video poker play over a 3 day period via free slot play. Unfortunately, I lost the $200 in a $1 VP machine and could not get any big hits. I suffered a slight loss as I grinded out the free slot play.
I played a lot of 4-8 limit poker, downtown blackjack and some video poker (bonus poker). The Venetian offers a nice $2/hour comp for poker and a quick cocktail service including some nice Scottish Whiskey brands (Glenlivet, Glenfiddich etc). Unfortunately, their 4-8 limit games were super loose and there were always 6-7 people to see the flop regardless of pre-flop raises. These games are very volatile and I constantly got rivered after the pots were built up. The 4-8 limit games at the Orleans were not so volatile and they also featured a kill pot. Neither of these casinos offered a higher limit game. Reading the Blackjack Life inspired me to dust off my card counting skills and play some Blackjack at the El Cortez (which is probably the best low stakes game in Vegas). I kept my max bet at $40 so I didn’t get much heat from their usually paranoid pit. I also had some surprising success playing short pay bonus poker (7/5). It was hit and run as I was able to hit a bunch of 4OKs and a straight flush. I usually play lots of LVA and ACG coupons. However, given the shorter duration of this trip I only used coupons where it was convenient and actually had a pretty good success rate with the matchplays and the free slot play.
Conclusion: Overall a nice trip/getaway. After reading the Blackjack Life, I am giving serious thought into once again perfecting my card counting skills and going to war with the nearby East Coast casinos. There is money to be made.
