Bally's 8-4 to 8-7-13

Sunday - Flew Southwest out of Chicago - nice flight except for the last 20 minutes where we hit some severe turbulence. Pilot did a great job landing (1:30pm) and we were in our room at Bally's by 2:45pm. This trip included myself, my husband, daughter and mother-in-law. We asked for adjoining rooms but none were available. After some discussion and agreeing to a $10/day upgrade fee adjoining rooms were found. They are doing construction on Flamingo from 1:30am until 10:30am daily so if you are planning to stay at Bally's either bring earplugs or ask for a room not on the Flamingo side.

We walked over to Bellagio and took the tram to Aria, picked up myVegas tickets for Zarkana and for the Monte Carlo buffet. The buffet was decent - but not worth the regular price of $28 - glad we got it for free. Zarkana was good. I am not a huge cirque du soleil fan, but it was entertaining.

Monday - Took tram again over to Aria. Using the tram is a longer walk but at least it is all inside. Had breakfast at the Aria buffet (from myVegas) which was pretty good. We saw a 2pm show at the Quad - Jeff Civillico. He is a juggler/comedian and it was a good show. Got tickets for $10 thru the coupon on the LVA site. Nice way to spend an hour. If you showed your tickets at Hash House a GoGo you got 30% off the entire bill. We had been planning to eat there anyway so that was a bonus. The meals are HUGE so we split a burger and chicken and waffles.
That night we saw Vinnie Favorito at Flamingo. I thought he was very funny. He uses profanity and is not at all politically correct, so if you are easily offended this is not a show for you. I work in an alternative school for kids with behavior and emotional issues so not much shocks me. Played some slots at Bally's to end the night.

Tuesday - Had breakfast at Cheeseburgers in the Miracle Mile Shops. They have a special of two eggs, bacon or sausage, hash browns, toast and coffee for $5.99. Can't beat that! Did some shopping and then went in search of $5 blackjack. Paris, PHW, and Bally's had only $10, but Flamingo had a $5 table. We had never played before and the dealer (Barney) was very patient and helpful. Left the table with enough to play for the rest of the afternoon.
Went to Legends in Concert at Flamingo. We have seen this show numerous times and have never been disappointed. Bally's food court is open so we grabbed a quick snack there. Spent the rest of the evening playing slots at Paris and Bally's.

Took an early flight out on Wednesday. No big wins but brought most of my gambling budget home. Considering the free shows/meals and discounts thru myVegas and the LVA it was a successful trip!

Thanks for the report and good going on coming home with most of your money!

Blackjack can definitely be a good game to play depending on the rules that are offered. But do know that these rules can differ not only from one casino to another but more importantly from one table to another even within the same casino.

At $5 Minimum, a good Single-Deck 3 To 2 paying game is found Downtown at El Cortez Casino. Make sure to avoid any table paying 6 To 5 for a Player Blackjack. 6 To 5 is 1.2 To 1 (or $12 for a $10 bet) versus $15 for a $10 bet for the 3 To 2 game. Do you know what Player Blackjacks were paying on this $5 Minimum table at Flamingo? I'm asking this because it would not surprise me if Blackjack was paying 6 To 5, which is really not good (even if you ended up doing okay).

Player Blackjacks happen on average about 3 times in an hour and so at that rate, with $10 bets, you'd end up making $9 less per hour at the 6 To 5 table instead of the 3 To 2 table.

RecVPPlayer

Thanks for the insight - it was 6 to 5. We were just happy to find a $5 table on the strip. Next time we will take our business downtown!

You're very welcome! I'm happy to help! I was just suspicious of $5 Blackjack on the Strip unless maybe it was paying 6 To 5. Unfortunately, there are people who think that 6 To 5 is better than 3 To 2 because the numbers 6 and 5 are higher than 3 and 2, but it's just not true -- 3 To 2 is 6 To 4, not 6 To 5.

Also, I was suspicious about it being 6 To 5 because it was a Caesars' connected casino and they have been known for pulling stuff like that! 3 To 2 is actually $7.50 To $5 instead of $6 To $5. So even for each $5 bet you're making $1.50 less at a 6 To 5 table as opposed to a 3 To 2 table! It's just terrible!

So I'm happy that you will be avoiding 6 To 5 games from now on!

RecVPPlayer

Thanks for writing. I like Bally's too because of its central location, but I never knew about the tram. I'll have to check it out when I'm there at the end of the month. You fit quite a bit in to a 3 day trip, and it sounds like you all had a great time.