Here's a copy and paste of Bard's (ex-member) Trip Report:
Three Keys to A Great Vegas Vacation
One key to a good travel experience is to have the flights and other transportation go well. This time our success was mostly a matter of good fortune and good friends.
The alarm went off at 4:45 a.m. All Maggie had to do was get dressed and into the car by 5:15 for a 15 minute drive to make a 6:15 flight. What I had forgotten was that Maggie had taken an Ambien the night before so she would be sure to sleep.
Maggie was a zombie. It was all I could do to get us to CAK, which is usually a friendly place to fly from, 15 minutes before departure time, and then we were BOTH selected for security inspection. How do they know?
I played “Bad Jeffrey,” got through my inspection in record time, arrived at the gate three minutes before takeoff time, handed in my ticket, but refused to board until Maggie got there. It took forever. Some female Barney Fife was giving Maggie a hard time. Even made her empty her regulation quart Ziploc bag and use an airport-issued bag. I feel safer- how about you?
Fox Car Rental
I’ve been leery of Dollar after getting dent scammed, so following recommendations from Fred and others here, I tried Fox, which came through with a much lower price. It’s time consuming to take two shuttles, and they high pressured me and tried not to honor the agreed-upon price. Also, the cars are as junky as the ones at Dollar. So Fox is no bed of roses, but it’s doable. Once we cleared the counter, getting the car was fast and easy. The return is also fast, and the vehicle is inspected while you wait, eliminating the dent scam.
Our shuttle driver explained the political wrangling Fox, as an off-airport agency, has been through with Clark County. I told him to expect the county to hit Fox with higher fees or higher taxes somewhere down the road, so everybody get those rentals while they’re still cheap.
Hotel
Orleans is a dowager- a bit worn but still charming. We got a ninth-floor Strip view room where everything worked. After three nights, we switched to South Point, which has larger, more comfortable, but generic rooms. I had talked my way into a comp there for the first and probably last time. I played as much as I could, but time constraints, a headache one morning, and a slight reluctance to go home broke after Orleans kept my play below what the host probably wanted.
MPT and Meet
RowanB, Harv, and several others made the Palazzo edition of the Mattress Poker Tour into a resounding success. The event has been reported, so I will just add that I am no Daniel Negreanu. Daniel would have smelled out those pocket tens that beat my boat. I got my share of good hands after that, but even Daniel is powerless against a river ace. Also, it became obvious as time passed that half a dozen players were better than I was, and everybody (except Noahcat) was more serious. Nice to meet everyone and play, if briefly. Bob, I will treasure the jester.
At the noodle place, we saw several more LVAers I had wanted to meet, but I was disappointed that CLV’s only two words to me were, “No Pictures!” when I didn’t even have a camera. I said I would call Marc and eat but we ran out of time.
Red Rock (the rock, not the casino)
On the ECLVA schedule I had posted a gamble-and-walk to depart from Orleans Tuesday morning. Inexplicably, only Tennis Bum and Noahcat were willing and/or able to show up at 6 a.m. The walk was so much fun I horned in again the next day. I loved it for several reasons: I got to spend time with two wonderful people, I got good exercise in a beautiful place, and I didn’t lose as much money as I lost other mornings before breakfast.
Aliante and Sue
One morning after walking, Tennis Bum dropped Noahcat on the Strip and took Maggie and me up to Aliante Station where Sue Casey works. I wanted to look around and say “Hi” to Sue, and Bum had some stuff to do there, too. What a beautiful casino, and it is VP paradise! Played full pay Double Bonus, which is getting rare.
Bard Plays Slots and Slotty VP
I have never before insisted on playing a slot machine. But I needed to play “Wizard of Oz” with Bum, Maggie, and Noahcat, and get a photo of the experience. You see, my mother’s name is Dorothy, and when she was a child, a tornado destroyed her garage. So we played. The machine sucked Mom’s twenty faster than a---err, tornado.
Later, Tennis revealed that “Lord of the Rings” was his guilty pleasure, so the two of us played that with the girls watching. Once I got ahead, Noahcat told me to cash out (she would rather do than watch) and I would be a lifetime winner. So I did.
Quick Quads is in favor with some of the group right now, so when we went by Ellis Island, Bum directed us to two machines and Noahcat showed us how to play while Bum got a round of root beers. Maggie liked the game and won money. Then I stepped up to play five hand nickels. After about 20 minutes, up come three sevens with a deuce (not wild) and a face card. Noahcat says I should keep the sevens and also the deuce, which at first seemed very strange. But it made sense because you get five chances to complete the quad that way instead of two. So I kept the deuce and hit fives on TWO hands. From my yell, one would have thought I had busted my royal flush cherry instead of just cashing out 34 dollars.
Later at South Point, Noahcat showed me quick quads with the wheel. Eventually, I won Mom’s twenty back for her with a quad and a 150-coin bonus.
Games like these are fun to play with other people. Wonderful friends like TB and NC are the second key to a great trip.
Penn & Teller
Their tricks work, but these guys are a known quantity. Spouting toned down libertarian rants and taking predictable pot shots at the usual charlatans, Penn & Teller (ampersand obligatory) are less controversial and thought provoking onstage than they are on Showtime.
What made the show special for us is that Maggie was in it! It’s a poorly kept secret that Teller speaks, although not usually onstage. As he prepped one of the audience volunteers for a trick, Maggie saw him eyeing her. We had been moved to the aisle because my seat was broken. Sure enough, the next time he came down our aisle, Teller grabbed Maggie and led her onto the stage, looking back once to give me his trademark impish grin. Maggie became the holder of the fishbowl for Teller’s aquarium trick. She had a great time watching Teller work up close. At the end of the trick, he gave her the fishbowl and the pennies. We brought the fishbowl back the next night at the end of the show, and Teller autographed it.
These guys would do well to retire their metal detector and buy a body scanner.
Human Nature
Noahcat scored Maggie and me a couple comps to this show, which is in a horrid room at Imperial Palace. All sideways long tables. The room was ¾ full, the audience appreciative but just occasionally on its feet.
These four Aussies are among the hardest working entertainers on the Strip- when they’re working. They spend too much time talking or showing pictures instead of singing, and what they say and show is not that interesting. Their Motown interpretations range from dullish to sparkling. Three or four numbers didn’t work, but most were good and six or seven were very good. The guys don’t sound like Motown, but they do sound good. It’s their take on Motown. The lead tenor has a less distinctive voice than the other three and should be singing backup, where he did well. Although the band is good, the boys are at their best a capella.
Anyone who has seen the Supremes will recognize (and everyone gets to learn) some of the choreography. Although they will never achieve the smoothness of the Temptations, the guys really get into the dancing, and it is great fun!
Fun activities such as good dining, shows, or whatever one enjoys, are the third key.
Gaetano’s
Tennis Bum took us to Gaetano's on Eastern in Henderson. Maggie loved it. Gaetano’s is a crowd pleasing restaurant with some good features. Beautiful room, well selected wine list. They pour Arancio chard at a buck per glass more than the bottle costs, and Layer Cake primitivo for two bucks less than the bottle costs. High end wines were not marked up so much.
Spaghetti and meat balls are sweeter than I like, although the others enjoyed the dish. In the cioppino, the shellfish was varied and plentiful, the fish salmon, the broth bland. It came on a plate over pasta. They do a nice risotto, which came under a well-cooked sea bass.
Service was impeccable. An overdosed salad was replaced quickly with a lighter one. The Caesar was blandish one night and well anchovied the next. The place had a contingent of businessmen ordering light beer, steaks, and fettucini Alfredo.
Cosmo
After half an hour of goofs and glitches, it took another appearance by Bad Jeffrey to get our hundred in free play and slot tournament entries, but then Maggie won and turned her bonus fifty into 65. So with my win from the day before, Cosmo was a positive play for both of us.
Maggie loved the crystals. I was neutral about them.
M
This and Aliante Station were our two favorite casinos. The place looks industrial from the outside but is elegant, quiet, and comfortably impressive inside. There are a few decent games to play, and the machines are new with good displays. Vig Deli is good, and a fairly good value also. M has a bad reputation with some because of problems and downgrades that have happened, but if you cross it off your list you’re missing something.
Three Keys
Our return flight was delayed a half hour in Denver with the result that we had more time to eat, so it worked out perfectly. We got home to 80 degrees and 100 percent humidity, which is worse to us than Las Vegas’ 105 degrees and low humidity. I think Maggie is getting used to the dry heat. With transportation that turned out for the best, terrific friends, and lots of fun things to do, our ECLVA trip to Las Vegas was a big success. Next year, maybe we can even win money.
Three Keys to A Great Vegas Vacation
One key to a good travel experience is to have the flights and other transportation go well. This time our success was mostly a matter of good fortune and good friends.
The alarm went off at 4:45 a.m. All Maggie had to do was get dressed and into the car by 5:15 for a 15 minute drive to make a 6:15 flight. What I had forgotten was that Maggie had taken an Ambien the night before so she would be sure to sleep.
Maggie was a zombie. It was all I could do to get us to CAK, which is usually a friendly place to fly from, 15 minutes before departure time, and then we were BOTH selected for security inspection. How do they know?
I played “Bad Jeffrey,” got through my inspection in record time, arrived at the gate three minutes before takeoff time, handed in my ticket, but refused to board until Maggie got there. It took forever. Some female Barney Fife was giving Maggie a hard time. Even made her empty her regulation quart Ziploc bag and use an airport-issued bag. I feel safer- how about you?
Fox Car Rental
I’ve been leery of Dollar after getting dent scammed, so following recommendations from Fred and others here, I tried Fox, which came through with a much lower price. It’s time consuming to take two shuttles, and they high pressured me and tried not to honor the agreed-upon price. Also, the cars are as junky as the ones at Dollar. So Fox is no bed of roses, but it’s doable. Once we cleared the counter, getting the car was fast and easy. The return is also fast, and the vehicle is inspected while you wait, eliminating the dent scam.
Our shuttle driver explained the political wrangling Fox, as an off-airport agency, has been through with Clark County. I told him to expect the county to hit Fox with higher fees or higher taxes somewhere down the road, so everybody get those rentals while they’re still cheap.
Hotel
Orleans is a dowager- a bit worn but still charming. We got a ninth-floor Strip view room where everything worked. After three nights, we switched to South Point, which has larger, more comfortable, but generic rooms. I had talked my way into a comp there for the first and probably last time. I played as much as I could, but time constraints, a headache one morning, and a slight reluctance to go home broke after Orleans kept my play below what the host probably wanted.
MPT and Meet
RowanB, Harv, and several others made the Palazzo edition of the Mattress Poker Tour into a resounding success. The event has been reported, so I will just add that I am no Daniel Negreanu. Daniel would have smelled out those pocket tens that beat my boat. I got my share of good hands after that, but even Daniel is powerless against a river ace. Also, it became obvious as time passed that half a dozen players were better than I was, and everybody (except Noahcat) was more serious. Nice to meet everyone and play, if briefly. Bob, I will treasure the jester.
At the noodle place, we saw several more LVAers I had wanted to meet, but I was disappointed that CLV’s only two words to me were, “No Pictures!” when I didn’t even have a camera. I said I would call Marc and eat but we ran out of time.
Red Rock (the rock, not the casino)
On the ECLVA schedule I had posted a gamble-and-walk to depart from Orleans Tuesday morning. Inexplicably, only Tennis Bum and Noahcat were willing and/or able to show up at 6 a.m. The walk was so much fun I horned in again the next day. I loved it for several reasons: I got to spend time with two wonderful people, I got good exercise in a beautiful place, and I didn’t lose as much money as I lost other mornings before breakfast.
Aliante and Sue
One morning after walking, Tennis Bum dropped Noahcat on the Strip and took Maggie and me up to Aliante Station where Sue Casey works. I wanted to look around and say “Hi” to Sue, and Bum had some stuff to do there, too. What a beautiful casino, and it is VP paradise! Played full pay Double Bonus, which is getting rare.
Bard Plays Slots and Slotty VP
I have never before insisted on playing a slot machine. But I needed to play “Wizard of Oz” with Bum, Maggie, and Noahcat, and get a photo of the experience. You see, my mother’s name is Dorothy, and when she was a child, a tornado destroyed her garage. So we played. The machine sucked Mom’s twenty faster than a---err, tornado.
Later, Tennis revealed that “Lord of the Rings” was his guilty pleasure, so the two of us played that with the girls watching. Once I got ahead, Noahcat told me to cash out (she would rather do than watch) and I would be a lifetime winner. So I did.
Quick Quads is in favor with some of the group right now, so when we went by Ellis Island, Bum directed us to two machines and Noahcat showed us how to play while Bum got a round of root beers. Maggie liked the game and won money. Then I stepped up to play five hand nickels. After about 20 minutes, up come three sevens with a deuce (not wild) and a face card. Noahcat says I should keep the sevens and also the deuce, which at first seemed very strange. But it made sense because you get five chances to complete the quad that way instead of two. So I kept the deuce and hit fives on TWO hands. From my yell, one would have thought I had busted my royal flush cherry instead of just cashing out 34 dollars.
Later at South Point, Noahcat showed me quick quads with the wheel. Eventually, I won Mom’s twenty back for her with a quad and a 150-coin bonus.
Games like these are fun to play with other people. Wonderful friends like TB and NC are the second key to a great trip.
Penn & Teller
Their tricks work, but these guys are a known quantity. Spouting toned down libertarian rants and taking predictable pot shots at the usual charlatans, Penn & Teller (ampersand obligatory) are less controversial and thought provoking onstage than they are on Showtime.
What made the show special for us is that Maggie was in it! It’s a poorly kept secret that Teller speaks, although not usually onstage. As he prepped one of the audience volunteers for a trick, Maggie saw him eyeing her. We had been moved to the aisle because my seat was broken. Sure enough, the next time he came down our aisle, Teller grabbed Maggie and led her onto the stage, looking back once to give me his trademark impish grin. Maggie became the holder of the fishbowl for Teller’s aquarium trick. She had a great time watching Teller work up close. At the end of the trick, he gave her the fishbowl and the pennies. We brought the fishbowl back the next night at the end of the show, and Teller autographed it.
These guys would do well to retire their metal detector and buy a body scanner.
Human Nature
Noahcat scored Maggie and me a couple comps to this show, which is in a horrid room at Imperial Palace. All sideways long tables. The room was ¾ full, the audience appreciative but just occasionally on its feet.
These four Aussies are among the hardest working entertainers on the Strip- when they’re working. They spend too much time talking or showing pictures instead of singing, and what they say and show is not that interesting. Their Motown interpretations range from dullish to sparkling. Three or four numbers didn’t work, but most were good and six or seven were very good. The guys don’t sound like Motown, but they do sound good. It’s their take on Motown. The lead tenor has a less distinctive voice than the other three and should be singing backup, where he did well. Although the band is good, the boys are at their best a capella.
Anyone who has seen the Supremes will recognize (and everyone gets to learn) some of the choreography. Although they will never achieve the smoothness of the Temptations, the guys really get into the dancing, and it is great fun!
Fun activities such as good dining, shows, or whatever one enjoys, are the third key.
Gaetano’s
Tennis Bum took us to Gaetano's on Eastern in Henderson. Maggie loved it. Gaetano’s is a crowd pleasing restaurant with some good features. Beautiful room, well selected wine list. They pour Arancio chard at a buck per glass more than the bottle costs, and Layer Cake primitivo for two bucks less than the bottle costs. High end wines were not marked up so much.
Spaghetti and meat balls are sweeter than I like, although the others enjoyed the dish. In the cioppino, the shellfish was varied and plentiful, the fish salmon, the broth bland. It came on a plate over pasta. They do a nice risotto, which came under a well-cooked sea bass.
Service was impeccable. An overdosed salad was replaced quickly with a lighter one. The Caesar was blandish one night and well anchovied the next. The place had a contingent of businessmen ordering light beer, steaks, and fettucini Alfredo.
Cosmo
After half an hour of goofs and glitches, it took another appearance by Bad Jeffrey to get our hundred in free play and slot tournament entries, but then Maggie won and turned her bonus fifty into 65. So with my win from the day before, Cosmo was a positive play for both of us.
Maggie loved the crystals. I was neutral about them.
M
This and Aliante Station were our two favorite casinos. The place looks industrial from the outside but is elegant, quiet, and comfortably impressive inside. There are a few decent games to play, and the machines are new with good displays. Vig Deli is good, and a fairly good value also. M has a bad reputation with some because of problems and downgrades that have happened, but if you cross it off your list you’re missing something.
Three Keys
Our return flight was delayed a half hour in Denver with the result that we had more time to eat, so it worked out perfectly. We got home to 80 degrees and 100 percent humidity, which is worse to us than Las Vegas’ 105 degrees and low humidity. I think Maggie is getting used to the dry heat. With transportation that turned out for the best, terrific friends, and lots of fun things to do, our ECLVA trip to Las Vegas was a big success. Next year, maybe we can even win money.
