We just got back from our semi-annual seven day trip. It was a big group this time, Linda (wife) and I, Linda’s sister and brother-in-law (Joyce and Ken), our son from Denver, Aaron, plus a surprise visit from his wife, Arielle. Our friends Linda from Minnesota and Lolly from LA also joined us. It was a really good trip, but a real roller coaster, I finished ahead, didn’t even need to take any markers. Lots of good food, too. It was a hell of a ride overall, but I suppose it usually is. Major losses punctuated by a few jackpots, including a royal. It’s better when you get the royal than when you don't. Anyway, total action was $57,800. I wound up about $500 ahead, Linda wind up about $170 behind, for a net win of $335, or 0.58%.
WEDNESDAY
We had stayed at the La Quinta near the Tampa airport Tuesday night, I got some takeout food from Arco Iris, a really good Cuban restaurant. Had some terrific bacalao a la vizcaina, Linda had an excellent Cuban sandwich.
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Easy nonstop flight on Southwest early Wednesday morning, the plane was half empty. Took Uber downtown and to MSS, caught up with Aaron, went over to American Coney for chili dogs for lunch. Very tasty, I had plenty of Purkinje fibers in mine. Back to MSS, I played a lot of three-play and five-play BP as well as JoB at the bar. Kind of up and down, then I hit quad aces on the BP, stay pretty much even all afternoon. We went over to Market Street at the Cal for dinner, I had the prime rib special, not bad at all. Back to MSS, I did pretty well in the evening, got two sets of quad aces on the triple-play BP within four hands. Early to bed.
THURSDAY
Difficult start, had my usual $100 cup of coffee, then went over to the Fremont and played a little Pick-em, but didn’t do well. Back to MSS, played some NSUD, did OK, got a dealt WR, which helped. Aaron also got quad deuces, lucky! Linda went over to the Golden Nugget to have breakfast with Joyce and Ken, and Aaron and I went down to Bocho, a good sushi bar at 6th and Carson. Service was very slow that day, they got unusually busy for lunch, but the sushi was fantastic. Excellent o-toro, kampachi, uni, etc.
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I did a little coupon running on the way back, kind of up and down, lost most of my $25 match plays this trip (not as bad as last year, though). Played a lot more at MSS for the afternoon, stayed about even. Linda from Minnesota caught up with us, we played together for a while, all wound up at the MSS buffet that evening, generally adequate. Played some more multi-line bonus poker after dinner, got a royal!
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Boy, that helped. Played a little more after that, then bedtime.
FRIDAY
Good start, got quad sixes on my first hand over coffee, made up for the $100 cup yesterday. I did a little more coupon running, then back to MSS, play the usual dollar JoB at the bar, quarter NSUD and three or five play quarter BP. Did lousy on my first triple-play session, but then got quad deuces and quad threes within three hands. Aaron and I decided to walk up Main ST to El Salvadoreño, a terrific little El Salvadoran hole in the wall. Great lunch, great home-style food, friendly service, we had a pupusa, a chicken tamal, Aaron had the plato tipico and I had the bistec encebollado.
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Terrific. Back to MSS, played some more, had a fun STP Illinois Deuces session, pretty much broke even. Aaron, Linda from Minnesota and I wound up at the California Noodle House for dinner, had some pork belly bao, I had beef chow fun, Linda had Cantonese chow mein and Aaron had oxtail fried rice, all very good.
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No room for Lappert's, though, sorry we missed it this trip. Back to MSS, had a few quads, then bedtime.
SATURDAY
Played a little more Pick-em at the Fremont this morning, pretty much broke even. Back to MSS, Arielle decided to fly out from Denver for a few days and make a surprise appearance, it was really wonderful spending time with her. We all moved over to the Four Queens, had a quick lunch at Magnolia's. First session after lunch was a monster, one of the best I’ve ever had, on dollar JoB. Had four quads in about 10 or 15 minutes, cashed out $500 ahead. The rest of the afternoon was good, played some quarter DB and got a dealt straight flush.
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Back to dollar JoB, did lousy, then drew to an inside straight flush.
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Yay! Dinner was at Andiamo over at The D, for all eight of us. Excellent dinner, I really like this place, might be the best restaurant downtown. I had a beet napoleon and the veal milanese, really outstanding.
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Everybody’s steaks were also top-notch, deeply flavored, well-aged, perfectly prepared, this is certainly the best beef that you can get downtown. We were all very happy with dinner. Went back to the Four Queens, played a little more, then bedtime.
SUNDAY
Cold this morning, 43°. This was a tough day, gave back a lot of money, although still ahead. I played my $200 free play on the dollar DB, turned it into $235, but it was a difficult day otherwise, lost a bunch in the morning. Aaron, Arielle and I went to Aloha Specialties over at the Cal for lunch, it was great as always, one of my favorite restaurants in Vegas. Had the ochazuke.
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Back to the Four Queens, I had my only quad of the day, fortunately it was the aces on the quarter DB.
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Wish it were on the dollar machine. I did take a shot on the dollar DB later but lost a quick $200. The good news was that Arielle hit a royal for $1000, that brought the kids back into the black for the trip. About the only good session I had was on the quarter Illinois Deuces progressive bartops, hit two wild royals in five hands. I would’ve been happier on the dollar JoB, of course. Everybody got together for dinner at Magnolia's, had a very acceptable chicken fried steak. Played a little more after dinner, nothing special, got my jeweled dog for 1000 points (Chinese New Year promo), then bedtime.
MONDAY
Moving day to Palace Station. I got up early and had a few White Castle burgers, then we checked out and took Uber up to PS. Still losing today, although Linda did pretty well, got a SF on the triple-play BP progressives. She actually got a lot of straight flushes this trip, very unusual but nice. Aaron, Arielle and I went over to Maui Rose for lunch, a nice little local Hawaiian place across the street. Excellent food, I had tempura, Aaron had a bento and Arielle had spicy Korean pork.
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All great. Back to the casino, I mostly did lousy. I did get two natural quads on the NSUD machine, of course. I decided to throw $100 into the Multi-Strike BP machine. That was really exciting, a very wild ride. Wound up breaking even; my last hand was a three to a royal draw on the top line, got the fourth royal card and a suited seven, I guess $50 is OK but $8K would have been nicer.
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Dinner was at Mon Ami Gabi, at Paris, we met Linda from Minnesota and Lolly up there. Nice place, food was pretty good but somewhat uneven. I had some good duck confit and very nice French onion soup, but the steak frites was underwhelming.
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Linda had some pate de foie gras which was very good. Not a bad place, very pretty, good food but nothing to go out of one's way for. Back to PS, I had a very long and very pointless three-play BP session, then bedtime.
TUESDAY
Bad day for gambling (again), but a good day for food. Broke even with my morning coffee, was losing on the BP progressive bartop but got a quad to bail me out. Played pai gow for over an hour, couldn't get many decent hands, wound up down about $40; it's always a fun game, though, and PS has maybe the only $10 table in town. Played some more, lost some more; did get a pint of whiskey for 300 points, though. Lunch was at the Grand Cafe (coffee shop), Linda had breakfast, Aaron had a very good fried pork chop special, I had the Emperor's wonton soup, which was very good. Unfortunately, the good Chinese restaurant at PS (Food Express) is gone, they've added some Asian food to the Cafe menu, but it's mostly General Tso's chicken and that sort of thing. Anyway, the soup was good.
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Bad afternoon, couldn't hit shit on the triple-play BP progressive (it's a good game, but I can never seem to hit anything on it), also had another wild but losing ride on the Multi-Strike BP machine. Linda got another inside SF on JoB, though. Dinner was the culinary high point of the trip, Bazaar Meat at SLS. Linda, Aaron and I took Uber, played a few promos (lost another $25 MP; not my year) and ate. This is becoming my favorite high-end restaurant in town, great place for the carnivore, and one of those restaurants where the entire focus is on the food. We had a hell of a variety: cotton candy foie gras, Asian tacos (jamon iberico and tobiko in nori, a surprisingly good match), traditional and molecular olives, croquetas de pollo, chicharon with za'atar and yogurt, smoke and ice oysters (still amazing), a tomato salad. Mains included vaca vieja ribeye, wagyu skirt, lamb neck (incredible, sous vide cooked and then crisped perfectly, wish I could do that), charred cauliflower (fantastic), mushrooms al ajillo. Got a few small desserts, a dark chocolate and almond eclair (best eclair I've ever had), a chocolate rum cake and a key lime tart.
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Really memorable meal, we'll be back and will try to work our way further through the menu. Might need to do the Japanese A5 wagyu next time, although there are so many interesting options. Then, there's that suckling pig. Also the wagyu beef cheeks (Aaron was going to order them but they were out, thus the lamb neck). Anyway, Uber back to PS, up and down a bit, said goodbye to Aaron (he was leaving on the 6am airport shuttle in the morning), bedtime.
WEDNESDAY
Short day today. Linda played some blackjack, got beaten up, then finished off on a Li'l Red machine and made about $30 in five spins. I went to Biwon, a Korean barbecue about a block west of PS. They have an all you can eat lunch special and it was pretty good. The prize goes to the garlic beef belly, but everything was good.
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Back to PS, we got packed, checked out, took the shuttle to the airport and had an uneventful flight home on Southwest.
It was a great trip overall, serious roller coaster from a gambling perspective. We wound up ahead, the royal and the monster session with the four quads at Four Queens helped; still painful to give back a lot of a jackpot but that's how it works. Aaron and Arielle had a great taste of Vegas, a very serious trip for them. Major roller coaster ride for them, too, with a lot of losses offset by Arielle's royal. Lots of time with family and great friends, lots of good food. Next trip will be sometime in the summer, can't wait!
