Another semi-annual trip under the belt. This was a good trip, stayed three nights at MSS, two at Sam's, two at Four Queens (liking that place more every time). Linda's (wife) mother (Evelyn), sister (Joyce) and brother-in-law (Kenny) were out as well, for the first few days; they stayed at the Golden Nugget. Heavier play than usual for us, our coin-in is usually in the mid-$40K range, this time it was over $56K; wound up down about a thousand, but this was softened by some really good deals (7x points at Sam's, extra FP at Four Queens). Didn't play nearly enough BJ this time, never made it to the El Cortez, either. Anyway,...
WEDNESDAY
Stayed at the airport Marriott in Tampa the night before, got an early flight on United, via Houston. Took the CX downtown, stopped at American Coney Island for a coney, then checked in at MSS. Took a pretty bad beating the first two days, but eventually came back some (the Hand of the Week was the full house, Linda and I got tons of them, dealt and made). Also got some of my best natural hands on deuces machines, including two natural straight flushes (pisses me off).
Definitely got more scratch cards on the deuces machines (NSUD and TDW) than on the JoB machines. Anyway, went to dinner at Redwood Grill with the family; it was Evelyn's 91st birthday and she wanted to stay downtown. The porterhouse special was really disappointing, fairly dry and flavorless; it used to be a lot better than that. Baked oysters were very good, though, and the apple dumpling is always a treat. Played a little more, then bedtime.
THURSDAY
Scary start for the day, almost had another one of those $200 cups of coffee, then hit three hands in a row, quad-FH-quad. Never did that before. Cashed out $400, plus two scratch-n-sniffs. Went over to the GN to have lunch with the family, and with Linda's cousins from Henderson, nice folks. Ev had plenty of comps, we ate at Claim Jumper's, the coffee shop. Had some watered-down but tasty kalbi (Korean-style grilled short ribs), then took the WAX out to Rampart. Nice casino, but we didn't do well, got pretty beaten up on the machines; good blackjack game and some very favorable decks, Linda made some money but I got overstiffed (no, not a sexual term). We tried the Thursday night "New York Deli buffet," which wasn't quite it. It's a generally mediocre buffet, and I think they probably just read some brief descriptions of what Jewish food is like. They didn't fool me. The brisket was pretty good, anyway. They also had the rugelach mislabeled as "arugula," I liked that.
Back to MSS, played some more, nothing special.
FRIDAY
Things are starting to turn around. Bad start, then went over to the Fremont, played some Pick-'em, did fairly well, came back to MSS, played some multi-line BP. Was up and down, then got a dealt quad (you get three scratch-n-sniffs for that!) and a few other quads.
Lunch was at Aloha Specialties, one of my favorite restaurants (got the garlic chicken with gravy, real Hawaiian comfort food).
Did the zipline with Kenny after lunch (really well-run operation and a lot of fun, although once is probably enough at that price), played some more, then went to Marriage Can Be Murder, the mystery dinner theater thing over at The D (Joyce had a groupon). Food was mediocre, but it was a lot of fun, very interactive and a general hoot. Back to MSS, played some more (starting to hit well, finally), then went over to Lappert's (love that place) for a coconut macadamia ice cream cone.
SATURDAY
Another frightening cup of coffee. $200 in, ran it down to about $25, then came back VERY slowly, almost entirely on two-pairs and occasional trips. Don't want to do that again. Checked out, took the shuttle to Sam's Town. Nice promo for us, 7x points, good on almost all of the VP, that paid off well. I mostly played the dollar 9/6 progressives at the bar by the sports book; the royal was up to about $4500 when we got there, but someone hit it late in the afternoon, not me. Had a decent hot pastrami sandwich at the sports book deli, played some FPDW, also a good double deuces game (didn't get any quad deuces this trip, though). Mostly did well, hit the Mystic Falls show a few times (with the newly refurred bear). Linda had dinner at the deli again, I walked up to Pepe's Tacos, a few blocks north. Neat place, kind of ratty but nice people and cool murals on the walls.
Had a three-taco plate, not as good as I had hoped; the taco al pastor and the carnitas were lackluster, but the birria (goat) was very good. Plenty fatty, too, if goat fat is your thing.
Back to Sam's for more natural quads on the FPDW machine (still pisses me off), then bedtime.
SUNDAY
Heavy play today, did fairly well, including some premium quads on the triple-play BP machine and a straight flush on JoB. I also threw $10 into a slot machine, I do that on occasion. This was Li'l Red, and I hit it big in a bonus round, wound up cashing out for about $140.
Loads o' fun, and no skill involved at all, but not a positive enough experience for me to get strung out on slots. Hit the "champagne brunch" which was worth about what we paid for it (nothing). I hit the SF after lunch
as well as a few other things, decided to take a shot at a $5 machine, they have a $5 9/6 JoB machine at the Winchester Bar. Threw in $200, played for a while but never got anything better than two-pairs and a couple of trips, didn't make a fortune. It was exciting, though. Went to the bathroom, listened to some poor guy with obvious prostate problems talking very gently and kindly to his bladder, trying to coax out a stream (seems like more of a downtown thing). More triple-play after that, bad session but recovered with quad aces (yay!). Got some Arby's for Linda, then went to Pho T., across Boulder Highway (getting there reminded me of playing Frogger). Very nice people, tasty but very tame pho dac biet. Played some more, mostly FPDW, did okay, and that was that.
MONDAY
Very hectic day today, it was the last day of the month and we had an offer at Four Queens, $80 FP, with another $80 if we got 800 points ($6400 coin-in on VP, except for 10/7 DB) in August, had to get there from Sam's, then had to get up to Mandalay Bay for dinner and Michael Jackson ONE, so it was going to be busy. Quick coffee and JoB session at the bar at Sam's (the bartender had some story about how he found a hollowed-out lemon and started cutting it up for lemon twists, but one of the waitresses yelled at him because one of the other bartenders had hollowed it out for her; the bartender asked why she wanted it, and was told firmly that it was personal. I told him that it was likely to be used as a contraceptive device, and that's the story he told everyone from that point on.), then checked out, got our CB, took the shuttle back downtown and checked in to the Four Queens. They're in the middle of remodeling the rooms now so there was a lot of construction activity; our room hadn't been remodeled yet. We played heavily for a few hours (I did better than Linda, poor kid), grabbed a quick bite at Lanai Express over at the Fremont (I had a surprisingly tasty Chinese combo plate, Linda had a surprisingly adequate foot-long hot dog, reminiscent of the Westward Ho dog but without the rat hair; we also had a couple of 99 cent shrimp cocktails, not at all as good as they used to be at GG, but definitely with that 99 cent flavor), played some more and made our 800 points. Got dressed, took the SDX up to Mandalay Bay. Those Strip resorts sure do involve a lot of walking. Anyway, we had reserved at Stripsteak, Michael Mina's steakhouse. Nice place, great service. Linda had a really outstanding Manhattan, made with Bulleit rye. Starters were seared foie gras with roasted pineapple (a bit overpowering for the foie gras), coconut milk and hazelnuts; and a Caesar salad with white anchovies.
I had a Wagyu rib cap (been thinking about that for six months)
and Linda had a Wagyu ribeye; we also had some creamed spinach with bacon streusel. Overall, everything was outstanding, although I think the preparations and the quality of the steaks were far better at Craftsteak (at MGM). Glad we tried it, though, and absolutely not a disappointment.
Michael Jackson ONE was a fantastic show, one of the best that I've ever seen (thanks, Champster!). Absolutely spectacular, from start to finish, incredible lighting and special effects, not as acrobatic as other Cirque shows but wonderful choreography throughout. Overall a wonderful tribute to Michael Jackson and his music. Our seats were in the first row of the balcony, 205BB 1-2, couldn't have picked better seats. Back to Four Queens after the show, played some more and caught a couple of VivaVision shows (Who, Bon Jovi), then bedtime. Good day.
TUESDAY
Last day, and a pretty low-key one, just stayed at the Queens and played. Also walked down to the old Las Vegas Club, it's pretty much gutted now.
Sad to see, it was dying a slow and painful death, but I do have a lot of good LVC memories. Anyway, back to the Queens, up and down all day, I played a lot of DB, got quad deuces and quad threes within maybe 15 hands of each other, that helped.
So did Linda getting four quads on JoB in the span of maybe a half hour. Lunch was fried calamari and a deep-dish pizza at Chicago Brewing Company, fairly tasty (so was the All Nighter ale), dinner was at Magnolia's, I had an adequate prime rib, Linda had an open-faced turkey sandwich. Bad JoB session after dinner, but once again rescued by a dealt quad.
WEDNESDAY
Caught up on some sleep, got up in time to get our CB and check out. Quick WAX ride to the airport, uneventful flight home.
Overall, it wasn't a winning trip, but there were plenty of ups to offset the downs, lots of new things to see and do. Next trip will be in February. Thanks for reading!
WEDNESDAY
Stayed at the airport Marriott in Tampa the night before, got an early flight on United, via Houston. Took the CX downtown, stopped at American Coney Island for a coney, then checked in at MSS. Took a pretty bad beating the first two days, but eventually came back some (the Hand of the Week was the full house, Linda and I got tons of them, dealt and made). Also got some of my best natural hands on deuces machines, including two natural straight flushes (pisses me off).
Definitely got more scratch cards on the deuces machines (NSUD and TDW) than on the JoB machines. Anyway, went to dinner at Redwood Grill with the family; it was Evelyn's 91st birthday and she wanted to stay downtown. The porterhouse special was really disappointing, fairly dry and flavorless; it used to be a lot better than that. Baked oysters were very good, though, and the apple dumpling is always a treat. Played a little more, then bedtime.
THURSDAY
Scary start for the day, almost had another one of those $200 cups of coffee, then hit three hands in a row, quad-FH-quad. Never did that before. Cashed out $400, plus two scratch-n-sniffs. Went over to the GN to have lunch with the family, and with Linda's cousins from Henderson, nice folks. Ev had plenty of comps, we ate at Claim Jumper's, the coffee shop. Had some watered-down but tasty kalbi (Korean-style grilled short ribs), then took the WAX out to Rampart. Nice casino, but we didn't do well, got pretty beaten up on the machines; good blackjack game and some very favorable decks, Linda made some money but I got overstiffed (no, not a sexual term). We tried the Thursday night "New York Deli buffet," which wasn't quite it. It's a generally mediocre buffet, and I think they probably just read some brief descriptions of what Jewish food is like. They didn't fool me. The brisket was pretty good, anyway. They also had the rugelach mislabeled as "arugula," I liked that.
Back to MSS, played some more, nothing special.
FRIDAY
Things are starting to turn around. Bad start, then went over to the Fremont, played some Pick-'em, did fairly well, came back to MSS, played some multi-line BP. Was up and down, then got a dealt quad (you get three scratch-n-sniffs for that!) and a few other quads.
Lunch was at Aloha Specialties, one of my favorite restaurants (got the garlic chicken with gravy, real Hawaiian comfort food).
Did the zipline with Kenny after lunch (really well-run operation and a lot of fun, although once is probably enough at that price), played some more, then went to Marriage Can Be Murder, the mystery dinner theater thing over at The D (Joyce had a groupon). Food was mediocre, but it was a lot of fun, very interactive and a general hoot. Back to MSS, played some more (starting to hit well, finally), then went over to Lappert's (love that place) for a coconut macadamia ice cream cone.
SATURDAY
Another frightening cup of coffee. $200 in, ran it down to about $25, then came back VERY slowly, almost entirely on two-pairs and occasional trips. Don't want to do that again. Checked out, took the shuttle to Sam's Town. Nice promo for us, 7x points, good on almost all of the VP, that paid off well. I mostly played the dollar 9/6 progressives at the bar by the sports book; the royal was up to about $4500 when we got there, but someone hit it late in the afternoon, not me. Had a decent hot pastrami sandwich at the sports book deli, played some FPDW, also a good double deuces game (didn't get any quad deuces this trip, though). Mostly did well, hit the Mystic Falls show a few times (with the newly refurred bear). Linda had dinner at the deli again, I walked up to Pepe's Tacos, a few blocks north. Neat place, kind of ratty but nice people and cool murals on the walls.
Had a three-taco plate, not as good as I had hoped; the taco al pastor and the carnitas were lackluster, but the birria (goat) was very good. Plenty fatty, too, if goat fat is your thing.
Back to Sam's for more natural quads on the FPDW machine (still pisses me off), then bedtime.
SUNDAY
Heavy play today, did fairly well, including some premium quads on the triple-play BP machine and a straight flush on JoB. I also threw $10 into a slot machine, I do that on occasion. This was Li'l Red, and I hit it big in a bonus round, wound up cashing out for about $140.
Loads o' fun, and no skill involved at all, but not a positive enough experience for me to get strung out on slots. Hit the "champagne brunch" which was worth about what we paid for it (nothing). I hit the SF after lunch
as well as a few other things, decided to take a shot at a $5 machine, they have a $5 9/6 JoB machine at the Winchester Bar. Threw in $200, played for a while but never got anything better than two-pairs and a couple of trips, didn't make a fortune. It was exciting, though. Went to the bathroom, listened to some poor guy with obvious prostate problems talking very gently and kindly to his bladder, trying to coax out a stream (seems like more of a downtown thing). More triple-play after that, bad session but recovered with quad aces (yay!). Got some Arby's for Linda, then went to Pho T., across Boulder Highway (getting there reminded me of playing Frogger). Very nice people, tasty but very tame pho dac biet. Played some more, mostly FPDW, did okay, and that was that.
MONDAY
Very hectic day today, it was the last day of the month and we had an offer at Four Queens, $80 FP, with another $80 if we got 800 points ($6400 coin-in on VP, except for 10/7 DB) in August, had to get there from Sam's, then had to get up to Mandalay Bay for dinner and Michael Jackson ONE, so it was going to be busy. Quick coffee and JoB session at the bar at Sam's (the bartender had some story about how he found a hollowed-out lemon and started cutting it up for lemon twists, but one of the waitresses yelled at him because one of the other bartenders had hollowed it out for her; the bartender asked why she wanted it, and was told firmly that it was personal. I told him that it was likely to be used as a contraceptive device, and that's the story he told everyone from that point on.), then checked out, got our CB, took the shuttle back downtown and checked in to the Four Queens. They're in the middle of remodeling the rooms now so there was a lot of construction activity; our room hadn't been remodeled yet. We played heavily for a few hours (I did better than Linda, poor kid), grabbed a quick bite at Lanai Express over at the Fremont (I had a surprisingly tasty Chinese combo plate, Linda had a surprisingly adequate foot-long hot dog, reminiscent of the Westward Ho dog but without the rat hair; we also had a couple of 99 cent shrimp cocktails, not at all as good as they used to be at GG, but definitely with that 99 cent flavor), played some more and made our 800 points. Got dressed, took the SDX up to Mandalay Bay. Those Strip resorts sure do involve a lot of walking. Anyway, we had reserved at Stripsteak, Michael Mina's steakhouse. Nice place, great service. Linda had a really outstanding Manhattan, made with Bulleit rye. Starters were seared foie gras with roasted pineapple (a bit overpowering for the foie gras), coconut milk and hazelnuts; and a Caesar salad with white anchovies.
I had a Wagyu rib cap (been thinking about that for six months)
and Linda had a Wagyu ribeye; we also had some creamed spinach with bacon streusel. Overall, everything was outstanding, although I think the preparations and the quality of the steaks were far better at Craftsteak (at MGM). Glad we tried it, though, and absolutely not a disappointment.
Michael Jackson ONE was a fantastic show, one of the best that I've ever seen (thanks, Champster!). Absolutely spectacular, from start to finish, incredible lighting and special effects, not as acrobatic as other Cirque shows but wonderful choreography throughout. Overall a wonderful tribute to Michael Jackson and his music. Our seats were in the first row of the balcony, 205BB 1-2, couldn't have picked better seats. Back to Four Queens after the show, played some more and caught a couple of VivaVision shows (Who, Bon Jovi), then bedtime. Good day.
TUESDAY
Last day, and a pretty low-key one, just stayed at the Queens and played. Also walked down to the old Las Vegas Club, it's pretty much gutted now.
Sad to see, it was dying a slow and painful death, but I do have a lot of good LVC memories. Anyway, back to the Queens, up and down all day, I played a lot of DB, got quad deuces and quad threes within maybe 15 hands of each other, that helped.
So did Linda getting four quads on JoB in the span of maybe a half hour. Lunch was fried calamari and a deep-dish pizza at Chicago Brewing Company, fairly tasty (so was the All Nighter ale), dinner was at Magnolia's, I had an adequate prime rib, Linda had an open-faced turkey sandwich. Bad JoB session after dinner, but once again rescued by a dealt quad.
WEDNESDAY
Caught up on some sleep, got up in time to get our CB and check out. Quick WAX ride to the airport, uneventful flight home.
Overall, it wasn't a winning trip, but there were plenty of ups to offset the downs, lots of new things to see and do. Next trip will be in February. Thanks for reading!
