The first 2017 trip report
Monday, Jan 30
And so it begins. I have no idea how often I will go this year. The days of the two and three months at a time are behind me. I will still come to Las Vegas this year, but I have to admit that this once premier destination has lost a lot of its glitter and fascination with me. I’ve been disillusioned by the non-stop escalation of greed that’s taken over this city in the past ten years. Long gone are the days of cheap eats and rooms on the Strip or even the more popular local casinos. The meals (buffets in particular) have steadily increased their prices, and then came the resort fees, and now paid parking. I will not be surprised to one day see the sign on the registration desk that says, “Sheets and pillows extra,” or “toilet flush surcharges apply.”
Of course, that’s not to say ALL the bargains are gone…yet. Downtown still has a few decent video poker schedules as does that rogue standout South Point. Sam’s Town, once the best of local joints with full pay schedules with no penalty for video poker players is now down to a lone bank of eight machines hidden in the corner of the second floor. You can still find some great food deals in the out-of-the-way local casinos, but on or anywhere near the Strip, expect to pay premium prices. It’s all just a little disheartening. But time moves on, the old will soon be forgotten and the new will continue to progress as long as people (or in casino parlance, the sheep) keep paying the wolf.
That being said, I’ll be staying at Sam’s Town for three nights (comped) on a promotion called the $5000 cash giveaway (more on that later). Sam’s continues to be my “home” casino in Las Vegas—technically east of Henderson but still carries a Las Vegas zip code—because they continue to offer me monthly free room offers. Their BConnected slot program for seniors is the best program—bar none. I’m still bristling at the notion of writing “senior” about me. I’ve been steadily coming here since I was 21 years old and at almost 66…well…say what?
My drive from San Diego takes five hours. I leave at 3AM simply because I prefer driving at night and there’s little traffic which makes for a serene, easy drive. I made a few stops along the way at a few of the casinos in Primm and Jean because I hadn’t stopped in here for a long while and was curious of any changes. My first stop was the Buffalo Bills Hotel and Casino. This is the third of the three casinos on the state line to be built along with the Primm and Whiskey Pete’s.
Buffalo Bill’s Hotel and Casino on State Line
The inside (sorry for the glare) of Buffalo Bill’s. It’s very early in the morning.
Buffalo Bill’s has undergone a few changes over the years but maintains its country western theme. The once terrific café has been replaced with a Denny’s and the Miss Lilly’s Buffet has been “closed until further notice.” Aside from that, there’s a Mexican restaurant and a small food court. There were about 12 table games and the rest of the floor was machines. At 7:00 AM there were three table games open with no players and I only saw about four people playing the machines. It’s still a clean and spacious place to play but you can expect some pretty tight machines and the video poker tables (as in all these state line properties) are unplayable.
I drove across the street to Whiskey Pete’s (I didn’t bother with the Primm) because the last time I was here, they had closed all their rooms and removed all their table games making this place simply a slot house. However, I saw on the billboard that the rooms have all been remodeled and are once again open for business.
Whiskey Pete’s on State Line. It’s had the same exterior for 40 years.
I was surprised to see once inside the table games have been put back making this place a real casino once again. There’s a new McDonald’s outlet next to the franchised International Pancake House. The Bonnie and Clyde death vehicle is still on display but moved yet again. It was nice to see the registration desk back in operation. I would like to one day make a one night stop here to see just what the new rooms look like.
I drove on down to Jean where the Gold Strike still stands. The Nevada, the sister casino across the street has long been torn down and now only a lone gas station sits on the once expansive property.
The Gold Strike in Jean. The big sign is in bad need of some paint as does the rest of the property.
Of the four casinos along the I-15 from the California border to Las Vegas, this one is by far the weakest. Inside only half the casino floor had machines with the other half roped off except for four novelty cars (including the original Batmoble). The buffet was the only eating outlet and there were no table games whatsoever making this merely a slot house. My memories of this place were when it was one of the last casinos to hold out getting the ticket in/ticket out technology and I used to stop here and use all my dimes saved from the past year because they were also the only place in Nevada that had dime machines.
I finally arrived in Las Vegas and made my obligatory stop at the Henderson Costco to fill up the tank ($2.25 per) and then on to Sam’s Town. It was now 9 AM and an hour before my first poker tournament. I had breakfast at the buffet, which I used slot points ($4.85 with slot card—still the best deal anywhere for a breakfast buffet). Granted Sam’s Town isn’t going to win any awards for their buffet; however, breakfast is pretty hard to screw up and it has all you need and quite honestly, terrific coffee.
I played of first of three poker tournaments. Sam’s Town has a daily poker tournament at 10 AM that only costs $23. The first three sessions are limit, then there’s a break and you come back to no limit. It’s a great and cheap way to spend the morning. Today there were 40 players (not bad for a Monday morning). I was drawing completely card dead. As a matter of fact, I could only play one hand (Jack/Jack) and lost that. I did limp into the break but only had $1100 going into the no-limit session. The second hand I was the big blind ($1000) and had no choice but to go all in with a 4/5 suited. I was out of the tournament having only played (and lost) one hand. Oh well. Tomorrow is another day.
Sam’s Town
There are no promotions Monday and Tuesday here, so I will not be playing any games here until Wednesday when it’s Senior day and I can play for multiple points (more on that later). So, I decided to go see a movie. Sam’s Town has a wonderful theater complex and cheap seats. I saw the Vin Diesel flick, Triple X something or other. As expected, a lot of silly explosions, fights, pretty girls in bikinis, and snarky dialogue. It wasn’t a bad way to spend an afternoon with popcorn.
I went to the front desk to check in and requested and given a room at the back tower away from the atrium and close to the covered parking. Rooms at Sam’s Town are basic but clean. I bring my own coffee maker. The bed if comfy and the flat screen wall-mounted TV is a good one. And of course, free is a huge plus. I didn’t do much the rest of the day aside from walking around the casino, picking up some chicken McNuggets from the food court to take up to my room for dinner and was to bed very early.
The day’s gaming: $-23.
Tuesday, Jan 31
Sleep was on and off through the night. I have a solder injury that continues to wake me up at times and other times—not at all. It’s frustrating. I worked on this report and then headed down to the breakfast buffet and then on to this morning’s $23 poker tournament. I had almost an hour before it was to start so I walked down to the Cannery East Hotel and Casino to check things out. Both Canneries (East and North) were purchased by the Boyd Company last year and I wanted to see if they had a date when the BConnected card would be accepted. The boothling said it would be at least until mid-summer if not later.
The Cannery East located on Boulder Hwy, just a block from Sam’s Town
The inside of the Cannery East. A bit like a large barn inside, but plenty of machines.
I walked around the entire casino. I checked the VP schedules but all of them were short pay. I did find a bank of machines that had USA video poker (also known as All-American). When I saw that the straights/flushes/full houses paid 8 I was excited (this is full pay); however, they lowered the quads to 30 instead of 35, which is a point lower. Today is the last day that the slot club is offering nice t-shirts for 300 points, so I’m thinking seriously of coming back this evening and playing. We’ll see.
I walked back to Sam’s Town (noting there were four motorcycle cops hiding along Boulder Hwy ticketing speeders) and made it to the poker room in time. I was hoping to have a better day than yesterday (winning just one hand would have made it a better hand). On the second hand I was dealt Q/2 in the big blind and the flop was 5/2/2. Of course I checked and to my surprise one player bet and another raised. The same thing happened on the turn which was another 2 (giving me quads). One player bet, then next raised and I called. The river was a King and the first player checked, the next player bet and I raised. They both had full houses but I had the quads for a very nice beginning to the game. That was all that happened for the next hour and half. I did manage to grab a few pots along the way and by 12:00 I was at the final table with a medium stack.
Not long, we were down to 7 players and I was cheap leader. I wanted to play carefully but was dealt an A/Q in the big blind and had called a raise. The flop was air and I had to fold dropping me down. Two other players were soon out and we were down to 5. The blinds were huge and I was soon the short stack and in danger of being the bubble boy. The game pays the top four: 1st place $259; 2nd $129; 3rd $78; 4th $59. Fifth place (the bubble) gets nothing. The table decided there would be no bubble money and no chop today. Fortunately two of my all-ins were wins and one player lost. I was second in money and another player was out leaving three of us. I was second in chips and in the big blind holding 6/3 off suit. The flop was 4/5/7 giving me a straight. I went all in on the chip leader. He called and had---ready? 6/8 giving him the higher straight. I was out in 3rd place for $78. Not too bad as this means my three days of tournaments I’ll be playing are now essentially a free roll. Nice.
I went to my room to wait for the 2:15 Cash Giveaway but the maid was cleaning it so I headed back down to the casino and broke my promise to not play a machine today. I sat down at the nickel full pay deuces. I never caught one quad but managed two straight flushes and a wild royal for a $10 profit, so I cashed out, picked up a soda at McDonalds and went back to my room to relax.
This promotion, the $5000 Cash Giveaway is truly great deal. They invite 108 people, who are allowed to bring one guest each. We check in and pick a number. That is your number to be called up. There are 108 numbered envelops on the wall display. When it’s your turn, you pick one of the envelops. Inside is the amount you won. The top prize it $500. There are a couple of $400; some $250 and $100 and $50. The lowest is $25. All this, by the way, is in cash, there, on the spot. Last month I did this promotion and, of course, only won $25 (I’m TERRIBLE at drawings). However, it’s free money, to say nothing of the three free room nights and the make-your-own ice cream sundaes and brownies given at the event.
Sam’s Town Atrium
There was no need to wait in the long line before the doors open because there is no advantage of being first or last. I was the second to last person to enter the room and picked number 31. After enjoying my ice cream sundae and a cup of coffee, I was called up and picked my envelope, which had $75 (three times higher than last time—a good sign). They paid me with the dreaded $50 bill (considered bad luck in most gambling circles), so I will be changing that ASAP. By the way, as luck would have it, the eighth guy picked the envelope with the $500 in it taking some of the mystery out of the event pretty fast.
I had recently changed my email address and never received notice from the Las Vegas Advisor that my membership had expired. So, I got into my car and drove to their office, a non-descript little building north of the Rio. I was able to get the new discount coupon book and renewed for another year. A lot of my friends have stopped their membership for various reasons, but I still fill that $37 is very little to pay per year and if you even just use a few of the coupons, you get that back. I’ve been a member for more than 25 years and goes back to when their coupons were mailed to you sheets.
The Las Vegas Advisor office…c’mon boss, can’t you afford a sign?
Driving back, I really didn’t have anything I needed to do, so I drove over to the Cannery East to play the All-American game I spoke of earlier and perhaps get the 300 points to win the long sleeved t-shirt (like I need another t-shirt—but it’s the challenge). I sat down at the quarter game and put in that $50 bill I won at the Cash Giveaway. My goal is to quit if I lose the $50 or when I reach the 300 point mark. I opened my WinPoker app for the proper strategy for this game—which has CRAZY holds and is totally non-instinctual. For example: you’re dealt assorted suits 4-5-5-7-8. Obviously you hold the two fives—wrong! You play the gut shot straight (keep in mind all straights/flushes/full houses pay 40). There are many more nutty examples like this. I had plenty of time, and I needed it because I was looking up almost every dealt hand for the proper holds.
I played for almost an hour and when I reached 300 points, I cashed out $138.75. Fortunately, I hit one quad and a surprisingly amount of gut shot straights. This game has huge swings and I certainly only recommend it for the novelty. I would have never tried without my strategy app. I picked up my t-shirt and headed back to Sam’s Town where I stopped at the food court for a plate from Peking Palace, which I ate in the room and called it a night. In calculating my day’s gaming total, I had to decide whether or not to include the $75 cash giveaway as gaming. I decided I was invited to this because of my gaming, so I’ve included it.
The day’s gaming: +$251.75
Wednesday, Feb 1
Once again, early to bed…I got up at 3:30 AM (not unusual for me—I’ve become such an old man going to sleep so early at night) and worked on this report and read some of my book (this month’s book club is MILES FROM NOWHERE by Barbara Savage, a round-the-world bicycle journey diary). Today the plan is to pretty much stick to Sam’s Town. Wednesday is the Young At Heart (Senior Day) promotion and it includes up to 50X multiplier (I’ve only hit that once); $4 movie tickets; drawings for the day’s play (I won $100 last time I was here); and another $15 food credit after 7:00 PM.
After breakfast I slid my card at the kiosk and, unfortunately, picked the lowest multiplier available, 10X slots; 6X VP. I headed up to the last bank of 9/6 jacks and was really disappointed that they now have a sticker on them reading that these machines are not available for any promotions or point multipliers. Wow! There goes that. Sam’s is really joining the crowd and going after the positive players. This leaves only four machines in the entire casino that offers a full pay schedule and full point values: the four 8/5 bonus machines with the progressive by the tables downstairs. I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before they’re lowered to 7/5.
I played these and just couldn’t get anything going and was down $100 before it was time for the poker tournament. Again, there were 43 players. I did fine and was about to go to the final table when I had an A/J and went all in. I was called by one player who ends up having pocket kings. The flop was 5/8/A…good news…until a king came on the turn and a blank on the river and I was out in 11th place. I played well but just ran into some tough luck at the end. I went to see a movie and then played the nickel progressive three-plays. I was down almost another $100 when they announced the Young at Heart drawing names. My name was called so I won $100. I wanted some more points and tried the Lightning Strikes machines. I had a nice little run and won $98. Then it was back to the triple plays and when I reached $150, I called it a day wanting to leave with a daily profit. There was a free buffet with the promotion but the line was really long and I settled on a Subway and took it up the room. I want to get a really early start tomorrow.
The day’s gaming: +$27
Thursday, Feb 2
It’s packing day and off to Laughlin. I’ll be staying at the Riverside for one night, and then at the Aquarius for four nights—through the Super Bowl weekend. Las Vegas pumps up their room rates through the roof for the Super Bowl. Even my monthly three free nights at the Tropicana in Laughlin exclude the weekend. Fortunately, the Aquarius honored my two free nights, but I did have to pay for the next two (I honestly cannot remember the last time I actually had to pay for a room, but I’m sure it’s been years, so I’m spoiled). At least I did get a nice discount getting both nights for $99.
I’m meeting my good friends Terry and Louise who are from Denver but have been living in Bullhead for the past three months (escaping the snow and cold). They will be in Laughlin for my first night, so I’ll be able to see them before they drive back to Colorado. I got up at my usual very early morning and was on my way for the hour and fifteen minute drive to Laughlin at 4 AM. I want to get there early so I can sign up both Terry and I to the first table in the Colorado Belle which opens at 8 AM. There’s a high limit bonus but you need to be the first 10 people to sign up.
I arrived in Laughlin a 5 AM and signed both of us up and reserved seats 5 & 6. I then drove to the Riverside. They let me go ahead and check in (the only hotel I know that allows early check-ins as long as they have a clean room). They put me on the top floor with a river view! Too bad I’m only here for one night.
The view from my room on the 26th floor of the Riverside
Terry and I met up at the Aquarius and had a small breakfast at the Duet coffee outlet and then walked over to the Colorado Belle. The lone dealer was late so we didn’t get started until after 8:30. The player with the highest hand in the first hour gets a $50 bonus. In only the fifth hand, the player in the 6th seat caught quad Jacks. That was the end of that. The session started out pretty sad and I went right through my $60 buy-in and bought in another $20. Things started to turn around and when I cashed out at 11:00 with $103—a small, but thankful little profit.
Terry, Louise, and I went back to the Aquarius for lunch. The service in the café there can be slow at times, but there’s no question about the food. It’s terrific. We decided to go see the movie PATRIOTS DAY but had a couple hours before showtime, so Louise went back to the room to work on her journal while Terry and I hit the full pay bank of video poker machines. I went after the NSUD and Terry the 10/7 DB. I wasn’t hitting anything and switched over to 9/6 Bonus Deluxe and managed to get three quads at $100 each. We played a little longer and I finally cashed out a $160 profit. Terry’s gambling day had been a bust so we quit and after I tried a couple penny machines with no luck picked Louise and went to the movie. It was excellent.
The Aquarius Hotel and Casino—if you stay in Laughlin, this is the place
They headed back to the Aquarius and I played the Quick Quads and lost $50 so quit and headed back up to my room and called it a night. It’s been my third straight day with a profit, albeit a small ones, so it’s all good. Terry and Louise decided to drive back to Colorado Saturday morning (when the weather appears to be most reasonable) and so after speaking with the hosted registration made sure he was booked through Tuesday morning and got new keys. He gave me a key allowing me to stay in the room after they’re gone. This allowed me to cancel the two nights I was going to have to pay to extend my room nights saving me over $100 and extending my streak of not having to pay for a room. Thanks Terry!
The day’s gaming: +$54
Friday, Feb 3
Terry decided to skip the high hand hour at 8 AM, so I signed up only for myself. After about 20 minutes, I was dealt Q/10 off suit and I end up with a full house of 10s over Qs. Surprisingly, it held up for my first high hand bonus of $50. Unfortunately, the rest of the game went terrible. I was getting beat and on two hands made a mistake and beat myself. When the 10 AM tournament started, too many players left our table and it closed. I end up losing $24 for the two hour session.
The Colorado Belle in Laughlin
Terry and I headed back to the Aquarius and he signed up for the Super Bowl party reserved for the higher tier players. Even though he and Louise are leaving tomorrow morning, he was able to hand me the wrist bands for entry and the free t-shirt. Very nice! I was able to check in early and got my room on the 8th floor. I’m here for two free nights, and then I move into Terry’s vacant room for the next two nights. We went over to the Optimum bank of machines and we each played 10/6 DDB. I rarely play this game, but it is so rare to find it in the 10/6 schedule, I couldn’t resist. It turned out to be a good thing as I was dealt 4 Aces with the kicker for a $500 win. Yesterday I was dealt 4 Aces (playing Bonus Deluxe for $100) and then again today. How lucky was that?
Dealt this very pretty hand
We went on to play for about an hour and I cashed out a $613 ticket. Terry wasn’t having as much luck though did make a couple quads along the way. Louise came down to join us and we decided to go have lunch at the Red Dog Saloon (formerly Mad Dog’s), which is a locals bar in Bullhead. I highly recommend this little dive. The food is terrific. After a quick stop at the bank, we headed back to the Aquarius. Louise wanted to go work some more on her journal in their room and Terry and I headed back to the Optimum machines. I went back and forth between NSUD and the DDB. When the dust finally settled, I made quad Aces two more times (no kicker), but NSUD was a total bust and things began to turn around. By 5:30 I was spent and called it a night. Terry and Louise continued to play. It was a very good day for me and though I dropped some cash towards the end, I made sure it would end to be a profitable one.
The day’s gaming: +$516
Saturday, Feb 4
I woke up very early, threw on some clothes and headed over to the Colorado Belle to sign up for the high hand table. There was still a table playing when I got there at 4AM and for whatever reason, they don’t start the list unless the room is closed. I went back to the Aquarius and did all the usual morning routines. I drove back at 6:30 and sure enough, the table was still in action. Geez!
Terry and Louise are driving back to Denver this morning and we agreed to have one last breakfast at the buffet at 7 AM. I drove back from the Belle and had about 15 minutes to kill, so I put in a $100 bill into the Optimum machines I had so much luck with yesterday. I was dealt three 4s, held them, and a deuce and another 4 popped up good for a $200 win. Wow! Today is starting off with a bang.
Not a bad way to start the day
We had a very nice breakfast at the Aquarius buffet and said my goodbyes wishing them a safe drive. Terry calculated his route and timing to avoid snow as much as possible. A big snow storm is expected Tuesday in Denver and he wanted to get under way for the two day trip. I headed back to the Belle and sat down at the high hand table. I was the first on the list with an 8 high flush. Twenty minutes later I was beaten by a 10 high flush, which turned out to be good for the $50 bonus at the end of the hour. Everyone was amazed no one could get a higher hand. I played until noon and was doing well until I lost a huge pot when my two pair was beat by a sneaky three-of-a-kind. I cashed out with a small $18 profit for the day.
I drove over to Bullhead to fill up the tank ($2.05 per gallon) and stopped at a 99-cent store to grab a new toothbrush and some toothpaste along with a small bag of candy (irony). I really had no other plans for the afternoon. I have seen every movie I cared to see that was showing. I moved all my stuff from my room to Terry and Louise’s room, so now I’m good through Tuesday morning when I head back to Las Vegas. I went downstairs. It’s Super Bowl weekend, and the casino is simply jammed. There are very few machines anywhere with empty seats. However, the stream of machines at the back window facing the river has only one player (odd considering these are full pay/full points machines, the only ones in the casino, which goes to show you how little players know or care about these things).
I sat down at a 9/6 Jacks or Better and put in a hundred with this strategy: Play until I’ve either lost the hundred or if I get up to $150, cash out and put in another hundred. Continue this until I lose the hundred. The 9/6 Jacks or Better are a very high percentage return game, but because unless you hit a Royal, you never win enough to want to cash out, thus, people tend to play and play until the percentages catch up with you and you lose it all.
My other goal was to put at least 1000 points on my card ($2000 coin in). For the next couple of hours, I cashed out twice. I had made the thousand points was up $72 and was getting hungry and tired. I walked over to the Panda Express outlet and took my food up to my room for a little TV and an early night. I know it’s a sign of getting old, but I’m no longer a fan of a busy casino floor with all the noise--the yelling, the screaming, and shouting. There was a time I thrived in this environment, but not anymore.
The day’s gaming: +$290
Sunday, Feb 5—Super Bowl Sunday
I headed over to the Belle at 6:30 and signed up once again for the high hand table that starts at 8AM, and waited until 7 to have the buffet at The Loading Dock. I love this $10 breakfast buffet. The best quality and service on the river; however, the hostess told me that Sunday is the Champaign brunch, which is $19.95 and includes prime rib and some seafood. I don’t like Champaign and don’t want prime rib this early. So, I opted for the Pints Brewery where they serve a ham and eggs special for $7.99. This is that old school Vegas breakfast with a slice of grilled ham that covers the entire plate along with two eggs, potatoes, and toast. It was huge (I couldn’t finish it) and an excellent bargain.
The poker game started on time and in ten minutes, one player hit quad queens, so that pretty much rapped up that mystery who would win the high hand bonus. I did manage to catch pocket black Aces; however, only one other player stayed in, so I won a small pot (had I lost with the same color Aces, I would have won a $100 bonus). Things didn’t go well for me for this entire session. I was constantly losing quality hands to even better ones. I was dealt pocket red Aces but the flop came A/9/9 giving me a full house, so no cracked Aces bonus again. Finally, almost six hours in the game, I had mix Aces that did lose and won a $50 bonus after playing $14 to stay in the game. It was a tough day at poker and a few scattered machines (Keno, Buffalo, Red Riding Hood)—all losers. By 3 PM and seven hours at the poker table, I raised the white flag and had to accept a losing day.
I headed over to the Aquarius and my room to put on my Super Bowl shirt and the wrist band and walked over to the Pavilion on the 3rd floor where invited guests were watching the big game. There was all sorts of free “football food” and open bars. I asked for some wings and a hot dog. They gave me a huge basket of about 15 wings and a quarter pound dog. I noticed that the portions of everything people asked for were enough for three people. I didn’t feel like drinking and stuck to diet soda, but everyone at my table had beers and drinks scattered all over the table. The crowd was mostly an Atlanta group and the first half cheers and horns blasted every time the Falcons scored. Many of the Patriot fans, sick of the first half, began to leave the room not taking the abuse. I left at half time (couldn’t eat any more food and the guy sitting next to me at the table decided I was his best friend and never stopped sharing his life story with me). Of course, all those Patriot fans got the last laugh. Being a baseball fan, I honestly didn’t care either way.
The crowd in the Pavilion at the Aquarius for the Super Bowl
I called it a night, headed back to my room and watched the rest of the game there. I wanted to stay up and watch the new 24 hour TV show after the game, but the after-game festivities went on for so long, I gave up and went to sleep.
The day’s gaming: -$278
Monday, Feb 6
For 40 years I’ve been coming to Las Vegas and Laughlin with the sole intent of playing the “Advantage Player” game: using coupons, playing full pay schedule video poker to accumulate points to make a higher tier level, which means more free food, rooms, and trips, and scooping up free play. I was very successful at it. I made the top tier at Caesars and higher tiers at the Boyd and Stations properties. I rarely ever paid for rooms or food and had many free trips including Lake Tahoe, Cleveland, Atlantic City, and three trips to New Orleans. It’s been a really nice run.
After all these years, it’s become a “been there, done that” and simply no longer intrigues me. I dropped my Caesars 7 Stars ranking, quit playing altogether and at the Stations casinos and now I only hold on to my Sapphire card (middle level) with the Boyd properties. This is because I do still enjoy staying free at Sam’s Town and their promotions and now prefer staying at Laughlin (guess it’s a Rite of Passage after passing 65 years old). I do still play just enough to get free room offers from the Riverside, the Tropicana Express, and the Aquarius. I do this so I can play poker at the Colorado Belle.
I don’t really enjoy playing video poker anymore unless I’m playing with a companion and sharing the ups and downs. I’ll still play it alone, but only to keep the offers coming. Now the only gambling I truly enjoy is playing live poker, which is why I’m writing about all of this. Today, I did nothing but play poker at the Belle, and I know this doesn’t make for interesting writing. I won’t get into details, but just a brief view of the high and lows.
I joined the table at 8 AM and bought in for $60. It was up and down all day. I didn’t get a sniff at any promotional hands today. Playing for 9 hours, I was never dealt pocket Aces or Kings. I was dealt pocket Queens but lost the pot to pocket Kings. I was dealt pocket Jacks once and lost to a straight. At 3 PM, I was dealt K/J suited and was raised by the player on my left and it was raised again. I called and the flop was 10/Q/A rainbow. Even though I was dealt the nut straight, people kept betting and I kept calling until I had only $4 left. I won that pot and in the next two hours, things turned and I cashed out a 5 PM with $120. A $20 loss in a keno game still had me in positive territory, and after yesterday’s loss, I wanted to go to bed with a profit, so I headed back to my room with a subway sandwich and called it a night.
The day’s gaming: +$40
Tuesday, Feb 7
Today is moving day. I’m heading back to Sam’s Town. I had a choice between staying and playing poker at the Belle again, but I decided I wanted to play Sam ‘s Town morning tournament as it would be the last time I’d be able to do that as my son will be flying in on Wednesday and we will have a full plate while he is here.
The drive into Sam’s Town was uneventful. I got here in plenty of time to have the breakfast buffet and sign up for the poker tournament. I had about an hour before it began, so I thought I’d go ahead and add some points to my card (this is a Boyd property, one of few I still want to get free room offers). I lucked out in that during the month of February, Sam’s has a promotion that every Tuesday is 15X penny machines, 11X reels, and 6X video poker. I normally would wait until Wednesday’s Young At Heart (Senior Day) to gamble, but tomorrow I’ll be spending the day with my son, so this worked out just fine.
I played some of the triple play nickel video poker that has progressive royals. I like Super Double Bonus on these. I was down $40 when it was time to play the poker tournament. Some days go like this. I was the very first person OUT of the tournament. I was getting dealt very good playing hands and nothing flopped the right way. I was down to my last few hundred chips when I was dealt 10/J of clubs and the flop was J/J/8. There was a raise and I re-raised. By the time the betting stopped I was all in and another player had J/Q and I was out.
I went to the 8/5 Bonus poker and played a couple hundred and lost. I went to the 10-coins Joker’s wild nickel machines upstairs. The progressive Royal was almost $1100, almost triple the usual amount. I couldn’t do anything here either. It’s looking more and more like the video poker gods are after my previous week’s profit. It’s not even the afternoon, and I’m already down $223. I’ll need to stop and take a breather. I checked in and hung out in the room for a little while and caught up on this journal and some reading.
After a nice break, I headed back down to finish out my gambling for the day. To my disappointment, someone hit the Joker’s Wild progressive. I played a hundred in the triple play nickels Super Double Bonus. Was down to $13 when I hit quad Queens, then quad 2s then quad Aces in about 20 hands. That gave me my $100 back.
Thought I'd take that hundred and play some of the penny games (15X points pretty nice). Twenty at a time playing minimum bet. Double it, hit a bonus, or lose it would be the plan. Played Stoneridge and hit the bonus on the second hand (about $13); then Hercules, hit bonus when down to $3 and won $21; then Beer Haus and hit a bonus early but only won $12; and then the Mulitmedia machine called Star Nights. I hit a monster on this at the Westgate a couple of years ago. My twenty was down when I finally got the Free Games. It then retriggered four times—a total of 28 spins. On the second spin, three wild images (sun/moon/comet) came up and that gave me a $122 win with all these spins to go! Well, it figures the rest of spins didn't do much, but I cashed out a very nice $133 win on the $.50 bet.
Not a bad win for a fifty-cent bet
I had enough of the penny games and played some 7/5 BP Quick Quads. Played a long time, but just couldn't get any traction there and was down $50 and was going to call it a night but I noticed that the 9/7 DB progressive was over $1800 and just had to give it a shot. I only caught a couple of full houses, so when I reached my original $100 I quit. It was a losing day, but all things considered not as bad as it could have been.
The day’s gaming: -$165
Wednesday, Feb 8
Though I won’t be here to play much at Sam’s Town, I still wanted to swipe my card for the bonus points and play some. To keep the free room and promotions coming, I need to put on 25K every six months. I received 10X slots and 6X video poker (the lowest possible again—fixed?). I played a hundred through the triple play and the 8/5 BP and both were losers.
I picked up my son from the airport. His flight went well and we headed out. When my son turned 21, I brought him to Las Vegas as a birthday gift and we’ve being doing it ever since. This trip marks the 22nd year. It’s a great time to catch up with each other’s lives and some good ol’ plain father/son bonding.
It was too early to check in, so we drove over to the South Point to possibly play some 2/4 poker; however, there wasn’t a table started yet and only two people were on the list, so we walked around the casino and ended up at the event center where there was a huge competition of archery students apparently from the state. We talked about how this is just another example of a world that we don’t encounter or even exists and yet here are hundreds and hundreds of kids and families who participate in it. He’s got a new business going and a wife and four children, so he doesn’t get the chance to go see movies very often, so we always try to get one in each trip. We saw Hidden Figures, which he really enjoyed.
Archery students take their shots at the event center in the South Point Hotel and Casino
After the movie, I got an email that the room at the Aria was ready. I got the room using my MyVegas game. The room was free but I had to pay the taxes and the resort fees. Yesterday I got a text saying I could preregister so that when I arrived, I could avert the lines and go directly to a kiosk and pick up my keys. I gave this a shot and followed all the instructions, and sure enough, when we arrived, there’s an area marked “mobile registration.” There was an attendant there to assist, but after scanning my driver’s license to assure I was the right person, out popped the room keys. There was no hassle or waiting. It’s a good system.
The room at the Aria, not pictured is a very nice and large bathroom
The view from the room at the Aria
We were both very pleased with the “regular” room that was on the 15th floor looking out over the Strip at a south/east direction. We took a walk outside and across the Strip and then over to the new Park area where the Monte Carlo Theater and the Mobile Arena are located. This is very nice with an array of assorted restaurants, outside seating and fountains. We eventually ended back to the Aria where we parted ways and I headed back to Sam’s Town.
I wanted to add a few more points on my card and hopefully win back some of my losses, so again, I played the 8/5 Bonus Poker but there were no quads to be had and I am still Royal-less for the trip. Sadly, another loss for the day.
The day’s gaming: -$200
Thursday, Feb 9
Today is the only full day we will have on this trip and after coming to Las Vegas SO many times, we have done pretty much everything there is to do. So, I made a suggestion to my son and asked if he’d be interested in doing: In 2011, I spent a month doing what I called the Hit ‘em All Nevada trip. I set out to go to each and every casino in the entire state of Nevada. I then placed a $10 bet at either a blackjack table or a roulette table at each one and then kept a running total. By the time the tripped ended and after almost 300 casinos and bets, I end up losing a grand total of $12.
By far the most difficult time during this trip was the Las Vegas Strip. I started at the Mandalay Bay and walked all the way to Sahara Blvd, walked across the street to the then Sahara Casino and then up the other end of the Strip finishing at the Tropicana. It was very long walk and it took the entire day. I asked Jon if he wanted to do this and he said he’d love to give it a shot. It would be something different and a great way to see all the casinos at what has changed.
If during the walk we decide we can’t or don’t want to finish the walk, we’ll simply stop. I picked up my son at 8:15 AM at the Aria valet. We headed to our first stop, SLS, and thought we should eat a breakfast before this long walk. We went into the café at the SLS, which turned out to be an eye-opener. The prices were crazy expensive: $15.95 for a two egg breakfast. It’s no wonder this hotel is off to a rocky start. Our first bet was a loser at roulette. I’m going to give you the complete list of every hotel and how the bets went and the final results at the end of this day’s report.
The walk was as expected as we made our way going south on the east end of the Strip first from the Encore to the MGM. We stopped at the MGM sportsbook to rest and have an ice tea (it was 76 degrees today). While resting, Jon put a bet on the next horse race: a $5 to win ticket and a $5 trifecta ticket. When he sat down next to me to wait for the race to begin, he realized he had just bet not on a horse race, but a dog race. We laughed at that and laughed some more when he won both of the tickets for a $52 win!
All in all, the run was going well. As expected we were having small winning streaks and small losing streaks. We were making pretty good time as well. Jon mentioned he was physically doing fine and I was alright too except that two blisters were developing on the balls of each of my feet; however, I was determined to see this through. I also took a tumble on the cement floor when I misjudged a step at the Starbucks. Fortunately, the only injury was my dignity—old fat men don’t fall very gracefully.
We couldn’t go to the Tropicana right away because they over-street walkway was under construction. We then went to Mandalay Bay and started walking north stopping at the Aria for lunch at the buffet, which I had brought a 2 for 1 coupon from the MyVegas site. It was now 2:00 PM and hungry. I’ve eaten at this buffet before and my son now agrees with me, this is the best buffet in Las Vegas. There aren’t as many selections as others, but the quality and preparation of the food is wonderful. We sat for almost an hour.
We finally headed out going to the Strip by way of the Crystal Mall. Just inside the door of the mall, the blister on my right foot burst and folded over and sent directly to the nearest bench in pain. I took of my shoe and sock to examine the damage and yes, a blister the size of a 50-cent coin was giving me excruciating pain. A blister the similar size on my other foot was just as bad. There was simply NO way I was going to be able to finish the west side of the Strip. There were five hotels left and then to pick up the car parked at the Encore. We decided that I was make my way up to my son’s room in the Aria (a bit of luck there) and Jon would finish the run, pick up the car and come get me.
He did that in less than an hour. We then drove to the two hotels we needed to complete the trip. We drove to the Tropicana and I dropped Jon off to make the bet and then Circus Circus to make the final wager. We had made our bets in every hotel/casino on the Strip (sorry Stratosphere—still don’t consider you on the Strip). I dropped Jon back off at the Aria and I made my way back to Sam’s Town. I waddled my way back to my room walking as much just on my heels as possible. By the time I had stopped, I had logged on 7.5 miles on my step counter, so we’re guessing Jon did about 10.
My intentions were to take pictures of all the hotels along the route; however, some didn’t turn out well and then I couldn’t take any on the west side, so I’m only sharing a couple of notable ones here:
It is the Year of the Rooster, so all the casinos have a rooster somewhere. Here’s the Wynn’s.
The rooster display between the Palazzo and the Venetian
We both got a kick out of this sign posted at the Venetian fountain as a warning to parents
The reason why Uber and Lyft are doing so well.
All total there are 27 hotels and casinos along the strip from the Mandalay Bay just south of Tropicana Blvd to the SLS at Sahara. We placed a $10 bet at either blackjack (B) of roulette (R). The odd prices you will note are because some places such as the Wynn smallest bet allowed was $15. Also, there were double down possibilities at blackjack. We played more roulette bets because they were easier and faster. Some of the roulettes were the machines, but the ones with the actual spinning wheel. We determined to only bet on black (for no other reason than Jon’s favorite number is black 29).
1. SLS -10 (B)
2. Encore +10 (R)
3. Wynn +30 (B)
4. Palazzo -10 (R)
5. Venetian +10 (B)
6. Casino Royale +10 (R)
7. Harrahs -10 (R)
8. Linq -10 (B)
9. Flamingo -10 (R)
10. Cromwell -20 (B)
11. Ballys -10 (R)
12. Paris -10 (B)
13. P. Hollywood -10 (R)
14. MGM Grand +10 (R)
15. Mandalay Bay +10 (B)
16. Luxor +10 (R)
17. Excalibur +10 (B)
18. NYNY -10 (R)
19. Monte Carlo -10 (R)
20. Aria +10 (R)
21. Cosmopolitan -10 (R)
22. Bellagio -10 (B)
23. Caesars Palace -10 (R)
24. Mirage +10 (R)
25. T.I. -10 (B)
26. Tropicana -10 (B)
27. Circus Circus +10 (R)
Total: minus $35
The day’s gaming: -$17.50 (my share)
We split the loss. We both agree that aside from my blisters that put a damper on the adventure, we had a really good time and would do it again. I hope you’ve enjoyed this long winded trip report. Until next time…
Monday, Jan 30
And so it begins. I have no idea how often I will go this year. The days of the two and three months at a time are behind me. I will still come to Las Vegas this year, but I have to admit that this once premier destination has lost a lot of its glitter and fascination with me. I’ve been disillusioned by the non-stop escalation of greed that’s taken over this city in the past ten years. Long gone are the days of cheap eats and rooms on the Strip or even the more popular local casinos. The meals (buffets in particular) have steadily increased their prices, and then came the resort fees, and now paid parking. I will not be surprised to one day see the sign on the registration desk that says, “Sheets and pillows extra,” or “toilet flush surcharges apply.”
Of course, that’s not to say ALL the bargains are gone…yet. Downtown still has a few decent video poker schedules as does that rogue standout South Point. Sam’s Town, once the best of local joints with full pay schedules with no penalty for video poker players is now down to a lone bank of eight machines hidden in the corner of the second floor. You can still find some great food deals in the out-of-the-way local casinos, but on or anywhere near the Strip, expect to pay premium prices. It’s all just a little disheartening. But time moves on, the old will soon be forgotten and the new will continue to progress as long as people (or in casino parlance, the sheep) keep paying the wolf.
That being said, I’ll be staying at Sam’s Town for three nights (comped) on a promotion called the $5000 cash giveaway (more on that later). Sam’s continues to be my “home” casino in Las Vegas—technically east of Henderson but still carries a Las Vegas zip code—because they continue to offer me monthly free room offers. Their BConnected slot program for seniors is the best program—bar none. I’m still bristling at the notion of writing “senior” about me. I’ve been steadily coming here since I was 21 years old and at almost 66…well…say what?
My drive from San Diego takes five hours. I leave at 3AM simply because I prefer driving at night and there’s little traffic which makes for a serene, easy drive. I made a few stops along the way at a few of the casinos in Primm and Jean because I hadn’t stopped in here for a long while and was curious of any changes. My first stop was the Buffalo Bills Hotel and Casino. This is the third of the three casinos on the state line to be built along with the Primm and Whiskey Pete’s.
Buffalo Bill’s Hotel and Casino on State Line
The inside (sorry for the glare) of Buffalo Bill’s. It’s very early in the morning.
Buffalo Bill’s has undergone a few changes over the years but maintains its country western theme. The once terrific café has been replaced with a Denny’s and the Miss Lilly’s Buffet has been “closed until further notice.” Aside from that, there’s a Mexican restaurant and a small food court. There were about 12 table games and the rest of the floor was machines. At 7:00 AM there were three table games open with no players and I only saw about four people playing the machines. It’s still a clean and spacious place to play but you can expect some pretty tight machines and the video poker tables (as in all these state line properties) are unplayable.
I drove across the street to Whiskey Pete’s (I didn’t bother with the Primm) because the last time I was here, they had closed all their rooms and removed all their table games making this place simply a slot house. However, I saw on the billboard that the rooms have all been remodeled and are once again open for business.
Whiskey Pete’s on State Line. It’s had the same exterior for 40 years.
I was surprised to see once inside the table games have been put back making this place a real casino once again. There’s a new McDonald’s outlet next to the franchised International Pancake House. The Bonnie and Clyde death vehicle is still on display but moved yet again. It was nice to see the registration desk back in operation. I would like to one day make a one night stop here to see just what the new rooms look like.
I drove on down to Jean where the Gold Strike still stands. The Nevada, the sister casino across the street has long been torn down and now only a lone gas station sits on the once expansive property.
The Gold Strike in Jean. The big sign is in bad need of some paint as does the rest of the property.
Of the four casinos along the I-15 from the California border to Las Vegas, this one is by far the weakest. Inside only half the casino floor had machines with the other half roped off except for four novelty cars (including the original Batmoble). The buffet was the only eating outlet and there were no table games whatsoever making this merely a slot house. My memories of this place were when it was one of the last casinos to hold out getting the ticket in/ticket out technology and I used to stop here and use all my dimes saved from the past year because they were also the only place in Nevada that had dime machines.
I finally arrived in Las Vegas and made my obligatory stop at the Henderson Costco to fill up the tank ($2.25 per) and then on to Sam’s Town. It was now 9 AM and an hour before my first poker tournament. I had breakfast at the buffet, which I used slot points ($4.85 with slot card—still the best deal anywhere for a breakfast buffet). Granted Sam’s Town isn’t going to win any awards for their buffet; however, breakfast is pretty hard to screw up and it has all you need and quite honestly, terrific coffee.
I played of first of three poker tournaments. Sam’s Town has a daily poker tournament at 10 AM that only costs $23. The first three sessions are limit, then there’s a break and you come back to no limit. It’s a great and cheap way to spend the morning. Today there were 40 players (not bad for a Monday morning). I was drawing completely card dead. As a matter of fact, I could only play one hand (Jack/Jack) and lost that. I did limp into the break but only had $1100 going into the no-limit session. The second hand I was the big blind ($1000) and had no choice but to go all in with a 4/5 suited. I was out of the tournament having only played (and lost) one hand. Oh well. Tomorrow is another day.
Sam’s Town
There are no promotions Monday and Tuesday here, so I will not be playing any games here until Wednesday when it’s Senior day and I can play for multiple points (more on that later). So, I decided to go see a movie. Sam’s Town has a wonderful theater complex and cheap seats. I saw the Vin Diesel flick, Triple X something or other. As expected, a lot of silly explosions, fights, pretty girls in bikinis, and snarky dialogue. It wasn’t a bad way to spend an afternoon with popcorn.
I went to the front desk to check in and requested and given a room at the back tower away from the atrium and close to the covered parking. Rooms at Sam’s Town are basic but clean. I bring my own coffee maker. The bed if comfy and the flat screen wall-mounted TV is a good one. And of course, free is a huge plus. I didn’t do much the rest of the day aside from walking around the casino, picking up some chicken McNuggets from the food court to take up to my room for dinner and was to bed very early.
The day’s gaming: $-23.
Tuesday, Jan 31
Sleep was on and off through the night. I have a solder injury that continues to wake me up at times and other times—not at all. It’s frustrating. I worked on this report and then headed down to the breakfast buffet and then on to this morning’s $23 poker tournament. I had almost an hour before it was to start so I walked down to the Cannery East Hotel and Casino to check things out. Both Canneries (East and North) were purchased by the Boyd Company last year and I wanted to see if they had a date when the BConnected card would be accepted. The boothling said it would be at least until mid-summer if not later.
The Cannery East located on Boulder Hwy, just a block from Sam’s Town
The inside of the Cannery East. A bit like a large barn inside, but plenty of machines.
I walked around the entire casino. I checked the VP schedules but all of them were short pay. I did find a bank of machines that had USA video poker (also known as All-American). When I saw that the straights/flushes/full houses paid 8 I was excited (this is full pay); however, they lowered the quads to 30 instead of 35, which is a point lower. Today is the last day that the slot club is offering nice t-shirts for 300 points, so I’m thinking seriously of coming back this evening and playing. We’ll see.
I walked back to Sam’s Town (noting there were four motorcycle cops hiding along Boulder Hwy ticketing speeders) and made it to the poker room in time. I was hoping to have a better day than yesterday (winning just one hand would have made it a better hand). On the second hand I was dealt Q/2 in the big blind and the flop was 5/2/2. Of course I checked and to my surprise one player bet and another raised. The same thing happened on the turn which was another 2 (giving me quads). One player bet, then next raised and I called. The river was a King and the first player checked, the next player bet and I raised. They both had full houses but I had the quads for a very nice beginning to the game. That was all that happened for the next hour and half. I did manage to grab a few pots along the way and by 12:00 I was at the final table with a medium stack.
Not long, we were down to 7 players and I was cheap leader. I wanted to play carefully but was dealt an A/Q in the big blind and had called a raise. The flop was air and I had to fold dropping me down. Two other players were soon out and we were down to 5. The blinds were huge and I was soon the short stack and in danger of being the bubble boy. The game pays the top four: 1st place $259; 2nd $129; 3rd $78; 4th $59. Fifth place (the bubble) gets nothing. The table decided there would be no bubble money and no chop today. Fortunately two of my all-ins were wins and one player lost. I was second in money and another player was out leaving three of us. I was second in chips and in the big blind holding 6/3 off suit. The flop was 4/5/7 giving me a straight. I went all in on the chip leader. He called and had---ready? 6/8 giving him the higher straight. I was out in 3rd place for $78. Not too bad as this means my three days of tournaments I’ll be playing are now essentially a free roll. Nice.
I went to my room to wait for the 2:15 Cash Giveaway but the maid was cleaning it so I headed back down to the casino and broke my promise to not play a machine today. I sat down at the nickel full pay deuces. I never caught one quad but managed two straight flushes and a wild royal for a $10 profit, so I cashed out, picked up a soda at McDonalds and went back to my room to relax.
This promotion, the $5000 Cash Giveaway is truly great deal. They invite 108 people, who are allowed to bring one guest each. We check in and pick a number. That is your number to be called up. There are 108 numbered envelops on the wall display. When it’s your turn, you pick one of the envelops. Inside is the amount you won. The top prize it $500. There are a couple of $400; some $250 and $100 and $50. The lowest is $25. All this, by the way, is in cash, there, on the spot. Last month I did this promotion and, of course, only won $25 (I’m TERRIBLE at drawings). However, it’s free money, to say nothing of the three free room nights and the make-your-own ice cream sundaes and brownies given at the event.
Sam’s Town Atrium
There was no need to wait in the long line before the doors open because there is no advantage of being first or last. I was the second to last person to enter the room and picked number 31. After enjoying my ice cream sundae and a cup of coffee, I was called up and picked my envelope, which had $75 (three times higher than last time—a good sign). They paid me with the dreaded $50 bill (considered bad luck in most gambling circles), so I will be changing that ASAP. By the way, as luck would have it, the eighth guy picked the envelope with the $500 in it taking some of the mystery out of the event pretty fast.
I had recently changed my email address and never received notice from the Las Vegas Advisor that my membership had expired. So, I got into my car and drove to their office, a non-descript little building north of the Rio. I was able to get the new discount coupon book and renewed for another year. A lot of my friends have stopped their membership for various reasons, but I still fill that $37 is very little to pay per year and if you even just use a few of the coupons, you get that back. I’ve been a member for more than 25 years and goes back to when their coupons were mailed to you sheets.
The Las Vegas Advisor office…c’mon boss, can’t you afford a sign?
Driving back, I really didn’t have anything I needed to do, so I drove over to the Cannery East to play the All-American game I spoke of earlier and perhaps get the 300 points to win the long sleeved t-shirt (like I need another t-shirt—but it’s the challenge). I sat down at the quarter game and put in that $50 bill I won at the Cash Giveaway. My goal is to quit if I lose the $50 or when I reach the 300 point mark. I opened my WinPoker app for the proper strategy for this game—which has CRAZY holds and is totally non-instinctual. For example: you’re dealt assorted suits 4-5-5-7-8. Obviously you hold the two fives—wrong! You play the gut shot straight (keep in mind all straights/flushes/full houses pay 40). There are many more nutty examples like this. I had plenty of time, and I needed it because I was looking up almost every dealt hand for the proper holds.
I played for almost an hour and when I reached 300 points, I cashed out $138.75. Fortunately, I hit one quad and a surprisingly amount of gut shot straights. This game has huge swings and I certainly only recommend it for the novelty. I would have never tried without my strategy app. I picked up my t-shirt and headed back to Sam’s Town where I stopped at the food court for a plate from Peking Palace, which I ate in the room and called it a night. In calculating my day’s gaming total, I had to decide whether or not to include the $75 cash giveaway as gaming. I decided I was invited to this because of my gaming, so I’ve included it.
The day’s gaming: +$251.75
Wednesday, Feb 1
Once again, early to bed…I got up at 3:30 AM (not unusual for me—I’ve become such an old man going to sleep so early at night) and worked on this report and read some of my book (this month’s book club is MILES FROM NOWHERE by Barbara Savage, a round-the-world bicycle journey diary). Today the plan is to pretty much stick to Sam’s Town. Wednesday is the Young At Heart (Senior Day) promotion and it includes up to 50X multiplier (I’ve only hit that once); $4 movie tickets; drawings for the day’s play (I won $100 last time I was here); and another $15 food credit after 7:00 PM.
After breakfast I slid my card at the kiosk and, unfortunately, picked the lowest multiplier available, 10X slots; 6X VP. I headed up to the last bank of 9/6 jacks and was really disappointed that they now have a sticker on them reading that these machines are not available for any promotions or point multipliers. Wow! There goes that. Sam’s is really joining the crowd and going after the positive players. This leaves only four machines in the entire casino that offers a full pay schedule and full point values: the four 8/5 bonus machines with the progressive by the tables downstairs. I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before they’re lowered to 7/5.
I played these and just couldn’t get anything going and was down $100 before it was time for the poker tournament. Again, there were 43 players. I did fine and was about to go to the final table when I had an A/J and went all in. I was called by one player who ends up having pocket kings. The flop was 5/8/A…good news…until a king came on the turn and a blank on the river and I was out in 11th place. I played well but just ran into some tough luck at the end. I went to see a movie and then played the nickel progressive three-plays. I was down almost another $100 when they announced the Young at Heart drawing names. My name was called so I won $100. I wanted some more points and tried the Lightning Strikes machines. I had a nice little run and won $98. Then it was back to the triple plays and when I reached $150, I called it a day wanting to leave with a daily profit. There was a free buffet with the promotion but the line was really long and I settled on a Subway and took it up the room. I want to get a really early start tomorrow.
The day’s gaming: +$27
Thursday, Feb 2
It’s packing day and off to Laughlin. I’ll be staying at the Riverside for one night, and then at the Aquarius for four nights—through the Super Bowl weekend. Las Vegas pumps up their room rates through the roof for the Super Bowl. Even my monthly three free nights at the Tropicana in Laughlin exclude the weekend. Fortunately, the Aquarius honored my two free nights, but I did have to pay for the next two (I honestly cannot remember the last time I actually had to pay for a room, but I’m sure it’s been years, so I’m spoiled). At least I did get a nice discount getting both nights for $99.
I’m meeting my good friends Terry and Louise who are from Denver but have been living in Bullhead for the past three months (escaping the snow and cold). They will be in Laughlin for my first night, so I’ll be able to see them before they drive back to Colorado. I got up at my usual very early morning and was on my way for the hour and fifteen minute drive to Laughlin at 4 AM. I want to get there early so I can sign up both Terry and I to the first table in the Colorado Belle which opens at 8 AM. There’s a high limit bonus but you need to be the first 10 people to sign up.
I arrived in Laughlin a 5 AM and signed both of us up and reserved seats 5 & 6. I then drove to the Riverside. They let me go ahead and check in (the only hotel I know that allows early check-ins as long as they have a clean room). They put me on the top floor with a river view! Too bad I’m only here for one night.
The view from my room on the 26th floor of the Riverside
Terry and I met up at the Aquarius and had a small breakfast at the Duet coffee outlet and then walked over to the Colorado Belle. The lone dealer was late so we didn’t get started until after 8:30. The player with the highest hand in the first hour gets a $50 bonus. In only the fifth hand, the player in the 6th seat caught quad Jacks. That was the end of that. The session started out pretty sad and I went right through my $60 buy-in and bought in another $20. Things started to turn around and when I cashed out at 11:00 with $103—a small, but thankful little profit.
Terry, Louise, and I went back to the Aquarius for lunch. The service in the café there can be slow at times, but there’s no question about the food. It’s terrific. We decided to go see the movie PATRIOTS DAY but had a couple hours before showtime, so Louise went back to the room to work on her journal while Terry and I hit the full pay bank of video poker machines. I went after the NSUD and Terry the 10/7 DB. I wasn’t hitting anything and switched over to 9/6 Bonus Deluxe and managed to get three quads at $100 each. We played a little longer and I finally cashed out a $160 profit. Terry’s gambling day had been a bust so we quit and after I tried a couple penny machines with no luck picked Louise and went to the movie. It was excellent.
The Aquarius Hotel and Casino—if you stay in Laughlin, this is the place
They headed back to the Aquarius and I played the Quick Quads and lost $50 so quit and headed back up to my room and called it a night. It’s been my third straight day with a profit, albeit a small ones, so it’s all good. Terry and Louise decided to drive back to Colorado Saturday morning (when the weather appears to be most reasonable) and so after speaking with the hosted registration made sure he was booked through Tuesday morning and got new keys. He gave me a key allowing me to stay in the room after they’re gone. This allowed me to cancel the two nights I was going to have to pay to extend my room nights saving me over $100 and extending my streak of not having to pay for a room. Thanks Terry!
The day’s gaming: +$54
Friday, Feb 3
Terry decided to skip the high hand hour at 8 AM, so I signed up only for myself. After about 20 minutes, I was dealt Q/10 off suit and I end up with a full house of 10s over Qs. Surprisingly, it held up for my first high hand bonus of $50. Unfortunately, the rest of the game went terrible. I was getting beat and on two hands made a mistake and beat myself. When the 10 AM tournament started, too many players left our table and it closed. I end up losing $24 for the two hour session.
The Colorado Belle in Laughlin
Terry and I headed back to the Aquarius and he signed up for the Super Bowl party reserved for the higher tier players. Even though he and Louise are leaving tomorrow morning, he was able to hand me the wrist bands for entry and the free t-shirt. Very nice! I was able to check in early and got my room on the 8th floor. I’m here for two free nights, and then I move into Terry’s vacant room for the next two nights. We went over to the Optimum bank of machines and we each played 10/6 DDB. I rarely play this game, but it is so rare to find it in the 10/6 schedule, I couldn’t resist. It turned out to be a good thing as I was dealt 4 Aces with the kicker for a $500 win. Yesterday I was dealt 4 Aces (playing Bonus Deluxe for $100) and then again today. How lucky was that?
Dealt this very pretty hand
We went on to play for about an hour and I cashed out a $613 ticket. Terry wasn’t having as much luck though did make a couple quads along the way. Louise came down to join us and we decided to go have lunch at the Red Dog Saloon (formerly Mad Dog’s), which is a locals bar in Bullhead. I highly recommend this little dive. The food is terrific. After a quick stop at the bank, we headed back to the Aquarius. Louise wanted to go work some more on her journal in their room and Terry and I headed back to the Optimum machines. I went back and forth between NSUD and the DDB. When the dust finally settled, I made quad Aces two more times (no kicker), but NSUD was a total bust and things began to turn around. By 5:30 I was spent and called it a night. Terry and Louise continued to play. It was a very good day for me and though I dropped some cash towards the end, I made sure it would end to be a profitable one.
The day’s gaming: +$516
Saturday, Feb 4
I woke up very early, threw on some clothes and headed over to the Colorado Belle to sign up for the high hand table. There was still a table playing when I got there at 4AM and for whatever reason, they don’t start the list unless the room is closed. I went back to the Aquarius and did all the usual morning routines. I drove back at 6:30 and sure enough, the table was still in action. Geez!
Terry and Louise are driving back to Denver this morning and we agreed to have one last breakfast at the buffet at 7 AM. I drove back from the Belle and had about 15 minutes to kill, so I put in a $100 bill into the Optimum machines I had so much luck with yesterday. I was dealt three 4s, held them, and a deuce and another 4 popped up good for a $200 win. Wow! Today is starting off with a bang.
Not a bad way to start the day
We had a very nice breakfast at the Aquarius buffet and said my goodbyes wishing them a safe drive. Terry calculated his route and timing to avoid snow as much as possible. A big snow storm is expected Tuesday in Denver and he wanted to get under way for the two day trip. I headed back to the Belle and sat down at the high hand table. I was the first on the list with an 8 high flush. Twenty minutes later I was beaten by a 10 high flush, which turned out to be good for the $50 bonus at the end of the hour. Everyone was amazed no one could get a higher hand. I played until noon and was doing well until I lost a huge pot when my two pair was beat by a sneaky three-of-a-kind. I cashed out with a small $18 profit for the day.
I drove over to Bullhead to fill up the tank ($2.05 per gallon) and stopped at a 99-cent store to grab a new toothbrush and some toothpaste along with a small bag of candy (irony). I really had no other plans for the afternoon. I have seen every movie I cared to see that was showing. I moved all my stuff from my room to Terry and Louise’s room, so now I’m good through Tuesday morning when I head back to Las Vegas. I went downstairs. It’s Super Bowl weekend, and the casino is simply jammed. There are very few machines anywhere with empty seats. However, the stream of machines at the back window facing the river has only one player (odd considering these are full pay/full points machines, the only ones in the casino, which goes to show you how little players know or care about these things).
I sat down at a 9/6 Jacks or Better and put in a hundred with this strategy: Play until I’ve either lost the hundred or if I get up to $150, cash out and put in another hundred. Continue this until I lose the hundred. The 9/6 Jacks or Better are a very high percentage return game, but because unless you hit a Royal, you never win enough to want to cash out, thus, people tend to play and play until the percentages catch up with you and you lose it all.
My other goal was to put at least 1000 points on my card ($2000 coin in). For the next couple of hours, I cashed out twice. I had made the thousand points was up $72 and was getting hungry and tired. I walked over to the Panda Express outlet and took my food up to my room for a little TV and an early night. I know it’s a sign of getting old, but I’m no longer a fan of a busy casino floor with all the noise--the yelling, the screaming, and shouting. There was a time I thrived in this environment, but not anymore.
The day’s gaming: +$290
Sunday, Feb 5—Super Bowl Sunday
I headed over to the Belle at 6:30 and signed up once again for the high hand table that starts at 8AM, and waited until 7 to have the buffet at The Loading Dock. I love this $10 breakfast buffet. The best quality and service on the river; however, the hostess told me that Sunday is the Champaign brunch, which is $19.95 and includes prime rib and some seafood. I don’t like Champaign and don’t want prime rib this early. So, I opted for the Pints Brewery where they serve a ham and eggs special for $7.99. This is that old school Vegas breakfast with a slice of grilled ham that covers the entire plate along with two eggs, potatoes, and toast. It was huge (I couldn’t finish it) and an excellent bargain.
The poker game started on time and in ten minutes, one player hit quad queens, so that pretty much rapped up that mystery who would win the high hand bonus. I did manage to catch pocket black Aces; however, only one other player stayed in, so I won a small pot (had I lost with the same color Aces, I would have won a $100 bonus). Things didn’t go well for me for this entire session. I was constantly losing quality hands to even better ones. I was dealt pocket red Aces but the flop came A/9/9 giving me a full house, so no cracked Aces bonus again. Finally, almost six hours in the game, I had mix Aces that did lose and won a $50 bonus after playing $14 to stay in the game. It was a tough day at poker and a few scattered machines (Keno, Buffalo, Red Riding Hood)—all losers. By 3 PM and seven hours at the poker table, I raised the white flag and had to accept a losing day.
I headed over to the Aquarius and my room to put on my Super Bowl shirt and the wrist band and walked over to the Pavilion on the 3rd floor where invited guests were watching the big game. There was all sorts of free “football food” and open bars. I asked for some wings and a hot dog. They gave me a huge basket of about 15 wings and a quarter pound dog. I noticed that the portions of everything people asked for were enough for three people. I didn’t feel like drinking and stuck to diet soda, but everyone at my table had beers and drinks scattered all over the table. The crowd was mostly an Atlanta group and the first half cheers and horns blasted every time the Falcons scored. Many of the Patriot fans, sick of the first half, began to leave the room not taking the abuse. I left at half time (couldn’t eat any more food and the guy sitting next to me at the table decided I was his best friend and never stopped sharing his life story with me). Of course, all those Patriot fans got the last laugh. Being a baseball fan, I honestly didn’t care either way.
The crowd in the Pavilion at the Aquarius for the Super Bowl
I called it a night, headed back to my room and watched the rest of the game there. I wanted to stay up and watch the new 24 hour TV show after the game, but the after-game festivities went on for so long, I gave up and went to sleep.
The day’s gaming: -$278
Monday, Feb 6
For 40 years I’ve been coming to Las Vegas and Laughlin with the sole intent of playing the “Advantage Player” game: using coupons, playing full pay schedule video poker to accumulate points to make a higher tier level, which means more free food, rooms, and trips, and scooping up free play. I was very successful at it. I made the top tier at Caesars and higher tiers at the Boyd and Stations properties. I rarely ever paid for rooms or food and had many free trips including Lake Tahoe, Cleveland, Atlantic City, and three trips to New Orleans. It’s been a really nice run.
After all these years, it’s become a “been there, done that” and simply no longer intrigues me. I dropped my Caesars 7 Stars ranking, quit playing altogether and at the Stations casinos and now I only hold on to my Sapphire card (middle level) with the Boyd properties. This is because I do still enjoy staying free at Sam’s Town and their promotions and now prefer staying at Laughlin (guess it’s a Rite of Passage after passing 65 years old). I do still play just enough to get free room offers from the Riverside, the Tropicana Express, and the Aquarius. I do this so I can play poker at the Colorado Belle.
I don’t really enjoy playing video poker anymore unless I’m playing with a companion and sharing the ups and downs. I’ll still play it alone, but only to keep the offers coming. Now the only gambling I truly enjoy is playing live poker, which is why I’m writing about all of this. Today, I did nothing but play poker at the Belle, and I know this doesn’t make for interesting writing. I won’t get into details, but just a brief view of the high and lows.
I joined the table at 8 AM and bought in for $60. It was up and down all day. I didn’t get a sniff at any promotional hands today. Playing for 9 hours, I was never dealt pocket Aces or Kings. I was dealt pocket Queens but lost the pot to pocket Kings. I was dealt pocket Jacks once and lost to a straight. At 3 PM, I was dealt K/J suited and was raised by the player on my left and it was raised again. I called and the flop was 10/Q/A rainbow. Even though I was dealt the nut straight, people kept betting and I kept calling until I had only $4 left. I won that pot and in the next two hours, things turned and I cashed out a 5 PM with $120. A $20 loss in a keno game still had me in positive territory, and after yesterday’s loss, I wanted to go to bed with a profit, so I headed back to my room with a subway sandwich and called it a night.
The day’s gaming: +$40
Tuesday, Feb 7
Today is moving day. I’m heading back to Sam’s Town. I had a choice between staying and playing poker at the Belle again, but I decided I wanted to play Sam ‘s Town morning tournament as it would be the last time I’d be able to do that as my son will be flying in on Wednesday and we will have a full plate while he is here.
The drive into Sam’s Town was uneventful. I got here in plenty of time to have the breakfast buffet and sign up for the poker tournament. I had about an hour before it began, so I thought I’d go ahead and add some points to my card (this is a Boyd property, one of few I still want to get free room offers). I lucked out in that during the month of February, Sam’s has a promotion that every Tuesday is 15X penny machines, 11X reels, and 6X video poker. I normally would wait until Wednesday’s Young At Heart (Senior Day) to gamble, but tomorrow I’ll be spending the day with my son, so this worked out just fine.
I played some of the triple play nickel video poker that has progressive royals. I like Super Double Bonus on these. I was down $40 when it was time to play the poker tournament. Some days go like this. I was the very first person OUT of the tournament. I was getting dealt very good playing hands and nothing flopped the right way. I was down to my last few hundred chips when I was dealt 10/J of clubs and the flop was J/J/8. There was a raise and I re-raised. By the time the betting stopped I was all in and another player had J/Q and I was out.
I went to the 8/5 Bonus poker and played a couple hundred and lost. I went to the 10-coins Joker’s wild nickel machines upstairs. The progressive Royal was almost $1100, almost triple the usual amount. I couldn’t do anything here either. It’s looking more and more like the video poker gods are after my previous week’s profit. It’s not even the afternoon, and I’m already down $223. I’ll need to stop and take a breather. I checked in and hung out in the room for a little while and caught up on this journal and some reading.
After a nice break, I headed back down to finish out my gambling for the day. To my disappointment, someone hit the Joker’s Wild progressive. I played a hundred in the triple play nickels Super Double Bonus. Was down to $13 when I hit quad Queens, then quad 2s then quad Aces in about 20 hands. That gave me my $100 back.
Thought I'd take that hundred and play some of the penny games (15X points pretty nice). Twenty at a time playing minimum bet. Double it, hit a bonus, or lose it would be the plan. Played Stoneridge and hit the bonus on the second hand (about $13); then Hercules, hit bonus when down to $3 and won $21; then Beer Haus and hit a bonus early but only won $12; and then the Mulitmedia machine called Star Nights. I hit a monster on this at the Westgate a couple of years ago. My twenty was down when I finally got the Free Games. It then retriggered four times—a total of 28 spins. On the second spin, three wild images (sun/moon/comet) came up and that gave me a $122 win with all these spins to go! Well, it figures the rest of spins didn't do much, but I cashed out a very nice $133 win on the $.50 bet.
Not a bad win for a fifty-cent bet
I had enough of the penny games and played some 7/5 BP Quick Quads. Played a long time, but just couldn't get any traction there and was down $50 and was going to call it a night but I noticed that the 9/7 DB progressive was over $1800 and just had to give it a shot. I only caught a couple of full houses, so when I reached my original $100 I quit. It was a losing day, but all things considered not as bad as it could have been.
The day’s gaming: -$165
Wednesday, Feb 8
Though I won’t be here to play much at Sam’s Town, I still wanted to swipe my card for the bonus points and play some. To keep the free room and promotions coming, I need to put on 25K every six months. I received 10X slots and 6X video poker (the lowest possible again—fixed?). I played a hundred through the triple play and the 8/5 BP and both were losers.
I picked up my son from the airport. His flight went well and we headed out. When my son turned 21, I brought him to Las Vegas as a birthday gift and we’ve being doing it ever since. This trip marks the 22nd year. It’s a great time to catch up with each other’s lives and some good ol’ plain father/son bonding.
It was too early to check in, so we drove over to the South Point to possibly play some 2/4 poker; however, there wasn’t a table started yet and only two people were on the list, so we walked around the casino and ended up at the event center where there was a huge competition of archery students apparently from the state. We talked about how this is just another example of a world that we don’t encounter or even exists and yet here are hundreds and hundreds of kids and families who participate in it. He’s got a new business going and a wife and four children, so he doesn’t get the chance to go see movies very often, so we always try to get one in each trip. We saw Hidden Figures, which he really enjoyed.
Archery students take their shots at the event center in the South Point Hotel and Casino
After the movie, I got an email that the room at the Aria was ready. I got the room using my MyVegas game. The room was free but I had to pay the taxes and the resort fees. Yesterday I got a text saying I could preregister so that when I arrived, I could avert the lines and go directly to a kiosk and pick up my keys. I gave this a shot and followed all the instructions, and sure enough, when we arrived, there’s an area marked “mobile registration.” There was an attendant there to assist, but after scanning my driver’s license to assure I was the right person, out popped the room keys. There was no hassle or waiting. It’s a good system.
The room at the Aria, not pictured is a very nice and large bathroom
The view from the room at the Aria
We were both very pleased with the “regular” room that was on the 15th floor looking out over the Strip at a south/east direction. We took a walk outside and across the Strip and then over to the new Park area where the Monte Carlo Theater and the Mobile Arena are located. This is very nice with an array of assorted restaurants, outside seating and fountains. We eventually ended back to the Aria where we parted ways and I headed back to Sam’s Town.
I wanted to add a few more points on my card and hopefully win back some of my losses, so again, I played the 8/5 Bonus Poker but there were no quads to be had and I am still Royal-less for the trip. Sadly, another loss for the day.
The day’s gaming: -$200
Thursday, Feb 9
Today is the only full day we will have on this trip and after coming to Las Vegas SO many times, we have done pretty much everything there is to do. So, I made a suggestion to my son and asked if he’d be interested in doing: In 2011, I spent a month doing what I called the Hit ‘em All Nevada trip. I set out to go to each and every casino in the entire state of Nevada. I then placed a $10 bet at either a blackjack table or a roulette table at each one and then kept a running total. By the time the tripped ended and after almost 300 casinos and bets, I end up losing a grand total of $12.
By far the most difficult time during this trip was the Las Vegas Strip. I started at the Mandalay Bay and walked all the way to Sahara Blvd, walked across the street to the then Sahara Casino and then up the other end of the Strip finishing at the Tropicana. It was very long walk and it took the entire day. I asked Jon if he wanted to do this and he said he’d love to give it a shot. It would be something different and a great way to see all the casinos at what has changed.
If during the walk we decide we can’t or don’t want to finish the walk, we’ll simply stop. I picked up my son at 8:15 AM at the Aria valet. We headed to our first stop, SLS, and thought we should eat a breakfast before this long walk. We went into the café at the SLS, which turned out to be an eye-opener. The prices were crazy expensive: $15.95 for a two egg breakfast. It’s no wonder this hotel is off to a rocky start. Our first bet was a loser at roulette. I’m going to give you the complete list of every hotel and how the bets went and the final results at the end of this day’s report.
The walk was as expected as we made our way going south on the east end of the Strip first from the Encore to the MGM. We stopped at the MGM sportsbook to rest and have an ice tea (it was 76 degrees today). While resting, Jon put a bet on the next horse race: a $5 to win ticket and a $5 trifecta ticket. When he sat down next to me to wait for the race to begin, he realized he had just bet not on a horse race, but a dog race. We laughed at that and laughed some more when he won both of the tickets for a $52 win!
All in all, the run was going well. As expected we were having small winning streaks and small losing streaks. We were making pretty good time as well. Jon mentioned he was physically doing fine and I was alright too except that two blisters were developing on the balls of each of my feet; however, I was determined to see this through. I also took a tumble on the cement floor when I misjudged a step at the Starbucks. Fortunately, the only injury was my dignity—old fat men don’t fall very gracefully.
We couldn’t go to the Tropicana right away because they over-street walkway was under construction. We then went to Mandalay Bay and started walking north stopping at the Aria for lunch at the buffet, which I had brought a 2 for 1 coupon from the MyVegas site. It was now 2:00 PM and hungry. I’ve eaten at this buffet before and my son now agrees with me, this is the best buffet in Las Vegas. There aren’t as many selections as others, but the quality and preparation of the food is wonderful. We sat for almost an hour.
We finally headed out going to the Strip by way of the Crystal Mall. Just inside the door of the mall, the blister on my right foot burst and folded over and sent directly to the nearest bench in pain. I took of my shoe and sock to examine the damage and yes, a blister the size of a 50-cent coin was giving me excruciating pain. A blister the similar size on my other foot was just as bad. There was simply NO way I was going to be able to finish the west side of the Strip. There were five hotels left and then to pick up the car parked at the Encore. We decided that I was make my way up to my son’s room in the Aria (a bit of luck there) and Jon would finish the run, pick up the car and come get me.
He did that in less than an hour. We then drove to the two hotels we needed to complete the trip. We drove to the Tropicana and I dropped Jon off to make the bet and then Circus Circus to make the final wager. We had made our bets in every hotel/casino on the Strip (sorry Stratosphere—still don’t consider you on the Strip). I dropped Jon back off at the Aria and I made my way back to Sam’s Town. I waddled my way back to my room walking as much just on my heels as possible. By the time I had stopped, I had logged on 7.5 miles on my step counter, so we’re guessing Jon did about 10.
My intentions were to take pictures of all the hotels along the route; however, some didn’t turn out well and then I couldn’t take any on the west side, so I’m only sharing a couple of notable ones here:
It is the Year of the Rooster, so all the casinos have a rooster somewhere. Here’s the Wynn’s.
The rooster display between the Palazzo and the Venetian
We both got a kick out of this sign posted at the Venetian fountain as a warning to parents
The reason why Uber and Lyft are doing so well.
All total there are 27 hotels and casinos along the strip from the Mandalay Bay just south of Tropicana Blvd to the SLS at Sahara. We placed a $10 bet at either blackjack (B) of roulette (R). The odd prices you will note are because some places such as the Wynn smallest bet allowed was $15. Also, there were double down possibilities at blackjack. We played more roulette bets because they were easier and faster. Some of the roulettes were the machines, but the ones with the actual spinning wheel. We determined to only bet on black (for no other reason than Jon’s favorite number is black 29).
1. SLS -10 (B)
2. Encore +10 (R)
3. Wynn +30 (B)
4. Palazzo -10 (R)
5. Venetian +10 (B)
6. Casino Royale +10 (R)
7. Harrahs -10 (R)
8. Linq -10 (B)
9. Flamingo -10 (R)
10. Cromwell -20 (B)
11. Ballys -10 (R)
12. Paris -10 (B)
13. P. Hollywood -10 (R)
14. MGM Grand +10 (R)
15. Mandalay Bay +10 (B)
16. Luxor +10 (R)
17. Excalibur +10 (B)
18. NYNY -10 (R)
19. Monte Carlo -10 (R)
20. Aria +10 (R)
21. Cosmopolitan -10 (R)
22. Bellagio -10 (B)
23. Caesars Palace -10 (R)
24. Mirage +10 (R)
25. T.I. -10 (B)
26. Tropicana -10 (B)
27. Circus Circus +10 (R)
Total: minus $35
The day’s gaming: -$17.50 (my share)
We split the loss. We both agree that aside from my blisters that put a damper on the adventure, we had a really good time and would do it again. I hope you’ve enjoyed this long winded trip report. Until next time…
