We got in the night before about 1:30 am so we had a late start getting over to Summerlin where we planned on doing a mini-coupon run before dinner at Gardunos that evening.
Our local friends who we had met at EI a few days before referred to Summerlin as 'The Palm Springs' of Las Vegas. It is indeed very picturesque with the mountains in the background and palm trees lining the streets.
Our first stop was RR. We didn't arrive until about 10am and the buffet line was long. We decided to take turns getting out of line for our players cards. They advertised anywhere from $3 to $500 in free slot play with sign up. Of course we each got the whopping $3 play.
As far as the buffet goes, we enjoyed it (4 forks). Our favorite buffet of this trip was Flamingo, but RR was a close second, and they also had chocolate milk. One of their selections was scrambled eggs with salmon. I tried it but didn't really care for the combo.
After breakfast we went and redeemed our free slot play. I made a little money and so did Tony...we cleared about $10 combined. Next we did the $120 for $100 buy in. They give you $100 in real chips, your choice of green or red chips, plus $20 in non-negotiables. We played roulette with them and after cashing out cleared another $30.
We spent longer at RR than we had planned so were just going to head back to the strip, that's when we noticed Rampart Blvd. Why not? I was very hesitant to play the high mps offered by Rampart $20 and $25 but since we were ahead we figured we could risk a little more at this juncture in the trip.
The roulette tables were not even open so we decided to sit down and play some BJ. I don't want to say the dealer and pit boss gave us a hard time about the coupons, but they certainly didn't make it easy for us. My thoughts are hey, I didn't ask Rampart to print this coupon, they are the ones who are offering the mps why aren't the staff trained to recognize and accept these coupons without making the clientel feel uncomfortable. And by uncomfortable I mean Tony, he didn't even want to use his. I was more like, hey, they are legitimate coupons: one from ACG and one from MRB and they damn well were going to let me play both of them.
As it turns out the dealer would make me wait to use the coupon each time so they could be verified by the pit boss. It was pretty stupid and so between coupons I played $5 hands, which was fine. So I played both my mp's as soon as I possibly could which was a long time for 'verification'. Tony still hadn't played his yet, so after I played both mine, which I won incidentally, then Tony played his. Overall, it wasn't a bad thing sitting there longer than we wanted. I got a huge scowl from the pit boss as I cashed out with $265 dollars. He asked what we bought in for and I replied $100. He asked if we EACH bought in for $100 and I smiled and replied, nope, BOTH. Ha ha, so as I'm leaving the nice lady next to me who had been chatting and giving me advice as I played, whispered that it would be appropriate now to give the dealer a $5 chip. I said loudly so he could hear. Hey, I have no problem tipping friendly dealers. In the future he should try to be more personable and polite to those with coupons. I grabbed all my money and headed for the cashier.
Now as far as tipping goes, Tony and I consider ourselves to be average to above average tippers for all the folks who work in Vegas; however, when we feel were treated in a most impolite manner, we feel no obligation to tip; even if it is a big win. That dealer was very unfriendly and didn't deserve that tip, maybe he'll learn better social skills from it and maybe not. It's really the only person we 'stiffed' when playing w/mp coupons because we don't want people who use coupons to get a bad rap. I know we can be seen as cheap, so I always try to offset that prejudice w/good tips.
Anyway, after Rampart we also used our BJ mps at Suncoast...made another five bucks and headed back to the strip.
It's mid afternoon by now. We go back to the room and freshen up for some before dinner drinks at EI before we head to the Palms. Our neighbors had actually flown in that morning and called to leave us a message to meet up later that night for some cocktails. We called them back and agreed to meet at the TI pirate show around 8:00. They were staying at the Mirage and wanted to stay on that end of the strip. No problem I say, we have seen and done all we wanted on this trip so the night was open to anything.
We go to EI for drinks now...it's about 3:00. I use my one hour of free drinks for two. The bartender was female and very friendly. She says they are good for five rounds each. No problem I say. I down four michelob ultras and Tony gets two of their extra tall homebrews. Only problem w/this stop is I end up pouring in 40 bucks to their slots...yikes! So now instead of being up $11 at EI we are down $29...oh well. I don't mind giving a nice joint like this some play. We really liked EI and all their coupon offers.
Onto Gardunos at the Palms. We had already played all our mp's here a few days earlier so we parked the car valet and went straight to the restaurant. It's a little before 5:00 when we sit down. The place is empty, which is why we were surprised that our server wasn't more prompt or attentive. I ordered one of their $10 margaritas right away, but when my glass was empty some time later she was nowhere to be found. We also needed little things like sour cream, etc during our meal and she was hard to track down. Oh well, the price was right..only $28 after they deducted the 50% comp.
So now it's around 6:30-7:00, we have a little over an hour to kill before meeting our friends, so naturally I stick another $100 into the Wizard of Oz at the Paris...yes, one finally opened up, but my WOZ friends next to me said it was only open because there was no sound. Fine by me, I said, I didn't care for the ultra loud BOSE system they pump into that machine. I get up to about $125 with some good bonus rounds and 'wild' cards, but eventually lose it all. Boo hoo. I get Tony and we decide to stop at the bar and actually pay for a drink. I order a margarita and he orders a bottle of beer...$16! What, $16? Thank goodness we've been drinking comped drinks this trip...what they charge is ridiculous. The bartender was nice, he asked me to take a sip when he served it. He asked if anything was missing and I said maybe more tequila. He grabs the glass and tops it off...nice guy and he got a nice tip too.
Off we go to TI to meet our friends and see the pirate show. Well, it's so crowded I end up losing even Tony. I'm not bothered by it, I sit down at a single zero video roulette and put in $100. It's $1 chips. I notice as I'm playing w/my MGM players card in the machine it's giving me 0 points for my play. If you are a roulette troll like me, don't play at any MGM properties. They Wynn will rate you at least at the rate of VP...I believe it's 1pt for every $9 bet.
Well, now the show has started, I've cashed out my $100 buy in at $151...sweet. I go to find Tony, but it's way too crowded by now. Some Canadians let me use their phone to call him, but he doesn't answer. I ask how long the show goes and someone tells me another 20 mins. I take my $100 and go to a real roulette table and buy in. The minimum here is $15. I'm just hoping for a drink as the whole time I'm sitting at Video Roulette nobody comes around. I play for the remainder of the show, get at least one drink, and that's when Tony and my friends show up. Time to cash out...up $30. Nice.
We stroll over to the Mirage bar for some drinks. I put a $20 in and the bartender says I have to bet max so he can comp me my drink. I bet max allright the entire $20! He's like, uh-oh, you bet the whole thing. How in the heck can you bet $20 on one hand...even betting max bet? Anyway, thank goodness, I won, so I made $20 at mirage but Tony bought his own drink plus our friend's. That round (two drinks) cost him another $16.
So we stroll around Mirage, go over to Venetian for a drink, watch the erupting volcano, and eventually find ourselves back at Casino Royale for more craps action. love their $3 minimums, and this session we did much better, +$100! So considering we lost $80 earlier in the week, I was happy for a +$20 net gain at Casino Royale.
By now it's 2 am and we're ready to call it a night. We say good-bye to our friends who by now had moved onto roulette and make our way back to the Paris.
In conclusion, the coupons and mps and free slot play really paid off for us this trip. We hit lots of casinos in the days we were here, 35 in all. Thanks to Tony's 'task' option on his blackberry we kept track of number of beers, win/loss, and food cost at each place we visited. We drank more than 100 free drinks, spent about $350 on food, tips, and entertainment, and came out about $500 ahead on gambling. Not a bad take for super low rollers like us.
Our local friends who we had met at EI a few days before referred to Summerlin as 'The Palm Springs' of Las Vegas. It is indeed very picturesque with the mountains in the background and palm trees lining the streets.
Our first stop was RR. We didn't arrive until about 10am and the buffet line was long. We decided to take turns getting out of line for our players cards. They advertised anywhere from $3 to $500 in free slot play with sign up. Of course we each got the whopping $3 play.
As far as the buffet goes, we enjoyed it (4 forks). Our favorite buffet of this trip was Flamingo, but RR was a close second, and they also had chocolate milk. One of their selections was scrambled eggs with salmon. I tried it but didn't really care for the combo.
After breakfast we went and redeemed our free slot play. I made a little money and so did Tony...we cleared about $10 combined. Next we did the $120 for $100 buy in. They give you $100 in real chips, your choice of green or red chips, plus $20 in non-negotiables. We played roulette with them and after cashing out cleared another $30.
We spent longer at RR than we had planned so were just going to head back to the strip, that's when we noticed Rampart Blvd. Why not? I was very hesitant to play the high mps offered by Rampart $20 and $25 but since we were ahead we figured we could risk a little more at this juncture in the trip.
The roulette tables were not even open so we decided to sit down and play some BJ. I don't want to say the dealer and pit boss gave us a hard time about the coupons, but they certainly didn't make it easy for us. My thoughts are hey, I didn't ask Rampart to print this coupon, they are the ones who are offering the mps why aren't the staff trained to recognize and accept these coupons without making the clientel feel uncomfortable. And by uncomfortable I mean Tony, he didn't even want to use his. I was more like, hey, they are legitimate coupons: one from ACG and one from MRB and they damn well were going to let me play both of them.
As it turns out the dealer would make me wait to use the coupon each time so they could be verified by the pit boss. It was pretty stupid and so between coupons I played $5 hands, which was fine. So I played both my mp's as soon as I possibly could which was a long time for 'verification'. Tony still hadn't played his yet, so after I played both mine, which I won incidentally, then Tony played his. Overall, it wasn't a bad thing sitting there longer than we wanted. I got a huge scowl from the pit boss as I cashed out with $265 dollars. He asked what we bought in for and I replied $100. He asked if we EACH bought in for $100 and I smiled and replied, nope, BOTH. Ha ha, so as I'm leaving the nice lady next to me who had been chatting and giving me advice as I played, whispered that it would be appropriate now to give the dealer a $5 chip. I said loudly so he could hear. Hey, I have no problem tipping friendly dealers. In the future he should try to be more personable and polite to those with coupons. I grabbed all my money and headed for the cashier.
Now as far as tipping goes, Tony and I consider ourselves to be average to above average tippers for all the folks who work in Vegas; however, when we feel were treated in a most impolite manner, we feel no obligation to tip; even if it is a big win. That dealer was very unfriendly and didn't deserve that tip, maybe he'll learn better social skills from it and maybe not. It's really the only person we 'stiffed' when playing w/mp coupons because we don't want people who use coupons to get a bad rap. I know we can be seen as cheap, so I always try to offset that prejudice w/good tips.
Anyway, after Rampart we also used our BJ mps at Suncoast...made another five bucks and headed back to the strip.
It's mid afternoon by now. We go back to the room and freshen up for some before dinner drinks at EI before we head to the Palms. Our neighbors had actually flown in that morning and called to leave us a message to meet up later that night for some cocktails. We called them back and agreed to meet at the TI pirate show around 8:00. They were staying at the Mirage and wanted to stay on that end of the strip. No problem I say, we have seen and done all we wanted on this trip so the night was open to anything.
We go to EI for drinks now...it's about 3:00. I use my one hour of free drinks for two. The bartender was female and very friendly. She says they are good for five rounds each. No problem I say. I down four michelob ultras and Tony gets two of their extra tall homebrews. Only problem w/this stop is I end up pouring in 40 bucks to their slots...yikes! So now instead of being up $11 at EI we are down $29...oh well. I don't mind giving a nice joint like this some play. We really liked EI and all their coupon offers.
Onto Gardunos at the Palms. We had already played all our mp's here a few days earlier so we parked the car valet and went straight to the restaurant. It's a little before 5:00 when we sit down. The place is empty, which is why we were surprised that our server wasn't more prompt or attentive. I ordered one of their $10 margaritas right away, but when my glass was empty some time later she was nowhere to be found. We also needed little things like sour cream, etc during our meal and she was hard to track down. Oh well, the price was right..only $28 after they deducted the 50% comp.
So now it's around 6:30-7:00, we have a little over an hour to kill before meeting our friends, so naturally I stick another $100 into the Wizard of Oz at the Paris...yes, one finally opened up, but my WOZ friends next to me said it was only open because there was no sound. Fine by me, I said, I didn't care for the ultra loud BOSE system they pump into that machine. I get up to about $125 with some good bonus rounds and 'wild' cards, but eventually lose it all. Boo hoo. I get Tony and we decide to stop at the bar and actually pay for a drink. I order a margarita and he orders a bottle of beer...$16! What, $16? Thank goodness we've been drinking comped drinks this trip...what they charge is ridiculous. The bartender was nice, he asked me to take a sip when he served it. He asked if anything was missing and I said maybe more tequila. He grabs the glass and tops it off...nice guy and he got a nice tip too.
Off we go to TI to meet our friends and see the pirate show. Well, it's so crowded I end up losing even Tony. I'm not bothered by it, I sit down at a single zero video roulette and put in $100. It's $1 chips. I notice as I'm playing w/my MGM players card in the machine it's giving me 0 points for my play. If you are a roulette troll like me, don't play at any MGM properties. They Wynn will rate you at least at the rate of VP...I believe it's 1pt for every $9 bet.
Well, now the show has started, I've cashed out my $100 buy in at $151...sweet. I go to find Tony, but it's way too crowded by now. Some Canadians let me use their phone to call him, but he doesn't answer. I ask how long the show goes and someone tells me another 20 mins. I take my $100 and go to a real roulette table and buy in. The minimum here is $15. I'm just hoping for a drink as the whole time I'm sitting at Video Roulette nobody comes around. I play for the remainder of the show, get at least one drink, and that's when Tony and my friends show up. Time to cash out...up $30. Nice.
We stroll over to the Mirage bar for some drinks. I put a $20 in and the bartender says I have to bet max so he can comp me my drink. I bet max allright the entire $20! He's like, uh-oh, you bet the whole thing. How in the heck can you bet $20 on one hand...even betting max bet? Anyway, thank goodness, I won, so I made $20 at mirage but Tony bought his own drink plus our friend's. That round (two drinks) cost him another $16.
So we stroll around Mirage, go over to Venetian for a drink, watch the erupting volcano, and eventually find ourselves back at Casino Royale for more craps action. love their $3 minimums, and this session we did much better, +$100! So considering we lost $80 earlier in the week, I was happy for a +$20 net gain at Casino Royale.
By now it's 2 am and we're ready to call it a night. We say good-bye to our friends who by now had moved onto roulette and make our way back to the Paris.
In conclusion, the coupons and mps and free slot play really paid off for us this trip. We hit lots of casinos in the days we were here, 35 in all. Thanks to Tony's 'task' option on his blackberry we kept track of number of beers, win/loss, and food cost at each place we visited. We drank more than 100 free drinks, spent about $350 on food, tips, and entertainment, and came out about $500 ahead on gambling. Not a bad take for super low rollers like us.
