PROLOGUE:
The dust and glitter had not settled from my December trip with MadMan Mike, and I was already plotting the possibilities of a Vegas Super Bowl trip. Harrah's would give me two nights at a reduced rate and I had more than enough reward credits to cover the room charge. The Orleans would give me 2 free nights and a $25 food credit with the 3rd night at $35. Car rental for the trip was $104 for a full sized vehicle. The airfares were not looking too good, but then Spirit offered at RT base fare for $147...Book'em Danno. MadMan wanted to go with me, but his wife gave him "The Look"..no more talk of a Vegas trip for him. When my daughter was home for Christmas, she was 'all in' for the trip. She was able to grab a cheap fare from SW, flying out of Oakland, arriving Saturday morning, the day before the Big Game. We talked about shows and finally settled upon seeing LOVE at the Mirage. She has seen most of the Cirque shows in Vegas except for Love and Zumanity...well I'm not about to take my daughter to see Zumanity, so Love it is.
THURSDAY Jan 31
My flight did not leave MSP until 9:30 pm and I had the day off from work. All day to sit and watch the minutes drag by...pure tourture. I finally threw my suitcase in the car and headed for the 'Cities", grabbed a burger to go at McDonalds and was on the road. This was my 1st experience with Spirit, and I will give more details of my impressions of the airline at the end of the report. Check in, flight and landing was smooth and on time. There was no line at the taxi stand and I was headed for Harrah's in no time. "Harrah's please, that's Harrah's with an 'H'..no tunnel, take Swenson to Paradise." The cabbie chuckled and we were on our way, no B.S.
Check in at Harrah's was quick and I was unpacking my bag in my 6th floor Carnival Tower room ten minutes after stepping out of the cab. There was one glitch, however, the in-room safe was locked....grrr. I called the operator who promptly transferred me to someone else, who transferred me again and then got disconnected. Okay, try again. Finally was connected to security and 5 minutes later my safe was unlocked and good to go. I headed down to the bar and played some VP and downed a couple of Heinekens and then headed for Bill's. A couple of sweet young things walked by me in front of the IP...err the Quad and as they passed by one of them asked me "Hey, you want to get laid?" So much for foreplay. I politely declined their candid offer and continued walking; taking a big gulp of my beer. I ducked into the Flamingo to play my favorite slot, but they were occupied. The craps tables at Bill's were still jumping even at 1 AM but I was able to set up shop at stick left and bought in with 2 hundy. The young guy next to me was from Manitoba and liked to make hop bets and hardways. Amazingly, he was fairly successful with his strategy. We had a couple of shooters that hit several points and hardways and the Dos Equis flowed pretty well. Finally at 4 AM I could hardly keep my eyes open, so I had to call it quits and cashed out ahead by $185. So my final craps session, one of many at Bill's, ended on a positive note. I played VP at the bar at Harrah's and had one last Heineken before crashing in my room at 04:30.
FRIDAY Feb 1
I awoke at 08:30 and couldn't fall back to sleep, 4 hours should be enough. I felt a little tired, but otherwise was in pretty good shape. I showered, dressed and headed towards Bill's for breakfast and the Victorian Room. I used my comps for breakfast which consisted of tomato juice, eggs, hashbrowns, sourdough toast and a delicious ham steak....my standard breakfast at Bill's. My waitress was great, calling me "sweetie" as she brought me my coffee and juice. I polished off my food with gusto and then won $20 playing a buffalo penny slot. I took a long look around and then bid adieu, remembering all the great times that I have had at Bill's over the years..my first time craps, ever, was at Bill's; a session that lasted 9 hours, from 3 AM until noon. I hit so many hard tens that night. Seeing some guy being picked up by four security guards and thrown out on his ass, Big Elvis and Monday night kareoke...that woman in the sailor suit singing "In the Navy" even had the dealers stopping play to watch her act. The times...they are ever a changin.
I took a cab from Bally's to the airport, hopped on the shuttle bus and arrived at the car rental center in no time. They were out of full sized cars, so I got upgraded to a Chrysler 300, same type of car that I ended up with last trip. I parked the car back at Harrahs and then went over to the Casino Royale to pick up a new players card. The place smelled like stale beer and sweat, with the subtle hint of vomit. I sat at the bar and played VP, had a couple of Michelob lights and cashed out $20 to the good. I then started my long trek to the MGM to take a shot at the Lions Share Progressive. The sidewalks were clogged with porn slappers and street performers. People were constantly stopping in the middle of the sidewalk to gawk at spiderman and spongeBob....geeesh, get a life. I sat down and plunged $200 into the Lions Share, a lot of small wins, played for a long time, but busted out....next time.
I walked back to Harrah's, crossed over to the Mirage and picked up my LOVE tickets for Saturday nights performance. The lady gave me an "Oooh, you have good seats!" I stashed the tickets in the safe back in the room, played some more VP at the bar at Harrah's then walked to the Wynn to board the SDX for downtown. The bus was full, so I had to stand all the way. I stopped into the D casino and had a coney dog and order of fries at the All American restaurant. I had to give the guys at the counter some crap about if they were a real Detroit establishment that they would be serving Vernors Ginger Ale. The one guy must be familiar with Detroit, because he laughed and pointed at the soda dispenser and said that the Coke company wouldn't allow it. Well, it's off to the Golden Gate.
I sat down at a $5 BJ table with one my favorite Asian dealers at the table. She remembered me from previous trips. It was up and down until she had to leave to go dance. I moved over to the adjacent $10 table being dealt from a shoe. Another of my dealers, a redhead, who has a unique way of dealing the cards as at the table. That's where I camped out for the remainder of the evening. There were three guys playing at the table when I sat down and a little while later the guy at 1st base got up and left and a friend of the other two guys sat down in his place. 1st place guy whips out a stack of Bennies and buys in for 2 grand...at a $10 table. Pit boss immediately came over to check him out. So here he is betting $100-300 per hand, playing two hands at a time. He buys in again for another $1000 and still again with a $1000....into it for $4000. He hit a hot streak which brought him back to about even for the rest of the night. One hand he had 2 $500 bets down, with one of them a double down opportunity..dealer busts...winner!! I was grinding out my bets, gradually increasing my stacks over the course of the evening. I had consumed enough alcohol during the day, that I stuck with bottled water while I played. The other guys guzzled Bud lights one right after another..never saw them tip the CW. They were very generous in tipping the dealers, however. I was enough ahead, that I started to bump my bets and go for a big winning session. Things started off okay, then a new dealer.....lose, lose, lose. I bailed out at midnight cashing out with a tidy $260 profit. I took the last SDX back to the strip, had one last Heineken at the bar, playing VP then hit the rack at 0200.
SATURDAY Feb 2
I'm up at 0800 feeling great despite not having a great deal of sleep the past two days. I had breakfast at Harrah's cafe..Eggs Benedict...English muffin was cold and not toasted. Service was good and the coffee strong...I'm ready for the day. I packed up and checked out with no problems and then headed for the airport to pick up my daughter. While I was waiting for her, I wandered over to check out the new airport liquor store. It is located in terminal 1, right by baggage carousel #1. They have a fairly good selection of cold beer and wine, with the basic selections of hard liquor. Some of the prices were very competitive, others looked to be overpriced. Can't beat the place for convenience. Met my daughter at the baggage claim and then it was off to the Orleans.
Check-in was quick, only two people ahead of me. Our room was on the 16th floor, way on the end of the hallway. A bit of a hike from the elevator, but very quiet. After unpacking, we picked up the car from valet and headed for downtown and parked at the Golden Gate. As we walked through the casino a couple of dealers waved and said hello....had to explain to my daughter why I was so "popular". She was thirsty, so I used my ACG coupon for a BOGO draft beer at the Vegas Club, then we took a stroll down Fremont street. We had a hot dog at the D (good dogs!) and then my daughter got a players card with some free play. I also received a new card, but because I had already a card from the Fitz, no free play for me. My daughter wanted to play VP at the long bar, but I whined like a six year old about the poor pay tables; I finally relented and she loaded in her FP, I stuck a twenty in my machine and we each order up a beer from the talkative bartender. Okay, so I'm playing Deuces, talking to my daughter and watching the bartender flipping liquor bottles behind the bar, flair style, and I'm down to about $5 on my machine when I get dealt As, Ks & Js with a Qd and 9d. My daughter says "Go for the Royal, Dad!!" all excited. Calm down, how many times have I had 3 or 4 to the Royal only to be shut out. Royal Flushes are a Vegas urban legend, propagated by the casinos. What the hell, I hold the spades and hit the deal button...boom up pops the 10 and queen of spades to fill in my first natural royal to the tune of $1053!!! Sweet Jesus I don't believe it. High fives all around, shots for everybody. While I am basking in the glow, the guy next to me, who is playing video keno, hits a jackpot for $1250. After finishing our drinks and tipping the bartender generously, I took my TITO to the cage and cashed it in.
We went upstairs and played the Sigma Derby for awhile and then stopped for a $2 Heineken at the bar at the Fremont. The place was a madhouse; you had to wait in line at the bar to order a drink. Beverages in hand, we walked down to the Mob Museum, sat on the front steps and drank our beers before taking the tour. I had been to the museum last year, but wanted to see it again. My daughter and I spent the next 2 hours taking in all of the exhibits. We ended up in the "training room". They have a video sequence with a guy with a gun. They have a .38 revolver that you have to "load" and shoot the perp before he shoots you. My daughter tried first, her shots were low and she was gunned down by the robber. After a coaching session; change her stance, change her grip and how to aim, she hit the guy with her 3rd shot. Okay Dad, you try. Perp turns around, starts to raise his gun..one shot in the middle of the chest and he's toast. That's gun control.
I think I will stop here and continue tomorrow...dinner at the Flame, LOVE and the Super Bowl coming up....thanks for reading.
The dust and glitter had not settled from my December trip with MadMan Mike, and I was already plotting the possibilities of a Vegas Super Bowl trip. Harrah's would give me two nights at a reduced rate and I had more than enough reward credits to cover the room charge. The Orleans would give me 2 free nights and a $25 food credit with the 3rd night at $35. Car rental for the trip was $104 for a full sized vehicle. The airfares were not looking too good, but then Spirit offered at RT base fare for $147...Book'em Danno. MadMan wanted to go with me, but his wife gave him "The Look"..no more talk of a Vegas trip for him. When my daughter was home for Christmas, she was 'all in' for the trip. She was able to grab a cheap fare from SW, flying out of Oakland, arriving Saturday morning, the day before the Big Game. We talked about shows and finally settled upon seeing LOVE at the Mirage. She has seen most of the Cirque shows in Vegas except for Love and Zumanity...well I'm not about to take my daughter to see Zumanity, so Love it is.
THURSDAY Jan 31
My flight did not leave MSP until 9:30 pm and I had the day off from work. All day to sit and watch the minutes drag by...pure tourture. I finally threw my suitcase in the car and headed for the 'Cities", grabbed a burger to go at McDonalds and was on the road. This was my 1st experience with Spirit, and I will give more details of my impressions of the airline at the end of the report. Check in, flight and landing was smooth and on time. There was no line at the taxi stand and I was headed for Harrah's in no time. "Harrah's please, that's Harrah's with an 'H'..no tunnel, take Swenson to Paradise." The cabbie chuckled and we were on our way, no B.S.
Check in at Harrah's was quick and I was unpacking my bag in my 6th floor Carnival Tower room ten minutes after stepping out of the cab. There was one glitch, however, the in-room safe was locked....grrr. I called the operator who promptly transferred me to someone else, who transferred me again and then got disconnected. Okay, try again. Finally was connected to security and 5 minutes later my safe was unlocked and good to go. I headed down to the bar and played some VP and downed a couple of Heinekens and then headed for Bill's. A couple of sweet young things walked by me in front of the IP...err the Quad and as they passed by one of them asked me "Hey, you want to get laid?" So much for foreplay. I politely declined their candid offer and continued walking; taking a big gulp of my beer. I ducked into the Flamingo to play my favorite slot, but they were occupied. The craps tables at Bill's were still jumping even at 1 AM but I was able to set up shop at stick left and bought in with 2 hundy. The young guy next to me was from Manitoba and liked to make hop bets and hardways. Amazingly, he was fairly successful with his strategy. We had a couple of shooters that hit several points and hardways and the Dos Equis flowed pretty well. Finally at 4 AM I could hardly keep my eyes open, so I had to call it quits and cashed out ahead by $185. So my final craps session, one of many at Bill's, ended on a positive note. I played VP at the bar at Harrah's and had one last Heineken before crashing in my room at 04:30.
FRIDAY Feb 1
I awoke at 08:30 and couldn't fall back to sleep, 4 hours should be enough. I felt a little tired, but otherwise was in pretty good shape. I showered, dressed and headed towards Bill's for breakfast and the Victorian Room. I used my comps for breakfast which consisted of tomato juice, eggs, hashbrowns, sourdough toast and a delicious ham steak....my standard breakfast at Bill's. My waitress was great, calling me "sweetie" as she brought me my coffee and juice. I polished off my food with gusto and then won $20 playing a buffalo penny slot. I took a long look around and then bid adieu, remembering all the great times that I have had at Bill's over the years..my first time craps, ever, was at Bill's; a session that lasted 9 hours, from 3 AM until noon. I hit so many hard tens that night. Seeing some guy being picked up by four security guards and thrown out on his ass, Big Elvis and Monday night kareoke...that woman in the sailor suit singing "In the Navy" even had the dealers stopping play to watch her act. The times...they are ever a changin.
I took a cab from Bally's to the airport, hopped on the shuttle bus and arrived at the car rental center in no time. They were out of full sized cars, so I got upgraded to a Chrysler 300, same type of car that I ended up with last trip. I parked the car back at Harrahs and then went over to the Casino Royale to pick up a new players card. The place smelled like stale beer and sweat, with the subtle hint of vomit. I sat at the bar and played VP, had a couple of Michelob lights and cashed out $20 to the good. I then started my long trek to the MGM to take a shot at the Lions Share Progressive. The sidewalks were clogged with porn slappers and street performers. People were constantly stopping in the middle of the sidewalk to gawk at spiderman and spongeBob....geeesh, get a life. I sat down and plunged $200 into the Lions Share, a lot of small wins, played for a long time, but busted out....next time.
I walked back to Harrah's, crossed over to the Mirage and picked up my LOVE tickets for Saturday nights performance. The lady gave me an "Oooh, you have good seats!" I stashed the tickets in the safe back in the room, played some more VP at the bar at Harrah's then walked to the Wynn to board the SDX for downtown. The bus was full, so I had to stand all the way. I stopped into the D casino and had a coney dog and order of fries at the All American restaurant. I had to give the guys at the counter some crap about if they were a real Detroit establishment that they would be serving Vernors Ginger Ale. The one guy must be familiar with Detroit, because he laughed and pointed at the soda dispenser and said that the Coke company wouldn't allow it. Well, it's off to the Golden Gate.
I sat down at a $5 BJ table with one my favorite Asian dealers at the table. She remembered me from previous trips. It was up and down until she had to leave to go dance. I moved over to the adjacent $10 table being dealt from a shoe. Another of my dealers, a redhead, who has a unique way of dealing the cards as at the table. That's where I camped out for the remainder of the evening. There were three guys playing at the table when I sat down and a little while later the guy at 1st base got up and left and a friend of the other two guys sat down in his place. 1st place guy whips out a stack of Bennies and buys in for 2 grand...at a $10 table. Pit boss immediately came over to check him out. So here he is betting $100-300 per hand, playing two hands at a time. He buys in again for another $1000 and still again with a $1000....into it for $4000. He hit a hot streak which brought him back to about even for the rest of the night. One hand he had 2 $500 bets down, with one of them a double down opportunity..dealer busts...winner!! I was grinding out my bets, gradually increasing my stacks over the course of the evening. I had consumed enough alcohol during the day, that I stuck with bottled water while I played. The other guys guzzled Bud lights one right after another..never saw them tip the CW. They were very generous in tipping the dealers, however. I was enough ahead, that I started to bump my bets and go for a big winning session. Things started off okay, then a new dealer.....lose, lose, lose. I bailed out at midnight cashing out with a tidy $260 profit. I took the last SDX back to the strip, had one last Heineken at the bar, playing VP then hit the rack at 0200.
SATURDAY Feb 2
I'm up at 0800 feeling great despite not having a great deal of sleep the past two days. I had breakfast at Harrah's cafe..Eggs Benedict...English muffin was cold and not toasted. Service was good and the coffee strong...I'm ready for the day. I packed up and checked out with no problems and then headed for the airport to pick up my daughter. While I was waiting for her, I wandered over to check out the new airport liquor store. It is located in terminal 1, right by baggage carousel #1. They have a fairly good selection of cold beer and wine, with the basic selections of hard liquor. Some of the prices were very competitive, others looked to be overpriced. Can't beat the place for convenience. Met my daughter at the baggage claim and then it was off to the Orleans.
Check-in was quick, only two people ahead of me. Our room was on the 16th floor, way on the end of the hallway. A bit of a hike from the elevator, but very quiet. After unpacking, we picked up the car from valet and headed for downtown and parked at the Golden Gate. As we walked through the casino a couple of dealers waved and said hello....had to explain to my daughter why I was so "popular". She was thirsty, so I used my ACG coupon for a BOGO draft beer at the Vegas Club, then we took a stroll down Fremont street. We had a hot dog at the D (good dogs!) and then my daughter got a players card with some free play. I also received a new card, but because I had already a card from the Fitz, no free play for me. My daughter wanted to play VP at the long bar, but I whined like a six year old about the poor pay tables; I finally relented and she loaded in her FP, I stuck a twenty in my machine and we each order up a beer from the talkative bartender. Okay, so I'm playing Deuces, talking to my daughter and watching the bartender flipping liquor bottles behind the bar, flair style, and I'm down to about $5 on my machine when I get dealt As, Ks & Js with a Qd and 9d. My daughter says "Go for the Royal, Dad!!" all excited. Calm down, how many times have I had 3 or 4 to the Royal only to be shut out. Royal Flushes are a Vegas urban legend, propagated by the casinos. What the hell, I hold the spades and hit the deal button...boom up pops the 10 and queen of spades to fill in my first natural royal to the tune of $1053!!! Sweet Jesus I don't believe it. High fives all around, shots for everybody. While I am basking in the glow, the guy next to me, who is playing video keno, hits a jackpot for $1250. After finishing our drinks and tipping the bartender generously, I took my TITO to the cage and cashed it in.
We went upstairs and played the Sigma Derby for awhile and then stopped for a $2 Heineken at the bar at the Fremont. The place was a madhouse; you had to wait in line at the bar to order a drink. Beverages in hand, we walked down to the Mob Museum, sat on the front steps and drank our beers before taking the tour. I had been to the museum last year, but wanted to see it again. My daughter and I spent the next 2 hours taking in all of the exhibits. We ended up in the "training room". They have a video sequence with a guy with a gun. They have a .38 revolver that you have to "load" and shoot the perp before he shoots you. My daughter tried first, her shots were low and she was gunned down by the robber. After a coaching session; change her stance, change her grip and how to aim, she hit the guy with her 3rd shot. Okay Dad, you try. Perp turns around, starts to raise his gun..one shot in the middle of the chest and he's toast. That's gun control.
I think I will stop here and continue tomorrow...dinner at the Flame, LOVE and the Super Bowl coming up....thanks for reading.
