This is the first trip report that I have finished. I've tried to write them before, but always get about halfway through and lose interest. After you read this you might wish that I had lost interest this time too. But here goes . . .
Day 1 - Monday 10/24/11
On the road to Cleveland by 5:30 AM for my Southwest flight. I usually travel to LV with my wife but she couldn't make this trip so I'm going solo. Get parked and head for security - line takes about 15-20 minutes. I managed to avoid the nude-o-scope and get to the gate in plenty of time. I had checked in the day before and got B6 (did not pay the extra for early check-in). Got an aisle seat in row 15. It was pouring down rain as the plane took off but we got airborne and the flight was uneventful. We landed a few minutes early just before 10:00 AM.
I did not check luggage so I proceeded out to the car rental shuttle (no wait) to the rent-a center. I have an Alamo rental for 4 days which would cost me just over $160. I felt like I should have been able to do better than that but it seems most of the good coupons require one of the rental days to be a Saturday. I check in using the kiosk - seems like you have to go through a lot more screens than you used to. I didn't like the choice of cars I had (I had reserved a standard). I finally found a Ford Fusion that looked good - checked it out, put my stuff in it and started it up. Lots of pretty dashboard lights but the most disturbing one was the one on the fuel gauge that said "5 miles to Empty". Hell, I may not make it out of the lot with this car. Doesn't anyone check these cars to see if they have fuel? I end up with a VW Jetta with about 24K miles on it that doesn't have pretty dashboard lights, but at least it had a full tank of gas.
It doesn't take long to realize that the whole city is under construction. Construction on Warm Springs, construction on LV Blvd., construction on Russell, not to even mention the mess on I-15. It's hard to drive more than 5 minutes without running into a wave of cones and barrels. And gas is crazy here ... I had just paid $3.24/gal. for gas back in Ohio - first station I see here gas is $3.55/gal. Ouch.
I am staying the first 2 nights at Paris, but it's too early to check in so the first order of business is food. I don't really want a buffet, so I head to Orleans to grab a burger at Fuddrucker's. It might seem strange to go 2,000 miles and eat at a chain burger place, but they all closed up in Ohio a few years ago so it's been a while since I had a Fudd burger. I had the 2/3 pounder at it was good as usual.
Another reason to come to Orleans was to play my favorite VP machines in all of LV, the .05 triple play progressives with 9/7 DB (among other much crappier games). These progressives often get high enough for this game to be positive. Today they are not that high. I play an hour or so and take a $3.50 loss. Interestingly my first big hand was a natural straight flush.
Next stop is Gold Coast where today is Senior Day (5x points on VP, 10x on slots). I played .25 NSUD for a while, hit a few decent hands, and left with a $20 win.
I then spotted a Pharaoh's Fortune slot. This is a penny video slot that has been around probably as long as penny video slots have been around, but I still enjoy playing it. It has also treated me well over the years. Not today though as I hit a bonus and picked a bad block right away and got the very minimum bonus possible. I got a better one later but I still took a $29.76 loss.
Another perk of Senior Day at GC is that if you get 200 base points you get to play in a VP tournament. I swiped my card at the kiosk, got my voucher for the tournament and went to play. The machines are set up over by TGI Friday's. The format is DDB and you play as many hands as you can in 15 minutes (which is not that many as the machines are set at glacier speed). I got 3 quads but none were bonus quads and I finished with a respectable but not good enough to win anything total of 1735.
It's about 2:30 now and time to head to Paris to check in. The line is about 30 minutes long and since I am lowly Gold I have to wait with the masses. I get room 925 (too bad it wasn't 925P) which is way at the end of the hall and through another door.
I was a little nervous about this hotel as I had read some unflattering comments on here in the last month or so. In fact I probably wouldn't have booked a room here if my wife was along. But, I needn't have worried - the room was perfectly fine. Very clean with a nice-sized bathroom with a walk-in shower. View was decent looking toward the Cosmo and City Center. You could see some of the Bellagio fountains if you looked way to the right. The windows were filthy though. It didn't have a flat screen TV, but I don't come to LV to watch TV. However, the safe was about a half inch too small for my laptop to fit.
It was then time for more gambling. The best .25 VP at Paris/Ballys is the 7/5 BP progressives at Bally's and that's where I headed. I hadn't played long when I hit a nice hand.
At almost the exact moment my A's hit, I hear a yell from the next row of machines ahead of me and to my left. Some guy hit a $20K royal. The whoops and hollers kept up almost continuously for probably 20 minutes. Good for him - I guess I'd be excited too.
As for me, I hit 3's a short time later, but, as is normal for me, I played a little too long and managed to turn a $130 win into a $50 win.
As I'm leaving the BP machines I pass by the Hangover slots. I've been reading the threads on here about how fun this game is so I gave it a try. Wow ... this is now my new favorite slot. This game is absolutely hilarious. It's a little expensive for my bankroll - there are 4 separate games and it's .50 to play each one, so $2.00 if you want to play all 4. I play just 1 and am getting lots of "Big Wins" which I determined is defined as a win of at least 5 times your bet (which I don't consider that big a win but at least it slows the game down a little while the video clips from the movie play). Eventually I was ground down though and in the end, the Hangover hung a $19.84 loss on me.
It's starting to get dark and I wanted to walk outside and get some pictures before it gets too dark. I notice I'm almost across the street from the Cosmo, which I haven't seen yet, so I head over. I intend to save the casino for later and mainly check out the shops and restaurants.
This is a pretty impressive looking property. I doubt I'll ever be able to afford to stay here, but, who knows, maybe I'll hit the lottery someday. The chandelier is really amazing. The shops and restaurants look a little too upscale for me. I found the hidden pizza place - wasn't even looking for it but I happened to look down an aisle and saw a couple pinball machines and headed down there thinking it might be a game room. Lo and behold there is a counter selling pizza with a couple tables. I had plans for dinner soon so I passed on the pizza.
I have a 7:30 reservation at the Prime Rib Loft for tonight (made thru Open Table). At home we usually eat around 7:00 but I wasn't thinking about the time change - it's 5:30 now and I'm already starving. Thought about trying to move it up but just left it. I head over to Orleans and kill time on the .05 3-play 9/7 DB and manage a $3.25 win.
This is my first time eating at PRL and won't be my last. Service and food were excellent. I had the Gambler's cut of prime rib (14 oz.) and it was perfectly prepared. I also had a baked potato and a Caesar salad. The bill came to around $23 and I paid with points.
Back to the casino where the .05 triple plays abused me to the tune of $39.50 and Pharaoh's Fortune nicked me for another $19.80.
I leave the Orleans and get on the I-15 south to South Point, another of my favorite casinos. I sat down at the .05 50-plays and played NSUD, but only at 10 lines. Not a real good session as I lose another $49.75.
I park the car in the Ballys/Paris garage for the night. The next few hours are spent wandering north into various casinos, from Bill's up to Casino Royale, putting $10 bills into various penny slots (some of which I didn't write down the names of) and generally losing. At one point however I ventured across the street to the Mirage, where I hoped to find the Ghostbusters slots that I've heard a lot about. I find two of them next to a big sign that says getting 25 points on these will get you a free T-shirt. I didn't plan on going for this tonight, but I did play for a bit and dropped $9.59. This is another great game and on a 1 to 10 scale, if the Hangover is a 10, I'd rate this one a solid 9.
I head back to the room around 3 AM, down about $200 (out of a bankroll of about $800). Not a good start.
Day 2 - Tuesday 10/25/11
I usually don't get up before 9 AM while in LV but I was having trouble sleeping (despite being awake for 26 straight hours the day before) so I just decided to get up around 7:00 AM and go downstairs. Went straight to Ballys and another shot at the Hangover slots. I got a little more adventurous and played 2 games (100 coins). The machine was cooking and I left with a $70.06 win.
Over to Orleans where it is Senior Day (7x points). I play the .05 3-play 9/7 DB progressives where one of the progressives is pushing $450. It administers another ass-kicking to me as I drop another $29.50. Then I try the Hangover slots which are around the corner from the food court. I notice this one is a little cheaper at 25 coins per game ($3 max bet). I play all 4 games, hit some bonuses and eke out a $7.24 win. I'm really liking these slots at this point.
I wanted to eat the Orleans buffet but the line was brutal. I got in and after not moving an inch for about 5 minutes, I bolted and headed to the Gold Coast. No line at all there and while this is certainly not a great buffet, it was perfectly fine for me. I again paid with points.
It was a beautiful warm sunny day and I wanted to take a drive. I wanted to get to Buffalo Bill's which has always been a lucky casino for me. I also wanted to see the new Hoover Dam bridge. So my plan was to hit Buffalo Bill's, then swing down and over through Nipton and Searchlight and on up to Boulder City and the dam. Not the shortest way I know but something different.
I stopped at the M on the way out and found a .25 8/5 Bonus machine ... a bad move as my Jackson was gone in less than 5 minutes. I think I played 2 hands over the minimum. I was hoping for a fairly long session to maybe generate some offers, but I don't think $22.50 coin-in will do it.
Back on the road headed south, I am starting to feel the effects of lack of sleep. As I approach Primm I decide to abandon the idea of going through Nipton. In fact, I didn't even stop at Buffalo Bill's. I just grabbed a burger at McDonalds and headed back toward LV. I did do something goofy on the way though. At Jean, I got off 15 and took the old 2-lane road back. I don't know why, it's just something I've wanted to do. I get back to the M and head east on St. Rose Parkway to the Beltway to 95 and on through Boulder City (more construction!).
I have to use the restroom so I stop at the little Hacienda. I'm not planning to play here (don't even have a card) but I look around the casino a little. Very old looking machines (and players!). To my utter surprise among all these old machines were a couple Hangover slots. I noticed the second lowest progressive (which I think resets to $10.00) was at nearly $60, which is insanely high. I nearly pulled out some cash to try to take it down, but passed.
I cross the new bridge by the dam, not knowing I had to get off before the bridge to reach the spot where I could walk across. I doubled back and got on the right road. They even have a security check ... a couple people just walk around your car (not sure what purpose that serves). I got waved through and get to the parking lot.
You have to walk up a bunch of stairs (or take a switchbacky path) to get to the bridge. On the way there are a lot of interesting displays showing how the bridge was designed and built.
I start onto the bridge. Holy crap, are we ever high up. I did not really consider myself that afraid of heights, but we don't have too many heights like this in Ohio. I am sticking close to the right side closest to the freeway. There are hundreds of people up here, many leaning over the rail looking down. Sorry, not me. I get about a quarter of the way across and turn around and come back.
If all these people can walk across, I should be able to do it too, so I start out again. The wind is blowing something fierce but fortunately it is blowing left to right toward the highway. This time I make it to about the halfway point. I think I could have made it the whole way, but my feet were a little sore and I wanted to save them for the rest of the trip. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Heading back into LV I stop at Fiesta Henderson. They built a parking garage a few years ago, but I like to just park out front. I was hoping to play some FPDW, but most were being played, and the ones not being played had someone smoking in the next seat. Instead I headed to the food court and got a stromboli at Villa Pizza. It was good but I like the ones at Sbarro a little more.
The Hangover slots are just a few steps outside the seating area of the food court. This one is also the cheaper 25 coin/game version. It seems the Strip casinos have the more expensive game and the off-strip properties have the cheaper game. At this point I went into "degenerate" mode - instead of putting in a $20, I put in a Benjamin. If I do that again hopefully someone will smack me. I slunk out of FH an hour or so later with a $99.49 loss.
I've gotten my second wind by now and I headed to Sunset Station. Again I eschew the garage to park by the doors near the cafe on the east side. I head for the 100+% machines but they have removed the FPDW (I had read about that but forgot). So I played 10/7 DB, nothing much happened and I lost $20. Of course the Hangover slots were nearby and I had to take a $20 shot at them, too, with the same result. I cash out a TITO for .60 and leave SS.
As I am heading west on Tropicana toward the Strip, the thought hit me that I should make a stop at the Pinball Hall of Fame which is on this road. Trouble was, I hadn't been here since they moved, and I wasn't sure where it was. But in the age of smartphones and fancy technology, that's not a problem. I pulled off into a parking lot and after pushing a few buttons, I had the address. I still missed it the first time and had to circle back around the block.
The PHOF is a really cool place. Tons of pinball machines, from old 60's style machines (where 1,000 is a very good score) to the newer models. Lots of old classic video games too like Space Invaders, Defender and Missile Command. I had planned to spend 30-45 minutes here but it turned into more like 2 hours.
I leave PHOF and park the car back at Paris. It's about 8:00, I'm hungry and really have no plans. Crab legs sound good and I have the MRB $10 off coupon for the Spice Market buffet at PH, so that's where I head.
I don't think I have ever been here when there wasn't a huge line, but I guess there's a first for everything. I went downstairs and there were 2 cashiers just looking like they were going to fall asleep. The cashier chided me for not maxing out the coupon (it's good for 2 people).
This is still a pretty good buffet, but I have to agree that it's slipped a little. The crab legs were smaller and kind of dried out (didn't stop me from getting a big plate!). Probably didn't help that it was late and they were slow, the food had probably been sitting out awhile. Overall a pretty good deal with the coupon, but I wouldn't pay full price.
I'm getting tired but I still want to get to Mirage and try to get one of those Ghostbusters t-shirts. I get a machine right away and put in a Franklin. I should probably know better after the Fiesta debacle but I'm planning to be here until I get the 25 points so might as well break out the big guns. Even at 100 coins a spin it still takes well over an hour to get the 25 points. Wow are these games streaky. I go from $100 to $20 back to $110 to less than $10 to $130. The lady sitting next to me takes out the Stay Puft progressive (the 2nd highest one) for just short of $300. I cash out with a $20.74 win. I really wanted this t-shirt to give to my wife as Ghostbusters is probably her favorite movie. They didn't have her size though so I had to settle for one my size.
That was it for me and I was in the room for the night about 12:30.
Day 3 - Wednesday 10/26/11
Up around 8:30 and head downstairs to find some breakfast. I have the $10 off MRB coupon for the buffet but the line is insanely long and not moving. I really don't want to have to get the car out. I go through the MRB ... $5 off Harrah's buffet ... little too far ... $5 off Flamingo buffet ... that could work. I try to take a shortcut out the side door of Bally's down the stairs but just miss the crosswalk and have to wait a couple minutes. It is noticeably cooler today (first 2 days temps were in the mid 80's) but very pleasant.
I get to Flamingo and there is a line but it moves pretty well and I get to the cashier in about 10 minutes. I use the coupon and have enough RC's to take care of the rest.
This is a pretty good buffet, quite a bit better than Gold Coast, which I guess it should since it's about 3 times as expensive. Is it 3 times better? Well, I don't know. But it is better. The bacon was just the way I like it, nice and crisp and all the basic items (scrambled eggs, hash browns, sausage) seemed to be of a higher quality. They even had a big platter of shrimp out, even though it was only around 10 AM. I love my shrimp but 10 AM is a little too early for that.
One interesting thing about the Flamingo buffet is that the person that seats you puts a big playing card on the table. I really don't know what purpose this serves but my card was the 4 of diamonds. My wife called while I was eating and I made the comment that that card pretty much described how the gambling is going. Guess it could be worse, could have been the 2 of clubs.
Today is moving day and I am spending my last night at the Suncoast. So my plan today is to gamble at Bally's for a while and hang around the Strip until it's time to check in at Suncoast.
I get back to the room and I have to pack and check out by 11:00. At 10:55 I try the video checkout and the screen says it's not available, even though it says available until 11:00. So I go to check out by phone, I hit the front desk button and the computer voice says dial 1 for the spa or 2 for the pool cabanas. WTF???? I decide to just put my key on the desk (with a tip for housekeeping of course!) and just leave. After I get to my car I decide to take my second key (which I was going to keep as a souvenier) and drop it in the drop box by the elevators, in case there's any doubt I was gone. But before that I moved my car to another level in case anyone watched me put my bags in the car.
Over to Bally's to play the 7/5 BP. One of the progressives is over $1400 and all the machines are taken. Shows how bad the VP is at CET when everyone descends on a $1400 progressive on a 7/5 BP machine. So I head over to play some Hangover slots. I feel a little dirty playing these things (like I'm going to the "dark side" or something - I still consider myself to be mainly a VP player) but they are sure fun. The honeymoon is definitely over as I dropped another $87.24, but I played for a good long while.
Then a machine was open at the 7/5 BP so I sat down. This was a good session as I hit 2 bonus quads and a couple regular quads and left with a $75 win, almost erasing my loss at the Hangover. It's weird how I'm doing much better at short pay VP than full pay.
I don't want to leave the Strip just yet so I walk across the street to the Cosmo. I go to the slot club to sign up. I didn't want to do the rebate since I wasn't planning to stay long enough but when asked whether I wanted to $10 FSP or the wheel spin, I stupidly took the wheel spin. What was I thinking? I had to stand in line at the wheel. Just looking at the wheel it looked like probably 75-80% of the stops were either $5 or $10 FSP. The lady about 3 in front of me got the $500 FSP. I ended up with $5 FSP so I traded down. Always nice when that happens. I played it off and ended up with $2.10. Surprisingly I did not see any Hangover slots here.
Next stop is Bellagio. I walked through the fall display in the Conservatory, very impressive. They had some huge pumpkins (800+ pounds) ... I don't know how they grow them that big. There is also a talking tree but I was never quick enough to get video of it. I walked through the casino but didn't play. I got on the tram and took it to Monte Carlo.
I go into the Aria casino since I had never been there. I was hoping to find Ghostbusters slots but I couldn't find them. I then went upstairs to check out some of the restaurants. Very nice property but it was really dead.
I head back to Monte Carlo and find the Ghostbuster slots but they are all occupied. Then along the wall by the Strip entrance near the ice bar was a row of Hangover slots. The MC has the cheaper 300 coin max bet version, shooting down my observation that the Strip properties had the expensive version. I took out the bottom progressive for $19 and change on the very first play, then cashed out for an $11.42 profit. One thing I noticed about these machines was that the progressives climb very fast, so I'm guessing these are linked across all MGM properties.
I walk out to the Strip and want to cross the street and walk up the east side, but there's no place to cross unless I want to go down to NYNY, so I turn left. I go into the CVS to get a bottle of water ... sure is nice to pay normal price ($.99) rather than the $2.99 they charge in the casino gift shops. I finally get to the other side of the Strip at Harmon and keep walking north. I grab a Naked dog at Pink's and eat it while walking.
I then pass by the free spin promotion in front of PH. I had had this promo on my radar but just hadn't gotten to it. I'd planned to have left the Strip by now and there were about 10 people in line so I passed on it. I did watch 4 people spin though ... the first guy antagonized everyone in line by waiting about 45 seconds to hit the button. I don't know what he was trying to do but he got a whammy anyway. Good for him. In fact everyone I watched got whammies.
Time to head over to Suncoast. My plan was to take Tropicana out to Fort Apache, but I got in the wrong lane and ended up on the Beltway which took me a little out of my way, but no problem. Just as I'm about there, I remember I wanted to go to Gold Coast for their gift giveaway. For getting 400 points today they are giving away a Halloween salt & pepper shaker. My wife is into stuff like this and I thought she'd like them. Crap, now I've got to come back later for that.
I park in the garage at Suncoast and schlep my bags through the casino to the lobby. It's kind of funny, at Paris (and any big Strip casino) there will probably be 20-30 check-in windows (if they decided to use them all). At Suncoast, after following the signs to the lobby, I get there and it's like "This is it??". Just a small desk with one checkin-ling standing there looking lonely. I suppose there was enough room that if they got a big rush they could put a second person there, but not today.
First thing she says to me is "Aren't you freezing?". I am wearing the Ghostbusters t-shirt I acquired the night before and shorts. Apparently mid 60 type temperatures in LV turn conversations to the topic of global cooling and worries that glaciers will soon be overrunning the earth. After I reassured her that a new Ice Age was not at hand, she assigned me to room 927, nearly the same number as at Paris.
In contrast to Paris my room here was very close to the elevators and was an excellent room. Very large with a large flat screen TV on the wall as well as a refrigerator and a large safe (plenty big enough for my laptop). Nice double sink in the bathroom. Only thing was that there was just a shower/tub (rather than the walk-in shower at Paris). The view is terrific out over Angel Park Golf Course.
I had planned on finding one of those internet kiosks to check in for my flight tomorrow but I just decided to spend the $12.99 for the wireless internet to save the hassle. This was a REALLY slow connection - made me think of the old dial-up connections back in the 90's. However it was good enough and I was able to check in and get in the A group at A51. I checked a few e-mails and even checked on here to see who was fighting with who today. Since I'm heading back to Gold Coast I made an 8:30 reservation at the Cortez Room (thru Open Table).
As I head down to the casino as soon as I come out of the elevators there is a bank of Wheel Poker Deluxe machines. The paytables are awful (9/6/4 DB) but these are a lot of fun, so I gave them a shot (.05 level). I also had $20 FP coming after playing $20. Well, dealt 3-of-a-kinds happen all the time until you need them and I went through $40 of my own money and the $20 FP and got exactly 1 wheel spin. I cash out a TITO for .50.
I head to GC to go for the gift. In my notes I had written that you had to get the points between 2 & 9 PM. Well when I got there the sign at the B-connected booth said it was between 2 & 8 PM. I look at my watch and it is exactly 7:40. Oh oh. As I move (quickly) to the NSUD I do a little math in my head. 400 pts. = 320 hands of .25 VP. That's a 960 hand/hr pace. Yikes. I suppose I could have moved up to the .50 level, but I'm not comfortable playing that high. Thankfully this machine is lightning fast.
When I hit 400 pts. I looked at my watch and it was 7:56. Allowing a minute to find my machine and for the bill acceptor to take my Franklin, I figure I was playing at 1280 hands/hr. I don't think I could have kept that up much longer. I think I play fairly fast but that was crazy. Hope my wife likes the salt & pepper shakers. They cost me $70. I pick them up and run them back to the car.
I still had a few minutes before it was time to head over to the Cortez Room so I played a Pharaoh's Fortune machine over by the buffet. It lightened my bankroll by $9.76. This slot has been an ATM for me in the past, but I'm 0 for 3 playing it on this trip.
I get seated in a corner booth and order French Onion soup ... excellent. I wasn't all that hungry so I just ordered the Queen cut of prime rib (10 oz.). I thought the Prime Rib Loft was good but this one was even better. Perfectly prepared (medium rare) and an excellent cut of meat along with a huge baked potato. For all this the bill was just $21 which I paid for with points. You can bet I'll be back here again.
I leave the GC and head west up Sahara Ave. Very bad move as Sahara is under construction the whole way. Actually it turned out OK as I was probably the only person stupid enough to be driving this road so there was almost no traffic, so I zipped right through. I had to laugh looking at the construction workers. They were dressed like you would be at a football game in Green Bay in January (being a Browns fan I could have said Cleveland, but they don't play football in January). I looked at the thermometer on the dashboard and it said 62 degrees. Hell, in Ohio we go swimming when it's 62.
I head out to Red Rock as I want to get some Station points. It's not too hard to find the full pay machines here, the best games say "100%+ VP" right on the faceplate and the full-pay but below 100% games say "99.8% VP" on the faceplate. I elected to go for the 99.8% machines. But there was still a problem. I had been practicing the Triple Bonus + game and felt confident I could play it fairly accurately, but with my depleted bankroll I didn't think I could stand the volatility. So I settled for 9/6 JOB and put in a fifty.
I lost the initial fifty and then went into degenerate mode and chased that with a Franklin. Things did not go well. I think that pulling all my teeth out with a pair of pliers would have been less painful than what I was going through. I felt like the sacrificial lamb being sent to slaughter. My credits were dropping rapidly. Finally the machine mercifully just shut down and the red light on top started flashing. I really think the machine felt sorry for me. I put the white light on and waited. The only good thought I could come up with is that if I'd been playing Triple Bonus +, I'd have already have busted.
It took about 20 minutes for someone to get to my machine and they just lifted the cover about an inch and dropped it, and the machine started right up. Apparently that little jolt was what that machine needed to snap it out of its funk, and within about 3 minutes I had gone from $120 down to less than $10 down. I couldn't quite ever get ahead though and ended up with a $47.50 loss. Who says 9/6 JOB isn't volatile?
I wanted to play a little FPDW and lost $40 in very short order. I wanted to play Hangover but they were taken so I left.
It was at this point that I realized that I hadn't been dealt 4-to-the-royal even one time this trip, nor have I been dealt 3 deuces. On a lot of trips you rue all the potential big hands you couldn't fill, but I can honestly say I haven't really had many opportunities for big hands.
Back to Suncoast and I had a walk around the casino looking for Hangover slots but I couldn't find them. Are you kidding? The crown jewel of the Coast family of casinos, and they don't have the Hangover slots? How can this be? Unreal but true. I had to settle for another shot at the .05 Wheel Poker Deluxe (9/6/4 DB, ugh). This time the results were better. I was getting lots of wheel spins. Finally I got one that gave me a 5-play game with the AKQ. I improved it on 4 of 5 hands to win 800 coins. Would have been 1500 if I'd gotten all 5. I cashed out with a $21 profit.
It was about 2:00 AM and I went back to the room. Bad news, while emptying my pockets I found a TITO for $10.24 from the Gold Coast that I didn't have time to cash in before eating. Dammit, I'll only have a few hours tomorrow and that's another thing I have to do.
Day 4 - Thursday 10/27/11
It's always a sad day when you have to leave LV. Fortunately my flight isn't until 5:40 so I have a few more hours. The plan is to have breakfast at Red Rock's buffet. I drive over by way of Alta, Hualapai and Charleston and arrive at Red Rock in about 6 minutes.
The line is pretty long but I get to the cashier in about 15 minutes ($4.99 paid with points). But then I have to stand in the REAL line - the one to get seated. There are about 10 groups in fron of me and it is 10 minutes before even one gets seated. It moved better after that but it was still about 20 minutes making a total of 35 minutes from the time I got in line to get seated. I guess that's not so much but when you're only in LV for about 78 hours you don't want to stand in lines any more than you have to.
This probably sounds a little goofy, but I had a little trouble finding the plates at first - they are not at the ends of the serving stations like at most buffets. They are on a shelf kind of dug into the sides right below the food trays. Which meant you had to push people out of the way to get at them. And naturally, the only shelf that had plates was the one everyone was standing in front of.
Another thing was that there were an incredible number of kids here. Dozens of them. On a Thursday morning. It had to be some kind of school holiday today. There were a couple that their mom was letting them play in the aisle between my table and hers.
I have to say that the quality of the food was excellent and the drink service was impeccable. But I can't say it was a real pleasant eating experience. Maybe I just caught it on a bad day, but I was glad to get out of there.
The Hangover slots were calling me and I just had to take a $20 shot. I was about to bust when Mr. Chow gave me a nice bonus and I left $4.08 to the good. After playing these for a couple days now, I'm anxious to go out and buy the movie (which I haven't seen). Looks hilarious.
It was then back to the Suncoast where I packed up and checked out on the TV. The only thing on my bill was the $12.99 for the internet. Hauled my bag to the car, moved it and then headed back inside. It's Senior day again and I want to pick up some more points.
The first thing you see coming in from the garage is a bank of the new Star Trek - Battlestations machines. I loved the original version of Star Trek - it had lots of good bonus games and it was fun trying to collect the medals. My wife won over $1400 on a .35 bet up in Windsor a few months ago. I'm a little disappointed that I haven't seen the original version at all on this trip. But I was willing to give this new version a try. I didn't like it. I hit one bonus and it was just a lame free spin bonus. I did get into the Battle Bonus ( that happens every 8 minutes I guess) and it wasn't real exciting either. I did manage to eke out a .60 profit though. I doubt I'll be playing this one again.
I then headed upstairs by the Bingo room to play some quarter NSUD. This was looking encouraging - I get about $50 ahead. Then after about 30 minutes I hold 1 deuce and get this hand:
Crazy how the good hands seem to happen when you least expect it. Also kind of funny the 10 of diamonds was the kicker on my 2 biggest hands of the trip. I cashed out for a $290 profit, which didn't get me back to even but put a nice dent in my losses.
I head over to Gold Coast to cash in my TITO from the night before. I intended to cash it out and leave, but when I got in I found out it was a 5x points day. I didn't know it! My research on multiple point days had missed this one, so I decided to play some. NSUD was up and down and I left with a $2.50 profit. Then I moved on to The Hangover and unlike at RR Mr. Chow decided to crap on my head and gave me a couple awful bonuses which resulted in a $39.38 loss.
This was it for the gambling for this trip. I wound up with just over a $200 loss. One of my goals on this trip was to try to reduce some of my slot club point totals, and I have to say I failed miserably. At Coasts, even after a meal at Cortez Room, a meal at Prime Rib Loft and a Gold Coast buffet, I only dropped about 1,000 points. I actually gained points at Stations and held about steady at CET. Hopefully next trip my wife will be with me and we can put a bigger bite in them.
It's time to gas up the car and get it back the rent-a-center. I make a huge blunder and get on I-15 south. Traffic comes to a dead stop almost immediately and I get out of there at Tropicana and work my way over to LV Blvd. south. I gas up at the Chevron at Warm Springs & LV (about $35) and bring the car back. No surprises on returning the car and I am on the shuttle to the airport. I print my boarding pass at a kiosk and go up the escalator and get in line for security. I'm through in about 20 minutes and I get the Nude-o-Scope (my first time for that) and head for the gate.
It's about 4:00 and I haven't had anything to eat since the breakfast buffet. I know there won't be much on the plane and it will be after midnight in Cleveland and nothing will be open, so I better find something to eat. I guess I've been really spoiled the last few trips coming in at the D-concourse where there are a lot of good place to eat. The B-concourse doesn't have squat. There's a Wolfgang Puck To Go but the food there looks a little too healthy for me (too many green vegetables). I need to eat healthier but dammit, I'm still on vacation until I land in Cleveland and on vacation I eat whatever I want. So I start hoofing it over to the C-concourse. When I get there I see a Pizza Hut Express. That'll work. A personal pepperoni pizza and a pop ($10 - yikes!) and I make the long hike back.
The flight leaves on time and arrives back in Cleveland just before midnight (about 45 minutes early). I did have a bit of trouble finding my car in the long term lot but was eventually on my way and back home before 1:30 AM, ending my latest trip to LV.
Don't know when the next LV trip will be, but we have a Caesars Windsor trip planned just before Christmas. If you are still awake after reading this, congratulations! I'll try to be a little more concise next time.
Day 1 - Monday 10/24/11
On the road to Cleveland by 5:30 AM for my Southwest flight. I usually travel to LV with my wife but she couldn't make this trip so I'm going solo. Get parked and head for security - line takes about 15-20 minutes. I managed to avoid the nude-o-scope and get to the gate in plenty of time. I had checked in the day before and got B6 (did not pay the extra for early check-in). Got an aisle seat in row 15. It was pouring down rain as the plane took off but we got airborne and the flight was uneventful. We landed a few minutes early just before 10:00 AM.
I did not check luggage so I proceeded out to the car rental shuttle (no wait) to the rent-a center. I have an Alamo rental for 4 days which would cost me just over $160. I felt like I should have been able to do better than that but it seems most of the good coupons require one of the rental days to be a Saturday. I check in using the kiosk - seems like you have to go through a lot more screens than you used to. I didn't like the choice of cars I had (I had reserved a standard). I finally found a Ford Fusion that looked good - checked it out, put my stuff in it and started it up. Lots of pretty dashboard lights but the most disturbing one was the one on the fuel gauge that said "5 miles to Empty". Hell, I may not make it out of the lot with this car. Doesn't anyone check these cars to see if they have fuel? I end up with a VW Jetta with about 24K miles on it that doesn't have pretty dashboard lights, but at least it had a full tank of gas.
It doesn't take long to realize that the whole city is under construction. Construction on Warm Springs, construction on LV Blvd., construction on Russell, not to even mention the mess on I-15. It's hard to drive more than 5 minutes without running into a wave of cones and barrels. And gas is crazy here ... I had just paid $3.24/gal. for gas back in Ohio - first station I see here gas is $3.55/gal. Ouch.
I am staying the first 2 nights at Paris, but it's too early to check in so the first order of business is food. I don't really want a buffet, so I head to Orleans to grab a burger at Fuddrucker's. It might seem strange to go 2,000 miles and eat at a chain burger place, but they all closed up in Ohio a few years ago so it's been a while since I had a Fudd burger. I had the 2/3 pounder at it was good as usual.
Another reason to come to Orleans was to play my favorite VP machines in all of LV, the .05 triple play progressives with 9/7 DB (among other much crappier games). These progressives often get high enough for this game to be positive. Today they are not that high. I play an hour or so and take a $3.50 loss. Interestingly my first big hand was a natural straight flush.
Next stop is Gold Coast where today is Senior Day (5x points on VP, 10x on slots). I played .25 NSUD for a while, hit a few decent hands, and left with a $20 win.
I then spotted a Pharaoh's Fortune slot. This is a penny video slot that has been around probably as long as penny video slots have been around, but I still enjoy playing it. It has also treated me well over the years. Not today though as I hit a bonus and picked a bad block right away and got the very minimum bonus possible. I got a better one later but I still took a $29.76 loss.
Another perk of Senior Day at GC is that if you get 200 base points you get to play in a VP tournament. I swiped my card at the kiosk, got my voucher for the tournament and went to play. The machines are set up over by TGI Friday's. The format is DDB and you play as many hands as you can in 15 minutes (which is not that many as the machines are set at glacier speed). I got 3 quads but none were bonus quads and I finished with a respectable but not good enough to win anything total of 1735.
It's about 2:30 now and time to head to Paris to check in. The line is about 30 minutes long and since I am lowly Gold I have to wait with the masses. I get room 925 (too bad it wasn't 925P) which is way at the end of the hall and through another door.
I was a little nervous about this hotel as I had read some unflattering comments on here in the last month or so. In fact I probably wouldn't have booked a room here if my wife was along. But, I needn't have worried - the room was perfectly fine. Very clean with a nice-sized bathroom with a walk-in shower. View was decent looking toward the Cosmo and City Center. You could see some of the Bellagio fountains if you looked way to the right. The windows were filthy though. It didn't have a flat screen TV, but I don't come to LV to watch TV. However, the safe was about a half inch too small for my laptop to fit.
It was then time for more gambling. The best .25 VP at Paris/Ballys is the 7/5 BP progressives at Bally's and that's where I headed. I hadn't played long when I hit a nice hand.
At almost the exact moment my A's hit, I hear a yell from the next row of machines ahead of me and to my left. Some guy hit a $20K royal. The whoops and hollers kept up almost continuously for probably 20 minutes. Good for him - I guess I'd be excited too.
As for me, I hit 3's a short time later, but, as is normal for me, I played a little too long and managed to turn a $130 win into a $50 win.
As I'm leaving the BP machines I pass by the Hangover slots. I've been reading the threads on here about how fun this game is so I gave it a try. Wow ... this is now my new favorite slot. This game is absolutely hilarious. It's a little expensive for my bankroll - there are 4 separate games and it's .50 to play each one, so $2.00 if you want to play all 4. I play just 1 and am getting lots of "Big Wins" which I determined is defined as a win of at least 5 times your bet (which I don't consider that big a win but at least it slows the game down a little while the video clips from the movie play). Eventually I was ground down though and in the end, the Hangover hung a $19.84 loss on me.
It's starting to get dark and I wanted to walk outside and get some pictures before it gets too dark. I notice I'm almost across the street from the Cosmo, which I haven't seen yet, so I head over. I intend to save the casino for later and mainly check out the shops and restaurants.
This is a pretty impressive looking property. I doubt I'll ever be able to afford to stay here, but, who knows, maybe I'll hit the lottery someday. The chandelier is really amazing. The shops and restaurants look a little too upscale for me. I found the hidden pizza place - wasn't even looking for it but I happened to look down an aisle and saw a couple pinball machines and headed down there thinking it might be a game room. Lo and behold there is a counter selling pizza with a couple tables. I had plans for dinner soon so I passed on the pizza.
I have a 7:30 reservation at the Prime Rib Loft for tonight (made thru Open Table). At home we usually eat around 7:00 but I wasn't thinking about the time change - it's 5:30 now and I'm already starving. Thought about trying to move it up but just left it. I head over to Orleans and kill time on the .05 3-play 9/7 DB and manage a $3.25 win.
This is my first time eating at PRL and won't be my last. Service and food were excellent. I had the Gambler's cut of prime rib (14 oz.) and it was perfectly prepared. I also had a baked potato and a Caesar salad. The bill came to around $23 and I paid with points.
Back to the casino where the .05 triple plays abused me to the tune of $39.50 and Pharaoh's Fortune nicked me for another $19.80.
I leave the Orleans and get on the I-15 south to South Point, another of my favorite casinos. I sat down at the .05 50-plays and played NSUD, but only at 10 lines. Not a real good session as I lose another $49.75.
I park the car in the Ballys/Paris garage for the night. The next few hours are spent wandering north into various casinos, from Bill's up to Casino Royale, putting $10 bills into various penny slots (some of which I didn't write down the names of) and generally losing. At one point however I ventured across the street to the Mirage, where I hoped to find the Ghostbusters slots that I've heard a lot about. I find two of them next to a big sign that says getting 25 points on these will get you a free T-shirt. I didn't plan on going for this tonight, but I did play for a bit and dropped $9.59. This is another great game and on a 1 to 10 scale, if the Hangover is a 10, I'd rate this one a solid 9.
I head back to the room around 3 AM, down about $200 (out of a bankroll of about $800). Not a good start.
Day 2 - Tuesday 10/25/11
I usually don't get up before 9 AM while in LV but I was having trouble sleeping (despite being awake for 26 straight hours the day before) so I just decided to get up around 7:00 AM and go downstairs. Went straight to Ballys and another shot at the Hangover slots. I got a little more adventurous and played 2 games (100 coins). The machine was cooking and I left with a $70.06 win.
Over to Orleans where it is Senior Day (7x points). I play the .05 3-play 9/7 DB progressives where one of the progressives is pushing $450. It administers another ass-kicking to me as I drop another $29.50. Then I try the Hangover slots which are around the corner from the food court. I notice this one is a little cheaper at 25 coins per game ($3 max bet). I play all 4 games, hit some bonuses and eke out a $7.24 win. I'm really liking these slots at this point.
I wanted to eat the Orleans buffet but the line was brutal. I got in and after not moving an inch for about 5 minutes, I bolted and headed to the Gold Coast. No line at all there and while this is certainly not a great buffet, it was perfectly fine for me. I again paid with points.
It was a beautiful warm sunny day and I wanted to take a drive. I wanted to get to Buffalo Bill's which has always been a lucky casino for me. I also wanted to see the new Hoover Dam bridge. So my plan was to hit Buffalo Bill's, then swing down and over through Nipton and Searchlight and on up to Boulder City and the dam. Not the shortest way I know but something different.
I stopped at the M on the way out and found a .25 8/5 Bonus machine ... a bad move as my Jackson was gone in less than 5 minutes. I think I played 2 hands over the minimum. I was hoping for a fairly long session to maybe generate some offers, but I don't think $22.50 coin-in will do it.
Back on the road headed south, I am starting to feel the effects of lack of sleep. As I approach Primm I decide to abandon the idea of going through Nipton. In fact, I didn't even stop at Buffalo Bill's. I just grabbed a burger at McDonalds and headed back toward LV. I did do something goofy on the way though. At Jean, I got off 15 and took the old 2-lane road back. I don't know why, it's just something I've wanted to do. I get back to the M and head east on St. Rose Parkway to the Beltway to 95 and on through Boulder City (more construction!).
I have to use the restroom so I stop at the little Hacienda. I'm not planning to play here (don't even have a card) but I look around the casino a little. Very old looking machines (and players!). To my utter surprise among all these old machines were a couple Hangover slots. I noticed the second lowest progressive (which I think resets to $10.00) was at nearly $60, which is insanely high. I nearly pulled out some cash to try to take it down, but passed.
I cross the new bridge by the dam, not knowing I had to get off before the bridge to reach the spot where I could walk across. I doubled back and got on the right road. They even have a security check ... a couple people just walk around your car (not sure what purpose that serves). I got waved through and get to the parking lot.
You have to walk up a bunch of stairs (or take a switchbacky path) to get to the bridge. On the way there are a lot of interesting displays showing how the bridge was designed and built.
I start onto the bridge. Holy crap, are we ever high up. I did not really consider myself that afraid of heights, but we don't have too many heights like this in Ohio. I am sticking close to the right side closest to the freeway. There are hundreds of people up here, many leaning over the rail looking down. Sorry, not me. I get about a quarter of the way across and turn around and come back.
If all these people can walk across, I should be able to do it too, so I start out again. The wind is blowing something fierce but fortunately it is blowing left to right toward the highway. This time I make it to about the halfway point. I think I could have made it the whole way, but my feet were a little sore and I wanted to save them for the rest of the trip. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Heading back into LV I stop at Fiesta Henderson. They built a parking garage a few years ago, but I like to just park out front. I was hoping to play some FPDW, but most were being played, and the ones not being played had someone smoking in the next seat. Instead I headed to the food court and got a stromboli at Villa Pizza. It was good but I like the ones at Sbarro a little more.
The Hangover slots are just a few steps outside the seating area of the food court. This one is also the cheaper 25 coin/game version. It seems the Strip casinos have the more expensive game and the off-strip properties have the cheaper game. At this point I went into "degenerate" mode - instead of putting in a $20, I put in a Benjamin. If I do that again hopefully someone will smack me. I slunk out of FH an hour or so later with a $99.49 loss.
I've gotten my second wind by now and I headed to Sunset Station. Again I eschew the garage to park by the doors near the cafe on the east side. I head for the 100+% machines but they have removed the FPDW (I had read about that but forgot). So I played 10/7 DB, nothing much happened and I lost $20. Of course the Hangover slots were nearby and I had to take a $20 shot at them, too, with the same result. I cash out a TITO for .60 and leave SS.
As I am heading west on Tropicana toward the Strip, the thought hit me that I should make a stop at the Pinball Hall of Fame which is on this road. Trouble was, I hadn't been here since they moved, and I wasn't sure where it was. But in the age of smartphones and fancy technology, that's not a problem. I pulled off into a parking lot and after pushing a few buttons, I had the address. I still missed it the first time and had to circle back around the block.
The PHOF is a really cool place. Tons of pinball machines, from old 60's style machines (where 1,000 is a very good score) to the newer models. Lots of old classic video games too like Space Invaders, Defender and Missile Command. I had planned to spend 30-45 minutes here but it turned into more like 2 hours.
I leave PHOF and park the car back at Paris. It's about 8:00, I'm hungry and really have no plans. Crab legs sound good and I have the MRB $10 off coupon for the Spice Market buffet at PH, so that's where I head.
I don't think I have ever been here when there wasn't a huge line, but I guess there's a first for everything. I went downstairs and there were 2 cashiers just looking like they were going to fall asleep. The cashier chided me for not maxing out the coupon (it's good for 2 people).
This is still a pretty good buffet, but I have to agree that it's slipped a little. The crab legs were smaller and kind of dried out (didn't stop me from getting a big plate!). Probably didn't help that it was late and they were slow, the food had probably been sitting out awhile. Overall a pretty good deal with the coupon, but I wouldn't pay full price.
I'm getting tired but I still want to get to Mirage and try to get one of those Ghostbusters t-shirts. I get a machine right away and put in a Franklin. I should probably know better after the Fiesta debacle but I'm planning to be here until I get the 25 points so might as well break out the big guns. Even at 100 coins a spin it still takes well over an hour to get the 25 points. Wow are these games streaky. I go from $100 to $20 back to $110 to less than $10 to $130. The lady sitting next to me takes out the Stay Puft progressive (the 2nd highest one) for just short of $300. I cash out with a $20.74 win. I really wanted this t-shirt to give to my wife as Ghostbusters is probably her favorite movie. They didn't have her size though so I had to settle for one my size.
That was it for me and I was in the room for the night about 12:30.
Day 3 - Wednesday 10/26/11
Up around 8:30 and head downstairs to find some breakfast. I have the $10 off MRB coupon for the buffet but the line is insanely long and not moving. I really don't want to have to get the car out. I go through the MRB ... $5 off Harrah's buffet ... little too far ... $5 off Flamingo buffet ... that could work. I try to take a shortcut out the side door of Bally's down the stairs but just miss the crosswalk and have to wait a couple minutes. It is noticeably cooler today (first 2 days temps were in the mid 80's) but very pleasant.
I get to Flamingo and there is a line but it moves pretty well and I get to the cashier in about 10 minutes. I use the coupon and have enough RC's to take care of the rest.
This is a pretty good buffet, quite a bit better than Gold Coast, which I guess it should since it's about 3 times as expensive. Is it 3 times better? Well, I don't know. But it is better. The bacon was just the way I like it, nice and crisp and all the basic items (scrambled eggs, hash browns, sausage) seemed to be of a higher quality. They even had a big platter of shrimp out, even though it was only around 10 AM. I love my shrimp but 10 AM is a little too early for that.
One interesting thing about the Flamingo buffet is that the person that seats you puts a big playing card on the table. I really don't know what purpose this serves but my card was the 4 of diamonds. My wife called while I was eating and I made the comment that that card pretty much described how the gambling is going. Guess it could be worse, could have been the 2 of clubs.
Today is moving day and I am spending my last night at the Suncoast. So my plan today is to gamble at Bally's for a while and hang around the Strip until it's time to check in at Suncoast.
I get back to the room and I have to pack and check out by 11:00. At 10:55 I try the video checkout and the screen says it's not available, even though it says available until 11:00. So I go to check out by phone, I hit the front desk button and the computer voice says dial 1 for the spa or 2 for the pool cabanas. WTF???? I decide to just put my key on the desk (with a tip for housekeeping of course!) and just leave. After I get to my car I decide to take my second key (which I was going to keep as a souvenier) and drop it in the drop box by the elevators, in case there's any doubt I was gone. But before that I moved my car to another level in case anyone watched me put my bags in the car.
Over to Bally's to play the 7/5 BP. One of the progressives is over $1400 and all the machines are taken. Shows how bad the VP is at CET when everyone descends on a $1400 progressive on a 7/5 BP machine. So I head over to play some Hangover slots. I feel a little dirty playing these things (like I'm going to the "dark side" or something - I still consider myself to be mainly a VP player) but they are sure fun. The honeymoon is definitely over as I dropped another $87.24, but I played for a good long while.
Then a machine was open at the 7/5 BP so I sat down. This was a good session as I hit 2 bonus quads and a couple regular quads and left with a $75 win, almost erasing my loss at the Hangover. It's weird how I'm doing much better at short pay VP than full pay.
I don't want to leave the Strip just yet so I walk across the street to the Cosmo. I go to the slot club to sign up. I didn't want to do the rebate since I wasn't planning to stay long enough but when asked whether I wanted to $10 FSP or the wheel spin, I stupidly took the wheel spin. What was I thinking? I had to stand in line at the wheel. Just looking at the wheel it looked like probably 75-80% of the stops were either $5 or $10 FSP. The lady about 3 in front of me got the $500 FSP. I ended up with $5 FSP so I traded down. Always nice when that happens. I played it off and ended up with $2.10. Surprisingly I did not see any Hangover slots here.
Next stop is Bellagio. I walked through the fall display in the Conservatory, very impressive. They had some huge pumpkins (800+ pounds) ... I don't know how they grow them that big. There is also a talking tree but I was never quick enough to get video of it. I walked through the casino but didn't play. I got on the tram and took it to Monte Carlo.
I go into the Aria casino since I had never been there. I was hoping to find Ghostbusters slots but I couldn't find them. I then went upstairs to check out some of the restaurants. Very nice property but it was really dead.
I head back to Monte Carlo and find the Ghostbuster slots but they are all occupied. Then along the wall by the Strip entrance near the ice bar was a row of Hangover slots. The MC has the cheaper 300 coin max bet version, shooting down my observation that the Strip properties had the expensive version. I took out the bottom progressive for $19 and change on the very first play, then cashed out for an $11.42 profit. One thing I noticed about these machines was that the progressives climb very fast, so I'm guessing these are linked across all MGM properties.
I walk out to the Strip and want to cross the street and walk up the east side, but there's no place to cross unless I want to go down to NYNY, so I turn left. I go into the CVS to get a bottle of water ... sure is nice to pay normal price ($.99) rather than the $2.99 they charge in the casino gift shops. I finally get to the other side of the Strip at Harmon and keep walking north. I grab a Naked dog at Pink's and eat it while walking.
I then pass by the free spin promotion in front of PH. I had had this promo on my radar but just hadn't gotten to it. I'd planned to have left the Strip by now and there were about 10 people in line so I passed on it. I did watch 4 people spin though ... the first guy antagonized everyone in line by waiting about 45 seconds to hit the button. I don't know what he was trying to do but he got a whammy anyway. Good for him. In fact everyone I watched got whammies.
Time to head over to Suncoast. My plan was to take Tropicana out to Fort Apache, but I got in the wrong lane and ended up on the Beltway which took me a little out of my way, but no problem. Just as I'm about there, I remember I wanted to go to Gold Coast for their gift giveaway. For getting 400 points today they are giving away a Halloween salt & pepper shaker. My wife is into stuff like this and I thought she'd like them. Crap, now I've got to come back later for that.
I park in the garage at Suncoast and schlep my bags through the casino to the lobby. It's kind of funny, at Paris (and any big Strip casino) there will probably be 20-30 check-in windows (if they decided to use them all). At Suncoast, after following the signs to the lobby, I get there and it's like "This is it??". Just a small desk with one checkin-ling standing there looking lonely. I suppose there was enough room that if they got a big rush they could put a second person there, but not today.
First thing she says to me is "Aren't you freezing?". I am wearing the Ghostbusters t-shirt I acquired the night before and shorts. Apparently mid 60 type temperatures in LV turn conversations to the topic of global cooling and worries that glaciers will soon be overrunning the earth. After I reassured her that a new Ice Age was not at hand, she assigned me to room 927, nearly the same number as at Paris.
In contrast to Paris my room here was very close to the elevators and was an excellent room. Very large with a large flat screen TV on the wall as well as a refrigerator and a large safe (plenty big enough for my laptop). Nice double sink in the bathroom. Only thing was that there was just a shower/tub (rather than the walk-in shower at Paris). The view is terrific out over Angel Park Golf Course.
I had planned on finding one of those internet kiosks to check in for my flight tomorrow but I just decided to spend the $12.99 for the wireless internet to save the hassle. This was a REALLY slow connection - made me think of the old dial-up connections back in the 90's. However it was good enough and I was able to check in and get in the A group at A51. I checked a few e-mails and even checked on here to see who was fighting with who today. Since I'm heading back to Gold Coast I made an 8:30 reservation at the Cortez Room (thru Open Table).
As I head down to the casino as soon as I come out of the elevators there is a bank of Wheel Poker Deluxe machines. The paytables are awful (9/6/4 DB) but these are a lot of fun, so I gave them a shot (.05 level). I also had $20 FP coming after playing $20. Well, dealt 3-of-a-kinds happen all the time until you need them and I went through $40 of my own money and the $20 FP and got exactly 1 wheel spin. I cash out a TITO for .50.
I head to GC to go for the gift. In my notes I had written that you had to get the points between 2 & 9 PM. Well when I got there the sign at the B-connected booth said it was between 2 & 8 PM. I look at my watch and it is exactly 7:40. Oh oh. As I move (quickly) to the NSUD I do a little math in my head. 400 pts. = 320 hands of .25 VP. That's a 960 hand/hr pace. Yikes. I suppose I could have moved up to the .50 level, but I'm not comfortable playing that high. Thankfully this machine is lightning fast.
When I hit 400 pts. I looked at my watch and it was 7:56. Allowing a minute to find my machine and for the bill acceptor to take my Franklin, I figure I was playing at 1280 hands/hr. I don't think I could have kept that up much longer. I think I play fairly fast but that was crazy. Hope my wife likes the salt & pepper shakers. They cost me $70. I pick them up and run them back to the car.
I still had a few minutes before it was time to head over to the Cortez Room so I played a Pharaoh's Fortune machine over by the buffet. It lightened my bankroll by $9.76. This slot has been an ATM for me in the past, but I'm 0 for 3 playing it on this trip.
I get seated in a corner booth and order French Onion soup ... excellent. I wasn't all that hungry so I just ordered the Queen cut of prime rib (10 oz.). I thought the Prime Rib Loft was good but this one was even better. Perfectly prepared (medium rare) and an excellent cut of meat along with a huge baked potato. For all this the bill was just $21 which I paid for with points. You can bet I'll be back here again.
I leave the GC and head west up Sahara Ave. Very bad move as Sahara is under construction the whole way. Actually it turned out OK as I was probably the only person stupid enough to be driving this road so there was almost no traffic, so I zipped right through. I had to laugh looking at the construction workers. They were dressed like you would be at a football game in Green Bay in January (being a Browns fan I could have said Cleveland, but they don't play football in January). I looked at the thermometer on the dashboard and it said 62 degrees. Hell, in Ohio we go swimming when it's 62.
I head out to Red Rock as I want to get some Station points. It's not too hard to find the full pay machines here, the best games say "100%+ VP" right on the faceplate and the full-pay but below 100% games say "99.8% VP" on the faceplate. I elected to go for the 99.8% machines. But there was still a problem. I had been practicing the Triple Bonus + game and felt confident I could play it fairly accurately, but with my depleted bankroll I didn't think I could stand the volatility. So I settled for 9/6 JOB and put in a fifty.
I lost the initial fifty and then went into degenerate mode and chased that with a Franklin. Things did not go well. I think that pulling all my teeth out with a pair of pliers would have been less painful than what I was going through. I felt like the sacrificial lamb being sent to slaughter. My credits were dropping rapidly. Finally the machine mercifully just shut down and the red light on top started flashing. I really think the machine felt sorry for me. I put the white light on and waited. The only good thought I could come up with is that if I'd been playing Triple Bonus +, I'd have already have busted.
It took about 20 minutes for someone to get to my machine and they just lifted the cover about an inch and dropped it, and the machine started right up. Apparently that little jolt was what that machine needed to snap it out of its funk, and within about 3 minutes I had gone from $120 down to less than $10 down. I couldn't quite ever get ahead though and ended up with a $47.50 loss. Who says 9/6 JOB isn't volatile?
I wanted to play a little FPDW and lost $40 in very short order. I wanted to play Hangover but they were taken so I left.
It was at this point that I realized that I hadn't been dealt 4-to-the-royal even one time this trip, nor have I been dealt 3 deuces. On a lot of trips you rue all the potential big hands you couldn't fill, but I can honestly say I haven't really had many opportunities for big hands.
Back to Suncoast and I had a walk around the casino looking for Hangover slots but I couldn't find them. Are you kidding? The crown jewel of the Coast family of casinos, and they don't have the Hangover slots? How can this be? Unreal but true. I had to settle for another shot at the .05 Wheel Poker Deluxe (9/6/4 DB, ugh). This time the results were better. I was getting lots of wheel spins. Finally I got one that gave me a 5-play game with the AKQ. I improved it on 4 of 5 hands to win 800 coins. Would have been 1500 if I'd gotten all 5. I cashed out with a $21 profit.
It was about 2:00 AM and I went back to the room. Bad news, while emptying my pockets I found a TITO for $10.24 from the Gold Coast that I didn't have time to cash in before eating. Dammit, I'll only have a few hours tomorrow and that's another thing I have to do.
Day 4 - Thursday 10/27/11
It's always a sad day when you have to leave LV. Fortunately my flight isn't until 5:40 so I have a few more hours. The plan is to have breakfast at Red Rock's buffet. I drive over by way of Alta, Hualapai and Charleston and arrive at Red Rock in about 6 minutes.
The line is pretty long but I get to the cashier in about 15 minutes ($4.99 paid with points). But then I have to stand in the REAL line - the one to get seated. There are about 10 groups in fron of me and it is 10 minutes before even one gets seated. It moved better after that but it was still about 20 minutes making a total of 35 minutes from the time I got in line to get seated. I guess that's not so much but when you're only in LV for about 78 hours you don't want to stand in lines any more than you have to.
This probably sounds a little goofy, but I had a little trouble finding the plates at first - they are not at the ends of the serving stations like at most buffets. They are on a shelf kind of dug into the sides right below the food trays. Which meant you had to push people out of the way to get at them. And naturally, the only shelf that had plates was the one everyone was standing in front of.
Another thing was that there were an incredible number of kids here. Dozens of them. On a Thursday morning. It had to be some kind of school holiday today. There were a couple that their mom was letting them play in the aisle between my table and hers.
I have to say that the quality of the food was excellent and the drink service was impeccable. But I can't say it was a real pleasant eating experience. Maybe I just caught it on a bad day, but I was glad to get out of there.
The Hangover slots were calling me and I just had to take a $20 shot. I was about to bust when Mr. Chow gave me a nice bonus and I left $4.08 to the good. After playing these for a couple days now, I'm anxious to go out and buy the movie (which I haven't seen). Looks hilarious.
It was then back to the Suncoast where I packed up and checked out on the TV. The only thing on my bill was the $12.99 for the internet. Hauled my bag to the car, moved it and then headed back inside. It's Senior day again and I want to pick up some more points.
The first thing you see coming in from the garage is a bank of the new Star Trek - Battlestations machines. I loved the original version of Star Trek - it had lots of good bonus games and it was fun trying to collect the medals. My wife won over $1400 on a .35 bet up in Windsor a few months ago. I'm a little disappointed that I haven't seen the original version at all on this trip. But I was willing to give this new version a try. I didn't like it. I hit one bonus and it was just a lame free spin bonus. I did get into the Battle Bonus ( that happens every 8 minutes I guess) and it wasn't real exciting either. I did manage to eke out a .60 profit though. I doubt I'll be playing this one again.
I then headed upstairs by the Bingo room to play some quarter NSUD. This was looking encouraging - I get about $50 ahead. Then after about 30 minutes I hold 1 deuce and get this hand:
Crazy how the good hands seem to happen when you least expect it. Also kind of funny the 10 of diamonds was the kicker on my 2 biggest hands of the trip. I cashed out for a $290 profit, which didn't get me back to even but put a nice dent in my losses.
I head over to Gold Coast to cash in my TITO from the night before. I intended to cash it out and leave, but when I got in I found out it was a 5x points day. I didn't know it! My research on multiple point days had missed this one, so I decided to play some. NSUD was up and down and I left with a $2.50 profit. Then I moved on to The Hangover and unlike at RR Mr. Chow decided to crap on my head and gave me a couple awful bonuses which resulted in a $39.38 loss.
This was it for the gambling for this trip. I wound up with just over a $200 loss. One of my goals on this trip was to try to reduce some of my slot club point totals, and I have to say I failed miserably. At Coasts, even after a meal at Cortez Room, a meal at Prime Rib Loft and a Gold Coast buffet, I only dropped about 1,000 points. I actually gained points at Stations and held about steady at CET. Hopefully next trip my wife will be with me and we can put a bigger bite in them.
It's time to gas up the car and get it back the rent-a-center. I make a huge blunder and get on I-15 south. Traffic comes to a dead stop almost immediately and I get out of there at Tropicana and work my way over to LV Blvd. south. I gas up at the Chevron at Warm Springs & LV (about $35) and bring the car back. No surprises on returning the car and I am on the shuttle to the airport. I print my boarding pass at a kiosk and go up the escalator and get in line for security. I'm through in about 20 minutes and I get the Nude-o-Scope (my first time for that) and head for the gate.
It's about 4:00 and I haven't had anything to eat since the breakfast buffet. I know there won't be much on the plane and it will be after midnight in Cleveland and nothing will be open, so I better find something to eat. I guess I've been really spoiled the last few trips coming in at the D-concourse where there are a lot of good place to eat. The B-concourse doesn't have squat. There's a Wolfgang Puck To Go but the food there looks a little too healthy for me (too many green vegetables). I need to eat healthier but dammit, I'm still on vacation until I land in Cleveland and on vacation I eat whatever I want. So I start hoofing it over to the C-concourse. When I get there I see a Pizza Hut Express. That'll work. A personal pepperoni pizza and a pop ($10 - yikes!) and I make the long hike back.
The flight leaves on time and arrives back in Cleveland just before midnight (about 45 minutes early). I did have a bit of trouble finding my car in the long term lot but was eventually on my way and back home before 1:30 AM, ending my latest trip to LV.
Don't know when the next LV trip will be, but we have a Caesars Windsor trip planned just before Christmas. If you are still awake after reading this, congratulations! I'll try to be a little more concise next time.
