If you read my trip prequel, you know that I hit two lines of $2 four deuces at our local casino right before a guy’s trip to Las Vegas. This is what I call bankroll management. There were five of us and I had multiple offers that included free play, rooms and food so naturally I booked them all. My goals were to drink a lot of beer, watch college basketball and play as much black jack and video poker as I could. A hand pay or two would be the icing on the cake.
My rooms were at The Gold Coast where I actually stayed, The Bellagio where we put one of our party and the Stratosphere. Oddly, the person at the Bellagio decided it was too busy with too high a limit on the games and moved over to the Stratosphere. We all have professional positions however are much more comfortable in less opulent surroundings. If there is more than shampoo, conditioner and soap in the bathroom, we get disoriented.
As a guy’s trip, there was none of the triple “S” (shows, shopping and spas). We were all flying in from Iowa, two on Allegiant out of Des Moines and three from Moline also on Allegiant. Airfare was in the mid-$300s for each of us and included carryon bags but no seat selection (hello center seat my old friend). As my Doctor says, “Paul- you need to lose some weight” and he must be right because either the seat belts are shrinking or I am getting fatter- I only had about two inches of extra seat belt extending beyond the buckle. Las Vegas is the perfect weight loss town since I would have to walk each day from my room to the casino. That would probably burn about a thousand calories each direction, right? We arrived at 2:30 pm, right on time, went to an almost empty cab line and soon were at the Gold Coast. My original offer was for two nights in a Suite, $100 free play a day and $150 a day in food credit. When I booked, I asked to be put in a regular room for three nights. Somehow they wanted to charge me for the extra night but I figured I could get that comped off. My room was 502 at the far end of the hallway. It was the basic Boyd room, reasonably appointed and good enough for my needs.
You all know that great feeling as you first open the door to the casino and are immediately immersed in the smell of smoke, chilled air and the discordant electronic warbling of the machines. I was excited and hoped that my luck would continue, and did it ever.
We played briefly at the Gold Coast where one of our group got us to join him in Pai Gow. He likes it as a slow paced game with low limits he can grind away on. It was simple enough to learn but moved too slowly for me. We piled into a cab and went off to Bellagio to check in and burn up some food credit.
I was checked in quickly and handed the room key to our companion. He went off to get settled and we decided on Café Bellagio. We only managed to put a $123.00 dent in my $300 food credit primarily with burgers and fries. Service and food were reasonable. One strange thing, when we walked up the café, there was no line but there was a stanchion and velvet ropes separating the card classes (peasants to the left, royalty to the right). I hadn’t been playing much at MGM recently and had been downgraded to the lowly pearl level but didn’t pay attention to the sign since there was nobody else there. The hostess asked to see my card, sneered at the Pearl level and said that I was in the wrong line. Huh? Of well, we were seated soon enough and finished our meal without incident.
We played briefly at Bellagio on some spinpoker variants near the Hermes Store. No joy to report. We then headed back to the Gold Coast to saddle up.
This is where the jackpot fairy first decided to perch over me for the trip. I wanted to play triple bonus poker at $5.00 or $75 a spin in the high limit lounge. Within an hour, I had hits of four aces and then switched to DW (Illinois Deuces) ten play dollars. I got one four deuces and ended up with two W2Gs, one for $2,050 and one for $1,205. This almost doubled my bankroll. Generally I worry about winning early since I’m afraid that I’ll burn up my mojo too early but hey, a win is a win. Of course the other danger is that any thoughts of bankroll management goes out the window.
I switched back to $5 triple bonus poker and gave back $500. It must be a sign so I called it a night.
The plan the following morning was to meet our Bellagio companion at the Stratosphere, check him in there, drink some beer and play video poker while watching basketball. Oh yeah- we should probably have breakfast first so we hit Roxys. Again I had more than enough food credit to stuff us. I had $375 in free play which I futilely ran through the short pay B/P at the sports bar. I didn’t hit anything but we did find that Heinekens are the perfect post breakfast beverage.
We decided to go back to the Gold Coast mid-afternoon, play some more, have dinner at the Cortez Room and then play even more. I consider the Cortez Room one of the better restaurants in town and enjoyed a shrimp cocktail, house salad, a steak, baked sweet potato and a Bombay Gin martini- up, dry and dirty. I do love my martinis but have learned that one is my limit. I again had plenty of food credits so charged the bill for the five of us off to the room.
I went back to the high limit area and between around 6:00 pm and midnight received three more W2Gs, primarily on triple play $5 bonus poker. According to the W2Gs, I won $1,875, $3,750 and $1,250. As the night dragged on and the Heineken consumption continued, I found I was starting to get bleary eyed. I hate that the overhead lights in the high limit lounge reflects off the slant tops and said good night to one of our group. “Where do you think you’re going?” , he demanded.
“I’m beat” I explained, “I’m starting to make mistakes.”
“Get your ass back over on that machine” he said pointing to one of the slant tops that were single line.
I meekly complied and decided on $2 NSUD with a $200 buy in. I then hit four deuces for another $2,000. W2G. This is great! You know that moment where the slot attendant comes running over, offers congratulations, grabs your driver’s license and then disappears? You sit there enjoying the vision on the screen while tapping your foot to the jackpot music as various other patrons drop by to see what the fuss is all about. The cocktail waitress by some casino mental telepathy magically appears for a refill.
I am a tipper for jackpot hand pays and laid a hundred on the two people to split. They seemed pleased.
I made it back to my room a little after mid-night and fell into what I thought was a deep sleep. Nope, my internal Las Vegas clock woke me up at 3:30 am. What are you doing in bed?
I had some of the in room coffee that was black and hot, and not much more, showered and dressed, and then separated out an appropriate bank roll for the day. I went downstairs to the main bar and drank coffee and played $1 JOB for a while. I was down about $300 and slowly getting my eyes to focus in the same direction.
By now our group is doing different things. Apparently three of them were at the craps table until 2:00 am and were not interested in breakfast. Our Stratosphere resident was just waking up after a hard night of low limit black jack. I decided that I would go over to the Strat and have breakfast with him. The others expressed interest in going downtown for a while so we agreed to meet at Main Street Station to watch basketball, drink beer and play video poker. Roxys had a line out front that did not seem to be moving with no hostess in sight for me to impress with my maroon player’s card. We went to the buffet instead which is pretty solid for a mid-level place. There was plenty of fresh fruit and the usual breakfast items. I like pineapple and was pleased to see that it was fresh pineapple.
By now the group was awake and upright so we made plans to meet at the Boars Head Bar at Main Street Station. Two of us got there early and decided to play black jack at the Golden Gate. I vaguely remember scantily dressed dancing slinkys dealing last time here however now everyone is dressed in a kind of a 1930s Chicago look with white shirts, suspenders and fedoras on the guys. The dealer told us it was her third week on the job and she actually was better than some far more experienced dealers. Some dealers have less personality than anatomically improbable ones on the electronic blackjack game.
We made it to the Boars Head Bar and gradually enough seats opened up for us to play, drink micro brews and watch basketball. My video poker was kind of like a sine wave; lose several hundred, get a few nice hits back to my buy in, and then repeat. This was our last full day and we decided that it was time to go back to The Gold Coast. We ate at the TGI Friday’s and all had Jack Daniels ribeyes, sweet potato fries and salads. The food was excellent and I still had plenty of food comps to cover the bill.
After dinner it was back to the High Limit lounge for two more w2gs on my now beloved $5 triple play bonus poker. We had an early flight the next day so decided to head up around 10:00 pm. I was up the room and laying out the hundreds in stacks of a thousand. This was my third most profitable trip and I decided before I left in the morning that I would feed all the fives, tens and twenties into a machine, cash out and have a smaller wad of bills to bring home. I was well north of $10K and remembered something about the TSA and transporting cash.
Again, I couldn’t sleep very long and instead of waking up at 4:30 am like I set the alarm for, I was wide awake at 3:30 am. Obviously the jackpot fairy’s work was not done. I went back the high limit area after a quick shower and found that the slot techs were laying out cash boxes by each machine. They said that I could still play so I did and hit one final single line of four aces on the $5 triple play for $2,075.
I have pictures of some of my wins which I will post below. The quality is not great and one I messed up is barely recognizable as a video poker machine- more like some kind of abstract painting by an artist with a drug dependency. I didn't post that one.
It was a great trip and my wife, briefly miffed that I took off with the boys, softened up considerably as I turned the cash over to her.
Next stop is Atlantic City in May.
My rooms were at The Gold Coast where I actually stayed, The Bellagio where we put one of our party and the Stratosphere. Oddly, the person at the Bellagio decided it was too busy with too high a limit on the games and moved over to the Stratosphere. We all have professional positions however are much more comfortable in less opulent surroundings. If there is more than shampoo, conditioner and soap in the bathroom, we get disoriented.
As a guy’s trip, there was none of the triple “S” (shows, shopping and spas). We were all flying in from Iowa, two on Allegiant out of Des Moines and three from Moline also on Allegiant. Airfare was in the mid-$300s for each of us and included carryon bags but no seat selection (hello center seat my old friend). As my Doctor says, “Paul- you need to lose some weight” and he must be right because either the seat belts are shrinking or I am getting fatter- I only had about two inches of extra seat belt extending beyond the buckle. Las Vegas is the perfect weight loss town since I would have to walk each day from my room to the casino. That would probably burn about a thousand calories each direction, right? We arrived at 2:30 pm, right on time, went to an almost empty cab line and soon were at the Gold Coast. My original offer was for two nights in a Suite, $100 free play a day and $150 a day in food credit. When I booked, I asked to be put in a regular room for three nights. Somehow they wanted to charge me for the extra night but I figured I could get that comped off. My room was 502 at the far end of the hallway. It was the basic Boyd room, reasonably appointed and good enough for my needs.
You all know that great feeling as you first open the door to the casino and are immediately immersed in the smell of smoke, chilled air and the discordant electronic warbling of the machines. I was excited and hoped that my luck would continue, and did it ever.
We played briefly at the Gold Coast where one of our group got us to join him in Pai Gow. He likes it as a slow paced game with low limits he can grind away on. It was simple enough to learn but moved too slowly for me. We piled into a cab and went off to Bellagio to check in and burn up some food credit.
I was checked in quickly and handed the room key to our companion. He went off to get settled and we decided on Café Bellagio. We only managed to put a $123.00 dent in my $300 food credit primarily with burgers and fries. Service and food were reasonable. One strange thing, when we walked up the café, there was no line but there was a stanchion and velvet ropes separating the card classes (peasants to the left, royalty to the right). I hadn’t been playing much at MGM recently and had been downgraded to the lowly pearl level but didn’t pay attention to the sign since there was nobody else there. The hostess asked to see my card, sneered at the Pearl level and said that I was in the wrong line. Huh? Of well, we were seated soon enough and finished our meal without incident.
We played briefly at Bellagio on some spinpoker variants near the Hermes Store. No joy to report. We then headed back to the Gold Coast to saddle up.
This is where the jackpot fairy first decided to perch over me for the trip. I wanted to play triple bonus poker at $5.00 or $75 a spin in the high limit lounge. Within an hour, I had hits of four aces and then switched to DW (Illinois Deuces) ten play dollars. I got one four deuces and ended up with two W2Gs, one for $2,050 and one for $1,205. This almost doubled my bankroll. Generally I worry about winning early since I’m afraid that I’ll burn up my mojo too early but hey, a win is a win. Of course the other danger is that any thoughts of bankroll management goes out the window.
I switched back to $5 triple bonus poker and gave back $500. It must be a sign so I called it a night.
The plan the following morning was to meet our Bellagio companion at the Stratosphere, check him in there, drink some beer and play video poker while watching basketball. Oh yeah- we should probably have breakfast first so we hit Roxys. Again I had more than enough food credit to stuff us. I had $375 in free play which I futilely ran through the short pay B/P at the sports bar. I didn’t hit anything but we did find that Heinekens are the perfect post breakfast beverage.
We decided to go back to the Gold Coast mid-afternoon, play some more, have dinner at the Cortez Room and then play even more. I consider the Cortez Room one of the better restaurants in town and enjoyed a shrimp cocktail, house salad, a steak, baked sweet potato and a Bombay Gin martini- up, dry and dirty. I do love my martinis but have learned that one is my limit. I again had plenty of food credits so charged the bill for the five of us off to the room.
I went back to the high limit area and between around 6:00 pm and midnight received three more W2Gs, primarily on triple play $5 bonus poker. According to the W2Gs, I won $1,875, $3,750 and $1,250. As the night dragged on and the Heineken consumption continued, I found I was starting to get bleary eyed. I hate that the overhead lights in the high limit lounge reflects off the slant tops and said good night to one of our group. “Where do you think you’re going?” , he demanded.
“I’m beat” I explained, “I’m starting to make mistakes.”
“Get your ass back over on that machine” he said pointing to one of the slant tops that were single line.
I meekly complied and decided on $2 NSUD with a $200 buy in. I then hit four deuces for another $2,000. W2G. This is great! You know that moment where the slot attendant comes running over, offers congratulations, grabs your driver’s license and then disappears? You sit there enjoying the vision on the screen while tapping your foot to the jackpot music as various other patrons drop by to see what the fuss is all about. The cocktail waitress by some casino mental telepathy magically appears for a refill.
I am a tipper for jackpot hand pays and laid a hundred on the two people to split. They seemed pleased.
I made it back to my room a little after mid-night and fell into what I thought was a deep sleep. Nope, my internal Las Vegas clock woke me up at 3:30 am. What are you doing in bed?
I had some of the in room coffee that was black and hot, and not much more, showered and dressed, and then separated out an appropriate bank roll for the day. I went downstairs to the main bar and drank coffee and played $1 JOB for a while. I was down about $300 and slowly getting my eyes to focus in the same direction.
By now our group is doing different things. Apparently three of them were at the craps table until 2:00 am and were not interested in breakfast. Our Stratosphere resident was just waking up after a hard night of low limit black jack. I decided that I would go over to the Strat and have breakfast with him. The others expressed interest in going downtown for a while so we agreed to meet at Main Street Station to watch basketball, drink beer and play video poker. Roxys had a line out front that did not seem to be moving with no hostess in sight for me to impress with my maroon player’s card. We went to the buffet instead which is pretty solid for a mid-level place. There was plenty of fresh fruit and the usual breakfast items. I like pineapple and was pleased to see that it was fresh pineapple.
By now the group was awake and upright so we made plans to meet at the Boars Head Bar at Main Street Station. Two of us got there early and decided to play black jack at the Golden Gate. I vaguely remember scantily dressed dancing slinkys dealing last time here however now everyone is dressed in a kind of a 1930s Chicago look with white shirts, suspenders and fedoras on the guys. The dealer told us it was her third week on the job and she actually was better than some far more experienced dealers. Some dealers have less personality than anatomically improbable ones on the electronic blackjack game.
We made it to the Boars Head Bar and gradually enough seats opened up for us to play, drink micro brews and watch basketball. My video poker was kind of like a sine wave; lose several hundred, get a few nice hits back to my buy in, and then repeat. This was our last full day and we decided that it was time to go back to The Gold Coast. We ate at the TGI Friday’s and all had Jack Daniels ribeyes, sweet potato fries and salads. The food was excellent and I still had plenty of food comps to cover the bill.
After dinner it was back to the High Limit lounge for two more w2gs on my now beloved $5 triple play bonus poker. We had an early flight the next day so decided to head up around 10:00 pm. I was up the room and laying out the hundreds in stacks of a thousand. This was my third most profitable trip and I decided before I left in the morning that I would feed all the fives, tens and twenties into a machine, cash out and have a smaller wad of bills to bring home. I was well north of $10K and remembered something about the TSA and transporting cash.
Again, I couldn’t sleep very long and instead of waking up at 4:30 am like I set the alarm for, I was wide awake at 3:30 am. Obviously the jackpot fairy’s work was not done. I went back the high limit area after a quick shower and found that the slot techs were laying out cash boxes by each machine. They said that I could still play so I did and hit one final single line of four aces on the $5 triple play for $2,075.
I have pictures of some of my wins which I will post below. The quality is not great and one I messed up is barely recognizable as a video poker machine- more like some kind of abstract painting by an artist with a drug dependency. I didn't post that one.
It was a great trip and my wife, briefly miffed that I took off with the boys, softened up considerably as I turned the cash over to her.
Next stop is Atlantic City in May.
