If you've read the first two posts in this series you have no doubt correctly deduced tht I do not really enjoy the Strip. Oh, I think any adult visiting Las Vegas absolutely needs to walk from Wynn to MGM Grand on both sides of the street, but after a dozen or more visits the Strip has lost its twinkle for me. The VP pay tables are bad, the BJ rules stink, everything is overpriced and the porn slappers are the least offensive hustlers. OK, enough editorializing - on to the trip report.
I've stayed at the El Cortez several times, but not recently, and I doubt that I will be staying there again. My room was in the section above the parking garage, right on the corner of 7th & Fremont I think. The Container Park, which I enjoyed browsing, was diagonally across the street. The fire-breathing monster shot off his propane blasts unpredictably from 4:30 to 11PM every day, shaking the room walls and was a royal pain in the butt if you try to sleep.
Tuesday was my Henderson and Downtown/North Vegas Day. Got a great warm chocoalte-covered donut for breakfast at a shop on Clark Street near 6th(?). Took RTC to Sunset Station and waited for the player's club to open so that I could redeem my buffet and free drink coupons from MyVegas. Nobody walked up while I waited outside the buffet so I wasted one of the free buffets. Excellent omlet. Casino was very quiet at 9AM and I couldn't find any good VP so I went to the bar for my free drink. No that I basically drink only in Vegas and even then very modestly so that the ide of a cocktail at 9AM is not my norm. Ordered a raspberry daquari and was met with a confused look. What I got was a rasberry smoothie with sour mix and whipped cream and a cherry on top. Worst cocktail ever and insult was added to injury as the bar had no spoon to use for the whipped cream!!
Got back on the RTC and went over to downtown Henderson. There are several casinos there but Emerald Island was the only one with an MRB coupon. The deal is a free spin of the big money wheel with $100 coin-in. That's something of a challenge for a casino that has only penny slots but I figured it would limit my loss as well. Actually came out $3 ahead on the spins and won $15 on the spin - sweet! None of the small casinos in Henderson appear to offer table games until late in the afternoon or on weekends only which is a shame as these are the places I enjoy. It's also a trend I saw in N. Las Vegas. Stopped at Sam's Town to use the MRB freeplay coupon and came out $13 ahead.
Took their shuttle (thank you again, Boyd) to downtown. Ran through all the MRB coupons for downtown over the next couple of hours. Played 1 spin of roulette for my mother-in-law and my daughter. Mother-in-law lost, daughter won. It was on this couppn run that I suffered my major MRB loss. I managed to lose ALL THREE $25 matchplays when the dealer drew 20 once and 21 twice. I did have an overall win at Golden Gate and some small wins at other casinos but the $75 loss was too great to overcome.
I went off the N. Las Vegas Blvd in the hope of winning something back. It was not to be. Poker Palace only has tournaments on weekends now and they were out of the steak dinner special. Silver Nugget only has table games on the weekends. Got a $5 matchplay at Jerry's Nugget but managed to lose my $50 buy-in over the next 20 or so hands.
The day did has a positive finish. One of my obligatory meals in Las Vegas is Prime Rib and the California Casino version exceeded expectations.
Wednesday was my last full day and I had plans to take care of some loose ends. Boyd has a senior day Wednesday on which you get a mystery slot multiplier with your player's card. I managed to win $16 and get 7x points. Then it was off on RTC to Red Rock for the lunch buffet and a free drink courtesy of MyVegas. I shared a free buffet with a stranger who turned out to be from near Pittsburgh and who works as a valet at the Rivers Casino there. Another pleasnt lunch experience. The free drink never happened. The coupon was only good at their main bar which was supposed to open at noon but it was still closed at 12:30 and nobody I talked to seemed to care so I left. I went back downtown and played in the Plaza 2PM $12 poker tournament. Two hours later I had chopped the top two prizes for a $64 win. My evening plan was to take the monorail back up to Bally's and visit Ellis Island one last time. Unfortunately the monorail ticket office at SLS closes at 6PM so I had no way to use the MyVegas coupon. I took the 108 bus up Paradise instead. I had a sandwich in their cafe and lsot $5 at BJ. Used the 3 free drinks coupon but the guy next to me didn't even want a free beer so I drank alone. Back on the Centennial Express bus and to that damnable fire-breathing insect in the container park.
My flight back home was scheduled to depart around 11AM and I took advantage of the El Cortez airport shuttle rather than riding the bus. Note that for reasons I do not understand the shuttle runs only TO the airport so you cannot get a pickup at the airport. The flight invloved a stop in Pittsburgh with no plane change and a short layover in Baltimore. Got home about midnight.
I ended up down $105 for the trip due to those cash poker game losses and the matchplay disaster downtown, but that's within my normal variance. I'm thinking that a car trip to Biloxi or Tunica might be a better way to use MyVegas points in the future. I haven't ever been there and it looks like it could be fun. The Station MyVegas coupons probably work better for locals unless you have a rental car. The MGM rewards seem like a better deal.
I'm not planning a return visit to LV for almost 2 years. I need to recharge by batteries so that I can enjoy LV more than I do right now. I expect frugal gambling to unfortunately continue to disappear as LV moves from gambling to other revenue streams. I'm thinking a hotel stay rather than a resort because of those dumb resort fees!
Hope you have enjoyed this series. Post your trip reports. We all enjoy reading the travel experiences of others.
Kirby
I've stayed at the El Cortez several times, but not recently, and I doubt that I will be staying there again. My room was in the section above the parking garage, right on the corner of 7th & Fremont I think. The Container Park, which I enjoyed browsing, was diagonally across the street. The fire-breathing monster shot off his propane blasts unpredictably from 4:30 to 11PM every day, shaking the room walls and was a royal pain in the butt if you try to sleep.
Tuesday was my Henderson and Downtown/North Vegas Day. Got a great warm chocoalte-covered donut for breakfast at a shop on Clark Street near 6th(?). Took RTC to Sunset Station and waited for the player's club to open so that I could redeem my buffet and free drink coupons from MyVegas. Nobody walked up while I waited outside the buffet so I wasted one of the free buffets. Excellent omlet. Casino was very quiet at 9AM and I couldn't find any good VP so I went to the bar for my free drink. No that I basically drink only in Vegas and even then very modestly so that the ide of a cocktail at 9AM is not my norm. Ordered a raspberry daquari and was met with a confused look. What I got was a rasberry smoothie with sour mix and whipped cream and a cherry on top. Worst cocktail ever and insult was added to injury as the bar had no spoon to use for the whipped cream!!
Got back on the RTC and went over to downtown Henderson. There are several casinos there but Emerald Island was the only one with an MRB coupon. The deal is a free spin of the big money wheel with $100 coin-in. That's something of a challenge for a casino that has only penny slots but I figured it would limit my loss as well. Actually came out $3 ahead on the spins and won $15 on the spin - sweet! None of the small casinos in Henderson appear to offer table games until late in the afternoon or on weekends only which is a shame as these are the places I enjoy. It's also a trend I saw in N. Las Vegas. Stopped at Sam's Town to use the MRB freeplay coupon and came out $13 ahead.
Took their shuttle (thank you again, Boyd) to downtown. Ran through all the MRB coupons for downtown over the next couple of hours. Played 1 spin of roulette for my mother-in-law and my daughter. Mother-in-law lost, daughter won. It was on this couppn run that I suffered my major MRB loss. I managed to lose ALL THREE $25 matchplays when the dealer drew 20 once and 21 twice. I did have an overall win at Golden Gate and some small wins at other casinos but the $75 loss was too great to overcome.
I went off the N. Las Vegas Blvd in the hope of winning something back. It was not to be. Poker Palace only has tournaments on weekends now and they were out of the steak dinner special. Silver Nugget only has table games on the weekends. Got a $5 matchplay at Jerry's Nugget but managed to lose my $50 buy-in over the next 20 or so hands.
The day did has a positive finish. One of my obligatory meals in Las Vegas is Prime Rib and the California Casino version exceeded expectations.
Wednesday was my last full day and I had plans to take care of some loose ends. Boyd has a senior day Wednesday on which you get a mystery slot multiplier with your player's card. I managed to win $16 and get 7x points. Then it was off on RTC to Red Rock for the lunch buffet and a free drink courtesy of MyVegas. I shared a free buffet with a stranger who turned out to be from near Pittsburgh and who works as a valet at the Rivers Casino there. Another pleasnt lunch experience. The free drink never happened. The coupon was only good at their main bar which was supposed to open at noon but it was still closed at 12:30 and nobody I talked to seemed to care so I left. I went back downtown and played in the Plaza 2PM $12 poker tournament. Two hours later I had chopped the top two prizes for a $64 win. My evening plan was to take the monorail back up to Bally's and visit Ellis Island one last time. Unfortunately the monorail ticket office at SLS closes at 6PM so I had no way to use the MyVegas coupon. I took the 108 bus up Paradise instead. I had a sandwich in their cafe and lsot $5 at BJ. Used the 3 free drinks coupon but the guy next to me didn't even want a free beer so I drank alone. Back on the Centennial Express bus and to that damnable fire-breathing insect in the container park.
My flight back home was scheduled to depart around 11AM and I took advantage of the El Cortez airport shuttle rather than riding the bus. Note that for reasons I do not understand the shuttle runs only TO the airport so you cannot get a pickup at the airport. The flight invloved a stop in Pittsburgh with no plane change and a short layover in Baltimore. Got home about midnight.
I ended up down $105 for the trip due to those cash poker game losses and the matchplay disaster downtown, but that's within my normal variance. I'm thinking that a car trip to Biloxi or Tunica might be a better way to use MyVegas points in the future. I haven't ever been there and it looks like it could be fun. The Station MyVegas coupons probably work better for locals unless you have a rental car. The MGM rewards seem like a better deal.
I'm not planning a return visit to LV for almost 2 years. I need to recharge by batteries so that I can enjoy LV more than I do right now. I expect frugal gambling to unfortunately continue to disappear as LV moves from gambling to other revenue streams. I'm thinking a hotel stay rather than a resort because of those dumb resort fees!
Hope you have enjoyed this series. Post your trip reports. We all enjoy reading the travel experiences of others.
Kirby
