We had a guy’s trip built around my nephew’s 21st birthday to include my brother, a friend of my nephew, a colleague from work and others for a total of six of us. The trip was planned over March Madness staying at the Gold Coast and Stratosphere based upon marketing offers that ended up covering all of our rooms and food. We figured that we would see little of the newly minted 21 year olds after they got settled, and could watch some hoops in a special venue the Stratosphere was setting up with food, drink and betting.
My colleagues and I left from Moline, Illinois aboard Allegiant. They have attractive pricing and a convenient Thursday arrival, Sunday departure that works well for wage slaves like us. I know that Allegiant can nickel and dime you on fees but we generally go lowest price possible paying only for carry-on bags. I also know they have some kind of labor dispute going on but all of their staff was polite and professional. My brother and his son and friend are flying in from the East Coast- Boston and LaGuadia.
Our flight was uneventful (thanks to my Kindle- rereading the classics) and before too long we were making that slow descent into Vegas picking out various landmarks along the strip. McCarran does a good job of people moving in my opinion. Before we knew it we were doing the cab-line rumba outside in pleasant mid-70s degree temperatures- much warmer than the cold of Iowa where we live.
First stop is the Gold Coast where we get everyone settled. The 21 year olds have been practicing on VP for winners so are anxious to hit the 9/6 JOB- feeding in their meager bankroll and celebrating each small win with a libation from the cocktail waitress.
My brother wanted me to coach him on NSUD although he too has been practicing. I find it difficult to play, drink Heineken and comment on each of his hands so resort to being a kind of play by play announcer, “hold the ten and jack of hearts”, “all junk, keep nothing”, etc. The little bugger then draws two wilds. “Hold the two wilds and hope for two more” and naturally two more show up for a sweet grand.
“What should I do now” he wants to know.
This is like one of those “Occam’s Razor” questions.
My approach is usually to bump up my bet and if the session goes south, hold at least half the win.
My brother elects to keep playing at dollars and within about fifteen minutes two more wild cards show up.
“I know what to do” he informs me and bang, two more wilds for another grand.
This is when the speculative gambler’s mind warp kicks in, “Oh man, if only I’d bumped up my bet.”
Yes indeed but ‘tis better to pocket some winnings than death spiral down. Naturally I can do nothing and grow bored watching my hundred dollar bills parade off to Boyd’s bottom line.
Everyone is hungry and one of my goals this trip is to use the Palms 50% off MRB coupon. Something I have been pledging to do for years but never had. It is a funny thing- most casinos now fully comp my rooms and meals so the MRB coupons are not as valuable as they once were but I still enjoy using them.
We walk across the street, get Palms player’s cards and get into the buffet line. My 50% coupon really helps reducing the buffet cost and I find the buffet pretty good- in an average sort of way. We play a little at Palms and head back to the Gold Coast. We hit the VP and Heineken heavily until the wee hours. No big wins or loses but I am definitely feeling the time zone difference or perhaps the beverage in the green bottles. It is almost mid-night and some of our party announces that they are going to walk over to the Rio to see the free show. I’m tired and tipsy but of course elect to come along with them. The show has been tarted up with some suggestive dancing on a stage and then the trip across the ceiling throwing beads to the huddled masses below.
We find a bar and fire up some short pay bar top VP- clear proof of too much to drink. On the way over we did see one of those only in Vegas visions. About eight older folks in those electric scooters formed up in the parking lot and then went zipping down the street as perfectly synchronized as the Blue Angels.
The next day it is breakfast at the GC buffet and time to wander over to the Stratosphere. I have a love-hate relationship with the place. Our host is excellent and treats us very well. The rooms are comfortable; they have a good mix of restaurants except they can’t decide what they want to do with the video poker. They used to have 8/5 BP at $1 and $2 levels at the bars. Then they took away $2 level leaving dollar 8/5, and then took away all playable VP. Recently they reintroduced dollar 8/5 BP but you don’t earn points. There are some progressives on the bar tops by the sports book with 7/5 BP however even with the Royal over $5,000.00 you are under 99%. I find this an all too familiar tactic of casinos with budget problems and the tactic usually backfires- driving away players.
Our host has rooms for everyone and offers tickets to see “Pin-up” a new show at the Stratosphere. The Iowa contingent of our group has tickets to see Def Leppard at the Hard Rock so we pass the “Pin-Up” tickets along to the rest of the group. I assume the old rule holds true for Vegas shows, the more skin you see, the less talent you see.
We had lunch at Roxys consisting of breakfast items. I love the singing waiters and waitresses- some of the people are really talented- and they are refilling my coffee cup. We cab over to the Hard Rock and get our players cards reissued. We play a little while however I get nothing with my first hundred in and decide it’s a sign to quit. We are in the upper level, one row behind some guys from England apparently following Def Leppard around. The boys still rock and it was a great show-I still have “Rock of Ages” playing through my mind.
The following day we are all officially moved to the Stratosphere and get arm bands to go into the March Madness event. I had kind of hoped to run into fellow LVAer “Champster” there but the room was jam packed with people. I made a circle with my MRB as a kind of identity badge but the place was too packed so I headed back down to the sports bar. I was banging away on the 7/5 BP with progressive however did not hit anything worthwhile. Today we had early dinner reservations at McCalls, a newer steakhouse at the Strat and the tickets to see the Eagles at MGM.
McCalls is pretty good- appetizer of shrimp stuffed in a jalapeno and then wrapped with bacon (of course the MRB would taste good wrapped in bacon), along with a good sized and well prepared NY strip. The hit of the meal was a side dish; green apple potato au gratin. Put me and this dish on a remote island and I would be happy. (Well, OK, and my wife, a cooler of Heineken, a VP machine, an Olive Garden, cable TV, satellite radio,…….)
We finish up dinner and cab over to the MGM. The place is mobbed with people everywhere. I remember why I don’t care for the place- it is so large and so busy that it is hard to get from point A to point B. We finally get into the concert venue and have the least expensive seats we could find- tucked way up high with a view of the stage apparently in another zip code. No matter really with the big screens. There is a strange warm up band playing what I think of as kind of Cajun-country music. Then there are the Eagles to include Joe Walsh. Crazy Joe can still handle a guitar really well and the Eagles play all the favorites pitch perfect. One thing I’d like to get over is when the headliners do their pseudo-finish and walk off stage. We all stand and clap for a time and then they come back. How about just playing everything you intended to play?
The audience erupts from the Arena and spills out into the casino. We want to play a little but finding an open machine outside the interstate like traffic lanes is difficult. We finally find some VP and play through a while waiting for a cocktail waitress. No luck so we figure the crowd has thinned enough to brave the cab line and go to cash out our tickets. There is a line in front of the redemption kiosk because the blinkety-blankety thing isn’t working. We move to another one with another line and finally cash out.
The cab line is huge so we walk over to the Tropicana where the cab line is merely long. Limo and shuttle bus drivers are hustling the crowd however we decide to wait and finally do get a cab. There are lots and lots of young people energetically milling around and hooting at each other, kind of like mating calls. I had briefly considered the monorail however wasn’t sure about the now closed Sahara and the station.
Despite being tired, it is our last day in Vegas so we belly up to the sports bar. One of our group hits four aces on BP and calls it a night. We make arrangements to meet the limo driver in the morning and I find that I am too bleary eyed to play effectively (not that this has necessarily stopped me before). We all snooze on the ride home, busy planning the next trip. The pilot announces the weather in Moline as moderate snow with temperatures in the high 20s. No, wait, turn the plane around and go back.
Paul
My colleagues and I left from Moline, Illinois aboard Allegiant. They have attractive pricing and a convenient Thursday arrival, Sunday departure that works well for wage slaves like us. I know that Allegiant can nickel and dime you on fees but we generally go lowest price possible paying only for carry-on bags. I also know they have some kind of labor dispute going on but all of their staff was polite and professional. My brother and his son and friend are flying in from the East Coast- Boston and LaGuadia.
Our flight was uneventful (thanks to my Kindle- rereading the classics) and before too long we were making that slow descent into Vegas picking out various landmarks along the strip. McCarran does a good job of people moving in my opinion. Before we knew it we were doing the cab-line rumba outside in pleasant mid-70s degree temperatures- much warmer than the cold of Iowa where we live.
First stop is the Gold Coast where we get everyone settled. The 21 year olds have been practicing on VP for winners so are anxious to hit the 9/6 JOB- feeding in their meager bankroll and celebrating each small win with a libation from the cocktail waitress.
My brother wanted me to coach him on NSUD although he too has been practicing. I find it difficult to play, drink Heineken and comment on each of his hands so resort to being a kind of play by play announcer, “hold the ten and jack of hearts”, “all junk, keep nothing”, etc. The little bugger then draws two wilds. “Hold the two wilds and hope for two more” and naturally two more show up for a sweet grand.
“What should I do now” he wants to know.
This is like one of those “Occam’s Razor” questions.
My approach is usually to bump up my bet and if the session goes south, hold at least half the win.
My brother elects to keep playing at dollars and within about fifteen minutes two more wild cards show up.
“I know what to do” he informs me and bang, two more wilds for another grand.
This is when the speculative gambler’s mind warp kicks in, “Oh man, if only I’d bumped up my bet.”
Yes indeed but ‘tis better to pocket some winnings than death spiral down. Naturally I can do nothing and grow bored watching my hundred dollar bills parade off to Boyd’s bottom line.
Everyone is hungry and one of my goals this trip is to use the Palms 50% off MRB coupon. Something I have been pledging to do for years but never had. It is a funny thing- most casinos now fully comp my rooms and meals so the MRB coupons are not as valuable as they once were but I still enjoy using them.
We walk across the street, get Palms player’s cards and get into the buffet line. My 50% coupon really helps reducing the buffet cost and I find the buffet pretty good- in an average sort of way. We play a little at Palms and head back to the Gold Coast. We hit the VP and Heineken heavily until the wee hours. No big wins or loses but I am definitely feeling the time zone difference or perhaps the beverage in the green bottles. It is almost mid-night and some of our party announces that they are going to walk over to the Rio to see the free show. I’m tired and tipsy but of course elect to come along with them. The show has been tarted up with some suggestive dancing on a stage and then the trip across the ceiling throwing beads to the huddled masses below.
We find a bar and fire up some short pay bar top VP- clear proof of too much to drink. On the way over we did see one of those only in Vegas visions. About eight older folks in those electric scooters formed up in the parking lot and then went zipping down the street as perfectly synchronized as the Blue Angels.
The next day it is breakfast at the GC buffet and time to wander over to the Stratosphere. I have a love-hate relationship with the place. Our host is excellent and treats us very well. The rooms are comfortable; they have a good mix of restaurants except they can’t decide what they want to do with the video poker. They used to have 8/5 BP at $1 and $2 levels at the bars. Then they took away $2 level leaving dollar 8/5, and then took away all playable VP. Recently they reintroduced dollar 8/5 BP but you don’t earn points. There are some progressives on the bar tops by the sports book with 7/5 BP however even with the Royal over $5,000.00 you are under 99%. I find this an all too familiar tactic of casinos with budget problems and the tactic usually backfires- driving away players.
Our host has rooms for everyone and offers tickets to see “Pin-up” a new show at the Stratosphere. The Iowa contingent of our group has tickets to see Def Leppard at the Hard Rock so we pass the “Pin-Up” tickets along to the rest of the group. I assume the old rule holds true for Vegas shows, the more skin you see, the less talent you see.
We had lunch at Roxys consisting of breakfast items. I love the singing waiters and waitresses- some of the people are really talented- and they are refilling my coffee cup. We cab over to the Hard Rock and get our players cards reissued. We play a little while however I get nothing with my first hundred in and decide it’s a sign to quit. We are in the upper level, one row behind some guys from England apparently following Def Leppard around. The boys still rock and it was a great show-I still have “Rock of Ages” playing through my mind.
The following day we are all officially moved to the Stratosphere and get arm bands to go into the March Madness event. I had kind of hoped to run into fellow LVAer “Champster” there but the room was jam packed with people. I made a circle with my MRB as a kind of identity badge but the place was too packed so I headed back down to the sports bar. I was banging away on the 7/5 BP with progressive however did not hit anything worthwhile. Today we had early dinner reservations at McCalls, a newer steakhouse at the Strat and the tickets to see the Eagles at MGM.
McCalls is pretty good- appetizer of shrimp stuffed in a jalapeno and then wrapped with bacon (of course the MRB would taste good wrapped in bacon), along with a good sized and well prepared NY strip. The hit of the meal was a side dish; green apple potato au gratin. Put me and this dish on a remote island and I would be happy. (Well, OK, and my wife, a cooler of Heineken, a VP machine, an Olive Garden, cable TV, satellite radio,…….)
We finish up dinner and cab over to the MGM. The place is mobbed with people everywhere. I remember why I don’t care for the place- it is so large and so busy that it is hard to get from point A to point B. We finally get into the concert venue and have the least expensive seats we could find- tucked way up high with a view of the stage apparently in another zip code. No matter really with the big screens. There is a strange warm up band playing what I think of as kind of Cajun-country music. Then there are the Eagles to include Joe Walsh. Crazy Joe can still handle a guitar really well and the Eagles play all the favorites pitch perfect. One thing I’d like to get over is when the headliners do their pseudo-finish and walk off stage. We all stand and clap for a time and then they come back. How about just playing everything you intended to play?
The audience erupts from the Arena and spills out into the casino. We want to play a little but finding an open machine outside the interstate like traffic lanes is difficult. We finally find some VP and play through a while waiting for a cocktail waitress. No luck so we figure the crowd has thinned enough to brave the cab line and go to cash out our tickets. There is a line in front of the redemption kiosk because the blinkety-blankety thing isn’t working. We move to another one with another line and finally cash out.
The cab line is huge so we walk over to the Tropicana where the cab line is merely long. Limo and shuttle bus drivers are hustling the crowd however we decide to wait and finally do get a cab. There are lots and lots of young people energetically milling around and hooting at each other, kind of like mating calls. I had briefly considered the monorail however wasn’t sure about the now closed Sahara and the station.
Despite being tired, it is our last day in Vegas so we belly up to the sports bar. One of our group hits four aces on BP and calls it a night. We make arrangements to meet the limo driver in the morning and I find that I am too bleary eyed to play effectively (not that this has necessarily stopped me before). We all snooze on the ride home, busy planning the next trip. The pilot announces the weather in Moline as moderate snow with temperatures in the high 20s. No, wait, turn the plane around and go back.
Paul
