Trip Report Nov 8-Nov 14, 2014
This is our third trip to Vegas this year. We have been blessed. This trip is to celebrate Martie's Birthday and to enjoy our favorite City.
I am Bobby (BW), retired 74, my wife is Martie (MJ) 50ish and unfortunately still working.
Allegiant Airlines flights did not fit our schedule so we booked Southwest on 10-2-2014 at a ridicously high rate of $724, but rebooked on 10-14-2014 at a savings of $192.(first win)
Saturday Nov 8 We took a taxi to airport in Austin for a 7:30 a.m flight, we ate a muffin and bagel for preflight snack. We purchased Early Bird and get A- 41 and 42, we snagged seats in row 15 only 2 seats in row, so another win the plane was only half full. The plane left Austin 10 minutes late and arrived 20 minutes early still winning. We are met by Presidential Limo driver Dimtri (I got extra points by having Happy Birthday Martie on Arrival Sign) a native of Siberia Russia, at one time a circus performer travelling worldwide, a very charming and interesting young man. We took the Strip cruise and enjoyed Champagne at 8:30 a.m, only in Vegas. Stowed bags with Bellman and checked in the Diamond check in room however the room was not ready. I went to Sports Book to bet 3 team parlay (lost thanks Mich State) we preceded to Bugsys for drinks and video poker, saw favorite bartenders Big Steve and Jersey Steve, both super guys, at about 1 p.m the room was ready 21096 (ok, but way down the hall) went up unpacked and returned to casino for light drinking and gambling. We hit five 4 of a kinds between us, MJ hit straight flush and both down $ slightly for the day. Since it was an early day we went up early 9 p.m.
Sunday Nov 9 We never can sleep late in Vegas so we were up early 6 a.m Vegas drinking coffee. We enjoy being in Vegas. Our son in law calls ( great young man A&M class of 2002) says he and our daughter sent Champagne for MJ's Birthday yesterday but Flamingo only has room service from 6 am to 1 pm, what??? ( more about that later) we ordered breakfast from room service, typical but filling. Down to Bugsys for Bloody Marys after some gaming at Flamingo.
We wander over to Cromwells, we loved it when it was Barbary Coast and Bills Gambling Hall and what they have done with it now continues to impress us. We gambled mostly at the bar, Jay and the attractive and personable young lady were fantastic, great service fancy glasses and top of the line liquor. The Security and Greeters??? were friendly and took time to visit with us and made us feel welcomed and special. The very same SUIT (female) I mentioned in my last report was still there staring at employees and whispering instructions in their ears, it is really humorous. Someone has a great idea with the Cromwell and we love it. We then went back to Flamingo to enjoy the Champagne sent by our daughter and son-in-law, they are great kids and have made numerous trips to Vegas with us, but are busy now watching a 4 1/2 and 1 1/2 baby girls. We had a total of four 4 of a kinds for the day, up to the room 10 p.m and again we are down $ for the day.
Monday Nov 10 Up early coffee and snack bars, taxi to Orleans have our Bloody Marys, eat at Big Als Oyster Bar, food was very good as usual. In past trips to Orleans gambling was usually very good except for Big Wheel of Fortune which always sucked, but this time the magic was never there , back to the Flamingo no big wins, but there is always tomorrow. Comment from BW cab drivers really appreciate tips this trip, thats good.
Tuesday Nov 11 Veterans Day Up early have coffee order room service eggs, bacon, toast. Then to Bugsys for bloody mary. We played there awhile and then walked Ballys, with all the construction it was a long walk for this senior and BW is a daily walker. Gambled video poker at two bars , MJ got super hot hitting four 4 of a kinds and a straight flush, BW held his own. Bartenders James, Leland, and 2 others were fantastic , MJ likes Ballys. Met a nice young couple from the Chicago area James-Dimtri & Christa , super young couple, enjoyed visiting with them. Back to Flamingo visit with couple from Toronto who own restaurant, BW is getting buzzed and is really enjoying himself. Big Steve joins us in Maragretville for a Birthday meal for MJ, he is our special pal. MJ helps BW to room (He was overserved), still down $ for trip.
Wednesday Nov 12 BW nursing a hangover, have coffee, breakfast bars, & yogurt in room go to Bugsys for Bloody Marys, BW takes well deserved razzing from MJ, Big Steve, and Toronto couple for his performance the night before (he loves the attention) say our goodbyes. And ate at Johnny Rockets, Debbie Lynn does a fantastic job and always has a smile on her sweet face , always a pleasure to see her. Gambled at Flamingo with no luck at all. Up early to rest and plot strategy for our last day.
Thursday Nov 13 We were awake at 6 a.m and have our usual coffee and bars in room. John the bellman picks up bags for storage til our departure, super nice guy enjoyed our visit with him. BW makes 3 team parlay for Nov 15, TCU lets us down. BW has donuts and milk, MJ Breakfast Sandwich in food court, have Bloody Marys at Bugsys say our goodbyes to Jersey Steve, walk down to Linq area, return to Flamingo to check out and over to Cromwells, at this point we decide to gamble together,and the worm turns, playing on penny slots picked by MJ we started recovering some our losses for our trip, over the next 5 hours we made a substancial recovery. Presedential Limo to airport driver Douglas nice young man and native of Vegas. After normal check in and security while walking to our gate, BW notices a smoking area, we are reformed smokers but use e-cigarettes so we stop in for a last puff, MJ still feeling lucky plays a WOF machine and after a few spins hits a Ruby $500 plus and a few mintess later another $500 plus Ruby. For some reason our Early Bird boarding #s were A60 and B1 ?? since we had won a few bucks that day, we sprung for the $80 special and had the same seats on our Nov 8 flight. Flight arrived in Austin 12:30 a.m Nov 14, as in our last trip the taxi home was an adventure, don't know whether he was tired, stoned or what , but we made it. Wow one more fun trip.
* Came back with 60% of gambling budget
* Played more Jacks or Better & Bonus Poker but not a good trip for video poker
* MJ had 4 dealt to a royal four times and BW 1 and no hits by either
*Saw 0 none nil hand pays
*MJ genius at picking penny slots and playing the proper amount
*Maybe playing together is a good idea, well sometimes
*Next trip, probably Feb for BW's 75th or late January on charter to Laughlin
*Next trip to Vegas will probably fly Southwest because of $192 credit but will review Allegiant in the future
*Sadly probably our last stay at Flamingo, we love the staff but the old Girl is like BW getting old and a lot of things are slipping
*Impressed with Cromwell & Ballys and will get comped.
* Trip rated a solid B
Thanks for reading Bobby and Martie Austin
This is our third trip to Vegas this year. We have been blessed. This trip is to celebrate Martie's Birthday and to enjoy our favorite City.
I am Bobby (BW), retired 74, my wife is Martie (MJ) 50ish and unfortunately still working.
Allegiant Airlines flights did not fit our schedule so we booked Southwest on 10-2-2014 at a ridicously high rate of $724, but rebooked on 10-14-2014 at a savings of $192.(first win)
Saturday Nov 8 We took a taxi to airport in Austin for a 7:30 a.m flight, we ate a muffin and bagel for preflight snack. We purchased Early Bird and get A- 41 and 42, we snagged seats in row 15 only 2 seats in row, so another win the plane was only half full. The plane left Austin 10 minutes late and arrived 20 minutes early still winning. We are met by Presidential Limo driver Dimtri (I got extra points by having Happy Birthday Martie on Arrival Sign) a native of Siberia Russia, at one time a circus performer travelling worldwide, a very charming and interesting young man. We took the Strip cruise and enjoyed Champagne at 8:30 a.m, only in Vegas. Stowed bags with Bellman and checked in the Diamond check in room however the room was not ready. I went to Sports Book to bet 3 team parlay (lost thanks Mich State) we preceded to Bugsys for drinks and video poker, saw favorite bartenders Big Steve and Jersey Steve, both super guys, at about 1 p.m the room was ready 21096 (ok, but way down the hall) went up unpacked and returned to casino for light drinking and gambling. We hit five 4 of a kinds between us, MJ hit straight flush and both down $ slightly for the day. Since it was an early day we went up early 9 p.m.
Sunday Nov 9 We never can sleep late in Vegas so we were up early 6 a.m Vegas drinking coffee. We enjoy being in Vegas. Our son in law calls ( great young man A&M class of 2002) says he and our daughter sent Champagne for MJ's Birthday yesterday but Flamingo only has room service from 6 am to 1 pm, what??? ( more about that later) we ordered breakfast from room service, typical but filling. Down to Bugsys for Bloody Marys after some gaming at Flamingo.
We wander over to Cromwells, we loved it when it was Barbary Coast and Bills Gambling Hall and what they have done with it now continues to impress us. We gambled mostly at the bar, Jay and the attractive and personable young lady were fantastic, great service fancy glasses and top of the line liquor. The Security and Greeters??? were friendly and took time to visit with us and made us feel welcomed and special. The very same SUIT (female) I mentioned in my last report was still there staring at employees and whispering instructions in their ears, it is really humorous. Someone has a great idea with the Cromwell and we love it. We then went back to Flamingo to enjoy the Champagne sent by our daughter and son-in-law, they are great kids and have made numerous trips to Vegas with us, but are busy now watching a 4 1/2 and 1 1/2 baby girls. We had a total of four 4 of a kinds for the day, up to the room 10 p.m and again we are down $ for the day.
Monday Nov 10 Up early coffee and snack bars, taxi to Orleans have our Bloody Marys, eat at Big Als Oyster Bar, food was very good as usual. In past trips to Orleans gambling was usually very good except for Big Wheel of Fortune which always sucked, but this time the magic was never there , back to the Flamingo no big wins, but there is always tomorrow. Comment from BW cab drivers really appreciate tips this trip, thats good.
Tuesday Nov 11 Veterans Day Up early have coffee order room service eggs, bacon, toast. Then to Bugsys for bloody mary. We played there awhile and then walked Ballys, with all the construction it was a long walk for this senior and BW is a daily walker. Gambled video poker at two bars , MJ got super hot hitting four 4 of a kinds and a straight flush, BW held his own. Bartenders James, Leland, and 2 others were fantastic , MJ likes Ballys. Met a nice young couple from the Chicago area James-Dimtri & Christa , super young couple, enjoyed visiting with them. Back to Flamingo visit with couple from Toronto who own restaurant, BW is getting buzzed and is really enjoying himself. Big Steve joins us in Maragretville for a Birthday meal for MJ, he is our special pal. MJ helps BW to room (He was overserved), still down $ for trip.
Wednesday Nov 12 BW nursing a hangover, have coffee, breakfast bars, & yogurt in room go to Bugsys for Bloody Marys, BW takes well deserved razzing from MJ, Big Steve, and Toronto couple for his performance the night before (he loves the attention) say our goodbyes. And ate at Johnny Rockets, Debbie Lynn does a fantastic job and always has a smile on her sweet face , always a pleasure to see her. Gambled at Flamingo with no luck at all. Up early to rest and plot strategy for our last day.
Thursday Nov 13 We were awake at 6 a.m and have our usual coffee and bars in room. John the bellman picks up bags for storage til our departure, super nice guy enjoyed our visit with him. BW makes 3 team parlay for Nov 15, TCU lets us down. BW has donuts and milk, MJ Breakfast Sandwich in food court, have Bloody Marys at Bugsys say our goodbyes to Jersey Steve, walk down to Linq area, return to Flamingo to check out and over to Cromwells, at this point we decide to gamble together,and the worm turns, playing on penny slots picked by MJ we started recovering some our losses for our trip, over the next 5 hours we made a substancial recovery. Presedential Limo to airport driver Douglas nice young man and native of Vegas. After normal check in and security while walking to our gate, BW notices a smoking area, we are reformed smokers but use e-cigarettes so we stop in for a last puff, MJ still feeling lucky plays a WOF machine and after a few spins hits a Ruby $500 plus and a few mintess later another $500 plus Ruby. For some reason our Early Bird boarding #s were A60 and B1 ?? since we had won a few bucks that day, we sprung for the $80 special and had the same seats on our Nov 8 flight. Flight arrived in Austin 12:30 a.m Nov 14, as in our last trip the taxi home was an adventure, don't know whether he was tired, stoned or what , but we made it. Wow one more fun trip.
* Came back with 60% of gambling budget
* Played more Jacks or Better & Bonus Poker but not a good trip for video poker
* MJ had 4 dealt to a royal four times and BW 1 and no hits by either
*Saw 0 none nil hand pays
*MJ genius at picking penny slots and playing the proper amount
*Maybe playing together is a good idea, well sometimes
*Next trip, probably Feb for BW's 75th or late January on charter to Laughlin
*Next trip to Vegas will probably fly Southwest because of $192 credit but will review Allegiant in the future
*Sadly probably our last stay at Flamingo, we love the staff but the old Girl is like BW getting old and a lot of things are slipping
*Impressed with Cromwell & Ballys and will get comped.
* Trip rated a solid B
Thanks for reading Bobby and Martie Austin
