March 2, 2020
Another morning, another trip report and more cups of coffee; another shower and another getting dressed to begin another day.
I was up very early and down to the Vue Bar by 4:30 AM. I wanted to get my 300 points out of the way, so I needn’t worry about for the rest of the day. It was just me and two drunk women at the other end of the bar.
Within ten minutes and I was very happy (and relieved) to be dealt a straight flush in diamonds, which had grown to $207. And then just about ten hands later, I got quad Aces for another $100. Outstanding! Or so I thought. Little did I know that would be the last quad I got for almost 1500 more hands. I finally got quad Jacks at the 285 points mark. My machine went offline and I was waiting for it when Terry texted he was ready to meet me at the Starbucks in the Golden Nugget.
I cashed out $124 giving me only a $24 profit. I really thought it was going to be a much better session; however, I’m glad for any profit at all. I was still 15 points below my goal, but I could easily take care of that later. We had some coffee and caught up on the events of his night (I go to bed very early—and get up very early, as is my routine). His total quad deuces were three (at the 50-cent level) for $1500 and managed to almost get completely caught up for his trip.
We walked up to the Golden Gate to use our free play. I had $20 and Terry had $35. I used mine in the Zeus, caught a small feature and cashed out $17. Terry played his in the 8/6 Poker Deluxe and cashed out $13.
We walked back to the D to have breakfast and use our free play there. I had $35 and sat down at a Dragon Link. I managed 3 bonuses and cashed out a profit of $160. It’s extra fun when you hit these using free play.
We went up to breakfast at the D’s café. Again, I had the Huevos Rancheros (seems I was wrong again, it IS huevos). Terry had an egg dish. We got separate checks as we’re going to use our food vouchers, but I discovered I had stupidly left my slot card in the Dragon Link. Terry had plenty on his voucher and took care of it all. I’ll use mine tomorrow.
We enjoyed ourselves so much at the Westgate and were both just a few points to moving up a level on their slot card hierarchy that we grabbed my car out of the valet and headed over there.
This session was not as friendly as yesterday. Terry lost his hundy and I lost the $160 I had won on my free play at the D earlier. Terry went to the restroom and I noticed a…yea…a Dragon Link machine. I threw in $40 and soon after he returned from the restroom and joined me, I hit another bonus. It was a good one, and I won a nifty $95 profit. BTW-there are many variations of Dragon Link. Terry’s huge win at the Strat, and my big wins at both the D and at the Westgate are on the Emperor’s Challenge model, and I always look for the one with the highest major. We have both tried the other themed Dragon Links and have never had any luck with them.
We drove back over to the South Point casino to play some more 3/6 poker. We played for a over an hour and a half when I finally lost my $100 buy in. Terry did better but still took a small loss. My biggest cooler and largest loss was when I was dealt pocket Aces. Of course, I raised preflop and four people called. The flop was rags. I bet and three people called. The turn was another Ace, I bet and one person called. The river was a 7. I bet and then was raised by the one remaining player. I had to call and he had caught his open-ended straight on the river. The pot was huge and my stack was mortally wounded.
Before we left, we each enjoyed a $1.25 hotdog at the stand by the sportsbook and sat down once again at a couple of machines. I played the 9/6 Poker Deluxe and Terry his favorite NSUD. It wasn’t long when he hit his 4 deuces. We cashed out, him up $250 and me down $7.
It was back downtown. It was cold and windy today so we didn’t want to just walk around outside. I needed to finish up another 15 points at the D and Terry wanted to back to his room at the Queens. The machines at the Vue Bar with the 8/5 progressives were sketchy as the progressive jackpots were going offline sporadically all day. I did manage about 25 points before giving up, cashing out and up to my room for a count.
Terry soon joined my in my room and chatted for a bit. We decided we were a little pokered out for now and it was a bit too early for dinner so we thought it might be nice to play a little $5 blackjack. We walked down to the El Cortez and sat down at a $5 minimum single deck table (the only place in all of Las Vegas you’ll find this). If you want to kill a few hours and have a yeoman’s understanding of blackjack, you can last a long time playing and enjoying drinks here.
We played for just under two hours (I strictly play only $5 a hand with the occasional double down but Terry jumps between $5 and $10 and the occasional $15 bets). When it was all said and done and it was time for dinner, I cashed out exactly with the $100 I started with and Terry lost $3. Considering tips and beverages, a pretty good session and a nice respite from the what can sometimes be tedious video poker.
We walked back to the Queens and Terry was happy to see that they’ve finally fixed their computer problems and that his $150 free play was restored (he’d all but given up on that happening). We had dinner at Magnolia’s as Terry still has lots of comps there. I had a club sandwich (they’re always a safe play but always too big) and Terry had the Swiss steak special. Both meals were excellent.
I told Terry to get another card and I’d play a hundred through using his card while he played his free play (I have no intention of going after comps here—I don’t like the rooms and service here is some of the worst in Las Vegas). This time I chose deuces (will lightning strike for me too?) and he chose 50-cent 10/6 Double Double bonus. While still on his free play, Terry caught quad 3s with a kicker, good for $400 and I caught diddly squat. I did cash out $50 of my hundy and called it night leaving Terry at the bar hoping for more.
I had planned on extending my trip two more days by driving Wednesday to Laughlin where I have a nice offer at the Golden Nugget there; however, I’m just a little played out for this trip and I’d like go home with the lion’s share of this trips initial big winnings. So, tomorrow I will pack up my things, check out and take them to the car and then drive back to San Diego around 6 PM (want to avoid all the rush hour traffic through Barstow, Riverside and San Diego and should be getting home around 10:30 or 11).
I’ll do one more trip report for Tuesday’s shenanigans. I can say now that we’re headed back to the South Point where they are having a 3/3 (March 3) promotion that’s just too juicy to not be a part.
More tomorrow
