A few things worth commenting on.
The best part is always meeting up again with friends. I only wish we had more time – and more sync’d schedules. There are early risers (5am to 6am) and night owls (going past 2am). There are hard core players and random hitter. I tried to hang a little with both groups. Felt like the old days when I came to Vegas and never slowed down. As one person said, I need a vacation from this vacation.
Gambling, not much to say. We all know about it. With a few exceptions, I would lose $20 then win $20. One exception was the last day when I only lost $20’s. But the last gamble was to play blackjack and win $150 which offset another exception: two bad sessions on the blackjack tables. The deal worth knowing is the STRONG play at Cosmo. More below.
Red Rock Resort
Got to stay here for two nights. Love the place. A Yard House where I can guzzle beer late at night because I’m not driving. Minutes away from Red Rock Canyon. Very nice rooms. If they let me stay for $50 a night, I’d spend a week here.
One funny thing: an international hip-hop dance competition was in town. The place was full of packs of kids dressed as hip-hoppers. It made the elevators slow way down. 30 people waiting at a time to get on. Never made it down from 14th floor without stopping 5 times.
Buffets
One more RRR observation: their dinner buffet was so disappointing, I won’t try it again. I put Aliente above it. Though, I think all the Station Casino buffets are now very much alike to meet their new low prices – a lot alike. So RRR and GVR don’t deserve the premium price. Aliente is your best play. Using a coupon or Senior day, do a late breakfast, get the lunch change-over and it’ll cost a little more than a 1000 points. Another big feature for Aliente, you can get bottles of beer in the buffet for $1.
What I didn’t like about RRR buffet: they had chicken-pieces at every station. I’m talking cut-up chicken parts (breast, leg, thigh, etc) baked in some sauce: salsa in Mexican, teriyaki in Asian, barbecue in barbecue, and fried in American. They also had 3 macaroni dishes (yes, three dishes made of macaroni). And a large potato station. So a good half of the buffet, it seemed to me, was chicken parts, macaroni, and potatoes. Really? No ribs at the barbecue station only above mention chicken and pork chops baked in a sauce. That’s a premium priced buffet? RRR does have sushi, but I don’t like sushi. The only redeeming things: I got a burnt end of a brisket that was meaty and yummy. They have chocolate cakes (think lava cake that’s been baked a tad too long, so it does ooze) with crème Anglaise, chocolate sauce, and caramel sauce.
Breakfast buffets at Station Casinos: pretty basic. Decent food, but only the standard breakfast fare and just a little more (like breakfast pizzas). If you like breakfast food, the price is right. If you don’t want eggs, breakfast meats, maple syrup things, and fruit, don’t go.
Had a free coupon for South Point’s breakfast buffet. More options than the other breakfast buffets. It was okay. The Chili Verde was colorado, though.
Barbecue
Tried Ellis Island ribs. They say they’re “baby back ribs” but they’re really back-loin ribs, not “baby”. Too big and meaty for “baby” in my book. It’s the kind of ribs I cook and like. They were very good. Worth the $10 price (241 coupon). They are cooked with some seasoning that isn’t dominating. The sauce is on the side – my guess: it’s Cattlemen’s – a standard decent sweet tomato-based sauce. I’ll be back.
I’ll add the drink coupon for a bunch of beer is a great play. And Ellis Island wasn’t nearly as bad as I feared.
Buzz BBQ (Tropicana location, all the way west past 215 west): had a restaurant.com coupon. Some of the best barbecue I’ve had. We had brisket, rib tips, and pulled pork. We didn’t try the ribs (a future trip). The brisket was smoky, tender, moist. I couldn’t make it any better. The rib tips: they are cooked to very-well-done – so they have an almost jerky quality. I loved it. Pulled porked was excellent. Everything had plenty of smoke, a balance of seasoning, two good sauces (hot and mild) that were sweet, but not excessively so (I love sweet sauces, so the sauce I make is excessively so). Fried okra was fine. Greens good. Black-eyed peas and rice nice, but I’d prefer more spice.
Bottom line: for those that love barbecue, Buzz BBQ should not be missed. Get the restaurant.com coupon. They’ve got lunch specials. Should be a Locals Corner.
Red Rock Canyon.
One adventure getting out here. I had just left the area of housing subdivisions leading up to the BLM open space when I heard a ***thunk*** in my wheel well. A few miles later, something isn’t right. I pull off the side of the road and we can here the tire hissing as it goes flat. Long story which I won’t retell but a big THANK YOU to Sinow who came to the rescue to pick up the passengers. I got to Big O tire. Half an hour later, they patched the hole (for free!) and I was back in the game. Everything went perfectly so that it turned out to be only a minor problem (and ruined a walk).
Cosmo deal
The Cosmo deal is a VERY strong play because unlike the Terrible’s offer, it doesn’t run on the one day you pick. It’s ongoing until you lose $100 in a calendar day. You go to Cosmo. You play. You win $10. Okay, give up for the day and come back the next. You win that day. Come back the next. Keep doing this until you lose $100. Then go to the player’s club and they’ll give you $100 in credits (works the same as Station’s credits, you put up money at first, then it refunds the credit – you can’t cash out the money, you have to play it through).
But here’s the real nice kicker: if you earn 100 points in any day, you can play a slot tournament. I wasn’t interested until I was walking by the tournament. Only a half dozen people were playing, and the prizes were $50, $25, and $10 of credit. The four of us do it the first day (7 players), we get $50, $25, and $10. Two of us do it the second day (4 players), we get $50 and $25. I cashed my $10 credit for $20, and the $50 credit for $67. $87 in two days in slot tournament AND I’ve still got a $100 credit that can come if I lose $100 in one day. I’m only sorry I didn’t do this the first day in town and do it everyday until I lost the $100 – doing the slot tourney and getting play in.
What a play! I predict, it won’t last. They’ll get rid of the $100 offer and reduce the number of tournaments or prizes. There are times where only 3 or 4 people are playing and the number of prizes is still 3: $50, $25 and $10.
Beer
I couldn’t make a meet at Gordon Biersch (darn!), but did drink beer at Yard House (happy hour is the play, 3 to 6pm and after 10pm), Ellis Island (use a coupon, they’re free + tip), and Chicago Brewing Company (better than Ellis Island). Both Ellis Island and CBC have root beer that’s real good. I love beer and all the above was good.
Other
Gaetano’s in Henderson: another terrific meal
Sonoma Steak House (in Sunset casino): very good meal. Paid with points on senior day (half price) and used coupon from MRB.
Human Nature
Saw it again. Worth it. Great show.
Palms
They got rid of all their Full Pay VP. Skip them.
My favorite cocktail waitress (poker room at M) is on maternity leave.
I’m still covered in glitter. I suspect I’ll never get rid of all of it.
I have a lot of laundry to do. Got to get busy.
Noahcat should have a TR by the end of the week (you will NOT want to miss that report). Sinow has already posted. Hopefully others will post. I’m sure there’s a lot of other stuff I've forgotten for the moment.
The best part is always meeting up again with friends. I only wish we had more time – and more sync’d schedules. There are early risers (5am to 6am) and night owls (going past 2am). There are hard core players and random hitter. I tried to hang a little with both groups. Felt like the old days when I came to Vegas and never slowed down. As one person said, I need a vacation from this vacation.
Gambling, not much to say. We all know about it. With a few exceptions, I would lose $20 then win $20. One exception was the last day when I only lost $20’s. But the last gamble was to play blackjack and win $150 which offset another exception: two bad sessions on the blackjack tables. The deal worth knowing is the STRONG play at Cosmo. More below.
Red Rock Resort
Got to stay here for two nights. Love the place. A Yard House where I can guzzle beer late at night because I’m not driving. Minutes away from Red Rock Canyon. Very nice rooms. If they let me stay for $50 a night, I’d spend a week here.
One funny thing: an international hip-hop dance competition was in town. The place was full of packs of kids dressed as hip-hoppers. It made the elevators slow way down. 30 people waiting at a time to get on. Never made it down from 14th floor without stopping 5 times.
Buffets
One more RRR observation: their dinner buffet was so disappointing, I won’t try it again. I put Aliente above it. Though, I think all the Station Casino buffets are now very much alike to meet their new low prices – a lot alike. So RRR and GVR don’t deserve the premium price. Aliente is your best play. Using a coupon or Senior day, do a late breakfast, get the lunch change-over and it’ll cost a little more than a 1000 points. Another big feature for Aliente, you can get bottles of beer in the buffet for $1.
What I didn’t like about RRR buffet: they had chicken-pieces at every station. I’m talking cut-up chicken parts (breast, leg, thigh, etc) baked in some sauce: salsa in Mexican, teriyaki in Asian, barbecue in barbecue, and fried in American. They also had 3 macaroni dishes (yes, three dishes made of macaroni). And a large potato station. So a good half of the buffet, it seemed to me, was chicken parts, macaroni, and potatoes. Really? No ribs at the barbecue station only above mention chicken and pork chops baked in a sauce. That’s a premium priced buffet? RRR does have sushi, but I don’t like sushi. The only redeeming things: I got a burnt end of a brisket that was meaty and yummy. They have chocolate cakes (think lava cake that’s been baked a tad too long, so it does ooze) with crème Anglaise, chocolate sauce, and caramel sauce.
Breakfast buffets at Station Casinos: pretty basic. Decent food, but only the standard breakfast fare and just a little more (like breakfast pizzas). If you like breakfast food, the price is right. If you don’t want eggs, breakfast meats, maple syrup things, and fruit, don’t go.
Had a free coupon for South Point’s breakfast buffet. More options than the other breakfast buffets. It was okay. The Chili Verde was colorado, though.
Barbecue
Tried Ellis Island ribs. They say they’re “baby back ribs” but they’re really back-loin ribs, not “baby”. Too big and meaty for “baby” in my book. It’s the kind of ribs I cook and like. They were very good. Worth the $10 price (241 coupon). They are cooked with some seasoning that isn’t dominating. The sauce is on the side – my guess: it’s Cattlemen’s – a standard decent sweet tomato-based sauce. I’ll be back.
I’ll add the drink coupon for a bunch of beer is a great play. And Ellis Island wasn’t nearly as bad as I feared.
Buzz BBQ (Tropicana location, all the way west past 215 west): had a restaurant.com coupon. Some of the best barbecue I’ve had. We had brisket, rib tips, and pulled pork. We didn’t try the ribs (a future trip). The brisket was smoky, tender, moist. I couldn’t make it any better. The rib tips: they are cooked to very-well-done – so they have an almost jerky quality. I loved it. Pulled porked was excellent. Everything had plenty of smoke, a balance of seasoning, two good sauces (hot and mild) that were sweet, but not excessively so (I love sweet sauces, so the sauce I make is excessively so). Fried okra was fine. Greens good. Black-eyed peas and rice nice, but I’d prefer more spice.
Bottom line: for those that love barbecue, Buzz BBQ should not be missed. Get the restaurant.com coupon. They’ve got lunch specials. Should be a Locals Corner.
Red Rock Canyon.
One adventure getting out here. I had just left the area of housing subdivisions leading up to the BLM open space when I heard a ***thunk*** in my wheel well. A few miles later, something isn’t right. I pull off the side of the road and we can here the tire hissing as it goes flat. Long story which I won’t retell but a big THANK YOU to Sinow who came to the rescue to pick up the passengers. I got to Big O tire. Half an hour later, they patched the hole (for free!) and I was back in the game. Everything went perfectly so that it turned out to be only a minor problem (and ruined a walk).
Cosmo deal
The Cosmo deal is a VERY strong play because unlike the Terrible’s offer, it doesn’t run on the one day you pick. It’s ongoing until you lose $100 in a calendar day. You go to Cosmo. You play. You win $10. Okay, give up for the day and come back the next. You win that day. Come back the next. Keep doing this until you lose $100. Then go to the player’s club and they’ll give you $100 in credits (works the same as Station’s credits, you put up money at first, then it refunds the credit – you can’t cash out the money, you have to play it through).
But here’s the real nice kicker: if you earn 100 points in any day, you can play a slot tournament. I wasn’t interested until I was walking by the tournament. Only a half dozen people were playing, and the prizes were $50, $25, and $10 of credit. The four of us do it the first day (7 players), we get $50, $25, and $10. Two of us do it the second day (4 players), we get $50 and $25. I cashed my $10 credit for $20, and the $50 credit for $67. $87 in two days in slot tournament AND I’ve still got a $100 credit that can come if I lose $100 in one day. I’m only sorry I didn’t do this the first day in town and do it everyday until I lost the $100 – doing the slot tourney and getting play in.
What a play! I predict, it won’t last. They’ll get rid of the $100 offer and reduce the number of tournaments or prizes. There are times where only 3 or 4 people are playing and the number of prizes is still 3: $50, $25 and $10.
Beer
I couldn’t make a meet at Gordon Biersch (darn!), but did drink beer at Yard House (happy hour is the play, 3 to 6pm and after 10pm), Ellis Island (use a coupon, they’re free + tip), and Chicago Brewing Company (better than Ellis Island). Both Ellis Island and CBC have root beer that’s real good. I love beer and all the above was good.
Other
Gaetano’s in Henderson: another terrific meal
Sonoma Steak House (in Sunset casino): very good meal. Paid with points on senior day (half price) and used coupon from MRB.
Human Nature
Saw it again. Worth it. Great show.
Palms
They got rid of all their Full Pay VP. Skip them.
My favorite cocktail waitress (poker room at M) is on maternity leave.
I’m still covered in glitter. I suspect I’ll never get rid of all of it.
I have a lot of laundry to do. Got to get busy.
Noahcat should have a TR by the end of the week (you will NOT want to miss that report). Sinow has already posted. Hopefully others will post. I’m sure there’s a lot of other stuff I've forgotten for the moment.
