Monday July 4
My mother wasn’t hungry, so after we got up we just checked out of Paris and loaded up the car. Today we had plans to see the Mob Experience at the new Tropicana and watch Mystere at Treasure Island tonight.
I didn’t know what kind of promotions they had going on at the Palms, but I decided we’d kill some time there. They were running a promotion were you could redeem points you earned on Mondays for a variety of gifts. The most expensive was a digital camera for earning 12,000 points. It looked as if my luck was experiencing an up-tick again as I had a few nice hits early on.
A $457 hit. Why didn’t I bet max coin? Because it’s $10 a spin that’s why.
First time I’ve ever hit a 5-symbol scatter pay. It was good for $300
This was only for $120 but I’m including it anyways since there weren’t enough bright spots this trip.
When all was said and done, my mother and I had run about $3500 through the machines and were up about $400 or so. You weren’t allowed to select more than 1 of each item, so we got a mini photo key-chain, a useless magnetic photo holder that we left behind, a camera pouch, a memory pillow, an ugly red leather photo album and a huge heavy wooden box / photo album.
I saw several people getting in line to pick up a free gift in one of the Palms’ ballrooms. I didn’t have a flier with me, but I got in line anyways to see if I could get the free beach towel they were handing out. Who knows, right? Canada Post was on strike just before I left, so I might have been eligible and didn’t know it. I get to the front of the line and hand the lady my ID and player’s card. She scanned my card and stared at the computer screen for a moment.
“Nope, you aren’t eligible for one.” I make the walk of shame back into the casino to get my mom.
We drove out to the M casino because I wanted to pick up my free Flex-Fit hat. Unfortunately, I couldn’t pick it up until Tuesday, so we would have to come back. The both of us did play and earn 750 points in order to get a free T-shirt though. I had a nice hit on the Mermaids slots to keep me going.
I really like the M casino. Too bad the place was mostly empty. It looks like they’re even opening up their pool to the public in order to generate some traffic. I hope it works out for them. I took some pictures of the Bob Dancer Max Progressives here in case anyone is interested. I didn’t see anyone playing them.
We drove back to the Gold Coast next to eat Dim Sum at Ping Pang Pong. I’ve heard the Dim Sum here is very good and reasonably priced. The place was full of locals (I presume) so it must be good.
It actually was pretty good. We were full and were waiting for out bill when 2 new dishes were brought out. Stir-fried clams in black bean sauce and crispy crab claws. These were my mother’s favorites, but we were too full to eat anymore. Just another bad beat. Our bill came to $29, of which $25 would be comped off. I received another fortune, and it was an ominous one.
With only 1 day to go, it was time to start thinking about work again.
The next stop was the Tropicana. Now this place used to be a pretty sordid dump in my opinion. With it’s dirty sticky carpet and poor ventilation, I thought this was the casino old gamblers came to die in on the Strip. Well, now that it’s been renovated, it looks fantastic. Everything is white and clean, and I wouldn’t mind staying here now.
I went to the player’s club desk to see if I could do the $200 rebate promotion even though I had a card. The lady said that if I didn't had any activity on my card in the last 2 years I was eligible. Sure enough, my last time in here was back in 2007.
Perhaps what I did next was not ethical, but I’ll describe it for you anyways and you can be the judge. I was probably down close to the $200 before I started playing the “Goldfish 2” slot machine. I received a 20-spin bonus, and then removed my card before the free spins started. I won about $150 during that bonus. I cashed out and then played a “Texas Tina” slot machine and the same thing happened. The bonus triggered and I pulled my card out before the free scatter spins started. Once again I won about $150. Would these wins register on my card or did they still think I lost $200?
I went over to the promotion kiosk, and lo and behold $100 in free play was awarded to me now, with another $100 available for my next trip (valid up to 1 year). I guess it is cheating in a way. I end up actually winning a total of $300 here.
The Mob Museum was probably the highlight of the trip for me as far as shows and attractions. I just loved the “Godfather” movies, “Good Fellas”, “Casino” and “The Sopranos”. There are some pretty amazing artefacts in here and the technology they use in this interactive attraction is incredible. I won’t give away what happens during the tour, but since the results of your tour can be different each time, I for one will definitely come back a second time. Even my mom found the tour quite enjoyable.
Me, mom and De Niro.
After the Mob Experience we headed back to Planet Hollywood as I had a coupon for 2 free buffets. We shopped for a bit here and I bought my wife a dress.
I think the Spice Market Buffet has slipped a bit as well. They used to have split Alaskan King Crab on the menu but that’s been downgraded to Snow Crab. The diamond card saves the day once again as we were able to bypass the line that went all the way up the escalator.
Would you pay an extra $12 just to go to the front of the line?
There’s something new. I’ve never seen cotton candy at a Las Vegas buffet before.
I’m not a big fan of lamb, but they had this skewered barbecued lamb in the Middle Eastern section that was incredible. I added a bit of hummus and tabouleh (another first for me) to it, and it was by far the best thing I had eaten this trip.
After dinner, we made our way over to TI for Mystere. I managed to win $200 playing the “I Love Lucy” slots before the show. This was my third time seeing the show, but the first time for my mother. Overall she liked this show much better than Love. She was particularly impressed with the 2 strongmen and their power routine.
We checked into Caesars Palace for our last 2 nights here. We were given a Palace tower room instead of an Augustus Tower room. Neither of us had ever stayed here before, so I can’t really complain.
My mother went to sleep right away, but I went into the casino for a few hours. Almost immediately I won $400 on a crap table. I then stayed awake for the next 4 hours playing a variety of games: slots, blackjack and craps and finally went to sleep still up that original $400 from 4 hours ago. I was actually up $600 at one point, but squandered $200 on a Three Card poker table with a $15 minimum bet. I was dealt 6 straight losing hands and the money was gone! Why do people like this game?
Day 10 finale to follow.
My mother wasn’t hungry, so after we got up we just checked out of Paris and loaded up the car. Today we had plans to see the Mob Experience at the new Tropicana and watch Mystere at Treasure Island tonight.
I didn’t know what kind of promotions they had going on at the Palms, but I decided we’d kill some time there. They were running a promotion were you could redeem points you earned on Mondays for a variety of gifts. The most expensive was a digital camera for earning 12,000 points. It looked as if my luck was experiencing an up-tick again as I had a few nice hits early on.
A $457 hit. Why didn’t I bet max coin? Because it’s $10 a spin that’s why.
First time I’ve ever hit a 5-symbol scatter pay. It was good for $300
This was only for $120 but I’m including it anyways since there weren’t enough bright spots this trip.
When all was said and done, my mother and I had run about $3500 through the machines and were up about $400 or so. You weren’t allowed to select more than 1 of each item, so we got a mini photo key-chain, a useless magnetic photo holder that we left behind, a camera pouch, a memory pillow, an ugly red leather photo album and a huge heavy wooden box / photo album.
I saw several people getting in line to pick up a free gift in one of the Palms’ ballrooms. I didn’t have a flier with me, but I got in line anyways to see if I could get the free beach towel they were handing out. Who knows, right? Canada Post was on strike just before I left, so I might have been eligible and didn’t know it. I get to the front of the line and hand the lady my ID and player’s card. She scanned my card and stared at the computer screen for a moment.
“Nope, you aren’t eligible for one.” I make the walk of shame back into the casino to get my mom.
We drove out to the M casino because I wanted to pick up my free Flex-Fit hat. Unfortunately, I couldn’t pick it up until Tuesday, so we would have to come back. The both of us did play and earn 750 points in order to get a free T-shirt though. I had a nice hit on the Mermaids slots to keep me going.
I really like the M casino. Too bad the place was mostly empty. It looks like they’re even opening up their pool to the public in order to generate some traffic. I hope it works out for them. I took some pictures of the Bob Dancer Max Progressives here in case anyone is interested. I didn’t see anyone playing them.
We drove back to the Gold Coast next to eat Dim Sum at Ping Pang Pong. I’ve heard the Dim Sum here is very good and reasonably priced. The place was full of locals (I presume) so it must be good.
It actually was pretty good. We were full and were waiting for out bill when 2 new dishes were brought out. Stir-fried clams in black bean sauce and crispy crab claws. These were my mother’s favorites, but we were too full to eat anymore. Just another bad beat. Our bill came to $29, of which $25 would be comped off. I received another fortune, and it was an ominous one.
With only 1 day to go, it was time to start thinking about work again.
The next stop was the Tropicana. Now this place used to be a pretty sordid dump in my opinion. With it’s dirty sticky carpet and poor ventilation, I thought this was the casino old gamblers came to die in on the Strip. Well, now that it’s been renovated, it looks fantastic. Everything is white and clean, and I wouldn’t mind staying here now.
I went to the player’s club desk to see if I could do the $200 rebate promotion even though I had a card. The lady said that if I didn't had any activity on my card in the last 2 years I was eligible. Sure enough, my last time in here was back in 2007.
Perhaps what I did next was not ethical, but I’ll describe it for you anyways and you can be the judge. I was probably down close to the $200 before I started playing the “Goldfish 2” slot machine. I received a 20-spin bonus, and then removed my card before the free spins started. I won about $150 during that bonus. I cashed out and then played a “Texas Tina” slot machine and the same thing happened. The bonus triggered and I pulled my card out before the free scatter spins started. Once again I won about $150. Would these wins register on my card or did they still think I lost $200?
I went over to the promotion kiosk, and lo and behold $100 in free play was awarded to me now, with another $100 available for my next trip (valid up to 1 year). I guess it is cheating in a way. I end up actually winning a total of $300 here.
The Mob Museum was probably the highlight of the trip for me as far as shows and attractions. I just loved the “Godfather” movies, “Good Fellas”, “Casino” and “The Sopranos”. There are some pretty amazing artefacts in here and the technology they use in this interactive attraction is incredible. I won’t give away what happens during the tour, but since the results of your tour can be different each time, I for one will definitely come back a second time. Even my mom found the tour quite enjoyable.
Me, mom and De Niro.
After the Mob Experience we headed back to Planet Hollywood as I had a coupon for 2 free buffets. We shopped for a bit here and I bought my wife a dress.
I think the Spice Market Buffet has slipped a bit as well. They used to have split Alaskan King Crab on the menu but that’s been downgraded to Snow Crab. The diamond card saves the day once again as we were able to bypass the line that went all the way up the escalator.
Would you pay an extra $12 just to go to the front of the line?
There’s something new. I’ve never seen cotton candy at a Las Vegas buffet before.
I’m not a big fan of lamb, but they had this skewered barbecued lamb in the Middle Eastern section that was incredible. I added a bit of hummus and tabouleh (another first for me) to it, and it was by far the best thing I had eaten this trip.
After dinner, we made our way over to TI for Mystere. I managed to win $200 playing the “I Love Lucy” slots before the show. This was my third time seeing the show, but the first time for my mother. Overall she liked this show much better than Love. She was particularly impressed with the 2 strongmen and their power routine.
We checked into Caesars Palace for our last 2 nights here. We were given a Palace tower room instead of an Augustus Tower room. Neither of us had ever stayed here before, so I can’t really complain.
My mother went to sleep right away, but I went into the casino for a few hours. Almost immediately I won $400 on a crap table. I then stayed awake for the next 4 hours playing a variety of games: slots, blackjack and craps and finally went to sleep still up that original $400 from 4 hours ago. I was actually up $600 at one point, but squandered $200 on a Three Card poker table with a $15 minimum bet. I was dealt 6 straight losing hands and the money was gone! Why do people like this game?
Day 10 finale to follow.
