I was up at 6:00am and gave my wife a call. We had breakfast once again at the MGM Grand and headed over to the Orleans to try and earn enough points for the Pepsi shirts.
I know that the multi-hand blackjack machines are bad, but likely better than slot machines. The thing is, you earn points on them at the Orleans, so I think they’re the ideal machine to earn points on. When you play a slot machine or video poker, you either win or lose your bet. Sure there are some pays that pay out your original bet back, but I think getting a push on a multi-hand blackjack machine is much more likely and you earn points. I could be wrong though. Does anyone know what the chances are of getting a push on a game such Jacks or Better (for which you need to run more money through for a point) versus video blackjack?
Anyhow, Sean didn’t want the T-shirt so I ended up earning points on both of our cards and got 2 of the T-shirts. The bad news is that I lost $90 earning the shirts.
Worst news is that I drop another $800 before finally experiencing a moment of clarity and get my ass out of there.
Sean wanted to check out the Bass Pro Shops at the Silverton so we head over there for awhile. I drop another $300 here on slots and blackjack. Will the losing ever stop?
We head over to Target and the Las Vegas Premium Outlets South to pick up a few more things for my family.
The Tropicana was our next stop. The offer here included 3 free nights, $20 per day in free slot play and 2 tickets for the comedy show at the Laugh Factory. The beds here were firmer than the ones at the MGM Grand.
Sean with the perpetual beer in his hand
We had an early dinner at the MGM Grand and ate at the Grand Wok and Sushi bar. We were going to order a lobster, but MarkUp...I mean Market Price was $148 for a 2 pound lobster. We ended up just getting some appetizers, noodles and 2 stir-fried entrees that would have cost about $45 in any non-casino Chinese Restaurant but cost us $90 in room charges.
Sean is full of surprises and can use chopsticks fairly well.
I was seriously considering backing out of the WSOP because my luck thus far had been horrendous. I left my decision to play up to the 2 fortune cookies we got at the end of the meal. Pretty freaky, huh?
I did some quick calculations and determined that after breakfast tomorrow, I would still have about $90 in unused resort credit. So I looked up their wine list on the room service menu. I didn’t have enough credit left to get the $1850 bottle of Louis Roederer Rose Cristal or the $5000 bottle of Remy Martin Louis XIII, so I decided on 2 bottles of Domaine Ste. Michelle Vineyard Select @ $40 a piece. I tipped the person who brought the bottles to room $10, which is probably what they were worth for both anyways. Sean decides to heist the MGM plastic champagne container to store a few beers with ice so that he can carry around them around with him.
I think this was eventually left behind at the Tropicana.
After moving some luggage over to the Tropicana and converting the first $20 free slot play into $20.47 we headed over to the Aria to see Zarkana. The mvVegas tickets had us in Section 102 Row N Seats 7 and 8.
The show was alright. None of the acts were really mind-bending or amazing. I did find the constant singing to be annoying. I understand some French but it didn’t really didn’t sound like French. Not all of it anyways. I’m pretty sure it was a mixture of French and Wailing Gibberish. I am Canadian and know Cirque is Canadian originating from Quebec, but why the hell do all these Cirque shows insist on singing in French when less than 5% of the audience on any given night would understand what they are saying?
I donate another $400 to the “Lord of the Rings” Progressive before leaving Aria. I hate that place.
We drive back to the Tropicana to see the comedy show at the Laugh Factory. I was playing a bit on a “Shrimpmania” slot machine and there was a man to my left who was screaming loudly at a “Sun and Moon” slot machine he was playing and pounding his fist against the glass. He must have lost a lot of money because just before we left to see the show, he winds up and smashes the machine so hard it actually cracks the glass! Sean says he thinks the psycho busted his hand since he was bleeding all over the carpet. I was waiting for security to show up but no one came and he continued to play. I took a picture of the smashed glass after he left.
I'm surprised security never hauled this guy away. The glass was replaced the next day!
The comedy show was okay. The headliner was Gerry Bednob who was in the movie “The 40 Year Old Virgin”. He was pretty funny.
After the show we start playing at the Tropicana. What transpires over this night has never happened to me before in all my years of visiting casinos. I sit down at an empty blackjack table with a dealer who was a dead ringer for Janeane Garafalo if Janeane Garafalo had every bit of soft tissue on her face pierced, lots of black goth-like make-up and a fish net leotard.
Anyways, she was good to me but didn’t say much. I ended up erasing a lot of my earlier losses, and found myself ahead about $600. Sean didn’t do so well and dropped about $250. I proceed to lose that in some random slot machines and find myself in the red once again. So I go back to Janeane’s table, play by myself and win $700. The cycle repeats itself, and I lose the $700 in the slot machines. One more time I go back to Janeane’s table and win $800 this time. This time I only lose $500 before getting Sean and telling him we’re going back to the MGM Grand to sleep / play.
It’s bad news for Sean. He’s lost his whole bankroll and is trying to get more money from his bank account. Not a good idea under ideal conditions, and these conditions were far from ideal since Sean was starting to get his drink on, and was slurping a strong frozen drink ($20!) in a Tropicana souvenir glass (plastic?)
$20 for that?
I advised him against it, but he said he was pissed (note the dual word usage here) and wanted to play poker.
Me: "You've been pretty good so far this trip, Don't get too drunk and blow all your money. We're only on the third day! Do you really want drunk Sean to return?"
We separate at the MGM Grand at about 1:30am. Sean stumbles off towards the poker room and I proceed to lose some more money but this time in the MGM Grand slots. The boom and bust cycle continued here at the MGM Grand which is what I thought was amazing. I went through 3 more cycles of losing the money in the slot machines, then winning it back on the blackjack tables. In total, I went through this boom and bust cycle 6 times in 3 hours. If I had just played blackjack and banked all those wins, I would have won close to $4000. As it turns out I ended up stopping at 4:30am with my bankroll back in the black. Sean was not in the room when I went to sleep at about 5:00am.
My Bankroll = +$1300
Sean’s bankroll = -$600 ???
# drinks Sean had = 15 + ???
Day 4 to follow.
I know that the multi-hand blackjack machines are bad, but likely better than slot machines. The thing is, you earn points on them at the Orleans, so I think they’re the ideal machine to earn points on. When you play a slot machine or video poker, you either win or lose your bet. Sure there are some pays that pay out your original bet back, but I think getting a push on a multi-hand blackjack machine is much more likely and you earn points. I could be wrong though. Does anyone know what the chances are of getting a push on a game such Jacks or Better (for which you need to run more money through for a point) versus video blackjack?
Anyhow, Sean didn’t want the T-shirt so I ended up earning points on both of our cards and got 2 of the T-shirts. The bad news is that I lost $90 earning the shirts.
Worst news is that I drop another $800 before finally experiencing a moment of clarity and get my ass out of there.
Sean wanted to check out the Bass Pro Shops at the Silverton so we head over there for awhile. I drop another $300 here on slots and blackjack. Will the losing ever stop?
We head over to Target and the Las Vegas Premium Outlets South to pick up a few more things for my family.
The Tropicana was our next stop. The offer here included 3 free nights, $20 per day in free slot play and 2 tickets for the comedy show at the Laugh Factory. The beds here were firmer than the ones at the MGM Grand.
Sean with the perpetual beer in his hand
We had an early dinner at the MGM Grand and ate at the Grand Wok and Sushi bar. We were going to order a lobster, but MarkUp...I mean Market Price was $148 for a 2 pound lobster. We ended up just getting some appetizers, noodles and 2 stir-fried entrees that would have cost about $45 in any non-casino Chinese Restaurant but cost us $90 in room charges.
Sean is full of surprises and can use chopsticks fairly well.
I was seriously considering backing out of the WSOP because my luck thus far had been horrendous. I left my decision to play up to the 2 fortune cookies we got at the end of the meal. Pretty freaky, huh?
I did some quick calculations and determined that after breakfast tomorrow, I would still have about $90 in unused resort credit. So I looked up their wine list on the room service menu. I didn’t have enough credit left to get the $1850 bottle of Louis Roederer Rose Cristal or the $5000 bottle of Remy Martin Louis XIII, so I decided on 2 bottles of Domaine Ste. Michelle Vineyard Select @ $40 a piece. I tipped the person who brought the bottles to room $10, which is probably what they were worth for both anyways. Sean decides to heist the MGM plastic champagne container to store a few beers with ice so that he can carry around them around with him.
I think this was eventually left behind at the Tropicana.
After moving some luggage over to the Tropicana and converting the first $20 free slot play into $20.47 we headed over to the Aria to see Zarkana. The mvVegas tickets had us in Section 102 Row N Seats 7 and 8.
The show was alright. None of the acts were really mind-bending or amazing. I did find the constant singing to be annoying. I understand some French but it didn’t really didn’t sound like French. Not all of it anyways. I’m pretty sure it was a mixture of French and Wailing Gibberish. I am Canadian and know Cirque is Canadian originating from Quebec, but why the hell do all these Cirque shows insist on singing in French when less than 5% of the audience on any given night would understand what they are saying?
I donate another $400 to the “Lord of the Rings” Progressive before leaving Aria. I hate that place.
We drive back to the Tropicana to see the comedy show at the Laugh Factory. I was playing a bit on a “Shrimpmania” slot machine and there was a man to my left who was screaming loudly at a “Sun and Moon” slot machine he was playing and pounding his fist against the glass. He must have lost a lot of money because just before we left to see the show, he winds up and smashes the machine so hard it actually cracks the glass! Sean says he thinks the psycho busted his hand since he was bleeding all over the carpet. I was waiting for security to show up but no one came and he continued to play. I took a picture of the smashed glass after he left.
I'm surprised security never hauled this guy away. The glass was replaced the next day!
The comedy show was okay. The headliner was Gerry Bednob who was in the movie “The 40 Year Old Virgin”. He was pretty funny.
After the show we start playing at the Tropicana. What transpires over this night has never happened to me before in all my years of visiting casinos. I sit down at an empty blackjack table with a dealer who was a dead ringer for Janeane Garafalo if Janeane Garafalo had every bit of soft tissue on her face pierced, lots of black goth-like make-up and a fish net leotard.
Anyways, she was good to me but didn’t say much. I ended up erasing a lot of my earlier losses, and found myself ahead about $600. Sean didn’t do so well and dropped about $250. I proceed to lose that in some random slot machines and find myself in the red once again. So I go back to Janeane’s table, play by myself and win $700. The cycle repeats itself, and I lose the $700 in the slot machines. One more time I go back to Janeane’s table and win $800 this time. This time I only lose $500 before getting Sean and telling him we’re going back to the MGM Grand to sleep / play.
It’s bad news for Sean. He’s lost his whole bankroll and is trying to get more money from his bank account. Not a good idea under ideal conditions, and these conditions were far from ideal since Sean was starting to get his drink on, and was slurping a strong frozen drink ($20!) in a Tropicana souvenir glass (plastic?)
$20 for that?
I advised him against it, but he said he was pissed (note the dual word usage here) and wanted to play poker.
Me: "You've been pretty good so far this trip, Don't get too drunk and blow all your money. We're only on the third day! Do you really want drunk Sean to return?"
We separate at the MGM Grand at about 1:30am. Sean stumbles off towards the poker room and I proceed to lose some more money but this time in the MGM Grand slots. The boom and bust cycle continued here at the MGM Grand which is what I thought was amazing. I went through 3 more cycles of losing the money in the slot machines, then winning it back on the blackjack tables. In total, I went through this boom and bust cycle 6 times in 3 hours. If I had just played blackjack and banked all those wins, I would have won close to $4000. As it turns out I ended up stopping at 4:30am with my bankroll back in the black. Sean was not in the room when I went to sleep at about 5:00am.
My Bankroll = +$1300
Sean’s bankroll = -$600 ???
# drinks Sean had = 15 + ???
Day 4 to follow.
