Day 1: We made plans for our son to stay at his best friend’s house so that he didn’t have to miss school and my wife and I could have an adult-only trip to Vegas this time! We hit the road from Claremont at about 10:45 am. Our plan was to hit the outlets in Barstow to do some holiday shopping and then on to Vegas. We found great stuff at great bargains so we were there from 11:45 – 1:30, mostly shopping separately for each other! I got an early gift from Jan as she decided I needed it in Vegas – an adorable red (lucky color according to feng shui) purse for gambling. It’s just big enough for my money, phone, glasses, and lipstick! I love it and it matches my lucky red loafers!
By the time we hit the outskirts of Vegas, we were starving since we hadn’t eaten since 8:00 am. We went to our favorite sandwich shop, Capriotti’s, for the veggie turkey (that is vegetarian faux turkey, not turkey with vegetables). We went to the one that is across the street from South Point. Once we had wolfed that down, we thought it prudent to take the 215 east, get off at Eastern, and visit Nielsen’s for some of the best frozen custard to be had in Vegas. We also enjoy Luv It Custard (off Las Vegas Blvd. near the Stratosphere) but that is no longer convenient to our Vegas home of Red Rock. And for those of you wondering about two adults getting frozen custard in the middle of winter, (and it was cold in Vegas while we were there) we love ice cream and frozen custard and decided a long time ago that there is no weather or occasion where a frozen delight would not be appropriate!
We arrived at Red Rock around 5:00 and I checked in via the VIP lounge. Apparently, their computer system was being “upgraded” and had been down all afternoon. So they had to take down all my information manually. It wasn’t a problem for me but I can see what a hassle it was for them all day. We had a room on the 17th floor on the canyon/pool side. As soon as we unpacked, we attempted to get online on our laptops. I don’t think I mentioned this in my last trip report but Red Rock recently started charging $14.95/day per computer to get online. Resort fees are automatically comped up front when my host books the room but this charge is separate from the resort fees! I got it comped last time but I think it’s a bad idea in general. Anyway, because the computers were down, the system didn’t recognize that we were in that room so I had to call a tech guy to get us online. It was a quick fix and we didn’t even get charged for that first 24 hours of online service.
Jan could tell that I was itching to go downstairs and get some gambling in before dinner so she sent me on my way. I had decided that I was going to do the same thing that I did during my first session last month (when I won the $11K) and that was to start out on Alice in Wonderland Mad Tea Party and then move to Ruby Slippers. Imagine my dismay when I discovered that they had removed Mad Tea Party just ONE DAY before. I thought they were quite popular slots so I was surprised to say the least. So I find the relatively new Ghostbusters slot and sit down and very quickly got a bonus round. I played for about 15 minutes and then moved on.
I then tried out the new slot machines that were placed where the Mad Tea Party used to be: Breakfast at Tiffany’s. This has video scenes as well as lots of voice-overs from the 1961 movie starring Audrey Hepburn. I hit a few bonus rounds on this one. I’m not a fan of the movie, so this slot didn’t hold my interest for too long. And then there’s the fact that Ruby Slippers is calling my name! I do not start out picking well on the avoid the witch bonuses that I got. I’ve been playing for about an hour total so I decide it’s time to go back upstairs and relax with Jan before dinner. At this point, I’m down $300.
We end up at Terra Rossa for dinner and have some fabulous wine and our favorite pizza. After a lovely dinner, it is time for me to gamble in earnest. Jan wishes me luck as she heads back up to the room and I set off to spend some more time with Dorothy and the gang. I video all bonus rounds but usually only keep those where I win over $200. Here are those ruby slippers winners from both nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g16xITYqU7I
Included in the video in no particular order are wins for $225, $264, $333, $933 (top win for me this trip), $208, $165, $174, $566, $189, $342, and $324
I also played a bit on Sex and the City (put in $100 and took out $100), a 3x4x5x $1 reel spin machine with a max bet of $5 that Deb told me about. I put $100 in and played it up down and back up to $100 again in about 10 minutes and decided to cash out.
I was up playing until about 2:00 am so I knew that I had definitely played enough to get all of our expenses comped on this visit. I was required to play for 2 hours in order to pick up my $750 in promo chips the next day – no problem! I went to bed about $500 up. ?
Day 2:
Slept in and then exercised a bit in the gym followed by a much longer stint in the spa. We enjoyed the spa until it was time for our manicures in the salon at 1:30. We followed that up with lunch in the café. I had a delicious spinach egg white frittata.
We ate dinner at Terra Rossa again, this time we shared the green bean salad and the vegetarian risotto along with an excellent white wine. Today is the day that I get to pick up my $750 in promotional chips so after dinner I head to the cashier’s cage to get my chips.
You can only get them in $25 or $100 denominations. I chose $25. My vision of how this works was not all that accurate. I thought that I could keep playing the promo chips until I lost. What happens instead is that you play the chips once and then win or lose, they take them away.
I started out at the roulette wheel. I attempted to place 11 numbers for $25 each and was instructed that I was not allowed to play promo chips on the inside numbers, only on the outside. Arrgg. That blew my whole plan. I decided to play $100 on red and $100 on odd. I won the red so now I have $100 in regular chips and $550 in promo chips left. I repeated the bet and won on odd. I put $200 in promo chips on red and win! I left roulette with $400 in regular chips and $150 in promo chips and headed to the craps table.
I get $400 in regular chips to add to my $150 in promo chips. I see that the table is cold and play the don’t side. I lay the 4 and 10 for $100 each using my promo chips and $50 of regular chips. I also bet the don’t pass and the seven is rolled for a win! For those not familiar with craps, that means I won $50 each on the 4 and 10 as well as my don’t pass bet. That takes care of my promo chips. Final tally with $750 promo chips: $400 at roulette + $100 at craps = win of $500. I’m quite pleased with that.
I continue to play craps for about another 45 minutes. I had a good roll myself and left with $1,100 total. Things are looking good. Now it’s time for Ruby Slippers again. My picking on the witch bonus is much better tonight. Here are the witch bonuses where I managed to NOT pick the witch right away: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5jGs_J4ZUU
I especially love the one where I picked the Tin Man (3x bonus on next pick) followed by the Lion ($120 x 3) for $360 hit (total win of $670)
Finally, here is a nice win (2nd best of the trip) on a free spin bonus on with all 4 characters activated:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikh-bgNhCzg
I try my luck at roulette later that night and drop $100.
I played until about midnight and had so much fun! It is more fun when you win, of course. When all is said and done, I played for about 11 hours over the two nights, everything was comped (RFB and manicures) and I am leaving with $1,500. I’m clearly on a winning streak. We already have plans to go back in February but if they send me an offer with lots of FP for January, we might just fit in another trip!
By the time we hit the outskirts of Vegas, we were starving since we hadn’t eaten since 8:00 am. We went to our favorite sandwich shop, Capriotti’s, for the veggie turkey (that is vegetarian faux turkey, not turkey with vegetables). We went to the one that is across the street from South Point. Once we had wolfed that down, we thought it prudent to take the 215 east, get off at Eastern, and visit Nielsen’s for some of the best frozen custard to be had in Vegas. We also enjoy Luv It Custard (off Las Vegas Blvd. near the Stratosphere) but that is no longer convenient to our Vegas home of Red Rock. And for those of you wondering about two adults getting frozen custard in the middle of winter, (and it was cold in Vegas while we were there) we love ice cream and frozen custard and decided a long time ago that there is no weather or occasion where a frozen delight would not be appropriate!
We arrived at Red Rock around 5:00 and I checked in via the VIP lounge. Apparently, their computer system was being “upgraded” and had been down all afternoon. So they had to take down all my information manually. It wasn’t a problem for me but I can see what a hassle it was for them all day. We had a room on the 17th floor on the canyon/pool side. As soon as we unpacked, we attempted to get online on our laptops. I don’t think I mentioned this in my last trip report but Red Rock recently started charging $14.95/day per computer to get online. Resort fees are automatically comped up front when my host books the room but this charge is separate from the resort fees! I got it comped last time but I think it’s a bad idea in general. Anyway, because the computers were down, the system didn’t recognize that we were in that room so I had to call a tech guy to get us online. It was a quick fix and we didn’t even get charged for that first 24 hours of online service.
Jan could tell that I was itching to go downstairs and get some gambling in before dinner so she sent me on my way. I had decided that I was going to do the same thing that I did during my first session last month (when I won the $11K) and that was to start out on Alice in Wonderland Mad Tea Party and then move to Ruby Slippers. Imagine my dismay when I discovered that they had removed Mad Tea Party just ONE DAY before. I thought they were quite popular slots so I was surprised to say the least. So I find the relatively new Ghostbusters slot and sit down and very quickly got a bonus round. I played for about 15 minutes and then moved on.
I then tried out the new slot machines that were placed where the Mad Tea Party used to be: Breakfast at Tiffany’s. This has video scenes as well as lots of voice-overs from the 1961 movie starring Audrey Hepburn. I hit a few bonus rounds on this one. I’m not a fan of the movie, so this slot didn’t hold my interest for too long. And then there’s the fact that Ruby Slippers is calling my name! I do not start out picking well on the avoid the witch bonuses that I got. I’ve been playing for about an hour total so I decide it’s time to go back upstairs and relax with Jan before dinner. At this point, I’m down $300.
We end up at Terra Rossa for dinner and have some fabulous wine and our favorite pizza. After a lovely dinner, it is time for me to gamble in earnest. Jan wishes me luck as she heads back up to the room and I set off to spend some more time with Dorothy and the gang. I video all bonus rounds but usually only keep those where I win over $200. Here are those ruby slippers winners from both nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g16xITYqU7I
Included in the video in no particular order are wins for $225, $264, $333, $933 (top win for me this trip), $208, $165, $174, $566, $189, $342, and $324
I also played a bit on Sex and the City (put in $100 and took out $100), a 3x4x5x $1 reel spin machine with a max bet of $5 that Deb told me about. I put $100 in and played it up down and back up to $100 again in about 10 minutes and decided to cash out.
I was up playing until about 2:00 am so I knew that I had definitely played enough to get all of our expenses comped on this visit. I was required to play for 2 hours in order to pick up my $750 in promo chips the next day – no problem! I went to bed about $500 up. ?
Day 2:
Slept in and then exercised a bit in the gym followed by a much longer stint in the spa. We enjoyed the spa until it was time for our manicures in the salon at 1:30. We followed that up with lunch in the café. I had a delicious spinach egg white frittata.
We ate dinner at Terra Rossa again, this time we shared the green bean salad and the vegetarian risotto along with an excellent white wine. Today is the day that I get to pick up my $750 in promotional chips so after dinner I head to the cashier’s cage to get my chips.
You can only get them in $25 or $100 denominations. I chose $25. My vision of how this works was not all that accurate. I thought that I could keep playing the promo chips until I lost. What happens instead is that you play the chips once and then win or lose, they take them away.
I started out at the roulette wheel. I attempted to place 11 numbers for $25 each and was instructed that I was not allowed to play promo chips on the inside numbers, only on the outside. Arrgg. That blew my whole plan. I decided to play $100 on red and $100 on odd. I won the red so now I have $100 in regular chips and $550 in promo chips left. I repeated the bet and won on odd. I put $200 in promo chips on red and win! I left roulette with $400 in regular chips and $150 in promo chips and headed to the craps table.
I get $400 in regular chips to add to my $150 in promo chips. I see that the table is cold and play the don’t side. I lay the 4 and 10 for $100 each using my promo chips and $50 of regular chips. I also bet the don’t pass and the seven is rolled for a win! For those not familiar with craps, that means I won $50 each on the 4 and 10 as well as my don’t pass bet. That takes care of my promo chips. Final tally with $750 promo chips: $400 at roulette + $100 at craps = win of $500. I’m quite pleased with that.
I continue to play craps for about another 45 minutes. I had a good roll myself and left with $1,100 total. Things are looking good. Now it’s time for Ruby Slippers again. My picking on the witch bonus is much better tonight. Here are the witch bonuses where I managed to NOT pick the witch right away: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5jGs_J4ZUU
I especially love the one where I picked the Tin Man (3x bonus on next pick) followed by the Lion ($120 x 3) for $360 hit (total win of $670)
Finally, here is a nice win (2nd best of the trip) on a free spin bonus on with all 4 characters activated:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikh-bgNhCzg
I try my luck at roulette later that night and drop $100.
I played until about midnight and had so much fun! It is more fun when you win, of course. When all is said and done, I played for about 11 hours over the two nights, everything was comped (RFB and manicures) and I am leaving with $1,500. I’m clearly on a winning streak. We already have plans to go back in February but if they send me an offer with lots of FP for January, we might just fit in another trip!
