Reaching for the Stars – Chapter 15
Please forgive me, for it has been two months since my last confes—er—chapter. There really isn’t a good reason for this long delay except to say I went through a bit of writing slump, which admittedly is not characteristic of me.
I’ve actually taken four trips (two to Rincon—now called the Southern California Resort—but I will continue to call it Rincon; and to Laughlin and Las Vegas). I won’t spend much time on the previous trips and spend a little more time on this latest adventure.
There’s very little to add about the benefits of being a 7 Stars card holder other than the expected free Internet and in-room movies. During the month of March, Rincon had a promotion called Spin for the Riches (or something of the ilk) where you go to the promotions booth and they spin a video Wheel of Fortune looking icon. One week I “won” $10 free play. The next Sunday I won NOTHING. Yes, they actually had a promotion to get people to drive out to the reservation, which is more than 40 miles from the city, to win Nothing! Who is the lame-brain person in marketing who came up with that? I was going to complain in the usual survey they email me after each trip, but wouldn’t you know it? They quit sending them. There were plenty of people that also got a nothing (called Lose a Turn on the wheel) and were genuinely pissed. At least I was already staying in the hotel, but if I made a special drive I think I would have been livid.
One of the trips to Rincon was an offer for a couple of nights and free tickets to a Joan Rivers concert. I was given one of the rooms in the just completed new tower and though they are nicely anointed, they’re on the small size (no—I wasn’t given a suite). My room’s shower drain was terribly slow and by the time I finished showering, I was standing in a small pool of water. I alerted the front desk—not a big concern as I would expect some tweaks along the way. The finished the tower so quickly.
Joan Rivers is not everyone’s cup of tea—I get that. You either hate her or you love. I’m in the latter camp. I understand that she’s filthy, irreverent, and downright nasty at times, but I also know it’s her shtick. Her show was an hour and a half and for a woman with her 80+ years, I was amazed and how she strutted the stage, laid on the floor, jumped on the piano, and kept the audience laughing non-stop the whole time. I had a great time. Gambling was dismal. However, as I waited for one of my Dream Machines to open up, I noticed the man playing it talking to his wife and looking at me. It turns out they were LVA members and recognized me. Jim and wife (forgot her name—sorry) were from Arlington Texas and had read many of my reports and were on these machines because of them. We had a nice talk and he was making some good money. Though I managed my 2500 tier credits, I lost some of my toolbox contents.
My next trip to Rincon (a week later) was simply a drive up as George and his wife, Francis were coming all the way from Richmond, BC Canada and wanted to meet. We had a really nice talk at the buffet. They seemed to be really enjoying themselves and I was glad to have met them.
The next day I headed for Laughlin, along with Cindy and her daughter Danielle and her boyfriend Robert. I was offered free rooms along with two tickets to Rascal Flatts. I’m not a country music fan, but Cindy and Danielle are so I offered to give them the tickets while Robert and I gambled. They had a great time at the concert and again, I made my 2500 tier points…but not royals…which meant another loss. All I can say is that it’s a good thing I did really well last year or I’d be pretty worried.
This past week (May 12 – 19), I was off to Laughlin and Las Vegas again. A while back, my son had asked if I could score a couple of rooms on the Strip on the weekend for three nights and I mentioned that I know I could get one, but I’m sure the second would be a charge of some kind. I notified my host at the Rio, who notified a host a Bally’s, who said he could do that with one room being comped and the other $295 total for the three nights. I thought this was a very good deal considering it was a weekend and grabbed it. My son’s best friend from Texas was coming in to celebrate his 40th birthday and there would be four of them total so they needed two rooms with two queens in each. I soon learned that adjoining rooms don’t both have two queens; however, they still managed to get the rooms on the same floor. For myself, I booked a couple nights at the Orleans (comped) and two nights at Sam’s Town (comped)—both came with a $10 food credit.
At Bally’s the rooms were both very nice. For “me” was a mini-suite which was nicely furnished (though a missing dining table was odd. And the other room was a standard room but had the best view of both the Paris pool and Eifel Tower and of the Bellagio fountains. The host (who I’ve never met) definitely came through.
The mini-suite at Bally’s in the Jubilee Tower
Another angle of the mini-suite.
My stay at the Orleans was pretty much non-eventful. I lost a hundred in the 8/5 Bonus Aces and another hundred at various games. I played some 2/4 poker, but was being dealt one bad beat after another. I played well, but I just couldn’t catch any good cards.
I spent one day just walking around looking at the recently opened Cromwell, which has construction still going on; however, what I saw was very impressive. When you walk through it, it’s hard to identify anything that used to be the Barbary Coast or Bill’s Gambling Hall. I was absolutely amazed at just how fast they did this remodel.
This was taken seven weeks ago at Strip view of the Cromwell…
This what it looks like now…amazing!
The valet entrance to The Cromwell
The center walkway in the casino of the Cromwell—nervous picture taking—many eyes on me
Just one of the six casino bars sprinkled throughout the property
I took the pedestrian bridge across to Caesars and then across to the Bellagio to grab some pics of the spring atrium display. I read that there was a push to rid these bridges of the panhandlers and water/umbrella/sunglass hawkers from these bridges, but that obviously wasn’t working as I counted six beggars (homeless/”veterans”/down-on-my-luck); four people with ice chests of water; and five assorted musicians. C’mon!
One view of the spring display at Bellagio’s atrium (not shown is a small house full of birds)
The main view of the atrium of this tree house, which has been used before.
I walked over to the tram which connects the Bellagio with Aria and Crystals (well run and a good reason why the monorail will never be added to this side of the Strip. I walked through Crystals and on this particular day I was surprised to see some shoppers actually walking around the shopping area—it’s usually deserted. I made my way over to the Aria where I was going to enjoy a lunch buffet, which was a comp from the MyVegas game site. This was the first time I’m used one of these comps and was grateful at the ease at using them. I first went to the slot club who put the lunch comp on my slot card (I was expecting a voucher). The buffet is upstairs and after a short wait in line (I’m now spoiled with my 7 Star line passes and had to wait in line like everyone else—boo!)
The buffet area at the Aria
The buffet was not large but the dishes served were certainly a notch ahead of most the buffets in town. Most of the dishes were served in small casserole style containers, so fresh food is always coming out of the kitchen…nothing seemed to be left very long under heat lamps. The crab legs (served both steamed hot and cold) were halved so there was little peeling away the shells—another plus. One notable dish I really liked at the sushi bar was small portions of smoked salmon—delicious! Another standout was the Texas chili—large chucks of meat with a spicy sauce and beans. The desserts were varied and thankfully small portioned. I certainly give this buffet a hearty, thumbs up.
I walked across the street to the MGM Grand and began the trek back to the Flamingo and on to the newly opened Linq shopping area. Though there were still a few shops still not opened, I thought the layout was well done and most the stores and restaurants seemed reasonably priced considering their location. The Observation Wheel was in motion but only about six or seven of the pods were occupied. I’m going to be receiving a free pass on the Wheel when I return in October for a 7 Stars Signature event, which I’ll report on then.
The recently opened Linq shopping area.
I spent one day playing video poker at Bally’s. I was going to do my play at the Rio, but I was so happy with the rooms they gave me that I felt obligated to give my play here. I sat down at one of my usual 3/5 play machines. I alternate hundreds playing quarter 5-play and then fifty cent 3-play. I was down $600 when things began to turn around and quads finally starting hitting. I was soon up $300 when I hit my first Royal in a long time good for $2,000. This was a needed infusion for my toolbox and certainly made the rest of the day a lot more relaxing.
I held three and caught the other two spades for a needed hit.
I jumped to dollar 3-play for a while, but that was costly and soon went back. When I finally made my needed 2500 tier points, I called it a day. It took me just under 5 hours of play to reach the goal. I toyed with going for the 5K but knew I was too tired and would probable start making mistakes, so I called it a night.
My final day was spent downtown. I like to go downtown at least once every trip. There was really nothing new to see except that the Slotzilla zip line is now in full swing. Fremont Street was busy and the costumed panhandlers were everywhere. There were THREE different “frozen” statues at different parts—I suppose if you can make a buck doing this, whatever. Though it was 103 today, the shade of the canopy and a small breeze made it downright pleasant to just walk around and enjoy the sights. I did take some time out for my traditional hundred into the full pay Pick ‘em at the Fremont. Within the first ten minutes, I was dealt three queens and the fourth showed up for a nifty $150 win; however, everything went ice cold soon after that and I lost a hundred but at least walked away with a small profit.
The final two nights were spent a Sam’s Town and it was good timing as all three days this weekend offered 7X video poker and 11X slots points. I played exclusively at their quarter 9/6 Jacks progressive and though I couldn’t crack a royal (had SO many four-to-the), I did manage quite a nice run of quads and full houses and pocketed $150 profit for the two days while adding almost 30,000 comp points ($50 in comps) to my totals.
I had very little contact with my son and his friends (who wants the old man hanging around?) but heard they had a fantastic time, so this was certainly a very successful week in Sin City.
I’ll be returning in two weeks to begin my annual summer trip and once again the daily reports will begin. This year’s theme: The Summer of Tournaments. I’m booking each and every tournament that’s available to me and I intend to play in all of them. Once—just once I’d like to win a tournament. I’m going to at least give myself the best shot. We’ll see how it goes!
Please forgive me, for it has been two months since my last confes—er—chapter. There really isn’t a good reason for this long delay except to say I went through a bit of writing slump, which admittedly is not characteristic of me.
I’ve actually taken four trips (two to Rincon—now called the Southern California Resort—but I will continue to call it Rincon; and to Laughlin and Las Vegas). I won’t spend much time on the previous trips and spend a little more time on this latest adventure.
There’s very little to add about the benefits of being a 7 Stars card holder other than the expected free Internet and in-room movies. During the month of March, Rincon had a promotion called Spin for the Riches (or something of the ilk) where you go to the promotions booth and they spin a video Wheel of Fortune looking icon. One week I “won” $10 free play. The next Sunday I won NOTHING. Yes, they actually had a promotion to get people to drive out to the reservation, which is more than 40 miles from the city, to win Nothing! Who is the lame-brain person in marketing who came up with that? I was going to complain in the usual survey they email me after each trip, but wouldn’t you know it? They quit sending them. There were plenty of people that also got a nothing (called Lose a Turn on the wheel) and were genuinely pissed. At least I was already staying in the hotel, but if I made a special drive I think I would have been livid.
One of the trips to Rincon was an offer for a couple of nights and free tickets to a Joan Rivers concert. I was given one of the rooms in the just completed new tower and though they are nicely anointed, they’re on the small size (no—I wasn’t given a suite). My room’s shower drain was terribly slow and by the time I finished showering, I was standing in a small pool of water. I alerted the front desk—not a big concern as I would expect some tweaks along the way. The finished the tower so quickly.
Joan Rivers is not everyone’s cup of tea—I get that. You either hate her or you love. I’m in the latter camp. I understand that she’s filthy, irreverent, and downright nasty at times, but I also know it’s her shtick. Her show was an hour and a half and for a woman with her 80+ years, I was amazed and how she strutted the stage, laid on the floor, jumped on the piano, and kept the audience laughing non-stop the whole time. I had a great time. Gambling was dismal. However, as I waited for one of my Dream Machines to open up, I noticed the man playing it talking to his wife and looking at me. It turns out they were LVA members and recognized me. Jim and wife (forgot her name—sorry) were from Arlington Texas and had read many of my reports and were on these machines because of them. We had a nice talk and he was making some good money. Though I managed my 2500 tier credits, I lost some of my toolbox contents.
My next trip to Rincon (a week later) was simply a drive up as George and his wife, Francis were coming all the way from Richmond, BC Canada and wanted to meet. We had a really nice talk at the buffet. They seemed to be really enjoying themselves and I was glad to have met them.
The next day I headed for Laughlin, along with Cindy and her daughter Danielle and her boyfriend Robert. I was offered free rooms along with two tickets to Rascal Flatts. I’m not a country music fan, but Cindy and Danielle are so I offered to give them the tickets while Robert and I gambled. They had a great time at the concert and again, I made my 2500 tier points…but not royals…which meant another loss. All I can say is that it’s a good thing I did really well last year or I’d be pretty worried.
This past week (May 12 – 19), I was off to Laughlin and Las Vegas again. A while back, my son had asked if I could score a couple of rooms on the Strip on the weekend for three nights and I mentioned that I know I could get one, but I’m sure the second would be a charge of some kind. I notified my host at the Rio, who notified a host a Bally’s, who said he could do that with one room being comped and the other $295 total for the three nights. I thought this was a very good deal considering it was a weekend and grabbed it. My son’s best friend from Texas was coming in to celebrate his 40th birthday and there would be four of them total so they needed two rooms with two queens in each. I soon learned that adjoining rooms don’t both have two queens; however, they still managed to get the rooms on the same floor. For myself, I booked a couple nights at the Orleans (comped) and two nights at Sam’s Town (comped)—both came with a $10 food credit.
At Bally’s the rooms were both very nice. For “me” was a mini-suite which was nicely furnished (though a missing dining table was odd. And the other room was a standard room but had the best view of both the Paris pool and Eifel Tower and of the Bellagio fountains. The host (who I’ve never met) definitely came through.
The mini-suite at Bally’s in the Jubilee Tower
Another angle of the mini-suite.
My stay at the Orleans was pretty much non-eventful. I lost a hundred in the 8/5 Bonus Aces and another hundred at various games. I played some 2/4 poker, but was being dealt one bad beat after another. I played well, but I just couldn’t catch any good cards.
I spent one day just walking around looking at the recently opened Cromwell, which has construction still going on; however, what I saw was very impressive. When you walk through it, it’s hard to identify anything that used to be the Barbary Coast or Bill’s Gambling Hall. I was absolutely amazed at just how fast they did this remodel.
This was taken seven weeks ago at Strip view of the Cromwell…
This what it looks like now…amazing!
The valet entrance to The Cromwell
The center walkway in the casino of the Cromwell—nervous picture taking—many eyes on me
Just one of the six casino bars sprinkled throughout the property
I took the pedestrian bridge across to Caesars and then across to the Bellagio to grab some pics of the spring atrium display. I read that there was a push to rid these bridges of the panhandlers and water/umbrella/sunglass hawkers from these bridges, but that obviously wasn’t working as I counted six beggars (homeless/”veterans”/down-on-my-luck); four people with ice chests of water; and five assorted musicians. C’mon!
One view of the spring display at Bellagio’s atrium (not shown is a small house full of birds)
The main view of the atrium of this tree house, which has been used before.
I walked over to the tram which connects the Bellagio with Aria and Crystals (well run and a good reason why the monorail will never be added to this side of the Strip. I walked through Crystals and on this particular day I was surprised to see some shoppers actually walking around the shopping area—it’s usually deserted. I made my way over to the Aria where I was going to enjoy a lunch buffet, which was a comp from the MyVegas game site. This was the first time I’m used one of these comps and was grateful at the ease at using them. I first went to the slot club who put the lunch comp on my slot card (I was expecting a voucher). The buffet is upstairs and after a short wait in line (I’m now spoiled with my 7 Star line passes and had to wait in line like everyone else—boo!)
The buffet area at the Aria
The buffet was not large but the dishes served were certainly a notch ahead of most the buffets in town. Most of the dishes were served in small casserole style containers, so fresh food is always coming out of the kitchen…nothing seemed to be left very long under heat lamps. The crab legs (served both steamed hot and cold) were halved so there was little peeling away the shells—another plus. One notable dish I really liked at the sushi bar was small portions of smoked salmon—delicious! Another standout was the Texas chili—large chucks of meat with a spicy sauce and beans. The desserts were varied and thankfully small portioned. I certainly give this buffet a hearty, thumbs up.
I walked across the street to the MGM Grand and began the trek back to the Flamingo and on to the newly opened Linq shopping area. Though there were still a few shops still not opened, I thought the layout was well done and most the stores and restaurants seemed reasonably priced considering their location. The Observation Wheel was in motion but only about six or seven of the pods were occupied. I’m going to be receiving a free pass on the Wheel when I return in October for a 7 Stars Signature event, which I’ll report on then.
The recently opened Linq shopping area.
I spent one day playing video poker at Bally’s. I was going to do my play at the Rio, but I was so happy with the rooms they gave me that I felt obligated to give my play here. I sat down at one of my usual 3/5 play machines. I alternate hundreds playing quarter 5-play and then fifty cent 3-play. I was down $600 when things began to turn around and quads finally starting hitting. I was soon up $300 when I hit my first Royal in a long time good for $2,000. This was a needed infusion for my toolbox and certainly made the rest of the day a lot more relaxing.
I held three and caught the other two spades for a needed hit.
I jumped to dollar 3-play for a while, but that was costly and soon went back. When I finally made my needed 2500 tier points, I called it a day. It took me just under 5 hours of play to reach the goal. I toyed with going for the 5K but knew I was too tired and would probable start making mistakes, so I called it a night.
My final day was spent downtown. I like to go downtown at least once every trip. There was really nothing new to see except that the Slotzilla zip line is now in full swing. Fremont Street was busy and the costumed panhandlers were everywhere. There were THREE different “frozen” statues at different parts—I suppose if you can make a buck doing this, whatever. Though it was 103 today, the shade of the canopy and a small breeze made it downright pleasant to just walk around and enjoy the sights. I did take some time out for my traditional hundred into the full pay Pick ‘em at the Fremont. Within the first ten minutes, I was dealt three queens and the fourth showed up for a nifty $150 win; however, everything went ice cold soon after that and I lost a hundred but at least walked away with a small profit.
The final two nights were spent a Sam’s Town and it was good timing as all three days this weekend offered 7X video poker and 11X slots points. I played exclusively at their quarter 9/6 Jacks progressive and though I couldn’t crack a royal (had SO many four-to-the), I did manage quite a nice run of quads and full houses and pocketed $150 profit for the two days while adding almost 30,000 comp points ($50 in comps) to my totals.
I had very little contact with my son and his friends (who wants the old man hanging around?) but heard they had a fantastic time, so this was certainly a very successful week in Sin City.
I’ll be returning in two weeks to begin my annual summer trip and once again the daily reports will begin. This year’s theme: The Summer of Tournaments. I’m booking each and every tournament that’s available to me and I intend to play in all of them. Once—just once I’d like to win a tournament. I’m going to at least give myself the best shot. We’ll see how it goes!
