Reaching for the Stars – Chapter 17 (final)
This marks the final chapter of this series. Chapter 1 began more than a year ago when I made the decision to go for the top tier of the Caesars slot card, which they call 7 Stars. Interestingly enough, when I first made Diamond about six or seven years ago, Caesars didn’t advertise 7 Stars and wasn’t known by many as most thought Diamond was their highest level. However, they soon changed that began actively promoting that level and now signs can be seen everywhere. Even though making 7 Stars requires ten times the amount of play to make Diamond, I was curious to see if the benefits were worth it. So, the point of these reports has been dedicated for that purpose. Even though these reports still read like trip reports (or daily diaries), I tried to focus in on the differences with the benefits I received and the treatment I was given.
Last year (2013) I had caught an unusual amount of Royals and since I don’t spend my gambling money on anything other than gambling, I was able to play at higher levels than I ever before. My highest hit was being dealt a Royal at the 50-cent level on a triple play machine for a $6K jackpot and that was soon followed by a couple more at that level. I play video poker with about 95% of my funds so with Caesars, this means playing through one and a half million dollars through the games. To make Diamond, you need to only run $150K. One would assume that you’d receive about 10X the amount of benefits to match the play. Little did I know then that within the 7 Stars tier, there are six more levels. To reach to top of that, you need to run $6M through their machines (at the video poker rate and $3M in slots). Being that I’m at the entry level of 7 Stars, I was given the very bottom of those benefits: an experience event, a signature event, a $500 dinner, and a gift from the Sky Mall catalog (only select gifts offered, most valued at around $150). Also, all 7 Star holders get a comp room simply by calling your host 48 hours ahead of time. You supposedly get the best room available at the time of your registration, but I found this to be bogus. Rooms are assigned depending on your 7 Star level. I receive a suite no more often than I did when I was a Diamond member (with the exception of Laughlin). Finally, 7 Stars receive priority line passes along with free Internet and free in-room movies.
To be honest, for me the most valuable turned out to be the Internet and movies. Aside from that, I didn’t find everything else all that valuable when considering the benefits of Diamond players. Most lines were designated “Diamond and 7 Stars” and both get into the Diamond lounges and there is one only 7 Stars lounge in Atlantic City. When there is a long Diamond line at buffets or shows, you have the right to walk up to the front of the line; however, it’s not in my personality to simply walk past everyone else and demand priority seating.
This year, I had decided to not renew my 7 Stars but Caesars changed their tier system. They made the totals higher but for the first time, they offered bonus tier points if you reached daily gambling levels (500; 1000; 2500; & 5000). This changed my mind and I gave it another shot as long as I would catch enough Royals to continue over the year. I have renewed my 7 Stars membership, but only because at the beginning of the year, my luck with Royals seemed to be continuing; however, things have cooled down and my “toolbox” of gambling funds has about been exhausted. My 7 Stars privileges will now be good until March 2016. I have made the decision to not renew next year. I’ll continue to use the benefits for as long as they’re available and choosing to even make Diamond will be made then, but my feelings are doing so is unlikely. Caesars continues to erode their benefits more and more. What used to be giveaway gifts are now drawings based on play. The Diamond lounge hours have been shortened and hot food offered is limited to two hours and even then is limited to bar food such as chicken wings. Cash back has been scaled back for even the top players and many casinos don’t give reward points for cash back monies. Tournaments are being scaled back and now with mailers being discontinued (more on that later), fewer people will be participating. My feeling now is that I will likely completely drop Caesars after my 7 Stars card expires.
Thursday, November 6
The drive to Las Vegas was uneventful. I had a little time to kill so I made a stop at the Primm Outlet Center. Being 45 miles south of Las Vegas, I’m amazed that this place has managed to stay in business. But there were some shoppers. The Outlet stores themselves were really large and I only noticed a couple of empty stores. I can only assume that their rent fees are very reasonable. I drove over the state line back into California (just 100 yards from the Outlet Center) to the Lottery Outlet, which prides itself in being the busiest Lottery outlet in the state with more than $3 million in winnings…this year. I bought a couple of tickets.
The California Lottery Outlet right on the Nev/Cal border
I’m here for the Gift Wrap giveaway event, which includes five nights and to use up the gift wrap points I’ve earned over this year. I checked into the Rio and asked for a room on the 20th floor (the 7 Stars floor). The clerk checked her computer and excused herself and went into the back room. After about five minutes she reappeared with the registration manager who checked the computer and said she was sorry but all the rooms on that floor were booked. I’ve been through this charade before. They no doubt looked up my play and though I’ve renewed 7 Stars, I’m still on the lowest level—a bottom feeder. Suddenly, all the suites are booked and so I was given a regular room. This didn’t come as a surprise to me. It’s unfortunate they have to play this game and at first I would get frustrated, but I’m growing accustomed to it. At last month’s event, most were given two tickets to either Shania Twain or Britney Spears; I was given two tickets to Rita Rutner. I watched as others were given free play from $500 to $1500, I was given $100.
Even the basic rooms here at the Rio are still nice, so I’m fine with it. When I set up my laptop and went on the Internet, I was surprised to see that Caesars has once again raised their prices from $16.95 per day to $21.95 per day. I won’t have to pay this, but for everyone else, this simply insane. I also noted that the soda machine in the hallway has also increased from $3.00 for $5.00 for a water or soda. These kinds of things are what fuel my decision to leave Caesars, but not before taking them for everything I can next year.
View from my room—not much but down there are the LVA offices
After unpacking everything and getting my laptop set up, I headed across the street to the Palms to see a movie, JOHN WICK, as I had read some good reviews. I still have some credit from my old points at the Palms and used them for the ticket, which was only $4 as Thursdays are Senior Days which also includes half off all food in the company restaurants. The movie was a beat-‘em-up-shoot-‘em up flick. I enjoyed it. After the movie I thought I’d give a shot at the 9/6 50-plays at the 2-cent level ($5 per hand). Things went up and down for a long time when I caught a Royal and cashed out with a $100 profit and headed back to the Rio to call it a night.
I headed over to the Sportsbook deli and bought a wrap (using my reward points) and headed back to my room. Soon, there was a knock on the door and a nice plate of fruit and candy was delivered (unexpected and nice) from my host.
A nice little fruit and candy basket was delivered to my room (I will miss this)
I checked out the movies being offered and settled on GAURDIANS OF THE GALAXY, which I’ve already seen once, but really enjoyed it. Movies also went up to $17.99 each, so needless to say, I’d never watch them if they wasn’t free.
Friday, November 7
I woke up at 6AM and after some computer work and watching, “Wake up With the Wagners,” I headed downstairs to do my play for the day. I settled in and played for a good three hours, but not hitting any quad Aces or Royals, I was down $600 and stopped even though I only had a little over 600 tier points. I needed a 1000 for the day to go over the 150K needed for my 7 Stars renewal. It was around noon, so I drove over to the Bally valet and left my car. I called Dave and Julie (timberwolf) who were staying at the Cromwell and we agreed to meet in the Paris Diamond Lounge, which had expanded its hours to 10 AM to 9PM because of the Gift Giveaway promotion and it was serving hot food from noon until 6:30. We met up and enjoyed some drinks along with chicken wings (big surprise) and meat balls. We made the decision to use my $500 dinner at the Prime Cut Steakhouse at the Flamingo and then go see the Four Million Dollar Quartet at Harrahs after dinner on Sunday.
We headed to the Convention area where the Gift Giveaway was taking place. I had 91,000 Gift points, and they had around 47,000. We walked through the entire place and checked out all the goodies. The two big items were a boat and a hunting quad wheeler. There were so many things to choose from but I didn’t really see anything that I wanted (or had enough points for), but I did find a good gift and used the rest for free play. You could exchange 15,000 points for $50 free play, so I used 60K for $200 in free play. Dave and Julie didn’t get anything. On the way out, we stopped at the front where we were allowed to transfer our points. Dave and Julie combined theirs and I gave them my left over 1000 points or so. You can transfer points to another person, but you have to be there in person to do so.
The Gift Wrap area
We walked over to the Cromwell where they showed me their room and then we picked up some free play coupons for $10 each and got the vouchers for the show. We walked over to Harrahs to the box office and picked up the tickets for the show. Big Elvis was playing to a packed audience in the lounge as we headed back to the Flamingo where we stopped in the Diamond Lounge for another drink. The food offered was—get ready—chicken wings along with corn on the cob. After a while and a nice chat we headed back to the Cromwell to use the free play tickets. I suggested that we pool the $40 (I had an extra $10 from another coupon) and play an old school $5 slot machine. The Cromwell didn’t have any so we settled on the two-coin version of the $1 Wheel of Fortune. We took turns playing and were down to $15 and Julie asked if we should take that and at least have five dollars each. Dave said, “Nah, good big or go home.” We were down to $5 and our last spin. Julie played and the SPIN disc can up. We all put our hands on the spin button together and pressed—and would you believe it? We hit the $1000 win. It was so surprising. After some high fives and pictures, we cashed out, went to the cashier and split it three ways. Sweet.
The $1000 win at the dollar Wheel of Fortune
There was a free Champaign reception for hotel guests, so we hung out at the lounge to celebrate our win. Jim and Janey from Texas, who I had met at Rincon and then and this past 7 Stars Experience affair, was also there with his wife and daughter came over and visited for a while. We had a really nice time.
It was finally time to head back to the Rio so I picked up my car and parked in the garage. I needed to add another 400 tier points to my card. I had the $200 in free play to work with and now an extra $300 from the Wheel of Fortune. Fortunately, all I needed was the free play as I did hit quad Aces once and was dealt a couple full houses and even caught a straight flush, so I managed the 400 tier points and took a $50 profit to boot. So it is finally official, I’ve renewed my 7 Stars—for the last time.
The band in the Masquerade Village was cranking it up at the Rio
A reader asked me to get information on the zip line that runs across the Rio Towers
Saturday, November 08
Rough night as I woke up at 2:30 AM and couldn’t will myself back to sleep until almost 5 and managed only an hour or so more. This occasionally happens at home as well…I just deal with it. I needed to be out of the room by 9AM as I was picking up my friends, Terry and Louise (dorianmac) who were flying in from Denver at the airport. I got there in plenty of time parking in the short time parking area. The McCarran Nat’l Airport is really well designed. There’s easy parking, easy pick-up, and easy in-and-out. I waiting for about 20 minutes and they were off the plane. After picking up their bags, we headed directly to the Four Queens where they would be staying. It was too early for them to check in, so we walked around the Fremont Street Experience for a while. The higher zip line (called the zoom line) is now up and running. The cost is $20 for the shorter zip line ride and $40 for the higher and much longer zoom line. We watched a few zoom past us and I must admit, it looks pretty cool—for someone else.
We took a walk down to the Grand where Terry and Louise signed up for slot cards. They no longer automatically give you freeplay. You have to earn 500 points and then they give $5 in freeplay. We played a couple machines. Louise doubled her $20 and Terry lost $40. I won 18-cents playing a penny machine and gave it to the cashier when I got my original $20 investment back. One small bad thing, I ordered a Corona from the cocktail waitress and she never came back.
Work is finally completely finished on Slotzilla and the two zip lines are up and running
We looked around some more and as it was almost noon, we decided to get some lunch at the Chicago Pizza Company. We split a pizza, beers and wine. The food here is really good. We then finally sat down at the 9/6 Jacks and each of us put in a hundred. We all caught some quads and were keeping afloat. At one point I was down to $35 but began making a comeback and with a couple of late quads, managed to get my total up to $120. I cashed out to take the small profit and said my goodbyes as I had some errands to run. I would be back in a few hours about the time that Dave and Julie will be meeting us.
After running around town a bit and back to the Rio to put my things away, I headed back downtown where I met Dave and Julie in the Chicago Pizza Company (yes, again) and had a beer and played some VP at the bar while waiting for Terry and Louise to join us. We were all playing DDB and I was losing too much, so I switched to Bonus and three hands later hit quad deuces with a kicker ($400 on the DDB had I kept playing and only $50 on my game—bummer). The four of us finally got together and walked down to the El Cortez where we were going to find a $5 blackjack table.
After a quick stop to check out the Canister Park, the five of us found an empty table and for the next four hours played blackjack. It’s really a lot of fun and the only time I ever play blackjack. I play $5 per and don’t increase that bet and simple try to take advantage of double downs and splits. I’m not a blackjack player and had to ask for strategy help often. After the four hours and a few drinks along the way, I was the big winner (guess my “cheap” style worked out this time) and made a $36 profit, Terry made $5 and the other three took a loss, but nothing substantial. David keeps track of the blackjacks for everyone and he was the winner with 8 (interestingly enough, he was also the night’s biggest money loser), followed by everyone else. I had the fewest with only 5 dealt blackjacks.
We walked over to Binions for dinner. Dave and Julie had a $100 gift certificate for the steakhouse and the three of us chose to eat at the bar in the back where they service GREAT BBQ ribs and chicken. We of course, stopped for a pic with the million dollar display. We all sat at the bar to order our food and Dave and Julie joined us as they had a few minutes before their reservation time. They played the bar tops and Dave was dealt quad deuces (no kicker) for a fast $200 more than recouping his blackjack losses. If you like BBQ, I highly recommend this place (located in the back of Binions). The half rack is only $9.99 and the sides of corn bread, beans, and cole slaw are amazing!
The Binons Million Dollar display and five old farts having a great time—note Rockies fan Terry wearing a Padres jersey, a bet he lost to me when the Padres end up the season with a better record than the Rockies. He has to wear it for a week (he did have a Rockies t-shirt on underneath it)
When we finished, I said my goodnights as the four of them were going to meet up later tonight and film as Louise rides the highest zip line across Fremont Street. I drove back to the Rio. It being Saturday night, the line outside Chippendales was long with young ladies anxiously waiting for the show. I would say that no less than 75% of them were dressed in the “young girl uniform of the day,” the little black dress—every variation possible. I wanted to take a pic for this report but felt it might look a little “dirty old man” and decided against it. When I got back to my room, there was again turn down service with a couple chocolates and a deck of cards. They also replaced my coffee maker which wasn’t working, so I was happy with that. After some TV, I finally went to bed just before midnight (very late for me).
Sunday, November 9
Apparently, sleep is not going to be something I’ll be doing all that much on this trip. I watched “Sunday Morning” on CBS and worked on this trip report. I picked up Louise and Terry downtown and we drove over to the new SLS Hotel and Casino (the old Sahara). There were a lot of people at the registration area as Sunday is a main check-in and out day. We signed up at the slot club. They give you free play which you pick up at any machine by spinning a video. Price is Right type wheel. You can win $5 to $5,000. I won (drum roll) $5 and both Terry and Louise both struck it rich with $6 each. The bank of machine next to the promotions booth has 9/6 Jacks for quarters and dollars (we later learned this is the only bank we could find with this schedule). The three of us played for awhile. After about a half hour, Louise and I cashed out breaking even, and Terry, who caught three quads grabbed a nice little profit. It will be interesting to see if we get any kind of Internet or mail offers in the future. The casino is beautifully done and kudos to the architecture group who designed it. Aside from the registration area, it’s hard to see the old Sahara here.
The SLS casino. Not too busy at the moment
Terry wanted to watch the Broncos/Raiders game, so we headed over to the Paris to have grab some food at the Paris Diamond Lounge and then over to the Sportsbook. We got a nice table and enjoyed Denver victory. Julie and Dave met up with us at the end of the game and we walked across Flamingo pedestrian bridge and into the Flamingo Diamond Lounge for a drink while waiting for our dinner reservations. Gwen is the DL hostess there and she gave us a nice table. A few moments later, after David mentioning we were waiting for our dinner time next door, she gave me a 20% off coupon (very nice).
The five of us sat down at the Center Cut Steakhouse in the Flamingo to enjoy my annual 7 Stars $500 celebration dinner. Our waiter was Frank and he took very good care of us and suggested that we not use the coupon because we’d very unlikely use the whole $500 and I could use it on another date, but if we did go over, he’d put it in then. David, Louise, and Terry had the daily special of petite filets, Julie had the ribeye and I enjoyed the lobster. The food was outstanding. It was getting close to our show time, but Frank said he’d expedite desserts so all shared cheesecake, chocolate mousse, and a baked Alaska. The bill came to $518, which would be less after the taxes were taken off (you’re not taxed on comps).
We rushed over to Harrahs and sat down in our seats just as the announcer reminded everyone there was to be no photography during the show. Dave and Julie are both Diamond players and we all used our monthly two free tickets to see the show. I had already seen the Million Dollar Quartet and this was the first time for everyone else. The theater was full and the show was high packed energy from beginning to end. In my opinion, this is the best “B” show in Las Vegas. We walked over to the area where the old Harrahs café has been turned into a food court area, but this one is quite a bit different and includes a make your own salad stand, and a large frozen yogurt selection along with pizzas, gourmet sandwiches and such.
The food court area where once was Harrahs café
We rounded out the night with a trip to the top of the Eifel Tower as Dave and held on to tickets he had saved. The view at the top was wonderful and we had a nice time, but there’s really not much to do up there but look around, take some pictures, and wait for the Bellagio Fountain show. It costs more than $20, if you’re paying, and this is simply way too much for what you’re getting. But free is great and it made for nice end of a fun-filled day.
View from the Eifel Tower of the Observation Wheel
The Bellagio Fountain show from the top of the Eifel Tower
View of Caesars Palace from above
I drove Terry and Louise back downtown and then it was back to the Rio and finally asleep by midnight.
Monday, November 11
It’s the final day of the trip. We pretty much had checked off the bucket list for things we wanted to do this trip. Louise said that she’d love to the movie INTERSTELLER. I mentioned that Monday’s is $5 movie day at the Palms, so we agreed to see the 2:30 matinee. After waking up and taking care of the usual morning chores, I drove over to my step-sister’s place for a visit and had a little extra time before picking everyone up, so I stopped in at the Palace Station to play some DDB for dimes. That was a mistake as I didn’t catch even one quad and left the place with the wallet a little lighter.
I picked up Terry and Louise downtown and we drove over to the Palms to see the movie. Dave joined us there as Julie had to work tomorrow and drove home. David will be hitching a ride home tomorrow with me. The movie was very long (almost three hours), but it was strong and a lot of work as you had think hard throughout. Louise loved it; the rest of us thought it was hard to accept much of the premise, but certainly beautifully filmed. After the movie we drove across the street to the Rio to have a drink in the Diamond Lounge. Tonight, the food items were hotdogs, chili, and some meat filled friend breads—not bad.
Knowing we’re leaving early and I needed to get back to finish up this trip report, I took the three of them downtown and called it night for myself. I didn’t get ten minutes from the drop off when I got a call from Terry; he had just hit a 2K Royal. About an hour later, he texted he hit a Louise (a Royal holding one card and catching the remaining four needed). So, the trip is going to end up a good one for him.
It was a losing trip for me gambling wise, but it was one of the most fun one’s I’ve had here in a long time. The blackjack, the dinners, and the shows—we pretty much covered it all. Even though this ends my Reaching for the Stars series: I made it, I renewed it—good enough, I will be still returning next year and will be sharing the trips as they come.
Thanks for reading.
This marks the final chapter of this series. Chapter 1 began more than a year ago when I made the decision to go for the top tier of the Caesars slot card, which they call 7 Stars. Interestingly enough, when I first made Diamond about six or seven years ago, Caesars didn’t advertise 7 Stars and wasn’t known by many as most thought Diamond was their highest level. However, they soon changed that began actively promoting that level and now signs can be seen everywhere. Even though making 7 Stars requires ten times the amount of play to make Diamond, I was curious to see if the benefits were worth it. So, the point of these reports has been dedicated for that purpose. Even though these reports still read like trip reports (or daily diaries), I tried to focus in on the differences with the benefits I received and the treatment I was given.
Last year (2013) I had caught an unusual amount of Royals and since I don’t spend my gambling money on anything other than gambling, I was able to play at higher levels than I ever before. My highest hit was being dealt a Royal at the 50-cent level on a triple play machine for a $6K jackpot and that was soon followed by a couple more at that level. I play video poker with about 95% of my funds so with Caesars, this means playing through one and a half million dollars through the games. To make Diamond, you need to only run $150K. One would assume that you’d receive about 10X the amount of benefits to match the play. Little did I know then that within the 7 Stars tier, there are six more levels. To reach to top of that, you need to run $6M through their machines (at the video poker rate and $3M in slots). Being that I’m at the entry level of 7 Stars, I was given the very bottom of those benefits: an experience event, a signature event, a $500 dinner, and a gift from the Sky Mall catalog (only select gifts offered, most valued at around $150). Also, all 7 Star holders get a comp room simply by calling your host 48 hours ahead of time. You supposedly get the best room available at the time of your registration, but I found this to be bogus. Rooms are assigned depending on your 7 Star level. I receive a suite no more often than I did when I was a Diamond member (with the exception of Laughlin). Finally, 7 Stars receive priority line passes along with free Internet and free in-room movies.
To be honest, for me the most valuable turned out to be the Internet and movies. Aside from that, I didn’t find everything else all that valuable when considering the benefits of Diamond players. Most lines were designated “Diamond and 7 Stars” and both get into the Diamond lounges and there is one only 7 Stars lounge in Atlantic City. When there is a long Diamond line at buffets or shows, you have the right to walk up to the front of the line; however, it’s not in my personality to simply walk past everyone else and demand priority seating.
This year, I had decided to not renew my 7 Stars but Caesars changed their tier system. They made the totals higher but for the first time, they offered bonus tier points if you reached daily gambling levels (500; 1000; 2500; & 5000). This changed my mind and I gave it another shot as long as I would catch enough Royals to continue over the year. I have renewed my 7 Stars membership, but only because at the beginning of the year, my luck with Royals seemed to be continuing; however, things have cooled down and my “toolbox” of gambling funds has about been exhausted. My 7 Stars privileges will now be good until March 2016. I have made the decision to not renew next year. I’ll continue to use the benefits for as long as they’re available and choosing to even make Diamond will be made then, but my feelings are doing so is unlikely. Caesars continues to erode their benefits more and more. What used to be giveaway gifts are now drawings based on play. The Diamond lounge hours have been shortened and hot food offered is limited to two hours and even then is limited to bar food such as chicken wings. Cash back has been scaled back for even the top players and many casinos don’t give reward points for cash back monies. Tournaments are being scaled back and now with mailers being discontinued (more on that later), fewer people will be participating. My feeling now is that I will likely completely drop Caesars after my 7 Stars card expires.
Thursday, November 6
The drive to Las Vegas was uneventful. I had a little time to kill so I made a stop at the Primm Outlet Center. Being 45 miles south of Las Vegas, I’m amazed that this place has managed to stay in business. But there were some shoppers. The Outlet stores themselves were really large and I only noticed a couple of empty stores. I can only assume that their rent fees are very reasonable. I drove over the state line back into California (just 100 yards from the Outlet Center) to the Lottery Outlet, which prides itself in being the busiest Lottery outlet in the state with more than $3 million in winnings…this year. I bought a couple of tickets.
The California Lottery Outlet right on the Nev/Cal border
I’m here for the Gift Wrap giveaway event, which includes five nights and to use up the gift wrap points I’ve earned over this year. I checked into the Rio and asked for a room on the 20th floor (the 7 Stars floor). The clerk checked her computer and excused herself and went into the back room. After about five minutes she reappeared with the registration manager who checked the computer and said she was sorry but all the rooms on that floor were booked. I’ve been through this charade before. They no doubt looked up my play and though I’ve renewed 7 Stars, I’m still on the lowest level—a bottom feeder. Suddenly, all the suites are booked and so I was given a regular room. This didn’t come as a surprise to me. It’s unfortunate they have to play this game and at first I would get frustrated, but I’m growing accustomed to it. At last month’s event, most were given two tickets to either Shania Twain or Britney Spears; I was given two tickets to Rita Rutner. I watched as others were given free play from $500 to $1500, I was given $100.
Even the basic rooms here at the Rio are still nice, so I’m fine with it. When I set up my laptop and went on the Internet, I was surprised to see that Caesars has once again raised their prices from $16.95 per day to $21.95 per day. I won’t have to pay this, but for everyone else, this simply insane. I also noted that the soda machine in the hallway has also increased from $3.00 for $5.00 for a water or soda. These kinds of things are what fuel my decision to leave Caesars, but not before taking them for everything I can next year.
View from my room—not much but down there are the LVA offices
After unpacking everything and getting my laptop set up, I headed across the street to the Palms to see a movie, JOHN WICK, as I had read some good reviews. I still have some credit from my old points at the Palms and used them for the ticket, which was only $4 as Thursdays are Senior Days which also includes half off all food in the company restaurants. The movie was a beat-‘em-up-shoot-‘em up flick. I enjoyed it. After the movie I thought I’d give a shot at the 9/6 50-plays at the 2-cent level ($5 per hand). Things went up and down for a long time when I caught a Royal and cashed out with a $100 profit and headed back to the Rio to call it a night.
I headed over to the Sportsbook deli and bought a wrap (using my reward points) and headed back to my room. Soon, there was a knock on the door and a nice plate of fruit and candy was delivered (unexpected and nice) from my host.
A nice little fruit and candy basket was delivered to my room (I will miss this)
I checked out the movies being offered and settled on GAURDIANS OF THE GALAXY, which I’ve already seen once, but really enjoyed it. Movies also went up to $17.99 each, so needless to say, I’d never watch them if they wasn’t free.
Friday, November 7
I woke up at 6AM and after some computer work and watching, “Wake up With the Wagners,” I headed downstairs to do my play for the day. I settled in and played for a good three hours, but not hitting any quad Aces or Royals, I was down $600 and stopped even though I only had a little over 600 tier points. I needed a 1000 for the day to go over the 150K needed for my 7 Stars renewal. It was around noon, so I drove over to the Bally valet and left my car. I called Dave and Julie (timberwolf) who were staying at the Cromwell and we agreed to meet in the Paris Diamond Lounge, which had expanded its hours to 10 AM to 9PM because of the Gift Giveaway promotion and it was serving hot food from noon until 6:30. We met up and enjoyed some drinks along with chicken wings (big surprise) and meat balls. We made the decision to use my $500 dinner at the Prime Cut Steakhouse at the Flamingo and then go see the Four Million Dollar Quartet at Harrahs after dinner on Sunday.
We headed to the Convention area where the Gift Giveaway was taking place. I had 91,000 Gift points, and they had around 47,000. We walked through the entire place and checked out all the goodies. The two big items were a boat and a hunting quad wheeler. There were so many things to choose from but I didn’t really see anything that I wanted (or had enough points for), but I did find a good gift and used the rest for free play. You could exchange 15,000 points for $50 free play, so I used 60K for $200 in free play. Dave and Julie didn’t get anything. On the way out, we stopped at the front where we were allowed to transfer our points. Dave and Julie combined theirs and I gave them my left over 1000 points or so. You can transfer points to another person, but you have to be there in person to do so.
The Gift Wrap area
We walked over to the Cromwell where they showed me their room and then we picked up some free play coupons for $10 each and got the vouchers for the show. We walked over to Harrahs to the box office and picked up the tickets for the show. Big Elvis was playing to a packed audience in the lounge as we headed back to the Flamingo where we stopped in the Diamond Lounge for another drink. The food offered was—get ready—chicken wings along with corn on the cob. After a while and a nice chat we headed back to the Cromwell to use the free play tickets. I suggested that we pool the $40 (I had an extra $10 from another coupon) and play an old school $5 slot machine. The Cromwell didn’t have any so we settled on the two-coin version of the $1 Wheel of Fortune. We took turns playing and were down to $15 and Julie asked if we should take that and at least have five dollars each. Dave said, “Nah, good big or go home.” We were down to $5 and our last spin. Julie played and the SPIN disc can up. We all put our hands on the spin button together and pressed—and would you believe it? We hit the $1000 win. It was so surprising. After some high fives and pictures, we cashed out, went to the cashier and split it three ways. Sweet.
The $1000 win at the dollar Wheel of Fortune
There was a free Champaign reception for hotel guests, so we hung out at the lounge to celebrate our win. Jim and Janey from Texas, who I had met at Rincon and then and this past 7 Stars Experience affair, was also there with his wife and daughter came over and visited for a while. We had a really nice time.
It was finally time to head back to the Rio so I picked up my car and parked in the garage. I needed to add another 400 tier points to my card. I had the $200 in free play to work with and now an extra $300 from the Wheel of Fortune. Fortunately, all I needed was the free play as I did hit quad Aces once and was dealt a couple full houses and even caught a straight flush, so I managed the 400 tier points and took a $50 profit to boot. So it is finally official, I’ve renewed my 7 Stars—for the last time.
The band in the Masquerade Village was cranking it up at the Rio
A reader asked me to get information on the zip line that runs across the Rio Towers
Saturday, November 08
Rough night as I woke up at 2:30 AM and couldn’t will myself back to sleep until almost 5 and managed only an hour or so more. This occasionally happens at home as well…I just deal with it. I needed to be out of the room by 9AM as I was picking up my friends, Terry and Louise (dorianmac) who were flying in from Denver at the airport. I got there in plenty of time parking in the short time parking area. The McCarran Nat’l Airport is really well designed. There’s easy parking, easy pick-up, and easy in-and-out. I waiting for about 20 minutes and they were off the plane. After picking up their bags, we headed directly to the Four Queens where they would be staying. It was too early for them to check in, so we walked around the Fremont Street Experience for a while. The higher zip line (called the zoom line) is now up and running. The cost is $20 for the shorter zip line ride and $40 for the higher and much longer zoom line. We watched a few zoom past us and I must admit, it looks pretty cool—for someone else.
We took a walk down to the Grand where Terry and Louise signed up for slot cards. They no longer automatically give you freeplay. You have to earn 500 points and then they give $5 in freeplay. We played a couple machines. Louise doubled her $20 and Terry lost $40. I won 18-cents playing a penny machine and gave it to the cashier when I got my original $20 investment back. One small bad thing, I ordered a Corona from the cocktail waitress and she never came back.
Work is finally completely finished on Slotzilla and the two zip lines are up and running
We looked around some more and as it was almost noon, we decided to get some lunch at the Chicago Pizza Company. We split a pizza, beers and wine. The food here is really good. We then finally sat down at the 9/6 Jacks and each of us put in a hundred. We all caught some quads and were keeping afloat. At one point I was down to $35 but began making a comeback and with a couple of late quads, managed to get my total up to $120. I cashed out to take the small profit and said my goodbyes as I had some errands to run. I would be back in a few hours about the time that Dave and Julie will be meeting us.
After running around town a bit and back to the Rio to put my things away, I headed back downtown where I met Dave and Julie in the Chicago Pizza Company (yes, again) and had a beer and played some VP at the bar while waiting for Terry and Louise to join us. We were all playing DDB and I was losing too much, so I switched to Bonus and three hands later hit quad deuces with a kicker ($400 on the DDB had I kept playing and only $50 on my game—bummer). The four of us finally got together and walked down to the El Cortez where we were going to find a $5 blackjack table.
After a quick stop to check out the Canister Park, the five of us found an empty table and for the next four hours played blackjack. It’s really a lot of fun and the only time I ever play blackjack. I play $5 per and don’t increase that bet and simple try to take advantage of double downs and splits. I’m not a blackjack player and had to ask for strategy help often. After the four hours and a few drinks along the way, I was the big winner (guess my “cheap” style worked out this time) and made a $36 profit, Terry made $5 and the other three took a loss, but nothing substantial. David keeps track of the blackjacks for everyone and he was the winner with 8 (interestingly enough, he was also the night’s biggest money loser), followed by everyone else. I had the fewest with only 5 dealt blackjacks.
We walked over to Binions for dinner. Dave and Julie had a $100 gift certificate for the steakhouse and the three of us chose to eat at the bar in the back where they service GREAT BBQ ribs and chicken. We of course, stopped for a pic with the million dollar display. We all sat at the bar to order our food and Dave and Julie joined us as they had a few minutes before their reservation time. They played the bar tops and Dave was dealt quad deuces (no kicker) for a fast $200 more than recouping his blackjack losses. If you like BBQ, I highly recommend this place (located in the back of Binions). The half rack is only $9.99 and the sides of corn bread, beans, and cole slaw are amazing!
The Binons Million Dollar display and five old farts having a great time—note Rockies fan Terry wearing a Padres jersey, a bet he lost to me when the Padres end up the season with a better record than the Rockies. He has to wear it for a week (he did have a Rockies t-shirt on underneath it)
When we finished, I said my goodnights as the four of them were going to meet up later tonight and film as Louise rides the highest zip line across Fremont Street. I drove back to the Rio. It being Saturday night, the line outside Chippendales was long with young ladies anxiously waiting for the show. I would say that no less than 75% of them were dressed in the “young girl uniform of the day,” the little black dress—every variation possible. I wanted to take a pic for this report but felt it might look a little “dirty old man” and decided against it. When I got back to my room, there was again turn down service with a couple chocolates and a deck of cards. They also replaced my coffee maker which wasn’t working, so I was happy with that. After some TV, I finally went to bed just before midnight (very late for me).
Sunday, November 9
Apparently, sleep is not going to be something I’ll be doing all that much on this trip. I watched “Sunday Morning” on CBS and worked on this trip report. I picked up Louise and Terry downtown and we drove over to the new SLS Hotel and Casino (the old Sahara). There were a lot of people at the registration area as Sunday is a main check-in and out day. We signed up at the slot club. They give you free play which you pick up at any machine by spinning a video. Price is Right type wheel. You can win $5 to $5,000. I won (drum roll) $5 and both Terry and Louise both struck it rich with $6 each. The bank of machine next to the promotions booth has 9/6 Jacks for quarters and dollars (we later learned this is the only bank we could find with this schedule). The three of us played for awhile. After about a half hour, Louise and I cashed out breaking even, and Terry, who caught three quads grabbed a nice little profit. It will be interesting to see if we get any kind of Internet or mail offers in the future. The casino is beautifully done and kudos to the architecture group who designed it. Aside from the registration area, it’s hard to see the old Sahara here.
The SLS casino. Not too busy at the moment
Terry wanted to watch the Broncos/Raiders game, so we headed over to the Paris to have grab some food at the Paris Diamond Lounge and then over to the Sportsbook. We got a nice table and enjoyed Denver victory. Julie and Dave met up with us at the end of the game and we walked across Flamingo pedestrian bridge and into the Flamingo Diamond Lounge for a drink while waiting for our dinner reservations. Gwen is the DL hostess there and she gave us a nice table. A few moments later, after David mentioning we were waiting for our dinner time next door, she gave me a 20% off coupon (very nice).
The five of us sat down at the Center Cut Steakhouse in the Flamingo to enjoy my annual 7 Stars $500 celebration dinner. Our waiter was Frank and he took very good care of us and suggested that we not use the coupon because we’d very unlikely use the whole $500 and I could use it on another date, but if we did go over, he’d put it in then. David, Louise, and Terry had the daily special of petite filets, Julie had the ribeye and I enjoyed the lobster. The food was outstanding. It was getting close to our show time, but Frank said he’d expedite desserts so all shared cheesecake, chocolate mousse, and a baked Alaska. The bill came to $518, which would be less after the taxes were taken off (you’re not taxed on comps).
We rushed over to Harrahs and sat down in our seats just as the announcer reminded everyone there was to be no photography during the show. Dave and Julie are both Diamond players and we all used our monthly two free tickets to see the show. I had already seen the Million Dollar Quartet and this was the first time for everyone else. The theater was full and the show was high packed energy from beginning to end. In my opinion, this is the best “B” show in Las Vegas. We walked over to the area where the old Harrahs café has been turned into a food court area, but this one is quite a bit different and includes a make your own salad stand, and a large frozen yogurt selection along with pizzas, gourmet sandwiches and such.
The food court area where once was Harrahs café
We rounded out the night with a trip to the top of the Eifel Tower as Dave and held on to tickets he had saved. The view at the top was wonderful and we had a nice time, but there’s really not much to do up there but look around, take some pictures, and wait for the Bellagio Fountain show. It costs more than $20, if you’re paying, and this is simply way too much for what you’re getting. But free is great and it made for nice end of a fun-filled day.
View from the Eifel Tower of the Observation Wheel
The Bellagio Fountain show from the top of the Eifel Tower
View of Caesars Palace from above
I drove Terry and Louise back downtown and then it was back to the Rio and finally asleep by midnight.
Monday, November 11
It’s the final day of the trip. We pretty much had checked off the bucket list for things we wanted to do this trip. Louise said that she’d love to the movie INTERSTELLER. I mentioned that Monday’s is $5 movie day at the Palms, so we agreed to see the 2:30 matinee. After waking up and taking care of the usual morning chores, I drove over to my step-sister’s place for a visit and had a little extra time before picking everyone up, so I stopped in at the Palace Station to play some DDB for dimes. That was a mistake as I didn’t catch even one quad and left the place with the wallet a little lighter.
I picked up Terry and Louise downtown and we drove over to the Palms to see the movie. Dave joined us there as Julie had to work tomorrow and drove home. David will be hitching a ride home tomorrow with me. The movie was very long (almost three hours), but it was strong and a lot of work as you had think hard throughout. Louise loved it; the rest of us thought it was hard to accept much of the premise, but certainly beautifully filmed. After the movie we drove across the street to the Rio to have a drink in the Diamond Lounge. Tonight, the food items were hotdogs, chili, and some meat filled friend breads—not bad.
Knowing we’re leaving early and I needed to get back to finish up this trip report, I took the three of them downtown and called it night for myself. I didn’t get ten minutes from the drop off when I got a call from Terry; he had just hit a 2K Royal. About an hour later, he texted he hit a Louise (a Royal holding one card and catching the remaining four needed). So, the trip is going to end up a good one for him.
It was a losing trip for me gambling wise, but it was one of the most fun one’s I’ve had here in a long time. The blackjack, the dinners, and the shows—we pretty much covered it all. Even though this ends my Reaching for the Stars series: I made it, I renewed it—good enough, I will be still returning next year and will be sharing the trips as they come.
Thanks for reading.
