Woke up about 8am and got ourselves ready. It was Deb and B’s last day in Vegas. They were checking out, throwing their bags in our room for the day, then catching the red-eye back to Milwaukee that night. We decided to stay in-house for breakfast at Rio’s Carnival Buffet. We collectively agreed between Palms, Paris, and Rio, this one is definitely the best for breakfast. They cook your eggs to perfection and offer such a selection – everyone enjoys. The best part about this buffet was we had a 2-for-1 from MRB and then used our points; so it was completely free. Gotta love that!
We hopped the shuttle to the strip and decided to make today our ‘win card’ run. We started out at Excalibur. You can purchase $15 non-negotiable chips for $10. They come in $1 increments (also included is a coupon for a dealer tip). Played these chips out on roulette and each got a free drink before heading over to Luxor. I approached to cashier at Luxor and she asked if I had ever done win cards. I said yes, 2 or 3 years ago. She said, they are a ‘once a lifetime’ offer. I said I didn’t think that was true. She swiped my players card and it said I could buy in. Afterwards, she said it really doesn’t matter as these casinos are doing away w/win cards altogether at the end of September. We’ll see.
Anyway, the Luxor buy in was $30 for $20. They give them to you in $5 chips. Luxor has higher table minimums ($10) so they don’t go as far. DH and I bought in here for a total of $40 and cashed out w/$70 so we were happy. I can’t remember what we cashed out at the Ex with but I think we made $5 or $10 on them. The Luxor casino was very unwelcoming, almost sterile environment. We didn’t enjoy that place at all, and got out of there relatively quickly. We didn’t feel like hitting Mandalay Bay and instead jumped on the free tram back towards Tropicana where we knew we’d be able to find lower table minimums.
Wow, was I impressed. Tropicana was great - updated and spotless casino floor. Pictures of their rooms looked fabulous too. All four of us were actually new member sign ups here, so we were able to get the win cards $15 for $10, plus a $10 matchplay each, and qualified for the rebate on losses up to $200. I took my chips and started playing craps. I was the only one at the table and started shooting. Dealers were friendly and lots of fun. I couldn’t lose. I eventually turned that $15 into $85!! That’s when DH, Deb, and B stopped watching me and threw their chips down on the pass line. JINX. I started losing once they joined in. Lost my non-neg chips in no time but took my winnings and left those losers at the table. Tony and Deb lost theirs pretty quick, so it was just down to B. He had a good run as lone shooter/player. We went over to the roulette table next, dealer was very friendly there as well. Had a few free drinks and some good hits, and finally before leaving, decided to sit down and play all four matchplays at the blackjack table together. Unfortunately not one of us won, stupid dealer had the best hand. Overall, DH and I still came out ahead at the Trop about $20, so it was all good.
We decided to hit that whammy one more time at ph so we left the Tropicana and started walking in the heat.
I stopped in at Walgreens on the way to buy a six pack of bud light bottles for $9. I didn’t think that was too bad. Me, Deb, and Tony drank them in line as we were waiting to hit the whammy. This is where I struck the $50 in free play and turned it into $75. After we left ph, we shuttled back to the Rio and walked over to the Palms for dinner at Gardunos. Dinner was delicious, but not very fast there. I had the chicken chimichanga. Nobody had alcohol w/dinner, just soda and iced tea. Our bill was only $36 (before tip) which we rounded to $50. Now that’s a great deal, and some excellent food to boot for $25 per couple!
After Garduno’s at the Palms, I desperately wanted to go downtown but DH was too tired. We chilled in the room w/Deb and B for about a half hour, then they got their bags and hailed a cab to the airport. We were sad to see them go, and I asked Tony one more time if he’d go downtown w/me. He really didn’t have the energy, and I was getting tired now too. Fell asleep about 10:00 but woke up about 2am. I was restless, so I decided to go down and hit the Rio casino. I found a 100 play VP machine and played the bonus poker (I think) whatever it was quad aces paid a lot and I hit that on two hands after being dealt three of a kind! That was pretty exciting win. I got a few more quads and then wandered around and played some penny slots. Seemed like I put a lot of play on my card and after about two hours, I was up $10. I thought that was pretty cool, since I had gone down there w/a $100 (planning to lose) but wanting to give the Rio some play so we can keep getting offers. I went back up to bed about 4am and we slept until about 7:30. I told Tony about my quad aces and then he wanted to play.
We walked over to the Palms for breakfast, used our 50% comp for the buffet, it came to $8 after the coupon. We swiped our Palms cards and whaddaya know, we each had $3 in comps on there. We applied them to the cost, and only paid $2 total for breakfast. Awesome. We came back to Rio and played on the 100 play VP machines. We played about an hour. Tony lost $10, but I won $1 when it was all said and done. I think that counted towards my ADT because I had just been playing at 4am. So hoping it helps.
My goal is to read up better on VP strategy so I can become a smarter gambler. I like that my money lasts so much longer even though it takes more $$ to earn a reward credit. Hoping between that and all my degenerate play at Planet Hollywood over four days, we score some good future comps at a Harrah’s property.
Fortunately, the plane ride home was on-time, and a quick 3 hour flight with tail winds. We picked up the kids, stopped at a little Italian place for dinner, and headed home to get our dog. And now it’s back to work, and school, and dreaming of my next Vegas Vacation!!
~Paige
We hopped the shuttle to the strip and decided to make today our ‘win card’ run. We started out at Excalibur. You can purchase $15 non-negotiable chips for $10. They come in $1 increments (also included is a coupon for a dealer tip). Played these chips out on roulette and each got a free drink before heading over to Luxor. I approached to cashier at Luxor and she asked if I had ever done win cards. I said yes, 2 or 3 years ago. She said, they are a ‘once a lifetime’ offer. I said I didn’t think that was true. She swiped my players card and it said I could buy in. Afterwards, she said it really doesn’t matter as these casinos are doing away w/win cards altogether at the end of September. We’ll see.
Anyway, the Luxor buy in was $30 for $20. They give them to you in $5 chips. Luxor has higher table minimums ($10) so they don’t go as far. DH and I bought in here for a total of $40 and cashed out w/$70 so we were happy. I can’t remember what we cashed out at the Ex with but I think we made $5 or $10 on them. The Luxor casino was very unwelcoming, almost sterile environment. We didn’t enjoy that place at all, and got out of there relatively quickly. We didn’t feel like hitting Mandalay Bay and instead jumped on the free tram back towards Tropicana where we knew we’d be able to find lower table minimums.
Wow, was I impressed. Tropicana was great - updated and spotless casino floor. Pictures of their rooms looked fabulous too. All four of us were actually new member sign ups here, so we were able to get the win cards $15 for $10, plus a $10 matchplay each, and qualified for the rebate on losses up to $200. I took my chips and started playing craps. I was the only one at the table and started shooting. Dealers were friendly and lots of fun. I couldn’t lose. I eventually turned that $15 into $85!! That’s when DH, Deb, and B stopped watching me and threw their chips down on the pass line. JINX. I started losing once they joined in. Lost my non-neg chips in no time but took my winnings and left those losers at the table. Tony and Deb lost theirs pretty quick, so it was just down to B. He had a good run as lone shooter/player. We went over to the roulette table next, dealer was very friendly there as well. Had a few free drinks and some good hits, and finally before leaving, decided to sit down and play all four matchplays at the blackjack table together. Unfortunately not one of us won, stupid dealer had the best hand. Overall, DH and I still came out ahead at the Trop about $20, so it was all good.
We decided to hit that whammy one more time at ph so we left the Tropicana and started walking in the heat.
I stopped in at Walgreens on the way to buy a six pack of bud light bottles for $9. I didn’t think that was too bad. Me, Deb, and Tony drank them in line as we were waiting to hit the whammy. This is where I struck the $50 in free play and turned it into $75. After we left ph, we shuttled back to the Rio and walked over to the Palms for dinner at Gardunos. Dinner was delicious, but not very fast there. I had the chicken chimichanga. Nobody had alcohol w/dinner, just soda and iced tea. Our bill was only $36 (before tip) which we rounded to $50. Now that’s a great deal, and some excellent food to boot for $25 per couple!
After Garduno’s at the Palms, I desperately wanted to go downtown but DH was too tired. We chilled in the room w/Deb and B for about a half hour, then they got their bags and hailed a cab to the airport. We were sad to see them go, and I asked Tony one more time if he’d go downtown w/me. He really didn’t have the energy, and I was getting tired now too. Fell asleep about 10:00 but woke up about 2am. I was restless, so I decided to go down and hit the Rio casino. I found a 100 play VP machine and played the bonus poker (I think) whatever it was quad aces paid a lot and I hit that on two hands after being dealt three of a kind! That was pretty exciting win. I got a few more quads and then wandered around and played some penny slots. Seemed like I put a lot of play on my card and after about two hours, I was up $10. I thought that was pretty cool, since I had gone down there w/a $100 (planning to lose) but wanting to give the Rio some play so we can keep getting offers. I went back up to bed about 4am and we slept until about 7:30. I told Tony about my quad aces and then he wanted to play.
We walked over to the Palms for breakfast, used our 50% comp for the buffet, it came to $8 after the coupon. We swiped our Palms cards and whaddaya know, we each had $3 in comps on there. We applied them to the cost, and only paid $2 total for breakfast. Awesome. We came back to Rio and played on the 100 play VP machines. We played about an hour. Tony lost $10, but I won $1 when it was all said and done. I think that counted towards my ADT because I had just been playing at 4am. So hoping it helps.
My goal is to read up better on VP strategy so I can become a smarter gambler. I like that my money lasts so much longer even though it takes more $$ to earn a reward credit. Hoping between that and all my degenerate play at Planet Hollywood over four days, we score some good future comps at a Harrah’s property.
Fortunately, the plane ride home was on-time, and a quick 3 hour flight with tail winds. We picked up the kids, stopped at a little Italian place for dinner, and headed home to get our dog. And now it’s back to work, and school, and dreaming of my next Vegas Vacation!!
~Paige
