I thought I'd better write up this report before I forget everything, Last year when MGM sent me an email about George Strait presale tix my niece asked me to get her and her mom 4 tix. I asked April or September and she said September. Tickets purchased and I told them they were on their own for rooms. Hubby and I always go to Vegas in September but it's usually later in the month. Fast forward to our July trip, hubby and I start planning Sept and he suggests the 9th to the 12th. I said awfully early, college football teams will only have one game under their belts and we generally go to bet football, but I'm game. Plus I hadn't seen my niece and sister since January, niece lives in Florida, sister Houston. I was also 4500 TCs away from diamond aspiration level one so with some strategic playing I could make it again.
I had to work a few hours Friday since it was payday but I was out of the office by 11:30, get home, take dog to the puppy spa, then home to finish packing. The dog can't see us pack, she gets depressed so we wait til she's gone. Our flight was at 3:05, nonstop. We got to the airport at 1:45 and were quickly through TSA pre check. Actually the regular line wasn't too bad either. We ran into one of our old customers who was also going to Vegas. I also ran into him at the airport in May when I went to
Vegas with my high school friends. Flight left on time. Why is it so hard to sleep on the plane heading to Vegas no matter how tired you are?
We had a Caesars limo pick us up to take us to Paris. This driver had picked us up before and remembered us. Bags off the carousel and were checking in at the diamond checkin within an hour of landing. We were given a red room, #2707, it had a great view of the fountains. We could also see into some of the rooms they are remodeling below in one of the other wings. The burgundy rooms look nice but I don't see hubby and I getting to stay in them anytime soon as he's a smoker and I'm fairly certain they'll be non smoking. Maybe in April with my niece. We unpacked and head to the sports book to get college football stuff. Hubby made a bet on an early a.m. game, then it's time to gamble.
Off to Ballys for some slots, $1 wild cherry for me. I'm trying the $20 is the new $100 strategy. Last trip I had really good luck on my odd bills, the first, third and 5th but time not so much, I had better luck on my second and 4th bills. Our favorite cocktail waitress Victoria was working and took good care of us. My sister and her friend (friend coming in on Saturday) we're staying at Ballys, my niece and her friend at Aria. Sister texts and says she just checked in and was headed our way so waited for her to come down. She sat with us while we gambled some then she went to play let it ride. After awhile she came back and said she was hungry, did we want to go eat, we said sure. We walked out to Wahlburgers but the wait was 45 minutes so we went to the Cafe St. Louis in Paris. They've changed their menu for the first time in years! No burgundy beef! Hubby had a burger and we had Cobb salads...we actually should have split the salad. Charged the meal to our room, sister paid the tip in cash. After we ate we went back to Ballys, I went back to my wild cherry machine and hubby went to the $5 top dollar. Sister pulled up a chair and sat next to me. Funny, she won't play $1 slots but will play $5 let it ride, 3 card, crazy 4 and Mississippi stud. A few minutes later I hear my name and it's my hubby. My sister goes to see what he wants and she comes back saying he won $1600 on the bonus so he was getting a hand pay. Sister went to play let it ride, hubby and I were playing slots and around 10:30 sister said she was going to bed. We played til about 11:30 then went to Paris to play $5 top dollar before we turned in. Needless to say, hubby was up for the day with his hand pay but I was only down a few hundred so I'd say that was ok. I had 500 TCs so I got the 125 bump. Hubby had 1000 TCs so he got the 1000 bump.
Saturday morning we went to the sports book to make our bets, I did 2-3 game, a 4 game and a 5 game parlay. Then we went to breakfast at Mon Ami Gabi. We were seated against the window in the atrium area so we had all the benefits of sitting outside but without the birds. We had a really great waitress, I think her name was Kathy. I had the ham and cheese crepe with egg and hubby had the 3 egg breakfast. He says he likes "normal food" for breakfast. This was his first time at MAG. Everything was great. We got our bill and I started to charge it to the room and noticed it was not our ticket, it seemed cheaper than it should have been. I called the waitress over and told her I thought we had the wrong ticket and she apologized and got me ours. It was $10 higher and she thanked me twice for letting her know the ticket was wrong.
From MAG we went to Bellagio to play top dollar. Hubby hit the $5 top dollar, me the $1 top dollar. We didn't have much luck so we decided to go next door to Cosmo, I was feeling the need for a lemon drop martini. We hit then HL slots, hubby $5 top dollar and me $5 4x wild cherry. I put my $100 in and order a water and lemon drop. I was playing $5 a spin and was down to $15 when the waitress comes back with my drinks. I had hit spin just as she walks up and I looked at her to get my drink and I hear all this ding dinging. I look at the machine and I see a 7 a 4x wild cherry and another 7. I still wasn't sure what I won but I tipped the waitress $10 for bringing me luck. I called the hubby over so he could see what I won, It ended up being a $1200 hand pay. We played while longer at Cosmo,moving over to $1 machines, then I wanted to play high card flush so we went to PHo. Mini rant here.....I can't stand those people that stand outside those stores trying to force you to take their moisturizer samples. There's one on the second floor of Cosmo and the store has 2 entrances so you get bugged twice.
We entered PHo by the PBR bar and went into the casino by the sports book. There was a bunch of sports memorabilia on display so we walked around it. Leon Spinks was sitting by the display at a table. They were having a fundraiser for the United
Way. There was a Houston Oilers helmet signed by Earl Campbell, Warren Moon and some other Oiler players. Hubby commented on it and I asked him if he wanted it and he said he might be interested. A guy came up and started talking to us about it and I asked the hubby again if he wanted it and he said yes. I said great, I'd just won enough at Cosmo to pay for it, sold. We also got to have our picture taken with Leon Spinks and he autographed a picture for me. They said they would ship the helmet, which we received a week later. That goes with hubbys OU helmet signed by Bob Stoops and a Loony Toons cell signed by Earl Campbell (from a fundraiser for MS).
We sit down at the $5 high card flush table (they had a $10 table too) and played awhile. We'd been there about a half hour when we hear our names, it was our host stopping to say hello. We usually stop in at the diamond lounge and have them call her and she stops by, it was nice that she came down to find us. We played awhile, then went to find some $1 slots to play. We didn't win anything at PHo so we went to the ABC store for diet Dr Pepper. They're remodeling the store so it was about 1/3 of the size of the normal store. We went back to the room to rest awhile when my sister texts to see where we are. I said we'd be at Ballys high limit in about a half hour. Sister and her friend catch up with us and sit with us for about an hour. They leave to go get ready for their concert, we head to the room at 6:30 to go get ready for our 7:30 reservation at BLT Steak. We ate there for my bday 2 years ago and it was ok, both our steaks were charred heavily on the outside that time so all you tasted was the char...we thought we'd give them another chance. Our server was Margo and she was wonderful. They brought out 3 different amuse bouchée (sp?) and then popovers. I had a nice glass of Zinfandel. We ordered salads and I ordered one of the specials, filet and shrimp, hubby had a NY strip and we had green beans and mashed potatoes. I'm glad we gave them another chance. Dinner was great and service was even better. I even sent them a note about how good Margo was. The little pudding pop things they bring at the end are a nice touch. We charged the meal to the room (it was just over $200) and left a cash tip.
Stuffed, but not miserably, we waddled back to the casino. I played roulette awhile, winning another $35 for my great nephews college fund by hitting the 11 once. Back to the HL slots to. There was a man from Michigan sitting next to me that said he comes it almost every month. I know I saw him in May and July. He doesn't live all that far from my niece in Michigan. Victoria took good care of us, bringing me Tito's and cranberry and hubby his Bud Light. I decided to go play a little 3 card but within an hour I lost my buy in so I went back to slots. Just after midnight we said goodbye to Victoria (til next trip) and went to finish the night in the champagne slots at Paris. We always end out night at the $5 Double top dollar. Off to bed after 1:30, hubby was still up for the trip and I would have been had I not bought a helmet. I earned 1000 TCs so I got the 1000 bump, hubby earned 2500 TCs so he got the 5000 bump
Sunday morning we decided to have "normal breakfast" at planet dailies at PHo. Their breakfast is always good. I told hubby I thought if he earned another 2500 TCs that day that with the bump I think he would be at diamond aspiration level 1, so we checked his points in a machine and did some quick maths and decided yes, it was do-able. All I needed was 1000 TC day and I was there. After breakfast we went to Caesars and hit their HL slots. Didn't do so good so we moved to $1. Once I had lost all I wanted to lose at Caesars, I went to find hubby and told him I'd be back. I went to Payard and bought a bag of over priced coconut macaroons.....but they were worth every penny! I went back to him and offered him one, he passed, yay, more for me! We left Caesars and walked through Bellagio, no need to waste any more $$ there, it would take too many of our gambling dollars to get to gold before the points expire on 9/30. Back to lemon drop land! Hubby sits down at his $5 top dollar, me at my cherry machine. I put $100 in and play a couple of spins at $5 and some at $10. I
get my lemon drop and hit the spin button and the 4x cherry lands on the first line, the 2x cherry just below the second line and the 4x cherry just below the last line. I hear the familiar ding ding and I yell at hubby to come over. $2000 hand pay! Sweet!
This puts me back up for the trip. We play awhile longer, then head back to the room to rest awhile. We had free play that was available to use on Sunday, me $225, hubby $250 so we went down to get it. We played it in the champagne slots but not much luck. I think I won't $90 on my $225.
My niece's friend was flying home that day so my niece was moving over to Ballys to stay with her mom. I never did see her friend before she went home. I text my niece to see where they are and she says their room so I tell them we're in the HL room so stop whenever they come down. The 3 of them come down, first time I've seen my niece the whole trip. I pass out the cookies I have in my purse to 2 of them. Niece asked me where I got them, I said Caesars. She said she may have to go get more.
Sister goes to play 3 card, friend went to $1 WOF and niece stayed with hubby and I. Niece is staying with us in October so she filled us in on her plans. Sister has a vendor of hers that is also in Vegas and he asked them to dinner so they had to go get changed for dinner. They were going to Cut. They left and we continued to play slots. I hit my 1000 TCs so I took one of hubbys extra cards and played on his awhile to help him get to 2500. Around 8:00 I was hungry so we decided to go to Wahlburgers again, this time a 15 minute wait. We ordered burgers, rings and tots and I got a boozy shake but don't remember what kind. I think it had strawberry ice cream, it was really good, and it was more expensive than the burger! Burgers were really good, the onion rings weren't really rings, they were really skinny strips and they were made with purple onions. Wasn't a fan of them but the tots we're good. After we ate we went back to Ballys to play until hubby hit his 2500 TCs. We went back to Paris to play one last time on the top dollar machines. There was a couple there and they were bouncing back and forth between the top dollar and the other 2 machines next to them. The lady got up and left and pulled her card out. Her hubby was playing the machine 3 down from the top dollar we play. My Hubby puts his card in the top dollar and $100 and plays a few minutes. He puts a second one in when the lady comes back and sits next to her husband. My hubby gets a couple of bonuses and the lady looks ticked. They are small bonuses. Then he hits another one and it's a good one, $3600 hand pay. By that time she seemed really ticked. Hubby took his hand pay and played the rest of the $$ in his machine through and we left. I think it's funny when people get mad at you when you win. I'm just happy if someone around me wins!
We had a 4:30 wake up call so we were packed and in bed before midnight. This was the second trip this year where hubby has come home with more $$ than he took with him. I came home with exactly what I brought. We charged 2 dinners and 2 breakfasts to our room. I texted our host at the crack of dawn Monday to tell her we were leaving ( she told me to ). She sent me a note back saying we had a zero balance. She did take about $100 worth of RCs from my account, but with the limo charged to the room she probably comped off about $300, that made me happy.
We didn't have good luck with our football bets. I lost one game on each parlay card, I guess I need to lump my teams better. I didn't make any single team bets. Hubby lost all his parlays but won one of his single team bets. I told hubby we need to plan our next September trip a little later in the month. Our next trip was supposed to be in February for our 10th anniversary but it looks like we're squeezing in a trip the first weekend of December. It was going to be just me and my sister from Georgetown for her bday but she can't go that weekend. I'd already used my SWA points to buy my ticket so I asked hubby if he wanted to make a quick trip since he can travel in my companion pass and he said yes. My boss is letting me book a room at Cosmo on my work credit card points. We plan to play there and Bellagio. No need wasting gambling dollars at CET since there would be no way to hit diamond aspiration level two in a weekend. This will give us a good start to get our gold status back at MGM, plus give Cosmo more play. I have a terrace room reserved. Hubby has never stayed there, I stayed in a terrace room with my sister several years ago.
Thanks for reading and thanks to all that post their reports
I had to work a few hours Friday since it was payday but I was out of the office by 11:30, get home, take dog to the puppy spa, then home to finish packing. The dog can't see us pack, she gets depressed so we wait til she's gone. Our flight was at 3:05, nonstop. We got to the airport at 1:45 and were quickly through TSA pre check. Actually the regular line wasn't too bad either. We ran into one of our old customers who was also going to Vegas. I also ran into him at the airport in May when I went to
Vegas with my high school friends. Flight left on time. Why is it so hard to sleep on the plane heading to Vegas no matter how tired you are?
We had a Caesars limo pick us up to take us to Paris. This driver had picked us up before and remembered us. Bags off the carousel and were checking in at the diamond checkin within an hour of landing. We were given a red room, #2707, it had a great view of the fountains. We could also see into some of the rooms they are remodeling below in one of the other wings. The burgundy rooms look nice but I don't see hubby and I getting to stay in them anytime soon as he's a smoker and I'm fairly certain they'll be non smoking. Maybe in April with my niece. We unpacked and head to the sports book to get college football stuff. Hubby made a bet on an early a.m. game, then it's time to gamble.
Off to Ballys for some slots, $1 wild cherry for me. I'm trying the $20 is the new $100 strategy. Last trip I had really good luck on my odd bills, the first, third and 5th but time not so much, I had better luck on my second and 4th bills. Our favorite cocktail waitress Victoria was working and took good care of us. My sister and her friend (friend coming in on Saturday) we're staying at Ballys, my niece and her friend at Aria. Sister texts and says she just checked in and was headed our way so waited for her to come down. She sat with us while we gambled some then she went to play let it ride. After awhile she came back and said she was hungry, did we want to go eat, we said sure. We walked out to Wahlburgers but the wait was 45 minutes so we went to the Cafe St. Louis in Paris. They've changed their menu for the first time in years! No burgundy beef! Hubby had a burger and we had Cobb salads...we actually should have split the salad. Charged the meal to our room, sister paid the tip in cash. After we ate we went back to Ballys, I went back to my wild cherry machine and hubby went to the $5 top dollar. Sister pulled up a chair and sat next to me. Funny, she won't play $1 slots but will play $5 let it ride, 3 card, crazy 4 and Mississippi stud. A few minutes later I hear my name and it's my hubby. My sister goes to see what he wants and she comes back saying he won $1600 on the bonus so he was getting a hand pay. Sister went to play let it ride, hubby and I were playing slots and around 10:30 sister said she was going to bed. We played til about 11:30 then went to Paris to play $5 top dollar before we turned in. Needless to say, hubby was up for the day with his hand pay but I was only down a few hundred so I'd say that was ok. I had 500 TCs so I got the 125 bump. Hubby had 1000 TCs so he got the 1000 bump.
Saturday morning we went to the sports book to make our bets, I did 2-3 game, a 4 game and a 5 game parlay. Then we went to breakfast at Mon Ami Gabi. We were seated against the window in the atrium area so we had all the benefits of sitting outside but without the birds. We had a really great waitress, I think her name was Kathy. I had the ham and cheese crepe with egg and hubby had the 3 egg breakfast. He says he likes "normal food" for breakfast. This was his first time at MAG. Everything was great. We got our bill and I started to charge it to the room and noticed it was not our ticket, it seemed cheaper than it should have been. I called the waitress over and told her I thought we had the wrong ticket and she apologized and got me ours. It was $10 higher and she thanked me twice for letting her know the ticket was wrong.
From MAG we went to Bellagio to play top dollar. Hubby hit the $5 top dollar, me the $1 top dollar. We didn't have much luck so we decided to go next door to Cosmo, I was feeling the need for a lemon drop martini. We hit then HL slots, hubby $5 top dollar and me $5 4x wild cherry. I put my $100 in and order a water and lemon drop. I was playing $5 a spin and was down to $15 when the waitress comes back with my drinks. I had hit spin just as she walks up and I looked at her to get my drink and I hear all this ding dinging. I look at the machine and I see a 7 a 4x wild cherry and another 7. I still wasn't sure what I won but I tipped the waitress $10 for bringing me luck. I called the hubby over so he could see what I won, It ended up being a $1200 hand pay. We played while longer at Cosmo,moving over to $1 machines, then I wanted to play high card flush so we went to PHo. Mini rant here.....I can't stand those people that stand outside those stores trying to force you to take their moisturizer samples. There's one on the second floor of Cosmo and the store has 2 entrances so you get bugged twice.
We entered PHo by the PBR bar and went into the casino by the sports book. There was a bunch of sports memorabilia on display so we walked around it. Leon Spinks was sitting by the display at a table. They were having a fundraiser for the United
Way. There was a Houston Oilers helmet signed by Earl Campbell, Warren Moon and some other Oiler players. Hubby commented on it and I asked him if he wanted it and he said he might be interested. A guy came up and started talking to us about it and I asked the hubby again if he wanted it and he said yes. I said great, I'd just won enough at Cosmo to pay for it, sold. We also got to have our picture taken with Leon Spinks and he autographed a picture for me. They said they would ship the helmet, which we received a week later. That goes with hubbys OU helmet signed by Bob Stoops and a Loony Toons cell signed by Earl Campbell (from a fundraiser for MS).
We sit down at the $5 high card flush table (they had a $10 table too) and played awhile. We'd been there about a half hour when we hear our names, it was our host stopping to say hello. We usually stop in at the diamond lounge and have them call her and she stops by, it was nice that she came down to find us. We played awhile, then went to find some $1 slots to play. We didn't win anything at PHo so we went to the ABC store for diet Dr Pepper. They're remodeling the store so it was about 1/3 of the size of the normal store. We went back to the room to rest awhile when my sister texts to see where we are. I said we'd be at Ballys high limit in about a half hour. Sister and her friend catch up with us and sit with us for about an hour. They leave to go get ready for their concert, we head to the room at 6:30 to go get ready for our 7:30 reservation at BLT Steak. We ate there for my bday 2 years ago and it was ok, both our steaks were charred heavily on the outside that time so all you tasted was the char...we thought we'd give them another chance. Our server was Margo and she was wonderful. They brought out 3 different amuse bouchée (sp?) and then popovers. I had a nice glass of Zinfandel. We ordered salads and I ordered one of the specials, filet and shrimp, hubby had a NY strip and we had green beans and mashed potatoes. I'm glad we gave them another chance. Dinner was great and service was even better. I even sent them a note about how good Margo was. The little pudding pop things they bring at the end are a nice touch. We charged the meal to the room (it was just over $200) and left a cash tip.
Stuffed, but not miserably, we waddled back to the casino. I played roulette awhile, winning another $35 for my great nephews college fund by hitting the 11 once. Back to the HL slots to. There was a man from Michigan sitting next to me that said he comes it almost every month. I know I saw him in May and July. He doesn't live all that far from my niece in Michigan. Victoria took good care of us, bringing me Tito's and cranberry and hubby his Bud Light. I decided to go play a little 3 card but within an hour I lost my buy in so I went back to slots. Just after midnight we said goodbye to Victoria (til next trip) and went to finish the night in the champagne slots at Paris. We always end out night at the $5 Double top dollar. Off to bed after 1:30, hubby was still up for the trip and I would have been had I not bought a helmet. I earned 1000 TCs so I got the 1000 bump, hubby earned 2500 TCs so he got the 5000 bump
Sunday morning we decided to have "normal breakfast" at planet dailies at PHo. Their breakfast is always good. I told hubby I thought if he earned another 2500 TCs that day that with the bump I think he would be at diamond aspiration level 1, so we checked his points in a machine and did some quick maths and decided yes, it was do-able. All I needed was 1000 TC day and I was there. After breakfast we went to Caesars and hit their HL slots. Didn't do so good so we moved to $1. Once I had lost all I wanted to lose at Caesars, I went to find hubby and told him I'd be back. I went to Payard and bought a bag of over priced coconut macaroons.....but they were worth every penny! I went back to him and offered him one, he passed, yay, more for me! We left Caesars and walked through Bellagio, no need to waste any more $$ there, it would take too many of our gambling dollars to get to gold before the points expire on 9/30. Back to lemon drop land! Hubby sits down at his $5 top dollar, me at my cherry machine. I put $100 in and play a couple of spins at $5 and some at $10. I
get my lemon drop and hit the spin button and the 4x cherry lands on the first line, the 2x cherry just below the second line and the 4x cherry just below the last line. I hear the familiar ding ding and I yell at hubby to come over. $2000 hand pay! Sweet!
This puts me back up for the trip. We play awhile longer, then head back to the room to rest awhile. We had free play that was available to use on Sunday, me $225, hubby $250 so we went down to get it. We played it in the champagne slots but not much luck. I think I won't $90 on my $225.
My niece's friend was flying home that day so my niece was moving over to Ballys to stay with her mom. I never did see her friend before she went home. I text my niece to see where they are and she says their room so I tell them we're in the HL room so stop whenever they come down. The 3 of them come down, first time I've seen my niece the whole trip. I pass out the cookies I have in my purse to 2 of them. Niece asked me where I got them, I said Caesars. She said she may have to go get more.
Sister goes to play 3 card, friend went to $1 WOF and niece stayed with hubby and I. Niece is staying with us in October so she filled us in on her plans. Sister has a vendor of hers that is also in Vegas and he asked them to dinner so they had to go get changed for dinner. They were going to Cut. They left and we continued to play slots. I hit my 1000 TCs so I took one of hubbys extra cards and played on his awhile to help him get to 2500. Around 8:00 I was hungry so we decided to go to Wahlburgers again, this time a 15 minute wait. We ordered burgers, rings and tots and I got a boozy shake but don't remember what kind. I think it had strawberry ice cream, it was really good, and it was more expensive than the burger! Burgers were really good, the onion rings weren't really rings, they were really skinny strips and they were made with purple onions. Wasn't a fan of them but the tots we're good. After we ate we went back to Ballys to play until hubby hit his 2500 TCs. We went back to Paris to play one last time on the top dollar machines. There was a couple there and they were bouncing back and forth between the top dollar and the other 2 machines next to them. The lady got up and left and pulled her card out. Her hubby was playing the machine 3 down from the top dollar we play. My Hubby puts his card in the top dollar and $100 and plays a few minutes. He puts a second one in when the lady comes back and sits next to her husband. My hubby gets a couple of bonuses and the lady looks ticked. They are small bonuses. Then he hits another one and it's a good one, $3600 hand pay. By that time she seemed really ticked. Hubby took his hand pay and played the rest of the $$ in his machine through and we left. I think it's funny when people get mad at you when you win. I'm just happy if someone around me wins!
We had a 4:30 wake up call so we were packed and in bed before midnight. This was the second trip this year where hubby has come home with more $$ than he took with him. I came home with exactly what I brought. We charged 2 dinners and 2 breakfasts to our room. I texted our host at the crack of dawn Monday to tell her we were leaving ( she told me to ). She sent me a note back saying we had a zero balance. She did take about $100 worth of RCs from my account, but with the limo charged to the room she probably comped off about $300, that made me happy.
We didn't have good luck with our football bets. I lost one game on each parlay card, I guess I need to lump my teams better. I didn't make any single team bets. Hubby lost all his parlays but won one of his single team bets. I told hubby we need to plan our next September trip a little later in the month. Our next trip was supposed to be in February for our 10th anniversary but it looks like we're squeezing in a trip the first weekend of December. It was going to be just me and my sister from Georgetown for her bday but she can't go that weekend. I'd already used my SWA points to buy my ticket so I asked hubby if he wanted to make a quick trip since he can travel in my companion pass and he said yes. My boss is letting me book a room at Cosmo on my work credit card points. We plan to play there and Bellagio. No need wasting gambling dollars at CET since there would be no way to hit diamond aspiration level two in a weekend. This will give us a good start to get our gold status back at MGM, plus give Cosmo more play. I have a terrace room reserved. Hubby has never stayed there, I stayed in a terrace room with my sister several years ago.
Thanks for reading and thanks to all that post their reports
