I spent the Sunday through Thursday before Thanksgiving in Vegas because school was out and, both Ballys and the Silverton offered me free rooms...why not?
I left Pine Valley (just east of San Diego) at 4 AM because I prefer driving before the traffic gets going and arrived in Las Vegas at 9 AM, much too early to check in. I made my first stop at the M to play on my favorite quick quads machine. I was disappointed that my free play has gone down from $20 every two weeks to just $7 (why bother?); also gone are the free buffets and discounted rooms. The new management has really put the kabosh on low-medium players (I can't really blame them). The quick quads were not good to me and I left my first LV stop $100 in the red.
I then made my way over to the Palms to watch a movie but before the first showing began, I had time to play the 50-play 9/6 Jacks or Better at the 2-cent level. I had a couple of good hits but end up making only about $15. I stopped by the slot booth to pay for the movie (SKYFALL IMAX) with my "old" points (the points accrued before they changed their club). I asked how much money did I still have for comps with my old points, and they said $78! What? Wow! I thought I was out. So, I got a voucher for the movie. However, when I got to the movie counter, I realized I mis-read the time and there was still another hour wait. I looked over and saw that the new Twilight movie was about to start, so I paid for that because my voucher was for an IMAX, and Twilight was cheaper. The voucher is good for 48 hours, so I decided I'd just come back tomorrow to see Skyfall. Twilight, dispite the luke warm reviews was good, as for as I was concerned. I had a good time.
I drove over to Ballys to check in. Again, I was put on the non-smoking Diamond floor, which is great. I hung around the room for awhile and then decided to play some VP...their best schedule is 7/5 BP for quarters. I'm in a bit of a quandry because I have a month and a half to finish qualifying for Diamond for next year and I'm still 4000 points away...close enough to go for it, but far enough I could lose more money than it would be worth...considering Diamond bennies are getting worse and worse. I am going to make an effort.
I played for awhile but eventually lost another $100. Next to me was some guy playing Multi-strike at max coins of 20 quarters a hand. He was lost when it came to strategy and he didn't have a club card in...I was dying to ask him if I could put my card in...but I never did...not cool.
I walked over to Planet Hollywood to their Diamond Lounge, which is pretty much deserted while the Paris DL is jammed. Once again, the ubiquitous chicken wings and some other finger food was offered (they only serve hot food from 4 to 6 now). Shameful. But free food and drinks is still...free.
I finally headed back to my room to watch the Amazing Race and off to sleep.
The next day it was back to the Palms and again on the 50 plays. This was an okay session as I not only put on about 10,000 points (I'm up to over 100,000 "new" points) but I also won about $70. I used my voucher for Skyfall and had just sat down when I got a text from an ex-student of mine from about 12 years ago who said she just flew in and a refuling stop to her home in San Antonio but took advantave of a free ticket for a six hour layover. She's in the army in special forces and had just returned from Afganistan. I told her I'd meet her after the movie. Skyfall was every bit as good as has been written.
I met with Mandi at Planet Hollywood where we had a beer on the patio overlooking the strip (my Corona was $10...wow!). We then walked up to the Diamond Lounge and enjoyed some free drinks and yes...more wings. We had a great chat and I then drove her back to the airport for her flight home. How did she know I was in Vegas...Facebook...what else?
I headed back to Ballys and again played the 7/5 BP and came up with the same results...$100 down. Crap. Not only am I losing money at Ballys, I'm losing it with barely a hundred points added to my card. Oh well.
Back to the room and DWTS and to sleep.
I moved out the next day and headed down to Henderson to not only get gas at Costco, but to check all my emails and such at Starbucks. I then drove over to Sunset Station to make another grab at the Triple Deuces for dimes. Nada...nothing...zilch...another $100 down. This is NOT becoming a good trip.
I headed over to the Silverton and checked in. Nice thing about comp rooms is they don't charge the BS Resort fee...shame on all the places that do.... My room was okay and as usual, the mattress was excellent!
I sat down at the Spin Poker machine for nickels where they have Ugly Deuces. I played for a while and did manage to catch quad deuces on one line. I then was dealt four to a royal and needing the Queen of Spades...this time I caught her on the middle line for THREE royals...that's a $600 win (nickels). I'm all caught up and even a couple hundred ahead now for the trip...yea!
Silverton has a GREAT food promo...1000 points gets you a $40 food credit each day. I easily made that and enjoyed a nice meal at their Mexican restaurant, Mi Casa along with some Margarittas.
I played some more and because I was ahead even a few penny machines and finally back to the room. The next day (my final) I spent the day downtown. As always, I parked at Main Street Station and walked through the California and on into Freemont. I took all of my slot cards and vowed to play every casino downtown for at least a $20 each. I made $5 at Golden Gate playing their Red Riding Hood machine (great machine...look for it). I then broke even at Golden Nugget. Lost $20 at Vegas Club. I broke even at 4 Queens, lost $20 at Binions. The exception was at the Freemont where I played my favorite game, Pick 'em for quarters. I put in $100 and made $25 after a very long session.
Things are really looking up downtown. The new D (old Fitzgeralds) was very nice and I won $25 from them. I'm excited to see Downtown do better and better...it really is my favorite place to hang out. I spent pretty much the entire day there and finally went back to the Silverton where I took another stab at the Spin Poker. I did get dealt four to a royal again, but no luck. I broke even but again put on another 1000 points (at $1 per point, it takes no time) and had a terrific dinner in the cafe.
The next morning was Thanksgiving and I was headed to my sister's, who lives in Corona, which is actually on my way home. We had a nice dinner and I was finally back home by 7 PM. I wound up $275 more than what I left with, so it was a good trip.
I left Pine Valley (just east of San Diego) at 4 AM because I prefer driving before the traffic gets going and arrived in Las Vegas at 9 AM, much too early to check in. I made my first stop at the M to play on my favorite quick quads machine. I was disappointed that my free play has gone down from $20 every two weeks to just $7 (why bother?); also gone are the free buffets and discounted rooms. The new management has really put the kabosh on low-medium players (I can't really blame them). The quick quads were not good to me and I left my first LV stop $100 in the red.
I then made my way over to the Palms to watch a movie but before the first showing began, I had time to play the 50-play 9/6 Jacks or Better at the 2-cent level. I had a couple of good hits but end up making only about $15. I stopped by the slot booth to pay for the movie (SKYFALL IMAX) with my "old" points (the points accrued before they changed their club). I asked how much money did I still have for comps with my old points, and they said $78! What? Wow! I thought I was out. So, I got a voucher for the movie. However, when I got to the movie counter, I realized I mis-read the time and there was still another hour wait. I looked over and saw that the new Twilight movie was about to start, so I paid for that because my voucher was for an IMAX, and Twilight was cheaper. The voucher is good for 48 hours, so I decided I'd just come back tomorrow to see Skyfall. Twilight, dispite the luke warm reviews was good, as for as I was concerned. I had a good time.
I drove over to Ballys to check in. Again, I was put on the non-smoking Diamond floor, which is great. I hung around the room for awhile and then decided to play some VP...their best schedule is 7/5 BP for quarters. I'm in a bit of a quandry because I have a month and a half to finish qualifying for Diamond for next year and I'm still 4000 points away...close enough to go for it, but far enough I could lose more money than it would be worth...considering Diamond bennies are getting worse and worse. I am going to make an effort.
I played for awhile but eventually lost another $100. Next to me was some guy playing Multi-strike at max coins of 20 quarters a hand. He was lost when it came to strategy and he didn't have a club card in...I was dying to ask him if I could put my card in...but I never did...not cool.
I walked over to Planet Hollywood to their Diamond Lounge, which is pretty much deserted while the Paris DL is jammed. Once again, the ubiquitous chicken wings and some other finger food was offered (they only serve hot food from 4 to 6 now). Shameful. But free food and drinks is still...free.
I finally headed back to my room to watch the Amazing Race and off to sleep.
The next day it was back to the Palms and again on the 50 plays. This was an okay session as I not only put on about 10,000 points (I'm up to over 100,000 "new" points) but I also won about $70. I used my voucher for Skyfall and had just sat down when I got a text from an ex-student of mine from about 12 years ago who said she just flew in and a refuling stop to her home in San Antonio but took advantave of a free ticket for a six hour layover. She's in the army in special forces and had just returned from Afganistan. I told her I'd meet her after the movie. Skyfall was every bit as good as has been written.
I met with Mandi at Planet Hollywood where we had a beer on the patio overlooking the strip (my Corona was $10...wow!). We then walked up to the Diamond Lounge and enjoyed some free drinks and yes...more wings. We had a great chat and I then drove her back to the airport for her flight home. How did she know I was in Vegas...Facebook...what else?
I headed back to Ballys and again played the 7/5 BP and came up with the same results...$100 down. Crap. Not only am I losing money at Ballys, I'm losing it with barely a hundred points added to my card. Oh well.
Back to the room and DWTS and to sleep.
I moved out the next day and headed down to Henderson to not only get gas at Costco, but to check all my emails and such at Starbucks. I then drove over to Sunset Station to make another grab at the Triple Deuces for dimes. Nada...nothing...zilch...another $100 down. This is NOT becoming a good trip.
I headed over to the Silverton and checked in. Nice thing about comp rooms is they don't charge the BS Resort fee...shame on all the places that do.... My room was okay and as usual, the mattress was excellent!
I sat down at the Spin Poker machine for nickels where they have Ugly Deuces. I played for a while and did manage to catch quad deuces on one line. I then was dealt four to a royal and needing the Queen of Spades...this time I caught her on the middle line for THREE royals...that's a $600 win (nickels). I'm all caught up and even a couple hundred ahead now for the trip...yea!
Silverton has a GREAT food promo...1000 points gets you a $40 food credit each day. I easily made that and enjoyed a nice meal at their Mexican restaurant, Mi Casa along with some Margarittas.
I played some more and because I was ahead even a few penny machines and finally back to the room. The next day (my final) I spent the day downtown. As always, I parked at Main Street Station and walked through the California and on into Freemont. I took all of my slot cards and vowed to play every casino downtown for at least a $20 each. I made $5 at Golden Gate playing their Red Riding Hood machine (great machine...look for it). I then broke even at Golden Nugget. Lost $20 at Vegas Club. I broke even at 4 Queens, lost $20 at Binions. The exception was at the Freemont where I played my favorite game, Pick 'em for quarters. I put in $100 and made $25 after a very long session.
Things are really looking up downtown. The new D (old Fitzgeralds) was very nice and I won $25 from them. I'm excited to see Downtown do better and better...it really is my favorite place to hang out. I spent pretty much the entire day there and finally went back to the Silverton where I took another stab at the Spin Poker. I did get dealt four to a royal again, but no luck. I broke even but again put on another 1000 points (at $1 per point, it takes no time) and had a terrific dinner in the cafe.
The next morning was Thanksgiving and I was headed to my sister's, who lives in Corona, which is actually on my way home. We had a nice dinner and I was finally back home by 7 PM. I wound up $275 more than what I left with, so it was a good trip.
