Trip Report
September 19 – October 4, 2015
Welcome to the Fall Trip Report for 2015. This is a “shorter” trip compared to our normal trips only coming in at 15 days. This trip was put together because some of the Christmas Holidays fell on work days so I was able to save some vacation days then and by cutting the summer trip back by a week. We'll be up to our usual gaming, dining and hotel hopping. I'll also be adding another hotel to my already long list of places I've stayed in town. As always we've got lots planned from meeting friends, gaming, dining, shows and more. There is one special thing about this trip. This will be trip number 50 for me! The bags are packed, and the plane is waiting so let's go!
Pre – Trip:
This trip actually started out in Lake George, NY for a few days. On the way back through we stopped in the Albany area and checked in at the La Quinta Albany Airport where we'd be spending the night. We arrived around 3:00 and the handicap accessible Jacuzzi suite I reserved was ready for us. Apparently someone who was here for a week already decided to extend their trip and they already had this room (they only have one). I was not all too happy and ended up taking a non handicap Jacuzzi suite. Luckily Dee is getting more of her abilities back and can make do without a full handicap room if necessary. Normally I wouldn't book a room like this for an overnight but it was only a few extra bucks. The room also comes with breakfast in the morning and we can park our car in the lot while we're gone. They also offer shuttle service to the airport too.
Day 1
Saturday September 19, 2015
When we got up this morning we started off with breakfast down in the hotel lobby. They've got the typical hotel deluxe continental breakfast with cereal, pastry, breads and fruit.
We went back to the room to finish getting ready for the trip and then headed to the lobby to catch the shuttle to the airport. Today's flight is going to be on Southwest Airlines. This flight was actually booked through Caesars Entertainment using my Level 2 Diamond Aspirations trip. It takes 80,000 points to reach this level and it offers airfare for 2 up to $750. This trip was actually $916 but they allow you to use reward credits to pay the difference.
Checking in was fast with no issues, much like it usually is when we fly from here. Getting through security was equally as easy and after Dee had her full body & cavity search we were off to the gate to wait for boarding.
When it was time to board they took Dee down first in her wheelchair. We grabbed our seats and settled in for what was scheduled to be a 5 ½ hour flight. This is flight 3434 and it's scheduled to depart at 1:05pm but while we were sitting in the terminal the sign switched to delayed and would now depart at 1:35pm. Then it became 1:45pm and then 1:55p. The delay was due to the incoming flight from Baltimore. They had heavy fog in the morning that sent a ripple through the system. It was originally scheduled to arrive at 3:35pm in Las Vegas. The captain came on and told us the flight would be 5:15. We departed later than 1:55pm but not by much.
The flight was very smooth. People also behaved on this flight except for the lady behind us that decided to tell the person sitting next to her that her parents were in a plane crash. Great topic for a pre-flight conversation. Between watching TV on my tablet and sleeping before I knew it we were making our descent into the Las Vegas area. We landed 4:00pm and taxied to the gate.
We waited for Dee's wheelchair to come up and we were off to the baggage claim area. The bag came out just as I got there. I was able to head to the rental car facility to pick up the car while leaving Dee at the airport. It takes a few extra minutes to do this but it's a lot easier than dragging her and the luggage on and off the shuttle and through the rental car garage.
Originally when I booked this trip we were going to arrive tomorrow and I had booked a car to reflect those dates back in May. The rates had spiked quite a bit since then so just adding a day to the existing reservation wasn't going to work. Instead I had a 1 day rental tonight through Dollar. I got a premium car for a base rate of $25 which was actually cheaper than all of the smaller cars for this one day. I also had a 2 week rental booked for a full sized starting tomorrow for $106 per week. Then an e-mail came through a few weeks ago offering SUVs for fairly low prices. With the rates now out of control for this trip I doubted the discount code would work but it did. Instead of the full sized for $106 I for an SUV for $149 and I don't have to screw around with a 1 day rental. The reservation went through and wasn't blacked out for my dates. I found it odd because without the discount code the rate was $749 per week and $110 for the extra day. Yes, that is a seven. Even worse was the premium and luxury cars at over $2500/week. I know it's a little busy in town this week but come on Dollar!
They did not have my car assigned already so I had to stop at the Fastlane Booth to get my contract. The lot attendant showed me where 3 standard SUVs were. I chose the Chevy Traverse over the Jeep and Kia. It was in decent shape with “only” 17,000 miles on it. Typically Dollar's cars are beat up and have high miles on them. My guess is because they are actually hand me downs from their parent company Hertz's fleet.
I gave the car a quick look and and then headed out and back to the airport to pick up Dee and the luggage then we were off to downtown.
When we arrived downtown I pulled into the Fremont where we would be spending the next 3 nights. We don't normally stay at the Fremont and in fact, this would be the very first time I've ever stayed here making it the 51st different property I've stayed at in Las Vegas. I booked this on an offer I received for renewing emerald status with Boyd gaming. The offer actually offered the chance to stay at any of the Boyd properties in Las Vegas. We chose the Fremont because of it's central location downtown which would allow us to hit the Four Queens among others to use our free play offers. Also since we don't typically play here there is no level of play to “maintain” to keep offers coming since I don't get offers from here.
When I booked this room they only had smoking rooms available but I booked it hoping when we checked in they'd have something in non-smoking. They did and we were assigned room 222. This is a king room with nightstands, a dresser, flat screen TV and small table with one armchair. It has a view of Binion's and the Golden Nugget entrance on Fremont Street. The bathroom is very small but has a vanity toilet and tub. It has to be the smallest hotel bathroom I've ever seen beating out the Four queens for smallest ever. The room is about the smallest I've ever been in too.
Once we got our things settled into the room we were off to grab something to eat at the Lanai Express. I got the saimen and Dee had chili over rice. Normally when we stay down here at Main Street Station I've got a silver card. I don't have that here so I just used points to cover the hotel bill.
Next up it was on to the casino for some gaming. I found a couple of 3/5 play STP machines and we got started. One my 5th hand I was dealt A234 of hearts and pulled the 5 for the ultra dread ace low straight flush. I hit another straight flush soon after. Later on I got dealt a flush with a 5x multiplier for 625 coins and later on hit aces. Dee hit a bonus quad and a straight flush of her own. Unfortunately the multipliers were far and few between and when we had the 8x and 10x multipliers we'd whiff. By the time we'd run 5k through we were down $300. Not exactly the way I was hoping to start this trip!
It was starting to get late and it's been a long day so we decided to pack it in and just go to the room to watch some TV and get some sleep.
Total win/loss for the day - $300
Total comps for the day $1079
Room $150
Food $13
Other $916 (airfare)
Day 2
Sunday September 20 2015
We got up today and decided we'd hit the Four Queens. We went to Magnolia's for breakfast. I had Canal Street (French toast, eggs and bacon) and Dee had Simply Jazz (eggs, hash browns, & toast). The food was standard issue for Magnolia's and I used comp dollars to pay the bill.
We would play on my card today. I also have a mail offer for $200 in free play. We normally play 9/6 jacks or better for halves here but in an effort to save some time we played bonus deuces on the 50 plays. We were hoping things would be half as good this trip as they were back in the summer. Today it was not great. We both had hands where we were dealt 4 to a royal and both struck out. We also got dealt 3 deuces on a hand. I totally struck out and hit no quad. Dee snagged 2 on hers. We both hit a few more sets of deuces but no deuces with an ace. It was streaky to say the least and we dropped about $550.
I decided to run my free play through quarter 9/6 jacks in hopes to get as much of the $200 out of it. Things were tough here and I only hit one full house and one flush turning the $200 free play into just $150 cash.
We went over to Binion's to play next. I hadn't played here in close to 10 years. I went to the player's club to get new cards and I was still in the system. Not only was I still in the system but I still had $9 in comps available. So, this let's me tell the casinos that zero out points after no activity for 12 months they can go fuck themselves. If a place like Binion's can leave my points alone, so can you Stations, Palms and M (among others).
We went and got our pictures taken with the million dollars and then hit the machines. We played 8/5 bonus for halves. Dee was getting beat up but did hit a bonus quad. I was on quad fire early on hitting 3 quads in the first 15 minutes we were playing. Later on I also hit aces. I ended up going into a downward spiral and cashed out with a $200 win. Dee lost $100 in her efforts.
We took a break from the action and hit Magnolia's Veranda for some lunch. Dee had a chef salad and I had hot open turkey and a cup of their gumbo. The food here is basic but good and fits the bill. The gumbo was awesome like it always is.
We went back to the machines at Binion's and continued to play. This time around I got dealt quad nines and Dee hit a bunch of bonus quads including aces. Between quads we were bleeding though. We got about 5k in action through this time around and Dee cashed out even which kind of sucked considering the number of bonus quads and aces she hit. I ended up going into a bad tailspin running my meter down to nothing.
We took a break and went back over to the room at the Fremont. I watched football on TV and Dee read her book.
After the break it was back to Binion's for some more video poker action. I hit a quad early on and stayed on the plus side the entire time. A few more quads kept me going and I again got dealt quad nines. Dee struggled but then got dealt a straight flush to get back into it. She continued to bleed though. By the time we were all done she's lost about $150 and I had won $200. All in all it was a decent day at Binion's.
After we were done playing I took my 3 swipes on the Mother load kiosk and scored $5 free play in spin one, $25 in free bets on spin two , and a lame free gift on spin three. The free gift was a lame casserole dish. Note to promotions managers. How the fuck are we supposed to get this shit home? I also stopped by the player's club to turn in the ACG coupon for 2x points (up to 500).
For dinner we went to the coffee shop at Binion's. I had the pulled pork sandwich. It comes with fries and beans. The pork was VERY good. One of the best I've had. One thing I liked is they don't sauce the pork ahead of time. They give you the bottle of sauce and let you do it. Dee had the club sandwich. Hers came with potato salad and must have had close to a pound of meat on it.
We took a quick walk up Fremont Street after dinner and then came back to the Fremont and wrapped up another day.
Total win/loss for the day - $350
Total comps for the day $393
Room $110
Free Play/Cash $210
Food $73
Day 3
Monday September 21, 2015
This morning we started off with breakfast at Magnolia's. We went light today with toast and fruit. The fruit was not good and wasn't worthy of being served. It was that bad.
Today we hit the Four queens again to play on Dee's card. She's got the same offer I had yesterday. We started off with the bonus deuces again today on the 100 plays. Today it started off strong. Dee was on fire getting dealt 3 deuces three different times. Each time she pulled out numerous quad deuces and even popped some with the ace. This shot her meter way up. I was hitting my fair share of stuff but never got dealt 3 deuces. I did pull a number of quad deuces of my own as well as one with the ace. I also hit a natural royal. By the time we had hit our play goal for the day we were up over $1300.
Dee still had her $200 in free play so she ran that through the 50¢ jacks or better. She didn't get single hand better than 2 pair and turned the $200 into $155.
We took a break from the gaming and ran up to the room for a break.
After the break we went over to Binion's again. I played last night's $25 in free bets on black on roulette and won 3 of the 5 spins for $15 into the pocket.
Next we signed Dee up for a player's card and turned in a coupon from the POV for $10 in free play. She was also given a coupon for a free ace at blackjack. We also had a coupon sheet that had a coupon on it for $10 in free play, $10 match play and a 2 for 1 entree after earning 10 points.
Once Dee had her cards we were off to the video poker machines. We played for halves again today and Dee hit a quad early on and then got a dealt quad. I was struggling to stay alive. I was getting low paired to death but did finally pop a few quads. Between quads I was still getting low paired to death and slammed with flush four without filling it in. We were plugging along and I heard Dee go “oooh” and I looked over expecting to see a quad. I didn't, I saw a club royal!
After she was paid we continued to play for a bit longer. I was still getting beat up and Dee went on a downward spiral so we took a break with me being down $200 and Dee being up $50 (plus $2000 for the royal).
We came back over to the Fremont for another break and a snack. During the break we watched some TV and just chilled out.
We went back over to Binion's to get in some more action. Dee hovered and hit a few quads but I bled. I was getting low paired to death and it wasn't uncommon to go 20 hands in a row with no wins. Dee lost $100 but I lost $300. We switched to quarters and the same continued. Dee hovered for a while but then lost almost everything. I lost $100 initially but a quad, full house and straight flush pulled me out of a hole. We had reached our play goal but not before dropping $500.
We went back over to the Fremont to change our clothes and get ready for dinner.
For dinner tonight we had reservations at Hugo's Cellar at the Four Queens. I made the reservation through Open Table and everything was in order when we arrived.
Although we've been playing at Four Queens for quite a while but haven't eaten here since 2007! It was good to be back! Things started off with Dee getting her customary rose.
I skipped the appetizer but Dee got the snails. For our entrees Dee tried the Mediterranean Shrimp and I ordered the rib eye steak. The meal comes with the table side salad and sides. The food and service were excellent. We skipped dessert because they bring out the dried fruit/strawberry tray after the meal.
All in all it was a good meal although pricey at $123 for the two of us. We used Dee's comps to pay the bill and headed out.
We went back over to Binion's to do Dee's mother load swipes. She won $10 in free bets, $20 food comp and a free gift. The free gift turned out to be a giant drink container. I protested and the guy at the booth gave Dee a Binion's hat instead. We also turned in the AGC coupon for 2x points up to 500 and got Dee's match play for earning 10 points as a new member. We will use the free bets, free ace and match play tomorrow when it's not so busy in there.
We wrapped up the night with packing up the few things we needed during this stay at the Fremont, TV and sleep.
Total win/loss for the day $3000
Total comps for the day $481
Room $80
Free Play/Cash $260
Food $141
Day 4
Tuesday September 15, 2015
Today is moving day so I finished up packing and got ready for the move.
We walked over to Binion's to have breakfast at the coffee shop using Dee's $20 food voucher from last night and to use her table coupons and chips. We started off with the free bet chips at roulette. She chose black and hit. Spin 2 she also chose black and hit again. She then used the $10 in winnings to play the match play on black and hit the 3rd one in a row for a $30 win.
We went to the cafe for breakfast. Dee ordered Binion's special of the standard 2 eggs toast and hash browns and I ordered chicken fingers. They were tasty but could have used a little more time in the fryer.
After breakfast we hit the blackjack table to use Dee's free ace. She was dealt a 2 with the ace against the dealer nine. After 3 hits and a total of 19 the dealer flipped over an effing ace for 20 and she lost.
We came back over here to the Fremont, grabbed our things and headed to the valet area to get the car. We made a quick stop at Target for a few items then headed up to Summerlin. The next 4 nights would be spent at the JW Marriott based on 2 offers from the Rampart Casino. Dee had an offer of 2 nights $400 in free play and $30 in food. I had an offer for buy a night at $99 get one free and $80 in free play. Normally I don't like to book rooms with a rate but last time we were here it was comped off with no issues so I felt safe booking this offer again.
When we arrived we started off with some video poker. We chose the 8/5 bonus for dimes in ten play. We got quite a bit of action here with me hitting a few sets of aces. Dee hit a high number of quad deuces. We didn't do well other than those hands though and dropped a few hundred.
We decided we'd try to go and check in. Checking in was easy and they linked our reservations so we wouldn't have to switch rooms in 2 days. We reserved a handicap accessible room and when we got to the front desk were told that it was a junior suite but it wasn't ready yet but they'd call us when it was.
We went back to the casino for more 10 play action and proceeded to get our asses kicked hard. No dealt winners and few quads. We dropped another $400 here in 1/3 of the time we lost before checking in. Things aren't looking good for today with us already down $700 before we even checked in.
We found a different bank of machines and tried those. Things were much better here and I hit aces 6 times and Dee hit a set herself along with another batch of deuces. We got out of this session even but got a lot more play than we did in the last round.
It was getting later and I was wondering if they had forgotten to call us like in the past. I had to run to the car to get Dee's mailer (one of the few places that wants to see it). On my way to the car there was some guy sitting in a chair next to the parking garage elevators clipping his fingernails and letting the clippings just fly all over the place. The floor was covered with them. Seriously, WTF is wrong with people?
As we were heading to check in again the phone rang. We got the the front desk and and were assigned room 5342 which is a handicap accessible junior suite. This is a king room with a dresser - TV cabinet wall unit thing that separates the living room from the bedroom. In it is a single flat screen the spins so you can watch from bed or the living room. There are nightstands on each side of the bed, dining table, arm chair and a view of the waterfalls and courtyard.
The living room has an L shaped sectional sofa, coffee table, end table and instead of a work desk has another dresser.
The bathroom has a separate toilet room with w toilet and a bidet, two sink vanity, shower stall with rain forest shower head and regular shower head and a jetted tub. There is also a huge walk in closet.
There is also a separate second bathroom that offers handicap accessibility with a sink, toilet with safety bars and a roll in shower.
We got our things settled into the room and then it was time to get something to eat. It was too late for lunch but too early for dinner so we hit he Promenade Cafe. They are running 3 course meals starting at $10 and we both got one of those. It's an appetizer, entree and dessert. Dee got chicken egg rolls, spaghetti and meatballs and chocolate cake. I got chicken noodle soup and a chicken pot pie as well as chocolate cake. Everything was good and we ate too much, as usual!
Next it was off to the casino. We started off stopping by the slot club to get the first ½ of Dee's play added to her card and her $30 food voucher. Next stop was off to the 3/5 – play video poker machines for quarters. Things were streaky but I hit another set of aces to save myself for a while. I ended up dropping about $100 but Dee got slammed around $200 more.
We had enough play in for the day so we ran Dee's free play though 9/6 jacks or better for halves. We turned the $200 into $185 and wrapped up the day with $20 in penny games for some fun. We didn't hit much of anything in that venture and gave up for the day even though it was still fairly early.
Total win/loss for the day - $700
Total comps for the day $446
Room $199
Free Play/Cash $200
Food $47
Day 5
Wednesday September 23, 2015
This morning we started off the day hitting the 10 plays for dimes. It was pretty good all around with lots of quads including aces and bonus quads. Things got exciting for Dee when she got dealt 4 to a royal and scored one on line 5! We continued to plug away and by the time we were finished I was even and Dee was up $250.
We took a break from the action to get some breakfast at the Promenade Cafe. Dee had a California Scramble and I had chicken and waffles. She said her meal was excellent and mine was pretty tasty too. We paid the bill with a $20 voucher that came with Dee's offer.
It was back to the machines again. This time around we hit the five plays for quarters. It was another good session to start with me hitting aces right away. Those wouldn't stick around long though and not only did I lose that money, I lost my original $100. Dee hit some aces of her own and got dealt quad queens. From there she hovered the whole time we played. I came back to life on my machine hitting lots of quads including getting dealt quad sixes twice in less than 2 minutes. We cashed out up $200 a piece here and took a break. On the way to the room we played a penny slot for a few minutes and hit a bonus round and had a few decent hits. We walked away with a $5 win there!
Next up we went to the pool for a while. It was nice to be able to go out in the nice weather and not fry like we usually do in the summer.
We came back to the room and got cleaned up and then went to dinner. For dinner we went to J.C.'s Irish Pub. Dee ordered the fish and chips and I ordered the Sheppard's pie. The food was good this time around and we left full.
We hit the machines one more time. This time around we played single line 9/6 jacks or better for halves. Dee was a ball of fire to start again with a bunch of quads including 3-4 dealt. I was getting pounded and not hitting much of anything. Low paired to death and going 10-15 hands in a row with no wins. My Hail Mary's weren't working until I was almost down $300. I switched to double-double and popped quad threes to get back into it. This was followed by a bunch of full houses and flushes and I got back to even and quit. Dee was up just over $100 and quit as well.
We wrapped up today's action by running Dee's free play through $1 9/6 jacks turning the $200 into $115. We also cashed in $100 worth of Dee's points and ran that on half dollar jacks and turned that into $80. All in all today was a good day at Rampart and we scored our first ever win here!
We were done playing for the day so decided we'd go to the Rio and see if we could get tickets to Penn and Teller using Dee's free diamond tickets. They had seats available and we got into section 3 seats 7-8 in the handicap row. We saw this show a few years ago but they change it up quite a bit. Most of the bits were different than we saw last time. It was a good show again and the price was right at complimentary especially when it would have been $184 for those tickets.
We came back up here to Rampart after the was over and wrapped up with some TV and then bed.
Total win/loss for the day $950
Total comps for the day $744
Room $199
Free Play/Cash $300
Food $61
Shows $184
September 19 – October 4, 2015
Welcome to the Fall Trip Report for 2015. This is a “shorter” trip compared to our normal trips only coming in at 15 days. This trip was put together because some of the Christmas Holidays fell on work days so I was able to save some vacation days then and by cutting the summer trip back by a week. We'll be up to our usual gaming, dining and hotel hopping. I'll also be adding another hotel to my already long list of places I've stayed in town. As always we've got lots planned from meeting friends, gaming, dining, shows and more. There is one special thing about this trip. This will be trip number 50 for me! The bags are packed, and the plane is waiting so let's go!
Pre – Trip:
This trip actually started out in Lake George, NY for a few days. On the way back through we stopped in the Albany area and checked in at the La Quinta Albany Airport where we'd be spending the night. We arrived around 3:00 and the handicap accessible Jacuzzi suite I reserved was ready for us. Apparently someone who was here for a week already decided to extend their trip and they already had this room (they only have one). I was not all too happy and ended up taking a non handicap Jacuzzi suite. Luckily Dee is getting more of her abilities back and can make do without a full handicap room if necessary. Normally I wouldn't book a room like this for an overnight but it was only a few extra bucks. The room also comes with breakfast in the morning and we can park our car in the lot while we're gone. They also offer shuttle service to the airport too.
Day 1
Saturday September 19, 2015
When we got up this morning we started off with breakfast down in the hotel lobby. They've got the typical hotel deluxe continental breakfast with cereal, pastry, breads and fruit.
We went back to the room to finish getting ready for the trip and then headed to the lobby to catch the shuttle to the airport. Today's flight is going to be on Southwest Airlines. This flight was actually booked through Caesars Entertainment using my Level 2 Diamond Aspirations trip. It takes 80,000 points to reach this level and it offers airfare for 2 up to $750. This trip was actually $916 but they allow you to use reward credits to pay the difference.
Checking in was fast with no issues, much like it usually is when we fly from here. Getting through security was equally as easy and after Dee had her full body & cavity search we were off to the gate to wait for boarding.
When it was time to board they took Dee down first in her wheelchair. We grabbed our seats and settled in for what was scheduled to be a 5 ½ hour flight. This is flight 3434 and it's scheduled to depart at 1:05pm but while we were sitting in the terminal the sign switched to delayed and would now depart at 1:35pm. Then it became 1:45pm and then 1:55p. The delay was due to the incoming flight from Baltimore. They had heavy fog in the morning that sent a ripple through the system. It was originally scheduled to arrive at 3:35pm in Las Vegas. The captain came on and told us the flight would be 5:15. We departed later than 1:55pm but not by much.
The flight was very smooth. People also behaved on this flight except for the lady behind us that decided to tell the person sitting next to her that her parents were in a plane crash. Great topic for a pre-flight conversation. Between watching TV on my tablet and sleeping before I knew it we were making our descent into the Las Vegas area. We landed 4:00pm and taxied to the gate.
We waited for Dee's wheelchair to come up and we were off to the baggage claim area. The bag came out just as I got there. I was able to head to the rental car facility to pick up the car while leaving Dee at the airport. It takes a few extra minutes to do this but it's a lot easier than dragging her and the luggage on and off the shuttle and through the rental car garage.
Originally when I booked this trip we were going to arrive tomorrow and I had booked a car to reflect those dates back in May. The rates had spiked quite a bit since then so just adding a day to the existing reservation wasn't going to work. Instead I had a 1 day rental tonight through Dollar. I got a premium car for a base rate of $25 which was actually cheaper than all of the smaller cars for this one day. I also had a 2 week rental booked for a full sized starting tomorrow for $106 per week. Then an e-mail came through a few weeks ago offering SUVs for fairly low prices. With the rates now out of control for this trip I doubted the discount code would work but it did. Instead of the full sized for $106 I for an SUV for $149 and I don't have to screw around with a 1 day rental. The reservation went through and wasn't blacked out for my dates. I found it odd because without the discount code the rate was $749 per week and $110 for the extra day. Yes, that is a seven. Even worse was the premium and luxury cars at over $2500/week. I know it's a little busy in town this week but come on Dollar!
They did not have my car assigned already so I had to stop at the Fastlane Booth to get my contract. The lot attendant showed me where 3 standard SUVs were. I chose the Chevy Traverse over the Jeep and Kia. It was in decent shape with “only” 17,000 miles on it. Typically Dollar's cars are beat up and have high miles on them. My guess is because they are actually hand me downs from their parent company Hertz's fleet.
I gave the car a quick look and and then headed out and back to the airport to pick up Dee and the luggage then we were off to downtown.
When we arrived downtown I pulled into the Fremont where we would be spending the next 3 nights. We don't normally stay at the Fremont and in fact, this would be the very first time I've ever stayed here making it the 51st different property I've stayed at in Las Vegas. I booked this on an offer I received for renewing emerald status with Boyd gaming. The offer actually offered the chance to stay at any of the Boyd properties in Las Vegas. We chose the Fremont because of it's central location downtown which would allow us to hit the Four Queens among others to use our free play offers. Also since we don't typically play here there is no level of play to “maintain” to keep offers coming since I don't get offers from here.
When I booked this room they only had smoking rooms available but I booked it hoping when we checked in they'd have something in non-smoking. They did and we were assigned room 222. This is a king room with nightstands, a dresser, flat screen TV and small table with one armchair. It has a view of Binion's and the Golden Nugget entrance on Fremont Street. The bathroom is very small but has a vanity toilet and tub. It has to be the smallest hotel bathroom I've ever seen beating out the Four queens for smallest ever. The room is about the smallest I've ever been in too.
Once we got our things settled into the room we were off to grab something to eat at the Lanai Express. I got the saimen and Dee had chili over rice. Normally when we stay down here at Main Street Station I've got a silver card. I don't have that here so I just used points to cover the hotel bill.
Next up it was on to the casino for some gaming. I found a couple of 3/5 play STP machines and we got started. One my 5th hand I was dealt A234 of hearts and pulled the 5 for the ultra dread ace low straight flush. I hit another straight flush soon after. Later on I got dealt a flush with a 5x multiplier for 625 coins and later on hit aces. Dee hit a bonus quad and a straight flush of her own. Unfortunately the multipliers were far and few between and when we had the 8x and 10x multipliers we'd whiff. By the time we'd run 5k through we were down $300. Not exactly the way I was hoping to start this trip!
It was starting to get late and it's been a long day so we decided to pack it in and just go to the room to watch some TV and get some sleep.
Total win/loss for the day - $300
Total comps for the day $1079
Room $150
Food $13
Other $916 (airfare)
Day 2
Sunday September 20 2015
We got up today and decided we'd hit the Four Queens. We went to Magnolia's for breakfast. I had Canal Street (French toast, eggs and bacon) and Dee had Simply Jazz (eggs, hash browns, & toast). The food was standard issue for Magnolia's and I used comp dollars to pay the bill.
We would play on my card today. I also have a mail offer for $200 in free play. We normally play 9/6 jacks or better for halves here but in an effort to save some time we played bonus deuces on the 50 plays. We were hoping things would be half as good this trip as they were back in the summer. Today it was not great. We both had hands where we were dealt 4 to a royal and both struck out. We also got dealt 3 deuces on a hand. I totally struck out and hit no quad. Dee snagged 2 on hers. We both hit a few more sets of deuces but no deuces with an ace. It was streaky to say the least and we dropped about $550.
I decided to run my free play through quarter 9/6 jacks in hopes to get as much of the $200 out of it. Things were tough here and I only hit one full house and one flush turning the $200 free play into just $150 cash.
We went over to Binion's to play next. I hadn't played here in close to 10 years. I went to the player's club to get new cards and I was still in the system. Not only was I still in the system but I still had $9 in comps available. So, this let's me tell the casinos that zero out points after no activity for 12 months they can go fuck themselves. If a place like Binion's can leave my points alone, so can you Stations, Palms and M (among others).
We went and got our pictures taken with the million dollars and then hit the machines. We played 8/5 bonus for halves. Dee was getting beat up but did hit a bonus quad. I was on quad fire early on hitting 3 quads in the first 15 minutes we were playing. Later on I also hit aces. I ended up going into a downward spiral and cashed out with a $200 win. Dee lost $100 in her efforts.
We took a break from the action and hit Magnolia's Veranda for some lunch. Dee had a chef salad and I had hot open turkey and a cup of their gumbo. The food here is basic but good and fits the bill. The gumbo was awesome like it always is.
We went back to the machines at Binion's and continued to play. This time around I got dealt quad nines and Dee hit a bunch of bonus quads including aces. Between quads we were bleeding though. We got about 5k in action through this time around and Dee cashed out even which kind of sucked considering the number of bonus quads and aces she hit. I ended up going into a bad tailspin running my meter down to nothing.
We took a break and went back over to the room at the Fremont. I watched football on TV and Dee read her book.
After the break it was back to Binion's for some more video poker action. I hit a quad early on and stayed on the plus side the entire time. A few more quads kept me going and I again got dealt quad nines. Dee struggled but then got dealt a straight flush to get back into it. She continued to bleed though. By the time we were all done she's lost about $150 and I had won $200. All in all it was a decent day at Binion's.
After we were done playing I took my 3 swipes on the Mother load kiosk and scored $5 free play in spin one, $25 in free bets on spin two , and a lame free gift on spin three. The free gift was a lame casserole dish. Note to promotions managers. How the fuck are we supposed to get this shit home? I also stopped by the player's club to turn in the ACG coupon for 2x points (up to 500).
For dinner we went to the coffee shop at Binion's. I had the pulled pork sandwich. It comes with fries and beans. The pork was VERY good. One of the best I've had. One thing I liked is they don't sauce the pork ahead of time. They give you the bottle of sauce and let you do it. Dee had the club sandwich. Hers came with potato salad and must have had close to a pound of meat on it.
We took a quick walk up Fremont Street after dinner and then came back to the Fremont and wrapped up another day.
Total win/loss for the day - $350
Total comps for the day $393
Room $110
Free Play/Cash $210
Food $73
Day 3
Monday September 21, 2015
This morning we started off with breakfast at Magnolia's. We went light today with toast and fruit. The fruit was not good and wasn't worthy of being served. It was that bad.
Today we hit the Four queens again to play on Dee's card. She's got the same offer I had yesterday. We started off with the bonus deuces again today on the 100 plays. Today it started off strong. Dee was on fire getting dealt 3 deuces three different times. Each time she pulled out numerous quad deuces and even popped some with the ace. This shot her meter way up. I was hitting my fair share of stuff but never got dealt 3 deuces. I did pull a number of quad deuces of my own as well as one with the ace. I also hit a natural royal. By the time we had hit our play goal for the day we were up over $1300.
Dee still had her $200 in free play so she ran that through the 50¢ jacks or better. She didn't get single hand better than 2 pair and turned the $200 into $155.
We took a break from the gaming and ran up to the room for a break.
After the break we went over to Binion's again. I played last night's $25 in free bets on black on roulette and won 3 of the 5 spins for $15 into the pocket.
Next we signed Dee up for a player's card and turned in a coupon from the POV for $10 in free play. She was also given a coupon for a free ace at blackjack. We also had a coupon sheet that had a coupon on it for $10 in free play, $10 match play and a 2 for 1 entree after earning 10 points.
Once Dee had her cards we were off to the video poker machines. We played for halves again today and Dee hit a quad early on and then got a dealt quad. I was struggling to stay alive. I was getting low paired to death but did finally pop a few quads. Between quads I was still getting low paired to death and slammed with flush four without filling it in. We were plugging along and I heard Dee go “oooh” and I looked over expecting to see a quad. I didn't, I saw a club royal!
After she was paid we continued to play for a bit longer. I was still getting beat up and Dee went on a downward spiral so we took a break with me being down $200 and Dee being up $50 (plus $2000 for the royal).
We came back over to the Fremont for another break and a snack. During the break we watched some TV and just chilled out.
We went back over to Binion's to get in some more action. Dee hovered and hit a few quads but I bled. I was getting low paired to death and it wasn't uncommon to go 20 hands in a row with no wins. Dee lost $100 but I lost $300. We switched to quarters and the same continued. Dee hovered for a while but then lost almost everything. I lost $100 initially but a quad, full house and straight flush pulled me out of a hole. We had reached our play goal but not before dropping $500.
We went back over to the Fremont to change our clothes and get ready for dinner.
For dinner tonight we had reservations at Hugo's Cellar at the Four Queens. I made the reservation through Open Table and everything was in order when we arrived.
Although we've been playing at Four Queens for quite a while but haven't eaten here since 2007! It was good to be back! Things started off with Dee getting her customary rose.
I skipped the appetizer but Dee got the snails. For our entrees Dee tried the Mediterranean Shrimp and I ordered the rib eye steak. The meal comes with the table side salad and sides. The food and service were excellent. We skipped dessert because they bring out the dried fruit/strawberry tray after the meal.
All in all it was a good meal although pricey at $123 for the two of us. We used Dee's comps to pay the bill and headed out.
We went back over to Binion's to do Dee's mother load swipes. She won $10 in free bets, $20 food comp and a free gift. The free gift turned out to be a giant drink container. I protested and the guy at the booth gave Dee a Binion's hat instead. We also turned in the AGC coupon for 2x points up to 500 and got Dee's match play for earning 10 points as a new member. We will use the free bets, free ace and match play tomorrow when it's not so busy in there.
We wrapped up the night with packing up the few things we needed during this stay at the Fremont, TV and sleep.
Total win/loss for the day $3000
Total comps for the day $481
Room $80
Free Play/Cash $260
Food $141
Day 4
Tuesday September 15, 2015
Today is moving day so I finished up packing and got ready for the move.
We walked over to Binion's to have breakfast at the coffee shop using Dee's $20 food voucher from last night and to use her table coupons and chips. We started off with the free bet chips at roulette. She chose black and hit. Spin 2 she also chose black and hit again. She then used the $10 in winnings to play the match play on black and hit the 3rd one in a row for a $30 win.
We went to the cafe for breakfast. Dee ordered Binion's special of the standard 2 eggs toast and hash browns and I ordered chicken fingers. They were tasty but could have used a little more time in the fryer.
After breakfast we hit the blackjack table to use Dee's free ace. She was dealt a 2 with the ace against the dealer nine. After 3 hits and a total of 19 the dealer flipped over an effing ace for 20 and she lost.
We came back over here to the Fremont, grabbed our things and headed to the valet area to get the car. We made a quick stop at Target for a few items then headed up to Summerlin. The next 4 nights would be spent at the JW Marriott based on 2 offers from the Rampart Casino. Dee had an offer of 2 nights $400 in free play and $30 in food. I had an offer for buy a night at $99 get one free and $80 in free play. Normally I don't like to book rooms with a rate but last time we were here it was comped off with no issues so I felt safe booking this offer again.
When we arrived we started off with some video poker. We chose the 8/5 bonus for dimes in ten play. We got quite a bit of action here with me hitting a few sets of aces. Dee hit a high number of quad deuces. We didn't do well other than those hands though and dropped a few hundred.
We decided we'd try to go and check in. Checking in was easy and they linked our reservations so we wouldn't have to switch rooms in 2 days. We reserved a handicap accessible room and when we got to the front desk were told that it was a junior suite but it wasn't ready yet but they'd call us when it was.
We went back to the casino for more 10 play action and proceeded to get our asses kicked hard. No dealt winners and few quads. We dropped another $400 here in 1/3 of the time we lost before checking in. Things aren't looking good for today with us already down $700 before we even checked in.
We found a different bank of machines and tried those. Things were much better here and I hit aces 6 times and Dee hit a set herself along with another batch of deuces. We got out of this session even but got a lot more play than we did in the last round.
It was getting later and I was wondering if they had forgotten to call us like in the past. I had to run to the car to get Dee's mailer (one of the few places that wants to see it). On my way to the car there was some guy sitting in a chair next to the parking garage elevators clipping his fingernails and letting the clippings just fly all over the place. The floor was covered with them. Seriously, WTF is wrong with people?
As we were heading to check in again the phone rang. We got the the front desk and and were assigned room 5342 which is a handicap accessible junior suite. This is a king room with a dresser - TV cabinet wall unit thing that separates the living room from the bedroom. In it is a single flat screen the spins so you can watch from bed or the living room. There are nightstands on each side of the bed, dining table, arm chair and a view of the waterfalls and courtyard.
The living room has an L shaped sectional sofa, coffee table, end table and instead of a work desk has another dresser.
The bathroom has a separate toilet room with w toilet and a bidet, two sink vanity, shower stall with rain forest shower head and regular shower head and a jetted tub. There is also a huge walk in closet.
There is also a separate second bathroom that offers handicap accessibility with a sink, toilet with safety bars and a roll in shower.
We got our things settled into the room and then it was time to get something to eat. It was too late for lunch but too early for dinner so we hit he Promenade Cafe. They are running 3 course meals starting at $10 and we both got one of those. It's an appetizer, entree and dessert. Dee got chicken egg rolls, spaghetti and meatballs and chocolate cake. I got chicken noodle soup and a chicken pot pie as well as chocolate cake. Everything was good and we ate too much, as usual!
Next it was off to the casino. We started off stopping by the slot club to get the first ½ of Dee's play added to her card and her $30 food voucher. Next stop was off to the 3/5 – play video poker machines for quarters. Things were streaky but I hit another set of aces to save myself for a while. I ended up dropping about $100 but Dee got slammed around $200 more.
We had enough play in for the day so we ran Dee's free play though 9/6 jacks or better for halves. We turned the $200 into $185 and wrapped up the day with $20 in penny games for some fun. We didn't hit much of anything in that venture and gave up for the day even though it was still fairly early.
Total win/loss for the day - $700
Total comps for the day $446
Room $199
Free Play/Cash $200
Food $47
Day 5
Wednesday September 23, 2015
This morning we started off the day hitting the 10 plays for dimes. It was pretty good all around with lots of quads including aces and bonus quads. Things got exciting for Dee when she got dealt 4 to a royal and scored one on line 5! We continued to plug away and by the time we were finished I was even and Dee was up $250.
We took a break from the action to get some breakfast at the Promenade Cafe. Dee had a California Scramble and I had chicken and waffles. She said her meal was excellent and mine was pretty tasty too. We paid the bill with a $20 voucher that came with Dee's offer.
It was back to the machines again. This time around we hit the five plays for quarters. It was another good session to start with me hitting aces right away. Those wouldn't stick around long though and not only did I lose that money, I lost my original $100. Dee hit some aces of her own and got dealt quad queens. From there she hovered the whole time we played. I came back to life on my machine hitting lots of quads including getting dealt quad sixes twice in less than 2 minutes. We cashed out up $200 a piece here and took a break. On the way to the room we played a penny slot for a few minutes and hit a bonus round and had a few decent hits. We walked away with a $5 win there!
Next up we went to the pool for a while. It was nice to be able to go out in the nice weather and not fry like we usually do in the summer.
We came back to the room and got cleaned up and then went to dinner. For dinner we went to J.C.'s Irish Pub. Dee ordered the fish and chips and I ordered the Sheppard's pie. The food was good this time around and we left full.
We hit the machines one more time. This time around we played single line 9/6 jacks or better for halves. Dee was a ball of fire to start again with a bunch of quads including 3-4 dealt. I was getting pounded and not hitting much of anything. Low paired to death and going 10-15 hands in a row with no wins. My Hail Mary's weren't working until I was almost down $300. I switched to double-double and popped quad threes to get back into it. This was followed by a bunch of full houses and flushes and I got back to even and quit. Dee was up just over $100 and quit as well.
We wrapped up today's action by running Dee's free play through $1 9/6 jacks turning the $200 into $115. We also cashed in $100 worth of Dee's points and ran that on half dollar jacks and turned that into $80. All in all today was a good day at Rampart and we scored our first ever win here!
We were done playing for the day so decided we'd go to the Rio and see if we could get tickets to Penn and Teller using Dee's free diamond tickets. They had seats available and we got into section 3 seats 7-8 in the handicap row. We saw this show a few years ago but they change it up quite a bit. Most of the bits were different than we saw last time. It was a good show again and the price was right at complimentary especially when it would have been $184 for those tickets.
We came back up here to Rampart after the was over and wrapped up with some TV and then bed.
Total win/loss for the day $950
Total comps for the day $744
Room $199
Free Play/Cash $300
Food $61
Shows $184
