Summer 2012 – Day 21
After a good night’s sleep, I watched “Wake up with the Wagners” while typing up the trip report. Las Vegas is going through somewhat of an epidemic of pedestrian deaths having already exceeding last year’s total death toll of people getting hit by cars. I think I’ll make sure to look BOTH ways before crossing any streets. After finishing up the morning routines and my last cup of coffee, I had to pack up and leave my suite. I got my car out of valet and drove to the end of the block and parked in Bill’s Gambling Hall—again.
I had an hour before my tournament was to begin, so I decided to have breakfast. After trash talking the Paris buffet the other day so much, I decided to have my breakfast there to give it another chance (and it being free using my reward points didn’t hurt). Of course, I went through the Diamond entrance and with the discount the cost was $15. When the Paris first opened, all the employees were taught limited French and were instructed to always greet customers with “Bonjour” and other small phrases. I suppose that has been dropped as I heard nary a French word from anyone all morning. It’s too bad; I would have enjoyed listening to my crêpes maker, Ernesto, try to lay some French on me.
One thing this buffet is famous for are the crêpes. You can have it made to order, but there is a menu of the eight most popular varieties with the first six being some kind of sweet confections of strawberries, blueberries, syrups, and sugars. I went for the veggie crêpe, which was light and delicious. Aside from the crêpes and a couple of other small difference dishes, this buffet is really no different than any other—though I’ll admit the “Savory Bread Pudding” was better than I anticipated (the usual bread putting but with sausage). I’m making a real concerted effort to NOT overeat at these buffets. So, one plateful would do it. A trip to the dessert bar was the most evidence of how much they’ve downgraded this buffet. Whereas when it opened you found many, many varieties of parfaits, pies, cakes, and ice creams. Now are just croissants, donuts, and other simple items that were obviously not made on the premises but trucked in. Overall, the buffet was okay, but certainly nothing worthy of the wait in line most people endure here. (3 forks)
It was almost tournament time, so I went downstairs at Ballys and took my spot at machine number 6 (I’ll be at the same machine tomorrow). The lady next to me told me that the cut off for money yesterday was 1450. She had 1500 and won $50. So, the cut off was surprisingly low. The timer said, “Go” and we were off for our ten minutes of punching buttons. Like yesterday, not a single quad for me. I was even getting desperate dropping two pairs and keeping one trying to catch a quad of any kind. I ended with a score 910 (better than yesterday) that will be far away from the money line. I’ll have one more chance tomorrow.
In front of one of the shops at Ballys. Who's the marketing genius who thought this one up?
I played a little bit in Ballys. It looked really bad at first having put a hundred into a 7/5 Bonus and was all the way down to $21 when I caught quad 4s soon followed by back-to-back full houses and managed to get all the way back to $96. I cashed out and put a twenty into Spartacus (there’s no hope for me) and this time managed a $6 profit after about 15 minutes and cashed out for no other reason than to leave Ballys with a profit—any profit is fine.
I drove across I-15 on Flamingo and saw the Palms ahead and thought I might drop in to see some of the changes that I’ve read about. The parking lot was strangely empty as I parked on the second floor of the garage and walked in. The familiar 50-plays had not been moved as much as they had been turned around and all of them given new monitors. I feared that the 9/6 Jacks would have been downgraded, but there they were and now not only in pennies but 2-cent and 5-cent levels added—very nice! I went to the slot booth to get a new card (they’ve changed) and was happy to see my previous points were still there. I sat down at the machine and played at the 2-cent level ($5.00 per hand). This is my favorite game not only because it’s 50-play, but the knowledge that I’m at least given a chance for an honest gamble with a full pay schedule. When I first started playing this was the norm, but now finding full pay multi-play machines are almost impossible. After about ten minutes I was dealt a flush, but four of them were to the royal. I dropped the 4 of diamonds and hoped for the best. I did hit one Royal (I should have mathematically hit two), which now makes four 2-cent Royals for the trip. I cashed out $172 and put in another hundred. I realize I’ve been harping on and on about this, but it’s become a “thing” with me. I got more and more frustrated at not being dealt three-of-a-kinds. When I play single line, I get dealt a three of a kind every twenty or thirty hands, but when I play these 50-play machines, they mysteriously become very scarce. My hundred was down to $28, so I cashed out so I could have a break-even session but when I checked my points, I realized that I had played 335 hands. I was dealt ONE three-of-a-kind. I’ll say it again—this is very suspicious.
I had over a thousand points in play which allowed me to go back to the booth and use my LVA coupon for $10 free play. I used it in a Spartacus machine and walked away with a $2.40 profit (I did catch a bonus which netted me $1.28—shame on them). The Playboy Club is gone and what was once the entrance is now just a door to the Moon Club. The poker room has been moved to the Sportsbook, which was recently remodeled and it’s beautiful. The pic I took is slightly blurred and doesn’t do it justice.
Poker room in the foreground with the huge TV monitors in the background of the Palms Sportsbook
I had heard that the Mexican restaurant was closed, but it’s still there and serving customers. The rest of the place looks pretty much the same as it always had, so I’m not sure what people are writing about. The full pay video poker schedules on some machines seem to be back, but I didn’t see the bank of progressive full pay deuces. It may have been moved, but I couldn’t find it. Their buffet prices were slashed in half for July—a good thing as their buffet is not very good—and the line for it was long. Another promotion was going on that they’ve had before where you get promo swag for the amount of points you put on per day. Though I had put on enough points for a bowl set, I chose instead for a lesser gift, a 2-liter bottle of Diet Coke. Early in my gambling days, I’d play for the higher gifts of towels, shirts, glasses, and so on, but I finally realized that though all this free swag was nice, it always ultimately ended up in the back of a closet or cupboard drawer or thrown away. I’m over the free swag thing—give me something practical.
I thought of seeing a movie here, but I’d seen everything that was showing and though I wouldn’t mind seeing BRAVE again sometime, I really wasn’t in the mood today. I’ll come back tomorrow after the tournament to give the 9/6 Jacks another shot and maybe I’ll see it then.
It was 1 PM (time does just seem to fly by) and I should go ahead and head for my next destination, the M Resort. This has been a favorite place of mine since they opened. It’s beautiful; they have great food, and plenty of full pay video poker machines. Their rooms are on par with the Augustus Tower rooms at Caesars. In years past, I played enough to get two nights comped every two weeks, but I haven’t given them all that much play the last couple of years and my offers have been downgraded to a free buffet and $20 free play every two weeks, along with discounted room offers. So, I would have to pay this time around, put my offer is $69 per night with the second night free—in other words—only $35 per night. For the quality of the rooms here, I’d pay that anytime. I checked in but was disappointed that my room was not ready. The registration girl, Portia, took my phone number and said she’d call me as soon as it was cleaned.
I walked over to the poker room and there were a couple of tables dealing 2-4 hold ‘em. I bought in for $60. The table was full of locals who obviously play there regularly as the table chatter was spirited and all were very friendly to me. All of them (including the dealer) had bets on the baseball games, which were playing on the monitors all around us because the discussion was all about the latest hit or out on one of the games. Actually, it was a lot of fun. It didn’t hurt that I was finally getting dealt some decent cards and was winning my share of pots. I played to about 2:30 when I got the call that my room was ready. I cashed in my chips and profited a hefty $4. When I went to the front desk, she told me that they were booked solid today and the only non-smoking room available was a suite—would that be okay? (with a knowing smile on her face).
So, for two stays in a row, I’m given a suite (perhaps the video poker gods making nice after such a rough trip at the machines?). This room is even larger and nicer that the last one. The living room has a four-seat marble wet bar, there’s a “guest” bathroom. The couch and two lounging chairs are all leather. The bedroom is spacious and the bathroom is huge with matching his/her robes and slippers. There’s also a Jacuzzi tub and his and her showers. Finally, there’s a third room set up like a small office. All the curtains and shades are electronic (who doesn’t play with this when they’re here?). The HD flat screen TVs are amazing. Once again, all of this is a bit of a waste on little ol’ single me…but I’ll take it.
Living room of my suite at the M Resort
The bedroom
An additional office set up in another small room
Half of the bathroom
The view from the room isn't much...but who cares?
I did play my favorite game here, Quick Quads, but though I managed five or six regular quads, I only got one quick quad, so that session did not go well. I also played some Bonus Aces (the bank of these have full pay 8/5 Bonus on them—a rarity) and end up breaking even on these. It was now almost 6 PM and I honestly didn’t feel like gambling anymore, nor did I want to leave, so I decided to call it an early night. After all, tonight is “So You Think You Can Dance” (my season crush is Amelia) and I certainly don’t want to miss my favorite summertime show. I still wasn’t all that hungry, but I hadn’t eaten since the Paris buffet (I might add that when I was digging up the Palms $10 free play coupon, I came across a $10 discount Paris buffet coupon I had missed. So I guess I’ll be eating there again once more this trip), so I chose to just get a slice of pizza at their Deli and take it up with me, grab some ice from the machine as I do have that 2-liter bottle of Diet Coke from the Palms promo, and enjoy my suite.
More tomorrow
After a good night’s sleep, I watched “Wake up with the Wagners” while typing up the trip report. Las Vegas is going through somewhat of an epidemic of pedestrian deaths having already exceeding last year’s total death toll of people getting hit by cars. I think I’ll make sure to look BOTH ways before crossing any streets. After finishing up the morning routines and my last cup of coffee, I had to pack up and leave my suite. I got my car out of valet and drove to the end of the block and parked in Bill’s Gambling Hall—again.
I had an hour before my tournament was to begin, so I decided to have breakfast. After trash talking the Paris buffet the other day so much, I decided to have my breakfast there to give it another chance (and it being free using my reward points didn’t hurt). Of course, I went through the Diamond entrance and with the discount the cost was $15. When the Paris first opened, all the employees were taught limited French and were instructed to always greet customers with “Bonjour” and other small phrases. I suppose that has been dropped as I heard nary a French word from anyone all morning. It’s too bad; I would have enjoyed listening to my crêpes maker, Ernesto, try to lay some French on me.
One thing this buffet is famous for are the crêpes. You can have it made to order, but there is a menu of the eight most popular varieties with the first six being some kind of sweet confections of strawberries, blueberries, syrups, and sugars. I went for the veggie crêpe, which was light and delicious. Aside from the crêpes and a couple of other small difference dishes, this buffet is really no different than any other—though I’ll admit the “Savory Bread Pudding” was better than I anticipated (the usual bread putting but with sausage). I’m making a real concerted effort to NOT overeat at these buffets. So, one plateful would do it. A trip to the dessert bar was the most evidence of how much they’ve downgraded this buffet. Whereas when it opened you found many, many varieties of parfaits, pies, cakes, and ice creams. Now are just croissants, donuts, and other simple items that were obviously not made on the premises but trucked in. Overall, the buffet was okay, but certainly nothing worthy of the wait in line most people endure here. (3 forks)
It was almost tournament time, so I went downstairs at Ballys and took my spot at machine number 6 (I’ll be at the same machine tomorrow). The lady next to me told me that the cut off for money yesterday was 1450. She had 1500 and won $50. So, the cut off was surprisingly low. The timer said, “Go” and we were off for our ten minutes of punching buttons. Like yesterday, not a single quad for me. I was even getting desperate dropping two pairs and keeping one trying to catch a quad of any kind. I ended with a score 910 (better than yesterday) that will be far away from the money line. I’ll have one more chance tomorrow.
In front of one of the shops at Ballys. Who's the marketing genius who thought this one up?
I played a little bit in Ballys. It looked really bad at first having put a hundred into a 7/5 Bonus and was all the way down to $21 when I caught quad 4s soon followed by back-to-back full houses and managed to get all the way back to $96. I cashed out and put a twenty into Spartacus (there’s no hope for me) and this time managed a $6 profit after about 15 minutes and cashed out for no other reason than to leave Ballys with a profit—any profit is fine.
I drove across I-15 on Flamingo and saw the Palms ahead and thought I might drop in to see some of the changes that I’ve read about. The parking lot was strangely empty as I parked on the second floor of the garage and walked in. The familiar 50-plays had not been moved as much as they had been turned around and all of them given new monitors. I feared that the 9/6 Jacks would have been downgraded, but there they were and now not only in pennies but 2-cent and 5-cent levels added—very nice! I went to the slot booth to get a new card (they’ve changed) and was happy to see my previous points were still there. I sat down at the machine and played at the 2-cent level ($5.00 per hand). This is my favorite game not only because it’s 50-play, but the knowledge that I’m at least given a chance for an honest gamble with a full pay schedule. When I first started playing this was the norm, but now finding full pay multi-play machines are almost impossible. After about ten minutes I was dealt a flush, but four of them were to the royal. I dropped the 4 of diamonds and hoped for the best. I did hit one Royal (I should have mathematically hit two), which now makes four 2-cent Royals for the trip. I cashed out $172 and put in another hundred. I realize I’ve been harping on and on about this, but it’s become a “thing” with me. I got more and more frustrated at not being dealt three-of-a-kinds. When I play single line, I get dealt a three of a kind every twenty or thirty hands, but when I play these 50-play machines, they mysteriously become very scarce. My hundred was down to $28, so I cashed out so I could have a break-even session but when I checked my points, I realized that I had played 335 hands. I was dealt ONE three-of-a-kind. I’ll say it again—this is very suspicious.
I had over a thousand points in play which allowed me to go back to the booth and use my LVA coupon for $10 free play. I used it in a Spartacus machine and walked away with a $2.40 profit (I did catch a bonus which netted me $1.28—shame on them). The Playboy Club is gone and what was once the entrance is now just a door to the Moon Club. The poker room has been moved to the Sportsbook, which was recently remodeled and it’s beautiful. The pic I took is slightly blurred and doesn’t do it justice.
Poker room in the foreground with the huge TV monitors in the background of the Palms Sportsbook
I had heard that the Mexican restaurant was closed, but it’s still there and serving customers. The rest of the place looks pretty much the same as it always had, so I’m not sure what people are writing about. The full pay video poker schedules on some machines seem to be back, but I didn’t see the bank of progressive full pay deuces. It may have been moved, but I couldn’t find it. Their buffet prices were slashed in half for July—a good thing as their buffet is not very good—and the line for it was long. Another promotion was going on that they’ve had before where you get promo swag for the amount of points you put on per day. Though I had put on enough points for a bowl set, I chose instead for a lesser gift, a 2-liter bottle of Diet Coke. Early in my gambling days, I’d play for the higher gifts of towels, shirts, glasses, and so on, but I finally realized that though all this free swag was nice, it always ultimately ended up in the back of a closet or cupboard drawer or thrown away. I’m over the free swag thing—give me something practical.
I thought of seeing a movie here, but I’d seen everything that was showing and though I wouldn’t mind seeing BRAVE again sometime, I really wasn’t in the mood today. I’ll come back tomorrow after the tournament to give the 9/6 Jacks another shot and maybe I’ll see it then.
It was 1 PM (time does just seem to fly by) and I should go ahead and head for my next destination, the M Resort. This has been a favorite place of mine since they opened. It’s beautiful; they have great food, and plenty of full pay video poker machines. Their rooms are on par with the Augustus Tower rooms at Caesars. In years past, I played enough to get two nights comped every two weeks, but I haven’t given them all that much play the last couple of years and my offers have been downgraded to a free buffet and $20 free play every two weeks, along with discounted room offers. So, I would have to pay this time around, put my offer is $69 per night with the second night free—in other words—only $35 per night. For the quality of the rooms here, I’d pay that anytime. I checked in but was disappointed that my room was not ready. The registration girl, Portia, took my phone number and said she’d call me as soon as it was cleaned.
I walked over to the poker room and there were a couple of tables dealing 2-4 hold ‘em. I bought in for $60. The table was full of locals who obviously play there regularly as the table chatter was spirited and all were very friendly to me. All of them (including the dealer) had bets on the baseball games, which were playing on the monitors all around us because the discussion was all about the latest hit or out on one of the games. Actually, it was a lot of fun. It didn’t hurt that I was finally getting dealt some decent cards and was winning my share of pots. I played to about 2:30 when I got the call that my room was ready. I cashed in my chips and profited a hefty $4. When I went to the front desk, she told me that they were booked solid today and the only non-smoking room available was a suite—would that be okay? (with a knowing smile on her face).
So, for two stays in a row, I’m given a suite (perhaps the video poker gods making nice after such a rough trip at the machines?). This room is even larger and nicer that the last one. The living room has a four-seat marble wet bar, there’s a “guest” bathroom. The couch and two lounging chairs are all leather. The bedroom is spacious and the bathroom is huge with matching his/her robes and slippers. There’s also a Jacuzzi tub and his and her showers. Finally, there’s a third room set up like a small office. All the curtains and shades are electronic (who doesn’t play with this when they’re here?). The HD flat screen TVs are amazing. Once again, all of this is a bit of a waste on little ol’ single me…but I’ll take it.
Living room of my suite at the M Resort
The bedroom
An additional office set up in another small room
Half of the bathroom
The view from the room isn't much...but who cares?
I did play my favorite game here, Quick Quads, but though I managed five or six regular quads, I only got one quick quad, so that session did not go well. I also played some Bonus Aces (the bank of these have full pay 8/5 Bonus on them—a rarity) and end up breaking even on these. It was now almost 6 PM and I honestly didn’t feel like gambling anymore, nor did I want to leave, so I decided to call it an early night. After all, tonight is “So You Think You Can Dance” (my season crush is Amelia) and I certainly don’t want to miss my favorite summertime show. I still wasn’t all that hungry, but I hadn’t eaten since the Paris buffet (I might add that when I was digging up the Palms $10 free play coupon, I came across a $10 discount Paris buffet coupon I had missed. So I guess I’ll be eating there again once more this trip), so I chose to just get a slice of pizza at their Deli and take it up with me, grab some ice from the machine as I do have that 2-liter bottle of Diet Coke from the Palms promo, and enjoy my suite.
More tomorrow
