July 12, 2015
We got up late again and asked for a late check-out. It was moving time and time to head back to Las Vegas. We packed and headed up the drive through Searchlight to Las Vegas. We decided to stop in Searchlight and get some of the 10 cent coffee for my wife. We went into Terribles looking for the 10 cent coffee. I didn’t know until later that the coffee is at the Nugget instead of Terribles. We sit down at the bar and I put some money in the machine and played keno a quarter at a time. We ordered some coffee for my wife. During that time they brought us by some doughnuts to eat too. I played for a little and hit one nice hit for a $15 profit. We cashed out with a nice small profit and some free doughnuts. Life is good.
We crested the hill into the valley and decided our first stop would be at the Fiesta Henderson and play a little ten play penny video poker progressives to take advantage of 5x points Sunday. We played for a couple of hours, Kim was close to even and I had dropped $40 showing very little play. We decided it was time to eat so we headed to the buffet. I used a 2 for 1 coupon from the ACG and points to cover the rest. This was Sunday Brunch and it was one of their better buffets. I went to town on making my own fish tacos. We waddled back down stairs and played for another hour. I ended up $70 down and Kim lost $30.
It was time to check into our next home. We would be staying at the Orleans for two nights and a $10 food comp. Kim had scored this on her B-Connected website. We thought about taking a break, but the video poker machines were calling our names. We went down and I played my favorite 9-7-5 nickel progressives up front. Kim went for some single play nickel machines. I hit quad aces early, then everything went downhill from there. I eventually cashed out $20 down and decided not to put any more money in the machine. Kim lost another $30 when our friends “Joe and Tonya” texted and said they were at the Orleans.
Joe and Tonya teach at the same school that I do and were in town for most of the next two weeks. We meet and talked for a while. The girls were going to go swimming while Joe and I went to the poker room. I was telling Joe that I came with $800 and was down to $300 and it might be time to head to the ATM at US Bank if things didn’t change. Joe had been there for two days and was doing fine from a gambling standpoint. We went to the room and I got on the 4-8 Omaha Hi-Low list. It was very long with my name being the 15th on the list. I decided to add my name to the 2-4 limit Hold-em and it was probably 10 minutes before I was called. Joe had opted for 1-3 no-limit Hold-em. I told him I was avoiding no-limit since that was the only game we could play at home.
I sat down at the 2-4 table and had one good pot where my king high flush beat a queen high flush. I was up around $40 when my spot came open at the Omaha table. I sat down and jumped right into a kill pot where the structure was 6-12 instead of 4-8 with A-2-7-K and the ace and king suited. I managed to win the low on a board that had 4-5-6 with a flush high matching my ace and king of clubs for a nice $90 pot right off. Things never really looked bad from then on as I scooped one other big pot. After 3 hours of play the girls where done swimming and I cashed out with a $302 win. It was almost 10 and all of us where tired so we decided to call it a night.
July 13, 2015
We spent the night in the updated tower of the Orleans. It is always one of my favorite places to stay. I love the rooms and the updated design looks nice as well. We decided to spend most of the day just at the Orleans. Joe and Tonya came over and the girls went swimming as we went to the poker room again. I went back to the 4-8 Omaha Hi Low game and Joe went to the 1-3 no limit. We again had to wait awhile to get our seats so I played a little on the short play nickel machines by the poker room. We both got called around the same time. This session was a struggle instead of being good like yesterday. I got drawn out on a couple of occasions. When the girls had finished swimming, we had played 4 hours and I was down $145. So much for the winning streak and getting the bank roll back to the trip starting point.
We were all famished so we went to the buffet there at the Orleans. I used a 2 for 1 coupon and points for Kim’s and mine. The buffet was just excellent to say the least. One of the better Boyd’s buffets is this one. We decided to play tourist after our meal. We went down the strip and parked at Bellagio and did our required trip to the botanical display. It was a nice summer display. We then went and watched the fountains and walked some of the strip. Everyone was getting tired so we headed back to the Orleans around 8:00.
Joe and I decided to head back to the tables for a little more poker. I got back on the 4-8 Omaha table and did better this time. The girls just walked around and talked while we played. I was able to recoup some of my earlier loses and cashed out only $49 down for the day. I did also manage to win $8 while playing video poker, but gave $10 back on a failed match play during the day. We needed to use our comp of $10 so we went to the café and ordered a couple of breakfast plates for a late night snack. We then headed to the room to call it a night.
July 14, 2015
It was moving day once again. Our next stop was back to Sam’s Town for the next three nights. Kim had free rooms with another $10 food voucher and $10 free play. We packed our car and grabbed a couple of pop-tarts for breakfast. We headed to the car and got ready to head out when I asked Kim if she wanted to go back in and put 300 points on our cards for the free Orleans T-Shirts. She said that the yellow did look cool so we could go for it. I sit down at the triple play progressives for nickels up front by the keno area. Kim settled for the bank back past the buffet. I started with my usual 9-7-5 double bonus. I quickly lost two $20’s and was on my third when I was dealt A-A-A-K-K. I stopped and asked the guy next to me what he would do. He said drop the Kings. I did and up popped four aces on two of the lines. Both would have been with kickers if I was playing double-double. He went on to chastise me about playing the wrong game. I muttered something about volatility and he didn’t comprehend what I was getting at. I think their double-double at that level is 8-5, but I didn’t bother explaining. I was up as much as $80 and only needed 50 more points to reach 300. For some reason, the machine knew that and went into full Hoover mode. I finally got my 300th point but was now only $10 ahead. The last 50 points cost me $70 for my bright yellow T-Shirt.
I got my T-Shirt then headed over to check on Kim. She was still 45 points away since she usually plays slower than me. She was in pretty good shape floating around $20 up. I decided to put her 2nd card in and help her reach her 300 points quicker. I mentioned how I never have any luck on the bank even though it has the same pay tables as the ones up front. This was true as I put a $20 in one machine and lost $15 in very short time. I switched machines and it was giving me a couple of full houses. I was dealt a keeper of Queen-Jack of hearts. I hit the deal button and up popped the other 3 hearts on the top line for my 3rd royal flush of the trip. The progressive was at $246 at the time. We finished up the 300 points and Kim cashed out with a $30 win and I cashed out $230 up. In a short period of time, Orleans had returned our bank roll to its original trip starting point.
We then headed over to Sam’s Town to check in. We were given room 510 which was next to the back elevators. This room was overlooking the back of the Mystic Falls show. We went down to play some video poker since it was 7x points day. We went to the triple play 10 coin progressives for 2 cents each. They have 9-6-5 double bonus. Right when we got ready to play Joe and Tonya called and said they were at the casino. Tonya was ready to go swimming so I went solo with Joe playing some video poker too. I started out good with a couple of quads then started going down-hill. I lost my $20 and decided to try the 10 coin emerald nickel deuces. I got a lot of play but eventually lost another $40. I went back to the triple plays and lost another $20 before calling it quits.
Joe and I both were losing so we decided to head to the poker room. We sit down at a spread limit 2-6 hold-em game. It was a fun table full of locals. We played for a couple of hours and I recouped $56 of the money I had lost playing video poker. The girls were done swimming and we were all getting hungry so we decided to head downtown to use the ACG coupon of putting 250 points on our cards and get a free buffet.
We went to the California to use their coupon fpr a free buffet with 250 points. Kim and I found some single line nickel machines with a progressive. My machine actually had 8-5 bonus and Kim’s had 7-5. I did okay hitting some quads and cashed out $10 up while Kim finished $12 down. Our two buffets would cost us $2. California does not have a buffet so we actually got vouchers to eat at the Main Street Station’s buffet. Joe and Tonya actually used the LVA two for one coupon and we enjoyed BBQ night.
We then headed over to Fremont for a mini coupon run. We first went to the Plaza to use their $10 free play coupon and match play. Joe was a new member so he could qualify for up to $500 in rebates for his first day loses. Joe asked if I wanted to put in $100 of my money and go with $100 of his and see how it goes. If either of us have a big hit, we would quit and split the profits. After the first $100 we would see if we wanted to go another $100 or not. I sit down at some quarter double-double bonus to go for the big win. He went to the dollar slots. I had lost $40 of my $100 when Joe walked up with a little over $300 on his ticket. By the time we split my losses we both netted an $80 profit. I had two match plays and lost both of them.
Our next stop was the run down Las Vegas Club where I lost another $5 match play. We then went to the Golden Gate. I had Kim play my LVA $25 match play since I had done so poorly on them. Kim was dealt a twenty with the dealer having a 6. The dealer had a face card with the 6 then proceeded to draw a 5 for our fourth straight match play lost. We then headed to the Four Queens where Joe and Tonya signed up for cards. Kim played the LVA $10 free play while Joe and Tonya had some extra free play for being new. Kim played onward after her free play and eventually lost $5.
We finally wondered down to the El Cortez. I used my $10 free play coupon and played it on the nickel 10 coin Joker’s Wild machines. I continued playing onward and eventually lost $40. It was getting late so we headed back to Sam’s Town to call it a night.
We got up late again and asked for a late check-out. It was moving time and time to head back to Las Vegas. We packed and headed up the drive through Searchlight to Las Vegas. We decided to stop in Searchlight and get some of the 10 cent coffee for my wife. We went into Terribles looking for the 10 cent coffee. I didn’t know until later that the coffee is at the Nugget instead of Terribles. We sit down at the bar and I put some money in the machine and played keno a quarter at a time. We ordered some coffee for my wife. During that time they brought us by some doughnuts to eat too. I played for a little and hit one nice hit for a $15 profit. We cashed out with a nice small profit and some free doughnuts. Life is good.
We crested the hill into the valley and decided our first stop would be at the Fiesta Henderson and play a little ten play penny video poker progressives to take advantage of 5x points Sunday. We played for a couple of hours, Kim was close to even and I had dropped $40 showing very little play. We decided it was time to eat so we headed to the buffet. I used a 2 for 1 coupon from the ACG and points to cover the rest. This was Sunday Brunch and it was one of their better buffets. I went to town on making my own fish tacos. We waddled back down stairs and played for another hour. I ended up $70 down and Kim lost $30.
It was time to check into our next home. We would be staying at the Orleans for two nights and a $10 food comp. Kim had scored this on her B-Connected website. We thought about taking a break, but the video poker machines were calling our names. We went down and I played my favorite 9-7-5 nickel progressives up front. Kim went for some single play nickel machines. I hit quad aces early, then everything went downhill from there. I eventually cashed out $20 down and decided not to put any more money in the machine. Kim lost another $30 when our friends “Joe and Tonya” texted and said they were at the Orleans.
Joe and Tonya teach at the same school that I do and were in town for most of the next two weeks. We meet and talked for a while. The girls were going to go swimming while Joe and I went to the poker room. I was telling Joe that I came with $800 and was down to $300 and it might be time to head to the ATM at US Bank if things didn’t change. Joe had been there for two days and was doing fine from a gambling standpoint. We went to the room and I got on the 4-8 Omaha Hi-Low list. It was very long with my name being the 15th on the list. I decided to add my name to the 2-4 limit Hold-em and it was probably 10 minutes before I was called. Joe had opted for 1-3 no-limit Hold-em. I told him I was avoiding no-limit since that was the only game we could play at home.
I sat down at the 2-4 table and had one good pot where my king high flush beat a queen high flush. I was up around $40 when my spot came open at the Omaha table. I sat down and jumped right into a kill pot where the structure was 6-12 instead of 4-8 with A-2-7-K and the ace and king suited. I managed to win the low on a board that had 4-5-6 with a flush high matching my ace and king of clubs for a nice $90 pot right off. Things never really looked bad from then on as I scooped one other big pot. After 3 hours of play the girls where done swimming and I cashed out with a $302 win. It was almost 10 and all of us where tired so we decided to call it a night.
July 13, 2015
We spent the night in the updated tower of the Orleans. It is always one of my favorite places to stay. I love the rooms and the updated design looks nice as well. We decided to spend most of the day just at the Orleans. Joe and Tonya came over and the girls went swimming as we went to the poker room again. I went back to the 4-8 Omaha Hi Low game and Joe went to the 1-3 no limit. We again had to wait awhile to get our seats so I played a little on the short play nickel machines by the poker room. We both got called around the same time. This session was a struggle instead of being good like yesterday. I got drawn out on a couple of occasions. When the girls had finished swimming, we had played 4 hours and I was down $145. So much for the winning streak and getting the bank roll back to the trip starting point.
We were all famished so we went to the buffet there at the Orleans. I used a 2 for 1 coupon and points for Kim’s and mine. The buffet was just excellent to say the least. One of the better Boyd’s buffets is this one. We decided to play tourist after our meal. We went down the strip and parked at Bellagio and did our required trip to the botanical display. It was a nice summer display. We then went and watched the fountains and walked some of the strip. Everyone was getting tired so we headed back to the Orleans around 8:00.
Joe and I decided to head back to the tables for a little more poker. I got back on the 4-8 Omaha table and did better this time. The girls just walked around and talked while we played. I was able to recoup some of my earlier loses and cashed out only $49 down for the day. I did also manage to win $8 while playing video poker, but gave $10 back on a failed match play during the day. We needed to use our comp of $10 so we went to the café and ordered a couple of breakfast plates for a late night snack. We then headed to the room to call it a night.
July 14, 2015
It was moving day once again. Our next stop was back to Sam’s Town for the next three nights. Kim had free rooms with another $10 food voucher and $10 free play. We packed our car and grabbed a couple of pop-tarts for breakfast. We headed to the car and got ready to head out when I asked Kim if she wanted to go back in and put 300 points on our cards for the free Orleans T-Shirts. She said that the yellow did look cool so we could go for it. I sit down at the triple play progressives for nickels up front by the keno area. Kim settled for the bank back past the buffet. I started with my usual 9-7-5 double bonus. I quickly lost two $20’s and was on my third when I was dealt A-A-A-K-K. I stopped and asked the guy next to me what he would do. He said drop the Kings. I did and up popped four aces on two of the lines. Both would have been with kickers if I was playing double-double. He went on to chastise me about playing the wrong game. I muttered something about volatility and he didn’t comprehend what I was getting at. I think their double-double at that level is 8-5, but I didn’t bother explaining. I was up as much as $80 and only needed 50 more points to reach 300. For some reason, the machine knew that and went into full Hoover mode. I finally got my 300th point but was now only $10 ahead. The last 50 points cost me $70 for my bright yellow T-Shirt.
I got my T-Shirt then headed over to check on Kim. She was still 45 points away since she usually plays slower than me. She was in pretty good shape floating around $20 up. I decided to put her 2nd card in and help her reach her 300 points quicker. I mentioned how I never have any luck on the bank even though it has the same pay tables as the ones up front. This was true as I put a $20 in one machine and lost $15 in very short time. I switched machines and it was giving me a couple of full houses. I was dealt a keeper of Queen-Jack of hearts. I hit the deal button and up popped the other 3 hearts on the top line for my 3rd royal flush of the trip. The progressive was at $246 at the time. We finished up the 300 points and Kim cashed out with a $30 win and I cashed out $230 up. In a short period of time, Orleans had returned our bank roll to its original trip starting point.
We then headed over to Sam’s Town to check in. We were given room 510 which was next to the back elevators. This room was overlooking the back of the Mystic Falls show. We went down to play some video poker since it was 7x points day. We went to the triple play 10 coin progressives for 2 cents each. They have 9-6-5 double bonus. Right when we got ready to play Joe and Tonya called and said they were at the casino. Tonya was ready to go swimming so I went solo with Joe playing some video poker too. I started out good with a couple of quads then started going down-hill. I lost my $20 and decided to try the 10 coin emerald nickel deuces. I got a lot of play but eventually lost another $40. I went back to the triple plays and lost another $20 before calling it quits.
Joe and I both were losing so we decided to head to the poker room. We sit down at a spread limit 2-6 hold-em game. It was a fun table full of locals. We played for a couple of hours and I recouped $56 of the money I had lost playing video poker. The girls were done swimming and we were all getting hungry so we decided to head downtown to use the ACG coupon of putting 250 points on our cards and get a free buffet.
We went to the California to use their coupon fpr a free buffet with 250 points. Kim and I found some single line nickel machines with a progressive. My machine actually had 8-5 bonus and Kim’s had 7-5. I did okay hitting some quads and cashed out $10 up while Kim finished $12 down. Our two buffets would cost us $2. California does not have a buffet so we actually got vouchers to eat at the Main Street Station’s buffet. Joe and Tonya actually used the LVA two for one coupon and we enjoyed BBQ night.
We then headed over to Fremont for a mini coupon run. We first went to the Plaza to use their $10 free play coupon and match play. Joe was a new member so he could qualify for up to $500 in rebates for his first day loses. Joe asked if I wanted to put in $100 of my money and go with $100 of his and see how it goes. If either of us have a big hit, we would quit and split the profits. After the first $100 we would see if we wanted to go another $100 or not. I sit down at some quarter double-double bonus to go for the big win. He went to the dollar slots. I had lost $40 of my $100 when Joe walked up with a little over $300 on his ticket. By the time we split my losses we both netted an $80 profit. I had two match plays and lost both of them.
Our next stop was the run down Las Vegas Club where I lost another $5 match play. We then went to the Golden Gate. I had Kim play my LVA $25 match play since I had done so poorly on them. Kim was dealt a twenty with the dealer having a 6. The dealer had a face card with the 6 then proceeded to draw a 5 for our fourth straight match play lost. We then headed to the Four Queens where Joe and Tonya signed up for cards. Kim played the LVA $10 free play while Joe and Tonya had some extra free play for being new. Kim played onward after her free play and eventually lost $5.
We finally wondered down to the El Cortez. I used my $10 free play coupon and played it on the nickel 10 coin Joker’s Wild machines. I continued playing onward and eventually lost $40. It was getting late so we headed back to Sam’s Town to call it a night.
