Summer of Cal/Nev – Day 19
One question was asked of me if with my moving to different hotels so often, do I sometimes forget which hotel I’m staying at or what room I’m in? In a word: yes. In some years I’ve driven to the wrong hotel; in others, I’ve gone to rooms that were the numbers of the room I had at a previous hotel. On more than one occasion, I’ve completely forgotten the room number and have had to go to the front desk and plead senility. A couple of years ago, a reader suggested that I take s picture of the room number outside my door on my iphone, which I thought was brilliant—until I had an iphone with ten pictures of numbers in my phone and then forgotten which was the right one. I’ve since learned to delete previous pictures. It makes me sympathetic for headlining musicians and singers that play one-night gigs in cities and towns sometimes for months on end.
I’m usually pretty good at planning these trips out every year. When I did the National Casino Run, I started planning in February. The Hit ‘em all Nevada required some painstaking mapping to crisscross the state without overlapping and backtracking. This year, I have to admit to dropping the ball a bit. With a lot of things going on at work and other distractions, I put this trip off far too long. As a result, it’s just a bare-minimum Hodge-podge of offers and meetings. There was nothing scientific here—just going over all the mailers and writing in the dates when I booked them. Consequently, this isn’t the trip I had envisioned a few months ago. But that’s not to say I’m not enjoying myself. Of course the gambling could be going better, but I’m having a good time just walking, observing, and looking for interesting things to take pictures of and report on in these journals.
So, so organized and official
It was time to pack up and leave the Suncoast. It would be my only trip this far out in Summerlin, so I thought I’d drive out to Red Rock, which is a favorite for many LVA members. Nothing much has changed here. Restaurants (there are 16 of them here) close and others take their spots, machines get moved around and new machines moved in. The latest is a large Judge Judy video slot machine—really? Judge Judy? Have they now honestly scratched the bottom of the barrel for celebrity endorsements?
Judge Judy bank of machines...really?
I hung out at the sports book for a while just watching some games and sipping a beer. I’m always aware that if I’m not here in Las Vegas, then I’m home in July and August, in my house, with no air conditioning—yea—I’m just fine.
Red Rock Casino Sportsbook
I did play some video poker for a little bit and broke even. I then walked past the Lord of Rings machine that I first saw here when they were introduced. I remember hitting a Frodo bonus (at the time not knowing what that meant) and proceeded to win $130 on a thirty-cent bet. When Nick tells Gatsby, “You can’t go back in history,” Gatsby looks at him with a crooked smile and says, “Of course, you can, old chap, of course you can.” I sat down and began to play, and sure enough, I hit a Frodo bonus…I won $7.00. Damn. I cashed out; a win is a win.
I needed to post my trip report and found a Starbucks on Rampart and Charleston. As I was pulling in, I couldn’t help but notice a store on the corner called Euphoria and Co. What stuck out was that even at this time in the early afternoon, there were a lot of cars in the parking lot—and not just cars—Mercedes, BMWs, Jaguars and the like. I was really curious what this place was as there was nothing on the building suggesting what it was. While in Starbucks I checked online and found that it was a beauty salon and spa. They’re a franchise. Las Vegas is stocked full of spas and salons. I was curious just why this place seemed to get all the hoy-paloy of Summerlin.
Also in the same shopping area, tucked into a corner that could easily be missed was a very cool Irish bar called Three Angry Wives Pub. What a cool name! I just had to go in a have a beer. It’s a typical food/drink joint with a round bar and a plexus-glass sectioned off restaurant (the no smoking laws forced all the pubs to do this in order to continue to serve food). There were about four guys at the bar and barmaid (with a blouse unbuttoned—just enough) asked if I was going to play on the bar machines. I told her with my luck lately, I don’t want to buy a beer for $20, so I’ll just pay for it. I asked her about the name and she said the place was originally owned by three friends who wanted to open a bar to the chagrin of their wives. All three were divorced within two years of opening the place (I’m not certain if it was a true story, but she smiled as she was telling me—okay).
Three Angry Wives Irish Pub (corner of Charleston and Rampart)
After an hour or so, I braved the 117 temperature (notice it took me almost eight paragraphs before mentioning the heat) and drove to my next stop on the agenda, which is the Orleans. I have stayed here many times in the past and again I’ll be staying here THREE times this month alone. They always send me a couple days a month along with a food comp. I also took advantage of a tournament offer, which included three nights, and this particular time, I’m actually paying for it because I had a tough time booking the July 4th holiday and of all the places, they offered me the best deal ($120 for all three nights, which I will pay with my slot points anyway).
I asked for a room close to the elevator (the floor plan here, like many of the Boyd/Coast properties is terrible with one central elevator and halls long enough to have mileage markers) and she gave me a room right next to the elevator and ice machine—yea! There is one drawback and that’s you can actually hear the elevators, but that’s a small price to pay. The room is the standard (they call them mini-suites—simply because there’s a couch and chair). The bed, again, is more firm than I prefer but it’s a nice room with a nice flat screen TV. I have an excellent view of the Strip, which is perfect because I can watch all of the fireworks shows from my bedroom window—score).
Room at the Orleans
View from my room of the Strip
It was time to try my hand again at gambling (the losing streak has to eventually end). I played their full pay 8/5 Aces Bonus. I did manage to play a good while but catching only one regular quad the entire session would eventually make this another losing session. Tomorrow I’ll take a shot at their nickel three-play progressives (they have 9/7/5 double bonus—a very good schedule for nickels) for another hundred. If I lose that, then once again, I’ll have to stop. Some readers have mentioned that I must be reeling from these losses, but truth be told, I always budget myself for these trips and when things go bad, as they currently are, I slow way down until things turn around. Before I began this trip, I’ve been playing at Harrahs Rincon and have five quarter royals so far this year, so I’m really just using those winnings for this budget. It’s all good—but c’mon—time for a couple of wins.
Paula Poundstone is playing here on July 5, and even though I’m checking out that morning, I’m considering going to see her. I listen to “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me” on NPR and she’s a regular panelist, and for whatever reason, she makes me laugh. The tickets are $22 to $44, so by today’s prices, certainly reasonable.
I picked up a Subway for dinner and headed up to the room as Tuesday means “So You Think You Can Dance” and there’s no way I’m missing that.
More tomorrow.
One question was asked of me if with my moving to different hotels so often, do I sometimes forget which hotel I’m staying at or what room I’m in? In a word: yes. In some years I’ve driven to the wrong hotel; in others, I’ve gone to rooms that were the numbers of the room I had at a previous hotel. On more than one occasion, I’ve completely forgotten the room number and have had to go to the front desk and plead senility. A couple of years ago, a reader suggested that I take s picture of the room number outside my door on my iphone, which I thought was brilliant—until I had an iphone with ten pictures of numbers in my phone and then forgotten which was the right one. I’ve since learned to delete previous pictures. It makes me sympathetic for headlining musicians and singers that play one-night gigs in cities and towns sometimes for months on end.
I’m usually pretty good at planning these trips out every year. When I did the National Casino Run, I started planning in February. The Hit ‘em all Nevada required some painstaking mapping to crisscross the state without overlapping and backtracking. This year, I have to admit to dropping the ball a bit. With a lot of things going on at work and other distractions, I put this trip off far too long. As a result, it’s just a bare-minimum Hodge-podge of offers and meetings. There was nothing scientific here—just going over all the mailers and writing in the dates when I booked them. Consequently, this isn’t the trip I had envisioned a few months ago. But that’s not to say I’m not enjoying myself. Of course the gambling could be going better, but I’m having a good time just walking, observing, and looking for interesting things to take pictures of and report on in these journals.
So, so organized and official
It was time to pack up and leave the Suncoast. It would be my only trip this far out in Summerlin, so I thought I’d drive out to Red Rock, which is a favorite for many LVA members. Nothing much has changed here. Restaurants (there are 16 of them here) close and others take their spots, machines get moved around and new machines moved in. The latest is a large Judge Judy video slot machine—really? Judge Judy? Have they now honestly scratched the bottom of the barrel for celebrity endorsements?
Judge Judy bank of machines...really?
I hung out at the sports book for a while just watching some games and sipping a beer. I’m always aware that if I’m not here in Las Vegas, then I’m home in July and August, in my house, with no air conditioning—yea—I’m just fine.
Red Rock Casino Sportsbook
I did play some video poker for a little bit and broke even. I then walked past the Lord of Rings machine that I first saw here when they were introduced. I remember hitting a Frodo bonus (at the time not knowing what that meant) and proceeded to win $130 on a thirty-cent bet. When Nick tells Gatsby, “You can’t go back in history,” Gatsby looks at him with a crooked smile and says, “Of course, you can, old chap, of course you can.” I sat down and began to play, and sure enough, I hit a Frodo bonus…I won $7.00. Damn. I cashed out; a win is a win.
I needed to post my trip report and found a Starbucks on Rampart and Charleston. As I was pulling in, I couldn’t help but notice a store on the corner called Euphoria and Co. What stuck out was that even at this time in the early afternoon, there were a lot of cars in the parking lot—and not just cars—Mercedes, BMWs, Jaguars and the like. I was really curious what this place was as there was nothing on the building suggesting what it was. While in Starbucks I checked online and found that it was a beauty salon and spa. They’re a franchise. Las Vegas is stocked full of spas and salons. I was curious just why this place seemed to get all the hoy-paloy of Summerlin.
Also in the same shopping area, tucked into a corner that could easily be missed was a very cool Irish bar called Three Angry Wives Pub. What a cool name! I just had to go in a have a beer. It’s a typical food/drink joint with a round bar and a plexus-glass sectioned off restaurant (the no smoking laws forced all the pubs to do this in order to continue to serve food). There were about four guys at the bar and barmaid (with a blouse unbuttoned—just enough) asked if I was going to play on the bar machines. I told her with my luck lately, I don’t want to buy a beer for $20, so I’ll just pay for it. I asked her about the name and she said the place was originally owned by three friends who wanted to open a bar to the chagrin of their wives. All three were divorced within two years of opening the place (I’m not certain if it was a true story, but she smiled as she was telling me—okay).
Three Angry Wives Irish Pub (corner of Charleston and Rampart)
After an hour or so, I braved the 117 temperature (notice it took me almost eight paragraphs before mentioning the heat) and drove to my next stop on the agenda, which is the Orleans. I have stayed here many times in the past and again I’ll be staying here THREE times this month alone. They always send me a couple days a month along with a food comp. I also took advantage of a tournament offer, which included three nights, and this particular time, I’m actually paying for it because I had a tough time booking the July 4th holiday and of all the places, they offered me the best deal ($120 for all three nights, which I will pay with my slot points anyway).
I asked for a room close to the elevator (the floor plan here, like many of the Boyd/Coast properties is terrible with one central elevator and halls long enough to have mileage markers) and she gave me a room right next to the elevator and ice machine—yea! There is one drawback and that’s you can actually hear the elevators, but that’s a small price to pay. The room is the standard (they call them mini-suites—simply because there’s a couch and chair). The bed, again, is more firm than I prefer but it’s a nice room with a nice flat screen TV. I have an excellent view of the Strip, which is perfect because I can watch all of the fireworks shows from my bedroom window—score).
Room at the Orleans
View from my room of the Strip
It was time to try my hand again at gambling (the losing streak has to eventually end). I played their full pay 8/5 Aces Bonus. I did manage to play a good while but catching only one regular quad the entire session would eventually make this another losing session. Tomorrow I’ll take a shot at their nickel three-play progressives (they have 9/7/5 double bonus—a very good schedule for nickels) for another hundred. If I lose that, then once again, I’ll have to stop. Some readers have mentioned that I must be reeling from these losses, but truth be told, I always budget myself for these trips and when things go bad, as they currently are, I slow way down until things turn around. Before I began this trip, I’ve been playing at Harrahs Rincon and have five quarter royals so far this year, so I’m really just using those winnings for this budget. It’s all good—but c’mon—time for a couple of wins.
Paula Poundstone is playing here on July 5, and even though I’m checking out that morning, I’m considering going to see her. I listen to “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me” on NPR and she’s a regular panelist, and for whatever reason, she makes me laugh. The tickets are $22 to $44, so by today’s prices, certainly reasonable.
I picked up a Subway for dinner and headed up to the room as Tuesday means “So You Think You Can Dance” and there’s no way I’m missing that.
More tomorrow.
