Summer of Tournaments – Day 29
When planning a trip this size, I always manage to screw something up and there also tends to be alterations as new offers come in. So, if you’ve been following these reports since the beginning, there have been some changes from the schedule. When I went home for the Lake Tahoe July Fourth holiday, I found in my mail an offer for three nights at the Cromwell. I certainly couldn’t pass that up, so I cancelled three of the Silverton nights (July 27 to 30) and will be checking in at the Cromwell. I was supposed to end my trip Aug 1 to 3 at Sam’s Town, but received an offer at the Rio that comes with a free Samsung tablet. My screw up involves today. When talking with Dean yesterday, he mentioned that the pre-registration of the poker tournament in Laughlin was today, but my schedule didn’t have me going to Laughlin until tomorrow. I called this morning, and sure enough, I’m supposed to be checking in today. So, this means, I’ll have to check out of Caesars (and this amazing room) a day early.
I’ve been writing about the nice touches Caesars do for their high end players but there’s one thing that rubs me the wrong way. Like most of the larger Caesars properties, they have added Keurig coffee makers to the rooms. In Lake Tahoe, at the Rio, and Ballys these come with two or three coffees to enjoy in the morning for free. However, for whatever reason Caesars Palace wants to charge you $12 to use it. Of course, I could use my reward credits to buy this pack, but for me it’s the principal of the thing, so before I checked in here, I stopped by a Target and picked up a package of 18 cups for nine bucks. Plus, I prefer French Roast—a good, dark coffee. I’ll mention this in my survey when they email it to me.
Of interest to me and likely not many others is the construction progress of the patch of ground in front of Bally’s that was once just a walkway to the casino and is soon becoming another batch of small shops and eateries. I’ve done this for years first with the Palazzo, then with Center City and the only schedule is when I happen to be in Vegas. Here’s how it’s going so far:
Nine weeks ago
Six weeks ago
Three weeks ago
This morning
I checked out of Caesars. Here’s a tip if you’re staying in the Augustus Tower. The 7 Stars registration area every morning has hot coffee, waters, cookies, crackers, and jellies on a table to the left. Simply flash your card to anyone at the desk (though some didn’t even to that) and help yourself. Saves you the over-priced Starbucks just outside the door: a regular Grande coffee there will set you back $3.85.
I usually tip three bucks for valet service, but the extra treatment you get at this south entrance deserves a fiver. Again, they offered me a cold bottle water, help loading the luggage, and directions if I needed it. I drove down to the Palms in hope that the car wash would work this time but it didn’t. At least this time, there was a sign saying it was out of order.
I drove to the Rio for a small breakfast at the Burger Bar upstairs and then my final shot at the tournament. Brian was there again to greet and cheer me on. My two minutes at the machine went better this time around. I was in first place for much of the time, but end up in 3rd place (the bubble boy—just outside the money). Dean had some free play at Tuscany and asked if I’d like to join him for lunch as he also some comps. I told him I had just eaten and I wanted to get onto Laughlin, but I’d stop by and join him for a few minutes and run perhaps a $20 through the machine.
The Tuscany Hotel and Casino
As I followed Brian from the Rio to the Tuscany and noticed that his brake lights are out. I let him know and am writing here because I know he reads these and this serves as a reminder. I checked at the slot booth and though I only play here very occasionally and for twenty bucks in the progressive Joker’s Wild but have been doing it for years, I wanted to find out if I had any comps. It turns out I have $15 in cash back and $36 in comps—they don’t expire, so it seems I have a steak dinner waiting for me sometime. After losing my $20 and Brian’s free play exhausted, I said my goodbyes and it was off to Laughlin.
Taken from the back parking lot of the Tuscany to show the cloud cover today cooling things down in Las Vegas today
I did make a fast stop at Sam’s Town thinking it was Senior Day, which offers up to 50X points; however, it’s on Wednesday and the nice lady at the slot club reminded me it was Tuesday (it’s not the first time I’ve lost track of the days on these trips). I was here so I went ahead and ran a hundred through my favorite 9/6 Jacks progressive. I eventually left breaking even and putting another 735 points on the card.
The drive to Laughlin was uneventful except for the speed trap known as Searchlight where you must go from 75 MPH to 25 MPH and a Nevada Highway Patrolman followed me almost through the entire town until he made a U-turn going after a motorist going the other direction. Laughlin was 108; a good 15 degrees hotter with no cloud cover whatsoever. I was checked in fine, but found that I wasn’t registered for the poker tournament. I spoke with Daman, the host on duty, and he made sure I was registered for the tournament and also gave me a couple of tickets to the Dirk Arthur magic show that night—nice!
Lately, I’m experiencing a little better treatment at Laughlin my last few stays; I’ve consistently been given a suite facing the river. Quite honestly, when I’m alone it really doesn’t matter to me, but it’s still nice.
The bar area of my room
The living room area of the suite
The bedroom area
The bathroom area: double sinks, Jacuzzi style tub, a TV in the mirror, and shower
The view from my suite
At 5:00 after a quick stop in the Diamond Lounge, I went to the promotion booth to pick up the tickets for the show and my table assignment for tomorrow’s poker tournament. The show wasn’t until 8 PM, so I hung out in the room watching the All-Star game. I’m only going to gamble tomorrow as it’s better for me to do all my play in one day and hopefully make the 2500 tier points, but if things go south, stop at 1000. I currently have 133,000 tier points, so I’m only 17,000 away from renewing my 7 Stars membership.
The Dirk Arthur Magic Show (they didn’t allow photos in the theater)
I’ve seen the Dirk Arthur show before in Las Vegas many years ago and was curious to see if he’s changed his act over the years. I get upset when good acts don’t update and change up their shows often—are you listening Scintas?—and therefore making return customers happy. I was given perhaps the best booth in the house center and as the show was about to begin, I noticed an elderly couple seated on the floor with two very tall teens right in front of them. I went over and asked them if they’d like to share my booth and they were very happy to do so. They’re from Albuquerque and staying for a couple of days just “to get away from the heat.” (Really? Laughlin?)
I was very happy to see that this show, aside from the dramatic helicopter conclusion, is completely different than when I saw it before. It was fast paced and a lot of fun. My tickets value were $46 each (a little high considering the show is just over an hour long), and the biggest crowd pleasers were any of the magic acts involving the amazing animals—and there are a lot of animals throughout the show, not just the big cats.
I picked up some spaghetti at the café to take back to my room for a late night dinner called it a night.
More tomorrow
Totals:
Tournaments: 20 Cost: $290 Won: $2150 Balance: $1860
When planning a trip this size, I always manage to screw something up and there also tends to be alterations as new offers come in. So, if you’ve been following these reports since the beginning, there have been some changes from the schedule. When I went home for the Lake Tahoe July Fourth holiday, I found in my mail an offer for three nights at the Cromwell. I certainly couldn’t pass that up, so I cancelled three of the Silverton nights (July 27 to 30) and will be checking in at the Cromwell. I was supposed to end my trip Aug 1 to 3 at Sam’s Town, but received an offer at the Rio that comes with a free Samsung tablet. My screw up involves today. When talking with Dean yesterday, he mentioned that the pre-registration of the poker tournament in Laughlin was today, but my schedule didn’t have me going to Laughlin until tomorrow. I called this morning, and sure enough, I’m supposed to be checking in today. So, this means, I’ll have to check out of Caesars (and this amazing room) a day early.
I’ve been writing about the nice touches Caesars do for their high end players but there’s one thing that rubs me the wrong way. Like most of the larger Caesars properties, they have added Keurig coffee makers to the rooms. In Lake Tahoe, at the Rio, and Ballys these come with two or three coffees to enjoy in the morning for free. However, for whatever reason Caesars Palace wants to charge you $12 to use it. Of course, I could use my reward credits to buy this pack, but for me it’s the principal of the thing, so before I checked in here, I stopped by a Target and picked up a package of 18 cups for nine bucks. Plus, I prefer French Roast—a good, dark coffee. I’ll mention this in my survey when they email it to me.
Of interest to me and likely not many others is the construction progress of the patch of ground in front of Bally’s that was once just a walkway to the casino and is soon becoming another batch of small shops and eateries. I’ve done this for years first with the Palazzo, then with Center City and the only schedule is when I happen to be in Vegas. Here’s how it’s going so far:
Nine weeks ago
Six weeks ago
Three weeks ago
This morning
I checked out of Caesars. Here’s a tip if you’re staying in the Augustus Tower. The 7 Stars registration area every morning has hot coffee, waters, cookies, crackers, and jellies on a table to the left. Simply flash your card to anyone at the desk (though some didn’t even to that) and help yourself. Saves you the over-priced Starbucks just outside the door: a regular Grande coffee there will set you back $3.85.
I usually tip three bucks for valet service, but the extra treatment you get at this south entrance deserves a fiver. Again, they offered me a cold bottle water, help loading the luggage, and directions if I needed it. I drove down to the Palms in hope that the car wash would work this time but it didn’t. At least this time, there was a sign saying it was out of order.
I drove to the Rio for a small breakfast at the Burger Bar upstairs and then my final shot at the tournament. Brian was there again to greet and cheer me on. My two minutes at the machine went better this time around. I was in first place for much of the time, but end up in 3rd place (the bubble boy—just outside the money). Dean had some free play at Tuscany and asked if I’d like to join him for lunch as he also some comps. I told him I had just eaten and I wanted to get onto Laughlin, but I’d stop by and join him for a few minutes and run perhaps a $20 through the machine.
The Tuscany Hotel and Casino
As I followed Brian from the Rio to the Tuscany and noticed that his brake lights are out. I let him know and am writing here because I know he reads these and this serves as a reminder. I checked at the slot booth and though I only play here very occasionally and for twenty bucks in the progressive Joker’s Wild but have been doing it for years, I wanted to find out if I had any comps. It turns out I have $15 in cash back and $36 in comps—they don’t expire, so it seems I have a steak dinner waiting for me sometime. After losing my $20 and Brian’s free play exhausted, I said my goodbyes and it was off to Laughlin.
Taken from the back parking lot of the Tuscany to show the cloud cover today cooling things down in Las Vegas today
I did make a fast stop at Sam’s Town thinking it was Senior Day, which offers up to 50X points; however, it’s on Wednesday and the nice lady at the slot club reminded me it was Tuesday (it’s not the first time I’ve lost track of the days on these trips). I was here so I went ahead and ran a hundred through my favorite 9/6 Jacks progressive. I eventually left breaking even and putting another 735 points on the card.
The drive to Laughlin was uneventful except for the speed trap known as Searchlight where you must go from 75 MPH to 25 MPH and a Nevada Highway Patrolman followed me almost through the entire town until he made a U-turn going after a motorist going the other direction. Laughlin was 108; a good 15 degrees hotter with no cloud cover whatsoever. I was checked in fine, but found that I wasn’t registered for the poker tournament. I spoke with Daman, the host on duty, and he made sure I was registered for the tournament and also gave me a couple of tickets to the Dirk Arthur magic show that night—nice!
Lately, I’m experiencing a little better treatment at Laughlin my last few stays; I’ve consistently been given a suite facing the river. Quite honestly, when I’m alone it really doesn’t matter to me, but it’s still nice.
The bar area of my room
The living room area of the suite
The bedroom area
The bathroom area: double sinks, Jacuzzi style tub, a TV in the mirror, and shower
The view from my suite
At 5:00 after a quick stop in the Diamond Lounge, I went to the promotion booth to pick up the tickets for the show and my table assignment for tomorrow’s poker tournament. The show wasn’t until 8 PM, so I hung out in the room watching the All-Star game. I’m only going to gamble tomorrow as it’s better for me to do all my play in one day and hopefully make the 2500 tier points, but if things go south, stop at 1000. I currently have 133,000 tier points, so I’m only 17,000 away from renewing my 7 Stars membership.
The Dirk Arthur Magic Show (they didn’t allow photos in the theater)
I’ve seen the Dirk Arthur show before in Las Vegas many years ago and was curious to see if he’s changed his act over the years. I get upset when good acts don’t update and change up their shows often—are you listening Scintas?—and therefore making return customers happy. I was given perhaps the best booth in the house center and as the show was about to begin, I noticed an elderly couple seated on the floor with two very tall teens right in front of them. I went over and asked them if they’d like to share my booth and they were very happy to do so. They’re from Albuquerque and staying for a couple of days just “to get away from the heat.” (Really? Laughlin?)
I was very happy to see that this show, aside from the dramatic helicopter conclusion, is completely different than when I saw it before. It was fast paced and a lot of fun. My tickets value were $46 each (a little high considering the show is just over an hour long), and the biggest crowd pleasers were any of the magic acts involving the amazing animals—and there are a lot of animals throughout the show, not just the big cats.
I picked up some spaghetti at the café to take back to my room for a late night dinner called it a night.
More tomorrow
Totals:
Tournaments: 20 Cost: $290 Won: $2150 Balance: $1860
