Summer of Tournaments – Day 3
“Gambling promises the poor what property performs for the rich: something for nothing” George Bernard Shaw.
Woke up this morning with a slight headache (new pillows, air conditioning, whatever) and I headed down to the breakfast brunch because I had a $25 coupon that was going to expire tomorrow. I gave it to the cashier who then advised me I had $10 left over and to pick a takeout dessert from the list at the right. I picked the brownies and was told to pick it up on my way out. That was surprising. The brunch at Harrah’s is okay. They served usual omelet-to-order along with the usual assortment of breakfast meats and potatoes. Because it’s a “brunch” there were also dinner dishes that looked like they were left over from last night (and probably were) and I noticed no one selecting anything from those stations. It was a nice morning reading the Sunday paper and enjoying a leisurely breakfast and coffee.
It was time for my second session of the slot tournament. As I mentioned in yesterday’s report, I didn’t need to worry about which machine I had as my name was right there on it. I needed to catch a first, second, or third place this morning because yesterday’s tenth place finish (out of 14) landed me towards the bottom of the master list. Today, despite hitting the crap out of the button and popping the balloons when they randomly appeared on the screen, I managed only 8th place. I immediately when to my room, packed my things and checked out.
This is the new slot tournament area in the non-smoking section of the casino
Pretty easy finding your machine
I drove over to Bullhead City to fill up the tank ($3.33 per gallon) and got a soft drink for the drive to Las Vegas. It was already 108 degrees outside. For those of you who read last year’s summer trip, you’ll remember that my trusty Saturn Vue blew a radiator that had to be replaced here (almost a grand I’ll never see again). I traded that car in and bought a new Ford Edge. It doesn’t have the best gas mileage (6 cylinder), but it’s new and I really love the security of knowing I’m going to get to my next destination free of trouble.
I arrived in Las Vegas at 1PM, which is too early to check in and since I was just passing the Fiesta Henderson, I drove in to see the movie CHEF starring Jon Favreau. This isn’t your usual summer blockbuster fare, but it was a movie I found myself smiling throughout. I highly recommend this one (some language). It’s a wonderfully done film.
I drove to Ballys and checked in. The Jubilee Tower was shut down (she didn’t say why) and put me in a room in the North Tower at the very end of the 20th floor. The room was very much like the Jubilee Tower rooms with the Jacuzzi tub in the middle with two vanity areas on each side, a toilet in one small room and a bidet in the other (I won’t be using that—have no clue how and—it just don’t seem right).
My room at Bally’s. The bed is comfy.
From another angle.
The spa tub and vanities
View from my window
When I checked in, the clerk gave me a message left for me from Ted from Oroville, CA who owns Perfect Plank who I met during last year’s summer trips to all the California casinos. He’s in town and we agreed to meet up for dinner. I unpacked my things and headed over to Harrahs to register for tomorrow’s tournament. It’s an easy walk from Bally’s across the street and then right into the new Cromwell and that leads into the Flamingo and from there right into the Quad which leads right into Harrahs. With the exception of about 100 feet between the casinos, you’re in air conditioning the whole way.
Registration was on the second floor of Harrahs and my 7 Stars card got me to the front of the line and was given a 10:40 start time for both Monday and Tuesday. Collection of prizes is Tuesday night, which is a little puzzling because this cover came with three nights, but I’m not complaining.
I walked back to the room and waited for Ted to arrive. We chat for a while and then decided on dinner at the new Guy Fieri restaurant on the north side of the Quad. I had read good reviews of this place and yes, they accept Total Rewards. We sat outside on the patio with the Carnival stage at our backs with some rock band entertaining all. Ted had the mac and cheese burger (mac and cheese, a half pound patty with friend onions, lettuce) and I had the Drunk Tacos (street tacos with marinated beef, avocado, cilantro, radish). Both dishes were excellent as we washed it down with some Samuel Adams and Blue Moon beers. All the food coming out of the kitchen looked really good. Our meals with drinks came to $49.00—not cheap but certainly competitive for the quality and atmosphere.
Guy Fieri’s on the corner of the Quad.
Ted and I on the patio at Fieri’s
As we headed back to Bally’s, we stopped in the Flamingo Diamond Lounge for one last drink. The hot dishes were stopped at 6:30 and we were there around 8, so the lounge was pretty empty. After a round of lemon drop martinis, it was back to Bally’s where Ted handed me a bottle of Chambored vodka he was given at the M Resort. It was a nice visit and it was great catching up with him.
The night time view from my window. The Observation changes constantly changes colors
It was back to the room to watch the Tony Awards. When I went on the Hit ‘Em All Vegas trip in 2011, I made a $10 bet in every casino in Nevada that had table games, and I kept tap of the wins and losses throughout the trip. I visited a total of 182 casinos, drove a total of 2800 miles and I end up profit of $98 (counting only the $10 bets). I thought I might do the same this year. Many of the tournament entries are free as they came with the offers; however, I plan on playing in quite a few poker tournaments that I’ll be paying for in addition to those. For example, yesterday’s tournament cost me nothing and I didn’t win anything, so my total is 0. This tournament at Harrah’s is free to enter but it came with $40 in free play, so if I don’t cash in this tournament, I will still consider this a profit of $40.
Current totals: 1 tournament – no loss or profit.
More tomorrow
“Gambling promises the poor what property performs for the rich: something for nothing” George Bernard Shaw.
Woke up this morning with a slight headache (new pillows, air conditioning, whatever) and I headed down to the breakfast brunch because I had a $25 coupon that was going to expire tomorrow. I gave it to the cashier who then advised me I had $10 left over and to pick a takeout dessert from the list at the right. I picked the brownies and was told to pick it up on my way out. That was surprising. The brunch at Harrah’s is okay. They served usual omelet-to-order along with the usual assortment of breakfast meats and potatoes. Because it’s a “brunch” there were also dinner dishes that looked like they were left over from last night (and probably were) and I noticed no one selecting anything from those stations. It was a nice morning reading the Sunday paper and enjoying a leisurely breakfast and coffee.
It was time for my second session of the slot tournament. As I mentioned in yesterday’s report, I didn’t need to worry about which machine I had as my name was right there on it. I needed to catch a first, second, or third place this morning because yesterday’s tenth place finish (out of 14) landed me towards the bottom of the master list. Today, despite hitting the crap out of the button and popping the balloons when they randomly appeared on the screen, I managed only 8th place. I immediately when to my room, packed my things and checked out.
This is the new slot tournament area in the non-smoking section of the casino
Pretty easy finding your machine
I drove over to Bullhead City to fill up the tank ($3.33 per gallon) and got a soft drink for the drive to Las Vegas. It was already 108 degrees outside. For those of you who read last year’s summer trip, you’ll remember that my trusty Saturn Vue blew a radiator that had to be replaced here (almost a grand I’ll never see again). I traded that car in and bought a new Ford Edge. It doesn’t have the best gas mileage (6 cylinder), but it’s new and I really love the security of knowing I’m going to get to my next destination free of trouble.
I arrived in Las Vegas at 1PM, which is too early to check in and since I was just passing the Fiesta Henderson, I drove in to see the movie CHEF starring Jon Favreau. This isn’t your usual summer blockbuster fare, but it was a movie I found myself smiling throughout. I highly recommend this one (some language). It’s a wonderfully done film.
I drove to Ballys and checked in. The Jubilee Tower was shut down (she didn’t say why) and put me in a room in the North Tower at the very end of the 20th floor. The room was very much like the Jubilee Tower rooms with the Jacuzzi tub in the middle with two vanity areas on each side, a toilet in one small room and a bidet in the other (I won’t be using that—have no clue how and—it just don’t seem right).
My room at Bally’s. The bed is comfy.
From another angle.
The spa tub and vanities
View from my window
When I checked in, the clerk gave me a message left for me from Ted from Oroville, CA who owns Perfect Plank who I met during last year’s summer trips to all the California casinos. He’s in town and we agreed to meet up for dinner. I unpacked my things and headed over to Harrahs to register for tomorrow’s tournament. It’s an easy walk from Bally’s across the street and then right into the new Cromwell and that leads into the Flamingo and from there right into the Quad which leads right into Harrahs. With the exception of about 100 feet between the casinos, you’re in air conditioning the whole way.
Registration was on the second floor of Harrahs and my 7 Stars card got me to the front of the line and was given a 10:40 start time for both Monday and Tuesday. Collection of prizes is Tuesday night, which is a little puzzling because this cover came with three nights, but I’m not complaining.
I walked back to the room and waited for Ted to arrive. We chat for a while and then decided on dinner at the new Guy Fieri restaurant on the north side of the Quad. I had read good reviews of this place and yes, they accept Total Rewards. We sat outside on the patio with the Carnival stage at our backs with some rock band entertaining all. Ted had the mac and cheese burger (mac and cheese, a half pound patty with friend onions, lettuce) and I had the Drunk Tacos (street tacos with marinated beef, avocado, cilantro, radish). Both dishes were excellent as we washed it down with some Samuel Adams and Blue Moon beers. All the food coming out of the kitchen looked really good. Our meals with drinks came to $49.00—not cheap but certainly competitive for the quality and atmosphere.
Guy Fieri’s on the corner of the Quad.
Ted and I on the patio at Fieri’s
As we headed back to Bally’s, we stopped in the Flamingo Diamond Lounge for one last drink. The hot dishes were stopped at 6:30 and we were there around 8, so the lounge was pretty empty. After a round of lemon drop martinis, it was back to Bally’s where Ted handed me a bottle of Chambored vodka he was given at the M Resort. It was a nice visit and it was great catching up with him.
The night time view from my window. The Observation changes constantly changes colors
It was back to the room to watch the Tony Awards. When I went on the Hit ‘Em All Vegas trip in 2011, I made a $10 bet in every casino in Nevada that had table games, and I kept tap of the wins and losses throughout the trip. I visited a total of 182 casinos, drove a total of 2800 miles and I end up profit of $98 (counting only the $10 bets). I thought I might do the same this year. Many of the tournament entries are free as they came with the offers; however, I plan on playing in quite a few poker tournaments that I’ll be paying for in addition to those. For example, yesterday’s tournament cost me nothing and I didn’t win anything, so my total is 0. This tournament at Harrah’s is free to enter but it came with $40 in free play, so if I don’t cash in this tournament, I will still consider this a profit of $40.
Current totals: 1 tournament – no loss or profit.
More tomorrow
