Summer of Tournaments – Final
Well, another summer trip is finally over. Forty-seven nights (50 if you include the Lake Tahoe Fourth of July stay) is not the longest summer I’ve spent on the road, but certainly up there. I have to admit, I was very ready to come home and sleep in my own bed. As fun as it is to be spending all this time in Las Vegas, it can also become a grind of moving from one hotel to the next and back again. After a while, the rooms begin to be all the same, the food begins to be just more food (and too much of it), and it becomes more difficult to get really entertained at shows that I’ve either seen before or don’t live up to what I hoped to experience.
This is sounding all too maudlin. Overall, I had a great time and I was very happy with the theme or premise of this year’s trip. I played in as many tournaments as I could (or felt like) and had a pretty good outcome, though I didn’t reach my goal of winning one. I still have yet to come in first place in a tournament. So, that remains on the bucket list. I did, however, end them with a nice profit. The only tournaments I paid for were the poker tournaments that weren’t hotel offers and most of those were at Sam’s Town. All together I spent $389 on tournaments. I won a total of $2,285 for a positive balance of $1896. Had I played the tournaments ONLY and not gambled, I’d be on cloud nine with those results. However, when you’re in Las Vegas and you’re a gambler, you gamble.
I still had more tier points needed to complete my 7 Stars renewal. I was hoping to finish that this summer, but because of a disappointing gambling trip, I’ll have to do that later this fall. I’m 28,540 tier points short of the 150,000 needed. I have until Dec 31, so there’s no question I’ll finish that up soon. I’ve said many times that in order to continue to play, you have to hit your fair share of royals on any extended trip. Based on my play, I should have hit about four; however, I only hit one (in Lake Tahoe), so my toolbox took a huge hit this summer and a damper on the enthusiasm of the entire trip as well. As much as any gambler will say, “You have to take the bad with the good,” it’s still a buzz-kill to lose session after session. I’m not discouraged. I’ve had trips like this before and have managed to pull myself out of the hole. As my friend Terry says, “It’s one gigantic life long session.” I’ll come back.
I was booked at the Rio until Monday morning but Cindy needed to be back to work, so the plan was to leave very early on Sunday morning to beat the traffic. The trip back to San Diego on a Sunday afternoon is bumper to bumper from people coming back from their Las Vegas weekend, the LA folks returning, and those headed to the Del Mar Racetrack. All in all, a complete mess to be avoided at all costs.
We went to the Michael Jackson Live performance (my two monthly comped tickets) at the Rio. The performance was sold out, but thanks to my 7 Stars card, we were the first ones in and given a perfect table in the pit so we could see the entire stage. Another couple joined us at our table, Ruby and Ray. Ruby was also a 7 Star holder and a very outgoing, gregarious girl who kept up us entertained until the real entertainment began. There were eight dancers but a band of only three. The Michael Jackson impersonator was excellent both in voice and dance. The show was good, but I thought the music was stifled by the pre-recorded samplings and mix of the guitarist, who was excellent but always felt like he was playing in another room. However, everyone in the place seemed to love it, and I certainly could see that this show will be here for a good long time.
We got back to the room and were supposed to get a few hours sleep before heading back but being wide awake decided to just drive back to San Diego at 11:30 PM. The drive back was perfect (I so prefer driving at night) and pulled up to my home at 4:30 AM. Whew...another trip done.
Out of curiosity, I’ve gone on the Internet to the hotel sites as a non-member and tried to book the rooms that I stayed in during this trip. Many times I’ve stayed in suites; however, they weren’t listed as options, so my final figures will be on the low side. I wanted to know how much my hotel stays would have cost had I paid for them. Remember, I didn’t pay for one night for my entire 47 night trip. The surprising number was the Plaza, which I thought was a very good hotel stay for downtown. It was only $39 per night plus that stupid resort fee. The most expensive was Lake Tahoe over the Fourth of July weekend, which was $1200 (and I didn’t include the free dinners, boat tour, and Fourth of July party). Another surprising number was the Cromwell, which considering we stayed on a Tue/Wed/Thur was only $550 total. Being a “boutique hotel” and with breakfast, I thought it would have been higher.
The total amount worth of hotel nights would have cost me $8080. Add to that the waived fees for the tournaments, the food, the shows, the free play, and the gifts; my losses for the trip don’t scratch the value I received. I would say that if I added every single thing, this trip would be valued in excess of $10,000.
I certainly have to hit the diet road after this trip. The free food is great, but it also is a curse. I absolutely recommend the Binon’s smoked rack of ribs dinner at the back BBQ restaurant. Take your club card and it’s only $13.99. My best show has to be the Million Dollar Quartet. It’s so nice to have high expectations fulfilled. After seeing the show, I now know what everyone was talking about.
Of course, I’ll be back next summer for another trip—where and what type is still to be determined. You can also continue my Reaching for the Stars chapters as I’ll post those as warranted. Until then, I’ll leave you with a few pictures I never added these reports.
More next year…
Jon (JMan…sionow…that dude in the Hawaiian shirts)
A couple at the Star Trek Convention
Dave, Bob, and Harv (with Jaques, the monkey)
A different angle to the many pools atop the Cromwell Hotel
No cheapie little alcohol bottles in each room’s bar (no touchie, very expensive) at the Cromwell.
Harv and Scott mull over a putt at the MPT Golf Tournament
Terry and David at The D with a couple of photo bombers
Well, another summer trip is finally over. Forty-seven nights (50 if you include the Lake Tahoe Fourth of July stay) is not the longest summer I’ve spent on the road, but certainly up there. I have to admit, I was very ready to come home and sleep in my own bed. As fun as it is to be spending all this time in Las Vegas, it can also become a grind of moving from one hotel to the next and back again. After a while, the rooms begin to be all the same, the food begins to be just more food (and too much of it), and it becomes more difficult to get really entertained at shows that I’ve either seen before or don’t live up to what I hoped to experience.
This is sounding all too maudlin. Overall, I had a great time and I was very happy with the theme or premise of this year’s trip. I played in as many tournaments as I could (or felt like) and had a pretty good outcome, though I didn’t reach my goal of winning one. I still have yet to come in first place in a tournament. So, that remains on the bucket list. I did, however, end them with a nice profit. The only tournaments I paid for were the poker tournaments that weren’t hotel offers and most of those were at Sam’s Town. All together I spent $389 on tournaments. I won a total of $2,285 for a positive balance of $1896. Had I played the tournaments ONLY and not gambled, I’d be on cloud nine with those results. However, when you’re in Las Vegas and you’re a gambler, you gamble.
I still had more tier points needed to complete my 7 Stars renewal. I was hoping to finish that this summer, but because of a disappointing gambling trip, I’ll have to do that later this fall. I’m 28,540 tier points short of the 150,000 needed. I have until Dec 31, so there’s no question I’ll finish that up soon. I’ve said many times that in order to continue to play, you have to hit your fair share of royals on any extended trip. Based on my play, I should have hit about four; however, I only hit one (in Lake Tahoe), so my toolbox took a huge hit this summer and a damper on the enthusiasm of the entire trip as well. As much as any gambler will say, “You have to take the bad with the good,” it’s still a buzz-kill to lose session after session. I’m not discouraged. I’ve had trips like this before and have managed to pull myself out of the hole. As my friend Terry says, “It’s one gigantic life long session.” I’ll come back.
I was booked at the Rio until Monday morning but Cindy needed to be back to work, so the plan was to leave very early on Sunday morning to beat the traffic. The trip back to San Diego on a Sunday afternoon is bumper to bumper from people coming back from their Las Vegas weekend, the LA folks returning, and those headed to the Del Mar Racetrack. All in all, a complete mess to be avoided at all costs.
We went to the Michael Jackson Live performance (my two monthly comped tickets) at the Rio. The performance was sold out, but thanks to my 7 Stars card, we were the first ones in and given a perfect table in the pit so we could see the entire stage. Another couple joined us at our table, Ruby and Ray. Ruby was also a 7 Star holder and a very outgoing, gregarious girl who kept up us entertained until the real entertainment began. There were eight dancers but a band of only three. The Michael Jackson impersonator was excellent both in voice and dance. The show was good, but I thought the music was stifled by the pre-recorded samplings and mix of the guitarist, who was excellent but always felt like he was playing in another room. However, everyone in the place seemed to love it, and I certainly could see that this show will be here for a good long time.
We got back to the room and were supposed to get a few hours sleep before heading back but being wide awake decided to just drive back to San Diego at 11:30 PM. The drive back was perfect (I so prefer driving at night) and pulled up to my home at 4:30 AM. Whew...another trip done.
Out of curiosity, I’ve gone on the Internet to the hotel sites as a non-member and tried to book the rooms that I stayed in during this trip. Many times I’ve stayed in suites; however, they weren’t listed as options, so my final figures will be on the low side. I wanted to know how much my hotel stays would have cost had I paid for them. Remember, I didn’t pay for one night for my entire 47 night trip. The surprising number was the Plaza, which I thought was a very good hotel stay for downtown. It was only $39 per night plus that stupid resort fee. The most expensive was Lake Tahoe over the Fourth of July weekend, which was $1200 (and I didn’t include the free dinners, boat tour, and Fourth of July party). Another surprising number was the Cromwell, which considering we stayed on a Tue/Wed/Thur was only $550 total. Being a “boutique hotel” and with breakfast, I thought it would have been higher.
The total amount worth of hotel nights would have cost me $8080. Add to that the waived fees for the tournaments, the food, the shows, the free play, and the gifts; my losses for the trip don’t scratch the value I received. I would say that if I added every single thing, this trip would be valued in excess of $10,000.
I certainly have to hit the diet road after this trip. The free food is great, but it also is a curse. I absolutely recommend the Binon’s smoked rack of ribs dinner at the back BBQ restaurant. Take your club card and it’s only $13.99. My best show has to be the Million Dollar Quartet. It’s so nice to have high expectations fulfilled. After seeing the show, I now know what everyone was talking about.
Of course, I’ll be back next summer for another trip—where and what type is still to be determined. You can also continue my Reaching for the Stars chapters as I’ll post those as warranted. Until then, I’ll leave you with a few pictures I never added these reports.
More next year…
Jon (JMan…sionow…that dude in the Hawaiian shirts)
A couple at the Star Trek Convention
Dave, Bob, and Harv (with Jaques, the monkey)
A different angle to the many pools atop the Cromwell Hotel
No cheapie little alcohol bottles in each room’s bar (no touchie, very expensive) at the Cromwell.
Harv and Scott mull over a putt at the MPT Golf Tournament
Terry and David at The D with a couple of photo bombers
