It was the annual week in Vegas. A smaller group this year with several regulars MIA.
Gambling
The trip started normally for me regarding gambling. I started with full pay VP at Fiesta Henderson. I play nickel Deuces and nickel Joker Poker. I put in a $20 and lose it in about 20 to 30 minutes. After each $20, I take a break and walk about the casino. It’s lather, rinse, repeat. I do that 5 more times and raise the white flag -- surrender.
I don’t do much gambling the rest of that first day. The next day, things pick up where they left off. I play Multi-Strike (nickels) next to Bigfus and lose $40. Noahcat tells me (via e-mail before I leave) to play the Superman game. I do it. I put in a $20. I press the spin button 30 times and cash out 45 cents. I could have crumpled up the $20 bill and thrown it out my car window to the same effect and enjoyment. Later, we play in the MPT (Mattress-top Poker Tour). I predict I’ll go out in the 5th position. After four people go out, I find my stack getting short. Bob makes a big raise. I go all in with a small pair. Bob has ace-queen. I shake Bob’s hand knowing I’ll lose the race. I seem to always. The flop misses Bob. But the turn brings a queen. A blank on the river, and I’m out in 5th position.
Bigfus shows up early at the Gold Coast on Sunday to play Multi-Strike. This is when things start to turn. I’m losing a little until I hit a 4oak on the 2nd line (2X) on Multi-Strike and I’m up $20. I cash out, and Bigfus and I headed over to the Palms.
Full pay deuces is back at the Palms. A group is supposed to be meeting here for a brunch at Garduno’s, but we’re going to get some FPDW play in first. I hit enough 4oaks that I’m up by $60 and feeling really good. Deuces has beaten me up really good over the last six years or so, cashing out a win from FPDW is something I haven’t seen in awhile. After brunch, I return to the machines. I’m dealt 3 deuces. I don’t normally convert, especially 3oaks to 4oaks. I'm legendary in my in ability to convert 3oak to 4oak. I’ve seen this hand many, many times in the previous years, and I’ve never converted. As I go to hit the “draw” button, Bigfus, playing next to me, calls out “deuce of hearts!”. I hit the button, and it comes in! Four deuces for $250. I then hit a 5oak and cash out $300 up. Later, I’d cash out a $20 win before things return to normal and I lose $100 in about 15 minutes.
Monday I try some blackjack. Blackjack, like video poker and, has beaten me up in recent years. This tim, I was doing well. Went down early. Fought back. Put some wins together. The deck turned positive. I raised my bet. Won, deck still positive, raised again. Won, raised the bet again. Deck was very positive, +9. I’m dealt an eleven. Dealer shows a 5. Deck is now over 10. I double. There’s now $60 on the table. Dealer rolls a deuce under the 5. Hits with a ten. I have a 3. $60 is gone. I have $10 win which I bet and lose. I walk even. Again, with blackjack, I can’t seem to convert the big hands when the odds are in my favor. But I’m still happy. I’m breaking even which hasn’t happened much in blackjack of late.
The next bit of gambling news is about Bigfus. Three of us are out at Red Rock to await the start of the golf (putting course) tournament. As Bigfus and I leave the Yard House where we started with a nice beverage, she spies a Dream Card machine and has to play. She loves the game so we play. She is hanging in there, down moderately when she’s dealt two 4’s and gets the Dream Card to give her three 4’s. She hits the draw button and one quad top line (she’s playing Triple Play). Then another quad on the bottom line with a kicker. She’s playing Triple-Double. That’s 2000 credits for the four 4’s with kicker. Half a Royal!
A little while later, she’s dealt three 2’s and hits four 2’s with a kicker for another half a Royal. A little while later she’s dealt three 6’s and gets the Dream Card for a dealt quad.
This all keeps her going until I see that she’s dealt Ace-Ace-Ace. I think, woohoo!!! She’ll draw for the four aces. I look at the fourth card and it’s a 4 – the kicker. I think, she’ll be drawing for four aces + kicker. But no – the Dream Card pops up. It gives her the fourth ace. I think “hold them all!!!”, but she doesn’t have to. The machine locks. She’s been dealt four aces + kicker in Triple Double. Four aces + kicker pays the same as a Royal, 4000. She’s been dealt three Royals!!!
The next day, Bigfus needs to check in downtown. I driver her. We’re playing the full-pay jacks or better machines near the Keno. She’s dealt 4 to a Royal. Drops the ace, giving up a pair of aces, and asks for a King of Hearts. The machine gives it to her. She’ll hit another Royal a day or two later.
Wednesday. I start the morning with my nickel 9/7 double bonus progressive triple play machines. I go down $60 without hitting a quad and I take a break. I return to the machines and hit several quads. When I hit four 3’s for $20, I cash out up $55, down only $5 for the day. Later, I’m introduced to Pick’em poker. I cash $20. We move to the El Cortez. I play a 10-play machine on a 1 cent level. I cash another $20 win. I finish the night by playing Lord of the Rings (Twin Towers version, not the newer three-reel game). I break even on LOTR.
Thursday: I spent the morning at Boulder Station playing deuces and joker poker (nickel). I break even, barely. I move to Sunset Station. I play nickel DWFP and draw to a single deuce and get three more. I cash a $60 win. I move downtown and played some LOTR (old game) at MSS. Broke even. Got a beer, then went to El Co to meet up with Bigfus and Amazon. Amazon asked if I was going to play blackjack. I said yes. They have a very good single deck there. She needs help with strategy. I lose $60 – the dealer kept hitting their hands. Amazon won $35. The final hand for me had the deck at +5 with one fourth the deck gone. I put out a bet of $25, all that I had left. I’m dealt 18. Dealer shows a 3 up. The dealer uncovers a 9. The dealer throws another 9 on it. Yuck! I can’t hit the big hands in blackjack. This is the only real loss of any significance since the $40 loss on the second morning.
I went back to see Bigfus and sat a machine next to her. It was a 50 play machine, and I said 50 is too many. She said I could adjust that. I had played a 10 play next to her the previous night, playing for 1 cent. Bigfus makes fun of me playing a short pay table, but I say it doesn’t matter. I lose 20% on machines that are supposed to be 100% payout. What do I care if the machine only pays out 98% or 97%? Bigfus argues, now you’ll lose 22% instead of 20%. I point out, I don’t care whether it’s 22% or 20%. It’s the 20, not the 2, that’s the problem. I set it for 15 hands, 1 cent. I play Bonus Deluxe where every quad gets full bonus. I play for a while then switch to joker. I play for a while and switch to deuces. I have good luck and hit a bunch of dirty royals and am up $10 ($20 in to start). My total drifted down but I wanted to 4 deuces. I finally got them. Dealt! That’s $10 per hand and 15 hands for $150. Woohoo. It’s been a trip of deuces.
Friday morning I play my nickel 9/7 db progressives again. I’m hanging in there, breaking even, when I decide to switch to deuces wild. I’ve never played that in these machines. The woman next to me is playing deuces. At first, it’s horrible. I’m bleeding credits fast. Then it evens out, and I tread water for a good 20 minutes. I hold a single deuce, catch 3 more on the top line. I cash out a $40 win. It's been a trip of deuces. I move downtown to meet up with Bigfus. First, I stop by MSS to play LOTR for possibly the last time. This is the only slot machine I’ve ever enjoyed. I’m down over $20 at first. I’m hitting special rounds, but they’re only brining in $2 or less. Then things change. I hit some special rounds that start paying $13 to $19. I cash out a $30 win. That’s the last gambling I do.
Food:
Didn’t do much of anything special for food. I’ll mention a few things.
Garduno’s Sunday brunch: I’ll really miss it. My chocolate/caramel waffle. The carnitas. The cheese enchiladas.
Rio buffet: it was okay. Nice variety. Harv introduced me to the noodle bar which is a real nice touch.
Yard House at Red Rock: Oh, yeah! So many beers on tap. Good food. One of a few corporate chains I’ll eat at. Go at the right time (something like 2 to 6pm and 10pm to closing) to get “Happy Hour” pricing which is a deal.
Flames Steakhouse at El Cortez. I had a good steak here with a very good sauce. The sides were of average quality – substandard for a premium steakhouse.
Gordon Biersch Summerlin: a nice late hours place. Good appetizers and excellent beer and drinks selections.
Chicago Brewing Company at Four Queens: what great place. Good pizza. Good beer. Moderately priced.
Entertainment:
The putting course at sunset at Angel Course in Summerlin (across Rampart from Sun Coast) is an excellent way to spend a hot desert evening.
Diamond players got free tickets to Jubilee! I’m glad I saw this. It’s OLD Vegas. I look it up when I get home, and some of the costumes were designed by Bob Mackie. Donn Arden was the producer who is credited with designing the typical Vegas showgirl with big headdresses. The music is so…. 50’s? It’s got Gershwyn, which I adore, but it’s played without any swing. I get the feeling of looking back to the burlesque of a century ago. The show is much bigger than the other Vegas variety shows of yester-years (Enter the Night, Splash, Follies) – there are 85 men and women performers. I don’t think the Vegas variety show is dead, but someone needs to find a 21st century formula.
I also bought tickets to see Clint Holmes who performs the first weekend of the month at the Smith Center for Performing Arts, the Jazz Cabaret.
This show was Clint doing his picks of the songs of the 70’s and 80’s which shouldn’t be the show he’ll do next. He says he’s promised to deliver a lot of new material each show. He did several songs from Michael McDonald (Doobie Brothers). A Jim Croce. A couple of Steve Wonder. Some Burt Bacharach. A Michael Jackson. A couple he wrote. He opened with “Playgrounds of My Mind” – his one 1973 hit. But this version was done with a bit of a blues/funk feel – it worked well to give a new feel to an old song. The band, a quintet played a straight forward pop back-up that leaned a tad towards smooth-jazz/fusion. Live musicians, a decent vocalist, doing well known pop songs – I can live with this. Clint is 66 and can STILL sing. Not much age in his voice. Some of the songs worked well for me, some not so much. For example, doing the Michael McDonald songs, “Taking It To the Streets” didn’t work (I commented to Bigfus after the show, when I hear smooth jazz style of “Taking It To the Streets”, the only thing smooth jazz takes to a street is a BMW playing Kenny G). I think McDonald’s gritty, odd voice makes that song work. Clint is too clean for it. But, for “What a Fool Believes” and “Minute by Minute”, it worked fine. Arrangements were fine, some better than others. I think the bass player could be brought out more to give some real funk to the songs. Also, the arranger/music director/keyboardist has a fondness for synthesizers – I’d like to see him use the piano a bit more, but that’s a personal thing. The biggest risk was doing a Beatles song, Eleanor Rigby. He didn’t try to cover a Beatles song, there was some originality in the arrangement, and some extra work on this song. They knew you’ve got to be careful messing with the Beatles.
If you’re unkind, you’d say this is nothing more than a good lounge act you can find at a Holiday Inn near an Interstate Highway off ramp. That’s unfair. The arrangements, the band, and Clint’s skill are all above that. But we’re not talking about anything ground breaking. Again, live musicians, great venue, solid vocalist, doing (modern) pop standards – I’m down with that.
The venue, Art Deco styled, is gorgeous. It’s intimate without being crowded and there’s not a bad seat. I went with the mezzanine seating. A good choice if you want to save a few bucks. The computer gave us table 201. If I did it again, I’d call the box office to get table 204 or later. I was right under a speaker, which I don’t like. I understand the food offerings are different on the main floor. Easy to get to. They have beverage and food service – I expect that in a jazz club. Clint is booked the first weekend of every month and his promise was to make every show different. This night he had his wife as a guest. Sounds like he tries to bring in guests regularly. From now on, every trip I’ll check out who’s playing the venue. They’ve got several people scheduled who I catch whenever they’re playing near my home. My main concern is that the booking is looking more like something you’d see at Palms Springs. They had Pia Zedora last week, and Doc Severson is coming. I can understand not booking cutting-edge jazz, but I hope the city could support the occasional trip into mainstream jazz.
I believe in supporting the arts by going to the ones I can enjoy. A few years ago I made a promise to see more live music. I limit myself pretty much to jazz. Not only to I like jazz, but I also like the crowds – they aren’t rowdy, they appreciate the performance. So, I fully endorse a trip down to the Smith Center. Clint isn’t my first preference for a performer. I don’t own a CD of his, and I won’t. But, it’s worth the ticket price and a trip out of the casinos.
Gambling
The trip started normally for me regarding gambling. I started with full pay VP at Fiesta Henderson. I play nickel Deuces and nickel Joker Poker. I put in a $20 and lose it in about 20 to 30 minutes. After each $20, I take a break and walk about the casino. It’s lather, rinse, repeat. I do that 5 more times and raise the white flag -- surrender.
I don’t do much gambling the rest of that first day. The next day, things pick up where they left off. I play Multi-Strike (nickels) next to Bigfus and lose $40. Noahcat tells me (via e-mail before I leave) to play the Superman game. I do it. I put in a $20. I press the spin button 30 times and cash out 45 cents. I could have crumpled up the $20 bill and thrown it out my car window to the same effect and enjoyment. Later, we play in the MPT (Mattress-top Poker Tour). I predict I’ll go out in the 5th position. After four people go out, I find my stack getting short. Bob makes a big raise. I go all in with a small pair. Bob has ace-queen. I shake Bob’s hand knowing I’ll lose the race. I seem to always. The flop misses Bob. But the turn brings a queen. A blank on the river, and I’m out in 5th position.
Bigfus shows up early at the Gold Coast on Sunday to play Multi-Strike. This is when things start to turn. I’m losing a little until I hit a 4oak on the 2nd line (2X) on Multi-Strike and I’m up $20. I cash out, and Bigfus and I headed over to the Palms.
Full pay deuces is back at the Palms. A group is supposed to be meeting here for a brunch at Garduno’s, but we’re going to get some FPDW play in first. I hit enough 4oaks that I’m up by $60 and feeling really good. Deuces has beaten me up really good over the last six years or so, cashing out a win from FPDW is something I haven’t seen in awhile. After brunch, I return to the machines. I’m dealt 3 deuces. I don’t normally convert, especially 3oaks to 4oaks. I'm legendary in my in ability to convert 3oak to 4oak. I’ve seen this hand many, many times in the previous years, and I’ve never converted. As I go to hit the “draw” button, Bigfus, playing next to me, calls out “deuce of hearts!”. I hit the button, and it comes in! Four deuces for $250. I then hit a 5oak and cash out $300 up. Later, I’d cash out a $20 win before things return to normal and I lose $100 in about 15 minutes.
Monday I try some blackjack. Blackjack, like video poker and, has beaten me up in recent years. This tim, I was doing well. Went down early. Fought back. Put some wins together. The deck turned positive. I raised my bet. Won, deck still positive, raised again. Won, raised the bet again. Deck was very positive, +9. I’m dealt an eleven. Dealer shows a 5. Deck is now over 10. I double. There’s now $60 on the table. Dealer rolls a deuce under the 5. Hits with a ten. I have a 3. $60 is gone. I have $10 win which I bet and lose. I walk even. Again, with blackjack, I can’t seem to convert the big hands when the odds are in my favor. But I’m still happy. I’m breaking even which hasn’t happened much in blackjack of late.
The next bit of gambling news is about Bigfus. Three of us are out at Red Rock to await the start of the golf (putting course) tournament. As Bigfus and I leave the Yard House where we started with a nice beverage, she spies a Dream Card machine and has to play. She loves the game so we play. She is hanging in there, down moderately when she’s dealt two 4’s and gets the Dream Card to give her three 4’s. She hits the draw button and one quad top line (she’s playing Triple Play). Then another quad on the bottom line with a kicker. She’s playing Triple-Double. That’s 2000 credits for the four 4’s with kicker. Half a Royal!
A little while later, she’s dealt three 2’s and hits four 2’s with a kicker for another half a Royal. A little while later she’s dealt three 6’s and gets the Dream Card for a dealt quad.
This all keeps her going until I see that she’s dealt Ace-Ace-Ace. I think, woohoo!!! She’ll draw for the four aces. I look at the fourth card and it’s a 4 – the kicker. I think, she’ll be drawing for four aces + kicker. But no – the Dream Card pops up. It gives her the fourth ace. I think “hold them all!!!”, but she doesn’t have to. The machine locks. She’s been dealt four aces + kicker in Triple Double. Four aces + kicker pays the same as a Royal, 4000. She’s been dealt three Royals!!!
The next day, Bigfus needs to check in downtown. I driver her. We’re playing the full-pay jacks or better machines near the Keno. She’s dealt 4 to a Royal. Drops the ace, giving up a pair of aces, and asks for a King of Hearts. The machine gives it to her. She’ll hit another Royal a day or two later.
Wednesday. I start the morning with my nickel 9/7 double bonus progressive triple play machines. I go down $60 without hitting a quad and I take a break. I return to the machines and hit several quads. When I hit four 3’s for $20, I cash out up $55, down only $5 for the day. Later, I’m introduced to Pick’em poker. I cash $20. We move to the El Cortez. I play a 10-play machine on a 1 cent level. I cash another $20 win. I finish the night by playing Lord of the Rings (Twin Towers version, not the newer three-reel game). I break even on LOTR.
Thursday: I spent the morning at Boulder Station playing deuces and joker poker (nickel). I break even, barely. I move to Sunset Station. I play nickel DWFP and draw to a single deuce and get three more. I cash a $60 win. I move downtown and played some LOTR (old game) at MSS. Broke even. Got a beer, then went to El Co to meet up with Bigfus and Amazon. Amazon asked if I was going to play blackjack. I said yes. They have a very good single deck there. She needs help with strategy. I lose $60 – the dealer kept hitting their hands. Amazon won $35. The final hand for me had the deck at +5 with one fourth the deck gone. I put out a bet of $25, all that I had left. I’m dealt 18. Dealer shows a 3 up. The dealer uncovers a 9. The dealer throws another 9 on it. Yuck! I can’t hit the big hands in blackjack. This is the only real loss of any significance since the $40 loss on the second morning.
I went back to see Bigfus and sat a machine next to her. It was a 50 play machine, and I said 50 is too many. She said I could adjust that. I had played a 10 play next to her the previous night, playing for 1 cent. Bigfus makes fun of me playing a short pay table, but I say it doesn’t matter. I lose 20% on machines that are supposed to be 100% payout. What do I care if the machine only pays out 98% or 97%? Bigfus argues, now you’ll lose 22% instead of 20%. I point out, I don’t care whether it’s 22% or 20%. It’s the 20, not the 2, that’s the problem. I set it for 15 hands, 1 cent. I play Bonus Deluxe where every quad gets full bonus. I play for a while then switch to joker. I play for a while and switch to deuces. I have good luck and hit a bunch of dirty royals and am up $10 ($20 in to start). My total drifted down but I wanted to 4 deuces. I finally got them. Dealt! That’s $10 per hand and 15 hands for $150. Woohoo. It’s been a trip of deuces.
Friday morning I play my nickel 9/7 db progressives again. I’m hanging in there, breaking even, when I decide to switch to deuces wild. I’ve never played that in these machines. The woman next to me is playing deuces. At first, it’s horrible. I’m bleeding credits fast. Then it evens out, and I tread water for a good 20 minutes. I hold a single deuce, catch 3 more on the top line. I cash out a $40 win. It's been a trip of deuces. I move downtown to meet up with Bigfus. First, I stop by MSS to play LOTR for possibly the last time. This is the only slot machine I’ve ever enjoyed. I’m down over $20 at first. I’m hitting special rounds, but they’re only brining in $2 or less. Then things change. I hit some special rounds that start paying $13 to $19. I cash out a $30 win. That’s the last gambling I do.
Food:
Didn’t do much of anything special for food. I’ll mention a few things.
Garduno’s Sunday brunch: I’ll really miss it. My chocolate/caramel waffle. The carnitas. The cheese enchiladas.
Rio buffet: it was okay. Nice variety. Harv introduced me to the noodle bar which is a real nice touch.
Yard House at Red Rock: Oh, yeah! So many beers on tap. Good food. One of a few corporate chains I’ll eat at. Go at the right time (something like 2 to 6pm and 10pm to closing) to get “Happy Hour” pricing which is a deal.
Flames Steakhouse at El Cortez. I had a good steak here with a very good sauce. The sides were of average quality – substandard for a premium steakhouse.
Gordon Biersch Summerlin: a nice late hours place. Good appetizers and excellent beer and drinks selections.
Chicago Brewing Company at Four Queens: what great place. Good pizza. Good beer. Moderately priced.
Entertainment:
The putting course at sunset at Angel Course in Summerlin (across Rampart from Sun Coast) is an excellent way to spend a hot desert evening.
Diamond players got free tickets to Jubilee! I’m glad I saw this. It’s OLD Vegas. I look it up when I get home, and some of the costumes were designed by Bob Mackie. Donn Arden was the producer who is credited with designing the typical Vegas showgirl with big headdresses. The music is so…. 50’s? It’s got Gershwyn, which I adore, but it’s played without any swing. I get the feeling of looking back to the burlesque of a century ago. The show is much bigger than the other Vegas variety shows of yester-years (Enter the Night, Splash, Follies) – there are 85 men and women performers. I don’t think the Vegas variety show is dead, but someone needs to find a 21st century formula.
I also bought tickets to see Clint Holmes who performs the first weekend of the month at the Smith Center for Performing Arts, the Jazz Cabaret.
This show was Clint doing his picks of the songs of the 70’s and 80’s which shouldn’t be the show he’ll do next. He says he’s promised to deliver a lot of new material each show. He did several songs from Michael McDonald (Doobie Brothers). A Jim Croce. A couple of Steve Wonder. Some Burt Bacharach. A Michael Jackson. A couple he wrote. He opened with “Playgrounds of My Mind” – his one 1973 hit. But this version was done with a bit of a blues/funk feel – it worked well to give a new feel to an old song. The band, a quintet played a straight forward pop back-up that leaned a tad towards smooth-jazz/fusion. Live musicians, a decent vocalist, doing well known pop songs – I can live with this. Clint is 66 and can STILL sing. Not much age in his voice. Some of the songs worked well for me, some not so much. For example, doing the Michael McDonald songs, “Taking It To the Streets” didn’t work (I commented to Bigfus after the show, when I hear smooth jazz style of “Taking It To the Streets”, the only thing smooth jazz takes to a street is a BMW playing Kenny G). I think McDonald’s gritty, odd voice makes that song work. Clint is too clean for it. But, for “What a Fool Believes” and “Minute by Minute”, it worked fine. Arrangements were fine, some better than others. I think the bass player could be brought out more to give some real funk to the songs. Also, the arranger/music director/keyboardist has a fondness for synthesizers – I’d like to see him use the piano a bit more, but that’s a personal thing. The biggest risk was doing a Beatles song, Eleanor Rigby. He didn’t try to cover a Beatles song, there was some originality in the arrangement, and some extra work on this song. They knew you’ve got to be careful messing with the Beatles.
If you’re unkind, you’d say this is nothing more than a good lounge act you can find at a Holiday Inn near an Interstate Highway off ramp. That’s unfair. The arrangements, the band, and Clint’s skill are all above that. But we’re not talking about anything ground breaking. Again, live musicians, great venue, solid vocalist, doing (modern) pop standards – I’m down with that.
The venue, Art Deco styled, is gorgeous. It’s intimate without being crowded and there’s not a bad seat. I went with the mezzanine seating. A good choice if you want to save a few bucks. The computer gave us table 201. If I did it again, I’d call the box office to get table 204 or later. I was right under a speaker, which I don’t like. I understand the food offerings are different on the main floor. Easy to get to. They have beverage and food service – I expect that in a jazz club. Clint is booked the first weekend of every month and his promise was to make every show different. This night he had his wife as a guest. Sounds like he tries to bring in guests regularly. From now on, every trip I’ll check out who’s playing the venue. They’ve got several people scheduled who I catch whenever they’re playing near my home. My main concern is that the booking is looking more like something you’d see at Palms Springs. They had Pia Zedora last week, and Doc Severson is coming. I can understand not booking cutting-edge jazz, but I hope the city could support the occasional trip into mainstream jazz.
I believe in supporting the arts by going to the ones I can enjoy. A few years ago I made a promise to see more live music. I limit myself pretty much to jazz. Not only to I like jazz, but I also like the crowds – they aren’t rowdy, they appreciate the performance. So, I fully endorse a trip down to the Smith Center. Clint isn’t my first preference for a performer. I don’t own a CD of his, and I won’t. But, it’s worth the ticket price and a trip out of the casinos.
