Trip Report 12/5/2021 – 12/10/2021
Flight from Boston
12/5 Sunday 8:45 AM: Flew via Delta: Since I was going solo, I opted for their lowest rate with no checked luggage and which does not have an assigned seat until 24 hours before the flight leaves. Since the plane would be nearly full by then, I assumed I would be assigned a middle seat - and I was.
Upon loading, I got to my assigned middle seat before anyone else in my aisle showed up. I was hoping, however, a related party of two would prefer to sit together and offer me the window or aisle seat. It turned out that since three friends had booked two aisle seats and one window seat in my aisle (with me in one of the middle seats). I offered to move, so they could all sit together and one of the three friends took my middle seat and gave me his aisle seat across the aisle (score).
The flight arrived about noon as planned and I went to pick up my rental car at Thrifty.
Rental Car
About 6 weeks prior to the flight, using Car Rental Savers and AutoSlash the best rate I could get for the five day rental (surprisingly was at Hertz) for a whopping $400+. I booked it, but about once a week I would recheck prices and the rate first dropped to $350 at Avis, so I canceled and booked at the lower Avis rate. Over time, after three such price reductions and agency rebookings down to $279, a couple of days before I left, I got the final rate down to $231 at Thrifty. Before booking it, I signed up for Thrifty’s Blue Chip membership and indicated my Blue Chip Member # on my booking in hopes things would go more quickly at the pickup counter and garage.
There were about five parties in the regular line and no one in the Blue Chip line, so I got into the Blue Chip line. So when the next clerk became available he motioned for me to come forward (ahead of those in the regular non-Blue Chip line). I showed him my Blue Chip card with my Blue Chip number on it and the online reservation with the Blue Chip number referenced on it. He spent about 5 minutes looking on the Blue Chip list and could not find my reservation on that list. So he said I would have to go back into the regular line which now had added about 4 more parties.
I was pissed that my Blue Chip membership had now caused me to be further back in the line than where I would have been without it. When I finally got to the front of the regular line, that clerk had left, and another clerk located my “non-Blue Chip” reservation. He told me to go to the “Hertz” garage and pick out any full size car in Row 1. Apparently Hertz owns Thrifty and Dollar as well. So I got a Hertz car through Thrifty for under $100 of Hertz’s rates.
From the rental car facility, I drove to Palace Station and placed a $20 bet on Monday night’s Pats game (couldn’t resist because Buffalo was favored by 3 points) and also to play a full pay version of deuces wild video poker, Loose Deuces, a potential 100.15% long-term payback at perfect play of which I know the strategy very well. After about an hour, I lost $10 and then headed out for a late lunch.
Late Lunch
I drove down I-15 to Town Square Mall on South LV Blvd and went to Crazy Pita (since I’m a big fan of lamb). Had a lamb pita sandwich with fries. Although it’s a fast food format, the lamb was excellent and the prices are very reasonable. They also have another one in the Green Valley Ranch Shopping District.
Accommodations
By then, it was about 3:00 PM and I drove over to Harmon and Koval streets where I checked into my timeshare trade at the Wyndham Desert Resort aka Wyndham Club. I got a very nice three room (one bedroom) condo unit on the 11th floor with a southern view.
More Video Poker and Supper
Later, that evening I drove to Green Valley Ranch (GVR) in Henderson to play more Loose Deuces video poker. After a couple of hours of play I broke even. While there in speaking to my elderly father on the phone he wanted me to put a $10 bet on the Pats, and later on in speaking to my wife she wanted in for $5.00 of action as well. While there, for supper I got a delicious “Bobby”, at Capriotti’s, a fresh cooked turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sub sandwich.
Monday 12/6
Boulder Highway Gambling
This morning I drove out to Boulder Highway to Arizona Charlie’s Casino at which they allegedly had some of the last of the true full pay Deuces Wild (FPDW) video poker (with a potential payback of about 100.7%). Despite being listed on vpFREE2, I could not find them, so I moved on to Sam’s Town (just south on Boulder Hwy.). I couldn’t find their FPDW there either, so I first played another deuces wild variant there known as Triple Deuces which pays $750 for four deuces and returns potentially 99.7%. I lost $20. I then played a $10 free slot play coupon on which I won $5.00. Then for some time I played “Loose Deuces” VP there, that pays $625 for four deuces, but lost about $80. By then it was time for lunch.
Before leaving for Vegas I signed up for the Black Bear Diner’s free membership and as a result got a free Big Bear Breakfast (available all day). So I drove to the one on S. LV Blvd (near the south factory outlet mall). The meal consisted of two eggs, pancakes, and bacon. (It was “eggscellent” -- and free)
The Road to Mandalay Bay (and Bellagio)
Since I was on South LV Blvd, I made a quick trip to Mandalay Bay to get my annual Wincard Chip deal at which you get $30 in playable Wincard chips for $20. Turned out they no longer had it.
Being on the strip, I decided to drive over to the Bellagio to take in their Christmas display at the conservatory. As usual it was very nice and I texted photos to my wife. I had to get in and out of the Bellagio parking garage in less than 60 minutes -- or face the dreaded MGM-Resorts parking fee. I made it under the 60 minute wire with no fee.
Pats Win and I See a Psychedelic Show
It was now time for Pats-Buffalo Monday night football. I drove back to the condo and watched it there. Pats won and I won $20; my father won $10; and my wife $5 (less Station Casino’s vig). The game got over about 8:30 Vegas time and I had a ticket for a 10:00 PM show at the STRAT, Luminates. It was essentially a psychedelic light show with a variety of lights attached to dancers, acrobats, etc. on a dark stage. I’d give it 7 out of 10. I’d recommend getting the cheapest seats (furthest from the stage) for the best view and experience. I hadn’t been to the STRAT in many years and the interior was in much better shape than I remembered it -- too bad the neighborhood is still sketchy.
Gambling Tally: For the day I was down $95 and for the trip down $105 (not including my uncollected $20 Pats win).
Tuesday 12/7
After a quick fast food breakfast stop, I went to Palace Station to collect my $20 Pats win (as well as my fathers $10, and wife’s $5 win). While there, I played quite a bit of Loose Deuces Wild VP (LDW VP) and lost $100.
MORE WINCARDS
I read that Excalibur and NYNY now had Wincard chips. So since those two casinos were next to each other, I got on I-15 south and got off at Tropicana. I then parked in the Excalibur parking lot and went inside and got $30 in Wincard chips for $20 at the cashier’s booth. I played roulette on red a few times, and managed to come out with $20 in real chips. So broke even.
Then walking across the Tropicana Ave. pedestrian bridge I hustled over to NYNY. I had to be out of the Excalibur parking lot in less than 60 minutes -- or again face the dreaded MGM-Resorts parking fee. I got another $30 in Wincard chips for $20 at NYNY. I played red at NYNY twice and black came up the first spin and green on the second spin. So I lost my $30 in Wincard chips resulting in a $20 real money loss. The good news is I made it back to my car at Excalibur in less than 60 minutes, so again saved paying the dreaded MGM-Resorts parking fee.
OYO
Being on Tropicana Ave. along the strip, it was a quick drive to OYO Casino (fka) Hooters also on Tropicana Ave. I had free slot play and match play coupons from ACG and LVA. I bet the $10 MP on red again and again green came up. I also had two $10 free slot play coupons and playing video poker hit a few nice hands and won $80 for a total win of $70 there.
ELLIS ISLAND
A couple of blocks away, the next stop was Ellis Island (EI). On two free slot play coupons at video poker I netted a $15 win and with two $10 match plays playing red twice resulted in a $40 profit. Since I hadn’t tried it in many years and I had a $7.99 coupon, I decided to try the infamous steak special to see if it had gotten any better. The salad was acceptable and the baked potato was okay, but I’ve never liked their greens beans (too much garlic) and still don’t. As far as the steak it was cooked perfectly, but was a bit dry and chewy, with not much flavor. For eight bucks, however, it’s cheaper than most hamburgers in LV. I’d give the steak itself 5 out of 10. Their homemade root beer, however, was still 10 out of 10.
WOW
Next was a 7:00 PM show at the Rio, called “WOW”. I got a discounted ticket at Goldstar.com. It was entertaining and the continuously changing sets were amazing. It kind of reminded me of Cirque’s Mystere with a variety of semi-related skits but with many water-related scenes. The best part of the show were a few amazing acrobatic scenes. I’d give it a 7.5 out of 10.
CHOCOLATE CREAM PIE
Having had a very late lunch at EI, I really wasn’t that hungry, so after the show, decided to just get dessert for dinner. Being on East Tropicana, I went to Blueberry Hill also on East Tropicana about a mile east of the Rio.
Many restaurants that used to be 24 hours have cut back to closing at 11:00 PM and many that used to close at 11:00 PM now close by 9:00 PM or earlier. So check websites for current hours before you go.
Although I was cutting it close, I didn’t get there until 8:40+- and this Blueberry Hill was closing at 9:00 PM. Thinking I was going to order a full meal, they weren’t very happy to see me walk in this close to closing time. They let me know that they were closing in 15+- minutes and I told them that I was just going to have desert (which made them a bit relieved). I ordered a slice of chocolate cream pie – but when I said I’ll have cup of coffee, in a nice but a bit passive-aggressive way the waitress needed to tell me that they had no coffee made (the pot was empty), but that she would make me a fresh pot (with a bit of a sigh on the end). I fully understood her frustration that she was ready to check out and go home before I came walking through the door. I thanked her for making the fresh pot and she brought me out the most delicious slice of chocolate cream pie I think I ever had.
All their desserts are fresh homemade from scratch on site and not bought premade from a wholesaler/food broker, nor frozen then thawed. I got out of there by 9:00 PM and left her a generous tip.
LOST GLASSES
In my haste to leave there on time, I found out 15 minutes later that I had left my very expensive prescription reading glasses there -- apparently on the table. I was almost back to the condo (at the corner of Flamingo and Koval) when I realized this. I quickly banged a U-turn (probably illegal) and sped back there as I knew that they had closed about 15 minutes ago.
When I arrived in the parking lot about 9:30 PM, the interior lights were still on and through the window I noticed a guy was mopping up the floor. I banged on the locked, windowed door real loud and he saw me and came to the door. I yelled: “I left my glasses here”, while holding up a pair of cheap CVS magnifier glasses I carry around as back-up. He understood what I said through the door, and nodded, and went behind a counter and came back with my glasses in hand. I nodded profusely. So he was willing to unlock the door and hand me the glasses, and quickly relocked the door and went back to mopping the floor. I then finally managed to exhale and breathe regularly again. Very relieved I headed back to the condo -- again.
For the day, I was up $25 gambling, but for the trip was down $80. But for a variety of reasons, was very relieved to get my glasses back.
Wednesday 12/8
FREMONT STREET COUPON RUN
Today was my day to hit Fremont Street (aka Downtown Las Vegas) with numerous MPs and FP coupons. I parked at the El Cortez parking garage and made my way downstairs to the player’s club area/counter.
I had a free slot play (FSP) coupon in which you spin a wheel and can get $10 to $100 of FSP. I got $10.
I played a video poker machine and ended up cashing out $15. Next I walked down to the “D” at which I had 2-$25 MPs. I went 1 for 2 at roulette pocketing $25 and then next hit the Downtown Grand where I had a very rare and juicy $50 MP coupon from LVA MRB that I was looking forward to playing. Upon walking in, I noticed that NONE of the table games were open. It was after 10 AM, so I didn’t understand it, but I figured maybe they would open at 11:00 AM or noon and I could come back.
I asked the guy at the player’s club booth what time the table games would open. He said: “TOMORROW at 11:00 AM”. I said: “Are you kidding: when are they really going to open?” He again robotically but emphatically said: “TOMORROW at 11:00 AM” and didn’t seem at all interested in discussing it further. I was unhappy to say the least and I left bewildered and disappointed, as the DT casinos all seemed relatively busy this morning and I assumed would be even busier this afternoon—and this was my most potentially profitable MP coupon.
Putting the coupon back in my pocket, I moved on to the 4Queens at which a $10 FSP coupon netted me $20 and then the same value coupon at Binions $10; but at the Plaza, $0. My $25 MP at the Plaza lost me $25 at roulette where whatever color I played didn’t come up, but my $10 MP’s color did come up and I won $20 on that. Finally downtown, my 2- $25 MPs at the Golden Gate both lost first playing Odd and then Black, which cost me $50.
GET OUT OF DODGE
Overall, I had extremely bad luck on my downtown MPs. I decided to “get out of Dodge” and try my luck at video poker at Green Valley Ranch casino. There I proceeded to play a very long stretch of Loose Deuces Wild VP. Unfortunately after many hours I managed to leave $200 there. Eventually before leaving there, I had a steak, cheese, and pepper sub at Capriotti’s. It was one of the best steak and cheese subs I have had in a long time.
MICHAEL GRIMM
The entertainment tonight was at the Smith Center at Myron’s Café: Michael Grimm, a former AGT winner and a well-known Vegas-based, rhythm and blues singer and guitarist. He was playing tonight with an eight piece band and two back-up vocalists. I’ve seen him about four times before this at many venues in Vegas and he always puts on a great show. When playing with others, he always surrounds himself with some of the best musicians. His female backup singer could carry an entire show by herself as well as his piano player, and accompanying guitarist. The three piece horn section was exceptional as well.
Myron’s is a great venue to see anyone and tonight was no exception. Since it was near Christmas, he sprinkled in some Christmas themed songs. I got a ticket near the front of the room at a four seat high top table and ended up sitting next to the woman who runs his official Facebook fan site. It was by far the best show of the trip.
DOUBLE DOWN
After the show, on the way back to the condo, I remembered that I had a $10 MP at a casino I would pass on the way back to the condo, the Silver Sevens, on the corner of Paradise and Flamingo. Since they had no roulette wheel open but they had a $10, 3-2 blackjack table, I decided to use the MP on that. Fortunately I was dealt an 11 against the dealers 4. Not that I planned on it, but that “forced” me to double down on my 11. I drew a 4 for a total of 15 with the dealer ending up with a total of 20. Not only did I lose my original $10, and the MP, but lost another $10 I had no expectation of losing there.
Overall a bad day of gambling: For the day I was down $205, and for the trip down $285.
Thursday 12/9
This is my last day here. I started out playing a few remaining gambling coupons:
THE ORLEANS AND GOLDCOAST
At the Orleans I had a $10 FSP coupon on which I made $5. I also had 2 - $10 MP coupons on which I bet both on black. Green came up on one and black on the other for an overall $10 win. Next I hit the Gold Coast where the same set of coupons netted my $20.
MORE LOOSE DEUCES WILD VIDEO POKER
From there, I went to Palace Station and played some more Loose Deuces Wild VP. Up until now, despite a lot of overall play, I had yet to get four deuces, which would have paid $625. Although I put in another couple of hours, again no four deuces were had, and I ended up with another $100 loss.
CORNED BEEF SANDWICH
By then it was past 2:00 PM and I decided to head over to the new Baglemania Deli on Convention Center Drive. The new facility is a vast improvement over the old one that was on Twain St. I had a corned beef sandwich on rye with a side of potato salad with a Dr. Brown’s Diet Black Cherry Soda in a bottle. I’d give the sandwich an 8 out of 10 as the corned beef was a bit too lean (if that is possible). The drink, however, was fantastic as I’ve never had Dr. Brown’s soda from a glass bottle (only a can).
DOWNTOWN GRAND REDO
After much debate in my head, I decided to travel all the way back Downtown and return to the Downtown Grand to play the unused $50 MP that I couldn’t play yesterday since all the table games were closed. Since this was National Finals Rodeo week, the place was loaded with cowboys. Although most were playing in a crowded and very loud crap game, a few were at the roulette wheel and I threw $50 and my $50 MP on black. A black number came up and finally I won a large MP and collected $100 plus my original $50 bet back. Lastly, I played my last MP there which was just $10. I lost that one, but if I were going to lose one of the two MPs this lower denomination was the one to lose.
NEARLY TIME TO LEAVE
With my flight leaving tonight and not much time left to recoup my loses, I headed back to Palace Station to try to hit four deuces on Loose Deuces VP for $625, which would have put me up for the trip. After nearly two hours of play, and no deuces, it was time to wrap it up and I lost another $100.
On the way back to the condo, I fueled up the rental car at one of the lower priced stations I saw at $3.79 per gallon. I then took a shower, packed, and relaxed for a while before checking out of the condo. I drove to the rental center, returned the car, and got on the shuttle to the airport.
I flew home on Jet Blue. This was a redeye flight back to Boston, and with the time change it wouldn’t land until about 5:30 the next morning. Knowing that, I got a window seat so I could sleep undisturbed. I got in my window seat expecting two overweight, wide bodied, and loud people would be sitting in the adjoining two seats. No one, however, showed up and I had all three seats to myself.
Regarding gambling, for the day I was down $75 and for the trip down a total of $360. But all things considered I had a great trip. When I got to my car at the airport parking lot in Boston, the best part was taking off my mask and not having to put it back on since then.
