Trip report Jan 30-Feb 3 (long)

I have returned from my annual trip and am chagrined by the weird results using coupons for the second year in a row. Video poker turned out much more positive than blackjack. Poker was less successful than usual. Below is a suumary of my 4-day visit.

The flight from Norfolk left at the incredible hour of 0515, Saturday Jan 30. Connection in Charlotte as delayed an hour while they switched planes to remedy mechanical issues. Arrived in Vegas at 1030 and headed off towards Fox auto rentals. They have an off-site location so two shuttles are required to get there. Apparently many complex rentals as it took almost 30 minutes to get my reserved car. Saturday was the biggest coupon run day. South Point, Orleans, Gold Coast, Palms, Silver Sevens, Mardi Gras, Palace Station, Santa Fe Station and Lucky Club. Details to follow. $4.99 Prime Rib at Silver Nugget was a great buy, but I was not allowed to use the matchplay coupon as I had used one the same day at their Lucky Club sister property. Stayed overnight using credit card points at Hawthorn Suites way south on Boulder Highway. Very nice complimentary breakfast.

Sunday morning saw me enroute to Mesquite, about a 75 mile drive northeast. The ride was both scenic and desolate in a Nevada way. Visited 2 of the 3 casinos. Eureka was supposed to have great BJ game but it was nowhere to be found. Poker room, which is the most only one in town had a single cash game going 2-8 spread limit holdem. Passed on it. Went across the street to the Virgin River casino. They seemed to have the better food options. Note that I got new member signup slot plsy bonus but there were no coupons involved in this part of the trip. Won $93, mostly on $5 BJ. I think this would be a nice place to stay overnight to take a break from the Vegas pace. Back to Vegas and champagne brunch buffet at Rampart. Not at all impressed considering this is a Marriott resort property. Visited Westgate and then it was off to downtown, staying at El Cortez cabana suite using LVA 2 for 1 coupon. Ran through coupons at Plaza, Golden Gate, Binions, Four Queens, The D and Downtown Grand. Use free tournament coupon to play 5PM Plaza poker tournament. Went out after 2 hours. Pizza Rock slice for dinner and back to El Cortez for slot play coupon and single-deck $5 BJ. $50 buyin lost.

Monday breakfast was at Main Street Station buffet. Played VP for about 30 minutes to earn 250 points to qualify for free buffet. Lost $8 playing so that was a wash, but you do get to keep your points. Back to Fremont street to use the D coupons for BJ. It’s much quieter at 8AM than at night. Lost my $50 buyin rather quickly. Got back in the car and headed to Boulder Highway. Visited Sam’s Town for slot matchplay and then over to Longhorn casino for their Monday noon BJ $10 tournament. Won the preliminary round but came in 5th in the finals. Then it was off to the Club Fortune casino way down Boulder Highway for their 2PM poker tournament, which unfortunately was canceled. Played some BJ at Jokers Wild before heading over to Sunset Station. Had a nice $.99 frizen margarita, played some BJ and ate at the Feast buffet, free, courtesy of myVegas. Dropped by Emerald Isle to check out the free spin for 1000 points coupon but 1000 points = $1000 coin in for a likely $10 freeplay so I passed. Back to Club Fortune for their 7PM bounty poker tournament. Only 6 players and I came in 3rd. Cash game seems to be preferred at this property. Back to Downtown.

Tuesday breakfast was a flatbread sandwich at Subway. Played BJ and slots at El Cortez before checking out. Travelled to Bighorn and Jerry’s in N. Las Vegas for coupon freeplay and matchplays. Off to South Point to use my birthday point gift to eat at Steak ‘n Shake. Played in the 10AM bounty poker tournament but went out before first break. You got 7,000 in chips and had unlimited re-buys. One player rebought 5 times in 45 minutes, losing to set-over-set anf boat vs flush to name two. Another player had won most of the hands and had around 60K chips when he busted me. Off to Ellis Island and was pleased to checkin at noon. Redeemed their many coupons and took a rest. I rarely buy show tickets, but I had never seen Jubilee and it was ending its 35 year run in a week, so I splurged for a ticket that included the Paris buffet. The Paris buffet should be experienced if only because it has a French flavor with many continental options. Jubilee! was a great disappointment. Costumes and choreography were great but the music level was deafening, the music was contemporary, and the themes were a mish-mash ranging from Samson & Delilah to the Titanic. Audiovisual strobes and sets could not have existed when the show began its run in 1981. Oh well, one bucket item checked. Back to Ellis Island dead tired without the energy to watch karaoke or imbibe the free drink coupon.

Up Wednesday by 7 to try the free breakfast buffet. Awful! Skipped it! Off to Orleans to use my last matchplay coupon, collect slot multiplier bonus, and earn 50 points for a free Senior breakfast buffet. Time to return the rental car and make my way back to McCarran. Grateful for an uneventful return as the East Coast was supposed to have strong winds and thunderstorms.

Now for the coupon gambling results. Many of the slot play coupons require no upfront play. I almost always played $.25 7/5 or 8/5 Bonus Poker or 9/6 JOB, cashing out after free play. It’s not to hard to have consistent wins and I did manage to hit 2 four-of-a-kinds. Blackjack play was based on the matchplay coupon, usually playing a single hand using Basic strategy and should be a net win, but as you will see, my results were way outside EV.

WINS $90
$5 - Bighorn
$10 - SantaFe Station (myVegas - dealt blackjack), Orleans, Sunset Station, Downtown Grand

Losses - $215
$5 - Longhorn, Jerry’s Nugget (2),
$10 - Gold Coast, Palms (2), Palace Station, Lucky Club, Rampart, Ellis Island (coupon), Hooters, Westgate, Binions,
$25 - Plaza, Golden Gate, the D, Ellis Island (promo chip)

I think that’s 5 wins out of 23 matchplays!! For the second year in a row, I lost all $25 hands. Also had 3 total loss sessions @ $50 each.

Overall trip loss was a modest $75, but depending on slots to compensate for BJ losees is absurd. Yeah, I know about variance, but….

Last thoughts
I cannot handle the noise/music levels after noon.
It is possible overdo buffets
All the free casino, poker, VP, & BJ games on my iPad have dulled the thrill of real casinos
Shows are still a waste of time and money.

Thanks for taking the time read this rather long, rambling report.

Thanks for your Report, real good info Bobby

I'm with you on hating shows and eateries that have ear-splitting music volume.
Not much one can do at a concert.
If I enter a restaurant, right away I ask them to turn down the music if it is loud.
Mostly they do!

Thanks for reporting!

Thanks for the interesting report (especially all of the results of the coupon chasing)! Good going on that but sorry to read about all of the losing -- most especially all of the $25 MPs.

As for El Cortez $5 SD BJ, when there, I've had a $100 buy in (Loss Limit). That most often gives me enough $ to play long enough to have the chance of a turn around in the event that I start losing.

RecVPPlayer

I forgot to mention that my decision to rent a car rather than my usual RTC bus pass was a good idea. Not only did it make the coupon run a whole lot more efficient, it's the only reason I considered the side trip to Mesquite. I wouldn't always rent a car, but this time the $85 was a good investment.

Thanks for the report. I have always liked Ellis Island but have never stayed, how are the rooms? Good luck on your next trip!

It's a former Super 8 property so you are talking low end chain. Their advantage is a near-strip location at a reasonable price. Unfortunately they have a resort fee.