Thursday AM October 26 2017
Left Boston for Las Vegas by Jetblue non-stop and arrived about 1:00 PM. Paid for flight using Jetblue points. Began renting rental cars about 6 weeks before trip and initially the lowest rate was about $320 for a midsize at Avis for four and one-half days. Every few days I would check back at various sites such as carrentalsavers.com, BJs, and AARP checking Avis, Alamo, Dollar, Budget, and Thrifty. Every so often I would find a rate cheaper by $20 or so, so I would rebook at the lower rate and cancel the older reservation. For a while I was stuck at $280 and then I found a rate at $240. Soon after that I rebooked at $220, $200, and then $180. In the end about 4 days before leaving, through carrentalsavers.com, I got a rate of $143.40 (all in) through Dollar at which I also have Fastpass. So I bypassed the upstairs check in and went straight to the garage and picked out a midsize Buick Verano (nice car).
For lunch I tried the new Lucky Penny 24/7 restaurant at the Palms at which I had an LVA MRB 50% off coupon. Service was slow and the food was average at best and not as good IMO as when it was called the 24/7 Café before Station took it over. The restaurant decor is a lot more upscale and attractive than the 24/7, but the food was not as good. Still, I had a large turkey club sandwich with fries, soft drink, and dessert for about $10 (with the 50% off coupon). After lunch I played some Full Pay Deuces Wild (FPDW) Video Poker (VP). After playing for about 20 minutes I broke even. I also played a $10 Match Play (MP) Coupon from LVA MRB but lost as red came up instead of black.
Next stop was my comped hotel room during the pricey weekend period (from Thursday to Sunday). Unfortunately the comp was at Circus Circus (where I play a lot of video poker), but at least I was supposed to be getting an alleged renovated room in the West Tower. The room had some newer touches than the one I had in the Casino Tower last year, so it was at least an improvement though still nothing to write home about. But it was 100% free for Friday and Saturday night including the resort fee. So I only paid a low casino rate on the Thursday night which was $70 including the resort fee. Rates were very high everywhere as this was the weekend leading up to the SEMA convention, one of Las Vegas’s largest conventions of about 160,000 attendees.
After checking in, I played quite a bit of 50 cent x 5 coin Aces & Eights video poker (A&8s VP) at CC. My first and second session I lost a $100 at each and then later won one for $100.
So for the day I was down $110.
Friday
Friday morning I again played A&8s VP at CC for a $200 loss. I next drove downtown and at the Fremont Casino had a Dunkin’ Donuts coffee (which for some reason was free with a donut purchase). There I played Pick-A-Pair VP but lost another $60.
With a $10 Free Slot Play (FSP) coupon at El Cortez, I made a $10 gain, but lost $100 very quickly playing $5 minimum, 2 deck, 3-2 blackjack.
My luck changed at Downtown Grand with a $10 FSP coupon netting me $25, and a $10 MP coupon winning me another $20 on red. At the “D” casino one $25 MP didn’t win but the second did win netting me $25. From there at 4Queens a $10 FSP coupon gave me a $10 win playing 9/6 Jacks or Better (JoB) VP.
From there I walked down to the Plaza at which a $10 FSP coupon netted me $0 and a $25 MP cost me $25 because black was supposed to come up, but red did. Across the street at the Golden Gate I had two $25 MPs and they also gave me a free $25 non-negotiable one time play chip. So based on all of that I won $100 there playing roulette on the colors that the other players were playing. Golden Gate also gave me a $15 food comp but since they have no restaurant there they told me I could use at the “D”. So I went to the Coney Hot Dog stand and had a free dog, fries, and drink for lunch. The dog was actually pretty good. My last gambling stop was Binions where I got $10 in FSP that ended in no profit, but at Binions I was able to get my parking ticket validated, so parking was free while I was downtown.
From there I decided to check out the relatively new Lucky Dragon casino on Sahara, where I got $8.00 of FP for signing up for their player’s card. The casino is very nice but it was not very busy. Playing a video poker machine, I made $10 on the FSP. From there I made a stop at Westgate. I’ve had good luck playing their Loose Deuces Wild (LDW) VP machines in the past, which pays $625 for four deuces playing 5 coin x 25 cents and is over a 100% payback with perfect play. I think I played perfectly, but still lost a slow $100. Besides many new retails outlets I noticed that the Sportsbook snack bar has recently been renovated and changed its name and menu.
Upon returning to CC I got $45 in chips for $30 with the Wincard deal they are offering. Playing $15 minimum 3-2 blackjack I won $30.
Later I went to Sunset Station for dinner and to see Michael Grimm (AGT fame). At the Grand Café, I watched the World Series and I had the prime rib special for $13.99. After dinner I went to see Michael Grimm for the ridiculously low price of only $5.00 with a Station players cards. Grimm was great and his band was fantastic. The guitar player stood out the most followed by the male back-up singer, followed by the drummer. This was a high energy quality show with talent oozing off the stage everywhere (and all for $5.00).
After the show I found some FPDW VP but four deuces were not to be had (again), and I lost $30.
For the day I was down $285 and for the trip down $395.
Saturday
This morning, I went to Sam’s Town to get my Dunkin Donuts coffee and I played some Triple DW VP and lost $20 and with $10 of FSP made $0 on that.
Across the street at the Longhorn I made $0 on $5 of FSP and lost $5 on a MP on blackjack. Next a few miles south on Boulder Highway was the Skyline casino that had 10 coin 25 cent FPDW or $2.50 per hand. After playing there for nearly four hours, four deuces did not show up once (again) and I lost $300. I did meet a local couple who really had advantage play pretty well figured out throughout NV and they were explaining all the enormous amount of perks they were getting while still breaking even or better each year. One of the downsides was W-2Gs that could increase Medicare payments based on their AGI, but they seemed to know where the good plays were and how to maximize freeplay and mailers and drawings without getting shut off by the casinos. I know doing this gets more difficult every year and they admitted that.
From there I moved on to Green Valley Ranch (GVR) for a late lunch at the Grand Café at which I used an American Casino Guide (ACG) coupon for $10 off of a $20 bill. The shrimp cocktail and corned beef sandwich were excellent. While there I played a couple of hours of LDW VP and managed to break even (but again four deuces were not to be had).
That night I saw Ringo Starr and his All Star Band at Planet Hollywood (all of whom put on a superb show (Todd Rundgren and Steve Lukather (Toto) really stood out) and Gregg Rolie (Santana Fame) was pretty good too.
Parking was free in the Planet Hollywood/Miracle Mile Parking garage -- one of the few resorts/casinos left on the Strip at which you can park for free. The only other ones I know of are TI and the Tropicana.
After the show I had a snack at the Peppermill of banana bread and coffee (excellent as usual).
For the day I was down again, $330 and for the trip down $725.
Sunday
Started the day out playing A&8 VP at CC and lost $100 and then moved on to the Gold Coast at which I played a FSP coupon that requires $10 of play before you get your FSP. Overall I lost $10 on that, but won $20 on a MP on roulette. Across the street at the Palms I lost $10 on a MP and another $10 playing FPDW VP.
Just to say I was there, I then went to Mandalay Bay and played their Wincard deal that gives your $30 in chips for $20. Playing roulette with all $30 of chips I couldn’t decide whether to play black or red. I think I played red, but it didn’t matter: right before the final bet could be made some guy is walking by and yells out $100 on 00 and drops four green $25 chips on 00. Unbelievably, 00 comes up. I lose (it didn’t matter whether I played red or black) and he wins and walks away with $3,600 in an instant.
I thought that I could park there for free if I stayed less than an hour, so I got out of there fast and when I hit the pay station, the woman at the gate raised the gate and said you can go through. I have no idea why as she didn’t even check the ticket. Could be they are doing everything they can to keep patronage up since the shooting?
From there it was just a short drive to Hooter’s on Tropicana Ave. where I played a FSP coupon for $0 gain and a $10 MP for a $10 loss. Next stop was Ellis Island. I had two FSP coupons (one from LVA and ACG). One must play $10 of coin in for each coupon before you can redeem them, which I did. Usually (for about the last ten years) based on an electronic spin of the wheel I have been getting the minimum $10 of FSP on each. Miraculously I got $15 on one and $50 on the other. With $65 of FSP I decided to play $1 x 5 coin per hand thus once I played 13 hands whatever money I won I could cash out and keep. I played thirteen hands of $1 9/6 JoB VP and did not win one hand. So despite the $65 of FSP I made zilch. On the $10 MP I made $20 playing blackjack.
Since my free room at CC was only good until Sunday noon I then checked out of CC and checked into the Orleans. Rates were high everywhere so I got the Orleans room for $77 per night including the resort fee. The interesting thing was I could have gotten a room at Mandalay Bay at the same rate as the Orleans at one point through www.smartervegas.com probably due to cancellations at MB. But I decided against it at the time considering the added cost of parking there and the generally unfavorable gambling conditions there versus the Orleans. Anyway the Orleans rooms were very nice and the casino is more suited to my level of gambling. In addition I had a 50% off coupon for their newly renovated buffet. Again the buffet room was very nice compared to before but the food was about the same. It was prime rib and steak night at $22 but it only cost me $11. Still, the prime rib was tough and the steaks even worse. The rest of the buffet was fair to average. Would I eat here again? Probably not.
I spent the rest of the night in my room watching the World Series game that went into extra innings. I’d have to say it was one of the best WS games that I’ve seen in a long time.
For the day I was down $110 and for the trip down $835.
Monday
Even though I had the room until tomorrow noon, I was leaving on a red eye flight tonight about 11:00 PM.
In the morning I played a MP and FSP at the Orleans and won $5 on the FSP and $20 on the MP. For breakfast I had a blueberry waffle and coffee for which I had an Orleans 15% off coupon and then paid for the rest with Boyd B-Connected points.
I was hoping my luck would turn as I hadn’t had a losing trip in about 6 or 7 trips. Last trip I hit a number of four deuce hands and even a $1,000 royal for a total win of $2,500 (my best trip ever). I’ve never had a trip in which I never got at least one hand of four deuces based on the amount of time that I play each day. Hoping to recoup my loses more quickly, I decided to focus on Loose Deuces Wild (LDW) versus regular Deuces Wild (DW), since LDW pays $625 for four deuces where DW only pays $250 at the 25 cent level.
Since my favorite casino/resort is GVR, I drove there and began playing LDW at the 25 cent 5 coin level. They no longer have 50 cents or a dollar. After playing I dropped a pretty quick $100.
I then decided to do the buffet as I had a 50% off LVA coupon. As usual the buffet was good especially considering it only cost me about $2.00 after the 50% discount and paying with the points I had.
After the buffet I continued playing LDW but no four deuces showed up and my wallet kept getting lighter. I lost another $150 before heading back to the Orleans.
After showering and packing I decided to give LDW one more attempt before I left. I noticed that the Orleans had LDW but not at full pay of 100.1% but at the 99.20% return paytable. They had it at the 50c level so it would be $2.50 per hand at five coin. So I gave it the old college try at $2.50 per hand which would pay $1,250 if four deuces showed up. It would be a mixed blessing if I got it as I would also get a W-2G. But I could live with that at this point as I was down $1,060 for the trip.
So I played hoping for four deuces or better. I did not get better nor did I get the four deuces and just went another $100 in the hole.
So now for the trip I was down $1,160 and it was time to gas up the rental, return it, and get on the red eye flight back to Boston. And that’s exactly what I did.
Thanks for reading this.
ST
