Vegas dec 13 to 18

          We flew Alliegent round trip for 218 for both of us and rental car was from payless for 232 for a full size all in.  I could have gotten fox for 182 but with the early return flight we passed  Nice new car with 500 miles on it.  Pick up was quick and easy for a saturday and we took the 15 out to Alliante for our comped night with 15 free play and 10 food credit.  The room was great, and after checking in we had a couple fish tacos at Rubios.  We played at the bars most of the night, and didn't have any luck.  I think we were pressing and stayed up too late.  Down a couple hundy each

        Sunday we got up and had a snack in the room before checking out,   We then went to The Martini on Fort Apache for the 8 oz filet special with mashed potatoes and asparagus for 15 bucks.  We got a few glasses of nice  cab and  finnished about even on the bartops. Always a great play.

       We then went to Green Valley Ranch to check in for 3 comped nights with 75 food credit and 225 free play.  The west tower is now open, and the rooms are awesome after the remodel.  We Made some sports book bets and and played a little and decided to take a trip over to the M to maybe get on the radar for rooms  with the new tower.  Well the place was packed for gift day and we didn't think too much has changed overall.  It is a nice place, but we didn't play, which is rare for us.  Just too crowded and not many good games available, and didn't want another card to try and keep current on.  If they get in the 2026 coupon book we will be back.

      We were close to Andrews Wsky Bar in Insparada so we went and checked it out.  Nice area and nice place.  Again we didn't play, but had fun finding it.  We headed back to Green Valley for the night and had dinner at Botiglia for the 2 for 1 on Sundays.  I had the salmon and the wife had lobster ravioli.  Both were pretty good and  used 34 dollars of food credit.  We played mostly at the bars, but I hit quad 2s with a kicker on 3 way action on the floor and the wife a had a good session on bonus streak hitting a royal times 12

        Monday we had some light pastries and got some live keno way tickets and made some new sports book bets.  We also cashed in a few we brought back from last trip.  Then we headed to Park MGM for a strip day.  We were surprised to see things busy, and couldn't get a seat at the bar so walked over to the Aria.  We had fun at the Gem bar with some mimosas, but they were pretty strict on the green lights , and my machine was not lighting up, even after I pulled my card and put in a new 20.  So being down a cocktal to my wife we took the tram over to the Ballagio.  The place was packed , I guess for the Christmas display.  We played a while at the middle bar, but it was too smokey, so went to the sports book bar for awhile and the bartender was not pleasant. So we walked through the display and headed back to the car.  The nice thing about Las Vegas is we have choices.

    Next stop was Resorts World. The wife had 20 food credit and 40 freeplay, so we got the club at the sports book bar, and it was great.  We played awhile at the center bar with no luck.  Broke even at the high limit bar and the Headed up to the Alle lounge on the 66th floor to have a drink and play.  Great room and great bartender and we both hit 6 spots playing quarters.  Life is good.  

    Next stop was Ellis Island for bar-bq using the LVA 2 for 1 coupon. It was so good, and so much food.  Half rack and half chicken.  The casino looks great, but we were too tired and full to play , so headed  back to Green Valley for the night.  The wife had to Play bonus streak again and hit aces with a kicker time 4.  I hit the new buffalo game they just put in that mourning for 160 on the 3rd spin.  It was a good day.

More tomorrow

Great start to the trip.   We finish our current trip in LV on the 29th, coming in from Flagstaff. Looking forward to your next installment. 

Thanks for reporting!

Good stuff!  Looking forward to the next.

Candy

        Tuesday we made some sports book bets and reinvested some of our live keno winnings. We must have hit a couple 5 of 6.  We finished the week with a small profit this trip, but did not play as many games, and just played 6 spots.  We then drove over to the Rainbow club for breakfast.  We both had the free coupon for the blueberry pancakes with bacon and they were huge, and very good.  We could have easily split.  We played for about 90 minutes, me down about 20 and the wife up 40.  

        We then headed to the Suncoast to play for the 10 times point day at Boyd.  The casino is still going through the remodel and pretty limited.  We played in the sportsbook with decent paytables and no smoke, but no good wins.  I think the best games there now may be upstairs on the older flat tops.  Full pay keno, but no bartender early in the day

      Next stop was Red Rocks for lunch at Rubios for the fish taco special.  Verry very good  We then had some mimosas and played at the lucky bar, with no big wins.

       Durango was next to check out the new high limit bar and the expansion.  Totally awesome .  The day before was the opening and they had free caviar and Louie the 14th.  Today they had free dounuts, big shimp cocktail , rack of lamb and some other fun snacks..  We made a small profit and had a blast in the cool new room.  So much light and outdoor space, and great bartenders.  We played a litlle bonus streak on the floor and  hit the road  to Gtrrn Valley before rush hour.

       At Green Valley  we played at the bar and had a few drinks  after getting though traffic, and then had happy hour at Bottiglia.  We had the dollar oysters , ceasar salad , meatballs and bread and used our food comps.  All very good.  We played mainly at the bars the rest of the night with me making a profit , and the wife losing a little until she hit aces with a kicker on bonus streak times 4 on triple double. It was a good day

       Wednesday we had breakfast in the cafe using the last of our food credit, spliting the American.  Bacon eggs, hashbrowns and toast.  Came out hot and perfect.  We made a few more sportsbook bets and cashed out our live keno.  We then checked out and went back in and played for an hour.  It was a multiplier day so we then headed back to Durango.  We played at the new high limit bar again and they had free club sandwitchs.  We also tried our luck  on a high limit machine for 8 spins with no luck.  We bar hopped and I played 3 way action poker on the floor and the wife played bonus streak.We made a small profit and then hit the road before rush hour.  The new parking garage was real easy in and out, and traffic wasn't bad to Sunset Station.

    We checked into Sunset for one comped night with 75 free play.  Nice room and we played for about an hour, and then decided to hit the Broiler Room at Boulder Station  for a late  dinner.  It was half price points day, and I had the filet with a baked potato. and the wife had the Salmon with mashed potatoes and asparagus.  Very good as always and 44 dollars of points used plus tip.  The trip over and back was quick and easy, and we felt was a better option than Sonoma Cellar at Sunset Station where all the sides are seperate and more expensive.  We didn't play at Boulder because we had a really early flight on thursday.  Back at Sunset Station we both played Bonus streak for an hour before turn in.  Lots of good hits for both of us making a little profit, and then I flopped a straight flush on 10 play with a couple multipliers.  Pretty fun, but 5 hands later the wife flops aces on 10 play double double.  She got 2 kickers on the draw and one was a 12 timer.  Too bad we were only playing 2 cent denom, but 9 hundred bucks  was pretty fun and no w2.  We called it a night.

       Returning the rental car was quick and easy at 530 am and bus and flight all went well  Looking forward to our next trip.

that was outstanding. thank-you for the read.

Great trip!!!

Another fantastic trip report,  Brent.  Thanks for sharing. 

We spent 56 nights in Las Vegas last year.  Pretty crazy.  It is always interesting to get the win / loss statements from the casinos and see our results for the year.

Sounds like you ought to just say the hell with it and move there. Think of the travel and hotel money you'd save.

I actually did that 24 years ago. I was traveling back and forth to Vegas so often and getting really sick of the journey. I did a calculation similar to yours and found that I was spending about 1/4 of my days in Vegas anyway. Bought a new house for cheap cheap.

The only real reason I eventually left was that I missed things like trees and grass and water; Vegas is a profoundly ugly place. In that regard, Oregon is its polar opposite. I also wanted to once again experience breathing air that didn't reek of cigarette smoke.

One side note about win/loss statements. Despite the stated policy and kerfuffles about reporting wins and losses, the IRS will accept a calculation based on the aggregate of all your win/loss reports...even if you received multiple W2Gs! Just craft a one-page spreadsheet and enter the total on your 1040 as other income if it's positive and don't enter it at all if it's negative. You still don't have to report un-income.

The only negative consequence would be that if you're audited, they might ask you, what about all these W2Gs, huh? at which point you show them your spreadsheet. I declared my net winnings every year when I was an AP and attached my spreadsheet to my return. Never heard a peep from them over the course of eight years when that was my sole endeavor.

The key here is that you DON'T have to itemize. Just report the aggregate number if it's positive and be prepared to defend it if challenged.