July 17th:
Kim woke up with fever and said she was resting for a while. I had pop tarts for breakfast and all she wanted was for me to bring her up some coffee. I went down to McDonalds and got some for her. She said that it was fine if I headed out and played some poker. I headed over to the Colorado Belle and the only game going was 2-4 limit. I got on the waiting list and lost $5 in the Joker’s Wild before my name was called.
I sat down and just couldn’t hit much at all. I was getting playable hands, but missing flops. I played for 5 hours and banked a $76 lost. Kim texted and said she was feeling better so I came back. She was ready to eat and wanted some Inn and Out Burgers. I couldn’t argue with that. We had another meal that we had to pay for, but that was okay. We then went over to the Tropicana. We didn’t have cards there so we signed up and both qualified for the $100 new player lost rebate. There was also a promotion that we could earn a tool set with 400 points so we decided to try for that as well. Kim went to the single line quarter bonus machines and was hitting periodic quads. I went to some triple play machine that dealt three different hands you could get paid on based on what was dealt. It then moved the best hand to the bottom and let you play that for the draw. I started out good but started losing after a while.
You could get points twice as fast playing slots so I tried some different ones for $20 then went back to video poker. I eventually lost $100 and still had 130 points to go to the tool set. Kim had held her on and gotten 400 points about that time by playing quarters and more slots than me. She cashed out winning $10 in video poker and losing $5 in slots to net a small $5 win. There were certain time periods where you could pick up the tool set so we had to come back later to get it.
We headed across the street to the Pioneer. I didn’t really care about playing much, but Kim found a slot machine she liked. I lost $20 in about 10 minutes playing a quarter double bonus machine. Kim got her slot fix and actually won $7 in the process of playing it.
We were getting hungry so we went to the Loading Dock at the Colorado Belle and had a couple of appetizers. I had a $10 voucher and we use points to cover the rest. It was time to get Kim’s tool set and we went back over to the Trop and they were out of them. We got some crappy serving dish in its place.
We went back to the Aquarius and playing a little video poker for about an hour. Kim lost $19 and I lost $20. I did cash in a baseball bet for $13 for my only win of the day. We were tired so we called it a night.
Totals: Bill -208, +848 for trip, Kim -27, -683 for trip, Comps 55, 1158 for trip
July 18th:
It was moving day again. We were heading back to Vegas and staying two nights at the Eastside Cannery. I had a deal where I paid for the first night and got the 2nd night free. This wasn’t too bad considering they don’t have a resort fee at this time. We packed and went into Bullhead City to get some gas and was on our way. Our first stop was Sam’s Town for some lunch. I used the MRB two for one and points to cover the meal.
We then went and checked into the Eastside Cannery. We then spent the rest of the day doing work at the condo. Our painter had finished and we met with him and did several repairs. We went to Sam’s Town for a late buffet. I used the vouchers from last Wednesday’s Young at Heart to pay for our meals. We then went to the Eastside Cannery. Kim was ready to crash. I went down and played about an hour of wheel spin triple play and came out $80 up before heading back up myself.
Totals: Bill 80, +928 for trip, Kim 0, -683 for trip, Comps 35, 1193 for trip
July 19th:
Kim was worn out and wanted to rest in the morning. So I went down and started playing at the Eastside Cannery. I played about 15 minutes and realized it was 7x points day at Sam’s Town. So I took my $5 lost and keys and headed over to Sam’s. I played the triple play 10 coin 2 cent machines. I hit aces four time and had a nice run when Kim let me know she was ready to go out. I ended up ahead $70 for the session.
We headed out to the Suncoast for two reasons. Reason one was to take advantage of the $5 buffet and 2nd our insurance agent had forgotten to have me sign one form. Needless to say, I will be looking for an alternate insurance option next year. The buffet was fine and free with points. Actually Kim used some of her points today.
We then headed to the Gold Coast to take advantage of getting a beach bag with 300 points. We both went to the 8-5 bonus nickel triple plays that pay extra for quads with 6 coins a line. Kim hit a quad early then just bleed the rest of the time. She was $34 down when she hit 300 points. I started bleeding, but made a comeback hitting quad 4’s for 600 credits. I cashed out $6 up for the session. We got our beach bags which were really nice then headed to the condo for more work.
We working into the evening then went over to the Fiesta for dinner. We used another 2 for 1 coupon and sugar momma covered this one with her points too. We decided to play a little after that. We both started at the 10 coin progressives first then wondered off to a couple of other machines. Kim lost $20 at video poker and $10 on slots. I lost $10 after an hour of video poker. We were exhausted and decided to call it a night.
Totals: Bill 61, +989 for trip, Kim -64, -747 for trip, Comps 112, 1305 for trip
July 20th:
It’s our last moving day. I have two nights comped at the Gold Coast. It is also Young at Heart day again. We check out of the Eastside Cannery and head over to Sam’s Town to play first. We both got 5x points and played the 2 cent triple plays for a couple of hours. I lost $3 and Kim lost $10 which was about what the fee lunch buffet would have cost us.
We then went back out to Henderson and the condo for a little more work. We ran by the Fiesta after a couple of hours of work to take advantage of the free Starbuck’s Coffee for the old farts. We both played the 10 play penny progressives. I lost my $20 after only 30 minutes. Kim lost her $20 about 10 minutes later.
We then headed to the Orleans to play a little on my favorite nickel progressive triple plays. We also swiped for the Young and Heart multipliers there. Kim got 7x points and I got 4x. We played for about an hour and half. I lost $27 and Kim lost $44. We had played enough to get vouchers for $15 each so we went back to the café to have dinner. I got steak and Kim got quesadillas.
We then checked into the Gold Coast and went down and played a little using their Young at Heart multipliers. We played about an hour and I broke even. Kim got on a roll on the triple play 8-5 bonus that pays extra for the quads. She cashed out $80 ahead. She tried slots for about 30 minutes since she had 15x points but quit after giving back $15. We just ran our cards by the kiosk before heading up. Kim had qualified for yet another $15 food voucher. You had to use this by midnight and there was no way we could eat anything else. We decided to get some snacks and the snack bar that would keep and we could eat later. We then headed up to our room.
Totals: Bill -50, +939 for trip, Kim -9, -756 for trip, Comps 111, 1416 for trip
July 21st:
We headed over to the Orleans for a promotion where if you get 300 points you get a water fan. We went back to the usual triple play progressives. Kim’s fan cost her $44 and mine cost me $60. Hmm, we could have bought those fans for probably $10 each.
I was really wanting some Dupar pancakes, so Kim suggested we try them at Suncoast. We went out there and they were great as usual. We split a stack and I used points to cover the cost. We couldn’t leave without playing a little. Kim played slots and actually won $20. I played the triple play nickel progressives and won $30 myself. Going to Suncoast was a good idea.
We then went back out to Henderson to check out the carpet that Lowes had installed. It looked great. We worked a little there then headed over to the Fiesta for dinner. I used yet another 2 for 1 and points for the buffet which was really good. We decided to play a round of bingo before leaving. Neither of us hit. We came back to the Gold Coast and gave them a little play before calling it a night. Kim lost her $20 buy-in after about 45 minutes. I lost my $20 at just about the same time.
Totals: Bill -62, +877 for trip, Kim -53, -809 for trip, Comps 121, 1537 for trip
July 22nd:
We were checking out today and today was going to be the last day of our trip. However, we had decided to put our renter into small claims court and we had to wait 15 days after sending a demand letter to file for a court date. This meant we needed to stay until the 27th to actually file. It was a perfect excuse to get a few extra days…he he he. Anyway, we got online and was able to figure out some reasonable rates for the next few days. Friday and Saturday night we found rates for $60 for each night at the Lodge at Mt. Charelston. Kim always wanted to stay there so here was a good time to do it.
We went back to the condo for a little work. We then went by the Fiesta for the scratch card promotion. We played some different video poker this time since we were really ready to eat. I won $4 while Kim lost $34. I got another $5 food voucher. Since we had a couple of food vouchers we decided to eat lunch at Amigos there at Fiesta. I had a burrito dinner and Kim had tacos. The meal was outstanding.
I then dropped Kim by a Goodwill for a little shopping. I went over to the Silverton to do the 500 points for the kiosk game for both Kim and mine cards. My triple play wheel game was taken when I got there. I went to the 8-5 bonus with extra for quads. I would play a little then check. The same guy was there. I was $80 down when the triple play came open. I was able to rebound a little on my favorite machine. I eventually finished $11 ahead after getting $25 free play on each of our cards. It took me a couple of hours to get the 1000 points playing really fast. I went back and picked up Kim.
She was ready to eat so we went to Sam’s Town and used a MRB 2 for 1 coupon and ate the Friday night seafood dinner. The crab legs were fantastic. We stuffed ourselves then headed out to the mountain to check in. It was 110 degrees when we left Vegas and 70 degrees when we arrived at the Mr. Charelston Lodge. We checked in and where underwhelmed with the room. A least it was a pretty site.
Totals: Bill 15, +892 for trip, Kim -34, -843 for trip, Comps 52, 1589 for trip
July 23rd:
Today was basically a lazy day for us. We took advantage of the room having Showtime and HBO and watched movies most of the day. We grazed on some of the snacks Kim had picked up at the Gold Coast. Around 4 we decided to head into Vegas. I had intended to drop Kim off at a Savers and head over to Silverton to do the kiosk promotion again. I heading in on 95 and got off on Rainbow Drive planning to cut across that side of the valley. All of the sudden we come up on a shopping area and there was a Savers there. I dropped Kim off and headed back to the 215 to get to Silverton. I had gone less than a mile when I saw the signs for the Suncoast. I thought I might as just well play there and maybe if I had time I could put 700 points on our cards and qualify us both for dinner and a movie.
This was a mistake as this was the one session I had been able to avoid the whole trip. I bounced to different machines and just could not hit. I tried the triple play nickel progressives. I tried the wheel spin for both quads and dealt trips or better. I did hit quad aces on the wheel spin once for 800 credits playing double bonus with a 500 credit spin. But none of that was enough. Kim texted and said she was ready to go since it was now 8:00 and the store closed in an hour.
I went over and got her. We were only 400 points away on her card for dinner and a movie. We finally hit 700 points on her card with the following damage. I had lost $199, Kim had lost $34 on video poker and $14 on slots. For the first time since the early part of the trip we were in a combined negative. Fan’s better serve a really good meal. We got our $30 worth. We then went by the players club and picked up some polo shirts with points. We headed back up the mountain with a lighter wallet.
Totals: Bill -199, +693 for trip, Kim -48, -891 for trip, Comps 55, 1644 for trip
July 24:
Time to check out and move into our last home away from home for sure this time. We are going back to Sam’s Town for 3 nights. I was able to get one night comped and the other two at $29. We stopped at the Palms first to do a couple of match plays on black jack. We both won so we started the day $40 a head. We then headed over to the Orleans for the Sunday brunch. We had a two for one and points to cover the wonderful meal.
We then decided to play tourist and visit the gardens at the Bellagio. We parked at Bally’s and walked across the walkway to avoid paying for parking. We spent about an hour there and really enjoyed the summer themed display. We then went to Ellis Island where Kim used the added free play from both the ACG and the MRB. She got $10 in free play on both after playing the required amount. She ended up ahead $3 when the smoke cleared. I had planned to do free play on the coins I had collected around the house. I put the coins in and had $51. I went to get the $56 in free play when I found out the promotion had been terminated. I played a little while Kim did and snuck out a $7 win. We gave the $10 back that we had won when Kim lost a match play on the way out.
It was now back to the condo for a few more items to deal with. We met our painter who finished touching up and replaced the remaining blinds that were torn up. We were now ready to rent again. We headed to the Fiesta for the scratcher promotion. We went back to the 10 play pennies and both lost. I ended up $11 down and Kim ended up $28 down.
We went to check into Sam’s Town. The only king remaining was a smoking on the top floor. We didn’t want smoking, but the room smelt fine. We were told we could change on Monday, but we just kept the room since it didn’t smell. We split a sandwich at the Deli with points and called it a day.
Totals: Bill 16, +709 for trip, Kim -15, -906 for trip, Comps 542, 1686 for trip
July 25th:
We both woke up hungry so we did the breakfast at the deli. We ordered some egg sandwiches with sausage and used points to cover the cost. We had to go to the condo early to meet with the guy who would inspect our condo for the property management company. We decided to go that route since our last renter had been a disaster and we live in Arkansas. He thought the place looked great and we were now ready for them to advertise for a new renter.
After that we stopped at the Fiesta for some video poker. Kim lost her $20 buy-in at the penny progressives. I actually won $40 after being dealt quad 4’s. We decided for another session of bingo but had no success. We then headed back to Sam’s Town for an early dinner buffet. We used points for this as well.
Now it was time to make a downtown coupon run for a little bankroll rebuilding. We only had one MRB so I did most of the playing. Kim was fine with not playing since she had been on such a bad roll. First stop was the Golden Gate for the $25 match play. Ahh, 20 dealt, dealer with a 6, dealer has 16 dealer hits 5, bye bye $25. Next was Binions for the $10 free play. I played through and got the $10 back. Next was the $10 free play at the Four Queens. It yielded a $9 win. Next was the $25 match play at the D. I lost of course. Last stop is the Grand where I lose yet another match play for $10 this time, but get $11 back on their $10 free play coupon. So much for building the bank roll. These $25 match plays have just killed me the last couple of years. We stuck around and listened to some band then headed back to Sam’s Town to call it a night.
Totals: Bill 20, +729 for trip, Kim -28, -930 for trip, Comps 50, 1736 for trip
July 26th:
This is our last full day in Vegas so Kim said it was time for me to really play a lot if I wanted to. I decided to go with her advice. I started out by playing in the 10:00 AM poker tournament at Sam’s Town. Kim slept in while I played. It has a $23 buy-in. We had 3 tables and was playing early when I noticed the guy in seat 2. He had a flowered shirt and glasses. Sure enough that has to be Sionow or “J-Man” from San Diego.
We played for about 45 minutes then there had been enough knocked out to consolidate to two tables. Sionow was sent to a different table than mine. During the last hand before the break, Sionow was eliminated. I was in the hand with a pair of Queens and make eye contact with him and asked him to stay until the hand was over. I won the hand and went over an introduced myself. I told him that I was big fan of his trip reports and have read all of them. We talked for a few minutes and he took a picture of us. It was like meeting a famous person for me. Now all I need to do is meet Stungazied to complete the trip report hero encounters.
We started back with two tables and were soon down to one. I had hit a couple of nice hands and was around 4th in chips. The tournament paid the top three. We got down to four handed and I was starting to get low on chips. I was dealt AK and moved all in and was able to double up. Finally the 4th player was eliminated. I asked if they wanted to chop and we did. We each took $98 for our efforts.
Kim was ready to go by the time the tournament ended. We headed up to the Fiesta to use our last voucher for $5 and ate a light lunch at Amigo’s again. I played for an hour after we ate on some nickel triple plays and gave back $60. Kim ran to the condo during that time to one last check before we left.
Our next plans were to hit the North Las Vegas casinos for one last coupon run. First stop was Jerry’s Nugget. I had two match plays and won both of them for a $25 win. Kim had two $5 match plays and lost both of them. Next stop was the Bighorn. I hit a blackjack for a $17 win. Kim lost her $5 match play. We next went to the Silver Nugget. We both lost our $10 match plays. We then headed to the Lucky Club. Again, both our match plays resulted in a net loss of $20. So Kim had gone 0-4 on her coupon run and I had gone 2-2. We were getting new cards at the Lucky Club and they said I had a free breakfast for two since I have a CDL. We decided we would use it tomorrow morning. Our last stop was the Longhorn on the way back to Sam’s Town. We both had the ACG coupons giving you $10 in free play after giving the cashier $5. Kim won $3 doing this and I won $2. I gave them the $5 won back losing on a match play on the way out.
We headed back to our room and Kim went up to the room to pack for the drive back. I went down to play video poker and take advantage of the 7x points. I played all the usual and was down $60 when Kim said she was ready to eat. We went to the buffet for dinner and used points to cover it along with the $15 in food credit Kim had with the room. Kim said she was done playing, but I had her blessing to continue to play once I walked her up to the room.
I came back down and continued to bleed at the video poker. I finally quit $129 down after about a total of 4 hours of play. I went to the poker room to see if I could win a little of the lost money back. They had the usual 2-6 split limit hold-em game going. I played for 2.5 hours and it was midnight so I quit yet losing another $33.
Totals: Bill -125, +604 for trip, Kim -32, -962 for trip, Comps 85, 1821 for trip
July 27th:
Well it is time for this trip to end. We check out and head over to the Lucky Club for the free breakfast. We had the standard fare and it was surprisingly very good. We stopped at the court house in Henderson to file for the court case with our former renter. I got a court date of October 4th. We decided to stop at the Fiesta one last time and play just a little and get Kim some free Starbuck’s Coffee since it was Wednesday. We both finished with a loss. Kim lost $40 in an hour and I lost $10. We heading out and arrived home late in the afternoon on Thursday.
Totals: Bill -10, +594 for trip, Kim -40, -1002 for trip, Comps 10, 1831 for trip
Final Thoughts:
• This trip seemed as much work as fun since we had so much to do at the condo.
• This last week cost us from a winning standpoint.
• I finished $594 ahead which is really close to what I won on the dealt royal flush.
• Some of the casinos are starting to play newer hip-hop type music. I guess my demographics is no longer the target group.
• Our former renter is really a work of art. She would not respond to us through the month of June and most of the damage done was since March. I was really considering just letting the last two month’s rent drop until I saw all the damage she had done.
• The concerts were great. I wish we had more time for stuff like that this time around.
• The scum on Fremont Street is really getting out of control. They really need to monitor the naked butts and boobs with kids walking down there.
• I guess its old age, but I hat what they have done to the D, Golden Gate, Binions with the thump, thump music.
• We only spent 1 hour on the strip. I am fine with that.
• The lodge at Mt. Charleston is not worth staying at unless you just want a get away.
• Next trip is Oct 1-Oct 5.
Kim woke up with fever and said she was resting for a while. I had pop tarts for breakfast and all she wanted was for me to bring her up some coffee. I went down to McDonalds and got some for her. She said that it was fine if I headed out and played some poker. I headed over to the Colorado Belle and the only game going was 2-4 limit. I got on the waiting list and lost $5 in the Joker’s Wild before my name was called.
I sat down and just couldn’t hit much at all. I was getting playable hands, but missing flops. I played for 5 hours and banked a $76 lost. Kim texted and said she was feeling better so I came back. She was ready to eat and wanted some Inn and Out Burgers. I couldn’t argue with that. We had another meal that we had to pay for, but that was okay. We then went over to the Tropicana. We didn’t have cards there so we signed up and both qualified for the $100 new player lost rebate. There was also a promotion that we could earn a tool set with 400 points so we decided to try for that as well. Kim went to the single line quarter bonus machines and was hitting periodic quads. I went to some triple play machine that dealt three different hands you could get paid on based on what was dealt. It then moved the best hand to the bottom and let you play that for the draw. I started out good but started losing after a while.
You could get points twice as fast playing slots so I tried some different ones for $20 then went back to video poker. I eventually lost $100 and still had 130 points to go to the tool set. Kim had held her on and gotten 400 points about that time by playing quarters and more slots than me. She cashed out winning $10 in video poker and losing $5 in slots to net a small $5 win. There were certain time periods where you could pick up the tool set so we had to come back later to get it.
We headed across the street to the Pioneer. I didn’t really care about playing much, but Kim found a slot machine she liked. I lost $20 in about 10 minutes playing a quarter double bonus machine. Kim got her slot fix and actually won $7 in the process of playing it.
We were getting hungry so we went to the Loading Dock at the Colorado Belle and had a couple of appetizers. I had a $10 voucher and we use points to cover the rest. It was time to get Kim’s tool set and we went back over to the Trop and they were out of them. We got some crappy serving dish in its place.
We went back to the Aquarius and playing a little video poker for about an hour. Kim lost $19 and I lost $20. I did cash in a baseball bet for $13 for my only win of the day. We were tired so we called it a night.
Totals: Bill -208, +848 for trip, Kim -27, -683 for trip, Comps 55, 1158 for trip
July 18th:
It was moving day again. We were heading back to Vegas and staying two nights at the Eastside Cannery. I had a deal where I paid for the first night and got the 2nd night free. This wasn’t too bad considering they don’t have a resort fee at this time. We packed and went into Bullhead City to get some gas and was on our way. Our first stop was Sam’s Town for some lunch. I used the MRB two for one and points to cover the meal.
We then went and checked into the Eastside Cannery. We then spent the rest of the day doing work at the condo. Our painter had finished and we met with him and did several repairs. We went to Sam’s Town for a late buffet. I used the vouchers from last Wednesday’s Young at Heart to pay for our meals. We then went to the Eastside Cannery. Kim was ready to crash. I went down and played about an hour of wheel spin triple play and came out $80 up before heading back up myself.
Totals: Bill 80, +928 for trip, Kim 0, -683 for trip, Comps 35, 1193 for trip
July 19th:
Kim was worn out and wanted to rest in the morning. So I went down and started playing at the Eastside Cannery. I played about 15 minutes and realized it was 7x points day at Sam’s Town. So I took my $5 lost and keys and headed over to Sam’s. I played the triple play 10 coin 2 cent machines. I hit aces four time and had a nice run when Kim let me know she was ready to go out. I ended up ahead $70 for the session.
We headed out to the Suncoast for two reasons. Reason one was to take advantage of the $5 buffet and 2nd our insurance agent had forgotten to have me sign one form. Needless to say, I will be looking for an alternate insurance option next year. The buffet was fine and free with points. Actually Kim used some of her points today.
We then headed to the Gold Coast to take advantage of getting a beach bag with 300 points. We both went to the 8-5 bonus nickel triple plays that pay extra for quads with 6 coins a line. Kim hit a quad early then just bleed the rest of the time. She was $34 down when she hit 300 points. I started bleeding, but made a comeback hitting quad 4’s for 600 credits. I cashed out $6 up for the session. We got our beach bags which were really nice then headed to the condo for more work.
We working into the evening then went over to the Fiesta for dinner. We used another 2 for 1 coupon and sugar momma covered this one with her points too. We decided to play a little after that. We both started at the 10 coin progressives first then wondered off to a couple of other machines. Kim lost $20 at video poker and $10 on slots. I lost $10 after an hour of video poker. We were exhausted and decided to call it a night.
Totals: Bill 61, +989 for trip, Kim -64, -747 for trip, Comps 112, 1305 for trip
July 20th:
It’s our last moving day. I have two nights comped at the Gold Coast. It is also Young at Heart day again. We check out of the Eastside Cannery and head over to Sam’s Town to play first. We both got 5x points and played the 2 cent triple plays for a couple of hours. I lost $3 and Kim lost $10 which was about what the fee lunch buffet would have cost us.
We then went back out to Henderson and the condo for a little more work. We ran by the Fiesta after a couple of hours of work to take advantage of the free Starbuck’s Coffee for the old farts. We both played the 10 play penny progressives. I lost my $20 after only 30 minutes. Kim lost her $20 about 10 minutes later.
We then headed to the Orleans to play a little on my favorite nickel progressive triple plays. We also swiped for the Young and Heart multipliers there. Kim got 7x points and I got 4x. We played for about an hour and half. I lost $27 and Kim lost $44. We had played enough to get vouchers for $15 each so we went back to the café to have dinner. I got steak and Kim got quesadillas.
We then checked into the Gold Coast and went down and played a little using their Young at Heart multipliers. We played about an hour and I broke even. Kim got on a roll on the triple play 8-5 bonus that pays extra for the quads. She cashed out $80 ahead. She tried slots for about 30 minutes since she had 15x points but quit after giving back $15. We just ran our cards by the kiosk before heading up. Kim had qualified for yet another $15 food voucher. You had to use this by midnight and there was no way we could eat anything else. We decided to get some snacks and the snack bar that would keep and we could eat later. We then headed up to our room.
Totals: Bill -50, +939 for trip, Kim -9, -756 for trip, Comps 111, 1416 for trip
July 21st:
We headed over to the Orleans for a promotion where if you get 300 points you get a water fan. We went back to the usual triple play progressives. Kim’s fan cost her $44 and mine cost me $60. Hmm, we could have bought those fans for probably $10 each.
I was really wanting some Dupar pancakes, so Kim suggested we try them at Suncoast. We went out there and they were great as usual. We split a stack and I used points to cover the cost. We couldn’t leave without playing a little. Kim played slots and actually won $20. I played the triple play nickel progressives and won $30 myself. Going to Suncoast was a good idea.
We then went back out to Henderson to check out the carpet that Lowes had installed. It looked great. We worked a little there then headed over to the Fiesta for dinner. I used yet another 2 for 1 and points for the buffet which was really good. We decided to play a round of bingo before leaving. Neither of us hit. We came back to the Gold Coast and gave them a little play before calling it a night. Kim lost her $20 buy-in after about 45 minutes. I lost my $20 at just about the same time.
Totals: Bill -62, +877 for trip, Kim -53, -809 for trip, Comps 121, 1537 for trip
July 22nd:
We were checking out today and today was going to be the last day of our trip. However, we had decided to put our renter into small claims court and we had to wait 15 days after sending a demand letter to file for a court date. This meant we needed to stay until the 27th to actually file. It was a perfect excuse to get a few extra days…he he he. Anyway, we got online and was able to figure out some reasonable rates for the next few days. Friday and Saturday night we found rates for $60 for each night at the Lodge at Mt. Charelston. Kim always wanted to stay there so here was a good time to do it.
We went back to the condo for a little work. We then went by the Fiesta for the scratch card promotion. We played some different video poker this time since we were really ready to eat. I won $4 while Kim lost $34. I got another $5 food voucher. Since we had a couple of food vouchers we decided to eat lunch at Amigos there at Fiesta. I had a burrito dinner and Kim had tacos. The meal was outstanding.
I then dropped Kim by a Goodwill for a little shopping. I went over to the Silverton to do the 500 points for the kiosk game for both Kim and mine cards. My triple play wheel game was taken when I got there. I went to the 8-5 bonus with extra for quads. I would play a little then check. The same guy was there. I was $80 down when the triple play came open. I was able to rebound a little on my favorite machine. I eventually finished $11 ahead after getting $25 free play on each of our cards. It took me a couple of hours to get the 1000 points playing really fast. I went back and picked up Kim.
She was ready to eat so we went to Sam’s Town and used a MRB 2 for 1 coupon and ate the Friday night seafood dinner. The crab legs were fantastic. We stuffed ourselves then headed out to the mountain to check in. It was 110 degrees when we left Vegas and 70 degrees when we arrived at the Mr. Charelston Lodge. We checked in and where underwhelmed with the room. A least it was a pretty site.
Totals: Bill 15, +892 for trip, Kim -34, -843 for trip, Comps 52, 1589 for trip
July 23rd:
Today was basically a lazy day for us. We took advantage of the room having Showtime and HBO and watched movies most of the day. We grazed on some of the snacks Kim had picked up at the Gold Coast. Around 4 we decided to head into Vegas. I had intended to drop Kim off at a Savers and head over to Silverton to do the kiosk promotion again. I heading in on 95 and got off on Rainbow Drive planning to cut across that side of the valley. All of the sudden we come up on a shopping area and there was a Savers there. I dropped Kim off and headed back to the 215 to get to Silverton. I had gone less than a mile when I saw the signs for the Suncoast. I thought I might as just well play there and maybe if I had time I could put 700 points on our cards and qualify us both for dinner and a movie.
This was a mistake as this was the one session I had been able to avoid the whole trip. I bounced to different machines and just could not hit. I tried the triple play nickel progressives. I tried the wheel spin for both quads and dealt trips or better. I did hit quad aces on the wheel spin once for 800 credits playing double bonus with a 500 credit spin. But none of that was enough. Kim texted and said she was ready to go since it was now 8:00 and the store closed in an hour.
I went over and got her. We were only 400 points away on her card for dinner and a movie. We finally hit 700 points on her card with the following damage. I had lost $199, Kim had lost $34 on video poker and $14 on slots. For the first time since the early part of the trip we were in a combined negative. Fan’s better serve a really good meal. We got our $30 worth. We then went by the players club and picked up some polo shirts with points. We headed back up the mountain with a lighter wallet.
Totals: Bill -199, +693 for trip, Kim -48, -891 for trip, Comps 55, 1644 for trip
July 24:
Time to check out and move into our last home away from home for sure this time. We are going back to Sam’s Town for 3 nights. I was able to get one night comped and the other two at $29. We stopped at the Palms first to do a couple of match plays on black jack. We both won so we started the day $40 a head. We then headed over to the Orleans for the Sunday brunch. We had a two for one and points to cover the wonderful meal.
We then decided to play tourist and visit the gardens at the Bellagio. We parked at Bally’s and walked across the walkway to avoid paying for parking. We spent about an hour there and really enjoyed the summer themed display. We then went to Ellis Island where Kim used the added free play from both the ACG and the MRB. She got $10 in free play on both after playing the required amount. She ended up ahead $3 when the smoke cleared. I had planned to do free play on the coins I had collected around the house. I put the coins in and had $51. I went to get the $56 in free play when I found out the promotion had been terminated. I played a little while Kim did and snuck out a $7 win. We gave the $10 back that we had won when Kim lost a match play on the way out.
It was now back to the condo for a few more items to deal with. We met our painter who finished touching up and replaced the remaining blinds that were torn up. We were now ready to rent again. We headed to the Fiesta for the scratcher promotion. We went back to the 10 play pennies and both lost. I ended up $11 down and Kim ended up $28 down.
We went to check into Sam’s Town. The only king remaining was a smoking on the top floor. We didn’t want smoking, but the room smelt fine. We were told we could change on Monday, but we just kept the room since it didn’t smell. We split a sandwich at the Deli with points and called it a day.
Totals: Bill 16, +709 for trip, Kim -15, -906 for trip, Comps 542, 1686 for trip
July 25th:
We both woke up hungry so we did the breakfast at the deli. We ordered some egg sandwiches with sausage and used points to cover the cost. We had to go to the condo early to meet with the guy who would inspect our condo for the property management company. We decided to go that route since our last renter had been a disaster and we live in Arkansas. He thought the place looked great and we were now ready for them to advertise for a new renter.
After that we stopped at the Fiesta for some video poker. Kim lost her $20 buy-in at the penny progressives. I actually won $40 after being dealt quad 4’s. We decided for another session of bingo but had no success. We then headed back to Sam’s Town for an early dinner buffet. We used points for this as well.
Now it was time to make a downtown coupon run for a little bankroll rebuilding. We only had one MRB so I did most of the playing. Kim was fine with not playing since she had been on such a bad roll. First stop was the Golden Gate for the $25 match play. Ahh, 20 dealt, dealer with a 6, dealer has 16 dealer hits 5, bye bye $25. Next was Binions for the $10 free play. I played through and got the $10 back. Next was the $10 free play at the Four Queens. It yielded a $9 win. Next was the $25 match play at the D. I lost of course. Last stop is the Grand where I lose yet another match play for $10 this time, but get $11 back on their $10 free play coupon. So much for building the bank roll. These $25 match plays have just killed me the last couple of years. We stuck around and listened to some band then headed back to Sam’s Town to call it a night.
Totals: Bill 20, +729 for trip, Kim -28, -930 for trip, Comps 50, 1736 for trip
July 26th:
This is our last full day in Vegas so Kim said it was time for me to really play a lot if I wanted to. I decided to go with her advice. I started out by playing in the 10:00 AM poker tournament at Sam’s Town. Kim slept in while I played. It has a $23 buy-in. We had 3 tables and was playing early when I noticed the guy in seat 2. He had a flowered shirt and glasses. Sure enough that has to be Sionow or “J-Man” from San Diego.
We played for about 45 minutes then there had been enough knocked out to consolidate to two tables. Sionow was sent to a different table than mine. During the last hand before the break, Sionow was eliminated. I was in the hand with a pair of Queens and make eye contact with him and asked him to stay until the hand was over. I won the hand and went over an introduced myself. I told him that I was big fan of his trip reports and have read all of them. We talked for a few minutes and he took a picture of us. It was like meeting a famous person for me. Now all I need to do is meet Stungazied to complete the trip report hero encounters.
We started back with two tables and were soon down to one. I had hit a couple of nice hands and was around 4th in chips. The tournament paid the top three. We got down to four handed and I was starting to get low on chips. I was dealt AK and moved all in and was able to double up. Finally the 4th player was eliminated. I asked if they wanted to chop and we did. We each took $98 for our efforts.
Kim was ready to go by the time the tournament ended. We headed up to the Fiesta to use our last voucher for $5 and ate a light lunch at Amigo’s again. I played for an hour after we ate on some nickel triple plays and gave back $60. Kim ran to the condo during that time to one last check before we left.
Our next plans were to hit the North Las Vegas casinos for one last coupon run. First stop was Jerry’s Nugget. I had two match plays and won both of them for a $25 win. Kim had two $5 match plays and lost both of them. Next stop was the Bighorn. I hit a blackjack for a $17 win. Kim lost her $5 match play. We next went to the Silver Nugget. We both lost our $10 match plays. We then headed to the Lucky Club. Again, both our match plays resulted in a net loss of $20. So Kim had gone 0-4 on her coupon run and I had gone 2-2. We were getting new cards at the Lucky Club and they said I had a free breakfast for two since I have a CDL. We decided we would use it tomorrow morning. Our last stop was the Longhorn on the way back to Sam’s Town. We both had the ACG coupons giving you $10 in free play after giving the cashier $5. Kim won $3 doing this and I won $2. I gave them the $5 won back losing on a match play on the way out.
We headed back to our room and Kim went up to the room to pack for the drive back. I went down to play video poker and take advantage of the 7x points. I played all the usual and was down $60 when Kim said she was ready to eat. We went to the buffet for dinner and used points to cover it along with the $15 in food credit Kim had with the room. Kim said she was done playing, but I had her blessing to continue to play once I walked her up to the room.
I came back down and continued to bleed at the video poker. I finally quit $129 down after about a total of 4 hours of play. I went to the poker room to see if I could win a little of the lost money back. They had the usual 2-6 split limit hold-em game going. I played for 2.5 hours and it was midnight so I quit yet losing another $33.
Totals: Bill -125, +604 for trip, Kim -32, -962 for trip, Comps 85, 1821 for trip
July 27th:
Well it is time for this trip to end. We check out and head over to the Lucky Club for the free breakfast. We had the standard fare and it was surprisingly very good. We stopped at the court house in Henderson to file for the court case with our former renter. I got a court date of October 4th. We decided to stop at the Fiesta one last time and play just a little and get Kim some free Starbuck’s Coffee since it was Wednesday. We both finished with a loss. Kim lost $40 in an hour and I lost $10. We heading out and arrived home late in the afternoon on Thursday.
Totals: Bill -10, +594 for trip, Kim -40, -1002 for trip, Comps 10, 1831 for trip
Final Thoughts:
• This trip seemed as much work as fun since we had so much to do at the condo.
• This last week cost us from a winning standpoint.
• I finished $594 ahead which is really close to what I won on the dealt royal flush.
• Some of the casinos are starting to play newer hip-hop type music. I guess my demographics is no longer the target group.
• Our former renter is really a work of art. She would not respond to us through the month of June and most of the damage done was since March. I was really considering just letting the last two month’s rent drop until I saw all the damage she had done.
• The concerts were great. I wish we had more time for stuff like that this time around.
• The scum on Fremont Street is really getting out of control. They really need to monitor the naked butts and boobs with kids walking down there.
• I guess its old age, but I hat what they have done to the D, Golden Gate, Binions with the thump, thump music.
• We only spent 1 hour on the strip. I am fine with that.
• The lodge at Mt. Charleston is not worth staying at unless you just want a get away.
• Next trip is Oct 1-Oct 5.
