We have never visited Vegas on New Year's Eve, and since we had two different invitations, we thought we'd accept one of them and see what it would be like.
We had an invite for five free nights at the D and/or Golden Gate, along with two wristbands for the Fremont Street New Year's eve party, and a private party hosted at the D. Our other invite was for a private party at M Resort, along with free nights. We originally thought we could do both, until we spoke to someone at the D, who let us know that getting in and out of the Fremont St area would not be easy on the day of the party.
So, we went with the M's invite. The private party was to be a dinner, dancing, and a "welcome in the new year" event at 9 p.m. Yes, you read that correctly, 9 p.m.
We arrived at M a few days before the big event, and engaged in our usual favorite video poker, and some blackjack. Alas, luck was not on our side, and we consistently lost, never getting any big wins. However, we held out hope that some of the player promotional drawings on New Year's Eve might bring us luck and a little bit of cash/free play.
The New Year's eve dinner started at 6 p.m., and was very lovely, with assigned tables, a fantastic band, and a fabulous buffet with items such as jumbo shrimp. This was NOT the same shrimp we had become accustomed to on the M Studio B buffet (which are rather small but acceptable.) Everything was excellent, but really the jumbo shrimp were the best! One of the couples at my table told us that they had attended last year, and that things winded down pretty early. We thought they meant 9 p.m.
Ha!
By 7 p.m., the ballroom had cleared out as if the norovirus had struck!! We were the only ones left at our table, and the same could be said for most of the tables in the room. Although the band was outstanding, there were only about 20 (slightly drunk) people on the dance floor. Oh yeah, open bar . . . forgot that.
When we went to get a drink from the bar set up in the back of the ballroom, at 7, the nice bartender let us know that they would be packing up just before 9 p.m. HUH?
Indeed, we didn't last much past 7:30, as clearly everyone had headed upstairs to the casino. Oh well, there were a lot of great drawings/promotions,so why not?
We watched the New Year's eve countdown, televised from Fremont St, rather wistfully, wondering if we had made the right decision to come to M instead of the D.
Well, YES! Spouse won first place in one of the player's club drawings, $750 in free slot play, and then won again in one of the table games' drawings, $500 cash! Alas, nothing for me, as usual . . .
Since we were down for the trip, and we were flying back home on New Year's Day, we immediately started playing some more video poker.
Sat down at a Double Deuces $2 progressive. First Spin at that machine:
Well, I'd like to say, we kept playing. But, NO. We wanted to go home with some money. That put us ahead for the trip. This is the second trip we've had to M where we manage to win it all back, and then some, only on the day before we leave.
One of these trips, we might win on the first day instead . . .
Incidentally, I had this big win just shortly after midnight, so I think I may have been the first hand pay at M for 2014.
What was strange was the W2 G was a 2013 form, but the win date was 1/1/2014. When we asked the slot attendant who hand paid us whether this was a win recorded in 2013 or 2014, they were unsure, since their official gaming day apparently does not end at midnight.
HMM. Our solution: get our win/loss form and verify if this win is recorded for 2013 or not.
Anyway, the new year's eve party itself was a bit disappointing (didn't think we would be watching the party/fireworks on the casino televisions!), but winning on the last day made up for it.
Next year, will probably opt for Fremont St., if we get casino invites again.
We had an invite for five free nights at the D and/or Golden Gate, along with two wristbands for the Fremont Street New Year's eve party, and a private party hosted at the D. Our other invite was for a private party at M Resort, along with free nights. We originally thought we could do both, until we spoke to someone at the D, who let us know that getting in and out of the Fremont St area would not be easy on the day of the party.
So, we went with the M's invite. The private party was to be a dinner, dancing, and a "welcome in the new year" event at 9 p.m. Yes, you read that correctly, 9 p.m.
We arrived at M a few days before the big event, and engaged in our usual favorite video poker, and some blackjack. Alas, luck was not on our side, and we consistently lost, never getting any big wins. However, we held out hope that some of the player promotional drawings on New Year's Eve might bring us luck and a little bit of cash/free play.
The New Year's eve dinner started at 6 p.m., and was very lovely, with assigned tables, a fantastic band, and a fabulous buffet with items such as jumbo shrimp. This was NOT the same shrimp we had become accustomed to on the M Studio B buffet (which are rather small but acceptable.) Everything was excellent, but really the jumbo shrimp were the best! One of the couples at my table told us that they had attended last year, and that things winded down pretty early. We thought they meant 9 p.m.
Ha!
By 7 p.m., the ballroom had cleared out as if the norovirus had struck!! We were the only ones left at our table, and the same could be said for most of the tables in the room. Although the band was outstanding, there were only about 20 (slightly drunk) people on the dance floor. Oh yeah, open bar . . . forgot that.
When we went to get a drink from the bar set up in the back of the ballroom, at 7, the nice bartender let us know that they would be packing up just before 9 p.m. HUH?
Indeed, we didn't last much past 7:30, as clearly everyone had headed upstairs to the casino. Oh well, there were a lot of great drawings/promotions,so why not?
We watched the New Year's eve countdown, televised from Fremont St, rather wistfully, wondering if we had made the right decision to come to M instead of the D.
Well, YES! Spouse won first place in one of the player's club drawings, $750 in free slot play, and then won again in one of the table games' drawings, $500 cash! Alas, nothing for me, as usual . . .
Since we were down for the trip, and we were flying back home on New Year's Day, we immediately started playing some more video poker.
Sat down at a Double Deuces $2 progressive. First Spin at that machine:
Well, I'd like to say, we kept playing. But, NO. We wanted to go home with some money. That put us ahead for the trip. This is the second trip we've had to M where we manage to win it all back, and then some, only on the day before we leave.
One of these trips, we might win on the first day instead . . .
Incidentally, I had this big win just shortly after midnight, so I think I may have been the first hand pay at M for 2014.
What was strange was the W2 G was a 2013 form, but the win date was 1/1/2014. When we asked the slot attendant who hand paid us whether this was a win recorded in 2013 or 2014, they were unsure, since their official gaming day apparently does not end at midnight.
HMM. Our solution: get our win/loss form and verify if this win is recorded for 2013 or not.
Anyway, the new year's eve party itself was a bit disappointing (didn't think we would be watching the party/fireworks on the casino televisions!), but winning on the last day made up for it.
Next year, will probably opt for Fremont St., if we get casino invites again.
