Mission...VEGAS!!!

Greetings!

My Las Vegas trip report, which will be added to my blog for posterity when discussion dies, shall be separated into posts by pairs of days and is as follows:

NOTE: Many specifics about The D will be withheld as I am writing up a Review on The D. However, I will mention certain events that occurred at The D in this trip report.

Wednesday-Thursday

Pittsburgh-Cleveland

The trip started with everything going as planned. I took my son to school, and my Mom was on time to pick up my daughter as well as take my wife and I to the airport.

We arrived at the airport approximately four hours before the departure time of the flight, three-and-a-half hours before boarding call.

Our plane, which would be the first of THREE flights Beth has taken in her life (more on that later) was a twenty-seat double-propeller plane that felt a bit shaky from the time we got underway.

Beth turned to me and asked, "Is this really a good plane for us to be on?"

I replied, "Well, hun, there are really only two possibilities: possibility number one is that we die, and possibility number two is that we live, but worrying about whether or not we will do either shall not have an effect on the result."

Beth rolled her eyes and called me an idiot.

Beth was initially dazzled, but quickly became bored of the view from the sky, I booked her window for all of our flights. She mainly became bored because the clouds hung low that day, so while beautiful for a few minutes, become tedious when they are all you can see.

It was our best landing of the trip.

Cleveland-Las Vegas

Upon landing in Cleveland, we decided we wanted to get something to drink. It didn't take me long to spot a Great Lakes brew pub near our gate of departure, so I ordered the Imperial Stout, "Blackout Stout," while Beth chose to drink iced tea still lacking confidence in her stomach on the plane. I don't remember the exact price, but was annoyed that it was north of $12.

We then went and sat at our gate, Beth decided she was hungry, so she asked me to get her a sandwich from Subway. I thought about getting a Meatball Marinara, but decided to do it too slowly, and by the time I had returned with Beth's sub, a substantial line had formed behind me.

There was a young boy, of about seven-eight who was crying because he was not going to be seated near either of his parents. The boarding person asked if anyone would volunteer seats that were side-by-side, I looked at Beth and she nodded the, "Go-Ahead." We both ended up in middle seats with her behind me.

The flight was largely uneventful, and with exception to the occasional array of twinkling lights below, there was really not much to see.

We arrived in Vegas, and I made a lame joke about not leaving the airport because the Video Poker machines were already there, but self-corrected with, "Including undoubtedly bad paytables, I'm sure."

Axelwolf and an associate picked us up at the airport to take us to The D. Axelwolf had a play in mind for which I cannot divulge the specifics, but let me assure you, he told us we would be paid a fixed amount for our participation whether or not the result was optimal, or even particularly good. Due to circumstances of which we are still unsure, the result was not particularly good, but Axelwolf (true professional) kept his word and compensated us, in advance, in fact.

Axelwolf first took us to The D, where we checked into our room.

My wife and I hung out at the casino where the play was taking place. We intended to go to the buffet, but it was closed. We went to a food court and had Chinese food from an establishment I shall not identify by name for fear of giving away the location. I found a few Ultimate X machines for nickels with multipliers left behind and came up a dollar ahead.

I thought that I had found such Ultimate X machines in the High Limit room, but was later informed that not only did the multipliers have to be showing, but that they should also say, "Next hand." OOPS! I'd never seen the game live before!

Prior to that event, Beth and I went to the bar and had a drink. I believe it was a Bradford for me and a SoCo and Coke for her. The whole trip was a great bonding experience for the two of us, I'd forgotten that SoCo and Coke was her second favorite mixer. She had originally ordered a Mac & Coke, but seriously confused the bartender, I suppose McMaster's cannot be found in Las Vegas...it's a common well/call drink (whether it is well/call depends on the bar) in my area.

I had also confused the bartender who didn't know what a Bradford was. I explained that, "Bradford," is the correct name for a shaken Martini, and that if a Martini is shaken, it is technically no longer a Martini because a Martini must only be stirred.

We left the establishment and went back to The D.

Axelwolf bode us farewell, and we went up to our room.

Wandering around The D, it didn't take us long to find Vintage Vegas (Second Floor) or for Beth to discover that she thoroughly enjoys Deuces Wild Video Poker. I hopped between $0.05 Caveman Keno and Deuces Wild for $.05/unit = $.25/bet when Caveman Keno would turn south for a dollar.

We played about even and had a few drinks, but not many, Beth was tired from the flight so wanted to grab something small and quick from the McDonald's located in The D and go to bed...I set out on Vegas:

I ended up playing most of the night, first I went to the El Cortez (always wanted to see it) and hit for $60-something on Caveman Keno. I went to the Craps Table at the El Cortez and won about $20, which could have been more, had I not been tipping so heavily.

I went to the Golden Nugget and the Player's Club was closed, but I was able to use my $60 Poker Chips for $50 coupon from ACG and ran that into a win of about $30. I was actually just strategizing to sit there, fold all but monster starting hands, and leave...but I got monster starting hands! I actually ended up down when my pair of Kings got beat by a guy wanting to see his River Flush draw, but then came back with Trip-Fours, folded a few more hands, then decided to leave.

I deduced that most of the Player's Club booths would be closed, so I set about looking for left behind multipliers on Ultimate X. I found a couple such situations in various casinos, but lost a few bucks overall. I found a highly advantageous Progressive on quarters JoB and went after it, lost more than I should have, and decided to call it a night.

I went back to where I had found it the following morning (coffee run) because I was going to camp there for Axelwolf in case he wanted to take it, but it had already been hit. I still forget the casino, the casinos are really packed in Downtown and even somewhat close together when you get away from Fremont Street Experience, so I was paying more attention to machines than where I was going. If I saw a door going outside, I just went through it until I found one going inside, then I went in there and only stopped when I saw Ultimate X or a sign about Progressives.

In retrospect, I may not have even went to the same casino or bank of machines the following morning, though I'm pretty sure I did.

At that point, I resolved to just stick to low-risk AP, if I were to do AP at all, but generally just to goof-off for nickels and enjoy my time in Vegas.

Before any of you get too excited, it was a resolution I would keep.

I hit the hay, I believe, at 4:00a.m. and was up and ready to rock at about 8:30a.m.

A Bradford? Who are you, Noel Coward? What was
your impression of Vegas, did you hate it? I know
a guy who hated it and never went back.

Quote: EvenBob

A Bradford? Who are you, Noel Coward? What was
your impression of Vegas, did you hate it? I know
a guy who hated it and never went back.

Loved it, more to come.

Get ready for the return trip home, EvenBob, I've got some of the schaden to the freude that will knock your socks off!!!

Good start!

Thursday-Friday

"Beth Can't Lose!!!"

I woke up at roughly 8:30a.m. on Thursday morning, at which point Beth politely insinuated that I would be a hero to her if I were to go and fetch some coffee. As mentioned, I believe I went to the proper bank of machines and machine to check on that VP Progressive, and if so, someone had hit it.

I made the mistake of getting mudwater coffee from the McDonald's at The D, the same mudwater coffee McDonald's' (?) at home offers, and that was another mistake that would not be repeated. Beth took one sip of the coffee and declared it, "Awful," for my part, I managed to choke down half of a cup.

Beth had some difficulty recovering from the flight, it seems that jetlag takes a greater toll on her than it does me, could be a first time flying thing, so as she struggled to work up the energy with which to shower, I went down to the Vintage Vegas room. Loose Deuces was occupied, as it had been the previous night, but I would get my shot at that machine on another day.

I looked around and found a game called, "Joker Poker," which I'd never really paid attention to. The Joker Poker game for nickels at The D is actually 200/100/50/20 which pays 100.64% given Optimal Strategy, though The D has no signage to illustrate this fact. I felt that the strategy was intuitive enough that I could play, "Good enough," Joker Poker and was wrong. Actually, my only serious error (other than exceptions) after checking WoO:

https://wizardofodds.com/games/video-poker/strategy/a-1-b-79-c-1-d-0-d-1-d-1-d-2-d-3-d-5-d-7-d-20-d-50-d-100-d-200-d-800/

Was that I should always hold Two Pair, even Two Pair involving Kings or Aces...or Kings AND Aces with no Joker. I kind of felt that the 4OaK draw had enough value that it would be better for me to throw away one of the Pairs, and that decision is ALWAYS wrong. For what it's worth, I may not have played perfectly, as I lacked the time (or the printer) to obtain Perfect Strategy, but I think I played very well after making the big correction on that play.

In any event, it's my new favorite Video Poker game. I love it and couldn't get enough Joker Poker during my time in Las Vegas.

Beth was ready and I decided to show her my fun new game before getting something to eat. After observing that there was only one Wild Card instead of Four Wild Cards, she declared herself unimpressed, and went back to Deuces Wild! For a reason known only to her, and despite my many protestations, she would only bet $0.05/hand, and would only rarely (based on some sort of feeling) bump it up to the Max Bet of $0.25. Eventually, this would change for the most part...though I'd still occasionally see her only doing the $0.05!!!

She hit a few nice hands in her rare $0.25 bets that morning, including a couple of Wild Royals. She also hit the Four Deuces once, but was at $0.10, for some reason!!!

I found that the coffee (also complimentary, if playing) at The D was just strong enough and served in a little glass with a thick paper holder, better than going to McDonald's and paying for their crap, that's for sure!!!

We both went to The Player's Club at The D and signed up for the card, receiving the complimentary $3.00 in Free Play, which we quickly lost taking a micro-shot at slots.

I memorized the location of some Rock Around the Clock games at The D and other places, and never once found a good play!

We were at a complete loss at what to do for food, but I had a buy-one get-one buffet at Golden Nugget with the Player's Club card, so we went and signed up for Player's Club cards and proceeded to the buffet. We also received $5 Free Play each (I think) and each a deck of cards, my son loves them!!!

In a sample size of two (Main Street Station) the Golden Nugget has the better buffet in Downtown Vegas. If not a bit cramped, the offerings are pretty varied and it is a great value for $14.xx for two, although, I'm not sure how I feel about $14/apiece (if not for the coupon). I'd probably pay it, but there are better choices if one is going to drop $30+ after tips. Everything at that buffet was pretty good, except the brisket was a bit underdone and the cheesecake is awful.

By the way, what is it about Vegas cheesecake? They don't know anything about cheesecake, either the cheese itself is crumbly (Golden Nugget) which is exceptionally bizarre, or the crust is not at all flaky and does not separate from the pie. (Main Street Station) Those were two embarrassing cheesecakes, and quite frankly, the cheesecakes at Wal-Mart in the bakery section are significantly better.

On the other hand, the kielbasa was great as was most of the other items. The dessert selection was really good for a low-price buffet, and beverage service was pretty quick to come around with refills.

I'm rethinking that $14/person, yeah, I'd pay it.

After hitting that buffet, we ran around from casino to casino and knocked out most of the low-level introductory sign-up offers and a good many of my ACG coupons. I believe the only ones that I missed the first day were $5 slot play at Plaza and LVC as well as $10 Match Plays at both locations.

We retired back to our stomping grounds at Vintage Vegas in The D, the absolute coolest room Downtown, and played some more video poker in our bank. Beth was on her Deuces Wild with me on my Joker Poker. She continued to hit good hands, and I continued to lose $5.00 every half hour, or so.

Wizard came up and met us at about 5:00p.m., I was feeling pretty good because I'd hit back-to-back $5.00 4OaK's on Joker to bring myself back to even. Meanwhile, Beth was hitting Four Deuces on DW as though there were ten of them in the deck, but unfortunately, only Max betting in the rare event she felt the desire to do so!!!

Wizard, Beth and myself played Sigma Derby for awhile with Wizard's strategy being to bet on the medium shots, Beth mimicking Wizard, but throwing some slightly less underdogs in there, while I focused on long shots of 30:1, or longer. The strategies employed by Beth and Wizard paid off while I lost every single bet and declared that I hate Sigma Derby, in jest, of course.

Axelwolf and Wizard both had very nice presents for me, for which I'd like to thank them again!!!

Axelwolf showed up a bit later and after playing Sigma, Wizard and myself had a prop bet on the quarters off of elbows catch. I won on a technicality that, if Wizard were to drop any, I would win by default as he was going first. He made the technicality, not me, which is good, because I could never have been successful with that amount of quarters. $1.00 for me!!!

We went to Chicago Brew Pub at Four Queens to take advantage of the spend $20-$50 get that amount in Free Play promo for Thur-Sat-Sun-Mon, unfortunately, they had called it off for that Thursday as there were no NFL games being played that day. However, they were kind enough to inquire as to whether or not that was our reason for being there ahead of time, so we didn't spend anything.

We wandered around for a little bit trying to decide where to go, and Beth declared that she was tired, but asked me to come back to the room around 9:00p.m. to see if she wanted to come back out.

Eventually, Axelwolf, Wizard and myself went to Hash House a Go-Go, I forget what Wizard had, but Axelwolf and myself were not particularly hungry and shared a dish that I also forget. It wasn't very memorable, and I was thoroughly unimpressed with the food...or the price!!!

We did have a very good natured waiter who engaged in prop bets with us such as whether or not he could identify the Vice-President (Nope, -$1.00 for me) and guessing his age for $2.00 each. Axelwolf and I had a side bet for $1.00 in which I stated no two people would guess the same age, my mathematical reasoning was based on an age range that Axelwolf thought was crap because I went potentially way too old. Wizard and myself guessed 28, Axelwolf guessed 27, so I lost the side bet...but my theory was proven because the waiter was actually 32 and just a year shy of the upper range of my age range!!!

I lost the buck to Axel, but he handed it right back to me...lol

I believe it was before that that Wizard and myself posed with the Million Dollars, so we went to collect that picture.

Axelwolf showed me a couple of plays on slot machines I'd never seen before, and explained the advantages, though I never actually ended up finding them at an advantage. I will look for them in January of '15 though, thanks, Axel!!!

Axelwolf led us to a decent AP opportunity that I cannot delve into too many of the specifics of, he free-rolled me and promised me a percentage of the win, if any. Unfortunately, the play was unsuccessful, but led to Free Play that Axelwolf taught me a new way to grind back, with nearly zero Variance, that I would have typically disregarded pursuant to the EV. I would go on to use this play in all my other Free Play endeavors, thanks again, Axel!!!

(Please no PM's to Axel about this, I'm not getting into the specifics of the play for a reason)

We ended up walking around downtown for a bit with Wizard and Axel encouraging me to continue to run around with them. Wizard placed a few sports bets at, I think, Binion's and got some drink coupons that he gave to us. I'd already had a Guinness because I was playing $1.25 DW (Broke Even) and showed the barkeep a $100 bill. Both Wizard and Axel suggest that I overtip, I was able to stop playing when I had the free drink coupon, so I tipped the cost of the drink. I believe I ordered another Bradford, but could be wrong. In any case, that bartender did not know what a Bradford was, and Wizard questioned whether or not the Bradford is actually its own drink. I tried to get a prop bet, but he declined.

I eventually used the word, "Exploitative," in describing strip clubs, which Wizard questioned as not an actual word. I challenged him on that and offered him a prop bet, which he initially accepted, but then declined because I practically begged him not to take the bet as there was absolutely no doubt about this one.

We walked down Fremont and the Wizard said I wouldn't let a dominatrix slap my ass with her whip for a dollar.

I had my ass slapped by a dominatrix for the first time ever, Wizard was disappointed that she didn't swing harder. I saw her a few more times over the weekend, and she always smiled at me. Christian Bale, son.

We went back to The D and I offered to go get Beth and see if she wanted to run around with us. Wizard suggested that Beth and I should just mill around together, and I said that I felt the same way, but didn't really want to come out and say it.

I went upstairs and got Beth and we set off to the Four Queens where we used Free Ace coupons (one win, one loss) Match Play coupons (win) Free Slot Play from their little coupon book because we each grinded out 10 points at the bar (free drinks) for $10 Free slot play and wound up with a small profit. We had a pretty nice run at the Four Queens, so we ended up there for about two hours. Beth kept hitting hands like she was playing with a deck comprised only of Deuces, Tens and Face Cards!!! I think she went up $50+ dollars, while I only made about $3 by the time we left!

We went around and hit the small places, such as Mermaids, and would play just long enough to get a drink or two. We played Quick Hits Progressives for pennies at five lines and 1 credit/line because it got us drinks. I ended up making more money than I rightfully should have because a machine jammed with $16-something in it and the guy said, "Screw it," and left, so I claimed the machine and waited on the guy to come fix it!!!

We went to Golden Nugget and did the same thing for a bit, but we stopped, because it's really hard to get a drink in there. She doesn't come around very often x three visits...

I took Beth to El Cortez, or tried to, but she refused to go until daylight as she was scared of that stretch of road.

We went back to Vintage Vegas at the D where Beth hit a Natural Royal Flush, but had only bet $0.05!!! She showed me the hand, then hit, "Deal," like it was nothing before I could get a picture.

We continued to drink heavily. She was drinking mainly Coronas, and I had found an affinity for Heineken that I had never previously had. She drank SoCo and Coke at Vintage Vegas, though...for such small bettors...they sure make them nice and strong for you!!!

After the nice Natural, we retired to our rooms at about 2:00a.m., went to sleep at about 3:00a.m. (wink, wink) and fell asleep talking about what the next day would bring...

Quote: Mission146

Loved it, more to come.

Get ready for the return trip home, EvenBob, I've got some of the schaden to the freude that will knock your socks off!!!

Don't encourage him. lol.

Didn't you do stories about gamblers before, like fan fiction? This seems in a very verbose format with chapter titles and everything. I like it, gives a lot of details.

Quote: Mission146

Wizard, Beth and myself played Sigma Derby for awhile with Wizard's strategy being to bet on the medium shots, Beth mimicking Wizard, but throwing some slightly less underdogs in there, while I focused on long shots of 30:1, or longer. The strategies employed by Beth and Wizard paid off while I lost every single bet and declared that I hate Sigma Derby, in jest, of course.

Before anyone starts following this strategy, it is more in the interests of maximizing fun than expected value. I feel bets in the 20 to 30-1 range both will be exciting if they win, and have a reasonable hope of winning. I fully admit is is negative EV. I only played it because I had some time to kill waiting for Axel, and I was getting free drinks while I waited. Plus, it was an opportunity to play waitress trivia. No, she didn't know who the vice president was.

Quote:

I eventually used the word, "Exploitative," in describing strip clubs, which Wizard questioned as not an actual word. I challenged him on that and offered him a prop bet, which he initially accepted, but then declined because I practically begged him not to take the bet as there was absolutely no doubt about this one.

Okay, now I realize why I didn't think it was a word at the time. Keep in mind I had been drinking at this point for about three hours. The way Mission pronounced the a sounded like the a in "can." I'm used to it being pronounced with an a as in "cane." Somehow it sounded like a made up word the way Mission said it.

In case anyone is wondering, Mission said the Glitter Gulch, and all strip clubs, were expoitative, while I feel a business transaction between two consenting adults is a glorious celebration of the free market and nobody should stand in its way (except allowing for some government regulation).

Quote: Perdition

Didn't you do stories about gamblers before, like fan fiction? This seems in a very verbose format with chapter titles and everything. I like it, gives a lot of details.

Thank you for the compliments, while limited, I do pride myself on what descriptive writing ability I do have.

You spent too much time at the D. I hate that
place, I hated it when it was Fitzgeralds. The
table games are crammed together, the music
is too loud, it has a strange layout. I spend
most of my time in Binions-Queens-Nugget-Fremont.
I love the buffet in the Fremont, it's old Vegas
style, cheap, and the layout is great. Good food
too. I like Binions because it's so old, and really
dark inside. It has character. It's very easy to
get drinks there, they give me beers even when
I'm just watching and not playing.

damn boy, 2am-3am, you are a stud. For me its more like 2am-2:17am

Quote: Wizard

In case anyone is wondering, Mission said the Glitter Gulch, and all strip clubs, were expoitative, while I feel a business transaction between two consenting adults is a glorious celebration of the free market and nobody should stand in its way (except allowing for some government regulation).

I like this statement except for the part in parenthesis.

Friday-Saturday

"The Quiet Day"

I got up at about 9:00a.m. and went on my usual coffee run, for some reason, I had remembered that Mermaids had pretty good coffee, I think I had been taking a small break from drinking and had coffee instead. I had remembered to take care of something that I needed to do, and then walked over to Mermaids and shocked the counter girl when I ordered two coffees to go.

"Coffee, to take with you? I have big cups, but no lids."

"It's not the end of the world, we'll be back to play later."

Apologetically, "But, you're not playing now, you know I have to charge you for these, right?"

"Sure," I replied, "I know it's Vegas, but I don't mind paying for things, sometimes..."

She couldn't actually figure out how much she was supposed to charge, so settled on $2.00, I found her confusion somewhat amusing, so I tipped her the same as the cost of the coffees.

I met my favorite street performer in all of Vegas on my way back. He's a Jamaican ventriloquist who said, "This is my man, right here, walking into The D with his coffee, don't they have the right coffee at The D, my friend?"

I informed him that the coffee at The D was fine, but I was out and about anyway, and tipped him a buck. A buck or two every time I saw him would quickly become a thing.

Beth woke up and wasn't hungry, but she decided to slam down her coffee and get the day started anyway, I always shower second in case it is frigid, (see review) so I finally went down to Vintage Vegas and found Loose Deuces open!!!

I played about a thousand hands of Loose Deuces, checked with Beth (who needed a little motivational help) after the first 500, or so, and came back down. In this time, I hit three Wild Royals, two 5OaK's and three SF's within about 1,000 hands and finished about $10 ahead of the game.

I had Three Deuces dealt to me on three occasions, but couldn't convert, excellent draws that didn't convert (with one exception) would soon become a recurring theme for me.

Beth came down and we both played Video Poker for about three hours, there's no machine beside Loose Deuces, so I switched to Joker Poker and she hammered away at Deuces Wild. I think she loves DW more than anyone I have ever met, and I encouraged her to play LDW, but she declined stating that it would be easier to tip $1.00 per pair of beverages (She wasn't drinking yet, I abstained Friday) brought to us. I switched to Caveman Keno, briefly, and then back to Joker Poker after losing twenty decisions in a row. Ultimately, we ended up combined for down $10 after three hours, but my +$10 on Loose Deuces balanced it out and I was even for the day...to that point.

Beth eventually suggested that I walk her around the periphery until she became hungry, because she knew that she really needed to eat given her drinking the night before. She said to me, "You can sure rev your drinking engine up quickly, can't you?" I explained that I had already been in drive!!!

We went to the El Cortez, with which she was thoroughly unimpressed, and checked out a few of the others. I forget which casino it was, but one casino promised a free slot tournament that took place on the game you were already playing within your first handful of spins, as well as $5 Free Play for signing up. We did the tournament which consisted of pounding a slot machine as fast as possible while simultaneously trying to hit this duck that would go by. Beth ended up beating me on the game, but nowhere near enough points for it to matter in terms of winning, and then decided she was hungry and we left $8.00 ahead.

For some reason, we had made our way over to Mermaids because she wanted to see one of the machines Axel told me about because I was having a really difficult time remembering what you were supposed to look for on it. I found it, remembered and told Beth.

Our day started off quietly and would continue quietly, something about The Golden Gate had appealed to us, I believe it was because I ended up on their Craps table the night before and won a quick $20, and we found Dupar's restaurant.

Dupar's is incredible in terms of ambience, it's like walking from out of the semi-flashy Golden Gate casino scene and into a small-town diner that might sit on the corner in the deep South. The waitresses are dressed in traditional 60's diner outfits combined with the one piece dress with knee-length skirt and high socks. The diner is lined with photographs of the old casino, as well as San Francisco itself, along the walls. It's really an incredible dichotomy, to go from a hopping, loud and busy casino into such an atmosphere. It's unique, it was only one of two places Downtown where we ever felt that we were not in a casino.

I ordered the Watermelon Salad (which came with no Watermelon, I actually thought it wasn't supposed to have it, as not mentioned in the ingredients) and Beth got the Country-Fried Chicken. I declared my salad divine, and preferred it without the watermelon. The olives were some of the most tart I had ever experienced and were a tremendous offset to the sweetness of the balsamic vinaigrette dressing and slightly pungent crumbled feta cheese. Mine also came with Date Bread, superb flavor, though the last piece must have come from the end of the pan as it was hard.

I'd still give Dupar's a 9.5/10 based on that!!!

The coffee refills came quickly, and the food took quite some time, about forty minutes, but it was just fine because the ambience was so pleasant. Beth had to remind me to lower my voice, on multiple occasions, because I was used to having to speak at what I call, "Casino-Level."

We departed Dupar's and ran around and gambled here and there. Beth felt that a little bit of a re-upper might make her feel even better, so she went for SoCo's and Cokes, but specifically asked that they not be too strong, while I asked for coffee everywhere we went.

We eventually ended up back at Vintage Vegas, it was always Vintage Vegas!!! Where we played for about three hours and combined to lose $15, by which, I mean that Beth won $10 and I lost $25!!!

I asked Beth where she wanted to go for dinner, as it was her day, and she said, "Just take me somewhere, I'm having a lot of fun today!"

I decided that the Magnolia's Veranda Prime Rib at Four Queens for $9.99 sounded like a good deal, so decided to go there. Beth ordered the Chicken Breast Melt, and it was absolutely terrible!!! The chicken was underdone and rubbery, but the fries were really good, slightly crisp on the outside and very airy on the inside.

I ordered my Prime Rib well done, and it came that way. Very fatty, though, they wanted to make it appear bigger so did not trim it. The appearance would be enough to turn off many, including Beth, who declined a bite, but I don't let stuff like that get to me too much. The Prime Rib itself was delicious, but would have been better if they had done a better job trimming it and I didn't have to deal with all of that fat, even if it would have APPEARED smaller.

I had a baked potato on the side, which is impossible to f*** up, but they gave me four little cups of sour cream, but went cheap, because only one sour cream cup had chives on top. I'm one who doesn't really think you can taste the chives that well, anyway, but was really annoyed with what I felt to be a cheap gesture. My green beans were undercooked and not seasoned at all.

Unfortunately, Magnolia's shall have the dubious distinction of being our worst dining experience, 3/10. The service was also somewhat slow, especially given how small it is, and I had a coffee cup that sat empty for no less than ten minutes.

The Prime Rib is also only $11.99, anyway, but that and the fries were the only things that were any good, and the Prime Rib had a disgusting appearance.

By no means am I a restaurant expert, but I say DO NOT go to Magnolia's...even though the Prime Rib actually tastes good.

We basically just did some more running around and Video Poker playing for the comped drinks, though I was drinking water at this point, and Beth didn't drink too much because she didn't want to get, "Stupid," without me. We ended up back at Vintage Vegas and broke even on our return trip there, I compelled her to let me shoot Craps at The D where I proceeded to absolutely suck and loose $30. No more dice for me, except Match Plays.

We went to bed and actually went to sleep much later than going to bed. I declared that I was going back to Vintage Vegas for a bit, and what seemed like immediately after making the declaration, found myself waking up...

EDIT: Matthew McConaghuey (Spelling) was also at the Four Queens surrounded by security, Beth didn't realize who it was until later. She pointed and said, "Look," I said, "They're allowed to come in here, too, for some reason..." (I saw a baby in a stroller, I thought Beth was surprised, Beth thought my statement was a rude jab at celebrities.) I never saw the actor, but wouldn't have bothered him, anyway.

Why Four Queens? Seems strange, but Beth was sure of it.

Quote: EvenBob

You spent too much time at the D. I hate that
place, I hated it when it was Fitzgeralds. The
table games are crammed together, the music
is too loud, it has a strange layout. I spend
most of my time in Binions-Queens-Nugget-Fremont.
I live the buffet in the Fremont, it's old Vegas
style, cheap, and the layout is great. Good food
too. I like Binions because it's so old, and really
dark inside. It has character. It's very easy to
get drinks there, they give me beers even when
I'm just watching and not playing.

I agree that the Tables area is cramped and generally not very good. You'll see that in my Review, which should be coming soon.

The Vintage Vegas floor makes up for whatever other shortcomings the casino may have, in my view, both Beth and I love the mix of Classic Rock and Show Tunes, we love the ambience, the service is exceptionally fast, they don't care AT ALL how much you are betting to get comped drinks, the girls are friendly, their little black outfits with the high boots are cute, sexy, but not slutty...the game selection is amazing for Video Poker...etc.

There is no better value downtown, in my opinion, for the small time bettor who likes to play VP on the cheap, than the Vintage Vegas room at The D.

NOTES:

Binion's: I liked Binion's, and for the same reasons you do. The drink service there was really slow, when it existed at all, when I was there, though. Although, they did give out a few nice little introductory offers such as a Free Spin for Free Play when you earned five points and $10 Free Play for Ten Points earned automatically. They also have the Million Dollar picture, which is a cool memento of the night I first met Wizard in person. Absolutely free.

I think Hash House a Go-Go was at the Plaza, if that is the case, I don't think I ever actually ate at Binion's...

Four Queens

Filthy public bathrooms, sample size, five out of five. I had to do the dirty twice, ugh...desperately tried to make it to something else the second time, had to settle on the least disgusting one, and kind of self-clean it briefly and use the toilet cover. Neglected in terms of cleanliness. Chicago Brew Pub is good, Magnolia's sucks.

Great offers!!! Free Spin on the thing, wish Four Clubs was a winner because I had it, or maybe it was Clubs, whichever is not a winner I caught one time. Nice little piece of introductory Free Play, good Free Ace, MatchPlay and Free Play coupons that can apparently be used once per month. Free deck of cards upon signing up for the club. Changing the carpets, apparently, never know what area will be closed.

Cool Free Play match on $20-$50 Chicago Brew Pub receipt. Definitely the smelliest casino, but that's okay.

Pretty fast drink service.

Golden Nugget

Very cool, great buffet, nice intro offers and ACG coupons. Aesthetically appealing, cool nightclub, from what I heard, didn't actually go to it. Free Cards when you sign up, average drink service, but fast at the bar.

Very hot in there, though. Hottest casino downtown, don't understand why they do that.

Fremont

Good food court, cool atmosphere, very, "Vintage," feeling. Dunkin' Donuts a coffee must Saturday-Monday mornings. $3.00 Craps, always full, except for yesterday morning, (Have I only been gone one day!?) only bet that I made yesterday when there was finally an empty table.

More on that later, we have three day pairs left right now...

I have to get this done, so I can move onto my Review, First Draft will be submitted no later than tomorrow, late p.m. or early a.m. the following day.

Need sleep, haven't slept since yesterday morning...wait until you hear why!!!

Quote: GWAE

damn boy, 2am-3am, you are a stud. For me its more like 2am-2:17am

I'm Christian Bale, my wife thinks I look like him, too. My entire existence was justified with that one compliment!

Quote: rudeboyoi

I like this statement except for the part in parenthesis.

Thanks. Somebody has to make sure there isn't hair in the soup.

deleted

Quote: Mission146

We did have a very good natured waiter who engaged in prop bets with us such as whether or not he could identify the Vice-President (Nope, -$1.00 for me) and guessing his age for $2.00 each. Axelwolf and I had a side bet for $1.00 in which I stated no two people would guess the same age, my mathematical reasoning was based on an age range that Axelwolf thought was crap because I went potentially way too old. Wizard and myself guessed 28, Axelwolf guessed 27, so I lost the side bet...but my theory was proven because the waiter was actually 32 and just a year shy of the upper range of my age range!!!

You didn't prove your theory. Our side bet was not on what age range he was in. The bet was if I thought 2 people would guess the same age. I was betting on what I thought you me and the wizard thought his age might be. Since we all guessed practically the same age, that disproves your theory. You were looking at it in a pure math sense. I was reading your minds :). I knew you would never guess real old or real young so you can eliminate 30-32 and anything under 24. You defiantly had the worst of it on that bet. If you only paid $1 to the wizard for the Vice president you owe me $1, because I bet the waiter would not know as well. perhaps I had a side bet on that with the wizard and not you? I doubt that B/C that would be hedging.

There were quite a few other prop bets I cant think of right now. Also they would be a better read coming from you.

Quote: Ibeatyouraces

We enjoyed the 2 for 1 entree coupon for Magnolias. Had the prime rib which was excellent.

Never had bad food at Magnolia's, eaten there for
years. Not great, but not bad. I like the Mexican
build a giant burrito place in Plaza. You can get
it to the size of a football.

deleted

Please tell us you didn't stay Downtown the whole
time, that you made it to Wynn and Bellagio
and Cosmo and Venetian. That you ate at
the Paris buffet and at Caesars. Downtown
is great, but it's Vegas c1965..

magnolias is my favorite place to go for chicken fried steak.

Quote: EvenBob

Never had bad food at Magnolia's, eaten there for
years. Not great, but not bad. I like the Mexican
build a giant burrito place in Plaza. You can get
it to the size of a football.

Magnolias is just OK Its a bit above the average Vegas coffee shop with better prices. I judge a place on the quality of the soup and the sauces.

deleted

Quote: rudeboyoi

magnolias is my favorite place to go for chicken fried steak.

Yes! I was trying to remember what I had there
in May. That crappy cafe in Binions has a real
good CFS also, I got it twice with a Queens
coupon book. By one get one free, both times
I ordered CFS doubled. Melts in your mouth.

Quote: Wizard

Thanks. Somebody has to make sure there isn't hair in the soup.

regulation isnt necessary. you just dont give action anymore to the place that has hair in their soup.

Quote: AxelWolf

You didn't prove your theory. Our side bet was not on what age range he was in. The bet was if I thought 2 people would guess the same age. I was betting on what I thought you me and the wizard thought his age might be. Since we all guessed practically the same age, that disproves your theory. You were looking at it in a pure math sense. I was reading your minds :). I knew you would never guess real old or real young so you can eliminate 30-32 and anything under 24. You defiantly had the worst of it on that bet. If you only paid $1 to the wizard for the Vice president you owe me $1, because I bet the waiter would not know as well. perhaps I had a side bet on that with the wizard and not you? I doubt that B/C that would be hedging.

You're a good read, this I know, Saturday was awesome, will be posted within minutes.

What a memory!

Quote:

There were quite a few other prop bets I cant think of right now. Also they would be a better read coming from you.

Thanks for the compliment, I'm nostalgic, sleepy, and trying to remember...

Quote: EvenBob

Please tell us you didn't stay Downtown the whole
time, that you made it to Wynn and Bellagio
and Cosmo and Venetian. That you ate at
the Paris buffet and at Caesars. Downtown
is great, but it's Vegas c1965..

No, screw every single one of those places.

That's not Vegas, those are casinos for people who hate casinos.

Quote: Ibeatyouraces

The only thing I don't like about downtown is that there it's just to much congestion. Are they finished with the construction of that giant slot machine thing?

Yes, and the first reel doesn't work.

deleted

Quote: Mission146

That's not Vegas, those are casinos for people who hate casinos.

You better have gone there or I'll be very pissed.
That's Vegas, baby, ask Elvis and Frank. I love
DT, but the Strip is a different world.

Based on the video at MCD's, to me you resemble the actor from The Matrix who was possessed by Agent Smith to sabotage Zion.
Im also betting your wife wasn't tired because of jet lag, but because you weren't consciously remembering what time it really was. Too bad the airport didn't have Christmas Ale because that's the best beer. I saw Charles Barkley once at Rivers, but I think McConnehey wins the celebrity sighting game. Wonder if he paid up though because when I asked a floor person much later about it, she literally said "Charles Barkley isn't Shit."

Did many of the VP machines have broken buttons in Vegas? It always seems to be happy accidents for casinos to horribly maintain the machines, but I've never been to Vegas and wonder your experience was.

Saturday-Sunday

"Mission: Nuggets"

I woke up Saturday morning at about 8:30.a.m. and set out to Dunkin' Donuts for coffee, now coffee was a big no-no prior to the Nuggets Challenge, which has been discussed at-length and shall only be briefly described in this report, but DAMNIT I was so congested, water wouldn't do.

I went first to where I had to go to do the second stage of the play that Axel had laid out for me, it never paid off with the desired big hit on the first night, but we got everything back and a dollar more. Axel took care of me, even though we didn't really win, I think he may have been concerned that I was going to forget.

After the play was finished, I used a Match Play and ACG Free Play for the same place, wanted to get the big thing out of the way first and make sure I wouldn't unintentionally void it. I won a little bit on both of those plays, think I went with BJ instead of Craps, for some reason. I want to say it was a single-deck game into which I jumped in on the second round at +3 with my Match Play. I believe that's right, memory is a bit hazy that morning, should have had coffee first.

I played the Bubble Craps with what I had won on my own Free Play and lost $4.00, but still kept $7.00 of what I had won on the Free Play. I think Bubble Craps sucks, it's too slow for what it is supposed to be. Shoot to Lose, or something like that. Fifteen or thirty second wait even though I was the only player and had no intention of doing anything except betting the Pass...must be compelled to make other bets...not compelled...bored and annoyed. Fifteen roll losing hand followed by an eight roll losing hand that took a combined twelve minutes, or so.

Coffee time.

I got my coffee and saw my Jamaican ventriloquist friend, today's quip, "There goes Fidel Castro smoking his little cigar, but Fidel, have you forgotten your wife? No, you can't forget your wife, Fidel Castro, two cups of coffee!? That second cup can't be for me, it must be for your wife! I didn't know you were so nice, Fidel Castro!!!"

I love that guy! Three dollars!!!

I went back to the room and then to Vintage Vegas while Beth got ready, broke even on Loose Deuces by the time it was my turn to shower. I asked Beth if I could have a half hour, and she said she wouldn't mind getting on-line for a half hour, so I must have looked like a lunatic as I ran approximately a mile and then jogged for another fifteen minutes after...back and forth...up Fremont street...back down...run in place at the Don't Walk sign...sprint on the Do Walk sign...back and forth...up and down...waving Cowboy...Golden Gate...wave at Mermaid's Clowns...run in place...give me beads...give you a dollar...running with beads...sweating...wave at Jamaican ventriloquist..."Fidel Castro is running, running for El Presidente!!!"...running for Nuggets...must eat 100 Nuggets...Everything going by so fast...so fast...so

Familiar.

I realized in that moment that I belonged there. I realized that there couldn't be and never will be any place for me besides Downtown in Las Vegas. I decided that I could never move to Vegas, Downtown cannot be easily accessible, not because of any threatening gambling problem, (I'm betting $0.25 Max, at this point, and had been on anything other than Free Plays and Match Plays) but because Downtown has to remain a special treat to me.

Familiar, but special.

Of course I will go back, I have to go back, but I can't go back often. It will lose something, Downtown is just familiar enough, I know where I am going, I know why I am going there, just familiar enough that I know where to find the people that I want to see. I know where to go for quiet, for Vintage, for flair, for style, for fun, for laughs, for music, for eye-candy...

Whatever I want, whenever I want it.

But, it must always remain special, an aspiration, something to look forward to.

Beautiful.

It must always be beautiful.

It will always be beautiful.

The girl in class when you're in Middle School, the girl you stared at when you were supposed to be learning why we declared our Independence. We declared our Independence so places like Downtown Las Vegas could exist.

But, that girl...if you'd have gotten her permanently it'd be ruined. You'd notice that she wasn't perfect, maybe she had a habit of not showering every day, perhaps a slight gap in her teeth that you hadn't noticed. Something imperfect.

But, Downtown must always remain perfect and beautiful. You can slow dance with her, but don't try to take her, don't make her your own. Make her a memory, because memories always remain perfect.

Great run, great thinking.

I hit for $64 and $16 in short order on Video Keno when Beth and I went downstairs, Caveman Keno, Seven Balls x4 then just Seven Balls, $0.20 wager, waiting in Vintage Vegas, both of us $60 ahead when it was all said and done.

I felt that I couldn't lose, but then I lost the Challenge.

There is only one way to respond to this...

"PARTY!!!"

Axelwolf, Wizard, Terapined, RudeBoyOI (Read it hammering the emphasis on the last, "OI"), Bahdbowy didn't come to the party, but I saw he and his girlfriend the following morning, hope she's feeling better!!! PaiGowDan and wife did not come to the party, either, which I felt was a real shame, but it's okay.

We went to Chicago Brew Pub and worked on getting drunk, Beth with SoCo and Coke, me slamming the Big Brutus 50-ouncer, smoking lots of cigars, drinking trivia, prop bets, great time!

Hey, Wizard...TOUCHDOWN BUFFALO!!!!

He got his $1.00 back, why throw a bomb on First just to kneel on second?

I ran some sports bets for Wizard, he can say whether it was Fremont or Binion's but the conversation was as follows:

"We don't accept Round Robins, here, buddy."

"What's a Round Robin? I don't understand what you mean. I'm just taking a shot! The D just took the same bet!"

"Well, this is a Round Robin, and don't ever come in here and try this again," then he ripped the bet cards in half and threw them in the trash.

"Scared to bet me? Cowards!"

I left. I was able to get bets down everywhere else, except Four Queens, but that's because one of the games had just started.

Everyone went and took care of getting the Free Play loaded, but we had an engagement at Golden Gate scheduled for 8:00, a bunch of naughty Santa's helpers. I mistakenly told the Wizard that it could be redeemed before Midnight because that is when the Player's Club closes and we ate before 10:00p.m.

It turned out that he had to be redeemed before 10:00p.m., but I'm eating half of it, I gave incorrect information based on a bad interpretation of the terms, however, this is somewhat allayed by the fact that I strongly encouraged Wizard just to get the Free Play before we even left.

We had to meet some people from The D, Table Games Manager, Hotel Manager (who was called by the Table Manager), the Owner of The D and Golden Gate was even there, I didn't formally meet him, but I went up and asked to shake his hand. He chatted with me briefly, only guy in a red jacket, maybe the only guy ALLOWED to wear a red jacket, very important, but also very personable.

Drinking...drinking...drinking...decent little win at Caveman Keno. Drinking Guinness, gunning them down, girls everywhere, Beth drinking her SoCo and Coke, I complimented the bartender and told her that Beth and I found her more attractive than any of the Santa's Helpers and that she'd definitely win the contest...instead of small glasses for free, she switched me to HUGE mugs of Guinness for free. She admonished me once for not playing, I played, after awhile she didn't care whether I was playing or not, me and Beth were making her blush with our compliments!!!

You had to give the Santa's Helpers you liked tokens. If Wizard says he can't charm ladies, don't believe him!!! He looked a bit annoyed, but maybe not, when I asked him for a few tokens because he got another stack and I was only given one. The same girl visited us, Wizard had given us three tokens, I gave her one of them and told her she could have another if she kissed Beth on the cheek...she kissed Beth on the cheek, then gave me a hug...I gave her both of my last two tokens.

She liked us, we made her laugh. She wasn't in it entirely for the tokens, RudeBoyOi was there and everyone but he, us and Wizard had left. Terapined was tired, Axelwolf had something to do. She stayed and talked to us for three-four minutes, even though I told her that I had no more tokens.

There was a really cute Blackjack dealer, had to play her Table, won $10 and tipped her $5 of it. I find Asian girls exceptionally attractive, and South American girls, I never knew that until that day.

I thought about going to strip clubs and was back-and-forth, Wizard gave me a great run down. How close can you hold your fingers together? That's how close I was. Beth encouraged it, but I decided not to.

No Free Play for Wizard!!! I asked for Beth's permission, begrudgingly granted, to go and argue my case for his Free Play. I told him my forcefulness would be based on the verbiage of the sign, the verbiage was right, my understanding was wrong. Tried an angle. Wizard was chasing a Video Poker Progressive, that's why he didn't come!!! Angle didn't work, "It's not that I don't believe you, it's that I can't put it in after 10:00, anyway, system won't let me."

I lied, and so did she.

It's okay, I lied first.

Back to Golden Gate, Beth upset thinking I caused a scene, Wizard ensured Beth that I was very polite. RudeBoyOi has faith in my VP strategy and makes me play his machine for him, there was a different bartender, so we kind of took turns ordering drinks based on play at the same machine!

Wizard was very focused on one girl, she won, she may have won based on only the chips he had! I don't think he gave anyone else tokens!

We sat around and mused, talked girls, bets, advantage plays, strip clubs, terms and conditions, and finally, we left.

We walked back to the hotel room, everyone went up to my room, #402, they had sent Housekeeping up on a special Stayover cleaning or I wouldn't have let them in, please see the Review of The D when it comes out, it still wasn't very good, at all, but Wizard and RudeBoiOi didn't seem to notice.

They ended up leaving, Beth and I ended up going back out to party some more. Casino to casino, Mermaids, Video Poker, drink after drink and finally back to our little corner of Vegas, known as Vintage Vegas.

Familiar.

We had run through our Free Play, Axel had us do his for a 50/50 split, I believe, he must have had somewhere really important to go.

If it's REALLY important, Axel ain't going to tell you, so don't bother asking!!!

I think Axelwolf might be the single biggest badass (in terms of pure coolness) I have ever met. He's the dude who every gambler wants to be.

But can't!!!

I'm still drinking, though, losing now, Beth's watching Loose Deuces, switching to Joker Poker, drinking comped drinks. Beth's playing Deuces Wild again, close to Basic Strategy, I'm impressed, but we lose and lose and lose and go up to the room...and win again...and are slightly ahead for the day, but she is done, and I am going back out!!!

More Golden Gate, just checking you out, girls, not going to play Roulette, sorry. Sitting at the bar, more Guinness, staring at my watch (promised to be back in two hours) staring at the girls. Going to Mermaids, winning, hit $50 on I don't remember what.

I'm really drunk at this point, but not alarmed or anxious, just peaceful and content. I walk through The D and check out those girls, pretty slow, the girls at Golden Gate seem much more spunky, really bored Deuces Wild Hold 'Em Fold 'Em dealer. I try a wink, she tries an eyeroll, rock beats scissors, eyeroll beats wink. Just trying to make her laugh...she looked so bored!!!

Back outside, escalator up, enjoy the view...

Back to the room, win again, wake up at 11:30a.m., or something like that!

Quote: onenickelmiracle

Im also betting your wife wasn't tired because of jet lag,.

I agree. Too short a trip for real jet lag. Flying is
stressful if you're not used to it, that's what makes
you tired.

Quote: EvenBob

You better have gone there or I'll be very pissed.
That's Vegas, baby, ask Elvis and Frank. I love
DT, but the Strip is a different world.

I went to two, for reasons that I cannot disclose. I wouldn't have went to either, otherwise, I want nothing to do with The Strip.

Quote: onenickelmiracle

Did many of the VP machines have broken buttons in Vegas? It always seems to be happy accidents for casinos to horribly maintain the machines, but I've never been to Vegas and wonder your experience was.

Nope, not one, but the screens seem to hang up for a second every now and then. Thought it was just Loose Deuces, then started noticing it elsewhere.

Quote: Mission146

We went to Chicago Brew Pub and worked on getting drunk, Beth with SoCo and Coke, me slamming the Big Brutus 50-ouncer, smoking lots of cigars, drinking trivia, prop bets, great time!

hey now! i slammed the 50oz Big Brewtus too and on top of a 22oz beer :)

Sorry I missed the GoldenGate. 1st nite in Vegas is allways rough on East Coasters.
After 3 nites Downtown, spending next 3 on the strip.
Playing Poker cash game at Ballys right now. 1 -2 no limit. Up about fifty.
Free wifi in the poker room.
Just got kicked off craps table 1/2 hr ago. It was 5 minimum then changed to 10 min. They wouldn't grandfather me .

Quote: rudeboyoi

hey now! i slammed the 50oz Big Brewtus too and on top of a 22oz beer :)

You held your own against me, young champion, but my powers of pounding mugs of Guinness Stout supersede the sipping of your eggnog!

Quote: terapined

Sorry I missed the GoldenGate. 1st nite in Vegas is allways rough on East Coasters.
After 3 nites Downtown, spending next 3 on the strip.
Playing Poker cash game at Ballys right now. 1 -2 no limit. Up about fifty.
Free wifi in the poker room.
Just got kicked off craps table 1/2 hr ago. It was 5 minimum then changed to 10 min. They wouldn't grandfather me .

I'm glad everything is going (mostly) well, it was a pleasure meeting you guys!

Quote: Mission146

You held your own against me, young champion, but my powers of pounding mugs of Guinness Stout supersede the sipping of your eggnog!

i would climb mountains pounding steel reserves. beat that!

Quote: Mission146

No, screw every single one of those places.

That's not Vegas, those are casinos for people who hate casinos.

I guess it depends on what your goal is whenyou go to vegas. If they(downtown) have machines that are more favorable for the general public to win on, and thats your entire goal...then mission accomplished,

But vegas has the biggest concentration of top entertainment in the world per sq mile......if you fly all the way there and never want to partake of this,,,then downtown is fine

Vegas has the highest concentration in the world of top places to eat per sq mile.......if you fly all the way to vegas and never want to partake of that....then downtown is the place to be.

A few years ago it was announced that for the first time, non gambling income outpaced gambling income for the casinos...meaning the casinos made more money from entertainment, food and shopping, conventions and lodging,,,,than from gambling. As more and more people partake of the many other things vegas offers.
entertainemnt/shopping/fine dining.

I live in the san francisco area and they just closed down candlestick. Even though it was falling apart, had electrical problems causing black outs, had urinal troughs for group urination.had poor sound system, long lines at food places., horrible weather with a nightmare getting in and out....people are bemoaning that it was such a great place.

To me downtown is the "stick" of vegas. People have great memories or heard great storeis of how it used to be....but for me it has outlived its usefullness. Some people even think Frank and Sammy used to perform there...but I always thought they hung at the Sahara which was closer to the main strip/

If they have machines with better payouts...then I soften the above declaration and say they have outlived their usefullness except for pople who like machines and want a better chance of making money. Or for people that seek to play machines only and play lower denomination table games...without pampering themselves with the food/shopping/entertainment of the strip.

When I drive 10 hours to vegas, I am looking for more than gambling.(but full disclosure, I lived most of my life in NJ with AC available, and the last 10 years moved to ca with a home near reno......so AC and reno are not really any different than downtown....so why would I seek downtown vegas.....)

However if I was going to vegas and looking for cheaper accomodations, table limits, and machines ...downtown is a damn good choice.

Very wise not taking up lap dances even after encouragement from your wife. It never ends well. I wouldn't have done it either, but would have thought about sneaking back later since permission was granted and ignorance is bliss. lol.

I got the same feeling you did seeing DT when I was in AC or when I saw the Rolling Stones for the first time. The thing is they're all on the way out with certain deaths, but nobody knows when. It's probably great but just be prepared to be a little more disappointed every time you go back.

What I found interesting was missions multiplication abilities. He was able to add up large multiplication numbers quickly in his head. While Mike used a calculator to confirm. Rain man possibly. Rain man or not, I will take him on, on various selected prob-bets, bring your paycheck.

Quote: AxelWolf

What I found interesting was missions multiplication abilities. He was able to add up large multiplication numbers quickly in his head. While Mike used a calculator to confirm. Rain man possibly. Rain man or not, I will take him on, on various selected prob-bets, bring your paycheck.

this gives me an idea for a challenge. drinking plus math problems.

Sunday-Monday

"All Good Things"

I woke up at 11:30a.m., or so, time has never been more relative. By some miracle, no hangover. I don't get hangovers, but if ever there was a morning for an exception to a Rule, this was it.

Got lucky.

Went to play some Joker Poker while Beth got...alive...sort of...saw Bahdboy's girlfriend first, playing a Nickel slot where the thing moves around, she was shooting the breeze with me, so I sat down to play. He's at Loose Deuces, looks focused, didn't want to bother him but he came over shortly. I lost $6.00 or $7.00 to that Nickel game, played Loose Deuces, I forget what happened, but whatever it was, it didn't happen for very much.

I switched to Joker Poker on a whim, hit a decent run, then TWO WILD ROYALS for $25 apiece within five hands. Texted the Wizard about it, had to, I'm finally immortal!!! Except, I texted him at 4:xxp.m., long after it happened, no my cell phone changed with the timezone, did text Wizard when it happened. Bragged about it to Bahdboy and GF, not really bragged, just feeling good. I went to check on Beth, they were staying...I forget...Four Queens? I bode them farewell, exchanged numbers.

Beth was still dragging, we had gone to the food court at Fremont the night before, she had, "The best orange chicken I have ever tasted," she was drunk, the Chicken was okay, at best! I was drunk, Bacon, Home Fries, Weird-Looking Scrambled Eggs, Biscuit...I thought it was outstanding!!!

I suggested that Beth might need to eat, we hit Vintage Vegas for awhile first and then went to the buffet at Main Street Station.

The Main Street Station is probably the nicest casino downtown, in terms of aesthetics, very opulent, but not too much...close...vaulted ceilings, gold everything, smells good (why should it smell this nice?)...almost gaudy, falls just short.

The buffet had a very diverse selection, I had pizza, enchiladas, corned beef brisket, dim sum, cheesecake, carrot cake, cheese-breakfast-something, great coffee, snapper, something like a spring roll but not called that, rolls, bread, roast...the roast was WAY underdone...something called, "Portugese Sausage," that just tasted like Kielbasa, to me.

The cheesecake was weird, crust strangely adhered to the pie, does anyone make good cheesecake in Vegas?

The buffet gets a 7/10 overall, the selection was more diverse than the Golden Nugget, but the actual quality of each individual dish was very inconsistent. Definitely the best coffee I had in Vegas, nice Asian waiter who did a great job keeping the coffee coming. I'd hit half a cup and he was there, friggin' mind reader, really nice guy, too, didn't understand a thing he said, but his incomprehensible words had a friendly note and he was always beaming!

Jamaican ventriloquist, "Fidel Castro, later than usual, I see your wife is with you today, and you are still smoking your cigar! For me? No, I don't smoke THOSE kind of cigars, I'm kidding, I'm kidding! Your last day here? It can't be true, I'll miss you, Fidel Castro!"

Five bucks! I love that guy!

We played in Vintage Vegas, I had some Free Play and a Match Play from ACG that I had forgotten about for Las Vegas Club, went and did that.

We walked through the California just because I wanted to add another to the list and didn't think I'd been in there, didn't do anything.

We went shopping and hit every souvenir store on Fremont, we had a great time picking out stuff for the kids and everyone back home...hopefully it gets here tonight...

We scheduled breakfast with the Wizard for the following day, back to Vintage Vegas, light drinking, SoCo and Cokes for both. 5OaK on Joker Poker for $50, I am the friggin' man!!! I texted the Wizard immediately.

We went to Four Queens to Chicago Brew Pub, Beth had SoCo and Coke and I had the Brew Sampler, great stuff, except Summer Wheat, only beer I can't stand.

We buy a ton of cigarettes and expensive mini-cigars using both of our cards, $94 Free Play returns something like $95.50. I thought we lost $0.50, Beth says we won $1.50, getting paid to smoke...but soon I'm getting paid NOT to smoke.

Crazy life.

Beth was feeling great, our son is a bit under the weather. Benny's Bullpen, but had to sign up for cards, lose $11 chasing 10 points, but got them and $5 Free Play on the Wheel Spin and $10 Free Play automatically, played some Triple-Play VP game and won a few bucks. Beth's not up for the Bullpen, I can see it, she's hit her limit, so we went to D Grill.

The D Grill was the absolute best service we received during our entire time in Vegas! Beth goes with the Shrimp Fettuccini Alfredo while I have the Wild Mushroom Burger and fries, well done, both were excellent! More on that in the review.

Beth has finally had enough, but not quite enough, we go up and win again.

"Just a Little More"

I get permission to head back out. I just start walking around, silently saying goodbye to everything that I won't see again for quite some time. Really good band on the Experience stage, "Friends in Low Places," playing, everyone sings along...this guy is good! I went ahead and sang along, too, nearest couple to me looks at me like they're impressed, or embarrassed, until the guy says, "You're not bad, yourself."

I winked and fired up one of my expensive mini-cigars, they smell great!!!

I went to Mermaids and won about $10, tipped it away pretty much at random. The girls in front ask me to put it in the, "Tip jar," and rub their cleavage, I thanked them but said they'd have to put it in the tip jar themselves.

I wanted to get a picture of my dominatrix friend, but she looks angry about something and stalks into the Golden Nugget, better not bother her.

I see one of the glitter-butt girls running around with her ass out, I hand her a dollar and ask if her ass is cold, she said she's used to it.

I forgot one thing, must write down all Table Games available at the D, only thing missing from review, go back and take care of that.

I went and walked through every casino I'd been to at that point, occasionally sitting and going through the motions of playing just long enough to get a fresh SoCo and Coke. I missed El Cortez, too far out of the way.

I went back to Vintage Vegas and won another $10 on Joker Poker.

I went back to the room and won again.

I took one last walk through the Four Queens, I don't know why I picked the Four Queens, saw some silly VP game where you get a bunch of special hands for a Natural 3OaK, 4OaK or FH, played until I hit it, worst possible draw, lost $5.00 in total.

All good things must come to an end.

I went to bed, about 1:00a.m., the next day would be a long one.

...Even longer than I thought.

In fact, it hasn't actually ended, now technically two days later!

Quote: rudeboyoi

i would climb mountains pounding steel reserves. beat that!

January 2015, it's on, bro!!!

Quote: Mission146

January 2015, it's on, bro!!!

Oh sure put it off for a year :)

Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday(!)

"It Can't ALL Go Smoothly"

I get up at 6:30 (YUCK) a.m. because I have breakfast scheduled with Wizard for 8:30, my cell phone has crapped out in the middle of the night. Axel is my ride to the airport (thanks, bro!) and we also have something quick to do, which shall remain confidential.

It's worth it to get up early to have another good meal with Wizard.

I head over to Dunkin' Donuts and Fremont is dead, Fremont Street is dead, the $3.00 Craps Table is empty.

One time.

I grab the coffee and go over and set it on the floor. I go to the table and pull out a five and ask for five blue, or white, whatever color they are here.

I put $3.00 on the Pass and roll a Four.

I put $2.00 Odds behind it.

"You have to bet at least $3 Odds, my friend," I am admonished.

"You say I have to bet three, but I can't see, why that should be, because the Odds are for you, not me!"

The dealer seems impressed with my improv, "Really? Thanks!"

Four rolls and a Seven later, I take out to Singles and tell them to lock them up. "I just had to shoot at the $3.00 Table once."

It was my only bet of the day, but I hadn't even begun to lose.

I get back and Beth is already in the shower, I'm hurried along and admonished for trying to get the Internet up and keep it working for longer than three minutes. I finally get a shower and we hang out for a minute, call Axel from the room phone, plans are still set, and head to Golden Gate to meet Wizard at DuPar's.

I have the watermelon salad which has watermelon this time, liked it better without, ironically. Beth has the country fried chicken, and I forget what Wizard has.

I never said anything, but Wizard generously offered me some of my own roll (It comes with the salad, he thought it came with his food!), they were supposed to ask me what kind of bread I wanted, but we both forgot, it's cool.

Wizard, naturally curious, asks me all kinds of hotel-related questions, a few answers are, "Off the record," but most are not. I share the story of the woman with 20K of jewelry in a skin cream container, Wizard is thoroughly amused.

I demand to be allowed to pick up the check, should have made a prop bet, the Wizard grabs the tip and is surprised at how high the bill was. I had collected my Match Plays from Four Queens for him, and gave him four Match Plays for $40, Wizard gave me a license plate from Nevada and a cool Red Rock Casino shirt.

I think it was Red Rock, it hasn't gotten here yet.

Wizard takes us on a cool little Downtown tour, we start with the Golden Gate and Wizard can't remember what it was originally called, we see that it was the, "Hotel Nevada," on a picture a bit later on. Wizard shows us the first telephone in Las Vegas as well as other things in that display, he originally thought it was the first telephone ever, and seems a bit surprised to realize it is just the first one in Vegas. They had an old guest registry which I found particularly interesting, Wizard comments on how nice handwriting was back then, I remark that nobody will know how to handwrite at all in a few generations, and for my part, you can only make out the, "P," in my signature.

Wizard took us over to the Golden Nugget and showed us their pool with the waterslide that goes through the shark tank. The security guard seems concerned that we were going to try to go into the pool, but Wizard quickly talks his way past him. The Wizard then showed us an actual gold vending machine, as well as the world's largest golden nugget. We discuss the purity of that gold, and then talk about gold prices. He's speculating, I don't think $1,300 is a good buy, and he admits that it may not be.

I need a back-up plan in case I don't get ahold of Axel, Beth bids the Wizard farewell because she wanted us to go for a final walk together before I leave Vegas. I would never have experienced the greatness that is Vegas without Wizard bringing us out there, I just didn't think it could be what it actually is.

We walk to the transit station and are surprised to find that it is long closed. Wizard, Beth and I had discussed the nursing and hotel profession in Vegas and the possibility of me moving out there. For reasons I couldn't identify, I tell Wizard, "It's a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live here." I realized why when I reflected on that Saturday morning run, accessibility to it all, at-will, would ruin it.

I walk Wizard to the parking garage at Main Street Station, and there is a final prop bet that can't be resolved until I come back. I think Wizard is making sure I come back at some point. At that moment, I realized that Wizard is actually one of my best friends. "I'd like to volunteer my services as Forum Moderator," who the Hell would have thought it!?

I walk back to The D, kind of wanted to reminisce, but I really need to get ahold of Axel. I do get ahold of him, and Beth and I sit and talk and wait for him to call up that he is here.

I go to the desk, check out, and politely ask to keep a room key, even though I know they cost $0.02/each and the answer will definitely be yes. I ask when all of the authorizations will be returned to my account, "Usually three days, or so, could be longer with the holiday."

Correct answer, but, "Business days," would have been more precise.

We meet Axel and the drive to do what we had to do takes longer than I thought it would, but not quite as long as it seemed. There's a good conversation with him and another associate who may or may not wish to remain anonymous. We discuss the value of a few different advantage plays, a few theoretical ones, and a recent advantage play that had tremendous value. We discuss back-counting, wonging-in, the value thereof, and the kind of spread needed as Rules get worse. I remark that some bad games could seemingly be good with a large enough spread, if one is seeking to avoid heat, because nobody in his right mind would think someone is counting that game. I feel secretly proud when Axel and associate both agree with me.

We do what needed to be done and head to the airport. We can't find the United terminal, so I say, "Just leave me here, it's cool, it can't be far, we'll take care of it." They wanted to keep looking (nice guys!) but I talked them out of it.

"What the fuck is wrong with this place!?"

McCarran Airport absolutely sucks.

Beth and I walk around for nearly an hour looking for the United check-in, we get turned away by TSA screening because we have our big bags. I carried 78.3 pounds (combined weight) for nearly two miles because there is a, "New terminal," at the airport that's about forty-two miles away from the one we were at.

Covered in sweat, I ask a security guard for directions, her directions to get to the shuttle for the correct terminal are accurate. I sigh in exasperation and say, "So, about another mile that way, then?"

She gives me a sympathetic smile, "It will seem like that, honey, I'm sorry. This happens all of the time."

We arrive at the bus and I am soaked in sweat, we get on the shuttle and make it to the United check-in after walking another half mile. I have to wait in line, they don't want my bags until I use the check-in computer thing, I use said thing, now they'll take my bags...which they could have just done in the first place.

I'm calling the airport everything except an airport at this point, we have to find the tram, go back to where we came from!!!

We go back to where we came from and find the gate. I want to play Joker on a (probably) bad PayTable, Beth talks me out of it, and asks me to please go get her something to drink.

I buy a Sprite for $4.00, (it's supposed to be free!) I should have put the $4.00 in Joker, what a waste of money! (Kidding, kidding)

Beth says I should get a drink, and I refuse, principle alone. I saw a pizza for $12, ask Beth if she could eat, and she says she could after that walk. I go to the pizza stand and it is the size of a Totino's pizza.

"The price is reasonable, the pizza is not," I say to Beth.

We board, Group 3, no ID this time.

Things are going well.

Later, I may have said, "Things were going so well."

"Windy City, Windy Times"

We get on the plane and sit next to a nice guy, stayed at one of the bigger name casinos, but I forget which. I also forget his name. I'm sorry, man, shoot me a PM if you see this, remember when you saw me snooze on the plane? That's the last time I've slept.

We get to talking about his main game, Craps, and he also plays Roulette. Mandalay Bay is where he stayed, I just remembered. I talk to him about all of the 10x Odds game downtown for low minimums, and he asks me about all of the different bets, I recite House Edges for him based on what the bet pays. I explain the difference between Placing and Buying and explain why he should never do anything involving the Four or Ten, straight-up, except at Santa Ana Star, but that he should rather toss $21 with Commission paid and take the Buy rather than only betting $5 or $10 on it.

We talk about the Field Bet, and I remark that, "While I don't play it, it does have the lowest edge of any single-roll prop bet, especially if either Snake Eyes or Midnight is tripled, so if you get bored, you could do worse than the Field. I also explain that the Field doesn't have as big of a potential payout, which is why there is a lower House Edge. 'Bigger the pay, bigger the edge, generally.'"

He is curious about Pai-Gow Poker, and I explain the Basics to him and describe that it is a better game than Roulette if you just want to stretch $50, provided the minimum is $5, because of the high rate of Pushes. While not an Optimal Strategy, I describe a strategy that could be used simply to maintain a high push rate.

He asks me some more questions about Craps, mostly interested in the Hard Ways, I give him a brief description of the Math (because it's easy) and what makes the House Edge and why the Hard Ways are bad bets. Smart guy, he gets it. I give him wizardofodds.com and wizardofvegas.com and explain what I do here on the Forums, hopefully he'll join!

He hit a straight number on Roulette with a $21 bet out there, but he said that he lost it all back. I briefly explain the extreme Variance that comes from making a straight number bet.

We discuss Odds at Craps and he intuitively knows that higher Odds are good, and is impressed with what I have to say about Downtown Odds, he says he will consider staying downtown next time. I tell him he'll have more fun.

We discuss Video Poker and I tell him all about Vintage Vegas, cheap fun, great Odds and cheap drinking. I suggest he should stay at The D if he doesn't care too much about how clean the room is.

We disembark, the landing was impressive given the high wind.

But, United was not impressive.

We are moved from gate C30 to C2, no big deal, Beth gets some Orange Chicken that she declares mediocre and I get an awesome Triple Cheeseburger and fries from a place where I forget the name. They have a sign in front of a glass bowl that says, "Tips...Remember, it's Christmas!" It is Christmas, I tipped $3.00, unexpectedly the guy says, "HEY," and everyone working yells, "MERRY CHRISTMAS!"

Cool place, amazing grilled burger!

We go to C2 and have been moved to C4, we go to C4 and have been delayed. A pensive looking guy my age informs us that we have been delayed because they must find a crew for the flight.

We are moved to C6, Indianapolis gets moved to C4.

United Airlines Flight 3444 travelling from Chicago, IL to Pittsburgh, PA has been cancelled.

We are directed to Customer Service, there is a HUGE line. We are directed to a new customer service, everyone starts heading quickly that way. I trot down the escalator, Beth is not behind me, she catches up, "GO," she exclaims. I said I thought she'd be mad if I left her behind, but she says that she doesn't want to wait in line.

I sprint.

I end up outpacing everyone and being the last person to be taken care of immediately. I cannot have a rental care voucher. I cannot fly to Cleveland. I cannot fly to Columbus. I cannot fly to Cincinnati.

I can fly to Pittsburgh on Wednesday, Christmas Day, mid-afternoon. I will be given hotel and food vouchers.

Unacceptable.

I ask for a refund and am told there is a phone number that handles that, it will be seven days before I know how much I am getting, and seven days after that I will finally get it.

We attempt to get a rental car, but you have to have a credit card for one-way. My credit card is in my safety deposit box, I only have a Debit Card, and now I have told United Airlines to forget about the flight and I am royally fucked.

I call my Mom, she doesn't OWN a credit card, as it turns out.

I could pay for this fucking rental car in CASH, right now, I think.

Must have a credit card.

I am royally fucked.

Missing Christmas with the kids.

I see a couple with their adult son wearing a bunch of Steelers gear, connecting flight to Pittsburgh, they're coming from Wisconsin, went to see the Pittsburgh @ Green Bay game. I approach them with a strange mixture of politeness and franticness and explain the situation. They're renting a car anyway, so I offer to pay for the whole thing AND drive because direct access to my checking account is apparently not good enough for Hertz.

They don't know where to go, I do, I hurry everyone to the Shuttle to Rent-A-Car places. Avis is sold out, Budget is sold out, Hertz has cars, we get on the bus.

The long story short is that this gentleman is pretty picky, and perfectly content to stay in Chicago if he doesn't like the price, even though I'm paying!!! Some college kids come around and tell me I can throw in with them if this doesn't work out, they're going to Pittsburgh, too.

The gentleman's wife (and he was a very nice guy, just stubborn, for the record) convinces him just to do what I want to do because I seem to have good judgment, and most importantly, I can see at night!

The son can't drive, foot problems, we get a Dodge Avenger.

24 Hours, one-way $358.

Good, now I get to drive through a blizzard!

Did I mention I've never been to Chicago, other than the airport?

I-94 is basically I-90 down to I-80 which goes through Indiana and Ohio and becomes I-76 in Pennsylvania which is only thirty miles from the airport.

477 miles, 7 Hours and 5 Minutes (My ass!!!)

The long story short is I drove through a blizzard for about 8.75 driving hours, two stops, fuel only, staring blankly...thinking bizarre thoughts...wishing I had stayed in Vegas...desperately trying to stay awake...everyone else in the car is sleeping.

It would be....so easy....just to................WAKE UP!!!!!!!

This was a test of both will and endurance, lives were at stake, based on my ability to stay awake AND drive with very little visibility.

Enough dramatics, I had that.

Yup!

Okay, so my Mom picks me up at the airport, and that nice family decides just to chop the bill in half with me, gas, tolls, car, everything. I'm still out $220, less whatever refund United Airlines decides to give me, but it could have been worse.

I try to sleep in the car on the way home with limited success. I'm wedged between a booster seat and a baby seat, my kids are back there, my daughter is asleep, Beth wanted me to sit in front, but I couldn't let her sit uncomfortably wedged in the back.

So, I sat uncomfortably wedged in the back.

Sleep was hopeless, just a 90 minute state of semi-consciousness. Go to the store, pick up Christmas dinner for tomorrow, Beth went in, I am completely dazed and confused. She asks for $100, I take out my wallet and just throw a bunch of bills at her, I couldn't READ $100.

My Mom gets me Burger King, don't know why, Christmas Eve dinner at my Mother-in-Law's in three hours.

I'm still happy, and hungry, grateful for the BK Coffee especially, which is actually pretty good, thank my Mom profusely for the coffee and keeping the kids!

Go home and put down our carry-ons. Our actual bags and 95% of our stuff from Vegas are...somewhere. United will call when they know where somewhere is, at least they're taking them to my house, but they'd better not offset that from the refund!!!

I don't know what happens for the next hour and a half. I was awake, but out of it. I smoked a couple mini-cigars on the back porch, I ate my Burger King...

My son is disappointed because none of his promised stuff from, "The Las Vegas," is there. (Come on, EvenBob, he's five, for God's sake!)

I start pawing around my carry-on, beads from Mermaid's for my daughter, she's two, she starts calling the beads themselves, "Mermaids," how cute!!!

Wait, what's this? A deck of Four Queens playing cards, another, Golden Nugget cards, "Look, buddy, I have most of your cards!"

He's ecstatic, I get my second wind, we play Blackjack! He invents a game where you decide how many cards you want ahead of time and the object is to get close to 30, the closer you get (based on how many or how few cards you take) the more you can win.

We only open one deck of Four Queens cards, he wants to open them all, but I suggest he should keep one deck from each place unopened, he agrees.

We head over to my Mother-in-Law's, I eat again, then I sneak the Christmas presents from her basement into my car and take them to my basement.

I go to work.

I'm sitting here typing a trip report when the phone rings, it's Beth, United called, said they will put the stuff on the front porch between 3a-4a but will not knock is she doesn't want them to.

I just now got a cup of coffee.

In addition to his other pre-Vegas presents, which are most of them, price-wise...My son will have all of his other stuff from, "The Las Vegas," in time for Christmas! I should get home before the bags get too cold and bring them in, it looks like.

I'm going to be leaving in a few minutes, everyone, I haven't started typing my Review of The D, yet, so that's going to wait until tomorrow.

There are priorities.

The kids get their Vegas stuff, my son wants me to tell him all about it.

I'm home and so is everything that belongs to us.

It was worth the drive from Chicago.

But, I really need to just lie down and die for a few hours.

Merry Christmas, everyone!!!

Nice job building up the suspense on the final section. Sure life helped with that. It is such a pain getting anything done travel wise without a credit card. If you would have known better, you might have been able to just tell them the debit card was a credit card but Im not sure. They always asked me if my credit card was a major credit card for some reason. Pisses me off sometimes because you wind up sometimes needing three or more times the money tied up than you'll actually have to pay checking in or renting a car all to protect them from some ridiculously small chance of losing a hundred, give or take. Meanwhile the criminals are handily prepared them drive these cars one way to Mexico.
At least you made it back. Was John Candy nice when you travelled home to Pittsburgh with him?