Trip report
February 20th, 2013 at 5:22:23 PM
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Hello folks! This is the field report of my first time traveling to Las Vegas. Need I say that I had a blast?
Between January 25th and 31st my family and I had two rooms booked at Paris. The reason I chose this hotel was that I had a great (IMHO) offer from my local travel agency. We got two double rooms: each for $79/week day and $99/weekend.
I know that there were probably better deals in town but the hype of being a first timer in Vegas required the experience to be at the Strip. I also would like to add that they were generous with comps. What a surprise!
My impressions about the hotel could not have been better, they really caught me I must confess. Actually, the whole family did enjoy it. The atmosphere inside the casino, with the decorated celling and their good selection of songs got us going along with the nice dealers that we had the opportunity to play with.
Maybe another factor that helped this was that we fitted among the clientele. My parents are in their mid 50s and I am 24yo. Even though I am very young and kept being carded at every table I sat I blended well with the 30s crowd. At the beginning I was kinda ashamed of slowing down the game at every table I would go but nobody seemed to care about how long the staff took to check my passport. What a great time we had!
GAMBLING
My dad and I signed up for cards. We gambled quite a lot in 5 days. Not that I am a highroller, nor is my dad but we did spend much time at the casino.
According to their records:
My dad played 26 hours of blackjack (6 sessions) in the regular floor with an average bet of $125/hand.
I, on the other hand, played 21 hours of blackjack (13 sessions) for an average bet of $30/hand and 4 hours of roulette ($10/spin).
We also played 4 hours of mini bacc together at $75/hand (It was his bankroll).
At the end of our stay my father had $231 in his player card and I had $29 – which we applied towards our bill. I believe this difference was enlarged because my father is crazy for slots. I don't know exactely but he must have played about 20 hours of slots during our stay. They were all penny slots but those machines that you can play 300 credits per spin. He is very fond of a particular slot machine called 'Da Vinci Diamonds'. Even though those machines ripped him off really big.
He was up $3k from the tables but ended up $2k down on the trip with a $5k loss at the machines.
Highlight: As I stated before I had a modest bankroll for the trip. About $1500. I had several small winning sessions at the blackjack tables and two big losses. The last day I was down $300 when I had an idea... I fed a $20 into a $5 slot machine, the one with the Blazing 7s, and hit 3 bars for $200.
I am not a slot player but since Lady Luck started to show off I decided to give a try at the so famous WMS slot machines that have a minor and major jackpot and that have to pay before they reach $50 and $450. I fed the machine a $100 and played 150 credits at a time, decided to go 'til the end. The machine seemed very tight, I was down to $35 within 20 minutes when I got 9 Kronosses and 3 wilds on the screen. Result: A $330 hit + the Major jackpot that was at $368. Only because of that I ended my trip up $500. I know it feels good to win, but winning on a slot machine when you have never played them before feels even better.
COMPS
Unfortunately we had prepaid our rooms. After talking to a host I felt that if we had spent more she would have still comped it.
But we charged our meals and other expenses to my dad's room. Here it is what we spent:
Cafe Madeleine: $78
Le Village Buffet: $223
Le Cafe Ile St. Louis: $280
JJ's Boulangerie: $96
Eiffel Tower Restaurant: $750
Internet and dry cleanning: $75
My dad and I used our player card's balance towards the bill and the U$1150 left were gently taken care off. Maybe they were spoiling us as newcomers. The important part is that we had a great time and the Vegas experience was so nice that we are considering reduce considerably our gambling in South America to afford an annual trip to Las Vegas!
Between January 25th and 31st my family and I had two rooms booked at Paris. The reason I chose this hotel was that I had a great (IMHO) offer from my local travel agency. We got two double rooms: each for $79/week day and $99/weekend.
I know that there were probably better deals in town but the hype of being a first timer in Vegas required the experience to be at the Strip. I also would like to add that they were generous with comps. What a surprise!
My impressions about the hotel could not have been better, they really caught me I must confess. Actually, the whole family did enjoy it. The atmosphere inside the casino, with the decorated celling and their good selection of songs got us going along with the nice dealers that we had the opportunity to play with.
Maybe another factor that helped this was that we fitted among the clientele. My parents are in their mid 50s and I am 24yo. Even though I am very young and kept being carded at every table I sat I blended well with the 30s crowd. At the beginning I was kinda ashamed of slowing down the game at every table I would go but nobody seemed to care about how long the staff took to check my passport. What a great time we had!
GAMBLING
My dad and I signed up for cards. We gambled quite a lot in 5 days. Not that I am a highroller, nor is my dad but we did spend much time at the casino.
According to their records:
My dad played 26 hours of blackjack (6 sessions) in the regular floor with an average bet of $125/hand.
I, on the other hand, played 21 hours of blackjack (13 sessions) for an average bet of $30/hand and 4 hours of roulette ($10/spin).
We also played 4 hours of mini bacc together at $75/hand (It was his bankroll).
At the end of our stay my father had $231 in his player card and I had $29 – which we applied towards our bill. I believe this difference was enlarged because my father is crazy for slots. I don't know exactely but he must have played about 20 hours of slots during our stay. They were all penny slots but those machines that you can play 300 credits per spin. He is very fond of a particular slot machine called 'Da Vinci Diamonds'. Even though those machines ripped him off really big.
He was up $3k from the tables but ended up $2k down on the trip with a $5k loss at the machines.
Highlight: As I stated before I had a modest bankroll for the trip. About $1500. I had several small winning sessions at the blackjack tables and two big losses. The last day I was down $300 when I had an idea... I fed a $20 into a $5 slot machine, the one with the Blazing 7s, and hit 3 bars for $200.
I am not a slot player but since Lady Luck started to show off I decided to give a try at the so famous WMS slot machines that have a minor and major jackpot and that have to pay before they reach $50 and $450. I fed the machine a $100 and played 150 credits at a time, decided to go 'til the end. The machine seemed very tight, I was down to $35 within 20 minutes when I got 9 Kronosses and 3 wilds on the screen. Result: A $330 hit + the Major jackpot that was at $368. Only because of that I ended my trip up $500. I know it feels good to win, but winning on a slot machine when you have never played them before feels even better.
COMPS
Unfortunately we had prepaid our rooms. After talking to a host I felt that if we had spent more she would have still comped it.
But we charged our meals and other expenses to my dad's room. Here it is what we spent:
Cafe Madeleine: $78
Le Village Buffet: $223
Le Cafe Ile St. Louis: $280
JJ's Boulangerie: $96
Eiffel Tower Restaurant: $750
Internet and dry cleanning: $75
My dad and I used our player card's balance towards the bill and the U$1150 left were gently taken care off. Maybe they were spoiling us as newcomers. The important part is that we had a great time and the Vegas experience was so nice that we are considering reduce considerably our gambling in South America to afford an annual trip to Las Vegas!
No bounce, no play.
February 20th, 2013 at 5:56:30 PM
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Great report Aluisio! Your experience is exactly what makes Vegas great!
February 20th, 2013 at 6:12:15 PM
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Quote: aluisioMaybe they were spoiling us as newcomers.
Considering your dad's slot loss and that he has never played at a Caesars Entertainment (CET) company, they probably want to be generous, so he'll want to comeback. Your dad is exactly the player CET is looking for. Penny slots are the worst paying things in the casino, and I definitely haven't done well playing DiVinci Diamonds even on my play money PC game...lol 20 hours of penny slots at $2 a spin would roughly be an 20*2*600*0.12 = $2880 expected loss. If your Dad plays blackjack fairly well (but not perfect) and playing 60 hands/hr for 26 hrs at $125, then he would expect to lose $125*60*26*0.01 = $1950 expected loss. This is $4830 expected loss total, not even considering your expected losses. The amount of comps is 29% of his expected loss (and that's assuming his avg. slot bet was $2...I'm guessing it was possibly higher). Lumping in your and the rest of your family's play being comped this much is not too surprising. Comps in Vegas typically range from 1/4th to 1/3rd of "expected loss" with CET being on the cheaper end.
Good report though, and glad to hear that both you and your Dad lost less than expected in your play! :)
February 20th, 2013 at 6:19:11 PM
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We both manage to play proper basic strategy! And yes, we gladly didn't loose that much. Thanks for putting everything down like that!
Let's see if they will mail us anything worth flying!
Let's see if they will mail us anything worth flying!
No bounce, no play.
February 20th, 2013 at 8:31:04 PM
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Dang Aluisio, you were there the same time my wife and I were.
We came in on 12/30, stayed at Paris.
My wife hit that DiVinci Diamonds machine for $500 on 1/1/2013 I think, although it could have been 12/31.
We came in on 12/30, stayed at Paris.
My wife hit that DiVinci Diamonds machine for $500 on 1/1/2013 I think, although it could have been 12/31.
Always borrow money from a pessimist; They don't expect to get paid back !
Be yourself and speak your thoughts. Those who matter won't mind, and those that mind, don't matter!
February 20th, 2013 at 9:23:57 PM
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Quote: RaleighCrapsDang Aluisio, you were there the same time my wife and I were.
We came in on 12/30, stayed at Paris.
My wife hit that DiVinci Diamonds machine for $500 on 1/1/2013 I think, although it could have been 12/31.
You stayed in Vegas for a whole month?!?! I'm jealous! He stayed there from 1/25 to 1/31.
February 26th, 2013 at 3:18:13 PM
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Just got back from Paris - loved the trip.
Ramsey steakhouse was absolutely fantastic - we like the breakfast menu at Mon Ami Gabi as well - great blueberry french toast and waffles.
Had my worst blackjack trip of all time - fortunately caught 2 hot craps rolls and went 4-1 on college basketball to somewhat even out, but the blackjack was brutal this time out.
Ramsey steakhouse was absolutely fantastic - we like the breakfast menu at Mon Ami Gabi as well - great blueberry french toast and waffles.
Had my worst blackjack trip of all time - fortunately caught 2 hot craps rolls and went 4-1 on college basketball to somewhat even out, but the blackjack was brutal this time out.
February 26th, 2013 at 4:54:14 PM
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I'm glad things went well for you. Its good that you aimed high on your first trip rather than try to be cheap with room rates. Its a fun town and first timers should definitely be on the Strip.
