First WoV Thread! Vegas TR Feb. 12th-18th! Gaming, Tourist Pics, Shows, Craft Beer, and meet Wizard!
Thread Rating:
February 25th, 2014 at 10:44:36 AM
permalink
I meant this to be my first thread on my 3000th post, but I was careless and forgot I was needing to avoid posting to make this post 3000. D'oh.
Instead I will start this first “voluntary thread” of mine on the 18-month anniversary of my first post. I say voluntary, because recently my thread count inexplicably has moved to one while I was away in Vegas earlier. But this is my first thread that I actually started, as crazy as it sounds. Anyway, let's begin!
Prelude:
Not as Thrilled about the Trip as I Should Be
On the Monday before leaving, I hit this while practicing 9/6 JoB w/STP on my phone:
Crap!!! Another Play Money Royal. I know it's not supposed to matter, but it's still a punch in the gut. Especially since I am on a 17 month Royalless streak in casinos, but am over royaled in play money! :grrr:
Day 1: Wed. Feb. 12th
Girlfriend's Jet Lag Leads to a Crazy Start
Get up in St. Louis about 7am. Have an uneventful flight with a minor stop in
KC, get to McCarran at about 1pm. The airplane doesn't have wi-fi though, so I play more 9/6 JoB w/STP for practice. Yeah, I win about 1000 credits on 500 rounds of 5-play partly due to a multiplied Straight Flush. D'Oh! That's $50 on nickels!
Pic of Grand Canyon from plane:
Taxi to the Mirage where we have 2 nights via myVegas. Check-in. Walk down the hall of the 9th floor. Smells a bit funny. Get into the room; now it smells worse. We decide to go straight back to the front desk. Get moved to the 17th floor with no smell issues.
Hit the pool area for a bit, and get into the hot tub. Bit hot for our liking, and most of the other bathers agree. Get back to the room, make a quick bet on Illinois (loss) and head out toward Wynn to pick up a $1 commemorative Chinese New Year chip. Also took a few pictures of the holiday decorations there while we had the chance.
Mirage volcano on the way to Harrah's:
After some debate for dinner, we decide to use our Groupon for KGB Burger at Harrah's. My smart g/f got the BBQ Bacon Burger; dumb me got the American Standard. Hers was significantly better than mine. It's not a bad place for half off though.
All this time I have been texting with my friend from high school who happened to be in town at the same time with some of his family. I haven't seen him since the last reunion in 2008, so we were trying to coordinate a time to catch up. Initially he made it sound like he would meet me after dinner. But then he changed his mind and said to meet up in a few hours. So we decided we were going to nap a bit because we were a little jet lagged. But by the time we get ready to lay down, he changes his mind again, and says he can meet me at the Mirage Sports Bar. Bit annoying, but I was willing to work with it. The g/f stayed in bed.
Went down to meet him. Get a Goose Island IPA from the the bartender and play a bit of VP before he gets there. He shows up, have a nice chat about what's been going on with each of us lately. His life is looking better than mine of course; he just finished up a residency as an ER doctor in Denver and finally can relax a bit. After about 30 minutes though, he needs to go eat dinner with his family. So I am left to my own devices until my g/f gets up from her nap.
So at first I decide to take the tram to TI because I noticed they had 7/5 Bonus with Double Super Times Pay (98.51% max) for nickels. So I plop down to a seat. But I can't find a waitress to save my life. After about 20 minutes later, and after 5 or 6 of them walk past me, I ask one who is serving this section. She points her out, and I finally get one beer. I also get my first quad of the trip.
Not much else hit though, and trying to get a 2nd beer was as difficult as the first, so I give up a $10 loser and transport myself to Harrah's. I was trying to check out some new games/paytables, and I was immediately asked if I wanted a drink. I said sure, but I'll be at the 100-play penny games. Service was much more quick, and I was beginning to feel something. Around this time my g/f texted me that she woke up, but she was still tired and going back to sleep. I had a couple of minor hits too on the bad 6/5 Bonus w/STP game (97.13%). One was 4 2's that I didn't take a pic of, and these hits. I was up a couple of bucks I think.
Aces w/kicker now??? Noooooooooo...
Breaking Aces full because it's crappy 6/5 Bonus, no dice:
Decent multiplier hit:
Now wanted to check out the Linq and the new O'Shea's.
Flamingo Linq entrance:
O'Shea's Ad:
O'Shea's Linq entrance:
Place was pretty rocking for a Wednesday. Was able to find a place at the bar and get a Lagunitas IPA for slowly poking at a 7/5 Triple Bonus Plus machine (97.67% max), mostly short-coining because I'm a cheap drunk. Definitely loud and vibrant. And when I was done with a couple of those beers, I moved over to the Quad's Catalyst Bar for more of the same, except now having Dogfish Head 90 minute IPAs for "free".
Lagunitas IPA:
My go-to beer this trip – Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA
Unfortunately, I noticed I timed my body "wrong" and really had one, maybe even two, too many. :oops: I switch over to water, but I’m still feeling it strong now. I stop drinking alcohol a little after 2, but I am still at the bar 'til about 3:30 trying to burn off what I drank. Had a hooker come up to me too during this time frame, but she could tell I wasn't interested and bailed quick. All this time, I am slowly poking at the machine, but still can't get a quad at the Quad. I drop about $20 at Quad/O'Shea's over poor results, also dropping just as much over ~generous drink tips, but I am nearly wasted as well. Finally leave the bar, and seek out other machines on the floor, and see what I can find. Note a 9/5 DDB Ultimate X game for nickels (98.3-98.5% max), which is one of their best games and will be noteworthy later.
Before I know it, I stumble back to the room around 430am, stumble around the bathroom for more water consumption, get punched in the gut by a piece of furniture that I stumble into, and immediately conk out when I hit the bed. Yikes! The next morning, my g/f or my body were not very thrilled.
Day 2: Thurs. Feb. 13th
Picking up Tickets when the Box Office is Closed is not Recommended
I'm feeling rough when I wake up. And definitely need food. Get a bite to eat at Chipotle, and go back for more of the hot tub at Mirage. This time it was more bearable, and chat with a guy from Cali, who seems to play a lot of poker. I try to recruit him for the $3/$6 mix game I was planning to play at the Quad Sunday night, but he was leaving before that. The topic of conversation eventually switched to Ultimate Texas Hold 'em and how great he was at that game. So I ask him what he would do with KTs. “Check, you gotta see a flop!” And he also mentioned how the “Trips bet is where the money's at.” Yep, sure is buddy. Roger Snow (creator of UTH) is a freakin' genius!
So get out of the hot tub, and briefly meet up with a poster on videopoker.com. Have a nice chat with him, very funny guy, and I hope I have the cash to gamble with that he does 30 years from now. ;) Then we wanted to make sure that we picked up our myVegas tickets for “Zarkana” early, so we decide to go to Aria to pick them up. Huge walk to the Zarkana box office from the way we went.
Pics along the way:
Linq sign:
The Colosseum:
Bellagio Fountains:
Planet Hollywood/Miracle Mile:
Zarkana Ad:
Zarkana Box Office:
Chessboard in Crystals with a moving Knight and Fancy Handbags We Can't Afford:
My idiotic self assumed the box office would be open, but they are dark on Thursday, hence, closed. After trekking down to Aria and failing, I talk my g/f in helping me finding those Super Times Pay (STP) units with 8/6 Bonus Deluxe (98.74% max) that was first mentioned on Vegas Message Board to help end my ~20 month hiatus there. It was first said that they were row “804” and that was a bigger pain to find than I would have ever imagined. Eventually, found the game at row “802”, which is near the Milfe desk. Games confirmed at the 25c, 50c, $1 levels. But I also happen to note that there was a “Double STP” unit in the same bank! Could it be? Yes! 8/6 Bonus Deluxe with Double STP (98.99% max) for quarters! I had to put a $20 in right then and there. Well, that was eaten in like 3 minutes...lol Plan to try again Saturday night after the show.
Now we go back to Planet Hollywood as we had a Groupon for the buffet plus all you can drink for ~$50 for the two of us. After an hour wait and a good meal, go back to the casino and play a little 7/5 Bonus STP (98.29% max) for nickels. Nothing for me, but my g/f had her first slot hit for the trip (36X bet).
We go back across the street to Bellagio, which is one of my g/f's favorite places because she seems to win there when I am off playing live poker. Saw more interesting things for Chinese New Year.
View of Strip from People Movers on Left Side of Bellagio:
View of Eiffel Tower from Bellagio People Mover:
Chinese New Year Decorations at Bellagio:
Play for a little bit. Find a “Latino Machino” machine, but can't hit anything. Play “Pompeii” for a pair of drinks, but strike out there too. Maybe I am a bad luck for her there...*shrug*. Move over to Caesars, and just explored the place. It really just isn't for us. Too big, and mostly doesn't have games either of us care for. Found some 100-play pennies w/STP near the exit by the shops, but hell, we wanted to leave by then!
Few shots of “artsy”, “horsey” things:
Caesar:
Cross back over to O'Sheas/Quad.
Flamingo Linq entrance:
Now O'Sheas is busy enough where I can't even get a seat. So go to Quad for a couple of more Dogfish Heads. Just chillin' with the g/f for awhile, but eventually a guy next to me named Dean started chatting with me. It was initially about sports since he is a Notre Dame fan (from Cali, I really didn't get that one). Anyway when I inquired why he was in Vegas, I opened a kettle of fish. Apparently his live-in g/f dumped him, and he was clearly still in love with her. Ugh. He came to Vegas because that's the first place they went to as a couple. He also was considering buying this girl a ring to “remember him by”. My g/f and I both tried to talk him out of that one.
I felt bad for the dude, so I tried to be supportive, but it's probably a minor miracle I'm in a relationship because I'm an idiot with this stuff. Near the end he offered to buy me a drink, but I told him, nah, “I'm (barely) playing”. He didn't realize he could get free drinks at the bar doing that. At least his own bill was only $18 I suppose. :) But eventually he was going to play some roulette, so I wished him well. And Dean, you can do better than her. I finish my beer, down $5 maybe? God, I keep terrible track...lol Head back to Mirage with the g/f.
More to come...
Instead I will start this first “voluntary thread” of mine on the 18-month anniversary of my first post. I say voluntary, because recently my thread count inexplicably has moved to one while I was away in Vegas earlier. But this is my first thread that I actually started, as crazy as it sounds. Anyway, let's begin!
Prelude:
Not as Thrilled about the Trip as I Should Be
On the Monday before leaving, I hit this while practicing 9/6 JoB w/STP on my phone:
Crap!!! Another Play Money Royal. I know it's not supposed to matter, but it's still a punch in the gut. Especially since I am on a 17 month Royalless streak in casinos, but am over royaled in play money! :grrr:
Day 1: Wed. Feb. 12th
Girlfriend's Jet Lag Leads to a Crazy Start
Get up in St. Louis about 7am. Have an uneventful flight with a minor stop in
KC, get to McCarran at about 1pm. The airplane doesn't have wi-fi though, so I play more 9/6 JoB w/STP for practice. Yeah, I win about 1000 credits on 500 rounds of 5-play partly due to a multiplied Straight Flush. D'Oh! That's $50 on nickels!
Pic of Grand Canyon from plane:
Taxi to the Mirage where we have 2 nights via myVegas. Check-in. Walk down the hall of the 9th floor. Smells a bit funny. Get into the room; now it smells worse. We decide to go straight back to the front desk. Get moved to the 17th floor with no smell issues.
Hit the pool area for a bit, and get into the hot tub. Bit hot for our liking, and most of the other bathers agree. Get back to the room, make a quick bet on Illinois (loss) and head out toward Wynn to pick up a $1 commemorative Chinese New Year chip. Also took a few pictures of the holiday decorations there while we had the chance.
Mirage volcano on the way to Harrah's:
After some debate for dinner, we decide to use our Groupon for KGB Burger at Harrah's. My smart g/f got the BBQ Bacon Burger; dumb me got the American Standard. Hers was significantly better than mine. It's not a bad place for half off though.
All this time I have been texting with my friend from high school who happened to be in town at the same time with some of his family. I haven't seen him since the last reunion in 2008, so we were trying to coordinate a time to catch up. Initially he made it sound like he would meet me after dinner. But then he changed his mind and said to meet up in a few hours. So we decided we were going to nap a bit because we were a little jet lagged. But by the time we get ready to lay down, he changes his mind again, and says he can meet me at the Mirage Sports Bar. Bit annoying, but I was willing to work with it. The g/f stayed in bed.
Went down to meet him. Get a Goose Island IPA from the the bartender and play a bit of VP before he gets there. He shows up, have a nice chat about what's been going on with each of us lately. His life is looking better than mine of course; he just finished up a residency as an ER doctor in Denver and finally can relax a bit. After about 30 minutes though, he needs to go eat dinner with his family. So I am left to my own devices until my g/f gets up from her nap.
So at first I decide to take the tram to TI because I noticed they had 7/5 Bonus with Double Super Times Pay (98.51% max) for nickels. So I plop down to a seat. But I can't find a waitress to save my life. After about 20 minutes later, and after 5 or 6 of them walk past me, I ask one who is serving this section. She points her out, and I finally get one beer. I also get my first quad of the trip.
Not much else hit though, and trying to get a 2nd beer was as difficult as the first, so I give up a $10 loser and transport myself to Harrah's. I was trying to check out some new games/paytables, and I was immediately asked if I wanted a drink. I said sure, but I'll be at the 100-play penny games. Service was much more quick, and I was beginning to feel something. Around this time my g/f texted me that she woke up, but she was still tired and going back to sleep. I had a couple of minor hits too on the bad 6/5 Bonus w/STP game (97.13%). One was 4 2's that I didn't take a pic of, and these hits. I was up a couple of bucks I think.
Aces w/kicker now??? Noooooooooo...
Breaking Aces full because it's crappy 6/5 Bonus, no dice:
Decent multiplier hit:
Now wanted to check out the Linq and the new O'Shea's.
Flamingo Linq entrance:
O'Shea's Ad:
O'Shea's Linq entrance:
Place was pretty rocking for a Wednesday. Was able to find a place at the bar and get a Lagunitas IPA for slowly poking at a 7/5 Triple Bonus Plus machine (97.67% max), mostly short-coining because I'm a cheap drunk. Definitely loud and vibrant. And when I was done with a couple of those beers, I moved over to the Quad's Catalyst Bar for more of the same, except now having Dogfish Head 90 minute IPAs for "free".
Lagunitas IPA:
My go-to beer this trip – Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA
Unfortunately, I noticed I timed my body "wrong" and really had one, maybe even two, too many. :oops: I switch over to water, but I’m still feeling it strong now. I stop drinking alcohol a little after 2, but I am still at the bar 'til about 3:30 trying to burn off what I drank. Had a hooker come up to me too during this time frame, but she could tell I wasn't interested and bailed quick. All this time, I am slowly poking at the machine, but still can't get a quad at the Quad. I drop about $20 at Quad/O'Shea's over poor results, also dropping just as much over ~generous drink tips, but I am nearly wasted as well. Finally leave the bar, and seek out other machines on the floor, and see what I can find. Note a 9/5 DDB Ultimate X game for nickels (98.3-98.5% max), which is one of their best games and will be noteworthy later.
Before I know it, I stumble back to the room around 430am, stumble around the bathroom for more water consumption, get punched in the gut by a piece of furniture that I stumble into, and immediately conk out when I hit the bed. Yikes! The next morning, my g/f or my body were not very thrilled.
Day 2: Thurs. Feb. 13th
Picking up Tickets when the Box Office is Closed is not Recommended
I'm feeling rough when I wake up. And definitely need food. Get a bite to eat at Chipotle, and go back for more of the hot tub at Mirage. This time it was more bearable, and chat with a guy from Cali, who seems to play a lot of poker. I try to recruit him for the $3/$6 mix game I was planning to play at the Quad Sunday night, but he was leaving before that. The topic of conversation eventually switched to Ultimate Texas Hold 'em and how great he was at that game. So I ask him what he would do with KTs. “Check, you gotta see a flop!” And he also mentioned how the “Trips bet is where the money's at.” Yep, sure is buddy. Roger Snow (creator of UTH) is a freakin' genius!
So get out of the hot tub, and briefly meet up with a poster on videopoker.com. Have a nice chat with him, very funny guy, and I hope I have the cash to gamble with that he does 30 years from now. ;) Then we wanted to make sure that we picked up our myVegas tickets for “Zarkana” early, so we decide to go to Aria to pick them up. Huge walk to the Zarkana box office from the way we went.
Pics along the way:
Linq sign:
The Colosseum:
Bellagio Fountains:
Planet Hollywood/Miracle Mile:
Zarkana Ad:
Zarkana Box Office:
Chessboard in Crystals with a moving Knight and Fancy Handbags We Can't Afford:
My idiotic self assumed the box office would be open, but they are dark on Thursday, hence, closed. After trekking down to Aria and failing, I talk my g/f in helping me finding those Super Times Pay (STP) units with 8/6 Bonus Deluxe (98.74% max) that was first mentioned on Vegas Message Board to help end my ~20 month hiatus there. It was first said that they were row “804” and that was a bigger pain to find than I would have ever imagined. Eventually, found the game at row “802”, which is near the Milfe desk. Games confirmed at the 25c, 50c, $1 levels. But I also happen to note that there was a “Double STP” unit in the same bank! Could it be? Yes! 8/6 Bonus Deluxe with Double STP (98.99% max) for quarters! I had to put a $20 in right then and there. Well, that was eaten in like 3 minutes...lol Plan to try again Saturday night after the show.
Now we go back to Planet Hollywood as we had a Groupon for the buffet plus all you can drink for ~$50 for the two of us. After an hour wait and a good meal, go back to the casino and play a little 7/5 Bonus STP (98.29% max) for nickels. Nothing for me, but my g/f had her first slot hit for the trip (36X bet).
We go back across the street to Bellagio, which is one of my g/f's favorite places because she seems to win there when I am off playing live poker. Saw more interesting things for Chinese New Year.
View of Strip from People Movers on Left Side of Bellagio:
View of Eiffel Tower from Bellagio People Mover:
Chinese New Year Decorations at Bellagio:
Play for a little bit. Find a “Latino Machino” machine, but can't hit anything. Play “Pompeii” for a pair of drinks, but strike out there too. Maybe I am a bad luck for her there...*shrug*. Move over to Caesars, and just explored the place. It really just isn't for us. Too big, and mostly doesn't have games either of us care for. Found some 100-play pennies w/STP near the exit by the shops, but hell, we wanted to leave by then!
Few shots of “artsy”, “horsey” things:
Caesar:
Cross back over to O'Sheas/Quad.
Flamingo Linq entrance:
Now O'Sheas is busy enough where I can't even get a seat. So go to Quad for a couple of more Dogfish Heads. Just chillin' with the g/f for awhile, but eventually a guy next to me named Dean started chatting with me. It was initially about sports since he is a Notre Dame fan (from Cali, I really didn't get that one). Anyway when I inquired why he was in Vegas, I opened a kettle of fish. Apparently his live-in g/f dumped him, and he was clearly still in love with her. Ugh. He came to Vegas because that's the first place they went to as a couple. He also was considering buying this girl a ring to “remember him by”. My g/f and I both tried to talk him out of that one.
I felt bad for the dude, so I tried to be supportive, but it's probably a minor miracle I'm in a relationship because I'm an idiot with this stuff. Near the end he offered to buy me a drink, but I told him, nah, “I'm (barely) playing”. He didn't realize he could get free drinks at the bar doing that. At least his own bill was only $18 I suppose. :) But eventually he was going to play some roulette, so I wished him well. And Dean, you can do better than her. I finish my beer, down $5 maybe? God, I keep terrible track...lol Head back to Mirage with the g/f.
More to come...
February 25th, 2014 at 10:52:11 AM
permalink
Hey tring I didn't know you were here. If you're still in Vegas let me know.
"Man Babes" #AxelFabulous
February 25th, 2014 at 11:05:28 AM
permalink
Quote: djatcHey tring I didn't know you were here. If you're still in Vegas let me know.
Nah. :( I was thinking about mentioning I was around, but in reality, we mostly were running around like chickens with their heads cut off again. We weren't very flexible at all by the time we got there; we were fortunate enough to meet up with Wizard briefly. For awhile, I thought that might have fell through too. My g/f is usually all about go, go, go, as you'll see from all the pics she took...lol
Maybe at some point we won't try to cram so much in...but when you can't be there all the time, sorta hard not to. Will have to try to meet up in the future for sure since it looks like you have stuck around in Vegas. ;)
February 25th, 2014 at 11:21:08 AM
permalink
You've got some really great pictures!
What device are you using to shoot them?
I'm enjoying the trip report too.
What device are you using to shoot them?
I'm enjoying the trip report too.
I don't know everything but I know a lot.
February 25th, 2014 at 11:51:23 AM
permalink
Quote: ten2winYou've got some really great pictures!
What device are you using to shoot them?
I'm enjoying the trip report too.
Maria Sharapova talked my g/f into getting a Canon Power Shot ELPH a handful of years ago; the exact model is no longer sold I think. I think it was $150 at the time, but definitely some of the best $150 she's ever spent. She thought about upgrading her camera a couple of years ago, but the guy at Best Buy talked her out of it, hinting that optical zoom was better than digital zoom which the cameras they were selling were pushing. Looking at Canon's website, it looks like $150 cameras should outdo hers though by looking stats. I think Wizard had a similar Canon camera (that was newer/better of course) to hers. My video poker pics are coming from my Samsung Galaxy S IV, which has a ridiculous camera for a smartphone. Except the first one of course, that was a webcam taking a pic of my smartphone because of my annoyance of that Royal. lol
February 25th, 2014 at 12:09:36 PM
permalink
Quote: tringlomanea guy next to me named Dean started chatting with me. It was initially about sports since he is a Notre Dame fan (from Cali, I really didn't get that one). Anyway when I inquired why he was in Vegas, I opened a kettle of fish.
That's why I don't talk to people.
Awesome report as usual, more please :)
"Scientists tell us that the fastest animal on earth, with a top speed of 120 feet per second, is a cow that has been dropped out of a helicopter."
February 25th, 2014 at 1:03:17 PM
permalink
Quote: tringlomaneMaria Sharapova talked my g/f into getting a Canon Power Shot ELPH a handful of years ago; the exact model is no longer sold I think. I think it was $150 at the time, but definitely some of the best $150 she's ever spent. She thought about upgrading her camera a couple of years ago, but the guy at Best Buy talked her out of it, hinting that optical zoom was better than digital zoom which the cameras they were selling were pushing. Looking at Canon's website, it looks like $150 cameras should outdo hers though by looking stats. I think Wizard had a similar Canon camera (that was newer/better of course) to hers. My video poker pics are coming from my Samsung Galaxy S IV, which has a ridiculous camera for a smartphone. Except the first one of course, that was a webcam taking a pic of my smartphone because of my annoyance of that Royal. lol
The real Maria or an advertisement Maria?
I generally don't read long posts because words make my brain hurt but I had to read yours since you finally had something to say. Can't wait to hear the rest of it.
Expect the worst and you will never be disappointed.
I AM NOT PART OF GWAE RADIO SHOW
February 26th, 2014 at 11:30:28 AM
permalink
Quote: GWAEThe real Maria or an advertisement Maria?
I generally don't read long posts because words make my brain hurt but I had to read yours since you finally had something to say. Can't wait to hear the rest of it.
I wish it was the real Maria! lol Still a great camera though.
And thanks!!
February 26th, 2014 at 11:33:38 AM
permalink
Day 3: Fri. Feb. 14th
Romance and Frustrations on V-day
Get up to checkout at Mirage and check into the Quad for the weekend. Get there a little early for a check-in without a charge, so check in a bit early. Wonder over to Flamingo with the intention to eat Johnny Rockets. Decide to walk through the Flamingo habitat for a bit and snap some shots. They were mostly sleeping.
Now walking back toward the casino entrance a guy on the bench yells in a semi-questionable tone: “tring?” I stare at him for a couple of seconds and I question back: “Josh?” Indeed it was! Josh was an undergrad chemical engineer that I was a Teaching Assistant for when I was in grad school at Illinois. It had been over ten years since I taught him at this point! And maybe 8 years since I bumped into him last on campus. It was a miracle that I remembered him, and I'm also shocked he even remembered me! I probably wouldn't have remembered him if he didn't bother to ask for extra help outside of class.
So obviously this devolved into a 30 or so minute conversation on why are you in Vegas? How you been, etc? He was playing poker while there, dropped a couple of buyins at 2/5 NL the night before (ouch!). And now he is an engineer for an oil/gas refinery company in Houston, the same one he interned with while at Illinois. Unfortunately for myself, I currently don't have a job in the field, but he seemed interested in possibly helping me out with that if he could. Not counting on anything obviously, but “knowing someone” for a particular job would be a plus... Definitely a “good kid”.
So now we plan on eating. Look at the Flamingo food court, stared at Johnny's Rockets prices, and even with our coupon, I wasn't that into it. Cheapen ourselves with McD's instead. After eating, go to Caesars to be picked up by our Enterprise rental car. They “upgrade” us from a Chevy Spark to Chevy Impala; $41 all-in for the weekend. Sounds sweet, but the g/f definitely didn't like the Impala boat-like characteristics. Had ridiculous tiny mirrors to boot.
Quick test run to the Gold Coast as $100 coin-in on VP today earns you a box of Russell Stover's chocolate. We also have a coupon for a $5 free bet. Which we lose. :( I thought we might be losing pretty bad at 9/6 JoB w/STP (99.82% max) trying to get this box of chocolate too, but then I hit this:
Hit a couple more flushes and full houses, and I was willing to hit and run Gold Coast $35 up and the chocolate! Now we had to go back to Aria to pick up those Zarkana tickets. We make our first of several driving faux pas for the weekend. Didn't realize the connection to get to a “back road” anywhere on Flamingo, so end up on LV Blvd. Stupidly tell her to turn on Harmon, which leads nowhere. About an 30 more minutes later, eventually found Frank Sinatra so we could park in the Monte Carlo garage. Get to Aria. Hit will call. There is an issue. Apparently the person at myVegas coded our comped tix in the wrong price class. Good news: it was fixed. Bad news: it took almost 20 minutes.
So my plans to hit M resort/South Point today were questionable. By the time we got out of Aria, it was now 4:30, so we decide to go straight to Sam's Town because there was a laser show she wanted to see, and of course “full pay deuces” (100.76% max) for me. Get there a little after 5, and check the place out. Another standard “Coast Casino”. Walking past Friday's it doesn't look that busy, so we think we might eat that later. Hit the deuces for a bit. This machine is trying to show me some love, but in reality it's just a cruel temptress:
Take a quick break for the laser light show. Pretty cool for “free”.
Decide to go to Friday's to eat. Apparently it's busier than we thought, 30 minutes. My g/f is always a dear and willing to wait while I get a beer and hit the full-pay deuces machines again. A little bit of a recovery:
Old slot machines at Sam's Town:
Eat Friday's (standard fare) and run off to Fremont Street. At this point we notice we are getting terrible gas mileage. By the next morning, we assume the jerk that rented this before us filled up with E-85 to the 3/8ths level...:grrr: Also Fremont Street was generally a mess with no free parking anywhere. At first we were trying to park at MSS, change our mind and park at Plaza instead. My g/f is not happy, because if she had her way, we'd be back on the strip...doh. But since we bothered to park, we press on. The end of Fremont near Golden Gate was a mess because there was a live band around there. Neither of us were drunk enough to handle the sensory overload really.
Make it to the D, and that was a bit of a mess too because they were attempting to set a world record for speed dating. We step into the D; um yeah, that lower level was loud. Walk by the long bar, most units were taken. Beer options looked alright though. Finally go up to Vintage Vegas. I look for the 101.6% Loose Deuces machine, definitely taken. :( Look at the Sigma Derby which I have barely ever seen in my life, also taken. Take a brief look around upstairs, note my g/f's displeasure, and prepare to move on. Before we do though, we approach the Sigma Derby again and start to hear cheering, then screaming, then a loud CLINK, CLINK, CLINK, CLINK, CLINK, CLINK. The 200 for 1 shot hit right in front of our faces!!! Of course I wasn't involved though, which was an annoying scenario that appeared a couple more times this trip.
Move on to a souvenir shop. My g/f finds a shirt for her mom, and a sparkly stuffed animal that she really wants. I pay for that and it turns her around decently well. Keep trudging along, make it to El Cortez because we can get $10 free bucks for signing up. Looks like a loveable dump. Free play doesn't pan out though, get $2 back. Now we work our way back. I want to hit up Fremont casino for their 99.95% Pickem. I've missed this game since Harrah's STL yanked that version since 2003. On decisions that didn't matter, I let my g/f choose the card pile. She made some good choices:
Quick double up of $20, and then we catch the 11:00pm light show. The Doors. My g/f is too young/never smoked weed to appreciate it much.
Fremont just before the show:
Fremont Experience Show: “The Doors”
An inside joke, her mom remembers that the “Golden Goose” was an actual casino in the '70s. And now the sign is next to “Glitter Gulch” LOL
We begin to wander back to the plaza, and we keenly notice that the receipt can be redeemed for $5 of bingo. Well, bingo was closed, but my g/f saw an opening and talked them into redeeming the parking ticket anyway...$5 is $5 I guess.
Before we leave, we decide to hit up MSS.
Railroad car on the way to MSS:
I have heard so many great things about the place. And I will admit it is a great place in Downtown. Had the Pale Ale at Boar's Head while firing up 9/6 JoB. It was good, but I was hoping it would blow me away. Alas no. It didn't help that the machine was dead as hell. -$15 for about $50 coin-in.
So now we realize we're hungry, so we want to get off of Fremont, and we realize there is a late night breakfast special at South Point. By the time we get there though, everyone and their brother realized it too. So we backpedaled to Steak 'n' Shake. Typical SnS slow service, typical mediocre food. The thing that really gets me though is: the South Point SnS closes at 1 am on a Friday night!!!
1. When does SnS ever close?
2. Why close it in a casino when it was still 80% full when they locked the doors?
Can anyone give me a logical argument for this? I'm surprised corporate allows the silliness.
So after our late night meal, I eagerly move to the 8/5 Bonus with Double STP machines for quarters (99.67% max). It begins to eat my money, but all of a sudden:
Eventually I got a beer, but want to not keep playing quarters. Just wasn't feeling it. So I move down to nickels which is 7/5 Bonus like the game at TI, and apparently I wasn't done with the hits. This trip I had a ridiculous amount of 4 to a straight flush draws; at least I wasn't blanked on all of them. :)
Good multiplier hit:
My g/f is getting tired so we bail and go back to the Strip. Um yeah...that was a struggle. Quad's garage was filled to the brim. We had to park at Harrah's and lucked out for a spot. After all that effort, we just headed straight to the room for the night.
Day 4: Sat. Feb. 15th
More Off-Strip, Zarkana, and My Favorite Spot at Flamingo
We get up. I make a quick bet at the Quad sport book on my alma mater Mizzou (spread and over both win; unbelievable since I am usually terrible at sports bets). On the way to the car, I see a guy get 2 royals on penny Spin Poker Deluxe, lucky him. :P
We get into the car, and run to the Orleans. We get a quick bite at Fuddruckers, and it was good, but it lead to a slightly disturbing story to me. This kid who may be about 14 was eating there with his mom and some other adults. After I eat, I see him with another kid (friend or younger bro), and they were in the aisle of the casino, and he looks at a machine and yells out “Free Spin Bonus”! Ugh, is he going be hooked at age 21 already?
After lunch, here we had a $10 matchplay (lost 16 vs. 5), and $10 free play (I forget how she did; not good). I headed to the bar at the front of the casino because I know they have craft beer. So I sacrifice trusty 8/5 Bonus at the bar (99.17% max) for 7/5 Bonus w/a $1175 prog (~98.37% max) so I can get a comped “Islander IPA” from Coronado Brewing Co. It was good but nothing jaw dropping.
After the beer, we run off to M Resort, which I was excited about since they had about 100 beers to choose from. Again sacrificing better games for the beer selection, I plop myself at the 32 degree bar. Best quarter choice is 7/5 Bonus with about a $1030 prog (98.07% max), meh. 9/6 DDB (98.98% max) and 98.91% Deuces are available for dollars though, which isn't shabby for a place that will comp you ~100 different beers. I had to try Dogfish Head 60 minute IPA since it had been years since I had one.
Good, but I'm too into the 90 minute IPA version to let that go. My g/f had a Rogue Dead Guy, one of her favorites while short-coining 9/5 DDB for a quarter.
I also had a Sculpin IPA which was pretty good:
While downing these beers, the lady about 4 units down hits the Royal by just holding one card. Why can't I have luck like that? Grrrrr....
Overall I won a few bucks and I really like the place. Very classy, classier than you would expect from something owned by Penn Gaming. Would definitely go back if we have a car/other transportation to get there. And by next trip they should be fully connected with Marquee Rewards! (We have almost $300 in Marquee Reward comps thanks to the Harrah's St. Louis takeover. :))
Time is running short so we hit Chili's for a quick dinner and get ready for Zarkana. As for the show, I didn't have high expectations from what I read on this forum, but my g/f and I both thought it was great! Tons of acrobatics and other circusy acts. Not as much music/dancing like LOVE. The opening act was pretty impressive, a girl juggling and bouncing multiple balls in difficult spots. Tight rope walking, wheels of death, and many more. And the acts seemed a bit more daring than other Cirque shows I've seen. There were a few slips and errors which could have been more troublesome if more severe. They are gambling more than some of the other Cirque shows, imo. And Zark the main character was good comic relief.
Picture of the girl bouncing balls along a wall in Crystals I think:
Zarkana Display:
Said Display can be eaten:
Cakes at Jean-Philippe Patisserie:
After the show, we get an Oreo gelato from Jean-Philippe Patisserie. Definitely good, but pricey. After buying it, back on a mission for 8/6 Bonus Deluxe w/Double STP. Unfortunately a lady was already on it, and didn't look to be moving soon. So move over to Row 870, and leisurely play 8/6 Bonus Deluxe with regular STP with one line of quarters. I play very slowly while my g/f was being sweet and feeding me spoonfuls of gelato, but I was getting nowhere. I burned $40 pretty quickly. Watching the lady next to us play 3-play Ultimate X was more amusing. She was playing fast and was either inserting a $100 or pulling out a cashout ticket every 3 minutes or so. After the gelato, we decide we want to shift the car closer to Quad.
We attempt to park in Harrah's again, but now this was a fail. We try Venetian, immediately go up to the 7th floor, and luck out finding a spot pretty fast. Grab a quick beer at the sports book which surprisingly offered 9/6/5 Double Bonus (97.8% max) on a couple of units for quarters. I get nothing of note, and we move on to Sin City Brew Co. at Flamingo.
Random shot of Harrah's along the way:
I really like Sin City Brew Co. because it's a nice place to get away to if there is too much hustle and bustle going on. I get an IPA, she gets a strawberry daiquiri.
We're having a nice quiet drink, but they are calling last call at midnight now, meh. They now close at 12:30am on a Saturday night!! So we move on to my favorite spot at Flamingo. The 100-play penny STP with direct view of the Pleasure Pit and the weekend dancer. Sure the paytables suck (6/5 Bonus w/STP) but I'm playing STP, drink, and can stare at scantily clad women!
Also this is the unit where I hit my only Royal in Vegas back on Presidents' Day 2012. A dealt penny royal on 6 lines. So of course 6 lines at 6 pennies each is a tradition. No royals this time, but a couple of minor hits to win a few bucks.
Also wander into the high limit room for a paytable check. Now Flamingo has 9/5 JoB w/Double STP (98.95% max) for dollars, as well as 7/5 Bonus w/Ultimate X for dollars (~99.3%-99.4% max)!
After Flamingo, g/f calls it a night, and I stick around the Quad Catalyst bar a bit for a couple of 90 minute IPAs. A chick next to me was waiting on her b/f who was in the poker room. I was watching her play, and yeah, it wasn't good. So I helped her out a bit since I was getting nowhere with my actual play. Eventually she called it a night, as did I.
Romance and Frustrations on V-day
Get up to checkout at Mirage and check into the Quad for the weekend. Get there a little early for a check-in without a charge, so check in a bit early. Wonder over to Flamingo with the intention to eat Johnny Rockets. Decide to walk through the Flamingo habitat for a bit and snap some shots. They were mostly sleeping.
Now walking back toward the casino entrance a guy on the bench yells in a semi-questionable tone: “tring?” I stare at him for a couple of seconds and I question back: “Josh?” Indeed it was! Josh was an undergrad chemical engineer that I was a Teaching Assistant for when I was in grad school at Illinois. It had been over ten years since I taught him at this point! And maybe 8 years since I bumped into him last on campus. It was a miracle that I remembered him, and I'm also shocked he even remembered me! I probably wouldn't have remembered him if he didn't bother to ask for extra help outside of class.
So obviously this devolved into a 30 or so minute conversation on why are you in Vegas? How you been, etc? He was playing poker while there, dropped a couple of buyins at 2/5 NL the night before (ouch!). And now he is an engineer for an oil/gas refinery company in Houston, the same one he interned with while at Illinois. Unfortunately for myself, I currently don't have a job in the field, but he seemed interested in possibly helping me out with that if he could. Not counting on anything obviously, but “knowing someone” for a particular job would be a plus... Definitely a “good kid”.
So now we plan on eating. Look at the Flamingo food court, stared at Johnny's Rockets prices, and even with our coupon, I wasn't that into it. Cheapen ourselves with McD's instead. After eating, go to Caesars to be picked up by our Enterprise rental car. They “upgrade” us from a Chevy Spark to Chevy Impala; $41 all-in for the weekend. Sounds sweet, but the g/f definitely didn't like the Impala boat-like characteristics. Had ridiculous tiny mirrors to boot.
Quick test run to the Gold Coast as $100 coin-in on VP today earns you a box of Russell Stover's chocolate. We also have a coupon for a $5 free bet. Which we lose. :( I thought we might be losing pretty bad at 9/6 JoB w/STP (99.82% max) trying to get this box of chocolate too, but then I hit this:
Hit a couple more flushes and full houses, and I was willing to hit and run Gold Coast $35 up and the chocolate! Now we had to go back to Aria to pick up those Zarkana tickets. We make our first of several driving faux pas for the weekend. Didn't realize the connection to get to a “back road” anywhere on Flamingo, so end up on LV Blvd. Stupidly tell her to turn on Harmon, which leads nowhere. About an 30 more minutes later, eventually found Frank Sinatra so we could park in the Monte Carlo garage. Get to Aria. Hit will call. There is an issue. Apparently the person at myVegas coded our comped tix in the wrong price class. Good news: it was fixed. Bad news: it took almost 20 minutes.
So my plans to hit M resort/South Point today were questionable. By the time we got out of Aria, it was now 4:30, so we decide to go straight to Sam's Town because there was a laser show she wanted to see, and of course “full pay deuces” (100.76% max) for me. Get there a little after 5, and check the place out. Another standard “Coast Casino”. Walking past Friday's it doesn't look that busy, so we think we might eat that later. Hit the deuces for a bit. This machine is trying to show me some love, but in reality it's just a cruel temptress:
Take a quick break for the laser light show. Pretty cool for “free”.
Decide to go to Friday's to eat. Apparently it's busier than we thought, 30 minutes. My g/f is always a dear and willing to wait while I get a beer and hit the full-pay deuces machines again. A little bit of a recovery:
Old slot machines at Sam's Town:
Eat Friday's (standard fare) and run off to Fremont Street. At this point we notice we are getting terrible gas mileage. By the next morning, we assume the jerk that rented this before us filled up with E-85 to the 3/8ths level...:grrr: Also Fremont Street was generally a mess with no free parking anywhere. At first we were trying to park at MSS, change our mind and park at Plaza instead. My g/f is not happy, because if she had her way, we'd be back on the strip...doh. But since we bothered to park, we press on. The end of Fremont near Golden Gate was a mess because there was a live band around there. Neither of us were drunk enough to handle the sensory overload really.
Make it to the D, and that was a bit of a mess too because they were attempting to set a world record for speed dating. We step into the D; um yeah, that lower level was loud. Walk by the long bar, most units were taken. Beer options looked alright though. Finally go up to Vintage Vegas. I look for the 101.6% Loose Deuces machine, definitely taken. :( Look at the Sigma Derby which I have barely ever seen in my life, also taken. Take a brief look around upstairs, note my g/f's displeasure, and prepare to move on. Before we do though, we approach the Sigma Derby again and start to hear cheering, then screaming, then a loud CLINK, CLINK, CLINK, CLINK, CLINK, CLINK. The 200 for 1 shot hit right in front of our faces!!! Of course I wasn't involved though, which was an annoying scenario that appeared a couple more times this trip.
Move on to a souvenir shop. My g/f finds a shirt for her mom, and a sparkly stuffed animal that she really wants. I pay for that and it turns her around decently well. Keep trudging along, make it to El Cortez because we can get $10 free bucks for signing up. Looks like a loveable dump. Free play doesn't pan out though, get $2 back. Now we work our way back. I want to hit up Fremont casino for their 99.95% Pickem. I've missed this game since Harrah's STL yanked that version since 2003. On decisions that didn't matter, I let my g/f choose the card pile. She made some good choices:
Quick double up of $20, and then we catch the 11:00pm light show. The Doors. My g/f is too young/never smoked weed to appreciate it much.
Fremont just before the show:
Fremont Experience Show: “The Doors”
An inside joke, her mom remembers that the “Golden Goose” was an actual casino in the '70s. And now the sign is next to “Glitter Gulch” LOL
We begin to wander back to the plaza, and we keenly notice that the receipt can be redeemed for $5 of bingo. Well, bingo was closed, but my g/f saw an opening and talked them into redeeming the parking ticket anyway...$5 is $5 I guess.
Before we leave, we decide to hit up MSS.
Railroad car on the way to MSS:
I have heard so many great things about the place. And I will admit it is a great place in Downtown. Had the Pale Ale at Boar's Head while firing up 9/6 JoB. It was good, but I was hoping it would blow me away. Alas no. It didn't help that the machine was dead as hell. -$15 for about $50 coin-in.
So now we realize we're hungry, so we want to get off of Fremont, and we realize there is a late night breakfast special at South Point. By the time we get there though, everyone and their brother realized it too. So we backpedaled to Steak 'n' Shake. Typical SnS slow service, typical mediocre food. The thing that really gets me though is: the South Point SnS closes at 1 am on a Friday night!!!
1. When does SnS ever close?
2. Why close it in a casino when it was still 80% full when they locked the doors?
Can anyone give me a logical argument for this? I'm surprised corporate allows the silliness.
So after our late night meal, I eagerly move to the 8/5 Bonus with Double STP machines for quarters (99.67% max). It begins to eat my money, but all of a sudden:
Eventually I got a beer, but want to not keep playing quarters. Just wasn't feeling it. So I move down to nickels which is 7/5 Bonus like the game at TI, and apparently I wasn't done with the hits. This trip I had a ridiculous amount of 4 to a straight flush draws; at least I wasn't blanked on all of them. :)
Good multiplier hit:
My g/f is getting tired so we bail and go back to the Strip. Um yeah...that was a struggle. Quad's garage was filled to the brim. We had to park at Harrah's and lucked out for a spot. After all that effort, we just headed straight to the room for the night.
Day 4: Sat. Feb. 15th
More Off-Strip, Zarkana, and My Favorite Spot at Flamingo
We get up. I make a quick bet at the Quad sport book on my alma mater Mizzou (spread and over both win; unbelievable since I am usually terrible at sports bets). On the way to the car, I see a guy get 2 royals on penny Spin Poker Deluxe, lucky him. :P
We get into the car, and run to the Orleans. We get a quick bite at Fuddruckers, and it was good, but it lead to a slightly disturbing story to me. This kid who may be about 14 was eating there with his mom and some other adults. After I eat, I see him with another kid (friend or younger bro), and they were in the aisle of the casino, and he looks at a machine and yells out “Free Spin Bonus”! Ugh, is he going be hooked at age 21 already?
After lunch, here we had a $10 matchplay (lost 16 vs. 5), and $10 free play (I forget how she did; not good). I headed to the bar at the front of the casino because I know they have craft beer. So I sacrifice trusty 8/5 Bonus at the bar (99.17% max) for 7/5 Bonus w/a $1175 prog (~98.37% max) so I can get a comped “Islander IPA” from Coronado Brewing Co. It was good but nothing jaw dropping.
After the beer, we run off to M Resort, which I was excited about since they had about 100 beers to choose from. Again sacrificing better games for the beer selection, I plop myself at the 32 degree bar. Best quarter choice is 7/5 Bonus with about a $1030 prog (98.07% max), meh. 9/6 DDB (98.98% max) and 98.91% Deuces are available for dollars though, which isn't shabby for a place that will comp you ~100 different beers. I had to try Dogfish Head 60 minute IPA since it had been years since I had one.
Good, but I'm too into the 90 minute IPA version to let that go. My g/f had a Rogue Dead Guy, one of her favorites while short-coining 9/5 DDB for a quarter.
I also had a Sculpin IPA which was pretty good:
While downing these beers, the lady about 4 units down hits the Royal by just holding one card. Why can't I have luck like that? Grrrrr....
Overall I won a few bucks and I really like the place. Very classy, classier than you would expect from something owned by Penn Gaming. Would definitely go back if we have a car/other transportation to get there. And by next trip they should be fully connected with Marquee Rewards! (We have almost $300 in Marquee Reward comps thanks to the Harrah's St. Louis takeover. :))
Time is running short so we hit Chili's for a quick dinner and get ready for Zarkana. As for the show, I didn't have high expectations from what I read on this forum, but my g/f and I both thought it was great! Tons of acrobatics and other circusy acts. Not as much music/dancing like LOVE. The opening act was pretty impressive, a girl juggling and bouncing multiple balls in difficult spots. Tight rope walking, wheels of death, and many more. And the acts seemed a bit more daring than other Cirque shows I've seen. There were a few slips and errors which could have been more troublesome if more severe. They are gambling more than some of the other Cirque shows, imo. And Zark the main character was good comic relief.
Picture of the girl bouncing balls along a wall in Crystals I think:
Zarkana Display:
Said Display can be eaten:
Cakes at Jean-Philippe Patisserie:
After the show, we get an Oreo gelato from Jean-Philippe Patisserie. Definitely good, but pricey. After buying it, back on a mission for 8/6 Bonus Deluxe w/Double STP. Unfortunately a lady was already on it, and didn't look to be moving soon. So move over to Row 870, and leisurely play 8/6 Bonus Deluxe with regular STP with one line of quarters. I play very slowly while my g/f was being sweet and feeding me spoonfuls of gelato, but I was getting nowhere. I burned $40 pretty quickly. Watching the lady next to us play 3-play Ultimate X was more amusing. She was playing fast and was either inserting a $100 or pulling out a cashout ticket every 3 minutes or so. After the gelato, we decide we want to shift the car closer to Quad.
We attempt to park in Harrah's again, but now this was a fail. We try Venetian, immediately go up to the 7th floor, and luck out finding a spot pretty fast. Grab a quick beer at the sports book which surprisingly offered 9/6/5 Double Bonus (97.8% max) on a couple of units for quarters. I get nothing of note, and we move on to Sin City Brew Co. at Flamingo.
Random shot of Harrah's along the way:
I really like Sin City Brew Co. because it's a nice place to get away to if there is too much hustle and bustle going on. I get an IPA, she gets a strawberry daiquiri.
We're having a nice quiet drink, but they are calling last call at midnight now, meh. They now close at 12:30am on a Saturday night!! So we move on to my favorite spot at Flamingo. The 100-play penny STP with direct view of the Pleasure Pit and the weekend dancer. Sure the paytables suck (6/5 Bonus w/STP) but I'm playing STP, drink, and can stare at scantily clad women!
Also this is the unit where I hit my only Royal in Vegas back on Presidents' Day 2012. A dealt penny royal on 6 lines. So of course 6 lines at 6 pennies each is a tradition. No royals this time, but a couple of minor hits to win a few bucks.
Also wander into the high limit room for a paytable check. Now Flamingo has 9/5 JoB w/Double STP (98.95% max) for dollars, as well as 7/5 Bonus w/Ultimate X for dollars (~99.3%-99.4% max)!
After Flamingo, g/f calls it a night, and I stick around the Quad Catalyst bar a bit for a couple of 90 minute IPAs. A chick next to me was waiting on her b/f who was in the poker room. I was watching her play, and yeah, it wasn't good. So I helped her out a bit since I was getting nowhere with my actual play. Eventually she called it a night, as did I.
February 26th, 2014 at 11:34:24 AM
permalink
trin,
This is a great first thread! BTW, I'm pretty sure you started a thread by coincidence; something got split where your post happened to be the first in the string split off, and that's how it got "charged" to your account. Think I was the one who did it. Sorry!
This is a great first thread! BTW, I'm pretty sure you started a thread by coincidence; something got split where your post happened to be the first in the string split off, and that's how it got "charged" to your account. Think I was the one who did it. Sorry!
If the House lost every hand, they wouldn't deal the game.
February 26th, 2014 at 11:46:25 AM
permalink
Quote: beachbumbabstrin,
This is a great first thread! BTW, I'm pretty sure you started a thread by coincidence; something got split where your post happened to be the first in the string split off, and that's how it got "charged" to your account. Think I was the one who did it. Sorry!
No problem. I figured it was someone pulling my leg to be honest. The interesting thing is that it doesn't register me as a thread starter from the split thread. In the list of threads I started, this should be the only one listed.
February 26th, 2014 at 11:56:29 AM
permalink
Thanks. This is a great report. Do you use anywhere in particular for searching VP machines? (vpFree2 for example?)
February 26th, 2014 at 1:05:59 PM
permalink
Quote: endermikeThanks. This is a great report. Do you use anywhere in particular for searching VP machines? (vpFree2 for example?)
I do use VPFree2 as an aide. However, once you get down to the nickel level, VPFree2 is almost worthless as most games are below 99% at that point. Off-Strip Vegas is a notable exception to this.
After that, I pretty much double check all STP units.
1) It's a game I like, obv.
2) They tend to have some of the better paytables for nickels in my experience. Partly because many people don't realize that you do NOT have to play max lines to make a max bet per line. So 95%+ of people are betting a minimum of 90c or $1.50 a round on these things. And at least in Vegas, some strip properties have held over 7/5 Bonus w/STP at the nickel level (TI and Planet Hollywood), but I no longer am aware of a strip property with a nickel game king that offers 7/5 Bonus or better. Casino Royale still might have it, but that's definitely the best game they still offer. I used to play 98.91% deuces for nickels there in 2012. :( And my g/f loves the Strip for the sightseeing, so I am a little bit in a bind in that regard.
VPFree2 says that Arizona Charlie's Decatur has 8/5 Bonus w/STP for nickels, but we didn't have the time to get out there. :( I would have actually bothered to play more than 1 line! :D Maybe some other time...
Although I am less interested in these games, older spin poker games and multi-strike poker games also tend to have better paytables.
February 26th, 2014 at 2:28:13 PM
permalink
How did you get on the FPDW at Sam's? Did you beat up a bunch of seniors :) I swear to God they live on those damn things on nickels and quarters.
"Man Babes" #AxelFabulous
February 26th, 2014 at 2:31:19 PM
permalink
Great beer stuff and overall trip report! Now grow up and move off the Dogfish 90 Minute and go straight to the Dogfish 120 Minute!
February 26th, 2014 at 3:18:26 PM
permalink
Quote: djatcHow did you get on the FPDW at Sam's? Did you beat up a bunch of seniors :) I swear to God they live on those damn things on nickels and quarters.
Nope. Maybe lucked out. The bank was busy, but there was still a few seats open. There was at least one non-senior other than me as well...lol
Quote: BozGreat beer stuff and overall trip report! Now grow up and move off the Dogfish 90 Minute and go straight to the Dogfish 120 Minute!
I have. And compared to 90 Minute, I didn't really like it as much. :( I have two 120 Minutes "aging" almost a year now. $10 per 12 oz bottle is steep, and that's a hell of a cheap price from what I've read. I can get 90 minute for as low as $2.50 a bottle when I visit Chicago (St. Louis doesn't have it :(). And Quad was giving me those things by the pint! Definitely bit off more than I could chew the 1st day.
February 27th, 2014 at 9:02:29 PM
permalink
Day 5: Sun. Feb. 16th
Red Rock, Suncoast, and A Sad End of an Era
Get up, check out of Quad, g/f cashes out my winning sports tickets while I go to the poker room to set up an interest list for a 3/6 limit Mix Game at 7pm. Ever since I have been coming to Vegas since 2011, I play in this game every time. Traditionally it is a mix of 10 different games not named Texas Hold'em. Usually it is: Omaha/8, Razz, 2-7 Triple Draw, Double Flop Omaha, Stud/8, Badugi, 4 Card Crazy Ocean Pineapple, A-5 Triple Draw/8, 3-2-1 Omaha, and Badeucy. Don't know all the games? That was sorta the point. But others at the table are friendly and will teach you the rules fast. Mostly it was a cheap opportunity to have fun.
So set that up, and g/f had to cash out Ohio St. over Illinois at Mirage, so I plop myself at Harrah's a bit for a bit of penny 100 play. Lady next to me is playing 50 lines. Gets 4 to a Royal. I'm always good luck for others. She gets one of them. Now we run out toward the Red Rock area.
Pics from the car:
We drive by a Famous Dave's which we like and can't get in St. Louis. Hit the GPS to look for another one, found one, but it sorta took us out of the way. Eventually we get there and have our usual BBQ chicken. A little overdone, but still pretty good. But now it's almost two and we need to hit up a few places. Get to Suncoast which offered a 5X multiplier thanks to an American Casino Guide coupon.
Suncoast:
Standard Boyd offstrip property from the inside looks. Get that multiplier activated and make a beeline for this game:
Yes, 9/6 Bonus Deluxe (99.64% max) at the bar!! Also they have Sierra Nevada on tap, even better!! But the machines weren't that friendly to me. Lots of Bonus Deluxe for me this trip, not a lot of quads. More of a tease than anything. :(
Within an hour of quite leisurely play (~320 hands) I was still quadless and down about $70. Add this with the small Aria debacles, I'm quadless on roughly a quad cycle on quarter Bonus Deluxe alone. Meh.
Dust myself off a bit and move to Red Rock. Lovely property. I would love a place like this to be my “local” casino.
View from Red Rock Parking Lot:
Find a game I want to play. 8/5 Bonus DreamCard Spin Poker for dimes (99.27% max). Playing only one line since it's a dollar total per line (10 dimes). The five extra credits is for the “DreamCard” option where the game “usually” selects the best 5th deal card for you. The game also offers it for pennies at 6/5, not bad for pennies. No Royals (happens a lot in this game: 1 in 8620 on average). But a couple of noteworthy things.
Playing one line of Spin Poker is frustrating:
What's wrong with this picture? Can you figure it out? Hint: My “DreamCard” is not so “dreamy”.
Check out a few other things, and found a slot machine I like: “The Love Boat” by WMS. Very first spin, I hit this on a quarter.
Now it's getting closer to 5, and I need to get ready for my poker game. We get back to Monte Carlo's garage stop in the room, and go to eat the “Original Chicken Tender” as we had a buy 1 get 1 coupon. Definitely worth that, but if you have an appetite, get the 4 pc instead of 3, they are a little small, and it's only $1 more. The g/f catches some of the Blue Group parade while getting our food.
Now it's getting later, so I get her to drop me off at the Quad. I get there a little past 7, but no one is there yet...uh oh. Well, I decide to run off and play off $10 of free play we had from Quad and decided to burn it on that 9/5 DDB Ultimate X I found earlier. Blah.
I still got a “pity straight” and $7 of $10 back though I guess. Go back to the poker room, one other guy checked in, but considering there were only 4 guys on the list total, I am preparing for the inevitable. My g/f parked the car, and stopped by to check on me. We hang around the poker room/sports book, but no one is showing. I'm starting to get bummed. We catch the tail end of the NBA all-star game, and watch a bit of Olympics. But eventually she has to go to her show (Mystere) by herself, which she bought just so I could play poker. :( I go up to the desk and the floor man who could care less is going to yank it off the board since it is going to fail...sigh. I feel like crap. Wander over to Harrah's for “cheap gambling”. First off, sit at the penny spin poker deluxe where I saw the Royal hit yesterday, and play five lines of penny 6/5 Super Double Double Bonus (97.69% max; great for pennies). End up hitting this for the first quads of the day:
The machine turned cold though and I broke even. All this time, I have the voice of Gary Loveman in my head saying: “Don't gamble when you are lonely or depressed”. This is probably one of the lowest feelings I have ever had in Vegas. Did I completely listen to the voice of Gary, nah, but I wasn't going crazy with the gambling at least. Then I decide to vulture Ultimate X a bit since Harrah's had a lot of those games and some as good as 6/5 Bonus. I made a quick $15 from that, so that cheered me up a bit. Considering what I saw at Flamingo last night, thought I would check Harrah's HL room and “Dollar World”. Yeah 7/5 Bonus Ult X in Dollar World, and 9/5 JoB w/DSTP in the high limit room. Not awesome games, but better than what they had.
Before you know it, it's close to 10:30 and her show is getting close to over. But the curious part of me wonders if 8/16 Mix is running at Venetian. This game I really can't afford, but I'd play it if I had to. But at the time, Venetian has been under a cyber-attack for at least a week, and Bravo Poker Live is still messed up. So nope, no mix going. :( So no live poker for me tonight; probably better for me anyway...blah Meet up with g/f at TI. She was less impressed with Mystere than Zarkana. Lots of ballet in Mystere she said...haha
Pic of “High Roller”/”Linq” on the way to “Mystere”:
Pics of Mystere before the show:
She could tell I wasn't happy and try to be supportive. I told her I would eventually get over it, which I eventually did. We make another driving mistake transporting the car from TI to Monte Carlo. Drive all the way down LV Blvd again. Did get a few good shots as a result though:
Over 30 minutes later, we park and get a philly cheesesteak for happy hour from the Monte Carlo Cafe. Good food but slow service. Waiter was swamped. After 12:30am when we get done, I want to hit up Cosmo briefly.
Check out this ride at Cosmo!
Get to Cosmo, look to see if I can get a fancy comped cocktail at Book and Stage, but it is full; however, I see my two favorite units are next to each other in prime viewing nearby. So I take my chances on these, and the assigned waitress. I have had horrible luck with drink service at Cosmo, but this waitress did not disappoint! I asked her if she could get me a Lagunitas IPA since I have been told it's at one of the bars there. But she said no, and I settle on Fat Tire.
I start off with the 100 play pennies with 98.91% Deuces ($1 min bet). Had a couple of good hits to technically start off my Presidents' day. Had one good hit, I would have been annoyed if I bricked since I did have to play 20 lines...
Lack of dealt winners afterward make me slow down to 6/5 Bonus w/Double STP for nickels (7/5 at quarters) while getting another Fat Tire.
The g/f is next to me most of the time, and amused by the sheer number of women walking barefoot because they thought wearing ridiculous heels was a good idea. We also saw this aggressive prostitute in a white/black striped dress walking by the area several times propositioning men. One of the last times we saw her doing it, she was chatting with a well dressed man. Maybe she succeeded? ;)
After this we go back to Monte Carlo and crash.
Shots from our room at Monte Carlo:
Red Rock, Suncoast, and A Sad End of an Era
Get up, check out of Quad, g/f cashes out my winning sports tickets while I go to the poker room to set up an interest list for a 3/6 limit Mix Game at 7pm. Ever since I have been coming to Vegas since 2011, I play in this game every time. Traditionally it is a mix of 10 different games not named Texas Hold'em. Usually it is: Omaha/8, Razz, 2-7 Triple Draw, Double Flop Omaha, Stud/8, Badugi, 4 Card Crazy Ocean Pineapple, A-5 Triple Draw/8, 3-2-1 Omaha, and Badeucy. Don't know all the games? That was sorta the point. But others at the table are friendly and will teach you the rules fast. Mostly it was a cheap opportunity to have fun.
So set that up, and g/f had to cash out Ohio St. over Illinois at Mirage, so I plop myself at Harrah's a bit for a bit of penny 100 play. Lady next to me is playing 50 lines. Gets 4 to a Royal. I'm always good luck for others. She gets one of them. Now we run out toward the Red Rock area.
Pics from the car:
We drive by a Famous Dave's which we like and can't get in St. Louis. Hit the GPS to look for another one, found one, but it sorta took us out of the way. Eventually we get there and have our usual BBQ chicken. A little overdone, but still pretty good. But now it's almost two and we need to hit up a few places. Get to Suncoast which offered a 5X multiplier thanks to an American Casino Guide coupon.
Suncoast:
Standard Boyd offstrip property from the inside looks. Get that multiplier activated and make a beeline for this game:
Yes, 9/6 Bonus Deluxe (99.64% max) at the bar!! Also they have Sierra Nevada on tap, even better!! But the machines weren't that friendly to me. Lots of Bonus Deluxe for me this trip, not a lot of quads. More of a tease than anything. :(
Within an hour of quite leisurely play (~320 hands) I was still quadless and down about $70. Add this with the small Aria debacles, I'm quadless on roughly a quad cycle on quarter Bonus Deluxe alone. Meh.
Dust myself off a bit and move to Red Rock. Lovely property. I would love a place like this to be my “local” casino.
View from Red Rock Parking Lot:
Find a game I want to play. 8/5 Bonus DreamCard Spin Poker for dimes (99.27% max). Playing only one line since it's a dollar total per line (10 dimes). The five extra credits is for the “DreamCard” option where the game “usually” selects the best 5th deal card for you. The game also offers it for pennies at 6/5, not bad for pennies. No Royals (happens a lot in this game: 1 in 8620 on average). But a couple of noteworthy things.
Playing one line of Spin Poker is frustrating:
What's wrong with this picture? Can you figure it out? Hint: My “DreamCard” is not so “dreamy”.
Check out a few other things, and found a slot machine I like: “The Love Boat” by WMS. Very first spin, I hit this on a quarter.
Now it's getting closer to 5, and I need to get ready for my poker game. We get back to Monte Carlo's garage stop in the room, and go to eat the “Original Chicken Tender” as we had a buy 1 get 1 coupon. Definitely worth that, but if you have an appetite, get the 4 pc instead of 3, they are a little small, and it's only $1 more. The g/f catches some of the Blue Group parade while getting our food.
Now it's getting later, so I get her to drop me off at the Quad. I get there a little past 7, but no one is there yet...uh oh. Well, I decide to run off and play off $10 of free play we had from Quad and decided to burn it on that 9/5 DDB Ultimate X I found earlier. Blah.
I still got a “pity straight” and $7 of $10 back though I guess. Go back to the poker room, one other guy checked in, but considering there were only 4 guys on the list total, I am preparing for the inevitable. My g/f parked the car, and stopped by to check on me. We hang around the poker room/sports book, but no one is showing. I'm starting to get bummed. We catch the tail end of the NBA all-star game, and watch a bit of Olympics. But eventually she has to go to her show (Mystere) by herself, which she bought just so I could play poker. :( I go up to the desk and the floor man who could care less is going to yank it off the board since it is going to fail...sigh. I feel like crap. Wander over to Harrah's for “cheap gambling”. First off, sit at the penny spin poker deluxe where I saw the Royal hit yesterday, and play five lines of penny 6/5 Super Double Double Bonus (97.69% max; great for pennies). End up hitting this for the first quads of the day:
The machine turned cold though and I broke even. All this time, I have the voice of Gary Loveman in my head saying: “Don't gamble when you are lonely or depressed”. This is probably one of the lowest feelings I have ever had in Vegas. Did I completely listen to the voice of Gary, nah, but I wasn't going crazy with the gambling at least. Then I decide to vulture Ultimate X a bit since Harrah's had a lot of those games and some as good as 6/5 Bonus. I made a quick $15 from that, so that cheered me up a bit. Considering what I saw at Flamingo last night, thought I would check Harrah's HL room and “Dollar World”. Yeah 7/5 Bonus Ult X in Dollar World, and 9/5 JoB w/DSTP in the high limit room. Not awesome games, but better than what they had.
Before you know it, it's close to 10:30 and her show is getting close to over. But the curious part of me wonders if 8/16 Mix is running at Venetian. This game I really can't afford, but I'd play it if I had to. But at the time, Venetian has been under a cyber-attack for at least a week, and Bravo Poker Live is still messed up. So nope, no mix going. :( So no live poker for me tonight; probably better for me anyway...blah Meet up with g/f at TI. She was less impressed with Mystere than Zarkana. Lots of ballet in Mystere she said...haha
Pic of “High Roller”/”Linq” on the way to “Mystere”:
Pics of Mystere before the show:
She could tell I wasn't happy and try to be supportive. I told her I would eventually get over it, which I eventually did. We make another driving mistake transporting the car from TI to Monte Carlo. Drive all the way down LV Blvd again. Did get a few good shots as a result though:
Over 30 minutes later, we park and get a philly cheesesteak for happy hour from the Monte Carlo Cafe. Good food but slow service. Waiter was swamped. After 12:30am when we get done, I want to hit up Cosmo briefly.
Check out this ride at Cosmo!
Get to Cosmo, look to see if I can get a fancy comped cocktail at Book and Stage, but it is full; however, I see my two favorite units are next to each other in prime viewing nearby. So I take my chances on these, and the assigned waitress. I have had horrible luck with drink service at Cosmo, but this waitress did not disappoint! I asked her if she could get me a Lagunitas IPA since I have been told it's at one of the bars there. But she said no, and I settle on Fat Tire.
I start off with the 100 play pennies with 98.91% Deuces ($1 min bet). Had a couple of good hits to technically start off my Presidents' day. Had one good hit, I would have been annoyed if I bricked since I did have to play 20 lines...
Lack of dealt winners afterward make me slow down to 6/5 Bonus w/Double STP for nickels (7/5 at quarters) while getting another Fat Tire.
The g/f is next to me most of the time, and amused by the sheer number of women walking barefoot because they thought wearing ridiculous heels was a good idea. We also saw this aggressive prostitute in a white/black striped dress walking by the area several times propositioning men. One of the last times we saw her doing it, she was chatting with a well dressed man. Maybe she succeeded? ;)
After this we go back to Monte Carlo and crash.
Shots from our room at Monte Carlo:
February 28th, 2014 at 10:39:46 AM
permalink
More than anything, this trip report has reminded me why I almost never drive anywhere in Vegas. Sounds like parking was a definite annoyance for you the whole trip.
"So drink gamble eat f***, because one day you will be dust." -ontariodealer
February 28th, 2014 at 4:13:11 PM
permalink
Enjoyed the report! Great post for your first thread. *thumbs up*
Fighting BS one post at a time!
February 28th, 2014 at 4:38:46 PM
permalink
Quote: Beethoven9thEnjoyed the report! Great post for your first thread. *thumbs up*
It's not done yet. I have one more installment to go. The title says I meet Wizard on this trip. I'm long winded...lol
Should be up shortly.
February 28th, 2014 at 4:48:10 PM
permalink
Day 6: Mon. Feb. 17th
Another Presidents' Day in Vegas...Can I Be Lucky on It Again???
Get up, here's the daytime view of our room.
Put on my “lucky” Flamingo shirt I bought for $4 in the Flamingo gift shop only an hour after I hit my Royal on Presidents' Day two years ago and hope for some “run good”. She wants to run out to the Outlet mall real quick. While going there, we see a parking spot for the “Las Vegas Sign”, so obviously we have to detour there.
Elvis walking to his car:
Shots on the way back:
Thought about going to Hooters for the first time this trip, but no time. :(
Hit the outlet mall. Nothing doing, and then we run to the Quad to play a free slot tourney. Very flashy, and also has a physical skill element as you get bonus points for tapping symbols that appear on the screen. Unfortunately, we finished near the back of the pack. :( At this point, it was close to having to return the car, so we go do that. We also mentioned the E-85 issue; they gave us a free ¼ tank of gas for a future rental, which I thought was fair. Also they were nice enough to drop us off at the Rio where we planned to have the buffet. Definitely recommend the weekend special from Enterprise if it's available! Before the buffet, I double check some of Rio's games, and yep, 40/10/6 DDB (99.96% max) is still available for dollar 3/5/10 Play! But it is $50 per tier point though... :(
The buffet was good, but not as good as we first remembered. I'd eat it again with some type of “deal”. Hit the shuttle to Bally's. She wanted to check the gift shop. I wanted to scope out VP machines. At the bar near the poker room, I found an All Star II poker with 7/5 Bonus w/STP for quarters, so of course I felt I had to play it while ordering a Sierra Nevada. And it rewarded me with quad 8's for $31.25! No pic though because I forgot my phone in my room. :( Here is what Sierra Nevada looks like though. This is a common strip go-to for me since a lot of the Strip seems to have this now.
Eventually she found the gifts she wanted, and we move along the strip. I eventually stop at the bar with her for another Sierra Nevada. This time she sits down with me for a drink as well. I double check the paytables, and see the expected payouts on my machine. Seconds later, she asks me: “Is this a good game”? At first I thought no because I thought she was looking at some oddball game. But then I look again, she was reading a DDB paytable, and see something great. I demand as nicely as possible for her to switch seats with me. My first full house I hit just a few hands in should hint to you how good it is. She was smart enough to bring her phone...
And the hits didn't dry up. I got dealt trips all over, some flushes, and this big hit to help significantly dig me out of my trip hole:
After a couple of drinks, we go back to the room, and I'm up $140 for the day! :D After a refresh, we decide to hit MGM fast to see if we could get on Lion's Share. We found the machine, but with the media frenzy as of late, no way in hell we are waiting in that line! Eventually, I settled on a bit of nickel 7/5 Bonus Quick Quads (98.29% max), and was dealt 99956. I asked my g/f which kicker I should hold (as a sum of kickers to the rank of my trips (9) would make a four of a kind in quick quads), and she said 5. Then I hear some of the most beautiful words of all of video poker: “Quick Quad!!!” My g/f also gets her first and only quad of the trip next to me. She had a pretty rough go of it this trip. :( Fortunately, she doesn't play very much at all.
Quick Quad!!!
Her only quad of the trip. :(
Pics of MGM/NY NY/and viewing up the strip:
So now we go to Earl of Sandwich for a late dinner. We order the BBQ chicken sandwich, caesar salad, and the broccoli cheese soup. Sandwich was excellent, caesar salad was ok, but the broccoli cheese soup was overloaded with broccoli, and had little cheese. We couldn't finish it. Get a beer at Extra Lounge which had 7/5 BP w/STP for quarters. Nothing doing. Wanted to play 7/5 BP w/STP for nickels afterward, but the 4 machines were packed. Settle with Big Split Poker. Nothing doing. At this point I obviously push to go back to the machine we found earlier.
This time we go back there, and there is a couple chatting near there, but not playing. I apologize and hint that I want to play that machine. This time not as great. I brick another 4 to a Royal (not shown due to bartender near by). I was stupid and didn't inform my g/f before I hit the draw button and missed. She seemed to make some good timing patterns for me at times. :( I was $40 in when I hit this.
At this point I said to her I was going to quit at worst even. An interesting note was, a drunk group of chicks swarmed my machine while I was in the bathroom with ~$70 in the machine, my g/f was worried they might do something dumb with the machine, so she made sure they didn't touch it. When I got back, they were still getting their drinks served in front of my machine, and I just said “take your time, no rush”. The weirdest thing was, one of the drunk girls was talking to my g/f, and she thought it was a good idea to insert 5 singles into my machine for “good luck”...lol We didn't object to the odd request. And soon afterward they left after paying their $50+ bar bill. Yikes!
I got a dealt 75432 after that though, which would have been the nuts for one of those mix games I didn't play...d'oh. Then 40 minutes later, I got the dealt “2-7 Lowball Royal” for the first time I can remember...grrrr Same probability as a dealt royal, but worth a lot less. :( At least this machine gave me a $7.50 pity pay for it I guess instead of the more common $6.25. She really wasn't good luck though, and it was after Presidents' Day now, I cashed out only $10 up for the session. But I'll settle for being up about $130 or so the entire day. :)
Head back to the room for another night's sleep.
Day 7: Tues. Feb. 18th
Wrapping the Trip Up and Meeting with the “Wizard of Odds”
Wake up, check out, drag our bags to the bell desk. Our flight doesn't leave til 6, so we have time. Eat at Fatburger for lunch which was pretty good. Then go back to MGM to see if the Lion Share craze dies down. But before that, I stop by Sigma Derby to try to play that for the first time since I had about $3.25 of quarters in my pocket that I didn't want to mess with at McCarran. Each race I bet 50c, usually one on a longer shot, and the other on a pair of my g/f's or my choice. We were picking correctly a ridiculous amount of the time, one of which was 13 for 1. Before we knew it, after 6 races we were up about $6.
Then I tried a slot at MGM I never seen “Dick Clark's Bloopers”. I got both bonuses, but in the bigger blooper bonus, I got a bad payout, but got to see a ~funny video clip of a woman falling off a treadmill. I still may have lost about a buck here.
Monte Carlo and Excalibur:
Then went back to Quick Quads, no dice. Then hit M&M World real fast when I got a call from Wizard. He was on the strip for the afternoon and made time to stop by and see my g/f and I. Met up at NY NY sports book. Great guy. Asked him some questions about why he got into the field he was in, commiserated on the Super Bowl safety, talking about “Lion's Share” among other things. But my g/f might have been more impressed on one of his biggest non-gambling achievements: the creation of the SSA Top Baby Name List.
Here is a pic of us with Wizard! He seems much more relaxed than us...lol
After our meeting, not tons of time left. Tossed a fiver into random things like “Family Guy” slot. Fail. Threw another 5 into an STP machine, another tease, broke even:
I've never hit a Royal in the casino when holding 2 or fewer cards:
Now get to McCarran. Eat some Popeye's, and while eating, I toss around the idea of staying longer if the flight is oversold. We ask someone manning the gate about that, she said, no it wasn't oversold. I'm on a VP machine short-coining their crap game, and I hear an announcement about it being oversold and offering a $300 credit/person. Grrrr. At this point there is a line, and we were in a decent spot to board and they were beginning to board. So, I made a snap decision not to do it because I did want a decent seat on the way home. Considering how much my g/f slept the next day, maybe it was the right call, but I'm still on the fence. I definitely could have hacked another day in Vegas (even w/o our luggage since we checked it); my g/f, not totally sure.
Total gaming tally: Me: A gambler's “even” (aka I don't keep a good track but definitely double digits or less in either direction). The g/f ran bad and lost $70ish but that's probably on less than $200 coin-in (seriously), if I would have been running as bad as she did, I'd probably be down $400+. All-in total cost for the vacation somewhere around $1000 maybe? Not terrible for nearly a whole week I suppose. That's nearly everything we did in Vegas; hope you enjoyed it as much as we did! :D
Another Presidents' Day in Vegas...Can I Be Lucky on It Again???
Get up, here's the daytime view of our room.
Put on my “lucky” Flamingo shirt I bought for $4 in the Flamingo gift shop only an hour after I hit my Royal on Presidents' Day two years ago and hope for some “run good”. She wants to run out to the Outlet mall real quick. While going there, we see a parking spot for the “Las Vegas Sign”, so obviously we have to detour there.
Elvis walking to his car:
Shots on the way back:
Thought about going to Hooters for the first time this trip, but no time. :(
Hit the outlet mall. Nothing doing, and then we run to the Quad to play a free slot tourney. Very flashy, and also has a physical skill element as you get bonus points for tapping symbols that appear on the screen. Unfortunately, we finished near the back of the pack. :( At this point, it was close to having to return the car, so we go do that. We also mentioned the E-85 issue; they gave us a free ¼ tank of gas for a future rental, which I thought was fair. Also they were nice enough to drop us off at the Rio where we planned to have the buffet. Definitely recommend the weekend special from Enterprise if it's available! Before the buffet, I double check some of Rio's games, and yep, 40/10/6 DDB (99.96% max) is still available for dollar 3/5/10 Play! But it is $50 per tier point though... :(
The buffet was good, but not as good as we first remembered. I'd eat it again with some type of “deal”. Hit the shuttle to Bally's. She wanted to check the gift shop. I wanted to scope out VP machines. At the bar near the poker room, I found an All Star II poker with 7/5 Bonus w/STP for quarters, so of course I felt I had to play it while ordering a Sierra Nevada. And it rewarded me with quad 8's for $31.25! No pic though because I forgot my phone in my room. :( Here is what Sierra Nevada looks like though. This is a common strip go-to for me since a lot of the Strip seems to have this now.
Eventually she found the gifts she wanted, and we move along the strip. I eventually stop at the bar with her for another Sierra Nevada. This time she sits down with me for a drink as well. I double check the paytables, and see the expected payouts on my machine. Seconds later, she asks me: “Is this a good game”? At first I thought no because I thought she was looking at some oddball game. But then I look again, she was reading a DDB paytable, and see something great. I demand as nicely as possible for her to switch seats with me. My first full house I hit just a few hands in should hint to you how good it is. She was smart enough to bring her phone...
And the hits didn't dry up. I got dealt trips all over, some flushes, and this big hit to help significantly dig me out of my trip hole:
After a couple of drinks, we go back to the room, and I'm up $140 for the day! :D After a refresh, we decide to hit MGM fast to see if we could get on Lion's Share. We found the machine, but with the media frenzy as of late, no way in hell we are waiting in that line! Eventually, I settled on a bit of nickel 7/5 Bonus Quick Quads (98.29% max), and was dealt 99956. I asked my g/f which kicker I should hold (as a sum of kickers to the rank of my trips (9) would make a four of a kind in quick quads), and she said 5. Then I hear some of the most beautiful words of all of video poker: “Quick Quad!!!” My g/f also gets her first and only quad of the trip next to me. She had a pretty rough go of it this trip. :( Fortunately, she doesn't play very much at all.
Quick Quad!!!
Her only quad of the trip. :(
Pics of MGM/NY NY/and viewing up the strip:
So now we go to Earl of Sandwich for a late dinner. We order the BBQ chicken sandwich, caesar salad, and the broccoli cheese soup. Sandwich was excellent, caesar salad was ok, but the broccoli cheese soup was overloaded with broccoli, and had little cheese. We couldn't finish it. Get a beer at Extra Lounge which had 7/5 BP w/STP for quarters. Nothing doing. Wanted to play 7/5 BP w/STP for nickels afterward, but the 4 machines were packed. Settle with Big Split Poker. Nothing doing. At this point I obviously push to go back to the machine we found earlier.
This time we go back there, and there is a couple chatting near there, but not playing. I apologize and hint that I want to play that machine. This time not as great. I brick another 4 to a Royal (not shown due to bartender near by). I was stupid and didn't inform my g/f before I hit the draw button and missed. She seemed to make some good timing patterns for me at times. :( I was $40 in when I hit this.
At this point I said to her I was going to quit at worst even. An interesting note was, a drunk group of chicks swarmed my machine while I was in the bathroom with ~$70 in the machine, my g/f was worried they might do something dumb with the machine, so she made sure they didn't touch it. When I got back, they were still getting their drinks served in front of my machine, and I just said “take your time, no rush”. The weirdest thing was, one of the drunk girls was talking to my g/f, and she thought it was a good idea to insert 5 singles into my machine for “good luck”...lol We didn't object to the odd request. And soon afterward they left after paying their $50+ bar bill. Yikes!
I got a dealt 75432 after that though, which would have been the nuts for one of those mix games I didn't play...d'oh. Then 40 minutes later, I got the dealt “2-7 Lowball Royal” for the first time I can remember...grrrr Same probability as a dealt royal, but worth a lot less. :( At least this machine gave me a $7.50 pity pay for it I guess instead of the more common $6.25. She really wasn't good luck though, and it was after Presidents' Day now, I cashed out only $10 up for the session. But I'll settle for being up about $130 or so the entire day. :)
Head back to the room for another night's sleep.
Day 7: Tues. Feb. 18th
Wrapping the Trip Up and Meeting with the “Wizard of Odds”
Wake up, check out, drag our bags to the bell desk. Our flight doesn't leave til 6, so we have time. Eat at Fatburger for lunch which was pretty good. Then go back to MGM to see if the Lion Share craze dies down. But before that, I stop by Sigma Derby to try to play that for the first time since I had about $3.25 of quarters in my pocket that I didn't want to mess with at McCarran. Each race I bet 50c, usually one on a longer shot, and the other on a pair of my g/f's or my choice. We were picking correctly a ridiculous amount of the time, one of which was 13 for 1. Before we knew it, after 6 races we were up about $6.
Then I tried a slot at MGM I never seen “Dick Clark's Bloopers”. I got both bonuses, but in the bigger blooper bonus, I got a bad payout, but got to see a ~funny video clip of a woman falling off a treadmill. I still may have lost about a buck here.
Monte Carlo and Excalibur:
Then went back to Quick Quads, no dice. Then hit M&M World real fast when I got a call from Wizard. He was on the strip for the afternoon and made time to stop by and see my g/f and I. Met up at NY NY sports book. Great guy. Asked him some questions about why he got into the field he was in, commiserated on the Super Bowl safety, talking about “Lion's Share” among other things. But my g/f might have been more impressed on one of his biggest non-gambling achievements: the creation of the SSA Top Baby Name List.
Here is a pic of us with Wizard! He seems much more relaxed than us...lol
After our meeting, not tons of time left. Tossed a fiver into random things like “Family Guy” slot. Fail. Threw another 5 into an STP machine, another tease, broke even:
I've never hit a Royal in the casino when holding 2 or fewer cards:
Now get to McCarran. Eat some Popeye's, and while eating, I toss around the idea of staying longer if the flight is oversold. We ask someone manning the gate about that, she said, no it wasn't oversold. I'm on a VP machine short-coining their crap game, and I hear an announcement about it being oversold and offering a $300 credit/person. Grrrr. At this point there is a line, and we were in a decent spot to board and they were beginning to board. So, I made a snap decision not to do it because I did want a decent seat on the way home. Considering how much my g/f slept the next day, maybe it was the right call, but I'm still on the fence. I definitely could have hacked another day in Vegas (even w/o our luggage since we checked it); my g/f, not totally sure.
Total gaming tally: Me: A gambler's “even” (aka I don't keep a good track but definitely double digits or less in either direction). The g/f ran bad and lost $70ish but that's probably on less than $200 coin-in (seriously), if I would have been running as bad as she did, I'd probably be down $400+. All-in total cost for the vacation somewhere around $1000 maybe? Not terrible for nearly a whole week I suppose. That's nearly everything we did in Vegas; hope you enjoyed it as much as we did! :D
February 28th, 2014 at 7:07:39 PM
permalink
great report. It was nice to get a picture of you to go along with all of your posts that I have been reading for years.
I wish I could do a week in Vegas for $1000. Roundtrip for 2 alone is $800 right now.
I wish I could do a week in Vegas for $1000. Roundtrip for 2 alone is $800 right now.
Expect the worst and you will never be disappointed.
I AM NOT PART OF GWAE RADIO SHOW
February 28th, 2014 at 7:21:18 PM
permalink
Quote: GWAEgreat report. It was nice to get a picture of you to go along with all of your posts that I have been reading for years.
I wish I could do a week in Vegas for $1000. Roundtrip for 2 alone is $800 right now.
Thanks!
Yeah, "regular prices" on Southwest tend to be about $800 for round-trip for 2 as well from St. Louis and they are at the moment through May. :(
February 28th, 2014 at 7:56:18 PM
permalink
Quote: tringlomaneThanks!
Yeah, "regular prices" on Southwest tend to be about $800 for round-trip for 2 as well from St. Louis and they are at the moment through May. :(
Did you get a deal for your last trip? if so how?
Expect the worst and you will never be disappointed.
I AM NOT PART OF GWAE RADIO SHOW
February 28th, 2014 at 7:59:29 PM
permalink
I think I enjoyed this trip report more than any other I have read (or written) on here.
Maybe I should just tell you what happens on my trip next month and have you write it...
Maybe I should just tell you what happens on my trip next month and have you write it...
https://wizardofvegas.com/forum/off-topic/gripes/11182-pet-peeves/120/#post815219
February 28th, 2014 at 8:07:06 PM
permalink
The pics make a HUGE difference. Well done tring!!!
“There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.” - Winston Churchill
February 28th, 2014 at 8:28:13 PM
permalink
Excellent report in all parts, trin! Thanks for taking the time to do the details and all the pics!
If the House lost every hand, they wouldn't deal the game.
February 28th, 2014 at 9:01:04 PM
permalink
Quote: Mission146I think I enjoyed this trip report more than any other I have read (or written) on here.
Maybe I should just tell you what happens on my trip next month and have you write it...
Haha. You write a great TR yourself. You just have to remember to snap pics (or your wife if she's going). This TR would have been much more bland w/o my g/f and her camera.
Quote: GWAEDid you get a deal for your last trip? if so how?
Nope, no deal. Just SWA's inflated prices backfiring on them and they let the prices drop to $220 rt about 3 weeks out. It worked out great because it was Feb., so the travel demand was obv down, but while we were actually there, the highs were about 10 degrees above average (average 64). The coldest day was our first at 69. And on Sunday when we went to Redrock/Suncoast, a new daily record high of 80 was set. We also foolishly bought the 15,000LP room from Mirage for Jan./Feb. before I learned it was non-refundable. So that was a bit of an extra motivation to try to go.
We only spent 123k LP each on myVegas for this trip. 2 nights Mirage, 2 nights Monte Carlo, and 2 tix to Zarkana. We still have about 200k LP left each...yikes!
Quote: beachbumbabsExcellent report in all parts, trin! Thanks for taking the time to do the details and all the pics!
Quote: TomspurThe pics make a HUGE difference. Well done tring!!!
Thanks! Pics do make a difference, imo, but they do take more time though, I understand why people don't do them like this. This definitely took awhile. Similar to Doc's Cosmo report.
March 1st, 2014 at 1:40:57 AM
permalink
Yeah I enjoyed the pictures, it was like reading a Playboy lol (I swear I read your post, so big difference from Playboys). They are extremely sharp, and crisp.
"Man Babes" #AxelFabulous
March 1st, 2014 at 9:15:17 AM
permalink
Quote: TomspurThe pics make a HUGE difference. Well done tring!!!
The entire report is superb, but the group photo is the rockefeller on the oysters. The op and gf look like a fun couple, and the Wizard clearly understands the responsibility of celebrities to look stylish at all times. For a split-second, I thought tringlomane was sitting next to Fernando Lamas:
"Scientists tell us that the fastest animal on earth, with a top speed of 120 feet per second, is a cow that has been dropped out of a helicopter."
