March 11 to 13 Report
April 4th, 2016 at 1:07:44 PM
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I will make this report as interesting as a I can. It won't have pictures though.
Friday March 11
We started the drive Friday morning and made some pretty good time. We were on a budget this year so we decided to stay at the Tuscany Casino just off the strip. We arrived right around check in and didn't have any problems getting into the room. We parked our car in Harrah's garage and decided to head over to the Mirage sportsbook to watch some hoops. That week it was the conference tournaments so there were more games than you have for March Madness. Plus, I've found the rooms are cheaper as well. I did pretty well on some place bets but I really got hurt on some of my parlays. As a result, I ended up down a couple of hundred for the session. I am a big fan of downtown so we decided to head there just before 9PM. We parked at the 4 Queens and walked out into the street to catch the 9PM show. After the show, I decided to play some PGP. I ended up at the D right next to the 4 Queens. They had one table there but the game was different than Fortune PGP. At the D, it is called Pai Gow mania, I believe. You are dealt 3 cards to start which can win you a bonus if you choose to make the side bets. Then, you are dealt the remaining 4 cards, which can qualify you for another side bet as well. I don't make those side bets so it didn't affect me. But, it was strange to see PGP being dealt differently like that. Anyway, I played for a couple of hours, and ended up a nominal amount. I think it was about 30 dollars.
I decided to head over to Casino Royale late that night to play some blackjack switch. I know the odds on it aren't great. But, I have fun playing it anyway. I ended up making about 50 dollars off it. Although, at one time I was up over 100 and should've quit then but I pressed my luck and cooled off a bit at the end. At any rate, it was about 2am or so. I cashed out and headed back to the Tuscany to get some sleep.
Saturday March 12
I got up around 9AM or so and headed downstairs in the Tuscany to play some blackjack. It paid 3 to 2 and was only ten dollars so I joined. Sadly, it didn't go well as I went through my $100 buy in about 45 minutes. At that point, I got in the car and headed over to the strip to Harrah's to play some tiles. Harrah's had a $15 table and I did very well there. I was by myself and alternated banking with the dealer. They had a sign up that showed the different tile deliveries. When it was my turn to bank, I had the dealer do different deliveries to spice things up. If I remember, my favorite delivery was dragon head/phoenix tail. I played for about three hours and ended up just over $100. I cashed out and walked over to the Wicked Spoon in the Cosmopolitan and met a couple of buddies there for their lunch buffet. We did have to wait about 40 mins to get in but it was worth it. They had a good selection of Asian, Italian, and American food. There desserts were pretty good as well. We didn't do the champagne deal so I think the buffet was around 40 bucks after tax and tip.
At this point, I headed over to the Mirage to gamble on some hoops. Once again, I did decent on place bets but the parlays hurt me. Villanova losing to Seton Hall busted my 4 team parlay since all of the other bets hit. Anyway, I ended up about even after that early evening session. At this point it was about 7PM so we all decided to do our own thing for a few hours. That plan was to meet up at the Tao nightclub in the Venetian around 11 PM. I went to Tuscany to change and then drove over to Mandalay Bay since I hadn't seen the south end of the strip this weekend. I gambled at Mandalay, Luxor, and Excalibur playing craps at all three casinos. The Luxor was unkind to me but I did pretty well at Excalibur and Mandalay. I ended up around 60 dollars for the session. I was betting conservatively by placing sixs and eights and then pressing them a unit after a couple of hits. I was lucky that the last shooter hit a bunch of sixs before shooting out. I grabbed a quick bite and headed over to Tao to meet up with some buddies. We decided to do bottle service since it was just over 700 for the six of us. That was just under 120 each. We all thought it was worth it to go that direction than to wait a long time and pay the cover (40 bucks), pay 15 dollars per drink, and have no place to sit and bump into people all night. Anyway, the club was a blast. It was nice to be able to sit down once in a while and we each ended up mixing about two drinks before finishing the bottle. I met a cool girl that lives up in Orange county so we had some things in common to talk about and danced for a bit. Once bottle service ended around 2AM, I said good bye to my buddies and headed back to the Tuscany to get some sleep.
Sunday March 13
The last day we decided to leave before check in to see if that would work out better for us than the previous couple of years. We were on the freeway before 10AM but it didn't seem to matter. We hit some nasty traffic just before crossing into California and in the San Bernardino area as well. We didn't end up getting back until after 5PM. Heading back to SoCal on Sunday is tough from Vegas. I think you have to leave at some ridiculous hour like 6AM to avoid traffic and I am not willing to do that. At any rate, I had a great trip and hope to make it out next year as well.
Friday March 11
We started the drive Friday morning and made some pretty good time. We were on a budget this year so we decided to stay at the Tuscany Casino just off the strip. We arrived right around check in and didn't have any problems getting into the room. We parked our car in Harrah's garage and decided to head over to the Mirage sportsbook to watch some hoops. That week it was the conference tournaments so there were more games than you have for March Madness. Plus, I've found the rooms are cheaper as well. I did pretty well on some place bets but I really got hurt on some of my parlays. As a result, I ended up down a couple of hundred for the session. I am a big fan of downtown so we decided to head there just before 9PM. We parked at the 4 Queens and walked out into the street to catch the 9PM show. After the show, I decided to play some PGP. I ended up at the D right next to the 4 Queens. They had one table there but the game was different than Fortune PGP. At the D, it is called Pai Gow mania, I believe. You are dealt 3 cards to start which can win you a bonus if you choose to make the side bets. Then, you are dealt the remaining 4 cards, which can qualify you for another side bet as well. I don't make those side bets so it didn't affect me. But, it was strange to see PGP being dealt differently like that. Anyway, I played for a couple of hours, and ended up a nominal amount. I think it was about 30 dollars.
I decided to head over to Casino Royale late that night to play some blackjack switch. I know the odds on it aren't great. But, I have fun playing it anyway. I ended up making about 50 dollars off it. Although, at one time I was up over 100 and should've quit then but I pressed my luck and cooled off a bit at the end. At any rate, it was about 2am or so. I cashed out and headed back to the Tuscany to get some sleep.
Saturday March 12
I got up around 9AM or so and headed downstairs in the Tuscany to play some blackjack. It paid 3 to 2 and was only ten dollars so I joined. Sadly, it didn't go well as I went through my $100 buy in about 45 minutes. At that point, I got in the car and headed over to the strip to Harrah's to play some tiles. Harrah's had a $15 table and I did very well there. I was by myself and alternated banking with the dealer. They had a sign up that showed the different tile deliveries. When it was my turn to bank, I had the dealer do different deliveries to spice things up. If I remember, my favorite delivery was dragon head/phoenix tail. I played for about three hours and ended up just over $100. I cashed out and walked over to the Wicked Spoon in the Cosmopolitan and met a couple of buddies there for their lunch buffet. We did have to wait about 40 mins to get in but it was worth it. They had a good selection of Asian, Italian, and American food. There desserts were pretty good as well. We didn't do the champagne deal so I think the buffet was around 40 bucks after tax and tip.
At this point, I headed over to the Mirage to gamble on some hoops. Once again, I did decent on place bets but the parlays hurt me. Villanova losing to Seton Hall busted my 4 team parlay since all of the other bets hit. Anyway, I ended up about even after that early evening session. At this point it was about 7PM so we all decided to do our own thing for a few hours. That plan was to meet up at the Tao nightclub in the Venetian around 11 PM. I went to Tuscany to change and then drove over to Mandalay Bay since I hadn't seen the south end of the strip this weekend. I gambled at Mandalay, Luxor, and Excalibur playing craps at all three casinos. The Luxor was unkind to me but I did pretty well at Excalibur and Mandalay. I ended up around 60 dollars for the session. I was betting conservatively by placing sixs and eights and then pressing them a unit after a couple of hits. I was lucky that the last shooter hit a bunch of sixs before shooting out. I grabbed a quick bite and headed over to Tao to meet up with some buddies. We decided to do bottle service since it was just over 700 for the six of us. That was just under 120 each. We all thought it was worth it to go that direction than to wait a long time and pay the cover (40 bucks), pay 15 dollars per drink, and have no place to sit and bump into people all night. Anyway, the club was a blast. It was nice to be able to sit down once in a while and we each ended up mixing about two drinks before finishing the bottle. I met a cool girl that lives up in Orange county so we had some things in common to talk about and danced for a bit. Once bottle service ended around 2AM, I said good bye to my buddies and headed back to the Tuscany to get some sleep.
Sunday March 13
The last day we decided to leave before check in to see if that would work out better for us than the previous couple of years. We were on the freeway before 10AM but it didn't seem to matter. We hit some nasty traffic just before crossing into California and in the San Bernardino area as well. We didn't end up getting back until after 5PM. Heading back to SoCal on Sunday is tough from Vegas. I think you have to leave at some ridiculous hour like 6AM to avoid traffic and I am not willing to do that. At any rate, I had a great trip and hope to make it out next year as well.
April 4th, 2016 at 2:25:07 PM
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Thank you for sharing your TR. The only thing I remember about Tuscany is how dice setting is not allowed at all even if it's 11am and no one else is playing.
I CD-ROM.
April 4th, 2016 at 2:59:54 PM
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Thanks for the report, Wulf! I've been to the Tuscany a couple of times, never thought of parking at Harrah's. Nice that you had a relatively even trip.
If the House lost every hand, they wouldn't deal the game.
April 4th, 2016 at 3:16:58 PM
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Quote: KonbuThank you for sharing your TR. The only thing I remember about Tuscany is how dice setting is not allowed at all even if it's 11am and no one else is playing.
Thanks for reading. I didn't play craps there but that is an interesting tidbit. I can't give much of a review of Tuscany since I pretty was only there for sleeping and that short blackjack session. But, I couldn't complain about the room or the casino. It seemed like a lowkey place for people that just want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the strip.
Quote: beachbumbabsThanks for the report, Wulf! I've been to the Tuscany a couple of times, never thought of parking at Harrah's. Nice that you had a relatively even trip.
I appreciate you reading. Harrah's is a convenient place to park since I knew I'd be spending a bunch of time at the Mirage sportsbook watching hoops with the rest of the group. Looking back, I probably should've spent a little for time exploring Tuscany's but the rest of the group was on the strip so it didn't work out that way.
