Wynn, Fremont, Harrahs, slots & UTH

Spent Sun-Tues in LV, enjoyed ourselves very much. It's a trip that we win at work, I get to go on every other year or so depending on who hasn't gone recently and how well we do in the contest, ie winning two or more trips.

Sunday

We rested during the afternoon, and then had a meet & greet buffet at Wynn. This deserves a foodie aside:


At this buffet there was a carving station, and at this carving station there was, not a steamship round, but REAL PRIME RIB.

And the woman carving it was doing it like she’d never seen that particular cut before. One part of it, a standing on its bones roast about 3” thick, was standing like you’d normally see, on her right (my left) but on the cutting board in front she was slicing thin slices of the eye of ribeye and serving it. So, I got to her, and when she started cutting I said, “No, I’d like a slice from that one there,” pointing to the standing roast. She seemed to think I wanted the whole thing, and started to indicate that wasn’t possible, but I said that I only wanted a slice off it... and, JOY OF JOYS...! she TURNED IT ON ITS SIDE AND SLICED ME OFF THE RIBEYE CAP. And, as an added JOY OF JOYS, someone had the foresight to SERVE THE RIB BONES next to the carving station. My God, someone at least knows what the good parts are.

That was one damn good buffet. Huli huli chicken, pulled pork tacos, ahi ahi. I skipped all the vegetables, didn’t want to take the carb hit with all that protein available.

And, back to gambling.


First night at Wynn, after the meet & greet, I threaded $100 through the $5 WoF and hit for $750 on the 3rd spin. Cashed that out and never fell below even for the rest of the trip. Mrs and I wandered around tossing at different penny slots until I got anxious and left to play some UTH. $15 limit, first hand I got KJ offsuit and lost when the board went sideways and the dealer flipped a pair of 3s with a 3 on the table. "You shouldn't make that bet! That was crazy!" he said. I looked at him and wagged my tongue and crossed my eyes. A couple hands later I played Q8 and got QQ8. Sure, it was lucky, but no one called me crazy then. Up, down, won about $200 all told. So, I got back to the room up about $900. It was close to midnight local time, but it sure felt like 3AM to me & Mrs, and we'd been up since 3AM Eastern time. 24 hours!

It was kind of tough playing at that level, to be honest. $15 doesn't sound like a lot, but you 4x that bet and play the trips and all of a sudden there's $105 on the table. And hey--I'm just a guy with a job, not a venture capitalist or a trust fund baby. $1000 at that table is not enough to cover getting whacked ten times... and I've played UTH before, and it's not unusual AT ALL to get whacked ten times with 4x on the Play spot. (More on that later.) On the east cost UTH plays at $5.


Monday

Part of the trip is free food, and we had about $200 in Wynn vouchers. So we went to the Wynn Buffet for breakfast and, WOW. Best thing was the house made smoked applewood bacon, sliced to order. Oh my god, I couldn't make better bacon at home with my own pork bellies and smoker. Everything was truly excellent. Not just buffet excellent but really excellent.

We took The Deuce down to Fremont St, and passing The Aztec I posted here asking about it, and that was a fun read about the local history. We were never considering actually going there. A guy on the bus said that Aztec's Thai food was excellent, but I think he was the cook.

Ah, Fremont Street. Now we know what it is like, and we can cross it off the list. We played at Binion's and at Golden Nugget. The slots were tight and the tables were unfriendly. And of course there were the homeless, the beggars, and the performers. Anyone who complains about Atlantic City, the Boardwalk is much nicer than Fremont Street, IMO. At least in AC there is a beach and an ocean. Lost about $400 on Fremont, and left.

Monday night we had the main event of our conference, which is always a blast. I won some cash, we ate and drank, and met some nice folks. Afterward, Mrs went back to the machines and I hit UTH again, having some decent luck mixed with some horrible luck. I bought in for $600, lost down to where I said, "This is it, last hand if I don't win," and hit a 1x bet for $15, then another 1x bet, then a couple more, and all of a sudden I had a straight flush draw, with the 6s-7s in hand and 8s-9s on the flop! I didn't get it, but I got the flush. Then about 15 minutes later I was holding Qh-Kh, and the board flopped Ah-Jh! Didn't get the 10h, but did get the 10c. The dealers were friendly, my bankroll limits were never actually tested (I didn't have to decide to pull out more money, but it was close), and between those hands and otherwise normal game play of win/lose, I won back what I lost downtown.


Tuesday

We had Mac King tickets. I've always wanted to see the guy live, I've seen a lot of his work on YouTube. But there's no way to share the audience interaction in a video, and he is really good at going with the flow; the guy has great people skills. Some of the tricks I knew, a couple of them I saw the sleight, and a couple of them were really masterful. It was a great show, well worth the money, and of course it was air conditioned in the afternoon.

After the show we played some slots and tables in Harrah's. Slots sucked, tables weren't much better. I lost $200 at slots but held my own playing 3 Card, tipped $5 to come out exactly even.

My sister happened to be in Vegas, neither of us knew the other was going to be there! She was staying at Bellagio, and since we were down that way we met up in the piano bar right at the entrance. We had a couple drinks and since she and Mrs Mosca are slot players exclusively, I tried a couple slots. Bellagio slots suck. I lost about $250ish, whatever that last cashout was I gave to Mrs Mosca and she lost it. So, $300. Sis lost, too.

Sis had tickets to The Righteous Brothers, and we had a dinner invite to Joe's Seafood in Caesar's Forum Shops. What is it, a mile from one end of Caesar's to the other? It sure felt like it. Joe's is pretty damn decent. The group ordered some huge seafood platter appetizers, Mrs had the crab cakes and I had a steakhouse-quality strip steak, not the best I've ever had but absolutely a damn good steak.

Dinner, though good, took forever it seemed, and we didn't know anyone there and had to small talk through 2 1/2 hours which can be exhausting, so around 8:30 even though we each had half a Deuce pass left, we took a cab back to Wynn. Best $6 we spent the whole trip, I tipped a fiver we were so glad.

Mrs looked for some slots and I went to UTH, and bought in for $1000. And again, I started to get crushed. "You crazy betting that!" So I switched tables. And the second one was a little better. I climbed back up little by little, and got back to $885. Then some frat guy types sat at the table, and they were okay for frat guys I guess. One of them busted out in a couple hands ($100 buyin), but the other two started hot and got hotter. And holy heck did they ever get lucky, hitting back to back full boats, straight after flush after straight, buying in for $200 and an hour later sitting there with blacks and purples.

Problem was, I didn't share that luck. Up, down, boards going sideways, the usual UTH craziness: pair the A in hand with a flop of A and a couple 3s on the board, dealer shows 8-3 to win: that stuff. I lost about $350 and decided it was time to call it a trip.


Wednesday

At that point I was up about $150 from start to end. After breakfast I decided WTF, and put the last $150 into the $5 WoF. I lost it.

3 days in Vegas and I got was some stuff to write in a post on WoV, I guess.

Thanks for the trip report. I enjoyed reading it.

Good TR, Mosca, thanks for writing it! You ate several places I haven't, and I've never played Wynn, so that was all very interesting.

Sorry UTH was sideways. Painful to be at the table, not running, when other people are on a hot streak. You gotta figure your extra skills kept you alive while you were grinding, though, so pffftt to those ignorant dealers.

Nice to run all that action thru and end up even. Was that enough play for Wynn to make you a nice future offer, do you think?

Thanks for the TR, it was a fun read. I'm glad you still were positive overall for the trip! UTH can be brutal... Even when you have an edge in that game you can still lose TONS of hands in a row (think my record was 23). When you run bad in that game, it hurts. Sounds like you had a pretty fun trip with some amazing food though!

Quote: beachbumbabs

Good TR, Mosca, thanks for writing it! You ate several places I haven't, and I've never played Wynn, so that was all very interesting.

Sorry UTH was sideways. Painful to be at the table, not running, when other people are on a hot streak. You gotta figure your extra skills kept you alive while you were grinding, though, so pffftt to those ignorant dealers.

Nice to run all that action thru and end up even. Was that enough play for Wynn to make you a nice future offer, do you think?

Babs, if you like seafood, Joe's looks to be about as good as it gets. I can't eat it, which saddens me, that's half the world's great meals!

The other guys were okay enough. Once it got a little heated, one guy was playing correctly and he was bragging about going 4x on a Q-10 and hitting Q-Q; I'd gone 4x on K-J and the complete board was Q-Q-A-10-X. So I said yep I hit it to, and he said "Well f you then," and I said "Okay, f you too." And for a split second it could have gone either way, and then he laughed, and it was cool again.

We usually get free room offers, week nights only, from Wynn for about a year after staying there. So, yeah, I think so. I hope so!

Joes in south beach is the best

Quote: Romes

Thanks for the TR, it was a fun read. I'm glad you still were positive overall for the trip! UTH can be brutal... Even when you have an edge in that game you can still lose TONS of hands in a row (think my record was 23). When you run bad in that game, it hurts. Sounds like you had a pretty fun trip with some amazing food though!

People play UTH like it’s a regular Carnival game, but the fact that the best play is a 4x raise makes it much more bankroll intensive. Most of us punters are used to buying into 3 Card for $2-300 and sitting there for an hour or two; that can get you bounced from UTH in 15 minutes at $5, and in 2-3 minutes at $15. So they get scared and check down high pairs, playing for them to turn into trips or boats. That strategy will chew you up as fast as playing the button bet.

I could go to Vegas just for the food. I wish we could spend about a month, so I wouldn’t feel like I had to experience the high end stuff, and I could take my time finding tacos and carnitas and all the good local food. Maybe after hitting that lotto jackpot.

Speaking fo which , anyone know which local place has the best burritos and has any one ever tried h20 poke?

The best burritos are not in a restaurant. They are on a food truck near Decatur and Blue Diamond.

Is it always there ? Hours if you know them?

Monday-Friday.......10-4
No holidays

Great TR Mosca, sounds like you and the Mrs had a great time! I always enjoy hearing how people do Vegas because I have found that everyone has their own way of doing it and that is always interesting to me.

Quote: MaxPen

The best burritos are not in a restaurant. They are on a food truck near Decatur and Blue Diamond.

Nowadays a lot of good food can be had on those Gourmet Food Trucks. There have been competitions in Vegas and I'm sure the Foodie-Gamblers benefited from it.

When Wynn opened the Wynn long ago he invited scores of cabbies to the tables and all the restaurants. He figured all those free passes would cause the cabbies to steer people to what they actually had experienced. Same with his dealers who normally would not be able to afford high end restaurants. All those dealers and wives passes made dealers better able to recommend places to the gamblers.

Locally, (Florida) several craft breweries have teamed with a variety of Gourmet Food Trucks on the theory that people who enjoy craft beers and ales also enjoy good food. Most of the breweries are neither equipped nor licensed to serve food so its a mutually profitable deal, particularly when its a one price ticket for food and drink together. It seems it was so profitable that the local Seminole Casino (Immokalee) held a Gourmet Food Truck Roundup wherein ten or twelve food trucks were set up in the parking lot. I'm told it was a popular event but I've no idea of the actual turnout.

Keeping an eye peeled for food trucks can be an adventure. The courtyard at the University in Madison, Wisconsin had several food trucks set up and one of them was run by a world class gourmet cook who happened to be doing graduate work in the Uzbek language there for several months.

Fun TR MOSCA. Sounds like it was still EV+ with all the good food and calories you took in.