Another lowbrow trip report - 10/4-8

After a year off from travel, I made it back to vegas for four nights. My main goal, as usual, was to update my chip collection, which was now seven short: Circa, STRAT, Sahara, Resorts World, Virgin/Mohegan Sun, Oyo, and The Pass. The original plan was to go to Caesar's for about $140/night (including taxes and fees), but that changed to $90/night at Planet Hollywood, then to $55/night at Bally's.

My flight into McCarran landed around 3:00; I got a taxi, and was tunneled - but I am under the impression that this is a good thing new because of the new fixed rate (I think it's $24 plus $1 per bag for the hotels between Tropicana and Flamingo) and the fact that the route is faster than surface streets. After getting checked in, I made my way north towards Galpao Gaucho for dinner. It's good for a rodizio (Brazliian "all you can meat" where the servers come to your table with different kinds of meat and carve it for you on the spot), but a little pricey.
On my way there, I checked to see if Cromwell still had 9/6 quarter Jacks or Better. It took me forever to find any VP there, and when I did, not only was it 6/5, but you need to put in 10 quarters to get the 800-1 for a Royal, although you get 300-1 for playing less. Bally's also had mainly 6/5, but it was 30/6/5. I considered playing some craps, but the cheapest table I could find was $15 minimum, except I think Planet Hollywood had a $5 table (but with only 2x odds) which was one of those electronic screen ones.

Tuesday - who's up for some buses? Start with a 202 along Flamingo from Bally's to Silver Sevens, then walk south to the Virgin. I think the chip picture thread shows a Mohegan Sun-logoed chip, but, at least at the red level, there are also Virgin-logoed chips, which I got. Actually, it's Virgin on one side, and Mohegan Sun on the other:


Keep walking south to Flamingo - this is much easier to do in early October than in mid-June, which is when I usually go - then take a 101 a couple of blocks west to across the street from the Oyo. Walk to the Strip, then take a Deuce north to Sahara, then walk to STRAT, then a Deuce south to Resorts World, then another Deuce all the way to the Welcome To Las Vegas sign, which is just south of my next destination: the new location of the Pinball Hall of Fame. It's not quite filled yet, and there are a few games in various levels of repair, but it is an impressive collection, although it seems that there is an "era" missing; there just aren't that many games from around 1980. A couple of hours later, back on the Deuce north; I considered getting a burger at either Fatburger or Shake Shack, but I wanted to eat in my room and the walk was a little long to guarantee that the burger and fries would stay warm, so I went to the Johnny Rocket's in the Bally's food court instead.

Wednesday - back on the Deuce to downtown. I got into Circa after being carded by someone at the front door; they're serious about the "21 and older only" rule. I followed this up by getting some replacement player cards at El Cortez, Fremont (Boyd's B Connected club), and Downtown Grand, then went to the Mob Museum again. Now for some serious busing: an hour-long trip from Main Street Station to somewhere up in the northwestern boondocks (Ann & Tenaya, if you're familiar with Vegas) to have lunch at A*Mano. Of course, I ordered a "fat baby"; it's a (usually) pasta dish - in my case, spaghetti and meatballs - stuffed into half of a hallowed-out french bread loaf, then topped with melted mozzarella. To be honest, it looks better than it tastes, probably because there wasn't as much mozzarella on top as I expected. Back on the 106 to the transit center, than transfer to the BHX to get to The Pass - a combined trip of about two hours. I go to the cage to ask for a $5 chip; "We can't sell you chips higher than $1 from the cage; you have to get a $5 from a table." Turn around to notice every table is empty; "The tables open at 3:00." Unfortunately for me, it was only 2:00, and if I would have waited until 3, with the bus schedule, I doubt I could have made it back to the hotel before dark.
Lesson learned: I got on the bus stop near The Pass, only to get a tongue lashing from the driver for not letting the wheelchaired person behind me on first. I always thought that the able-bodied passengers got on first, then the driver could lower the ramp and concentrate on locking the wheelchair in place once he is aboard, but apparently it's "let the wheelchairs (and scooters) on first." I remembered that I had quite a few Caesar's Rewards points, so I spent them on dinner at the Creperie between Paris and Bally's; I got three - ham and cheese, Monte Cristo, and blueberry and lemon.

I don't know what it is about me and Vegas, but for the third time in a row, I ended up with, well, how shall I put this - when I went to the bathroom, it was "coming out liquid from both sides." Maybe I should have stopped at two crepes? As a result, I wasn't in much shape to go very far on Thursday; I think I managed to "walk it off" by lunch, which was a slice and a diet cola at what I call Secret No Name Mystery Meat Pizza at the Cosmopolitan. Not having much else to do, and not finding any gambling worth playing, I went back to my hotel room after lunch.
Notice something missing? I almost made it through the trip without gambling at all, but I figured a little more exercise couldn't hurt, and I still needed a new card from Tuscany, which had 9/5 25c Jacks or Better. For some reason, when I put in $20, it registered as $20.04. This is important as, midway through my second $20, I got a four of a kind that brought me back to my starting point, so I cashed out...and, as a result, ended the trip 4 cents ahead. I was feeling better, so I had a 10" deep dish pepperoni pizza at Giordano's for dinner, although I didn't eat the crust edges as they tend to be carb-heavy. Yes, the man who, about 24 hours earlier, ate about 1/3 of a loaf of French bread filled with pasta is carb-conscious.

Quote: ThatDonGuy

I checked to see if Cromwell still had 9/6 quarter Jacks or Better. It took me forever to find any VP there, and when I did, not only was it 6/5, but you need to put in 10 quarters to get the 800-1 for a Royal, although you get 300-1 for playing less.

I like using VPFREE2.com to check on VP paytables at various properties, it is usually pretty accurate but not always.

Quote: ThatDonGuy

Now for some serious busing: an hour-long trip from Main Street Station to somewhere up in the northwestern boondocks (Ann & Tenaya, if you're familiar with Vegas) to have lunch at A*Mano. Of course, I ordered a "fat baby"; it's a (usually) pasta dish - in my case, spaghetti and meatballs - stuffed into half of a hallowed-out french bread loaf, then topped with melted mozzarella. To be honest, it looks better than it tastes, probably because there wasn't as much mozzarella on top as I expected.

Jesus, you ate one of those? The pictures on social media…it looks awful.

This is their surf and turf. They do the same with the pasta.

https://twitter.com/lasvegaslocally/status/1446249273570390046?s=21

Quote: TDVegas

Quote: ThatDonGuy

Now for some serious busing: an hour-long trip from Main Street Station to somewhere up in the northwestern boondocks (Ann & Tenaya, if you're familiar with Vegas) to have lunch at A*Mano. Of course, I ordered a "fat baby"; it's a (usually) pasta dish - in my case, spaghetti and meatballs - stuffed into half of a hallowed-out french bread loaf, then topped with melted mozzarella. To be honest, it looks better than it tastes, probably because there wasn't as much mozzarella on top as I expected.

Jesus, you ate one of those? The pictures on social media…it looks awful.

The pasta ones aren't bad - check out YouTube to see how they're made. They may look worse than they seem because the mozzarella is mixed with the sauce and it turns a strange orange color.

I was hoping to post a picture of the sandwich I had at BagelMania, but I can't seem to find it - apparently, the camera didn't capture the shot properly.

Quote: ThatDonGuy

Quote: TDVegas

Quote: ThatDonGuy

Now for some serious busing: an hour-long trip from Main Street Station to somewhere up in the northwestern boondocks (Ann & Tenaya, if you're familiar with Vegas) to have lunch at A*Mano. Of course, I ordered a "fat baby"; it's a (usually) pasta dish - in my case, spaghetti and meatballs - stuffed into half of a hallowed-out french bread loaf, then topped with melted mozzarella. To be honest, it looks better than it tastes, probably because there wasn't as much mozzarella on top as I expected.

Jesus, you ate one of those? The pictures on social media…it looks awful.

The pasta ones aren't bad - check out YouTube to see how they're made. They may look worse than they seem because the mozzarella is mixed with the sauce and it turns a strange orange color.

I was hoping to post a picture of the sandwich I had at BagelMania, but I can't seem to find it - apparently, the camera didn't capture the shot properly.
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Ok. It didn’t look appetizing to me…at all. To each his own.

https://twitter.com/fabfoodtravels/status/1185020181950750727?s=21

ThatDonGuy you're very right about getting ID'd at Circa. Last Thanksgiving I went there to check it out. I'm 69. My girlfriend is 65. We were both ID'd.

Quote: AlanMendelson

ThatDonGuy you're very right about getting ID'd at Circa. Last Thanksgiving I went there to check it out. I'm 69. My girlfriend is 65. We were both ID'd.
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They ID everyone coming in thru the Fremont street entrance. Your age doesn’t matter. Not sure about other entrance areas. This was last week.

Something to add:

The room at Bally's did not have any sort of alarm clock in it. This is the first time I can remember ever being in a hotel room without one. I assume they think that everybody just uses the alarm on their cellphone, or, if necessary, arranges for a wakeup call.

Also, if you're wondering why I didn't get any pictures from the room like I usually do, I wasn't as high up in the tower as I usually am, and the windows (a) looked out away from the Strip, and (b) overlooked a parking structure next door that pretty much covered everything in the distance. What do you want for under $60/night total?

Quote: AlanMendelson

ThatDonGuy you're very right about getting ID'd at Circa. Last Thanksgiving I went there to check it out. I'm 69. My girlfriend is 65. We were both ID'd.
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I believe Circa requires ID from everyone even hotel guests re-entering. At least, whenever I have walked out I have just presented my ID not hotel key upon re-entry.

Lately Cosmopolitan has mandated that only those with Identity Player cards or hotel guests may enter the Cosmo on weekends. However, the two times I have entered on a weekend, one time I did see the sign about that mandate but no one was around to enforce it, and the other time I just waved a room key and they allowed me back in.

Quote: ThatDonGuy

I was hoping to post a picture of the sandwich I had at BagelMania, but I can't seem to find it - apparently, the camera didn't capture the shot properly.

It turned out I took the photo on my phone instead of my camera - here it is:

This is a "triple-decker" corned beef & pastrami sandwich on rye - "only" $20.

Speaking of pictures I had on my phone, I had one that advertised the $25 Million Parlay Card that the Caesar's properties' sportsbooks had; for $10, if you can pick 25 winners, you win $25 million. This is a fair bet if you have a 55.473% chance of picking the winner of any particular game; if you go 50/50, you have a 1 in 33,554,432 chance of winning a 2,500,000-1 bet, which has a HE of about 92.55%.

Quote: ThatDonGuy

Quote: ThatDonGuy

I was hoping to post a picture of the sandwich I had at BagelMania, but I can't seem to find it - apparently, the camera didn't capture the shot properly.

It turned out I took the photo on my phone instead of my camera - here it is:

This is a "triple-decker" corned beef & pastrami sandwich on rye - "only" $20.

Speaking of pictures I had on my phone, I had one that advertised the $25 Million Parlay Card that the Caesar's properties' sportsbooks had; for $10, if you can pick 25 winners, you win $25 million. This is a fair bet if you have a 55.473% chance of picking the winner of any particular game; if you go 50/50, you have a 1 in 33,554,432 chance of winning a 2,500,000-1 bet, which has a HE of about 92.55%.
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Looks like a double decker. Unless the bread is the deck, but then a regular sandwich would be a double decker.

Quote: unJon

Looks like a double decker. Unless the bread is the deck, but then a regular sandwich would be a double decker.

Yes, they go by "three slices of bread" to call it a triple-decker, but that is what it is called in the menu.