Low Roller Visit April 2025
April 8th, 2025 at 2:52:03 AM
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Back in Vegas, baby!!! After no 2024 visits! Spring Break for our younger kid!!
DAY 1
Flew in on Monday evening from San Jose on Southwest Airlines in which no middle seats needed to be occupied.
Took the shuttle to the rental car center to pick up my Hertz rental and was surprised to learn that I'm still a Gold Plus Rewards member! I'm like Tom Brady! I went to my Nissan Rogue and was amazed to discover the car had 4 miles on it. I even asked the gentleman at the gate: does this car really only have 4 miles on it?! He said yes. It's $564 total to rent Monday night to Sunday morning.
We went to Shang Artisan Noodle on Flamingo Road for spicy noodle soup, cucumber salad, and pot stickers. We learned of the place from YouTubers but weren't able to eat there on our last two visits to Vegas because the wait time was so long. I'm glad to have finally eaten there because everything was delicious. The stewed pork in the soup was tender and tasty. The server described the heat level as 7 of 10, and I'd say it was perfect for my taste: suitably spicy but not so hot that I can't enjoy it. We asked for the cucumber salad sauce on the side, and that was a good move: it needs only a little bit of sauce.
When we checked in at Mandalay Bay, we had amazing luck: they were out of double bed rooms, so they upgraded us to their "panoramic view suite" that has a king bedroom and a queen bedroom! It's a room that goes for $800 to $1200 based on two dates later this month we looked up! One weird thing the front desk staffer informed us about was that we were there on the night of their monthly maintenance, so there would be no hot water between 11pm and 7am! So we had about 40 minutes to get in our baths and showers. I asked the front desk guy if they had any promotions going, and he gave me a bunch of free one-hour passes to the Luxor's computer gaming lounge. Nice dude!
At about midnight, I went downstairs to look around. I noticed lots of $15 blackjack tables. One guy was playing four hands and he stood on each of them with totals less than 17 and the dealer showing an ace. He said something like "unbelievable " when the dealer flipped over a 7. They had Free Bet Blackjack tables and roulette going as well. Two craps tables were going, both with $25 minimums. I was surprised to see box cars pays triple on the field.
I noticed a video poker game I hadn't seen before: three-handed, 8-5 "Good Times" Poker with random multipliers for each hand if 6 to 10 credits are played. I'll have to do some research on WoO.
I wound up buying in $100 on $1-$2 no-limit hold'em. Relatively friendly game and friendly dealers. Occasional straddles of $5, but otherwise nothing too crazy. I won a hand with pocket queens and a queen and ace on the flop. I called $15 on the flop, we both checked the turn, and I bet $20 on the river and the other guy folded. Maybe I should have bet the turn out of position. I eventually lost $30, mostly from a hand that I was in with A-K suited. But I had two generous pours of bourbon, neat, that were excellent (the first cocktail waitress said "bourbon well," and I thought that was a brand name that I hadn't heard of). The table broke around 1:15 am. A great first night of excitement and fun!
DAY 1
Flew in on Monday evening from San Jose on Southwest Airlines in which no middle seats needed to be occupied.
Took the shuttle to the rental car center to pick up my Hertz rental and was surprised to learn that I'm still a Gold Plus Rewards member! I'm like Tom Brady! I went to my Nissan Rogue and was amazed to discover the car had 4 miles on it. I even asked the gentleman at the gate: does this car really only have 4 miles on it?! He said yes. It's $564 total to rent Monday night to Sunday morning.
We went to Shang Artisan Noodle on Flamingo Road for spicy noodle soup, cucumber salad, and pot stickers. We learned of the place from YouTubers but weren't able to eat there on our last two visits to Vegas because the wait time was so long. I'm glad to have finally eaten there because everything was delicious. The stewed pork in the soup was tender and tasty. The server described the heat level as 7 of 10, and I'd say it was perfect for my taste: suitably spicy but not so hot that I can't enjoy it. We asked for the cucumber salad sauce on the side, and that was a good move: it needs only a little bit of sauce.
When we checked in at Mandalay Bay, we had amazing luck: they were out of double bed rooms, so they upgraded us to their "panoramic view suite" that has a king bedroom and a queen bedroom! It's a room that goes for $800 to $1200 based on two dates later this month we looked up! One weird thing the front desk staffer informed us about was that we were there on the night of their monthly maintenance, so there would be no hot water between 11pm and 7am! So we had about 40 minutes to get in our baths and showers. I asked the front desk guy if they had any promotions going, and he gave me a bunch of free one-hour passes to the Luxor's computer gaming lounge. Nice dude!
At about midnight, I went downstairs to look around. I noticed lots of $15 blackjack tables. One guy was playing four hands and he stood on each of them with totals less than 17 and the dealer showing an ace. He said something like "unbelievable " when the dealer flipped over a 7. They had Free Bet Blackjack tables and roulette going as well. Two craps tables were going, both with $25 minimums. I was surprised to see box cars pays triple on the field.
I noticed a video poker game I hadn't seen before: three-handed, 8-5 "Good Times" Poker with random multipliers for each hand if 6 to 10 credits are played. I'll have to do some research on WoO.
I wound up buying in $100 on $1-$2 no-limit hold'em. Relatively friendly game and friendly dealers. Occasional straddles of $5, but otherwise nothing too crazy. I won a hand with pocket queens and a queen and ace on the flop. I called $15 on the flop, we both checked the turn, and I bet $20 on the river and the other guy folded. Maybe I should have bet the turn out of position. I eventually lost $30, mostly from a hand that I was in with A-K suited. But I had two generous pours of bourbon, neat, that were excellent (the first cocktail waitress said "bourbon well," and I thought that was a brand name that I hadn't heard of). The table broke around 1:15 am. A great first night of excitement and fun!
Last edited by: smoothgrh on Apr 8, 2025
April 8th, 2025 at 11:44:25 PM
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That's fantastic about the room upgrade.
I don't know if renting a car and staying at Mandalay Bay counts as "low roller", though.
I don't know if renting a car and staying at Mandalay Bay counts as "low roller", though.
I run Easy Vegas ( https://easy.vegas )
April 9th, 2025 at 2:48:45 AM
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Quote: smoothgrh
I noticed a video poker game I hadn't seen before: three-handed, 8-5 "Good Times" Poker with random multipliers for each hand if 6 to 10 credits are played. I'll have to do some research on WoO.
link to original post
Sounds like Good Times Pay.
https://wizardofodds.com/games/video-poker/tables/good-times-pay/
Randomly higher variance to enhance the excitement of the game, but I don't believe any strategy changes are recommended for the base pay table.
On the "unbelievable" blackjack.... did the guy keep saying "I don't think you have it"?
May the cards fall in your favor.
April 9th, 2025 at 7:21:02 AM
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Quote: DieterQuote: smoothgrh
I noticed a video poker game I hadn't seen before: three-handed, 8-5 "Good Times" Poker with random multipliers for each hand if 6 to 10 credits are played. I'll have to do some research on WoO.
link to original post
Sounds like Good Times Pay.
https://wizardofodds.com/games/video-poker/tables/good-times-pay/
Randomly higher variance to enhance the excitement of the game, but I don't believe any strategy changes are recommended for the base pay table.
On the "unbelievable" blackjack.... did the guy keep saying "I don't think you have it"?
link to original post
Thanks for the info! I'll check it out later, as well as the video!
April 9th, 2025 at 8:26:08 AM
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DAY 2
We rousted the kid at 8:30 so we could be downstairs for the 9am pool opening. We amazingly got there 3 minutes before 9, and then excitement turned to frustration. The clock struck 9, but the minutes ticked by and the gates still weren't opened. The line grew all the way back to the elevator doors. We noticed everyone but us had pool floaters for the lazy river and realized we hadn't planned for that. I knew I was going to get gouged at the pool shop. Sure enough, at 9:10 when we got in, I shelled out $35 for a big ring floater.
First up was the wave pool for one hit of the cold water, then off to the lazy river. To our dismay, we learned it was closed because some geese had laid eggs and reportedly wildlife experts were there to determine how to move them! I'm all for the sanctity of a mother bird and her eggs, but I must say that overall, I HATE geese!!! We went into the hot tub that wasn't too hot, and eventually braved the regular pool, which seemed chilly at first, but we adjusted. With an 80 degree air temperature, our frustrations melted away and we had some fun swimming time.
Though I checked out at 11am, we lounged around in the room until noon. We hit a few spots for food before our drive to Zion National Park. The first was Jong-Ro Chicken, a Korean fried chicken place. We said let's just eat one piece in the car before we go to the next place. The chicken had just come out of the oven and was so hot that I actually dropped my piece. (Lava chicken!) We wound up eating most of it in the car!
We were probably hungry from not eating anything in the morning, not even coffee. FYI, the Mandalay Bay suite has a Keurig coffee maker. But when I picked up the sealed coffee cups that had the pods and creamer stuff inside, I noticed that it's part of the snack bar, so I put it back down on the weight sensor. I guess they figure if someone can afford a suite, they don't care about paying for their coffee?
We had coffee and desserts at Moignet A Social Cafe, a Japanese-inspired cafe. They're famous for their "moignets," sort of like a beignet but filled with melted mochi. It was warm, crispy on the outside, lightly gooey on the inside, and probably the most fine doughnut I've eaten. Delicious! And you get six pieces in an order. We also had a strawberry crepe and a mini tiramisu. The tiramisu was light and creamy but with a few bits of orange peel for some texture and citrus zest. Different than traditional tiramisu, but I liked it. We had a cappuccino, Americano, and lemonade. The coffees were beautifully presented and well crafted!
Our next stop was B&C Camera to buy some 35mm film and film for my kid's Polaroid SX-70 (they had only B&W SX-70 film). The store has been in Vegas since 1971 and the employees are super helpful and friendly. We needed a lens cap for my father-in-laws's vintage 35mm camera, so in addition to finding the right size, the youthful looking guy with streaks of gray hair also cleaned the lens for us. He also took time to figure out how to get a strap on the SX-70.
We stopped at Co Ahn Sandwich for our dinner sandwiches, then went to the Centennial Hills area so the Mrs. could pick up a leather jacket she bought on Facebook Marketplace. After getting some water and snacks at Target, it was off to Utah!
It's about 2 hours, 50 minutes from Las Vegas to Zion National Park. Along the way is Las Vegas Motor Speedway and the border town of Mesquite, which we might check out on the way home. Divey casinos? Yes, please! I also want to check out St. George, Utah on the way back.
We were fortunate to have reserved a room at the Zion National Park Lodge. About six fluffy deer greeted us as we turned into the parking lot. After dinner on the balcony of our room, the Mrs. and I went for our usual after-dinner mile walk at sunset. It was dark by the time we got back and the stars shone bright.
We rousted the kid at 8:30 so we could be downstairs for the 9am pool opening. We amazingly got there 3 minutes before 9, and then excitement turned to frustration. The clock struck 9, but the minutes ticked by and the gates still weren't opened. The line grew all the way back to the elevator doors. We noticed everyone but us had pool floaters for the lazy river and realized we hadn't planned for that. I knew I was going to get gouged at the pool shop. Sure enough, at 9:10 when we got in, I shelled out $35 for a big ring floater.
First up was the wave pool for one hit of the cold water, then off to the lazy river. To our dismay, we learned it was closed because some geese had laid eggs and reportedly wildlife experts were there to determine how to move them! I'm all for the sanctity of a mother bird and her eggs, but I must say that overall, I HATE geese!!! We went into the hot tub that wasn't too hot, and eventually braved the regular pool, which seemed chilly at first, but we adjusted. With an 80 degree air temperature, our frustrations melted away and we had some fun swimming time.
Though I checked out at 11am, we lounged around in the room until noon. We hit a few spots for food before our drive to Zion National Park. The first was Jong-Ro Chicken, a Korean fried chicken place. We said let's just eat one piece in the car before we go to the next place. The chicken had just come out of the oven and was so hot that I actually dropped my piece. (Lava chicken!) We wound up eating most of it in the car!
We were probably hungry from not eating anything in the morning, not even coffee. FYI, the Mandalay Bay suite has a Keurig coffee maker. But when I picked up the sealed coffee cups that had the pods and creamer stuff inside, I noticed that it's part of the snack bar, so I put it back down on the weight sensor. I guess they figure if someone can afford a suite, they don't care about paying for their coffee?
We had coffee and desserts at Moignet A Social Cafe, a Japanese-inspired cafe. They're famous for their "moignets," sort of like a beignet but filled with melted mochi. It was warm, crispy on the outside, lightly gooey on the inside, and probably the most fine doughnut I've eaten. Delicious! And you get six pieces in an order. We also had a strawberry crepe and a mini tiramisu. The tiramisu was light and creamy but with a few bits of orange peel for some texture and citrus zest. Different than traditional tiramisu, but I liked it. We had a cappuccino, Americano, and lemonade. The coffees were beautifully presented and well crafted!
Our next stop was B&C Camera to buy some 35mm film and film for my kid's Polaroid SX-70 (they had only B&W SX-70 film). The store has been in Vegas since 1971 and the employees are super helpful and friendly. We needed a lens cap for my father-in-laws's vintage 35mm camera, so in addition to finding the right size, the youthful looking guy with streaks of gray hair also cleaned the lens for us. He also took time to figure out how to get a strap on the SX-70.
We stopped at Co Ahn Sandwich for our dinner sandwiches, then went to the Centennial Hills area so the Mrs. could pick up a leather jacket she bought on Facebook Marketplace. After getting some water and snacks at Target, it was off to Utah!
It's about 2 hours, 50 minutes from Las Vegas to Zion National Park. Along the way is Las Vegas Motor Speedway and the border town of Mesquite, which we might check out on the way home. Divey casinos? Yes, please! I also want to check out St. George, Utah on the way back.
We were fortunate to have reserved a room at the Zion National Park Lodge. About six fluffy deer greeted us as we turned into the parking lot. After dinner on the balcony of our room, the Mrs. and I went for our usual after-dinner mile walk at sunset. It was dark by the time we got back and the stars shone bright.
