Low Roller Visit July 2025
Super cheap room rates (Planet Hollywood could be had for $19 + resort fee/night).
My Hertz car rental rate went from $42/day to $26/day and I got a $70 credit on my reservation. I've been getting steady emails asking me to upgrade my car.
The Mrs got an offer for Mad Apple by Cirque du Soleil (New York-New York Casino) at $50/ticket. We're going!
Quote: smoothgrhThere must be a huge void of visitors this week in Vegas.
Super cheap room rates (Planet Hollywood could be had for $19 + resort fee/night).
My Hertz car rental rate went from $42/day to $26/day and I got a $70 credit on my reservation. I've been getting steady emails asking me to upgrade my car.
The Mrs got an offer for Mad Apple by Cirque du Soleil (New York-New York Casino) at $50/ticket. We're going!
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A void of visitors! What a wonderful collective noun you just coined!
"I wanted to play at MGM last night but there was a whole void of visitors in the place, couldn't get near a table."
It might be due to the long holiday weekend, people who wanted to be here on weekdays probably did it last week. Also the time of year when the temperatures get a little dangerous for many people.
Quote: AutomaticMonkey
A void of visitors! What a wonderful collective noun you just coined!
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You won't see A.I. positioning that type of playful, poetic positing!
Quote: smoothgrhMy Southwest flight from San Jose to Vegas has 75–80 open seats!
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Maybe it's the location. My Southwest flight from Chicago Midway on the afternoon of June 21 was full, but my flight from Vegas to Oakland on the morning of June 26 (a Saturday, to be fair) was only about 2/3 full.
My confirmation bias about hardly any Vegas visitors this week continued when the Mrs and I were the only people in line for the rental car shuttle. But that idea shattered quickly as a group of teens and seniors packed the shuttle bus after we got on. As Tom Brady keeps telling me, I was able to skip the line and go straight to my Hertz rental car, amazingly parked in the Presidents Circle—I felt like a high roller already! The Cosmopolitan underground parking garage was packed on the first level, so we drove down one level. Then we saw that the casino was packed! We didn’t expect that on a Tuesday night!
We got upgraded to a room with a view of the Bellagio fountains. Below us, we could see a tennis court and two pickleball courts. I was told to visit the players card desk because my newly acquired MGM Rewards MasterCard gives Pearl status with the biggest benefit being FREE parking instead of $20/night. Just use your Pearl players card when you enter/exit the garage.
We went to ITs Izakaya for late night happy hour (10% off many food items), but discovered we were thinking of a different restaurant. In 2019 we visited Izakaya Go, which is also on Spring Mountain Blvd and also has late night happy hour. They don’t have the same ownership. They both have good food. Izakaya Go is probably a little better, but had a long wait on our 2019 visit. ITs Izakaya had no wait at 10 p.m. on a Tuesday. Service was very friendly. Sushi wasn’t included in the happy hour discount, but we got udon and lots of appetizer dishes such as roasted cauliflower/brussel sprouts and agadashi tofu, and the total price ($34.50 including tax) was reasonable.
Headed over to the Orleans for $4-$8 limit hold’em. Bonus hands included aces full of 10s beaten, and the 1 a.m. bonuses of flopped 10-high flush, flopped 10-high straight, or flopped 10s full. I think it’s tough to get any of those. I got pocket 10s once, but nada on the flop. I won a fairly big pot, but gave it all to the Mrs on one hand that was nuts. I had ace-7 of diamonds, and it went 5 players capping 5 bets pre-flop. The flop had one diamond, and the betting continued. I stayed in to see the turn and another diamond appeared. So betting continued until we got to the river—no diamond. The Mrs in the small blind put in $8 with $4 left. One guy tried to raise, but string bet, so he was forced to call. On the button, I showed the Mrs my missed flush and folded. She showed K-J for the nut straight that she flopped. She finished up $110 (after getting aces cracked) and I finished down $70.
Orleans has a 24-hour keno lounge. I sauntered over at around 2:30 a.m. and nobody was there except the keno lady, who was tidying the area. I said “I’d play, but three of the numbers that I would have chosen came up in the last game.” (Yes, I know keno odds don’t change based on previous results.) She replied, “well, at least you know they’re there!” Good one!
Without burying the lede: the highlight of this trip was winning a $725 bonus hand at Orleans — flopped 10s full — on the final night.
The promotion started at 1 a.m., and I was dealt this $3-$6 limit Hold'em hand at 1:09 a.m.
It's by far the most this low roller has ever won on one wager.
When I play poker during these kinds of promotions, I wonder if people are playing not for the actual poker, but to win a jackpot as if they're playing video poker — just with real, dealt cards. More and more these days, the answer seems to be yes.
—Lunch: Veggie slice at Secret Pizza in Cosmopolitan. Yummy.
—Durango Casino
Early dinner at Shang Noodle. Excellent, and no wait like at their main Chinatown location!
99.7% payback Bonus Poker. Four Aces, baby! $100. Finished up $68.75
Roll to Win Craps: Won $47.50
—New York-New York
7-5 Bonus Poker Deluxe at the bar while waiting for the show; lost $36
Mad Apple. Great variety show with lots of classic and modern acts. The audience filled maybe 2/3 of the seats.
This dude put his entire body through two tennis rackets!
—Orleans $3-6 LHE, won $30
—Lunch at Yun Noodles & Dumplings, an internet sensation next to Grocery Outlet in a nondescript strip mall
Beef Noodles Soup Super Large Bowl (the Mrs. and I shared) $19.99
Cucumber salad $5.99
—Gold Coast Casino
6-5 blackjack (don’t remember why I played; maybe it was $10 min. and the Mrs. was playing?), lost $50; With 6 cards, I didn’t hit on a 16 — next card was a 4.
—Pai Gow Poker $116K progressive
Played for maybe a half-hour hoping to win the progressive
Lost $20 in the main game
Lost $20 in side bets
—Orleans $4-8 LHM, lost $80
—Mandalay Bay $60 NLH tournament; busted out early trying to bluff a pot. Stupid!
—Pinball Hall of Fame. Bought a shirt. $20. Played Gottlieb’s Royal Flush — a game that’s in my garage!
—Late Night Happy Hour at Sapporo Relvolving Sushi
—Resorts World
Fortune Cup: Won $39.75 on this silly game: woohoo!! Hit a 167-for-1 shot. Never won anything like that on Sigma Derby!
—Breakfast sandwich at Earl of Sandwich
—F1 Grand Prix Plaza at Koval Lane and E Harmon Ave
Free simulator during July
Quite fun! I had a 1:38.626 avg lap time; leader of the day at that time was 1:34.026
—Check-in at Orleans for the final night
The room was fine. The most interesting thing is that the bathroom window opens so you can let in some air! The weird thing is that the closet is also in the bathroom.
Lunch: Big Al’s Oyster Bar
I got the Scallop, Shrimp & crab Louie salad, $21.75 — living large!
—Dinner at Palette Tea Lounge & Dim Sum, Chinatown with my cousin
They have locations in the San Francisco Bay Area. It’s good!
—Discoshow at the Linq
I’m so sad that this show closed in January 2026 — it was awesome!
You were in a square room that became a disco dance floor with the performers all around you.
They made you feel like you were in New York in 1979. Colorful, grimy, but joyful to be there!
I was amazed at how they made it feel like you time-traveled to a real Manhattan space—not like the sanitized NY-NY casino version.
There’s still Diner Ross.
—Back to Orleans
I won the aforementioned $725 bonus hand (flopped 10s full)
Also won $55 playing regular $3-6 limit Hold’em
Celebrated with drinks at the bar, and played some 9-5 JoB, finishing even but with some 4 to a royal excitement.
With the bonus, I finished this trip ahead $611.25. Not including the bonus, I would have lost $113.75. Still not bad for four days in Vegas!
Quote: smoothgrhDAY 4
—Breakfast sandwich at Earl of Sandwich
—F1 Grand Prix Plaza at Koval Lane and E Harmon Ave
Free simulator during July
Quite fun! I had a 1:38.626 avg lap time; leader of the day at that time was 1:34.026
—Check-in at Orleans for the final night
The room was fine. The most interesting thing is that the bathroom window opens so you can let in some air! The weird thing is that the closet is also in the bathroom.
Lunch: Big Al’s Oyster Bar
I got the Scallop, Shrimp & crab Louie salad, $21.75 — living large!
—Dinner at Palette Tea Lounge & Dim Sum, Chinatown with my cousin
They have locations in the San Francisco Bay Area. It’s good!
—Discoshow at the Linq
I’m so sad that this show closed in January 2026 — it was awesome!
You were in a square room that became a disco dance floor with the performers all around you.
They made you feel like you were in New York in 1979. Colorful, grimy, but joyful to be there!
I was amazed at how they made it feel like you time-traveled to a real Manhattan space—not like the sanitized NY-NY casino version.
There’s still Diner Ross.
—Back to Orleans
I won the aforementioned $725 bonus hand (flopped 10s full)
Also won $55 playing regular $3-6 limit Hold’em
Celebrated with drinks at the bar, and played some 9-5 JoB, finishing even but with some 4 to a royal excitement.
With the bonus, I finished this trip ahead $611.25. Not including the bonus, I would have lost $113.75. Still not bad for four days in Vegas!
link to original post[/q Tge bonus poker in the picture is 8/5 bonus which is 99.17 not 99.7 . Are there other games on that machine , if not that’s false advertisingHappy days are here again
Quote: HunterhillTge bonus poker in the picture is 8/5 bonus which is 99.17 not 99.7 . Are there other games on that machine , if not that’s false advertising
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Thanks for the correction. Yes, I used the stat on the signage that actually refers to NSUD, according to vpfree2.
Note that only the bank of video poker machines next to Nicco's restaurant at Durango has the full pay paytables, including 9-6 JoB.
