2016 Trippies winners announced, looks like the ballot box stuffing is back

Well the 2016 Trippies are back, and its clear again by the host of categories The D won that VT is stuffing the ballot box.
A formerly meaning full readers survey reverts back to a useless turd meant to perpetuate the Vegas nerdacon that is VIMFP! (No offense to VMB members who attend) Though having The Gazillionaire at the match game was pretty cool!

They hit a few obvious categories right, but I wanted to vomit at the obscene number of categories that The D undesirably won just because Derek Stevens opens
his doors to the VIMFP crew. I'm done. Has everyone lost their objectivity now?! Tim Dressen should modify his banner on Five Hundy By Midnight to "FHBM brought to you by VIMFP and Vegas Tripping" since I no longer have the balls to say anything critical of The D or objective about VT". God I miss having Jeff Simpson around at that site. Thank God we have VMB and this community to keep things real.

Rant over...

Here's the URL http://www.vegastripping.com/trippies2016/best/downtown

 

I don't know Funk, it looks to be significantly less "D" heavy and far better than last year's disaster. Hell some of the categories are even right, or in the conversation.... Burger, Steak, Buffet, Pizza etc.

Last year was insane... The D won best everything. The D is good, but good downtown for excellence or luxury sure as hell doesn't top the Venetian, Wynn, Aria etc.

Nick

 

Okay, fair enough. So here are the categories that pushed my buttons this year.

The Best Downtown Joint (Readers Choice): The D
- This was clearly the VIMFP attendees throwing a bone. I like the The D, but the best downtown joint? Cmon The rooms are nice but unimaginative, furnishings not really high quality, slot selection okay but not really a diverse mix in comparison to other joints downtown like GN or Downtown Grand, upstairs had a cool concept but they f@cked that up when they put in all the Rivera slots, half the time the quarter vending machines is completely out of coins, they have no real nightlife to speak of, the casino is smokey as hell, they don't have enough windows at the cashier cage for when traffic picks up, and just look at the general reviews on Tripadvisor, Yelp, Expedia, etc. Nope this category was a complete gimme by the readers. No one objectively can say the The D is the best joint downtown, no matter how cool you think Derek Stevens is.

Best Entertainment (Editors Choice)
DLVEC - Again this is another kiss ass to DS. Don't get me wrong the place is an okay and I think a better venue than say the main Fremont street stage, but best entertainment venue cmon. How can you say that when Caesars puts up an incredible line up, you have a couple of theaters at Miracle Mile Shops doing different stuff, new places like the Tommy Wind Theater popping up and doing different stuff, MGMs headliners and music events like IheartRadio, etc
Again another kiss ass selection to the guys who give VIMFP a meeting space.

Best Bar (Editors Choice)
Longbar at the D - Editors reason "if you were there you know why." Nice bar, complete bullshit selection by the editors at VegasTripping. Between Frankies Tiki Room, Fireside Lounge, Dinos (okay thats a stretch), Downtown Cocktail Room, Parasol Up / Down, Mandarin Bar, House of Blues, etc etc I can think of at least a dozen better bar choices. If you want to grind out $100 bucks on VP and watch a game its okay, but best bar in Vegas... Pleaazzzzzzzze!

Best Casinos
The D - Readers Choice - Sorry limited game selection, dark areas, cigarette smoke everywhere, sticky buttons on slots, loud as f@ck music, and average downtown payback. Cocktail service was spotty the 3 times I was there
in 2015.

Golden Gate - (Editors Choice) Another nod to Derek Stevens, yeah the dancing girls and 3/2 BJ is great. But the casino is small, cramped, and not as full of a selection. Still better choices downtown and the strip. What are these guys smoking?!

Best Slots - The D (Readers Choice) Another VIMPF ballot stuffers selection for some of the same reasons why I think the best casino category. This shameful selection will ensure that VIMFP stays at The D till at least 2020.

Best Video Poker - The D (Editors Choice) - They must have gotten a special on chapstick to so blatantly kiss Derek's ass on this category as well. I guess the great paytables at Four Queens, bonus cash cards for Quads, and Multidraw selection and great VP progressives don't count to the editors. Obviously they don't play a lot of VP.

Best Use of Social Media - The D (Editors Choice) - Still a stretch, the marketing departments at other joints are doing a better job managing their social media streams and hyping their properties. Again this appears to be a Derek S left cheek pucker up, but Derek Stevens does make himself available to his patrons online, so maybe a benefit of the doubt is in order.

Best Website - Vegas Seven (Editors Choice) but only because of Dr. Dave. Sorry VT could you guys brown nose each other any more shamefully??! Dr. Dave is a great contributor but the editorial style and content of Vegas Seven make it a great online publication (Website seems like a bad definition) not just one contributor even if he is well known.

 

Is it ballot box stuffing, or just the fact maybe mostly VIMFP attendees and downtown fans vote for the Trippies?

Winning three or four voted categories hardly seems worth a rant.

What does this even mean?

Keep on keepin it real homie.

 

They lost all credibility last year when the D had a clean sweep. I look at last year's results and wonder how they could even publish them. Best rooms. Not best rooms downtown.....Best rooms. Ok.

I'm with you, I like the D as well, but its an improved downtown property, not a luxury resort.

Nick

 

It's not the numbers as much as it is the bullshit selection. I mean objectively. But I guess your right its the VIMFP attendees and creators celebrating and tossing a bone to their patron saint. Its goes on all the time in the business world. I guess it pisses me off so much, because I have been an avid reader of VT for a decade and it comes across as the editors over there selling out. Not to mention these bs blog wins will be slapped all over The D to be used as marketing hype for unsuspecting tourists. So the hamster wheel keeps spining.

Regarding the 'keeping it real' comment. If you read a lot of the forums here, the members have no fear of biting the hand that feeds them. What I not so eloquently was trying to convey was everyone on the board here is pretty objective in opinions, trip reviews, and discussions. Nobody is grandstanding to serve their own purpose or sell crap in the community forums.

 

There is a lot of group think over there. (and most "communities") everyone was Wynn is super awesome, then it was Cosmo, now the D.. Just like all of a sudden encore is the worst of everything... Even if you hate the club scene it's hard to believe you could think that

 

Can someone please explain what VIMFP is??

 

Vegas internet mafia family picnic. Big gathering of a bunch of groups in October.

 

LOL...thank you.

 

I don't know about the rest of it...but I definitely agree that Scott Roeben's Vital Vegas is the Best Blog.
(Reader's Choice)

But I still love you Flusher!

 

Service on the slot floor has diminished at encore. You can also imply by the focus on nightlife and recent Encore players club the focus has shifted. Contrasting that to Wynn you could argue that service has fallen, but agreed The worst day of service at Encore is still better than the best day of service at a Luxor.

 

I voted the d in a few categories. But I was honest in my selection. Best VP is Main Street. While I like the vp at the d, the scratchers for 4oak and their beer puts its over the edge for me at mss. I gave VMB a vote for best community because a Facebook group just doesn't have the same sense of community as this place does. Even through I've only met a couple of people from here I at least feel like a lot of people here are like acquaintances and we'd get along if we had drinks one day.

Best bar WAS book & stage. Rest in peace.

 

Is this really any different than those lame "Best Of" that run in your local papers? Actually, VT's effort probably has more credibility. Any of these unscientific polls (MLB all-star game for example) are nothing more than an exercise in man-on-the-streetism.

 

In my opinion the hosts, at least 2 of them, have a huge problem with Steve Wynn. One example is their review of Jardin as having the worst burger and their comments about it. An other is their history of making "clever" quips and comments about Steve Wynn.

 

It was much improved from last year, and a lot of the votes were not from the editors, so it doesn't bother me too much. What is surprising is how much categories the Delano won, particularly from the editors.

 

Victor India Mike Foxtrot Poppa.

Nick

 

Just because you do not agree with their "opinion", and yes that's what and Editor's Pic is, doesn't make it wrong. Why is your opinion better than theirs?

 

There's a context and history to Funk's original comments. It's not an issue of debating their choices for best of. The issue is that some of the "best of" winners aren't even in middle tier, but their selection can be attributed to Derek and his offerings to the VIMFP. There's absolute truth to this, although the results are improved over last year.

I think you're using the general "everyone is entitled to their opinion" defense without understanding the history here. Take a look at last year's winners and you'll shake your head.

Nick

 

Nick just a clarification, it was the 2014 Trippies which were the bullshit sweep. They cleaned up 2015 by requiring people to be registered site members to vote, thus validating email accounts. That diminished the ballot stuffing.
Thanks for you support. Just to be clear I am not trying to pick on these guys anymore then someone who writes a letter to the editor response to the NY Times.

I am a long time reader of Vegas Tripping, VT has a history of being openly critical of the Vegas PR machine and touting themselves as a no bullshit Vegas blogging site. So anyone who follows them can reasonably trend from about 2013 when they started becoming chummy with Derek Stevens and The D it influenced them. I just think its a little disingenuous to present your awards and opinions as uninfluenced, all the while ranking the host property of your annual event higher than most mainstream opinions. I am not even talking some categories where a reasonable person could imply subjectivity. These are pure WTF kinda selections.

Lastly I commented on the VT article (which Chuckmonster provided a long convoluted response about art and picasso or something) that I have not read anything critical written about The D or Golden Gate in forever on VT which IMHO lends support to my accusation of bias by the editors. So at worst these guys are blinded to the influence their access and relationship with Derek Stevens (Whom I like) has had on them and at best these guys are out of touch with what their readers and Vegas visitors find important. I mean I was just flabbergasted at editors 'The Best Bar' choice, with a 100 bars in Vegas and incredible mixologists, cool design, atmosphere, music, beautiful people, beer selection, etc. etc etc, you as the editors are going to pick The D Longbar??! I mean WTF?! Now if the choice was 'Best VP Bar' hands down I could understand the editors choice Longbar.

Regardless at the end of the day, The Trippies have just lost any sense of credibility and I have to just chuck them aside along with other things about Vegas that are also gone like pirate shows, great comps, themed casinos, and casino club truth in advertising. Some of the Trippies BS self hype advertising on Facebook below...