Get some coffee or a good drink and spend some time reading my trip report.

Trying out a new format for my latest trip report.
Instead of listing it chronological I will break it down into topics.
With long trip reports I do tend to find myself scanning for points of interest as opposed to reading the entire post.
This format will allow you to read any (or all) the topics of interest.
Hopefully there will be some interesting and useful information here for everyone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ Quick Preview
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My previous trip in Feb was nothing but a downward slide. This trip started off in the same way.
On day 2 I decided to refrain from max betting on the machines ($2-$4 per spin) to slow playing (.75 - $1.25 per spin).
Things started to turn around. Machines started hitting and my final Craps session was awesome.
Ended the trip with things going pretty well.
Even though I ended up being down for the entire trip I am very happy how the last day or so turned out.
I will have plenty of video to check out of bonus rounds and reviews of some machines.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ Comps
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Our room (Vista) at PH and limo ride were comped to start.
Due to myVegas and other deals we had most of our meals already covered.
With limited charges to our room my wife decided she wanted a new jacket and hat from PH which we charged to our room.
We had about $140+ charged to our room which was all comped.
Basically other than our airfare and gambling there wasn't much of an expense to this trip.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ Flight Report and limo ride
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Flew out Southwest. Being over 6 feet tall the seats are not the most comfortable and you can bet that the largest guy in the plane is going to sit down next to me. Not this time. Instead it was a lady. She was only about 5 feet tall. Unfortunately she was also about 4 feet wide.

Couldn't use the armrest because it wouldn't go all the way day. In any case, it was a direct flight and my main concern was getting to Vegas.

This trip we packed some sandwiches and protein bars which really helped. After about 90 minutes into the flight we had a nice meal.

Limo guy waiting for us which is always a great sight. The limo makes for a really nice ride to the hotel and a great way to start the trip.

Although the entire trip was booked via SW, the flight home was via AirTran. Not sure the spacing between rows could be much smaller.
Here we did have a stop in Atlanta before arriving home in Florida. The 2nd part of the trip was also via AirTran and holy shit it felt as though someone removed the foam and we had to sit on plywood.

I have been suggesting to my wife that we pay the extra to go first class for now but she would not go for it. Because of the extra cost and limited flights (mostly because of the extra cost) she is not interested. After this trip guess what....we may be flying first class next trip as we both have issues and could benefit from the better seats.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ Check-in at Planet Hollywood.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The place was packed. Damn, it is going to be an hour for check-in.
Oh but wait, my wife signed us up for the Visa card which automatically upgrades us to Platinum.
Hey, the Platinum line has 0 people, lets go there. (We took advantage of this a few times.)
Host said he will make a comment about getting the Panorama room if available.
If not then just the Vista room. Informed the person of this but apparently there was no mention of it and got the Vista room.
The room is your average size room but we really like the bathroom in this place as it is plenty big.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ First meal - BurGR
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We passed up this place last trip and figured if there was no crowd we would make it our first meal.
After a 5 hour flight we really don't want to wait an hour for a table.
No crowds and we basically walked right in.
We immediately ordered some water along with the wings and Parmesan fries.
These were our appetizers and we would split a burger.
The burgers were ordered about 10 minutes later as it took a while to decide which to get.
Well, the burger, wings and fries were all brought out together.
Apparently they have forgotten the wings and fries on the counter because they were about room temperature when brought out.
We were too hungry to return them or else we would have.
Not impressed at all with the wings or fries.
The burger itself was amazing. Never had a burger so damn tender. I thought I was eating nothing but bread as it was so tender and melted in your mouth.
If we eat there again it would only be for the burger.

Here is an image of the wings...


Here is an image of the burger:



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ Getting Platinum Card
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Went to Players Club to get new Platinum card (as mentioned above).
The line here was long too but guess what.....the Platinum line was opened.
We got to jump right in front.
This Platinum card was extremely useful for the cage, or basically any place there was a line.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ Free Play
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Our checking in was Sunday. Hit the cage to request my Free Play.
Their reply, "Oh sorry, you needed to pick up your Free Play on Saturday."
WTF?!?!?! I check in on Sunday but am supposed to arrive Saturday to pick up my Free Play!?!?!?
Being it was Sunday I waited until Monday to contact my host who resolved the issue and got my Free Play.

It was $300 which we received in $50 increments.
We decided to play 6 different Top Dollar machines.
Basically put in $50 of Free Play per machine, cash out with any money and move to a different Top Dollar machine.
The machines varied from the 25 cent machine to the $1 machine.
When all was said and done we ended up with $156 of free money from our $300 Free Play.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ Craps
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
First night and played after having my limit of alcohol. It was a nice empty table and figured I could get in plenty of dice action.
Lost my $400 buy-in in what seemed like 2 minutes. Broke the first cardinal rule which is don't chase your loses.
Well, $200 more later and I knew just like when in a really bad relationship it was time to just walk away.

Played again early Monday morning at Paris with my wife and quickly lost my buy-in.....again. My wife was smarter and left the table earlier.

Met with Chess (ron) from the board and hit up Craps Monday afternoon at Paris and was up but the table was slowing turning and decided to cash out just a few bucks ahead. This was a rather short session but the previous two sessions had me a bit scared to stick around.

Was walking through Bally's Tuesday afternoon and the Craps table was actually empty. Only 1 person shooting. This place is always packed.

Decided to give the dice another try. Went on a decent run and left the table in the black. Not too much but better than my previous session but probably $100+ to the good.

My final session was Tuesday night at Planet Hollywood. All I wanted was some decent dice time. There were only 2 other players at the table so I took a spot at the end. Only 1 person before the dice come to me. Sure enough two more people joined in basically cutting in line. So, slow played while waiting for the dice. The guy before me already told me to expect to shoot as he doesn't toss the dice. Finally got the dice and didn't give them up for about 45 minutes. Hit the Fire Bet (4 numbers) and 7 out while working on the 5th number. The 6 & 8 points were hit multiple times. Also got a few hard-ways in the mix. I did forget to put odds down on the 8 one time. This was annoying as I was doing max odds but was glad it didn't affect my shooting. The guy who passed on the dice made a killing. I colored up right after my roll doubling my buy-in which made me very happy.

You know it was a good roll when everyone at the table gives you an applause.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ Buffet of Buffets
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We purchased the PH buffet 2 for 1 via Groupon but then my wife also got the Visa Card which included the Buffet of Buffets.

When we first visited Vegas we would try a buffet or two then decided the buffets weren't for us. The last trip we tried the Paris breakfast buffet and was very happy. After this trip it was decided that buffets just aren't for us. If we do any other buffet again it will only be Paris and that is for breakfast. We really like our food cooked to order and "hot". Even with arriving at the start of Lunch everything is just barely warm or cool. Even the prime rib seemed like they pulled it from the frig and had it sitting under the hot lamps. In fact we got buffeted out and didn't even utilize the full 24 hours.

At first we used the Groupon for the PH buffet. Nothing really was fantastic and you all have read the reviews by now about their cup cakes.

We didn't even come back to this buffet during the 24 hour pass. Oh, we used the Platinum status here to go right to the front of the line.

For the 24 hour pass, we hit up Paris buffet for breakfast first since we liked it so much last time. We arrive when it opened and there was a long line as there always is. Guess who used their Platinum status again to go right to the front.

We usually order the Walnut crepes first but wanted to try something different. Ordered the #6 and it was awesome. My wife and I split it and actually ordered another one but this time asked them to toss in some tomato and add extra basil. This was great. Our server was also very good. She stopped by numerous times which is unusual for a buffet. In fact she stopped by more than a normal restaurant person does.

After killing time we hit a few other casinos and slow played while heading down the strip to Harrahs. The game plan was to get there when the lunch buffet started and work our way back to PH hitting the different buffets. Again nothing special here except for the dessert section.

If you want a buffet with a variety of flavors this is the place to be. Included here is an assortment of cupcakes I tried. These were actually very good. I would say the lemon one was my favorite.

This image is of cupcake assortment...


Next we went next door to The Quad. That place was still under construction on the inside and after just a few minutes we decided the buffet wasn't going to be worth it so we continued heading up the strip. Same with the Flamingo. We just couldn't image this buffet being any better so we headed back to Paris and PH to gamble. Later that afternoon/even we decided to hit up Paris for desert. Not impressive with their selection but noticed they had some King Crab Legs. Asked my server if I could get them steamed and he said he would bring some out for me.

This picture shows what he brought. I couldn't believe how many he brought out. In fact, I left probably 1/3 of them as they quickly got cold. It doesn't seem like they really steam them so much as quickly dip them in hot water.

Here is an image of the king crab legs from Paris buffet.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ Monte Carlo via MyVegas
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks to MyVegas we obtained the $50 Monte Carlo food credit.
I was looking forward to the Carrot Cake pancakes since we received this credit.
Oh wait, they are not on the menu??????
Apparently the menu has changed recently.
The guy sitting a few seats from us stopped by saying he overheard us talking about the menu and he didn't like their "new" menu selection either.
Overall it was a bit limited but the food is very fresh and very good.
We ordered the coffee, orange juice, custom omelet, chocolate pancakes, regular pancakes and a BLT.
I asked my wife if it was Starbucks coffee because they were charging $3 and the OJ was about $6.
It all came out to $57. Normally we wouldn't order this much food so really its a decent price for how fresh and tasty it is.
The following shows the food except for the BLT which we ordered afterward.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ Its a friendly place
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Its evening time (based on eastern standard time), the alcohol is doing its job, I have my music playing to upbeat fast-paced tunes and just having a good time while playing the $1 Wheel of Fortune game at Paris. I notice this one guy behind me just watching not sure if he is enjoying the game or finding it funny that I am enjoying my tunes as I play. I figure why not get the guy involved and I start having him pull the handle. We play for at least an hour alternating pulling the handle and initiating the bonus round.
There is a video or two of the guy and as you can tell he was having a blast. He initiated the bonus and it hit the $100 space so I gave him a $20 and he quickly put it in his pocket. He kept taking in his native language and didn't understand him most of the time but as you can tell we both had a blast playing the machine.

Here are two videos of the guy initiating the bonus.
[YOUTUBE]JZYO_ryTqKw[/YOUTUBE]


[YOUTUBE]4fgGaxtoSeg[/YOUTUBE]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ Video Poker
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It has been a while since I played Video Poker but my wife does tend to play it a lot especially when looking to slow things down or when looking to kill some time.
There were 2 scenarios in which we played to kill time. Once was in Monte Carlo while waiting for the restaurant to open and the second time was at Harrahs waiting for the buffet to open. Both times we needed to kill an hour and both times we pretty much played JOBs for an hour each and broke even. Basically resulted in some free entertainment.
My wife played at Paris one night doing 1 cent 50 play for 4 hours on the same $20. She gets so excited when she does that as it is inexpensive entertainment while accumulating comps.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ Pawn Star Slots Review
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wish I had some video for you but both my wife and I played and it was a complete and quick drain of the funds.
Sometimes a slot machine can be fun even if the bonus round doesn't appear but this wasn't one of them.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ Spiderman Slots Review
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This game was terrible as the paybacks were poor. Even the bonus round really didn't payback much if you were lucky to get one.
Neither my wife nor I was able to get much if anything at all here.
This video shows two Random Wilds bonus rounds. Notice the small win.
[YOUTUBE]LeVhy5VTiWQ[/YOUTUBE]

This video shows the bonus round. I have played Spiderman a few different times and only encountered this bonus once.
Was not impressed with the amount won for this bonus.
[YOUTUBE]aDlv3Fce4Eo[/YOUTUBE]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ Willy Wonker Slots Review
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This was actually pretty fun. Both my wife and I hit a few bonuses on this.
Actually we only hit the Umpa Lumpa bonus which seemed to appear a number of times.

[YOUTUBE]B0gbfXLqcYk[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE]CZ8OsbqA8_k[/YOUTUBE]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ Top Dollar Slots Review (25 cent and $1)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Even since I started playing Top Dollar it has become a machine that I play daily and for numerous sessions on each trip.
After this trip, it appears my wife is now hooked on this machine too.
The only difference is I like to play the $1 machine and she enjoys the .25 machine.
We had played so many different sessions on so many different Top Dollar machines I can't say if we broke even, won or lost.
All I can say is that we had one hell of a time playing this machine.

These are some videos of the 25 cent and $1 machines.

If i remember correctly these are the 25 cent games.

[YOUTUBE]xKOLpSt_w9Y[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]2fN3spa0Fak[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]swcO1z-pyMY[/YOUTUBE]


These should be the $1 machines.....

[YOUTUBE]VIWEufdjlvs[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]qBL62KWGeRA[/YOUTUBE]


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ Nascar Slots Review
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This was one of the first machines we played.
I was not hitting a damn thing this session, but did come back another day and had better luck.
Overall I thought it was a fun game especially the racing bonus. The burnout bonus was good too but not as much fun as you will see.

Burnout Bonus 1
[YOUTUBE]1Tgmeizm6pk[/YOUTUBE]

Burnout Bonus 2
[YOUTUBE]SwJcCVO4Nqk[/YOUTUBE]

Racing Bonus 1
[YOUTUBE]b_F5SrYAq14[/YOUTUBE]

Racing Bonus 1
[YOUTUBE]nja61k0PVvg[/YOUTUBE]


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ Community Deal or No Deal Slots Review
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We were walking through Ballys and no one was playing the huge Deal or No Deal Community machine yet we saw the countdown clock showing 2 minutes before the next bonus.
Hey great we thought. Why not put in some cash, hit the button a few times and catch the bonus.
Time ran out and we both received a message that neither qualified for the bonus round.
Duh....
If I remember correctly, the clock reset to 10 minutes and we opted to play some more.
Now we were able to figure it out. Basically you get briefcases while playing and they accumulate.
You also get mini-bonus rounds to accumulate some money and more cases.
The more cases you collect the larger potential will be your results during the bonus round.
It was actually a fun game. Here are two videos.
One is the random bonus round with the main bonus and the other is the main bonus.

[YOUTUBE]1XNrKpawiz0[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE]jWHis-fsPkE[/YOUTUBE]



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ Family Guy Slots Review
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I only watched a couple of Family Guy shows and heard some good things about the slot machine so decided to give it a try.
It wasn't long before I hit two different bonuses which are shown below.

This was the first bonus. I couldn't believe how lucky I was to avoid ending the bonus early.
[YOUTUBE]20vWrPQpVeQ[/YOUTUBE]


Here is the 2nd bonus and picked the chicken which is too bad because I probably could have won a lot more.
[YOUTUBE]3jkl_QIf6cU[/YOUTUBE]


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ Double 7s
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Not really sure of the actual name of this game.
It was one of the those scenarios where my wife ran to the bathroom and I opted to put a few bucks into the machine.
Only a few spins later the bonus was hit. I like when that happens.

[YOUTUBE]6UOQBlyHfVs[/YOUTUBE]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ Wheel of Fortune Slots Review (Reel)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This machine was at Paris and 25 cents per spin with max about 75 cents if I recall correctly.
This machine was pretty active with the bonus.
Most of the bonus rounds were recorded then I figured why bother recording was they all have been about the same.
The last bonus I hit was the 1000 credits. Although it wasn't recorded in its entirety, I was able to capture the end.

[YOUTUBE]lHIAfwha-6o[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE]bfM_IKmi838[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE]m3LzuQ3eL58[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE]0U3s_3bufTw[/YOUTUBE]

When this bonus round started I figured I would sit back and enjoy it then I see the 1000 come around the corner and once it hit I pulled out my camera phone again.
This is the end of the 1000 credit hit.
[YOUTUBE]DLmCX32cZn8[/YOUTUBE]


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ NEW Wheel of Fortune Slots Review
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is the NEW wheel of Fortune Slots machines. It is $1 per game and there are 3 games you play at once.
If I recall I got to play this game for a while at PH, but at Paris it ate through my bankroll.
If you can get a loose machine this is a pretty fun game to play.

[YOUTUBE]nVY9eAFQ62c[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE]CFamVlTN-AA[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE]5_crPXODxW4[/YOUTUBE]

I know a close call doesn't really mean you "almost" won but it was a bit exiting to see the following. This is an image of the big win that almost was hit.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ Twilight Zone Slots Review
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I wish I played this game a bit more but there was always people on it.
For this who wish to control the volatility of a game this is for you.
When the game starts, you get to choose if you want lots of little wins or a little number of big wins.

We didn't get to play this one too long but did encounter a bonus round shown below.

[YOUTUBE]qFiOXTlYzzM[/YOUTUBE]


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ High Limit Slots Review
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Each night before heading up to the room I would drag my wife to the High Limit room.
Even though it was my money I still had to listen to her each trip making recommendations not to go.
Each night I played the $5 Top Dollar machine which turns out to be $15 per spin.

I have some videos of the bonus rounds encountered.

Not sure which bonuses occurred on which night.
As mentioned it was at the end of the night which means I had a few drinks.
Its the only way to muster up enough courage to walk into the high limit room.

[YOUTUBE]Qrl64CFRmtM[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE]WWhz5VZ_Vos[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE]ru9L3v8L3Z4[/YOUTUBE]

The following image was a direct win and not a bonus so I was only able to snap a picture and not video tape it.
This hit was only about 10 spins into my play and opted to cash out right afterward.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ Top Dollar Summary
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It didn't matter if we played the 25 cent, $1 or $5 machine when the bonus hit it would be between 20-40 credits.
So now you know if you get anything more than this amount it would be wise to accept the offer.

Hopefully you enjoyed this report.

 

Damn, having issues posting the YouTube vidoes.

------------------------

Finally go it fixed.

 

some may be interested to know that while video poker close calls are pretty easy to understand given the common knowledge of poker odds, slot machine close calls are actually intentional and create a false impression of the odds of hitting a jackpot. While the payback percentage of 92% or whatever a given machine pays may be clear, the appearance of the losing spins is intentionally skewed by the programming to show more "near-misses" than would randomly appear. It's the equivalent of programming extra 4-to-the-royal hands in video poker.

 

Nice report! I always enjoy the ones with a lot of gambling detail - especially craps.

 

Very good! Cool videos!! Thanks for all of our work on this.

 

You've put a lot of effort in your trip report, of which is greatly appreciated by the members of this board. Thank you very much!!

I like to peruse through at my leisure and come back to it time to time.

Again, great job and hope you hit many more heaters and fire bets in your future Vegas trips!

 

I agree. A huge amount of effort and thought, thanks for sharing!

 

LV Bound - thank you for the great trip report. I enjoyed seeing your take on some slots that I've not tried out yet.
For your myVegas Monte Carlo reward - I'm assuming you used it at the cafe? We have one to spend and I'm thinking we'll go there as well. We're not really into fine dining, so that seems like a good place to get a decent meal.

 

It seems to me that there was a law suit about this a couple years ago. If I remember right the judge said it was ok to do this (show near misses) and not deceptive.

TomTWI

 

I am clearly addicted to WOF spins. Just looking at those images and videos gets my adrenaline going. I appreciate the intensity and flair displayed by your new, temporary, Vegas friend as he assists with your Bonus Spin Begin Button. Me, I like to go on the 3rd beep.

 

I read a book titled, "Addiction by Design", that explains the slot machine "near misses."

 

Yes, used it at The Cafe. This is the 2nd time we ate at this place and very happy with the results. The food is hot, fresh and tastes very good. The price for the coffee and juice was high but excluding those items it is really not a bad price for the food.

The first breakfast we ate there resulted in a $40 bill which is pretty typical.

 

I hated these WOF machine my first few trips to Vegas, but the past few I find myself playing them more and more.
Now they have a good variety I expect WOF and the Top Dollar machines to be on my "must play" list each trip.

 

Whether its by design or happens naturally, it is these near misses that make it so exciting.
Whether its getting a 22 while hitting in BJ.
Your team missing a last second shot or field goal.
Getting a 7 before your 5th Fire Point hit.
Slot machine gives you 3 jackpots but not on the pay line.

All can put you on the edge of you seat.

 

Thanks everyone. Yes it was a lot of work but enjoyed every minute of it as it allowed me to mentally relive the trip.

I actually would like to see more reports too on the new machines too. If I had known about Spiderman's limited payback I would have still played but probably bet the minimum and saved some money. Although this is a great board I think the view on slots is a bit tainted and unless you are playing table games or VP the slots do draw some negative feedback so we don't hear much about them.

One more note, we ate twice at Earl of Sandwich and usually sit at the counter so we can watch the community Star Wars slot machine.
Both times we saw numerous bonuses being hit. They weren't paying out very much but they seem to be frequent.
In fact each trip they have a new Community slot machine (you know the one with the HUGE screen) outside this place and they do tend to hit bonuses frequently. Last trip they had Batman and the trip prior was Texas Tea and they all tend to hit frequent bonuses.

 

I thought that was a really good book. Especially all of the behavioral stuff built into the games and what they track for each player. The "near miss" effect is also talked about during the end of a NPR podcast BlueSkadoo posted a while back. What was fascinating is that neurologists studying gamblers' brains found that when regular gamblers saw a near miss it activated the same part of the brain that activates during a win, while for non-regular gamblers a near miss would just activate the parts of the brain associated with any other losing spin.

Case in point....

The same applied to any game, not just slots. They also believe the same effect happens to pathological gamblers when they receive other types of stimulus like a call from a casino host or marketing material asking them to come back and play. Those areas of the brain associated with winning get fired up.

 

Great trip report, it was fun watching your vids of slot machine. We love that WOF outside of Ramsey's in Paris!!
Great hearing about the air travel, as we too fly out of Florida I often debate the first class seating scenario.. perhaps only on the leg out of Atlanta? I am hoping my attempt to stay somewhat loyal to Delta pays off...

Thanks again for the report!!

 

I loooove watching slot machine videos! Thanks so much for that. I've never seen the Nascar one before so I'll have to check that out and I already know I'll be plugging away at Willy Wonka until I hit that Oompa Loompa bonus - such fun! I better bring a bigger bankroll...

 

I loved your report. Very detailed and well written. I fly SW from Florida too. Love the direct flights. Glad to hear the TR VISA worked out well, I've been debating on getting it for my October trip.

 

I like the format you laid out ...
I hear you on the craps table ......last trip I had , it was all I did kept losing so fast , got kinda nervous to play anymore , I did come out good in the end but a cold table really sucks
I too like to roll , and just when you think it is your turn some asswipe buys in next to you and he rolls next !!
I think that they should be skipped and wait their turn