Dbueler's August birthday trip

50th Birthday trip…. Not mine! I passed that milestone 2 years ago, however FFlowers turns the Big 5-0 on Tuesday August 19th! We’ve been planning this trip for well over a year, and by the time the final agenda was published, I was convinced it was MY birthday!

Thursday August 14th:
My SW non-stop flight is booked for Friday morning, departing Kansas City at 10:15am and I live 3 hours away, so I decided to take Thursday afternoon off, get the drive under my belt, and stay at the Hampton Inn airport using HHonors points. This also saved me from the cattle car economy parking madhouse at KC airport, which I loathe. The Hampton wasn’t the best, the beds were unbelievably small, seriously tiny. The room was pretty old and not really clean. The internet was so slow I couldn’t connect my MLB.tv to watch the Cardinal game, although I was able to listen. On the bright side, the breakfast was the best I’ve had at a Hampton (I’m diamond with Hilton, I’m in a Hampton just about every week), I was the only one on the airport shuttle, and every employee was exceptionally nice. Next time I will try the Embassy Suites up the road.

My Thursday night detour was to Harrah’s KC because I had $50 fsp there, although I haven’t been there in at least 2 years. I started playing nickel STP DDB and hit four kings x5 for $75. I played a lot of quarter single line and hit a number of quads, none of them were bonus ones, still a lot of fun. After various cash outs, I had a $40 ticket and saw a Super Bonus Poker multi line machine, I love those games where the quads pay double, but it was only available in quarters… rich for my blood. I decided to play it with my $40 ticket and NO MORE (I can go degen on those gimmicky games at times). I hit 4 queens on the first or second deal for $125 and decided not to go below $100. A few hands later it DEALT me four 6’s on triple play DDB for $375! I hit several more 4oaks before finally cashing out. When I returned to my hotel room, I realized I was up a little over $600!

Last weekend, I hit two quarter royals and some premium quads at my local casino. I left my original bankroll at home and am taking the royal $$ to Vegas, calling this a free trip already! Although…. That money does turn into my money as soon as the ticket is in my hand 

Friday August 15th
As I mentioned, great breakfast and I was the only one on the shuttle. Checked my bag, I’m TSA Pre-Check for work so the security line was empty. Flight left on-time and arrived a little early. Routine flight except the stewardess was the slowest I’ve ever had. I was so thirsty I thought I would end up in the bathroom drinking the non-potable water (haha don’t judge!). I was in lucky row 7 and didn’t get my soda until 1 hour and 40 minutes into the flight! She was friendly and kept talking to people for 15-20 minutes at a time, while no one had a drink.

I’m staying at the Flamingo, my home away from home who is now on Strike 2. Strike 2 as in Strike 3 and you’re out. Back story – I arrived early afternoon in April and had booked a comped Go Deluxe king room. VIP services called me 2 days before arrival to confirm my requests. When I checked in I was told there were no King GO rooms, or GO rooms period, available…. Even though the Platinum & Gold couple in front of me rec’d exactly the type of room I booked, and I am Diamond. I pushed back and asked for VIP services or a host and it finally got straightened out. This also happened last July. I realize they don’t guarantee room preferences, but what they don’t realize is by downgrading a room significantly, they are f**king with someone’s vacation. A vacation someone has worked hard for, who has looked forward to it, a trip to Vegas isn’t a trip… it’s a pilgrimage! I dislike the young people in the Diamond checkin who can be so arrogant, these guests are your bread and butter.
I filled out a survey saying basically what I said above (and a whole lot more, like why bother having VIP call if you don’t f**king care? Save the money and don’t bother) and sure enough folks, they do read those surveys. I rec’d an email from the Director of VIP services within a few days profusely, and sincerely, apologizing for what happened. I was already booked for this August trip and she said she had taken the liberty to upgrade my room and add $50 fsp to the reservation. I thanked her, but was completely honest… this was Strike 2. I deal with hotels every single week of my life and I’m just not going to deal with that type of service on vacation. I can easily stay comped at any other CET property; I really just love the Flamingo!

My flight arrived 20 min early and at the gate closest to baggage claim, that’s never happened before! My bag arrived in less than 10 minutes, no cab line at all, and I had the coolest cab driver ever. When he heard I was from Mo, he told me of a road trip he took in 2008 from Tunica to STL because he had $2500 fsp offers at multiple casinos. The original plan was to “harvest” the fsp and keep the cash, which would have happened, he said “If I could have gotten my fat a$$ off the chair and left the tables!”. Then he said “I guess that’s why I drive a cab for a living!”. He totally cracked me up. He took the shortest route to the Flamingo and I tipped him big because I love great service and a good laugh. When I got out of the cab, he hugged me…. Good times.

There was a monster line at checkin, glad I could use the diamond room. They had a room blocked for me, it wasn’t clean yet, so they offered a pool view as an alternate. All I had booked was a pool view, so when I realized the VIP director had upgraded me to a strip view, I was happy to wait. She said she would call when it was ready (this was about noon). In the meantime, the VIP director came out to greet me, she was glad I was waiting for the room she had blocked for me, and she was very nice. The rooms I normally get overlook The Cromwell, Bally’s, and beyond and they mentioned those rooms received the worst of the Cromwell pool party noise.
Checked my bags with the bellman, texted Fflowers, then headed to the casino! I played mostly nickel multi-hand VP for 4 hours, up and down, ended up down a bit and went to check on my room. It was finally ready and very nice indeed, complete with robes, slippers, and a huge assortment of “products”. The floor-to-ceiling windows are wonderful and Caesar’s Palace are directly in front with the fountains to my left.

While gambling, Fflowers had visited me and we caught up on news. We made plans to meet as we had dinner reservations at Giada’s at 6:45.
Giada’s was amazing. I really enjoyed the open atmosphere and we had a great table with an amazing strip view. Fflowers made the reservation time to coincide with sunset, just because she thinks of everything! We ordered (4) of the small plates – Bacon wrapped dates, prosciutto, gorgonzola cheese with wild pear honey, and marinated olives. I’m not an olive fan so I can’t comment, but the bacon wrapped dates (stuffed with Italian sausage) were hands down the best thing I’ve ever tasted. If you dipped your fork in the wild pear honey, speared some cheese, then added the prosciutto, it was to-die-for.

For the pasta course, we ordered Spaghetti with shrimp, lemon, and basil (very good), rigatoni with vegetable Bolognese (very good), and lobster ravioli (ok, too lemony). For main courses, I ordered the filet (excellent, especially the steak butter!) and she ordered the Branzino (she said it was very good). Classic moment here – When Fflowers told the waiter to wait while she looked at the list of sides he said “Ladies, it’s my job to up-sell. BUT you have already ordered too much food!” LOL! Nothing like being cut off at a high end restaurant! She did insist on the corn with Italian sausage and it was very good. We did leave some food, but not too much as we were both starving! I can’t forget to mention the little pot of rosemary bread, it arrived hot and covered with EVOO and was sublime.

We noticed the waiters took a huge dessert cart to every other table, but not ours. They were probably all talking about us in the kitchen!

The service was excellent, but a little intrusive, only because there were so many who came by. Several managers, the waiters, and multiple others.
I want to return, I need to return. When I do, I will only be ordering the small plates and lots of them.

We did some gambling after dinner, no big wins or losses. When I arrived at my room at midnight, the Cromwell pool party was in full swing (and would be until 5am). I could hear thumping noises, those were drowned out by my sleeping pills.

Observations:
• There is no possible way attendees at the Cromwell pool party can hear to talk to each other.
• The strip at night never fails to mesmerize me.
• Not many crowds for a Friday night, and the casinos were pretty empty. Good for me as I don’t like crowds.
• The internet in my room (which I pay for) sucks. I’ve called tech and requested they look at it. I have Cardinal games to watch on MLB.TV!

Saturday August 16th
I awoke at 4:30am starving, how can that be? I fell back asleep until a respectable 7am.

I hit the casino around 9am and played a variety of multi line nickel games and single line quarter vp and was down $100 when it was time to meet Fflowers at MAG for our traditional breakfast on the patio, this time my treat for her birthday. We don’t even open the menu, we always order the same thing….her the blueberry French toast and me the eggs bene. We spent a very enjoyable 2 hours relaxing, eating (seems it’s what we do best), and catching up. I charged the meal to my room and paid for it with RC’s. We parted ways to gamble, her at Caesars and me at Flamingo.

I had a nice winning run playing triple play bonus poker Ultimate X (nickels) when I hit 4 kings x4 for 500 coins. I then hit 4 fours x4 AND x2 on the same hand for 800 and 400 coins respectively. I switched to regular triple play quarter BP and was dealt 4 queens! Shortly thereafter, I was dealt a straight flush in hearts! I wandered over to STP and, playing 5 play nickel DDB, I hit four 5’s with a 5x multiplier for 2500 coins.

I retired to my room to freshen up and watch some of the Cardinal game then met Fflowers in the Flamingo diamond lounge for a “dinner” of snacks and drinks. She went to the Al Pacino show at the Mirage and I gambled… and shouldn’t have. I had terrible cards on VP so I decided to play penny slots “for fun”. Lost and lost, and went totally degenerate until I finally slapped myself and went to my room.

FFlowers returned around 10pm and we both played VP, although I was almost scared to go back downstairs! I played single line quarters and finally hit my first single line quad for 250 quarters. She had a great run on double STP for quarters and left as her friend (who was coming in for her birthday) was arriving from her flight. I decided to take a “hail mary” at 10 play DDB nickels for $20, and what a great decision that turned out to be!

I hit a few quads and THEN I was dealt four 4’s! While praying for kickers, I pressed draw and was rewarded with 4 kickers. Shortly after, I was dealt 3 aces and picked up the fourth ace on 2 hands! Not long afterwards, I was again dealt 3 aces and picked up the fourth ace on 2 hands again. Probably 15 minutes later, I was dealt 3 aces again and picked up the fourth on one line… with the kicker! I also hit a number of other quads and was dealt several straights and flushes. The game started to die around 1am and I cashed out with $460 which covered my degen gambling and put me back in the black!

Observations:
• I couldn’t believe how loud the Cromwell pool party was Saturday night! My floor to ceiling windows vibrated and I am a ways down the strip. Fortunately my sleeping pills turn everything bad to good.
• I love the dry heat after the wet, humid Missouri summer
• I don’t go to diamond lounges enough, good time.
• My tower in the Flamingo only has 2 elevators working, pain in the a$$.
• I really should do something other than eat and gamble… haha

Sunday August 17th
My day started by pushing the automatic drape buttons and watching the strip come into view. Ahhh Vegas.

Played a losing hour of VP then joined Fflowers & her friend M at the Flamingo breakfast buffet. We were seated on the glass overlooking the flamingo habitat, we just love that view. The eggs bene were pitifully overcooked, but the bacon was spectacular. Scrambled eggs and biscuits with gravy rounded out my meal and it was excellent. We chatted and talked about what to do today, ended up not really making plans, but will text later to decide. Fflowers and I both have high stress jobs and we enjoy the go-with-the-flow of Vegas.

I played a short vp session and cashed out $40 ahead, then headed to my room to watch the Cardinal game on my laptop. Fortunately it was a winner!

We decided to see Vinnie Favorito, not our first time, but we haven’t seen him in several years. Fflowers and I redeemed diamond tickets for both of us plus her (now our) friend M. We were short on time so we grabbed Johnny Rockets in the Flamingo food court. I didn’t realize you could now charge to your room from the food court businesses.

Vinnie, as always, was a scream. So politically incorrect, but just so funny. Of course, Fflowers ended up on stage with him, I walked away unscathed somehow. There was a huge guy seated behind us, not fat, very military looking. When Vinnie asked what he did for a living, the guy mumbled around, and of course Vinnie went to work on him. The guy then said he was a Roof Policeman, and Vinnie asked WTF is that? He said he was the one who negotiated with people who were going to jump from a roof, and that’s all he did. Seriously, this guy was acting crazy. Vinnie told him that if he was negotiating with him, then Vinnie would jump for sure. The guy went nuts, telling his wife he knew this would happen and that no one would understand blah blah blah. Then he jumped up and took a plastic bag to Vinnie that had a t-shirt and some other stuff in it. Vinnie was pretty wide-eyed. Now, since that scene, I have googled “roof police” and can’t find any reference to it at all. Of course, I can’t weigh in if there are indeed roof police, but I can confirm this guy was acting nuts!

I played VP with little success after the show

Observations:
• I realized I hadn’t left the Flamingo all day, shame on me.
• You’ve got to be prepared for anything at Vinnie Favorito’s show
• The 107 deg heat doesn’t bother you if you never step outside
• What’s happened to casinos being cold? They all seem rather warm to me.
• I could hear the Cromwell pool party, but the music was more subdued than on Sat.

Monday August 18th
Ah… birthday pre-party day. I met Fflowers, Champster (her brother), and M at the Caesar’s breakfast buffet at 9am. No line at all and excellent food as usual. Funny story, Champster filled a plate with crab legs and realized they weren’t split and he couldn’t find a “cracker”. He asked and they brought him a little wooden mallet. When he hit the crab legs with it, pieces of shell flew all over! He decided it wasn’t worth the effort. Imagine that, at the best and most expensive buffet in Vegas! I do love a good breakfast buffet.

The group headed to the Caesar’s pool cabana Fflower’s had reserved while I walked over to Bellagio to redeem some MyVegas buffet rewards for dinner. There would be 6 of us, so I redeemed a 2 free dinner buffet reward, a 1 free dinner buffet reward, and a 2-4-1 dinner buffet reward. Essentially, I will pay for 2 and get 4 free. The Mlife desk was very efficient processing these and put the comp buffets on my Mlife card.

The cabana was wonderful, and another Vegas first! The pool water was the perfect temperature, and the area wasn’t very crowded. We enjoyed the ice, drinks, snacks, and the service was remarkable. It was really fun to sit around and visit in comfort and hang out in the pool.
I retired to my room early afternoon then, naturally, hit the casino. I mainly played multi-line dimes and hit enough 4oak’s to keep playing but not get ahead. I also played some quarter vp as well, but that didn’t work.

Fflower’s friend, J, and her mother arrived early afternoon for the birthday celebration. Our group met at the Bellagio buffet early as we had tickets to the Australian BeeGee’s show. The MyVegas comp awards also include a line pass, it didn’t really come into play as we arrived at 5pm and there was virtually no line, but wow… when we left at 6:15 there was quite a line. Champster was able to get a huge plate of crab legs, the food was very good and fresh. This was $120 worth of MyVegas comps! I’m not a huge fan of dinner buffets, but this one was very good.

Champster drove us to the Excalibur for the Beegee’s show. Fflowers and I have been many times, we like to dance on the dance floor under the disco ball…. Don’t judge! When the show began, it wasn’t the performers we were used to, very disappointing. They were really straining to sing. After a couple of songs, they disappeared off stage and the guys we know and love appeared! I’m not sure if it was the same guys dressed differently or not, but they sure sounded great. We had front row seats and we kept the Beegee’s entertained by singing along and chair dancing. When they started the dance floor, there was a bigger crowd of dancers than usual and it was a blast! So fun to go back to high school times!

I played when I returned from the show and ended up down $100 after a couple hours of play, just couldn’t get anything going. It was my lowest play day of the trip due to all the activities, probably a good thing since my luck wasn’t great.

Observations:
• Saw a couple of gals in thongs at the CP pool
• I finally hit my second quad on single line VP. Both single line quarters and 5 play BP for dimes have sucked. DDB has ruled the trip.
• Noticed a few people today who surely couldn’t have had a mirror in their room!
• Vegas is empty compared to my last two trips over holidays. Little traffic and few lines. I like it a lot.
• I’m so glad it’s a weekday as I love watching Wake Up With The Wagners on the morning news!
• So pleased the Cromwell pool party is closed on Mondays!


Tuesday August 19th
The birthday has officially arrived, I text Fflowers a birthday greeting even though we will be meeting for breakfast in a couple hours. Again watched Wake Up with the Wagner’s then went downstairs to play before meeting for breakfast.

The session started great on 10 play nickel DDB when I was dealt 3 aces and pulled the fouth on two lines. Multiple other quads followed and I cashed out well over $100 ahead before breakfast.

Our group met at MAG for Fflower’s big birthday breakfast. We had a lovely table on the patio and the weather was amazing. There were storms nearby and, although sunny on the valley, there was a cool breeze from the storms. Of course, Fflowers and I ordered the exact same breakfast we always do, I did peek at the menu and decided to stick with my favorite. A very enjoyable 2 hours of visiting and sharing good food. Champster surprised his little sis with a birthday cake!

Back to the casino for me and I decided to play triple play quarter BP. I sure can’t get any quads at all on single line, so you change that by going to triple play, right? Haha. It did work this time as I was dealt 3 aces and hit the fourth ace on the middle line. Changed machines shortly after and hit four aces, again on quarter BP triple play, on the top line while holding two. I did hit a few other small quads, but was starting to lose and retired to my room to relax.

I stopped in to the Diamond check-in area and asked them to apply RC’s to my bill so I didn’t have the check out in the morning. They dropped one of the internet charges due to poor service, applied RC’s and I was good to go for $0.

Dinner was planned for Ruth Chris Steakhouse at Harrah’s, one of our very favorite restaurants. I was a little tired of gambling at the Flamingo so I walked to Harrah’s early. They have multi-play nickel machines, but triple play takes 30 coins to max bet, instead of the normal 15. So it’s the same as playing dimes but the bigger win amounts are fun. I started on 5 play DDB and the very first hand I held 2 two’s and hit four 2’s with the kicker for 1600 coins. A few hands later, I held three 3’s and hit quad 3’s with the kicker for 1600 coins. I eventually switched to 5 play BP and hit a few more quads. I switched machines and started with 5 play DDB and was DEALT four 8’s for 500 per line! The group had arrived at the restaurant; I cashed out $280 ahead.

During our last trip, Fflowers ate dinner at Ruth Chris’s and picked out the “perfect” table for her 50th birthday dinner. It was indeed perfect, such a lovely strip view. Service was amazing, we had two waiters at all times. We ordered several appetizers, I had the bbq shrimp appetizer and it was excellent. Their harvest salad is one of my favorite salads anywhere. I ordered the petite filet with shrimp and it was excellent as always. Fflowers ordered a number of side dishes: mashed potatoes, au gratin potatoes, creamed spinach, spinach, and several others. I only tried the mashed potatoes and they were heavenly. I’m a mashed potato snob and hate fake mashed potatoes…. These were real and so good. There was no room for dessert, however they did bring her a large slice of their chocolate cake, which is more like a mousse, and we all took a few bites.

Next on the agenda was the High Roller. I was anxious about this all day as I’m terrified of heights. No just scared… terrified. AND I had just eaten… a lot! I decided to stay in the casino while the others enjoyed the ride as the sun was setting. Champster and M were also nervous of heights and they did fine. I’ll stay where I’m comfortable… in the casino!

Afterwards, the ladies jumped in a cab while Champster and I took his car to Mandalay Bay for the MJ One show. Fflowers and I attended this show on our Christmas trip and swore immediately we would go again. She enjoyed it so much she chose it as her birthday show. The first time our seats were only 5 or 6 rows back and I had mentioned I’d like to see it from further back as there is so much action on the sides and from above. Our seats this night were perfect, 1st and 2nd row of the second level. I highly recommend this section as the whole show is in front of you. I can’t recommend this show highly enough. If you’re a fan of his music, do go. Even though Vegas was quite slow, this show was packed.

I hopped in a cab as I was the only one going to the Flamingo. I used the cab station on the west side near the nightclub and there was no one in line. I suspect if you go to the front cab station, the line would be very long after the show.

Since this was my last night, and I didn’t arrive back to the Flamingo until 11:30, I only gambled an hour before heading to my room. I lost a quick $100 and arrived at my room to hear the boom, boom, boom of the Cromwell Tuesday night pool party in full swing. Two sleeping pills fixed that issue.

Observations:
• It felt more like MY birthday than Fflower’s birthday!
• The Linq area sure is an improvement
• My cab driver said CET spent all that money on the Quad and the Linq, but didn’t do a thing about the Quad parking garage and it still floods like crazy!
• I pity the young girls in the high heels, I will take my Birkenstock’s anyday!

Wednesday August 20th
Going home day. Sigh. It is easier to leave when you have another trip already planned. I’m coming to Vegas in October with my son and his three buddies who all just turned 21. They are all great guys and I’m really excited to show them the town. My son has been to Vegas multiple times, the other 3 are newbees.

My flight left on-time at 10 am and arrived KC a few minutes early. Long 3 hour drive home and another trip is in the books, a great one at that.

In summary:
I paid cash for everything and came home with 2/3 of the money I had taken. I realize the $$ I took with me was my money, but it was won money prior to the trip so I’m still calling it a free trip.

When I arrived at the airport, I received an email from the Flamingo VIP director thanking me again for coming. She also said she has blocked a room for me for my December trip with the same exact view as this trip, only further down the strip away from the Cromwell, both for noise issues and she thinks the internet service will be better closer to the Spa tower. It just floored me when I received that email, what great service! The guys and I are staying at the Orleans for our October trip, but I do look forward to returning to the Flamingo in December, although the Cromwell pool party surely won't be an in Dec!

Best of luck to all of you and keep those tr’s coming!
diane

 

Great report, sounds like a fun trip with just the right balance of events and down time! Congrats on it mostly being "free"!

 

Driving from home to KC to fly...sounds familiar (will be doing that 9/3 and 9/9...meh...SWA prices from STL have been terrible all spring/summer). And only 3 hours, are you west of me or do you take your chances with the hwy patrol??? I'm in Wentzville. I wish I could get to MCI in 3 hours going sub 80 MPH...

And the MO summer might be wet and humid, but it has been one of the coolest in my life! But some of the worst 3 days of this summer are supposed to start in St. Louis tomorrow! As long as Vegas is sub 40C, I'm good, thanks to the "dry" heat. Bad metric joke...:evillaugh My only June/July trip, I was happy Vegas was about 105F because St. Louis was the same before humidity! :evillaugh

Glad you had a good time though! And good to know that Flamingo has 6/5 Bonus for nickels at Ult X! I only noticed that at Harrah's last trip as Flamingo got a drunken, shortened look for VP But I did notice Flamingo had 7/5 Bonus w/UX for dollars in the high limit room... and that's $30 a hand minimum. No thanks.

 

Thanks for the great trip report! My wife and I just got back and we enjoyed the Michael Jackson One show too!!

 

I really enjoyed your trip report! You did a lot of stuff, but still found time to gamble. What a fabulous way to celebrate your friend's birthday! Thanks for posting!

 

I live just west of Hannibal Mo, so it's 3 hours on the dot for me to the KC airport. I prefer to fly from STL, but as you mentioned, the flight prices are stupid high. Since KC is only 1 hr 15 min further than me driving to STL, I'm happy to save the money plus I love the shorter flight from KC. I don't fly from KC in the winter tho, the risk of bad weather on the longer drive just isn't worth it.
diane

 

Great TR. And glad they treated you right this time. That Giada's meal sounds amazing. I'm seriously contemplating paying that place a visit.

 

"Wet Humid" Missouri Summer, that's a nice way of saying it, right now down here in SW Missouri it's better known as Hell. The forecasters say no chance for rain, I don't know why they say that with 2,000,000,000% humidity and clouds.

I agree with Trig, either the hwy patrol is to busy in Ferguson or they don't patrol Hwy 36, 3 hours is good time from where you live, it's 3.5 from here and less than 170 miles. Still can't beat the prices out of MCI, if I was still a rich young single guy I'd fly from there all the time. However I'm overruled every time.

Never going outside, I'm right there with you, who cares how warm it is, as long as the AC's can keep up.:evillaugh As far as warmer in the casinos, I agree, Aria seemed warm in July, nothing like the South Point in the winter, you can die of heat stroke in there wearing shorts.

Great report, why can't every trip start with a little night before gambling that's a winner? Nicely done, two wins within two weeks in a Missouri casino. I avoid them since I don't like to pay for drinks and never win.

 

I really enjoyed your trip report. I've too noticed that evidentally not all Vegas hotels have full length mirrors. I also noticed in July that the AC in most casinos wasn't set to frigid and was comfortable without a jacket. I'm heading to Vegas in October with a couple of newbies.....should be interesting.