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The Tasmanians hit Vegas. Shows, bars and low rolling.

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by steveky, Sep 2, 2014.

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  1. steveky

    steveky Tourist

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Hobart, Tasmania
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    2

    My Trip Report

    First trip report... and slightly behind already. Theoretically we were arriving in Vegas on Saturday 08/30, but the flight was delayed by a few minutes and we sat on the tarmac for another few, and so we actually put foot on Vegas soil not until Sunday 08/31.

    We got scammed immediately. Told the taxi driver not to take the freeway, so he took the freeway. My lack of Vegas geography meant that I didn't realise until too late. Needless to say he didn't get a tip, but he didn't need one either after getting that fare. Grrrr.

    We arrived at Artisan Hotel and were served immediately by a young man who might need some help on the diet front if he is to have any chance of making it to his thirtieth birthday. He repeatedly told us that the hotel was a party hotel, and that we would hear the music from our rooms. We were pretty aware what to expect from the Artisan Hotel. It got absolutely caned on Tripadvisor, but on reading the reviews, what other people hated about it seemed to make it perfect for us. Seedy, tacky and oh so Vegas.

    We dumped our bags, splashed some water around and then made our way down to the hotel's Cuban Night's Pool Party. We arrived a bit after 1am, and then wasn't a whole lot of people, but the tunes were pumping and the beer was as cold as. We retired after about an hour and a half, and hit the sack. The music was indeed loud and yes we could hear it from our room, but we had been on the go for 25 hours, and I hadn't slept a wink on the flights, so the moment my head hit the pillow it was game over.

    I will post again first thing tomorrow and get my act into gear in making this a "live" trip report. Be ready for some (low-level) chip porn!
     
  2. Royal Flusher

    Royal Flusher Savvy Gambler

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    Thanks for posting! I'm looking forward to your 'go-get-em' style trip report!
     
  3. hillwood24

    hillwood24 High-Roller

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    I love low roller reports! Good luck and post lots of pics!
     
  4. RockyBalboa

    RockyBalboa Front Line Winner

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    First time "meeting" someone from Tasmania....good luck!
     
  5. amk121

    amk121 VIP Whale

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    great report so far- good luck and looking forward to reading more!
     
  6. steveky

    steveky Tourist

    Joined:
    Jul 27, 2014
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    Location:
    Hobart, Tasmania
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    2
    I was keen to get a start and whilst the others slept I headed off to the Monorail station. I knew this from my previous trips, but still was shocked to find out the distances between venues in Vegas. It had been intention to buy monorail tickets for the week for the four of us, but after walking 20 minutes from our hotel in the 100 degree heat and still not making it to the station, I decided to wait until I could confer with my travelling companions as taking taxis was starting to look a whole more appealing.

    I scurried around to Circus Circus to pick up my MLife card and grab one of their packs of Win Cards. The supposed MLife card I got given was a Circus Circus player's card, and nothing I could say would make this woman believe that anything was wrong.

    I purchased a bottle of vodka, a bottle of gin, some mixers and a SIM card for one of my mates. Apparently I got the wrong company, so copped an earful. I also stumbled across the tackiest souvenir shop called the Bonanza General Store and bought all sorts of shite including a craps table felt and Blackjack felt. Cool.

    Back to the hotel and the lads were stirring. The fourth member of our team (who had arrived a couple of days earlier) joined us from his stay at the Luxor, which he declared very enjoyable. We jumped a cab and went back to Circus Circus so that I could play my join-up chips. I invested $30 which got me $45 in chips. I approached a Craps table, a game that I had only ever played once before on an intoxicated night at the casino in Alice Springs. I walked up to the craps table and timidly played some darkside craps. 15 minutes later, my $45 of no cash value chips were $53 of real chips. That investment : $30 - Profit: $23. Woohoo - what a start. We had lunch at a nondescript deli at Circus Circus and then one of the group was felling unwell so retired back to the hotel whilst the rest of us went down to the Mirage to collect my ticket to Love (thank you so much MyVegas) and to get the debacle with my MLife sorted out. Which I did. We then pulled up a stool at db Brasserie in The Venetian and knocked back a couple of cocktails during their HAPPY Hour. Service was good and the cocktails were very good.

    I went to see Love. I am a huge Cirque du Soleil fan and this did not disappoint, although it seemed to focus on the ensemble "story" pieces rather than actual circus acts. I sat beside some lovely ladies from Minnesota, one of whom had been to see the show three times. That's a pretty good commendation. Whilst I was seeing Love, the other boys popped along to see Human Nature at the Venetian. They were well happy with their choice, and were stoked to have supported some fellow Aussies.

    After that we met up at the V Bar at The Venetian. Now the V Bar is my sort of bar, but the prices would make your eyes weep tears of blood. Thankfully it was my birthday so the other boys were shouting.. Yay. We wanted to see Absinthe at Caesars Palace, but unfortunately that was sold out. It was the only show that we hadn't booked in advance, so there's a lesson to be learned there.

    Now, of course, it starts to go downhill from there. One mate deserted to rest of us to see the dj Calvin Harris @ Hakkasan. He paid $150 to listen to some music that I could have listened to on my ipod. But he did make the astute observation, that there would have much less beautiful people watching sitting in my room listening to my ipod.

    So once he left the remaining three of us - well merry by this stage - decided to try to find some food, via about 15 different slot machines. We would all put ten dollars each in a machine and two would win something, cash it out, and the third mate would play and it would all go to shit. This happened more times that I care to remember. At some stage in the early hours of the morning, I banned him from touching another machine. He was a one-man Casino Manager's wet dream. Here's him with the second of his winning vouchers for the night:

    image.jpg

    A total of $0.30. I kid you not - he came out with two vouchers both for $0.30 each. What are the odds of that? My last two vouchers looked like this:

    image.jpg

    Overall profit:
    Slots: $115.03
    Craps: $23.00
    Total: $138.03. Happy with that for the first day.
     
  7. steveky

    steveky Tourist

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    Location:
    Hobart, Tasmania
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    That second pic should have looked like this!

    image.jpg

    - - - Updated - - -

    and thanks for following peoples!
     
  8. DK528

    DK528 Low-Roller

    Joined:
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    NYC
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    Looking forward to the rest of your report.

    Thinking about coming to Tasmania in December! Have a trip to Australia booked and need to figure out where to go :)
     
  9. steveky

    steveky Tourist

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Hobart, Tasmania
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    Oh cool. December (especially after Christmas) is absolutely the best time to visit. There's a food festival on called Taste of Tasmania which is a treat, and the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race comes in and as a result the waterfront in Hobart absolutely pumps. The weather in December is generally good. The only downside is that it is the start of high season, tourism-wise which mens accommodation is harder to come by. I would recommend booking accommodation soon to avoid disappointment.

    As to where to go, it will depend on your interests. But if you're into food, wine, nature and scenery, then Bingo!
     
  10. thecarve

    thecarve Misanthrope

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    Good start to the trip!

    Keep it coming. :beer:
     
  11. emmas

    emmas VIP Whale

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    Loving the report. Your friend looks so bummed with his 30 cents TITO. Love it!!
     
    I need all the luck I can get!
  12. steveky

    steveky Tourist

    Joined:
    Jul 27, 2014
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    Location:
    Hobart, Tasmania
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    2
    Well, so much for this being a Live Trip Report. Vegas just threw everything at us, and we accepted it with open open arms, so it is now a Post-Trip Report. Sorry about that, but here is a day-by day blow.

    Monday

    Okay, so it was a bit of a slow start this morning. A local (as in Australian) breakfast show was filming down at Bellagio, and so we decided to go and show them some love. Well two of the group decided that, and the other two of us were dragged along screaming and protesting all the while. My pleas to be allowed to go to the pub were dismissed out of hand.

    So there we were in the intense heat watching these clowns who we could see on telly any old day. Human Nature did an appearance and sang a song, also in the searing sun, and I have to admit those boys are good. But in no way Was it worth standing around getting broiled alive.

    We retired to the hotel to collect our thoughts (and tickets) for the shows that night. Two of us (me included) went to see Zarkana at ARIA. Again, I record my thanks to MyVegas for the tickets. This show was heavily circus act oriented, and very little (if indeed any) storyline. Which was fine by me. The theatre was nice and the staging excellent. There were a number of good acts, but few absolute wow moments. The Wheel of Death provided a few heart-stopping moments, the ladder duo was a smart act that I hadn't seen before and the aerial straps act had stunning (and I do mean stunning) identical twin brothers that did not hurt your eyes to watch.

    After Zarkana, I stepped out and played out of those 6-seater (or is it 8-seater) Craps machines... the electronic ones without a dealer. I was still struggling to completely understand the game, and to put an appropriate darkside strategy together. Anyway I had a small win and then disaster (for me, that is). I was on fire. I lost all my money and the only other guy playing thanked me profusely as he racked up $200 in wins whilst I converted $100 into this little coupon:

    image.jpg

    Anyway, still a couple of days to have a proper go at Craps. It sure is an exciting game, although I have to say that playing it on the machine diminished the fun a bit.

    Caught with the other two who'd been to see Vegas! The Show. They declared it weak as piss, which was a bit disappointing seeing as how I'd already purchased a ticket for the coming Wednesday night. <sigh>

    One of the other lads went to see the "Fantasy Striptease" and declared it "pretty". Pretty girls and pretty lame.

    Now to a criticism of at least two Vegas hotels. At Aria (and similarly at MGM Grand the next night) we went to the cab rank to catch a cab. A cab pulled up and the group of five in front of it went to get in. He pulled up far enough ahead that at least two other cabs could have been loading behind him at the same time. But the next cab in line didn't move despite me calling it. I was was a bit incensed about this, unaware of the "rule" that the cab should wait to be called by the attendant. What a crock of shit. She (the cab driver) edged forward as I kept beckoning her, and the attendant came back from looking after the earlier group and started abusing the crap out of the driver for starting to move forward. I couldn't believe it. This guy - an employee of the hotel - was the biggest impediment to us getting away from the hotel in the more timely fashion possible. I have no doubt it was so that he could try for tips from every passengers or group of passengers. Well, guess what dickhead, the only tip you're going to get from me is to piss off and get a job that better utilises the single neuron trapped in your head.

    It was not our night for taxis. We were still smarting from the initial rip-off on arrival, so when this cab driver started going around in circles, all hell broke loose. One of my mates - who is normally placid as puppy having its tummy scratched - became Mr Hyde and gave her what for. To her credit she reset the meter, and we proceeded to the hotel in silence, paying what we thought was a fair price for the cab ride. Seriously Vegas, you need some quality control on these rip-off merchants.

    Monday results:
    Slots: $11.30
    Craps: -$95.66
    Total: -$84.36
    Cumulative: $54.67 up
     
  13. steveky

    steveky Tourist

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    Location:
    Hobart, Tasmania
    Trips to Las Vegas:
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    Tuesday

    The plan for Tuesday was to do a strip walking tour and to (if possible) visit each and every casino on the strip, with one member of the group selected in each casino to punt $40 out of a $200 pool that we were all chipping into. There were some other rules, but it mattered not a jot because early morning one of the boys had a slip in the bathroom and split his head open. It would be terrifying except for the fact that he now has a bloodied Harry Potter-like scar on his forehead. I swear it is almost as if Lord Voldemort himself had paid a visit, and we are taking the piss out of him big-time. So his roommate was assigned to stay behind and patch him up, and the remaining two of us headed down to Hooters.

    I really liked this casino. Nice folks (and some maddies, but you get that everywhere in Vegas), nice staff and a relatively small casino floor. Here's some chip porn from Hooters representing $75 profit for 40 minutes of blackjack:

    image.jpg

    We hopped into a cab and went down to the Palms as we'd got a deal on Travelzoo that I reckon is one of the best deals I've seen in a very long while. We paid $17.99 (plus a dollar or so tax) to eat at their buffet with unlimited beer and wine. And boy were we thirsty by the time that we got there. It was seafood Tuesday and it was obvious from the get-go that crab legs were what the assembled masses craved the most. This fascination with crab legs is something that I just don't get. It seems like a whole lot of buggarising around for a minuscule amount of meat. Anyway, the food was good (if not great) but the countless wines and beers consumed made this quite the deal.

    Then we toddled off to the Mirage as two of the blokes wanted to see Roy and Siegfreid's Secret Garden. They thought otherwise once they realised it would cost each of them $20 to unlock that particular secret. I've never been a fan of locking up animals for the entertainment of humans, so I was happy to sit that out in the air conditioned comfort of the Mirage. I didn't get a good vibe in there, gambling-wise and so the wallet stayed in the pocket.

    Two of us went to see Illusions at Starlite Theatre at the Riviera. We were pushing it to get around at this stage, trying to do too many things at once. The Starlite Theatre is relatively small and it was full on the night that we were there. The illusions were good, and the the show was pretty damned fine. You could find worse things to do with your money. Give it a go. He (Jan Rouven) ended with a beautiful little illusion with a delightful story that sold him as a great illusionist in my book.

    Three of us popped along to see the KÀ late show at MGM Grand. As you've probably realised, I'm a bit of a Cirque du Soleil fan, and I had this high on my list of shows to see after a documentary about the production screened earlier in the year in Australia. The theatre that it is in is way impressive, just as is the mechanics of the staging of the show which blew my mind. It started smartly... with a delightful warning against using your mobile phone or your camera that had me absolutely gasping. Only O did it as well. The production was big and loud and we had shit-hot seats courtesy of MyVegas (thank you!). This performance is, however, more a gymnastics show rather than a series of circus acts. Some elements of it were great - the staging in particular, but the lack of strong circus acts left me feeling that this show wasn't for me.

    The final battle scene was a video - a replacement for the original act in which Sarah Guillot-Guyard died mid-last year. It did not work. I acknowledge that the company may be doing this out of respect for the artist, but it is more than a year after her passing, and the scene needs remounting. It was boring, and without the knowledge of what happened last year, audience members would be forgiven for thinking that Cirque was being very lazy.

    Tuesday results:
    Slots: -$40.00
    Blackjack: $75.00
    Total: $35.00
    Cumulative: $89.67 up.
     
  14. steveky

    steveky Tourist

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    Location:
    Hobart, Tasmania
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    Opps... sorry about that photo being upside down. I am clearly technologically challenged.
     
  15. steveky

    steveky Tourist

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    Wednesday

    Getting these boys into action in anywhere near a respectable time is like herding cats. Had to wake two of them who'd slept past the allotted muster time of 9:30am. Left them to get beautiful (believe me, that would take hours, so we generally just have to settle for "acceptable").

    Two of us wandered over to Station Casino as I had a hankering to play bingo. Signed up for the Player Card first, and got told that I would get a mystery freeplay of between $3 and $500 on the first machine I activated it on. Needless to say, I got $3. Yay. And promptly lost it and my own hard-earned on the first slot I paid.

    We then went to the Bingo for the 11am session. Came this close to $100:

    image.jpg

    Stopped by the Feast buffet which was no Bacchanalia, but for $7.56 was a bargain. Ordered a glass of wine, and boy was that a mistake. I was seated very near the self-serve soft-serve ice cream machine... which proved to be funny as all get-out as people spilt the soft-serve all over themselves and the premises.

    Off to Stratosphere where my mates were up on top considering whether to do the rides or not. That decision proved to be in the negative, and in fact by the time that I got there they were about ready to come down to ground level, so I was happy not to bother paying the $20 to go up (this was earlier in the afternoon, before the bar opened).

    We high-tailed it to the Saxe Theater at Planet Hollywood to see Nathan Burton Comedy Magic. The theater is relatively small and oddly shaped, but every punter gets a good view, so no dramas there. There are two other acts alongside Burton: Armando Vera - a sleight of hand magician with brilliant card and coin tricks; and a "comedian" who's name was either not mentioned or not revealed on the basis that his act was so pathetic, no self-respecting producer would ever want to be associated with it. The act consisted of him selecting four audience members and putting rubber masks on them and making them do an action each. It was boring, the "comedian" (and I use that word in the most generous manner possible) was boring, and he needs to be jettisoned.

    We hopped into a cab and went down to the Palms for the second go at the Buffet there. We weren't nearly as thirsty today for some reason, but still enjoyed it immensely.

    Then the three others went along to see Britney perform. They all declared it an excellent show and well worth their (not insubstantial) investment. There was much chatter about whether she was lip-synching or not, which made me think to myself why would you even think about buying a ticket to a performer who would so demean herself by not actually performing... but I bit my tongue. These boys were fans, and I have learnt that it is not wise to argue with the faithful. I popped along to see Vegas! The Show, and the slagging off that the other two who had seen it a couple of nights before gave it, was a great thing to have heard. It meant that I went along with such low expectations that those expectations were well and truly surpassed. I was impressed with the staging given that the theater was used for other acts during any given day, and I was impressed with the choreography and the quality of singing. The only downside was the selection of some performers to impersonate past performers - who just didn't sound anything like them. The Elvis and Tina Turner renditions come to mind.

    Anyway, we regrouped and decided to hang around Planet Hollywood for a bit. There was a section of the casino that had been tarted up to promote the Britney residency. It was called the Pleasure Pit and had go-go dancers in the middle and the dealers were all sexily attired. We grabbed a three-card Poker table with the hunky Croatian dealer called Aldin, who we renamed Aladdin, and proceeded to clean up there. After getting to about $75 up, we left and got onto what I call the Chocolate Wheel, but this one was Britney themed as well. I won about $20, and I'm going to have say about $20, because it started to get fuzzy from this point on. I got back onto the three-card poker, not Aladdin's which was clearly a mistake as I got taken to the cleaners. I reckon I was $100 down, then we switched to Blackjack. I was well and truly past the point of inebriation that dictated that one should not gamble. But this table was FUN. I tanked and was down close to $400 - three days' worth of my gambling budget. Two of the other lads had gone home by this time, and my best mate probably only stayed because the dealer was a bit of a babe. But he was a loyal mate, and I would be probably still passed out under a palm tree somewhere if it weren't for him.

    The tide turned, and I started winning. I know I was up by the time that we left Planet Hollywood, but I have no idea how much. Me and my mate had this absolutely genius idea to walk home stopping at every casino on the way and having a punt. This was probably my stoopidest idea ever, and boy have I had a few in my time.

    We played Craps with some boys from Argentina, although they got narky after they realised I was playing darkside. We played all sorts of different machines and may have even tried some other games that I have never heard, but none of this can be reported with any accuracy. It was after 9:00am when we finally got back to our hotel, having abandoned the casino/walking concept as neither amusing nor advisable. The sun was fierce and we were poleaxed.

    The next day I counted my money and I had $50 more in my pocket than I started with at the beginning of the day. So I obviously won more than that, but in the absence of a scientific approach to recording the wins and loss, $50 will be the final result. What a fantastic Vegas night, and yes, Planet Hollywood is now my favourite strip venue.

    Wednesday results:
    Pharaoh's Treasure Slot: -$20.00
    Bingo: -$10.00
    Chocolate Wheel: $20.00
    Three Card Poker: ?
    Blackjack: ?
    Craps: Evens
    Video machines: ?
    Total: $50.00
    Cumulative: $139.67 up.
     
  16. macwjp

    macwjp Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Dec 26, 2013
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    Location:
    Prince Edward Island, Canada
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    3
    Enjoying your report, thank you for sharing. I spent about 4 months in Devonport in 1998 and fell in love with Tassie. Got to see much of the Island during my time there but really loved Devonport and the people that live there.
     
  17. steveky

    steveky Tourist

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    Wow Mac - Devonport... you north-west coaster, you! Glad you enjoyed our little island mate. We do love it, and hope you return some day. (You may just have noticed a few changes since you were last there!)
     
  18. steveky

    steveky Tourist

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    Hobart, Tasmania
    Trips to Las Vegas:
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    Thursday

    Buggar me, my head hurt when we woke at 1pm or so after only 4 hours sleep. I was feeling as good as my best mate, so it was suffering in unity at least. Today was our scheduled Fremont Street day. We had pre-booked tickets to the Mob Museum, but stopped in first to the Downtown Grand Casino as one of my mates was collecting casino players cards. We both joined up and that gave you discounted specific food at the restaurant. I had the hot dog and the burger and both were unbelievably nondescript. We didn't punt there, but ventured down to the Mob Museum which was quite good. There was a little bit of repetitive interpretation, but on the whole it was a worthwhile way to spend the afternoon.

    We then went down to Fremont Street and, boy oh boy, that was filled with all sorts of crazy. Oh my stars. We hung around for the canopy show, but had to hightail it out to the Neon Boneyard as we had a 7:30pm tour booked. I am a huge fan of neon, and the artistry that is behind it. Our tour guide was a man of ample proportions and he knew his stuff. He could talk the leg off a chair and the hour flew by. I booked the nighttime tour specifically to see the signs lit up - but there were only three illuminated signs on the whole tour, although that could be extended to five if you counted the two on the street outside. There was another sign that had been donated to the museum in working order, and we were given the lame excuse that "it would blow the grid" to the question as to why it wasn't illuminated. I was pretty disappointed, and would not recommend this experience until they wire up a few more of the signs.

    We went back to Fremont Street, and there was a rocking band playing. The Fremont Street Experience came on at 9pm, and quite frankly it was underwhelming. We jumped a cab to the Bellagio as we all had tickets to O, the most expensive performance we were going to see in Vegas. We had mid-range tickets and sat at a sort of balcony with a single row of chairs. We were well-pleased with our seats and their location.

    As with many Cirque shows before, there was pre-entertainment from two clowns interacting with the audience. The only problem is they were anything but entertaining. Then to the "no mobile phones and cameras" announcement that I alluded to before and which I will not provide a spoiler for here... but it was a highlight of the night for mine. The opening act was spectacular, and I was finally hoping to have a remarkable Cirque experience. Regrettably, it was not to be.

    The acts of note were Bateau, an aerial cradle and parallel bars on a swinging boat-shaped apparatus which was well-executed and the talent of the artists undoubted; and the fire dancing. High dive was speccy, but I reckon the blokes doing it would have been awarded 10 out of 10 if they just stood there in their speedos and did nothing all night.

    The biggest let-down was the clown act. Whenever they appeared, the show slumped. Extremely disappointing and these two clowns are truly clowns (and I'm not being complimentary). The only other thing of note was the awesome theatre and extraordinary mechanics of the stage. Truly amazing. But ultimately O was not the complete Cirque experience I had been hoping for.

    Post-show and although I'd vowed and declared that I was going home to bed straight after, I got "persuaded" to stop in for dinner and drinks at The Tilted Kilt down at The Linq. What a great bar, and talk about HOT staff. Oh wow... we were all in love, although with different members of the team, it has to be said. At least there would be no fighting over anyone. The food we had was okay, but nothing to write home about, although it should be noted that it was very reasonably priced. We liked The Tilted Kilt.

    Thursday results:
    No punting today on account of the extraordinary hangover
    Total: $0.00
    Cumulative: $139.67 up.
     
  19. steveky

    steveky Tourist

    Joined:
    Jul 27, 2014
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    Location:
    Hobart, Tasmania
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    2
    Friday

    Friday morning, we went back to Fremont Street to join Cycle Pub Vegas, a twelve seater bike that promised much merriment. I knew there was a problem from the constant stream of emails with the owner trying to get us to change our booking to another day as they didn't have enough bookings for the Friday. We ended up with a full contingent, so he could have saved us all some angst by leaving us alone and just concentrating on his marketing which needed some serious gee-up.

    We arrived and to our disappointment there was no bar on board, but rather the cycle went to different bars/casinos. Worse still, the guide, a very pleasant bloke it should be remarked, explained nothing about what was to happen. We were dropped off at the first casino and told to go to the brewery inside it. No-one knew what was happening, so we cornered our "guide" and made him explain to us the concept, which we then relayed to the others in the group. After 20 minutes there we were on our way to a hot dog joint in a food court. Then we went to a western bar, after which we said goodbye and went back to our hotel to check out.

    If you grabbed a traveller, there was not enough time between one venue to the next to drink it - and the staff at the next venue were none too pleased (understandably) about you bringing drinks into their establishment.

    It was a lame experience with a shitload of potential. The booking process needs to be more professional, the guide needs to explain what's happening, the venues need to be worded up that we were coming, the distance between venues needs to be lengthened to the distance it takes to finish a beer, and the venues need reconsidering or they should consider changing the model to sell alcohol on board rather than stopping at the boring venues we did.

    It was clear from the gawks of locals and tourists alike that this offering was new, and so some kinks have to be expected and forgiven. But this was not well-thought out at all. The operator needs to get his shite together.

    We ran back to the hotel, checked out (which was very smooth) and cabbed down to New York, New York. The hotel checked our bags (very efficiently, too, it must be added) and we monorailed down to Mandalay Bay, then walked down to the Welcome to Vegas sign for the obligatory photo shoot. Back to Mandalay Bay for an overpriced coffee then we went to have a stickybeak at Luxor and onto New York New York for a beer and a quick punt on a Texas Hold 'Em machine. We had planned to have a group punt at the airport on the way out, but a beer or two got in the way of that idea, and so strangely that was the final gamble of the Vegas trip.

    Friday results:
    Texas Hold 'Em machine: $10.00
    Total: $10.00
    Cumulative: $149.67 up.

    I'm pretty happy with that result. It was not a loss, and it meant that my trip budget was still well intact given I'd budgeted $150 per day gambling for the 6 days of Vegas.

    Our last ticketed event was Zumanity, Cirque's adult show. We bought our tickets months ago to get (what we thought were) the best tickets in the house - centre of the front row of the balcony. How wrong that proved to be. The balcony had a double railing that partially obscured our view of the stage, and we were forever bobbing our heads up and down to see depending on where the act was. It was a complete pain in the arse.

    The quality of the acts varied, but there were two stand outs for mine: the handbalancing with the oh-my-god-he's-gorgeous Dima Shine, and the aerial silks performed by the talented Alan Jones Silva. What a stunningly graceful act. This made Zumanity the second best show of the week for me (after Love), despite the experience being marred by the crap line of sight thanks to the balcony rails. NYNY should not be selling the front row of the balcony without a disclaimer that the view is obscured.
    _________________________________________________________________________________________________

    And that was Vegas. Thoroughly enjoyable. What didn't live up to expectations was minor in the greater scheme of things. All of us were well happy with the trip and hopefully it is to be repeated in the not-too-distant future.
     
  20. DiamondJim21

    DiamondJim21 High-Roller

    Joined:
    Aug 20, 2014
    Messages:
    594
    Location:
    Indiana
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    52
    Great trip report. Thanks for posting.
     
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