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The Lion's Share Trip

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by bjpcyclone, Sep 9, 2014.

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  1. bjpcyclone

    bjpcyclone High-Roller

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    My Trip Report

    When: August 20-24
    Where: 1 night @ Planet Hollywood, 3 nights at Monte Carlo
    Why: For fun of course!
    Cast: Me, wife, and 3 friends

    Flew out of Wichita instead of Tulsa since I saved about $160. Not sure it’s worth additional 1.5 hours in the car each way. The wife flew out Thursday night so the boys had a solid 36 hours of male debauchery. And we took advantage of it.

    Board our direct Southwest on time, smooth flight. First win of the trip (and it would be one of the few), I had 3 Fat Tires on the flight. I went to pay and the flight attendant says “don’t worry about it, we need to get rid of these anyway”. Free (old?) beer, woo hoo!

    Landed at noon, I met my 3 buddies in baggage claim, and we head to Planet Hollywood. Had to wait for all of 5 minutes to check in. Walk up to the counter and a guy cuts in line because he “only needs a key”. Desk clerk says “sorry sir, you need to wait in line.” I respond “No, its ok. Clearly this guy is more important than any of us.” Clerk has a chuckle and gets the line cutter his key. Normally this would have annoyed me but I’m just starting my Vegas vacation and have no worries in the world. Now it’s my turn and the clerk apologized several times. I told him it clearly wasn’t his fault. He rewards me by putting me in a resort room which view of Paris and the fountains. Was a pretty cool room with a huge bathroom (separate tub, shower, and toilet room). It was my first stay at PH and will definitely be back.

    Drop the stuff off at the room and hit up the bar for some video poker. This started 12 straight hours of gambling and drinking. No great stories other than I played BJ at Bally’s with someone that had no idea how to play and didn’t speak English. So of course, what does he do? Bets $300-$500 per hand and cleans up. Of course he did. My buddy also caught the $200 fish on the Paradise Fishing game which is a hoot to play drunk. Made our way from PH to Paris to Ballys to Cosmo. Hit the room around 2am drunk and a couple hundred dollars poorer. Little did I know, it would be my best gambling night of the trip.

    Instead of bore you with the same story each day (get up, start drinking playing VP at the bar, hit the pool, eat something, drink and gamble more), I’ll transition into grouping things together for the trip. The highlight of the trip was night 3 and our close encounter with the Lion’s Share jackpot.

    A few photos of the PH room:
    PH Room.jpg
    PH Bath.jpg
    View1.jpg
     
    Last edited: Sep 9, 2014
  2. bjpcyclone

    bjpcyclone High-Roller

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    The Lion’s Share:

    I posted this in the Lion’s Share thread but here is a recap. We head over to MGM around 9pm on Friday, August 22. There is one guy playing. We have drinks from ABC store and don’t have a care in the world so we wait. Guy gets done about 9:30pm and we hop on. Fed in $150 and played for a solid 45 minutes putting nearly 500 points on the card. Here is a photo while we waited to play, note the jackpot is at $2,400,269.

    Pre-Lions Share.jpg

    We bid farewell to the machine and, for some reason, decide to head to Excalibur since we hadn’t been there in several trip (and to check out the BJ conditions). To note, Excalibur had several 3/2 $10 tables. We enjoy Excalibur and the live band at Dick’s Last Resort while consuming way too many drinks.

    Band.jpg

    Fast forward to the next morning. I’m almost always up first and roll out of bed at 8:30. I’m slightly hungover and hungry so I head to McDonald’s in the Monte Carlo food court. I’m scrolling through Twitter while I eat and see someone posted that the Lion’s Share hit last night. Holy shit, no way! I frantically try to confirm it and, sure enough, it hit last night. First reports were it hit at 12:20am. 2 hours away I tell myself. Then it later comes out that it hit at 11:20pm. That 2 hours shrinks to just under 1 hour. We were playing a machine that hadn't hit in 21 years one hour before it hits for $2.4 million. Let that sink in. Oh well, it’s a story our group will have for the rest of our lives! But the $2.4 mil would have been a better one.

    We decide to go check out the machine the next evening to see if it’s still there. Sure enough, here she is:

    Post Lions Share1.jpg
    Lions Share.jpg

    We hug the machine goodbye as we know we’ll likely never see it again. And yes, we have pictures of us actually hugging the machine. Probably the coolest thing was that it was still counting up to 2,400,300 credits. *tick, tick, tick, tick, tick* over 20 hours later.
     
    Last edited: Sep 9, 2014
  3. bjpcyclone

    bjpcyclone High-Roller

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    Food:

    Border Grill brunch – Our first experience here and we’ll definitely be back. $60 each after tip is expensive for brunch but it’s more of an event than a meal. We were there for over 2 hours, enough time for 3 of us to have 18 total mimosas. Definitely recommended. Here are a few photos (I forgot to take a photo of my last 2 plates):

    Border Grill1.jpg
    Border Grill2.jpg

    Mandalay Bay buffet – This has become my favorite buffet. Good selection and delicious.

    Secret Pizza – My first experience. We had some trouble finding it and I had to look it up online but once we did, it was worth it. Only drawback was in my drunken state, I thought the garlic salt was parmesan cheese. As a results, pizza was a tad salty.

    Earl of Sandwich – Solid drunk food.

    The Pub – Food was excellent as always. Service wasn’t near as good (we were there for almost 2 hours) but the Dueling Pianos started about halfway through.

    Greenberg’s Deli – Has one of my favorite sandwiches ever: The Skyhigh. Delicious as always.

    800 Degrees – This is the newly opened wood oven pizza place in front of Monte Carlo. It was very good and the prices were very reasonable. $10 for personal pizza that’s almost too big for 1 person to eat. We will definitely go back. Here are photos of the pizza topping bar and my wife and my finished product:

    Pizza toppings.jpg
    Pizza.jpg

    You’ll note that while we were there for nearly 5 days, we didn’t eat near enough food. Damn alcohol and fun got in the way.
     
  4. bjpcyclone

    bjpcyclone High-Roller

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    Interesting (at least to me) Tidbits:

    Two funny conversations overhead at the airport terminal:

    #1
    Family: Yep, we are staying at Luxor. It’s supposed to be one of the highest hotels in Las Vegas.
    Other Person: Yeah, I heard that too!
    Me (in my head): Yeah, in 1995!

    #2
    Guy: Why in the world is the bar not open?!
    Me: *Looks at watch* (It’s 10:00am) No kidding, what kind of airport is this?? [Note: It’s a really crappy one]

    Saw multiple people walking their dogs on the strip after midnight with all of the drunks. Not sure I've seen that before in my previous 15 or so trips.

    Monte Carlo pool has 1/2 price buckets of beer ($20) after 5pm until close (7pm). Great deal.

    Crappy Service Tales:

    Had the $50 in FreePlay at Monte Carlo, went to the MLife desk to load it. He told me he couldn’t redeem it as a 4-night stay was required (I stayed 3 nights). The reward clearly states a 3-night stay is required. I showed him the reward language.
    Grumpy MLife dude: They just changed it today.
    Me: The reward clearly states a 3-night minimum. (I show him the reward language)
    Grumpy: Sorry, nothing I can do.
    At this point I’d waited in line for a good 15 minutes and then waited on him for another 5+. I didn’t want to argue and waste more time, so I said screw it and left.
    The Mlife desk at Monte Carlo is a dumpster fire between service and amount of workers (1, maybe 2 during peak times).

    Playing late night Pai Gow at Monte Carlo and NYNY. Do the dealers ever smile? I realize you are working at 2am but you could try to engage people. Or at least crack a smile every so often. Another example: We are playing Pai Gow around 3am and the cards are being changed. My buddy jokes “well this is going to take an hour”. The pit boss looks him straight in the eye and says “changing out two decks? Hardly. Get a grip.” And walks away. I get that we were drunk but it was clear my buddy was joking…the rest of the table had a chuckle. The pit boss apparently didn’t find the humor.

    MyVegas:
    Only used two rewards since they wouldn't let me use the $50 FreePlay: 2-1 bucket at the MC pool and $25 in FreePlay. Wife used 2 Mandaly Bay lunch buffets and another 2-1 bucket at the pool. While I enjoy the game and the free stuff that goes with it, its getting more and more of a pain in the ass to redeem the rewards.

    Gambling:

    Awful, awful, awful. Probably my worst gambling trip ever (out of 16 or so). I lost $500 or $600 on DDB video poker without getting a single 4 of a kind. Blackjack went semi-okay, I lost but I least I played multiple hours. I even tried to slow it down and played a good amount of Pai Gow. And somehow managed to lose badly on a push-heavy game. Here is photo of my lone quad of the trip. :grrr:

    4OAK.jpg

    It went more like this:

    So Close1.jpg
    So Close2.jpg
    So Close3.jpg

    Pretty much everything I touched (slots, VP, BJ, Craps) didn't go well. Sometimes you are the bug and sometimes you are the windshield. I was definitely the bug this trip.

    We saw more and more 6/5 blackjack. Buddy and I commented several times that we are witnessing the slow death of 3/2 BJ. As I posted before, the regular floor at Monte Carlo is all 6/5. We did find some 3/2 tables at Excalibur and MGM but you had to search them out.

    6-5 BJ.jpg
     
    Last edited: Sep 9, 2014
  5. bjpcyclone

    bjpcyclone High-Roller

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    Summary:

    All in all, it was a great trip even though I lost. Good times with good people, that's what counts. Not the money.

    After 6 or 7 straight stays at Monte Carlo, we are considering moving on. We love the pool, casino, location, and value but 1) continued service issues, 2) grumpy dealers/pit bosses/Mlife desk, and 3) 6/5 blackjack are having us reconsider. We are the definition of a low-maintenance guest but when we get bad/grump service on the few times we interact with the staff, it’s annoying.

    Random Photos:

    Monte Carlo view:
    MC View.jpg
    MC View2.jpg

    Obligatory LINQ photo:
    LINQ.jpg

    Disgustingly full 6/5 BJ Tables at Monte Carlo:
    Full BJ.jpg

    Blue Man Group parade:
    Blue Man.jpg

    Trip Motto:
    Drink.jpg

    Until next time my friend:
    Goodbye.jpg
     
  6. Hawaiianmark

    Hawaiianmark Low-Roller

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    Well done. Love your attitude and outlook. Must have been a mind blower knowing the Lion hit soooooo close to your play.

    Thanks!
     
  7. Ty

    Ty ?

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    Nce report, thanks for sharing.
    Really enjoyed the pics!
     
  8. breanna61

    breanna61 Super Moderator

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    You sure were close with the Lion's Share....it was heartbreaking when you posted the photo but a great story to tell for sure. I hadn't been in MC for years until my last couple trips and really liked the Casino. Had THE worst service at Double Barrel, downright rude hostess and waiter. Too bad you let them off the hook on your FP reward...you had confirmation on 3 night requirement but I agree sometimes it's just not worth the aggravation to make the point but that may be something they count on. I have about 400K myVegas points to use but the "pickings are getting slim". Thanks for the report and photos.
     
  9. bjpcyclone

    bjpcyclone High-Roller

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    We ate at Double Barrel last April about a month after it opened and had the worst service I've ever had at a restaurant (I wrote about it in the DB review thread). It's too bad because the food was delicious. Sounds like the service hasn't improved unfortunately.

    I agree with you about the MyVegas points. My wife and I really struggled to find a third reward that's worth the aggravation of redemption. I know I could have argued with the guy about the 3-night requirement but I really wasn't in the mood to wait any longer for $50 in FreePlay (I already had $125 in FP from my comp offer).
     
  10. Kobra2848

    Kobra2848 VIP Whale

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    We hug the machine goodbye as we know we’ll likely never see it again. And yes, we have pictures of us actually hugging the machine. Probably the coolest thing was that it was still counting up to 2,400,300 credits. *tick, tick, tick, tick, tick* over 20 hours later.[/QUOTE]

    It's funny you say this because we went by Monday the 25th and it was still ticking and I told my wife it was still adding up all the credits.

    Mark
     
  11. BellaBlvd

    BellaBlvd Low-Roller

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    Great report. Bummer on the grumpies at MC.. even bigger bummer about Lion's Share.

    I must know - where did you snag that drink like a champion pic??
     
  12. smartone

    smartone VIP Whale

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    My thoughts EXACTLY!!!
     
  13. Piggylane

    Piggylane Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for the nice report and heads up on the $50 Freeplay. I have the same reward and will be there in a couple weeks for a three day weekend comped suite plus goodies. If they try to pull that with me I don't care how long I hold up the line I will get satisfaction!

    The Blue Man ticket booth gave me static about using express comps for a ticket! This despite being a long time a Platinum. I persisted and got what I wanted.

    Grumpiness abounds at MC. I was playing three card there, $200 a circle despite the bad odds. Looking at my cards I asked the ******bag dealer if I got any bonus for 21? He yelled at me! Told me to look at the rules, sir. Twenty one is not a payout. I had the asshole removed from the table right after he paid my trip 7's. And I had $5 on their bonus so I got another $2500 for quads.

    Bet he's a Floor Supervisor now.
     
  14. RockyBalboa

    RockyBalboa Front Line Winner

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    Sucks to hear about you being this bug this trip - I swear that there was a period when you were there, along with other VMBers, where every trip report was not good on the gambling front.

    It also sucked to hear about the piss poor service and attitudes at the MC...I haven't ever stayed there but I liked to pop in once in awhile to shoot dice. But with the 6/5 invasion and the attitude problems maybe looking elsewhere isn't such a bad thing.

    Thanks for sharing your report!
     
  15. LV_Bound

    LV_Bound VIP Whale

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    Love this place. That is my go to choice as well.
    When we used to stay at NYNY we would eat there twice a day.




    Planned to hit this up last trip but just never made it. Was really looking forward to trying it out.
    Guess just more incentive to plan another Vegas trip.
     
  16. Grid

    Grid Well-Known Member

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    Great report! Not sure I'd give us so easily on the $50. Sure my vacation time is worth more than waiting in line but I hate smug pricks that wont even phone a manager with a problem. I remember when those MyVegas rewards were like gold. We once did 3 Cirque shows in a row front row center for 2.
     
  17. bjpcyclone

    bjpcyclone High-Roller

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    I believe it was at The Pub in Monte Carlo. But I was drinking like a champion that day so I could be wrong. :beer:
     
  18. bjpcyclone

    bjpcyclone High-Roller

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    It was definitely a little surreal, especially that morning when I saw it hit. For the rest of the trip, we talked about what we'd do with $2.4 mil and how crazy close we were to it.
     
  19. BellaBlvd

    BellaBlvd Low-Roller

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    :beer: thanks :)
     
  20. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

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    Good report!

    Sucks the gambling went so badly. One quad in any sizable stretch is brutal.

    Shockingly we had decent customer service at MC, much better than the other milfe property we stayed at (Mandalay Bay). But it doesn't surprise me they gave you the run around.

    I argued with the slot manager for an hour once in may 2013 because a "bet one" button made you "max bet". He and the idiot slot tech both thought it should work that way. I was prepared to fight again if it was still this way. But fortunately someone convinced them better than I did and it is fixed now.

    If the 3:2 games at MGM fit your budget, I'd just move there. The newly renovated rooms blow MC away. I did confirm they had 9/5 DDB at whiskey down for as cheap as quarters. Knowing MGM though, may not last forever.
     
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