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Downtown picture trip - El Cortez, D and a little Red Rock Casino

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by gambler, Sep 23, 2014.

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  1. gambler

    gambler VIP Whale

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    My Trip Report

    I wasn't planning on doing a trip report this time but did want to show some El Cortez pictures. It turns out I took a lot of pics this trip so it's the makings for this trip report. Hopefully, it's not too boring.

    We had our first 3 night comp offer from the El Cortez along with $50 in food credits so we started the trip there. We also had 3 nights at The D so moved over there for our last 2 nights.

    Taking the bus from the airport has always been on our bucket list but the timing never seems to work out. This time, we were off our plane at 12:05 so grabbed our carry on and walked out of the terminal to find the 12:15 bus sitting there waiting for us. You catch the WAX to downtown at the end of Terminal 3, just past the rental car bus. You pay cash on the bus of $2 each and sit back and relax. We both agreed it was far less stressful than taking a cab, getting into the tunnel discussion or listening to a cab driver explain all his problems. It took about 35 minutes so it wasn’t much longer than a cab ride and saved us about $30. The bus comes every hour and I doubt we would wait more than 20 minutes for it before grabbing a cab but it was nice our timing worked so well this trip. There was only 3 of us on board when we left the airport so no crowds to jostle with. Las Vegas busses are kept very clean. We got off at the stop outside Binion's and had a 3 minute walk to the El Cortez.

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    Since this was our first time staying at the EC we weren’t sure what to expect. We checked in around 1:00 and were told our room wasn’t ready but that she would give us a Tower room. She explained we were supposed to get a room in the Pavillion Tower but that we would like the Tower rooms better. We liked the room a lot. It was spacious with a king bed and couch in the seating area. The room had a fridge, a separate desk with large mirror (great for getting ready when someone’s in the washroom), coffee pot and coffee, 2 complimentary bottles of water every day (one day we got three), iron, ironing board and a safe in the washroom. The air conditioning was quiet and powerful. Shower pressure was gentle but steady and there is a small window in the shower so I could look out and see The D while showering. Kinda neat to have a view. The hotel is old and historic but our room was well kept and clean and the bed was a pleasure to sleep on. Actually, I was impressed with the cleanliness of the whole casino. They do a great job. Oh, and they have free WIFI in your room too.

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  2. gambler

    gambler VIP Whale

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    Here's a few more photos of the room:

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  3. gambler

    gambler VIP Whale

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    We gambled for an hour or so but since we planned to spend the evening here, we went over to the 4 Queen’s for some VP. I started winning right away, getting 3 4OAK in the first hour. Hubs pulled out a couple more as well.

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    We wandered down Fremont to check things out and stopped at the Golden Gate for hubby to use his $20 free play. GG gives free play twice a month, from the 1st to the 15th and then from the 16th to 31st so he had another $20 coming to him tomorrow as well. GG doesn’t have the best odds on dollar VP so we just stayed for a bit and ended up back at 4Q. We were just a little hungry so decided to split a Cheesesteak sandwich ($10) at The Chicago Brew Club. They have good food and the price was right. Then for dessert I got this:

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    My first handpay! What a great way to start the trip. After deducting the tax, I got $1400. At the end of the year, I'll apply to get the $600 back.

    I mentioned in another thread that my husband is Mr. Lucky. It doesn’t matter how much I win, he always, ALWAYS beats me. So this $1400 win for me was extra exciting as it meant my husband had a big win coming too! Hubs didn’t quite have the faith I did but I was fully expecting him to get a Royal Flush sometime soon (sadly, he never did).

    We went back to the EC and played for an hour or so and hubs got another 4OAK before we crashed early for the evening.

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  4. gambler

    gambler VIP Whale

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    We woke up around 5:30 and went downstairs for coffee from the Subway (horrible stuff). I sat at a machine to catch up on the news on my ipad while hubs went to one of the bars for some VP. Not 5 minutes later, he was back showing off his $800 in TITO’s. Hubs wanted to run $100 through a machine at another bar while I went upstairs to finish reading the news and put away my ipad. I thought he was gone for quite a while so went back downstairs to see how he was doing. I got there just in time to see his hand pay.

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    As well as the $2000 he won, EC had a promo this month where if you win a large jackpot, you also get $50 in free play. When he went to claim it at the club desk, he was allowed to pick one envelope out of a bunch and received an extra $10 free play on top of his $50. And not only did he win the $2000 jackpot and the $50 and the $10, but they never took tax off his win so he got the full $2000! See how this goes - I win $2000 and get $1400, he wins $2000 and gets $2000 plus $60 free play. I knew he'd beat me somehow. He's a lucky guy!

    We played for a few more hours at both EC and 4Q and got a few more 4OAK.

    Vegas Sept 023.jpg Vegas Sept 038.jpg Vegas Sept 040.jpg

    Pizza Rock has been on our bucket list for a long time so we went there for lunch. We ordered the downtowner pizza for $20 and it was delicious. It was also quite large and after 2 pieces each we were full. It was a great deal at $20.

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  5. gambler

    gambler VIP Whale

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    We checked out the Downtown Grand as well. DDB on dollars was 9/6 so we gave it a try but came up empty. I wasn’t too keen to stay long as the DTG doesn’t send marketing offers to Canadians for their play. Someone in management needs to discover that email is free but until they figure that out, we’ll take our business elsewhere. There were quite a few people playing for a Tuesday afternoon so that was good to see.

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    Tuesday night we spent some time at The D. My husband played Free bet blackjack for the first time and loved it. He played for a couple hours and left with a $500 chip and change (starting with $100). I tried it once with $100 but didn’t last long. I left to play regular BJ and held my own, neither winning or losing much.

    There are many new dealers at The D. I played BJ with one guy for about half an hour and at least 3 times, the dealer went to take his cards and money when he had clearly won the hand. If you’re playing there soon, just keep an eye on your bets for correct pay offs. At the same table was another young guy who would agonize over every 17 he was dealt. He wasn’t asking for help so we didn’t offer any. (I’m a BJ player who doesn’t get upset about how other people play their hands. Their play can help me as much as hinder so it was all good.) He ended up hitting his 17 every time regardless of whether the dealer had a 5, 6 or 10 showing and amazingly he pulled a 3 or 4 every time! After hitting his 17's about 7 times, he finally stayed on a 17 and lost. I think he’s going to be messed on BJ rules for life! He was having fun and winning though so that’s all that counts.

    We headed back to the EC around 11 that night and I was surprised by the amount of people out and about and waiting to cross over to Fremont East at that time of night. We had absolutely no worries about walking back to the EC with so many people around.

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    Last edited: Sep 24, 2014
  6. gambler

    gambler VIP Whale

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    We had breakfast at the EC Café. Wednesday was seniors day so if you were over 50, you got meals at half price. We had bacon and eggs and chicken ceasar salad and the bill came to $11 for both. Downtown food is cheap! We had a $50 credit for the stay but after having breakfast both mornings at the café, we still only used about $30 of the credit.

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    I asked about The Flame restaurant reopening and was told they hope to have it open late December. The waitress told me it will be a high end restaurant (?!) and that once it opens, the café will be closed for good.

    We moved over to The D after breakfast. I’ve given reviews before so won’t bore you with that again. The only new item there is their elevators. They have this new system where you punch in what floor you are going to before boarding the elevator. You are then directed to elevator A, B, C or D. Don’t be like my husband and jump on the first elevator that comes along. There is no floor selection panel once you get in the elevator so it will only stop at floors that have been programmed by the panel outside. I couldn’t decide if this was an improvement to the speed of the elevators or not. They seemed a bit slower to me. Since we were on the 3rd floor, we went to take the stairs one morning but after pushing and pushing, we were unable to open the door to the stairs. Later we had to call to get our safe opened so I mentioned that the door to the exit stairs were locked. The man replied there is no way the door was locked but was just stuck. Well either way, I said, we had no access and wouldn’t that be a fire hazard? After our safe was opened, security promised they would check the stairwell door. It was not stuck quite as tight as earlier and after a couple great shoves, we did manage to finally get it open.

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    We picked up our food vouchers at the slot club and I noticed the fine print on the bottom regarding Andiamo’s Steakhouse. You can not eat on a voucher between 6 and 9 pm. It’s something to consider if that’s in your plans.

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  7. gambler

    gambler VIP Whale

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    We had planned to take the free shuttle to Sam’s Town today but my husband was having such a good day and winning a fair bit, we decided to stay downtown and make money. I wasn’t doing well but had switched to 25 cent DDB to slow my losses. We spent the rest of the day casino hopping and checking out the street performers.

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    Later that night, hubs had another good run at Free Bet BJ and won another $500 chip and change.

    For our last day we decided to check out Red Rock Casino and scratch it off our bucket list. We took the WAX to Suncoast and then cabbed to Red Rock. It was a $14 ride from Suncoast to RR and a $10 ride back with a different driver.

    Wow, Red Rock is nice. I love the colors and textures in their casino. It was like going on a vacation from our vacation. I’d love to go again, it’s nice to have a posh day. All their $1 DDB VP is 9/6 and while I didn’t play BJ, I did ask a pit boss about their rules and they seemed good to me (3/2, DOA, DAS). I forgot to ask about S17 or H17 though.

    We had lunch on the patio at Yard House and the food was great. We had the lobster, crab and artichoke dip with pita and chips and bernaise sliders with truffle fries. Hubs also had a bowl of clam chowder and said it was delicious. As usual, we had way too much food but it sure was good! I think the total bill was around $30.

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  8. gambler

    gambler VIP Whale

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    Some more pictures of Red Rock's outdoor space. What a beautiful place!

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    We headed back after a few hours and had a slow evening. Hubs tried some more Free Bet BJ but didn’t fare as well as the other nights. We headed to bed for an early night as we had to be up early for our flight out the next day.

    We were up early again the next morning so had lots of time and decided to take the bus to the airport. We caught it just outside Binion's and 8 short stops and 40 minutes later were dropped off at terminal 3.

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    We had a successful gambling trip and I came home about $1000 up while hubby was an impressive $4000 ahead. One day we're going to lose our shirt but thankfully it wasn't this time!!!

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    We never kept track of our hours of play so can only hope we get another offer from the El Cortez. It has the huge advantage of having both good odds on VP (at least the game we play) and it has good rules for BJ. My husband also like the 10x odds on craps. It was nice this trip to take a break from one game and go to another without leaving the casino. Normally we have to go between the 4Q for VP and The D for BJ. (LOL - I just read that back and realize what a degenerate I sound like - as if it takes too long to go from 4Q to the D!! :eek: )

    One final story - Since we flew home from Vegas, we had to clear customs at our own airport in Canada. Since we declared we had more than $10,000, we were sent to secondary processing. Here's the line of questioning from the Canadian Border Services Agent:

    Put your bags on the counter!
    Where are you coming from?
    Did you pack these bags yourself?
    Have these bags left your sight since you packed them?
    Do you have any needles or anything I should fear by inspecting these bags?
    Are you carrying more than $10,000?
    REALLY?! Did you win it?
    What were you playing?
    Where did you stay?
    Do they give you free rooms?
    How often do you go?
    and more...

    She ends by telling us to have a good day and she says she hopes to see us again soon. We reply we hope to see her again too!

    Funniest conversation we'll probably ever have with a Border Agent!
     
  9. Electroguy563

    Electroguy563 Vegas Joker

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    Thanks for the trip report! Not boring at all. Glad you and your husband had a winning trip! I love Downtown yet for the life of me still didn't venture into the E.C. Thanks to your report I will next time out.

    Love the pictures of Red Rock! I've visited there at least 4 times but never explored outside the property. Thinking of staying there one day.

    My favorite picture is the one where you and your husband put all your money on the bed, lol!
     
  10. ruralhipster

    ruralhipster High-Roller

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    Great report. Really enjoyed seeing a Canadian leaving with more than they came with.
     
  11. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

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    Great hits! AWAK with just holding one card is definitely something that doesn't come enough! Thanks for sharing!
     
  12. dscvegas

    dscvegas Tourist

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    Great report, I'm hoping to have a positive downtown trip like you and your husband. This board is going to turn me into a VP player!
     
  13. techie223

    techie223 High-Roller

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    Thanks for the report. We've stayed at the El Cortez once and thought it was great for the price. You're report makes me want to go back :)
     
  14. Ty

    Ty ?

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    Great report, thanks for sharing and taking the time to do so.

    Nice hits on the VP!
     
  15. carolineno

    carolineno VIP Whale

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    Thank you! Trip reports full of pictures are never boring to me. Thanks for the tip on taking the bus to the Suncoast then cabbing it to Red Rock.
     
    Ladies getaway, somewhere on the strip with a pool :)
  16. PayTriple

    PayTriple VIP Whale

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    Thanks for the Trip Report, great pictures, and congratulations on going home WINNERS!
    There is no better feeling than having a great time in Vegas, and then going home with more cash than you started.
     
  17. mwig

    mwig VIP Whale

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    Just an FYI, that restriction is just a guideline. We used that voucher for an 8pm seating. The hostess said they weren't crowded so there was no problem.
     
  18. Joe

    Joe VIP Whale

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    Nice report!
    Any guess why "hubs" got away with the entire $2,000? He had to show ID, right?

    The elevator system at D sounds interesting, if you know ahead of time.

    I had read about taking the Wax to Suncoast, then cabbing to RR. In fact i thought it was one of your previous trip reports. I guess not.

    I have to ask...did you give Suncoast one cent of your money?
     
    Last edited: Sep 24, 2014
  19. Troy M

    Troy M Tourist

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    great trip report and i agree it was not boring it is making itch to go.
     
  20. marcianofan

    marcianofan High-Roller

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    Great tr, Tks for writing it !!! It's always great to read WINNING trip reports. I love the Fremont street area. It sounds like other than red rock, you guys didn't leave downtown ?? The El Cortez is old, but their rooms really do seem to be nice and generally get favorable reviews from most people. Loved the pics, Tks again...
     
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