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Super Bowl Solo trip - Orleans and Excalibur

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by callahanha, Feb 18, 2016.

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  1. callahanha

    callahanha Low-Roller

    Joined:
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    My Trip Report

    Every year I go to Las Vegas during Super Bowl weekend and make it a solo trip so I can relax and enjoy myself.

    I arrived on Friday night at 4:45, this left me an hour and 15 minutes to get to the Enterprise car rental on South Decatur before they close at 6. My luggage was at the carousel before I got to the luggage pick up area and there was no line for the taxi pick up line. I asked the driver to take the tunnel as I was in a hurry but it didn’t work this time. There was an 8 car pileup before the entrance ramp to Tropicana Ave. and we sat there, not moving for 15 minutes. Then the driver jumped the curb, went over the island and got back on I-15 and got off at the Flamingo Rd exit. To some side roads back to Tropicana and we arrived with 15 minutes to spare. Even though the ride was $35, I tipped him $10 as he did a great job of getting me there on time. I usually rent from off-airport locations as I can usually find better deals and I was able to rent Friday – Tuesday 6pm for only $56. Usually I am in and out of Enterprise in minutes but the salesman was really pushing the insurances and would not relent. I finally told him he can drive me to The Orleans and I will rent with Budget the next day when he finally stopped and just had me sign the papers.

    The weather was in the 70s most of the week and it felt great to drive around with the windows open. Before checking in, I wanted to grab something to eat. Black Bear diner on Tropicana is one of my favorite stops for a quick bite. I had a hot turkey sandwich (with real turkey) and mashed potatoes and lemonade for $11. Next stop was The Orleans. My host comped me 4 nights and when I arrived it was almost 8pm so there was no line. I went to my room on the 21st floor (top floor), took an hour nap and then headed down to the casino. I grabbed a 10-page flyer on Super Bowl wagers, a bag of popcorn from the movie theater and sat at the bar and played video poker for about 4 hours. I don’t like to lose a lot the first night so I limited my action to quarter Bonus poker. I lost about $80 but drink service was excellent and I had no problem falling asleep around 2am.

    Saturday morning, I took a drive to Red Rock Casino. I didn’t do any gambling there but I like there buffet and I arrived at 10:40 so I paid the $6 breakfast price and was able to have the lunch items I really went for. The buffet is nothing exceptional but it is always very clean and has an above average selection and quality. I then returned to the Orleans and spent 3.5 hours playing blackjack. I usually play between $25 - $50 a hand. I ended up $220 ahead for the session. For dinner, I drove to the 4 Kegs Pizza restaurant. I saw this place on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives a few years back and now I make it a must stop on every trip. The pizza and wings are great. After some downtime in front of the TV, I headed down to the casino and ended up losing about $200 on slots and VP. I placed my 10 bets on the Super Bowl and called it a night.

    Sunday I grabbed a sub from Capriotti’s. I love the Bobbi. (Thanksgiving dinner on a roll) Then headed back to the Orleans for a few hours of black jack before the Super Bowl party. For 3 hours play I ended up $150. I was one of the first in line for the party and quickly made friends with a table of Bronco fans even though I bet the Panthers to win. The next 5 hours were a blast. With so many proposition bets, people were cheering or cursing after almost every play. Even though I bet the Panthers, I came out $22 ahead as I hit most of my side bets.

    Monday I went to another one of my must stops, The Egg and I on Flamingo. I am usually not a big breakfast person but I love this place. Service is always awesome too. I then went back to the hotel and even though the pool was closed, I grabbed a chair in the sun and read a book for a few hours and even went in the hot tub. I then hit the tables again and lost about $100 in about 2 hours of play. Dinner was at Big Al’s Oyster Bar at the Orleans. Servings are large but I was disappointed as my jambalaya only had 4 shrimp in it and was mostly sausage and ham.

    Tuesday I had another losing session at the tables for about $200 so I sat by the pool for a few hours before I checked out at 2pm. I was moving to Excalibur for my last 2 nights. I know some people complain about Excalibur having too many kids but I didn’t see many. I guess it pays to go while they are in school. When I went to get in the car, I noticed a foot-long scratch on the back panel. I drove to an auto parts store and bought a can of rubbing compound for $3 and started buffing the scratch out. I thought I concealed it enough and just to make sure, I returned the car 5:30 after the sun went down. They inspected the car and didn’t mention anything so I was saved the hassle of having to pay to fix the car. Tuesday night at Excalibur I mostly jumped from one machine to another, losing $20 on a few different machines before calling it a night.

    Wednesday I noticed I could rent a car from Budget for $18 through my Costco membership so I picked up the car and went to the M Resort. If you earn 300 slot points you get a free lunch buffet. I put $100 in a $1 Wheel of Fortune game and figured I could earn the 300 points before the $100 ran out. On my first spin, I won a hundred and kept playing until I reached 300 points. I cashed out $75 ahead and enjoyed one of my favorite Las Vegas buffets. They have free beer and wine and awesome desserts. I then drove back to Excalibur and walked to the Bellagio to check out the floral display for Chinese New Year. As always, they out do themselves. It is amazing what they do with flowers. Before I left I wanted a cocktail, so I stopped at a Rolling Stones slot machine, put my $20 in and the waitress stopped by right away. She kept bringing them as I did not want to leave the machine. I was constantly getting to the bonus rounds and getting good hits. I had the machine up to $280 before cashing out at $220. By then I noticed I had 8 straws meaning I was felling no pain. I took the tram to the Monte Carlo and walked back to my room from there to catch a nap. My last night was uneventful and I lost a couple hundred in the casino before heading up to the room.

    Thursday morning, I returned my car and got to the airport 2 hours early. I’m glad I did because it spent 1 hour and 10 minutes in the security line. I was in the 5th row of the people herding lines and within another 30 minutes, the lines were up the ramp and into the souvenir shops. They only had 1 person checking ideas at the handi-cap line and 1 other person for everyone else. People were starting to worry about missing flights and started yelling at the security people. Just as I reached the end of the line, they finally opened another 2 lines. I had just enough time to grab some Ethel M candies to bring home and then board the plane.

    To wrap up, I had 6 wonderful nights of good weather, stress free solo trip and I left with only $300 less than what I arrived with. Time to start planning a trip for May.
     
  2. sybgal

    sybgal VIP Whale

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    Sounds like a fun - relaxing trip! For me, a small loss in LV is a win....could be so much worse.... lol. Thanks for sharing with us.
     
  3. RockyBalboa

    RockyBalboa Front Line Winner

    Joined:
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    Nice report thanks for sharing!

    Agreed on the Black Bear. I've been there s couple times for breakfast. A good place to eat.

    Not shocking about the TSA lines. I follow LAS airport in Twitter and people are always tweeting to them about the lousy lines. Same thing happens at PHL - a ton of people in line and two people checking IDs. Puts me on tilt like nothing else!
     
  4. jamesxnj

    jamesxnj VIP Whale

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    Great report..amazing to me how much energy people have to rent cars,drive all over the place and (Stay Sober) enough to do something different everyday..
    For me it's plant my ass in a seat and play VP and watch games at the sportsbook and grab some food from time to time..and I'm happy..
     
  5. Raptor

    Raptor High-Roller

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    Great TR I really enjoyed it. These reports really make me want to do a solo trip.
     
  6. marcianofan

    marcianofan High-Roller

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    Yeah I agree, sometimes it's hard. I started working at 15 and got use to getting up real early so now I do things in the morning or afternoon and THEN sit down at the tables and get busy drinking before the crazies get out on the road lol... I enjoyed this tr and looked up the 4 keg bar, may give it a try, it gets a lot of different reviews but sounds good to me, gotta love the dive bars....
     
  7. luckylinda

    luckylinda High-Roller

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    Great report thanks for sharing.
     
  8. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

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    Nice report!
     
  9. vegasvette

    vegasvette High-Roller

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    Thanks for the report. It sounds like I may have a couple new restaurants to try.
     
  10. D in the D

    D in the D Oldest ride, Longest Line

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    Nice report. Thanks for sharing.
     
  11. JennyTalia

    JennyTalia Tourist

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    Great report! Thanks for sharing. It sounds like you had a great time.
     
  12. Spivderman

    Spivderman Macallan 17, please!

    Joined:
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    I will second Four Kegs. After it was on DDD, I found it and have hit it a total of three times. Calla has it right that a rental car, local food, the M buffet, and VP make for a fun trip. Well done!
     
  13. booker

    booker VIP Whale

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    I appreciate your report. Thanks.
     
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