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Bally's 08-26 to 08-31 Best Friend's Birthday Trip!

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by Niteshade, Sep 4, 2016.

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  1. Niteshade

    Niteshade VIP Whale

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    My Trip Report

    I wasn't sure if I should start this thread. My trip wasn't nearly as exciting as some, but I had fun so I thought I would share.

    Left home airport at 8AM Friday for Dallas, got connecting flight there for Vegas at 10:50. Fairly good flight with only one complaint. I got stuck on one of the old US Air planes that has not been upgraded like the other American planes - so no entertainment, no ports to plug anything in, pretty bumpy take off and landing (the planes sort of fly like big geese that go splat when they land on the water), lots of shaking and groaning on takeoff, and the seats are not as comfortable as the new planes. But - one good thing - the flight attendant was great! She really went out of her way to make the flight pleasant. That helped.

    Got settled in to seat 1-A and read my book some of the way. My seatmate turned out to be a nice woman that was traveling to Vegas to celebrate her 40th birthday and she was throwing back Mimosas as fast as the attendant could serve - so she got pretty funny. Had a nice chicken salad for lunch with a cookie to top it off, so not a bad flight.

    Landed with only a slight bump - pretty good pilot and baggage claim not too bad this time. Went out door 9 to try my first time on Bel Limo ride share. Not a bad deal. $ 28.00 round trip in a nice Towncar. Didn't have to share as I was the only one in the VIP line. All the other people were taking the shuttle. Off to Bally's.

    Got to Bally's around noon and the line at check-in was about 400 people deep. I have never seen so many people trying to cram in that check-in area. It was a madhouse. Lucky for me - Diamond check-in was not busy at all. Got my room in about 5 minutes and off to drop off bags, unpack and freshen up. I had a nice Jr. Suite in the alcove by the elevator. I always like these rooms. No one on either side of you, easy walk, really quiet, and they have a nice breakfast nook and view out both ways. Looked out one way to the High Roller and the other way to the strip. About 700 square feet with a nice seating area off of the bathroom to put on my makeup and stuff. I much prefer these rooms to the Grand Suites because of the easy access.

    Unpacked - cleaned up - and went to get my gamble on!

    Started with my favorite Buffalo machines right by the elevator. There are 2 tall machines close to the elevator and I have always had good luck on these. The right side was out of order, so this time I played the left. Dropped a hundie in and started playing. 3.75 per spin - a few hits, but not really good. Got down to around 30.00 and dropped it to 2.25 and hit the bonus. Not great - about 80.00 on bonus round, so back up - decided to stay at 2.25. It seemed to be hitting more at this level. I was up and down, up and down for quite awhile - finally hit a nice bonus and cashed out around 325.00. Not great, but picked up a lot of points because I was there for along time.

    Went over one bank and tried Wicked Winnings - no dice. Lost a couple of hundred here. Bummer.
    About 4 by this time and I was sort of hungry. Moseyed down to the food court and had 6 inch sub with a Pepsi. Refueled - decided to head down to the other end and see if there were any new machines since July.

    They had put in some new Buffalo machines by the wall, but they were mobbed. They were the big ones with the wheel - no way to get on there - people were standing behind people waiting. So I headed to the front door and they had put in another line of tall machines. 3 on one side - 3 on the other. One lady playing on the end so I sat on the other end - middle empty. She said - I just saw a lady hit pretty good on that machine. So I dropped in a hundred and started at 3.75. Third spin and I hit the minor jackpot! With the line and the jackpot I hit 460.00! Not huge, but nice anyway. I stayed there for about 2 hours chatting and playing. She was a local who told me she came to Bally's twice a week and played that same machine. She cashed out around 600.00 and finally left. I cashed out for around 780.00 - not a bad way to start.

    It was around 6:30 by now and I was getting a bit tired. With the time difference and having to get up so early that morning I had been going for around 14 hours. I decided to hit the HL room for a bit and play the wheel. I couldn't hit anything. Moved around a bit, dropped about 400.00 and finally gave up. Nothing was hitting. It was getting late and my friend's flight didn't land until around 10. So I finally gave up and went to the room. Texted them before bed - to meet up at Mon Ami Gabi for breakfast Saturday AM and off to sleep.

    Day 1 in the books.
     
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  2. Niteshade

    Niteshade VIP Whale

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    With the time difference it is hard for me to stay in bed much past 5. I was up and dressed and out the door by 6AM. Headed to Paris thru the tunnel and played there for a bit until I heard from my friends. I knew they didn't get up as early. They surprised me by texting me at 6:30 and said they were heading over. I was playing the Lightning machines right by Mon Ami - couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with a rock. I changed machines twice and still lost. Mon Ami opened at 7AM - they got there about that time and we headed over.

    Funny thing - walked in and the hostess greeted us. I asked politely if we could sit on the Patio. She looked at me funny and said - No M'am we are not seating on the Patio this morning. I said oh - you are already full - and she very snottily said to me - No M'am it is pouring rain outside LOL. Hell - I didn't know. We hadn't even looked outside since I had gotten there. Sure enough when she sat us by the window it was pouring outside. Oh well - we had a nice breakfast and enjoyed looking out the window. I had a 20.00 coupon from Lettuce Entertain You, so I had a nice, cheap breakfast in a lovely atmosphere. I was in Vegas!!!!!

    We decided to stay at Paris and play. Played 3-card poker - only table besides roulette that was open that early. I think they had a few BJ tables open, but we chose 3-card. My friend hit a straight flush and her husband hit a 3 of a kind twice. I hit nothing!! I dropped some $$ and decided to go try the slots. Tried Buffalo, nothing, tried Dragon Spin, nothing, tried a couple of others and finally quit. My friends wanted to play the Bally's 9AM poker tournament so they headed there and I headed to Flamingo. I don't play much NL anymore - played it so long. Now I prefer O8 and Stud8. So I opted to head to Cromwell and Flamingo.

    Played at Cromwell on some machine called Animal Herd - did ok. Nothing big, but made about 200.00. Headed to Flamingo and played the Wheel machine for a couple of hours. No big hits, up and down up and down but made about 200 here too. Not bad. Enjoyed chatting with a guy next to me that was staying at the Mirage. He was putting bill after bill in and I noticed he didn't have a player's card. I asked him why and he didn't have a Total Reward's card. We talked awhile and he asked about mine - I explained a bit about it and he left to go get one. He was staying at Mirage - not comped and was playing at Flamingo and Linq all the time. I bet he dropped about 400.00 in while I was sitting there. Silly not to have a card.

    My friends finally made it over and she had chopped the tournament 3-ways for 325.00 - they had a 500 guarantee - not bad for 65.00 buy-in. He had bubbled. So they were heading to Harrah's for their tournament. I went with them as far as the LinQ and stayed there to play awhile. Neither did well at Harrah's so we stayed at LinQ for awhile and played Ultimate Holdem. No one hit anything big for along time, just up and down, up and down, then she hit a straight flush!! Yea 450.00 Nice hit. I hit nothing. Went to play slots awhile. No good.

    Finally we decided to go eat at the Flamingo Buffet. I love their home-made Sangria. They make it with apples instead of citrus so I can
    drink it. I am allergic to citrus. It sucks. The Prime Rib was very good, the crab legs were fresh and meaty, and the blueberry pie was good. I had a Groupon so we got 45% off. 40% + another bit for another offer. Not bad. We sat by the Atrium and watched the fish and the flamingos. It was a good dinner. I know people don't like it much, but it was fresh, and nice sitting there. Plus I love the unlimited Sangria. I had several LOL.

    After dinner - it was pretty out so we walked thru the Atrium and just enjoyed it. Nice. Went back to play some more. I did terrible. Couldn't hit anything. We went to Cromwell, but being Saturday night - oh Lord the gang bangers going to Drai's.
    They were everywhere. Drunk, falling down, fighting, not good. One funny thing. They had kicked some big black woman out of Drai's for soliciting. She was arguing with 2 huge guys as they were trying to escort her out by the VP machines up toward the check-in area. She was screaming that she was calling the Police on them for mis-treating her. They were like - go ahead call them - and by God she did. LOL

    I wanted to wait around to see what was going to happen when the Police arrived, but we decided to head back to Bally's.

    Played there until late, didn't hit anything - then my friends called it a night. I was walking to the Indigo elevators and passed that darn Wicked Winnings machine again. Couldn't help myself - I dropped in a hundred and decided to play 2.00 instead of max and see what happened. Low and behold - I hit the woman and chalice's all the way across. 80.00 x 12 plus the line and I made 980.00!! Not a bad ending to the night. I was still down a bit, but it helped for sure!! Off to bed.

    Day 2 in the books.
     
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  3. Niteshade

    Niteshade VIP Whale

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    Up at 5:30AM - late for me. We were headed to Caesar's this morning for the Sunday Brunch at Bacchanal! I knew my friends wouldn't get there as early - so I walked over early and played at Caesar's til they got up. It was lovely outside that early. I walked the bridge over to Bellagio and then turned to go to the elevator on the bridge down to the Laurel Collection door into Caesar's . There was no one else out. No homeless, no tourists, I had the bridge all to myself. Sad thing - as I was exiting the door in Bellagio to hit the elevator down, there were 2 guys passed out right outside the door. One was face down and the other was face up. Both decent looking guys, dressed in nice polos and khakis. No one around at all. I looked over and there was a guy washing the window from Bellagio and he was ignoring them totally. I could see the guys wallet in his back pocket - and so I asked the guy if he thought he should call someone before they got robbed - he just nodded. I walked on. Sad. I can't imagine going to Vegas and getting that blasted you passed out face down on the bridge.

    Got to Caesar's and headed to my favorite Buffalo machine. It has 4 games and I play all 4 on Buffalo. Playing 4.80 a spin - I managed to hit the bonus several times. No big wins, but cashed out around 300.00. Played until my friends texted me then off to the buffet for brunch. It was packed with people. There were about 100 people in the regular line. Only 8 people in the Diamond - 7 Star line. Got in pretty fast. Had a nice table over by the dessert bar. Food, as usual, was very good. Eggs, Prime Rib, Dumplings, Veggies, and Walnut Bread with Strawberries on it for dessert. Stayed almost 2 hours just eating, chatting, eating, chatting. It was lovely.

    Then - because we were all in a food coma - we decided to just stay and play there so we didn't have to walk far. I played 4-card, they played Ultimate Bet - no big hits, but played along time. Up and down. I ended up breaking even for about 2 hours of play. By now we were ready to walk - so we headed out and down to the LinQ. I changed my mind about half way over there and decided i wanted to go to Bellagio for awhile - dumb I know to decide after walking half way, but I turned back and headed to Bellagio. Played there for several hours. Nothing big - but enjoyed it. Went thru Conservatory, played, walked around, went back to Caesar's for awhile, then did something really dumb.

    I had not walked on the actual Strip since about 1992 LOL. I headed out and walked all the way down the Strip to the LinQ. It was so hot on that sidewalk. I didn't cross over - didn't walk thru any casinos - just dumb. Now I know why I didn't do that anymore LOL.

    We stayed at the LinQ and played for along time. Decided to eat at Guy Fieri's - I had never eaten there and they wanted a hamburger.
    We walked in and there was 1 young couple in front of us standing off to the side of the hostess stand. I figured they had already been waited on so I walked up to the stand. The little bitch ignored me - I waited a bit - then the young girl next to the wall said to me - we have been here for 15 minutes and they haven't spoken to us. Wow. Ok - I'm from Texas and not a wall flower. So I leaned forward slightly and said in a very loud voice - HI! The girl jumped like I had hit her with a cattle prod and looked up at me. I said these young people were here ahead of us - then we need a table please. She very flustered acting - seated them then came back for us.

    Ok - I'm pretty easy going, but this place sucked. The seats were the hardest, tall, bench like seats I have ever sat on. After waiting about 10 minutes and no one acknowledged us at all, my friend's husband said - I think we should go. This is very uncomfortable. So we left - past the girl at the front who still ignored us - so being me - I stopped and said - again in a louder than normal voice - Sorry we have to leave! She jumped again like she just noticed us and just nodded. Wow - pathetic service.

    We decided to try Off The Strip. What a difference. They were very welcoming and seated us immediately in very comfortable seats. I had the fried shrimp with a salad, my friend had the chicken parm. and her hubby had a burger. It was all good. Nice dinner.

    They had some game on - so he watched the game while we girls gabbed. It was nice.

    Went back to Flamingo to play. Back and forth Flamingo to Bally's about 2 more times. It was fun and we all did fairly well. We needed to walk off all that food and we did.

    Finally bed.
    Day 3 in the books.
     
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  4. Niteshade

    Niteshade VIP Whale

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    Last full day in Vegas for this short trip. I actually stayed in bed until 6:30!! That is a record for me. We decided we had had enough gluttony so we opted for the Paris Cafe for breakfast. Headed over and had a smaller breakfast there - good and I love their coffee. Played at Paris awhile - no good. I don't know why I couldn't hit anything at Paris this trip. It was so bad. I felt like I was a bit on tilt - so I headed back to Bally's. They played the tournament - which he won this time and she bubbled. Another 500 guarantee - so it was good for them. I played 4-card and usually love this game - was really sucking air - then hit a couple of good hands and broke even. Decided it was too rocky so headed to 3-card. Normally I don't play the 6 card bonus on 4-card, but I always play it on 3-card.

    I had all the bets covered and hit 3 fives and she turned over 2 tens!! Yea trips and a full-house. That was a nice little win. The 3 of us stayed there and played most of the morning. I ended up cashing out for 350.00 so it was a nice morning. Nothing big, but it was fun. There were not too many people on a Monday morning so the 3 of us had the table to ourselves. It was fun. And a good dealer - and she was making lots of tips from us. I had her for 1 on trips and 1 on the bonus and hit a few big hands. T hit another straight flush! Unreal and A hit a few 3 of a kind. So all in all we had fun.

    They decided to head to the Rio for their tournament - I stayed at Bally's to pack. I swear - I seem to bring everything but the kitchen sink with me when I go anymore - and with the bigger room I was spread out all over. So I headed up to room to pack and they said their good-byes and headed to Rio. I then went to check out so I could just leave the key in the room. Over - all I had charged everything to my room and with points I whittled it down to only 11.00 total. I was stupid and forgot on one tip to not pay cash. So I forked over 11.00 and I was checked out for an early AM departure.

    Decided to hit the HL room again for Wheel for the afternoon. Up and down, up and down, left up a bit. Nice ending.

    Headed up to bed early for an early rise in the AM for the airport.

    Day 4 in the books.
     
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  5. Niteshade

    Niteshade VIP Whale

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    Got up at 4 on Tuesday morning. Headed to airport and got checked in. TSA Pre - so easy thru security. Decided to head
    to smoking room to have one cig before boarding. Nice cleaning lady in there emptying ashtrays. She emptied the one next to me
    and I said thank you. So she said - you should play red 7 5 - didn't know what she said in her broken English, but I figured she was telling me to play the quarter machine with the red 7's that you play 5 lines. So i moved over there - and wow was that machine hitting. I hit 960 quarters, cashed that, then hit 280 quarters, then cashed that out, then hit again. All total when I took the 3 tickets up to cash them in - I had made $ 480.00 in the Airport!! LOL. Nice way to end. Better than I had been doing in the Casinos LOL. I looked for her to tip her - but she was gone.

    Boarded plane on time - another crappy US Air flight - so I read and slept. Seat 1-C. Slept until they served us then slept some more. Made it to DFW on time. Got on the little puddle jumper plane and made it home at 7:30 PM.

    No big wins or hand pays this trip, but it was fun to celebrate my friend's birthday in Vegas. We walked a bunch but except for Sunday it was not really too hot out. Saturday with the rain in the AM was very nice. It didn't rain anymore, but it was cloudy all day and had a nice small breeze.

    Sorry this wasn't as exciting as some of the reports, but I had a wonderful time and I go back September 30th! Can't wait!!
    Counting the days!

    Day 5 in the books!
     
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  6. bstar1952

    bstar1952 Newbie

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    Very nice report Niteshade, I enjoyed it.
     
  7. Niteshade

    Niteshade VIP Whale

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    Thanks bstar - I had a great time. Didn't win much, but
    fun trip with great friends! Thanks for reading it.
     
  8. Sheil813

    Sheil813 High-Roller

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    I loved reading it! I am reminded all the time why I don't walk the strip every time I do it!!
     
  9. Niteshade

    Niteshade VIP Whale

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    Thanks Sheil - I know - I felt so dumb after I did it. It had been so pretty the day
    before with the rain and all - I had no idea it was so darned hot on that sidewalk.
    Maybe the winter time would be better.
    Thanks for reading!
     
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  10. Richard Alpert

    Richard Alpert LOST

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    I greatly enjoyed your TR, Niteshade! Sounds like some good times with your friend and her hubby, too.
    Excitement is in the details, which you provided in a very nice report!
    Thank you for sharing--and I wish you a happy return trip at the end of the month!

    RICHARD
     
  11. Sparky4

    Sparky4 VIP Whale

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    Sounds like a great trip. Nice hit at the airport!
     
    Happy birthday to me!
  12. livala

    livala Tourist

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    Enjoyed your trip report . Had to laugh about you walking the strip. A few years ago I walked from NYNY to Paris in the heat. I had on Croc sandals and the bottoms melted! When I walked into Paris I was slipping on the floor!
     
  13. kel3420

    kel3420 VIP Whale

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    Great report! We have very similar Vegas trips. I love Ballys
     
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  14. Niteshade

    Niteshade VIP Whale

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    Thanks Richard - it was a fun trip! Thanks for reading.
     
  15. Niteshade

    Niteshade VIP Whale

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    Thanks Sparky - I know - I couldn't believe that quarter machine
    was hitting like that. She knew what she was talking about for sure.
    Thanks for reading.
     
  16. Niteshade

    Niteshade VIP Whale

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    Thanks Kel - yes Bally's is an oldie but goodie. I always
    enjoy staying there. Thanks for reading.
     
  17. Niteshade

    Niteshade VIP Whale

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    Thanks livala - yep it was hot. I remembered really quickly
    the reason I didn't do that anymore. Thanks for reading!
     
  18. ShepherdDon

    ShepherdDon Tourist

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    Didn't know what to expect when you kept telling me it wasn't going to be exciting.Then I got caught up in it and decided if I were with you, I couldn't use any more excitement. Excellent report.

    Thanks for posting.

    Don
     
  19. kkinwi

    kkinwi VIP Whale

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    Loved your report as I am usually a Bally's lady also. But you did a lot better gambling there than I ever do! Thanks!
     
  20. Jackpot Johnny

    Jackpot Johnny Wynn Fan

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    This is a terrific trip report-well written, descriptive, perfect for us riding along for some vicarious Las Vegas experience! Thanks for putting in the time to take us along with you. I really enjoyed reading this.

    We are completely with you on wondering what's up with American using their third world country, ancient, creaking old US Air Airbus aircraft for their Dallas-Vegas flights. It's a completely Aeroflot experience. American is awash with profits, but they're not spending any of it on their passengers. We'd switch to Southwest if we weren't so hopelessly invested in the Advantage program. Sigh. Maybe it's time to cut the American cord. For us, they're becoming the Guy Fieri's of airlines.

    Also plus one on miserable service and ambience at Guy Fieri's. My lovely and talented wife likes the multi shape French fries, but when a curly potato is the highlight, well..... Our tout is that you can save any Linq experience with a brief stop by Sprinkles for a truly perfecto cupcake (okay, expensive, but yummy)-the people at Sprinkles are as nice as the bored losers at Fieri's are not.

    Again, thanks for the great stories.
     
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