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It's good to have a Host and a Bellman - MGM Grand - Oct 11-15, 2016

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by jpw711, Oct 16, 2016.

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  1. jpw711

    jpw711 Is that your cat?

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    My Trip Report

    My name is Joe and I'm a fanaholic. There, now that that is out in the open, I feel better.

    This turned into a solo trip about two weeks before departure, which led to an airport (closer) and airline change (United), and resulted in another trip in a few months to use that Southwest Credit. Flew United out of Springfield MO via Denver. All flights left early, arrived early. The return from Denver was scheduled to be a two hour flight, turned into 1:15, which resulted in me standing around waiting from my wife to arrive at the airport to pick me up. Better to stand outside smoking than riding in an airplane, that's my motto anyway.

    I'm gonna do this in days, actual trip started on Tuesday, but Monday, I texted my Bellman (Vic) to let him know I was coming. Why? Vic is a fanaholic also, and finally, after taking three of my fans home with him, he said I'll just keep a box fan here for you. Yep, sleep with a fan, it blocks out the noise. So Vic told me to ask for another dude to bring it up as it's his day off.

    I'd booked via my host an offer for 3 nights in a suite, 250 FP and 250 resort credit. Asked him to add on another night and a ticket to see Billy Idol @ house of blues on Wednesday night. As an afterthought, reminded him I wanted VIP check-in. Not only to skip the lines, but that area has a nice coffee machine available in the morning. No time for starbucks lines or prices.

    Tuesday. Flight left at 9:15 am, arrived LV around 12:30, carry on only, stopped for a nicotine fix in the D-Gates and headed over to the Valet parking area at terminal 3 to "give Uber a try" Nice ride, had first time user coupon for free. Beat the hell out of cab. Arrive MGM, hit VIP checkin, they had me on the 8th floor, but was changed to 24th since it wasn't ready. Headed up to room, called for my bag and fan to be sent up and waited a few minutes.

    Now last trip I filled out a comment card and gave Vic a nice plug. He mentioned something in a text about the nice comment and I didn't give it much of a thought.

    So his friend brought up my bag, said Vic hooked you up, and carried in this:

    14646784_10208949063498530_1656861248_o.jpg

    It pays to fill out those comment cards people!

    The host hooked me up with the "executive suite" I'd asked for a city view, don't know if that was the room that wasn't ready or not, but when solo in Vegas, any sort of decent room will do. I tipped Vic's friend generously, did a little unpacking and went down. After drinking a couple of those adult root beers, or course.

    Now, as I had mentioned, I had asked for one ticket to Billy Idol, and being at MGM, didn't know where to pick up the ticket, or if I even had a ticket. Fired an email off the host asking about it and went about my business, which was in order of importance: getting a buzz, putting on points, and winning money. I'm under no illusion of bringing back home more money, I go to Vegas with the belief that as long I wake up alive and not headed to the ER, with cab fare back to the airport (Uber - no cash needed), it's a win.

    Started off playing Blood life, no wins, but did get a warm Coors light, headed over to a multi screen lobstermainia and played for nickels.

    Hit these before getting bored: 14689148_10208949904679559_1388751569_o.jpg 14689091_10208949879998942_1379325035_o.jpg 14632558_10208949848318150_531613262_o.jpg


    Decided to try another area, to maybe find a cold beer instead of warm beer and hit these: 14697245_10208951306874613_254585855_o.jpg 14646602_10208951303954540_1685498895_o.jpg 14689152_10208951255393326_1391589921_o.jpg

    Then I get the idea that I want a bloody mary, and who has good bloody Maries? SLS. So I go buy a three day monorail pass and head to the deadest casino on the strip. As @tringlomane asked: "can you count the people on one hand?" Pretty much, and the CW's were to busy telling each other how beautiful they were (or something) at the bar to bring myself a drink, so after 30 minutes of playing the new walking dead machine, I walked back to the monorail, feeling very much dead cause I got up 4:30 central time.

    By this time, I had waited long enough to get a good cold beer, so I headed into the HL room, since it's the only bar that has this:

    14689090_10208981417747366_1981469904_o.jpg

    Had a few or ten while hitting these:

    14724142_10208981432827743_361276192_o.jpg 14724214_10208959537640377_1937041429_o.jpg 14725146_10208973270143681_1360549783_o.jpg

    Not hitting anything really great, and fully dehydrated, decided the first food of the day was in order.

    Ended up right next door to HL with this:

    14718657_10208951612402251_4410231088105023512_n.jpg

    That garlic tuna is good stuff. Also had some Beef with Chinese Broccoli, but forgot to take the picture. I had never heard of Chinese Broccoli, but apparently, it's the trunks.

    Checked my email to see if Host had responded. "Any MGM box office" Hmm, that was different from what the mlife desk had said, which was get confirmation number and pick up ticket at MB. I'll attempt to figure that out tomorrow.

    I'm pretty sure I played some more after dinner, as MGM rooms are non smoking now, so I had to stay down to have my after dinner smoke, but found myself in the room around 11 PM, out cold on the bed.

    Wednesday will be posted later.


     
    No reason to go home yet.
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  2. Geogran

    Geogran VIP Whale

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    Winner, Winner, Chinese Broccoli Dinner.

    Keep it going, fun TR!
     
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  3. BreakEven

    BreakEven High-Roller

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    You have the phone # for your favorite bellman? Wow.

    Love how the pics get increasingly blurry as the night went on :beer: Impressed you were still able to work the chopsticks.
     
  4. MikeOPensacola

    MikeOPensacola El Jefe

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    Nice hits!!! Sweet welcome wagon gift. Looking forward to the rest.....

    :peace::beer:
     
    Annual CCA (Casino Collectibles Association) Show at South Point
    Long Overdue Stay At The Golden Nugget
  5. Richard Alpert

    Richard Alpert LOST

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    With a rebel yell, I cry "More, More, More!" :headbang:...for more of this TR, that is!
    Great start, Joe!

    RICHARD
     
  6. hammie

    hammie VIP Whale

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    I say: it's a nice day to start again. Looking forward to the next installment.

    My wife packs a white noise machine, its about 5" diameter and about 5" high and sometimes drowns out the snoring of her room mate.
     
  7. jpw711

    jpw711 Is that your cat?

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    HaHa, yeah, I have certain go to people everywhere I go. I've even got a room service waiter on speed dial for my tunica trips!

    A little round thing? I tried one of those one trip, didn't find it loud enough. There's a lowes right at the end of runway that's not to far from the terminal that has box fans for 18 bucks or so. I've had a few funny looks from limo drivers. "Skip the liquor store, take me to Lowes"
     
    No reason to go home yet.
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  8. jpw711

    jpw711 Is that your cat?

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    Ok, So Wednesday rolls around. Billy Idol night, let's see about getting my paws on this ticket. So I toss on yesterdays clothes, put on my hat, throw in my contacts, and hit the floor at 7:30 am. First order, coffee VIP lounge doesn't open till 8am so I go to the bar. Coffee, putting in my ticket from last night to play. She brings me a cup, pull out my little Kroger French Vanilla squirter, and the nice bartender says: Are you gonna play awhile, cause I have to charge you. I say yes, and start playing. VP is not my game. I know it's a fan favorite, but I find it boring. With a capital B. Play for a few minutes, drink my coffee, talk to my wife, put in another $20, figure I could have gone to starbucks, but I've never won squat at starbucks

    The printer spits out a ticket. I won a free drink. So I hand the bartender the ticket and ask for a warm up. Guess what, that takes another ticket. So I lose another 20. I had several chances of two to a three of a kind. Had lost of one to a Royal. Finally got my second ticket to get another cup of coffee. Went upstairs, took my shower, put on clean clothes, and decided it was time to go to SLS for a bloody mary.

    Go down there, play the new walking dead machine again. Nothing, No CW either. I can see them, standing at the bar, doing whatever women do. They sure weren't trying to get my tip for a free tasty drink. So I get up and move to the Batgirl Vs Catwoman game. Interesting game, though there was more of Robin and Batman than Batgirl, etc.

    Saw a CW walk by, she was on her way to pee. Yeah, so she finishes up and comes back, asked if the other CW had come around. Nope. She brings me a spicy bloody mary, I tip her $2. Probably her first of the day. She brings me another. 14724191_10208958482373996_1741643688_o.jpg

    I Hit this, yeah big deal, but slot porn is always good

    14725310_10208958321409972_191478953_o.jpg

    I'd started with $100, figured I'd have a few and then head back to earn points, points and more points.

    Got bored with Batgirl and wandered over to some game, don't remember what it was, but took it for this:

    14646794_10208958637937885_698187806_o.jpg

    Decided that was enough of sticking it to SLS and headed back towards MGM. Happy to report that SLS has fixed the up escalator to the monorail. Seems like the up ones are always broke. Fifty year old knees don't mix with stairs.

    Ok, now this next photo was on the monorail going back. Shield your eyes, I'd like to forget this image

    14724121_10208958801501974_911584596_o (1).jpg

    I warned you.

    Got back to MGM, dropped by the KA box office (any box office, remember?) and stood in line. Got up there, told the lady what I was there for and she looked at me like I was the biggest dumbass on Earth. She proceeds to tell me that unless I was there to buy a ticket, I was in the wrong place, I have to pick that ticket up directly from the host. Ok then.

    So I head to the midpoint of the casino where the big sign that says "Casino Hosts" is located. No hosts there. Ask the nice cashier lady, she says "host in HL room" Since I was headed there anyway, I go there.

    Sure enough a random host is sitting at the desk, so are some customers. So I hit this and get this:

    14689186_10208958946945610_1256808752_o.jpg 14689994_10208960313059762_83320484_o.jpg

    Rocking the GS GS GS (Gold strike Mississippi) Coozie there. (The only MGM resort in Tunica, don't believe me? just step outside, the PA system will tell you every 30 seconds)

    Casino host isn't busy anymore, so I decide to play some more. Hit these:

    14697336_10208959009347170_434321444_o.jpg 14699437_10208972522604993_613248203_o.jpg

    Decide to go see the nice Host. So I sit down, tell her my story, she gets on the phone, calls KA desk, hangs up phone, says go see Angel and you're good to go. She than says she is taking an online test for work and keeps missing one question. Knowing nothing about casino law and ethics, I say fire away. She pulls it up, we pass the test.

    So now I head back over to KA. Fuck me, the line is long. Where's the platinum line when you need one, not there.

    I stand in line, finally get up there, tell the lady I'm here to pick up a Billy Idol ticket, she get's ready to cut me off and I drop Angels name. Ahh, lights go on, she goes to the back, and I get the ticket. She pulled out two, I sent her back with one.

    Now's a good time to stop this installment, I'll be back with part two of Wednesday. More beer, link to Idol video, more hits, maybe some food.
     
    No reason to go home yet.
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  9. BlacklabberMike

    BlacklabberMike MIA

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    never under estimate what a bellman can do for you... trust me on this
     
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  10. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

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    Good start so far. Still burping up that not your father's root beer? Haha
     
  11. LB9

    LB9 PH Blackjack Degen

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    Always enjoy your TRs Joe, looking forward to the next installment to hold me over until Wednesday when it's my turn!
     
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  12. Richard Alpert

    Richard Alpert LOST

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    My eyes! :cry:

    RICHARD
     
  13. Its Only Money

    Its Only Money VIP Whale

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    Nice start to the report. I've never thought to start a relationship with the bellman.
     
  14. Flowers

    Flowers VIP Whale

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    I love that you did a nice thing and the karma paid off to boot. Nice hits and decent times. That drink ticket thing would drive me nuts. I play a lot but it's the principle of the thing. If you want say coffee and a tequila sunrise and a water, you'd have to wait to earn 2 or 3 tix? Geez. (I tip well so my "breakfast" drinks at once are never an issue wherever I play.)

    Looking forward to the rest of your report!
     
  15. BarelyHangingOn

    BarelyHangingOn VIP Whale

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    I could only sleep with a fan on for years. One of those big square floor models.

    I slept with a fan on because my roommate got me hooked on it.

    My roomate slept with a fan on because his good Catholic parents put fans in all 5 kids rooms when they were growing up.

    They put fans in the kids rooms so nobody would hear them working on having kids 2 - 5.
     
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  16. TIMSPEED

    TIMSPEED Money’s on the way, with CashNetUSA

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    haha, I have a 1'x1' mini box fan I carry with me every hotel I stay at..I need the noise but more so, without the air circulation in my face, I get claustrophobic...
     
  17. jpw711

    jpw711 Is that your cat?

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    So I left off someplace around 2 in the afternoon, Concert doors open at 7 PM and my plan, yeah, is to head over to MB around 5 or so and try out Hussongs Cantina, play a little bit, see the show, and head back to MGM. Well, as plans in Vegas go, that didn't work out. Ended up in the HL room, drinking a few Coors ("Your loaded Joe" - Ann, my wife, via the magic of cell phones) and earning points. I'm not winning, but I'm not losing.

    Some slut pictures, no particular order, but all that afternoon:

    14725279_10208981709034648_2080932901_o.jpg
    Always play Cats, Always. This particular machine, the only one in there, always wins. This becomes important Friday. Kinda blurry, maybe $50, maybe $80. That's not much at $15 a throw.

    14724059_10208973243183007_1493269496_o.jpg

    think this one is right outside HL room, still within "Original Coors" range. It's a hard beer to find comped, there might be a reason for that, but I'm pretty sure it's not a valid one.

    14697056_10208981524110025_1727494149_o.jpg

    I'm a glutton. The meter says 388, I started at 500.

    14678052_10208972829132656_511922586_o.jpg

    That Paid

    14647419_10208960541265467_1189385939_o.jpg

    Found a new game, to me at least. Night of the Wolf. The slot attendants, along with I, got really excited. Then we noticed that they were only single ladies instead of doubles. We noticed because another slot attendant comes along and points this out to us. He said "you really would have won big". Bah. Fun Game, I end up here later that evening, where I had the pleasure of watching a guy stuff $81,000 in hundreds down his pants. Would that be considered false advertising? He wasn't even phased, started bragging about when he won real money when his plane got diverted to Vegas and won 800000K while waiting for his connecting flight.

    So by this time, I notice it's 5:30 and my phone battery is down to 15%. I've got my phone cord with me, but usb charges slow, so I go up to do a real charge. And grab my SLS battery stick from a previous gift that reports full charge. This proves to be bullshit.

    By the time the phone is charged up, it's 6:15. So much for dinner, let's head over to the HL @ MB and have a drink.

    Go downstairs and request an Uber. Walk over there and have a nice ride over, head into HL and instant service, a cocktail is in my hand.

    I play a bit, nothing any good, and go get felt up by security, buy Ann a T-shirt, and make my way to my seat. House of blues is strange, you go downstairs, then you walk around the corner, and walk back upstairs to the balcony. I was fourth row center, not bad for free, err losing in the casino.

    My view:

    14647367_10208961601811980_69467780_o.jpg

    Who knew he was as popular with the ladies as Jon Bon Jovi? Not me, but I do now.

    A tall boy Corona will set you back $15.

    Here's a video, Blue Highway with a little surprise in there. A nod to Tom Cruise. Sorry about the audio quality, my finger might have got over the microphone.





    Go see him, if you liked him in the 80's. Good Show, the venue has good sound and good lights. I enjoyed it.

    Concert ended around ten. Phone was dead, D E A D, and that stick battery. You get what you pay for. So, I sat down at a wonder four tower to charge my phone, and win some money. Yes, win.

    14697077_10208962320669951_1680649652_o.jpg 14699565_10208970240307937_1409910226_o.jpg 14699566_10208962317509872_188812934_o.jpg

    Found Uber and headed back to MGM. Played there for a bit, saw the 81K down the pants trick, and decided it was time to eat. Doh, everything is closed, so I ended up with Johnny Rockets, the "original" hamburger. Not impressed. They don't room charge either. oh well. I ended up eating in the room, which ended up with me giving my pillow some head.

    Speaking of pillows, if you get into a pillow fight with MGM Grand pillows, don't take a hit to the head, you'll get a concussion. Glad I packed my pillow in my carry on!

    Up Next: A trip to center strip, a few less coors, and a handy.
     
    No reason to go home yet.
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  18. Edserv

    Edserv Low-Roller

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    Great T.R... thank you!
    I hope to see Billy Idol on a future trip. Saw him back in the 80's (or maybe early 90's?) right after his motorcycle crash. He did the entire concert hobbling along with the help of a cane.
    I saw Echo & The Bunnymen at MB along time ago- great concert.
    Also, I'm a fan person. But instead of buying a fan, I've (on a couple of my last trips) purchased a humidifier at CVS or Walgreens (can't remember which) which did the trick and also provided some much needed water to the dry air. And I think they were pretty cheap if I remember. Probably only a few hundred bucks each lol.
    Thanks again for the report! Good luck and cheers.
     
  19. BarelyHangingOn

    BarelyHangingOn VIP Whale

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    My wife and I saw Billy at our local Casino in the summer. The ladies went crazy when he took his shirt off. The dude is ripped and looks pretty damn good for his age.

    His guitarist Steve Stevens did the Top Gun Anthem for the movie and snagged a Grammy.
     
  20. kkinwi

    kkinwi VIP Whale

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    Enjoying your details! I, too, am fan addicted....worked night shift for many years and needed the fan noise so I could sleep during the day. I take a small white noise machine from Sharper Image, but have been known to go to Walgreen's on the strip and get a fan. Carry on!
     
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