3.22-3.27 Trip Report

2nd Trip of the Year

Mediocre travel report. No huge wins or hooker stories..sorry guys.

Department Minneapolis about 15 minutes late on America West, got into Vegas about 11:10 PM on Wed Night. Oh good god was there a ton of people there. I have never arrived at night before and was absolutely stunned by the shear number of people in the airport. Got down to baggage only to wait every bit of 40 minutes for the luggage to arrive, and when it did the carousel was already filled with the previous 2 AW flights bags. Finally got my bag and made my way to the Alamo rent a car- Alamo now has gone to these automated machines, that old people can’t work, and seemed to delay the whole process more than humans checking you out. Further, there is no advantage to being a quicksilver member any longer. When I went out to get my car, there were no midsize vehicles available, so after a short wait, probably 5-10 minutes, I was on my way to the Frontier with a Cadillac DTS. Very nice ride. I stay at the Frontier for one reason..It’s always free. Unless you are looking for “the only bingo on the strip†I’m not sure why you would stay here. Nonetheless, free is free, I had an atrium suite and after a couple of hours of craps and slot play, I was asleep by 3 am. Lost about 500 bucks in the slots tonight. Sucked.

Thursday

Awoke, went over to the Peppermill for breakfast. Still my favorite, though I couldn’t finish my meal. My dad was due to arrive around 3 pm. I went and picked up my show tickets at Wynn for Avenue Q, and Mirage for Ray Romano. While I was picking up my tickets I realized my tickets for Sinbad was still sitting on dinning room table. Quick call to my wife so that she could fed ex the tickets to me. I ended up playing a 70-dollar sit and go at the Mirage. I finished 4th, I went all in with pocket QQ, and got a caller with A-6 flop landed a 6-6-T and I was out. Ended up going back to the Frontier and grabbed my stuff and headed over to the Orleans.

Orleans

Was able to check in right away around 1 pm. Scored a Strip view near the elevator on the 16th floor. Went to the poker table and played some 2-4 and had some fun. Dad finally showed up – 1.5 hours late on Southwest. We hauled over to the Wynn. Showed my dad the WPT Texas Hold’em game only to have him rip me due to the math odds the game has, and we ate at the café at Wynn. I had the Cuban sandwich, he a club and the bill with 4 buck drinks (soda/icet) was about 30 bucks. Though I am not sure what is going on with the seating choices, (large love seats) I really enjoyed the meal. My sandwich was outstanding. We made our way over to Avenue Q. And the show has changed since I saw it two months ago. First, the show is 20 bucks cheaper than before; there is no intermission, and the cut the scene that Kate Monster gets fired in. I liked the show with the scene, as I am not sure it flows as well now as before. Has anyone seen this in New York? What is the show like there? Anyway, enjoyed the show the second time. I was able to anticipate some of the laughs and was able to the see the set-ups more. I love the show, as did my dad, he is 64 and we had a blast. Went back to the Orleans and promptly lost 1k at the craps table.

Friday

Awoke, took dad over to the peppermill. Still great. Went downtown and hit the nugget and the plaza. Was trying to get Georgetown under 129. The Plaza had it at 128.5 as did the Orleans. Was able to get it at 129 at the nugget. Ended up also making some bets at Santa Anita. Played in a 35-buck sit and go, finished 10th out of 10th. Big Slick beat by a pair of 5’s on hand 1. Who calls all in with pocket 5s? Nonetheless they held. Ended up making about 700 bucks at the craps table though, and like always had a blast at the plaza. We ended up going back to the Orleans and having dinner at the Prime Rib loft. Average meal. Both of us ended up having the Orleans Cut. Dinner for two was less that 40 bucks, with drinks, I guess you get what you pay for. I would not recommend this place to anyone. Ended up going over to the showroom and seeing Sinbad. It was my dad’s choice, as he is a big fan of first kid and unnecessary roughness. However, I had a great time, Sinbad was outstanding. I would give him a solid A. I have seen great comedians, jerry Seinfeld, George carlin, etc. and Sinbad was significantly better than anyone else I had seen. Ended up donating some more at the black jack table and went to sleep.

Sat

Up the next morning and over to the conference. I’d had never been the Imperial Palace before, but that was where the conference was at. I got there a little early to do some gaming. Played some 3-5-7 Poker, lost 300 bucks, went to my conference. Dad ended up going to the Plaza. While he was playing Pai Gow the woman behind him won 1.25 million on the progressive. He was pissed on his game of choice that morning. Dad ended up meeting up with me, and I took about 800 bucks off the craps table. Walked down the MGM where I played some poker, and the hit the craps table. I walked up to an empty table and was up and down for about 10 minutes then the table filled up and the guy to my left grabbed the dice and held them for 20 minutes. At about the 12 minute mark the guy grabbed the dice with both hands and threw them, to have the stick man screamed no roll. As he had touched the dice with two hands. It was a seven out. He made 11 more rolls I before he seven’d out a 2nd time. The pit boss was giving the stick the evil eye the whole time. The dealer at my end of the table, said you better tip well boys that guy might not have a job tomorrow. I have never seen a player mistake, end in my advantage. Dad and I had dinner over at SeaBlue at the MGM. Interesting meal. I enjoyed the seafood and the appetizer trio. However, when we arrived we had dinner reservations for 6 pm. We got there at 6 and was told we could wait in the bar for a table to be ready. We waited 20 minutes even though the restaurant was empty. I hate places that don’t seat you right way only to get you to buy booze. Also our first table was in smoking at the bar, even though we had non-smoking reservations, Finally we were seated in non-smoking, but it had to be the worst table in the place, right next to the party room with a wedding reception going on. Loud as hell. I’m not sure why we were sat there? We were dressed nice, and are not buffoons. Nonetheless, our wait staff was top notch. When the wedding party cut their cake, I joked since we were damn near in the party we should get some cake as well, she left and returned with two pieces of cake. The meal with booze was 190 bucks. Seafood was outstanding. Though the seating snafu probably would have be think again before returning.
We ended up going back to the Orleans to grab out tickets for Ray Romano. And then hit the Mirage. 1030 is a late show in my book. We played for about 2 hours. I am always amazed at how packed the Mirage is. Don’t get me wrong I realize this is a top-notch place, but I find the gaming area small and narrow, with low ceilings. I think the smoke is thicker and lingers more here. We saw Ray and were disappointed. Mostly dick and fart jokes seemed odd coming for everyone loves Raymond. If Sinbad was a solid A, Ray was a D+/C-.

Sunday
Awoke and was back at the IP for work. The conference had its own private poker tourney later in the day, that both my dad and I played in and had a good time.(read between the lines-didn’t win any money). Also learned that if you make a bet at the IP sportsbook you got a free march madness t-shirt. They were trying to get rid of them, so instead of getting just 1, you got one or as many as you wanted with each bet, I now have 11 IP sports book march madness t-shirts. Pretty nice shirt, and the price was great. Ended up going back to the Orleans, had dinner at the Café –war wonton soup. (if you haven’t tried it- I highly recommend it) Sat down for a marathon session of poker-played about 8 hours and hit the sack plus 220.00 playing 2-4.

Monday

Flew home on Sun Country –The line for security for gate D was unreal- the First class line took 20 minutes, it looked to be a full hour or more for the masses. I ended up falling asleep and awoke in Minneapolis. Sun Country did take more than 30 minutes to unload our luggage. I actually saw the machine destroy a piece of luggage, and the poor person’s stuff tossed everywhere on the conveyor belt. Pure Schadenfreude.

Weather was great the whole time we were there. What else could a guy want, Free Booze, Gaming, and quality time with dad..priceless.

 

Your trip report was great. Sounds like a wonderful time spent with your Dad. How cool for your Dad to be there when that lady won the progressive jackpot!! Thanks for sharing your adventure.

~Cyndi