A Nice Surprise: A Winning Trip 3/7-3/9

We flew into LV on Allegiant on Friday AM. As usual the flight was cheap and uneventful, just the way I like it. After dropping off a co-worker, who was travelling to see a "friend", at MGM, my Buddy K and I proceeded to NYNY, where we had 3 free nights $75 in freeplay. (Thru my brilliant gaming skills I managed to turn that freeplay into $20). We arrived at 10 and our room was not ready and were told to check back between 1 and 3 to get our Room #. After placing a couple of wagers at the Sportsbook (god I love those Drake Bulldogs), we headed to Bellagio for the buffet, which is a favorite of my buddy.
I have to admit that I was less than impressed with the Chinese New Year display in the Conservatory. I was also unimpressed when the cashier told me we could not charge the meals to the room because we did not have a room #. However, after a little prodding she was able to look up my name and discover the room to which we were assigned and charge the meal to the room. Since those charges were later comped it became the first win of the trip. As usual the buffet was outstanding. I was especially fond of the sushi and the antipasto.
As is our usual practice, my buddy, who is thin as a rail, continued to eat long after I was finished which allowed me to find my favorite Jackpot Party game and make my first significant win of the trip. We proceeded down the strip with our coworker in tow, because she was not meeting her "friend" until that night. We went to the Casino Royale because she wanted to learn to play craps. The craps tables were full and my buddy and our coworker proceed to make some money playing VP, including getting the $25 bonus for 4 of a kind given for new card holders. I, on the other hand, won nothing. After a quick stop at the Mirage so I could buy a LOVE souvenir for my Beatles obsessed 15 year old daughter, we headed back to NYNY to check into our room. Kudos to the Bell Desk at the hotel. I swear the bellman was there with our luggage before I could hang up the phone. There is nothing worse than being stuck in your room in Vegas waiting for luggage to be brought up.
Our coworker left us to get ready to see Stomp with her "friend" and we proceeded on a 6 hour nonstop gambling session. My luck was up and down playing a variety of games including craps, blackjack and slots. I did have one memorable craps session where I was down almost all of my $400 buy in and rallied to to cash out a purple and 2 black chips. It ended only when the dufus standing next to me loudly pointed out to his buddy that I had all the numbers covered with come bets. The only surer way to bring out a 7 is to knock over a large stack of chips with the dice.
As I was getting blurry eyed from the slots my buddy and I decided it was time for some adult entertainment. While we have visited a number of fine LV establishments on prior trips, this was our visit to Olympic Gardens. I have to say it is my new favorite. It was not overly crowded on a Friday night so you could actually get a seat. The workers were not overly agressive, but were quite friendly and engaging when asked to do so. In fact, one young lady offered a service that I am quite sure was not legal, even in Las Vegas. I passed, so I will never be sure if it was a bona fide offer. Nevertheless, a good time was had by all. Upon our return to NYNY, I played a little more Jackpot Party and proceed to sleep, as I realized with the time difference I had been up for more than 24 hours.
To be continued.

 

Great start to the TR, I am looking forward to the rest.

 

Nice...can't wait to hear the rest!

 

The suspense is killing me.......

 

On Saturday morning I was up at 7. No matter how late I stay out I can never manage to sleep late in Vegas. While I was waiting for my buddy to awaken, I had a very successful run on craps and slots, including the $ Wheel of Fortune game. I had not played the Wheel much before this trip, but was quite lucky on most of my sessions this time. Because I was ahead for the morning, I thought I would take my chance on being able to quit my job by winning Megabucks. As ususal, I made my contribution to the fine taxpayers of the State of Nevada and I am typing this report at work.
When my buddy finally got going we walked down the strip to Mandalay Bay. It was a warm and sunny Vegas morning so we walked instead of taking the tram. It did allow us to see this interesting character was was passed out on the ledge of the fountains near the valet parking. I was a little surprised that he managed to keep his cell phone perched on his shoulder while snoring as loudly as anyone I have ever heard. This guy must really have some good friends who would leave him in this position.
We arrived at the buffet a minutes before 11 so we saved $4 each on the price. Yet another small victory. I had determined that beef was off the menu this morning as we were dining at Pampas Brazilian steakhouse that evening. My buddy agreed, and then proceeded to obtain the largest slab of prime rib ever served at a buffet. He was also quite fond of the bread pudding. The buffet was good as always. My most enjoyment came from eavesdropping on the girl at the next table who was clearly hungover and making a cell phone call to her friend describing her exploits the prior evening. Suffice to say, she had no problems making new friends, even if she could not remember their names in the morning.
We walked off the meal by heading over to the Tropicana, where we signed up for their slot club and earned a deck of cards and a T-shirt by putting 100 points on the card. My hundred points turned into a small profit. In addition, I turned the $10 match play into $50. We then moved on to Hooters for my first, and given the news likely last trip to that fine establishment. For signing up for the slot club we received $100 in worthless slot play. At least I managed to lose in a few minutes, as opposed to the lovely young lady playing next to my buddy who had been there for three hours and won nothing. I did take advantage of the $25 match play for another $50 profit. Hooters has an interesting vibe, but I was struck by the fact that the staff was not all that attractive. If you are going to name yourself Hooters, you should at least live up to the billing.
We returned to NYNY from the seedier side of the strip to play a little blackjack and prepare for dinner. Fortunately, we sat down at a great table. The dealer was a real sweetheart and our fellow players were fun and new what they were doing. Both the players and the dealer were making money until her shift ended and the casino brought in the Asian closer. I immediately colored up for a tidy profit while my buddy remained to be wiped out within 15 minutes.
A brief note about the rooms at NYNY. They are adequate but not nearly as large and nice as TI, which was our normal locale. However, you can't beat free and I am not overly concerned about the quality of a room that I spend almost no waking time in.
We met our coworker and her friend at some lounge at MGM for a drink before dinner. I must make it a point to do all of my future eating and drinking at MGM Mirage resorts as I can charge it all to my room and have it comped later. Our coworkers friend turned out to be a very attractive older woman who was a lot of fun to hang out with. We proceeded on to PH for dinner at Pampas. It was, in a word, outstanding. The salad bar was very good to start. Then we turned the green light on (really it was just a coaster) and the parade of fine meats to our table commenced. I thoroughly enjoyed everything, with the exception of the chicken hearts. Do not ask what compelled me to eat that, other than some weird compulsion to try everything. I was most fond of the turkey wrapped in bacon and filet smothered in garlic. I would highly recommend Pampas to anyone who loves meat.
As I had not visited the new PH casino we went in to check it out. I loved it. The design was cool and it was full of attractive people having a good time. I signed up for my third slot card of the day to get the freeplay and another $25 matchplay. This time I got a blackjack for a 67.50 profit. Just call me the king of the matchplay. We returned to MGM where, not surprisingly I lost at everything I played. The next time I win anything at MGM will be the first time.
We rtuned to NYNY where I beat up on the Jackpot Party games for a nice profit and called it a night. One last note. For the second straight year I am in Vegas for the time change. I am cheated out of an hour of Vegas time once again. Thanks for letting me vent.

 

Part 2 was a good read as well. Thanks for the write-up.

All these TRs are getting me amped for the MM trip in 2 weeks.

 

Great report. "The Match Play King" has a nice ring to it.

 

On Sunday morning I awoke with 1 less hour of sleep than planned. At this point in the trip I was pretty close to even on my gambling. However, that quickly changed with one incredibly bad run at the craps table. I've read books which describe my style of craps play as overly agressive. My usual pratice is to bet the pass line with odds, place bets on 6 and 8, and a come bet. I continue making come bets with odds until all the numbers are covered. It is a great strategy if someone is rolling alot of numbers. It is a terrible practice if the shooter rolls the numbers only once before rolling 7. Other than a couple of 6 and 8s, where I take down the place bet and leave the come bet with odds, I did not receive one payoff before my $400 buy-in disappeared. I followed my craps disaster with a quick Wheel of Fortune loss without getting a spin. I concluded this great run with a significant loss at my beloved Jackpot Party where I could manage only 1 party and got the dreaded pooper on the first choice.
I was able to tear myself away from this great run of luck long enough to go to the sportsbook to watch my Hoosiers blow a late lead against lowly Penn St and lose the game in overtime. The only solace I could take from the loss is that my buddy won his bet on PSU, which I told him to place because the line of 8.5 was way too much. I, on the other hand, could not bring myself to bet against my squad. I then had to wait on my friend as he watched his Boilers beat UM. I did managae to get a little blackjack in during that game which did not result in too great a loss.
I am often surprised at the wild swings of momentum and emotion during my Vegas adventures. After having a great time in all respects for 2 days, I now felt like crap with only 6 hours left in my trip. At this point I had not eaten the entire day and my buddy insisted he wanted crab legs. He also insisted that we should return to the Mandalay Bay buffet for dinner because the had both hot and cold crab legs(his normal preference is the Rio seafood buffet which was closed for remoldeling). I was less than enthusiastic about that idea, but relented in the face such strong feelings.
We arrived at MB at 4 pm, about 45 minutes before dinner was to start. We looked for something to play when I spotted and old friend, King Cash. For those not familiar with this game, the bonus is triggered by the appearance of three lions. You then a given a number of choices of dollar amounts, depending on the color of the lions. It appeared my bad luck was to continue as I quickly went through $100 without any bonus opportunity and without hitting anything other than cherries. Undaunted, I put in another 100 and was down to 30 when I finally hit the bonus. After rejecting a higher amount I won the smallest bonus available, $20. I was ready to walk away dejected when my buddy insisted I play it all out. Within a few spins I hit the bonus again and this time got $350 on my last choice. I then proceeded fom machine to machine hitting bonus after bonus for a $600 win.
We still had some time before dinner so I bought in at a $5 craps table and won a quick $100 on my roll.
I have to admit that dinner tasted mighty sweet after that.(To my buddy's credit, the crab legs were excellent). Upon our return to NYNY, I discovered my only loss at MB, I walked away without cashing a $34 tito. We were leaving in a couple of hours and I did not want to go back to cash it. As I suspected, the cashier at NYNY would not take it. However, I was told that even if I am not back within 60 days before it expires, MB would likely cash it anyway. I am curious to see if anyone has had a similar experience.
Other than that, my good luck continued at NYNY. I hit the Wheel for a quick $500 and followed that up hitting the Jackpot 7s on Jackpot Party for $250. With that win, I was now ahead of the amount I arrived with and it was time to go to the airport. In addition to the free room we had the food and drinks comped off our bill. You cannot beat a trip where you stay and eat for free and you leave with more money in your pocket that you came with. I am realistic enough to know that I better be prepared to have my butt kicked by the gambling gods on my next trip.
Until next time, good luck(and yes, I know Mike McD says luck has nothing to do with it).

 

Sounds like a great trip. Congratulations on coming out ahead.

 

Great TR....and NOTHING beats winning at the END of the trip (don't have time to give it all back). Congrats!

 

That's awesome! Great to hear about your wins!

Kristin

 

Nice TR....good thing your buddy made you go down to MB

Thanks for sharing!

Oh, and that guy passed out with his phone....too funny, though, I've seen worse

 

Great report !!! I love the feeling of going home with more then you left home with!!!