Sunset Station / Red Rock - (12/9/08 - 12/17/08)

Brenda and I returned from 8 days/nights in Las Vegas in mid December staying at the Sunset Station Hotel & Casino the first four days/nights (12/9 - 12/13) before heading to Red Rock Casino Resort & Spa the next four days/nights (12/13 - 12/17). This was our 17th trip to Vegas over the past 6.5 years, our 8th time staying at Sunset Station and our 6th time staying at Red Rock. You can check out their websites at:

http://www.sunsetstation.com
http://www.redrocklasvegas.com

We called our host at Sunset Station and told her we wished to stay four nights beginning Tuesday, 12/9. She offered to comp all four nights up-front. I contacted our host at Red Rock and told her we wished to stay four nights at Red Rock beginning Saturday, 12/13 and was offered the first two (most expensive) nights comped up-front with the other two nights at a casino rate of $80.00 (plus tax) per night. A week or so before the trip, I contacted our host at Sunset Station to ask about the shuttle. There was a notation on their website that indicated their shuttle service would end on 11/9/2009. Our host confirmed the end of their shuttle service and offered us a limo pickup at the airport. Excellent. She also offered us a limo to return to the airport but I declined, explaining that we were headed to Red Rock after leaving Sunset Station and decided to surprise Wifey with a stretch limo (Presidential Limousine) from Sunset Station to Red Rock.

For those of you not familiar with our gambling habits, since I've given up playing blackjack (a couple of really bad beats can do that), we pretty much stick to playing full pay deuces wild video poker. We play quarter machines, max coins (5) and here's the pay schedule:

1 coin 5 coins
Natural royal flush 250 4,000
Four deuces 200 1,000
Wild royal flush 25 125
5-of-a-kind 15 75
Straight flush 9 45
4-of-a-kind 5 25
Full house 3 15
Flush 2 10
Straight 2 10
3-of-a-kind 1 5

As you can see, a Natural Royal Flush pays 4,000 coins ($1,000) and Four Deuces pays 1,000 coins ($250), and a Wild Royal Flush pays 125 coins ($31.25).

Day 1 (Tuesday, 12/9)

We're up at 5:30am and out the door heading for the Austin-Bergstrom airport about 6:30am. No problem with traffic at that hour and we parked at the "Fast Park" parking lot which is minutes from the airport. It's covered parking and the rates are reasonable. After taking a shuttle to the airport, we made our way through security and then grabbed some breakfast and headed for our gate. Flight was fine taking off at 9:35am, arriving in Las Vegas at 10:35am. The plane actually arrived a few minutes early. Wifey thought we would be taking a taxi to Sunset Station since I hadn't mentioned to her that Sunset Station had a limo waiting for us. Nice surprise for Wifey. We arrive at Sunset Station, tip the driver, and head to the front desk to see if they have a room ready for us. Yes, we can check in early. We took our luggage to the room (#1612) and unpacked a bit.

By 11:45am, we're sitting at the video poker machines near Hooters. We play the "optimum" video poker machines. With these machines, for every $4 cycled through, you get 1 point added to your account. Okay, where's the drink lady? We had our first drink lady sighting at 11:53am but it won't be until 12:06pm that we place our first drink order. That's not too bad.

At 4pm, I head to the Sunset Cafe for take out. Two orders of turkey & swiss on rye plus potato salad. Head back to our machines and we eat while playing video poker. Sometime later in the day, I set up a safety deposit box at the front desk since there's no safe in the room. Wifey plays until 7pm and I play on until 10:15pm before calling it a night.

Day 1 Gambling Summary (Sunset Station):

Me
- up $150.00 (11 'wild royals', 2 'four deuces')
- up $150.00 for the trip

Wifey
- up $150.00 (12 'wild royals')
- up $150.00 for the trip

Day 2 (Wednesday, 12/10):

We're both up at 4:29am to begin a new day in Las Vegas (actually, Henderson). This is actually the latest we've ever slept till for a "Day 2" in Vegas. I left $5 on the pillow and asked housekeeping if she could please leave extra towels which she did after making up the room. I did this every morning on this trip at Sunset Station. While Wifey headed to the machines, I stopped at the Sunset Cafe for takeout - 2 orders of grilled cheese and potato salad. By the time I arrived at our machines (same ones we played the day before), Wifey had already ordered our coffee drinks. I brought along a "Thirsty, Please send Drink Lady" sign for emergencies. I figured if we had to wait too long for a drink lady to stop by, I'd simply hold up our sign to the camera in the sky. Right around 6am as I was wondering where the drink lady is, I hit my Royal Flush!!! Sweet! I whip our my cell phone and take a shaky 15 second video to send to our daughter while the machine is still cranking out those 4000 credits and dinging that happy tune. We always send our daughter photos of any Royals we might get. Normally, by day 4, our daughter will start texting us asking where the photos are.

We play until 5pm before grabbing our wine glasses and heading to the Capri Italian Ristorante for dinner. Dinner was great as usual. Back to our machines by 6:10pm. Except we had to play different machines since the ones we were playing earlier were taken. My screen on my machine was a bit on the dark side so I called over a tech to see if they could brighten up the screen. No such luck. It's already turned up to the highest brightness level. This machine will need a need display tube which are on order. Okay, I will just deal with it. At 6:52pm, I hit my second Royal Flush!!! Time to send our daughter another 15 second video. Wifey plays until 7:10pm before heading back to our room. I play until 8:45pm.

It's time to head to the Roulette table. Hey, it's not my money I'm risking. Someone at work requested that I place two separate $10 bets for him. Since I don't want to use his real name, I'll call him Sockman (a.k.a. Sock Mama). Here's his brilliant betting scheme for bet #1:

1. Bet $10 on red.
2. If it should win, let it ride on black.
3. If it should win again, let it all ride on red.
4. Should red win again, let it all ride on red again.

I wasn't sure what night I would head to the Roulette table but I figured it would be on my way back to the room one evening. For some reason, I decided tonight's the night for bet #1.

So... I throw down $10 and get two $5 chips. The minimum bet is $5. I make the $10 bet on red. There's at least one or two other people playing at this table besides me. No more bets and the wheel goes around and around and stops on ................ red. Great, first spin wins and the dealer slides $10 over. I then follow my instructions from Sock Mama and move the $20 over to black. No more bets and the wheel goes around and around and stops on ................ red. Sorry, Sock Mama - you lose. In fact, both spins landed on "7 Red". How weird is that??? The second bet will be placed some other night. Time to head back to our room.

Day 2 Gambling Summary (Sunset Station):

Me
- up $1950.00 (11 'wild royals', 2 'four deuces', 2 'royal flushes')
- up $2100.00 for the trip

Wifey
- down $275.00 (18 'wild royals', 1 'four deuces')
- down $125.00 for the trip

Day 3 (Thursday, 12/11):

We're up at 3:28am and out the door at 4:03am. We decided to stop and sit down for a hot breakfast at the Sunset Cafe. By 4:40am, we're back to playing the same two video poker machines we were using before dinner the night before. We will end up playing only these two machines the rest of our stay at Sunset Station. When the drink lady shows up, we start with our coffee drinks before moving up to Miller Light for Wifey and Coronas for Hubby. Later in the day, we always switch to Merlot.

We play all day and grabbed something for lunch but can't recall what it was. At 4:15pm, I headed to the Oyster Bar for takeout - Shrimp Cocktail to split and a couple bowls of New England Clam Chowder. Yummmmmmm.

Wifey plays until 5:30pm before heading back to our room. I play until 8:15pm.

It's time to head to the Roulette table for Sock Mama's bet #2. Here's his brilliant betting scheme for bet #2:

1. Bet $10 on black.
2. If it should win, let it ride on red.
3. If it should win again, let it all ride on black.
4. Should black win again, let it all ride on black again.

So... I throw down $10 on black. There's one other person playing at this table besides me. No more bets and the wheel goes around and around and stops on ................ black. Great, first spin wins and the dealer slides $10 over. I then follow my instructions from Sock Mama and move the $20 over to red. No more bets and the wheel goes around and around and stops on ................ black again. Sorry, Sock Mama - you lose again. Time to head back to our room.

Day 3 Gambling Summary (Sunset Station):

Me
- down $100.00 (13 'wild royals', 3 'four deuces')
- up $2000.00 for the trip

Wifey
- up $25.00 (12 'wild royals', 1 'four deuces')
- down $100.00 for the trip

Day 4 (Friday, 12/12):

We're up at 3:27am and out the door at 4:29am. While Wifey headed to the machines, I stopped at the Sunset Cafe for takeout - 2 orders of grilled cheese and potato salad, a large orange juice, a large tomato juice, and a couple waters. A short time later, we're both sitting side by side playing our video poker. This turned out to be another long day playing hand after hand. My hands have started cramping up today and I've started putting these heat pads on my hands. They seem to help.

We play until 5pm before grabbing our wine glasses and heading to the Sonoma Steakhouse for dinner. Dinner was great as usual except the Chef took the Lobster Bisque off the menu. Apparently, he wanted to serve more seasonal soups this time of year. That was disappointing but we still had a wonderful dinner. Back to our machines by 6:15pm. Wifey plays until 8pm before heading back to our room. I play until 9:30pm. Earlier tonight, I had called Presidential Limo to check my reservation for 8am. I also verified that the limo would pick us up at the main entrance to Sunset Station. This was going to be a surprise for Wifey.

Day 4 Gambling Summary (Sunset Station):

Me
- even for the day (14 'wild royals', 3 'four deuces')
- up $2000.00 for the trip

Wifey
- down $380.00 (9 'wild royals', 1 'four deuces')
- down $480.00 for the trip

Day 5 (Saturday, 12/13):

We're up at 3:33am, packed and out the door at 4:15am. While Wifey headed to the machines, I once again stopped at the Sunset Cafe for takeout - 2 orders of grilled cheese and potato salad, a large orange juice, a large tomato juice, and a couple waters. I told Wifey we needed to check out at Sunset Station by 8am so we could take a taxi back to the airport and then we'd take the 9am Red Rock shuttle to Red Rock. So about 7:45am, we cashed out. Earlier this morning I had closed out our safety deposit box at the front desk. We head to our room and grab our luggage and then head to the from desk to check out. The guy at the front desk would leave a note for our host to review our account and I said I would contact our host upon our returning to Austin.

We head out the front entrance where the taxis would be and hopefully our limo. Crap, no limo. Wifey started headed towards the taxis before I tell her, we have a car picking us up. Huh? Yep, I ordered us a limo. But it's not here yet. A few minutes later, my cell phone rings. It's the limo driver. He's here. No, he's not. It turned out that the driver was waiting at another entrance. 10 minutes later, we climb into our limo. Wifey gets a red rose and we both have a bottle of champagne. Cool! It's about a 30 minute ride from Sunset Station to Red Rock so there was no problem finishing the champagne. Of course Wifey had a glass and a half so I got to finish the rest.

Wifey agreed this is the way to go - screw taking a taxi back to the airport and waiting around for the Red Rock shuttle. We arrived at Red Rock somewhere around 9am and lucky for us we were able to check in right away and then head to the optimum video poker machines near the movie theater. Yippee!!! There's three machines not being played. We grab two machines and we end up playing these same machines over the next four days at Red Rock. Uh Oh - my brain is slowing way down. Between the champagne and my cramping hands, I'm playing a lot slower than I had been up till now. I tough it out and continue playing. We grab a couple salads for lunch from Tropical Smoothie and later we split a sub from Capriotti's Sandwich Shop. Yes, we ate at our machines. Wifey plays until 6:30pm before calling it a day. I continue playing but end just after 7pm. My arthritic/cramping hands have been hurting but I brought along some heat pads for my hands and they make it manageable. I decide to stop playing at 6:40pm and head to the spa for some much need hot tub time. Perhaps this will help with the pain. Oh no - the hot tub is out of service. Crap, I guess I'll call it a night.

Day 5 Gambling Summary (Sunset Station - morning, before checkout)):

Me
- down $75.00 (2 'wild royals')
- up $1925.00 for the trip

Wifey
- up $100.00 (3 'wild royals')
- down $380.00 for the trip

Day 5 Gambling Summary (Red Rock):

Me
- down $425.00 (9 'wild royals')
- up $1500.00 for the trip

Wifey
- down $350.00 (9 'wild royals')
- down $730.00 for the trip

Day 6 (Sunday, 12/14) - Wifey Birthday:

We're up at 3:44am and out the door by 4:10am, stopping at the Grand Cafe for breakfast. I left $5 on the pillow and asked housekeeping if she could please leave extra towels, shower gel, and sea salt which she did after making up the room. I did this every morning at Red Rock. We're back at our video poker machines near the movie theater by 4:45am. I could have used some more sleep but we're in Vegas - we can sleep when we get back to Austin. Where's the drink lady? Today's mostly a blur but as I recall, we had salads for lunch again from Tropical Smoothie and later, we ordered takeout from LBS: a burger joint. We each had their huge turkey burger which was very good. Merlot has been coming fast and furious today (as usual). It helps with the pain. Hubby had another excellent day getting 'four deuces' 5 times. Wifey plays until 4:45pm while I call it a night by 7:30pm.

Day 6 Gambling Summary (Red Rock):

Me
- up $850.00 (21 'wild royals', 5 'four deuces' )
- up $2350.00 for the trip

Wifey
- down $570.00 (9 'wild royals')
- down $1300.00 for the trip

Day 7 (Monday, 12/15):

We sleep in and finally get up at 4:30am today and out the door by 4:55am. This morning we grabbed a couple of turkey burgers from Fatburger and later for dinner we ordered takeout from Salt Lick. Of course we stayed on our video poker machines all day playing hand after hand after hand. I've also had to deal with some serious cramping of my hands today. I had to start taking my medication (Merlot) early this afternoon or maybe it was still technically before noon. I don't remember. I do remember this has been a day of feeding $100 bills into my machine over and over again. Wifey cashes out at 5:30pm and calls it a day while I play until 8:30pm. Perhaps I should have stopped played earlier and saved some $$$.

Day 7 Gambling Summary (Red Rock):

Me
- down $1050.00 (ouch!) (8 'wild royals')
- up $1300.00 for the trip

Wifey
- down $300.00 (11 'wild royals', 1 'four deuces')
- down $1600.00 for the trip

We are now down (combined) $300.0 for the trip with one more day to go.

Day 8 (Tuesday, 12/16):

Last full day in Vegas. We sleep in again and don't get up until 5:09am and out the door at 5:35am. By 5:45am we're cooking at our machines again. Wifey is still looking for that elusive Royal Flush. At 8am, we grabbed a couple breakfast wraps from Tropical Smoothie. Later for lunch we ate salads again at our machines and split another sub for dinner. Today, SlicerMike (a.k.a. Commissioner Guy) from Austin showed up at Red Rock and stopped by to say hello. What a small world. I suspect Slicer and his Wife have been hanging out at the sports book placing bets. I sure hope he's betting the horses and not football teams. His football picks this year suck. Even Sock Mama makes better picks then SlicerMike. I guess that's what happens when you hit '60-ish'.

Wifey calls it a day at 6pm while I play until 9:30pm.

Day 8 Gambling Summary (Red Rock):

Me
- down $150.00 (16 'wild royals', 2 'four deuces')
- up $1150.00 for the trip

Wifey
- down $300.00 (18 'wild royals')
- down $ 1900.00 for the trip

Day 9 (Wednesday, 12/17):

We're up at 5am and pack up for the last time. We decided not to play any video poker this morning and we head down to the front desk and check out at 6am. Our host will review our account and I'll check with her in a few days to see if she could take anything else off our room charges. We take a $51.10 taxi (plus tip) to the airport. We arrive home safe, sound, and exhausted.

The next day, I sent an e-mail to our host at Sunset Station letting her know that we had another wonderful but exhausting trip to Las Vegas. We managed to cycle $84,552.00 through the video poker machines at Sunset Station. Our host had already comped us up front for those four nights and sent a limo for us. I asked her to review our account and see what she might be able to do to further reduce our charges based on the gambling we did at Sunset Station. Our total room charges for food + tax came to $215.39.

Our host responded that because we won as much as we did ($1545.00), she would not be able to comp all our food charges. She ended up comping $126 off the food charges and the remaining ~$90 in food charges were taken off our bill using points from our account. All that was left on our bill were tips from our food charges.

I also sent an e-mail to our host at Red Rock letting her know we returned to Austin after another wonderful but exhausting trip to Las Vegas. We managed to cycle through $77,558.00 while playing video poker at Red Rock. Our host had already comped us for the first two nights up front and gave us a casino rate of $80.00 plus tax for each of the last two nights. We also had ~$60 in food + tax charged to our room. I asked our host to review our account and see what she might be able to do in further reducing our charges based on our gambling at Red Rock.

Our host responded that she had already made the adjustments on the day we left Red Rock. She ended up comping us for all four nights at Red Rock and also comped all our food charges (~$60). All we had left on our bill were tips from our food charges. I guess losing almost $2300 at Red Rock helped the comps.

In summary, we were very happy with the charges (tips only) we ended up having to pay for this eight day/night trip to Sunset Station (4 nights) and Red Rock (4 nights) and we will definitely plan to return sometime in 2009.

Total Gambling this Trip:
Wifey/Hubby combined for $162,110 ($20,264 per day average) cycled through the machines over 8 days/nights
Total combined number of hands played = 129,688 @ $1.25 per hand
Total hours played - ~210.5 hours (~26.3 hours per day @ ~ 616 hands per hour)
Royal Flush (2) - average of 1 every 64,844 hands
Four Deuces (21) - average of 1 every 6,175 hands
Wild Royal (206) - average of 1 every 629 hands

Total Winnings/Losses this Trip:
Wifey: -$1900.00 in casino gambling
Hubby: +$1150.00 in casino gambling
Combined: -$750.00 after 8 days/nights

Comps this Trip:
- Sunset Station - all 4 nights comped, limo pickup at airport, plus $126 in food charges. Remaining ~$90 in food charges taken off the bill using 54K points from our account.
- Red Rock - all 4 nights comped, plus all food charges (~$60) comped.

Final Thoughts:
- Limo is nice, especially when it comped (less tip).
- Presidential Limo is really nice - comes with red rose for Wifey and bottle of champagne - this is perfect for moving from Sunset Station to Red Rock
- Red Rock serves pretty good Merlot (better than Sunset Station)
- Hubby beat Wifey good this trip (gambling-wise)
- 8 days/nights in Vegas is perfect for us as long as I don't have too much of a problem with Carpal Tunnel or arthritic hands/shoulders/elbows

 

I truely enjoyed your trip report. love the detail!

 

Great trip report. My wife and I are going to vegas next month and this will be our first time playing VP(instead or her slots and my BJ). Your detailed report is very helpful.

Any tips for our first VP vegas vacation?

Thanks
Dave

 

Thanks for the great trip report! I *LOVE* reading the really long detailed ones. Crazy amount of money you cycled through! Who gave you that info? Was that from your players card?
Thanks
Krissy in MN

 

I was really pulling for wifey to hit a royal. Sorry it didn't happen. You both have great determination and stamina. Always enjoy your reports. Thanks again.

 

Man o Man you guys can spend some serious time at the VP machines. My wife and I like the Optimum Play machines at both of those joints. Thanks for the detailed report.

later, GVJ

 

Great report - I really thought with the early Royals you would come home winners but even those FP DW machines get hungry sometimes. Thanks for posting.

 

You really have some stamina for those VP machines; I don't think I could do that for that length of time. I definetly would have serious cramps in the hands. Limo is definetly the only way to travel.

 

What an incredibly detailed report!

I enjoyed it...thank you!