Monte Carlo 3/18 - 3/20

My first attempt at a trip report. Hope you enjoy it!

Left the house around 445am on Thursday morning to pick up J. Got him and we were on the road at 5am. Mostly uneventful ride up, we did see a cop looking for speeders just south of Wikieup at the exact same place we got pulled over exactly one year prior. Stopped in Kingman for J to grab a bite and continued up to the dam. I knew there was a chance of minor delays, but knew there was no blasting on this day, so nothing major. We had to stop for 5-10 minutes watching some bulldozers on top of a hill move boulders down to the bottom. We were most intrigued about how the bulldozer got up there. Anyways, got over the dam, found the local station playing the games. After the traditional stop at Albertson's in Boulder, we made our way to Paris to pick up T before heading over to the Monte Carlo. On the way to MC, we called and secured an early check in at 11 a.m. No lines, and we were up in our room on the 19th floor in no time (bonus of a strip view room too, first time out of five previous stays there for me). Got some beverages and headed down to the sports book to get down on the next round of games starting. Since the other games were still going on, there was hardly any wait. After this, headed to the Aria for a quick tour and then went back to the MC to watch some games. Most of the rest of the day was watching games and/or playing roulette. Mostly played rapid roulette at MC, had a great dealer on the day shift. She told us that the new party pit was opening for the first time, so we also checked that out. Later, I was surprised when I checked in at the players club and was told that I had $10 in free play, I didn't know I had coming to me. Eventually headed over to NYNY to meet S at Greenburg's Deli for sandwiches, everybody enjoyed their food. After a quick trip back up to Paris for T to collect some winning parlays, we strolled a bit to see if we could find some low limit tables. Hard to find any $5 tables, so headed to the Trop where they always seem to be in abundance. They had some, but with their current renovation, the pit has been wiped in half, so everything was packed. Ended up watching the rest of the games, picking up parlay cards for the morning and calling it a way too early evening.

Got up early Saturday and everyone got ready and we headed down to make our bets for the day. Line was very long about two hours before the games started and very slow moving. We did see a sign for the snack cart outside the room, advertising cheap grub for during the game. Came back later and had a terrific meatball sub for only $2.50. Anywho, waiting in the barely moving line, eventually one of the two employees taking bets made an announcement that they were only taking single bets due to some computer problem. J & T headed to Starbucks to get some coffee/breakfast for us, while I put the bets in. Good timing as the line starting moving and the bets got in right as they got back. Took the food/coffee over to rapid roulette to play and eat. Dealer was a complete jerk. He went on a break, and his replacement wasn't a jerk, just robotic. Nothing like the afternoon dealer from the previous day. We headed out and strolling past the sportsbook at the NYNY, we heard them announcing problems with their computer system as well. Eventually we ended up in the Trop-y Lounge watching the games (excitedly, I might add as I hit a 3-team parlay on the a.m. games). Played a bit there, then went back to MC and found a $5 table. Started off slow on the first two shooters, then I got the dice and did good. Hit 2 points, plus had worked come bets onto four other numbers when I went out. J threw next, and he did well also, hitting three points, and following him, a KU fan had a good roll as well (thinking back, probably the highlight of his weekend!). Ultimately, a good session and I doubled my buy-in. By this time, it was time for T to hit the road for his flight. J and I headed down to Mandalay Bay to meet S for dinner, stopping for some slots at Ex along the way. Did a couple of $20 on black bets at MB and broke even. We ended up at the Bayside Buffet on a partial comp from S. Good grub this time, all I ate was protein, and I lost count of how many fried shrimp I had...too many, but so good. Left S, and headed back to MC, after a few quick hit hands of blackjack at the Lux.

Got to MC and decided to hit the poker room for some limit poker, while J went and wandered. Had a fun table, people were chatting it up and having a good time. Ended up slightly more than doubling my buy-in, though a good chunk of that was from a jackpot hand where I flopped quad jacks! So exciting for me, almost had a heart attack and was fortunate enough that the person acting before me was on the nut flush draw and betting at it. Not so fortunate that when she hit it, she only had $7 to bet on the last round, but still pretty neat to get paid almost $80 for the JJJJ. Ended up playing for over four hours, but stupidly while leaving forgot to have them mark me for time since I thought I had left my players card at a slot. Walking to the room, I noticed that I had it in my pocket instead of my wallet, duh! Oh well, can't imagine 4 hours would get much...

Awoke on our last day Saturday, and we headed down to the MGM, to try to find some Pai Gow Poker, since J had some luck on his last visit there. I had never played before, but we gave it a shot at a $10 table. I'm on the fence about this game...if you are betting the fortune bonus, just seems like the game is a slow burn. Push push push, and all of the sudden you could be down a bunch because of the bonus bets. Anyways, I did end up breaking even somehow. We packed up, and hit the road, but still had the itch, so stopped at Sunset Station (where I normally stop on the way out of town). Found a $5 blackjack table and we sat down. Went pretty well, especially on the second shoe. The shoe ended, I looked down and had more than doubled up and decided to walk. Played some quick roulette after that, but didn't hit any of my usual numbers, but I still walked away with a profit from there (seems like every other time I stop there I win, so maybe next time I should skip Sunset!). Hit In-N-Out next door since it was lunch time and back on the road. Went through Laughlin since I know how much of a nightmare it is to cross the dam on a weekend and had an easy drive home. Looking forward to the time in about seven months where I can drive right over the dam without either having to consider my options.

Gambling wise, third trip in a row where I have booked overall wins on gambling alone. Most of my sessions were at roulette, but other than my first winning session, I also broke even or lost. Poker/Craps really did well for me, and this was the first I've ever played a cash game for that long (normally I'll just play a single 3-5 table tournament). Made four 3-team NCAA parlays, and only hit one but that's enough to not lose money. Food was good, we had a lot of snacks in the room, so it feels like we didn't eat out as much as normal. Overall, it was a good trip. Hope you enjoyed the read.

 

Nice TR

Must be nice to just hop in the car n head to Vegas for the weekend hehe

 

Great report. Congrats on the wins.

Thanks for posting.

G

 

Thanks for writing the TR. They are like pizza,,,always good.

 

Thank you for the trip report. We are also looking forward to the new bridge at the dam. Faster trips to and from LV.

 

I will be at Monte Carlo this Saturday for 8 days. Thanks for the report. So Monte Carlo has a "party pit" now? Is it anything like Planet Hollywood's pit with dancers? Also, how was the tram to Aria. I heard that you can just take some stairs down to Aria by the Monte Carlo station and you come out right by Aria's casino. Please advise! Thanks!

 

Nice report, enjoyed it, glad to hear that MC is trying to liven up their casino floor some, that's good news as that floor needs something to bring some energy to it.

 

Thanks for posting, good report!

 

Not only does Monte Carlo have a party pit, but so do Mandalay, NYNY and Luxor. We were told that MC's opened that day, so I assume the same for the others. They are basically like what you would see at PH or Ex...a ring of tables, pumping dance music with girls dancing around and throwing beads.

The tram to Aria was nice, very frequent service and the message boards kept you updated on the wait. If I was going from MC to Aria casino, I agree that it's easier to walk. I did the walk on Saturday morning when the tram wasn't running, and was surprised at how close the casino is (specifically the sports book/poker room).

 

Still Laughing about KU...so many KU Fans had tix and hotels booked for St. Louis. Too bad, maybe next year. Or not.