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Vegas Trip July 30th til August 5th

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by rugbysteve, Aug 17, 2003.

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  1. rugbysteve

    rugbysteve Low-Roller

    Joined:
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    Messages:
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    Location:
    ma
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    54

    My Trip Report

    $1 Drinks in Vegas baby !!!

    Ok, here is my trip report from my latest excursion, a 6 night drinking gambling jamboree. I’m not even sure what jamboree means, but I just like saying it!!

    The Overview:
    2 nights at the Golden Nugget
    2 nights at the Flamingo
    2 nights at Harrah’s
    A helicopter tour of the Grand canyon
    A deal hounds quest for gambling and drinking

    I am a Vegas junkie, I will watch any show about Vegas, read any book or magazine article and generally cannot get enough of sin city. This was my 24th trip to Mecca and my wife’s 14th. I love to drink, gamble and get good deals on food and drink. So of course, Vegas is my idea of vacation fun!

    I had enough miles on Delta for 2 free trips, so I booked the wife and I on round trip flights from Boston departing on Wednesday afternoon July 30th and returning on the morning of Tuesday August 5th. This left us with 6 glorious nights in sin city... my longest stay ever.

    I worked the message boards and websites and got us 2 nights at the Golden Nugget for $39/night with $25 in free food... then we moved to the Flamingo ... you gotta be on the strip for the weekend, and the pool at the Flamingo is rock and roll. For Sunday and Monday we moved to Harrah’s as I traded for 2 free nights online. So with free flights and dirt cheap rooms, I was looking at $250 total for air and 6 nights hotel for me and the wife. Damm, I gotta love the way that set up.

    I decided to rent a car for the week, as I have been there so many times, I know my way around, and I like to explore some of the off strip casinos in search of good deals and better gaming. I spent $121 total for a weeks rental from Dollar. I also acquired as many matchplay coupons as I could on the Vegas message boards. Ok, there’s the set-up.. Now on to the story....

    I left work on Wednesday at 3:00pm.. Picked up the wife and went to Boston Airport.. An hour from my house. Parked the car had a quick beer and boarded my flight. We had to connect through Salt Lake City and arrived in Vegas at 10:10pm right on time. We grabbed out bags, picked up the rental car.. A lovely Dodge Neon... Yeah, It wasn’t too impressive, but it served its purpose of getting the 2 of us around town. Then it was off to the Golden nugget. I gotta say, the staff there is very hospitable .. Not like the big resorts. They were quick to open the doors, grab our luggage, and all with a seemingly genuine smile. We got our room in the North Tower... nice enough, king bed... bathroom.. Yeah whatever, I’m not too interested in measuring the square footage.. Let’s get down to Freemont Street.

    We had arranged to meet our friends Mr. And Mrs M at 11:30 at the bar at the Nugget. ( a quick history on Mr. And Mrs. M ... we brought them to Vegas about 8 years ago, and now they come out and visit as often as we do .. Maybe more) .. Anyway.. They weren’t there yet... so I immediately requested we head to La Bayou and “ride the grain trainâ€. My girl Teresa was working again, I sucked up to her (again) and got the mega supersized extra shot of grain alcohol in my yard glass of brain freeze. Yes, it was a bit undrinkable at first.. But after a few sips.. It was all starting to make sense... the warm glow of alcohol.. Ahh yes.. Vegas baby !!! We went back out onto freemont and found our friends, who knew to look for us at La Bayou. We exchanged hello’s... and decided to hit the craps table. We wandered a little and somehow ended up at a $5 table at Fitzgerald’s. We rolled for awhile, couldn’t get much going and finally walked away up $23 for the session. I had finished that monster drink, and I gotta say, I was pretty buzzed... three shots of grain alcohol is like 9 shots of vodka.. So I was feeling no pain. Our Friends decided to head back to the strip as it was about 2am. The wife and I hit Binions coffeeshop for “the Natural†.. 3 eggs and some salty breakfast meat for like $4 not bad at all. It was now about 6am East coast time, so we decided to test out the Nugget mattresses a very passing grade indeed!!

    Thursday morning came awful quick as we were being picked up for a helicopter tour of the grand canyon. Now, you may have guessed I love to get a good deal on things, but I’m also willing to pay for stuff that seems like fun. We had Papillion Tours pick us up at the Nugget and take us to the airport, where we met our friends and boarded a helicopter for an amazing trip to the Grand Canyon. I had never been in a helicopter before and I had never seen the Grand Canyon. I have to say, this was one of the coolest trips I have ever taken. Riding up over the mountains and descending into the canyon was amazing. Words do not do it justice. I took many, many pics which you can click to at the end of this report. The grand Canyon is .. Well.. Grand ... it is really an amazing thing to see. We landed on the floor of the canyon, had some lunch and then flew back. There were 6 of us in the Helicopter and I can not say enough about how totally cool it was. On the way back we flew down the Vegas strip and I got some great shots of some of the hotels. As I took a few of Steve Wynn’s new place I announced to the group... “Edward Allen Devillier’s gonna get a hard on when he sees these†... everyone just looked at me strange... I guess the rest of the crew are not T2V regulars... anyway.. Check the pics out for yourself. You can’t take a bad pic of the Canyon, and the Vegas hotels are pretty damm cool too !!!

    We got dropped off back at the hotel, regrouped for a few minutes and grabbed our car to meet our friends at Slots a hell. The most fun Craps table in Vegas. We had a little time to kill, so I drove us to Jerry’s Nugget in North Vegas. I had a few machplays to play here, and I always like seeing a new casino. Well, Jerry’s nugget is a locals dive and the matchplay didn’t go too good as I got smoked for $15 but did play a $5 sportsbook matchplay on the Tampa Bay bucks beating the Jets on the first game of the preseason... yeah, I know what the hell are you doing betting on that game,.. But what the heck its Vegas, and it’s the start of football season. I had the wife make the same bet with another $5 matchplay. More on that later.....

    So we get to slots a hell and meet up with our friends.. Played craps for awhile.. Couldn’t really get anything going... finally quit down $43 .. Damm slots of Hell... So, we jumped in the car and headed to the Fiesta... the one that used to be the reserve... I had free entries into their Thursday Blackjack tournament. So we went out there.. And played in the tournament. Normally you pay $10... you get $1000 in tournament chips, and you play 20 hands... the top 4 people of the day collect cash prizes. Well, we were the last group to play.. So we knew exactly how many chips we needed to get in the money... not that it helped me.. I went bust on about the 15 hand.. So did the wife... but our friend Mrs. M was doing pretty good... then with a only 2 hands to play I told her she needed to bet it all (about $2500 in tournament chips) to try and make the leader board.. Well, she does and hits a Blackjack!!!! this pays 2 to 1 so now she has $7500 in chips..... that was good enough for 2nd place... with one hand to go... the leader had 10,000.... so she could have risked $2600 and gone for the win... but if she lost... it would have dropped her out of the top 4 and she would have gotten nothing. We talked for a minute and she decided she was happy with 2nd place... so she just bet the minimum of $100... and the dealer pulled a Blackjack!!!!! so, she made the right choice and picked up $150 for coming in 2nd place... ahh that makes the drive out that much better.

    Well, we jumped in the car, and we were all pretty hungry, so we decided to stop at Barley’s .. A little Brew pub and casino in Henderson.... I had vouchers for free pizza and $20 matchplays for everyone.... well, we all played the matchplays each with $20 bet.. And the dealer has a 12, pulls a 4 for 16.. It’s starting to look really good... then pulls a 5 and smokes us for $80... haa.. Off to get our free ($80) pizza. So we knock back a few of the local brews, eat our pizza and I decide to try and play a few more matchplays.. The pit boos was a young kid and he was cool... he let me play 3 of them.. I won them all.... before he shut me off, and I walked out of there $70 ahead of the game... cool !!!!

    We drop off our friends, and head back to the nugget... the wife decides to take a nap.. I decide to go to Binions and play some Texas Hold’em .... well, without going into too much detail... I didn’t get any cards and was lucky to quit just being down $40. I went back found the wife, who had amazingly rallied... I figured she was out for the night... but the Vegas vibe had kept her going... we walked over to the el Cortez and threw the bones for a bit.. Damm craps tables were not working for us.. And I finally walked down a measly $20. Next we wandered thru a few casinos and ended up at the Golden Gate... I had to have the shrimp cocktail.. A vegas tradition.. And we enjoyed some great piano playing by a friendly old man ... who appreciated our clapping at the end of his songs. We felt a good vibe in there and decided to play some blackjack... damm was that ever a mistake... I bought in for $60... bet $6 a hand .. And lost 10 straight hands... 10 straight fricken hands... not even a push in there or anything... damm, you know its time to quit when you are that unlucky. So we went back to the room for another mattress test.. He he he .. About 3am or so....

    Friday morning I awake early.. Who can sleep in Vegas.. And take a little walk around freemont street... damm I love being in Vegas. I show the wife the dice roller hall of fame in the California.. Anyone who has thrown the dice for more than an hour has a plaque on the wall with their name on it and the length of their roll... totally cool.... then I take her to see the Binions world series of poker hall of fame... It’s like I know all these guys from watching it on TV for so long... again .. Totally cool...next we hit the lady luck, where I have a few matchplays and we decide to play double exposure blackjack. Yes, this is a bad game for the bettor, you get to see both of the dealer’s cards.. But in return you lose the push and Blackjack pays even money. Well, we were both just gonna play our $5 matchplays and leave so.. We said what the heck. I stayed on 18, the wife stayed on 20 against the dealers 14... of course he pulled the 7 to beat us both... ohh well.. we then grab the nugget breakfast buffet and checkout for our next stop.... the Flamingo.

    We checked out of the nugget at noon, but couldn’t check in until 3pm, so I decided to do a coupon run up the boulder highway and check out the new Hyatt at lake Las Vegas... I stopped at Castaways, Sams Town, the Longhorn and eventually the Hyatt. I just played the matchplay and left at each place.. And no it didn’t work so good. Anyway.. The Hyatt is really classy and really cool if you want to golf. Not much in the way of casino action, the tables don’t even open til 5pm... but if you wanted a golfing relaxing stay.. And not a drunken gambling stay.. Then you might want to consider the Hyatt. I think I will go there on a golf trip one day.. It has 4 18 hole courses surrounding the place.
    Anyway.. We get back to the flamingo, check in.. We get a view of the Imperial Palace and head over to Bally’s to meet up with our friends... Well, this is when I discover the ‘deal of the centuryâ€.. The Barbary coast is running a promotion that all drinks are $1 ... 24 hours a day. All the drinks.. Kettle One Vodka.. Whatever.. Damm.. This just became the new meeting point.. Stopping off point... hell, I have never been to the Barbary so much on my life. Well, after knocking back a few Kettle one and cranberries.. We get over to Bally’s. We are walking around looking for our friends.. When I walk past this craps table.. And this girl is doing all of my craps yells... you craps players know what I mean.. You have the same things you yell when you want a hard six ... “C’mon Hard Sexâ€.. “I need hard sex†is mine.. Well anyway.. This girl is doing all my yells... so I immediately jump on the table. Her friend has the dice... and my wife says to me.. Hey that girl cheers like you... I laugh and say, that’s why I jumped on the table. Well anyway.. The girl 7's out... the next girl gets the dice.. And I walk away with $180 when she quit rolling... haa.. You gotta love it.. That’s’s good Chi !!!!

    So, we cash in, can’t find our friends and decide to stroll up to casino royal for some low rolling craps. Casino Royal offers the best odds on the strip .. 100x .. But they now make you wager $3 as the minimum.. Ohh well, we play.. And the dice go round and round.. When it’s all said and done, I walk away down $30. Easy come, easy go. The wife wants to take a nap, so I drop her at the room and head to the poker room at the Flamingo. I have had some decent success there in the past, and generally find the game to be pretty playable. Well, I buy in for $100 at the $1-$5 seven card stud table and attempt to play my usual “tight†game... betting the max when I believe I have the nuts. Yeah, well.... Phil Helmuth I wasn’t ... I beat hard into a straight to the jack.. Got beat by a straight to the king.... then got pocket queens... beat it out.. Picked up a pair of 7's along the way... got beat by kings and 4's... ouch.. why not just punch me in the face. Well, when I finally limped off the table I cashed in my last $6 bucks and took my $94 beating like a man... humm, ok, I was pretty ticked at myself, so I walked over to the Barbary and knocked back a few double Kettle ones and cranberry... humm, I thought I knew what I was doing.. Oh well, I go back to the room, find the wife and she says we are meeting up at the Barbary... haa.. No kidding I was just there.

    We meet at the Barbary, proceed to get well blotto, then stroll up to Harrah’s for more drinking and partying. We had some fun at the dueling piano’s, then out to the carnival bar for more drinking and dancing. Eventually ended up at the Barbary for breakfast and drunken craps about 3am. My notes here say drunken craps -$60 .. Good breakfast.

    Saturday morning we crawl out of bed and head down to the pool. I am seriously hurting from the drinking bender of the previous evening, but we finally find some chairs and I can start the recovery process. No better way to do that, than a frozen daiquiri... yumm, yumm. Well, the pool scene at the Flamingo is pretty good, and I am glad I have my wrap around shades as the leering was less obvious... I think the wife thought the drooling was still a result of being hung over. After a few lovely hours at the pool, they announce they are having a bikini contest... oh why oh why didn’t a bring the camera to the pool... Well, we watched the contest, and it was pretty entertaining.. I mean if hot girls shaking their rears in your face is your idea of entertainment... I think I may have enjoyed it a tad more than the wife. Having the contestants being pretty drunk and start flashing was completely acceptable behavior in my book. Anyway, after the winner was crowned.. We decided to head up to the room and change. After a quick nap ... he he he .. We walked down to Ellis Island for some gambling and the steak dinner. The steak deal there is a legend... steak, potato, veg and salad for $4.95.. Plus I had a buy one get one free... yeah our dinner tab was like $6 .. Gotta love Vegas... I also made a quick $40 playing a little Blackjack. They also make there own beer here, well worth the short walk behind Bally’s.

    We walked back thru Bally and Paris playing a few matchplays and then wondered down the strip. We caught a fountain show at the Bellagio, and then stopped in the Boardwalk to catch some of the Purple Rain act. I’m not really a Prince fan, but I got to say. These guys are pretty good, and get you in a good mood. After that we decided to do some more dancing so we hit that club 7 for some dancing // club scene.. It was fun.. We were feeling good. On the way back we stopped in the Barbary (again) for a 4am night cap.. When a big fight broke out on the other side of the bar. I guess if you are gonna ply people with $1 drinks all night and also be home to the after hours club (Drai’s) your gonna occasionally have some problems. Well, 4 people were cuffed pretty quick, and the entertainment ended. We finally poured ourselves back into the Flamingo about 5am.

    Sunday, we awoke about noon and realized we had to check out. We packed our stuff, checked it at the bell man’s and went to the pool. What can I say the Vegas pool scene is real easy on your eyes. The Flamingo also has these waterfalls which give you a great massage when you stand under them.. Ahh, they felt great on my hungover body. Eventually we left the pool, grabbed the bags and the car and headed back to Jerry’s Nugget to cash our winning sports bet from 2 days before. I also whacked em for a few more matchplays.. Take that Jerry’s Nugget !!! Then I sent us up to the Cannery to check out that new Casino. It was alright, we decided to grab the buffet while we were there... I would say it was extremely average, but couldn’t resist using the 2 for 1 deal I had.

    We then went to Harrah’s checked in and resumed our drinking ways. After another beating at the Casino Royal craps table (-$50) I gave up on craps there for the rest of the trip. We then wandered up the strip heading North towards slots a hell. We stopped and drank and gambled some at the Frontier and the Stardust along the way. Eventually we played at the slots a hell craps table.. The most fun table in Vegas. Of course when it was said and done I had lost $40.. So, I guess it wasn’t that much fun. We stumbled over to the Peppermill and had a drink in the “fireside†lounge.. This place is a great stopping off point in the north end of the strip. The place oozes with Vegas vibe.. Always some fun in there. Plus the cool fire on top of the water.... anyway.. We had a drink then some breakfast and headed back down the strip.

    On Monday, we slept til about noon, and then snuck into the Flamingo pool again, we had kept one of our keys. The pool scene continued to rock, and I remembered to bring the camera, so I could snap a few pics as evidence. We stayed at the pool until about 5pm, then changed and headed out to the Hard Rock. We played some craps and Blackjack at the Rock, but again, could not get anything going.. Finally quitting down $50. The Hard Rock is a totally cool place, great music, great eye candy, and an overall good sexual vibe in there. We left the Hard Rock around midnight and I took the wife to the Double Down Saloon. A crappy little dive near the Hard Rock, so we could each get the house special “Ass Juiceâ€. Yes that is the house signature drink, see the picture.. Ass juice $3.00 each or 3 for $11.00. We ordered 2. The place has a unique vibe to it, attracting a diverse crowd. I had read about it, and wanted to see it. I’m not sure the wife will be going back. Anyway, we then went to the Welcome to Vegas sign to take a few pictures, and made one last drive up the strip for one last roll at the Slots a hell craps table. Alas, the damm table was cold again, and I lost another $50.

    Tuesday morning, we got of bed, checked out and made one last stop at the Vegas Hilton for a free buffet and $20 in free gaming. Well, it was late, our flight left at 11:00am. It was now 10am. I told the wife we better go... I had $20 out at the Blackjack table... I got 2 8's against a 3. I split them... and got a 3.. So I doubled down... got a 2... I got a 10 on my other 8 and had $60 up against that dealers 3. She turned over her card and had an ace. Well... ok.. She hit and drew a 10.. Okay a hard 14... I got a chance here.... then drew a 7 for a 21... I walked out of there down $20. Although, we got screwed up leaving did a huge circle and ended up right back at the craps table 10 minutes later. The wife was starting to panic a little about missing the flight.. Me... I like the adventure. We still had to gas up the rental car, return it.. Check in and get thru security.. All with 45 minutes to go. Well, it was close but we made it (unfortunately) .. Hell, if you miss your flight in Vegas, what’s so bad about that.. You have to stay in Sin city. Guess I should have played a few more hands. Anyway, when it was all said and done I was down exactly $225 for gambling on the trip. Not great, but not horrible either. Thanks for reading, I am already looking at booking another trip. There is no city in the world I enjoy more than Las Vegas! I will post a link to pictures below.
     
  2. rugbysteve

    rugbysteve Low-Roller

    Joined:
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    If you want to checkout the pictures... hopefully this link will take you there. The pictures of the most recent trip are called vegas strip summer 2003 and vegas summer 2003 grand canyon. Enjoy - rugbysteve

    http://community.webshots.com/album/86160121bPDRVs
     
  3. Dutchguy

    Dutchguy Low-Roller

    Joined:
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    Location:
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    Trips to Las Vegas:
    70
    Outstanding report! Dollar rental, Harrahs, drinking, gambling, Casino Royale, Barbary Coast, Slots-of-Fun, drinking, gambling, Golden Gate, HardRock, drinking....it sounded like everyone of my past thirty trips. It seems that we have Vegas narrowed down to the same favorites! I love you man! How about that Flamingo pool?! It will never compare to the HardRock, but it is a marvelous place to spend a few hours of visual relaxation.
     
  4. Beef

    Beef Low-Roller

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Sacramento
    Steve-O the man. Love reading your booze soaked reports. Got me sufficiently fired up for my trip, thanks! T-5
     
  5. Mia4071

    Mia4071 Tourist

    Joined:
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    Thanks for the report! .. I love the pic's!!!

    Looks like you guys had a great time!!

    [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
  6. KathyinNY

    KathyinNY Tourist

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Upstate New York
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    2
    Excellent report. Sounds like you had a blast.
     
  7. farkingidiot

    farkingidiot High-Roller

    Joined:
    May 19, 2003
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    Um...Steve?

    I think I love you!! [​IMG]

    Of course in that manly, pat on the butt, slap on the shoulder,non-sexual way.

    That's one hell of a trip report. I'll be in Vegas (baby!) in 5 days!! Flamingo, then Mandalay Bay.


    What should be interesting, is this is the first trip where it's just my newlywed bride and I. Usually we meet friends, or it's me and the guys, or her and her sisters.

    I can only hope we have half as much fun as you did. [​IMG]

    Freaking excellent report!! [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
  8. VoteForLou

    VoteForLou Tourist

    Joined:
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    Every time I've been in the area near the Hard Rock, there were tons of gay bars -- that might explain the "Ass Juice" drink.
     
  9. LV Terry

    LV Terry Captain Flop'N Fold

    Joined:
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    If I ever look to the East and see a giant mushroom cloud, I'll know that RugbySteve and HurricaneMikey converged on Vegas at the same time.

    Truly epic vegas trip....awesome energy.
     
  10. kamil

    kamil Tourist

    Joined:
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    Plainsboro, New Jersey
    Great Stuff !

    Its amazing you manage to drink so much and still get to all these hotels. [​IMG]
     
  11. chef

    chef Resident Buffetologist

    Joined:
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    rugby steve,
    We may have crossed paths Tuesday morning and didn't even know it. We had just gotten in to Vegas Monday night and stayed at the Hilton the Tuesday you left.
    Maybe one of these years, we'll touch base. Excellent report, ala HurricaneMikey.
     
  12. rugbysteve

    rugbysteve Low-Roller

    Joined:
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    ma
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    54
    Hey thanks for the fun comments... I miss Sin City.. already trying to sort out the next adventure. I guess a few of you have been checking out the pics... as I got an email from webshots that said 2300 people had viewed them this week.... wow, that blows my mind... good thing I didn't include the "fun" ones.. he he he seven come eleven !!!!!
     
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