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Aliante Station - Trip Report (5/16/12 - 5/24/12)

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by cruiser, May 30, 2012.

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  1. cruiser

    cruiser High-Roller

    Joined:
    Feb 5, 2002
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    My Trip Report

    Brenda (a.k.a. Wifey) and I returned from 8 days/nights in Las Vegas on May 24th, staying at the Aliante Station Casino & Hotel all eight days/nights. This was our 24th trip to Vegas over the past 10 years, our 4th time staying at Aliante Station. You can check out their website at:

    http://www.aliantecasinohotel.com

    We play only Full Pay Deuces Wild (FPDW), which with perfect play, pays back (long term) over 100%. Back in November, I contacted our host and received a better rate then I could get myself online.

    $50.99 +14.99 (resort fee) = $65.98 + 7.92 (tax) = $73.90 x 8 = $591.20

    We booked the hotel and already had our airfare booked. I also booked a limo from Presidential Limousine for the round trip between the airport and Aliante Station. Back in December, I heard the Pancake House closed down at Aliante Station. I sent an e-mail to my host who confirmed this was true. The Pancake House closed the end of October, 2011. We loved the Pancake House and as early risers we would start our Video Poker (VP) gambling by 5am. When the Pancake House opened at 6am, I would walk over and order breakfast and when it was ready, I would take it back to our machines. We didn't want to lose our machines by eating in the restaurant and we usually play on our machines 12+ hours a day each. The Feast Buffet now opens an hour earlier at 7am. We’ll have to make due. This Host also agreed to review our account at the end of the trip to see if he could reduce our room charges based the the gambling we did while at Aliante Station.

    For those of you not familiar with our gambling habits, since I’ve given up playing blackjack, 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), Four Deuces pays 1,000 coins ($250), and a Wild Royal Flush pays 125 coins ($31.25). For these ‘full pay’ machines over the long term, the frequency of getting a Wild Royal Flush, Four Deuces, and Royal Flush is as follows:

    Wild Royal Flush – Occurs every 556.8 hands
    Four Deuces – Occurs every 4,909 hands
    Royal Flush – Occurs every 45,281 hands

    This year, I decided to play a bit of Craps in addition to our video poker. As I’ve said in the past, although I try to be as accurate as possible in these trip reports, there are some things better left in Vegas. I’ll leave it at that. Our primary mission is to “Beat the Casino”.

    Day 1 (Wednesday, 5/16):

    We stayed at a hotel near the airport the night before the trip. On the morning of this trip, we’re up at 4am and grabbed some breakfast before taking the shuttle to the Austin Bergstrom Airport at 5am for a 6:30am flight. We arrived at the airport 5 minutes later and checked our luggage at curbside. We then made our way through security and headed to our gate.

    I used a Southwest Airlines drink coupon for a Coffee and Bailey’s. Yum. Nice way to start the trip. We arrived in Las Vegas just before 7:30am and headed down to grab our luggage and meet our driver. It’s about a 30 minutes drive (24 miles) to Aliante Station, I tip the driver and leave our luggage with the bell desk. I gave the bell guy $5 and later when they bring the luggage up to the room, they’ll get another $5. According to the www.vpfree2.com Website, the bank of three slant-tops having Full Pay Deuces Wild (FPDW) near TGI Friday’s were removed sometime since we were there last October. That’s bad news for us since this is the only video poker we play and there were only 9 (three banks of 3) machines with FPDW here last October. Before we left for Vegas, I was able to confirm with the Director of Slot Operations, that these machines may have been moved but were still near TGI Friday’s. I double checked when we arrived at Aliante Station and these machines were still there. I was going to send an e-mail to that website (www.vpfree2.com) after returning home but it looks like someone already took care of that and the website now shows the three banks of 3 machines each having FPDW.

    I will see about checking in at the front desk later this morning but for now, we head to the casino floor to begin our quest to “Beat the Casino”.

    Buckle up boys and girls, and don’t try this at home – this is going to be another wild and crazy ride…

    We were able to grab our two ‘full pay video poker’ machines in the non-smoking area near the Rewards Center. With their point system, for every $4 cycled through, we get 3 points added to our account. Great deal for us. We started our gambling at 8:30am. Where’s the drink lady? She shows up at 9:20am and we order a couple cold beers – Miller Light with a glass for Wifey and I have a Corona Light with lime. Nice. While we’re staying at Aliante Station, we get to do a ‘daily swipe’ of our boarding pass cards for free stuff. Today, Wifey got $10 in free play while I received 25,000 points added to our account. There’s also a drawing each night at 8:15pm. Five $500 winners will be drawn at each of the 10 Station Casino. You have 24 hours to collect. If your boarding pass card number is drawn and you are present at the drawing, you receive a $500 bonus for being there. Also, the winners were eligble to win a car. No, neither Wifey or I won anything from these nightly drawings.

    Today is Wednesday and every Wednesday is “Senior 50 Plus Wednesday” at Station Casinos. We decided not to bother entering their Slot Tournament today. We’re more interested in playing our video poker machines. Today and everyday, we would buy at least 4-6 1-liter bottles of water from the gift shop. Then each morning we would bring two of these bottles of water and a couple large cups of ice with us to our machines. This helped us to stay hydrated. Around 9am, I head to the front desk to see if a room is available. Nothing’s available yet. They’ll call my cell phone when a room becomes available.

    At 9:52am, I hit my first ‘four deuces’ of the day (and the trip). Yippee!

    For lunch, we ordered salads from Capriotti’s Sandwich shop. They make great salads. We ate at our machines. By 1:30pm, still no call from the front desk. I walk over and there’s a different person manning the desk. Apparently, our name was never put on the list of folks to get a phone call when their room became available. Oh, well. We have room 3016. Wifey heads to the room, stopping by the bell desk to ask them to bring our luggage up to our room. By mid afternoon, it was time to switch to Merlot.

    At 3:18pm, I hit my second ‘four deuces’ of the day. Yippee!

    At 3:30pm, I hit my third ‘four deuces’ of the day. Yippee!

    For dinner, we split a homemade turkey sub from Capriotti’s Sandwich shop. They make excellent subs. Wifey called it a night at 6:15pm after playing a total of 9 hours and 45 minutes today. I played until 6:45pm after playing a total of 10 hours and 15 minutes today.

    Day 1 Gambling Summary:

    Me
    - up $100.00 for the day (15 ‘wild royals’, 3 ‘four deuces’)
    - up $100.00 for the trip
    Wifey
    - down $500.00 for the day (11 ‘wild royals’)
    - down $500.00 for the trip
    Team
    - down $400.00 for the trip

    Day 2 (Thursday, 5/17): Our 17th Wedding Anniversary

    We’re up at 3am. I left $5 on the pillow and asked housekeeping if she could please leave extra towels. I did this every morning on this trip at Aliante Station. The rooms at Aliante Station are very nice but the bathroom was a bit smaller than I would have liked with no tub, but had a very nice shower. We’re out the door by 3:30am. We headed to the machines near the Rewards Center, taking a couple 1 liter bottles of water and ice with us and we’re playing our video poker by 3:40am. We were able to play on the machines in the non-smoking area near the Rewards Center this entire trip. It was great not to have to deal with smokers sitting near us but there were still smokers around and sometimes the smoke drifted over to us. A drink lady shows up right away and we ordered OJ and black coffee for me, TJ and black decaf for Wifey. For today’s daily swipe, Wifey gets extra points on her card – 5 points instead of 3 for every $4 through the machine, while my swipe resulted in a $20 off dining coupon. Excellent. At 4:30am, Wifey headed back to the room to lie down for awhile. Feeling better, she’s back at her machine at 5:05am. At 7am, we headed to the Feast Buffet for breakfast. Excellent breakfast. Back at our machines by 7:35am.

    At 8:15am, Wifey hits her first ‘four deuces’ of the day (and the trip). Yippee!

    At 9:20am, I hit my first ‘four deuces’ of the day. Yippee!

    At 10:34am, Wifey hits her second ‘four deuces’ of the day. Yippee!

    At 10:40am, Wifey hits her third ‘four deuces’ of the day. Yippee!

    Today for lunch we had a couple milkshakes from Johnny Rockets.

    At 1:45pm, I hit my first ‘royal flush’ of the day (and the trip). Yippee!

    Grab my phone for a video. I held the A, K, J of clubs and drew the 10 and Q of clubs.

    At 2:16pm, I hit my second ‘royal flush’ of the day (less than 30 minutes after my first one). Yippee!

    Grab my phone for another video. This time I was dealt the A, K, Q, J and 10 of hearts

    At 3:11am, Wifey hits her fourth ‘four deuces’ of the day. Yippee!

    At 5pm, we head to MRKT Sea and Land for our Anniversary dinner. We stopped at the roulette table to place $5 on number 17 since it’s our 17th wedding anniversary on May 17th. I though about making it $10 and even toyed with the idea of throwing $100 on number 17 but decided 35 to 1 on a $5 bet would be good enough to more than cover dinner. There was one guy sitting at the table with chips in front of him but he must have been taking a break. So I threw out $5 and got 5 $1 chips. I placed them all on number 17. No more bets and the wheel goes around and around and stops on ................ Black 17. Holy Crap! Yep, that’s what Wifey told me I said out loud. She was thinking along the same lines but didn’t say it out loud. That $5 bet just turned into $175. Wifey then explained that we don’t play roulette but it’s our anniversary. The guy sitting there with chips in front of him just rolled his eyes. I tipped the roulette guy (what’s he called anyway?) $5 and we headed to dinner. We still couldn’t believe we hit on 17. Darn, now I really wish I had thrown down $100 bet on 17. Oh, well. Wifey orded the Petite Filet Mignon while I order the 8oz Filet Mignon and 12oz Austrialian Lobster Tail. Now, I probably would not have ordered that if we hadn’t just won that bet on Roulette. We split a Baked Potato and side of Asparagus. Dinner was wonderful. I was able to use our $20 off dining coupon and charged the rest to our room. We’re back at our machines 6:25pm. Wifey played until 6:50pm and called it a night after 12 hours 35 minutes. I played until 7:25pm and headed to the room after 13 hours and 45 minutes.

    Day 2 Gambling Summary:

    Me
    - up $1,400.00 for the day (13 ‘wild royals’, 1 ‘four deuces’, 2 ‘royal flush’)
    - up $1,500.00 for the trip
    Wifey
    - down $150.00 for the day (9 ‘wild royals’, 4 ‘four deuces’)
    - down $650.00 for the trip
    Team
    - up $165 (roulette)
    - up $1,015 for the trip

    Day 3 (Friday, 5/18):

    We’re up at 3:25am and out the door by 3:50am. We headed back to the machines near the Rewards Center, taking a couple 1 liter bottles of water and ice with us and we’re playing our video poker by 4am.

    A drink lady shows and we ordered OJ and black coffee for me, TJ and black decaf for Wifey. For today’s daily swipe, Wifey gets $10 in free play while my swipe resulted in a free feast buffet. We’ll use today’s free buffet couplon at breakfast. Wifey’s machine has been eating and eating like there’s no tomorrow. She’s already put in $550 this morning and it’s not even 7am. Wifey is down to her last $1.25 when…

    At 6:54am, Wifey hits her first ‘royal flush’ of the day (and the trip). Yippee!

    Wifey grabs her phone for a video. She held the A, K, 10 of clubs and drew the Q and J of clubs.

    At 8:45am, Wifey hits her first ‘four deuces’ of the day. Yippee!

    For lunch, we each had another milkshake from Johnny Rockets.

    At 2:20pm, Wifey hits her second ‘four deuces’ of the day. Yippee!

    At 2:26pm, Wifey hits her third ‘four deuces’ of the day. Yippee!

    For dinner, we split a homemade turkey sub from Capriotti’s Sandwich shop. Wifey played till 3:20pm and called it a night after 10 hours 35 minutes. I played until 5pm and headed to the room after 12 hours and 15 minutes. Tonight, I will be playing in a No-Limit Texas Hold-em Bounty Tournament at 7pm. Bounties (when you knock someone out of the Tournament) are $15 each. Headed back out to the casino floor to play a little craps. Bought in for $1200. $25 pass line bet with 2X odds, followed up by two $25 come bets, also with 2X odds. I was up and down and then after 1 hour 20 minutes, it was time to head to the Poker Room for my Tournament. I dropped $1000 at the Craps table. Note to self – Stay away from Craps.

    For the poker tournament, I picked seat 5. There were only 12 entries in this Tournament. I lasted 1.5 hours and finished in 7th place. It was fun. Tomorrow night (Saturday), I’ll play in my second and last Poker Tournament for this trip.

    Day 3 Gambling Summary:

    Me
    - down $600.00 for the day (13 ‘wild royals’)
    - down $1000.00 for the day (Craps)
    - down $100.00 for the trip
    Wifey
    - up $1,320.00 for the day (17 ‘wild royals’, 3 ‘four deuces’, 1 ‘royal flush’)
    - up $670.00 for the trip
    Team
    - up $735.00 for the trip (includes $165 profit from betting number 17 on 5/17)

    Day 4 (Saturday, 5/19):

    We’re up at 3:35am and out the door by 4am. We headed back to the machines near the Rewards Center, taking a couple 1 liter bottles of water and ice with us and we’re playing our video poker by 4:10am. A drink lady shows and we ordered OJ and black coffee for me, TJ and black decaf for Wifey. For today’s daily swipe, Wifey gets 100 extra entries for the 8:15pm drawing while my swipe resulted in a $5 off dining offer. We’ll use that this evening for dinner.

    At 4:35am, Wifey hits her first ‘four deuces’ of the day. Yippee!

    At 5:35am, Wifey hits her second ‘four deuces’ of the day. Yippee!

    At 6:23am, I hit my first ‘four deuces’ of the day. Yippee!

    At 7am, we head to the Feast Buffet for breakfast. Back to our machines by 7:35am. At noon, the fire alarm went off with the message “There has been an emergency reported in the building. Please leave the building immediately”. By 12:15pm, we were let back in the building and back on our machines. For lunch, Wifey had a salad while I grabbed a Panda bowl from Panda Express.

    At 12:55pm, Wifey hits her third ‘four deuces’ of the day. Yippee!

    At 3:39pm, Wifey hits her fourth ‘four deuces’ of the day. Yippee!

    At 3:43pm, Wifey tells me she got another wild royal… ahhhhhhhh, Honey, that’s a real Royal Flush… Wifey just got her second ‘royal flush’ of the trip. Yippee!

    Wifey grabs her phone for a video. She held the A, Q, K, of clubs and drew the J and 10 of clubs.
    Let’s recap this bank of three video poker machines at 4:05pm. I’m playing the machine in the middle. Wifey is playing the machine to my right. The machine to my left has had little play today. What’s wrong with this picture? Over the past 12 hours, Wifey’s machine has hit ‘four deuces’ four times and hit a ‘royal flush’ once. The machine to my left has hit ‘four deuces’ twice and hit a ‘royal flush’ once. My machine has only hit one set of ‘four deuces’. It’s a good thing when I play my video poker, I’m patient. Very Patient. Today, the Merlots were coming quickly.

    At 5:20pm, I hit my second ‘four deuces’ of the day. Yippee!

    At 5:35pm, we call it an end to our video poker playing for today. We both played for 12 hours and 50 minutes. Time to head to the Cabo Mexican Restaurant for dinner. Here, we’ll use the $5 off dining offer I got from this morning daily swipe. After dinner, Wifey calls it a night while I head to the poker room for my second and last No-Limit Texas Hold-em Bounty Tournament at 7pm. Again, I picked seat 5. There were 24 entries in this Tournament. I lasted about three hours and took 6th place after having collected 4 bounties at $15 apiece. It was fun.

    It’s time to head to the Roulette table. Someone at work requested that I place two separate $10 bets for him. We’ll call him Pat. Here’s Pat’s brilliant betting scheme for bet #1:

    1. Bet $10 on red.
    2. If he should win, let it ride on black.
    3. If he 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.

    There were two roulette tables open. One was packed so I headed to the other one with only one person making bets. The roulette guy spun the wheel just as I was about to throw down $10 so…….. I moved to the crowed table. Once the table was cleared from the last spin, I throw down $10 and get two $5 chips. The minimum bet is $5. I place the $10 bet on red. Boy, this table is crowded. No more bets and the wheel goes around and around and stops on ................ 25…. Red. Winner!!! Roulette guy slides over $10. I move the $20 ($10 initial bet plus $10 win) over to black. No more bets and the wheel goes around and around and stops on ................ 15…. Black. Winner!!! Roulette guy slides over $20. I move the $40 back to red. No more bets and the wheel goes around and around and stops on ................ 5…. Red. Winner!!! Holy Smokes!!! 3 bets down, one to go. Roulette guy slides over $40. I keep the $80 on red. No more bets and the wheel goes around and around and stops on ................ 18…. Red. Winner!!! Pat’s initial $10 bet turns into $160 less $5 tip that I threw to the roulette guy. I’ll make Pat’s second roulette bet another night. Time to call it a night.

    Day 4 Gambling Summary:

    Me
    - down $300.00 for the day (15 ‘wild royals’, 2 ‘four deuces’)
    - down $400.00 for the trip (includes $1000 loss from Craps)
    Wifey
    - up $1,030.00 for the day (11 ‘wild royals’, 4 ‘four deuces’, 1 ‘royal flush’)
    - up $1,700.00 for the trip
    Team
    - up $1,465.00 for the trip (includes $165 profit from betting number 17 on 5/17)

    Day 5 (Saturday, 5/20):

    We’re up at 3:30am and out the door by 4am. We headed back to the machines near the Rewards Center, taking a couple 1 liter bottles of water and ice with us and we’re playing our video poker by 4:10am. Where’s the drink lady?

    At 4:13am, I hit my first first ‘four deuces’ of the day. Yippee!

    Hey, where’s the drink lady? I gave her an hour and 20 minutes before I held up my “Thirsty, Please send Drink Lady” sign to the eyes in the sky. Then I placed the sign on the machine to my left so someone walking by could see it and maybe send over a drink lady. Well, 10 minutes later, some floor person is nearby so I asked if he sees a drink lady, could he send her over. And then this floor person sees my sign … and takes it down… but doesn’t keep it. He smiled just a tad and placed the sign on the seat next to me. His look told me to put the sign away. Sure, no problem. A few minutes later, a drink lady finally showed up.

    At 12:15pm, we head to the Feast Buffet for Sunday brunch. It was well worth the price. Back to our machines by 1:05pm. Today, our machines were very hungry.

    Wifey played until 5:45pm and called it a night after 12 hours 45 minutes while I played until 6:30pm after playing for 13 hours 30 minutes. It’s time to head to the Roulette table to place Pat’s second roulette bet. Recall that Pat’s first betting scheme was played out last night and he won his 4 consecutive bets. Here’s Pat’s brilliant betting scheme for bet #2:

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

    I decided tonight’s the night for bet #2.

    I throw down $10 and get two $5 chips. The minimum bet is $5. I place the $10 bet on black. No more bets and the wheel goes around and around and stops on ................ 16…. Red. Sorry Pat. Time to call it a night.

    Day 5 Gambling Summary:

    Me
    - down $800.00 for the day (13 ‘wild royals’, 1 ‘four deuces’)
    - down $1,200.00 for the trip (includes $1000 loss from Craps)
    Wifey
    - down $650.00 for the day (15 ‘wild royals’)
    - up $1,050.00 for the trip
    Team
    - up $15.00 for the trip (includes $165 profit from betting number 17 on 5/17)

    Wow, we’re only up $15.00 (gambling-wise) for the trip after 5 days. I guess it could be worst.

    Day 6 (Monday, 5/21):

    We’re up at 3:25am and out the door by 3:52am. We headed back to the machines near the Rewards Center, taking a couple 1 liter bottles of water and ice with us and we’re playing our video poker by 4am. A drink lady shows right away and we ordered OJ and black coffee for me, TJ and black decaf for Wifey. For today’s daily swipe, we each got $10 in free slot play.

    At 5:59am, I hit my first ‘four deuces’ of the day. Yippee!

    At 7am, we headed to the Feast Buffet. Back to our machines by 7:40am.

    At 10:29pm, Wifey hits her first ‘four deuces’ of the day. Yippee!

    At 12:38pm, Wifey hits her second ‘four deuces’ of the day. Yippee!

    At 12:54pm, I hit my second ‘four deuces’ of the day. Yippee!

    At 1:32pm, Wifey hits her third ‘four deuces’ of the day. Yippee!

    At 2:09pm, Wifey hits her fourth ‘four deuces’ of the day. Yippee!

    At 4:05pm, we headed to the Pasta Cucina Restaurant for half points dining. Wifey ordered the Spagetti and Meatballs and I had the Rigtoni and Sausage. Both excellent dishes. Our bill came to $22 which cost us 11,000 points (1000 points = $1). Back to our machines. Wifey starts playing again at 4:52pm and I get going going again at 4:55pm.

    At 4:55pm, Wifey hits her third ‘royal flush’ of the trip. Yippee!

    Wifey grabs her phone for a video. She held the K, Q, J, and 10 of clubs and drew the A of clubs. Wifey played until 5:20pm and called it a night after 11 hours 53 minutes while I played until 6:40pm after playing for 13 hours 10 minutes.

    Day 6 Gambling Summary:

    Me
    - down $200.00 for the day (20 ‘wild royals’, 2 ‘four deuces’)
    - down $1,400.00 for the trip (includes $1000 loss from Craps)
    Wifey
    - up $1,370.00 for the day (15 ‘wild royals’, 4 ‘four deuces’, 1 ‘royal flush’)
    - up $2,420.00 for the trip
    Team
    - up $1,185.00 for the trip (includes $165 profit from betting number 17 on 5/17)

    Day 7 (Tuesday, 5/22):

    We’re up at 3:20am and out the door by 3:50am. We headed back to the machines near the Rewards Center, taking a couple 1 liter bottles of water and ice with us and we’re playing our video poker by 4am. A drink lady shows right away and we ordered OJ and black coffee for me, TJ and black decaf for Wifey. For today’s daily swipe, Wifey gets a $5 dining offer while I will receive extra points on my card – 5 points instead of 3 for every $4 through the machine.

    Today is Allen’s (our Son-in-Law’s) birthday and we told him we would give him 10% of any winnings for the day. And no, he did not agree to pay 10% of any loses for the day.

    At 5am, Wifey hits her first ‘four deuces’ of the day. Yippee!

    At 6:23am, Wifey hits her second ‘four deuces’ of the day. Yippee!

    At 7am, we headed to the Feast Buffet. Back to our machines. Wifey is playing again by 7:40am while I started up again at 7:45am.

    At 9:17am, Wifey hits her third ‘four deuces’ of the day. Yippee!

    For lunch today, I grabbed a slice of pepperoni pizza and Wifey opted for a greek salad. This afternoon, Wifey went to the gift shop to pick up several 1-liter bottles of water. Oh, no!!! They ran out of the 1-liter bottles of water. The same thing happened on our last trip in October. The gift shop gave Wifey their phone number and suggested we call them 2 weeks before our next trip to Aliante Station and they’ll order extra 1-liter bottles of water.

    At 12:30pm, Wifey hits her fourth ‘four deuces’ of the day. Yippee!

    At 1:05pm, Wifey hits her fifth ‘four deuces’ of the day. Yippee!

    At 2:50pm, our favorite drink lady comes by. I tell her “It’s time.” Her reply was “It’s time? Oh, it’s time!”. She then knew we were ready to switch to Merlot.

    At 4:05pm, Wifey hits her sixth ‘four deuces’ of the day. Yippee!

    Let’s do another recap of this bank of three video poker machines at 4:06pm. I’m playing the machine in the middle. Wifey is playing the machine to my right. The machine to my left has had little play today. What’s wrong with this picture? Over the past 12 hours, Wifey’s machine has hit ‘four deuces’ six times. The machine to my left has hit ‘four deuces’ twice. My machine has not hit ‘four deuces’ today. It’s a good thing when I play my video poker, I’m patient. Very Patient. For dinner, we split a turkey sandwich from Capriotti’s Sandwich shop.

    At 5:28pm, I hit my first ‘four deuces’ of the day. Yippee!

    Wifey played until 4:55pm and called it a night after 12 hours 20 minutes while I played until 7:45pm after playing for 15 hours 5 minutes. We ended up $280 for the day so Allen (our Son-in-Law) will see an extra $28 for his birthday. I checked with the host on duty (my host was on vacation while we were in Vegas) to see if they could supply transportation for us back to the airport Thursday morning at 8:15am. No problem. I then called up Presidential Limo and cancelled our ride for Thursday morning. We just saved $75.

    Day 7 Gambling Summary:

    Me
    - down $450.00 for the day (18 ‘wild royals’, 1 ‘four deuces’)
    - down $1,850.00 for the trip (includes $1000 loss from Craps)
    Wifey
    - up $730.00 for the day (20 ‘wild royals’, 6 ‘four deuces’)
    - up $3,150.00 for the trip
    Team
    - up $1,465.00 for the trip (includes $165 profit from betting number 17 on 5/17)

    Day 8 (Wednesday, 5/23):

    We’re up at 3:45am and out the door by 3:50am. We headed back to the machines near the Rewards Center, taking a couple 1 liter bottles of water and ice with us and we’re playing our video poker by 4am. A drink lady shows right away and we ordered OJ and black coffee for me, TJ and black decaf for Wifey. For today’s daily swipe, Wifey gets a $5 dining offer while I will receive extra points on my card – 5 points instead of 3 for every $4 through the machine.

    We decided to make this ‘Grandkids’ day so 10% of any winnings for today will be split by our Granddaughter Olivia and Grandson Domenic. Their Mommy (Jessica) made sure we understood they would not be responsible for paying 10% of any losses for the day. Jessica then asked when her day is. She wanted in on this 10% of day’s winning thing. Uh oh, we’ve run out of days. Since today (Day 8) is ‘Grandkids’ day, that only leaves tomorrow morning before we head to the airport. Wifey didn’t think that would be fair to Jessica to only have a few hours in her “day” and since her birthday is in August, we decided she can pick her day on our next trip to Vegas, hopefully in October, 2012. Of course, we explained to Jessica that she has to pick which day would be her day at a chance for 10% of the day’s winning before the next trip actual begins. She can’t wait for the October trip report and then pick which day was her day.

    At 7am, we headed to the Feast Buffet. Back to our machines. We’re both playing again at our machines by 7:40am.

    At 9:02am, Wifey hits her first ‘four deuces’ of the day. Yippee!

    At 9:30am, I hit my first ‘four deuces’ of the day. Yippee!

    I have no idea what we had for lunch today. But the gift shop did get a new supply of 1-liter bottles of water today. At 3pm, we ordered a couple Merlots but the bar station our drink lady uses were out of the big wine glasses. Bummer. Up to now, we’ve never had a problem on this trip getting wine glasses with our first wine order. We’d keep our glasses and get refills from the juice glasses of wine they normally bring. Wine tastes so much better in real wine glasses. We’d have to wait a couple hours today before we get wine glasses.

    At 3:10pm, Wifey hits her second ‘four deuces’ of the day. Yippee!

    At 4:05pm, we stopped playing long enough to head back to Pasta Cucina for half price dining. We both ordered the North Atlantic Salmon. I was a bit disappointed and won’t order it again. I’ll probably stick to pasta dishes. This time, it cost us 21,980 points to cover our dinner bill. We saved $21.98 off dinner. After dinner, Wifey decided to call it a night after playing for 12 hours but not before going to the rewards center and cashing in 317,000 points from both our cards for $317 in cash. I went back to my machine at 5:45pm and played until 6:30pm, calling it a night after 12 hours 50 minutes.

    Day 8 Gambling Summary:

    Me
    - down $250.00 for the day (22 ‘wild royals’, 1 ‘four deuces’)
    - down $2,100.00 for the trip (includes $1000 loss from Craps)
    Wifey
    - down $880.00 for the day (10 ‘wild royals’, 2 ‘four deuces’)
    - up $2,270.00 for the trip
    Team
    - up $335.00 for the trip (includes $165 profit from betting number 17 on 5/17)

    Well, we had a loss today so the grandkids don’t get anything extra for their savings accounts. Sorry Olivia, sorry Domenic. After 8 days, we are only up $335.00 but the trip isn’t over yet. We plan to play 2-3 hours in the morning and will take a chance that we may end up with an overall gambling lost. Hey, we came to gamble and gamble we shall.

    Day 9 (Thursday, 5/24):

    We’re up at 3am and pack up for the return trip. We head out the door at 3:48am. We’re both at our machines by 3:55am.

    At 4:45am, I hit my first ‘four deuces’ of the day. Yippee!

    It took over an hour for a drink lady to show up. We order our usual juice and coffees.

    At 5:49am, I hit my second ‘four deuces’ of the day. Yippee!

    The next time the drink lady came around, I order a Merlot in a glass. After I did that I realized that may have sounded silly. I meant to ask for a Merlot in a wine glass. When she brings my wine, no wine glass. She brought me wine in a juice glass. I explained to her that when I said in a glass I meant a wine glass. She proceeded to tell me they can’t bring wine glasses out on the casino floor. Excuse me, but I’ve asked for and received a wine glass for the past 8 days.

    At 6:26am, I hit my third ‘four deuces’ of the day. Yippee!

    The next drink lady to come by brings me a Merlot in a wine glass.

    At 6:36am, I hit my fourth ‘four deuces’ of the day. Yippee!

    At 7:02am, I hit my fifth ‘four deuces’ of the day. Yippee!

    We cash out at 7:30am, after playing for 3 hours and 30 minutes. We then headed to the Feast Buffet for breakfast.

    Day 9 Gambling Summary:

    Me
    - up $1,250.00 for the day (6 ‘wild royals’, 5 ‘four deuces’)
    - down $850.00 for the trip (includes $1000 loss from Craps)
    Wifey
    - down $250.00 for the day (5 ‘wild royals’)
    - up $2,020.00 for the trip
    Team
    - up $1,335.00 for the trip (includes $165 profit from betting number 17 on 5/17)

    Oops, if this morning was “daughter day”, she would have received $100.00 (10% of this morning’s winnings). Oh well, better luck in October.

    We head back to the room, grab our luggage and head to front desk to check out. I asked the front desk to have the host on duty review our charges and I would contact her upon returning home. We head to the bell desk to meet our driver at 8:15am and head for the airport.

    Mission Accomplished!!! We (as a team) beat the casino. After 8 days/nights, we ended up $2,170.00 in VP, down $1000.00 in Craps, and up $165 in Roulette (betting $5 on number 17). Overall, we were up $1,335.00 (gambling wise) for the trip.

    At the airport, I sent an e-mail to the host on duty at Aliante Station letting her know that we had a wonderful but exhausting trip to Las Vegas. We combined to cycle $194,864.00 through the video poker machines over 8 days for an average of $24,358.00 per day playing video poker. I also had an hour and 20 minute session in Craps. The host ended up taking $216.69 in food charges off our bill in addition to having a car take us back to the airport.

    We hope to return to Aliante Station in October, 2012.

    Total Gambling this Trip:
    Wifey/Hubby combined for $194,864.00 ($24,358.00 per day average) cycled through the machines over 8 days/nights
    Total combined number of hands played = 155,891 @ $1.25 per hand
    Hours played (VP) - ~205.38 hours (~25.7 hours per day @ ~ 759 hands per hour)
    Hours played (Craps) - 1.33 hours
    Total hours play (VP/Craps) - 206. 86 (~25.86 hours per day)
    Royal Flush (5) - average of 1 every 31,178 hands
    Four Deuces (39) - average of 1 every 3,997 hands
    Wild Royal (248) - average of 1 every 628 hands

    Total Winnings/Losses this Trip:
    Wifey: +$2,020.00 in casino gambling (video poker)
    Hubby: +$150.00 in casino gambling (video poker), -$1000.00 in Craps
    Team: +165.00 in Roulette
    Combined: +$1,335.00 after 8 days/nights

    Comps this Trip:
    - Reduced rate for nights 1-8 ($50.99 + 14.99 + 7.92 tax) = $591.20. Host took an additional $216.69 off final bill (MRKT, CABO, Feast) plus supplied transportation to airport.

    Final Thoughts:
    - Mission accomplished - we “Beat the Casino”.
    - Presidential Limo is really nice.
    - Aliante Station serves pretty good Merlot.
    - Note to self => stay away from Craps.
    - Drink service was hit and miss this trip
    - Wifey beat me 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. Thank goodness I brought (and used) my wrist brace and SALONPAS (medicated heat patches) on most days for my hands. These made the occasional wrist/hand pain manageable. I also took some Aleve this trip.
    - We find we can play longer each day if we hold off on the Wine until later in the afternoon.
    - Non-smoking should mean non-smoking. Enough said.
     
  2. Joe

    Joe VIP Whale

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    Great report as always.:thumbsup: Nice going on a winning trip!

    Don't ever play at The Cal. Except in the restaurants, all wine served in plastic cups on the floor and at the bar. Yuck, it just ruins it.

    We have marathon days of 12-14 hrs on VP, but the one thing I don't get is how you eat at the machine. From past reports I know that is your norm, but we have to quit, wash our hands and go to a restaurant.:peace:

    No carpal tunnel but I get video poker finger because I tend to use the same finger each time to to hit the hold button.

    Anyway, congrats on the win and maybe our paths will cross in Oct. We'll be there for our 31st and now I'm going to have to bet #31 on roulette.:wink2: Never made a roulette bet before.
     
  3. Drambler

    Drambler High-Roller

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    Thanks for the great detailed report. That is an amazing amount of royals you hit there. Congratulations on the luck.

    Since you play so heavy, do you think the comps you got are in line with your play? It seems like you should have gotten money off the room too. I don';t play VP all that much so I may be off base here.
     
  4. cruiser

    cruiser High-Roller

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    Joe,
    We actually left our machines to get something to eat more on this trip than ever before. We left each day at 7am to eat at the Feast Buffet except on Sunday, we left our machines at 12:15pm to have their bunch. We also left to eat dinner at MRKT Sea & Land, Cabo, and twice to eat at Pasta Cucina. Luckily, we got our machines back afterwards.

    Cruiser
     
  5. cruiser

    cruiser High-Roller

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    Drambler,

    Between our trip last October (8 days/nights) and this one (also 8 days/nights), we should have been due about 7 royals between us. We got 11 (6 back in October and 5 on this trip). Overall in video poker, after ~2.2 million hands of full pay deuces wild, we got 46 royals. That's an average of one every 47,993 hands. We should get them (on average) every 45,281 hands so we're still short 2-3 royals overall. As far as comps are concerned, I have no idea how much of a factor my craps play was this trip. 1 hour 20 minute session with average bet of $200 and I lost about $1000. I'm sure most of our comps were based on VP play and since we only play the optimum (over 100% payback) machines, the casino aren't as generous as we'd like. We've never had to pay for a room at Sunset Station but Aliante Station is much nicer and more expensive to stay at then Sunset Station. At least they offer us a better rate then we can get online and they've been taking some amount of charges off our final bill at Aliante Station. We'd really like to receive some free room offers. On our next trip later this year, I plan to ask for a car pickup at the airport. Worst case, they say no.

    Cruiser
     
  6. Tree DA

    Tree DA High-Roller

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    Do they factor in the fact that you play optimal? Or is one's theo based on optimal play regardless of how one actually plays? If so, i can see how machines that payback over 100% when played optimally would have a low theo and therefore lower comps for the players.
     
  7. Slick

    Slick Tourist

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    Sounds like a great trip! Loved all the details!
     
  8. Joe

    Joe VIP Whale

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    Boyd places downtown, at least MSS, you earn fewer card points when playing some of the 100%+ machines.

    Some of them even have a little plaque on the machine disclosing it. I'm sure it would somehow apply to comps also.
     
  9. AliGee

    AliGee Low-Roller

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    I have read at least one of your TRs before, and this one was just as detailed. I am fascinated by the discipline it takes to play like that. And you beat the casino! Well done!
     
  10. Drambler

    Drambler High-Roller

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    Thanks for that detailed info. I like someone who really knows the numbers. I play VP about maybe four to six hours a year tops. In my 15 years of gambling I have never hit a royal. I play Deuces Wild and have gotten four deuces once. So that is why I was amazed at the number of royals you received, although you showed you should have gotten more.

    Great report though. I love the ones were people gamble the whole time.
     
  11. Mauretania

    Mauretania Tourist

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    Wow, sounds similar to my visits including starting between 3:30 - 4:30am, playing 12 - 14 hours a day, the "Bobbie" from Capriotti's, merlot at 4pm but switch the Stations resort and the VP game. I've never liked deuces.

    Numbers missing - what is the bankroll you each start with? (if you don't mind my asking) What bankroll do you each start with, each day? Do you split the "team" winnings? We don't:evillaugh

    Thanks for your report!
     
  12. Liondownnow

    Liondownnow Low-Roller

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    I am amazed that you never had a person sitting at your machines when you returned to them.
     
  13. wilsje1

    wilsje1 Tourist

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    Your "Lack" of comps

    I, for one, am impressed with that fact that you get comps above and beyond the drinks, those obtained thru points, and other little freebies, I'd expect you'd do much better comp wise if you toned your craps bet down, played a little each day just to show you play something less than 100% as DW is fairly easy to play at above 100% theo, these days with the internet trainers and I'm sure they see how you focus on this game especially and figure their theo is 0 from you, so my guess is they like you to some degree and thus give you the extras... A game like double bonus, while also technically >100% is much easier for them to theo at like 1% or so as most play it at this, though this too if a card showed as much action on virtually only DB they would probably also figure the theo near 0, with DW that extra .59% would I imagine make it much more difficult for a Host to argue to his boss that you deserve comps above and beyond your points,

    J
     
  14. dbueler

    dbueler High-Roller

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    When I see an Alliante Station TR, I always know it's yours and I hunker down for a good read! I admire your stamina and discipline, and you are correct, you guys did eat away from the machines more than usual!

    Although I do dearly love my VP, my trips to LV are a splendid getaway from my 3 teenagers, my full+ time job that requires travel each week, cooking, etc... so I do try to sleep in (but not late enough to miss the bfast buffet!) and relax in the pool or spa. Isn't it great that LV is something for everyone?

    Congrats on another winning trip, and thank you for taking the time to write this for us, love the stats!
    diane
     
  15. bigmoneyvic

    bigmoneyvic Tourist

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    Great report, great detail. And black 17 is one of my best friends...lol
     
  16. dfalk

    dfalk VIP Whale

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    Whats the reasoning for waking up at 3:30 in the morning?!? That's just crazy talk right there.
     
  17. agirl

    agirl Low-Roller

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    Stations and Comps

    Stations would give you BIG LOVE for your play if you would just switch from your 100.07% FPDW to the 99.73% NSU. You would get a TON of points because you earn more points on those machines (which can also be used, as you know, for cash or free play as well as meals) and the offers for free rooms, free play, buffets, and point multipliers would come in on postcards sent to you or on the internet at mystations.com. You wouldn't even need a host. Believe me, I know this because when we made the switch away from the full-pay VP, that's what happened to us. We get a mailer each month and they overlap each other, so we never have to pay for our rooms or try to bargain with a host. (even at GVR or Red Rock). We go to Vegas about 5x a year and always stay at Stations, and we play quarter VP (NSU, 5/8 bonus, 6/9 DDB). We don't even play near as many hours as you do, and we still get the offers every month.

    I know you're happy with your plan and you did great, but you might consider trying it just once as an experiment to see what happens. I would also suggest playing on one card to get to a higher level in their player's club, and escpecially if one or the other has a point multiplier.
     
  18. Nevada Kid

    Nevada Kid VIP Whale

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    I was about to ask the same thing... do you each have your own card and play on separateer accounts, or do you share one account?
     
  19. wilsje1

    wilsje1 Tourist

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    Switching to NSU

    Got to say that switching to this game from FPDW is truly insane. Indeed, if you figured your expected theo is 1% less given the difference in expected paytables then, given your amount of play, this is an incredibly large number, far and away enough that if you spent just half of this on yourself you can pretend you are being comped it all and still make out with a profit. I for one would never play a lesser than 100% game that is essentially the same just to get more comps, CRAAAZY
     
  20. Jimbucc

    Jimbucc VIP Whale

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    Great report as usual. Glad you had a winning trip. Too bad the craps table took your money. I think croupier is the name for the roulette dealers. Nice win for yourselves and your friend. :wave:
     
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