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Trip Report: Aug 27-31

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by redguy88, Sep 3, 2012.

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  1. redguy88

    redguy88 Tourist

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    My Trip Report

    Before I report about my trip, I want to first thank all of those on this forum who were so kind to give their thoughts and advice to me.

    Monday, August 27th

    Now, to lay this all out, I am 23 years old and single. I was with my mother, her husband and her mother, my 76 year old Grandmother who has been coming to Las Vegas since 1990. She can be very annoying, and even though we did a good deed, never again will we bring her. She calls Margaritaville "Mariettaville", saw Mitt Romney on TV and called him "Rodney" instead of "Romney, and has been known all her life as not having a lot of class. I love her, she's my grandmother, but it's true.

    We arrived in from Cleveland and checked in at Harrah's Las Vegas around 11am. I was disappointed to find out that the hotel did not have wireless internet, so in the middle of the week, I decided to purchase 24 hours worth of internet access only to find out the Ethernet cable in the hotel room did not fit into my laptop. If I went to Vegas again in the future, I'd probably stay at a different hotel. It was nice enough, but Venetian really caught my eye while being down there.

    Anyway, we went to lunch in Harrah's cafe which was good. We then played a little at Harrah's and my Grandmother hit $725 on 25-cent slots. I lost. We moved out and walked over to Margaritaville and Flamingo where I began playing the "Elvis" slot machine. I loved that machine. I'd do max bet of $2 and get flaming wilds which would translate into a win of anything from $30 to $70. The bonus rounds were fun too, especially the "Heartbreak Hotel" bonus, where I won up to $80. But remember, I was still playing winnings and overall was down.

    While at Margaritaville in Flamingo, my mother's husband hit $500 on The Wizard of Oz slot machine. My mother on the other hand, was down.

    After an afternoon nap, we decided to walk to Venetian, and my Grandmother was set on buying dinner for us all. She wanted "spaghetti". She ended up taking us to the Food Court in Venetian where we ate one of the grossest meals I can ever remember. The food was served on paper plates without trays, and was all heavily processed. My grandmother thought it was delicious, we thanked her and choked it down. After this time, she wanted to "go back to the room".

    After she headed back, I changed into something a little more snazzy. My mother and I walked to The Mirage and tried some slots, I did okay but very little. Maybe breaking even or $10 bucks ahead. We then returned to Venetian. I won about $40 on Happy Days on a high bet bonus. The Elvis machine there didn't put out for me, neither did the Michael Jackson machine. A machine called "Lil Red" did okay for me, but "Jaws" and "Ghostbusters" didn't do a thing. Literally. No bonuses at all. For "Jaws" I didn't even get any wilds or anything. My "Grease" machine which I had done well on in Cleveland also didn't do anything.

    Overall, at first it seemed somewhat of a letdown.

    Tuesday, August 28th

    We decided to take advice I had gotten and try out Planet Hollywood, Paris and Wynn.

    We started at Wynn, where my mother, grandmother and I had lunch while my mom's husband stayed to play at Wynn Casino. I ate a chicken wrap which was delicious. The waiter wanted my mother. My grandmother slipped off her shoes revealing bunions which damn near brought my food back to the surface.

    We then played at Wynn, Paris and Planet Hollywood. I suffered greatly and was out of money (although I had several hundred in my hotel safe). I took a $100 bill out of the bank and inserted it into the "Elvis" machine at Flamingo Margaritaville and instantly got flaming wilds on a max bet and cashed out a $150 voucher. This made me feel a little better. I returned to my room at Harrah's and got more money, dressed up a little snazzy, and we went to dinner at Outback Steakhouse near Casino Royale next door. After a magnificent steak dinner and several drinks, we began walking down the strip. My Grandmother forced us into Imperial Palace which was being renovated and I immediately got the sense I would lose, which I did. So did my mother. Within 20 minutes, I was down $80 and my mother was down $100.

    I returned to the hotel room and fell asleep, still having not won much at all.

    Wednesday, August 29th

    I woke up the following morning, and went downstairs. We all had a great breakfast at the Cafe in Harrah's and played Keno. We discussed how none of us had really "won" thus far. This was in contrast to a year ago when my mother and her husband won $4000 between the two of them. The vouchers last year were huge. $400, $600, $300, ect ect. This year they were $100 or less. Even my mother's husband, who had struck $500 on Wizard of Oz on Monday, was now down, having played most of the winnings. I still had more money tucked away in my hotel room safe, but I was cautious.

    My grandmother was irritating because she still had an un-cashed voucher for $725 from Monday from winning at Harrah's but was acting like she hadn't won a thing! This could get irritating, believe me.

    After breakfast, we decided to try our luck a little at Casino Royale next door. Looks can be deceiving, but Casino Royale was actually not that tight. I played Elvis twice and printed out two $80 vouchers, which doesn't seem big, but when you keep losing, winning $60 bucks on a $20 dollar bill is fun.

    We grabbed a cheap lunch at Subway (Eat Fresh), and then sashayed over to Flamingo. By this time, I had drank quite a few drinks in the casino even though I did not feel drunk at all. While at Flamingo Margaritaville, I played and lost more on the Elvis slot machine, the same one I had just done well on at Casino Royale. I decided to have some waters and sober up at the bar there in the casino, and a beautiful young woman who was there with her girlfriend sat down next to me and struck up a conversation. I bought her a couple Cosmos, and after talking long enough to find out she wasn't a working girl, I asked if she would like to have dinner with me that night. She accepted and we discovered we both were staying in the same hotel and leaving on the same day.

    I went back to my hotel room, turned on some TV and watched a bit of the Republican National Convention while I showered and rested before getting dressed up and heading downstairs. I met my date and we were both starving. We went into the Piano Bar but it was crowded, noisy (which I hate) and they were not serving food. We decided to leave and we ate at a gourmet burger restaurant there at Harrah's where I had a Thanksgiving Dinner Burger, complete with gravy, dressing and cranberry sauce. She had the pulled pork burger. It was all delicious and surprisingly quite affordable.

    After dinner, we went outside Harrah's to the Carnival Court and had drinks and watched a band perform. The crowd was very rowdy and festive and I felt a bit more like I was in "Vegas" and not just some Nevada tourist attraction.

    We retired back to the hotel shortly after that, both exhausted. I will not disclose exactly what occurred, but needless to say we had a good, slightly risqué time.

    Thursday, August 30th

    I woke up at around 9am to a text message from my mother telling me that her and her husband were both in a cab headed for the medical urgent care because he was violently ill. It turns out it was kidney stones that had plagued him in the past. As my grandmother wandered from the Harrah's casino and to her room and back, I stayed in the casino and played a little Alice and Wonderland while sipping coffee and receiving updates from my mother via texts. After giving him IV fluids and strong painkillers, he was allowed to leave the urgent care with the caveat that he did not drink anymore alcohol on the trip. I went to Flamingo and Margaritaville briefly and lost a tiny bit on the Elvis machine while sipping a Bloody Mary.

    We returned to the rooms and decided to grab lunch at Subway again and I lost about $40 on Elvis there at Casino Royale but then won back pretty much all of it once again. Breaking even but not enough to make a significant difference. My mother's husband decided to go rest in his room and my grandmother was going to go do her own thing.

    My mom and I headed a little down the strip towards Venetian to go to Madam Tussaud's Wax museum. It was awesome. I got to take pictures with DeNiro, Bush, Obama, and even John Wayne. My mother even got a picture with her charming icon, Bradley Cooper.

    Afterwards, my mother and I played a bit at Venetian again, and I did okay on Lil' Red and Sex and the City. We then returned to the hotel room, and rested a bit.

    Later that night, we met downstairs and decided to catch a taxi to take us downtown. This was the old-style Las Vegas. This was the Las Vegas I always pictured and what you saw in older films. We went to the Golden Nugget casino where I won a little bit on Wheel of Fortune, and also had a brief conversation with a woman who was clearly a working girl. She had a stripper name, said she lived in Las Vegas and was in "intimate private gentleman's entertainment". She quickly sensed that I wasn't going to pay a hooker, so she said goodbye. As I was exiting the casino a few minutes later, I heard her telling a guy at the bar the same conversation she told me verbatim. I got a kick outta that. Funny. Hardy har.

    My family and I walked outside and watched a Bon Jovi concert on the huge ceiling screen above our heads. It was very cool. We then stepped into the Mermaid casino which looked as authentic as can be, as if it hadn't been cleaned since the late 1980s. They had cups for coins that are dispensed, and even had a payphone! We ate a very cheap and unhealthy meal and then headed to a few more casinos. I ended up losing until I was out of the money I had brought for the night. We then returned to the hotel room while my mother and her husband went to The Mirage and MGM and won some money. I went to my room and fell asleep.

    Friday, August 31st

    I packed up the last morning around 11am, and headed downstairs to Harrah's casino. I grabbed a coffee at Starbucks and had my morning cigarette. While there, I won a small bit on Alice and Wonderland but not much luck. I was down to roughly $120 or so. I then mosied over to the Aladdin slot which I had done minimal on at the Mirage casino on Monday night. I put in a $20 and cashed out a $70 voucher. I ordered a coffee and decided to continue playing. I put in a $100. My last $100. I did a $2 bet (the second highest possible bet) and as my money ticked from $100 to about $80, I hit the bonus feature. I then got the "Clash of the Genies" bonus where you pick random gems and hope to win money and continue the bonus.

    I quickly selected gems. $10. $15. $30. $25. I moved on and repeated twice and then had a chance to find the princess, which I did. I cashed out a $250 voucher. I sipped my coffee and stuck in another $20 and ended up cashing out a $150 voucher. Later on, I played a $100 bill again and lost doing high bets...but I just had to try.

    We left for the airport 15 minutes later, and it was back off to Ohio. But of course, I had a few hundred dollars more than I had just before leaving, which made me feel a bit better. We flew back through the remnants of Hurricane Isaac, causing a bumpy flight, but a hell of a tailwind. We ended up landing 50 minutes early in Cleveland. By the time we got home it was late Friday night/early Saturday morning...and I began typing this trip report.

    My mother and others insisted that when I returned from Las Vegas, I would want to go back immediately. I was skeptical of this at first, but by the third day there, I wish I lived there. :)

    Mike
     

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  2. Candy Apple

    Candy Apple VIP Whale

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    Thanks for the trip report & photos!
     
  3. Tbone3336

    Tbone3336 VIP Whale

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    Thanks for the great report! Appreciate the effort to remember all that and type it up.
     
  4. casey

    casey Tourist

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    Enjoyed your trip report. Fun to go with family. Even Gramma. Mine would have loved it. Thanks for posting.:cheers:
     
  5. mdk63

    mdk63 Low-Roller

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    Never,

    Never, Never look at your grandmother's feet. That goes for all of you all!
     
  6. ardee

    ardee It's only money.

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    Thanks for taking the time to write up a report.

    I also find the Aladdin slot to be a lot of fun. Congrats on finding the princess and getting the bonus.
    I haven't done that yet but hope to on our trip next week.

    You've got the Vegas bug now. You'll be back. :beer:
     
  7. ATXTX

    ATXTX VIP Whale

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    Gawd that was funny. I had to read that a few times - the waiter wanted you mom - to do do what? ... oooooh!
    How awkward.... and then the Bunions.

    Well you had one good evening anyway. :wink2:
     
    When we Were Young
  8. Dpin300

    Dpin300 Low-Roller

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    Good report!

    thanks for sharing!
     
  9. ardee

    ardee It's only money.

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    LOL! I was going to ask the same thing! :thumbsup:
     
  10. redguy88

    redguy88 Tourist

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    I should note just for reference that every slot is of course a game of chance, but these are the main ones I did good or bad on:

    Negative plays

    Jaws *never one wild or bonus or anything
    Grease *empty machines everywhere, tried once, no bonus
    John Wayne
    Playboy *empty machines everywhere, tried once, no bonus
    Battleship *not a single bonus
    Wizard of Oz
    Happy Days
    Michael Jackson *lacking bonuses, low wins on bonus
    Ghostbusters *not a single bonus all week

    Positive plays

    Sex and the City
    Alice and Wonderland *Alice respins put out decently
    Elvis * most wins
    Aladdin * biggest wins
    Lil Red
    Wheel of Fortune
     
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