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Funkhouser keeps it All in the Family TR Feb 2014

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by Funkhouser, Mar 3, 2014.

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  1. Funkhouser

    Funkhouser In Charge of the Big Door

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    My Trip Report

    DISCLAIMER!!
    **** This is going to be a long trip report since it covers 6 days in Vegas
    I am going to try to break it up and post a little each day, since I have a lot of pictures and daily commentary.
    **********************************************************
    Well folks as the title suggests, this was my first outing to Vegas in 2014 and it was fully encroached upon by the lovely Mrs Funkhouser a non gambling Vegas visitor and her family. The plan was to spend 6 days in Vegas with just over half the trip with family, and two days solo by myself.

    We arrived late Friday at McCarran airport due to all the weather problems on the east coast Friday causing numerous flight cancellations. Delta managed to get us into a 8pm flight to
    Vegas via Detroit and we arrived around 11pm. I was thankful, but kept us waiting outside the gate on tarmac for 20 mins waiting for the boarding ramp to be moved. Once at the gate we were able to make a quick hop off the flight and our bags were waiting on us when we reached baggage claim.

    Walked to the cab stand and found no wait. A short ride 10 mins later found us in the lobby of the Palms Place where we had booked one night. I wanted to take a crack at their full pay VP and the suites looked pretty nice online. We were upgraded with out asking to a 1 bedroom corner suite with views of the south strip and a view of the Orleans.

    Palms Place Balcony 2.jpg

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    Palms Place Living Room (2).jpg

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    Palms Place Kitchen 2.jpg

    I found the suite very spacious although it did show some slight wear after 6 years of use. All and all a bargain for the $80 dollar a night priceline rate + resort fee.
    We dumped the luggage in the room and took the long walk via Palms skytube over to the casino floor for a quick late night bite at the food court. Earl of Sandwich did not disappoint.

    Wife was tired but humored me by playing some penny play on Phantom of the Opera slots while I walked over and ordered a round from the bar. Cocktail service was no where to be found at 12:30 am in Palms!

    We managed to get a few small hits, wife ran her $20 I gave her up to $60 with a few small bonuses, I dumped a $100 on various penny slots until I caught a good bonus on Lord of the Rings which brought me back and and I finished up $80 dollars. Wife was crashing hard so we headed up to bed around 1:30am. She knew I would be hitting it early on the casino floor.


    I woke up around 6am Vegas time on Saturday and hit the casino floor for coffee and VP. I Found a bank of quarter near full pay 9/6 Boner Deluxe and burned thru $100 in short order with no Quads and very few full houses. I had managed to pull 4 to the Royal 5 times on the draw and then bombed out each time for crap low cards upon holding AKQ10. Frustrated I swore off VP
    and moved over to an electronic craps game where I managed to win back my earlier VP losses. I screwed around for another 30 minutes and went back to 9/7 DDB only to dump $100 again with no quads and very few three of kinds, straights and flushes. I drew 4 cards for the flush around 10 times only managing to hitting one flush draw. Very frustrating to have premium VP pay-tables before you and walk away with crap after about 500 hands of VP. The Lord of The Rings slot machine appeared to be my savior again, $50 in I clawed back my losses in 15 minutes finishing even at $200.

    Wife buzzed me on cell that she was awake, so I grabbed her a red bull from the bar and headed up to the room. We ordered room service and enjoyed the room till our check out at 11am.

    We grabbed a cab over to Bally's, and used diamond check-in where we were giving a room in Bally's Jubilee tower with great view of south strip and Bellagio Fountains at 11:30am.

    After settling into the room, the wife headed over to the Qua spa while I hit the quarter progressives at Bally's. I got a few hits, making three 4OAK but nothing worth mentioning. They kept me alive on my $100 buy in for two hours and the drink services was good, before I busted out. Again I missed two Royals, where 4 cards were dealt for the Royal in Diamonds but the Jack failed to appear. I had lots of 3 card dealt to Royal (at least 10) which resulted in nothing as well

    Bally Progressive 4OAK.jpg Ballys Progressive 4OAK Jacks.jpg

    Wife got back around 3:30pm which gave us time to clean up and hit the Paris Diamond Lounge. Our evening plan was drinks, followed by dinner at Mon Ami Gabi, and then we had tickets for Divas at The Quad.
     
    Last edited: Mar 3, 2014
  2. smartone

    smartone VIP Whale

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    Good lookin' suite!
     
  3. NYPoker

    NYPoker Tourist

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    That suite looks really cool! I like all the stainless steel.
     
  4. VegasDave

    VegasDave Addicted

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    Not a terrible start, I look forward to more pics and a good read. Thanks for the teaser.
     
  5. DrLect

    DrLect Winning!

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    It is important to enjoy the room as often as possible!
     
  6. Funkhouser

    Funkhouser In Charge of the Big Door

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    Dude looks like a lady....

    Wife returned from the Qua spa feeling refreshed. We showered and changed and headed to Paris diamond lounge. Passing by the newly remodeled Indigo lounge. I was pretty impressed with what they did with the place, but it looks like the took out the dance floor. :cry: It was one of the few places in Vegas where a old guy like me felt comfortable dancing with my wife.

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    We hit the diamond lounge and started drinking Espresso Martini's and B52 shots. Wife and I were pretty buzzed and ready for dinner. A ten spot to the hostess found us quickly seated on the patio looking at Bellagio Fountains.

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    We enjoyed a leisurely meal, steak for me and Salmon for the wife. We passed on desert and walked over to Bellagio for gelato.

    We walked down the strip over to the Quad, where we sat down at one of the bad blackjack Dealertainer tables. The guy dealing for us was "Joliet Jake" we started out choppy and then caught a run of face cards. Managed to triple my $100 buy due to some good bet presses which had back to back blackjacks. Wife was thrilled to win $50 bucks. We both colored up and walked around Quad. We hit the new Titan game and each caught the bonus in 10 mins but no progressive. Stopped in at the new OShea's and listed to some good live music at bar. Playe $20 at VP and got really excited when I hit Fours with Ace kicker before I realized that I was on Bonus Poker. :cry:

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    We heading up the Diva's showroom on 3rd level of Quad around 9pm and were seated on second level with direct site of stage. No bad seats for free Diamond tickets. I was surprised with how crowded this show was. This was the first time seeing a drag show and I was surprised with how much I liked it! The energy of the crowd was insane (Lots of bachelorettes) and the performers were really talented.

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    After the show we did not feel like fighting the crowd so we rode monorail back. Got some up close shots of the High Roller from Quad station.

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  7. aaronw915

    aaronw915 Low-Roller

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    Enjoying the report and the pictures. Not sure i'll make it to the drag show when i'm out there in May though haha. The Linq looks massive!!! Hope you have a great rest of the trip
     
  8. Funkhouser

    Funkhouser In Charge of the Big Door

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    After getting back to Bally's wife mentioned she was hungry so we decided to go over Sugar Factory for a late night bite. Looking over to Sully's I spotted Macker sitting at the bar and Donnie. Wife hit the restroom while I went over to say hi to Macker. Wife and I passed on Sugar Factory since we did not like their late night menu and decided to hit Planet Dailies at PHo where we played my favorite late night game "Is it the booze or taking a snooze".

    The guys at the table were pretty drunk, and had their hands folded and eyes closed like they were praying to the liquor gods. Unfortunately my battery on my phone was dead. The sober guy at the table was quickly snapping pics on his smartphone and we could tell this would shortly become a "Facebook Moment".

    Service was good and I got the late night breakfast special of eggs and pancakes while wife opted for a salad. On the way out I thru twenty in a Bier Haus slot I usually play and caught a quick bonus for $84 on a .50 bet and hit the minor progressive for $48. Again managing to win back money spent on meals and tips for the day.

    I walked the wife back up to the room and headed down to the casino. Played some on the .25 progressive banks at Bally's. I got a couple more sets of 4OAK but no premium hands. Dropped a hundy in these after about and hour of play finally busting out.

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    Got up to hit the washroom, and stopped by roulette table and spread out a couple of splits on usual numbers. 4/10 10/11 14/17 17/20 and 10 straight up on 22. Well you can probably guess what happens next. :wink2: 17 pops and I make $45 bucks on spin. I recover my bets and double up on 22, the next roulette spin comes out, bounces into #35 and then pops out and into the number 22! I let out a loud shout as I get a nice hit of $700. High five the dealer, and throw her a green chip tip. A quick drunken tally puts me still up $650 for the trip one day in including after meals and tips. A nice start since I usually find myself in the hole by now.

    I decide to head back up to room in Jubilee tower when I run into Macker at the progressive banks by front door. We bullshit a bit and Macker heads over to Sullys to be mistreated by a ****** bartender while decide to call it a night.

    Wife must have smelled the money on me, because as soon as I got up to the room she asked how I did. As Clark Griswold would say, the answer was..."About even..":evillaugh
     
  9. Funkhouser

    Funkhouser In Charge of the Big Door

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    Woke up Sunday morning around 9:00 am, showered, and headed down to casino while wife slept in. Headed to Sully's bartops where Mike was working this morning and I got my coffee in a paper cup. Apparently the glass washers were down.

    Slipped a twenty into bartop and quickly hit four kings.

    [[​IMG]

    Played for awhile on winnings and had 4 to the royal dealt three times, drawing a blank each time. stayed even at around $60. Bumped it up to .50 DDB after 30 minutes and quickly dumped.

    Wife texted me so we took a stroll down to Flamingo buffet for breakfast and decided to walk around the Linq.

    Bought a cool luggage tag at Koto

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    Purple Zebra Girl in Zebra Wear - "This ones bigger than the red one Clark!"

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  10. Funkhouser

    Funkhouser In Charge of the Big Door

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    Digging the new construction

    After shopping at the Linq for awhile we walked back to Ballys via the construction cooridor side of the strip. Got a good look at the Cromwell where workers were hauling @ss at construction. Lots of sheet rock going up and you could see from pedestrian bridge where they have started to paint and finish some of the rooms on the east side of building. Some of them even looked near finished minus the bed and tv. They could make their soft opening date next month.

    Took lots of photos of the Bally's dirt lot where the walkway used to be. They were digging and laying a basement foundations for some building on the market place.

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    Wife felt pity on me, since family was due to arrive in a couple of hours, so she cut me loose to gamble while she headed out to forum shops to spend a couple hundred of my winnings.

    I opted to head over to Caesars for some VP at sports book where I watched some of the Northern Trust Open PGA tournament where Dustin Johnson just got edged out. So much for my sports book bet.

    I threw in $100 at .50 DDB and quickly saw that evaporate with no straights, flushes and very few trips to be seen.

    Walked around casino and threw $40 in a .25 quick hits machine and hit the bonus running it up to $180, stemming my losses for the day.

    Met wife in forum shops where we checked out the "upgraded" fall of Atlantis show and wife picked up some lingerie for our social agenda later in the evening. Grabbed a quick drink in the diamond lounge before running off to meet wife's family at Paris. TBD
     
    Last edited: Mar 5, 2014
  11. Royal Flusher

    Royal Flusher Savvy Gambler

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    Enjoying the report and the pics!!!

    We used to say for years, when was Bally's gonna wise up and do something with allllll that strip-side real estate. They really were wasting it.
     
  12. thunderdave

    thunderdave Low-Roller

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    Is that code for the swingers party?
     
  13. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

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    I hate when I run like crap on "full pay" machines. Somewhat the story of my life (except last trip). But are you sure you were playing 9/7 DDB? I've never seen that one. Only 10/6 DDB or 9/7 TDB.

    And stay away from 7/5 JoB at the bar! :nono: 6/5 Bonus is 0.72% better with nearly the same strategy!

    Great pics though. Was the Bally's construction from the CP overpass? We should have taken snaps of those. And nice contrast of the Flamingo Linq entrance to our nighttime shot.

    Hopefully your family visit doesn't totally shut out your gambling...:evillaugh
     
  14. Funkhouser

    Funkhouser In Charge of the Big Door

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    Actually its a shout out to Bernie Mac (RIP) from Oceans 11. Jump to 50 seconds in for the reference.

    [YOUTUBE]sXoxb9rYqpM[/YOUTUBE]
     
  15. Funkhouser

    Funkhouser In Charge of the Big Door

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    All in the family

    So around 4pm the "family" portion of the Vegas trip begins. The early day drinking was probably not a good idea, but I grab a red bull and the wife and I head to lobby of Paris.

    Family members visiting are wife's Aunt A and Uncle D, female cousin M and her husband MG, a male cousin drunk willy, and her brother Big D. So to understand the dynamic of this trip we have the a couple of VP degenerates like myself in Uncle D, MG, drunk willy, and myself. The rest are pretty much non gamblers to the trip is a real challenge between those who want to gamble and those who don't.

    The check in line at Paris was 40 deep for non Diamond members so I suck over to Diamond check in and politely asked the receptions to check in my family since they were not busy. The clerk was super nice and checked them all in. Everyone was anxious to unpack and hit the casino so we split up. Wife and I headed back to Paris diamond lounge until we were all to meet up at St. Louis Café for dinner around 6:30pm.

    Arrived 15 mins earlier to check in and our party was seated promptly, food was pretty good for a café. I had the special which was 3 courses, desert, steak, and wine. We had some awesome bread served from bakery there at Paris. Everyone enjoyed meals and we got out of there with a $450 check for 8 people with tip, 2 bottles of wine, etc. I picked up dinner to look good in front of Bro in law and since I was an early winner on the trip so far.

    Being polite we all headed over to the casino. I sat with Uncle D and MG at Gustav's bar. Pay tables were horrible so I threw in $60 with the intent to just play it out at 8/5 DDB which seemed like the best bet. After rolling it down to $20 and back up to $45 I decided to bump it up to .50. Wouldn't you know on second hand I get 4 to the Royal and draw this beauty.

    [​IMG]

    Well this must have been the start of good luck, not more than 15 mins later, just as I am getting my hand pay. MG gets up and throws 20 in an Ultimate X poker and hits Aces with kicker at 10x on dimes for 2K.

    Went to track down wife, who I was informed was not feeling good and walked back to room at Ballys. I stopped for desert and brought her up a little treat from bakery along with some spending money for outlet mall on Monday and put in desert box.

    [​IMG]
     
  16. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

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    Apparently not...Great hit! :beer:
     
  17. Royal Flusher

    Royal Flusher Savvy Gambler

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    Savvy move with the baked goods.

    Congrats on the Royal! :beer:
     
  18. Funkhouser

    Funkhouser In Charge of the Big Door

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    The Bellagio gianormous horse penis effect

    Okay, where did I leave off. Baked goods. So upon gifting the wife with bakery goods and around $360 in shopping money wife was put into an immediate good mood. We decided to stay in for the rest of the evening to part take of each others company and the view of south strip / Bellagio fountains.

    We awoke refreshed early Monday morning and decided to take advantage of Mlife reward at Aria buffet since neither of us had been there. Wife wanted to hoof it down Las Vegas Blvd to front entrance of Crystals to get to Aria from Paris, since she knew passing by the Bellagio VP progressives would mean her waiting on me to gamble. I agreed since it was too early to bump into the street urchins and the weather was nice. Outside of a couple of time share hawks it was a pleasant walk. We decided to snap a few pictures in Crystals before proceeding to our final destination.

    The Crystals swirlies were running full steam while Buddha watched on in utter agitation. I guess he dropped some Yen at the Aria casino.

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    A quick stop at the Mlife desk to load my reward on my players card and we were off to the buffet. Now I have to comment, Aria really got it right when they re-did the place. Bottomless beverage option for those wanting to get their drink on, open, well light buffet with lots of natural light pouring in the room. The airy lightly scented dinning room with small seating coves give you an intimate feeling while being in a cavernous space.

    The food was served in nice measured portions like CP bacchanal buffet. Everything was kept warm, fresh, and well presented. No aging heat lamp food here. The selection was great as well, lots of options for 8am dining. I had blueberry blintz's, French toast sticks, fresh fruit, and a couple of eggs over easy. Service was spot on. All for the bargain price of $17 +tip with reward. I will definitely be visiting this place again!

    After breakfast we strolled around the pastry shop and casino before making it over to the Crystals tram to Bellagio. Humoring the wife we strolled thru the conservatory which was displaying the Chinese New Year decorations. Now here's where it gets interesting. Its the year of the horse, and apparently a giant golden stallion with his willy on display is a sign of good luck for the Chinese.

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    The wife was still in doubt after my Geraldo like investigative skills revealed the photographic evidence. So I took another picture from the back side of the display to ensure concrete evidence which would sway any horse neigh-sayers.

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    I can only guess that whoever put up the display was watching anger management that day.

    [YOUTUBE]ylGIroahKNs[/YOUTUBE]

    Up next the WynnCore paradox.
     
  19. Dutch34

    Dutch34 High-Roller

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    Great report- love all the detail and wins!
    I'm curious and couldn't tell from the picture...were you able to go on the balcony at Palms Place? One time I could, but twice I was told they are locked due to people throwing stuff off of there. Certainly better if you can stand out there and soak in the skyline.
    Thanks again for a great report.
     
  20. Funkhouser

    Funkhouser In Charge of the Big Door

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    We definitely were able to use both balconies, although there was no furniture. The 1 bedroom suite also had a fireplace. I would book this place if I could get the same rate.
     
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