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Strippers, slots, big wins and the rest of the story

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by jeffb77, May 29, 2014.

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  1. jeffb77

    jeffb77 Tourist

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    My Trip Report

    Hi everyone, this is my first trip report after being a long time lurker. It'll have a little of everything, so I hope you enjoy.

    A little background on the trip. My wife and I make it to Vegas 2-4 times a year depending on work schedules. This trip was planned for my niece's bachelorette party, and of course the bachelor party for her fiance.

    We left YEG in Edmonton at 9am on May 17th flying with Westjet. The flight was uneventful and we got in to LAS a few minutes early. Baggage came out quick, but the line-up for a cab was almost 200 people long. At least it moved quickly and we were in the Bally's lobby within 25 minutes. Being Platinum members, we were able to bypass the check in line and actually got our room right around noon. No Jubilee tower this trip, but the room in the North tower was clean and spacious, so all was good. We started out with lunch at the Burger Brasserie in the Bally's/Paris walkway. We had a groupon to use, so lunch was cheap, but it was disappointing to see that the menu had changed and had way less options than back in November on our last trip. Overall though, lunch was great and the beers were cold.

    We headed over to the check out the Cromwell, and we were really impressed. They've done a great job with the make over and the cocktail service is fantastic. The new 2 girl order/delivery system is a great idea and definitely proved to be the best drink service of the trip. We played some slots here, including the new Ruby Slippers 2, but no big wins to speak of. We then headed to Flamingo for a quick tour around and some drinks outside on the strip. Then it was back to the hotel for a quick nap before the night's festivities.

    On to the bachelor party!!! Plans were set to head to the Spearmint Rhino, with 8 of us guys going, ranging in age from 23-50. Upon arrival, we all turned into 18 year olds!! This strip club was unbelievable!! Over 400 women working and I'm not gonna lie, they wasted no in time getting started as the lap dances commenced about 30 seconds after we sat down. The next 3 hours was an absolute gong show. The younger kids were dropping money on dances left and right, while us old guys drank our faces off......okay, we had a few dances too!! And all i can say is, I'm pretty sure one girl thought my name was Seabiscuit as she pretty much rode me like there was no tomorrow!! LOL!!! Good times. We finally finished off the bottle service and headed back to the strip around 3am. After a few more drinks and some gambling, it was back to Bally's for this guy. I ended up playing some poker for an hour or so and finally called it a night at 5am, as being up for 25 hours, and being drunk was finally catching up to me.

    Day 2-Sunday
    Breakfast/lunch at Serendipity 3. The buffalo chicken fingers were great and soaked up the left over alcohol from the previous night. We ended up playing some more slots at the Cromwell and had quite a few drinks. I ended up winning $200 on Ruby Red Shoes 2....this machine was my go to on this trip and it paid off every time. After heading back to Bally's and packing a few items, we headed over to the MGM to check in for 3 crossover days. We had a king suite with a great view of the strip, as well as some free play for the wife. We got checked in and then headed to the Billboard Music Awards. The show was decent, not quite as good as last year, but we took my 21 year old niece for her birthday, and she was overjoyed to say the least. Afterwards, we headed to Todd English Pub for late happy hour. This place is a must for us on every trip and it never disappoints. We did some touring around with the kids and had a few more drinks and then it was back to the MGM. It was around 1am and we decided to hit a few slots. Well, 10 minutes in the wife hits for $1009 on Cherries Jubilee. Drinks please!!! Over the next 2 hours she continued to crush every machine that she played and we called it a night around 3:30am, and walked away with an extra $1800 in our pockets.

    Day 3-Monday
    Monday was pool day. We headed out to the MGM pool around 9am and had some breakfast at the poolside restaurant. Then it was over to the backlot pool to sit by the lazy river. We spent about 6 hours here, relaxing, people watching, and having a few $17 drinks. LOL!!! Not a great deal, but with the previous night's winnings, it wasn't so bad.
    We headed out for dinner with the kids and took them to PF Changs. I know, I know, it's not authentic, but the kids wanted to try it. Everything was great, especially the Firecracker Shrimp, which is not on the menu, but they make it for me anytime I ask. I highly recommend it if you like spicy pasta and shrimp. We did some walking around again afterwards and took the kids to the Bellagio Conservatory, and then over to Aria. We headed off on our own way around midnight and I ended up playing poker at Bally's until about 5am. Had a winning session, but nothing to write home about.

    Day 4-Tuesday
    We had a 2 for 1 brunch buffet to use at MGM courtesy of MyVegas. We actually ended up getting both brunches for free, which was a good thing as it was absolutely terrible. There was hardly any selection and what they did have was less than spectacular. We'll definitely won't be going back anytime soon. We did some casino hopping over the afternoon and hit the Pub at Monte Carlo for some beers. I had another 2 for 1 MyVegas coupon to use here and we got two flights of beer for the price of one. The beers were great and the scenery on the patio overlooking the pool was fantastic!!! I do love Vegas in the summer.
    Dinner was at Mon Ami Gabi. This is another restaurant that we hit at least once every trip. Again, it didn't disappoint. Even though it was jammed, our food and drinks were brought out quickly and the service was great. We then headed over to the Luxor to see Fantasy, which is their topless show. This was the second time seeing the show and it was just as good the second time around. The female comedienne that did a few spots during the show stole the night. She was absolutely hilarious. I would pay to go back and just see her perform. After the show, we played for a bit at Luxor, but the smoke was terrible. I don't think there was a worse casino on the trip for how bad the smoke was here. We walked back the the Excal and grabbed a coffee at Krispy Kreme as we were running low on energy. We then went over to NY/NY to play some slots, but couldn't hit anything. That's been a theme for us there over the past couple of years. We finally headed back over to MGM around 1am and packed our stuff, checked out and headed back to our room at Bally's. We played some more slots here and again, Ruby Red Shoes paid off. I couldn't miss on that machine. Then it was off to the poker room once the wife went to bed and I got a few more hours in before calling it a night around 5am.

    Day 5-Wednesday
    We went over to the PH to use a Groupon for the breakfast buffet. This was 1000 times better than the MGM. Incredible selection and the food was great. We've done the dinner buffet here as well and it was great as well. We'll definitely go back next trip. We then headed over to check out the Linq. WOW!!! They did an amazing job with this project. We were blown away with how great that whole area is. We made our way to the Yardhouse and ended up sitting on the second level patio for the next 4 hours. We had numerous beers and tried the blue crab cakes. Great new place!! I highly recommend checking it out on your next trip. Not sure what happened after that, but I do know that we had reservations at the Mandarin Bar for 8pm. We met up with my sister and her boyfriend and had a couple of rounds of drinks. The views here are spectacular. We were able to watch sun down and see all the lights on the strip light up. We were so impressed that we added this bar to the short list for New Year's Eve.
    The rest of the night was spent casino hopping again. The Wynn, Palazzo, Venetian, Harrah's, Flamingo, Cromwell and then back to Bally's. My wife ended up going to bed early, so I was able to get to the poker room at a decent hour. I played for an hour or so and got absolutely run over when my turned straight got run down by a runner, runner full house. I was a little pissed to say the least. BUT, this was a huge turning point for me. As I walked back through the main casino, still shaking my head, I noticed a machine with the Major Progressive lit up. For any of you that aren't slot fanatics, this basically means that it's going to pay out soon. So, I decided to throw a $20 bill in just for the hell of it. I ended up hitting quite a few bonuses and played for over an hour when things finally paid off. I was in a bonus and got a full screen of the highest paying symbol. I was only playing 50 cents a spin, so it paid me $215 or so, but I was fine with that. The next spin paid me another $80 and I ended the bonus with $297..... and then as it finished paying me...BOOM!!! The major progressive paid for $467!!! Drinks please!!!
    I played a few more slots and cashed out a total of $975 for the night. After subtracting my earlier poker losses, that was a $775 dollar win for the day. What a turnaround!!!

    Day 6-Thursday
    We ended up sleeping in for the first time this trip, so we missed breakfast. But, we made it over to Serendipity again for lunch. This time we had the nachos and footlong hot dog. The food was good, but I really hate the fake cheese on the nachos. Not sure why that's such a big thing in Vegas. We did some shopping on the strip and had a few drinks at the Cromwell before heading back to Bally's to get changed. We had the Las Vegas Epicurean Affair at the Palazzo that night. We went last year as well, and we'll plan our trip around it again for next May. This is an amazing event. The food, the drinks, the people watching, all fantastic!!! If you get the chance to go next year, you won't regret it. It's definitely one of the best events of the year. My wife is a pastry chef, so for her, it's like a kid in a candy store. We had a 3 hour window to eat and drink all we wanted, but we were done after after 2 hours. We were stuffed.
    We played some slots in the Palazzo and then over at the Venetian, but we couldn't get a drink to save our lives. So, we headed over to the Mirage. This is my wife's favorite place to play and her luck here has been unbelievable. She picked a row of machines that she always plays and about 15 minutes in she hit the Life Of Luxury bonus. On the fourth spin, she got the gem pick for the major progressive and had 5 out of 8 odds to pick the right one......BOOM!!! Jackpot again. This time for $1145!!! The best part was that it was under $1200, so no taxes. We were on cloud 9 the rest of the night as this trip was paying for itself.

    Day 7-Friday
    This was our last day in Vegas as we were to fly out at 8:30pm......or so we thought. We started out by going to the North Outlet mall. Shopped for a few hours and only spent a couple of hundred dollars. For some reason, my wife wasn't in a shopping mood. WINNING!!!! After dropping our bags off at the hotel, we wandered over to Todd English Pub for early happy hour. The beers are half price, wings are $1 each and sliders are $3 each. We were able to grab a spot on the patio and had another amazing meal here. As we sat people watching, we talked about changing our flight and had a good laugh.....and then i called Westjet. LOL!!! We were able to get our flights changed for $75 each and we had our room booked until the next day, so everything worked out perfectly. We were able to take our time the rest of the night, and basically lounge hopped until 3am. It was certainly a great change in plans as we had another awesome night in Vegas to end our trip.

    Day 8-Saturday
    We had an 11:45am flight, so we didn't have to be up too early. Upon checkout, I paid in cash with some of our winnings. What a great feeling of not having to charge anything on a credit card for the whole trip. Definitely a first. The flight home was slow, but we landed safe, bags came out quickly and we were able to catch the first shuttle to the parking lot.

    All in all, we had an amazing trip. Great food, a ton of drinks, some shopping, good shows, fantastic people watching, and the slot wins that took things to another level. We've already got our room booked for New Year's and we're looking at getting back between now and then as well. Oh, and my wife even suggested that the two of us check out the Spearmint Rhino together next trip!! Again, WINNING!!!!

    Hope this wasn't too long or too boring. I'll try to add some pictures tomorrow.
     
  2. Travel Fanatic

    Travel Fanatic The Arbiter of Taste Caviar Kid

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    Wow, sounds like you covered the entire Strip! Glad it was fun
     
    The plans have changed
    Post-Shopping Recovery Period
  3. sybgal

    sybgal VIP Whale

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    Great report!! Congrats on the many great wins.....:) Bet there is another trip already in the making with that kind of luck!!!
     
  4. kittyglitter_mm

    kittyglitter_mm Low-Roller

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    Great trip report! You sure pack a lot into one trip. Can you explain about the major progressive being lit up? Aren't they always? I guess I've never noticed a difference. Good to know!
     
  5. bearnana

    bearnana Tourist

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    Sounds like an awesome time. Glad your poker bad luck turned into some slot run good. Nice hits.
     
  6. tipdrill

    tipdrill Low-Roller

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    Poker and the Rhino FTW.
     
  7. 4hunters

    4hunters Tourist

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    Thanks for the report. Sounds like a great time was had by all. Looking forward to seeing the pics!
     
  8. dtmk66

    dtmk66 Welcome to Las Vegas

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    Pics of the lap dances please!!!!!!!!!!!!!
     
  9. wellmel

    wellmel Low-Roller

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    I also want to know what you mean by the progressive was lit up. But yeah, sounds like an awesome trip all around!
     
  10. john meriman

    john meriman merri by name merry by nature

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    +1 :drunk::wink2:
     
  11. vegasqc

    vegasqc VIP Whale

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    I have seen this show 3 times and the comedian was always a guy named sean e cooper. I had no clue they also had a female comedian
     
  12. jeffb77

    jeffb77 Tourist

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    I was playing a game called King Of Africa. Not sure of the maker, but this game offers a Minor and a Major Progressive. They are both displayed on the top screen, above the actual play area. The minor has to pay out before $50 and the Major has to pay out before $500. So, as I walked up to the machine, I noticed that the prize amount for the Major($465) was highlighted and there was a continual light that was circling it. This basically means that one large win, ie. the $297 that I won in the bonus. will trigger the Progressive to be paid out. Usually, you don't see the Progressive lit up until the amount is closer to the $500 mark, so I might have just really lucked out here. I did see a few other machines like this on the trip, with Progressives that were higher($482) and they were not lit up. So again, I think it's more just being in the right place at the right time.
     
  13. floridavegas

    floridavegas Low-Roller

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    Great trip report! Thanks for posting - great read! :peace:
     
  14. Jameezy

    Jameezy RIP Riviera

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    Sounds like you loved the cromwell. I can't wait to be there in july. Reviews have been excellent so far
     
  15. alana86

    alana86 Low-Roller

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    Before I read the rest, let me just say HI FELLOW ALBERTAN! I'm in Red Deer :)
     
  16. alana86

    alana86 Low-Roller

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    Todd English Pub..where is that?

    Sounds like you had a great time! Billboard Music Awards! I would have LOVED to have been there. I really want to go to an awards show one day.
     
  17. breanna61

    breanna61 Super Moderator

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    Congrats on the wins and the bonus night in Vegas!!
     
  18. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

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    Wow great run! Glad you had a great time!
     
  19. spicole

    spicole No shirt, no shoes... NO DICE!

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    I work with a bunch of Canadians and my favorite Canadian slang phrase is "it's a real gong show". Ha!
     
  20. jeffb77

    jeffb77 Tourist

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    The Todd English Pub is located in the Crystals mall. But, it's actually easiest to get to from the Aria main lobby. If looking at the check in desk at the Aria, go to the left end and take a right turn, around the corner. You'll be looking right at it. They have an early happy hour from 3-6PM and then a late happy hour from 10pm until closing. I highly recommend going.


     
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