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Aria, Grand Canyon, and Michael or Britney: a Mini TR

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by UKFanatic, May 14, 2014.

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  1. Travel Fanatic

    Travel Fanatic The Arbiter of Taste Caviar Kid

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    My Trip Report

    Haven't written a TR in a while and don't feel up to writing a super detailed report, but thought I would take a stab at a mini TR from my trip last week. Here are the highlights/tidbits from a five night stay at Aria:

    *Not a big crowd at all last weekend. I guess most people were out there the prior weekend for the Mayweather fight, or last month for the Pac fight. Either way, I was happy the place was not overrun. Didn't do as much gambling as usual on this trip, but the high limit BJ room was relatively quiet each evening I played. Never had more than two other players at my table. Saw one reserved table, but never anyone at it. The crowds in the bac room were pretty much the same

    *OK, I'm sure this will start a debate: secret pizza is good. But why anyone would choose that over 550 Pizza at Aria next door is a mystery to me. Great late night snack!

    *Also noticed that JS has changed its lunch menu. Less tapas, more burgers. Fortunately, they let me order tapas that I knew were only on the dinner menu, even though they were absent from the lunch menu

    *Two friends went and saw the Brit show at PHo and loved it. Tons of energy. I walked them over there, just because I wanted to see the scene. Whether you like Brit's music or not (I don't), this show really brings a lot of energy and attention to the Strip. My friends sat right behind Jessica Alba. Sadly, they were not able to get her number for me :cry:

    *Went DT one night and saw Slotzilla up close. The line for it was a mile long, which kind of surprised me. But it looked like fun. Will probably go back and ride it one day.

    *Spent one day away from Vegas to drive to the Grand Canyon. WOW! If you like the outdoors, it is worth the day trip there. Photos and videos simply do not do it justice. After spending just four hours there I am already inspired to plan a long trip there. Just incredible. But be warned, check the weather before you go. The south rim is over 7000 feet. A little snow actually fell on us while we were there

    *Saw the MJ One show at Mandalay Bay. I liked it, but not as much as others. The music is great and the production is top notch. I think I just prefer the more acrobatic cirque shows. The Thriller and Billie Jean sets, however, were tremendous.

    *Did not do so well betting baseball this trip, but fortunately the NBA playoffs bailed me out. One of the servers in the high limit area and I were on opposite sides of the Thunder/Clippers game three. Since the high limit was dead that night, she hung out and watched a huge chunk of the second half with me. Since my bet won and hers didn't, I think I left her a larger than normal tip! So everybody was happy.

    Overall, a really fun trip with friends. Will return during the NBA finals for more basketball wagering!
     
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  2. broncofn

    broncofn VIP Whale

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    Love your tr's UK (mini tr or not). And glad it was about aria as I am going back next week for memorial weekend.

    Was the server a short brunette with glasses? She is usually there in the evenings/late night. I consider her my lucky charm lol.

    My wife and I will see MJ1 on Sunday the 25 (our anniv) and looking forward to it. If you are out there mdw, would love to buy you a drink.
     
  3. broncofn

    broncofn VIP Whale

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    Btw, no massage at the best spa in vegas??
     
  4. firstkill

    firstkill High-Roller

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    thanks for the trip report. the drive into the grand canyon from vegas was 4 hrs flat? or did you stop for some breaks?

    Also is it all paved? or was there a little off roading from the freeway to the "parking lot"


    fk
     
  5. Travel Fanatic

    Travel Fanatic The Arbiter of Taste Caviar Kid

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    Thanks.

    Not the brunette with glasses (though I did see her at one point, but she was on the morning shift that day). It was Christie, the young Asian lady. Very friendly and clearly bored by the lack of high limit action that night.

    And yes, we all went to the spa. Just one of the things I didn't write about in this TR. I mean, what is there to say that I haven't written in the past: the spa at Aria is the best! And the weather was perfect to go outside on the co-ed balcony area!

    Thanks for the drink offer. I won't be out there again until June during the NBA finals and it will likely be the weekend. Another time, though.
     
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  6. Travel Fanatic

    Travel Fanatic The Arbiter of Taste Caviar Kid

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    I think it was maybe four hours and ten minutes. We stopped twice on the way there. Once for gas and snacks and another time when a cop pulled me over for speeding (whoops).

    And everything was paved and well maintained. The route was pretty simple. We took the boulder highway out of town, drove along Lake Meade, jumped on a state highway across Arizona (can't remember which one, 93 maybe, not much along the way), until we reached Kingman. Form there, we got on 40 east, drove to Williams, got off the interstate, and then took a highway straight to the park for the last fifty miles. Since its a national park, all the roads are very well maintained and traveled. I think we left Aria at 8AM and were back at the hotel by 8:30 that night. Sixty bucks to rent a car, another sixty bucks in gas, and whatever the cost is to enter the park (I don't know because my sister already had a year long national park membership, so we did not pay to enter). Definitely worth it!
     
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  7. Okie21

    Okie21 Low-Roller

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    Thanks for sharing!

    Could we have a little more nitty gritty about your gambling? I am a big fan of your write-ups of the gambling exploits.

    Also, which side of the Thunder-Clips did you bet on? If you say Clips, I'm not sure we can ever be friends... :beer:
     
  8. Travel Fanatic

    Travel Fanatic The Arbiter of Taste Caviar Kid

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    lol, I bet on the Thunder +4 that game. It was the same night I took Indy at +175 on the moneyline, so it was a good evening!

    I assume the tales of gambling exploits gets repetitive and dull, but if you're wanting to know, here are some of the highlights I remember:

    Decided to play smaller this trip because I had lots of stuff planned with friends and family and I knew that if I lost big early, I would ignore them and spend the rest of the trip chasing my losses. So after we arrived in Vegas, we had lunch, spent a couple hours at the pool, and then I hit the tables with a plan to gamble for a couple hours before dinner. It did not go well.

    I went to the high limit BJ room. Only one DD table open and it still had the $100 minimum (it goes up to $300 in the early evening). Sat down next to one other player and decided to play between $100 and $500 per hand. In thirty minutes I had lost over eight grand! And it's worse than it sounds, because I actually started pretty hot and was up $1800 after the first ten minutes. Just one of those super cold streaks we have all experienced.

    But after thirty minutes, I sensed a dilemma. I felt the natural urge to raise my bets and chase the losses. But I really did not want to lose more than $25,000 for the trip and three of my last four gambling trips had been losers. I started envisioning another cold streak while betting one or two yellow chips a hand and boom, there goes my $25,000 in the first couple hours in Vegas. So I decided to take a break.

    While relaxing before dinner, I decided to modify my betting strategy a bit. I don't talk about my betting strategies much on here, other than acknowledging that its mostly based on negative progression. But a lot of my winning in the past has been based on also just getting lucky and hitting hot streaks when I happened to be betting larger than my standard unit. Typically, once or twice a day I would raise my base unit significantly and see what happens. After the poor start, I decided for this trip that I would start at $500 a hand each time I sat down at a table and after getting up at least $1000 or at the end of a hot streak, I would then convert that house money into black chips and continue playing until I either hit $3000 total or lost the house money back. Then I would start over at $500 per hand. Fortunately, that strategy worked well for the rest of the trip!

    But not so much at first. After dinner, I returned to the high limit BJ and found no other players. So I sat down at the same double deck table and proceeded to lose another $5k in purple chips. Bought in for another $5k in purple and kept playing. Lost a couple more hands. The count was slightly in my favor, but mostly out of frustration, I shoved a $2500 bet into the circle and ....... blackjack! After that, the hot streak continued. I got back all my losses and actually went to bed up a few hundred dollars for the day.

    I decided to keep using the same betting strategy the next day. After I walked my friends over to the Brit concert, I stopped in the high limit at PHo and played the shoe game. One and a half shoes later, I was up another $1500. Then I went back to Aria and continued the same approach between BJ and bac. By bed time, I was up about $5k for the trip.

    On Saturday, we all hiked over to the forum shops, but on the way I stopped in the CP high limit and tried my strategy again. I won eleven straight hands to start! When I lost the twelfth, I decided to pocket that $5k and move on.

    It basically continued like that for the rest of the trip. My last day at Aria is when I did most of my gambling. It was a Monday and absolutely nobody was around. I was the only player in the high limit before 4pm. All told, by the end of the trip, I was up $30k. Fortunately, other than my first table after dinner on night one, all of my cold streaks came when I was betting black chips. I think I bumped it up to yellow for a few hands on the last day (since I was well up) but scaled it right back down after winning a few hands in a row. This trip was my best win since February, so I will probably stick with this betting strategy until I have a bad trip. Which I hope will be sometime next year :thumbsup:
     
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  9. dvandentop

    dvandentop VIP Whale

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    nice report i do need to make that grand canyon trip one of these days for sure
     
  10. Okie21

    Okie21 Low-Roller

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    Nice job! That's a novel betting strategy, hadn't ever really heard of it before. Glad it worked out for you!
     
  11. Travel Fanatic

    Travel Fanatic The Arbiter of Taste Caviar Kid

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    Thanks. It was just good luck. The idea was to limit the number of hands I made larger bets. I would guesstimate that I made larger bets about half the time. I was fortunate that most of the cold runs came when I was betting smaller.
     
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  12. Suekel

    Suekel VIP Whale

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    Hey, that is my anniversary too, arrive in town that day! How many years will it be? I think you will enjoy the MJ show, I've seen it twice and loved it both times.
     
  13. broncofn

    broncofn VIP Whale

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    It will be our 11 year anniversary. Hope you enjoy your trip!
     
  14. BeeeJay

    BeeeJay President of The Red Lobster Hostess Satisfaction

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    Agree with you on pizza preference of 550 over Secret. Sounds like a great trip, nice bankroll builder!
     
  15. Travel Fanatic

    Travel Fanatic The Arbiter of Taste Caviar Kid

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    Thanks! Half the win went directly into a retirement account (feel the excitement! :biker:) and the other half will be used for bankroll on the next trip
     
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  16. Gambling Host

    Gambling Host Tourist

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    I stayed at Aria for the first time last month and I completely agree about the pizza. I am going back at the end of this month again and I think that is what I am looking ofrward the most :thumbsup:
     
  17. Travel Fanatic

    Travel Fanatic The Arbiter of Taste Caviar Kid

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    And hey, I still like Secret Pizza just fine, but it just doesn't compare to 550. I have eaten there three times this year now and the quality of the food was excellent each time :thumbsup:
     
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  18. MidnightBJ

    MidnightBJ Low-Roller

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    I had 550 last trip out there in February and it was very good. Needed food in a hurry. Some of my associates saw my pizza and went to get some as well. They were also impressed. Good option for a quick bite.

    I will use a similar betting strategy. I will start the new shuffle with $500 or higher in hopes of catching a hot run. If I lose I start backing down on each loss. If I win, I will press the wins, however. It has been a pretty good strategy unless it keeps starting cold and then finishes strong. But, hey that is BJ. I will be at Aria in August and have been setup well by my host who juiced up a marketing offer. Good trip report UK. The gambling tidbits are always enjoyable.
     
  19. Kickin

    Kickin Flea

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    That was like a gift. When you lost the 8k quickly while betting a low number of blacks imagine how bad it would have been if you were betting your normal stakes. You'd have been down upwards of 80k right off the bat. Congrats on the win!

    I like both Five50 and Secret Pizza, I'll have to do a more diligent comparison some day to decide which is better. I can say in terms of environment Secret Pizza feels more authentic as a typical hole-in-the-wall NYC pizza place, but Five50's eye-candy servers easily trump that. :thumbsup:
     
  20. Travel Fanatic

    Travel Fanatic The Arbiter of Taste Caviar Kid

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    Agreed. Sometimes, on trips like this, when I win $30k, I start thinking about the six figure win I would have had if I were betting my usual yellow and flag chips! But then I look at this perspective and remember that if I had dropped $80k in less than a hour, I would have been closing up shop for the rest of the trip.
     
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