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Sam's Town and Downtown Vegas Trip Report

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by aaisack, Jul 7, 2014.

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  1. aaisack

    aaisack VIP Whale

    Joined:
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    Here's the finale of the trip report:

    So on Friday before moving downtown I decided to give deuces wild one more shot. Literally within the first 10 hands, bang - 4 Deuces. I played for another hour or so and cashed out $200 ahead for the session. Down $400 for the trip. Checked out of Sam's Town and headed down to the shuttle.

    Got to Main Street Station around noon. They let me check in early, of course the price for that was that we got one of their rooms with the notoriously low shower heads. I have to limbo or kneel to take a shower at MSS - they cater to Hawaiians most of who are at least a foot shorter than me. Otherwise rooms are clean, decent size and have modern TVs.

    I picked Friday to try my American Casino Guide coupon for the D which is good for up to $100 in free slot play - 5 bucks per 50 points. Anyone trying for the full hundred better be prepared for a long day. I played for 5 hours or so and only qualified for $35 bucks. Mostly played the 10/7 DB upstairs though which short pays you on the points so that explains a lot of it. Still a nice bonus though. Unfortunately it was a rough day. Even with the freeplay down about $250 playing downtown. $700 for the trip. I played the dome crap machine at Four Queens with my uncle and had a blast though. I'm never going to be a craps player, but I had a good time betting the pass line with odds and the 6 and 8. Went on a 20 something roll which made a few people who were betting more aggressively some money.

    Wandered around downtown a bit and got harassed by a couple aggressive bums who shot insults at me when I ignored them. They're more aggressive with us 30 somethings then they are with the old timers. Otherwise I had a good time glancing at the FSE and occasionally checking out the stage shows. Downtown would remain crazy packed the rest of my trip.

    Early Saturday morning I decided to do something I have wanted to do the last couple trips – check out the Broadacres Swap Meet for the first time. I got up at the crack of dawn (usually the best items at swapmeets are scooped up early) and ran for the bus that was just leaving. It was the Wax instead of the Max so I wasted an hour.. Circled back to downtown and finally got on the correct bus and arrived.

    Broadacres is a good size swap meet. Like every swap meet I’ve ever been to it was about ½ vendors selling the same new, mostly Hispanic merchandise. The rest of the place was regular vendors selling a specific type of used good (tools, video games etc) with a few legitimate garage sellers spattered in. I collect video games which is always my primary motivation for going. I wasn’t disappointed; I bought about 10 games at low to bargain prices so it was definitely worth the trip. It was getting hot fast though so I decided against a second pass through and headed back to the hotel.

    On Saturday my uncle played in the $3 tournament over at the Plaza. Yes that is not a typo. They now have 3 of the electronic poker tables and they do uber cheap tournaments throughout the day. The 10 am one had a hundred in prize money guaranteed and they do it 7 days a week. You buy in for 3 bucks, get 3000 in chips and you can rebuy during first hour for 5 bucks. He cashed 20 bucks for taking 3rd. That made him happy because craps was kicking his butt. I don’t think he has a single winning session of craps the whole trip.

    I spent the morning and early afternoon on a wild ride. Started off losing at MSS going on a long stretch without hitting 4 oak. Finally said screw it and switched to dollars. Hit 4 kings for $250. Played for awhile longer and ended up $300 for the session. Down $400 for the trip After taking a break I got cautious, switched back to quarters and went on the 4 oak bender of a lifetime. Literally hit 5 4 oak and a straight flush during a 20 minute stretch on single line. That includes the score with 4 wait time (you get a scratch ticket every time you get a 4 oak or better. I went from 400 down to 90 bucks up. First time being ahead the whole trip.

    My uncle wanted to go back to Sam’s Town for their big cash drawing, and I was happy to take a break and join him. We got their really early and had lunch at their deli. 5 dollar Reuben was freaking awesome. He decided to catch a movie and I hit the deuces machines again. Machines are friendly and I end up cashing up $120. Up $210 for the trip. 30 names were called for a chance at a jeep or cash but for us it wasn’t to be. We headed back to the shuttle.

    Waiting for the shuttle was interesting. Couple girls in their early 20s with a small baby. The mother is a child protective services call waiting to happen. The baby almost slipped out of its oversize stroller onto the cement pavement. My uncle shouted a warning and one of them caught the baby in the nick of time. Didn't really phase either one of them... She was cussing about her boyfriend waiting for the shuttle, hit the baby's head boarding the bus, then jumped off the bus to argue with her boyfriend just as the driver was ready to leave. She got back on after bitching at him and he screamed at her to suck his you know what. Fun times.

    I spent the rest of the day gambling at Main Street Station. Started off losing a bunch and eventually ended up upping my bet like I did earlier in the day. I hit after a couple nice 4 oaks. $220 ahead for the night. $430 ahead for the trip. I wandered around a bit downtown before hitting the hay a little early.

    Sunday we made the move to Four Queens. I decided to take them up on a buy one night get one free deal ($25 dollars total for 2 nights). I spent the morning casino hopping. First I joined my uncle for the cheap tournament over at the Plaza, I was knocked out quickly. The Plaza definitely is picking up a bit compared to my last trip. I gave Main Street Station some action, lost a bit, headed over to El Cortez and lost some more. Down $240 for the morning. Up $190 for the trip. Took a break in the room then decided to give Four Queens some action and use the point matching coupon from ACG. I earned 450 points playing the 10/7 progressive there, hit some nice 4 oaks, and used my coupon to get $31 cash back. Ended up winning $280 that evening. Up $440 for the trip.

    Monday I played in the cheap tournament again at the Plaza and was the first person busted out, had pocket Queens. I wanted to check out Red Rock for the first time in a couple years so I took the SDX over to Sahara and took the bus ride on the Sahara Express out to Red Rock (Red Rock is the last stop if you ride the bus west bound). Red Rock is a really nice place and I have to say that I’m impressed with the quality of their machines. Their video poker machines are lightning fast and there are plenty of full pay machines available. The downside is that points are very scarce compared to Boyd. They probably have to do that considering a pro could probably knock out as many as 1500 hands an hour on their FPDW machines. Seriously they are that fast… I took the occasional break from VP to play the dome craps machine, and hit 4 deuces for $250. Drink service was great and the cocktail waitresses were pretty hot. I had a great time there. I hope they send me a teaser offer. Up $160 for the session. $600 for the trip.

    I made the long trek back to downtown and decided to hit up Pizza Rock after hearing some great things on the board. Invited the uncle but he has just eaten so I went there alone. Just missed happy hour and unfortunately this isn’t a place that caters to the solo diner. It was either a pizza all to myself or a calzone. I went for the Calzone (12 bucks). It was pretty good so no complaints. Definitely more then I could eat after stuffing my face the last 6 days in Vegas. I would go back, but next time with someone during happy hour. I did a little more gambling at Four Queens, again hitting a couple nice 4 oaks and cashed out another $150 ahead. It was still early but I was pretty worn out and satisfied with the trip. Decided to call the gambling and take it easy my last night in Vegas.

    Checked out early in the morning, caught the bus to the airport and had an uneventful trip back home.

    Some final notes on the trip:

    My uncle unfortunately got clobbered again by Vegas; I’m guessing a couple K down for the trip. In his retirement he has cut back on the gambling a bit which is probably a good thing. At least he isn’t throwing away more than he can afford to lose like he did in his younger days.

    I’m guessing I gave about 50-55k worth of VP action over the course of my trip playing about 90% quarter level. I did about 37k with Boyd properties and the rest with FQ, The D and Red Rock.
    No royal this trip  but a winning trip is a winning trip. I feel pretty good with the fact that over my last 2 trips I have essentially broken even despite a Royal drought. That’s a win in my book.

    Looks like things are on for Vegas in September, and maybe August as well. The Classic Gaming Expo will be in Vegas during the middle of September so I will definitely be in town for that. I do most of my work on the computer so this allows for a lot of flexibility during certain times of the year. I have tons of free room nights and other offers available through Boyd where I now have over 100k tier all earned since April.

    Vegas… To be continued….
     
  2. Ty

    Ty ?

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    Enjoying the TR, thanks for sharing.
    Did you like Broadacres enough to do it again?
    How much time to you alot for getting to your flight from downtown using the bus?
     
  3. aaisack

    aaisack VIP Whale

    Joined:
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    Broadacres was fun, but I really love swap meets. I will definitely go again. Probably best to go in the morning so you don't get killed by the scorching heat. The other thing I noticed is that some items can really get sunbaked and even melted by the desert heat so make sure to inspect things before purchasing.

    The WAX bus is pretty quick, maybe 20-25 minutes to the airport.
     
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