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Sept 10-13 Venetian

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by breanna61, Sep 30, 2008.

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  1. breanna61

    breanna61 Super Moderator

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    My Trip Report

    This is my 1st Trip Report, so my apologies in advance if anyone nods off.....

    The Day Before….September 9

    We live in Ontairo Canada, north of Toronto but always fly out of Buffalo because the fares are half the price. We were travelling to Vegas with another couple and meeting up in Buffalo. Dinner at Fridays, a bit of shopping at the Galleria and drinks back at the hotel. Called it an early night around 11:30 so we'd all be well-rested for our Vegas Adventure.

    Sept 10

    Southwest direct from Buffalo to Vegas at 10:20 a.m., great flight and we arrived 15 minutes early…….that’s 15 more minutes to blow some money in the Casino!!! Bags arrived in record time….it did seem very quiet in the airport in comparison to past trips, out to grab a cab and off to The Venetian. My husband & I have stayed at the Venetian a few times, but this was a first for our friends and they were really excited. Each couple had booked a standard luxury suite so I decided to try the $20 tip (hard to call it a trick anymore when it is so well known). The men hung back with the luggage and the wives headed up to the desk for check-in. Slid the $20 between credit card and license and asked if there were any complimentary upgrades, preferably a higher floor strip/pool view. The desk clerk typed away and said that an upgrade would be no problem, handed me the $20 back and said the upgrade is complimentary. Really nice guy! We were given a center room on the 15th floor overlooking the pool and strip (honestly couldn’t see a lot of the actual strip though, mostly just the signs and lights). Our friends wanted a smoking room and the highest floor on which he had an available room was the 9th, so they took that room. I'm a social smoker (smoking, drinking and gambling go so well together in the quest to an early grave) but I don’t like to sleep in a smoky room. Our rooms were immediately available so we headed to their room first, sat and had a drink (and a social smoke) and then went up to check our room, drop the luggage and have another drink. Had lunch at the Grand Lux, very good!! We planned to see Jay White (Neil Diamond impersonator) at the Riviera that night and had a buy one/get one free coupon, so the wives headed to the Riv to get the tickets while guys lounged and had another drink or 3 and wandered around the Venetian. We stopped at a liquor store between the Venetian and the Riv to grab supplies and lugged beer, wine & hubby's Jack Daniels the rest of the way, so we were pretty hot by the time we got there and got our tickets. I haven’t been in the Riviera for years…..early 90s I think was the last time. Felt a bit nostalgic being there…..so old Vegas and it reminded me of the days of the Sands, Dunes, etc. I suggested we stop by the bar near the box office for a little Digital Warfare (aka VP) and the first “free drinkâ€. Got a couple of beers, very nice bartender who said no worries if you are both playing or not I’ll keep them coming – then suggested perhaps we should have a shot. My friend took the bait, but I stuck to beer….could be a long night otherwise. A couple of hands in and Bam – Royal Flush.. with the K of Spades held......but here's the real kicker, I thought I'd selected my standard Double Bonus poker (usually only play that or Double, double) but I'd actually played a couple of hands of Deuces Wild without realizing it (a little distracted having just sat down and trying to place the bags of booze under the chair while playing) - I wouldn't have even held that King had I known that, who would - talk about a dumba$$ stroke of luck!!! I didn't notice until I was looking at the machine waiting for my payout and decided to take a photo. I was convinced the gambling Gods were smiling on me then. It was a progressive machine and the JP was just a little over $1100. For the remainder of the trip, the K of Spades became a favourite card among our group and we'd all hold it on a whim no matter what the game, lol. We played for a while longer, then headed back to the Venetian; the men were quite happy to hear the trek to the Riviera was so profitable and it set a great tone for the evening ahead. Had to get ready for the show in record time, 20 minutes from stepping in the shower to heading out the door and it was too late to grab dinner before the show They still have Maitre D seating at the Riv; when he started to walk us to the back of the room, I gave him $10 and the four of us were seated in the front row….which would prove to be somewhat dangerous as Jay brought me up to dance and then stuck the mike in my face to sing along to I’m a Believer, but what the hell; I'll never see those people again is always a good motto to adopt! This show was very good. If you like Neil Diamond and want a fun, inexpensive show, I’d definitely recommend this one. Jay White was outside the showroom when we exited and he thanked me for “my enthusiasm†(did I have a choice??) and asked where we were from. It turns out he is from Kitchener Ontario – small little world.

    Some Photos - View From Our Room at the Venetian

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Love the wee television in the bathroom

    [​IMG]

    The Fluke Royal

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    Jay White
    [​IMG]

    After the good luck at the Riv in the afternoon, we decided we’d do a bit of gambling there, so figured we may as well just grab a bite there too. We headed to the Riv coffee shop and the food was pretty good and inexpensive I have no memory now of what we each ordered..... guess I should have kept track of some of this stuff, but I’m not one to take notes on vacation and alcohol seems to dull the memory ohhhhhh just a tad. I could blame it on age and early onset alzheimers, but I’d rather be thought of as an absolute raging drunk than old……hey – it’s a female thing.

    After we ate we went back to the same bar as the Royal earlier in the day for more digital warfare, hit a couple of quads....but no big payout, made sure I had selected the right game this time. Hubby played a bit of BJ and was up about $100; we decided to head back to the Venetian. At the Venetian, our friends played VP and slots and I spotted my favourite Wheel of Fortune machine from our last trip. I'd lost every day on the last trip and recouped my losses in the last 2 hrs at this machine. It was good to me again.... 3rd spin, I hit 3 double diamonds for 1600 (quarter machine) so $400.....I'd intended to join hubby at the BJ table but sat at this machine for hours with washroom breaks that grew more and more frequent.....that waitress was by faster than I could finish a beer and you know how it is once you break the seal. Fortunately this machine is conveniently located right near the restroom. Hit lots of spins, one for 1000, one for 500 and many in smaller amounts. Wrapped up the evening at 5:00 a.m. at the same machine up just under $1000....kept trying to hit that mark but couldn't reach it so finally gave in to exhaustion and the need to escape the cocktail waitress while I was still upright, able to keep from drooling on myself and able to walk to the room. DH kept me company at WOF for the last couple of hours and managed to coax $400 out of his machine. Our friends won their round of digital warfare and various slot machines as well, so all in all a good first day across the board. Our tipsy crew called it a night!

    Double Diamonds on WOF
    [​IMG]

    Sept 11

    Woke to the phone ringing, 9:00 a.m. comes early when you don't actually get to bed 'til 6:00 a.m. Our friends were ready to head to breakfast, so quickly up to shower and get ready fast enough that the hangover didn't have a chance to make itself known. Went to the Grand Lux for breakfast. Wow, were we ever a thirsty lot......guess we should have drank more the night before to keep from being so "dehydrated" <wink wink>. I always enjoy breakfast at the Grand Lux. After breakfast, someone had the brilliant idea that a drink might straighten us all out and in my weakened state I sucumbed to the peer pressure. The reasoning was that at home it was lunch time. The first drink after the night before is hard to choke back, but it did make me feel better. Decided to do some strip walking and casino popping in and out. Did more gawking than gambling, then headed back to the Venetian to log some pool time. Our friends enjoyed the little "tid bits" they bring around constantly at the pool, orange slices, iced cucumbers to put on your eyes etc. We asked about the cabana rentals and were told $280 for the weekday rent. Our friend Mike said....."So what do you get for that just one of these cubicles?"......the attendant replied "Well we prefer to call them cabanas so you don't feel like you're at work"......I told him that if he could send someone in every hour or so to yell at Mike so he'd feel like he was at work, he might have a deal. We didn't rent one.....just can't bring myself to spend that kind of money on a cabana, especially since we never spend the entire day at the pool. Up to our friends room for drinks (we set the communal bar up in their room since no one could smoke in ours). We had tickets for Blue Man Group for that evening and Mike had called the front desk to ask about the show time (been a while since we booked and we were to pick up our tickets at the Box Office). Up to our room to shower and change and down to get our tickets. Mike had been told the show was at 8:00 p.m., hit the Box Office at 7:30 and I noticed they had our tickets in the "No Show" pile.....so I asked if they thought we weren't coming to which she replied "You do know the show started at 7:00 p.m. don't you?" Ummmmmmm no. Big sign that says no refunds or rescheduling. They were very good about it and the customer service is wonderful - we were given tickets for the next night in the same seats (first row Poncho - hmmmmmmm wonder why they were still available?!!!) Well now with our show plans screwed up and too late to book anything else, looks like it is a night of gambling. We walked over to Harrahs, played a little Let It Ride there and rode the hell out because none of us could catch a hand. We grabbed the shuttle from Harrahs over to the Rio and went to the Carnival World Buffet for dinner. I still think this is one of the best buffets in Vegas. Spent some time playing VP at the Shutters Bar (I used to play Blackjack almost exclusively but it is hard to find a good game and all were $25 minimum when we scouted the tables so we decided to play the machines at the Rio and head to Gold Coast later for BJ). I love the bars in the Casino at the Rio......great bartenders and you never wait for a drink even when you are barely running money through the machine. Ran into a couple of locals we've met over the years and spent some time catching up with them. The four of us headed to the Gold Coast for blackjack. They still have a fairly decent double deck game there although they have gone to house hitting soft 17, but BJ still plays 3-2 and there are lots of $5 and $10 tables. The four of us sat at the same table all night - had a great group playing, nice dealers and no one was getting their butt handed to them. At the end of it all, we were all up anywhere from $200-$500 with DH being the big winner at that table with $500. Asked for a comp for breakfast and each couple was given $75 on our players cards......we decided to use it later and just head back for some sleep. The shuttle to the Rio had long ago stopped running (it was about 4:00 a.m.) so we grabbed a cab. The fare from the GC to the Venetian was $9 so I couldn't give him just $10 and was fishing in my wallet to find singles but alas the cocktail waitress had all those so I pulled out what I thought was another $10 and told him to just give me $5 back. (I'm Canadian our money is coloured and easily identifiable even in a dark cab after many cocktails). When we got to our room and I was putting the money in the safe I discovered my bad.....I'd given the driver $110 for a $9 fare and received $5 back and he of course didn't say a word. Good job it was a winning trip both days so far or I'd have been quite ticked at myself. You can bet if I ever have that cabbie again on a future trip, he's not getting a tip!

    Sept 12

    Woke up at 9:30 starving! We grabbed the shuttle to the Rio and walked to the GC to use our comps on breakfast. Breakfast at the Gold Coast is very good; we've had breakfast there at least once each trip lately and haven't had a bad meal yet, great steak and eggs. More strip walking and popping into various Casinos for a bit of gambling. No big wins, but none of us seemed to really lose on this trip, maybe $20 here and there, but the wins of the first day were obviously going to keep us from ever dipping into the original bankroll and put us up for the trip - unless we go absolutely crazy at some point. Did a bit of shopping and headed over to Margaritaville to sit out on the patio, people watch and grab a snack. One order of Nachos for the four of us......the order is huge and a round of margaritas. It tasted like another round, so we did it again. A waiter came over to ask where in Canada we were from (turns out he wasn't psychic as DH had a shirt with a Canadian flag on it). He is from a small town just north of where we live........are Canadians suddenly making a mass exodus and relocating to Vegas?! Margaritaville always seems to be a stop on all of our recent trips as well. Sadly this stop meant we wouldn't see Big Elvis this trip (it was on our list of things to do) as we spent a bit too much time wastin' away again.

    Stopped by at O'Sheas when heading back to the Venetian. There was a "little person" - geez I hope that is the current politically correct term - up on the bar and pouring shots down willing participants throat....there appeared to be a charge to participate in this "sporting event" as they passed money prior to the shot, but I have no idea what the fee was, looked like maybe a couple of $'s. We have Blue Man booked for the evening, so stayed clear of that tom foolery. Popped into Casino Royale, just so we could say we did and have a $1 Michelob, then back to the Venetian to get ready for the evening. After showering the stench of Casino Royale off, we met up with our friends and no one was hungry yet, sat at the bar for a bit of digital warfare (VP) and then off to the show. Anyone who has seen BMG is familiar with the advertising sign just before the show starts that has some amusing things scrolling across it. The sign announces that there are some special guests in the audience tonight that will be introduced. 'Lo and behold the first name is mine, MY NAME is in the audience tonight. MY NAME won the 2006 Olympic Gold medal for women's curling in Torino. MY NAME stand up. Too funny; I of course never won that medal and if I'm ever tempted to curl, just shoot me. Other audience members were introduced for other imaginary accomplishments. People around me congratulated me on my Olympic win, so who was I to disappoint them with the cold hard truth, lol. The show is fantastic and is just one of those shows you have to see - very hard to describe. Avoid the seats we had though....thankfully hubby & I were a few seats over from dead center, but our friends weren't and they got covered in a substance that smelled like banana......so after the show, up to change for them (afraid someone might lick them I guess since they did smell somewhat like a banana split) and then off to dinner. We decided to go to Toby Keith's at Harrahs, we tend to go there once each trip as well. Sadly we wouldn't be making Battistas this trip either; 3 nights in Vegas is just not long enough - we'll never do that again unless it means the difference between going and not going as there just weren't enough hours in a day to do all we wanted to do. Enjoyed dinner at Toby's and the band playing was very good. A bit of gambling at Harrahs (hubby got his butt handed to him at Hold 'Em when he bet quite aggressively with pocket Kings), back to the GC for some more BJ (again we all won, nothing really big but a couple of hundred each) over to the Rio for some VP at Shutters, several quads but no Royals and back to the Venetian. I finished the night alone, hubby decided bed was calling...our friends stayed a while longer and I decided sleep is just over-rated and bounced around from BP to WOF. Played 'til 4am and lost $20 total.

    O'Sheas
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Sept 13

    We had breakfast at the buffet at Harrahs then headed back to pack and leave our bags with the bellman. Did the rest of our gambling at the Venetian - sadly our flight was at 2:20 p.m. and we knew the time would pass quickly. The four of us settled together at the bar for VP and laughs. Kept a King of Hearts and got 4 to the Royal - I was just "one jack off". Had 4 to the Royal 3 times and convinced myself that this digital device was indeed falling in love with me....something about the way I pushed his buttons and was about to reward me, but alas no Royal...just a couple of quads. We all cashed out of our machines in our favour though before heading to the airport with plans for the four of us to make another Vegas run in the spring.

    Next trip....making a list of the must do's and scheduling them in so we don't miss them. 3 nights in Vegas just takes the edge off, but doesn't leave near enough time, 5 nights minimum next time. :eek:
    Sure hope these photos work, first time posting
     
  2. DonD

    DonD VIP Whale

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    :nworthy: Great report, thanks for posting. :nworthy:
     
  3. PokerrNutt

    PokerrNutt High-Roller

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    Nice report - but the pics aren't working! Glad you won!
     
  4. DonD

    DonD VIP Whale

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    They work for me.
     
  5. Coaster Kikky

    Coaster Kikky Tourist

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    I haven't even finished reading your report yet, but had to comment that this might be one of the best lines ever! :nworthy:
     
  6. gotavegasjones

    gotavegasjones VIP Whale

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    breanna61 - very well done TR. Thanks for posting.

    later, GVJ
     
  7. Hoopswife

    Hoopswife Low-Roller

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    What a great report! Loved it. Thanks so much for taking the time to write it up!
     
  8. BlondWidow

    BlondWidow Low-Roller

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    That was a fun report. I'm glad to hear you won. I know it's not too funny, but I lol'd at the $9 cab fare incident. Sounds like something I would do. :eek:
     
  9. ghetto71

    ghetto71 Tourist

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    Great TR!:peace:
     
  10. llb8187

    llb8187 Tourist

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    Great first report. I am impressed by the fact that you cannot remember every little detail. That clearly means you had a great trip. I hope you don't mind if I borrow the phrase "one jack off". I am certain that it will have application on numerous occasions.
     
  11. michigander

    michigander Tourist

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    Great report of a fun trip, thanks for taking the time to post.

    Pics aren't working for me either:cry:
     
  12. gette69

    gette69 Tourist

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    Great TR, Do you have a link for the pics? I couldnt see them either
    Congrats on all your wins, it sems like you had a Great time!!
     
  13. breanna61

    breanna61 Super Moderator

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    I loaded the pics here, so thought they would work for anyone on this site. I'll load them into photobucket this weekend and let you know when they are there.
     
  14. Blondie76

    Blondie76 Low-Roller

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    That was a whirlwind trip! You had some really nice wins. An enjoyable read. Thanks for posting it:)
     
  15. delo

    delo Low-Roller

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    Enjoyed your TR. We like Jay White, too - seen him twice. And we always try to make Harrahs and Rio buffets - very good - especially Harrahs for breakfast.

    Thanks for sharing your fun time with us.
     
  16. tnkc

    tnkc High-Roller

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    The sign of a good TR is that it makes you feel like you were there, which this one did. Sounds like you did a lot of winning! Thanks for posting!
     
  17. breanna61

    breanna61 Super Moderator

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    I think I may have fixed the photos; I didn't have the Album set to public....hope they work now!:eek:
     
  18. kodidog

    kodidog Low-Roller

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    Great Report, Breanna!

    If that was only your first attempt....can't wait to read about future trips. Can't get much better!

    I absolutely LOVE the term, 'Digital Warfare'. May I borrow it? Make it MINE? Pretend I neve heard you say it? ;-)

    I cannot imagine just three nights in Vegas. I do NOT do time change well, so I would look and feel like a zombie the whole time....and not remember being there, afterwards! And you sure filled every minute...wow, busy schedule. Loved that you got to 'participate' at Jay's show and the BMG. Wicked!


    Oh, I can't see your photos either....and I really want to, so you'll have to keep trying, pretty please!
     
  19. Gregg19

    Gregg19 Tourist

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    Sorry to hear you missed Big Elvis, LOL! That is one show I never miss on my vegas trips! What a tip for that taxi driver, I'm feeling your pain on that one! Thanks for posting your trip
     
  20. Sheltie Lover

    Sheltie Lover Low-Roller

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    Loved your TR. I could not see the pictures.

    Really a female thing for sure. LOL...
     
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