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10th Trip to Vegas: G/f's 30th Birthday with “born-again” Vegas Virgins!

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by tringlomane, Sep 15, 2014.

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  1. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2013
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    Location:
    Chicagoland
    Trips to Las Vegas:
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    My Trip Report

    Earlier this month, we went once again to one of my favorite places, Vegas! This time, however, partly thanks to getting my g/f's parents to play myVegas too, they came with us and went back to Vegas for the first time in decades!

    Tues. Sept. 2nd: Hope to see a Royal(s) Win!

    Unfortunately, Southwest flights where we currently live (St. Louis suburbs) have been terribly priced this spring and summer (often about $200 each way). In KC, however, Southwest has priced flights under $100 per leg to compete with Spirit Airlines adding KC to Vegas service. So when we booked, we thought it was worth the 3.5 hour drive for us to save over $200.

    We initially planned to get up real early on the 3rd to catch our 1:20 PM flight. But my g/f was called off of work on the 2nd. So we decided to make a mini-trip to KC instead. She had enough reward points from Drury Hotels for a free room and the KCI Airport Drury offered “Park and Fly” for $15/week with a one night stay, so that was the plan. I also bought Royals tix in the lower deck for $9/each off of StubHub.

    Get to KC, check in, and take advantage of their “free” drinks and food they offer from 5:30-7pm. Then head to Kauffman to watch most of the game. Since it was a Tuesday, we figured we could sneak up a few sections/rows.

    View from the seat we chose:

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    Got one of these at the stadium for $11.50 for 22oz. Pretty good, but definitely not $11.50 good.

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    Unfortunately, 45 minutes after the game started, the people that actually bought the tix showed up. Instead of sitting in the empty row in front of us, they asked us to get up, which we do of course. And the usher notices this runs down there and asks us where are tickets are, we brush it off and say we were in Row X, and actually sit there as there were more empty seats. But it wasn't our section.

    30 minutes after that, another group doesn't even bother confronting us and goes straight to the usher instead...who does that? The usher insists leading us to our seats now, which were here:

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    Mild annoyances were a bit of a theme this trip. We bail on the game early to go to Ameristar for a bit. For the 2nd Royals game in a row, we miss a rally in the 8th inning, oops. Get to Ameristar within one-half inning. Royals won 2-1.

    Played for a couple hours at Ameristar with a mix of things, but mostly cheap VP because it's there slash we want to save most of the roll for Vegas!!!

    My first ever quad playing 8/5 Boner Deluxe w/“Extra Draw Frenzy”:

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    G/f hits Aces... at the 2-cent level...d'oh!

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    We couldn't hit much else, so I'm -$22 and she's -$5 when we quit. But in reality, we're down $40 and $35 respectively because we were stupid enough to not cash out our tickets when we leave. Oops!

    Wed. Sept. 3rd: A Rough Finish to One of my Favorite Games and a Taste of Hollywood

    We check out of the Drury without issue and take their shuttle to KCI. We were baffled by the size of the airport. I know it's not a major hub, but...yeah smaller than we would have guessed. Not many bathrooms in the secured area either. As we approach Vegas, g/f snaps these of the Hoover Dam area.

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    A bit of a bumpy landing thanks to winds in 100+ degree weather, we've made it baby!

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    The g/f goes to pick up the rental car while I wait for her parents to arrive from Chicago Midway. We rented a car from Avis via TR Getways because it was a lower price than what you can normally find for Orbitz, etc. even better than places like Fox and EZ. The booking worked perfectly and she got the car within minutes. She was done booking the car just when her parents arrived and was able to pick us all up from McCarran. Her mother has trouble with walking long distances so we also rented a lightweight wheelchair from “Las Vegas Wheelchairs” for a little over $50 for the week that was delivered to the hotel. Worked out very well!

    Drive to Planet Hollywood as her dad was able to get Wed./Thurs. comped there. G/f mentioned to the guy at the front desk that it was her b-day coming up, and he gave us a pool/strip view on the 29th floor.

    Room was pretty nice, but not sure if it is our speed. We got a “Backdraft” room:

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    Daytime views:

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    After checking-in, we head off to the Gold Coast to grab some buffets using American Casino Guide (ACG) coupons, and Boyd's “Young at Heart” promo. To earn the buffet via the casino guide, you had to earn only $200 coin-in on VP. How was I going to do that? 9/6 JoB w/Super Times Pay (STP) (99.82%) of course!

    I got off to a fairly good start with my first twenty.

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    It went all downhill after that though...ugh $60 hole when everyone finished earning their buffets. My total coin in might have been $400 tops. And unfortunately, that may be the last time I play the game in any US casino. Gold Coast downgraded it this week. :grrr:

    Buffet was decent, but missing fried chicken at dinner...found that odd. Then run off to the Rio to play off some freeplay. Find some Ultimate X multipliers, but I blow $30 on trying to play them off. I blow another $30 playing poorer games for beer/degeneracy. This close to $1000...but another “pity flush” instead.

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    Had a couple of these, a CET staple now:
    [​IMG]

    And at the All American Grille I noticed this:

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    A Double IPA brewed with juniper berries. The bartops there FORCE you through a programming option to bet at least 3 quarters. Hopefully that's not a trend. But this trip, I decide to say screw it anyway and max bet everything. The bartender whose it's her first day on the job makes up for it though by pouring me a 22 oz. one of these that retail for $12. It didn't follow Sierra Nevada well, but tasted pretty good after the palette adjustment. Unfortunately, I lost $15 at the bar while drinking it.

    Leaving the Rio, I'm down $120 on Day 1. Not the start I hoped for. We decide to gamble at Planet Ho for a bit. I head to the Heart Bar for more beer. Find 7/5 Bonus w/STP (98.29%) and ask for a Bud. She asks me for $7.07. I shove $100 in the machine to signify I'm playing. I hold my own for awhile when the Britney Spears show lets out. They all flood the Heart Bar for the “after party”. Now I see many people my age or younger hand the bartenders their tickets, so they can get this grapefruit looking shot. Only about half of the people are tipping them...******s. Eventually, I ask a couple to verify that you get the shot for free with the ticket. They said yes, I said, “that's nice of them”, and then said “cheers”, which they may not have heard. But “cheers” to myself as I hit my first Vegas quad for the trip at that moment.

    [​IMG]

    Then 13 minutes later...even better:

    [​IMG]

    I was able to run it up to a $60 profit before I cash out. Blow another Ultimate X chance, and they want to go up to the room. I reluctantly submit, thinking that I had 5 days to go. Down about $70 for the day. Good night Vegas!

    [​IMG]

    Thurs. Sept. 4th: Strip Errands, Meet Up w/aaisack, and Fremont Pick 'em!!!

    Get up and head to the pool for a bit. Typical pool; nothing mind blowing. I assume it would be more fun during the bikini contest. The view from the pool area:

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    Her parents went to eat breakfast and gambled at PHo for a bit. Her dad hit $250 on a “Pinball” machine for a good start of the day! Now we run off to Mirage to print off our myVegas show tickets. If you pick up your show tickets more than 24 hours in advance, you can do it at any MGM Box Office.

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    We play at Mirage for a bit, nothing doing for me at nickels...-$8.

    Eat PHo buffet for a late lunch/early dinner. Her dad had a $10 food credit and we had $5 off each person coupon from the ACG to make the price more reasonable (~$15 per person). The buffet was pretty good, but they weren't making Tandoori Chicken that day, so that was disappointing as I really like it there. Their fried chicken was better than I remembered.

    Then the g/f and her parents plan to run off to the outlet mall while I was scheming to meet aaisack. We had been discussing our plans for the day, and he was planning to watch his hometown Seahawks on the Strip. So I wiggle out of going to the outlet mall, and meet up with him at CP's Galleria Bar. Not a mind blowing TV setup, but this on tap for quarter VP players...IN!!!

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    Was planning to play my typical game on CET bartops, 7/5 Triple Bonus Plus (97.67%), until I saw that it was 6/5 (96.62%) at that bar. D'Oh. I choose the best available game 6/5 Bonus (96.87%) instead. aaisack has a little more gamble in him and plays 8/5 DDB (96.79%). aaisack is really good guy and chatted about all kinds of things. Had a great time watching the game. As the Seahawks built a lead and we got more beers in us, his cheering started to build up. The bartender was a Seahawks fan too, so he probably overlooked my particularly snailish pace of play for my 4 pints worth of Dogfish Head. We also had to deal with a drunk Broncos fan who was yelling at us while rooting against the Seahawks. She and aaisack were going back and forth a bit. But the Seahawks started to pull away which meant my under bet was screwed. A $8 win at the bar covered it for me. I let aaisack tear it up for me:

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    His bet did much better, and helped cover his bartop loss as I was a total cooler for him there:

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    During this time, my g/f and her parents went to Wynn, signed up for the players' club. All got $10 freeplay, and she got $10 more since it was near her b-day. Also got a CD from Garth Brooks. I had to listen to it in the rental car for the rest of the week...fml

    Now it's past sunset and we had plans to go to Fremont. Park here but actually didn't play here...bah:

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    Didn't play here either, but I never noticed that Oscar's offered “broads” before...lol

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    One of the places we did play at was at Golden Gate where we signed up her parents for the players club. Mainly to get the $25 match play out of the ACG. Her dad gets a 16 v 10, and decides to hit and bust. I get a soft 18, which I hit a 3 for 21! So at least we got one of the bets. They also had “Free Bet Blackjack” for double deck there as well.

    After that we walk past “La Bayou” and my g/f points out to them that they are all coin-droppers, so her mom is amused by that thought. I have done the coin-dropper thing, so I'm looking to bail. I check the VP paytables for a good laugh (mostly 94% garbage), and I tell the g/f that I am going to run to Fremont to check the bartops and play some 99.95% Pick 'em Poker.

    Check the main bar at Fremont and was terribly disappointed; best game is 6/5 Bonus (96.87%). So after pulling teeth to get a beer, I run to the machines with Pick 'em on them plus a multitude of other good quarter games. Last trip I doubled my money in 15 minutes with a good run. Soon after I sit down, I see another lady at the end of the bank hit 6 of 6 on keno for $400 from just one quarter. I mutter, “I wish I was that lucky”. I wasn't quite that lucky, but two flushes within a minute help push me more in the black for the night.

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    Then it dries up for about 15 minutes, and the g/f is texting me about deep fried oreos at Mermaids. I think about joining but the gambler in me doesn't quit. Apparently they were one of the last people to get them after waiting in line for ~30 minutes. This gets me back ahead:
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    Now I've played this game sporadically since late 2002 when I found out that Harrah's St. Louis offered this paytable for quarters until they trashed it in Jan. 2004. Never got one of these at quarters til now...

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    Finally! Two more queens were under the pile, and those ladies look particularly lovely when they're worth $150! That was pure profit as well.

    We reconvene at Binion's to take pictures with the million dollars. Hit the bar for a beer, end up losing $20 at Binion's. Now it's getting closer to midnight, so we catch one last light show.

    “You've arrived at the Glitter Spot” LOL

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    Did you ever notice football teams banners hanging up on Fremont? J-E-T-S...JETS, JETS, JETS!!!

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    No tears tonight for me!!!

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    We get back to the hotel. Her parents call it a night, but I convince her to go to Cosmo for a bit. I go to the Bond bar to check paytables and get this. The g/f was not amused by my 5 minute wait to get it.

    [​IMG]

    Found my favorite Cosmo penny game (98.91% Deuces) open and give that a whirl. I toss away standard Deuces Wild garbage and get this:

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    4 Deuces with the Ace of Spades on the redraw! Too bad it was on the penny unit... as that only let me break even there. G/f is getting bored/tired, so we call it a night a little before 2am. And I'm up about $115 for the day.

    More to come...
     
  2. Sissyboy_Deuce

    Sissyboy_Deuce Poker Fan

    Joined:
    Jun 29, 2014
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    128
    Location:
    Chicago
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    15
    Love the pics, love the detail! Thanks for posting.
     
  3. Jordan

    Jordan Caveman

    Joined:
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    Halifax, Canada
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    Awesome pics, Thanks for sharing!!!
     
  4. RockyBalboa

    RockyBalboa Front Line Winner

    Joined:
    Jan 24, 2010
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    Location:
    Houston by way of Philadelphia
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    Nice report and great pics!
     
  5. LAURLUVS2BOWL

    LAURLUVS2BOWL Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Jun 4, 2009
    Messages:
    285
    Location:
    Houston, TX
    Trips to Las Vegas:
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    i could've sworn i read a couple months ago that P Ho was no longer taking any Spice Market Buffet coupons (ACG/LVA or even groupon)! now i'm excited but i think i'll call them just to make sure...glad to hear you used yours successfully :beer:
     
  6. M_ILIS

    M_ILIS VIP Whale

    Joined:
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    Orange County, CA
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    The way the corner of PHo distorts Britney Spears' face from the angle in your picture is hilarious. Great report, looking forward to more!
     
  7. Electroguy563

    Electroguy563 Vegas Joker

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2011
    Messages:
    8,197
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    21
    Enjoying the report and the pics!! Looking forward to more!
     
  8. QueenAngie

    QueenAngie Tourist

    Joined:
    Aug 14, 2014
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    Trips to Las Vegas:
    0
    Sounds like a great trip for all of you!
     
  9. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

    Joined:
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    Chicagoland
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    LOL Totally didn't notice that. That is hilarious.
     
  10. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

    Joined:
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    31,307
    Location:
    Chicagoland
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    28
    Fri. Sept. 5th: Red Rock Casino and Canyon, Fantasy/Jabbawockeez, and Last Minute Mix Game Poker Degeneracy!

    Get up and check out of Planet Hollywood, and immediately check-in to the Monte Carlo. No issues checking-in at 11:30am on Friday. Unfortunately, for the first time in our myVegas history, they actually dinged us with the resort fees...bah It was a good run.

    Before knowing that Station casinos would add myVegas stuff, we bought a Groupon for Fatburger at Red Rock casino for 50% off $32 worth of food. We spent just that amount, and it was pretty tasty, but the burgers could have been a little more evenly seasoned.

    After this we gamble there for a little bit. First I try 8/5 Bonus w/Dream Card (99.27% w/DC) or one line dimes. Nada. Although I just hit deuces last night for peanuts, I decide to try it again as they have “full pay” deuces (100.76%). Nada again. I lose $50 in less than an hour. I got so degenerate I didn't even check the bartops, bah. My g/f won a bit though.

    $20 bonus round hit:
    [​IMG]


    Now we decide to go to Red Rock Canyon for the $7 driving tour. I'm not much of a nature guy, but for the price, I definitely recommend it. Even if you only spend ~90 minutes there like we did, it's worth the money. The first half of the tour is much prettier than the second though, imo.

    Lizard greeting you at the Visitors' Center:
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    The route:
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    Native American Artifacts:
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    View from Visitor Center with her awesome zoom:
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    Now head out on the road!

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    Decide to give up on the Canyon tour. It's about 100 out for the 3rd day in a row, and we can tell her Dad is pretty beat. He's probably not drinking enough. Probably none of us are. Something about Vegas that sneaks up with you. He seems better after getting him a soda. Hit the Monte Carlo pool for a bit, mostly a drunken party zone in the lazy river. I haven't had a drop to drink yet, dammit.

    We go to eat at Outback before our respective shows. Standard stuff. The girls were going to “Jabbawockeez” and the guys were going to “Fantasy” tonight. After a near valet fiasco, where her mother's handicap tag bails us out (valet is supposed to never refuse disabled people, even if it's technically “full”). We go our respective ways. Our show started an hour later, so it gave us a chance to gamble and drink a bit. I look for good machines, and the “Playbar” bartop where I get a beer. After a little play though, I told my bartender where I was going. The bank in front of it. The highest quarter progressive jackpot I have ever seen in my life I believe.

    When I start playing:

    [​IMG]

    Most of my neighbors are playing 9/5 DDB because they love DDB crack even though it pays almost 0.6% less. I have a half hour before the show. I hold my own sans quads, but no taxform. :( In for $60, out for $40. The game I was playing was about 102.37% optimal return when I quit. Meter could be as high as 1% from a rough estimate of 8 players of 10 units. Definitely a good game on the Strip!!

    [​IMG]

    Now it's time for “Fantasy”, I told her dad to meet me at 10:10, just so we had a cushion. Good thing I did. It took about 20 minutes to get into the place! Terribly designed access to the theater. Multiple times we were in a standstill in the theater trying to get in. After that annoyance, the show was great! Wonderful looking girls, good choreography, and good supporting cast to keep the energy up. My favorite was Mariah... although big smiles aren't generally seductive, it drew my attention...

    She's up front in this pic:

    [​IMG]

    But to be honest, the man that rivaled the girls in talent is the main “comic relief” of the show, Sean E. Cooper. He was hilarious!!! He pulled off a good interactive bit in the front row, were this 40-ish guy was on a family trip with his brand new g/f (like a month) in Las Vegas. You could tell he was embarrassed, so he seeked out the possible future father-in-law instead! He got to go up on stage and dress up as Elvis with the girls. LOL And teased both of them a good bit the rest of the night, mostly rubbing it in that the FIL had the balls to do it. He also dressed up as Michael Jackson and also danced with the girls in drag, playing stereotypes perfectly. After the show, both my g/f's dad and I shook his hand on the way out as he was by the door. Excellent performance!!!

    My g/f and her mom were waiting for our arrival. Since she is smarter than I am, she took a couple of snaps of the area:

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    Unfortunately, while the girls were waiting for us, some jackass decided to steal my g/f's USB cord in our empty frozen drink cup because that was the only place she thought of placing it in. To add insult to injury, the thief or someone else decided to toss a used cigarette in it. I think we were more pissed over that than anything, particularly me. By the time we got back to Monte Carlo, I really wasn't in the mood to do anything. But we decide to go to Cosmo anyway, even though her parents stayed at Monte Carlo. We have a misunderstanding, and I continue to spew money with another quick $20 loss at Cosmo, so I suggest we just go back to the room. Neither of us are thrilled, and we actually beat her parents back.

    I can't sleep now, and eventually her parents come back to the room at about 2am. I look at Bravo Poker Live, and at about 2:30am, I see that a $4/$8 limit mix game has just started at Aria. That made me snap into gambler mode because last trip I didn't get to play any live poker, and the day I was originally planning to try to play live poker was her birthday on Sunday (probably a bad idea). So after some internal debate, I jumped at it and went to Aria. I got there to play shortly before 3 am. I send her a message where I am, but she doesn't read it until 7am...doh.

    The game itself had a lot of Aria dealers that just got off working the peak shift. This made the game quite juicy. The mix itself was quite extensive and included things like:

    Super Texas Holdem (Texas Holdem with 3 cards, where you can use all 3 if you wish)

    Crazy Pineapple 8 or better (discard one card on flop, play like Texas Hold 'em, except the lowest hand that has 5 ranks 8 or lower can get half of the pot)

    2-7 Triple Draw Lowball (75432 no straights or flushes is the best hand)

    A-5 Triple Draw Lowball (A2345 is the best hand, straights and flushes okay)

    Badugi (lowball game where A234 of different suits is the best hand)

    BaDeucey (split pot game where half the pot goes to 2-7 lowball hand and half the pot goes to the best badugi is high (where ace is high in both hands)

    BadAcey (split pot game where half the pot goes to A-5 lowball hand and half the pot goes to the best badugi is high (where ace is low in both hands)

    A-5 Triple Draw Hi/Lo 8 or better (split pot game between high hand and best low hand 8 or lower)

    5 card Omaha 8 or better (Omaha hi/lo split but you get dealt one extra card)

    Double Flop Omaha (2 boards of limit Omaha High that split the pot)

    Super Stud 8 or better (Stud 8, but deal four cards down initially and discard two down cards)

    And a few other games...lots of split pot games if you didn't notice.

    Unfortunately, early on, I was quite card dead. It doesn't help I'm a nit either...d'oh. I bought in for $200 and bled off over $40 before my first pot. But looking at my opponents the initial table was playing tons of hands and having a good time, so I'm totally cool with that. Considering I didn't drink much today, I mostly was drinking 2 Buds every hour while folding. While the 2 weakest players were at the table, I bled away almost $100... still fun people to play with though. The guy nicknamed “Crazy Mike” was better than the 2 weakest ones...lol One of the weakest clearly stated they were terrible at all of these games but Omaha (truth), but warned people that they would win at Omaha games (truth, but they still played trash hands in that game too).

    Eventually I got a couple of “scoops”, one was in a Super Stud 8 hand where I made a low hand on 5th street and raised the high only bettor. I rivered an Ace high flush to beat his King high flush for the entire pot. At one point a few hours in, I was at $180 of my $200 stake. I pretty much told myself I'd quit if I would return to the break even point. The next pot I was involved with I lost though, so I kept on playing.

    Later, I had a pretty significant cold streak going on, and found myself with 7272 in Badugi. I decide, “f it”, and attempt to “snow” (aka “bluff” in draw games). I am the aggressor the entire hand and never draw, hoping everyone will eventually fold. I get the hand heads up quickly. But after the last draw, the villain (likely one of the best players at the table) bets $8 into me. I pause for a little bit and again decide “f it” and announce raise to $16 (it's limit). After about a minute of debate, he folds, and I show the bluff. He obviously was 2nd guessing himself after that. He claimed to fold a 9 low (one of the few hands you should ever consider a fold with in this spot). He told me he didn't think I could bluff like that. And I truthfully said...”Well I'm 10 beers in”...LOL

    After that, time rolls on, the sun comes up, and I don't do too well because the guy to my left (off-shift manager at Aria) runs good and plays good. Eventually its 9 am?!?! And the manager next to me sees the day shift come in and realizes he needs to work later tonight, so he eventually leaves. So now it's me and two of the toughest players in the game. I am probably stuck $150 of the $200 initial stake at this point... am I smart enough to quit?

    No!!!

    One of the guys convinced me to stay until he had his Bailey's Coffee...lol I agree to it even though the sun is coming up. I never like to quit when stuck, ugh. I was a terrible shortstack, and went “all-in” a couple of times. One of the hands was KKx in “Super Texas Hold 'em”. I double up there as well as the other times.

    Holding on by a thread with about $30 of my initial $200. The rotation switches to a game I like: A-5 Triple Draw 8 or better. So I buy-in for $40 more and go for it. The heater continues with me getting half of a sizeable 3-way pot with 23456. Then “Super Texas Hold 'em” comes back around, and I raise it up with 997 three handed. Flop comes 97x and I hold on to win. One of the other guys pointed out I flopped the boat...I forgot you can use all 3 cards in the game...whoops. I see my alma mater (Mizzou) play on TV for the “early game”... and feel like a total degenerate. I also regret not betting on them as they easily cover.

    Nevertheless, I slowly keep chipping up as I get better than my fair share of hands, and it's almost noon. One of my opponents requests a couple more games one last time before quitting. Works well for me because I have now recovered to a minor peak of about $165 with $240 in which includes all dealer and waitress tips. Would have rather won, but for 9 hours, it could have been a worse result. Down about $165 for the day.



    Saturday Sept. 6th: Visit Orleans as a Zombie, Hershey's Chocolate World, Ka, and South Strip Action

    Well, after the game broke up...I had actually been up for 28 hours straight, and I was really feeling it in my eyes. I don't think I have been up this long in a row in over a decade! By the time I got back to the room they were shopping for a replacement USB cord. I attempt to take a nap, but before I fall asleep, my g/f comes in, and says they are going to the Orleans for lunch. We talked a bit; I apologized for being a degenerate, and she is a lot less pissed than she should be. But I think it's a good idea for me to rejoin the group again. So I go with them to Orleans even though my body is basically saying “F YOU!!!”

    We eat Fuddruckers which was good as usual, and then even though I could fall asleep at any moment, I try this:

    [​IMG]

    It wasn't bad, but I wasn't that impressed either. Maybe because I was struggling to stay awake? The g/f notices that they have a blue frozen lemonade mix at the bar, which could be turned into a “Blue Hawaiian” with some rum. That tasted a lot better than the beer.

    Some random Orleans pics:

    $1 comp prize for g/f's b-day...
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    The gator mascots
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    While I was poking at the bar, my g/f and her parents were trying to redeem some stuff from the ACG. But when they got to the Bconnected Desk, they told her parents that they only had 42 slot points ($0.04 of cash) total. Her Dad has over $250 in cash thanks to the Blue Chip in Indiana. My g/f had to log them into Bconnected online and show the employee they had more...lol Eventually, the fiasco got fixed after about 20 minutes. But at least she did give us 3 free buffets good for either today or tomorrow for the inconvenience! So we decide we'll be coming back tomorrow.

    After way too much time at the Orleans, we get back to the Monte Carlo at about 4pm. G/f wants to go Hershey's Chocolate World and to the pool, but after being up 32 hours straight at this point, I make it clear I'm not going. I beeline to bed for a 3 hour nap. It may have been the best sleep I ever got in Vegas.

    Although it might have been fun to see Hershey's Chocolate World slash scope out NYNY (never been a big fan of that place):

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    Her Dad hits the “minor” jackpot with a minimum bet:
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    She returns to the pool a little before 7 after a drunken guy nearly drowned according to her and one girl's bottoms fell off...lol At this point I think her Dad and I were both napping. Took him awhile to get going, so we didn't have too much time to eat before “Ka”. So we decide to use the BOGO coupon from “Original Chicken Tender”. Very good chicken tenders, especially for half price. But the tenders aren't that big though, fyi.

    Pics on the way to MGM:

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    Get to MGM for Ka, and I have about a half hour to try to find an open bartop and get a drink. Easier said than done as MGM was very busy for Saturday at 9pm. I would have hate to see it one week later! I did find an open seat at Whiskey Down, and order this since I'm not really a whiskey guy:

    [​IMG]

    Confirm that they have 9/5 DDB (97.87%) for quarters, one of the better bartops you'll find on the strip at that level and before I know it, it's 9:20. Go watch Ka for the 2nd time. It's a decent show, but the video recreation of the battle scene where the performer died is a joke. They should just ditch the scene completely instead, imo. I regret not seeing the show before the tragedy happened. Her Mom muttered during the show a couple of times...”this isn't what I expected”...I guess we didn't describe it well to her. I think my g/f and her dad brief dozed off at times...whoops...lol

    As the show let out the place was somewhat a mess and we slowly make our way to the front entrance where this guy is:

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    On our way toward the entrance though, we see an opening on Sigma Derby, so we jump on that. Three of us are pretty amused by the game, while her dad ran off to a slot machine. He supposedly hit on “Wizard of Odds: The Enchanted Forest” for $175 though. As for the Sigma Derby, we were slowly chipping up with some good picks. A good number of longshots seemed to be coming in too. On one race there were 2 100+ for 1 longshots, including the 200 for 1 biggest longshot. We put a quarter on the other one. And sure as shit, the 200 for 1 hit. We and one other person missed out on a $50 payout. DAMMIT!!! One person got $200 because he bet a dollar on the 200 for 1. He had so many credits (800) a slot tech had to unlock the machine before he could play again. Last trip we saw the 200 for 1 hit walking by the D. I didn't think I would see it again in less than an hour of play. I was even stupid enough to not take a pic of it...maybe because I'm still a little steamed about it...lol

    Now it's after midnight and we take the tram from Monte Carlo to Bellagio.

    The Halloween display at Jean Phillippe Patisserie:


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    Unfortunately, the conservatory was changing seasons, so couldn't get any pictures of that.

    So we also gamble here briefly. I check out the Baccarat Bar and order a Sierra Nevada. The poor lady next to me orders a Blue Moon and pays $9.73 for it. I'm only getting paid in “6-card Charlies”, thank you very much.

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    Sneak away from Blackjack a $5 winner when I notice more Spin Poker w/”Dream Card” for nickels. They have 8/5 Boner Deluxe at that level (98.11% w/DC) and even 9/5 for quarters thru $2 ($180 per round max bet sounds nuts though), which is VPFree2 worthy (99.05% w/DC). I wish I would have manned up for quarters as I finally cracked my mini quad drought.

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    Then we run off to Cosmo again with her parents this time for once.

    Some shots taken from the Bellagio “people mover”, it's a good place to take them:

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    I'm behind on my drinking pace, so I belly up to the Book and Stage to try to move things along. At first there are so many people standing and chatting in front of the bar, I have to take the wheelchair unit to order one of these:

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    As least this was a progressive unit I guess at about $1300. But no royal or other pretty pictures to show from my 6/5 Bonus game. So I lose about retail on the beer and move over to the Double STP units. Hit this to keep me going.

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    Get back to the room about 3am. So in the end was up roughly $10 total I think, I keep terrible records...definite low roll today.
     
  11. RockyBalboa

    RockyBalboa Front Line Winner

    Joined:
    Jan 24, 2010
    Messages:
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    Location:
    Houston by way of Philadelphia
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    14
    Helluva report! You guys certainly get a lot done and have a good time!

    Hello Mariah, indeed. She's fine.

    Staying awake for 32 hours is impressive. I've done it and been near incoherent and then end up being off kilter for a day or two after.

    Sigma Derby's 200-1's are like the fire bet in craps for me. I play it all the time because I never want to be the guy who misses out on it. On one Super Bowl trip I'd been awake for a long time and I was shutting down so I had to get to bed. My buddies and I were playing at MGM and it was like 430am so I finally had enough after nearly falling asleep and I headed back to sleep. About 10 minutes after I left one of my friends hit the 200-1 with four bucks on it. Lucky bum!
     
  12. seviay

    seviay High-Roller

    Joined:
    Jun 21, 2011
    Messages:
    814
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    10
    Mariah's tummy is begging for me to make a map of Hawaii on it. :wink2:

    Thanks for the TR, btw. I think that spin poker machine is the one I was telling you about. I'll be checking out whiskey down this weekend thanks to you...hope to have some good hits to report, other than to my liver
     
  13. MrGVegas

    MrGVegas Tourist

    Joined:
    Aug 21, 2013
    Messages:
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    Location:
    Canada
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    65
    Great TR and awesome pics! What was your favourite brew of the trip?
     
  14. RiddickBull

    RiddickBull VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Oct 20, 2012
    Messages:
    1,671
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    20
    Great TR. Those are some high quality pics.
     
  15. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2013
    Messages:
    31,307
    Location:
    Chicagoland
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    28
    I think it was Oatis (Oatmeal Stout) I had comped at Mandalay Bay. That's impressive in itself because I am usually all about IPA/Double IPAs.
     
  16. cw247

    cw247 Tourist

    Joined:
    Jun 10, 2013
    Messages:
    47
    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    8
    Loving the pics and detail. Nice job. I'm thirsty.....
     
  17. vegasqc

    vegasqc VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Nov 9, 2010
    Messages:
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    Trips to Las Vegas:
    11
    How did you manage to take such a great pic at Fantasy?

    I feel like the ushers are watching like hawks when im there

    Love Mariah i follow her on twitter she also dance in the NYNY party pit
     
    Last edited: Sep 17, 2014
  18. atcmurph

    atcmurph Watcher Of The Skies

    Joined:
    Apr 18, 2007
    Messages:
    775
    Location:
    Indiana
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    120
    Loving the report and the pics are just beautiful! I agree about MCI. I have connected through there twice and find it to be a very strange little airport. The one interesting and good thing (for smokers) is that you just have to walk across the hallway to get outside, where there is a smoking area.
     
  19. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2013
    Messages:
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    Location:
    Chicagoland
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    28
    I am not that sneaky with my phone...lol That one I took from the Web.

    http://www.247-las-vegas.com/?p=8087
     
  20. da1chifan

    da1chifan High-Roller

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2008
    Messages:
    824
    Location:
    MSP
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    30
    Awesome report! Sounds like you had a great time! I love many of those variations of poker, so I will have to check it out next trip. I used to play Hold Em almost exclusively my first couple of trips, but haven't played in a long while.

    My husband's favorite brewery of all time is Boulevard Brewing and his all time favorite beer is their Tank 7. I just bought him an LED Boulevard light for our basement bar for his birthday.

    Question. How did you do your photos? I put mine in my trip report one at the time and they are small and look stupid. For my next report, I want to be able to put them in and have them show up like yours did.
     
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