1. Welcome to VegasMessageBoard
    It appears you are visiting our community as a guest.
    In order to view full-size images, participate in discussions, vote in polls, etc, you will need to Log in or Register.

BeeeJay's Gluttony & Debauchery Tale---February 2009 Vegas Trip Report

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by BeeeJay, Feb 28, 2009.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. BeeeJay

    BeeeJay President of The Red Lobster Hostess Satisfaction

    Joined:
    Aug 23, 2008
    Messages:
    9,150
    Location:
    Chicago & Scottsdale, AZ
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    100

    My Trip Report

    http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=bw37hpp3.21i0tj77&x=0&y=vdoxyo&localeid=en_US
    Welcome to my February 21-25, 2009 Trip Report. This trip represented an attempt to scale back my gambling levels while enjoying probably my last decent level comps. Like everyone else I've taken a hit to the good ole pocketbook with the recession so I am looking to maintain my Vegas lifestyle at lower levels than in the past. The idea being it is better to get away for a break more often even if it requires a little more diligent budgeting.
    The attempt could be considered unsuccessful in that I wasn't able to stick anywhere close to my budget, however I did gamble significantly less and lower limits than in the past so in that sense it was at least minor progress. The primary goal of building the bankroll was successful due to good luck on this trip, but I realize developing proper habits is the key to maintaining the bankroll long term.
    Ok enough of that, off to the specifics.
    Friday, February 21st
    I have been freezing my ASS off in Chicago. Yeah its been another "worst winter" in decades--just like last year. So I was more than ready to get outta Dodge. I had just returned from a week in Orlando with the wife, mother-in-law, and 3 kids under 6 so needless to say I was ready for a REAL VACATION!!!!
    My original plan had been for a Sun-Tue 3-day/2 night trip, but due to excessive bossing while in Orlando I ended up accidently adding on 2 days. Then wouldn't ya know it a blizzard was forecast for my departure date so I decided the day before to beat it out of town. The final result was a 5-night/6-day trip starting Friday, February 21st and returning Wednesday, February 25th.
    After changing my flight I headed for the airport, Midway, in heavy Fri afternoon traffic. There was plenty of time to call Mirage VIP services and get an extra night added to the room and have the limo moved up a day.
    Traffic was brutal on the way, trucks everywhere, red lights, really need to fly out of O’hare next time (which I am), but this is credit #15 and #16 on SWA so earning a free flight after this trip.
    Ok so got checked in, two large checked bags so I can shop for wife and kids, grabbed a Big Mac for an appetizer, eventually boarded the plane and flew to Vegas. I enjoyed 4 Finlandia Tonics thanks to SWA drink tickets given to me by Jason on our last visit. Everyone on the plane was in a good mood, lots of talking. I eventually began speaking with my neighbors, a nice couple John and Julie who were headed to Mirage to play poker. Since we had the same destination I offered to share my limo ride and they accepted.
    Upon arrival to Vegas the luggage arrived quickly and John and Julie rode with me in the limo to the Mirage. They were kind enough to pick up the tip which I greatly appreciated. We parted ways at the entry and I entered the VIP lounge where I met Yen, my host, who got me checked in and we headed for the cage to get my $1,500 in promo chips. They tried to give me 2 $500’s and 5 $100’s but I talked them into the 1 $500 and 10 $100’s I had rec’d last time.
    Headed up to the room to unpack. This was the remodeled version of the Mirage Suite which I guess is normally a $250-$300/night room although not really that great. I had stayed in the non-remodeled version in December and this was far better. The main area had been completely redone in darker woods and fabrics and the bed was pillow top—very comfortable. Bathrooms were not really remodeled and still pretty nasty.
    So I got unpacked and did a quick inventory. I’ve got $800 I brought with me. Five hotels reserved over 5 nights as follows:
    #1 Mirage—Mirage Suite, 3 nights, FRL, $1,500 promo chips
    #2 Palazzo---Concierge Luxury Suite, 4 nights, $600 promo chips, gift basket , Zine dinner for two
    #3 Gold Coast---1 bedroom suite, 2 nights, $300 promo chips, $150/day food and beverage
    #4 Planet Hollywood---deluxe room, 2 nights, $100 promo chips, $50 dining certificate
    #5 Mandalay Bay---Media suite, 2 nights, $425 promo chips
    (images of the offer mailers included with pics)
    My budget is to take out another $1,000 max and goal being to return from the trip with $3,000…so I’m looking to make a $1,200 profit. This seems reasonable as I’ve got $2,925 in promo chips, so could lose some cash and still make that goal. I am planning on replacing a lot of my big betting with some $10 BJ and quarter video poker and NO ROULETTE!!!
    HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA
    Well Jason expected that to last about 5 minutes and he was right, if it really ever started at all. After unpacking and doing a quick planning session I headed down to bust in the promo chips. Sat down at a $10 BJ table and played one hand where I won $25 and then realized it was an auto-shuffler and hit soft 17. screw that. Moved over to a $25 table, 6-deck shoe with surrender. Bet a $100 chips lost. Repeat. Repeat. Bet the $500 chip. Lost. Not even close. I am getting 14-15-16 vs. dealer 20 every time. F THIS!!!!
    So I go back down to playing my own $25 chips for a while. Things turn. I put the last promo chips into play and end up salvaging an $800 return on the $1,500 in promo chips. That is pretty bad, but better than nothing. Feeling bummed that I had just blown thru my biggest promo offer of the trip without hitting big (yeah I had visions of winning like 50 straight hands with the $500 chip---who wouldn’t?) I slinked over to the roulette table and bought in for $100 in $1 chips. I played 5 $20 spins and won nothing.
    OK now this is not what I flew all the way to Vegas for is it? It really is time to get this party started! So I dig into the wallet and buy in for my old standby at the roulette table (remember not going to play roulette this trip!) $1,000 half nickels, half quarters. So here is what happened. I play 13 numbers on roulette. 17 is my primary number. I bet $5 on #2, 7, 22, 28, 29, 31, 34 and bet $10 on #5, 20, 32 and bet $20 on #17 with the other $15 split #0-00. Then I’ll throw a quarter on #0-00 split, #17-20 split, #17 straight up, #32-29 split. So $200 bet per spin with 13 out of 38 numbers covered. Should hit 1 out of 3 spins approx. Well things started out nice. I hit 5 straight spins! Only one was a biggie. but it was still a great start! I felt rejuvenated that I now was where I should have been after a good start on the promo chips. Starving from the flight with only a small Big Mac appetizer in my gullet I decided it was time to head up and order some room service.
    As I walked to the elevators a Multi-Poker machine caught my eye so I sat down and figured why not run though $100 quick. So I put in $100 on the $1 level and all I can say is DAMN! I wish I had been played $5! I had the best run ever on a single video poker machine in a short amount of time. I hit 4 4OAK, once 2 in 3 hands while I was ordering a drink. The cocktail waitress even noticed that! Hit tons of full houses. I ended up cashing out $700 from the $100 investment. I stopped by the blackjack tables and won another $500. Ok stomach growling, colored up and headed to the room (this is when I had the 4 yellows and one purple you see pictured).
    Since Jason wouldn’t be in until tomorrow I just decided to get room service by myself. I’m not the type to dine solo in the restaurant. I ordered some coconut shrimp with fries and an appetizer sampler with pot stickers, fried shrimp, peanut butter shrimp skewers, and veggie spring rolls. Dumbass that I am I mistook the hot mustard for honey mustard and gobbed a bunch on some fries which I then drunkenly stuffed in my mouth.
    Nasal congestion issue=solved!
    After making a small dent in the feast I decided to call it a night as I was tiring from being up at 6am Chicago time. It was maybe midnite Vegas time when I nodded off.
    Results:
    UP $3,189 $800 from promo chips, $2,389 from cash
    Saturday, February 22nd
    Of course having gone to bed early I was up at the crack of dawn, or in this case by 7am Vegas time. So I showered up and decided to head out on a little trek to get some exercise walking.
    My first stop was the Palazzo. Even though it was early I was able to go ahead and check in which allowed me to grab the ham & cheese croissant from the pics and enjoy the views in the concierge lounge. After that I made sure the room keys worked and put in a call for the gift basket (which this time came with a really cool dice liquor bottle stopper). The room looked fine and actually had a lovely view of the Wynn golf course, where I could see the site of my one good shot last year, a 5-wood from 210 yds on #17 over the water to win a bunch of skins. The European pool and High Roller villas were also visable, but of course too cold to see any teeeeties down there ;).
    As I was now a guest at the Palazzo I was able to get my $600 in bright pink $25 Palazzo promo chips (see pic). I took those to a $25 BJ table and had a similar CRAP result to what happened at Mirage. Made $300 on the $600 which sucks and really blows in comparison to the $1,475 I was able to luck into on the same promo in December.
    So I wrapped things up at Palazzo and headed over to Wynn where I hopped on my good ole VP machine by Blush at the quarter level and had a few cocktails and got some stoges from the waitress. I played for maybe a ½ hr then walked thru to Encore. It was super nice, but didn’t really blow me away. I do like it a lot, and I’ll be spending some more time there with my wife in March. I sat down at a $10 bj table and played thru a quick hundo with no luck. The best part of this visit was the workers were mopping up a spot where a drunken Brit had just barfed in front of the bar. According to my dealer and the pit boss who were right there a group on folks were having a grand time and had been going all night. One final shot did the poor chap in and he just blew chunks like someone out of a movie.
    I decided Encore was too classy for me for the moment and set my sights on a little $2 Craps at Slots-A-Fun. I began walking and of course retard that I am had to backtrack when I got dead-ended at the sidewalk between Encore and Riviera. Went back and crossed then walked to Slots on the other side…past the new McD’s with the lovely fake grass. As I approached Slots I was disappointed to see the Craps table did open until NOON!!! WTF? (later in the trip they closed it on us early at like 3am—pricks!) Anyway I decided to sit at the bar and play a little full-pay quarter and buy some of the cups I love so much. My wife had just broken my second to last one weeks before. I bought it in the mid-90’s so its seen many a cocktail. She lied about it but broke when I made her swear on her kids lives. Yeah I am like the Jack Bauer of interrogators at my house.
    Ok so I buy the last 3 cups, 1 filled with a Bacardi Diet. $6.50 filled, $5.50 empty. They pour ‘em strong there so I was in no position to drink all 3 that early in the day. For my $20 investment on VP I cashed out $57.50. I also enjoyed a free conversation with a very nice gentlemen who was retired from the army and no owned a nursery. He was kind enough to share some details regarding his stomach problems as well as the resultant erectile disfunction. Good vegas stuff!
    Back to Mirage on foot, not much traffic yet on the strip. I decide to order some lunch. Chicken salad sandwich, fries, 5 diet cokes, 5 fiji waters, 6 Tsing Tao. Might as well stock up as this room has a small mini-fridge and may as well use the RFL. So I pounded that grub and hit they hay for a long nap. Having a 6 month old at home as well as a 4 and 6 yr old I was ready for some sleep once the initial adrenaline had worn off. Plus I knew once Jason arrived we would be going nonstop.
    Results:
    UP $3,740 $1,100 from promo chips, $2,640 cash
    Woke up and decided to play some at Mirage. I went down with only $500 in cash and blew that pretty quick. So I hit the ATM for $1,000. Played some better luck on blackjack and roulette. Decided to play a little craps. This went well. I bought in $500, had to buy in another $200, but went on a great run and cashed in $1,475. I was the only roller so I joked that I got my workout in for the day.
    Well I decided before I started blowing my wad again I had better head over to the Forum shops and get wifey’s purse. Here is my first funny error of the day. Not really thinking about where I was I walk up to the front of Mirage and wait in line for a cab. I tell the cabbie Forum Shops and he is like “huh?â€. Yeah it was about a 100 yard drive. I just gave him $20 and said sorry dude for the short ride. He was happy with the overall fare/tip so no worries. I head up to the Coach store and showed the lady the pic my wife text to me and found the purse for $698 right away. It was bigger than I thought but would make a great carry-on. Anyway I had them overnight it to Chicago so wifey could get her payment early and go easy on the big dog. Oddly they did not charge me tax of any kind this time, usually it is 10.25% for ship to Chicago. It was $728 total with the $30 shipping.
    I decided to rough it and walk back to Mirage. The entry is literally steps from the Forum Shops and actually brings you in right by the table where I had been playing craps before.
    I headed back up to the room, still pretty groggy and out of it from the weird sleep patterns. I ordered an Oriental chicken salad, chicken fried rice, and that same app sampler from before. This time I did NOT drink the hot mustard! ;)
    Made a minor dent in the food and crashed again for a couple hours. Woke up showered around 10pm and headed over to the Palazzo to meet Jason. He wasn’t in yet so I passed the time playing some $25 blackjack with no major runs either way. Jason showed up and I met him over by the craps table. We played for a bit at Palazzo, then headed to Wynn and Encore. I had lost $500 on craps, then another $500 on Wynn VP. Having only brought $1,000 I popped into high limit and took out a $1,000 cash marker. Went back to VP at Wynn and won $1,000. Won $500 on BJ at Encore. Then we headed down to Slots-A-Fun for some craps. By this time it was about 3am. The bastards closed the table at 3am and left about 10 of us hanging. Total BS. Anyway Jason and I hit the bar for quarter VP and cocktails. Some ******bags were hitting on this chick who was playing and just got off work. She was NOT having any of that. Those guys left eventually and we all joked with her and the bartender that they just decided to settle for each other. Then some dude comes up to the bartender and asks the bar back who is washing dishes for change for $100. The change window is like 5 steps away. The bar back points it out. As soon as the guy is gone I ask the barback for a 125% cash out REFI.
    The drink service was fast and they were stroooooooooong so worked up a good enough buzz to blow $400 on roulette at Slots-A-Fun. Decided to grab a Subway pizza on the walk back to Mirage. Jason headed back to the Palazzo and I called it a day around 5am.
    Results:
    UP $4,142 $1,100 from promos, $3,042 cash
    Sunday, February 22nd
    Plan was to sleep until 2pm. Wife started texting me at 9am….hey I was glad she waited until 11am her time. Still she HAS to know I sent her an update when I went to bed 4 hrs earlier! What a Jack Ass!
    A few hours later Jason texts me and we decide he’ll pick me up in front of Mirage and then we’ll head out on the town. So Jason shows up and picks me up, we first head over to Gold Coast. I check-in and get my $300 freeplay. They have really improved this system since December when I had to run all over to get the free play.
    We were starving and headed right over to TGIFriday’s to use the $150/day food and bev comp. Jason ordered a strawberry colada and I had a hawaiin ice tea (fancy long island).
    We got a shrimp cocktail and app sampler. Jason had ribs, while I did the jack daniels steak and shrimp. Food was good, service was ok cause the guy was so busy. We couldn’t get any more drinks which was a bummer. After we wrapped up lunch I tried one of the $150 coupons on blackjack and lost. Decided to use the other on freeplay. We found a nice 10-play supertimespay over by the cashier. I only made about $70 off that but it was better than losiing the WHOLE thing. Next we headed to Planet Hollywood where I checked in and got my $100 in freeplay. Jason grabbed a fun book, as did I at the time we got the freeplay. Super long line at the PH players club. We also checked out some Vegas type art galleries in their mall which were super cool.
    I was able to bust about $130 out of the PH freeplay and matchplay which is about what you’d expect.
    Jason suggested a run down to O’Shea’s to play some craps. I hadn’t played there much in the past but it sounded good to me. Well this turned out to be one of the best times of the trip. Things were up-n-down for a while but we were tipping well and getting Bacardi Diets very regularly---too regularly in fact. The table began to turn hot once Wilfred Bremsley parked down on our end. His cousin was at the other end and looked sorta like a younger Santa Claus. We got on a bunch of hot rolls on the $5 table and eventually started hitting hard ways and the like.
    Finally after one good 20-minute roll I counted myself up $500. Not bad for a $5 table, although I was playing all the hard ways and betting come line and then full odds each roll. At one time right after my long roll and when Jason had rolled about 3 times the point was 8 and a couple other numbers were made. Everyone was on the hard 8 which had hit at least 5 times and was the primary source of my winnings. So the croupier gives Jason the dice, but for some reason I forgot it was his turn and I picked them up and with my quick release had them in the air just as the dealers yelled ---“nnnooooooooooâ€. Well guess what 4-4 baby! The other end of the table went crazy! Of course the stickman called “no rollâ€. We were getting slobbering drunk by this time as was the whole table so it was all in good fun and no one got toooo mad.
    I was feeling pretty drunk and decided maybe best to get some grub in the ole gullet. Decided to try to head back to PH Spice Market Buffet before they close at 10pm as we had a $50 food comp coupon at PH. Got there about 5 after and were pinched out along with about 5 other people so we decided on PF Changs, one of my faves. Confirmed we could use the comp there and ordered it up in an effort to use at least close to $50.
    There was a dude at PF Changs who proposed to his GF and the whole room clapped. We had a pole in between us and them but I could see a Bud tall boy on the table so apparently he did it in STYLE!
    We ordered General Tsao’s Chicken, Moo Goo Gai Pain, Sesame Chicken Egg Rolls, Crab Rangoon----nice meal and I think Jason won some VP cash while we were waiting for the table. After dinner we played some at the boob shirt dealer tables which was fun. The girls were pretty but had really good sense of humor. It was fun play. We also made a run over to TI and played for quite a while at a pretty high level there. I took kind of a beating there and we decided to call it a night.
    Results:
    UP $3223, $1,300 from promo chips, $1,923 from cash
    Monday, February 23rd
    Called Mirage for late check-out. Actually ended up waking up on time and checking out at 11am. The VIP girl was the same who was dressed up in Dec and I had gotten a pic of her so she gave me her email to send her the pic. We decided to head right over to Mandalay as I had quite a bit of cash by this point (I had taken out $2,000 more somewhere in there as I was only taking $500 with me each time but pulled out an extra $500 here or there. I guess it’s a crap system but beats bringing $5,000 blowing that and taking out $5,000 (which I have also done in the past). So the central theme gambling wise was each time I blew my $500 and took out another $500 I won more back than I had lost. At this point I ended up with $4,800 out and had around $8,500 in cash.
    Jason kindly drove me to Mandalay where check-in was a snap and we got up to the Media Suite. Just an incredible room I have to say. One of the best I’ve ever stayed in. Mandalay Bay is in fact a very nice resort. The gambling there and the location don’t do much for me, but the common areas and the rooms are first class. The pool area also looks incredible. So we went to the room and I unpacked all the beverages I had brought over from Mirage and popped us each a Tsing Tao. One Tsing Tao didn’t make it and I had a shoe full of Chinese Beer. Jason can attest I nearly gagged as I smelled my stanky arss shoe and the skunk beer inside it. The shoe did contain the slight spill quite nicely I must say.
    Anyway got all unpacked and took a bunch of room pics. The room had a huge entry with a cool unique floor surface. A nice powder room and coat closet. Some nice art throughout. The media room is first class. Dolby 7.1 surround. Speakers pop open when you turn on TV. Four nice seats, well designed for sounds and nice big 60†HDTV. The main area has a seating area that could accommodate 10 easily, a very nice spacioius dining table. There is a desk cove and a good size bar. The master bedroom is nicely appointed with the current standard comfy pillowtop setup. Walkin closet with safe. The bathroom to me was the highlight. Big entry way full length wide mirror. Dual head shower plus steam---loved this! Champagne bubble Jacuzzi tub, dual sinks, water closet. All clean and nicely done.
    We were getting hungry again so decided to head on back to TGIFriday’s at Gold Coast and use that comp. Jason suggested we sit at the bar this time as to take better advantage of the “beverage†part of the $150 per day RFB……great call Dude. We got loaded as hell at that bar and had great food service as well. Just had a couple salads and burgers but also enjoyed about 3 strong cocktails each. They always pour strong when you are there. Tipped the dude $20 and headed over to play some of that supertimespay 10-play we had discovered the day before.
    Again Jason came up with an awesome suggestion. We decided to play against each other. Buy in $100 each and play nickel 10 play for 15 minutes and see who wins. Well we were pretty drunk already but also getting good drink service over here. We were really in a tight game and started getting quite loud. Anyone who sat down at the third machine, which was Keno, left pretty quickly. We attracted some attention from the nearby line at the cashier. It was really fun as we hooted and hollered out way to 5 straight victories by Jason---BASTARD!!!!
    Eventually we decided to head back to Palazzo as I had brought clothes with me for our planned dinner at Botero. We changed in Jason’s room at Palazzo and headed down to do some craps before going to Encore. The craps table was pretty dead but I’ll just say those dice were moving slow, and that is a good thing. We had 3 rollers or 4 most of the time, but due to the ruckuss from the hot rolls things crowded up pretty quick. I bought in for $500 and cashed out $1,700 so I was REALLY happy as we headed over to Encore.
    We played BJ for a while at Encore until we had to head into Botero for dinner. The hostess looked exactly like an old friend of mine so I bribed her into taking a pick with me which I’ll use to freak out the old friend---eerily similar (wendy of wendy & mindy for those of you who know here). Anyway we were quickly given our table for our 8pm reservation and greeted by our server who is from Schaumburg so we talked smack about the Woodfield Mall where I am about to head with the wife in an hour. So on to Botero. Very nice ambiance. I ordered the Petite Filet, as did Jason, We had the lobster and crab add-ons and sides of garlic mashed potatos, tater tots, and mac-n-chz. The filets were out of this world incredible. The seafood sides were not the traditional broiled or crab legs, but just the meat with some special seasonings or sauces. All was just excellent from food to service. The sides were fun as well. We were in on a $500 comp but kept it around $250. I slipped the waitress a ridiculous tip and we headed out to play a little VP before meeting Rider1 at 10pm.
    Jason and I found a 10-play supertimespay and continued our shenanigans from the Gold Coast. He continued to beat me senseless taking an 8-0 lead. I had had it with this damn machine so I switched to $1 supertimespay at $60 per hand and promptly blew about $1,500 into that black ahole of a machine. It was 3 after 10 so we met Rider1 by the Encore BJ table where we had played before. We sat down and all bought in. In about 10 hands I had lost a full yellow $1,000 chip. Piece of Crap. I only had $200 in my wallet and we had just met up with Rider. Now what!?!?? I excuse myself to take a piss and decide to walk over to Wynn and grab a marker in high limit. Instead I stop at a roulette table where I see Richard spinning and my buddy Matt as the pit boss. I bought in a $1,000 marker $500 nickels and $500 quarters. First spin was a #20, next spin was something else, then a #32. I paid the $1,000 back cancelling the marker before they could even print it, and left with one yellow $1,000 chip.
    Arrived back from my 10-minute “piss†and proudly pounded down my replacement $1,000 chip. We all went on a nice run after that. We were joking loudly with the dealers and the pit boss and having a great time. Making fun of the skanks heading into XS in outfits that would make a 50 year bordello veteran employee of the month blush. Anyway I was playing 3 hands at $75-$125 per and the other dudes were betting nicely as well. Even Jason rolled some black chip action. After a while we had worn out our welcome and I cashed out $2,500. Nice comeback!
    We decided to head to O’Sheas with our winnings and low-roll party to hold our win. Enjoyed getting to know Rider on the way over there as we had a nice conversation about biz, fam, vegas, etc. Finally got to O’Sheas and it was packed. So we did Flamingo instead. No problem getting on the craps table, but the table sucked as the poor man’s cast of My Name is Earl were playing and putting out way late bets bumping the dice and crap. Lost a quick $500 or $700 there and headed for roulette. Rider joined me. Decided to do some of my nickel quarter action and had a couple back to back 17’s for really nice hits! After that I did some black chip inside play, but none of that panned out so called it a night with some pretty decent winnings. Things had been pretty up and down but ended up on a nice run.
    Jason had bailed for home and Rider and I said our goodbye’s and goodluck’s and I headed back for home via cab. I was pretty f’n drunk so decided to order a pizza and a salad back at Mandalay. The salad was great but filling and could only do 1 piece of pizza after it. I took count of the cash situation before passing out for the night.
    Results:
    $4,746 up $1,300 from promos, $3,446 from cash.
    Tuesday, February 24th
    Woke up to a kick in the gut as my body rejected the non-fried, non-battered, non-meat salad from the night before. I try to eat healthy at times but my body literally just rejects the food like a pretty homecoming queen slapping a guy like me asking for a dance. I spent a good few hours in the “guest†washroom aka powder room. Man that sucked. Was supposed to meet Jason at 11:20am at Palazzo after his slot tourney but had to call in an hour late due to the horse hoof to the gullet and then a huge line at cabs and a busy strip traffic on the way.
    I called from my cellphone and checked out of Gold Coast---bill $0 and Planet Hollywood---bill $0. Love it! The Mirage bill had been $80ish due to room service tips and porn, fyi.
    The steam shower really brought me back to life I must say, boy did that feel good. Also the line and bad traffic were a good sign as Vegas was packed the rest of the trip with big conventions in town. A lot more energy from here forward.
    Finally made it to meet Jason at Palazzo and we head over to the mall to look for gifts for the kids. Couldn’t find crap should have got them a sham-wow (BEWARE OF IMITATORS!!!) but didn’t think of it. DAMN!
    Anyway we end up over at Wynn where Jason has a buffet comp for us to use. Decided to get our buzz on first and play some video poker tourneys. Again Jason shuts me out, what is he up like 15-0 for the damn trip jesus H! Also to add insult to injury the drink service absolutely blows over by the nickel hundo pays. The highlight though as you may see is I had a 2-royal hand from 4 to the royal deal on 100-play pennies. Jason had a royal from 4 dealt on the 10-play nickels---nice $200 payoff for him! Of course I even still lost the game where I had the 2 damn royals mo fo!
    So finally its time to eat right? Jason needs to validate his thing at the red card booth for our buffets. Meanwhile I hit the low ball roulette table and play $100 at the dollar level. Blah lost it. Bought in $200 nickels blah lost it. Ok now again like a dumbass I had brought only $500 lost some on VP, lost $300 on roulette. Down to under $200. Go to find Jason, still a huge line. F it dude, I’ll be over at roulette. Well Jason shows up just as I am ripping up another $1,000 marker. Just did basically the exact same thing as the night before. Bought $1K marker had 4 good spins, paid it and cashed out a little over $1k this time. Those were very nice.
    We grabbed one quick plate at the buffet but I wasn’t real hungry due to my “issuesâ€. Then Jason led me on our first coupon run. This went a lot like the VP tourneys against each other. A regular pattern of Jason wins, I lose. I probably would be a whole lot more of a coupon run guy had I not gone 2 for 8. The nice thing is one of the wins was a $25 and some losses were $10’s and $5’s so really wasn’t that much money lost. We drove like 50 miles out to rampart and forgot to use one match play which sucked oh and we both lost. We had a $25 matchplay and a $20. They probably wouldn’t let us use both anyway. I do like the free shirt I got for joining their players club though, it’s a perfect white undershirt. The drive was enjoyable also with a nice sunset and beautiful weather.
    Jason then blazed a trail of smoke in the rental car Shelby 427 style to downtown where we finished up our matchplays and bought the kiddos some cheapo gifts (which of course they loved). Downtown had that live band with the frizzy haired dude and people seemed to be enjoying it.
    We made it back to Palazzo just in time to use the Prix Fix dinner at Zine before Jason had to leave. We had sort of an appetizer sampler which was good, then each a bowl of corn chowder, and a lobster salad which was excellent. For the main dish we both ordered the Lemon chicken which was very good. The dessert was some kind of custard that tasted like melted plastic to me. One bite done on that for me. Jason hooked me up by leaving the tip there so that was awesome. Decent meal but would never pay $170 for it!
    Jason packed and check out of Palazzo and we said our goodbyes as he dropped me off at Mandalay Bay on his way to the rental car return. I was pretty bushed but needed to knock out my promo chips of $425 before I forgot. I ended up losing the first 3 but made a real nice comeback on BJ and ended up with a $525 cashout from the chips. I decided it was time to call it a trip for gambling as at that time I thought I was up about $5,500.
    I returned to the room and ordered a chicken salad sandwich and some mac n cheese and polished off the bottle of champagne that Mirage had provided me. Also knocked out a good portion of Jason’s left over Cap’n Morgan staying up late watching Sports Center in the awesome media room.
    Results: Up $5,443 Promo Chips $1,825 Cash $3,618
    Wednesday, February 25th
    The plan was to call for late checkout and watch Tiger Woods return to competitive golf in HD until I had to head to the airport at 3:30pm. Well first they would only give me a 1pm late checkout, and second the d-bags do not have the Golf Channel. So I hung out and had some breakfast around 11am, hit the steam shower again and packed all my goodies up. Checked out and bill was $155 for room service orders. Finally cabbed to the airport at 1pm and just waited until 5:55pm for my flight. It went quick as I did some reading and watched the golf on my AT&T Tilt and hit the Burger King just before my flight. I thought about a little VP but was able to ignore the siren song and it helped that I had just a little of $10K in my pocket and wanted to have enough for the full $10K deposit after paying parking.
    Flight landed early and I paid my $155 parking and after all the snacks, etc. had $10,040 left from the $4,800 buy in so a total net of $5,240 after absolutely all expenses. Made the drive home in only 20 minutes as it was almost midnight and I missed the kids and wife so drove fast ;).
    My final tally of the stats which I completed on the plane:
    Value of Free Rooms: $3,791 (from website rates)
    Value of Food: $948 (some free, some paid for at M. Bay)
    Tips: $825
    Value of Drinks: $620 (estimate)
    Gross Winnings $6,268 (tips were paid out of this cash)
    Total Net Value of Trip: $11,628
    Final Thoughts:
    This was an extremely fun and profitable trip. My attempts at controlling betting levels failed miserably and my coupon runs were a disaster, however the endeavor to do these things did help in that my betting levels and time at those higher levels did decrease significantly. Also the coupon runs were good time away from $200/spin roulette. The $100 15-minute VP tourneys were also a huge amount of fun on the nickel 10-play machines as between the two of us I think the most we lost on one session was maybe $32. Also I did play SOME $10 blackjack and more $25 blackjack than in the past. Also I played some quarter VP and a ton of $1 VP. The majority of the roulette I played was $100-$200 per spin and the blackjack was mostly $250-$300 hand---usually 2 $75 hands and a $125 hand. The replacement of most $5 VP with $1 VP probably saved me a lot.
    Zine was a waste of time. Rather eat at PF Changs---better food for less money. Botero is fantastic---worth every penny and I will pay to eat there in the future. All other dining was standard pedestrian stuff.
    Mirage remodeled rooms are better, but I would still never pay $304 for their Mirage Suite. The Mandalay Media Suite is easily worth the $669 it listed at. Would be great for a March Madness or Super Bowl party. You can get a connector as well so it could sleep more people. Planet Hollywood room was impressive for the basic room. Palazzo is one of the top suites available for the rate it goes for. Didn’t even look in the gold coast room this time.
    Thanks to Jason and Rider for the company and good luck, it was a great trip, I wish they could ALL BE LIKE THAT!

    http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=bw37hpp3.21i0tj77&x=0&y=vdoxyo&localeid=en_US
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  2. LVLady

    LVLady Tourist

    Joined:
    May 26, 2003
    Messages:
    1,022
    Location:
    Memphis, TN
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    24
    Great Trip Report. We enjoyed Botero also, next time try the Gnocchi there. They are soooo good. Your Mirage room looked nice and the MB suite was amazing. Thanks for the TR.
     
  3. BeeeJay

    BeeeJay President of The Red Lobster Hostess Satisfaction

    Joined:
    Aug 23, 2008
    Messages:
    9,150
    Location:
    Chicago & Scottsdale, AZ
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    100
    darn it I knew I forgot something I was supposed to try!
     
  4. ez369

    ez369 High-Roller

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2008
    Messages:
    710
    Location:
    Sugar Land, TX
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    21
    thanks for sharing your TR! nice digs to stay on rfb.. I spent 2 nites in a Media Suite in Dec and its a pretty nice suite... The foyer actually is marble.. but they've covered it up with that unique gray composite tile overlay for durability I'm guessing. I really like the bedroom and media room. Overall, I prefer the Vista Suite at MB. The penthouse islander suites at MB are even more impressive than the media suite!
     
  5. LVLady

    LVLady Tourist

    Joined:
    May 26, 2003
    Messages:
    1,022
    Location:
    Memphis, TN
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    24
    Are you seriously going back to LV in less than 2 weeks? Try the GNOCCHI, you won't regret it. Of course you probably have to like gnocchi to really enjoy them. They are amazing and so light. I can't seem to make them as good at home. We are going to be in LV starting the 8th for a 4 nights and one of our stops will be Botero I hope.
     
  6. peanutmnm

    peanutmnm Scotchy

    Joined:
    Jun 25, 2005
    Messages:
    731
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    0
    Another good read. Judging from the results I think you should have scaled back a long time ago.
     
  7. gentlemanloser

    gentlemanloser Tourist

    Joined:
    Oct 28, 2008
    Messages:
    11
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    2
    awesome trip report!
    i'll be heading to palazzo soon. i've heard that they rate craps differently from the other table games-- any truth to this? what's RFB at, and do the dealers take to rating higher from tips?

    it'll be my first trip out there. host says they're looking for 300-600 avg bet for craps, for RFB, but i don't know if they count odds for this.
     
  8. KevinSTP

    KevinSTP High-Roller

    Joined:
    Dec 22, 2001
    Messages:
    533
    Location:
    southern california
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    31
    Man what a great trip report. I hope to one day get comps like that.

    That's also a crazy pic (#77 in the gallery) of the tail of the Southwest jet crossing past the line of sight.

    Glad you had a great time!
     
  9. BeeeJay

    BeeeJay President of The Red Lobster Hostess Satisfaction

    Joined:
    Aug 23, 2008
    Messages:
    9,150
    Location:
    Chicago & Scottsdale, AZ
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    100
    wow i checked out a youtube of that and it blows away the Media suite in decor, although the shower looked smaller, and that was truly my fave part---you could fit 20 strippers in that shower duuuuude! and with the steam your wife might NEVER SEE THEM!

    Yes that grey composite is more unique and cool than marble to me anyway---i mean shoot they have marble on everything in vegas, that gray composite was the first thing we noticed.....reminds me of my snow tires. I really like mandalay common areas and pool, but the casino had zero energy and there is no foot traffic. I might stay there in the summer on a non-gambling trip or something in the future. Would be ideal if I were playing 3 twilite rounds at Bali Hai like in 2007. It looked so much closer to the golf course FROM the golf course than it did from the hotel. Wish I had a strip view, I'll bet that is AWESOME!
     
  10. BeeeJay

    BeeeJay President of The Red Lobster Hostess Satisfaction

    Joined:
    Aug 23, 2008
    Messages:
    9,150
    Location:
    Chicago & Scottsdale, AZ
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    100
    going in two weeks with wife for my 40th, staying in Salon Suite at Wynn. She made me cancel reservation at Botero cause she wants to eat mexican at Taquerio blah blah at Venetian. She said since I'm not Martin Luther King I only get to pick one meal (hey I'm not even african american so whatever) and that is SW Steakhouse on my Bday outside. Oh well, like I told her, there is no accounting for taste. I'll bet she'll change her mind when she realizes that Wynn is RFB and we have to pay for any other restaurants.
     
  11. BeeeJay

    BeeeJay President of The Red Lobster Hostess Satisfaction

    Joined:
    Aug 23, 2008
    Messages:
    9,150
    Location:
    Chicago & Scottsdale, AZ
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    100
    we spent a good bit of time discussing this just days ago at Palazzo. They do indeed count odds for their craps ratings. i am absolutely sure of this as we re-asked multiple crews after initally being told this. Primary thing is to stroke the egos of the golfers at the table. bring up golf and tell those dealers how awesome they are. They have a couple college golfers with + handicaps dealing craps at Palazzo and most of the pit bosses are playas.

    I always tip huge and it helps my ratings everywhere but NYNY or other MGM-Mirage casinos which suck at rating players. I played a quarter on hard ways and put 5 on for the boys each roll. those hit so rarely though seems like they might prefer a pass line bet.

    My average at Palazzo is $277/hand. I play some roulette though so that inflates the comp value due to the low ER. I am NOT RFB at Palazzo but they give me 2-4 nights, luxury concierge suite and $600 in promo chips plus usually a couple hundo in food. I don't play enough time there at that average, well under the 4 hrs.
     
  12. BeeeJay

    BeeeJay President of The Red Lobster Hostess Satisfaction

    Joined:
    Aug 23, 2008
    Messages:
    9,150
    Location:
    Chicago & Scottsdale, AZ
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    100
    i think that was our wing....how scary would that have been if it was the tail of another plane!

    better you don't get such comps or you will have to risk a LOT of money....read comp city and "trick" them into thinking you did risk that much.
     
  13. KevinSTP

    KevinSTP High-Roller

    Joined:
    Dec 22, 2001
    Messages:
    533
    Location:
    southern california
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    31
    yeah i guess i didn't take a closer look. for some reason i thought it was a view from your hotel room (looking closer, it's way too high to be that!) where you happened to catch a passing plane.
     
  14. LVLady

    LVLady Tourist

    Joined:
    May 26, 2003
    Messages:
    1,022
    Location:
    Memphis, TN
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    24
    Beejay, enjoy your trip. You get in on the 12th? RFB at Encore and she doesn't want Botero, I think you are correct, she will change her mind. On a side note if she likes martinis the Eastside Lounge Bartenders make an excellent White Cosmo and the Orange Blossom Martini though sweet was very good. They make great drinks, unfortunately they don't comp drinks at the bar while playing VP.
    Encore is amazing I am sure she will love it.
     
  15. BeeeJay

    BeeeJay President of The Red Lobster Hostess Satisfaction

    Joined:
    Aug 23, 2008
    Messages:
    9,150
    Location:
    Chicago & Scottsdale, AZ
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    100
    getting in on the 13th, wife hasn't been since January 2001. So over 8 years, should be a big difference for her! I think we stayed at Luxor last time. This time I actually took a Wynn Salon Suite rather than the Encore Tower Suite. We have some business to do at Palazzo and I thought she'd like the bigger room. She also doesn't drink sadly, not since we started trying to have kids 7 years ago so we've pretty much been prego or breastfeeding since. I more than make up for her (and she's Irish so she could outdrink me before).
     
  16. LVLady

    LVLady Tourist

    Joined:
    May 26, 2003
    Messages:
    1,022
    Location:
    Memphis, TN
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    24
    Enjoy your trip. A great spot for a quick snack is Enoteca San Marco at the Venetian in the canal shops. Nice cheese and meat boards. You feel like you are outside, great pit stop for a light lunch or snack. Enjoy your trip. I hope she falls in love with Wynn like I have. Watch out, your solo trips may be over forever!!
     
  17. gentlemanloser

    gentlemanloser Tourist

    Joined:
    Oct 28, 2008
    Messages:
    11
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    2
    thanks for the good info. really nice to know!
     
  18. jgates8

    jgates8 VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Jun 25, 2007
    Messages:
    8,749
    Location:
    Wisconsin
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    23
    Would just love to sit and watch you playing for awhile. However, it looks like I will be missing you by a day in one direction in March and a day or two another direction in May!

    You should head to the Coach outlet, LOL - give you more gambling money.
     
    Easter again..:
  19. alicia

    alicia Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Apr 17, 2008
    Messages:
    132
    Location:
    Vancouver, WA
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    16
    I knew I was in for a treat when reading your tr, so I opened a nice bottle of red, poured a glass and sat down to read. GREAT pics, GREAT report, and I'm jealous you'll be back in just a couple weeks. Life is good! :D
     
  20. BeeeJay

    BeeeJay President of The Red Lobster Hostess Satisfaction

    Joined:
    Aug 23, 2008
    Messages:
    9,150
    Location:
    Chicago & Scottsdale, AZ
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    100
    Coach issues a quarterly 25% off certificate for their full price stores only. It is only for certain dates and you don't actually have to have the physical certificate. I always take that. We do also hit Coach outlet cause some stuff my wife wants but waits until its at the outlet.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.