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Oct 10-13th Weekend wife trip to Paris, A tail of two shoes...

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by BearcatBJ, Oct 14, 2014.

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  1. BearcatBJ

    BearcatBJ Low-Roller

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    My Trip Report

    So it looks like this will be a long one as I didn't think we could get that much into a weekend, man was I wrong. I'll post in parts, Day one to begin.

    Alright so where to start? This is my second attempt at a trip report, the first was to be a live TR of the annual guys MM trip and I quickly learned two things; 1. It is clearly impossible for me to do a live TR with the amount of alcohol I consume during MM. 2. Due to the large amounts of alcohol and drunken debauchery our days are very much the same, drink, gamble, rinse, repeat.

    So forward to the present this would be a weekend trip with the wifey, we left CVG Friday morning with a nice direct shot to LAS, nice flight no problems, grab the luggage and jump in a cab, off to Paris. This is her 2nd trip, my ??? 18-19th. I was able to set up a comped Red room through my host, (was supposed to be premier, but on the day of arrival they said this was not possible?). Anyways a free room is a free room and we ended up with a nice corner room on the 25th floor. They say it’s supposed to be larger, but I think all of the extra room is just a hallway that goes back to the room. After stowing the bags and grabbing a cold beer we walked to the cages at Paris and PH to sign for a credit line I had opened with each. Was a little anxious about doing this but the process couldn’t be easier and would recommend to anyone not wanting to take cash with you. The process was really just two pieces of paper(provided by my host) that I filed out a week earlier and emailed to casino credit, once you arrive you just go to the cage and after verifying your ID you sign a copy of your information and good to go. After this we realized it was late afternoon in our stomachs so we hit the strip to grab some lunch. The wife like KGB last trip so we ventured down to Harrahs for some burgers. Burgers were great, I had the cheddar burger which was literally encased in cheese and wife had I belive the cobb burger which she also said was excellent. We both sub’d for sweet potato tots which were amazing, only problem being they literally give you enough tots to feed a family of 4….each. So word to the wise, if getting the tots, one order will do you just fine.

    At this point I should tell you that there will be some pictures in this TR just not for a while, I pulled my typical vegas self and just let time get away enjoying the city of sin.

    Ok after lunch… we walk back towards the hotel and decide to check out the Cromwell (note that every time I say The Cromwell I am in my head saying in a very deep voice THE Croooommwelllll, as this is the worst name for a casino… ever.) Anyway, I like the place its nice, good music, nice people, good smell… but the place is absolutely dead, 3 PM on a Friday and there were only 3 tables of BJ playing, on subsequent trips throughout the weekend the sight was the same (didn't look in late night) but don’t see how it can survive on a couple hours of play a day. I decide to sit down though and give the place some play just to see how it goes. I heard the CW there were very quick and I was thirsty, seemed like a good fit. I give the wife some slot money and end up finding a 4th open table once I saw the other 3 were 6/5 (ugh), two guys playing a shoe game 25$ limit. Things go well and 45 min later I have doubled my $500 buy in playing a $50-250 spread. This is why I love vegas, haven’t been here 2 hours, already had a six pack, a great burger, and up $500, can’t think of a better way to spend a Friday workday.
    After the wife loses her slot money she comes to gather me and we head back to the hotel to meet our friends who we were meeting for the weekend K and his wife C. They end up getting put on the same floor (in a premier room that we were told wasn’t available? wtf?). We head down to the casino to see what kind of trouble we can get into, as a group we decide to play some pennies and have a couple drinks catching up. The slots this weekend were just not hitting, didn’t kill me but definitely did not help the budget. K+C have dinner and show reservations so we part ways as the wife and I are going to make our way to NYNY to see Zumanity courtesy of MyVegas. We make it to the box office about 8:00, grab our tickets, 3rd row center, I’m thinking since we got these day of that someone must have turned them in as it was a fairly packed show and Friday night. We have time to kill and realize its dinner time so head to scout out some food. End up at the bar at Gallagher’s, I’d heard decent reviews, sit down order the pork chop porter house, wife has the salmon, and share a side of mashed. Meal was just OK, not to great, I remember the pork being over cooked and wife said the salmon didn’t have much flavor. All in all I won’t be back, there are just too many great places to eat in Vegas.

    It’s 9:30 so we make our way to the show, as we make our way into the theater I can tell that we will be in for a show! For those of you that haven’t seen it I won’t spoil the surprise, but it was a very well-produced show and entertained the entire time. Couples of words for the wise, if you aren’t completely OK with sexuality, homosexual, possibility of being a part of some lewd act, this isn’t the show for you. Also they use the strobe light a ton during the show which triggered a migraine (no it had nothing to do with the 15 beers I drank I swear it was the light), just a heads up to those prone to headaches. After the show it was midnight, we make our way back to the hotel as the wife is very tired and me with my headache. At 12:30 I take some meds and say I’m just going to lay here for a few minutes then head down to play…
     
  2. BearcatBJ

    BearcatBJ Low-Roller

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    20141010_115354.jpg Room Pic
     
  3. BearcatBJ

    BearcatBJ Low-Roller

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    6:00 sat morning  So here I am in vegas, on my second day and I’ve only played BJ for 45 min? WTF is the world coming to? I get up tell the wife to come find me at the tables after she’s ready for the day. I find a nice table with three reasonable looking guys (I do not play heads up), sit down and open up a marker for the first time. Seemed a little weird getting a marker at 8:00 in the morning but oh well. Took out 1k and proceeded to play a 100-500$ spread, I quickly was above 2k but slowly over the next hour and a half get back to my original buy in:rolleyes2:, just as the wife comes to tap me on the shoulder. I return the chips, tear up the marker and go on my way.

    I had heard good things about Mon Abi Gabi (I think from reading UK’s TR’s, if so Thanks!:thumbsup:). We happen to arrive just before a flood of people and get one of the last seats out on the patio. Beautiful morning, great food, this is what life is about. I had the bacon crepe, was excellent will be back. Especially liked the hash brown, perfectly crispy. Make sure you get there early enough to get a spot on the patio, seemed so much nicer out there than inside for breakfast.

    After breakfast we meet up with K+C, decide to go on a walk about to go through several casinos, drink some beer and play some penny slots. We go through CP, Bellagio, Aria, Monte Carlo, and end up at NYNY so they can pick up their show tickets. K and I are at least 10 beers in by the time we make it back to the hotel:beer:, the girls decide to go to the pool while we continue the walk-about drinking slot tour. After another 6 pack:drunk: I meet the wife back at the hotel to change for dinner and the show. Tonight we have tickets for Seth Meyer at Cosmo, so we decide to head over there for dinner. We decide to eat at STK, this turned out to be a very good decision:thumbsup:. The big eye tuna I had is probably the best meal I’ve had this year and would be one of the highlights of the weekend. Wife had the short ribs and we shared a sweet corn pudding, all were outstanding and is on the list for future trips for sure. For the same price as Gallagher’s there is simply no comparison. After dinner it was apparent that the “young” crowd was coming in from the pool. My wife and I are in our mid 30’s and found them a bit annoying, pictures early 20’s boys riding up and down the escalator in a bathrobe at 6:30 in the afternoon. We headed to what the tickets say was a 7:00 show, but it did not start until 8:15, we found this a bit annoying as we slightly rushed through dinner to get there by 6:55 expecting to almost be late. Seth was great, the show was just him on the stage for a solid 90 min moving from one subject to another flawlessly. We had great seats, I think 7th row center, couldn’t ask for much more. After the show we headed down to the link for some cocktails and people watching. My wife couldn’t get over how many infant children were on the strip with their parents. After several drinks she reverted to saying “bad parents” each time we passed one. I explained that I see young children with their parents often when heading home at 4-5 am on the strip, I really do feel bad for these kids.

    Enough of that, so around 1:00 I take the wife and put her to bed so I can finally play! I head to my home base which for the last several years has been the BJ pit just outside the HL room at PH. As I arrive I make eye contact with the same pit boss from March and she recognizes me and says hello. I instantly had memories of the last session there where I made over 3k in a marathon 6 hour bender from 10P-4 AM last March. There was a guy in my normal seat with huge stacks of purple, it was obvious his group had been there for a while so I asked if he minded if a got in on the next shoe. He obliged and welcomed me to the table, there were 3-4 ppl with him all rotating between playing, standing, dancing, and screaming, it was quite the scene but fun at 1 am on a sat night. I get a marker for 2k and start playing at $200 a hand, of course this is nothing compared to the guy next to me, the least I saw him bet all night was 2k and this was on a 25$ table. Table is pretty choppy for me for a while, but the guy next to me keeps winning and we all keep drinking. Over the course of the next hour at least 6 drinks we spilled by his group on the table, including one glass of bourbon in my lab. If it wasn’t a fun vibe I would have left but for some reason no one cared and we all kept drinking it up. About an hour in I have a $300 bet down and get 2,2 to dealer 6, split, get another 2, split again get an 8, double (face down always), next hand get a 10, pass, next hand get a 9, double. So here I sit, all but $200 of my stack in play. Guy next to me also has a double hand on a 2.5k hand. Rest of the table passes and here we go, these are the hands we come for, usually they make or break your night. Dealer flips the 6, gets an 8… heart starts beating faster… dealer slow plays it and shows to me on first base as she flips it. BOOM face, best ever hand at $1500 win. Our table goes crazy for a bit as everyone was wining. Then slowly the rake happens and I proceed to give it all back by about 3:30:thumbsdown:. I did see the guy next to me get up to and win a 7.5k hand which was something to see, as I am not an HL player. So at the end of day two I walk myself back to the room (more like aim and stumble:drunk:). Total loss for the day approx. $2500 when you include the slots and small sports bets, down about 2k for the weekend so far, well within my loss limit of 10k.
     
  4. BearcatBJ

    BearcatBJ Low-Roller

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    20141011_190955.jpg Theater for Seth Meyer
    20141011_202224.jpg Seth Meyer (blurry, sorry)
     
  5. jdvegas

    jdvegas VIP Whale

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    congrats on the $1500 hand. Those are so fun!
     
  6. Tree DA

    Tree DA High-Roller

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    Great report, can't wait for the next installment.
     
  7. BearcatBJ

    BearcatBJ Low-Roller

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    20141013_093503.jpg Room view
     
  8. VegasChic-

    VegasChic- VIP Whale

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    Congrats on your biggest winning hand YET! Looking forward to more......
     
  9. raraavis

    raraavis VIP Whale

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    good report, and i totally agree with your wife about seeing kids on the strip at certain times. :nono:
     
  10. smartone

    smartone VIP Whale

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    I LOVE some good day-time drinkin', but have never been able to pace it to be able to do the evening well... even when younger. If I start up at noon or earlier, I'm out by 6 or 7 p.m. Good for you... pacing myself has never been a strong-suit of mine.
     
  11. dutchvelvet

    dutchvelvet VIP Whale

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    Great report. Love the details of the splitting twos mega hand. Congrats on the win!
     
  12. BearcatBJ

    BearcatBJ Low-Roller

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    SUNDAY FUNDAY, One thing I was looking forward to most was being in Vegas for NFL Sunday. I was up bright and early around 6:30, decided to run down to the book and review the lines for the day’s games. I decide to put down two 4 team round robin bets for 150$ and a 50$ 8 team teaser. For those of you that don’t know about round robin’s, they are my favorite bet, you are making a bet that any 3 out of 4 will win and they parlay of all, so a total of 5 bets in one. As long as 3/4 of them win you win a little bit, but if they all win that’s when you win big.

    K met me down at the book to place his bets as well then we decided to hit the HL slots until the ladies we ready. Played several 5-10$ for a good hour with no real hits but just enough to stay alive, eventually quitting $350 down.

    We gathered the girls and took off for PH. K had set up reservations at Blondie’s in the miracle mile shops. I had never seen this place before but it was completely packed and TV’s showing every game wall to wall. We watched the games while having a couple buckets of beer and some pretty decent food for a bar. It was almost impossible to watch all the games I had money on, by the second half though it was clear there were 3 games to focus on; Broncos -9.5, Green Bay -2, and my Bengals at -7. As these three games wound down you wouldn’t believe the excitement in the room. The first was Bronco’s, up 7 with less than 30 seconds, I had written this game off in my head and counted it as my one loss in the round robin it was in. Then out of nowhere a pick 6 with 15 seconds on the clock, literally everyone in the bar started jumping and screaming like it was the superbowl! In the next min Green bay decides to march down the field and while down 4, throw a TD with 4 seconds left to lift them up by 3 pulling off another miracle switch of the line, again the place erupts. Unfortunately the Bengals would not complete the trifecta taking the game to overtime and ending in a tie.

    Of my three bets I am only able to cash one, 3 of 4 on a round robin for $210, it could have been worse, it definitely could have been better, but it was a helluva lot of fun for those couple of minutes. I would highly recommend Blondie’s for anyone looking for a good atmosphere to watch the game and grab some food. They take reservations and require a $100 deposit that goes against your bar bill.

    Next up the reason for the title….:thumbsup:
     
  13. BearcatBJ

    BearcatBJ Low-Roller

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    Thanks, they are the reason why I play!
     
  14. BearcatBJ

    BearcatBJ Low-Roller

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    The only way I survive all day is if I stick to Miller Lite all day, no good beer, no shots, nothing, then late night hit the booze and ride the wave!
     
  15. BearcatBJ

    BearcatBJ Low-Roller

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    20141011_095135.jpg From Bellagio
     
  16. BearcatBJ

    BearcatBJ Low-Roller

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    Two Shoes

    Here it is, 2:00 in the afternoon on my last day in Vegas, already a good 10 beers into good day drunk and my team just TIED, what to do? Give the wife some slot money and play BJ of course. :beer: I sit down to a table with 3 players. There’s a woman on first base, and two guys in the 40’s on left at third base. I assume the two guys were together but it turns out it’s 1st and 3rd together, they were from Texas and she was a Dallas fan and he had Seattle in FF so on this day they were mortal enemies. it was fun, they were constantly going at each other in their deepest Texan accents as their teams took turns scoring.

    Anyways, I get a marker for 1k and wait for the new shoe to start. Start out with my normal $100 bet, win the first hand (seems like I never win the first hand) and proceed to go through my betting progression. By the 8th or so hand I am already what I had set for myself as my max of $500… Winner grab the purple chip and put it in my pocket! Next hand….Winner grab the purple chip and put it in my pocket. On the third time I finally loose and go back down to 100$. The session continues and within maybe 15 min I had enough that I felt comfortable to pay off the marker, hand the chips over, rip up the slip. :licklips:

    I thought to myself, this is the last day, you're already up, go for it. On the second shoe I start playing $200 as my min and progress all the way to $800. This is where I run into a 7,7 vs Dealer 5, no choice have to split….I get a 3, Double! Next hand get a 9, about this time I start to get a little nervous as I realize after these bets I only have maybe $500 in front of me (I had forgotten about the squirreled away chips). Dealer takes the 5 flips another 5 and I’m like no no no, 4 next and then all I remember was screaming MONKEY! And there it was a beautiful a queen of hearts to the rescue. Again the whole table goes crazy and in successive days I have gotten new personal high hands, this one for $2400. I continue to play to the end of the shoe, again trying to press but this time I fall a bit short and end up cashing in for $4150. Was the fastest win I’d ever had, I’ve cashed for more but typically after 4-5 hours of play, not 30 min, it was so fast it felt like a blur. I do remember counting at one point over 7k but I was happy to leave with over 4k. At least I thought, after I cashed in and on the way over to PH to pay off the marker from the night before I realized I had completely forgot about the first two purples! :thumbsup:

    I walk up to the cage, give them the 2 purples and the other 1k in cash to kill the marker and walk away up 3k (really about 2k for the trip after all the misc slot stops). Riding high I find the wife to share the good news! We play some slots just killing time until it’s time to get ready for our dinner at 5:00 at GR Steak, coming up next!
     
  17. BearcatBJ

    BearcatBJ Low-Roller

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    20141012_154452.jpg Chip porn, minus the pocket purples
     
  18. Hobofrank

    Hobofrank Prime Minister of Idiocracy

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    LOL btdt, sounds like my last night at Cosmo
     
  19. firstkill

    firstkill High-Roller

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    excellent hits, always nice to win the big ones!

    fk
     
  20. Dr Nostron

    Dr Nostron VIP Whale

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    Thanks for the tip on blondies - we will have to try that out sometime!
     
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