Circus Circus 12-9 to 12-13

Well we survived Circus Circus.


I have always wanted to go to Vegas around the holidays.


Nice tree in the lobby except for the creepy clown.


We got a great deal on Frontier Airlines non stop flights with good times. Frontier check in desk was a little hectic in Cleveland, but TSA was quick. The plane boarded quickly and we pushed off 10 minutes early. Happy times. My wife Kathy and me on plane.


Great flight with very little turbulence. Arrived early in Vegas around 4 P.M. Still some daylight left. Went with EZ car rental this trip. Great rate of $75 tax title out the door from Tuesday to Saturday. Short line and no high pressure sales pitch. Got a Nissan Versa with only 5900 miles on it.

Easy check in at Circus Circus. Very few kids mid week. Got a room on the 33rd floor in the West Tower. Great view of the mountains toward Red Rock. $21.60 Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and a whopping $35.20 for Friday. A daily resort fee of $14.50 per day (tax inclusive) will be added to the guest room account and includes the following amenities per booked room: two (2) complimentary K- cups for a Keurig coffee maker, free in-room wireless high-speed Internet service, $5 off an unlimited wristband at The Adventuredome, 2 for 1 Coaster pass, free chips and salsa at Blue Iguana with $8 minimum purchase valid for one visit, two (2) free Midway games, buy one (1) get one (1) free drink at West Casino or Slots A Fun bar (or a $5 credit toward other beverage purchase), two (2) Fitness Room passes valid each day of your stay for up to two (2) people, complimentary printing of your boarding pass at the mail and info desk in the hotel lobby, and free local and 800-number calls up to 30 minutes. Management reserves all rights.

Nice king size bed


View of the mountains



And a view of the Manor Suites. The cheapest rooms on the strip.


I had to get these pics of workers cleaning the roof of the Adventure Dome. They got balls.




Some more pics of the room.





I can't complain. It was clean and cheap.

Lots of festive decorations in the casinos. Of course The Bellagio display is awesome.


We took a pic inside the snow tunnel.


Sam's Town does up their atrium pretty nice.


The Venetian and Palazzo have a great display with snow peacocks.


Fremont Street has a huge tree.


Still construction on Main Street.


Gambling wise I have done worse but also much better. Kathy was up about $100 for the trip. She kept us afloat. She got aces with kicker twice and 4 deuces playing deuces wild once.


I forgot to get a pick of the deuces. We were at The Max, former Westin on Flamingo and Koval. It was a fluke that we stopped in but the traffic was really bad on Koval Friday around rush hour. We decided to pull in and gamble a little hoping the traffic would subside. They had $3 black jack. The table was empty so we played for quite a while to our surprise without getting our clocks cleaned. I cashed out up $50 and Kathy was up $20. The dealers were very nice and we probably played twenty for them along the way as we were winning.

We then proceeded to play VP and Kathy hit her deuces for $50. We just kind of sat there glad to be winning for once and I forgot to get a pic. By the time we left the traffic let up and we just thanked the karma that led us to The Max.

We met Breanna from the board briefly before she went to the Illusions show at The Trop. So glad we got to see you if only for a few minutes.

I'm going to wrap this up for now and will continue later.

 

Good report so far!
I was curious how you did so well playing quarters (from your other report); however now I see you were only playing ONE quarter...can I ask why you didn't play nickles? (To get the 4000 coin royal; I can't see the paytables being any WORSE than 7/5 DDB)

 

Good question Tim. The 2 royals we got on our October trip were playing nickels.
https://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?113242-Random-Pics-From-October-Trip&highlight=

The first aces with kicker in this report was at Slots Of Fun. Terrible pay schedule for quarters. There were no nickel machines to play as is the case for most casinos on the strip. The second aces with kicker was at The Excalibur and was a decent 10/6 machine. For the most part, if we can't play nickels, we will do 1 or 2 quarters at a time. It's mostly entertainment, not risking much of the bankroll. We usually save max quarters for 4 Queens DB progressive 10/7 or full pay machines at the Station Casinos.

Majority of our play is banging away at nickels. I have hit a few short coined quarter machine royals. I take my $62.50 and slither away knowing that if I was playing max quarters, my buy in would have already been depleted.

Kathy has hit 1 max quarter royal at old Imperial Palace for $1000. It was our last night in town and she slipped twenty bucks into the machine and hit it after only 5 hands.

 

Are you 100% POSITIVE it was 10/6 DDB at Excalibur??? If so, it's not reported in the VPFree Database! (and a good find, I might add!)
I see a sticker on it saying something about points..does it not award points??

 

Thanks, enjoyed the report!

 

I sure am happy I'm not a window washer! Years ago we were in our room at Luxor in the pyramid when they were cleaning the windows; made me queasy just watching.

We must be on the same Vegas schedule; I was last in town in October too before the December trip.

Love the Christmas decor photos!

It was great meeting you and Kathy. Hopefully will be able to catch up with you again when we have time for a drink!

 

Yes Tim I check vpfree2.com and I know it's not on there. If I remember right it awarded points at a lesser value. They were near the center of the casino going towards the back door where Starbucks is. Closer to the center of the casino than Starbucks. We stumbled on them because it was in the morning and my wife needed a coffee. We went to Starbucks for a muffin and coffee cake and the pricks wouldn't take my gift card. We sat down at the console machines to munch on our muffin and coffee cake and the cocktail waitress brought Kathy's coffee. She actually came around pretty fast. Usually when you need them they never are around. So karma once again led us to those machines.

 

Great report so far. Insightful info regarding your VP play. Why wouldn't they take your gift card? Was it a Starbucks card or an Excalibur card?

 

It is a regular Starbucks gift card. Maybe because they are inside the casino they won't accept them. I'll just have to use it at our local Starbucks.

 

Jim,
Nice to hear a good report on the CC, especially after all the raps it takes on this board.The room pics looked fine and things like a couple K-cups, workout privileges, internet access and printed boarding passes is about as good as one could hope for with resort fees.

 

Jim, nice report, thanks for the write up. One of my most memorable BJ sessions was at CC, a fun table and didn't realize it was 6:5. We just had a great meal at the Steakhouse. Did you venture across the street to the Riviera? I have a soft spot for this oft-maligned relic, I've stayed twice and the rooms were clean and totally unremarkable, but cheap.

 

The Starbucks at Planet Hollywood next to Planet Dailies also will not take a Starbucks gift card. I've also learned that most of the Starbucks in Barnes and Noble bookstores share the same trait of not accepting gift cards.

Mark

 

Nice start on the TR, liking the pics.

 

I didn't get across to the Riviera this time and I should have because I had a $10 match play. I stayed there once and had no problem with the room. I also had two great VP sessions there when ACG and MRB had free play there. I think they got burned because they don't offer it anymore in the books.

 

To finish up this report I want to address win cards and buffets.

http://www.wincards.com/

I use these whenever I can. Some let you use them every six months and others once in a lifetime. New York New York isn't on the list but they also have them by the cashier. The nice thing about Circus Circus is that they have buy $10 and get $15 in promo chips and then you can buy $20 to get $30 in promo chips. So for $30 you get $45 in promotional chips. They have $5 tables at CC so $45 lasted us for a pretty good session and we came out ahead.

NYNY has them $20 gets you $30 in promo chips. We sat down at a $10 table and I lost pretty quickly but Kathy squeezed out a small win.

With all the buffet coupons in the ACG and MRB I have 2 for 1's coming out of my butt. Most of them are Station Casinos and I've been to them all from Palace to Red Rock. Higher end are The Mirage, Rio, and $10 off up to 4 people at Planet Hollywood. The first night in Vegas I just got checked into CC and it was around 5 P.M. and rush hour. I didn't feel like driving too far so I went out the back entrance onto Industrial to Sahara to Palace Station. Only took about 10 minutes. We usually only use Palace Station for their breakfast buffet but we were pleasantly surprised for dinner. I think what put it over the top was the lemon chicken in the Asian section. Maybe we were just hungry from the long flight from Cleveland, but we both thought it was very good.

Whenever we use a buffet coupon we patronize the casino. Palace Station has full pay VP machines that are clearly marked. They also have them in nickels. You don't earn comps as fast on these machines but full pay nickels are hard to come by. If I decide to play max quarters I do it at Stations. Kathy got a 4 OAK but I had no luck. I didn't hit anything big the whole trip. The best I hit was 4 twos without a kicker only once. Some other regular 4 OAKs salted in made for a losing trip for me.

Wednesday morning we headed out to Anthony Curtis Huntington Press on Procyon St. It's off of Twain near Valleyview. In December you can get the 2014 MRB for $12. For $25 they throw in the 2015 ACG. Be aware that most casinos let you use the slot free plays once a year. That is where your significant other can take advantage. No Anthony Curtis sightings this time around. I did meet him one time a few years back when I was there.

From here we went to Gold Coast for breakfast using the Young At Heart deal. Lots of Cowboys here and they were everywhere due to the rodeo. The GC breakfast buffet is always good. Lots to chose from and if you like omelets they have an omelet station. For dinner we used a 2 for 1 at Green Valley Ranch. This is one of the better Station Casinos buffets. You can get burned out on it, but if you stay away for awhile and come back it's one of our favorites. Also full pay VP here.

Thursday morning we headed downtown to Main Street Station. It's supposed to rain Friday so we needed to do our downtown crawl dry. The MSS lot charges $3 but if you dine you take your receipt to the cashier and get your money back. You can also dine or gamble at any downtown Boyd property and get your money back. I think you need to put 50 points on your card and swipe it at a kiosk to get a parking voucher to take to the cashier. You know for three bucks it's worth it to park here even if not getting reimbursed. There is no time limit in the MSS lot like some others have. The MSS breakfast buffet was good as usual.

The ACG and MRB have free play and match plays at Plaza, Vegas Club, Four Queens, Binions, and El Cortez. The Vegas Club players club was closed but The Plaza honors the free play. You have to play it at The Plaza. One thing I noticed this time around was that The Plaza has machines marked off where you can use the free play. No more free play on VP machines. It's either slots or keno machines. We played keno and lost. Lost a couple match plays and won a couple. The match play worked out pretty good at Vegas Club. Kathy and I each bought in for $20 and won the $5 match play and continued to play for awhile and cashed out about $20 ahead. Normally when I do a $10 match play I play red on the roulette wheel and leave win or lose.

We spent a good part of the day downtown and decided to try to make it to The Rio for the 2 for 1 lunch buffet. It was 2:30 and The Rio has lunch until 3 and then it converts over to dinner. The challenge has been set. I save $16 for the two of us if I get in by 3 P.M. Here is where my UPS driving skills come in handy. Main Street is still under construction so I go up Las Vegas Blvd to Wyoming and cut over to Industrial. Industrial to Twain to Valleyview into the Rio parking lot. The back entrance to The Rio off Valleyview is where the buffet is. Park the car and with a brisk walk have 5 minutes to spare. Good thing there was no line. Success. Life's little pleasures. By the way, just as when I drove for UPS, I would never rush as to cause an accident or put anybody's life in danger. $16 isn't worth the price of an accident.

We enjoy The Rio buffet. So much to chose from. I don't take pictures of food, but maybe next trip to Vegas I will try it out.

Friday morning started out partly cloudy but the rains came and continued all day. We went to Sam's Town for the 2 for 1 breakfast buffet and $10 free slot play. This buffet is called the Firelight Buffet. I have only been to once before for breakfast and I wasn't impressed. I gave it another try and am even less impressed. Compared to what other Boyd Properties offer at their buffets for breakfast, Sam's Town is at the bottom of the barrel. Maybe lunch and dinner are better. For breakfast, most of the stations are closed off including all the deserts. Very little fruit. Mostly eggs, hash browns and potatoes. French toast and pancakes. We didn't starve but it just didn't do it for us.

For dinner we did the Spice Market Buffet at Planet Hollywood. Out of all the buffets in the coupon books, this one ranks number 1 for us. I would put Cravings at The Mirage second and The Carnival World Buffet at The Rio third. Remember I'm not talking all buffets in Vegas, just the ones in the ACG and MRB. Another thing I forgot to mention is that we drain our players club cards at the buffets. This also brings down the price. I also don't take anything for granted. If I never get back to Vegas, the points are gone. The best thing about The Spice Market Buffet are the deserts. They really do an excellent job.

Saturday morning we check out and head over to The Excalibur. We wanted to get some exercise in walking the walkway from Excalibur to Mandalay Bay. We will be sitting on the plane for 4 hours back to Cleveland so we wanted to walk. This is where we grabbed muffin and coffee cake at Starbucks in The Excalibur. After our walk we headed out to South Point. Lots of cowboys here. No luck gambling. Last stop The Silverton. It's close to the rental car return. We did a 2 for 1 lunch buffet here. On Saturday they call it brunch so they can jack the price up. They call this Seasons Buffet. It's a decent buffet compared to before they remodeled. The dinner buffet is much better than lunch. After The Spice Market Buffet at PHO, this was a let down. Plus we were going home so we were bummed anyway.

I banged away on VP and tried my luck at a nickel 10 coin progressive with no luck. Kathy played some Pai Gow and mostly pushed pushed in the bush. She lost $20 but played for quite awhile. Speaking of 10 coin nickel progressives, Kathy hit two 4 OAKs on the one in MSS at the bottom of the elevator. Two scratch off cards for a buck each. Time to get the car back and take the shuttle to the airport. I like to park on either level 3 or 5 in parking garages. It makes it easier to remember when I leave the casino. For some reason I was on level 4 at The Silverton. We take the elevator up to 5 and that is the roof. I know I wasn't parked up here. No car on level 3. Found it on level 4. DUH!! One of those senior moments.

Car rental return was fast and airport was very calm. Terminal 3 for Frontier. Hardly anyone at the counter and even fewer people at TSA. Maybe nobody goes home on Saturday? Plane left 10 minutes early and got us back to Cleveland early.

 

I've run into that Starbuck's gift card thing at Mirage and T.I. before. I think it's because those outlets are privately owned so they don't take the corporate Starbuck's gift cards. They should have signs out front saying 'Fake Starbucks'.

 

I was disappointed that I couldn't find any 25c 10/6 DDB machines today at the Excalibur. I might have missed them but I did look at one machine each side of every bank of video poker there.

 

Licensed places inside of casinos, theme parks, etc. do not take gift cards.Several companies have this policy, not just Four Bux. I was purchasing gift cards yesterday and read the fine print on several of them.

 

Here is the best I can explain where it is. It was a bank of 3 consoles facing towards the back doors. I don't know if VP was on the other side of these consoles. Starbucks was off a ways not straight ahead but a little to the right. The machine my wife was on was the first machine on the left along the aisle. Closer to the center of the casino than to the back doors. The back doors I'm referring to go out to the back surface lot and parking garage near Industrial and Interstate 15.

 

That's what I figured. It would be like trying to use a Burger King coupon at the airport. :evillaugh