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Christmas Trip Report Dec 23rd to 29th @ MGM Grand. BIG WIN!! PICS !!

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by megamoose, Jan 6, 2015.

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  1. megamoose

    megamoose Tourist

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    My Trip Report

    So here we go again. Another trip to Vegas to escape real life for a week… 6 nights to be exact. My last trip was in April and it seems soooooo long ago. Normally an upcoming trip to Vegas has me excited and daydreaming about it from the time I book it until the plane hits the runway. Unfortunately this time I just could not get into it. I wanted to, but it just didn’t happen.

    I think some of it was the fact that the Lions share machine at MGM had finally hit :cry: . That last statement may seem trivial but every trip to Vegas I would play this game every day and before trips I would envision myself winning it. It wasn’t just the history of the machine or the jackpot that would be paid out in full instead of in annual payments. The truth is, the Lions share machine was great for getting ample play out of your $$, which always resulted in hours of enjoyment and earning quite a few points on my MLife card, which is hard to do with the newer machines as they all seem to act as a Dyson vacuum for your hard earned dollars.

    This trip took place Dec 23rd to Dec 29th. It would be me and Mrs. Claus for our first Christmas trip to Vegas :santa . Our host at MGM had set us up in a spa suite for four nights with $400 in freeplay and $100 per day F&B credit. When I spoke with my host about the six night stay he comped me four nights and the last two nights (sat/sun) at platinum rate for the spa suite which would be over $400. I had offers from other properties for 2-4 nights but hate switching hotels during a trip. I told my host I would be staying at another property for the first two nights due to the high cost of the suite for Sat & Sun night.

    I thought once I made it clear I would be staying elsewhere that maybe he would work the numbers around a little for me rather than have me gambling at another establishment for those two nights. My line of thought was that the cost of a room to the hotel for 2 nights couldn’t possibly be worth a client switching hotels…well, I was wrong. So I told my host I would be staying with him for the last four nights which would cover the 2 most expensive nights in the suite and spend my first two nights at Cosmo, TI or some CET property.

    Later in the week I called VIP just to see what the spa suite at MGM would cost for my first two nights ( tue/wed ). Cost would be $240 instead of over $400 for the sat/sun so I booked it. Just don’t understand why my host couldn’t work around the dates/$$ instead of me having to try and do it. Im not a huge player or anything but a little effort on his part would have cemented me and my $$ into MGM for the six nights without me having to wiggle things around myself.

    Now that that fiasco is settled…onward we march. For me, a trip to Vegas is just a mindless getaway from life. I go just to drink :beer: , gamble, eat some good food and relax. Don’t care if I see a show or do any sightseeing. Gambling and people watching is enough for me. So the day before we leave arrives and what arrives with it???.... a DAMN head cold for me :thumbsdown:. The whole sinuses clogged, runny nose, no energy bullshit. Then it happened….loss of taste and smell…wait…I’m heading to Vegas, I don’t have time for this shit!! I have savory steaks to enjoy, a reservation at craftsteak for Xmas day…and not to mention that smell when you walk into the MGM..I LOVE that smell!! I start popping pills and downing whatever liquids the pharmacy has on the shelf. If you find this report long and boring I apologize. I’m not that exciting of a guy…no big partying/clubs/shenanigans, however, if you stay tuned there is a nice slot porn pic in the gambling section.

    So we arrive at the airport around 1:10 in the afternoon with no travel issues IMG_0704.jpg . Grab a cab to the MGM which was $12.??. I have been charged over $20 before to get to the MGM, which was ridiculous, being so close to the airport. I told the cabbie this, thanked him for being an honest cab driver and left him with a $20. We grab our bags and head into the MGM. First question the G/F asks is “can you smell the MGM”…No…No I cant…as I cry a little inside.
    Check in at VIP was quick and the lady was very friendly. F&B was set up and mini fridge for the room was to be delivered right away.

    We get to the room and realize we have an amazing view View attachment 13907 View attachment 13908 View attachment 13909 . Can only imagine what it will look like once it gets dark. View attachment 13896 View attachment 13897 View attachment 13898 View attachment 13899 View attachment 13900 View attachment 13901 Had to make a call after half an hour or so to inquire about the fridge. It was forgotten but was delivered promptly after the phone call. Found the safe to still be locked from the previous guest so had to call security for that. Security arrived shortly after and resolved the issue, although he wasn’t very personable. No money or jewels left in the safe from previous guest…lol. View attachment 13902 View attachment 13903 View attachment 13904 View attachment 13905

    Once we get settled in its time to grab some food and gamble. We stick to the MGM our first evening there and just relax and get into the Vegas groove. My head cold is wreaking havoc and its hard to function. It was bad for the first 3 days of the trip and I didn’t get much sleep or comfort. We ended up cancelling Craftsteak for Xmas dinner as I couldn’t justify that amount of $$ for a meal and not be able to taste it. We did make it there later though. From here I’ll break the trip down into categories.




    HOTEL/CASINOS/STRIP:
    We stayed at MGM because we love the property and we play basically all MLife properties View attachment 13910 MGM lobby View attachment 13911 . Also like NYNY which is just across the road. We walked through most of the casinos though. Walked down to the High Roller View attachment 13906 …didn’t even know this street existed until this trip. Went to the M&M store to get personalized M&M’s for my niece..she request these every time we go View attachment 13912 . Checked out the Hershey store at NYNY. Walked through the Bellagio conservatory to check out their Xmas display, which was pretty cool View attachment 13913 View attachment 13914 View attachment 13915 IMG_0664.jpg IMG_0663.jpg IMG_0673.jpg . Also checked out the Wynn display IMG_0689.jpg IMG_0690.jpg IMG_0691.jpg . Attempted to shop at the fashion show mall on boxing day but the place was packed with people so we just left again. Picked up a couple charms for the G/F’s Pandora bracelet for Xmas. Also bought a bracelet charm for our friend who watches our home and pet while we are away. Picked these up in the miracle mile shops. Enjoyed walking the strip as usual and the cool temperatures were fine. It was usually highs of 10-14 degrees Celsius daytime and 0-8 nighttime. Chilly for Vegas, but coming from northern Canada where it was -40 degrees Celsius, it was beautiful. On the second evening or third morning I walked into the MGM and the first thing that hit me was the smell….senses were coming back and what a wonderful smell it was…should have bought some of their scent sticks to get me through till the next time.
    Was going to watch the Steelers/Bengals game at the sports book (Steelers fan) IMG_0652.jpg IMG_0653.jpg IMG_0680.jpg on Sunday but it was packed so I just watched it in the room. Won that game but went on to lose to the rival Ravens on wild card weekend, which was painful to watch. Ice skating rink outside Caesars IMG_0658.jpg


    RESTAURANTS/DINING:
    Our first evening at MGM we ate at the Grand Wok. We always eat here and have never had a bad meal. We had the calamari which is always the best we've ever had IMG_0636.jpg , BBQ’d pork and sweet n sour chicken IMG_0637.jpg . It is always good and this was no exception, at least according to the G/F as my sense of taste was gone.
    Christmas eve we ate at the Yardhouse near the high roller IMG_0656.jpg . I had the steak sandwich IMG_0586.jpg as was recommended to me by a member of the board, G/F had the mac and cheese IMG_0587.jpg . At this point I still didn’t have my sense of taste back so I cant comment to the food other than to say that the G/F didn’t like her mac n cheese although it looked really good and my steak kinda looked like grey mystery meat instead of a nice med steak.
    Christmas day we decided to try Nine Fine Irishmen at NYNY for the first time. I had the fish and chips IMG_0601.jpg while the G/F had their chicken pot pie IMG_0602.jpg . My sense of taste was just starting to return and the fish and chips were just average. When it comes to fish though I can be hard to impress as I grew up in a small fishing community in Newfoundland and I basically grew up on fresh seafood as my father was a fisherman. The G/F’s pot pie looked cool and was pretty good.
    We only had breakfast one day and that was boxing day at the Rainforest Café. G/F had bacon and eggs which was average and I had the Pie of The Viper flatbread breakfast pizza with bacon which was very good IMG_0605.jpg …would make one hell of a hangover meal. It was way too much for one person though and next time we may order this between us. Rest of the trip we didn’t eat until lunch or just had coffee and a muffin/pastry for breakfast. We ate at outback steakhouse this evening and both had NY steak which was pretty good.
    December 27th we finally made it to Craftsteak. We had planned on this many times before but just didn’t make it. We had pan seared scallops to start IMG_0614.jpg which were very good but personally I would have liked them to be cooked for maybe another minute or so. I had the regular ribeye IMG_0695.jpg and the G/F the NY IMG_0694.jpg . Both steaks were good and normally I prefer NY due to the less fat but the ribeye was awesome and not too fatty. NY was good also. For sides we had the asparagus IMG_0617.jpg , mushroom assortment IMG_0618.jpg , and potato gratin IMG_0619.jpg . Asparagus was pretty much like I would make myself, a couple of the mushrooms were good and the other couple ok. Potato dish was good. For dessert we had their monkey bread with banana ice cream and WOW…this was delicious IMG_0620.jpg IMG_0712.jpg . Don’t know if they let you in the restaurant just for dessert but it would be worth it. The meal and service was good, cost was $240 plus tip, which we left $60. So…is it worth it??? Well, to be honest I’m not sure it was. Steaks were very good but not so much better than a much cheaper steak at say a keg, outback steak house or other decent place. Service was definitely more attentive but food took longer to come out. Sides for the most part were average or a little above. Scallops were way overpriced at $23 for 3 scallops. Meal was very good but not sure I would go back unless it was a special occasion or just for dessert.
    December 28th we ate at Michael Minas pub 1842 in MGM. We always eat here at least once as well, mainly because of the decent price and their amazing house steak sauce. I had the rib eye steak and fries which was great IMG_0621.jpg . G/F had the 1842 burger which was really good as well IMG_0622.jpg . The fries at this place are very good…thin and crispy just how we like them. They do have a BBQ spice they put on them but we weren’t very fond of that and preferred them plain and salted. If you ever eat here ask for their house steak sauce…even if you don’t have a steak its good on the burgers or even fries…hell, put that shit on cardboard and I’ll eat it, its that good.

    GAMBLING!!! :
    Why oh why are penny slots so fun. Their bonuses are exciting but elusive. They suck your $$ quicker than an eager lady of the night. Seldom give you bonuses and most times amount to nothing…yet, still, we play them. All of our previous trips the penny slots have sucked us dry to the point of frustration and then we hit the dollar slots and rebound a little then back to penny’s again…a vicious cycle. Well this trip the penny slots finally gave up some loot while the dollar slots were a bit of a struggle. So far this year I have hit 8 hand pays on dollar slots. 4 in January and 4 in April. The G/F hit 2 in Jan or Apr as well. This report will not have as many hand pay pics. Just 2…but one real nice one.
    So our first evening there I hit for $500 on a random dollar slot on a $100 buy in. Then about 5 mins after I left a dollar ten times pay machine the next guy that sat down hit for $10,000. Happy for him but OUCH!...I know the whole random number generator thing but cant help but wonder if I would have hit that. We played penny and dollar slots all day and night and there were times when it was frustrating.
    So Xmas eve we walk to Bellagio to check out the Christmas display and then decide to play a little. I sit down to a 1,000,000 degree penny slot where max bet is $3 and you have to bet max to qualify for the 5 progressive pots. Progressives are at around $30-$35 for 5 million degree symbols, $150+ for 6 symbols, $650+ for 7 symbols, 16,000+ for 8 symbols and for 9 symbols 1.2 million. Bonuses are various numbers of free spins at 1x,2x or 3x depending on you matching 3 picks. I put in $100 and hit the bonus a few times and had worked up to over $300.
    G/F would sit and play with me for a bit then play at other machines and come back again. I played for awhile and then it happened…5 reels…first reel one symbol…2nd reel two symbols…3rd reel three symbols…4th reel one symbol for a total of 7 symbols for $669 and I’m pumped….5th reel is spinning but I figure I’m done at this point and then it stops and there’s one symbol on it for 8 total symbols and $16,056…..WOOHOO!!!!:woohoo::banana:...we were in disbelief IMG_0710.jpg IMG_0589.jpg IMG_0590.jpg IMG_0675.jpg . People would walk by and stop to check it out and congratulate us, which was cool. Then I realized… One symbol away from 1.2 million and life changing $$. It took quite some time to get paid, mostly because I requested a cheque for $10,000. They took $4,800 in tax...that hurts. So that left $1,200 cash. Insert permanent smile here!:thumbsup:...lol..what an awesome Xmas gift.



    We made our way back to MGM after this and decided to try our $400 freeplay in the high limit area at $40 a spin. Had done this before and got lucky but not this time. Didn’t win much at all. As we were leaving a lady hit for $47,000 on a quick hit machine in high limit…that was cool to see. Other than this we had some small hits of $100-$500 IMG_0603.jpg . Boxing day the G/F hit for $1,300 on a pinball machine where she hit the bonus twice so it was two big wins instead of one which meant no tax.. always nice IMG_0612.jpg . December 27th I hit a couple nice bonuses on a penny machine ( samurai dragon ) to cash out at $900 on a $100 buy in IMG_0613.jpg IMG_0693.jpg .
    Our last evening/night in Vegas we stuck around the MGM and NYNY. We had an early rise to catch our flight out and we were steady bleeding $$ so we split up to spend another couple hundred and then were going to head to the room. We were maybe split up for 3 mins when I get a text from G/F saying she had won $4,000 on wheel or fortune IMG_0699.jpg . So I head over to where she is at a $10, max $20 a spin wheel of fortune machine. She put in $100 got the wheel spin bonus and hit for the top prize of $4,000 IMG_0697.jpg . While waited for her hand pay I slipped a $100 in the same machine next to her and hit two bonuses and cashed out with $500 IMG_0623.jpg . She also won $800 on wheel of fortune at NYNY a couple nights before due to a couple bonus spins on a $1/ $2 max bet machine.
    We slotted around a bit more and headed to the room to pack. Next morning we checked out, said goodbye to the MGM View attachment 13910 and headed to the airport. While waiting for the flight to leave I, of course played the slots and won $900 on a $100 buy in IMG_0624.jpg . Nice way to end the trip IMG_0625.jpg . Checked off the “more than $10,000 in cash or cheques” box on the custom form and going through customs in Calgary I had to fill out extra paperwork, which took maybe, 10min. Seemed trivial to customs and so it should be. The limit should be raised, as $10,000 is not a lot of money now compared to years ago.
    It was a good trip despite the head cold I had at the beginning and I cant wait to go back. I managed to come back even for the trip not counting the $10,000 cheque from Bellagio and the G/F was down a couple grand. I’ll give her half the $10,000 and were both up then. Good thing to as the exchange rate is horrible now and if we didn’t keep our bank roll it would be hard to justify getting more American $ at the exchange rate today. The extra two nights charged to my visa was $240…with exchange rate $280….ridiculous if you wanted to take out any large sum of $$.
    Hope you enjoyed the report. Looking at maybe returning in Feb….keep going until the bankroll is gone …lol. Until next time!!:wave:
     
  2. megamoose

    megamoose Tourist

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    Just realized all my room strip view pics did not upload for some reason...sorry about that but I don't know why they failed to load properly.
     
  3. boxofbirds

    boxofbirds Royally Flushed

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    WOW, great hit, congrats!
     
  4. vacationaddict

    vacationaddict Tourist

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    Great report! Nice Hits too!
     
  5. RockyBalboa

    RockyBalboa Front Line Winner

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    Fantastic report!!

    I'd say you had one helluva run on the slots - wow!!!!!
     
  6. breanna61

    breanna61 Super Moderator

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    Congratulations on a great run on slots! I really enjoyed your report and photos. Good luck on your next trip!
     
  7. NvrSumR

    NvrSumR Low-Roller

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    Wow congrats on the big win!!! Thanks for taking the time to write the report.
     
  8. Jamie in PA

    Jamie in PA High-Roller

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    Excellent report! Congrats on the wins!!!
     
  9. Flowers

    Flowers VIP Whale

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  10. theghost

    theghost Stuck at work, but should find a poker table

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    That's awesome, sounds like a blast.....with the exception to the head cold part!
    Thank you for sharing your adventures
     
  11. LB9

    LB9 PH Blackjack Degen

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    This was an excellent TR, really appreciate you sharing as now I'm contemplating becoming a dollar slot player instead of BJ! lol.

    Hope you had a safe trip back.
     
  12. TomTWI

    TomTWI Custom Title

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    Great trip and trip report. Nice to hear of winners even if I never seem to win.

    TomTWI
     
  13. Royal Flusher

    Royal Flusher Savvy Gambler

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    Fantastic trip! Congratulations! That steak looks yummy but not $80 with tip yummy.
     
  14. Chuck2009x

    Chuck2009x VIP Whale

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    $16 grand on a $3 bet? Holy crap!
     
  15. megamoose

    megamoose Tourist

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    Hey Flusher,
    I have meant to comment on one of your reports. I can't seem to get into playing video poker, I have tried it a couple times but find it too boring so normally when I see a trip report and its mostly about VP I tend to just bypass it. This being said, I have been meaning to let you know that I LOVE your trip reports and keep checking back several times a day for updates when your in Vegas. Your reports are truly enjoyable and funny. I wish I could write like that. With so many loyal VP players I must be missing something so I'll have to give it a try again my next trip.
     
  16. D in the D

    D in the D Oldest ride, Longest Line

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    Nice report, awesome hit(s), great pics.
     
  17. Jordan

    Jordan Caveman

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    Excellent hits....CONGRATS!
     
  18. luckylarry

    luckylarry Tourist

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    We're from Winnipeg and when we hit a hand pay we got the tax money back through some agency that works out of Thunder Bay. Can't remember all the details but they kept $150 for their service and $50 to file a tax statement, but it was definitely worth it. Congrats on the win!
     
  19. RM777

    RM777 Low-Roller

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    Great slot hits!
     
  20. DaiLun

    DaiLun R.C., L.C., and A.A.N.G.

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    Congratulations!!!!!!!!! Great slot hits!!!
     
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