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Aria LIVE-ish B-Day Trip 7/19-24

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by ams722, Jul 20, 2015.

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  1. ams722

    ams722 Side Bet Shunner

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    My Trip Report

    If you've read my last two (boring) trip reports, you may remember that I had been having pretty severe back/leg pain from a herniated disc.

    Well, not anymore, baby! I had surgery June 11 and am pretty much good to go. (I did bring my remaining supply of Percocet with my just as a precautionary measure).

    I'm staying at the Aria this time. Something I once vowed never to do again after my "horror story" last year where they sent me to some random guy's room and lost my luggage for a couple hours. But time heals all wounds, I guess. (And I took advantage of a sweet deal).

    So day 2 is about to begin. Time to fire up the old trip report. I'm gonna type up day 1 right now.
     
  2. ams722

    ams722 Side Bet Shunner

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    Flight on Southwest out of DTW was early at 7:50 am. Left on time. Arrived a few minutes early. Took the shuttle to Aria. One of the quicker shuttle trips I've had.

    Chicago and the Hoover Dam:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    It was like 9:30ish and I decided to try to check in, knowing my room wouldn't be ready yet. And it wasn't. So I left my bags with the bell desk (God help me...) and went and played a little pai gow poker here at the Aria. It was a $10 table. I asked and Aria still doesn't rate you if you don't play $25. I told her I was just messing around for a little bit and didn't need to be rated. Left the table even.

    Walked over to the Bellagio and confirmed this catastrophe:

    [​IMG]

    Basically, all CSM tables pay 6:5. All shoes still pay 3:2.

    While this switch is disheartening, I did see $25 3:2 soft 17 shoe games at Aria, Bellagio, and MGM Grand yesterday. So all hope is not necessarily lost.

    So I walked around for a while waiting for the text telling me my room was ready. I was getting all hot and sweaty and I felt gross. All I wanted to do was take a damn shower after the long flight and now I was a sweaty mess. So I went back to the lobby and just sat down and waited for the text. Hoping that no one would get too close cause I felt nasty. I found these little vents that were shooting cold air straight up and stood over one for a long time to cool (and dry) myself.

    Finally got the text and went up to my room: a corner suite with a city view. Very nice room.

    My view from bed:

    [​IMG]

    The bell desk delivered my bags (they didn't lose them this time!) and I took a little nap. I was jet lagged since the flight was so early.

    I had $75 of MyVegas Freeplay to redeem so I did that. Went the "all or nothing route" and used it on a $5 slot. Turned my $75 FP into $75 cash. I'm okay with that.

    Walked down through Monte Carlo to NYNY and played some Pai Gow Poker there. Nothing particularly exciting happened. Up and down up and down and left about even. NYNY still has those two low limit 3:2 blackjack tables if you know where to look.

    Went through the MGM Grand and took the monorail down to The Quad. Just kind of wandering around. Decided to do the 24 hour CET buffet pass thing again with my resort credits and had dinner at PH. It was nothing special.

    Back to the room for a little while to relax, test out the tub, etc. They give you all sorts of little toiletry goodies in a corner suite: bath salts, shaving cream, razor, toothbrush, a tiny little toothpaste, etc.

    I also had to.... ahem....test this thing out:

    [​IMG]

    It was life changing. lol

    So after resting I went downstairs and played $25 PGP for an hour or two. It was rough at first. Only won two hands and was lucky to not lose my entire buy in really quick. Then near the end it got better (by better I mean we actually won some hands instead of losing them all, there were no miracle streaks or anything). I was in seat 6 and there was a really friendly lady in seat 7. She wasn't getting any bonuses and then she started playing a dollar for the dealer and she got so many bonuses after that, it was crazy. There were two people in seats 2 and 3 and they were getting killed. One was down about $900 and the other lost her $600 buy in and I think she threw another $200 down as well. They were getting cranky near the end and kind of seemed angry at us in 6 and 7 for not getting killed like they were. Oh well. I was tired and left down about $75.

    So for my first day I'm pretty much even, down about whatever I paid people in tips throughout the day.
     
  3. retro

    retro Low-Roller

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    room looks awesome, good luck
     
  4. 1slomofo

    1slomofo Tourist

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    it was "life changing" ahahahaha
     
  5. Nittany1

    Nittany1 VIP Whale

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    Good luck and thanks for the TR.
    Better turn the power down on that toilet!
    Setting on high can reach your skull!!!
     
  6. BellaBlvd

    BellaBlvd Low-Roller

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    Amazing damn shot of the dam!

    Love love love Aria corner suites! That view from the bed is the perfect way to start the day imo. That toilet tho..Made me giggle every. single. time. So of course I used it a lot :)

    Have a great rest of your trip.

    And seeing you're from A2 - GO BLUE!
     
  7. CaptainJack

    CaptainJack Low-Roller

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    I liked the toilet so much that I bought one...well, you really just buy the seat. People think I'm nuts when I tell them I bought a toilet seat for $1k, but it was a very good investment (and I recoup cost in buying less toilet paper). The only annoyance of the whole thing was having to wire electricity next to my toilet. Anyway...sorry to interrupt...keep up the good work at Aria...
     
  8. 2wayparlay

    2wayparlay Tourist

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    That Bellagio picture was heartbreaking. I was just there in April and all tables payed 3:2.
     
  9. ams722

    ams722 Side Bet Shunner

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    https://vimeo.com/134069676

    It's bedtime now. This is the view from my bed. I'll recap today's events in the morning when I randomly wake up at 5 am and can't go back to sleep.

    I counted my cash and my total for the trip is +$28.

    lol a win is a win, I guess.
     
  10. RM777

    RM777 Low-Roller

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    Nice view!

    Good luck today!
     
  11. ams722

    ams722 Side Bet Shunner

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    So yesterday I was up early as usual. Went to the PH buffet for breakfast. They do a good breakfast buffet. It was really cloudy/rainy looking all morning yesterday.

    After breakfast I went to the Bellagio and played some PGP. Nothing too memorable happened. Made $50.

    Back to the Aria. Relaxed for a while. The problem with having this great room is I'm spending more time than usual in here enjoying it.

    Went to NYNY and played PGP there for a while. At first I started in seat 4 and it was awful so I moved to 5, which was much better. I got one straight flush. A guy came and played in seat 4 for a while. It was no good for him either. The table was full for a good about of time and finally the guy in seat 4 couldn't take it anymore and left. So that became the dragon hand. The first hand after he left, one guy decided to play the newly available dragon: it was a straight flush. Poor guy who had just left would have made $250 cause he was betting $5 on the fortune every time. Anyway, I made $50 that session too.

    Wandered the strip for a while after that. Eventually went back to the Aria until dinner.

    Dinner was a Harrahs buffet. Food was good, but the service sucked. I was basically ignored by my waiter. Normally I would have stiffed him, but he was old and I felt kind of bad for him. Still though, refill my damn drink in a timely manner!

    After that I went to the Venetian and wandered around there for a bit. I saw Jennifer Tilly there leaving a restaurant. I've always enjoyed those Chucky movies. ;) I guess she's more of a poker player now than an actress. I should have asked for a selfie but I didn't.

    Wandered the strip some more. Took the monorail down to MGM. Headed back to the Aria. As I was walking in front of the Monte Carlo it was a clusterf**k and I tripped over a step. I had this MIRACULOUS recovery where somehow I didn't fall but kind of just caught myself and turned the momentum of what should have been a fall into a jog until I was stable. I would love to see some security cam footage of that. Seriously, I should have been down for the count. I think I scared a couple ladies. I just walked away laughing.

    So after that excitement I played some $25 PGP here at the Aria for the remainder of the night. It was a fun table. There were a couple entertaining drunk guys. No one had any big hands though. I did have a 9-high pai gow one hand and another guy at the table also had a 9-high that same hand. That was weird. Lost $60 that session before I got tired and went to bed.

    And as I said trip was +28 as of last night.

    I think today I'll take a trip to Freemont St.
     
  12. Kimsa70

    Kimsa70 High-Roller

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    Great start to your report. Being + by any amount day 1 is a huge win in my book considering all the times I've blown my entire bankroll day 1!
     
  13. ams722

    ams722 Side Bet Shunner

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    Never did get around to going to Freemont St.

    Yesterday: woke up and went downstairs and ate at the Aria buffet for breakfast.

    I can't express enough how much I love breakfast buffets.

    [​IMG]

    Walked on down to NYNY. Played Pai Gow there for a while. The dealer was good (and I didnt recognize her, which is rare cause I gamble there a lot). Session was uneventful. Left even.

    Walked down to the Luxor. Played PGP there for a little while. Wasn't feeling it. The dealer was kind of cold. Left pretty quick, even.

    Came back to my room. Took a nap. Woke up. Relaxed some more. The bad thing about having this nice corner suite is I'm spending more time in my room than usual. #firstworldproblems

    By the time I left my room it was dinner time. Decided to do the Aria buffet again (I had a free MyVegas buffet). I enjoyed it. I used to think the Aria buffet was really overrated. But they've definitely upped their game.

    [​IMG]

    They had lots of good Mexican food. I ate so much of that I didn't even get around to the "buffet staples" like macaroni, stuff from the carving station, mashed potatoes, etc...

    After dinner I walked over to Monte Carlo. Played PGP there. It was one of those sessions where you get really good hands, but so does the dealer so you push on a lot of hands that should have been easy wins. I wasn't really feeling this table. The players were zombie-ish and the dealers weren't that great. So I left even (sound familiar?).

    Walked back to the Aria. Plopped down at a $25 PGP table here. Played for an hour or so. Good table. Friendly players. There was a nice Asian lady next to me who kept talking to me but I couldn't really understand her very well so I just did the "smile and nod" whenever she'd say something. The dealer was nice too. But the relief dealer was cold personality-wise and hot card-wise. So when the relief dealer came around the 2nd time me and the Asian lady colored up. I left up about $100.

    Total for the trip is about +125.

    It's my birthday today! Gonna go spin that Freeplay wheel at Luxor. I think the Wynn still gives Freeplay too.
     
  14. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

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    Happy Birthday and good luck on that luxor wheel spin! Hit a big one! And get on a winning Pai Gow run! [emoji6]
     
  15. TriggerMN

    TriggerMN The Norwegian Hammer

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    Happy bday! Do you tend to purchase an extra hand at PGP if there is one available, or just play yours? I know some people will always buy the open seat's hand, and others never will. Jennifer Tilly's acting days are behind her, but her two huge assets are right in front of her. Phil Laak is a lucky guy. :wink2:
     
  16. ams722

    ams722 Side Bet Shunner

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    I tend to just play mine. Sometimes if I have an awful hand I'll buy it to try to get a push out of it. But normally I just play mine.

    Last night at the Aria the dragon hand was on fire though. I should have bought it when it was offered to me but it was going back and forth between two guys betting $300 a hand so I just let them have it.
     
  17. MertyNewJersey

    MertyNewJersey Low-Roller

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    Happy Bday!!!! :drunk: and good luck on the spins and FP!!!!!
     
  18. Vegasaddict2014

    Vegasaddict2014 Low-Roller

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    Loving the trip report so far. Your Aria view looks amazing. You need to start doing better at PGP! Good luck! [emoji2]
     
  19. alexb7

    alexb7 MIA

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    I just started getting into pai gow. Do you play the fortune bonus everytime?
     
  20. Packer

    Packer VIP Whale

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    Happy birthday.. Good live ish TR.. Thanks
     
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