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Las Vegas with my son & crew – Oct 6th thru Oct 10th

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by dbueler, Oct 13, 2015.

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  1. dbueler

    dbueler High-Roller

    Joined:
    Jul 31, 2007
    Messages:
    636
    Location:
    Hannibal Mo
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    50

    My Trip Report

    Hey folks, be forewarned. No huge parties, no big gambling exploits, no drunken stories. If I misspell something, it’s just because I don’t know how to spell it, not because I’m on a bender. I like those things… it’s just not this trip!

    You might remember my TR from last October when I took my son and his 3 college housemates to Vegas to celebrate their 21st birthdays. It was a whirlwind 3 night trip; we didn’t even arrive until midnight the first day, so whirlwind is probably an overstatement. This year, my son & one friend are both seniors and both just returned from national internships. One friend graduated and landed a full time job, so he wasn’t able to join us this year. One friend graduated but is working on his masters, so he was able to join us. These guys all play collegiate tennis and they, along with many from the girl’s tennis team, come to my house for Sunday night dinner each week. We only live 30 minutes from the school, so it’s a taste of “home” for the kids and I think of them as my own. Each of these guys have contributed to my son’s considerable success… a standout college athlete, a straight A student, loves to party but is responsible(so much more than I at that age), and has a full career plan laid out (and as I mentioned, was selected from a pool of 3000 candidates for a national internship), so these guys are very special to me.

    My son asked me in December if I would take them to Vegas again. I said I thought they might want to go on their own, without mom, but he said they all agreed that it wouldn’t be as fun without me. Of course, he didn’t mention they love using my comps! They enjoy my planning everything and I send them a spreadsheet with activities a few months in advance, and I then plan accordingly. They did request a longer trip this time, with plenty of free time during the day to hang out at the pool and relax more. They also requested we stay at the Orleans again…… the Orleans has always been home to my son during our family Vegas trips and the crew really liked the low limit table games, the food options, and they preferred staying off strip.

    I acted real cool when my son asked if I would take them, and I said of course! But I did shed a few tears when I got to my car… he thought he was asking a favor when it was actually such an honor to me…. But that’s our secret!

    Tuesday Oct 6th
    Let’s GO! The crew picked me up at home enroute to the STL airport at 9am, we live a hour and a half away. I drive to STL nearly every week on business and it was a real treat to be driven there! We stopped at Hollywood Casino and I used comps for our lunches in the café. I play here occasionally while I’m working in STL, but rarely eat there, so I’ve built up a fair amount of comps. A no play day using comps isn’t a big deal; my play here is so small and infrequent. I’ve not eaten in their café before and the food was excellent as well as the service.

    Our waitress was a very nice older lady who asked if the guys were my Grandsons. Shit, I’m only 53. I clearly forgot to use my moisturizer this day.

    We parked in the Parking Spot 3, I always park here, they are great if you have any issues, and I had a one day free coupon. I shouldn’t mention it, but when I parked here my last business trip, I realized I didn’t have my keys once I reached my airline gate. I called the lot attendant and asked them to check for the keys in the ignition, and if they were there, just lock the car and throw the keys in the truck as I had a spare. Little did I know the keys were not only in the ignition, but the car was RUNNING! And I was flying to Denver for 5 days. I’m usually the consummate traveler, but that day I was just blonde.

    Quick shuttle to the airport then we checked our bags with Frontier. Frontier just added one direct flight daily from STL to LV and the price for the Frontier RT was the same price as a one-way fare on SW. I love SW and they are my fave airline, but I’m sure not paying double for them. Frontier was half price even paying for a seat upfront and paying to check a bag. Cha Ching. I believe our RT all-in price with seats and bags was $185 each. The worst part is Frontier doesn’t “honor” TSA pre-check, which totally sucked because Lambert blew it and didn’t think anyone was flying this day, dumb asses. The security line was 40 minutes long. They kept begging for anyone who was TSA pre-check to change lines, I had my letter from TSA with me and asked if I could just use it and they said no, the airline must put it on your boarding pass. Lambert knows exactly how many people will be leaving from the C concourse during the entire day, yet the security line had to cross the entire terminal for them to open an extra line. Fail.

    I’ve been checking the flight status of the Frontier direct flight every day for two weeks, yeah, I have a problem. It departed early and arrived early every single day for 2 weeks. WTF? No airline does this. Sure enough, our flight left 5 minutes early and arrived 20 min early. Score. The plane was brand new and really clean, but the seats were really hard and odd-shaped. I had chosen an aisle seat for myself, and then booked the 3 seats across the aisle for the guys. They cut cards to determine who got the window seat, Pat won and I could tell my son Chris and his buddy Ian were disappointed they didn’t “win” the window seat. HOWEVER, the flight wasn’t full by a long shot and they each moved to their own full empty row. I can’t remember when that’s happened to me, every flight is usually packed. The front “stretch” seats were all full, the back of the plane was full, but the middle was empty except for us. We were in row 11 and rows 8&9 and 12-14 were all empty. Such a nice flight when you can stretch out.

    Frontier charges for soda and bottles of water, they will give you a cup of ice water for free. The charge was $1.99 each, so not crazy ridiculous. That same bottle of water is $3 at the Orleans. I gladly paid $8 for all of us to have a drink during the 3 hour flight rather than pay $200 more per person on SW flights. It’s a shame, but it is what it is.

    We had a real hassle with baggage claim. No one announced on the flight that Frontier uses Terminal 3 baggage claim, and we took the tram to terminal 1 (following the Baggage Claim signs). I’ve flown into Vegas 100 times and not had this happen before. Clearly others didn’t either because when we took the blue bus shuttle from the main terminal to terminal 3, the entire bus was full of Frontier customers changing terminals to get their bags. Our bags were waiting, but the taxi line must have had 1000 people in it, those huge international flights must have arrived at the same time. So, we took the blue bus BACK to terminal 1 to catch a cab. I would have gladly paid for a town car at Terminal 3 just to get us there faster (it had been a long day) but there weren’t any, and weren’t hardly any cabs either. The line was long at terminal 1 but moved quickly and we were in a cab headed towards the Orleans in 10 minutes. Cab driver was a fantastic guy, took the right route, and started complaining about cab drivers who cheat as soon as I thanked him for taking the right way. He also said that he has multiple passengers every single day who follow the baggage claim signs to terminal 1 and that Frontier should be “ashamed” they aren’t clear to their paying customers, nice guy.

    No line at Orleans check-in, thank god because I was sick of lines today! The guys had a double room and mine ended up also being a two bed room as they were out of king beds. The renovation at the Orleans is now complete and they did such a nice job freshening up the rooms, and especially the hallways. I asked for a room close to the elevator and was given the room RIGHT BESIDE the elevator doors. I feared it might be loud, especially with people waiting for the elevator, but I never heard anything. What a treat to get off the elevator and be RIGHT THERE!

    I unpacked and relaxed a bit, then went to the casino cage to buy chips as gifts for the guys. We had 6pm reservations at the Prime Rib Loft for an early college graduation celebration dinner and I gave each guy a treat bag of $5 chips. I gave them each $75 in chips, but an odd thing happened when I purchased them at the Orleans casino cage. When it was my turn at the cashier window, I put the cash down and asked the cashier for $225 in $5 chips. He rolled his eyes and said “Don’t you know you can buy those at the tables?”. Like I’m a dumb ass. I told him they were for gifts and he rolled his eyes again. Classy.

    Three of us ordered the Prime Rib, which was excellent and my son ordered the NY Strip, which he said was great as well. I love the salad here; their homemade Thousand Island dressing is the bomb. I also love the baked potato service at the table, and they are always so perfectly cooked. The guys had a few drinks, mom had iced tea, the meal came to $160 with a very generous tip. It would have been much less without the drinks, but this was a celebration!!

    The guys hung out at the Orleans that evening playing blackjack, I played a short session of video poker and lost. No worries, there’s always tomorrow. Or so I thought.

    Wednesday Oct 7th
    I hate the first day of the time change; I woke up at 4:30am, ugh. I planned this to be the day the guys hike Red Rock canyon, or more accurately, they climb red rock canyon. I knew they would be in bed relatively early the first night and it would be easier for them to get up “relatively” early. They did some climbing at RR last year and enjoyed it so much they requested to be dropped off this year. I gambled some and lost. No worry, there’s always later. Right?

    I had reserved a car at the Advantage counter at the Orleans for pickup at 8:30am so we could get an early start, and before it became too hot. I have used them several times at the Orleans and it’s always been great, and often less expensive than the airport rentals. I arrived at 8:15 and there was a sign on the counter “Be back in 10 minutes”, so I waited. After 15 minutes, I called Advantage and began talking to their customer service. Where the hell is the employee? A line started to form behind me. I was on the line with Advantage for over 20 min while they tried to contact her. Where the hell is she? She knew they had rental cars reserved that morning… the lights were on… WTF? She finally showed up at 9am and when I said “Thank God” she said that she had to take care of the cars outside as well as the desk and was unbelievably snotty. I told her that was between her and Advantage and she just fucked up an hour of my vacation. She snapped back and I told her to just get the paperwork done fast, and not to ask me Insurance or Gas bullshit questions, you aren’t getting another dime from me, just rent the car. BTW I told Advantage (on the phone) that I wanted a manager to call me but it’s been 5 days and no one has. They said it might take 10 days and I told them that was a lot of time to allow me free rein on social media. Guess I didn’t scare them… haha. I will handle them when I return home.

    Fortunately the guys were well rested and excited for their climb, so I was quickly back in vacation mode. We stopped at Red Rock Casino to use (2) of the two free buffet rewards from MyVegas. Redemption was easy and the rewards center lady was shocked to learn that Stations dropped the two free buffet rewards. She said it brought so much traffic into the casino and was very short sighted. Of course I agreed. When we arrived at the buffet, they asked for one of the guys to show a players card and, even though I explained that all 4 buffets were on my card, they still needed another card. Ian had his handy from last year and just flashed it, they didn’t even write the number down. Not sure what that was all about, and to be honest, I really couldn’t understand the clerk. But no matter, the buffet was just downright excellent. Breakfast food is by far my fave, everything was so fresh and the service was excellent as well. I’m always a fan of this buffet. Note- to those of you on the board who said you can’t combine these rewards, yep you sure can, or should I say could, since they aren’t offered anymore (at least the last time I checked!).

    I dropped the guys at Red Rock, to do so you must drive the entire 13 mile loop even though I dropped them at the first stop. The ride and scenery are usually enjoyable, but they are doing A LOT of construction on the road and now a fair amount of the loop is off-pavement. It was a really slow go and I had errands to run on the strip!

    First errand was to pick up our Raiding the Rock Vault tickets for that evening at the Tropicana box office using my Groupon vouchers. I dreaded this as I’ve waited forever at the Tropicana box office before, but totally lucked out as there wasn’t a single person in line! Since they are now a Hilton property, and I’m a Diamond with Hilton due to business travel, she upgraded our seats to the second row behind the VIP booths (I couldn’t talk her out of one of those, although I sure tried!). Next up was the NYNY box office to pick up our MyVegas Zumanity Tickets for Thursday night and, once again, not a soul in line!! I combined a BOGO reward and a free standard ticket reward then bought a 4th seat outright. I had reserved these via phone several months ago and the tickets were ready and waiting. NOTE – for those of you on the board who tell others you can’t combine those rewards, yeah you can. This is my 4th Cirque show combining multiple rewards without an issue. So I essentially bought 2 and got 2 free. Not as good as the rewards used to be, but better than nothing for sure. The standard tix are in the balcony, which was fine with me as I didn’t want to chance one of us (especially me) getting pulled up on stage from a lower seat! My son would have DIED of embarrassment if they pulled me up there. If he wasn’t there, I think it would be a blast!

    After returning to the Orleans, I freshened up in the room then gambled for an hour (and lost). Then it was time to drive back to RR and pick up the guys. They made it to the very top (as evidenced by pictures) and were exhausted, hot, and had run out of water about 2/3 done…. I didn’t mention I had insisted they each take 3 bottles of water but NO, 2 each would be enough. Haha… mom’s do know best!

    I gambled for a couple hours and lost, again. I’m a low roller, playing nickel and dime multi-hand VP, primarily BP, DDB, and Deuces wild. I also dabble at single line quarters and some penny action for fun. I’ve been gambling for 30 years, and I’m certainly no stranger to losing streaks. But I swear to god every single dealt hand was total silence, no “ding” to indicate a winning deal of even jacks or better. Nearly every single hand was defensive mode, just trying to get my bet back. I’d been playing multi-lines for multiple hours. I was playing the new All-Star II nickel machines the Orleans added since my last trip with good paytables of 9/6 DDB and 8/5 BP, but that doesn’t matter if you don’t get full houses and flushes. I’d racked up quite a few hours playing and had yet to hit my first 4OAK. It was starting to get a little insane.

    We drove to Margaritaville for dinner; this is one of the guys favorite places. The prices have increased quite a bit since we ate there last; the volcano nachos are now $18! They are huge, but they sure damn well better be! We ordered entrees as well and they guys each had a few drinks. The Cardinals/Cubs game was on TV and we were really lucky they weren’t crowded so we could get a table directly in front of the tv. Huge Cardinal fans here, my husband and I were married in STL 29 years ago and were married at 11am so we could make the 1pm Cardinals/Dodgers game! Yep, we’re fans alright. I paid the bill with CET points.

    Celebrity Sighting!! We were standing behind the Flamingo waiting for our car in valet, when a very tall young girl in flashy tight workout clothes walked by with her dog. The guys took one look and said “That’s Taylor Swift!”. I said no way, but they insisted. When I looked closer, I thought they might be right. She clearly had the hair, makeup, fancy gear, etc… So the guys googled what kind of dog Taylor Swift has and she has a black lab. This chick was walking a Black Lab! I’m convinced!

    We drove to the Trop and parked in their outside parking lot. I love that parking lot… so easy in/out and no crappy parking garage. This was my 4th time seeing Raiding the Rock Vault and it might have been the best yet. Tracy Guns from Guns N Roses was there and he just flat steals the show. He was there the first time I saw it over at the Hilton but hasn’t been there the other times. They are all so incredible, if you’re a fan of classic rock by those who rocked it, don’t miss this show. Even tho the guys are only 22, they are big classic rock fans and loved the show!

    Afterward, the guys headed down the strip to do what 22 year old guys do in Vegas and I drove back to the Orleans. I gambled for several hours and lost…. Still not a single 4OAK on multi-line VP. Are you kidding me? I don’t have to tell you how brutal that is.

    I was fortunate to run into Champster in the VP area! We haven’t seen each other since FFlowers (his sister) birthday over a year ago, although we are devoted FB friends. We made plans to get together once his lovely wife arrive, but you know, Vegas gets in the way and it just didn’t happen. We texted a lot but just couldn’t get plans to work, especially since I was “on the job” with the guys. We did send FFlowers a selfie as evidence! Next time!!

    Thursday Oct 8th
    I awoke and saw a text saying the guys had returned to the Orleans at 2am. I only asked that one person text me saying they were back, even though I wouldn’t see it until morning. It made me feel better if I knew they had at least made it back to the Orleans. Knowing they would sleep in late (until noon) I drove over to the MGM and redeemed a BOGO free dinner buffet and one free dinner buffet, both from MyVegas. So essentially, I was buying 2 and getting 2 free, once again combining rewards. I scoped out how to get to NYNY from the buffet, which was really easy as the bridge to cross the strip is very close to the buffet.

    I also wanted to note that the lady at the MGM players club told me the buffet rewards were valid for 7 days. I was really surprised; all the other buffet rewards I’ve used from MyVegas had to be used the same day as redeemed. If I had been in the know, I would have redeemed them the day prior when I picked up show tickets! So I def wanted to make note of this in case it helps others.

    I forgot to mention I played VP for an hour before I left for the MGM and lost, again. I played once more when I returned and got my a$$ handed to me. I did hit four 8’s on BP so that $12.50 helped for like 4 minutes, but at least I broke the ice and my luck was ready to turn any minute.

    The guys called me at noon and wanted to make an In-N-Out burger run, I hadn’t eaten yet so I was certainly game! We didn’t go crazy since we were eating the MGM dinner buffet at 5:30pm. Not going crazy to a college boy means only ONE double double, fries and a shake. As usual, it was crazy but we snagged a booth and the guys enjoyed their cult food. Mom did too! I’ve been dieting and it was my first shake of the year… lordy was it good.

    Back to the Orleans for blackjack (for them) and VP (for me). Guess I will never learn. One guy is losing pretty bad this trip, one guy is doing well, but my son is WAY up. I don’t know what WAY up means, but I’m told he’s WAY up. Good for him, he may need to pay for the cab to the airport.

    The MGM Grand dinner buffet was excellent. It wasn’t crowded at all. In fact, they buffet reward included a line pass but we were the only ones in line! Not fair! These guys eat more meat that anyone I’ve ever seen. It’s all about the meat and veggies. They all cook together at home and eat 4 meals a day (college athletes). Big meals, all meat and veggies. Buffets are perfect for them. Everything was very fresh and we all cut the prime rib with our forks. Excellent, Excellent meal.
    We crossed the bridge to NYNY for Zumanity. We had an extra 45 minutes so they played blackjack and I entertained myself on a penny slot (which means I lost slowly). This was the only place my son lost, he lost $100 but shrugged it off because he was WAY up. Good to be him!

    I was a little concerned about taking them to Zumanity. I love the show but it’s sure not for everyone. I mentioned to them the day before that I was a little worried because I suspected they are more conservative than I am; they assured me they are NOT more conservative than I am. They definitely are, they just don’t know. But where else would you see a Cirque show like Zumanity…. It’s just Out There In Your Face Vegas. The first act was the 2 naked girls swimming in a fishbowl. The guys looked over at me and I said “Yea, I’m a bad mom.” Haha. I’ve seen it multiple times and would love to see it again, they changed a lot of acts in January and I thought made it even better. The guys loved it, especially the comedy they said. Sure……

    Afterwards, they headed to the PBR Bar at Pho to meet up with the Sin City Club Crawl tour. They went last year and had the best time of their lives EVER at Drai’s. The club crawl provides tons of drinks on the bus, Chris said they literally passed out bottles. You walk right into the clubs…….. first was Tryst at Wynn, second was Drai’s, and they didn’t go to the 3rd one because Drai’s is their fave…. No cover charge (which can be $40 or more for guys), no waiting in lines, no being “selected”. The hosts are a blast and the guys requested two club crawl nights on this longer trip. I returned to the Orleans and, what else, lost…. I’ve been here 3 days and have yet to cash a winning ticket. Why is karma punishing a mom who just wants a little gambling action in between ensuring a great trip for her son and his friends? Enough whining, it will change.

    Friday Oct 9th
    I awoke to see a text that the guys had gotten back to the Orleans at 4:30am, reasonable after the club crawl. It also said Best Night Ever. Ahhhh mission accomplished! I was afraid they had built it up in their minds over the course of the year and it might disappoint.

    I treated myself to the Orleans breakfast buffet, charging it to the room to use my dining credit. It was really good, better than it’s been for a few years. Bacon was real bacon & crisp. Eggs bene weren’t overcooked, although not as hot as I like. Their sausage gravy is some of the best I’ve had on a buffet. Lots of selection, very fresh, I thoroughly enjoyed.

    I played a few hours of VP and, what else? Lost. Played some pennies and at least had fun. The guys came down to play blackjack so I thought it would be fun to join them, blackjack will surely be better. My son was on a hell of a run, if he had a 13 showing, he drew a 7 or 8 every time. And me…. Well… I bought in for $50 and never won a single hand. And I know basic strategy down pat. So I bought in for another $50 and did get to play for 20 minutes before losing that too. God this is so painful to type.

    The guys had hit the food court when they returned from the club crawl so they held out for dinner at Pampas Brazilian restaurant at the Miracle Mile shops at Pho. I bought a travelzoo voucher for 4 people to have the rodizo meal plus the seafood option, plus a pitcher of sangria for $100. Great deal for 3 guys who eat meat, a lot of meat! I’ve been there before and it was ok, I’m not as huge of a meat fan as they are, but it was really good this time. The waiters just kept bringing the meat, even though we had turned up our red card. The sangria was fantastic, some of the best I’ve had. It was a big pitcher and let’s just say I’m a FAN.

    Afterward, they headed into PHO to meet up with the club crawl (they look so darn handsome!) and I drove back to the Orleans for mom-time gambling. Lost again. No other way to say it, karma sucks. I did hit a few 4 oaks but just couldn’t get any dealt winners. And on multi-play… it’s all about the dealt.

    I forgot to mention the guys brought their club clothes with them in the car both nights and changed into them after dinner. They didn’t want to sweat (it was hot for Oct) or spill anything on them. They changed in the car after dinner/show then, once I returned to the Orleans, I lugged their stuff to their room for them. I only mention this because one might think I deserved just a little karma. LOL.

    Saturday Oct 10th:
    For once, I’m ready to leave Vegas. I miss my husband (and my girls) I’m tired of losing at everything I touch. I’m starting to get a little tired of arranging everything. Don’t get me wrong, I love those guys with all my heart, but Vegas is my playground and it’s just not feeling like recess!

    First things first…… my son had 2 comped nights up front as did I. I’ve booked this time after time at the Orleans, 2 nights comped then I call the host office before I check out and ask them to review my play. They have always, every single time, removed the other 2 night charges. My son and his buddies play small wager blackjack $10-$15-$20 bets, but they played for hours and there were 3 of them in the room.

    So I called the host office and she looked up my room/play first. She said, and yes she actually said this out loud… she said “Ugh, you didn’t hardly play anything”. WTF? I sure the hell did lady. I played as many hours each day as I ever play, more hours than I usually play at CET. I realize it’s all about the time, the bet, the theo… but I played hour after hour each day and lost my a$$.... I lost more than 3x what I’ve EVER lost during a week-long trip and this was 5 days.

    My card was in, I earned the points, clearly things have changed at the Orleans. I asked if she could even comp my frig ($15 for the entire trip) or one night resort fee and she said no. So I asked her to look at my son’s play along with the other 2 guys, there were 3 gamblers in that room and she said Nope, can’t even comp one resort fee. Good Grief.

    So, other than maybe using the 2 nights comped upfront, I’m done with the Orleans. They are a great place but they have clearly forgotten who they are. I never play for comps, and I never lose more than we can afford…… but when I lose over a grand, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect the $15 frig to get comped. Especially since I can stay anywhere at CET and get 5 nights comped no questions asked. And I certainly didn’t reduce my play, although I would have if I had any self discipline!

    And it’s a good pay table lesson as well. I’ve never lost this much on the strip, even with their crappy pay tables. Theoretically, the good pay tables should allow me to play longer and have a better chance of winning, or not losing as much. I get the math. But the key word is theoretically. I was so pumped to find 9/6 DDB and 8/5 BP at the Orleans! I got the brunt end of standard deviation!

    So enough whining about getting screwed on comps. I decided to just play some pennies Saturday morning until the guys came down at 1pm to checkout and eat the buffet. The Orleans has the old Gem Wild Tiles penny machines and those are so entertaining to me, I love the cascading. I actually won $20 that morning, my first win of the trip, and had a lot of fun just playing. Once the guys came down and we stashed the bags at the bell desk, we went to the buffet for lunch. I had plenty of points on my card to pay for all 4 buffets, and lunch was really great. It’s not exotic, but it’s solid with a very wide variety. The guys did some serious damage!

    They played blackjack while I sat in the keno lounge, the only tv in the casino that was showing the Cardinals-Cubs playoff game 2. The timing coincided with college football so it was tough to find anywhere “cool” to watch the game. My son piled on some more winnings and I think the other two broke even on the day.

    We caught a cab to a completely deserted Terminal 3 to catch our non-stop flight back to St Louie. I doubt I’ve ever seen an airport so empty. Made it really nice since there was no security line at all, there were more TSA agents than passengers passing though. We watched the agonizing game finale in California Pizza kitchen where I had a soda and they guys pounded another meal just 3 hours after finishing a buffet. I will have to work out for weeks and starve myself to lose the weight I gained this trip and I bet they didn’t gain an ounce!

    I really like how Frontier just leaves early. Once everyone is onboard, they just close it up and leave. The other airlines sit and piss around with paperwork and it never seems to be a priority to Just Leave. Everyone I encountered at Frontier was really nice and very helpful, from the desk agents to the flight attendants. I like the all-business boarding and the wheels-up when everyone is on board. I still prefer SW and will choose them first, but not for double the price.

    We drove the 2 hours home and arrived home at 2am. Yuck! At least it felt like midnight to us with the time zone change. Thanks for taking the time to read my report and I do apologize for the gambling and comp rant. I’ve been doing this gig for a lot of years and the results of both make no sense to me at all. You can bet I will be back between Christmas and New Years with FFlowers, on the strip, playing shitty pay tables, not losing as much $$, and not paying for my room. Sounds great to me!!

    My son tells me that, despite all odds, he came home WAY up, with WAY more money than he brought. This delights me to no end. His internship this summer was a prestigious one and it will do a lot for his career, but it didn’t pay much. Not nearly as much as he normally earns during the summer as a golf pro at the Country Club. He can’t work during the fall and spring months as tennis “pays” for his college and consumes all his time. So I’ve been a little worried that he might be short of cash this trip, and maybe not be able to play as much as his buddies. He spent almost nothing all summer and told me he had “carefully budgeted” gambling $$ for this trip. It must be a huge windfall for him to not only have his initial budgeted money available but to also have winnings as well. He shrugged off the win but I remember what it was like for money to be tight and get a nice win!
    Best of luck to each of you!! --- Diane
     
  2. jamesxnj

    jamesxnj VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Oct 12, 2009
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    TN
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    Outstanding report and you,you are an outstanding Mom...wow
     
  3. Cinwhim

    Cinwhim Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Mar 4, 2009
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    Columbus, OH
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    Great report!! Thanks for taking the time to write it up and share. [emoji3][emoji3]
     
  4. Elf70

    Elf70 High-Roller

    Joined:
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    Loved your report. Your son and his friends sound wonderful. You're a lucky mom and he's a lucky son!
     
  5. WhskeyTangoFoxtrot

    WhskeyTangoFoxtrot MIA

    Joined:
    Apr 1, 2015
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    Actually, Tracii Guns was in L.A. Guns. He was in GnR for about a week, lol.

    Great report though, you're Dad of the Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
     
  6. Richard Alpert

    Richard Alpert LOST

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    The Island
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    14
    Playing on the tennis you mentioned at the start, this is an "Ace" of a report! I "Love" it! Thanks for sharing!
    -Richard
     
  7. JB in MN

    JB in MN Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Dec 27, 2011
    Messages:
    167
    Location:
    minneapolis
    Great TR. I remember your post from their first trip, this is a fantastic follow up, well done!
     
  8. dbueler

    dbueler High-Roller

    Joined:
    Jul 31, 2007
    Messages:
    636
    Location:
    Hannibal Mo
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    50
    Mom of the year........LOL
     
  9. WhskeyTangoFoxtrot

    WhskeyTangoFoxtrot MIA

    Joined:
    Apr 1, 2015
    Messages:
    147
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    3
    Yes, Mom of the year!!!!! My apologies lol....
     
  10. NJS24

    NJS24 Voice of Reason

    Joined:
    Jun 13, 2013
    Messages:
    570
    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    10
    Cringeworthy.
     
  11. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2013
    Messages:
    31,301
    Location:
    Chicagoland
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    28
    Nice report Diane! Glad your son won at least!

    Sorry to hear about the frontier misstep. Last trip, we get off the plane with the rest of our fellow passengers, reach the T1/T3 split, and my gf is blindly following a group of them. They were headed toward T1... I say, aren't we supposed to turn here (pointing toward T3)? I'm pretty sure over half of our half-empty flight had to do the same thing you did. :(

    I was annoyed reading about that checkout, not comping at least the fridge is just terrible. Were you playing those All Star IIs most of the time? Sounds like the machines theo was set at zero or damn well near it. :( I would be interested to know where those were though since I never earn comps there anyway. And you wouldn't have happened to notice the STP paytables on them, right? [emoji5]

    But with that treatment after that loss (ugh), I think I run back to CET too. Remember 6/5 Bonus for nickels still exists there when you play STP machines (and you can bet 5 instead of 6 via the touch screen). [emoji6]
     
  12. Jordan

    Jordan Caveman

    Joined:
    Sep 20, 2013
    Messages:
    2,384
    Location:
    Halifax, Canada
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    25
    Thanks for taking the time to do a report missus...enjoyed it!
     
  13. zerofan

    zerofan VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Mar 26, 2009
    Messages:
    2,241
    Location:
    New York
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    22
    Great report Diane - love The Orleans - hope to have better luck though when I go...:peace:
     
  14. hammie

    hammie VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Sep 18, 2006
    Messages:
    8,341
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    8
    A great trip report and I like your writing style. Hope the gambling gods are better next time.

    I'm also a big Frontier fan, I had a meeting in St. Louis about 6 months ago and flew in from Trenton, NJ, I think my round trip fare with luggage was around $110.
     
  15. BlackJackLady

    BlackJackLady High-Roller

    Joined:
    Jul 11, 2013
    Messages:
    628
    Location:
    Austin Tx
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    15
    What a great mom! Sorry you didn't have a winning trip but sounds like the memories you've made with your boys will last forever!
     
  16. M_ILIS

    M_ILIS VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Sep 6, 2012
    Messages:
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    Location:
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    Trips to Las Vegas:
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  17. jpw711

    jpw711 Is that your cat?

    Joined:
    Mar 10, 2009
    Messages:
    10,928
    Location:
    Southwest Missouri
    Trips to Las Vegas:
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    Great report Diane, was hoping to see some winning pictures, Next time.

    Does FNT not land at T3 now, they chaged to the D Gates? Since they pulled out of Branson, I don't give them much thought

    Do you, by chance, need another son? Granted, I'm 49, but I don't act like it.

    I agree with your assessment of the comps at the O, another locals casino got tighter with their mailers and they can go F*ck themselves too.
     
    No reason to go home yet.
  18. VegasDiva

    VegasDiva VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Apr 23, 2009
    Messages:
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    Location:
    Calgary , Alberta , Canada
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    16
    Loved your report :)
    Glad the *lads* had a good time
    sorry the comp's were crap at Orleans
    RTRV is so good, glad your boys liked it
    and the club crawls
     
  19. queentata

    queentata VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Sep 20, 2005
    Messages:
    1,012
    Location:
    Crosby, TX
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    28
    GREAT tr! What an awesome mom. I'd love to buy you a drink on your next trip. We will be at Planet Hollywood December 24- 31.
     
  20. dbueler

    dbueler High-Roller

    Joined:
    Jul 31, 2007
    Messages:
    636
    Location:
    Hannibal Mo
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    50
    The All Star !! machines were located near the casino cage in the front portion of the Orleans. There were also quite a few in the "back room" near the food court that had the same pay tables! They were only for nickels, I was disappointed as I like to play dimes frequently, but with the karma I had going, nickels were bad enough!
     
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