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A Righteous birthday trip!

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by Sparky4, Aug 28, 2016.

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  1. Sparky4

    Sparky4 VIP Whale

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    My Trip Report

    I figured I might post our last trip report before we head out again in 2 weeks for our next trip.

    Our trip started July 8, on the last non stop SWA flight out of Austin. We checked in at the sky cap and were told our 7:40 flight was delayed to 8:00, no biggie. There is no line at TSA and we're through pre check quickly. As we're walking toward the gate I get a text, it's 6:40, and its SWA saying our flight is delayed to 11:10. Seriously? We head to the gate and I get in line to ask the agent what was up. There had been an equipment issue but the flight from Lubbock was on its way to Dallas, then to Austin to take us to Vegas. They were giving everyone $100 vouchers, so that was nice, especially since we didn't actually pay for our tickets, we used points and a companion pass. Once we were on the plane, drinks were free too. They did hustle the plane in the air and we were there in less than 2.5 hours.

    Diamond check in was closed at Paris but not a long wait at Platinum. We had a nice room on the 27th floor with a great view. It's just after midnight so we couldn't go to bed without gambling some, plus it was officially my birthday. We head to Ballys for some slot play in the HL slots. Several hours of no luck, we go back to Paris and run a few hundred through the $5 top dollar in the champagne slots, no luck. Not a good start for my birthday. Hubby was only down $100 for the night....me, well a bit more. The nice thing about staying up til 4 a.m., the thump thump of Chateau has stopped.

    Up pretty early, quick buffet breakfast at Spice Market, used our MRB coupon from LVA. We hit the HL slots and I ran a little through my $5 top dollar friend that was so kind in February, not so friendly today. Next stop, the $1 4x double wild cherry. Nothing, I'm sensing a theme here. We decide to go to Caesars to their HL room and we have absolutely no luck. Maybe Bellagio? Hubby goes to the $5 top dollar and I head for the $1. I put my card in and it says Hello....Happy Birthday. I say thank you, now give me a present. Nope. We wander through the conservatory then decide to go to Cosmo. We really like the new HL slot room. Hubby heads for top dollar and I head for the 4x double wild cherry. Cocktail service was the best, I hadn't even sat down when I was approached. I had one of the best lemon drop martinis ever. It ended up being a $200 lemon drop, since that's what I lost in a few short minutes. We decided to go to PHo again and go to the diamond lounge then back down to the 4x cherry machine... Nothing.

    We had tickets for the 7:00 Paul Zerdin show at PHo, he's the ventriloquist that won America's Got Talent last year. They were our free Diamond tickets. We were in the center, 5th row. The show was great, I would have actually paid for it! This was the FIRST show my hubby has ever been to in Vegas (we've been going to Vegas together for 13 years). He really enjoyed it too.

    After the show we were hungry so we wandered around the Miracle Mile and ended up at Oceans One. Our first time there and will probably be our last. Our waitress, was terrible. Whi doesn't bring condiments when you order a burger and fries? I can see poor service when you're busy, but they weren't busy at all.

    We went to Ballys to play slots again and decided to call it a night around 1:30. When we got back to the room I counted my $$ and I was officially down more than I've EVER been down in 24 hours. So much for a profitable birthday! We did both put 1000 TC's on our cards for the day. I'm wondering if I should institute the "daily envelope" thing. Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

    Sunday we decided to go to Cafe Bellagio for a late breakfast. After breakfast we were walking back to the $5 slots but stopped by the roulette tables near the players club. The table minimum was $100 so we just watched awhile. Hubby went and played the $5 top dollar while I went to the $1 ones. He ended up coming over and playing $1's with me. We pretty much broke even. We decided to go to the HL room at Flamingo. I sat down at a $5 top dollar and $100 in I hit a bonus and won $860. Cash out at $700, I'm a happy camper. We walked out of the HL room and walk around the corner and saw a $1 4x double wild cherry machine, I put $100 in and ended up cashing out at $300. My day was improving! We decided to go to the Linq but couldn't find any machines we wanted to play so we played high card flush awhile. When we lost our buy ins we decided to head back to Paris, stopping at Cromwell on the way back. There's a $1 dtriple double wild cherry machine that I like. I played quite awhile on my $100 and ended up cashing out with my $100. We went back to Ballys and played a bit then went to the room for awhile.

    My birthday dinner was at Gallagher's. We hadn't been to Gallagher's since MLife decided they didn't love us anymore. Dinner was wonderful, service was great too. We even had the cheesy photo taken. We've forgotten how good Gallagher's is. I'm glad we went back. We stopped at the bar in front of the Hershey store to redeem my MyVegas sweet shot. I figured it would be some chocolate-y thing....no, it wasn't and it was nasty. Save your points! Apparently the shot is based on either watermelon, green apple or raspberry jolly ranchers. It was so sweet it hurt my face! Needless to say, a sip was all I could handle. We walked to Monte Carlo, stopping first at The Park to listen to this girl playing the violin. It was amplified and she was really good. We went to the mlife desk to have the MyVegas reward for BLVD creamery loaded (boozy milkshakes) for Monday. We found some $1 top dollars and played awhile, then took the tram back to the Bellagio. As we were walking through we stopped to watch the same roulette table as earlier in the day but the limit had been raised to $1000. We watched a few minutes then left....a little too rich for my blood! We crossed back to Ballys and played awhile, Still not having luck so we go back to Ballys and play awhile. We finished the night in the champagne slots at Paris. We both ended up the day with 1000 TCs. My wins for the day have helped me cover some of my Saturday losses but we still aren't doing well.

    A little back story....my niece was pregnant and due on the 10th of July. I've been telling her for months that Aunt T sure would like a baby for her birthday. Well, the 9th and 10th pass with no baby. I get a text Monday morning and she tells me they're headed to the hospital to be induced. I'd say a baby born on 7/11 might be a lucky little guy!

    Monday morning we went to Bellagio to redeem the 2-4-1 breakfast buffets from MyVegas. This was our first time at their buffet and we really liked it. After breakfast we went back to Cosmo, for another lemon drop martini, I mean to play slots in the HL room. Still not having luck so we go back to Ballys. I decided it was time for a new strategy. When my niece goes to Vegas with me she generally brings $300-400 with her. We spend a lot of time by the pool, but she knows Aunt T has to gamble a certain amount of $$ to keep the free rooms coming. She's good with that and will sit by me and run $20 through the $1 machines as I run $100's through. 2years ago I was sitting at a $1 top dollar betting max bet (2 coin) and she put $20 in the one next to me and was playing $1 at a time and she hits the three double diamonds and wins $800. She was thrilled and went home with all $800 whereas all I could think was had she been betting max she would have won $2400. Anyway, every trip my niece goes home with all the $$ she brings with her and she pays for meals, tips etc. SO I start thinking maybe she's on to something so while hubby plays $1 machines $100 at a time, I start with a $20, fully willing to pump a full hundy into the machine. That afternoon I put $20 in a wild cherry machine and I play on it for an hour and a half and racked up 350 TC's. I put another $20 in and soon lose it. $20 #3 I play an hour on and rack up 200 TC's. $20 #4 lasts 5 minutes. #5 almost an hour. I like this.

    While we're at Ballys I get a text with a picture, the baby is here! I tell the hubby I want to go buy in for $100 at roulette. I needed to start a college fund! I play my normal numbers and put $1 each on 7 and 11. In hindsight I should have put one on the 4 corners of 7/8/10/11, I'll do that next trip. The first number I hit was 11. I played for an hour and in that time I also hit the 7, so he had $70 to start. My phone battery was almost dead so I suggested that we go to the room and charge it up awhile. I also said I wanted to stop in at Napoleons for a glass of GOOD champagne to celebrate. The plan was to grab one and run. We go in and noticed the place was pretty packed, there was some guy singing, he was pretty good. I grab my champagne and hubby says lets just sit at the bar a few minutes. The guy singing finishes his song and the other guy introduces him as Bucky Heard. Well he should be good, he's the new Righteous Brother! Then the other guy starts singing and I realize that it's Cook E. Jarr. After he sings he points out all these people in the audience, one being Bill Medley! There was some WSOP player and I think a nascar driver and also the global president of Caesar's entertainment. Hubby ordered a beer, I ordered a second glass of champagne and we watched the show. At the end of the show he put on the music for 'You've Lost that Loving Feeling' and started to sing, then he said there were better people in the audience to sing it so Bill and Bucky get up and sing. The room went crazy! I had taken some pix on my phone but with 2% battery left I wasn't thinking so I didn't start to tape them singing til almost the end of the song. How COOL is that? Stopped for a drink and get an impromptu Righteous Brothers concert! After the show ended I went over and spoke to Bill telling him I didn't think my day could have gotten any better after the news of my first (and probably my only) great nephews birth, but hearing them sing made it better......but it does get even better.

    Up to the room to charge the phone for a bit. We realize we still had free play to use so we head to the champagne slots and ran it through the 2 $5 top dollar machines. We got some play on it, won some, cashing out all our wins. I decided to put $100 in the double top dollar after we used the free play and I hit the 7 double diamond double diamond for a $1600 hand pay! Nice way to end the trip. We didn't have the luck that we had in February when we both came home with more than we brought but we did have a great time and didn't lose too much.

    I think I'm going to start playing my nieces $20 at a time strategy this next trip. I'm 4000 TC's away from diamond aspiration level 1 again, so I need 2 1000 TC days to achieve it (with the 1000 TC bonus each day). We arrive on a Friday at 4 but leave Monday at the crack of dawn so I should be able to do it. We can't wait to get on college football. We don't normally go until later in September, after the teams have a few more games under their belts, but this year were coming out the 2nd weekend of the season....it should be interesting.

    Thanks to everyone that takes the time to post reports. I enjoy reading them and getting tips from people.
     
    Happy birthday to me!
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  2. M0rtyC

    M0rtyC TBD

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    HB and congrats on the last minute comeback.
     
  3. Sparky4

    Sparky4 VIP Whale

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    Thanks MOrtyC.
     
    Happy birthday to me!
  4. Richard Alpert

    Richard Alpert LOST

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    A belated Happy Birthday, congrats on your family's new addition, and--oh, yeah--congrats on a trip full of fun!
    Thanks for sharing and have an awesome upcoming trip!

    RICHARD
     
  5. Sparky4

    Sparky4 VIP Whale

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    Thank you Richard.
     
    Happy birthday to me!
  6. kkinwi

    kkinwi VIP Whale

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    So fun! Loved reading all the gambling/food details. And what a great time at Napolean's!
     
  7. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

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    Glad to hear your luck turned for the better after that day one!
     
  8. Sparky4

    Sparky4 VIP Whale

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    Tring it looks like we're going to be there at the same time as you for your timeline.
     
    Happy birthday to me!
  9. Sheil813

    Sheil813 High-Roller

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    Loved reading your report! You play like I do! I love Top Dollar! Happy belated bday and congrats on the lucky new family member.
     
  10. Sparky4

    Sparky4 VIP Whale

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    Thanks Sheil.
     
    Happy birthday to me!
  11. emmas

    emmas VIP Whale

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    Congrats on the fun birthday trip. So glad you got that hand pay at the end to make up for the lack of luck on your birthday.
     
    I need all the luck I can get!
  12. Sparky4

    Sparky4 VIP Whale

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    Thanks Emmas. My third hand pay of the year, let's hope for a 4th next weekend!
     
    Happy birthday to me!
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