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Downtown Grand Nov 5 / Encore Nov 6-9

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by mjames1229, Nov 13, 2016.

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  1. mjames1229

    mjames1229 # of visits includes only trips w/ hotel stays

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    Tuesday, November 8 @ 12:30 AM PST - I am firmly in the camp when playing blackjack is that its your money and you can play the cards how you want, that all cards are random until dealt, and that even if a non-standard move hurts this hand, it may help others in the shoe. That said, it is hard to watch bad play. True story. Phil and I are still playing blackjack at a $5 at the Fremont when a man buys in at the end of the table. He was unremarkable for awhile, but on one hand with a dealer 5 showing, he split 10s. Though a dumb move, I could at least see the point that he might be using it as a way to double (if we are to assume the dealer will bust, best to do it with two hands in action). The first card was an 9 for 19, but the first card for the second hand was a 4... and he hit. Of course he busted and the dealer backdoored a 20. Again, the two cards in the deck could have come out the other way giving the dealer a bust, but it was a mojo thing. We're trying to do all we can to not grumble loud enough for him to hear, and Phil says that he couldn't bear to watch that again, so we got up and left.

    1:00 AM
    - I lose Phil downtown (I swear, he was right behind me) but I go to the Golden Nugget to meet the guys playing Tiger 9, and Scott is just standing and watching. He says that he wants to take his yearly stab at craps, so I take him to a place in which I am confident of it being empty... The Plaza. True to form, there are only three others on the table. We play for 30-45 minutes or so when Scott says that he can't stay awake and heads to his hotel and to bed.

    2:00 AM - I get back to the Encore and head to my suite without a second look at the slot machines.

    2:10 AM - But the video poker machines got to me.

    8:15 AM - I finally get a good night's sleep, though that is relative as the alarm goes off about five hours in. I fall out of bed and into the shower, and am ready to leave 9:15 AM... now I am going to be the one late to pick up the guys. It's OK when Pat is late, but me... no, no, no...

    10:00 AM - The last poker tournament of the trip is back down at the South Point. Because of the time their flight left, we had to start a game by 10:00, and since Scott was the only one that hadn't cashed at all, we let him pick the game.

    10:30 AM (and oh, how I wish it were 2:00 PM) - Very early in the tournament, I am dealt 10-10. I make a raise, and only one person calls... that person is John, the same local guy that I busted at Noon on Sunday. The flop is 10-2-2. I make a bet, John raises. Unless John had 22 in his hand, he ain't winning, so I three-bet. John takes no time to go all-in, and just like Sunday I snap-call him. He had A2 and everyone at the table is dumbstruck. This guy looks like a card player, but he couldn't have been bluffing, could he? As soon as I re-raised him... I don't know. Actually, the last 10 fell on the river and John reached into his wallet for another buy-in.

    10:45 AM - Ben busts John again, and he gets up to leave. That'll teach him to mess with Those Poker Guys From Milwaukee. Unless, of course, he reads some poker how-to books before next fall.

    12:15 PM
    - I am running pretty good, but I make (what in hindsight was) a dumb play. Late in the tournament - maybe seven players are left - I am first to act and I try my first stone bluff of the entire trip. I am holding 93 in my hand and bet three times the big blind, which is a little less than half my stack. There are a lot of quick folds, until one guy starts thinking. He's got about the same number of chips I do and he hadn't been playing many hands. Just the way he was thinking about it caused a lump to form in my throat. I am telling myself "If he just calls, maybe I get lucky on the flop". He must have heard my thoughts and instead he goes all-in. No way I can call with what is in my hand. If my move works, I've stolen a set of blinds. The fact that it doesn't means that I am in shove mode. A couple of hands later I get two suited cards, go all in, and get relegated to the casino floor. I want to be upset at myself, but moves like that are high risk / high reward. This time the risk didn't pay off.

    12:27 PM - I am still frustrated, so I am going to do Royal Flusher's Strict Rules of Parley, but I without the $0.25 level and probably without the $1.00 level, too (truth is, sometimes I can't stomach giving back money, and dollars go to quickly). Fine, you guys win. I just played half-dollars...

    20161108_122727.jpg

    12:32 PM -
    20161108_123231.jpg

    12:40 PM -
    20161108_124042.jpg

    Not a bad 15 minute run. About the same amount of money that I could have won playing poker, so I cash out and contact those not playing poker to meet for lunch.

    1:00 PM - Making another honest-to-goodness effort to eat a healthy meal, I look at the Asian menu at the Coronado Cafe, and see the Szechwan Shrimp and Scallops. I can eat all the shellfish that I want, and though I forgot to ask for the sauce on the side, I don't think much about it. First they bring the fried noodles...

    20161108_132739.jpg

    That should have been my first sign that something was amiss. Although only I had ordered from the Asian menu, everyone took turns munching on them like tortilla chips at a Mexican restaurant.

    2:00 PM - Scott sends a text "I don't suck!". Turns out he won the tournament outright for about $500, and says that he is going to treat himself to a shake for lunch.

    2:05 PM - Scott sits down to join us just as the food is being delivered.

    20161108_132733.jpg

    Well, the broccoli is healthy. Scott immediately says that it looks good, and I almost tell him to take it and that I'd order something else, but I was pretty hungry, and though I may have been successful during the first part of my weight loss journey, I am only human... they haven't yet removed the "fried shrimp covered in chili sauce is wonderful" part of my brain.

    2:30 PM - The guys flight leaves at 4:00 PM, so I gather them up and drop them off at McCarran. From now until my flight the next morning, I am free to tomcat Las Vegas.

    3:00 PM - I start by driving aimlessly. I don't know where to go. I've said in other trip reports that I don't do Solo Vegas very well, and I am failing 10 minutes after dropping everybody off. I decide to head to the Encore to take a nap, as I am quite exhausted and that is a great suite.

    3:05 PM - I pull into the parking lot at the Cromwell... addictions are hard to break. I first play a little video poker, then decide to hit the craps table.

    4:30 PM - I've played craps for over an hour and had a great time with Bill from Baltimore and Mark (location unknown) who would bet $16 horns on every roll and would go "Woo-Woo" when he hit one (which wasn't that often). But I wanted to get back to watch some of bowling's US Open which was being held at South Point, so I cash out with a $115 loss and walk towards the valet.

    4:45 PM - Ohhhh!!! Quick Hit machines.

    5:30 PM - The Quick Hits are on auto-shred, and after too many pocket dives (and a slap upside my head for being so foolish) I actually make it to the valet and then down to South Point.

    8:00 PM
    - Though bowling's US Open - like the golf and tennis US Opens - is a long format, grueling test for the competitors who had already bowled 53 of 56 games before I arrived. Not only did the competitors look dead tired and mentally drained, the top few bowlers were so far ahead of the others that none of the matches held any real interest. A buddy of mine is one of the broadcasters on the PBA's Xtra Frame on-line streaming channel, so I talked with him for awhile from his broadcast booth.

    20161108_185144.jpg

    8:20 PM
    - The competition was over and I had a new problem. What was I going to have for dinner? The angel on my shoulder said to go to the Big Sur Oyster Bar at South Point and have some shrimp or maybe even some lobster. The devil on my shoulder said "you already failed with the shrimp and scallops, go get a greasy burger". Instead, I put an SOS post on Blonde4Ever's Facebook Group, looking for dinner ideas. I get a couple of really good ones, but many were either very heavy meals (Oscars or the Peppermill) or at a Strip property in which I didn't want to hassle with parking for a 20 minute meal, or both (Pampas or Hash House).

    8:30 PM - Walking towards the valet, I pass a number of well dressed people, murmuring excitedly. I learn that the Nevada Republican Party was holding its Election Day party in one of the South Point ballrooms, and that Trumplestiltskin was in a position to pull off the victory. I sit down at the next nearest seat and check results on my phone.

    10:00 PM - Still sitting in that spot, which happened to be a video poker machine... feeding it hundies as if it were a Cromwell Quick Hit slot machine. It wasn't a banner seven hour period in my gambling history, and that in itself is a reason that I don't do Vegas very well by myself.

    10:45 PM - I am driving up the Strip, still not sure what was for dinner. I get as far as the Encore when it looks like it will be somewhere downtown and it occurs to me... I need to buy my lovely wife a T-shirt that befits her new body shape. I pull into a souvenir shop that happens to be in the same strip mall as Tacos El Gordo. I do my shopping (and also walk to the Walgreens because I had forgotten deodorant, and don't tell my buddies, but I hadn't worn any all weekend) and go back to get my dinner.

    11:30 PM - I am one of the few... I can't imagine a lot of people taking a $10 carry-out dinner into the Encore to eat in the room. I am sure a camera caught me (for further proof that I'll never see another comp from them).

    20161108_234242.jpg

    These Adobada tacos are exactly as good as they look.

    20161108_234752.jpg

    Whoops. Who knew pork was so greasy? I thought it was The Other White Meat.

    11:45 PM - I turn on the TV in the suite for the first time, and watch the historic election results. It may be the middle of the night back east, but this is Vegas... the night is still young!
     
    Last edited: Jul 26, 2017
    USBC Nationals are back in Vegas
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  2. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

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    Great detailed write up! Looks like you had a great time. Hope you finished it off with a big win!
     
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  3. Royal Flusher

    Royal Flusher Savvy Gambler

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    So many yummy pictures of food!!! Enjoying the report, and sorry to have missed you.
     
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  4. Hurr1cane310

    Hurr1cane310 Tourist

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    Haha nothing. I bowled for Winona State around when he was at UWO. I remembered you bowling a sweeper tournament we had or something along those lines. Everything in your post just seemed too much like a coincidence so had to ask!
     
  5. mjames1229

    mjames1229 # of visits includes only trips w/ hotel stays

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    Wednesday, November 9 @ 7:30 AM PST – I tumble out of bed and stumble to the kitchen, pour myself a cup of ambition and yawn and stretch and try to come to life. Then I realize that I am still in the Encore suite, possibly the finest Las Vegas room that I’ll ever have under own name. I shower, shave, pack and get ready for travel day.

    8:00AM – I have an hour or so before I leave for the airport and I still have $150 in free play to freely play, so I find a quarter Double-Double bonus and start playing. I hit a four-of-a-kind along the way, and when my free play is complete I have a cashout ticket for $208. I wander around and find another quarter video poker, and decide that I need a change and pound some Deuces Wild. After feeding a couple of twenties, I bore of it and wander some more.

    8:45 AM - I wander into the poker room (just off the Encore casino floor) and I see that there was a $50/$100 no-limit game still going on from the previous evening, with seven players playing. Each player had stacks and stacks of black ($100) chips; I would not be exaggerating if I said that the average stack was $50,000. I watched about five hands and they all played the same... bet, raise, 3-bet, fold, shuffle, deal. I didn't see a flop in those five hands. I walk out of the poker room, turn to my left, then I see it…

    9:08 AM – OMG! Puppies!

    20161109_090836.jpg

    Even for a grizzled Vegas Vet like myself, who can walk past them? They’re so damn cute! Since my wife likes cute puppies, too, I start texting with her and give her a running play-by-play.

    9:12 AM – Outgoing text to my wife reads “Puppies Suck”.

    9:13 AM – They stop sucking!

    20161109_091312.jpg

    I must have said the magic words to get a bonus game, then on the very next spin I get another. Total win on two bonus games with a $1 bet? $55 or so. It’s not a loss, but that was a lot of cute puppies for only a little payoff. I pull out my cashout ticket and feed it into the OMG! Kittens! machine right next to it.

    9:18 AM – Incoming text from my wife reads “Kittens are finicky. I think you are better off with the puppies”.

    9:25 AM – I had mentally agreed with my wife, and then I got a bonus game. This time on a $1.20 spin I won $92. Kittens needed more patience, but were nicer than puppies in the long run. I cash in all my tickets, and without sacrificing a nickel of my own money, cashed out for $161. Not a gold mine, but $161 more than I started the morning with.

    10:30 AM – I get to the Alamo area of the Rental Car Center and realize that it is 8 minutes late (I never thought to check out the actual time of the rental on Saturday) but the agent checking in the car says not to worry about it and that he’d override the extra hourly charge. Quite nice of him. He didn’t have to, yet he did anyway. Downtown Grand could use him at the front desk.

    10:45 AM – I get to the airport for my Noon flight, and go to a kiosk to check in… and the system can’t find my reservation and the kiosk tells me to go to a full service agent.

    10:46 AM – “Oh-oh”, said I.

    10:47 AM – As I walk away from the kiosk, an entire busload of Koreans are getting in the Southwest line to check in. I try to cut in front of some, but there was no chance. What was a six-person line is now so long that they add rows of theater ropes.

    10:50 AM – It takes almost no time for Southwest agents to come out of the woodwork, and now almost every check-in station is manned. Downtown Grand could use some of that strategy.

    11:00 AM – I can’t believe how quickly the line moved. I explain the situation to the agent, give her my ID and she says “Flight ___ leaving at Noon for Denver?” That’s a good start, as she got further on her computer than I got on the kiosk. She clicks the keys, clicks some more, furrows her brow, clicks some more keys, and then picks-up the phone.

    11:15 AM – After being on hold a couple of times, she thanks the person on the phone and prints my boarding documents. Apparently when I called Southwest a month earlier to add my Known Traveler Number to my reservation, it inadvertently got cancelled. As she is handing me the documents, she says that the flight is oversold (and I just made it worse) and that they may offer me a bump on my connecting flight in Denver.

    11:25 AM – I race through TSA (thank you, precheck) and to the gate with time to spare before boarding. The gate is right adjacent to some video poker machines, so as I wait for the boarding announcement, I slide a $20 into the machine.

    20161109_112827.jpg

    This is the second consecutive time that I’ve hit a $200 hand at airport video poker on just a $20 bill (the previous time was last May on the way back from Reno). Between the Encore profits from the morning and the airport hit, it almost makes up what I lost at South Point while watching election results on my phone. Almost.

    2:45 PM MST – I arrive in Denver and I am starving. Knowing how some of my meals on this trip weren’t close to my diet, and knowing I had almost two hours to wait, I take my time finding a healthier dining option.

    3:00 PM MST – I arrive at Timberline Steaks and Grille as I figure they’ve got to have a full menu that I could pick through. Way too many other airport options were either fast food or dispensed out of industrial service warming trays.

    20161109_150942.jpg

    When I state that I am alone, they gave me prime seating… at a counter overlooking the back of the airport.

    I check the menu, and though I consider some fish options, I found something that tastes like an actual steak that should be acceptable.

    20161109_151911.jpg

    The dressing on the salad was a lovely Champagne vinaigrette.

    20161109_152714.jpg

    A beautiful Bison Sirloin arrived. I flicked off most of the butter disk, but some had melted while I was picking that nasty fungus out of my spinach. Bison is best served medium rare as it has far less fat than beef, but even then it was still just a tiny bit tough. I asked the waitress for a steak knife, and she mentioned that TSA doesn’t allow them in the restaurants. Makes sense, I guess, but it didn’t help get the steak cut. Even with that minor inconvenience, I felt like I made the absolute best out of the situation, and patted myself on the back for the good choice.

    3:45 PM MST – I am standing in line at the gate stand (the Southwest agent at McCarran couldn’t print my boarding pass) and I am at the front of the line when she makes an announcement looking for volunteers for a bump… today’s prize was the one-way ticket cost plus $300 for a three-hour wait for the next direct flight. My hand was raised before she finished the phrase “We are looking…” When she got done with the whole spiel on the microphone, she took my information, told me to board as normal, and if they need the seat, they’d come pull me off of the airplane.

    4:15 PM MST – I am on the plane, waiting desperately to be told to get my things and leave. Alas, the flight attendant says that the cabin doors are locked. Drat; I guess I will get home to see my wife at the time promised.

    7:30 PM CST – We arrive on time, but have to wait on the tarmac as the flight that was at our gate hadn’t left, yet.

    7:50 PM CST – We get off of the plane, and the only gate in the entire area with outgoing passengers is the one that we are pulling into. There were 10 other (empty) gates in the immediate area; I am sure there was a reason why we couldn’t have pulled into one of those, but just didn’t make sense that we had to sit and wait.

    Some final stats...

    Capture_zpsyfbxsyk8.JPG

    And with that, another exciting Las Vegas adventure is in the books. I’ve already booked my tickets for my next trip (April 22-27), but I am hoping that all the stars align for a quick two-night trip over Super Bowl weekend. Keeping those fingers crossed…
     
    Last edited: Jul 26, 2017
    USBC Nationals are back in Vegas
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  6. mjames1229

    mjames1229 # of visits includes only trips w/ hotel stays

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    Yep. I bowled one at Super Bowl. Made the Final Four but lost to Nick Kruml. Bowled another one at Oshkosh Lanes and lost in the Round of 8 to Mark Lee. I could never make the finals, but I loved taking money from you kids. I also bowled a couple of UWM sweepers at Lucky Lanes in Milwaukee and made the stepladders of both of them.

    He and a bunch of the other lillies from UWO are coming with me to Vegas for Nationals... we bowl April 23 and 24.
     
    USBC Nationals are back in Vegas
  7. squidward

    squidward Probationary Member

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    Great Report! You had me at... neener, neener, neener!
     
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  8. marksind

    marksind VIP Whale

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    Great trip report, and I love your spreadsheet!
     
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  9. marksind

    marksind VIP Whale

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    Gotta add a bowling story. My wife and I also go to Reno. They have a big bowling center downtown. We stay at either the Eldorado or the Silver Legacy, which are only a block from it. When we need a break we'll wander over sometimes to see what's going on, since it seems there's usually a tournament of some sort.

    In January were watching when the place grew silent (doesn't happen often with something like 80 lanes). Turns out a young woman on one of the teams was approaching a perfect game. Nine frames in she was still on pace. Hit the tenth too. And the 11th. The 12th? With complete silence and everyone watching, 9 pins. She was 19 years old and bowls for some college when not on vacation. Bad news is she missed it, good news is, she still has something to strive for.
     
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  10. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

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    Well at least you recouped a bit at McCarran! And looks like you really spread the love around on that spread sheet! Great report!
     
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  11. justchuck

    justchuck Low-Roller

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    You write a great trip report and must take immaculate notes to do so!
     
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  12. mjames1229

    mjames1229 # of visits includes only trips w/ hotel stays

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    It really isn't hard. Part of it is knowing that I need to populate numerous Vegas Bright articles, so I have to keep an eye out for ideas. Photos are all date and time stamped when using your smart phone, and so are texts. And with you are with six other guys, there is a LOT of texting going on to coordinate everybody (and, of course, brag).
     
    USBC Nationals are back in Vegas
  13. mjames1229

    mjames1229 # of visits includes only trips w/ hotel stays

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    Thank you to everybody for the good words. I enjoy writing the trip reports.

    And truth is, I re-read them a LOT when I am in between trips. They are almost like a journal of my vacations, but also snapshots of Vegas at that time.

    Going back to my first poker pilgrimage in 2009 (trip report here, written in the same style - though a little more raw - and with no pictures) we played these poker tournaments...

    • Saturday morning at South Point
    • Saturday afternoon at Joker's Wild (which no longer offers poker)
    • Saturday evening at the Sahara (which no longer exists)
    • Sunday morning Pat and Scott at Binion's while Ben and I went to Rum Runners to watch the Packers lose
    • Sunday afternoon at the Plaza (which dropped poker, reopened a poker room, and has since dropped it again)
    • Sunday evening at Red Rock
    The following year, we got to a poker tournament at Fitzgerald's, the year after that at the Tropicana, Silverton and the M Resort... all of which no longer offer poker.

    So in a way, I feel it is my civic duty to write a thorough trip report!
     
    Last edited: Nov 19, 2016
    USBC Nationals are back in Vegas
  14. boxofbirds

    boxofbirds Royally Flushed

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    Thanks for the report, really enjoyed it! I like your timestamp style.
     
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  15. mjames1229

    mjames1229 # of visits includes only trips w/ hotel stays

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    Aaron said "Hunter?"
     
    USBC Nationals are back in Vegas
  16. Electroguy563

    Electroguy563 Vegas Joker

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    Loved reading your trip report! Really great pics and entertaining writing style.

    Thanks for sharing it with us.
     
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  17. Niteshade

    Niteshade VIP Whale

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    Great trip report. Loved all the little details
    and the great pics. Thanks for sharing. Really
    enjoyed it!
     
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  18. Hurr1cane310

    Hurr1cane310 Tourist

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    He would be correct!
     
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  19. Big dan

    Big dan High-Roller

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    Great trip report! I love when you can win on the last day, especially at the airport, I have done that a couple times on the only 20 in as well so I can relate to that. I like to bowl as well but I suck at it, my score is usually like 120 but one day last year I was playing at my local when I got 15 strikes in a row, of course it was right in between 2 different games so no perfect score but crazy nonetheless for me. Good luck in April
     
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  20. mjames1229

    mjames1229 # of visits includes only trips w/ hotel stays

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    All images blocked by Photobucket have been replaced.
     
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