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Brief trip report - 12/1-12/8

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by aaisack, Dec 10, 2016.

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  1. aaisack

    aaisack VIP Whale

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    My Trip Report

    Here’s a brief report on my recent trip:

    I spent a week in Vegas December 1st – 8th. Another solo trip.

    3 nights at Main Street Station, 2 nights at Orleans and 2 nights at Flamingo. All comped.

    I budgeted 2k for gambling. This trip I was a little stricter with a stop loss of $300 a day. It gives me a reasonable chance of hitting my minimum daily goal of 3-5k coin in a day at video poker which keeps the basic Boyd room offers coming. I think I’m going to stick to that for future trips.

    Gambling was a disappointment. This is the 3rd time out of my last 4 trips where I’ve left town with less than 2/3rds of the 4oaks I should average. 4th losing trip in a row. Playing Double Bonus and DDB killed me. My only luck ironically was at bartops. TDB or something similar - $500 for 4 Deuces and a kicker at Gold Coast and a $1000 for Aces with a kicker at the Cromwell the night before coming home. I hit a 4oak on my very first hand when I got into town at MSS. I knew that was a bad sign… On the plus side, I got my play in.

    Main Street Station was the same as always. No complaints other than the horribly low shower. I only ate at 777 and the buffet due to vouchers and anniversary promos. I left MSS for Orleans down about $800. I renewed Sapphire status which doesn’t count for much other than some buffet discounts now that it appears Boyd dropped the Sapphire room offer and the automatic point multiplier with Sapphire.

    I took the two buses to Orleans and checked in. Orleans is the clear choice for me over the Gold Coast, which also sends me the two night offers. I like the 9/7 DB triple play with the royal progressive. Their outdoor hot tub was also open. I got talking to a guy from Alaska while watching the Seahawks/Panthers game who was on his first trip to Vegas. I ended up teaching him video poker and hitting up a few strip casinos with him. I also took a couple trips to the Palms, my favorite off strip casino. Things haven’t changed much since Stations bought it. I played a lot of 10/6 DDB there. I also did their buffet which is better than what Boyd offers and VERY cheap right now. About 8 dollars for my late breakfast/early lunch arrival. Gambling at Orleans the Palms and the strip was pretty rough. The $500 hit at Gold Coast helped a bit but I still ended the couple days down another $700. Down $1500 for the trip.

    I took the free shuttle from Orleans to their Linq shuttle stop. Just a short walk to Flamingo. Unfortunately, they wanted to charge $30 to check in before 1pm. Personally I think that’s ridiculous, especially when they’re charging guests who are on comps. Eventually I checked in and they gave me a room on the top floor of the Habitat tower. This was my first time staying at the Flamingo. The room was pretty large and I like how the entire wall facing the strip is windows. I had a nice view of Caesars Palace. The negatives were that the room is definitely showing its age in places, they forgot to leave coffee with the coffee maker and the room wasn’t in range of their wifi. Their pool areas were also closed.

    Otherwise it was a good last couple days. I spent most of my time bar hopping most of the nearby Caesars properties. I never had an issue getting a comp drink and wasn’t even aware if any of the bars were tracking my rate of play. My $1000 hit at Cromwell helped a lot. I ended up leaving town down about $1200. Not bad when I think about all the 4oak droughts I had. I also only hit one straight flush the entire trip (about 25,000 hands).
     
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  2. bubbakitty

    bubbakitty Doing retirement again and happily so....

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    Good to hear someone else goes long enough to take the double shuttle with an assist from downtown to Orleans. I go opposite when not staying totally downtown; Orleans first then downtown. The Mardi Gras bar with 8/5 bonus poker is good for me at Orleans and I usually make do to get downtown and salvage a win with a dinner at redwood. Hope you had a chance to eat at prime rib loft and didn't mention it. It is best for prime rib at the price.
    Thanks for the update.
     
  3. aaisack

    aaisack VIP Whale

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    I've never tried the Prime Rib Loft. Maybe next time. I always do Big Al's Oyster Bar. Their seafood chowder is awesome.
     
  4. smerrian

    smerrian View from Bally's

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    aaisack: I also always hit Big Al's for their chowder...just great. If you're back on the Strip, Harrah's Oyster Bar has chowder just as great. I was in town 2 weeks before you and got a DEALT royal flush at the 4Qs on my first day for $4000. I was happy the rest of the trip! Thanks for the TR.
     
  5. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

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    Sorry to hear it wasn't a winner, but glad you had a couple of hits to keep you afloat and they didn't complain about your light flashing red. But I know you play fast enough anyway. :p

    But sapphire isn't worth 2X points in Vegas now??? WTF?
     
  6. aaisack

    aaisack VIP Whale

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    I didn't notice a multiplier on anything I played and all the advertisements for the tier level multipliers were gone. Just to be clear I was a active Sapphire at the beginning of the trip - I hit the requirement for 2017 renewal.
     
  7. aaisack

    aaisack VIP Whale

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    Congrats on the positive trip! I would spend a lot more time at Four Queens if the machines there didn't hate me.
     
  8. kkinwi

    kkinwi VIP Whale

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    Thanks for the report....I didn't have much luck at MSS last month either. Kept losing $$ on quarters so resorted to nickle triple play just to get some playing time.
    Sounds like you know your way around the Boyd system!
     
  9. Ty

    Ty ?

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    Thanks for posting the TR, good to hear from you. I have the same luck when I go fishing , if I catch something on the first cast it will be a bad day.

    According to the BConnected site the x2 points should still be in place. I hope.
     
  10. smerrian

    smerrian View from Bally's

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    Boyd 2x multiplier was in place during my trip just before Thanksgiving. You do have to swipe your card at the kiosk BEFORE you play to activate it...and you have to activate it at each Boyd property separately; activation at one property doesn't activate system-wide.
     
  11. Ty

    Ty ?

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    Swipe before you play, is that a new practice? I usually stop at a kiosk first thing in the morning to check my points but I don't typically see any promotions.
     
  12. mwig

    mwig VIP Whale

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    I've had to activate point multipliers at the kiosk but it has always been 5x/7x or something tied to my room offer. I thought the standard sapphire/emerald multiplier was automatic.
     
  13. Ty

    Ty ?

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    That's been my understanding. Now I'm curious if they've started something new.
     
  14. bubbakitty

    bubbakitty Doing retirement again and happily so....

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    November @ MSS no problem with the multiplier for levels. I too check in the am to tabulate previous day total play. If not spending the points you can take that number for coin in and multiply by either your 2 or 3 to see comp points earned. Didn't see anything reflecting "swipe here to activate..." If playing table games you have to do a before and after as you don't get 3x/2x on them. I just take a picture and then decipher at breakfast.
     
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  15. Richard Alpert

    Richard Alpert LOST

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    Thanks for the TR! I've yet to get over to visit The Palms, Gold Coast, and Orleans.

    They're kind of like Star Wars Episodes I, III, and III.--I'll probably see them someday!

    Maybe on a [Han] Solo Trip!

    RICHARD
     
  16. breanna61

    breanna61 Super Moderator

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    Down $1200 after a week is a win in my book!
     
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