Not Too Much Of A Trip Report...

..........just a short story about our trip in early April.

Going & Coming: Our Southwest round trip, non-stop flights from St. Louis to/from Las Vegas were text book. No delays leaving, arrived on time, no passenger removals. We all behaved ourselves. We landed at 8:00am so we had a long first day. We took Airline Shuttle to The California. We kind of enjoy the shuttle ride, adding to the anticipation of what lies ahead. Our flight home left at 7:55pm, also giving us a leisurely last day. Airline Shuttle back to McCarran (the ride back is a downer because it's over). Time to fly back to reality.

Accommodations - The Cal: Our host comped our 6 nights up front and provided us with an Aloha Meal Book. Our room was ready when we got there even though it was early. West Tower. This was our first time in the renovated rooms; very much improved, although we never saw a major problem with the old rooms. We turned our luggage over to a Bellman to deliver to our room. We were anxious to hit the casino!
The Food: We appreciate the Aloha Meal Book, but the selections are limited if you stick to the coupon items. We don't care too much about where or what we eat. We usually eat "wherever & whenever" we feel like it. Most of our breakfasts were at the Market Street Cafe, traditional breakfast fare from the menu for my husband and a breakfast buffet or two for me. Our last morning there I had to have the Loco Moco at Aloha Specialties while my husband ate the free donuts that came with our coffee at Lappert's.

I had received a birthday BOGO coupon from Hash House A Go-Go at the Plaza, which we used one night We both had chicken fried steak. The leftover steak, taters & biscuits were given to a "homeless & hungry" man sitting on a bench between the Plaza & Main Street Station (had to wake him up).

Another place we ate that was new to us was the pizza place at El Cortez. I had played a silly slot machine on their website and won a free pizza plus two soft drinks. The leftover pizza was given to two homeless women with a dog on our walk back to The Cal.
The Gambling: We play video poker. Quarters on single line VP; nickels on games such as Multi-Strike (my fave), Spin Poker, Ultimate X, etc. The majority of our gambling time is spent at MSS & The Cal.

We went to El Cortez for part of a day. I had $75 FP, VPLarry had $25 FP. Elco sent me $50 for my birthday. We played okay there. I did eke out a $200 royal while playing Spin Poker. Overall, I think we came out ahead there.

We went to the Plaza a few times. I like to play the old Joker Wild machines that the Plaza got from Vegas Club. Through the years I have gotten several royals on those machines. Not this trip ~ but I did get 2 5OAKs, rather unusual, for $250 each.

At The Cal, I got a fun hit while playing the machines in the alcove. I put in $20 and cruised around all the different games, winning enough to keep playing. Eventually hit 4 aces for $500 (Ultra Plus, I think).

My fun hit at MSS was getting quad deuces on a Loose Deuce machine, for a $625 hand pay. I love that those machines play music when they hit!

Money-wise, this was a cheap trip for us. We don't keep bankroll separate from other money. We just take money and use it. But, from the time we pulled out of our garage until we pulled back in, we spent $300. That covered everything while we were gone, airport parking here, shuttles in LV, tips all over the place, gambling, drinks, food, etc., so I'm pretty sure we were winners or close to it. Not complaining.

April 2017 Trip is now a memory. Time to start planning October 2017 Trip!

 

Thanks for the report, VPDana!

It's always a plus when one's flight is not on the national news headlines!

Agreed that the ride back to LAS is always a bummer!

Thanks again!

RICHARD

 

A $625 hand pay? I am assuming this is a different type of hand pay?

So whats the verdict on the pizza place at El Cortez.
We are heading downtown next trip and I was debating about this place.

Can't think of any other place where one can vacation for $300. Heck, that is usually just one night hotel bill.

 

sounds like a perfect vegas trip.

 

Wonderful...that is my kind of trip.
Thanks for sharing.

 

Had to be a coin dropper, yet another of the machines I have never hit the Loose Doose on. VPDana is a very savvy player!

 

Great report. Nice succinct details. October is right around the corner.

 

Enjoyed the report, thanks for sharing.

 

The $625 hand pay was on a coin dropper older Loose Deuce machine. No TITO.

The pizza place was fine. Not very busy when we were there, very casual, guitar player for entertainment, open to the casino, pizza was good too.

 

Congrats on coming home a winner!

 

It's not a hand pay if you hit the "Cash out" button like I did on those. So what if you're scooping quarters for a few minutes. Builds character.

 

Nice trip! Sounds like you had fun and
got some nice wins. Thanks for sharing!

 

Enjoyed your trip report. I, too, give our leftovers to the homeless. The amount of food that is wasted in Las Vegas is a crime! Good for you!

 

Enjoyed reading your TR - nice wins at MSS, Cal, and Plaza and even nicer when it goes home with you! Thanks for sharing.

 

Nice report! I got my first ever Joker quint last month out of nowhere (I don't play the game much). Too bad it wasn't on the Hollywood St. Louis bartops, would have been worth $1000 then!

 

Nicely done on the gambling! Sounds like alot of play/fun with decent profit. Thanks for doing a report!

 

Congrats on a winning and very fun trip! Your report is just the kind of trip I like to take, eat when you want but nothing too fancy and lots of video poker play. Hope you are able to go out again very soon.

 

Scooping is not an option on these machines. Smaller wins pay out quarters when you cash out. When you get the 4 deuces, the machine locks up and plays music. Love this feature, like the machine is celebrating with you!

 

On these particular machines, you can't hit cash out for the 4 deuces win. The machine locks up with the win and indicates hand pay required.

 

My "quints" (like that term) at the Plaza were on different days, different machines, but got both by holding 2 jacks. I had no idea that the Hollywood bar tops paid that much!