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Random and Spontaneous Trip - 3/2-4 at Excalibur

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by Tylersville, Mar 6, 2019.

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  1. Tylersville

    Tylersville Tourist

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    My Trip Report

    Las Vegas Trip Report – March 2-4 2019 – Excalibur


    TRANSPORTATION


    This was the most spontaneous Vegas trip (or any trip for that matter) I’ve ever taken. On Sunday Feb. 24 I received a room offer through M Life Rewards for Excalibur. Just for the heck of it I checked flights and found round trip out of Cincinnati for just over $200. I am from Cleveland but had to be in Cincy for work on Tuesday 3/5 so it made sense to fly in and out of there. After thinking about it for a couple hours I pulled the trigger. Why not? All thrown together within a week.


    Frontier Airlines is decent. You only pay for what you want. I didn’t check a bag or buy a carry-on. Saved a lot of money there. Did pay for a seat upgrade. At 6’3 I need an exit row seat. That was $30. They have really friendly service.


    ACCOMODATIONS


    I’ve never stayed at the Excalibur but comped rooms are comped rooms. Since the pools aren’t open yet that didn’t factor into the decision. It was down to Excalibur and Mandalay Bay and I took Excalibur because it was further up the strip and would probably have cheaper gaming.


    Check in at the VIP line was tremendous. Skipped a huge line thanks to applying for the M Life Rewards Mastercard in June. Had $140 in credit from that. Our resort tower room was on the 10th floor facing NYNY. The flood lights which illuminate the castle were bright but the blackout curtains did their thing. The room was nothing fancy but I didn’t need it to be. I will say the shower had some of the best water pressure of any hotel I’ve stayed at in Vegas.


    FOOD & DRINK


    On Saturday night we walked up the East side of the Strip to The Linq. Took advantage of the In-n-Out Burger there for a delicious meal. Paid under $10 and didn’t have to wait too awfully long. Also returned to Magnolia’s at Four Queens downtown. One of my new favorite dining establishments. They have special deals for those with player’s cards. I had a breakfast meal and the portions are always huge. Great food at a very good price with tremendous service.


    Also ate at Hooters and had the chicken sandwich. Very good but pricey. They had $5 craps and blackjack so it evened out. On getaway day we grabbed a meal at the Sports Deli inside the Rio. I had a mountain of cheese fries before the flight. The last gamble of the weekend.


    NIGHTLIFE


    No club crawl this time. Also didn’t go to any bars or clubs on our own. Saturday night was filled with Southern Cal yuppies so didn’t think that was a good idea. Instead, we frequented CVS or Walgreens for our adult beverage needs. They have reasonable prices for what we like to drink. Between that and tipping $1 for our beverages while gambling I like to think we saved a decent chunk there as well.


    GAMBLING


    I brought around $700 for the weekend. I’m a relatively low roller who plays pretty conservative. I’m not willing to lose much and sometimes that cuts my sessions short. But all in all, I had a good weekend.


    I played the Shoot to Win craps machine a few times. I like it because its not as intimidating and you can play at far lower prices. The machine at Excalibur is $1. I played the pass line, odds, and the 6/8 along with making an occasional field bet. Rarely had more than $5 out there.


    I played blackjack at Hooters ($5 6-deck shoe), Gold Coast ($5 double deck) , Circus Circus ($5 8-deck shoe) and Aria ($10 6-deck CSM). (What a variety of places, right?!) It was rough at Hooters so I lost $20 which I’d won on their craps machine. I love the game at Gold Coast. Good price, good rules and good clientele. Lots of break-in dealers there, though. Keep your eye on them. I won $25 before the table cooled. I’ve never played at CC so decided to give that a try. Ran into some pretty novice players. The fellow beside me had a license plate-sized basic strategy card he consulted on every. single. hand. It’s ok, it slowed the game down and I’d rather have someone take their time making the right move than quickly making the wrong one. I won another $20 before leaving after back-t0-back dealer BJs.


    I had never played at Aria, either and chalked it up as a place I never would because of table prices. I was wrong. It was late Sunday night and they had multiple $10 tables. That was the good news. The bad news was they were 6:5 tables out of CSMs. I debated internally before sitting down and playing heads-up. I have to say the two dealers, Abbey and Maria, were two of the most pleasant I have ever played with. I had a $1 tip bet out there on every hand and won another $50. Picked up three blackjacks and had a nice little run before losing three in a row and cashing out.


    I played electronic roulette at the former Monte Carlo (Park MGM what a dumb name) and hit my numbers for a change. I bought in for $20 and playing 5o-cent chips. My system is to completely “star” the 7. I also bet one on the 11 and 20 because they are on each side of the 7. After hitting an 8 for $16.50 I hit the magical 7 for $66. I let it spin for a couple more tries before cashing out.


    I tried throwing dice at both Hooters and Gold Coast. Lost $30 at Hooters before winning $35 when I hit a couple points – 4 and 10. Similar result at GC when I lost early and then recouped when I hit the five.


    No three-card poker or let-it-ride on this trip. Didn’t want to expose too much of my “summer” money in early March. Plus I just got a new car. Bills, and all that.


    OTHERS


    We lucked out with the weather. Left the single-digits of Ohio for the low 70s of the Nevada desert. It cooled at night, of course but was nothing we couldn’t handle. Jeans and a tshirt weather. Or shorts and a hoodie.


    It was the weekend of a big UFC fight and the annual NASCAR race. Still didn’t seem to be overly crowded after 1 am Saturday night. From 11-1 Saturday, though it was a zoo. MGM Grand was very tough to navigate. Was still shocked to see $10 tables at MGM in that time window.


    Never used a taxi. Uber/Lyft are much cheaper – especially when you share with others. Also bought 24-hour deuce/sdx passes for a downtown run. The SDX makes far fewer stops and is less crowded.


    Downtown is still the best place to people-watch. Even in midday. Wow. I like it down there but once I’ve had enough, I’ve had enough. I can’t help but feel sorry for some of the people you run into down there. How did they ever get themselves into that type of situation? I want to help but you just don’t know. Best to just keep moving along.


    I am proud of myself for not getting mad at other blackjack players. Saw people double on 12 against a 3 and stand a bunch of hit hands. Taking cards against a dealer 5 or 6. But I survived. I was also playing small. Might be a different story if I were betting $15 or more.


    I love Vegas. How can you not? I can’t think of any other place I would just spontaneously drop everything, shell out $200-300 bucks and go to for the weekend. It worked out so well I’ll probably do it again.


    Best of luck to you all!


    TL
     
    Last edited: Mar 6, 2019
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  2. 93 Octane

    93 Octane Chief Bottle Washer

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    Very nice low rolling TR! I love going to Hooters for the wings plus they'll comp your beers if playing vp... winning!

    Next time hit Eatwell at Cromwell for the chili dog special, 5 bucks gets you three with a drink.
     
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  3. breanna61

    breanna61 Super Moderator

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    No checked bag or carry on? What did you do for clothing and toiletries, etc?
     
  4. Tylersville

    Tylersville Tourist

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    I didn't "buy" a carry on. They want $35 for it. I crammed everything in a backpack and slipped it into the overhead bin. At some point they'll get wise but Imma roll with it until then.
     
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  5. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

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    Although he slipped it into the overhead bin and got away with it, you're allowed to place a bag underneath the seat in front of you for free. That's what we did for our 80/56 hour trips in Sept. '17/Jan. '18. The January '18 trip we booked about a week out, iirc.
     
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  6. carolineno

    carolineno VIP Whale

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    Sounds like a fun trip, and kind of similar to mine. Comped nights at Excalibur out of nowhere, and we took a ride to the Gold Coast too! Guaranteed pai gow poker, fun players and the $2 hotdog stand! Nice report.
     
    Ladies getaway, somewhere on the strip with a pool :)
  7. Vegasworm

    Vegasworm Finger Clicker Extraordinaire

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    Sounds like you had a great quick trip. Thanks for sharing!

    Vegasworm
     
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  8. luck.ofthe.draw

    luck.ofthe.draw VIP Whale

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    Quick trips like that are the best!! Glad you had a good time!!
     
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  9. M0rtyC

    M0rtyC TBD

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    Great value trip.
     
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  10. Richard Alpert

    Richard Alpert LOST

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    Thanks for the great report! :D
    An awesome read!

    RICHARD
     
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