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2/24 - 2/29 recap

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by vegasvette, Mar 13, 2020.

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  1. vegasvette

    vegasvette High-Roller

    Joined:
    Mar 11, 2010
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    Location:
    Wisconsin
    Trips to Las Vegas:
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    My Trip Report

    I tried to do a more live report, but failed miserably.

    Finally, here's a recap.

    Day one 2/24/20

    The trip began with a 6:30 pm nonstop flight from MKE. I was fortunate to obtain my favorite seat on the plane. Exit row, window, the one with no seat in front of it for plenty of legroom. The uneventful flight landed a half hour early at 8:00 pm Vegas time.

    I got my luggage and headed to the Thrifty garage to pick up a 2019 Hybrid Ford Fusion. I was barely able to fit my golf clubs in the truck. The car only had 16,000 miles on it, and was very well equipped, actually. I used valet at Luxor because I would visit 3 MGM properties within 24 hours.

    I had a plan to make a couple trips upon arrival. I checked into the Luxor. Overall, I couldn’t have been more disappointed in this Hotel. Even though the room was comped, it will be unlikely I’ll stay there again. I hadn’t stayed at the Luxor in over 20 years. I asked for a king bed, near the elevator for ease of walking. I was given a 2 queen room, located as far away from the elevator on the 7th floor. In addition, there was mold at the base of the tub, tile peeling away from the wall near the tub, and the drain cover in the tub came off exposing some real yucky looking stuff. Motel 6 has a leg up on Luxor in my opinion.

    I then drove to MGM to redeem a MyVegas breakfast buffet reward for the next morning. I was told there was a blackout period going on so I couldn’t use it. That was not the case when I “Purchased” the reward. I played a few slots there, winning $30 according to my Mlife account, and went back to the Luxor.

    I used my $25 MyVegas match play there. I only played that one hand, because 6:5. I was dealt a 14 against a dealer 5. The only other player at the table was dealt a pair of face cards, which he promptly split. Pay attention here BJ players. He was give another face card on each hand and stayed with 2 twenties. The dealer turned over an ace, and drew a 5 for 21. Her 21 would have been a bust hand if the other player had not split his 20.

    I shook my head and went to play a few slots, losing about $60 on Luxor slots. At this point, it was around 11:00 pm, and 1:00 am body time, so I went to bed.


    Day 2 2/25/20


    After the MGM buffet blackout fiasco, I purchased a Luxor buffet reward. Redemption went very well, and it was just okay. I would never pay $20 for this buffet though. I had originally planned to do a couple coupon runs in the morning, but decided to go the The Orleans, one of my favorite places, and one with excellent BJ rules.

    I played BJ for an hour or so and won $1. I played slots and DDB VP for a while and lost $105. I did not see a single 4 OAK.

    Next on the agenda was lunch and golf at Rhodes Ranch. I could only eat half of the Rueben sandwich and had the other half boxed up. I gave that box to an extremely grateful homeless person on my way to dinner.

    Golf was what I expected after 4 and ½ months of Wisconsin weather, and no play at all. It was very enjoyable though. I got paired up with 4 NYC guys. They were a real pleasure to play with. At one point, on our 5th hole, we waited until the group ahead of us hit their second shots before we teed off. Their carts then disappeared behind the green. So when a “gentleman” from the group playing behind us drove up to the tee box, he began hollering that we were “out of sequence already. Granted, we had 5 players in our group, but we certainly pushed the group in front of us. Well, one of the NYC fellas took exception to being challenged and fired back something to the effect of “the guys in front of us just hit their second shots, and I’d tell your grandson the same thing. If you want to fight about it, c’mon”. I mean, lighten up, Francis. All went well for the rest of the round without any more words spoken to the group behind us.

    I then used a MyVegas reward for the Aria buffet. I had never even been in the Aria, so it took a while to navigate around the casino. I found the buffet to be outstanding, and it included very well prepared and presented choices. I had small portions of many tasty entrees. They even had crème brulee as a desert choice. Everything was excellent. I played various slots at the Aria, winning $60 in total.

    I retrieved my car from valet (20 minutes of wasted time), and drove back to The Orleans. There I won $300 playing $25 BJ, but lost $100 on various slots. At around 9:00 pm I parked in the Luxor self parking lot for free as a pearl Mlife cardholder, then went to bed.

    Day 3 2/26/20

    When I woke up, I made my normal call home to my wife, only to find out our sister in law passed away. She had courageously battled pancreatic cancer for almost 5 years. We knew I’d be home in time next week for the funeral, and decided there was no reason to change my plans in Vegas. So, while this was anticipated news, it was still extremely sad. She was only 53 years old. Today then shifted to checking out of the Luxor. As stated before, I informed Kitty, at the front desk, of my issues with the hotel staff and condition. She was very accommodating to write off the resort fees, and apply my express points to the valet fee. She didn’t make me go to the Mlife reward card desk to transfer the points to my card for the valet fee.

    Today was planned to do something new. I have never been to Laughlin, so I decided to make the drive down there. I thought it might be more picturesque than it really is. Although the Colorado river runs right next to casino row, as I stood on the patio of the Aquarius casino overlooking the river, I was reminded of Clark Grisswald overlooking the Grand Canyon in the movie Vacation, nodding his head for a few seconds and then leaving to continue his trip. I went back into the casino, and played slots for a while, losing $35 overall. I ate lunch at the Outback Steak place in the casino. It was a very good bowl of soup and a salad. By the way, BJ rules here were 6/5, so I didn’t play.

    For anyone who plans on driving to Laughlin from Las Vegas, one thing to pay attention to is the speed limit while driving through Searchlight, NV. Luckily for me, the car in front of me was knowledgeable, and obeyed the speed limit of 25 mph. The police squads in this city were very busy with those who didn’t obey the signs.

    I had looked at the ACG book and found a small free play for new customers at Railroad Pass. It’s right on the way back to Vegas, just south of Henderson. I stopped for a bathroom break and registered for a card. I played three $10 hands of BJ waiting for my free play to load to my card. I won all three hands. The other two players were playing the $3 minimum. I also won $5 on my free play, so it was a win of $35 for a pit stop. I also could have used the ACG free buffet, but I wasn’t hungry nor would I expect much from this buffet.

    I arrived at my new home for three nights, The Orleans. I checked in and got a room close to the elevator from a very friendly desk clerk. I unpacked and went downstairs to play BJ. I won $100 before heading to the Gold Coast for dinner. One of my go to places for a steak dinner in Vegas is the Cornerstone in the Gold Coast. 5 star service, 4.5 star quality, 3 star prices. My soup, 7 oz. filet prepared perfectly, with bearnaise sauce, a fully loaded baked potato, and two Stella’s was $62 with tip, and the ACG coupon was $20 off that amount. This is an outstanding choice to dine, in my opinion. I was able to win $200 playing BJ despite losing my ACG match play hand.

    I drove back to The Orleans for the night. I never got anything going and lost $150 on VP and slots, and another $200 on BJ. At this point, I have yet to see my first 4 OAK.


    Day 4 2/27/20

    Thursday was another day for golf. This time at Chimera in Henderson. Since I would be gone for most of the day and evening, I planned on hanging out at The Orleans. I had a breakfast sandwich from Fuddruckers in the food court and used my food credit. I then played two sessions of $25 BJ. The first netted me a $200 loss, but the second got me a $430 win from my favorite dealer, Vesna. She’s been dealing at the Orleans for 15 years, and is personable, fun, and pulls for the player. On one hand I split a pair of 9’s against a 5. I was dealt another 9, so split again. I then got a 19 on one hand, an 18 on another, then another 9 to split again. I got a 4 on the next hand for 13, and a 2 for a double, then 21 on that hand. Mind you, this is a double deck game, so half the 9’s were in this one hand. Vesna busted for a $125 win on that hand. When I decided to leave, I was up $265. I decided to parlay for two wins in a row if possible. I won the first hand of $60 and was dealt 12 to a dealer 10 on the $120 hand. I showed Vesna the twelve, and she promptly flipped a 9 for me, then gave me a fist bump for a $120 win. I tipped her and left for golf.

    IMG_20200227_102955674.jpg

    Today I was teamed up with 3 local guys in their late 30’s. The course is in wonderful shape and we played in the customary 4 ½ hours. I shot somewhere in the low 90’s, as expected for over 4 months of rust. Several logo balls I used provided good advertising for someone. The weather and the company was very enjoyable.

    I then had plans to meet up with my Henderson local BIL for dinner and some casino time at Jokers Wild. We ate in the café, and it was unexpectedly very good. I had the pot roast dinner, and used the ACG 2:1 coupon so I bought dinner for us and a whopping $13. BIL and I played BJ and he lost $60 while I won about $80. He’s a big fan of VP, so we moved around to several .25 DDB 9:6 games. I finally hit several 4OAK to win $50 or so over a few hours. None of them were of the premium variety though.

    I went back to the Orleans and won $25 playing BJ and $50 playing slots.

    Day 5 2/28/20

    Friday was coupon run day. It began innocently enough with the Orleans buffet for breakfast, using the offer food credit. Upon leaving the area, I sat at some random penny slot machine to sort my bankroll and review the itinerary for the day. Of course, I deposited a TITO that was in my pocket. On my second push of the button, I heard “ding, ding, ding, ding, ding”. I had no idea what was happening until I realized I was on a Konami game and it was racking up my free games. As you can see from the picture, 13 of the 15 characters triggered free games. All 350 of them. Plus, during the games, I retrigged another 40 free games. I was destined to sit at this machine for almost a half hour. Good thing I didn’t need to leave for any appointment, or emergency. Overall, the games paid some $269. Quite a nice surprise, don’t ya think?


    IMG_20200228_084940505.jpg


    IMG_20200228_091734261.jpg

    I retrieved my car from Valet and headed east on Tropicana to Oyo, the old Hooters. I had a ton of ACG FP and MP coupons to use today. I got my new players card, played $10 on VP, got $10 FP and went back to that same machine. I cashed out $15. I then sat at an empty BJ table to play my MP, and talked to the dealer while he shuffled. He told me the target customer for Oyo will be higher end players. That surprised me, and I wish them luck with that. I think lots of changes need to occur for that to happen. I won my MP with a blackjack.

    Next on the list was Ellis Island. Once again, I played $10 in VP, swiped my card for $10 FP, and my MP ticket. I only cashed out plus $3.50 on the free play, and lost my $10 MP hand at BJ. I didn’t stick around any longer because I wanted to visit my nephew, who is a floor person at Wynn.

    I planned on attending a VMB meet at Venetian tonight, so I used valet there to get my bearings for later. I took the 10 mile walk to the casino, through it, and up to Wynn. It was another beautiful day (74), so the walk outside was rather nice. I spent about an hour with my nephew(J), catching up on family, sports, and general topics. The young shooter at the craps table we were watching placed a black chip on the all/all bet every time. J told me he hit it just before I got there for $15k.

    I walked the 10 miles back to get my car, and decided to skip Silver 7’s and drove right downtown to spend the afternoon. I parked at Binions. When walking through the casino, out to Fremont Street, I noticed something odd. There was no one playing a single slot machine. There was a message flashing on every screen saying their computers were down. That must have been a very expensive IT issue.

    I walked to the Fremont, again to use a MP. I played 4 $10 hands of BJ, losing each one. I left. I walked across to the D. I ended up with $85 MP there. The SWA boarding pass got me $50 of that. Offers and ACG got the rest. I went up to their café and had lunch. Way too much food for the more than fair price. I decided to play blackjack for a while. I ended up winning $150, including +$70 on the match plays.

    Fremont Street was full of the entertainers in their circles. Bands, rappers, and DJ’s filled the stages. It always makes me smile to see the people in the crowd having such an enjoyable time. Even Hulk Hogan was there enjoying the rappers.


    IMG_20200228_140449556_HDR.jpg

    I then lost my $25 MP at the Golden Gate, and went to the Plaza. There was a line for me to get my MP ticket and load my FP, so I sat at a slot to wait. My $20 turned into $45 when I got up to go to the rewards center. I then played a few hands of blackjack, and cashed out another $40 win. I only stayed a short time before I walked to MSS. On the way, I was startled by a homeless person who walked up behind me, placed his hand on my shoulder, and told me he liked my jacket. I was not wearing a jacket, but a short-sleeved Harley shirt. I jumped and yelled for him not to touch me. Maybe somewhat paranoid, I reached to be sure my wallet was still there. No problem, just don’t get in my space.

    The players club at MSS is located at the very back end of the casino. I got my match play voucher and sat down at a double deck game to play blackjack. It seemed odd to me when I found out their double deck games paid 6/5. Totally unique to me for a Boyd property to have those rules. I left after winning my MP and walked across to the Cal.

    I retrieved my MP voucher and sat down at a blackjack table. I don’t think this dealer muttered three words in the 20 minutes I played there. He clearly was not having a good day. I left to find another table. The first dealer at this table shared the same bad day complex as the other dealer. But she went on break after only a few hands. I asked the new dealer if any dealers were allowed to speak at the Cal. She had a bubbly and fun personality. Finally someone enjoyable to play cards with at the Cal. I broke even overall, but at least I didn’t get caught up in the dealers crappy moods.

    It was time to drive back to the Venetian for the VMB meet. Walking through Binions to get my car, the slots were still not working after several hours. This time I used the Palazzo valet and walked right to the Dorsey Bar in the Venetian for the VMB meet. I was a half hour early, so I played various slots only to lose about $60. The hostess station was unaware of any meet and looked at me oddly when I told them I was there to meet several people I didn’t know, and didn’t know what they looked like. I came back about 15 minutes later and was told the host of the meet called and would be another half hour late. I waited, and came back to be told that host was not waiting for a male to join them, so it was obviously a different group. I asked if I could walk around the bar to look for VMB bracelets. I didn’t see one, nor anyone that looked like they might be looking for someone they didn’t know, or didn’t know what they looked like. Bummer. I left to go back to The Orleans.

    I went to the room to clean up, and arrange my bank roll. I was ahead about $275 from when I left the room in the morning.

    My last night in Vegas. i stopped to get a slice of pizza at Sbarro’s, then went to play $25 BJ. Again I won about $400 playing cards, lost about $80 playing slots. I ran $100 through .25 VP, not getting a single 4 OAK again. The Orleans has a fun atmosphere on weekends. The Mardi Gras pit plays music and has fun dealers. I finally went to bed around 1 am.

    Day 6 2/29/20, Leap Day

    One of the most fun things I do on a trip is to open the safe, and take my kitty to the cashier. The kitty is a container that I dump all my change, TITO’s chips and leftover daily BR into. At that point, and only at that point can I determine my win/loss for the trip. It was a pleasure to find out I was nearly $500 ahead of my bankroll. I hadn’t used a charge card for anything, either.

    I played blackjack at The Orleans, only to lose about $200. I won $100 on slots before eating at the buffet for lunch. I gassed up the car, and took my annual pilgrimage to the Silverton. It’s close to the car rental barn, so I can just play there until it’s time to go, and not worry about traffic. Playing there netted me $200 on BJ. I had had enough gambling on this trip, so I just drove to the car rental barn, and checked baggage for my ride back home.

    It was not easy leaving such pleasant weather, only to go back to 30 degrees. The flight home was uneventful, and got me home just past midnight.

    Overall, I came home with $600 more than I left with. Keep in mind, this was the very early stages of the coronavirus scare, so I didn’t do much different than I usually do, except I washed my hands more frequently. Looking back, knowing what we know now, I’m not sure I’d even go there at this point.


    Till next time, though……
     
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  2. letsgotovegas

    letsgotovegas VIP Whale

    Joined:
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    I enjoyed reading your report. Thanks for taking us along for the ride. Stay safe and healthy!
     
  3. jgates8

    jgates8 VIP Whale

    Joined:
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    Thank you! One of the most enjoyable things for me to do in the evening is read trip reports. I keep thinking they will be few & far between in the near future. And I likely won't have mine in April either. So I really appreciate you taking the time to write up such a detailed report!
     
    Easter again..:
  4. casinokid68

    casinokid68 Caesars Diamond Member

    Joined:
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    Great detailed report. Yeah, it's pretty crazy what is happening now, but my trip is a little over 3 weeks away, so as long as Caesars keeps their hotels open, I will be there. I know MGM closed it's resorts for 2 weeks, not sure what that will do, since I'm sure this virus is not going away in 2 weeks, but maybe they feel they must show that they are doing something.
     
  5. MacAttack

    MacAttack VIP Whale

    Joined:
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    Like the other comments above I really enjoyed your TR so thanks for sharing. Great result on the winnings too.
     
    Half Solo - Bellagio Trip
  6. vegasvette

    vegasvette High-Roller

    Joined:
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    You're very welcome. Thanks for the comments, and stay safe.
     
  7. gailtherese

    gailtherese Upper Middle Class ?!

    Joined:
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    Hey Vegas Vette! Your report was detailed and fun! You really make good use of the ACG, MyVegas, and free play opportunities.

    I was there the same week as you (stayed at the RIO) - so sorry that Flowers and I missed you at the Dorsey that night! We had a good time!

    I also dined at the Cornerstone Grill and had a wonderful experience. Oh...and you maybe should of tried DDB VP at the Gold Coast. I had unreal luck on a 9/6 bank of machines there by the south bar, and came home $760 ahead for the trip!

    I feel soooo lucky to get this trip in before the pandemic started. Who knows what will happen w the terrifying state of our world right now. ☹️☹️

    Gail
     
  8. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

    Joined:
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    Nice report!
     
  9. kkinwi

    kkinwi VIP Whale

    Joined:
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    Trying to limit my trip report reading so that I can drag it out for awhile. Really enjoyed yours.....glad you got some golfing in. Stay safe, and so sorry to hear about your SIL
     
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