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Great Offer Adventure, CP/Cal/?, 7/22-?, CZR/TLC/Boyd/?, (Semi-Live)

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by Tarpie, Jul 31, 2020.

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  1. Tarpie

    Tarpie VIP Whale

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    At this point it is just normal. I wear a mask when I leave the room. Washing hands is a whole process. I stay away from people and keep people away from me. The restaurants are all spaced out and most people are good about not overfilling the elevators. I eat at odd hours since I'm keeping east coast time, so restaurants are mostly empty when I eat. I haven't ridden in a taxi/uber nor taken a bus which is abnormal for me in vegas. Of course, driving across the country and having my truck with me is also abnormal.

    The worst thing I've done COVID wise is develop a craps habit, but even there the closest person breathing at you is 6ish feet away. And the craps habit has mostly cured itself...man do I lose fast 9 times out of 10. But it's a way to be able to stand (I sit all day working and playing video poker) and socialize a little bit when I've been on the road solo for almost two months.
     
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  2. Tarpie

    Tarpie VIP Whale

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    I've been out of vegas for a week (but still in NV). Heading home soon but the plan is to come back out for mid-late October promotions.

    And AC has the 7* lounges open...I miss the 7* lounge at Caesars. Working for a week with an ocean view has appeal. And [wildfire] smoke-free air would be nice.
     
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  3. Tarpie

    Tarpie VIP Whale

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    It's hard to pick up the camera when I'm stuffing my face with steak ;) but I try to remember.

    The only restaurant that makes carbonara resembling what I make at home is Vapiano, but their locations are few and far between. I don't hate peas in it, but I don't make it with them.
     
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  4. Flowers

    Flowers VIP Whale

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    Yes, I was going to be in AC for a week but had to cancel because my mother was in the hospital. I am hoping to get there before late October/early November before it gets too chilly. Post Labor Day will be nice as the weather is still nice -- and the ocean view never gets old -- but it will be less packed with tourists and regional locals visiting AC/the shore.
     
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  5. rooster42000

    rooster42000 Goat of all Goats , My Hero

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    Great report , following along.
     
  6. B T

    B T ‍♂️

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    Germans do love the hoff and another fun fact is that he was mayor of Funner, CA (Harrah's SoCal) for a few years :D
     
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  7. B T

    B T ‍♂️

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    If you do check out the 7* lounge in AC please share. Not a lot of info on food there or if they're serving drinks etc... I might have to go towards the end of the year if they're doing okay and they start comping drinks on the floor.

    I haven't looked into it in a while but last time I read a TR they were too strict about drinks on the floor.
     
  8. 3OfDiamonds

    3OfDiamonds Waiting For “Very Good” Video Poker @ Rio…

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    Oh g-d those ads were hilarious :kill:
     
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  9. ansky08

    ansky08 Tourist

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    What an epic TR! I am looking into getting a JoB card for the next time I make it down to the casino. I figure it’ll get me better status (and hopefully less negative variance) than BJ
     
  10. pass line man

    pass line man VIP Whale

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    Working from AC right now!!! Just hit this on the commute "home" to my room at Ocean IMG_20200915_222649016.jpg
     
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  11. Someone

    Someone High-Roller

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    good chance the only thing "titos" in that bottle is if some guy named tito took a piss in it


    I have seen this item before is that a stick of butter and what do you do with it if it is?
     
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  12. Tarpie

    Tarpie VIP Whale

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    Day 37, Sat 8/29, Magnolia's Breakfast, VP, Promo Results, Oyster Bar (again)

    I was up before the previous gaming day was over so I waited until 6 to go downstairs and start playing VP. Everything was going fine until I accidentally hit MAX BET instead of DEAL on a 50 play dollar machine. $250 in one hand and I was dealt a hand where you hold suited Jack-Ten. That did not go well. It was all downhill from there. 1,000 TCs cost $800! Nothing like eating breakfast down a ton.

    The mid-strip is a breakfast wasteland. Thought about going to Bouchon but they were still closed for COVID. Hash House at Linq didn't open until 8, so I decided to use my hard-earned Four Queens comps and eat at Magnolia's. The 4Q's garage was positively luxurious compared to Harrah's. And it has Benny Binion's Caddy. I went with my standard country fried steak. But I mixed it up and got the eggs scrambled with cheese...I'm a wild and crazy guy. The cheese cost $1.29...definitely not a bargain.
    IMG_20200829_073535.jpg IMG_20200829_071414.jpg

    Since I was downtown I put in some play towards the Four Queens June/July/Aug promotion. As usual I procrastinated and was running out of days to get the play in. I needed 6,400 hands of $1 VP to maximize the promo and another 6,400 at Binion's to maximize their promo. Continuing the trend, I managed to lose over $400 running $16,000 coin-in through $1 9/6 JoB.

    Back at Harrah's I still needed another 1,500 or so tier credits for the CZR Bicycle promotion. "My" machine was taken so I ended up playing $1 5-play 7/5 BP just to get the promo over with. That cost another $600+. Whatever good luck I had at the beginning of the trip is long gone.

    I headed across the strip to Caesars since I knew where the redemption ballroom was located. I also took the opportunity to stop and chat with my host for the second time ever. Hopefully the card + token of appreciation I gave him will work as an investment. The redemption area was almost empty so I quickly had my $2,500 of free play certificates.

    All the decent machines were taken. I then realized that the even better full-pay video poker machines were an option. Who cares if tier credits are earned slower...free play doesn't earn tier credits anyway. That's when I noticed this.
    IMG_20200829_155623.jpg IMG_20200829_160147.jpg

    Caesars had disabled all of their full-pay video poker! I asked a slot attendant if people had them reserved, but she said it was company ordered :mad: That's some shady stuff right there CZRs.

    I ended up converting the free play at 7/5 BP. $2,500 FP turned into $2,000 cash money...not good. Variance got me this time. I lost $4,000 earning the 8,000 tier credits and got back only $2,000 from the free play for a total loss of $2,000 on what should have been a profitable promo. Oh well, I got them good the previous promo so can't complain too much.

    After all that I decided to eat my sorrows away at Oyster Bar. The calamari was above average. The shrimp scampi again hit the spot.
    IMG_20200829_172620.jpg IMG_20200829_173813.jpg

    I must have been over-served at dinner because I ended up at a $15 craps table for four! hours. 165 TCs earned. A good 40/hr rate :rolleyes2:

    With the $2,000 addition from the free play I came out $10 up on video poker on the day. Woohoo?

    Status: Up $19,000 cash on vp. Two quarter royals. Four dollar royals.
    Up next: Dupar's Breakfast, VP, Andiamo
     
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  13. Tarpie

    Tarpie VIP Whale

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    It's ice cream. It is amazing with the warm cake and hot toffee syrup.
     
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  14. eliza

    eliza Creepy Vegas Friend

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    Super duper shady. I wish I was surprised, but I'm not.
     
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  15. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

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    You mean like this? Lol

    20140216_160231_zps0597f2d7 (1).jpg

    I'm playing Bonus Poker, so it shouldn't have gave me a Ten. Errors like this occasionally happen in the original version of Dream Card thanks to poor programming. I changed it to a 4 manually. The worst error I've heard about is that if you're dealt 222 with a royal card in Deuces, it can give you a wild royal instead of the fourth deuce!
     
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  16. Tarpie

    Tarpie VIP Whale

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    Day 38, Sun 8/30, Dupar's Breakfast, VP, Andiamo

    It had been awhile since I had a Dupar's hotcake, so I made the trek out to Suncoast for breakfast. Service was painfully slow as usual at 7:30 am, but soon enough I had sausage, eggs, and a hotcake. Man I love those things. I think the secret ingredient is butter. BConnected dollars covered the $15 bill (9 comp dollars).
    IMG_20200830_073945.jpg IMG_20200830_073949.jpg

    I took my time packing/loading the truck but still ended up getting to The Cal before noon. They let me check-in that early! I requested and received the same room at the end of the hall, 2X48. The blinds still hadn't been cleaned :mad:. I'm not sure anyone else stayed in this room between my stays, and housekeeping seemed to like the way I rearranged the furniture.
    IMG_20200830_113422.jpg IMG_20200830_114256.jpg IMG_20200830_114205.jpg

    This was my first up-front comped (by a host) room at The Cal. I think their standards are pretty low at the moment. But not low enough to offer up a suite :)

    After the "getting more annoying every time" process of setting up my workstation, I headed off to work on the Four Queens promotion. I still needed to run $16,000 coin-in to maximize the promo. I spent $500 running $8,000 through before dinner. The bleeding never seems to stop!

    Dinner was at Andiamo at The D, courtesy of the gracious @eliza and her comps. We started with the banana peppers and sausage. I was happily eating and yapping when eliza remembered we hadn't taken pictures. Get me talking and I forget everything else! So you get a picture of half of the appetizer :) The sausage was good and it wasn't too spicy. I went out on a limb and had a ribeye as my entree...I think I'm 40% ribeye at this point. It was more medium than medium-rare, but still a tasty steak. They brought a side of pasta for me that went untouched. It looked good, but I was just too full of meat.

    IMG_20200830_174247.jpg IMG_20200830_175519.jpg IMG_20200830_175529.jpg

    While we were eating, the world famous Derek Stevens sat with a bunch of middle-aged bros at a table near us. I bet it would be fun to own a casino and just kind of make it your home. But you'd have to be careful to not turn into Howard Hughes.

    After dinner it was back to the Four Queens for the final $8,000 coin-in needed for the August promo. This time it only cost $300...things are looking up :rolleyes2: The 9/6 $1 JoB machine I was playing was near the Hawaiian Fishing machines.
    Got to hear "set your hand on the rod controller" many times. Are we not doing phrasing anymore? :D

    On my way back to the Cal I spotted eliza working on the Binion's promotion, so we ended up swapping some secret downtown video poker info. So this is what "networking" is? As an introverted loner I don't usually get the benefits of networking :)

    Status: Up $18,100 cash on vp. Two quarter royals. Four dollar royals.
    Up next: Work, VP, 4Qs and Binion's Promo Results, Chicago Brewing Dinner
     
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  17. 3OfDiamonds

    3OfDiamonds Waiting For “Very Good” Video Poker @ Rio…

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    “Secret downtown video poker info”? Does @eliza permit sharing? ;):blowkiss::nworthy::thumbsup:
     
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  18. eliza

    eliza Creepy Vegas Friend

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    If I give away all my "secrets" on the board, how will I convince folks to meet up in Vegas? :cool:
     
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  19. 3OfDiamonds

    3OfDiamonds Waiting For “Very Good” Video Poker @ Rio…

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    You have a point ;) COVID needs to go bye-bye so my at-risk self can make plans :)
     
  20. ffejry

    ffejry #1 Bears Fan

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    Ugh! Somehow, I stopped getting notifications for this TR! Catching up now!!!
     
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