maxev Live TR turkey whirlwind in Vegas 11/22-11/24

It's me, hi
I'm the problem, it's me



I arrive late tomorrow night, stay for 2 nights at Circa, then leave Thanksgiving morning to go to my sister's, where the maxev family converges to devour the seasonal Meleagris (and crab legs).

This trip is sort of a goodbye to crypto (more on that later), and a brief appetizer for a longer trip in 2.5 weeks (yay!).

So this quickie TR won't be that eventful, just methodically picking up freeplay and food and gift points.

One positive is the minimal time won't allow me to chase cows or royals, because it would take time away from the next freeplay stop.

With a heavy sigh, I also know that by burning each of these casinos, my future offers will keep dropping and dropping until it eventually gets to nothing.

CET sportsbook app: $150 free sports bet
Circa: $100 freeplay, $225 food
Golden Gate: $60 freeplay
The D: $20 freeplay, $200 matchplay (including $50 from current Southwest flight)
Binion's: $200 freeplay
El Cortez: $75 freeplay (maybe)
Venetian: Grazie Gifts for about $600 gift cards
Virgin: $300 freeplay
Green Valley Ranch: $100 freeplay, $50 food

And here's a friend's dog Francois, doing a gender reveal, looking not too happy to share attention.

 

FRANCOIS! I love him so much.

 

Ha! Beautiful pup. That name certainly fits him. Win big

 

Wait a sec!
A 2 night Vegas trip for @maxev !? No f**king way!
That's the biggest fake news I ever heard.

 

Currently at Harrah’s Joliet, ending a ham weekend and lots of earned tier points to get into their 35,000 Anniversary Club.

This is like prior years’ Legends, where you earn base tier in a quarter to get invited to premium events next quarter. Back then, they would have drawings for a car lease. Then during COVID, they cancelled them all and just gave us all $500 freeplay.

I’m at 32k since Oct. 1, and have until the end of the year for 3k more. Should be easy enough, and hope for some good drawings next year.

Today, ran through my $70 freeplay for $90. (I won’t mention how bad the rest of the weekend went.)

 

Wouldnt it make more sense for the entire maxev family to converge on Vegas for a holiday extravaganza one day?

 

Quick casino lunch that I’m charging to the room to be comped off.



So far, Harrah’s Joliet is still different from other CET Vegas properties, in that hosts will comp without taking RCs first.

I play more here than other CET casinos, and I’m way undercomped since Joliet doesn’t have much — no spa/salon, no pool, no good restaurants, no shows. Just a mediocre room with a slow bathtub drain.

By staying here, 7 Stars get $25 food per night with taxes coming out. And it’s summed at the end of your trip, not limited to $25 a day.

I generally pick up candy:



And my food charges are low, since I visit the Laurel Lounge (still open), which is the only way I get any vegetables.

Friday’s dinner was excellent fried chicken:



I complimented them how great it was, and they gave another piece in a small bowl. I had an ice cream cone in hand and set it aside to down the equally good chicken from the bowl, before returning to the cone.



So food is covered, but sometimes you want a steak. Or to just use the comps you’re leaving on the table.

My monthly mailer used to give weekly food coupons, but they’ve been missing this year. I asked my host and he thinks I may still be coded to Vegas as my dominant property, but I don’t know why that would eliminate food coupons and not the rooms, freeplay, and gift cards.

He said he would write up a food comp each week. I asked if he could have it for me when I check-in, and he pushed back with reasons why not to — saying he needs to know which venue (just do the steakhouse) and what if I cancel (then the comp just goes unused) and what if I don’t eat at the steakhouse that day (comp slips here are always 72 hours) and I can always use the $25 daily (what if I don’t stay the night). I tossed back a couple of my own — what if he’s on vacation, what if there’s no host on duty (they shut down at midnight).

Finally he said he’d do it and he’d “take the hit” in issuing a coupon to cover the missing ones from the mailer.

He said this twice, as if he were doing me a great favor. Since returning to Chicago, I’ve resumed my weekend trips of about 6k or $30k coin-in or $900 comps per trip. Even assuming $100 for the room (more like $50), that leaves me $600. I’ve also had losing trips every visit.

He looked up my play and I took a peek before he shut it off and said I wasn’t supposed to see it. Divided into quarters, I briefly saw coin-in, loss, hours played, and my comp value. Which was never in the negative.

Him saying “I’ll take the hit” is annoying, because it reveals it’s taking a bite out of his revenue. The more comps I leave behind, the better his quarterly bonus, I guess. And do you really want your players knowing this? Just give them what they’re worth, make them happy, and they’ll keep returning. Heck, do it in advance without them having to ask.

The same play at any Vegas casino would get me the steakhouse nightly without the guilt.

It’s not like I ever make a visit and not play, so I don’t know where he’s coming from. It irked me, and I kept thinking about it all weekend.

 

Nice and fast Metra to the city, now onboard the CTA to Warby Parker to make use of my new insurance.

After 3.5 years, my scratch-resistant glasses became full of scratches and I’m looking through patches of haze like I’m in a constant flashback.

 

Have fun and win some money.

Looking forward to another @maxev adventure.

 

Warby Parker is out of network, but they said I could possibly submit to my insurance for a possible reimbursement.

I have the FSE but again forgot to bring the card. Should be able to reimburse that way too.

$85 for the exam and $298 for the frames and lenses, which should be ready by Dec. 6. It would be earlier if I had it shipped, and earlier still if paying a $25 rush fee.

Had an exam by Dr. Lee, had help picking frames from Jacob, and had my current glasses adjusted by Audrey. At some point in the past couple years, I slept on them and they’ve been crooked ever since.



Someone came into the store and said, “You guys have frames?”

Jacob said, “A few…”

The guy mumbled something, then said, “So what the ad said about free frames was bullshit, huh?”

And he storms off.

I didn’t have my glasses on so just heard the whole thing go down.

 

Warby has artists decorate each store and has an art book showcasing them.

Funny that page 312 is Illinois (Chicago area code).

To bring this back to Vegas, here’s Yeye Weller’s work on the Summerlin shop, which I visited during the summer after I put a deposit down on an apartment across the street (where I would be now if the tenant hadn’t decided to extend).



My boss says Warby is like the McDonald’s of glasses, and even if the quality isn’t quite as good, I’ve always found the people friendly and professional.

 

At Noodles & Co. waiting out dilation with this bowl of cheese noodles.



I’m in Southport, and I’ve been wanting to see Decision to Leave, and it’s playing at Music Box… but at 9:30pm.

Probably home is best to relax and do laundry and pack.

 

Ha! My father is retired from the eye care business and pointed out similar to me. He didn't single them out, but mentioned them in a list of companies that manufacture extremely cheap frames in high volume, and in most cases lack enduring quality, but at the same time, they're cheap and replaceable and you can still see. He also used the analogy of buying a car vs leasing, like those companies should be considered a lease, as in pay less up front, but plan to replace every 3 to 5 years.

 

Of course, can’t be in Southport and skip Jeni’s, no matter how cold.



I totally waited for this dog to cross before taking the photo.



Went with their two new flavors, Mexican Hot Chocolate and White Chocolate Peppermint.

 

Beneath the Southport CTA is a fun holiday lights installation.

Waited around for a couple kids to leave before taking photos, but I don’t know if that made me seem more of a creep, standing and waiting with ice cream.

 

Haven’t seen a @maxev report in a while and was getting worried, especially when I saw bitcoin go below 16k today lol.

Glad you’re back and hope this trip is profitable, whether that be monetarily or in fun (or both).

 

Yummmm, free Milk Duds!

Hey, how was jury duty? I was lucky, I was #73 In the jury pool of 80 and no one over #32 was chosen. It was a felony theft case, he allegedly robbed a jewelry store. I followed up on the case a few days later, apparently he was convicted.

 

Yeah Video is a bitch. Lol

 

I threw in that possibility, but given that my sister was at a casino over the weekend and my mother is currently at another casino, I think the consensus is to just eat and be lumps.

I tend to think the lifespan of glasses is every 3 years anyway with new prescriptions (and seemingly my eyes keep getting bumped up steps). My last pair was twice as much as Warby's, so I'm okay with cheaper quality.

Definitely not a good time in the crypto space, and even though I got wrecked by FTX, I have a rubberneck fascination with that 10-person harem poly lifestyle in a $30m mansion. He duped us all.

I like what you said about profitable, not necessarily in $$. I think that's all we can really hope for in life, and anything extra is icing.

Ah that's great. If you're going to spend time, it should be more interesting than a robbery.

For me, they never sent another notice! I marked my calendar 3 months later, but nothing in the mail so far.

I think you and @Jer were recently summoned. @Jer, how was yours?

 

YAY ANOTHER TRIP REPORT!!!

Have fun, play the new rock-paper-scissors game at Circa and let us know how it is. (Pick paper)