Just Two Texans in Vegas Adventure for 2010

Day One—Getting Back to Vegas!!

We stopped by and had a couple of drinks with friends on Friday evening…but we wanted to get home and pack for the trip early on Saturday morning.

Packing was challenging—I knew I had way more clothes than I needed but I wasn’t sure what to take with the “mild†temps in Vegas. In reality, ALL of the casinos were very warm and I didn’t really need any of the long sleeve shirts I took. In fact, it was kind of a pain…needed a light jacket in the evenings outside but then sweating with that on once inside the casino!!

The flight out was good. It was early enough we had to wake up at 5:30, but not too early. We settled in with a couple of Bloody Marys and were on our way. Since we were anxious to get back to Vegas, the flight seemed longer than three hours…but it was on time and smooth. It was great to see Vegas in the morning!!

Our room at P Ho wasn’t ready, so we dumped our stuff with the bell staff and headed out to collect our freebies. They seemed to make this a pain…go here, go there…fill this out…but we eventually had our two coupon booklets and $75 in promo chips. Then we headed over to the cashier to put 4K on deposit.

It is a pain in the a** to sign 40 $100 traveler’s checks. Usually, I do the cashier’s check thing (I don’t want credit at a casino, even if it is freeâ€!!) but time got away from me and I had to get the traveler’s checks.

Once all of that was done, we settled in for some of what brought us to town…gambling!! I headed to the craps table; my wife was off to the slots. Thanks to the advice here, she decided to take her money one piece ($20) at a time rather than playing a whole session’s worth without taking a break.

Guess who should have followed his own advice? Yep…craps ate my money much quicker than normal. I started out a little up but chased a cold table way too far. Two mistakes—too small of buy-in (I missed the one hot roll with too little to bet) and then not getting out when I was behind…I waited to get out until I was done for the session. Good thing this was a short session and the next one would start soon enough!! $200 + $75 in promo chips…gone! Slots a bit ahead.

Quick lunch at the “Earl of Sandwichâ€â€¦most reviewers say this is a great place for a sandwich. I agree!! I had the “Italian†and my wife had…oh, hell, I don’t remember.

**The problem with writing a trip report is that casinos provide you with lots of free drinks. I don’t get drunk, but my mind does get hazy at times!!**

Anyway, the sandwiches were great!

Time to settle in the room for a bit and head off to Sahara for the evening…

 

Sounds like fun bud, I can;t wait to get there in a couple days. What is your room like? Were you able to get an upgrade at checkin? Thanks for taking the time to post this.

 

Hope the gambling turns around for you. I always have a win/lose limit I set for myself, I don't always stick to it either lol. How's the weather, as far as rain, been so far? Sounds like they have been getting record rain in the last couple of weeks.

 

Day One 1/30 (cont)--On to the Sahara

After settling in @ P Ho, we headed down to the Sahara for the "Rat Pack is Back Show". We arrive there with an hour or so to gamble before we are supposed to be seated (they said by 6:45), so I head to the $3 craps table and my wife hits the slots.

I played for about 45 minutes and it isn't looking too good. $3 w/ $15 odds on 2-3 numbers and I am down $100. Two really nice Hawaiian ladies were there with there dad. They were going to the other show that started at the same time. One was a flight attendant for Hawaiian Airlines; the other, a registered nurse. All three of them were playing.

The roll gets around to the dad and the daughters have to tell him what to do. I then realized that he can't hear because they have to holler at him to get him to roll, etc. He goes on a tear--I guess he only rolled for 15 minutes because we were seated by 7:00 p.m. even ith walking across the whole hotel--but I go from down $100 to up $100 during his roll. I asked if we could all just skip the show and let him have another crack at the dice!!

"The Rat Back is Back" show...bought tickets via Goldstar. Tipped the maitre de $20 and ended up front row, center. It was a lot of fun!! The premise is that the four--Frank, Dean, Sammy, and Joey--are brought back to Vegas for one more show. As opposed to all of the huge staging that goes on now, this was simply staged with a pretty good little band.

They put on a good show...my wife absolutely loved it. For the money we spent, it was one of the best shows we have seen. Is it great? No, probably not. What it is, though, is a fun evening of entertainment that takes place in a hotel where you can actually imagine that kind of show having happened.

After the show, we checked in to our room at the Sahara. We don't plan to stay there, but we wanted to see what a room looked like. Motel 6. Maybe Motel 5. It was livable but not all that much. The room had two beds and supposedly would sleep four, but they were those tiny beds... It was clean, though, from what I saw.

The best part of checking in was that there was a sheet in the room offering $50 in chips for $40. I took that the cashier cage, got my chips, and went to a $1 roulette table. I slapped $5 (they were $5 chips) on 17. Nothing. I did it again. 17!! I have now turned $40 into $220!! The kids sitting there playing $1 at a time was amazed...he was telling someone what happened on the phone.

After I played the rest of the promo chips, I headed back for more craps. The table was choppy and the limit was $5...it was not a very good session. Slots were also stingy to my wife...

Back to P Ho for a little more playing time and then off for a quick rest...

More to follow...

 

Day One 1/30 (cont)--Back to P Ho...and into Day Two

Took a cab back to P Ho. Decided we were hungry...

Still a good buzz at P Ho when we arrived. The Miss America pageant had ended a bit earlier and the fans/families were still around. I thought that might be an issue because of the crowd, but I guess those Miss America-types aren't big gamblers...the casino was not that busy. Got on the list for PF Changs and headed to the craps table.

Had a nice dinner @ PF Changs...we did the fixed price deal for $39.99. Now I am ready to gamble a bit more...

Back to the craps table. The table is full of young men wearing jackets. One of them commences to roll...his name was Austin...he had a good roll and I made a little money back to cover some losses. Dammit...they are coloring up and leaving. This is my trip in a nutshell (at least at the craps table)--someone rolls some numbers, I press up a bit, they pull out and the table goes cold!!

I know the Wizard of Odds says all that is bull stuff, but haven't you seen something like that on the tables???

COCKTAIL SERVICE--non-existent at the slots for my wife. I am ordering two drinks when I can or alternating if they won't let me do that. Not enough servers!!

Time for a rest...

 

Baylor Bears

I have to give a "shout out" to the young men I talked about in the last post...they were all students at Baylor University. Fellow Texans helping me get back some of my $$ at the craps table!!

Off to sleep for day # 1...

 

Day Two 1/31--Headed Downtown!!

I slept for 2-3 hours. Funny how it is hard to sleep when I am in Vegas...I wanted to sleep 4-5 hours but couldn't manage it. I get up, clean up a bit, and tell my wife "I'm headed downstairs"...

Over to the craps table...bam!! Down $100 before I even had my chips sorted out right!! Thanks...gotta go!!

I wander around the casino wondering what I should play. Roulette? Nah. Three Card Poker? Not so much. Blackjack? I could try my "basic strategy card"...not right now.

Mini-Bac!!! I tried it on Bodog; seemed interesting to me. No one at these tables. I sit down and buy in for $200. With a $25 minimum, this might not be a long session at all. I am glad I slept through the first few hours of this session (day divided into 4 6-hour sessions...12-6, 6-12, 12-6, 6-12)...if I lose, next session starts soon!!

The dealer is "Rainy"--a transplant from Thailand. The supervisor is "Ginny". Rainy thinks every song they play is by "Elton John"... We (Ginny and I) are trying to teach her different.

I settle on a simple strategy--bet on the banker and try to avoid streaks. It works perfectly (this time). I go up and down, but pretty much never ended up into "my" stack after the first five or so hands. I am taking "free hands" and all... My stacks triple (get out, right???) after a couple of hours. I am having fun. Started off with Coors but switched to Red Bull and vodka to keep my edge!!

My wife joins me after about three hours and she sits and watches a bit. She enjoys Rainy, too. Nicest dealer of the trip!! Ginny was also the best supervisor we ran into. My wife heads off to the slots and I start double ordering drinks...since, as I said earlier, there are no/few servers in slots. Aren't slots profitable for the casino??

After five hours, my stacks alternate between double and triple but I never quite make it to the next level. "Player" makes some runs and I didn't run with it. They ask if I need some breakfast. "Sure"... Then "Smokin' In The Boys Room" comes on and Ginny and I are in a disagreement over who did the song. I say Brownsville Station; she says Motley Crue. She calls for help...Mike, the shift supervisor, is in anothe rpit and he googles it. We are both right!

We agree to skip breakfast and wait for brunch...I get off the table having doubled my stake and had a great 6 hours or so. I made it through almost two sessions!!

My wife is doing crappy at slots.

Okay...so I am up with the mini-bac and we're not so far off our starting stake for a full day in...maybe down 1k or so.

Not anymore...I am a dumb ass and play into a freezing craps table and do the ultimate stupid thing...double down on bad luck! Before I know it, my session ends with a $500 loss!! F*&%!!!

Time for brunch...very good, as usual. We always find plenty of good food at the P Ho buffet. The line pass is important--it saves us 15-20 minutes in line.

Time for a bit of rest...I gotta at least "talk" to my wife for a few minutes on the trip!!

 

Day Two 1/31--Headed Downtown!! (cont)

It is about time for our coupon run downtown. I spend an hour or so playing roulette; left that table up a few $$.

Back in the room, it is time for some mundane crap. First, I count the bankroll to see how we are doing. Darn. Down over 1k. Session money is still right; it is our entertainment budget, right? It looks like we will take at least $500 home. Not good but not total ruin of the bankroll.

Coupon clipping time. I look at a a map of downtown and clip all the coupons for there from the ACG. Once I get that all set up, we're off for a late afternoon/early evening on Fremont street. We go from place to place joining the slot clubs and playing our match plays and free slots. As I described in detail in an earlier post, two wins on those free slot plays and my wife has $1,000!!

I am at a roulette table in the Plaza. This degenerate is standing next to me playing 4-10 numbers. We win both match plays; the wife is off to have her magic slot time. I decide to play 10 time on number 36 at $5 a bet. After about the fifth bet, this guy starts telling me how I shouldn't do that and what the wheel is doing, etc. He tells me I should just play a group of 12 or something. All the while he is pulling more money out, buying more chips, and losing faster than I am. I finally tell him to shut the f*%$ up; I'll lose my money and you lose yours!! Does the idiot not realize any of the odds crap?? Does he think this is a positive expectation deal?

Anyway...we played at four or five places, enjoyed the light show a couple of times, and headed back to P HO up for our little trip downtown.

 

Day Two 1/31--Back to P Ho

Now back to a decent number for the trip, I decide to try mini-bac again. What an idiot!! I played right in to a streak of 8 straight player wins followed by a banker win (I am good now) then BAM!!! another big player streak and I am chasing the table...I finally realized that I was not going to win and pulled out down $500.

I wandered around the tables playing a little of this and little of that, but no streaks developed. I lost some, but not as quickly as the mini-bac session. Maybe I just need to call it a session and get some rest.

 

Day Three 2/1--Bill's Gambin' Hall

I get up after three hours of sleep again and head downstairs. I am okay with our bankroll...my wife's big wins yesterday means that we will take at least a nice part home. That is a bonus because I never expect that when gambling!!

The play is again choppy to bad. Blackjack with Rainy is fun but unproductive and, except for the Baylor men winning some for me, the craps tables are, well, crappy!!

We decide to take an early morning stroll to Bill's to use the coupon there. The slot supervisor cuts us some cards and we start to play. My wife hits the slots and I roll some craps. I was looking for blackjack there, but they only had 6:5. No thanks!! That is CrapJack, not blackjack!!

The dealers are okay, but my dice will not fall. I am turning red into nothing instead of "read to green"...I get out down $100 and we head back.

Oh, heck...let's try "Paris"...my wife plays some slots and I hit yet another craps table. More players (I was alone at Bill's) but the same basic result. I think I missed some good rolls because the guy at the hook got out up $1,600 on a 3k buy in. Not this guy!! I get out down another $100.

We head back to P Ho and play for a while. I am playing roulette and doing okay (not losing my arse!) and the shift supervisor, Mike, walks over and asks if I need breakfast. He tells the floor person to hook me up with 2 more buffets. He now knows be name, has given me his card, and is talking to me every time I see him on the floor. I might get my food comped for this trip!!

After breakfast, I need to regroup. My wife is playing slots like crazy and having a great time. I am slow...need to lay off the drinks for a couple of hours. I ate too freakin' much at the buffet... I decide to head up to the room.

 

Day Three 2/1--P Ho, Sahara, and back

After regrouping a bit, back to the tables @ P Ho. Results mixed, but the bankroll is dwindling . I am down a good bit in table play and can't seem to find my game. It isn't losing so much that is an issue...it is the speed of the burn...

Here comes my wife. Yes! $521 on the Wheel of Fortune slots. She is happy and the bankroll is looking better again. Looks like we'll take at least 50% of our money home! That isn't like winning 50% but it is sure better than losing 100%!!

We get dressed and head to the Sahara for an evening session and to see "The Comedy Stop"...

I win at craps and am loving the $3 limit. They up it to $5 when the table fills but I am in at $3. I am betting and winning for once. The slots, however, are killing my wife. I think we pulled just to even there but that was for a couple of hours of fun.

Off to "The Comedy Stop" with Goldstar tickets again. We get good seats and take in three pretty good comedians. The show is funny, the jokes are not overly nasty, and it is a fun evening. $35 bucks well spent!!

We decide to check out of our room at Sahara. we used it for a couple of quick pit stops but not sleeping. First, we find out we have $100 in comps on the books. Since we don't eat there, my wife decides she needs $100 gift shopping spree. We manage to spend it all and then head upstairs to pack the stuff in bags to bring back to P Ho.

Now checked out, we play for another couple of hours. The play was again choppy and we decided to head back to P Ho.

We can't do the trip without a drive through at McDonald's...we are low budget food folks on these trips!

Back at P Ho, we put the stuff in our room and play some more...

After another three hour rest, I am back at the tables by 6 a.m. or so. I play some craps, blackjack, and mini-bac. Mini-bac sucks $200 out of me like a vacuum cleaner on steroids.

Craps goes okay but the tables are pretty empty and I have lost my butt playing alone this trip.

Blackjack is good--I am up $50-$100 the whole session. I called my host, Sashi, and asked to speak with her. I said that I would go see her in the office or she could come see me. She comes downstairs, hangs around the pit a bit, and then walks over and tells me IN FRONT OF THE DEALER AND ANOTHER PLAYER that the only thing I get was the buffets the floor gave me. WTF? I can't even get the measly $50 in food we charged to the room comped? I am peeved...once again, she makes no contact during my stay and doesn't even have the common courtesy to speak to me alone. This is her second strike...if I do grace P Ho with my presence again, she will NOT BE MY HOST!! She is just a dud as far as I am concerned...it isn't the lack of comps (though that sucks) it is her demeanor.

I cash out of the game and make a loud comment that I can't play anymore because I need those chips to pay my freakin' food bill!! I'm done...P Ho is over for now. I go to the cage, collect my markers and a check for my remaining funds and go pack. My wife plays some more slots, but she isn't winning either.

Kind of a crappy ending to a great trip, but we regroup on the way to the airport and decide it was our best trip ever!! Laughs, smiles, wins, losses, and all of the things that go with being in Vegas!!

How soon can we come back???

 

Ron, try a different property next time where the comps are more liberal.

 

Day Three--Ellis Island Coupon Run

forgot this earlier...that happens when you drink as much as I did last week...we did cab over to Ellis Island and back on Monday afternoon.

Dead is an overstatement of the casino that afternoon. Craps table was closed. Played the match plays on roulette and won them both. Then I tried to parlay it into a bigger win while my wife tried the slots.

Next time we'll go early evening to see if there is a little more action...

Casinos ranged from slow to dead most of the time we were there...none were really hopping as we have seen before. There were very few times that any craps table was full.

Lots of people playing CrapJack because those were the only tables open w/ lower limits in some casinos. Me...well, I will never play 6:5. Ever. The freakin' house already has an advantage over me...

 

Enjoyed the trip report. We hope we have a good time when we get there as it seems you did. I look at our bankroll the same way you do as entertainment dollars. I have never came home with more than I left with, but there has to be a first , right?

Thanks for sharing!

 

Ready for the next trip...

After three or four days to catch up on the sleep that I didn't get in Vegas, it is time to regroup and start planning our next trip. We are pretty much once a year people at this point but there is no reason not to start gathering ideas early and then follow the offers!!

I have joined most of the player's clubs for the main hotels and am getting tons of discounted offers. I will most likely book away from P Ho using one of those offers (if they keep coming!!) and then contact a host at the new casino using suggestions from the fine folks here. Hopefully, we'll at least end up in a more respectful situation even if the comps aren't huge!!

Thanks to everyone here who helped convince me to encourage my wife to go outside of the box and try some different places. The ACG book netted our biggest win of the trip (paid off 40 to 1 on our $25 investment!) and also got us into some different buildings. It was a fun evening...

Now I will just sit back, share some of the remaining coupons, and think about next year...better betting strategies, different hotels (probably...my wife really likes P HO), and even more fun. Maybe I can even meet some VMB folks who are out at the same time (whenever that is).

Thanks again!!!

 

First "New" Offer

Since we ended up in a few "new" casinos (new to us) this trip, it will be kind of fun to follow the offers we get from them.

Results of Apr 2009 Trip
--2 free nights @ low-end Harrah's properties (actually can get more..3 at least..the offer just shows two). We gambled @ Rio before Penn & Teller. Won at slots, lost at craps...
--3 free nights and $75 gaming w/ $25 resort credit (amazingly that just about covers the resort fee!) @ P Ho. Dropped more than I would like to admit there; they didn't give anything extra...
--3 free nights @ Sahara. Had a great time and doubled up @ craps; wife lost about 1/2 of what I won on the table at slots. Also hit "36" two times in a row on the wheel...$10 on it!! Gave a little of that back...

Results of Jan 2010 Trip
--same offer continues from P Ho...we'll see what changes with the switch to Harrah's TR system. We'll see if this changes; I had "lots of hours" but not a "high enough average" to get jack squat per the nice host I am getting rid of...
--1 free night, 2 tix to "Rat Pack", and $25 slot credit @ Plaza/Vegas Club. I will contact them on the next trip and perhaps check in, get the tix and slot credit, if offered. Not sure we will stay there...may be a double booking!! This one came 2-19-10; we were there 1-31-10. I dropped a total of $140 on the tables at these two places; this is the site of my wife's turning a couple of ACG free slot plats for a total of $40 into $1,000. Think they want a shot at getting that money back???

I will update as I get any other offers...