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Day 4 - 5: 31 March - 5 April - The Conclusion

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by Shane, Apr 22, 2002.

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  1. Shane

    Shane Tourist

    Joined:
    Feb 8, 2002
    Messages:
    190
    Location:
    Minnesota

    My Trip Report

    At long last my final installment. I know it has taken me quite a while to get these posted but I did get them done and hope you have enjoyed the reports and ultimately given you some ideas for your next or first trip to wonderful Las Vegas!!

    Day 4 – 3 April

    Well my Brother left early this morning so it was just the two of us. Was nice to spend time with my Brother and his girlfriend but it was also nice to spend some time with my favorite person. We decided that today would be the day to hit the strip. As you may already know I wanted to collect a red chip from each casino I visited. We started the day spending a little time playing at the Luxor and Mandalay Bay, I hit the craps tables and Keryl played her slots. As we said earlier the Mandalay Bay was by far the best for slots for us. Keryl had great luck their, not necessarily winning truckloads of money but was able to play for a long time. She really profited from Mandalay Bays slots and we overall really enjoyed the property. Before we left we decided to eat their Buffet. We went a 2:30, now this is one important note. I know that we wanted to have 1 big meal a day and we hit the buffet at just the right time. They switch to Dinner prices at 2:45 but were stocking the Dinner buffet as we got their. The price is 6 bucks less and you get the same food. We didn’t know ahead of time but something to think about. We didn’t have any coupons but got them for 11.95 each rather than 17.95 each. Speaking of, the service and quality of food was outstanding. I am not a Vegas buffet expert so I can’t really compare to others in Vegas but we really enjoyed it.

    Okay now that we have completed stuffed ourselves it was time to walk it off. From Mandalay Bay we took the Tram to Excalibur and then walked over to the Tropicana. Nothing too impressive, hit the craps table at a good time. Played ten minutes and left up 100 bucks. From the Trop we walked across the street to MGM. We went in from the walkway from the Trop and I must admit my first impression was great. We walked by the Lions exhibit but nothing to look at. Kind of funny watching 100 people start at an empty “habitat†(cage, whatever). I must say that as I walked through the Casino I began to feel real out of place. Walked up to a Craps table to get my red chip. Played there for about 20 minutes and left up about 20 bucks. Now we left and got outside and down the street about a block and I realized that I left my Digital Camera at the craps table. Now you all know the initial feeling, you get the lump starting at your throat and it slides all the way down. Palms sweaty and shaking we make a beeline for the craps table. Now I am one that can get a little turned around in a casino, especially after one visit, but I was very focused on where it was this time. I was so relieved to find it still sitting in the drink tray. I just kept thinking, instead of being up 20 bucks there that red chip is going to cost me 600 bucks.

    Okay with that scare over we left MGM again and head from M&M world and Coke World. Let me say up front we are not shoppers. We like to browse once in a while but we are the kind that like to go to the Mall and just shop. When we go it is with a purpose (unless it is Best Buy). With that in mind we were unimpressed with M&M world and Coke World. But if you are into that stuff this is a MUST see. If you are not the shopping type, don’t waste your time.

    After Coke World we walked down to the Aladdin. We walked through the little strip of shops (why I have no idea) and they all seemed very ritzy type shops. We also noticed an odor that was overwhelming. It smelled like someone relieved themselves in the area and didn’t clean up. Was very unpleasant, they must have had some sort of plumbing problems. We hit the craps table, where Keryl actually played with me. It was up and down but we stayed a little longer because the dealers were a Kick (surprising for a strip hotel). Now after about 20 minutes the people that just learned how to play in a training session hit our table. I almost walked away but decided to stay (again the dealers were fun). After watching a couple of them roll and crap out right away it was my turn. I went on what would be my longest roll of the trip. I had the dice for almost an hour; I had all the numbers with come bets and max odds (3x4x5x) and was even playing hardway (doubles). When my roll was over I had swung almost a 800.00. Too bad I am not a higher roller; they would have made 5 times that. The best part of that was that I colored up right away and one of the guys and his wife/girlfriend came up and was thanking me profusely for helping him make back his losses for the trip. Was a great time but I thinking that I created a BAD sense to the new players. They saw something that is VERY rare, oh well I am sure after a few hundred/thousand dollars they will figure that out for themselves.

    After the Aladdin we went to the Paris and played Craps there. Again got on a good roll, actually my Wife had a better roll than I. We didn’t leave when we should have and lost back most of our winning at that hotel but still the Paris up about 50 each. Speaking of the Paris, very nice inside, we wanted to ride the elevator but didn’t want to wait in the horrendous line.

    After the Paris we needed to get back to the Luxor for our “Midnight Fantasy†show at 10:30. The show was really nice. Very tasteful show with nice dancing routines. The lead female had a wonderful voice and was a real talent. They had one black male entertainer there that was truly amazing. He did impressions, danced and was great with the audience. The intermission was filled with a comedian who was absolutely hilarious. I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time. We really enjoyed the show and would recommend it to anyone.

    After the show I should have been a good husband and stayed with my wife and retired with her for the evening. But oh no, I had to go to the Excalibur and see if I could keep my lucky streak alive. Luckily I only took my PROFIT for the day (500.00). It only took my about an hour to lose all 500.00 that I had so much fun winning at the Aladdin. To make it worse there was a guy playing the don’t pass at 50 bucks with max odds. Right before I left he colored up for almost 2000.00. That will tell you how the table was going. I did finally return with my tail between my legs and “retired†for the evening.

    Day 5 – 4 April

    Well it is our last day and we decided we wanted to spend it downtown. As you have read already, we really liked the Freemont St atmosphere and felt more at ease down there. Once down there we immediately hit Binions for some action (Shane-Craps, Keryl-Slots). Keryl got to be good with the slot workers there, seems $1/$5 dollar players get more attention and really rack up points. She came over once to the Craps table with two bucks full of $5 dollar coins. She hit 1000.00 and wanted to show it off, was nice to see her win somewhere other than Mandalay Bay. Overall she did real well at Binions. I was down 200 and we decided to see more of the places we didn’t hit the last couple of trips earlier in the week.

    We started by walking off the Freemont St Experience and going to the El Cortez Experience. We like the more old style atmosphere of downtown, but El Cortez was a little too far off the scale for us. We were a bit uncomfortable there. We had a great time there and the people were nice enough, just a little to “icky†for us. After the Cortez we decide it was time to eat, we didn’t want to splurge again so we looked for a buffet. The first one we saw was at the Freemont Hotel. So we decided to give it a try. There was no line and really cheap (should have read the writing on the wall). Okay after about 5 minutes I was looking for Randy Quaid filling his pockets with MYSTERY dishes. This food was VERY VERY bland and the ongoing Keno vendor walking around yelling trying to get you to play that game was really annoying. STAY AWAY from the Buffet. (hey that rhymes). After we ate (if that is what you call it), I decided to get my red chip and move on. Well their craps table is probably worst downtown. The table is only 2x Odds and has a 5 dollar minimum. Played there for 1 hand, I actually had 31 rolls (they actually have a counter there) before I crapped out. From the Freemont we hit Fitzgerald’s, the Las Vegas Club and the Plaza getting red chips playing craps. After the plaza it was getting late and honestly we were ready to go HOME. We stopped by Binions one last time to check on hotel rates later this year as we will be getting back at some point and want to stay at Binions, or somewhere on Freemont St.

    When we got back to the Luxor we checked out our comps. From the small amount of time that I actually played craps at Luxor and turned in my card I had 29.00 in comp value (I was shocked). So Keryl got us a big plate of nachos and a bottle of wine with the comps. We turned our slot comps into two nice Polo Shirts and a Robe (all Luxor of course). We went back to the room, packed while eating nachos and drinking wine. We had a great last night but we were ready to get home. Not going to bore you with our trip home only that we realized on the Taxi trip back to the airport just how badly we were raped when we first got in. He took us straight to the airport in half the time and money as when we arrived.

    I hope you have all enjoyed the reports, didn’t try to make them so lengthy but hopefully you can take something away from them. We look to get out there at least one more time this year, maybe two if our fortunes are good.

    Shane
     
  2. Sonya

    Sonya Queen of VMB

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Western Washington
    Trips to Las Vegas:
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    I love the long trip reports! I like short ones too. :D

    Don't be too hard on your cab driver. [​IMG] Hopefully he took the tunnel out to the highway and then to Luxor. Remember that there's an airport tax that you have to pay when you take a taxi from the airport. I think it's $1.5-2.5 or something. I seem to recall reading that a taxi from the airport to MGM is about $8-9 but only $6-7 from MGM to the airport.
     
  3. VEGAS $$$

    VEGAS $$$ Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Feb 16, 2002
    Messages:
    107
    Location:
    Kansas
    Shane:

    Nice report! I'll be at the Luxor in T-7 days so your TRs really helped me in looking foward to my trip!

    I must try the slots at the Mandalay bay since your wife was having such a good time over there.

    :D

    [ April 22, 2002: Message edited by: VEGAS $$$ ]</p>
     
  4. Shane

    Shane Tourist

    Joined:
    Feb 8, 2002
    Messages:
    190
    Location:
    Minnesota
    <blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Sonya:
    I love the long trip reports! I like short ones too. :D

    Don't be too hard on your cab driver. [​IMG] Hopefully he took the tunnel out to the highway and then to Luxor. Remember that there's an airport tax that you have to pay when you take a taxi from the airport. I think it's $1.5-2.5 or something. I seem to recall reading that a taxi from the airport to MGM is about $8-9 but only $6-7 from MGM to the airport.
    <hr></blockquote>

    Cost us 14.50 from Airport to Luxor and 7.80 from Luxor to Airport!!!

    Shane
     
  5. Sonya

    Sonya Queen of VMB

    Joined:
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    Messages:
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    Location:
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    Trips to Las Vegas:
    25
    Yikes! Youze wuz robbed. :D

    What route did the cabbie take to the hotel from the airport. Seems like he went through downtown or something. [​IMG] :rolleyes:
     
  6. neonmama

    neonmama Tourist

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    Location:
    Mid Central Missouri
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    20
    Some times doesn't it depend on the amount of traffic also??? (time on meter)
     
  7. MikeW

    MikeW Tourist

    Joined:
    Apr 9, 2002
    Messages:
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    I have to ask. Why did you feel out of place at the MGM Grand. I'll be staying there at the end of May, so I wanted to know what I am getting myself into. I've walked through the place a couple of times, and it seemed fairly impressive.
     
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