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Bellagio 8/20 - 8/23

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by klevegas, Sep 5, 2010.

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  1. klevegas

    klevegas Low-Roller

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Florida
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    My Trip Report

    Hi - I read regularly but don't post much. Posted this on one of my other Vegas boards and thought I would share here also.

    This report is a little late but I’ve made a “mid year resolution†to get better about writing trip reports since I enjoy reading everyone else’s reports.

    Friday August 22nd

    I made a quick weekend trip to Vegas departing Orlando around 7:00 pm and arriving in Vegas around 8:45 pm. I realized it has been a year since I’ve flown at night after working all day and it makes for a real long day but it was nice to get that night view of the strip flying in. Most of my trips seem to be early morning flights but I was low rolling this trip so thought I would do better with less time to gamble. The cab line took a very long time and I was also “tunneled†but decided that was probably one of my only chances to view City Center at night from the freeway and I liked seeng it – just made mental note to confirm route next time.

    Checked in at Bellagio and had nice lakeview room on the 23rd floor. I got a quesadilla from room service while I unpacked and freshened up and then it was time to hit the casino.

    I love playing all types of slots, video poker, table games, sports betting…the only thing I haven’t tried is baccarat or pai gow but I’m sure that will happen sometime! I started playing The Price is Right penny slot and played for a long time and was up about $250.00 on this – variety of bonus rounds and good times. I also played the new Top Dollar six coin machines and got nothing. I became semi-obsessed with this machine and just could never get a bonus round. Walked around a bit more and found my dream machine – Breeders Cup penny slot machines. Combining my love of horse racing and slots – genius! Not quite as fun as Sigma Derby but pretty damn close. I hit the second highest progressive on this slot and then decided to go hit the tables with some of my winnings. I LOVE Crazy 4 poker but usually won’t play it with a limited bankroll so I decided to play 3 card poker. I did play for at least two hours but wound up losing my buy in…had a nice time and great drink service. I ordered a crown and ginger and had half the drink left and the waitress came up next to me and said “I just want you to know that is illegal in Vegasâ€. I’m thinking –I know I’m tired but pretty sure I haven’t done anything wrong. Then she laughed at my confused look on my face and told me that it was illegal to slow drink the drink and she already had another on her tray for me! Went to bed around 4:00 (7:00 eastern time ) so it was definitely time for some sleep. I don’t sleep a lot in Vegas no matter how late I stay up.

    Saturday August 21

    I had a spa appointment booked for a facial at 9:30 so I set my alarm for 8:30. The summer offer I was on had a $150.00 spa credit so most of the facial was covered…I really find a facial much more of a treat than a massage. I sat in the “tranquility room†for a whole ten minutes after the facial but then I just had to get going. Grabbed a diet coke and water and headed to my room to get cleaned up for the day. I wound up getting room service for lunch so I could do that while getting ready for the day with a mental promise to have a nice dinner and try to do something different.

    I spent time in the afternoon at the sports book which is my normal daytime haunt at Bellagio. I was making an effort this trip not to spend as much here on video poker and just enjoy betting on the horses and slow pay the video poker…I did better with this than I have in the past! I will always play max bet so getting the drink comps isn’t an issue – just have had some dry runs for the last few trips – however have also gotten royals on three different machines in the past so when it is your lucky time it is your lucky time and you have to be ready for it! The horses started out good but quickly dropped off. Not good when you hit a trifecta and it pays $4.00! I hit up the Price is Right after the sports book for a while and did pretty well again.

    I knew that Billy Idol was playing at the Pearl concert theater at the Palms so I decided I should have a “healthy non gaming activity†and I grabbed a cab from the north entrance and headed in to try and buy a ticket. I looked online a few nights before I left and all of the available tickets were in the upper area so I knew the cost and it was pretty reasonable – range of $49 and $59. There was a long line inside the casino and I started to worry that I wouldn’t find a ticket but there was a scalper hanging around the line and I “stepped around the corner†and bought a ticket from him at face value. It was fine – upper deck but first row of upper deck. There were two other solo people who bought tickets from the same guy (on either side of me) and oh my they were both pretty large guys. Both were very nice though and we all pretty much stayed in our seats as it was a pretty tight fit and the situation wasn’t really a good one for jumping out of the seats and getting back in without some adjusting. The concert was AWESOME and I would definitely come to another concert here. I did see a girl wearing an old wedding dress so she was all ready for her “white wedding momentâ€. I forgot how many of his songs I know and even though he is supporting a new album there were maybe three new songs and everything else was a beloved golden oldie!

    After the concert I was hungry and decided my earlier promise to have a nice dinner was going out the window and I had a piece of pizza at the Palms food court (I made up for this on Sunday). I wanted to play at the Palms for a bit after the concert and found “my†DDBP video poker machine that I found on my first trip to the Palms back in May. I played a looooonnnnggg time and maybe was down $30.00 but played for over an hour and a half…when I would come up on a cash out point I would hit some quads and then I just kept going. Kept going a little too long but that happens all the time with me!

    I took a cab back to the Bellagio and decided that I was going all out and was going to play my favorite game (Crazy 4 poker) and played for quite a while and think I wound up only down $100.00 which is great for that game and some of that was definitely drink tips.

    Sunday August 22

    On Sunday my plan was to rent a car and head out to Red Rock Casino. I really like it here and have stayed one night here on longer trips. If it was a nicer time of year I would probably head into Red Rock Canyon and take a little walk but I’m not doing that in August. I had a coupon for a free buffet from an offer mailer that I had. I had a nice surprise and it was brunch so I had a big meal and I thought everything was good. After brunch I played my favorite progressive video poker bank of deuces deluxe and didn’t have much luck. Moved around a bit trying to play games that they don’t have at Bellagio. After video poker found a “Press your Luck†game and won $50.00 on a forty cent bet. That was my best win…I played around for about three hours and then decided to head back to Bellagio. I went to the Sportsbook to cool off and played for a while – no big wins.

    My plan for dinner was to try the Julian Serrano Tapas restaurant at Aria. I took the tram over and got there around 6:30 and there was plenty of room at the bar which is where I prefer to sit when dining alone. The bartender was very friendly and I had some mushroom soup, chicken croquettes and bacon wrapped dates…and three glasses of sangria – one red and two white. I liked the food but think I would choose some different items next time instead of the dates. The bartender pointed out Julian Serrano to me and told me that he is physically in the restaurant a few times a week which is different from many other “celebrity chef†restaurants. I did recognize him so that was kind of cool.

    After dinner I went on an ill advised sangria fueled tour of the Aria slots floor. I actually had a few good hits but frittered them away! Headed back to the Bellagio and decided to play some $10.00 black jack to play for a while and then hopefully stop after a win and then get to bed at a reasonable hour like 2. Not to happen. I sat down at a table and had an immense string of bad luck…I built things back up and played until 4:00. At one point I was down $175 and then pulled that back to up $150.00 but of course kept playing so eventually cashed out with my original buy in. I really liked the people at the table and that is definitely why I stayed so long…

    Monday August 23

    Monday morning I woke up early again– why I don’t know. Went downstairs for a little while and played some new games that I have never seen before – got the bonus on some asian themed game and won $40.00 on 54 free games…Took that to a Panda game and got the free games bonus on that and got that to $110.00. I played around a while and had some good hits but played them all back. My mission for the day was to have a nice lunch at Olives so I went there right when they opened at eleven and sat outside (in the shade). Had a ceasar salad and flatbread and a martini and enjoyed it but could have skipped the drink – it was good but not great. I loved my salad and the bread and olive spread! My flight was supposed to leave at 7:30 so I was planning to leave for the airport around 5:45. I decided to play three card poker so walked up to the table and had a mini panic attack because I couldn’t find my chips from the night before. I went back upstairs and dumped my purse out and they were at the bottom of my purse. In retrospect, if I’d lost them somewhere they would have done me as much good because the three card was brutal – four hands in a row that you couldn’t play so I decided to chuck that and go play black jack. That also wasn’t good so since the only thing that I’d done well on was the penny slots I went back to what I knew! No big hits but I played around quite a while and eventually it was time to head to the airport.

    Checked in, etc…and I was supposed to be flying from Vegas to LAX and then LAX to Orlando arriving around 5:30 AM. Sitting at the gate the flight out of Vegas was delayed about twenty minutes…then the gate agent called my name and told me that she rebooked me on the flight through Atlanta since I would only have five minutes to make my connection in LA…I couldn’t help myself because I asked her – the Atlanta flight that leaves at 11:30???? She confirmed this and OMG – now I’m stuck in the airport for another five hours and have blown through my gambling budget so I’m just stuck. I made the best of it and read my book and used the free Wi-Fi there and eventually it was time to board. I was asleep before we left the gate despite the smell of pea on the plane. I think it got better once we got moving but it was a bit overwhelming when you first walked in! The flight change now had me getting home at 9:30 AM instead of 5:30 – yuck.

    Final Thoughts

    A big thumbs up to all the trip report writers who take pictures of wins and can keep track of wins/losses as well as you do. A few times I’ve thought to myself “I should take a picture†but before I know it I’ve hit the button again!

    I didn’t mention this but it is probably obvious by now that this was a solo trip. I love going solo and think Vegas is the best place on earth for solo vacations. I have met enough dealers and bartenders during my stays that I do have people to chat with that I’ve seen many times. My next few trips are with family so I cherished my solo time!

    Thanks for reading!
     
  2. BackInVegas

    BackInVegas VIP Whale

    Joined:
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    Nice report

    Did you see that jasonargo says there is a sigma machine at the MGM that works? He posted a picture of the machine.

    I thought about going out that weekend for the Billy Idol concert, but too much stuff was going on.
     
  3. VegasDiva

    VegasDiva VIP Whale

    Joined:
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    Great TR :)

    I probably would have hit the Billy Idol concert too just for the retrorok flashback :)

    Glad you had a great time
     
  4. lithelady

    lithelady Low-Roller

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    enjoyed the report - you got a lot done in a fast trip - I always MEAN to, but end up staying at one or two casinos.

    Getting stuck at McCarran for 5 hours is a bummer. So near and yet so far....one time I decided to go gamble some more. Checked my luggage (a rarity since I hate to wait for luggage at the other end)....caught a taxi to Mandalay Bay.

    Wouldn't you know it. When I was preparing to leave to go back to the airport, I hit the cash out button on the slot and it jammed. No slot people around. Then there was an unexpectedly long taxi line. Plus of course I had lost too much extra money in my mad attempt to make up for all the gambling losses from the trip.

    All in all, hanging out at McCarran isn't all that awful.
     
  5. lithelady

    lithelady Low-Roller

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    enjoyed the report - you got a lot done in a fast trip - I always MEAN to, but end up staying at one or two casinos. I think I'll try to get to Aria next trip and try the tapas bar.

    Getting stuck at McCarran for 5 hours is a bummer. So near and yet so far....one time I decided to go gamble some more. Checked my luggage (a rarity since I hate to wait for luggage at the other end)....caught a taxi to Mandalay Bay.

    Wouldn't you know it. When I was preparing to leave to go back to the airport, I hit the cash out button on the slot and it jammed. No slot people around. Then there was an unexpectedly long taxi line. Plus of course I had lost too much extra money in my mad attempt to make up for all the gambling losses from the trip.

    All in all, hanging out at McCarran isn't all that awful.
     
  6. Tonez78

    Tonez78 Low-Roller

    Joined:
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    klevegas,

    Thanks for sharing your report. I have made a few solo trips to LV and they are what you make them. I'm beginning to think I will be solo for my trip in two weeks unless I get busy and find someone that wants to go. Spent my 40th at the Bellagio and think it has the best customer service thus far in 60+ trips. Concert sounded good and reminded me of almost getting kicked out of the Mirage for trying to sell an extra Danny Ganns ticket because one of my buddies was fighting with his girlfriend. Not sure how the return airpot trip would have gone with me but at least she was trying to help you.

    Again nice report.

    Tony
     
  7. Mycatspot

    Mycatspot I drink my breakfast and play in my PJ's.

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    Hey Kathy,

    I added my two cents for your great TR on www.LasVegas4Ever.com but wanted to chime in about the airport delay. Wouldn't want to be stuck in Vegas anywhere without my gambling budget. That happened to me due to a hurricane - had to stay in Vegas for two extra nights and I had spent my fun money. Boo! Glad you made it home and that you have another trip already scheduled!

    MJ
     
  8. klevegas

    klevegas Low-Roller

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    Yes - I've played that machine before! I took some of the young ones from my office and dropped them off at it one time with a few rolls of quarters. I always try to play it if I'm down that way.

    There is always a lot going on but it was great to take a break from it all for the concert.


    Mycatspot - thanks for the shoutout! Someday we will both be in Vegas together again I'm sure. Was that hurricane Frances?- my neighbor was stuck that Labor Day after blowing through all of his money (clubs and gambling).

    Tonez and Lithelady - yes the airport thing really wasn't that bad and she was trying to help! Any other time I might have cabbed it to a casino but after hearing lithelady's story I may not do that! They did give me a $10.00 meal voucher but I'd just had dinner - saved that for drinks and snacks. As long as I get home safely that is really all that matters. I did get the best feeling in the world when I got home and it started pouring rain and I was in bed instead of running around outside!

    Vegas Diva - thanks for the nice comment!
     
  9. rlhendrix

    rlhendrix Low-Roller

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    Thanks for the report. I'm suffering through these last two months
     
  10. Rick1323

    Rick1323 Low-Roller

    Joined:
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    Great trip report. Thanks for sharing!
     
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