Monte Carlo 9/10 - 9/13 (somewhat live)

Since Monte Carlo includes "complementary" internet in their resort fee, I decided to do live updates for this trip. I'll upload some photos when I can. It's not going to be a high-rolling, non-stop party trip, just some fun, a couple shows and some low stakes gambling.

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Day 1

Southwest from MKE to LAS. Nearly full flight. Got singing flight
attendants. Joy, joy.

Hertz rental through Priceline. Nissan Versa. Clerk tried to upsell to
a midsize, but I stuck with the economy. It's actually a good car, all
power, good AC, stereo with aux jack for the ipod. It even has the
Hertz navigation, but I'm not sure if they charge for the use and I
don't really need GPS in Vegas by this time.

Checked into Monte Carlo. No wait at 11am. Got strip view room on
about a floor about 2/3 up. Decent view of MGM, Trop and Hooters,
along with the back of NYNY. Room is actually a bit better than I
expected. Of the strip places I've stayed, it's below TI and MGM, but
above IP.

Very little gambling so far. Lost $20 at the terrible video poker
here, but hit back to back progressives on a Reel em In penny machine
for nearly $100 total.

Took a tour of the Neon Museum. It's still a real work in progress,
but they have one nice lot open for tours. The entrance during
construction is in a really sketchy neighborhood off north Las Vegas
Blvd. Walking with the group, with bag-drinking locals staring at
us reminded me of the first Vacation movie. "Look at all this plight,
kids... Roll em up!!" One of the folks on the tour commented that the place looks like somewhere he would see on Cops, to which the guide responded, that it was a regular feature on Cops.

Taking a break after walking around in the desert sun for 90 minutes, then out for some gambling, food and drink.

The photos are of the win, the La Concha Motel building that will be the new Neon Museum visitor's center and the "plight" in the neighborhood.

 

A fishing slot machine

Thank goodness I have never seen one of those while I am in my drunken stupor.

I do not like fishing and I do not like slot machines, but I would definitely try that one for a change of pace.

Someday I will visit the Neon Museum.

Will you be seeing Jabberwockeez or whatever their name is? I can say I saw Lance Burton, that is a sign of age now.

I look forward to more report.

 

Good pictures! thanks for posting.

 

Just got back from a couple hours of low limit blackjack.

UGH, WHAT HORRIBLE PLAY!!! Was at a good rules low limit table and saw things like hitting 16 v dealer 4 and standing on 8 vs. dealer 2. I ended up moving myself into third base (something I don't like to do) because there were too many idiots who knew nothing. One guy was playing like this at $50/hand. I ended up nearly doubling my buy in while these types were buying in and busting out. I know their bad play doesn't really hurt me, but it was ridiculous. They must be very profitable customers.

Limits are surprisingly low for a Friday night. There are still decent $10 tables. MC's new party pit has spectacular dancers.Well they look spectacular, their dancing is so, so. But dancing isn't the point.

I'm not seeing Jabbawockeez. They don't start until next month, although they do have the sign up out in front. I do have tickets for Ray Romano/Kevin James tomorrow and Love on Sunday.

 

Day 2

What gambling gives, gambling takes away. Yesterday, I went up quite a bit relative to my bankroll. Today, I had the slow bleed. $50 in an under capitalized blackjack session. Lots of poor VP results. Nothing disastrous, but down a couple hundred. The only real positive was hitting 2 quad 6's on a triple play machine two hands after switching to Double Double Bonus. I did hit the one sports bet I made San Jose State +39 vs Wisconsin.

Saw more amazingly bad blackjack play. Today's booby prize goes to the guy who doubled down on 14 vs a dealer 6. A "WHAT!!" rose from the table. The guy just said, "I'm gambling, man." He was another idiot playing multiple green chips. Even worse, he busted, the guy at third base stood and the dealer drew a five for 21. The only redeeming thing was that I was sitting with blackjack at first base.

Since today was 9/11, I went to look at the memorial area in front of the Statue of Liberty. At 2pm, there was a brief ceremony held by the Clark County fire department.

Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin was signing copies of his new book at the Luxor, so I bought a copy. It was a little disappointing because he was talking on his phone while he was signing.

I'll include a few more photos.

 

Photos from the 9/11 memorial.

 

Dual quad 6's, Bellagio Conservatory and the crashed computer screen in the Monte Carlo elevator. There is no way to know for sure what floor you're on without looking out the door when it opens.

 

Nice shots- thanks for sharing.

 

Sounds like a fun time you are having , great pics!

yikes at the elevators , hope they got that fixed , would be a weird feeling since we all look UP at the floor number lol

 

How many good ruled blackjack tables are left? They use to have three, but while I was there they did away with one. So there were only two left at the end of the pit on the side where the Brand cocktail lounge is. The very last one was always at $25, and the other one was $5 or $10.

Where is the party pit? I can't believe that they put one in.

 

Hi there,

Thanks for posting live!!! Sounds like a good mix of things to do. I am curious as to what you think of the Ray/Kevin show. I saw it last time I was there and interested in your thoughts.

Thanks again,

Tony

 

There are at least two decent $10-15 blackjack tables. Shoe, 3:2, etc. There are also some of the worst games imaginable. 8 decks, 6:5, doubling restrictions, but these look up at the hot dancers who toss beads at gamblers. That's worth 2.5-3%, right?

There is actually even one 3:2 table at Bill's ($25), despite reports to the contrary. Bellagio had $10 3:2 autoshuffler games all over the place even on Friday and Saturday nights. Unless you're trying to count, that's decent for a place like that on a weekend.

The Kevin James/Ray Romano show was very funny. There's a full 90 minutes with an opener/MC. At the end, they both come out, riff off each other for a couple minutes and do stuff with audience questions.

It's worth it if you like their comedy. I went because I was able to get tickets in the second row center. I couldn't pass up a chance to see them almost as if they were performing in a club. That was worth a premium, but it was only $30 more than sitting in the back and seeing a little guy standing on stage.

There were a bunch of older folks, High Roller types, in the front who were escorted in and didn't seem to enjoy the show much. From the looks on their faces, it was, "He was so funny on Everybody Loves Raymond, but this isn't the same thing."

Time for football.

 

Never would have ridden in that elevator, LOL............................

 

It's amazing how fast the city has cleared out since last night. It was possible to get seats at most sportsbooks. Monte Carlo was busy, but not crazy. MGM was full, but not overflowing and I was able to get a seat at the Bally's sportsbook bar in the middle of the afternoon.

Hit both my NFL games Lions +2.5 and Packers -3. Went 3 for 3 this weekend on football. All of them were "homer" games with teams I know pretty well. That seems to work for me -- find games with teams I know well enough to evaluate the point spread or money line. I need to put bigger bets out on sports. It still worries me a bit too much, but I did make bigger bets than usual.

So far, this is my favorite Vegas trip. The weather is perfect. Good shows. Decent hotel that doesn't feel like a slum. ...and only down a little bit.

 

Enjoying the live report. Keep it up.

 

Really enjoying the report so far, Love the M/C . Loved the pics of the memorial @ ny/ny. Still makes me tear up everytime I see it. Keep it coming!!!