Unsupervised for 8 days in Vegas

Las Vegas Trip Report December 13th to 20th 2003
This trip was taken with my brother in law Jason.

Day 1.
We flew out of Columbus Ohio on Southwest Airlines direct flight to Vegas.
No problems with the flight, plane was less than half full, arrived half an hour ahead of schedule and after a small wait at the baggage claim, our luggage was the first to come off the conveyor, unbelievable!
Went to Rio checked in got a bite to eat at the deli, not too good but it filled us up.
Got cleaned up played some VP and got a few Crown Royals & Gingers down.
Lots of eye candy in Rio on Saturday night.
I can’t believe all the people playing black jack at the bikini tables, guys you can stand there and look at the girlies without playing an even money game. Hey it worked for us.
Walked over to Gold Coast, the rodeo finals were still going on and every cowboy in the free world was in here. We are Ohio country boys but we just did not fit in with the hat crowd here so we left and walked over to Palms. Was a nice new place but we just walked around awhile trying to figure out why so many young people want to spend their Saturday night standing in line trying to get into one of the clubs here. Went back to Rio for more VP, Crown, and Bevertainment.

Day 2.
Check out of Rio and head for the Stratosphere .
I asked the lady at the counter for a room in the new tower high up, we got it, the 23rd floor, nice clean room. Went to the Top of the World for lunch had a good sandwich and fries and they took our tower admission cost off of the check, this is the cheapest way to go up the tower for the view and eat at this restaurant that I know of. Went to the casino played the Wild Thing Slots and VP for a while had a couple of beers. Got on the bus and headed for Slots of Fun. Found a $3 let it ride table and played for about 20 minutes I left the table up about $25. Headed downtown watched some of the stage shows on the street and then went to the California for the prime rib special, it was good as always. Back to The STRAT played slots, VP, and then tried the craps table bought in for $100 and lost about 60 bucks in half an hour. Decided to play VP at the bar and get even by putting a dent in the Strats supply of Crown.

Day 3.
Got up late had lunch at Roxys Diner in the Strat, pretty good club sandwich.
Headed to the Luxor, they have a Texas Hold’em lesson at 2:00 followed by a 1-2 game for beginners. Bought in for $70 and played for about an hour and a half, at one point I was up about $60 but ended up leaving the table with a dollar. Oh well I tried it and the 70 bucks lasted longer than it seems to at the black jack tables. Headed for Monte Carlo wanted to try one of their micro brews, sat down at a slot ordered a Silver Stout. First drink was awful but by the time I was half way through it wasn’t so bad. We walked into the Boardwalk for a couple of the .99 cent margaritas, Jason laid 2.50 on the bar when he ordered and when the bartender saw that he was going to get a tip he did a double take and stopped and poured an extra shot of tequila and triple sec in each cup. Walked over to the $3 let it ride and played a few hands, we both left down 12 bucks. Went back to the Strat got cleaned up, played more machines, and had the graveyard special at Lucky’s Café.

Day 4.
Got up early showered and headed for the craps table, got about $25 of my previous loss here back, colored up and checked out. Next stop is Harrah’s. Walk in and are met by the sound of jack-hammers and concrete saws, dealers are all wearing dust mask and there is a slot tournament in progress. I asked for and got a room high up in the Carnival Tower. Room is ok and far enough away from the construction. Ate at the buffet with a coupon that made it like 6 bucks each. Got there in time for breakfast and lunch items, had pancakes, bacon, fried chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, ham, prime rib and cheese cake. Hey It’s Vegas Baby! We never dropped a nickel through the casino at Harrah’s. The main reason we stayed here was for the location. We played small amounts at many of the near by properties this day. Went to Ellis Island for supper and had the $4.95 steak special, it was very good this trip. Got cleaned up and went to Bellagio, picked out a VP machine in front of the Fontana Bar listened to the band for a couple of hours. Oh Yes Waitress, Please Crown Me.

Day 5.
Check out and head back to Rio for 2 more nights. Asked for the Masquerade Tower and got it, have always stayed in the Ipanema Tower on other stays. Room was slightly different lay out but basically the same size, with sectional couch and nice size TV.
Had a nice lunch at the Sao Paulo Café. Headed to the Luxor to see about show tickets for Midnight Fantasy, they were 35 bucks at the box office, asked at the players club if they had any discount coupons or if I had enough points for a comp, no luck. Decided to go to Tickets Tonight to see what they had available. Not much, most of the shows that they get tickets for were dark. Decided to skip seeing a show. Headed back to the room and rested awhile, got cleaned up and went to Mandalay Bay. Played slots and had a couple of beers. No entertainment at The House of Blues tonight so we headed to Paris for slots and to listen to the band at Le Cabaret for a while. Jason decided to stay here some more and I headed to Bellagio for my same VP machine by the bar. Head back to Rio 3 parts drunk and pick out a VP machine close to the Masquerade Tower elevator. I played for quite a while and had a cocktail waitress on a mission, I was ordering crown and ginger but I couldn’t detect any ginger at all. The casino wasn’t very busy and it seemed like she was trying to make up for lost tips by serving me like crazy. This was the best cocktail service I had this trip. I stumbled to the room around 3:30. Woke up at about 6:00 am and realized I had not removed my contact lenses… ouch my eyes hurt. Went back to sleep and slept like a log until about 11:00 am.

Day 6.
Took a shower and went to lunch again at Sao Paulo Café our food was very good again. Watched the couple beside us eat most of their meals and order a fruit plate for desert. They asked the waitress for boxes for the left over stuff, and then said that the food was awful and wanted it all taken off there check. The manager came over and said she would take it off the bill but wanted them to leave the left overs, they complained some more and said they were taking it with them. She finally said ok as they were about to cause a seen and I don’t think she wanted this to happen. I could not believe the nerve of these people. They were just a couple of low life mooches. I have had bad food in restaurants before, but I always ask for it to be corrected after the fist bite and I sure don’t want to take lousy food home with me. Went to the Venetian and looked around then headed to Barbary Coast to try to see Big Elvis, he wasn’t playing so I goofed around mid strip for a while and then headed down town. Walked through every casino under the canopy played slots at the Golden Nugget and an old full pay jacks or better machine at Four Queens. Had a couple of beers while playing and then headed to La Bayou for a sample of the Ever Clear Pure Grain Alcohol mixed with the Frozen Jungle Juice. I had not had any of this stuff in like 20 years, but after reading Rugbysteve’s Turkey Day in Sin City report I just had to try it again. I asked what the smallest size was and the girl said 8 oz but if I got the alcohol on the side I would get more. I said ok and she poured a huge shot and quite a bit more in an 8 oz cup, it was probably close to 6 oz, then she gave me an 8 oz cup of the jungle juice. 3 bucks she says, I gave her $4 and asked for a larger cup so that I could put it together. WOW it’s a good thing I didn’t go for the half yard or I would still be drunk. Walked around sipping on my drink, watched a couple of the light shows, and street entertainment, there was a good sax player in front of Las Vegas Club and I listened to him for a while and people watched. Had the spaghetti and meat balls at the Golden Gate for like $4, it was pretty good and more than I could eat. Headed back to Rio about 11:00 got cleaned up, went to the gift shop bought a beer and walked around the casino people watching. The clubs were in full swing with lots of people waiting to get in and the casino was busy too. Called it a night around 1:00 am.

Day 7.
Checked out of Rio, got in a taxi and headed for The Orleans. Jason checked us in and got us a nice room on the 19th floor with a view of the strip. We had played here during other stays but we had never stayed here before and other than our room being all the way down the hall from the elevator this place was great. They gave us both a coupon book with several free drink offers and a lot of other good stuff. We had lunch at Don Miguel's the shredded beef burrito is huge and came with rice, beans, chips, and salsa. We used the coupons for free margaritas here too. We headed to an empty craps table and I bought in for a hundred. Jason and I were both making some money and soon the table was about full and everyone was winning and having a great time. I was counting my chips and I had around 250 bucks so I asked for 4 green chips and put them in my pocket. Then this guy steps up and buys in for $400 and starts betting the dark side for $25. It was my turn to roll and I had 3 naturals in a row on my come out rolls. This guy starts cussing under his breath “That’s BS†and looking ticked off. Too bad buddy … you should have known the table was hot by looking at everyone’s pile of chips and seeing how happy we all were. Then Mr. Dark Side gets to roll and I understand why he bets that way, the guy couldn’t hit squat. After that the table turned cold, and I walked away, up about $100. We used all of our drink coupons and then started playing machines and ogling the cocktail waitresses, we just love their uniforms here, even though it makes it hard to walk through the casino without running into things. I wish I could get my wife to wear one of these outfits and bring me drinks at home. Ate supper at the French Market Buffet and it was very good. Played more machines and tried to dry out a little bit, as this was our last night.

Day 8.
Got up early and went for coffee alone. Then head to the craps table to try my luck again.
Bought in for $100 at a table that had several Nebraska basketball team members playing, seems they were in town for a game and staying here. I don’t follow basketball too much, but my wife does cause she was a basketball jock type in high school, I am sure she would have known all the players names and been asking for autographs. Anyway I played for about a half an hour and left up about 30 bucks, its always fun when you win a little. Checked out and took the CAT to the Tropicana where we checked our bags. Then went to MGM for lunch at the Studio Café. The food was all right, but we had a lousy waiter. It took him forever to come take our order and even longer to bring the food, people sitting around us that ordered from other waiters were getting the same food that we ordered ahead of us, I asked one of the other waiters to please send our waiter over. He finally showed up with our sandwiches and I asked him for the check right then so we wouldn’t have to wait for that too. Played a few slots at MGM then headed to the Trop to pickup our luggage and grab a cab to the airport. No problem with the direct fight it was only about half full and got into Columbus, OH half an hour ahead of schedule, about 12:00 AM. Made it home before 2:00 and sat down to check my email before going to bed. My 11 year old daughter woke up and came in the office and gave me a big welcome home hug and kiss. That really made me feel good, I love going to Vegas but there is nothing like being home with my 2 wonderful daughters and my beautiful wife.

Notes: Except for the two taxi rides mentioned in the report, we did all of our transportation on foot, the CAT busses and hotel shuttles, we had thirty day bus passes that cost $30 each and they were well worth it, even though we were unable to recycle them this time. We had a great time and seen a lot of Vegas this trip. We did not play any black jack this trip, we are fed up with standing on like 18 to the dealers 13 and then watching them draw 3 more cards and not bust. Also screw the big casinos and their lousy 6/5 and even money games, I’ll never play at this kind of table. Jason and I got along great and we went our separate ways when we wanted to do different things. I have a trip booked to hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon in May and stay at Phantom Ranch, I think I’ll try to tack on a couple of days in Vegas too. Until then I’ll have to get my Vegas fix through the rest of the T2V gangs trip reports.

Hope this wasn’t too long and that you enjoy reading it.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Scott R

 

hey Scott, nice trip report.. sounds like you found some fun. I can't believe you went for the "value play" with the extra shot of grain.. I did that once before too.. it's like drinking paint thinner... but after three of 4 of them.. my entire group was flashing under the canopy. Haa.. great report.. thanks for the read. Peace, rugbysteve

 

There is no value to autographs from the Nebraska men's basketball team.

 

Thanks for the good report. I'll be hitting that grain train in about 36 days.

 

I haven't heard of this one- do you know what days it is offered?

Thanks for a great trip report!!

T-13

 

Heathcat,
The lesson was daily while we were there.
They also have a low limit tournament, I think twice a day for a $25 buy in you play till you loose your entry or win the tournament, I don't remember the times for this though.
Good-Luck!

 

I enjoyed your trip report a whole lot, but this has to be my favorite line:

3 parts out of how many? Two?

 

Coaster Kikky,
Couldn't have been 3 parts of two, perhaps 3 of 4 or 5. I can tell you that by the time the waitress at Rio was finished with me all parts were drunk, I couldn't find my butt with both hands if a bell was tied to it.