December Days in Vegas

December is the time to get good room rates and use up those matchplay and 2-1 coupons. So I decided to take my 23 year old son Peter along with me for a lesson in free and low roller gambling. He did fine and came home after four days with an extra $230 and a fine assortment of free T shirts and hats and bungy cords and a couple of pictures outside the Imperial Palace. We did not hit the tournaments at Monte Carlo, but we did root for Walter and watch him win the $500 with a triple Monte Carlo in the last 42 seconds of the slot tournament. Peter said it was better than winning to see this 92 year old man in his fine black cowboy hat hit the big money. If you play in the last qualifying tournament of the day, you will see Walter and his lady. They play everyday. We did not hit the Fiesta Henderson video poker tournament either nor did Pete like craps much as the table was cold.

Pete’s best win was when he took the free $10 play at the Hard Rock, plugged it into a 10/7 DB and was dealt four sevens. He played down the free money and strolled out with $72. He enjoyed just as much his Palms $10 free dollars used in penny slots. They kept him busy and he finally left with $6, a profit since the buy in was free. And we both enjoyed playing one 10/7 DB machine together at the Palms; with pooled money we hit the four aces.

It might seem odd to teach a kid 10/7 on his first trip, but I coached him and we used Tomski’s strategy printout and looked up the hard hands. At Terrible’s we played a little JOB 9/6 as that was the best I saw. And we saw one really corny free show at Fitsgerald’s at 5PM where a fellow sang tom Jones like songs. It was so corny it was fun. We enjoyed Jubilee with a 2-1 coupon Peter could use as a first time player at Bally’s. We took a drive to Red Rock and ate at Bellagio and saw downtown. It was a good introduction for the kid.
The rest of the trip was rather dull. I was sick with a fever for a few nights and then a stomach virus followed for a few more. One morning I woke up drenched in a soaked bed and just slid over into the other bed for the day. So I missed board meets and playing with friends. I finally felt better and managed to lose $875 after being up $400 at one point. Cannery let me use two LVA coupons for an extra $12.50 on a quad and I did well, then lost it at Ramparts chasing the same deal. But most of it I lost at the Orleans, so I am hoping for some good room offers.

I drove out to San Diego, met my wife and drove up the coast of California, experiencing the 6.5 earthquake while eating breakfast at the end of the 1950 foot Sterns Wharf in Santa Barbara. For a few long minutes we thought we would end up in the ocean. We had Christmas with family in San Carlos. I lost $25 playing Hold Em on my brother-in-laws internet game, and then my wife and I went back for one night at the Stratosphere before flying back to Albany NY. We went to the buffet at the Orleans and lost some more money but ate good crab. And we caught Huck Daniel’s Monday jam session where many of the local entertainers gather on their dark night and are invited to join Huck on stage. It was an incredible lounge show with some of the best raunchy blues I’ve heard and an assortment of other kinds of music.

So all told I had 13 nights in Vegas for a hotel bill of $102. Terrible’s at that $9.95 special, free nights at Orleans and Gold Coast, one free night at the Tropicana (which I did not like much- too far to go with luggage and not that great a room) and one Stratosphere night from a discounter. The Stratosphere never received that reservation, but calling ahead in the morning I easily straightened out the paperwork error and we had our room on time although, after experiencing that earthquake, I should have asked for one that was not on the 10th floor of the World II Tower where we could hear the roller coaster. I slept fine anyway.
I suppose it was risky too to show my wife the largest tower west of the Mississippi River on Dec 30th with all the terrorism hype, but I estimated that I’d taken a dozen people up in that tower at one time or another and never got kissed so some risks are worth.

Regarding the Stratosphere room, it is always a good idea to call the hotel to confirm that they get the information from the discounter and to have a printout of the confirmation. The Stratosphere did all the calling to fix the problem.

I wish they would do as well with the video poker. The only 10/7 DB left are these old machines way off in the corner marked 100% and some of them are 9/7 DB masquerading as 100% payback. As much as has been written about the cutback in Orleans DB, I found 10/7 at every corner in the Orleans and fine fast ticket machines too. At the Gold Coast I played 9/6 JOB in between sets of that Dixieland jazz they play in the afternoon. With the stomach virus still negating any buffet pleasures, I sipped free ginger ale and Crown Royal high balls using old Orleans funbook coupons. One day I had five of them. All in all I heard 11 sets of that band and only heard them repeat a number once in all that time. I would try to go after Monday, however, the regular trombone player is off on Monday.

The craps was bad to me all around. I played lots of advantage craps with free chips or matchplays covering my pass line and full odds behind just for one roll. Still I lost. At the Cannery I played win ticket chips with full $30 odds and lost four rolls in a row. No real dice setting or slow hedge this trip. Never felt good enough to stand that long or wanted to be right in someone’s face when I had been sick.

Well, that’s it for 2003. Have a good one.
dew

 

Wow, glad you had a good time regardless of your bout with the Flu and other maladies.

 

Great trip and on the cheap too!!!

How did you like Terribles???

 

I was very comfortable at Terrible's. The rooms were very nice and clean and it was quiet perhaps because I took the board's advice and asked for a quiet room away from Flamingo traffic. They put me in the back. I could park within a few feet of a door that was a few feet from an elevator that went to my room so I could go in and out of the car without going through the casino. I appreciated that . The rooms were fine. I was very comfortable.

Someone on another board actually asked me if gor $9.95 they had "hot water." I thought the showers were fine. Others complained of an unsafe area. I thought it felt perhaps more like downtown than the strip, but I felt safe. However, because of being sick and having the car I did not walk, even to the Tuscany. One night a happy/drunk woman and her man played near me and they were very friendly and lots of fun. She said she liked being drunk at Terrible's because guys were not always hitting on her there. She was a pretty woman and did touch easily so i could understand why that might happen.

The video poker leaves a lot to be desired, but I gambled on 9/6 JOB and did quite well. I read where Jean Scott was playing there a couple months ago because the comps were so loose so perhaps deuces is a better VP bet. I really did not play very much, only when I was waiting for my son.

I tried the well advertised chicken and found it very tasty, a Mexican flavored meal. I met relatives in the little cafe that serves the chicken and we all had a fine, relaxed visit and everyone found something to eat. I did not think much of the dinner buffet, but I liked the breakfast buffet and I liked all the 2-1 offers. I found more coupons in California when I was traveling there so I'm ready for my next trip.

With a car the location was wonderful. I liked being close to the Hard Rock and Tuscany and the Ellis Island steak dinner, and close to drugstores and a route to the Boulder highway that did not take me across the strip. This was especially helpful when I got sick and needed to get juice and some drugs. When I wanted to walk the strip, I just went down and parked at Barbary Coast and walked out to my favorite sections. I don't do much up at NYNY area anyway. When I wanted to go to the Palms or the Orleans or Gold Coast I could cross the strip on Flamingo and come back that way. It is not as tied up in traffic as Tropicana.

Compared to the room I got for free at the Tropicana, Terribles was a palace, but I know that I was given an old room at the Trop, so perhaps I should not compare them. Compared to the Orleans and Gold Coast rooms, Terribles is very basic. But I don't really need very much. I was sick in the Terrible's rooms and felt very comfortable and happy to be out of crowds. I used the Do Not Disturb sign and no one bothered me, yet when I went out for an hour or so to get a little food or some medicine, I'd come back to a completely cleaned room. Of course, I tip a couple bucks every day to the maids, so I generally get very good service.

All in all I'd rate Terrible's with Las Vegas Club, Plaza, Palace Station. I like all those basic places. For $9.95 a night I'd gladly go again and by the way, the price with tax was under $12, unlike the Palace Station or Stratosphere where on top of tax you pay energy tax and phone usage tax. Palace Station FREE rooms cost me over $5 and there is no where at all to walk from that location.

Finally, I liked very much not having to skip from one place to another every two or three days as I do when the rooms are free on some promo. I appreciated it when I was trying to give the kid a whirlwind tour of everything in Vegas and especially appreciated it when I was ill with fever.

Hope they have that $9.95 special again next December. I'll be there.