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Wynning losing & playing a new game

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by sammowhammo, Feb 1, 2011.

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  1. ATXTX

    ATXTX VIP Whale

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    My Trip Report

    Wynning, losing and playing the game

    Just returned from 3 nights at the Wynn.

    The ride there:
    The ride on Southwest was uneventful, none of the scanners were on, nor was anyone being singled out for the grope-down. The car we got at Dollar, a Grand Marquis, gave me the urge to drive to Miami, dye my hair blue, and make a right turn from the left lane - it was $112 total for 4 days in their "lock low & go" rate wherein the car is a mid-size or larger (much larger). Worth it, as we would have spent more in cab fare for the trip.

    We arrived early, fully planning on leaving our luggage & getting breakfast but they checked us right into the Tower Suites - We had a lovely room facing the golf course.
    Entry:
    [​IMG]

    Important stuff:
    [​IMG]

    Living room:
    [​IMG]

    On the way out:
    [​IMG]

    The bedroom, the bed is too bouncy:
    [​IMG]

    I forgot to take a picture of the bathroom - but it's awesome. The separate entrance to the TS is very nice and the staff was phenomenal.

    Tableau
    Our first foray into using our RBL was to have lunch at Tableau. The food here was excellent & the portions were perfect. I decided to try their bloody mary. I am not much of a drinker, we have booze that is 20 years old - not cause it's fancy & aged but because it's been sitting in our liquor cabinet that long. DH ended up drinking the bloody mary which he said was good.

    We went to the Red Card Desk to activate the "freecredit" & they insisted on signing me up for my own players club instead of giving me a card with my DH's number on it. So he went off to use the freecredit (grrr he doesn't even like slots!) & I went off to play from my budget. We gave ourselves a loose budget of 1k each a day to limit our losses. In about 2 hours we met up again and he had lost half of his freeplay & I was up about $500, thanks to my new friend the Top Dollar Machine. He said he was tired of slots & was going to hit the tables for blackjack. I have been practicing VP & decided to go ahead & try it out, I think the game I was playing was double double bonus & I hit 4 5's and something else to give me another $250. Well that's enough of that. We had an appointment at the spa for a couples massage in about an hour so I went to gather up DH who had been "up & down" but wanted to play a bit more. When he made it to the fitness center 1/2 an hour later somehow he managed to lose about 1/2 his budget. This was pretty much the story of our gambling this trip - I won & he lost. He just doesn't know when to walk away. In each game (table or slots) I set a maximum for a losing budget and also set up an imaginary bank for the winnings. Each bank had a purpose - a Tiffany necklace for my daughter, a new LV purse for me, a new LV keepall travel bag, and a few others I didn't meet my bank on.

    The Spa at Wynn

    Let me start by saying neither of us are "spa people" - it requires you to slow down, unplug and unwind - something neither of us are very good at. After our trip there I desire to be a "spa person", it was wonderful! The entire experience was delightful and the masseuses were skilled, professional, cordial and warm. It was the ultimate in relaxation and I am so glad we did it together. I did as you guys suggested & tried out all the amenities in the spa - even ate some of the little nibbly foods. The stream room was my favorite, and it made me wish my suite had a steam shower. I am looking forward to making use of the spa services on our next visit.


    Wing Lei
    We decided to get the Peking duck meal & DH did the wine pairing which turned out to be quite a bit of wine - he was tipsy by dessert. Each course was delicious but the first course of the duck & the steamer bun dough made into a pancake was the best. In the other courses sometimes the flavors of the sauces overwhelmed the duck.

    The next day we decided to walk to the Cosmo & check it out. Before we left we had breakfast at the Terrace point café. It was adequate.

    The Cosmo
    Wow. This place is going to give the other casinos some real competition. It's well lit with a soft but clear lighting; I think they are using halogen to light the place. It's quite unlike the yellowish CFL tinge in most places. And it's vibrant. The overall layout is very easy to navigate which I liked a lot, I hate the way most casino layouts have me feeling like I am in a lawn maze. Plus they have that handy touch screen game finder. The other thing that struck me was the clientele - everyone seems a bit more dressed up & tidy. Also it was mostly a younger hipster crowd. And while there was plenty of drinking no one was doing a "drunk walk". There also seemed to be less smoking here.

    The game
    Pai Gow. I talked DH into playing with me. He thinks it's a stupid game - too much luck. But it seems to have about the same luck-skill ratio as blackjack to me. Anyway I have been practicing on my computer & I am so ready for this new game! The Pai Gow table at the Cosmo has a computer that tells the dealer how to lay out her cards, which was cool. At first it was just us at the table & the dealer walked me through each hand, the pit boss got involved which was funny because they disagreed on a few "best ways" to play some of my better hands. DH grew bored & went off to play blackjack. The table filled up with guys from SHOT & we had a grand time for about 3 hours - I walked away about $400 up. What surprised me was that there were far less pushes IRL than on my computer.
    On to slots -I found a Kitty Glitter machine - that is a fun game, up another $100. And then went to play the interactive multiplayer WOF. Wholly crap that is an awesome game. For those of you who haven't played it there are 6 chairs - each with a screen in front & the "big board" above you all. When something good happens your chair vibrates. Randomly someone hits a bonus to solve the puzzle & if you were spinning at the same time you are also in. The goal is to get as many letters as possible, which you wouldn't think by the way most folks play the uncommon letters. I sort of felt bad because I always ended up with more letters by selecting the most common ones. Oh well more $ for me. I actually came out even on WOF, which is a miracle since on every other trip the game, in it's various incarnations, has been a money vacuum. The drinks at the Cosmo were delicious - their version of the Cosmopolitan & the traditional, yum! I had a few too many & told DH I need to eat something. We went to the Secret Pizza place - zomg it was the pizza of my childhood, hanging out on the corner of 8th street & 1st avenue in NY. And it was super cheap. DH once again lost his bankroll. When we got back to Wynn we got a snack & I went to the room, DH decided to go play more. Which I believe means he broke into my bankroll since I still had my original bankroll (plus winnings)

    LaCave
    When we walked back to the Wynn we decided to get a snack at LaCave. I would definitely eat there again; the food was really tasty, and reasonably priced.

    The next day was out last full day so we decided to stay at Wynn. But for a change we went to Encore - I think I like the casino in Encore better than Wynn.

    Society Café
    This restaurant is superior to Terrace Point but similar in menu & price point. The chopped salad was wonderful. I didn't like the pretzel bread which was a disappointment since there is so much ranting & raving about this concoction.
    Gambling here was pretty much a repeat of the past days & frankly I was getting itchy since I was mostly flat so I started betting bigger. This left me even once again after about 2 hours of Pai Gow. But the Top Dollar machine liked my bigger bets & I tito'd out up $800. Now 3 of my little banks were almost filled - I had enough for the necklace, a new purse & almost enough for the travel bag I have been ogling - plus I still had my original bankroll. I stopped asking DH how he was doing, he was getting grumpy. Good thing we had dinner reservations and tickets to a show.

    Okada
    I would like to kidnap the sushi chef and have him prepare food for us every day. This was the best meal we had in Vegas. It was by accident that we went there - we had reservations for another restaurant but I wasn't very hungry & we figured we could eat lighter at Okada. But we didn't - everything was so good we re-ordered a few items from the 2 platters we got.

    The Rio and Penn & Teller
    We drove to the Rio & gave ourselves a little time to gamble there. I didn't like the Rio. First off the lighting in there makes you feel like you are on the set of the whorehouse in "Eastern Promises" and so did the clientele. The crowd seemed to be mostly young - like the Cosmo - but the Rio look & dress was a stark contrast, mostly chubby girls in teeny dresses & dudes in sloppy clothes and lots of loud drunkenness. The casino is dirty, ashtrays overflowing, dirty machines, crap on the floor. We spent more time in the hallway waiting for the show than in the casino. Penn & Teller were great. The show is worth seeing. I am still not sure how they got that guy's cell phone inside a fish.

    Last day
    We checked out & were happily surprised to find out they RFB'd instead of RFL'd us. We went & had brunch at the Wynn Buffet which was up to its usual standards (very good) played some more Pai Gow & slots & headed off to the airport. The airport did not have the scanners running but they were randomly groping folks. A big surprise was that 5 TSA agents came to our flight & refrisked folks, searched some bags and decided to test the water bottle of a 4 year old and a mother's breast milk. Thankfully neither the baby nor the 4 yr old was a terrorist and we were all able to board safely. This little security theatre show delayed our plane 20 minutes. On the plane a guy fainted in the aisle. This is why I am home sick today. The guy was running a significant fever when I was assessing him & he coughed all in my face when he came to. Thankfully the guy was just sick, really really sick & fainted. A cardiac event on a plane might not have been a great outcome - surprisingly there is no AED on the plane. The paramedics received him at the gate.

    Surprise
    On the day we came home we had another offer from the Wynn - Tower Suite, gaming credit & RFL again - so hell yeah we are going!
     
    When we Were Young
  2. throwbackid

    throwbackid Guest

    Great report, loved the pictures.
     
  3. Joe

    Joe VIP Whale

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    Nice report and great pix.

    You a Doc or EMT?
     
  4. RVA

    RVA Tourist

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    great report..my wife and I are staying at Encore in early march for a week for the 5th time in 2 years. I always view Wynn and Encore as the same property when I am there. Excited to checkout Cosmo as well.
     
  5. ATXTX

    ATXTX VIP Whale

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    No I am an RN. I didn't see the guy go down, I had my headphones in & my eyes closed. They did an overhead page for a doctor but no one responded so I went & told the stewardess I was a nurse. Just when I got done assessing him an MD showed up & took over, I bet that doc is home sick too.
     
    When we Were Young
  6. sam_marques

    sam_marques Vegas Vlogs Youtube / TeamClareVlogs

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    Thank you, really enjoyed your TR, nice pics too.
     
  7. ATXTX

    ATXTX VIP Whale

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    Oh I completely forgot to include one funny part - when my DH asked me to stop playing blackjack with him.

    I sat down to play with him at an otherwise full table & began my card counting. It's a pretty simple formula for an 8 shoe deck there are 128 10's (10,J,Q,K) and 32 aces. Once the deck gets going it becomes a matter of how many 10's have been dealt that is how I determine if I want a hit or not. This method does not fit in the "rules" he follows. So I wouldn't hit on some number he said I should always hit on. The dealer kept scolding me too but I was winning at that table & I made the dealer bust quite a few times. Still my unorthodox method of play was not sitting well with the other players & my DH asked me if I had found that "cat game" yet.... I can take a hint. I swear it was a table full of actuaries, really what is the fun of a game if all you are doing is managing your risk?
     
    When we Were Young
  8. Jinx

    Jinx VIP Whale

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    Great report, I like the bank idea too, I was thinking about doing something like that last week actually and planning on trying it on my next trip.
     
  9. evoni

    evoni High-Roller

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    Loved your trip report and photos of your suite. Would have liked a bit of food porn, <hint, hint>, perhaps next trip?

    For good pretzel bread, great beef and outstanding chocolate souffle try Cut sometime, unless you already have. :)

    I agree with your assessment of Cosmopolitan and I'm looking forward to staying there in about 10 days.
     
  10. Sophia123

    Sophia123 Tourist

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    Thanks for the great report! We may be staying at the Wynn/Encore in April, so I appreciate your report! Getting excited to go! I like to practice on the computer too before I go and try new games - hooked on Let It Ride at the moment! My friends loved the sangria at the Terrace cafe.
     
  11. codingkw

    codingkw High-Roller

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    What program do you use to practice pai gow? I would like to try that game.
     
  12. Huddler

    Huddler VIP Whale

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    Thanks for the TR. What sort of action do you guys give in order to get RFB at the Wynn/Encore?
     
  13. ATXTX

    ATXTX VIP Whale

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    I used the free play at bogdog - but I am pretty sure this is heavily favored to make you think you can win all the time & start playing with real money online (don't do it!)
    http://casino.bodog.com/free-pai-gow-poker.jsp
    and I have an app on my droid - if you have a droid or an iphone just search the marketplace for free pai gow poker The one on my phone show the "house way" the cards would be played, that's helpful. For instance the dealer at the Cosmo & the Wynn both said that the "house way" if you have a pair and the high pair is 8 or above you split the pair & use one in the high hand & one in the low hand.

    I gotta say the Pai Gow dealers are super friendly & everyone I played with was okay about me sitting last & asking questions on my hand before I played it. It's a slow paced game & very social.
     
    When we Were Young
  14. ATXTX

    ATXTX VIP Whale

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    Well it helps that we are a couple so we get rated as one person... we were supposed to be RFL & the amount we charged to the room over the RFL wasn't huge - in other words we don't abuse what they offer, KWIM? I have to say I am not sure exactly how much we ran through the machines but I played up & down on my same money from beginning to end & we were there at least 6 hours each day. Oh at first I was just using the red card they gave me & I know I accumulated over 1000 points in the first hour so maybe use that as a general calculation. Then the tables which together must rate us at over $250 a hand per play probably a total of around 10 hours for the 3 days. Could be more. I know DH went through his money & all the money I didn't lose :grrr:
     
    When we Were Young
  15. LaRae

    LaRae Low-Roller

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    Enjoyed your TR. Sounds like you had the better gambling luck. Loved the pics of the Wynn.
     
  16. Sophia123

    Sophia123 Tourist

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    IS RFB room, food and beverage?
    and RFL means room, food and limo?
     
  17. Blonde_4_ever

    Blonde_4_ever LasVegas4ever.com

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    Very nice trip!
    Thanks for sharing!
     
  18. ATXTX

    ATXTX VIP Whale

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    I have always taken it to mean Room Food Beverage (everything)
    and Room Food Limited - the limited is usually an amount comped per day /per stay or which restaurants on the property will be comped.
     
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  19. Sophia123

    Sophia123 Tourist

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    Thanks for the explanation!
     
  20. PopMegaphone

    PopMegaphone VIP Whale

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    Nice writeup.

    Although for the most part I'm a gambling cheapskate, I agree with this, particularly during the daytime. The more intimate setting and natural lighting really makes a difference.
     
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