Gambling and golf TR

Trip Report 1/22/05- 1/26/05 (long)

My friend Mike and I flew out on SWA on 1/22. This was in the midst of a snowstorm in Chicago. We were informed by SWA by text message on my cell phone (nice option when weather sucks) that our 8:20am flight was canceled. We rebooked for 11:05am and the plane left 20 minutes late. It was a good thing we switched flights on Thursday from mid-afternoon departure to early morning as the flights in the afternoon never made it out. We arrived on time and both of us scored exit row seats.

Cab to TI. We were staying on strip for two reasons: Mike never stayed on strip before and we had a convention we could attend at MGM on Monday or Tuesday, which was my excuse for coming to Vegas in the first place. Rates through casino marketing were 189,69,69,99. Not too bad for strip. Check in was a breeze. We walked around a bit after dropping bags in room. I did not see any 2 deck games for less than $100/hand at 2pm. Arrgggh! They did have lots of single deck 6/5 with $10 minimums, and lots of CSM with $5-10 minimums. Right there I decided I am not going to play BJ here. Craps were always $10 even after Saturday night. We were hungry so we gave Dishes, the TI buffet a try. It was $17 and it really sucked. We had plans to meet up with DonD from this board at the Plaza around 6, so after walking over to Mirage and back, we cabbed over to DT.

We walked down Fremont taking in the sites and headed into the Plaza. Hey, new carpet!
We found the Keno bar where DonD was to meet us and he was on the other side. He yelled “are you Marty?†and we went over and introduced ourselves and had a few drinks. His wife Jenn came over and met us, and Don gave us the tour of the plaza’s facilities and introduced us to some of the casino employee’s, which was real nice.

Mike and I did a 2 hour stint on the $5 craps table. I ended up with $201 from my $200 buy in. We went to 2 deck BJ afterwards. Mins were $5 and I played 2 hands for about 2 hours losing my $200 buy in. Don gambled with us on and off during this period and he invited Mike and I to come to brunch with him and his wife which was nice. We accepted and went to gamble elsewhere DT. Lost $100 at 4Q, won $100 at Fremont, lost $200 at GN on craps. It was 2am at this point so we cabbed back to TI.

Got up about 8am and went to check spreads for championship games. Bet $330 on ATL+6. Dooh. Called Don and went to Plaza. He met us and told me and Mike we would be eating around 11am. Perfect. We found a 100 play VP with multi-denominations. We put in $100 a piece and played at the 1 cent level. About 40 minutes in 4 deuces with ace kicker pops up on the deal. Awesome. Mike saves the 5 cards and all the hands light up circled in pretty pink. Only pink thing I’ve ever seen that was prettier than that was Jan Barkowiak’s panties back in high school. Don and Jenn came over and decide to eat. This was the fancy Sunday champagne brunch in the Center Stage restaurant. It was great with a fantastic view of Fremont street. They had prime rib that tasted as good as it looked and I had a 2 inch cut. Everything we tried was delicious. Price on the sign outside said price was $20, which I thought was a steal. Highly recommended. Thanks to Don for this nice treat.

We watched the Eagles/Falcons at Plaza book. Had to stand but that was no big deal as we had been sitting a bunch already. Lost that game. Layed $300 on the Pats and went to get Mike’s free shirt he won on his big hand of VP. We bid Don farewell an again thanked him for brunch, and headed to Main Street Station as we both had never been. I played $5 caps on a choppy table and lost my $200 buy in just over 30 minutes. Played slots and VP and made $50. Lost $175 on BJ. See a pattern? Thank god the Pats covered. We went back to Plaza and cashed my ticket. We went back to TI. Went to Kahunaville to meet Tranen from this board. We arrive about 15 minutes late and had a couple drinks until 8Pm and he did not show or we missed him. Mike was tired so I went to Monte Carlo where some people attending the convention were staying. No luck finding them so I played a 6 deck shoe game and made $15 over an hour. MC had 2 tables of 2 deck at $10 on Sunday night. Went to Stardust next and lost $200 on BJ an $100 on craps. So much for my late night casino run. It was over by midnight.

Monday we were up early for golf at LV Golf Club. This is the municipal course in LV. Cost was $69 with cart and bucket of range balls. This was a nice well run facility. Not too hard for a couple of hackers. Mike shot 100, me 105. Not too bad since neither of us had picked up a club since October. The round took 4 hours 20 minutes. Worth every penny.

Went to MGM for convention. It was closed from 3-430pm so we hung out at the food court and grabbed some pizza. Ran into some people I knew, and went into the show for about 2 hours, then went back to TI. Changed clothes and went to Plaza and did the hundred play again for -100. I got a comp for the Chop Chop Buffet and we ate there. It was edible. The meat balls in marinara sauce were quite good. They were the big kind you get in a good meatball sandwich, so I ate about 15. We called it a nite.

We had a 9am tee time for Desert Pines and we arrived at 8:00. Cost was $135 with cart and bucket of range balls. It was not crowded so we teed off early and were done in 3 hours 30 minutes. A beautiful course but the greens really sucked. They had sanded them recently and made putting a chore. We put a 3 put limit on today’s game. Mike shot 101 and I shot 104. We defiantly could have broken 100 without all the 3 puts. We asked the cart man about the greens. He said that type of grass needs more heat to really grow right and in April will be perfect. Thanks, I think. Also the yardages listed on the score cards were not even close to actual yardages. The facility was nice, but for $135 a round, it could have been better. We still had a great time.

Got back to TI and relaxed. Mike went to Flamingo for CS poker but tables were full. I met him at Mirage in the book. We were going to watch Ill/ Wis and the Bulls /Denver games tonight. He played VP and I ate at the Cravings buffet. It was pricey at $24, but it was much better than the crap at TI. Prime rib was good, pizza was good, and desserts were ok.

After eating I found some $25 2 deck BJ. I bought in for $500 and was up $250 after ½ hour. First hand of new shoe with 6 players shows only 1 ace and 1 ten, so I put $300 in the circle and draw 20. Dealers get BJ. Shit! Lose a few more hands and cash out with $210. Watch BB game. Hit on ILL, Ill State, and need Bulls -5 to cover and hit my 3 team parlay. Bulls win by 4. Shit! Mike hit 4 games for +400. More BJ. Turn my $200 by in into $300 and put it all in circle again. Draw 10 vs. dealer 6. Take $300 out of my wallet and get a 3. Dealer pulls a 4 card 19 to sink me. Damn. Leave Mirage for CS at Flamingo. Get whacked for $300. Call it a nite.

Cab to McCarran early am, and back at the office by 4pm CST.

Recap thoughts

-While the strip is pretty spectacular to see, I won’t be staying or playing there again unless my wife or son is with me. Gaming sucks.
-Downtown rocks. One casino needs a big sportsbook down there.
-Mike did pretty well. With his air and 1 round of golf ( I treated for the other round) and gambling he only spent $400 total
-TI casino is smaller than most strip casinos.
-Dishes buffet is terrible.
-Cravings buffet was good but pricey at $24.
-Plaza Sunday brunch is great for $20, better for free. Thanks DonD.
-Golf was great.
- Weather was perfect. 4 days sunny and 70 degrees F.
- Lost $2100 over 4 days, most of it on last day. This was ½ my bankroll that I earned by doing some expert witness work last summer.
- No trips planned until Dec. 05.

[ January 27, 2005, 12:25 PM: Message edited by: IllMarty ]

 

Marty,

Good read. The Plaza is slowly coming along with the Barrick changes. I think it will be an all right place as time goes on. I had a good meal at Center Stage in November. Great food and reasonable prices. I'm with on the gaming on the strip. The DT or off-strip places seem to treat a fellow better.

Say hello to Jan for me the next time you see her. As the AC/DC song title says - you supposed to "Sink the Pink".....

Lossing two large kinda sucks though....Get em' in December!!

rossW

 

Marty...great trip report, although you suffered some tough beats.

Brunch at the Center Stage sounds excellent!

Mikey

 

Thanks guys.

I'm not too bummed about it. I had it set aside for a while, and still have half, so it could have been worse. That last BJ session did suck when it happened.

 

Wow you took a bit of a beating on the tables. Sounds like you really had a good time.

I will muster up the nerve to gamble next time I come to vegas.

 

Nice trip report, Marty. As I drove to work last Saturday in the blizzard I was wondering if you were lucky enough to get out of Chicago. I’m about 2 hours south and figured you didn’t make it. Glad to see you did.

Ouch... just reading about your gambling sessions hurts but at least you had a good time and got out of this deep freeze for a while.

[ January 27, 2005, 02:24 PM: Message edited by: Beach Crazy ]

 

Marty, we had a great time also. Don't know if you read my report yet but we didn't do any good either this trip. Next time we are in town at the same time maybe we can get some good luck and play into the daylight hours. You and Mike are really nice people. It was a pleasure. Don

 

Confirmation that golf in Vegas, while generally expensive, is the cheapest form of entertainment available.

It's crazy how high the gaming minimums are on the Strip now, isn't it?

 

Beach,
Yea, it was nip and tuck whether we would get out. Sucks to come home to the DEEP FREEZE.Where are you at? B/N, Chambana?

Don,
Thanks for the kind words and dinner. Me, Mike, and some of the other fellas from work are planning on an early December trip. Maybe we will see you there?

Terry,
Amen on the golf comment. We were kicking ourselves for not playing another 18 on Tuesday when we finished early.

The minimums are crazy on the strip.

When I see all those people spending their "entertainment" money on 6/5 BJ, it makes me ill. There was some DT this trip too.

Marty

 

Marty said:
Me, Mike, and some of the other fellas from work are planning on an early December trip. Maybe we will see you there?

Holy sh*t, that is over ten months away! Talk about control.

 

Yea Don,
It sucks to be us. LOL

 

Marty,

Check out the deal at Angel Park for your trip with the fella's. You buy a card for like $250, which entitles the card holder and three guests (which means you can split the cost four ways) to drastically discounted rates...like $50 on the weekends, plus a bunch of free stuff, like Range time, and free rounds on the lighted par 3 course. The card is good for like a year and a half, depending on when you buy it.

There are two 18 hole courses and the par three at AP, and there are also two other courses (one is a US Open qualifying course) that the rates apply to.

It's really a great deal... check it out on their website.

T.

[ January 28, 2005, 08:53 AM: Message edited by: LV Terry ]

 

I'm down in B/N. Looks like we're gonna get some more of that again tonight Where are you?

 

I am in Shorewood. My office in Romeoville. Many fond memories of B//N for me. ISU Class of 86

Town sure has grown alot in 19 years. Nice looking water tower out where 55 and veterans spliton the NE side of town.

Marty

 

Yes it is What line of work did you say you were in??

Actually I just live a few miles north of that water tower.

 

I paint water towers. Mike from the TR was the foreman on that job. Nice green and red letters.

So is that Normal? Are you in the Insurance industry?

 

No, actually I'm a 25-year-old exotic dancer at Big Al's over in Peoria.....oh no, wait a minute....that's not me No, I don't work for State Farm, but I do work for a marketing company that handles a lot of their business. Tell Mike the tower looks great, seriously. OK, I won't hijack this thread anymore.


[ January 28, 2005, 12:57 PM: Message edited by: Beach Crazy ]

 

Hey Marty, did your company do any of these tanks?
http://216.170.15.163/wtower.html

 

Yes Don.
The one at Chicagoland Speedway. I was working full time in the office when my foreman who was to do that tank broke his leg during winter layoff. I ended up running that job. I did all the sign work the with the help of some of my great employees. It won SPFA "Elevated Tank of the Year" in 2002. We have about 16 such awards in the last 20 years or so.