Trip Report: April 12-15, IP, solo trip...very fun.

Hi. I thought I'd share my trip report as I really enjoy reading everyone else's. This was my first solo trip to Vegas and my 5th trip. The first four trips were for work, so I was looking forward to this one as I had no work commitments. I had a free plane ticket and some vacation to burn, so I booked three nights at the IP for April 12-15. My wife couldn't join me, so I went by myself. One day before my trip, I payed off my school loan in full, so I am completely debt free - the Vegas trip, then, was a bit of a congratulatory celebration to myself

I'm a low roller, so don't expect to read much about my big wagers!

April 12
Landed at LAS airport about 4pm (flight arrived about 1.5 hours later than scheduled). I took the Grayline shuttle along with some other folks to the strip hotels. A couple got off the shuttle near Bill's, so I decided to get off the shuttle and walk to the IP from there. It was great to be out in the warm, sunny weather (I live in northern Minnesota).

I was a bit concerned about the IP as I read a lot of negative reports. However, my wait at check-in was only 10 minutes or so (I was expecting an hour or longer!) I checked into my room and was pleasantly surprised. Very simple, but very clean. I changed clothes and headed out to do some exploring. I walked in and out of many of the casinos, all the way up to Encore. I even popped into many of the sports books to see what they were all about. I just love the Vegas vibe...people gambling, drinking, and just having fun. I was soaking it all in.

I ended up playing slots at the Flamingo and Bally's most of the night, and didn't really win anything. My gambling budget was $100/day ($300 total for the trip) so I didn't expect to win. Winning money isn't my goal - being entertained, is, however (and Vegas never fails!) I played until about 2:30am and drank many long island iced teas and kamikazes. After, I strolled around the Carnaval Court area for a while, popping into and out of casinos to watch people play craps and blackjack. Again, the whole vegas vibe is just awesome. I had a piece of pizza at the Casino Royale snack bar and then another piece at the Bally's food court. I ended up going to bed at about 4am.

April 13
Woke up at about 9am and headed south on the strip to tour Paris, PH, MGM Grand, Exaclibur, NYNY, and Luxor. I didn't gamble in any of these places...just soaking in the vibe, popping into sportsbooks, etc. I did check out the lions at MGM Grand and the conservatory at the Bellagio. I ended up playing slots again at Bally's and the Flamingo. The cocktail waitress service at both of these places were outstanding. I was tipping $1/drink and they were coming back as fast I could drink them. Many more long islands and kamikazes were consumed. I had a few pieces of pizza later in the evening and it was great to eat crappy food and not feel guilty (I tend to eat very healthy). But, I was getting pretty tired and went to bed about 1pm.

April 14
I got up about 8am and walked north to Riviera and Circus Circus. I popped into and out of many casinos again, just to soak in the vibe. Once again, I played slots at Bally's and Flamingo and cocktail service was incredible. By 7pm I was getting pretty lit. I committed to quit drinking at midnite, because I had to catch a 5am shuttle back to the airport for my 8am flight on April 15. I ended up playing at Flamingo until about 2:30am. I then went back to IP and played slots there until about 4:20am before I went up to my room to shower and pack up my clothes. I met the shuttle driver at 5am and was off to the airport on no sleep.

By the time I got home Friday night, I had been up for about 37 hours straight, but I felt good. I had a great time and I can't wait to go back. I have two $400 flight vouchers for United Airlines, so if I can score a good hotel rate, I hope to go back to Vegas again this year. I don't think my play will get me any comped rooms, however

Out of the $300 I allotted for gambling, I ended up losing only $90, even after playing slots for at least 20 hours. It was a great trip and I enjoyed it all. I even had several of the $1 frozen margaritas at Casino Royale...I wish I would have known about these on earlier trips.

Thanks for reading!

 

Good report,
Very good money management to play for three days on $300 bucks.

 

You concentrated all your play at CET props...you must have been recycling your winnings through to play so long. In a few weeks or a month, log into CETs website, you will have some free rooms show up on the calendar. Always go to the availability calendar logged in, the My Offers tab is almost always worse than just looking at the calendar. CET is very liberal with free standard rooms at the lower properties. Okay, I take that all back...I am assuming that you got a TR card and played with it in the machine...LOL.

 

THanks for posting.

If you used your CET players card for your slot play, log into the Players club online. In a few weeks don't be surprised if you see free rooms for a couple of nights, even for your limited play.

 

Nice report. I too love low rolling it.

Sent from my EVO via Tapatalk pro.

 

Nice TR, Thanx for sharing. Can't believe you stayed at IP and didn't hit the Hash House A Go Go.

 

Good TR. 37 hours! Stamina, just don't have it anymore

 

Thanks for the tips. Yes, I did play with my Total Rewards card the entire time. I have about 357 reward points, which if I understand correctly, means I put about $1,700 into the machines. Is that how it works (1 point for every $5 in on slots)? I'll log into my account in the near future to see if I get any deals. However, I'm not going to expect much I can't wait to go back, however!

 

I must be weak, old or both, as I can't go 24 hours nonstop.

You didn't speak of soaking in the downtown atmosphere. Have you been downtown before?

You must have hit some good payouts along the way if you played all those hours on a $300 budget. Nicely done.

And you got home in time for the Friday night snow. How many inches did you get, assuming your city is north of St. Cloud.

 

Hey fellow Minnesotan! Great trip on a low budget. Can you believe it snowed on April 16? Tell me the weather was much better in Vegas?!!

 

B

matti...we've got a QB nicknamed Matty-Ice down in Atlanta... you keep playing that long on that budget, you may just become the Matti-Ice of low rollers...great report

 

Very enjoyable report I think you will be pleasantly surprised when you check out your CET offers!

 

Yes, the weather was much better in Vegas than back here in Minnesota. We got about 2" of snow on the day I got home....that makes me want to get back to Vegas that much sooner!

 

Nice report, congrats on finishing paying off the student loan, as others have mentioned, keep an eye on the calendar for HET properties, you'll likely see some discounted rates at least and possibly weekday at IP to start.