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Caesars/Green Valley Trip 6/24-6/29

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by drdestructo, Jul 2, 2012.

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  1. drdestructo

    drdestructo Low-Roller

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    My Trip Report

    After a side trip to Zion National Park, my wife and I drove in from Utah to catch up with my dad and two sisters who were meeting us in Vegas.

    On the drive down, we received word that they had been slightly delayed leaving from Chicago. It was 8am, and now with time to kill, we stopped at the Gold Coast to use some matchplay coupons. My wife is a novice at blackjack and humored me by sitting with me for a little over an hour finishing up $25. She went to play some slots, while I continued until she was ready for breakfast. I cashed out up $75.

    After laying out multiple options for breakfast, my wife chose Cafe Cortez, where we had some 2 for 1 coupons that they sent out in the monthly flier. She wanted her "breakfast of champions"... a Jackie Burger and a chocolate shake. I opted for a corned beef sandwich. Food was good and with the coupon very reasonable. We played awhile at the El Cortez and left basically even. My family had booked Caesars for a few nights, and although I am not a fan of CET properties overall, I got a free night there so we we went to check in. Although my offer was for a basic room, since I was there only for one night, I requested and received an upgrade to the Augustus Tower. My wife had never been to the Qua Spa, so we both went there to kill more time until my family arrived.

    Spa time was awesome! Feeling refreshed, we met up with my family who had now checked in. They were famished, so we drove over to Amore's Pizza and Pasta for some Chicago comfort food. They make excellent deep dish and thin crust Chicago pizza. Also, they make an excellent homemade minestrone soup! After our delicious dinner, we headed back downtown, where we gravitated form casino to casino ending at El Cortez before we headed back to Caesars.

    On Monday morning, I took my wife and dad back to Cafe Cortez for breakfast, while my sisters had spa treatments at Caesars. Out pland were to meet up with them late in the morning to go to the Mob Museum downtown. My wife again opted for her Jackie Burger and shake...and since it looked so good the day before, I ordered it as well. We used another 2 for 1 coupon. Since we still had a lot of time before we were to meet up with the rest of the family, we drove to Henderson to check in at Green Valley, where my wife and I and my dad would call home the next few days. We combined our Stations offer back to back with a recent Groupn offer to stayy for 4 days at this property. Although we were early, check in went smoothly and we were back downtown a little after 11am. My sisters who have never been known for their punctuality were running late, so we killed more time playing downtown until they called to say they were on their way around 2:30pm. We met up with them at the Mob Museum. My dad and I each had a $4 off coupon from LVA, and my other sister was able to get $4 off as well by showing her teacher ID from Illinois. We spent three hours going through the exhibits and found the attraction entertaining and informative.

    We left close to 6pm to take my wife and one sister to the Mirage where they had tickets to see the 7pm performance of "Love". My wife and I had seen the show, but my sister hadn't and had this on her to do list. She was not disappointed, and my wife enjoyed the show again as well. We headed over to Ellis Island after the show for dinner, where we found out that the Kitchen was closed for cleaning, and they were only offering a limited menu. After some discussion, the group decided on ...you guessed it...Cafe Cortez and more 2 for one coupons...lol. Our group ordered a variety of items off the menu and all were pleased. Food and service were good. We gain played downtown for awhile, then split up to get back to Caesars and Gren Valley respectively.

    On Tuesday morning, my dad, wife and I headed to the Cracked Egg for breakfast on Green Valley Parkway. Breakfast was excellent and instead of toast, you had the choice of freshly baked coffee cake if you so inclined. It was excellent! They also have coupons on their website for 20% off the check on random days, and Tuesday the 26th was one of those days. Nice surprise. The group decided that they wanted to check out the Pinball Hall of Fame on Tropicana for a few hours. This was a pleasant diversion, as everyone passed time playing several of the machines during our visit.

    One of my sisters is bingo nut and had asked to play a session...since none of us had been out to South Point and they played on the odd hours of they day, we went there. My dad and I played Blackjack while the girls played bingo. Whiel they did not win, they said they enjoyed it very much. Everyone continued to play a few hours on their own until we decided to go to dinner to make our reservation at the Flame at the El Cortez. We had now been joined by my nephew, brother-in-law and a family friend, so we had eight in out party. My dad had a $75 dining credit, and almost everyone had either an ACG or LVA coupon for dining at the Flame.

    While we have had great experiences here before, the food and service on this evening was exemplary. 5 of us had the T-bone, 3 had the filet. We had two bottles of wine, everyone had a salad or soup as an appetizer, and we ordered multiple side dishes. Before discounts, and with gratuity added for the party of 8, out bill came out to $410 . After the dining credit and coupons were taken off, the bill was $162. That made our night. We all went our own ways to gamble into the night.

    Wednesday morning my wife, dad and I ate at the Feast buffet for breakfast at Green Valley as it came with our Station offer. We then played there until it was time for dinner. We all met at the M Resort. I had a free buffet with line pass for four. Our family friend is wheelchair bound and the VIP line will accommodate the disabled with up to a party of four, so the eight of us were able to get in line together to be seated. I had played awhile before dinner, and found that I had put enough points on my card for another free buffet (the points do not come off your card for this). Food selection and quality was good tonight, and everyone was full). I wanted to stay and play for a short time, so my wife, one of my sisters and I stayed at the M while the rest of the group took a drive to Sam's Town to play. We would meet them later. My wife struggled on the slots, while I had one of my three winning blackjack sessions of the trip, cashing in +$600.

    We drove over to Sam's Town, where I had never visited, and walked around a bit getting aquainted with the property. We located the rest of the group at a $5 blackjack table. Since there was no room at their table, I jumped on another table and my wife looked to play some slots. I was up and down for a few hours and finished down $200. My wife and one sister were getting tired and eager to get back to Green Valley, so I reluctantly drove them back. The rest of the group had moved over to Green Valley, so we made plans to meet at 8am at the breakfast buffet and then spend time atthe ppol, where I had made arrangements for a cabana rental.

    I woke up at 7am to a text from my sister stating that the rest of the group had pulled an all nighter at Sam's Town and were just leaving that property. The good news was that they all won. The five players winnings ranged from $150 to $1200. Six of the group actually made it to breakfast before crashing.

    The cabanas at Green Valley are actually quite reasonable. Sunday through Thursday they are $150 for the day, and can be rented as early as 9am. The cost includes the cabana with stocked fridge (included sodas (diet and regular), energy drinks, and a few bottles of Pellegrino also. It had a flat screen plasma TV, safe and ceiling fan. It also had misters on the exterior for the sun worshipers. We were also given a pastry tray in the morning, and a fruit tray and chips and salsa in the afternoon. Another nice feature was servers occasionally stopping by with some refreshing frozen grapes and a few daquiri samples to help during the heat of the afternoon. We had three rooms with our offers which came with $50 resort credit. I had planned to pay in cash, but since we had other plans on Thursday evening, everyone offered up their resort credit which covered the cost of the cabana. I took care of the bar tab...lol...I probably came out on the short end of that deal as the frozen beverages were flowing freely.

    After a day at the pool, one of our party was really jonesing to visit and play at the Orleans. Since we had no distinct dinner plans, we decided to eat at the Cafe there. My sister who had cleaned up on the blackjack table the night before ($1200), graciously picked up the tab. My dad's birthday was Friday which would be our travel day, so we ordered an ice cream sundae for him (his favorite) and the waiter put a candle on top so we could sing and wish him a happy birthday.

    We scattered after dinner, and played for awhile. Nothing of note here...many of the crew were still a little spent from the night before and the heat of the pool, so we ventured back to Green Valley with plans to meet at the buffet for breakfast one last time before we all left for home. I moved to an empty $10 blackjack table where I had my "celebrity" encounter. Shortly after I began play, I noticed a gentlemen waling around the pit surveying the games. He eventually settled in at my table with a large stack of black ($100) chips. I looked up to see Mike Matusow professional poker player. I did not mention that I recognized him, and we began play...we went through two shoes (double deck) and then he called the pit boss over to request the game be changed to higher limits. This is when he first spoke to me saying that he wanted to prevent "drive by's" wrecking the flow of the game. He said you knwo what your doing but you never knwo about others. I thern thanked him and said that's a compliment coming from you Mike"...so he knw that I knew who he was. We were doing okay and I asked him how things were going for him in the World Series of Poker and he said he cashed in a few times early in the week, but that the last few days were horrible. Then a new dealer came in and he lost thirteen hands in a row. I was fortunate to ride this wave with a few winning hands. By now he said he'd had enough and picked up his remaining chips and left. Although he was getting drilled hand after hand, Mike "The Mouth" never was cross or beligerant. He was actually a nice guy. He wished me luck and left the table...I played a few more hands and since the cards were still going the dealers way, I finally went to bed down $300.

    On Friday morning we met at the Feast buffet for the last time. I drove my sister over to pick up her beach towel she had won at a promotion the day before at the Orleans for a number of blackjacks. Every time any player (not the dealer) gets a blackjack you would get your card stamped. A completed card meant that you got a beach towel. I got one myself for my play the night before. I then dropped my sister of for her flight back to Chicago. My wife and I did not leave until 5pm, and it was only noon so we went back to the Orleans to kill time. The remainder of the crew met us there as well and we played blackjack all afternoon..everyone holding their own and amassing more cards for beach towels. We won a total of 14...LOL!

    Finally it was time for all of us to make out way to the airport. Our flight back to Orlando was slightly delayed, as was my family's flight back to Chicago. We all ended up getting back home several hours later than expected due to weather delays. My wife and I finally got home at 4am on Saturday morning.

    It was a great week. I have had a few winning trips in a row, so the law of averages caught up with me. One sister left a winner, one sister left down slightly, and my dad was down a few hundred. I was the biggest loser in the group. This was tempered by the excellent time I had seeing my dad and sisters.

    If you made this far, thanks for reading.
     
  2. HM7

    HM7 Tourist

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    Very entertaining read Doc. I love reading about peoples adventures in Vegas.
     
  3. sunny123

    sunny123 Tourist

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    Caesars etc

    Thanks for taking the time to write such a detailed report.
    It included information that I've often wondered about, such as cabana cost.
    Enjoyed reading it. Thanks.
     
  4. sybgal

    sybgal VIP Whale

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    Really enjoyed your report. Thanks for posting it!!
     
  5. denluvslv

    denluvslv Low-Roller

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    I enjoyed your trip report. It was nice that you got to spend time with your family.:thumbsup:
     
  6. JosieCat

    JosieCat VIP Whale

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    What a great report. Sounds like you really had a good time with your family. Thanks for posting.
     
  7. LaRae

    LaRae Low-Roller

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    Sounds like a great family trip! Glad you all had such a good time. Thanks for the tip for the cabana at Green Valley. That is a great deal.
     
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2012
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