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5 Night Trip and STILL leaving a winner

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by GVR, Apr 10, 2014.

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  1. GVR

    GVR Tourist

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    My Trip Report

    March Madness Trip (3/14 to 3/24) with my buddy from Dallas. I will break the trip down in sections so those that like to read only about a certain topic can skip the rest.

    Flights:
    I made reservations at least 6 months in advance since this is such a busy weekend with March Madness and I couldn't use my American Airlines miles for a 25K round trip....but I could get first class for 25k each way. So that's what I booked and still made pretty good use of my miles since paying for a coach ticket would have been at least $450, even 6 months out. The "drawback" was that I had to get in on Wednesday and leave on Monday. Oh well, looks like I have to spend a bit more time than I would have normally.

    First class on a short flight is kind of a waste of miles, but I have plenty and I refuse to take a cheap Spirit flight and pack my 6'3" frame in a tiny space and have the fool in front of me jack their seat back into my knees.

    The flights coming and going were on time and the meals and drinks were good. Pic was my lunch on the way to Vegas. I didn't have but a couple of drinks since I was the one renting the car. My buddy took the cheap Spirit flight that got in at midnight.
     

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  2. GVR

    GVR Tourist

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    Rooms:

    The first two nights were at the Cosmo and were comp'd. The room was awesome, as always, and the view was spectacular. I will keep giving Cosmo play, even when I am not staying here, so I can get these rooms for free. While I don't spend much time in the room when I'm in Vegas, I love having a nice room with a comfortable bed with such a nice view.
     

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  3. GVR

    GVR Tourist

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    Rooms (part two):

    The final three nights were spent at Mandalay Bay in their main tower. I have stayed here more than any other property on the Strip and I like it. The rooms have nice beds, the pool area is nice and I like the variety of restaurants here and how it is so easy to get out and drive somewhere I want without having to fight the strip traffic like most properties.

    I've had penthouse rooms here before and I like those the best (duh). THE hotel tower has nicer rooms but it's a bit farther from the rest of the action. I haven't been offered a penthouse suite in awhile, but I still get offers to stay at the 4 Seasons section from time to time. I think I'll try to get one of those rooms in the future.

    Only one minor complaint about the rooms at MB - housekeeping was slow and wouldn't get to our room until LATE in the afternoon, even when we'd be out and about by 9.
     

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  4. GVR

    GVR Tourist

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    Gambling

    I play a variety of table games and only dabble in video poker.

    I started off playing craps at Cosmo when I arrived and had 6 hours before my buddy would arrive and I'd have to go pick him up. I will usually put $25 on the pass line and back it up with max odds and will toss out a minimum of $135 across. Starting off, I'd bump that up to $260/$270 across or when I'm doing well. As soon as the thrower hits a point or a couple of numbers, I will bump up my bets.

    The Cosmo was good to me to start. I was up $1825 before I walked away.
     

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  5. GVR

    GVR Tourist

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    More Gambling:

    I really like Pai Gow. It's a perfect game to sit and talk, have a drink and not worry about losing a lot of money all at once (like in craps). You can pass a lot of time just staying about even as long as you don't run into a hot dealer. I always bet $5 on the "fortune bonus" as the dream of hitting a 7 card straight flush with no joker and walking away with $40,000 plus is cool.

    After winning right away on craps, I went to the Pai Gow table and played $100 / hand until I started losing and then would drop down to $50 to $80. I ended up losing about $500 at the table despite hitting a 4 of a kind ($125 fortune bonus win). So much for preserving capital.

    I snapped a quick picture of my hand. They aren't big fans of you taking pics of your hands but I was nice and tipping the dealers well.
     

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  6. breanna61

    breanna61 Super Moderator

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    I love my Cosmo comps! Enjoying your report and photos, looking forward to the rest.
     
  7. GVR

    GVR Tourist

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    More Cosmo gambling:

    After Pai Gow, I went and got my promo chips from the cage ($175) and went into the high limit room and brought in $2k in chips. The table minimum was $200, so my first bet was $200 plus all the promo chips. BLACKJACK!

    Ok, here is where my superstitions make me look strange. I have had the WORST luck playing blackjack at a table when my first hand is a blackjack. I've gambled a long, long time and after I hadn't had a winning session after starting with a blackjack, I made the decision to just leave the table. I don't like doing it. It's a pain for the dealer to cash you back up and I would NOT do this if there were other players there, so that's why I always try to find an empty table. The benefit to this, however, is that I walk away a winner. That is always a good thing.

    I went straight back to craps and had a slight winning session there (up $100). By then it was time to pick up my buddy from the airport and there was no more gambling that night, I think.

    I started off Thursday with another winning craps session (up $420) at 7 in the morning. After a quick breakfast, we headed to NYNY to watch some basketball and bet on some games. We ate and drank at the sporting house (old ESPN zone?) and did pretty well on the games I bet. I was feeling no pain in a short time and this was my bill when we left just past noon. The ticket shows when we showed up. And, no, that was just my bill.

    Here are a couple of my betting slips for the games. Yes, I bet the same game twice. That's what happens when you drink too much. Thank you, Pitt, for covering.
     

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  8. GVR

    GVR Tourist

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    Final Section on Gambling:

    I continued my hot steak gambling the rest of Thursday and was up $2500 by the time I rolled into bed. My buddy, not so much. I tried to teach him craps and he won a little but would turn around and lose it at BJ. Oh well.

    Friday morning we played golf and then checked into Mandalay Bay. I was up and down the rest of the night, never much in either direction, but was still up $3000 by the time Friday ended.

    Saturday was a different story. I was in a good mood for being up and having a great time so far, but I knew I wasn't leaving till Monday morning. I got beat up at the craps table (down $900), then dropped $500 more at pai gow before recovering $750 at the BJ table. I headed back to the craps table and lost $1000 since no other shooter could hit a single number after making the point.

    On tilt, I walked over to the $100 craps table with $4K in chips and played by myself. A $100 pass line bet with full odds ($500 when the point is 8) and $550 across ($100 on 4,5,9,10 and $150 on 6) is rich for my blood and my adrenaline was pumping. It was a bit of a roller coaster and I quickly lost $1500 before I turned it around on had a nice few rolls before I could walk away the table a winner.

    Saturday finishes with me up $3000.

    My final full day of gambling is Sunday since I leave early on Monday. I have to take my buddy to the airport at noon and I am happy being ahead but nervous that I will have a bad session and lose it. I spend part of the afternoon in the Spa, using comps for a massage, etc. before I venture back to the casino.

    I am quickly deterred from playing craps, pai gow and BJ with quick losing sessions at each table. I lose about $1200 and think that Mandalay Bay is NOT going to let me win at this point so I hop in the car and try a different venue: The Hard Rock.

    My last trip to Vegas was in December and the Hard Rock was my savior. I turned $1000 to $5000 there in less than an hour playing craps and blackjack, so I was hoping for a repeat. It was not to be. Their craps tables are like concrete and I immediately lose and even going to the dark side turned futile. I head over to the high limit BJ area and start off with $2k. I play for a couple of hours and buy in for another $1k and eventually lose it all. What made it even worse was at one point I had a good streak going and had gotten to even, despite being down $2k at one point. I drive back to Mandalay Bay EVEN for the trip, despite being up over $3k at one point...

    Heading over to the high limit BJ area at Mandalay Bay, I join a guy from California who looks to be ahead just a little bit. He is friendly and starts to win as soon as I sit down. I am just staying even and he keeps getting all the blackjacks and good double downs. At one point, he must have been ahead $5000 with me playing and I was just about even. The dealers switch and I start making a run, getting lots of double downs against break cards AND the dealer is breaking!! I eventually get to a $3000 profit and I walk away!

    What a relief. Obviously, I was one bad session from losing a couple grand but instead walk away from the final table a winner. Sadly, I see my playing partner sign another marker when I walked by the table a bit later.
     
  9. GVR

    GVR Tourist

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    Food:

    The Wicked Spoon is my favorite buffet in Vegas at this time. I only ate there a couple of times this trip, but it was a treat each time. The breakfast buffet puts all the others to shame. I had the breakfast buffet at Mandalay Bay and they need to fire some people. :thumbsdown:

    One of my favorite restaurants is Mon Ami Gabi at Paris and they did not disappoint. The french onion soup is the best on the planet. I don't know how they do it, but it is something I look forward to on every trip.

    Burger Bar at Mandalay Bay is great and they have a nice beer selection and it was fun to watch one of the basketball games at the bar and eat. I love a great burger and even if I wasn't getting comp'd, I'd still order the Kobe burger with the sweet potato fries.

    I'll make one final shout out to the food at Citizen's at Mandalay Bay. They are one of the last places open at night but they can serve some outstanding meals. We ate there a couple of times and the service and food was tops. The meatloaf had an interesting sauce on it and I'd say it was the best I've ever had.

    Food porn pics:
    1) Wicked Spoon breakfast. This was my second plate and it makes me look like I eat healthy. The first plate looked NOTHING like that one.
    2) The best french onion soup on the planet, courtesy of Mon Ami Gabi. I've had french onion soup at a dozen different places in Paris, France and they don't compare.
    3) Kobe burger
    4) MA, where's the meatloaf!
     

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  10. GVR

    GVR Tourist

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    The rest of the story:

    Golf at the Oasis Golf Club in Mesquite. It was the first round of the year for me and I didn't play too bad. The course is an hour and a half from Mandalay Bay but it features some beautiful holes and is a much better price than some of the other tracks in Vegas.

    One of my favorite things to do in Vegas is play "spot the hooker". During the summer and in the evenings, this can be a little harder than it sounds as a lot of the younger ladies are wearing as little clothing as possible to the clubs. The Cosmo had more than their fair share of working girls and some of them give themselves away by making aggressive eye contact and flagging you down with a "hey, whatcha doing?". Most play it a bit more coy as they don't want to get 86'd from the casino. Mandalay Bay normally has their fair share of working girls but this trip seemed like they must have chased them all out. I don't think I would have bet on any of them being a pro, save this volumptous girl hanging by the elevators. I only took a pic because it seemed like she must have had a butt implant. I don't think the pic shows how outrageous her curves were.

    Three pics: Which one would you like to play?
     

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  11. TIMSPEED

    TIMSPEED Money’s on the way, with CashNetUSA

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    Nice trip!
    I see about $6750 in that rack!!!
     
  12. buttnugget

    buttnugget Tourist

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    That's how much butt implants cost these days?!?!
     
  13. fenway68

    fenway68 VIP Whale

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    Me and my pals play "hooker or slut". Similar idea. One you pay the other you play, either way you could come home with something extra.....!
     
  14. Iamrice

    Iamrice High-Roller

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    Yes it does!!!!!!!
     
  15. TIMSPEED

    TIMSPEED Money’s on the way, with CashNetUSA

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    Upon further review...$5875...wow, baller!
     
  16. queentata

    queentata VIP Whale

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    Very nice report. Glad to see you went home a winner! Whew!
     
  17. bighouse304

    bighouse304 Low-Roller

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    Great Job!!!
     
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