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27 Hours in Vegas, at Venetian for the 1st Time, What Might I do?

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by CVG2LAS, Apr 28, 2014.

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  1. CVG2LAS

    CVG2LAS Tourist

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    My Trip Report

    Happy Monday. As I type this, I am flying to Vegas with a work associate. He has a meeting tomorrow. I do not, I only have a scheduled hang-over.

    My work is caught up, my pocket is full of $, I've had plenty of sleep the last few nights, and I have 27 free hours in my favorite free city.

    I am not sure I can do a live report. I hope to be too busy livin' to do that.

    But we have no plans, which is the best type of plan. We are going to Wing It.

    I have never stayed at the Venetian. But I might try to find some good Italian food there?

    I might play Craps for 20 of the 27 hours.

    I might get a work out in tomorrow AM.

    I might hit the pool at some point to catch some rays.

    I might get a massage.

    We might go downtown to play low-limit craps, if only to teach my friend.

    I might get 4 - 5 hours sleep.

    I might just gamble all night.

    I might win. That will free up more fun money for the Derby next week.

    I might lose. That will make me play a little scared next week.

    But I will definitely be having fun....
     
  2. breanna61

    breanna61 Super Moderator

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    I'm heading to Vegas tomorrow evening; have a blast!!
     
  3. TwiceTheJava

    TwiceTheJava Low-Roller

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    If you love 80s hair band music, The Bourbon Room is really fun, especially the after party following Rock of Ages shows.
     
  4. sweetcanadian

    sweetcanadian High-Roller

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    Go to buddy v's, should get you good italian food there.

    Are you only in vegas 27 hours or do you just have the 27 hours free and work rest of time?
     
  5. CVG2LAS

    CVG2LAS Tourist

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  6. derek33

    derek33 Tourist

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    $weet....can't wait to hear all the details :beer:
     
  7. CVG2LAS

    CVG2LAS Tourist

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    Winning Streak Continues, Amazing 1 Day Trip

    First of all, 27 hours might be just the right size trip. Sometimes. At least this time.

    I enjoyed one full day of being semi-disconnected from the world, a full day of hanging out in fantasyland. Since I was caught up on work, and life, and I only had 1 night, I had the opportunity to really go after it. Sleep? Optional. Lots of Gambling? Mandatory.

    The trip started great, with my work-associate-friend (calling him J) and I both sitting in first class on Delta from CVG2LAS (the best looking airplane ticket out there). Going to Vegas is fun enough, but add pre-gaming for 4 hours in a big seat with a buddy makes it even better. I think I drank 4 vodka-Frescas on that flight. Who drinks vodka Fresca? I guess I do. Only because 3 olives Bubble Vodka isn’t available. But we enjoyed those Frescas, and some sort of Breakfast Enchilada (that was actually good), and the movie Anchorman 2 (holla to me for having an earbud splitter). We both found the movie laugh-out-loud hilarious. I am not sure if that's because of the movie content, the drinks, or the fact that we were heading to playland and I had a pocket full of cash, including 70 (ea) $100 bills in my pocket (80% new blue bills, 20% old school green) – courtesy of all my recent gambling victories.

    Now, I was having a little trepidation about this trip. My amazing wife, who somewhat keeps me in check, was sadly left behind to take care of the important business of raising a family (guilty me). In addition, I had the upcoming Derby weekend to consider. A weekend where I would be attending said Derby, and would be (will be) hosting several individuals, some of whom will desire to visit the nearby Horseshoe Casino. So, I had big gambling in the near future. I didn’t want to be recovering from some sort of big loss while attending the amazing-gambling-weekend that the Derby is. Know what I mean? Anybody else here have a gambling problem?

    The flight landed relatively on time. I was annoyed that my friend J actually checked his bag, as I had vision of losing 60 minutes at LAS waiting for it to arrive. I didn’t want to spend 3.7% of my precious Vegas time watching the carousel. However, his bag was off by the time we navigated our way to bag claim #16 (that's a lot of bag claims) – that was a sign of things to come. No arranged limo for us this trip, so we just scooted over to the World’s Fastest Moving 100 Person Taxicab line. 10 minutes later we were on our way to the Venetian.

    Since J was actually attending a meeting at a conference the following morning, and I was tagging onto his trip, we were staying at his hotel, or the Venetian. Now, in all my dozens and dozens of trips, this one property I had never stayed at. I always wanted to, but it never happened. It helped that I actually had an offer for 3 nights, 100 in f&b credit, and $150 in free play chips. This offer must have been generated from a brief visit a year ago. I went there to go to a club, and I took a break from the club with a 60 minute, 1700 loss at Craps. I guess that's enough to generate an offer, and that worked out conveniently for this trip. I had a different offer from Cosmo that included $800 in freeplay, which was tough to pass up, but I couldn’t deal with the hassle of double booking. And that offer will just give me an excuse to come again soon.

    I was excited about trying the Venetian, as I always felt the public areas are visually stunning, on par with Encore or Cosmo. Maybe even better. That, and I have never been to Italy. Haha. At check in (11:30 am), the Invited Guest Station Attendant informed me that there were no rooms ready. Hmmm. However, if I wanted to upgrade to an even bigger suite for $100 a night, I could get a room right now, in the Venetian Tower. $100 upgrade on a comped room on a Monday is ridiculous, but in a moment of weakness, I acquiesced. After all, let’s get this party started! Time is short!

    I got to the room, and was excited to see a double door. Yes. In fact, I shamelessly texted a pic of the big door to a back-home buddy, and I informed him “double door hotel room = baller”. He replied “all the doors in Venetian are double door. Baller there = quad doors”. He was semi-right. The room was not that great. It might have been a couple hundred more square feet than a regular room, but that was hardly noticeable. And the view was plain awful. But most of all, the furnishings were underwhelming. I have been spoiled by Wynn, Encore, and Cosmo! The Venetian’s Architecture had made me set my expectations too high. Though I was slightly disappointed, I do admit that the room’s sunken living room was a cool feature. AND, I really don’t care about the room when I am not with my wife. Put me in a closet but give me access to a BJ table and I am happy.

    J and I dropped our bags (his room wasn’t ready), raided the mine-bar for Chardonnay (the current rock-star beverage, FYI), and headed down to get our gamble on. He is a very conservative gambler, so this was going to be interesting.

    We eased into things by playing $5 WOF. Well, really just me, with J watching. Then $25 WOF, the most exciting slot machine on the planet. I was quickly down $500. No Spins.

    Then we went over to a $50 BJ table. Won $1k, now up $500 for trip. My conservative friend was also up $100. He bought in for 4 units, and cashed out 6 units – fragile gambling by him.

    Then I mosied over to Freebet Blackjack. What an interesting game! Free splits and double downs in exchange for 22 is a push. I did quite well, winning $2500 and putting me up $3k early into the trip. Sweet! I don’t remember any hands, but I know that casino sponsored splits and double downs paid off more than the 22 pushed.

    J and I took a break and hung out at the bar, talking to some other conference attendees that he knew. At this point it was only 2:00 in the afternoon, but I was in full-swing Vegas mode. Super buzz from cocktails and gambling. In normal life I was probably technically “drunk”, but of course out there that only equates to “buzz”. Hell, its only 2PM, I haven’t had lunch yet, there is no way I could be drunk. But I was giddy-happy-buzzed. What’s next!!!

    We realize that we were starving, so we went off to find a slice of Venetian Italian Pizza. But instead, we found ourselves in some sort of middle-America foodcourt a place that didn’t seem like it belonged in Venetian. There was a Pizza place, but we didn’t hit that. Instead, we were drawn to the fine cuisine of Nathan’s HotDog’s, of all places. Their natural-casing hotdogs and fries can be a guilty pleasure. Particularly when smothered with fake cheese sauce, mustard, and extra salt. Holla. After gorging on that, J went to check in his room. I was like “why bother”, just crash in my room. Weird.

    While he checked in, I wandered into the Casino Maze. I put $100 into a $1 video Roulette machine – a first for me. Have you seen those? I was playing 17 (I guess because of BeeeJay?), 2, 22, 36, and some other numbers I can’t remember. I have no Roulette system, beyond throwing random chips out there, and seeing what happens. I hit something every spin, and ended up cashing out $520.00 Amazing.

    Then I went back to freebet black jack and won another $500. Up $4k, its only 5PM, and I am feeling great.

    So I went over to craps, with J watching. It was just me on the table. I was playing $50 on the passline (actually kind of aggressive for me), full odds, and buying most of the numbers for $100 or more. At this table, I had something remarkable happen:
    After establishing a point of 6, and placing a 2 way hard six for $25 and $5, I rolled four consecutive hard six’s in a row. And I pressed each time. So I was paid off on $25, $50, $75, and $100 hard sixes– plus winning some serious odds bets on that same 6. The hundred hard six alone paid $900.00. I cashed out up another $3.5k, bringing my total up to $7500. To be honest, it felt astonishing. I had to immediately call my Gambling Soul Mate in Boston, as he is huge craps player. He was very, very proud of me.

    And I have written before, I have had a ton of lucky streaks lately, and to be up $7,500 after just a handful hours in town, with never really “battling” or being down, felt surreal. But there I was, sending out happy texts to my wife and gambling buddy.

    Its 6:00 PM, and it was time to take a break. So J and went for a strip walk. It was one of those Vegas nights where the temperature was absolutely perfect. It was great to be outside, up a ton of money, enjoying a buzz, and strolling down the strip. HIGH ON LIFE, Sirs. We made our way to the Linq, and I thought it was very cool. Lots of people were wandering around, eating on the various café patios, and checking out the High Roller. After stopping at the Yard House for a Moscow Mule ($4 souvenir cup? sure), we exited the Linq and entered the Flamingo. BTW, the High Roller looks fun. But who can waste 40 minutes of precious gambling time on seeing the sights????

    The Flamingo was the scene of my very first gambling binge, about 20 years ago. To this point, J hadn’t played very much, and wanted to give BJ a try. So we sat at one of their $10 tables, which of course was a 6to5’er. I figured I would just play small to make the poor odds negligible. But that isn’t what happened. Like Ichikawa in Casino, it didn’t feel like I was winning $25 (when I won), it felt like I was losing $100 (missed opportunity). So I quickly found myself playing $200 or more a hand. And then I found myself quickly losing my $500 buy in. Then $900 more. Then $1k more. Uh-oh. Why was I giving this big play to the Flamingo and at a 6-5 table?!!? But now I was fired up, and ready to battle. I pulled out my wad of $100’s. I was going to show them. Luckily J convinced me to get up and try somewhere else.

    So we made our way to the Cromwell. I found this little casino to be very cool. Great ambiance, very cool dealers. Actually some GREAT dealers. Just a great vibe in that place. Bill’s has had a serious makeover, and I like. I like how its semi-dark. We played bj here for about an hour. It was back and forth for me, but it was rocky for my friend. I really wanted him to win. So I started “sponsoring” green chip play for him. I was giving him occasional “green chip boosters” – he would pay me back if he won, but not if he lost. He caught a streak, and found himself playing $50 - $75 hands. In the end, J won $400, putting him up $400 for the trip. Since he is a relatively new gambler, and conservative, this was a very cool and exciting thing for him, which made it more fun for me too. Now were were comrades in winning. After several 1k swings, I also squeaked out a $500 win, putting me back up $5,600. My “play” attracted a Cromwell host. I’ll be damned if I don’t stay there on a future trip.

    Happy with a win, we decided to leave the Cromwell and head back to Venetian. Where I hit the $50 BJ table again. And I simply crushed it, winning $4k. When they colored me up, they gave me a $5k chocolate chip and $200 black chips. For a brief moment, as I was about to leave the table, I toyed with the idea of betting the $5k chip. I prepared to place the Choc and shout ONE TIME! As a matter of fact, the urge was quite strong. Compelling. Do it. But the nice Asian pit boss saw what I was contemplating, and she shook her head and said something like “Rye rould you doooo that?” So I didn’t, not after that curse/spell. Instead, I bet the 2 black chips to “see what would have happened”. I lost. Good call pit boss. My luck continues.

    Up $9600, and on top of the world, I convinced J to play some pooled money $5 WOF. On the very first spin we hit a glorious SPIN, which hit for glorious $750. This put me over $10k, and J up over $700, and we were both equally esthetic. In a giddy way. I think we declared that we were now best friends ever.

    So for an hour or so we wandered around the Venetian / Palazzo fortress, drinking, laughing, re-hashing our wins, and looking for a place to have dinner. We landed at Carnevino.

    I had veal, he had fillet. Had you asked us last night, both of us would have said the meal was amazing. However, we really weren’t the best judges of quality at that moment.

    By the time the dinner was over (around 11 PM), J was ready to crash. He had a 9 am meeting. We had been drinking all day. Me, I had nothing in the morning, so bed was not really a pressing issue. Admittedly, being up $10k is quite “enough”, and I should have stopped. But lets be honest, I am a gambler. That same nerve/tendency that got me up $10k is the same nerve that has me playing at midnight for no logical reason.

    So, instead locking in my win, I began my own solo after-hours gambling session. Late night gambling, Vampire mode, is my favorite. So I started by playing craps, and instead of hit and running, I battled for at least an hour. It was back an forth for awhile, but in the end I lost $2k. At least I made some new friends, I think. Does 10+ high fives with a stranger equate to new friendship??

    Then I lost 4k at Free bet blackjack, and the downward spiral began. But I wasn’t worried about it at the time. Because it was late, and because I was pretty numb. Pretty much the danger zone.

    But I moved over to a regular BJ table, and I won $2k in textbook fashion. At this point, it was 2 AM and I was starting to have blurred vision. I can play BJ on autopilot, and that’s what I was doing, but it I wasn’t having fun. It started to feel like work. So, time for bed, up a very respectable $6k. My wife, back home, in a semi-disturbed sleep, fearing I would give it all back, was very pleased.

    I woke at 7:30, feeling great. Up money again! With a flight not until 2 PM, I had plenty bonus free time. I counted all my money, and I determined that I might play a little more this day, but there was no way I was losing more than a couple k, if any.

    I had a hankering for a Ham And Cheese Croissant, because after all I was staying in Italy (clearly I was confused, and was thinking I was in Paris or something). But I wondered thru the mostly closed Venetian Shops, and stumbled upon a cute bakery café. I found what I sought, and enjoyed a glorious Croissant and Coffee on a little café table. I kept myself company by reviewing the Grazie literature, as after all, I was now a contributing member.

    After, I hopped in a cab and headed to Freemont street. I have had an urge to head downtown for several trips now, and could never find a taker. So, I’ll go it alone. A little me time. And I had a great cab driver. We traded gambling stories, and he was amazed by my prior night’s 4 ea hard 6 roll story. Hell, I am still amazed. FYI, he only works 3 12 hour days a week, and supplements his income by betting on sports. He wins $1k a month. NOT A BAD lifestyle, I say.

    I started at Golden Nugget, a place I stayed at more than 20 years ago. Wow, they have really transformed that property! I signed up for a players card (I collect em’) and hit a 3 card poker table for a bit, playing red chips. After a flush, and a straight, and couple other descent hands, I cashed out up $150. Its funny how low-stakes-scared-money action can be just as exciting as not-sober-big-stakes action. Why was I playing scared money? Because I have demons, and I wanted to avoid them. Can you imagine being up $10k and ending up a loser? I can. Because I’ve done it, and worse.

    But I liked the way the Golden Nugget card looked, and I decided to go to get a few more players cards. Did I mention I collect ‘em? I guess I am determined to set myself up to receive even more gambling-related mail. My mailman already thinks that I have a serious problem.

    So I went into Binions. But there was a 5 person line at the Card booth, so no-go.

    Then I went over the Grand, a place I wanted to check out. I explored a bit, and found the place “decent”. I played a little JOB at the bar (oh, I’ve begun drinking again), and I noticed that the pay table is 7/5. Really? I donated $20 into one of those machines anyway. But 7/5 at a downtown, and off Freemont Street, property? That is a POOR MGT decision, imho.

    Now its 10 am and its time to head back to Venetian. I had another fun Cab Driver. Maybe I am just more outgoing and interested in other people when I am In Vegas, Buzzed, and Up Money, or maybe the people I meet are just that interesting. I mean, this guy was such a character. He was from Serbia, ex military, and called me Bro or “my Brother” after every sentence. He called me Bro so many times, I actually believed we had a bond. One colorful quote by him: “My Brother, people from Serbia like to gamble. We like to Gamble, We like to F*ck, and We like to Fight”. He also shouted that he “LOVES to GAMBLE, but not against Asian Dealers. Only White or European.” OMG, Classic Cab Ride. I should have taped him. I love Vegas.

    Back at Venetian, I pack and go down to find a host. They don’t come on until 11 am? Ok. So I mess around on some machines, and I find a Texas Hold ‘EM machine. Weird. I play it for 30 minutes or so, an I actually won $50. I have the golden touch this trip.

    Now I find a host. Host lets me know that I played 6 hours at $550 the last night. Wow, my Cosmo host would be jealous. He has been recently disappointed in my “hours per day”. I hope he doesn’t read this.

    But I falsely let the host know that I had an amazing stay, and that I wanted to come back with my wife, and would they do anything about my current bill? So, she comped all my food and drinks, but not the original $100 room upgrade. That made me a bit salty, but I don’t want to look a Gift Horse in the mouth. I look forward to some fun offers from Venetian.

    With my last ½ hour I decide to take 1 more crack at BJ. And I hit a bunch of double downs, and amazingly won $1500. Putting me up $7,500 for the trip. Can this really happen, this often?

    To make it even better, my friend was still up $700 and giddy about it. It is his biggest win ever, and he is hooked. Its so fun when both you and your friend win!!!!

    Then it was off to the airport, California Pizza Kitchen, and the cross country flight I am on right now as I type this.

    My great run continues, I humbly thank the Gambling Gods, and I look forward to the Derby Weekend.

    27 hours in Vegas is great.

    Thanks for Reading.
     
  8. agentq

    agentq Low-Roller

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    Amazing. Your trip reports are great, and really make me appreciate the fun to be had in Vegas. in fact, you've inspired me to plan a trip for June. I'm glad you're still able to enjoy yourself after 20+ years of visiting. :beer:
     
  9. smartone

    smartone VIP Whale

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    Holy smokes! I think you took 27 hours to write that report!!! Great job!!! Thanks for sharin' the experience...
     
  10. tipdrill

    tipdrill Low-Roller

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    What a heater, nice work OP! Way to make the most out of 27 hrs.
     
  11. sweetcanadian

    sweetcanadian High-Roller

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    sounds like a good time. Also sounds like you were smart to play scared.
     
  12. Iamrice

    Iamrice High-Roller

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    Short and KICK ASS!!!!!
     
  13. wellmel

    wellmel Low-Roller

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    Goddamn some good wins. Motivates me to gamble more, which isn't saying much since I hardly gamble.
     
  14. queentata

    queentata VIP Whale

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    Wow! Amazing! Wish I could get some decent, or free, airfare. I love to stay for a whole week, as we only go about twice a year. I could jot out there and take em like you did and be happy!
     
  15. firstkill

    firstkill High-Roller

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    awesome trip, "heat checking" the last day is always a must!

    2013 was a great year for my hit and run trips (only 3.5 miles driving)
    2014 has been very rough for me. hope this year continues to be sweet for you.


    fk
     
  16. Sam in Ut

    Sam in Ut High-Roller

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    WHIRLWIND!!!!! what a trip and you wrote it so well! Thanks and congrats on the win...
     
  17. VDMTom

    VDMTom Low-Roller

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    AWESOME trip report. Loved every bit of it.. felt like I was there!

    Thanks for sharing.
     
  18. jamesxnj

    jamesxnj VIP Whale

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    Great Report!! Curious how the Derby worked for you? After reading your reports ,something tells me you would not have ignored the favorite in your bets?
     
  19. CVG2LAS

    CVG2LAS Tourist

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    The Derby was a blast. There was a total of 12 of us in 2 different boxes. I am not much of a Handicapper though. In fact, I know just about nada. In a mix of random betting solo, and pooled betting with others, and basing pics on favorite numbers, names, and colors, I lost about $3k over the course of the day. 10% of that was probably f&b though, heavy on the b. I did bet the favorite on the Derby (and the longshot #2 horse). So I broke even on that race. photo 2.jpg

    But not all was lost, as upon our return to Cinci at about 10 PM, the hardiest of the group continued on to the Horseshoe Casino. Between 10pm and 4 am we had some epic sessions, playing just about every game there is. In the end, Craps and high limit BJ paid off. One of the out-of-towner group won an astounding 18k, another 14k. So they returned to home with an epic trip of their own.

    I had my own typical-of-late big swings. The aggressiveness was in full swing, and at one point (late night) I was down 9k (despite a 5-figure-win crap roll earlier in the night), but ended up $4k. Net 1k for the day and happy. The last 2 minutes were the most remarkable. After working a bj bet up to a pumpkin (1k there), I had 3 hands in a row that were doubles, and each came in. So $6k win in the last 3 hands. That made it time to run! photo 1.jpg

    I like to think this finished out a quite improbable stretch of winning play for me, from last December to today. I am currently of the mindset of taking a break from regular play, at least for a month or two. Typically I need a loss to inspire a break, but this time I feel like I would be pushing the limits. And right now I am in get-healthy mode.

    Of course, that feeling will probably be temporary. But it is the current plan.

    PS - The other gamblers and I compared our CET "points earned". Its really unimpressive considering the hours played and average bet. Table game action = equals stingy RC comps.
     
  20. jamesxnj

    jamesxnj VIP Whale

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    Thanks for the update! Crazy swing there,but bottom line is positive $..Nice.
     
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