9/26 - 9/30 at LVC and Orleans

Trip out and arrival:
Flight from Boston:
Other than the amusement of watching a young couple trying to cram two very large and overstuffed bags into the over head bin, the non-stop flight from Boston was uneventful and on time.
I took a Bell shuttle from the airport to the Las Vegas Club for $6. Total time from landing to the hotel was about an hour. I was the last drop-off stop for the shuttle.
Check in went fairly smooth, but the South Tower was not nearly as nice as the North Tower. The room was in need of renovation, and there was no ice machine on my floor or the floor above me. I ate late at the Upper Deck after unpacking. The $2.99 Steak and eggs were ok, as was the service.

Monday:

Downtown:
I spent the first part of my day downtown checking out the low limit tables at the Plaza, El Cortez and Gold Spike. The Plaza was having new carpet installed Monday, and Tuesday. They also have new BJ tables This was the only place I saw 3:2 tables where the dealer stands on all 17s. GS offers a $2 two deck game and El Co has single deck for $3 and $5. I took the bus to the Strip where I walked more than anything else. I stopped at the Stardust sportsbook, and then continued south all the way to Fatburger. Yum.
After lunch I crossed over to the Boardwalk. After having read many good things about the casino, I was disappointed when the only open tables were $5 single deck 6:5 BJ. The self proclaimed ‘Home of the $3 min tables’ sadly did not live up to expectations. Back downtown for me. After an afternoon nap, I ate dinner at The Bay City Diner in the Golden Gate. This was a good inexpensive meal, with good service.
I was not impressed with the new light show on Fremont st. The old shows played rock music. The show I saw was of an Alien attack, and did not have any modern music, just an orchestral soundtrack.

On Tuesday, I hit the Main Street Station for breakfast, which was great. Then before leaving downtown I decided to try the .25 roulette at the El Co. I bought in with a whopping $10, and there was an older Asian woman already playing. After about 3 spins, a guy walks up and buys in with $100 and asks for all chips. WTF, Can’t he find a $1.00 table somewhere? After finally getting all 400 chips, he covers the board. The bottom line here is that now after each spin it took 10 minutes to get this guy’s chips back in line. He was rude to the dealers too. This totally killed any fun I was having, so I cashed in and left. This guy was weird, and to top it off, I have never seen a man smoke Virginia Slim cigarettes!
I went back to LVC, got my stuff together and checked out. I Cabbed over to the Orleans for $18.00 + tip.

I can now join those who love the Orleans, as it met all expectations. I checked in before 11am, and was given a nice non smoking room with strip view. The casino is large and easy to navigate, the games have low limits, most of the dealers were fun/friendly, and the waitresses were just what I had read about. (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).
After checking out the property, I played a little BJ, and then grabbed lunch at Sazio, the Italian restaurant in the Orleans. Good food, at a good price. Later in the casino I tried roulette again where I hit 35:1 on #19! Too bad I only had .50 on it. A guy joined me at this table who was in town with the mining convention. He asked if I had been out to the convention center yet. When I told him no, he suggested I go and check out the new mining equipment. Ya, ok, that’s going right to the top of my things to do list. Not.

Orleans shuttle to the strip was good. No standing is allowed on the shuttle, so when the seats were full, the driver asked the passengers to ‘make friends’, - Sit on someone’s lap.
I doubt this is safer than standing, but it’s gotta be more fun. . Hey it’s Vegas!
Orleans to the Barbary Coast is 10 minutes by shuttle. Orleans to Gold Coast even less.
The Barbary Coast shuttle stop is really convenient, and Big Elvis is really big, and a nice break late in the day.

Wednesday I started out with the Orleans buffet which was just as good as MSS. Maybe better. I took the shuttle over to Gold Coast to check it out. The property is older but the gaming is the same as Orleans. I broke even on my first BJ attempt, then took a break and walked over to the Palms. When I returned to Gold Coast I sat down at another $5 BJ table with a female Asian dealer. Just me and her. On the down side she had little personality and dealt very fast, on the up side I made $130 in about three minutes! Then they changed dealers. The next dealer was not as lucky for me, but I left with most of my profits!

Shuttle to the strip. In my opinion the Imperial Palace has the best BJ on the strip. The Champagne pit deals a two deck $5 minimum game, similar to the game dealt at Orleans. Across the aisle is the 6 deck shoe game that also has a $5 min. Why play a shoe when the pitch game is right there? I guess people either like the face up game or don’t know/understand that the two deck game has better odds. The dealertainer table always had people in the seats. The dealers dressed as Liberace, Cher, Blues Bros. Rod Stewart etc, and they did perform as well. However, this is a $5 6:5 game with a Continuous shuffle machine! Yikes. What’s next an entry fee?!

I sat down at the Champagne pit at a table with one other guy. He would bet $5 every hand. I play $5 mostly, but I try to bet more if I’m winning, and sometimes even if I’m losing. After about 30 minutes of up and down I caught a great run, and turned my $60 buy in into $180. That’s big time for me. I colored up, while Mr. $5 was still there with nothing really to show for it.

Later at the same table I was alone against the dealer when this guy sits to my right. He makes some small chat and buys in. Apparently he had never played a pitch game before and was unfamiliar with the rules of card etiquette. He took offense when the dealer told him only one hand on the cards, tuck the cards when you want to stand, and don’t touch the chips. He called for the pit boss, who defended the dealer, and explained the rules. He argues ‘how am I supposed to pick up the cards with one hand?!’ It’s not exactly micro surgery, and if I can do it with my short fat fingers, it can’t be that hard. He promptly left the table.

Lunch at Ellis Island was good. The $4.95 sirloin and the $5 match play coupon had me leave with a full stomach and an extra $20.

Back to Orleans for a siesta by the pool.
Nothing too eventful for the rest of the day, except that I should not have played as much late night. I lost most of what I had won earlier in the day.

Thursday was my last day. I basically played some more BJ, and tried Hold’Em Poker at Flamingo. A lot of places are offering 2-4 Hold ‘em including the Frontier, Stardust, and Flamingo. I won a pot or two but lost my $60 buy in within an hour. Go frustrated when I had A,9 and the flop came A,9, J. I figured my two pair would be good, but the guy to my right made three Jacks when a Jack came up on the River.

Dinner buffet at Orleans was good, and filled me up for the trip home.
Took a cab back to McCarran with a driver that dropped a few too many F bombs. He probably thought it wasn’t an issue since I was a guy traveling solo.

Overall I had a good time, and I’m looking to next year.

 

Nice trip, dj. Glad you got down to the El Co. My buddy played the quarter roulette there, at one point he had 2-3 guys just wallpapering the felt with bets, he said it was like octopus mating season (and not much fun). Don't know why those guys don't just put half on black and half on red.

"Why play a shoe when the pitch game is right there?"

In general you're right, but it is possible to have a shoe game with a lower house edge than a pitch game due to the ruleset (ignoring hands/hour and all that. That's the case at Monte Carlo, although not at IP

 

Great report! Thanks for cracking a hole in the dullness.

 

sounds like a very positive trip, thanks for sharing, just love reading trip reports

 

Sounds like a great trip. I love cheap blackjack. Do you regret not checking out the mining equipment?

 

Young gun, you make it sound like it was a come-on...

 

Too funny...

Glad to see another Downtown kinda person...

Thats one of the main reasons I can't play roulette. Too many people doing too many things. Add a couple of drinks, and... Well...

That and I find it exteremly boring, unless my number hits and it is the greatest game in the world!

 

When the board pairs and you are only holding 2 pair, chances are good you're beat especially if the board pair are face cards. There is no shame in folding two pair at the river, when the board is showing trips or a full house.

Overall great report, you did a few things I am looking forward to in December: hold 'em, Ellis Island, and Pitch BJ at IP. Glad you had a good time.