GolferTrav (4/8/11 - 4/11/11)

[GolferTrav]

So, it seems like I was just here. And, in fact, I was. I wasn't sure I was going to make this trip because I was just out here a month ago. Originally, I was supposed to meet up with an old colleague. He makes his way out here with a group of friends that went to college together. I met a few of them nearly 2 years ago. My buddy had to back out, but one of the guys that I hung out with back then was still coming. It's a friend-of-a-friend type of thing, but it's a good enough excuse for me seeing how I normally come out here solo.

There was some weather concerns last night. We were getting rain at home that was supposed to turn into snow overnight. I was going to leave the house at 7am this morning (Friday), so I woke up at 6am and checked the reports. We had some frost, but no snow at home and the Cajon Pass was open without restrictions. I was concerned about this stretch of highway due to the elevation and the possibility of requiring chains. At 7am when I left the house, it was 34ºF (and snowing). For those of you who don't know, I live in SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA! With that said, I do live at elevation (~4000+ ft.) but STILL!

Left the house at 7am, was in Temecula for ice and sunscreen (we'll see) by 7:30am. Was in Barstow by 9:30am where it was 44ºF. Grabbed some gas (Regular $4.059/gal @ Flying J) & breakfast (Burger King) and was back on the road. It got up to 58ºF in Baker around 10am and then back down to 44ºF around Mountain Pass (about 60 miles outside Vegas). Back up to 51ºF in Primm. Once I finally hit Vegas at 11:40a (Flamingo & LV Blvd.) it was 57ºF. Not bad time considering my two stops. I've never valeted at the Flamingo, but the Valet & the Bellman seemed slow. At other properties, they seem to pounce on you. Oh well.

I checked in via the Diamond/Platinum check-in. I was booked a comp'd Go Luxury room. The girl at the counter looked me up and confirmed a "Mini Suite, king bed." I asked, "A Go Room?" She nodded in the affirmative. SWEET! I scored a Go Mini Suite without request and without the $20 trick. I was standing in the room by Noon. That means 5 hours from departure to standing in the room with 2 stops in between. Not too shabby!

Pictures below, including the view. I won't post the room number until after my trip. One of the biggest advantages (although not useful this trip) is the fact that there's a ceiling fan over the bed. That will make the room MUCH cooler in the summer months!

More info. & pictures to follow during my stay!

 

[GolferTrav]

 

[ATXTX]

The room looks really nice - is it a clear glass door to the bathroom or a sliding opaque door?

good job on the travel time!

 

[GolferTrav]

The room looks really nice - is it a clear glass door to the bathroom or a sliding opaque door?

Sliding opaque, like the normal Go Rooms. The only thing missing from a normal Go Room is the lack of drawers that are normally under the TV. Here, it's just a long desk with skinny drawers that are mostly useless.

 

[GolferTrav]

The other thing that should be noted is that this room would work well for entertaining a small party. There's room for 7 adults to sit comfortably and plenty of room for 2-3 more to stand (or sit on the coffee table). Plus you have the DVD player/stereo system for music.

With that said, I don't see how the make 2 queen beds work in this room, so I doubt they do (unless there's a different layout). It'd be a good place to host a party of 5-10, but not sleep that many.

 

[BackInVegas]

Thanks for report

But with a name of golfertrav I expected some Master's bets.

Wow, that gas was expensive to me at least. But I know it is coming my way. I just traveled through 11 states for kids spring break and I never paid more than 3.599 for gallon, which did surprise me. The lowest I paid was 3.349 in Mississippi? Arkansas? Missouri?

Good luck on the gambling.

 

[Tammy58]

Love the pics! You are right about the drawers, pack extra hangers and use the bedside tables for socks/underwear. I know you got this upgrade for free which is great...for low rollers like me to upgrade to this room last year they wanted $75 night. Just an FYI for others like me who pay to upgrade. Looking forward to reading more details of you trip.

 

[GolferTrav]

But with a name of golfertrav I expected some Master's bets.

Wow, that gas was expensive to me at least. But I know it is coming my way. I just traveled through 11 states for kids spring break and I never paid more than 3.599 for gallon, which did surprise me. The lowest I paid was 3.349 in Mississippi? Arkansas? Missouri?

Good luck on the gambling.

It's been YEARS since I've even been in a Masters pool. BTW, I'd give my left AND right you-know-what if gas was $3.50. I fully expect diesel to push $6 out here. My F350 has a 38 gallon tank. I only use it for towing/hauling, but it sucks because most of the pumps out here shut off at $75-100. That means I have to swipe my card 2-3 times if I need a full fill-up.

 

[GolferTrav]

Love the pics! You are right about the drawers, pack extra hangers and use the bedside tables for socks/underwear. I know you got this upgrade for free which is great...for low rollers like me to upgrade to this room last year they wanted $75 night. Just an FYI for others like me who pay to upgrade. Looking forward to reading more details of you trip.

Good point. The room is MUCH better than what the old 'Petite Suites' used to be. I dunno if it's worth $75/night extra, but it's nice to have the space.

I just used the luggage rack to keep my drawers in my bag in the closet!

 

[GolferTrav]

No pictures from last night. I hung out in the room for a while and had a few beers. My friend-of-a-friend came by and we chatted for a while. He called to say he was coming by just as I was heading downstairs to get some free 'world famous' chicken wings from the Diamond Lounge. Haven't eaten since the breakfast sandwich yesterday morning from Burger King. I don't normally eat all that well, but I eat even worse in Vegas...

Anyway, made my way over to Caesars around 5pm. Most of the Blackjack tables were at a $25 minimum (Friday night) but there were at least 2 Craps tables that were only $10. I sat down and played 3-Card Poker ($15 minimum) for a little while. The dealer was nice and helped me out. I know the basic strategy for when to fold/stay, but I was having problems with my bets. Could have been the beers in the room! She was very helpful and made sure that I didn't screw up too bad. Bought in for $300, got down to <$100 and then worked my way up to $100 profit. Went to the Diamond Lounge for drinks and closed the place down (9pm).

I love sitting at the bar at the Caesars Diamond Lounge. If someone orders a shot, they make it for everyone sitting at the bar, and you're fully expected to drink it. 2 shots & many beers later, it was time to roll.

Made it back to Flamingo. I didn't see any of my normal dealers or pit bosses working, but that didn't deter me. I started playing dice and had a nice, but short, roll. I kept my head above water there making (what I remember) a small profit. From there, I decided to let the degenerate gambler take over...

ROULETTE!!!

I always play RED, but don't play it ever spin. There's something about the game that I love despite the poor odds. I'd say it's because it's the only table game my wife plays, but that can't be. She won't let me play with her because my bet amounts scare her. I think it's the social aspect of the game and the fact that I don't feel pressured to play every spin. I was playing everything from Quarters ($25) to 'Pinks' ($500) on the outside, almost exclusively red. I made it back to the room with a nice $5500 profit!!!

Things were pretty blurry, but the profit was real (I triple counted it). Around 4am, my friend-of-a-friend called. It woke me up, so I know I was in bed by then!:evillaugh I guess his buddy used his wife's companion TR number for a 'sweet deal' at IP. Problem was, she wasn't traveling with him. They wanted as much as $180/night (FOR THE IP!!!). I guess he declined and is staying at the Motel 6.

At first, I couldn't believe anyone would be dumb enough to do that, but then I realized that not everyone knows about this board and all of the information that you can glean from it! I know that next time someone starts a new thread with a topic that's been answered a million times, I'll take a deep breath and consider the fact that at least that person won't make the same mistake that this guy did!!!

The pool is out of the question today due to the poor weather. I'm thinking about spending some time at the tables at Cosmo today. Otherwise, I don't have any real plans. Hopefully I'll grab some more pictures if I see anything interesting.

 

[denluvslv]

Loving your report so far. Great pictures. Keep it coming.

 

[btodd]

thanks for the "almost live" report..............keep it coming!!

 

[GolferTrav]

So, I was up early this morning (Saturday), thanks in part to a 4am phone call from the friend-of-a-friend. At the same time, I had sent a text to my brother in Indiana and my wife noting my victory last night. Just after I got up for the day, I received a text back from the wife that said, "STOP NOW!" Thankfully, I had and booked the profit.

I wandered down to MGM and ran $200 through Lion Share. The first $100 went fast, but the 2nd let me play for a good while. I had plenty of opprotunity to cash out at $50 and $80, but it's not like we play that machine to minimize our losses. We play it for the progressive!!! I ran another $100 through a Top Dollar machine by the bathrooms that didn't do anything for me.

I hadn't eaten since the breakfast sandwich at Burger King the day before, so I was hungry. I have 3 Groupons for Cabo Wabo and 2 for Margaritaville. I planned to use one of the Cabo Wabo ones, but the website said it didn't open until 11am. I got to PHo around 10am and had 2 bloody marys at Blondies waiting for Cabo Wabo to open. They were good, but nothing special.

I switched to Dos Equis Amber at Cabo Wabo and ordered the Shrimp Fajitas ($20). The came with only 3 tortillas, so I had to order more to get through the plate. There was good flavor and the shrimp was cooked well, but that's about all I can say about my lunch. For whatever reason, the shrimp was 'tail-on', which meant I had to cut the tail off before putting it in my fajita. Odd to me. Additionally, everything was SWIMMING in oil. I think they heat the bottom plate and have oil in the top plate to make it sizzle when they deliver it. Mine just had too much oil. After the Groupon, my tab was $6 and something. I left a $20 because the service was pretty good and I always worry about staff getting shorted on deals like that when it comes to tips.

Also, can I say that the two female bartenders were smoking hot????

Made it back to my room where I took a nap. I'm obviously up now, but not sure nap time is over. I'll need my energy because I plan on tearing up Cosmopolitan tonight.

 

[GolferTrav]

Lion's Share Progressive:

Steel plate on the side of Lion's Share denoting it's manufacture date...

 

[Jinx]

Enjoying the report. Cabo Wabo's food in my experience has sucked, but many of the bar staff are definitely easy on the eyes

 

[GolferTrav]

Spent some time in Caesars' Diamond Lounge last night. From there, I made my way over to Cosmopolitan. That place was HOPPING!

I have some concern regarding my reservation at Cosmopolitan in September. My parents will be coming out to visit for the first time since we moved to California. I have them setup in a comp'd room at Caesars and was told I had a comp'd room at Cosmo. Despite my requests, the host never sent me anything to confirm the reservation except for an email from him stating it was taken care of. I went into VIP check-in and inquired about it and to see if they could email me the confirmation. While they had me in the system, the room was listed at Casino Rate. When I asked about getting something emailed to me with the confirmation, I was told that it wasn't possible. The young lady did, however, type up and email with the confirmation number. I guess we'll see how that works out in September.

I really like the vibe of Cosmo, but there are certain aspects that rub me the wrong way. Many have been stated by others. Once I was FINALLY able to log-in on the website, it still doesn't show my points. It shows Platinum, but 0 points. I'm not a whale by any stretch of the imagination, but I manage to make Diamond on a yearly basis. If my math is correct, it required 8 times the play (on tables) to make Platinum. It's 80,000 points to Platinum. You get 10 points for every $100 on the tables. That means you have to run $800,000 through??? Someone please tell me that my math is wrong.

All of the young and good looking kids were waiting in line to get into the club. I spent some time in the Platinum lounge and closed it down (open until 10pm!). There were actually people in there this time! Service was great and they actually didn't mind me hanging out and finishing my drink after the officially closed. Just like last time, they had no issue serving me a Macallen 12.

There wasn't anything really noteworthy from a gambling standpoint. Budgeted myself $1200 for the night and ran though that with a moderate amount of play. Made it back to the room and crashed.

Woke up around 8am (Sunday) and contemplated what I would do for food. I have over $300 in comp dollars with CET, but I didn't want to spend those for breakfast. I know it sounds weird, but I'm banking them for when my parents come out in September. They're simple people, and there's NO WAY they'd let us take them out and pay for a nice expensive dinner when they're out here. But if it's comp'd, they won't mind. With that in mind, I wanted to have some eggs on the cheap.

I went over to Bill's and the Victoria Room for breakfast. Big mistake. Ordered eggs over-easy with hash browns and bacon. Unfortunately, the yolks were completely cooked. I never send anything back to the kitchen, but did this time. That wasn't even close. They remade my eggs quickly and they were much better. The potatoes were good, but the bacon was mostly crumbles mixed on the plate, no strips. Overall, it was bland and required a fair amount of salt. Breakfast cost me $11 and an extra $3 for coffee.

Just hanging out in the room now. Watched the Red Wings beat the Blackhawks and keeping an eye on the Masters. I think I'm going to burn through some of my PointPlay at Mirage this afternoon and go from there. I'll probably put some dice play in tonight downstairs (Flamingo) unless something else comes up.

I was able to get a late check-out for tomorrow. I don't always need it, but it's nice to not feel rushed in the morning. Previously, I'd book an extra night comp'd so I could leave whenever I wanted, but I'm convinced that it was killing my ADT. Now, knowing that I can get a late check out, I don't worry about that extra night and my offers on the CET reservation calendar seem to have improved!

Interesting side note: For $3, at Bill's, you can "Upgrade your beverage experience"

 

[BackInVegas]

I will put some money into that Lion's Share

Even though I am not fond of the MGM VIP service.

And what is wrong with this friend of a friend dude? You don't call anyone at 4 AM in Las Vegas just because.