Thursday: June 21 We woke early again as usual and got ready before heading down to the casino. Today would be one of those running around days. I grabbed a Latte and decided to play a little while we waited to hear from my FIL, he was leaving today and we had to get him to the airport. I played some blackjack with a great dealer named Bob, his replacement was also Bob so that made things simple. Apparently the staff at the Bellagio has nicknamed them Spongebob and Squarepants which I thought was very funny. Figuring out which one was which wasn’t easy either. They were two wonderful guys. Spongebob told us that when Steve Wynn lost the hotels he went up to his office and started throwing stuff and breaking things. Spongebob also said Steve Wynn was a great guy to work for and so many didn’t like the changes MGM has made. He said it is all about profit for MGM as opposed to being about the guests when Wynn owned it. Making guests happy brings a profit so I am not sure why MGM made all the negative changes. I have noticed this throughout the years, but I have to say Steve Wynn is making mistakes down the street too. The VP Bar not comping drinks at one of them and then questioning what you put in at another was offensive, and completely shocked me. I will be writing a letter, not that it really matters what I think, it will make me feel better. Okay back to my TR. FIL called around 9:30 and we went to pick him and take him to airport, we stopped first at Terrible’s for breakfast which was great as always. The meals have gotten a little smaller but they are still huge and the prices are fantastic!!! After breakfast we get FIL to the airport, there was no line outside at Southwest, I gave the skycap his bag then asked for a wheelchair which they would take care of for me. I like knowing there will be no problems for him getting to and from the gates. According to him, his flight how was fine. Once we were done at the airport we headed out to Green Valley Ranch. We haven’t been here in a few years but always liked the property. We definitely want to stay there or Red Rock on a future trip. At Green Valley I found a $5 blackjack table and played for a bit. There were a few old men at the table who apparently spend a few hours a day at the casino. One of them told us he had to win $40 a day to pay the mortgage LOL The other older gentleman was from the Philippines and told us he used to run messages for General McArthur during WW2. I can’t remember exactly where in the Philippines he was from but he talked about a death march and how he was too young for the march at the time. He was only about 10 when the war broke out. Both were adorable and really knew how to play the game. They would give advice here and there but didn’t really care how others played. Would love to play with them again, it was just fun. After winning about $40 I hit the VP machines and took another $40 out of a machine after playing for just about 15 minutes. I was doing great and Dale walked up and sat next to me, next thing I know I start losing!! This always happens when we play VP together!!! After that we decided to head out. Our luck was turning around so we made a 5 minute stop at the Hard Rock because it seems after we visit there we start really winning………We were in and out in less than 5 minutes and I love $40 playing blackjack!! Oh well, we didn’t stop there to win just to be there. We headed back to Bellagio to play a bit. I hit the Cops and Donuts and won on that then hit the VP machines winning there. We just kept playing, Dale went to the gym while I played. At this point I got a call from a guy we had met last year, he was over at Aladdin and asked if we wanted to head over there. I wanted to see him and had missed him the night before so I called Dale and he was about ready so off we went. We went to the extra lounge and met up with him and his dad we chatted, had a beer and I decided to slide a $20 into the VP machine, I played double double bonus and managed to pull another $60 out of the machine in less that 10 minutes. I hit a 4oak for 250 and a few other small things, I had it up over 100 but cashed out at $80. I hate the slow decline and try to be sensible at times. We hung around with our friends for a little bit then decided we were hungry. We left Aladdin and headed back to Bellagio for the car. After getting the car we headed to the Venetian and valet parked in the garage. We want to try Enoteca San Marco which is one of two new Mario Batali restaurants. He is one of my favorite celebrity chef’s and I had to try one of his restaurants. The restaurant is very casual and in St. Mark’s Square. We sat at the bar and you felt like you were sitting outside at some café. Our bartender was very knowledgeable and helped us decide what to have. We started with the Gnocho Fritto which were fried dough puffs sprinkled with fresh parm and crushed pepper. They had a kick to them for sure and were very good. I had sparkling water and hubby had a glass of wine. For entrees he order the pasta Norma with the eggplant and I had a margheria pizza. Both dishes were amazing. I know what most of you are thinking, but we went there because I wanted to try the pizza and I will be back for more, next time I will do the pepperoni as I tried a small piece of pepperoni and it was AMAZING, nothing like the crappy pepperoni you buy at the grocery store, it was fresh and came from Washington state. I believe it comes from Mario’s father’s shop in Seattle but it wasn’t confirmed. Some of the cheeses on the menu come from Coach Farms which his wife’s family owns and everything we had was very, very fresh. We will definitely do a cheese and meat flight next time we go. While eating the two women next to us order blood orange cosmos, so I decided to give it a try, honestly I wasn’t impressed, maybe it was not sweet enough for me. We did talk to the older of the two women (they were mother and daughter) and it appears she worked for an event planning company and was in two for the first anniversary of LOVE, so she was going to the show on Tuesday with Paul, Yoko, Olivia and Ringo………Very cool indeed. After dinner we headed to Excalibur to see our other friends, we met them in the casino then went to their room for some champagne. Dale got a call and had to go to Harrah’s to pick up our other friends and take them to the airport. I shouldn’t say he had to, he wanted to is more like it. He was gone about 45 minutes and I played with my friends around the casino, hitting nothing. When Dale got back he had trouble finding us and I didn’t have my cell phone on me, apparently we had a communication problem. Anyway, he got an attitude and went off to sulk at the Blackjack table. I went with my friend and we hit the VP machines, I found a ddbp game that ended up being good to me. I put in $20 and about 15 minutes later pulled $175 out thanks to 3s with a kicker. I went and found Dale, he was in a better mood and over the feeling of being forgotten, he had about $200 in front of him so I walked away for a bit. I tried playing a bit here and there but nothing was working for me. I went back to the Blackjack table and sat with him for a few, by this point he has $300 in front of him as do the others at the table. One by one people start to leave, though I can’t figure out why, NO ONE was losing. When it got down to just two players Dale decided to cash out, he had $310 so he gave $10 to the dealer and took his 3 black chips……..Very nice and really only his second win of the trip. We went and found our friends and said our good-byes. We so enjoy their company, they are truly the perfect people to spend time with in Vegas, very easy going and fun!!! We stopped on our way out and Dale got a cup of coffee and we discussed going out to Red Rock, instead we decided to go back to Bellagio. Easy trip down the strip and then it was off to play at Bellagio. I decided to give the Fontana one more shot and get a drink before heading out to the casino floor to play. I sat down at Machine #69 and put in a $20, yes I played one at a time, but I was only there for the drink!! Ordered a grey goose and tonic and started to play, the machine kept me going this time which is unusual this trip. Hitting little stuff like full houses. I was playing DDBP and hit something for 80 coins which meant I could play a little longer, then I hit a 4oak for 50 I think played a little then it came………..4aces with the kicker again for $400. I watched the credits grow and ended up with $565 on the machine, I tried a few max coin bets then it quickly fell to $500 and I decided to cash out, but not before ordering a grey goose cosmo. I think the cash out button and put the ticket in my wallet and pulled out another $20. The twenty didn’t get me much and at this point hubby walked over. He had seen my machine early when I had about $80 on it and he was sorry to see I had lost it all in such a short period of time but told me about the $100 he just won. I casually told him, I was only second $20 because I cashed out when I got the other ticket high enough…….he asked how much $100 and I said not quite…..I then pulled the ticket out of my wallet and showed it to him, watching his eyes grow wide LOL I love doing this to him…hehehe Remember I have been losing all week, yet tonight I have managed to pull myself out of the hole and actually have won! What a great feeling. Dale decides to go to bed and I decide to stay down in the casino, I went over to my favorite quarter machine and play some bonus poker. I was up and down the whole time but did manage to cash out $100 from that machine and had a few drinks before finally heading up to the room at 3am. Tomorrow would be leaving day and I still had to pack. I was very sad to be leaving and I think if I could have, I would have changed our tickets to stay a few more days. If only I had hit a royal!!!!!!!!!!
Nice hit on the VP machine. Chasing the RF...one day I too shall hit it. It sounds like you had a really good time. What type of room did you have at the B?
We just had a regular lakeview room. It was nice as they always are. I do prefer the Wynn rooms over the Bellagio rooms though. And it was a nice hit, I was just kicking myself because it wasn't one of the times I hit max coins. Then again if I had hit max coins chances are pretty good I would not have hit the aces.........
No we didn't, that win really helped us out. Diane told me the machine has a reputation and I couldn't help thinking of you hehehehe