Madonna & Gambling!

Thursday the 27th of May
We flew in on Thursday night the 27th and taxi’d into Harrahs at about 9:00pm. Luck have it, the nice lady that hooked us up last winter with a Suite was at the Platinum counter again. We said hello and that she did a great job last time getting us a Suite and there was another $20 waiting for her! She said being the holiday weekend, she doubted she could get us a suite but would have to clear with Diamond room. She soon came back and said we could stay Thur & Fri night in a Suite then would have to move for Saturday night. SCORE!
We took the room, which was 3405 Carnival tower. Just like last time it had a living room, a separate wet bar , sink, mini fridge. A separate King Bedroom and a Huge bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub and lots of room.

As FalconRob was waiting at the MC Brew-pub, we scurried down and caught a taxi. We were at the Pub by 9:45 and looked for Rob. We caught a bar stool and had a Red-beer. Soon Rob walked in and we chatted for a good hour, while my wife tried to get her name in with the good sounding , all girl band playing that night. Evidently, the manager took her info and said someone would call her as they are always looking for singers…(she has not heard anything back yet) As for Rob and I, we had to scream over the way too loud, turned up speakers to hear each other. After a few beers on an empty stomach, I was buzzing and ready for Poker. Rob put our names in and my wife and I grabbed a quick bite at the pizza stand.

When I met up at the table Rob was on, I bought in for $100. It was a pretty conservative table and nobody bet aggressive. I bluffed a couple times and stole a blind or two. Rob won a couple small hands as well. Then the guy to my immediate right bluffed me a couple times and showed once. I was waiting to set him up. None of us could catch anything. I finally won a hand or two and then went on a semi-bluff with a K-2 os, the flop came 9,10,2 and I figured I had low pair. I decided to see it out and bet. Nobody stayed except Mr. Bluffer. We both then bet into the pot to see it out. He even raised on the turn, but when I called, it scared him on the river and he just checked. So he flips over a 2 and says I just have 2’s with an almost (ha my pr beats your high card tone). So I flipped over just my 2- and said me too! Then I looked at him and said whats your kicker?, he flipped over a 6 and I tossed my King on top to rub it in. That hand humbled him a bit and I was able to bluff another time after that.

Of course, I had to lock horns with our T2V buddy FalconRob! Him and I both stayed after the flop heads up as I had a K-J in hand and the flop came with a Q, 10 if I recall, so I went to chase an Ace high Strt, figuring if I lose at least it went to another T2V’r!. Well sure enough the river did not produce an Ace and on top of that it was a Spade to make Robs Flush! Nice hand Rob, it was fun going at it with ya…
While Rob and I were heads up, my wife sang at one of the MC lounges. She did Cheryl Crow – all I want to do is have some fun…. And when she was done and walking out, 3 gals chased her down and said “hey Cheryl, aren’t you going to do some more songs!â€

Fast forward, as my wife and I wanted to enjoy some time in the Jaccuzzi! On our way back through Harrahs to the room, we swung by the High Stakes room and I dropped $40 in the progressive $5 diamond deluxes… SCORE!!!!! We hit Double, 7 , Double for $1,600!!! Time to hit the Hot Tub!

Friday

We got up around 8:30 and caught McD’s breakfast before heading to the RIO pool. We met our friend at the RIO players booth and made plans to see Clint Holmes Fri night as we had free tickets. She was to meet up with us around 6. The wind was nasty and it was overcast, but we hung out for an hour or two and enjoyed the pool and drinks. Then we headed into the casino and played a bit while my wife hit the shops.

Around noon, we decided to catch a taxi and get our Madonna tickets at the MGM box office for Saturday nights concert. After that, we walked back up the strip. My wife wanted to shop again!!! So, while she was in the desert passage, I hit the Aladdin casino. I just dinked around a bit on dollar and quarter machines. Then I decided to get my card so I could get some credit. I then found a Playboy nickel machine and managed to win back all of the $80 that I lost on other machines!

By now it was time to see Big Elvis! We have wanted to see him for a long time and never got a chance to, so we were there right at 3 when the show was to start. I went to the bar to get a couple Malibu Cokes and the bartender gives us comp size glasses and says that will be $9…. ???? I said this is a comp size glass? But she was grumpy and I decided the Barbary Coast bar was not the place to drink at!
Soon Big Elvis came out, Oh my Gosh! He is BIG! He must be over 600lbs! Well, he started singing and it was amazing. He sounded identical and if you closed your eyes you would think it was real! Low and behold, he soon asks Goldie to come out and get a man to dance with! Well if you don’t know my wife, she is not shy and thinks I shouldn’t be either! She volunteers me! So as Habanaman witnessed, I danced with Goldie… It was fun and my wife took pictures.
Then, soon Big Elvis wanted a volunteer again. This time I shied but nobody else volunteered. He needed two girls and a guy. Of course my wife is already on the stage before he can finish asking for two gals! So, naturally when no guys volunteered, I got stuck again. They put a wig and Elvis sunglasses on me and handed me a balloon guitar. I got to play air guitar while the girls danced in front of Big Elvis…
Sorry, Habanaman, but I do not remember Goldies Credo either!!!!

After his break, I caught a glimpse of the Cubs game. They were down 4-1 in the 7th inning….. Then a grand slam and they were up 5-4!!!! Low and behold they blew the game…………

Time to meet our friend from the RIO. She ended up not being able to go to Clint Holmes, so we decided to eat at Range instead. Well by now I was really buzzed and the bill was soon to be over $200 with horse De vourse, meals, tip, as I got a good bottle of Kendall Private Reserve and that did not even count the $80 I got suckered into for pictures of all of us!!! After the dinner, our friend from the RIO had a little time before she had to get back to her kids as she left the 12 yr old to babysit… So we went to Tequila Joe’s so She could try a Stiches drink. They are real good and go down like Koolaid! One of the bar tenders at Tequilas made it up for a gal who ended up falling and had to get stiches – thus the name! They are good but decievingly very strong. It was Kareoke night and my wife soon put her name in. It took awhile for them to call her and by the time they did, our friend had already left. My wife sings great and can sound just like the singer she is imitating. She does a great Cheryl Crow, Alannis, Sarya, Stevie Nicks, Madonna, Natalie Merchant, etc… Unfortunately a gal before her did Cheryl Crow a couple times, but my wife decided to do another Cheryl song and sounded great as usual! in fact, I wish she could have done the other songs as well as I know she would have done much better!

Fast forward

Saturday
We got up around 9:00 and had to move rooms… The room we then got was not bad either as it was a large junior suite. Now I have gotten junior suites before, but this was one of the few corner rooms that are like twice as big, so that was nice. We then wandered Harrahs a bit. No luck on the slots and so we decided to try IP for a bit. There we caught a burger at the Burger Palace. Then after playing Elvis quarters awhile, we decided to re group at the room. After a nap, we got ready for Madonna!!!! It was now 2pm and we had free tickets to Rick Thomas, so we caught a cab to the Trop. (I know I know, it would have been cool to roll up to the MGM in a Presidental Limo all dressed up for the concert… my wife in her Madonna outfit and all) But we were practical and taxid to Trop instead.

We caught the Magic show and it was decent. I think Rick Thomas seemed a bit routine. Not really passionate about the show but the magic was all good and of course my wife volunteered to go up and help in the trick where he cuts his lovely assistant in half! After the show, we played a bit more, caught the Legends hall of fame and then headed to the MGM…

While waiting for the concert, I played quarters a bit while the wife (you guessed it) shopped some more. I hit $40 right away, then spent it all back by the time we met up again.

Madonna!!!!
We got right in line at 6:30 and waited till they opened the doors. We were seated in U208 row G… Almost nose bleed section and at $150 a ticket!!! The concert did not start until about 8:30, so we had a few beers by then! Well Madonna was great, the show was good. She did some good dance routines and had 2 Mosh pits at either side of the stage!
However, she did not interact at all with the crowd and played her set 22 songs and that was it…. No on-choir (sp) or nothing! We were a bit disappointed in how quick it went and she seemed a bit mechanical, not enthusiastic… I was disappointed that she never played Ray of Light. But all in all it was still good.

After the concert, we walked back up the strip as we knew it would be quicker than a cab! Well, we were hungry by now as neither of us had supper and it was after 11:00 pm. We wanted something nice, but figured this time of night that would be a challenge. As we walked by the Aladdin, I said, I’ll bet PF Changs is open yet. Sure enough, and we even had to wait 15 minutes for a table. PF Changs was great as always and it was a good break up of the walk back to Harrahs! When we left, at almost 1:00 am , they were still seating people!

By the time we got to Harrahs, we were both in the mood to gamble but were both tired. So we tried to get in at the Party Pit but the tables were all full. (Of Course Saturday night)! We soon decided after blowing $100 in slots to get to bed.

Sunday
Last day and our plane was to leave at 8:45 pm…..
We decided to check out early and left our luggage at the bell desk. We caught the shuttle to RIO and checked if our friend was working. She was not, so I played slots while my wife shopped a bit again! No luck here again and dropped another $100… We then decided to check out Gold Coast. We played a bit there and I saw the Jeopardy progressive still not hit at almost 4.5 million! I had to play and soon blew $80 in it!

Time to check out the Palms! We played there a bit and found a Playboy nickel again. We managed to play on one $20 for almost two hours on that same machine while alternating between 9 and 27 nickels! Soon we had 500 points on our card and decided to check its worth….. $1…and we would have to get to I think like 2,000 before you could cash in….Oh well

By now it was afternoon and we decided to head back. So we caught the Barbary Shuttle at the Gold Coast and then walked up to the IP. We played Elvis quarters again. Then I had to try VP and found a 9-6 JOB machine. My first $20 went quick on 5 quarters at a time, so I dropped in a $100 and explained to the Mrs. That you needed time in these machines to hit the mathematics……
Finally I hit 4 of a kind, which paid 250 quarters. Unfortunately, it was not the Aces, which would have been 800! Well, that was all I caught as in the 20 –30 minutes that my wife wandered the gift shop, I went through that hundred.!

We were now hungry and wanted to eat before heading to the airport. Unfortunately it was about 4m and even though we now had $55 in comps at IP, the good restaurants were not open yet. So we headed back to Harrahs. We got in line at the Garden Café, when we thought hey? How about Batistas Hole in the Wall!? We checked at the bell desk and sure enough, they would open at 5pm. So we grabbed our luggage and I realized then that I forgaot a $19 coupon for cash-in the mail from Harrahs in the room earlier. Grrr….. We left our name and info with Lost and Found, but I am sure the maids threw it out by now!

So we caught a taxi to Batistas and were sat down right at 5pm. On our way in, we stood in line with an older locals couple catching the early bird special and the lady in Blue hair made a wise crack about was I getting a room, since I had my Luggage…. We pretty much ignored her and were soon seated.
My wife eats like a bird so, she paid the $8 for just a salad and part of the complimentary wine and bread. I had the Veal Parmessian (sp) which was actually good and filling. However, the wine was (complimentary) and it showed! Also, the service was mediocre and we walked out somewhat disappointed. Low and behold that same older couple walked out as we were were waiting for our taxi. Again, she commented and said, so you couldn’t find a room there ha? And it was in a tone that was sarcastic, so I said nope no rooms here, hey you got a room??? Then I noticed sauce dribbles on her shirt and so I pointed to it and said Hey? Whats with that mess on your shirt? I gave her a glare and then right as the cab popped the trunk, so we flung our luggage in and zoomed off!

We were to the airport by 6:30 and realized we could still catch the 7:05 flight rather than wait another 1 & ½ hours! Good old Southwest hooked us up and we were back home early….


All in all a real good trip.
We hit the big jackpot right away, which paid for the rest of the trip!
We met up with Rob again and had fun in the MC poker room!
We scored a big Suite again!
We caught the Madonna concert, which was real good but not fantastic….
We finally got to see Big Elvis and got to be in the show!!!!
The drinks were all good as usual at IP and Harrahs
The Range was good as usual
PF Changs was good as usual
Rick Thomas was Ok
The rest of the gambling was anti-climatic….
Batistas was Ok but in our minds not worth it….
The drinks at Barbary are a rip-off


Oh,
I forgot to mention, Harrahs had moved all the race book tables into the Sports book lounge and was turning the race book area into (you guessed it) a POKER ROOM!
So much for the nice place to watch March Madness games!
I’ll just have to play poker!


PS, T-19!!!!!!!!!!

 

T-19?!?!?!?!? Oh man, you stink!

That's awesome man! It must be REALLY nice to know your trip's paid for on your first night! Congrats!

I'm not sure if it was the after-effects of the Ex buffet or what, but I had completely forgot about our heads-up hand! Thanks for confessing! I hope we get the chance to lock horns again sometime!

My friend and I saw Rick Thomas in March, and thought it was a great show. Perhaps he was having an off-day or something, but too bad to hear you didn't enjoy it as much as we did!

Sounds like you had a lot of fun, and I'm sure your trip in 19 days will be a great encore!

Have fun!

 

Some people are just plain lucky, eh??!! I'm not referring to the jackpot, I'm talking about the 19 days

The jackpot is sure nice of course

I'm lucky if I can squeeze a Vegas trip out once per year. I have to make the most of it each time, that's for sure!

Sounds like you have a nice time, NEON. I hope the next trip is even better!

 

Thanks for the report Neon.
Good luck on the next trip too.
Scott

 

Thanks Scott,
That looks like the Grand Canyon backdrop? We will actually be spending the Saturday/Sunday 19-20th there before we drop off our 16 year old for flight summer school at Embry Riddle, then on to Vegas!