maxev Live TR NYE Virgin in Vegas -- plus Venetian, Cosmo, Encore, Binion's 12/28-1/11 (now 2/11)

Third extra round: 7.55m

Which tossed my lower score of the two and brought me to 20th place overall.

Fourth extra round: 7.46m

Which tossed the other lower score and now I’m 14th, with 15 minutes to go before it ends.



So pretty solidly in the top 50 for free entry into the July 22 tourney, where they take the top 50 from this, the March tourney, and the May tourney.

Missed out on $100 extra freeplay, but that’s okay.

Top scorers really didn’t move. Hard to get 8m, and the top guy got it twice.

 

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!!!

 

Here are a few videos on them, like prison stories, I somehow find hope in the power of human resilience and adaptability in these sad stories.
top 3 short to long, there are more




sorry for the tangent, please carry on and get a big fat Slot win, please.

 

Maybe knowing that my trip has an end date now (Jan. 29), or because I have (had) money in my pocket, or because I’m a gambling addict, I blew more than I intended at Virgin and then ended at $5 video poker (at a crappy 7/5 for bonus).

Started converting my $150 freeplay from the tournament into $75 on an old Whale Song with decent progressives.

Then kept going another couple hundred.

The monitor is so burned in, not because it’s old, but because they cheaped out on using bad monitors.

I like the disclaimer about one machine per player. Virgin is so desolate that there’s probably 100 machines to one player.


Hit the Major about 10 years ago at The Plaza then celebrated with pancakes at the Golden Gate cafe (RIP). Maybe it was time for another?



Nope.

The prizes that land in the bonus symbols are what you win. If a major or minor land there, you get those.

They never did a followup so it must not have done that well, but I always played whenever I saw it.

Then hopped around, mainly at Dollar Storm (now at $115k) and cow and a few others.

Got the stampede in Buffalo Chief, king of the min wins on this thing.


I was close to the high limit room, so blew the rest on Lightning Link and $5 video poker with no highlights.

 

Now nursing my wounds at the Kitchen. No lunch menu yet (not till 2pm) but they were able to make the salmon anyway.

Beet salad had extra juice and walnuts instead of the advertised pecans (don’t care for walnuts). it was like they didn’t feel like cutting up the goat cheese.

Salmon not good. Soggy, salty, fishy. Ocean One’s salmon at 1/5th the cost is better. But I still ate it.



The food at the Kitchen really isn’t that great while being pricey to boot, but I still go because it’s quiet and usually as empty as the casino.

And I like the decor.


Intended to go across the street to Ferraro’s, but may as well eat on property for a possible backend comp. I’m going for loss over time played and even coin-in, since it all went fast. Seeing how empty Virgin always is, I’ve got to think they want any player at all, so I think I have a good shot. I’ll just text my host instead of going through the ritual of sitting in the host-on-duty’s office while watching them press keys and grumble. It strikes me as being in the principal’s office.

So much for burning Virgin (and GVR). It’s made worse that I booked a Ruby suite for a friend next month and I won’t be playing then. I qualified for their July tourney, so I don’t need invites to the other two qualifiers. Really would’ve been the perfect time to not play at all.

 

Oh shoot, Virgin hammered into me that the July tourney is $125k, which I thought was phenomenal for a max 150 people.

But $125k is the sum of the tourneys — three $25k qualifiers and one $50k finale.

I still would’ve played anyway, but it makes it less enticing than what I thought was $125k.

I think I played enough to warrant an invite to the second $25k in March, so I’ll do that with my monthly $100 freeplay. And *then* I’ll burn ‘em!

 

Way down on the other end of the Opal Tower entrance is the Funny Library coffee shop, but every time I go it’s closed. Must just be open in the mornings. I’m dying to sit here among the fake and real cacti.


This is the lobby area by the Opal entrance.


This is in front of the elevator on my floor at the Canyon tower. The sides don’t move.


And these are some skulls in front of Casa Calavera. This is how it feels when you haven’t gotten a royal in the past four months.

 

Virgin has free HBO on their TV.

Stumbled onto Two for the Money, one of the best movies about gambling.

It gets everything right, including:
“Most gamblers, when they go to gamble, they go to win. When we go to gamble, we go to lose. Even when we win it's just a matter of time before we give it all back.”

I don’t know screenwriter Dan Gilroy’s story, but I’m sure he’s a gambler.

 

love the fat sheep butt benches. Too cute.

 

Earned a higher tier to get $15 freeplay, so ran it through in video poker, then played more.

Good run of quads in short order, and the game for it.





Then when four to a royal came, thought for sure I’d get it.


Played down to $1k and cashed out. Done with Virgin (for now)!

 

I need you to get a huge win (I am thinking Dollar Storm) so I can convince you to stay.

 

Lost my Bills bet but at least it was a great game.

The staff at the One steakhouse thought so too, no customers so may as well watch the game.

 

The host on duty never showed, so I won’t know if I can get anything comped until tomorrow.

Rather than run up the room tab in case I’m turned down, went across the street.



Breast meat was extra, but really good and under $10. Better than that $26 salmon and $16 beets.

 

Snow and ice in Chicago right now makes me glad I extended my Vegas stay.

I last left my apartment Dec. 7, when I thought I'd left my heater on. At least I opened the cupboard doors under the sink, to help the pipes not freeze.

Now my only thinking is whether I walk to Paris with my luggage or take an Uber.

 

Host comped off my charges (about $83 total).

I then asked if I could get an additional breakfast of $30 and a late checkout to noon to have time to eat and she agreed.

Should’ve charged more to the room!

I didn’t track my coin-in since it’s so difficult to figure out unless I count, and status points aren’t consistent. I did about 190 points in a mix of slots and video poker. During my late December stay, I did about 240 points but was in a suite and on a freeplay offer, which I figure is about the same as this trip’s tourney offer ($210 EV with $25k and 119 people entered). Both times I lost.

Late December, they comped off $150 in charges.

My first stay in August in a regular Canyon room, I played about 250 points, lost 2x, and had $450 backend comps, $300 which I left on the table. I did experiment with buying socks at the Afters ice cream place, and that was included, so I should’ve just loaded up on ice cream socks.

I do think they take into account loss in comps, both in points earned and backend.

Always nice to leave on a good note, despite losses.

 

Another average meal at the Kitchen.

Omelette with chicken, mushrooms, spinach, swiss. The cheese wasn’t melted and tasted like it was packaged (though I like packaged swiss). But it did taste better knowing in advance it was free.

 

It’s nice to see Virgin kept all the old Hard Rock employees.

Zachary, the server at the Kitchen, was at the previous incarnation of Mr. Lucky’s and was with them for 18-19 years. I asked if he got anything for 10th and he said they gave all employees Rolexes. Employee of the year received a cruise around the world.

Maybe for his 20th, Branson will take him to space.

 

I always use the soap and shampoo from the hotels, and back when I was just going to casinos every weekend, I used to take the extras home, eventually filling my whole pantry like some demented collector. Finally got rid of the whole closet (donated and gave away), and I’ve been good about not hoarding more. Unless bath salts, I still take those.

But a friend said Red Flower was a good brand, so I took the shampoo, conditioner, and lotion from my December trip.

Since I haven’t been home, I’ve been lugging them around and thought it’d be easy to squirt one into the other to conserve space.



Unscrewed the top, expecting to see a bigger hole (that’s what she said), but it was the same size! My high school chemistry would be angry that I didn’t MacGyver together a mini funnel and instead laid one directly on top of the other and squeezed one tiny hole to the other and just made a mess.



Finally just decided to take the new tubes with me.

 

Now hanging in the Virgin lobby a bit so I don’t arrive at Paris before my room’s ready.



Debating walking or Ubering to Paris, but I may need to use the restroom after that breakfast.

 

You know those crazy people you see lugging bags far away from the casino, and you wonder where they’re going?

That’s me, sacrificing luggage wheel wear and tear for the price of an Uber.