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On the Edge of the Desert: 12/3-12/11; the D, Bally’s, Cosmo

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by It’s a Trapanal, Dec 3, 2021.

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  1. It’s a Trapanal

    It’s a Trapanal Low-Roller

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    My Trip Report

    As I write this I sit 38,000 feet above Teec Nos Pos, Arizona. Navajo country; the closest settlement to the Four Corners. For you foreigners, it’s the only place in the United States where four states share a border. There’s a megalith monument down there and I’d be willing to bet there’s not a soul around. For you geography nerds out there, it’s a confluent mecca.

    400 miles to my west and three deserts away is my mecca. The ragged gem that allures you with endless possibilities then bleeds you to the bone with sucker bets and parlor tricks. What else should one expect from a desert oasis that grew from a crime ridden gambling outpost in a railroad town?

    My desert adventure starts in an hour and I will be posting about my experiences here. I will be staying at The D downtown for 3 nights, then double booked at the Cosmopolitan and Bally’s for 4 nights. The first few days downtown I will be solo. Bars, restaurants, and gambling will be the theme.

    A few friends arrive on Tuesday and we have a few things planned for the week. Dinner at Zuma (Cosmo) Wednesday, a drive up to Mt. Charleston (Spring Mountains Scenic Drive) Thursday morning, Area 15 for Omega Mart and Lost Spirits Distillery Thursday night, Superfrico (Cosmo) Friday, and The Mob Museum Friday night.

    I’ll do my best to post regular updates. With high temperatures in the 60s I have a feeling I will be doing more daytime exploring than usual. Hopefully all those rodeo clowns in town don’t get in my way.
     
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  2. It’s a Trapanal

    It’s a Trapanal Low-Roller

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    First order of business after landing… Ruby’s Diner for a drink. It’s festive here. As usual the airport is depressing at night. I don’t mind, I’ve got 7 full days ahead of me. The picture below with “Business Hours” is the liquor store by baggage claim for any degenerate that may be interested. Off to get a taxi downtown and get this trip started.

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  3. JaDubya

    JaDubya High Roller? Nah...just a Roller

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  4. It’s a Trapanal

    It’s a Trapanal Low-Roller

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    $48 taxi downtown before tip from the airport. Seemed steep. Checked into the D and chatted with my host for a bit. She’s got tickets to the rodeo. I’m not interested. Time to unpack and gamble. There’s so many “cowboys” here. Love seeing the town alive. It’s a shame to relocate the rodeo next year.

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  5. It’s a Trapanal

    It’s a Trapanal Low-Roller

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    Started the gambol off with $100 Baccarat at the D. Played Banker every hand and Tie a few times. 71 hands into the shoe (42 banker, 24 player, 5 tie) the card reader/dealer broke. It’s been breaking for years here. They have two they rent and both are complete garbage. They misread cards and essentially double the amount of time a shoe (~80 hands) takes. I don’t mind it because it slows the game down. What sucks is they wouldn’t let me finish the last 10 or so hands of the shoe because of the malfunction. The good news is my $1000 buy in is now at $2000 and I tipped the dealer $150 and the cocktail waitress $25. Off to a good start on the gambling front. Going to go bar hop on Fremont East. I’ve got 7 days to gamble, getting in a rush is a recipe for failure.
     
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  6. It’s a Trapanal

    It’s a Trapanal Low-Roller

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  7. It’s a Trapanal

    It’s a Trapanal Low-Roller

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    Don’t think these pictures need a caption. Vegas baby. Love it or hate it, downtown has so much character.

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  8. It’s a Trapanal

    It’s a Trapanal Low-Roller

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    Had a fun and relaxing evening. Stopped in a few places on Fremont East. Crowds were rowdy. After bar hopping I went to Vue Bar at the D and hit 4 aces on 50c DDB fast. At one point $100 was $550. Cashed out with only 20 cents. It’s ok. I’m collecting these change vouchers so I can combine them all at the end to “stick it to the man.” I’m more upset I missed the photo of the quad Aces because I was in the button smashing zone. After video poker I started fresh on Wheel of Fortune. It went well to the tune of a couple hundred bucks profit. Then $5 Top Dollar took it all back without a win over $20.

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  9. It’s a Trapanal

    It’s a Trapanal Low-Roller

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    Walking around downtown. A little chilly out. Thin crowd. Doesn’t feel like Friday night of rodeo. It is almost 3 am I guess…

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  10. It’s a Trapanal

    It’s a Trapanal Low-Roller

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    Lost the $1000 I won on baccarat at roulette at Golden Gate. Took an hour. Had fun. Went to the D and lost another $900 on roulette. Was down $900 for the trip. Put $500 into high limit slots and turned it into $950. Still down $450. No more gamble tonight. I’ll get it back tomorrow.

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  11. It’s a Trapanal

    It’s a Trapanal Low-Roller

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    It’s gonna be 5:00 AM soon. I need to stay well rested so it’s time to slip into a 12 hour nap. But first, American Coney Island (open 24/7) at the D. I actually prefer the fries over the chili dog. Either way, a bunch of water, some ibuprofen and some fries should set me up to feel good when I wake up. I don’t have any plans tomorrow. None. At some point I will want to win back the $450 I lost today.

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  12. It’s a Trapanal

    It’s a Trapanal Low-Roller

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    I had planned on relaxing in room until late in the afternoon but when I woke up at 12:30 and turned the TV on I was reminded the SEC Championship game between Alabama and Georgia was about to start. So I took a quick shower and ran down to the sports book to get some action on the game. I was on the fence between betting the Georgia money line or Alabama +6. I know Georgia is the best team this year but I just can’t bring myself to not bet Alabama as 6 point underdogs.

    Got a coffee and found a video poker machine to set up shop at. Hope it’s at least a good game.

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  13. It’s a Trapanal

    It’s a Trapanal Low-Roller

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    Spent the last hour and a half playing video poker at Bar Canada at the D. Started on 50c DDB trying for the $2850 progressive Royal. No luck. Did hit a few nice quads and my $950 buy in was up to about $1200 pretty fast. A bad streak and I was down to $400. So, naturally, I switched to dollars. Hit a couple quads and got back up to $700. Switched over to $1 Caveman Keno for a bit and hit 6 of 9 for $400. My original $950 was now $1050.

    Switched back to poker and was screwing around on 5c 10-play Ultimate X when I remembered they had Spin Poker. My first spin on 50c DDB Spin Poker I was dealt 3 Aces. The draw graced me with another Ace and two kickers. At $22.50 a spin your money can go fast, but in this case I hit for a nice $1850. My $950 buy in was now $2900. Which means I am now up $1500 for the trip. A nice way to start my day. I’ll get that progressive Royal later.

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  14. It’s a Trapanal

    It’s a Trapanal Low-Roller

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    Stopped by the high limit slots at the D. Put $1000 into 10c High Stakes betting the $5 minimum and was down to $260 when I got the 6 scattered chips needed to trigger free spins. Ended up paying $670 on the $5 bet. Still lost $70 on the session. Stressful.

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  15. It’s a Trapanal

    It’s a Trapanal Low-Roller

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    Been slotting around the D. Started with $1000, was down to $250 at one point. Just cashed out for $1500. Up $2000 for the trip.

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  16. It’s a Trapanal

    It’s a Trapanal Low-Roller

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    Alabama covered the spread by 23, so my $500 bet will collect $950. Now up $2500 for the trip. Going to try and not give it all back tonight. Still have 6 full days to go.

    Decided to take a break from the gamble and grab dinner at the bar at Joe Vicari’s Steakhouse. Also known as Andiamo Italian. Got a bottle of Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc and the Chilean Sea Bass. The wine was full of tropical fruit flavors (kiwi, pineapple, guava), and the Patagonian toothfish was rich and buttery. A nice pairing. The hostess asked if I would change seats to make room for a couple and my compliance came with a complementary dessert. Went for the crème brûlée. Great meal and great service as always. I want to play some more Baccarat and Roulette tonight and would like to check out some of the bars on Fremont East.

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  17. It’s a Trapanal

    It’s a Trapanal Low-Roller

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    After dinner I went straight to the slots. Was betting about $5 a spin for a while and lost a few hundred fast. Upped my bets to the $10-25 a spin range and had a few good hits. My $1000 buy in became $1500. Another $500 winning session. Now up $3000 for the trip. One of the luckier days I’ve had on the slots. No huge wins, but enough $250-500 wins to keep me in the black.

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  18. It’s a Trapanal

    It’s a Trapanal Low-Roller

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    Played a shoe of Baccart. The “Magic Shuffler” didn’t malfunction until the cut card was dealt halfway through hand 73. Banker had a natural 8 so I didn’t care what the board said. Made $100 on the shoe. Was up $800 at one point. If I were betting the ties these last couple sessions I’d be killing it. I try and avoid bets with steep house edges, but these last two shoes there were more Tie than Player wins after 25 hands.
     
    Last edited: Dec 5, 2021
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  19. It’s a Trapanal

    It’s a Trapanal Low-Roller

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    Back at the slots after Baccarat. Lost a few hundred pretty quickly at $5 a spin on various machines. Used the same strategy of upping my bet after a loss to try and break even. Lost even more and faster than ever. The worst is finally getting a bonus at $25/spin after flying through $1000 and the bonus pays you 0 credits. Not even a consolation prize. Anyway, had fun and still up for the trip. Lost $750 on this session, up $2350 for the trip. Going to finally go check out the scene on Fremont East.
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  20. It’s a Trapanal

    It’s a Trapanal Low-Roller

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    Fremont East is whatever you want it to be. A nightclub with Latin music, a dive bar with B-side 80s and 90s cuts, a slice of pizza and a pint with the best people watching downtown, an intimate cocktail with a friend, a history lesson on the Atomic Bomb, or getting lost in a gambling cabinet at El Cortez. A few places were still going strong when I left at 3 AM.

    I roamed around the D for a bit, gambling a little along the way on slots and video poker. I don’t think I’ve played enough Super Times Pay to have ever had a 10x multiplier. I’ve probably played 500 or so hands. Likely just variance against me. If I got the 10x it would probably be on a hand I fully discard then get a bunch of 2 pairs on DDB anyway. Still up over $2000 for the trip. It’s 4 AM here and NFL kicks off in 6 hours. Time for some rest.

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