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Slots, Poker, and Basketball with a Vegas Virgin

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by Elf70, Jul 17, 2015.

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  1. Elf70

    Elf70 High-Roller

    Joined:
    Aug 20, 2013
    Messages:
    764
    Location:
    South Carolina
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    20

    My Trip Report

    This trip was very special because I invited my 29 year old Vegas semi-virgin son along. (I'll call him E). He was last in Vegas when he was 18 for a family wedding. When we started planning the trip E was all about playing various golf courses. As the trip got nearer he decided to save golf for future trips and just enjoy the rest of Vegas.

    Day 1 –

    The Flight from CLT was smooth and on time. I upgraded to first class as I always do for Vegas trips. 4 ½ hours in a tiny plane seat is more than my old body can handle. First win of the trip for E was that I bought him a first class ticket also. When we got to McCarran E was impressed with the waiting limo and was very excited to be in Vegas. Check in at Delano was quick. We were put in connecting suites. E’s comment – “wow I have two bathrooms all to myself”. He was impressed.

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    Gambling: E signed up for a MLife card and I showed him the carnival games. As always seems to happen with gambling virgins, he couldn't lose. Neither could I. Twice I cashed out with yellow chips. E tripled his $100 buy-in.. Eventually we both had a losing sessions which I assured him was really the way it normally goes.

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    E's first chip porn

    E made his first sports bet on the baseball home run derby. He lost but enjoyed learning how to bet and following the competition hoping to win.

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    I played plenty of slots. Had one hand pay on a wizard of oz machine in high limit for $1500.

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    Food: we were exhausted by dinner time and decided to choose something easy. We ate at Citizens at Mandalay Bay. We both had prime rib. It was outstanding! Unfortunately the broccoli was undercooked and the onion rings were not great.

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    Nothing else exciting for day 1. We were still on eastern time so went to bed early.

    Day 2-

    We were up early and played crazy 4 poker and LIR. We played for about 90 minutes and lost about half of our buy ins. Not bad.

    Breakfast was at Citizens again. They have a great 2 egg/pancake breakfast. It hit the spot.

    After breakfast E wanted to play his first slot. I took him to a Buffalo machine told him to put in a $20 and play minimum (.40). Well, of course, he hit a bonus and cashed out $267. Great! Now he thinks slots are an easy win!

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    Next E went over to the Rio and watched a bit of the WSOP. He enjoyed the experience, got a seat in the front row and will be looking for himself when ESPN broadcasts the event.

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    Meanwhile in the casino I won $375 off my FreePlay. I Played for a long time on that ticket going up and down on various slots. Eventually I hit a hand pay for $4000 on a Kitty Glitter machine. I was quite pleased with that.

    [​IMG]

    We had room service for Dinner. I had the Delano Bacon Cheeseburger and E had the Club sandwich. Both were quite good.

    Next up was Ka . We enjoyed the show. I'm glad we went but wouldn’t see it a second time. We walked around the strip for a bit and enjoyed the sights.

    [​IMG]

    Day 3 –

    Breakfast was at Raffles Café. It was okay but certainly not great. The food was cold. I hate cold eggs. This was my second not great meal at Raffles. It's off the list for dinning on future trips. Also our waiter was totally inattentive. We only saw him when he took our orders and when I flagged him down for the check. I plan on commenting specifically about the lack of service on my follow up survey.

    E played the 10:30 am poker tourney at Luxor. It was his first (and almost last ) poker experience. It was brutal. He busted out quickly and did not enjoy the other players. It was a good learning experience but certainly did not live up to his expectations.

    Later in the day E went to watch the NBA summer league games. He thoroughly enjoyed it. He was able to use house limos back and forth and said it made him feel like a VIP.

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    Meanwhile back in the casino I hit my third (and last) hand-pay for the trip. $1200 on Kitty Glitter in the high limit room.

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    Another good hit:

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    We spent the evening playing slots and carnival games. E learned quickly that slots usually take your money. He tried numerous slots and always bet the minimum. It was so fun to watch him get super excited when he won relatively small amounts. This is a picture of a slot hit E was super excited about. [emoji3]

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    Dinner was at Houssong Cantina. I had the grilled corn and steak quesadilla. The corn was great. The quesadilla was adequate. E had the chicken tacos which he enjoyed. I'll return here specifically for the corn.

    Day 4-

    We were up early as usual. Played carnival games until breakfast. Lost our buy ins.

    Breakfast was the MB buffet. As usual it was only adequate.

    After breakfast we did a gambling strip crawl. We started at Bellagio. I won $800 on my favorite cascading 7s slot machine. I used that to finance slotting at Monte Carlo, Excalibur, NYNY, and Luxor. We walked and shopped between each casino and had a very enjoyable time.

    Next E decided to try the afternoon poker tourney at MB. After his very bad experience at Luxor he was very hesitant to try again but sucked it up and did it. He had a very enjoyable time and won the tourney!! He was so excited and pleased. I think this was the highlight of his trip. For first place he won about $350.

    [​IMG]

    During the tourney I played Crazy 4 Poker and did pretty well. After the tourney we had dinner at Johnnie Rockets in the food court. We were both too tired to eat anywhere else.

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    After dinner we both decided we were bored with gambling ( a first for me). We headed to our rooms, packed and had an early evening.

    Day 5 –

    Up early and low rolled on penny slots. I played a bunch of games I'd never tried and had an enjoyable time. I had a few very nice hits to bring my Tito up to over $600 from a $100 start. I cashed out, used the money to buy in for both of us at C4P. We lost it all in under 15 minutes.

    [​IMG]

    Next we headed to the airport and had a smooth flight home.

    Notes:

    Front money- I sent FM prior to the trip for the first time. It was an extremely easy process both sending it and using the money in the casino. At the end of the trip I had the choice of cash, check, or wire back for the remaining balance in my account. . I found it much easier to track my wins and loses with the FM account. Instead of spending time counting hundreds in my room I just occasionally confirmed my balance with the boothling. Also, when I hit hand pays I had the option of having the hand pay amount added to the account. I really found the entire process easy and convenient. I'll continue to send FM in the future.

    Noisy neighbors – I really love Delano and have stayed there my last three trips. Unfortunately this trip my neighbors had a dog. The damn thing barked ever morning at around 3 am. Fortunately it was a brief amount of barking but unfortunately it was still enough to completely wake me up. It was just annoying enough to piss me off but not annoying enough to go through the process of changing rooms. Next stay I'll make sure I don't have a neighbor with a dog.

    Vegas with a (semi) Vegas virgin – I can't begin to express how much fun it was to be in Vegas with my son. He was so thrilled to be there and spent almost every minute with a huge smile on his face. He saw the WSOP and the basket ball games, a Vegas show, enjoyed playing minimum bets on the slots, and was thrilled to win $20 or $30 now and again. He loved being a “VIP” and riding around in a limo. He stopped often in the VIP lounge to chat with the ladies and get water and soda. He got his butt kicked in his first poker tournament, playing with rude and obnoxious locals, but sucked it up, tried again, and won the next one. I enjoyed playing table games with him and teaching him proper gambling etiquette. He came home with his bankroll intact (though I did buy in for him most of the times we played together). He thanked me repeatedly for making the trip happen. He's already mentioned how much he would like to go back for the NASCAR races. Maybe we can make that happen.

    Thanks for reading. Next trip is scheduled for October at Wynn but I'm seriously think of staying at Delano again instead. I just love that place. [emoji3]
     
  2. retro

    retro Low-Roller

    Joined:
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    sounds like a great time. I haven't been to the Delano yet, but stayed there many times when it was THEHotel (or however they did it). We loved the place before. Have they solved the pillows, heard they were like sleeping on rocks. I wanted to go out for the summer league but just couldn't make it happen. Went to it about 4 or 5 years ago and it was awesome.
     
  3. ACMike

    ACMike High-Roller

    Joined:
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    Nice trip report, thanks for sharing! And nice $4k hit on the slot!!
     
  4. jamesxnj

    jamesxnj VIP Whale

    Joined:
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    Great Report!!
     
  5. davehughes123

    davehughes123 Low-Roller

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Baltimore, MD
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    Great TR and congrats to both you and your son on the wins. My wife and I are taking our son and his girlfriend and our daughter and her boyfriend in January. We'll have 4 Vegas virgins on our hands and hope to have the same luck as you guys had.
     
  6. Elf70

    Elf70 High-Roller

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    The pillow situation has been resolved! My first stay there the pillows were truly awful. The beds and pillows are now super comfy.
     
  7. sybgal

    sybgal VIP Whale

    Joined:
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    You made memories to last the rest of your lives! My 1st trip was with my daughter who was military and had lived in another state for years.....we met in LV & I still smile when I think of our trip. Thanks so much for sharing!!!
     
  8. Gmoney10

    Gmoney10 Low-Roller

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    Great trip report and thanks for sharing. I'm glad you were able to share a Vegas trip with your son. I plan to take my kids when they turn 21 on their first Vegas trip. Nothing like seeing newbies to Vegas gambling and getting excited with the magic of Vegas.
     
  9. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

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    Glad you and E had a good time! Nice report!
     
  10. joesmom

    joesmom Low-Roller

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    Thanks for sharing - I enjoyed this trip report and it brought back memories for me also. I took my daughter and her best friend to vegas for their 21st birthdays. They are two days apart. We and they had a blast and again one of those memories forever time.

    Question - on the picture of your son in the limo - do you know what kind of animal is out that window or is it a decoration?
     
  11. Elf70

    Elf70 High-Roller

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    I noticed that in the picture too. It was a MGM limo. That's the MGM Lion decal on the window. It does look like an animal outside of the window in the picture!
     
  12. TriggerMN

    TriggerMN The Norwegian Hammer

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    This was a real fun TR to read. Can you tell me how much it cost to go see the summer league games?
     
  13. Elf70

    Elf70 High-Roller

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    The ticket was $28.00 and included all day access to all of the games.
     
  14. Tonez78

    Tonez78 Low-Roller

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    Great trip report. I liked that it was full of information, but not too much and good pics to accompany it. Thanks again for sharing.

    Tony
     
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