Flew in on Monday. This was great, since at the airport we were going opposite the crowds of people leaving. Using Southwest, had a 5 minute wait for the luggage and we were off. We used ODT to get a limo to the Bellagio (my wife insisted that she was NOT about to show up at the Bellagio in a shuttle bus). Since they weren't busy, we got a stretch limo for just the 2 of us for $45. Have you ever seen the movie "Big" where Tom Hanks is in the limo? Pushing ever button, playing with everything, trying to stick our heads out the sunroof. That is the way we acted. Not because we had never been in a limo, just because it was fun and the driver did not look annoyed at our antics.
Checked into the Bellagio, didn't try any $20 trick, didn't care since the view was not a priority for me. Ended up getting a pool view. No biggie, at least the room had the automatic curtain opening/closing buttons by the side of the bed.
The deluxe room was nice - king bed, not too small, large bathroom, crappy 19 inch TV - I had no complaints about the room.
So we rested for about 5 minutes and then took off to the BC to catch the bus to Sam's Town. I expected a little shuttle bus that would show up roughly at the times on the schedule. Uh-Uh, this was a full sized tour bus and the driver stuck to his schedule exactly. When the schedule said 5:50, he closed the door and pulled out at 5:50. Which is why when we showed up at 5:51, we had to get a cab down to the Tropicanna to catch the bus there. This time we made the 6:10 departure. The driver was like a ranting talk radio type who had a loud opinion on everything happening in Vegas. Made for an enjoyable trip out there.
Sam's Town was underwhelming for me. When we first got there, we stopped for a quick bite at the food court (Panda Express) and then my wife (the Cowgirl) noticed Shepler's on the second floor. She said "I'll see you in a few hours" and took off to shop. So I wandered around, took in the waterfall show, played various slots, checked out the arcade & bowling alley and was bored in about 90 minutes. The inside decor didn't thrill me, I did not find the slots any looser than the strip, the table games were all nearly empty. The only spot that looked busy was the VP section (which admittedly was pretty big). But that's not my game baby. They also had bingo and a movie theater. So we caught the last bus back for the night (9:30 I think) and were the only ones on the bus (besides the driver). Maybe it was better on days other than Monday, but I gave Sam's a 5. Nothing wrong with it, just nothing really cool or good vibey either. In bed by Midnight.
Tuesday, went to work (meetings) over at the Venetian. Back to the room at 5. Medical crisis! The wife had a crown break and had swollen up her jaw to where she couldn't eat (or open her mouth very wide). A quick call to the conceirge had us headed to Harmon Medical Center (open 24 hrs) right behind the Alladin. This place did an excellent job for a walk-in clinic and is right next to the strip. Handy to know if a problem ever comes up. After an hour or so in the clinic, we had some antibiotics and pain pills and were back on the go. Stopped by the Big Country Buffet at Ballys for soft foods (a good buffet that is hidden in the corner and barely advertised, making it seldom crowded), then for gambling on the south end. We went casino hopping as the mood hit us (my favorite way to play the strip) but had the best luck (and therefore spent the most time) in Tropicanna and Alladin. Craps at the Trop is always the best. $5 tables, good crowds, entertaining dealers. I stayed within $10-20 of even.
The rest of my time I spent playing penny slots. I have found a new hobby in going to each machine and playing until I hit the bonus game, then cashing out and moving on to the next one. I start with $5 per machine and play 9 lines by 2 or 3 credits per line. I stop when I lose the $5 or hit the bonus game. Most times, I left the machine between $1-4 ahead. At the end of an hour, I was up $20 and by then end of the night I had made $80.
This was all countered by my wife losing an equal value playing WoF. Tuesday night, in bed by 2AM
Wednesday, another day of work (somebody has to pay for this) and then off to the mid-strip this time. Neither one of us felt like seeing a show so we hit the Buffet at Harrah's (not the best buffet, but I find it edible and the good part was there was no line to get in). Now to drink and gamble around mid-strip. Spent considerable time in BC, Flamingo, Ceasars, Harrahs and O'sheas. More Craps and penny slots for me. More quarter slots for the lady. I lost about $100 on craps, but made about $50 on slots. My wife lost about $40 but got proposed to by a drunk guy in Harrahs. He said that he loved her from first site and wanted to bring her home to his mansion, because he was rich. When she asked what he did, he said "I'm a butcher and I kill my own food". I don't know how she resisted this pick-up line but she didn't leave me and we got to bed around 4:00AM.
Thursday - last day of working, done at 3. Too bad it rained all day. Now we head North for our goodbye tour. First stop is the Stardust. I got stuck in here because they had the Twilight Zone slot machine and I ended up playing it for almost 2 hours on $20, but it was worth it because that is a very fun slot to play. The bonus game is like 4 levels deep (touch screen, wheel at the top, more touch screen, free reel spins) plus it has a progressive. Bought a goodbye shot glass, took some pictures and then headed to the Frontier.
Ate at the Steak house in the Frontier (forget the name). Nothing exciting there, just a steak dinner. Then I hit the craps table and got on a tear. Played for about 2 hours (and must have made it through a whole bottle of whiskey) and was up $200. WooHoo. Went and played some slots and I had some lady luck action going. Monopoly Hotel nickel game = + $185. Sun & Moon penny game = + $40. Tiki Torch Penny Game = + $50. Price is Right nickel game = + $85. Hit the roulette table (I don't know why either) lost $40 in about 30 seconds. Some quater slot where you round up cows - I don't even remember. Hey, there's Gilleys. Hey baby, I dare you to go in there and ride the mechanical bull. She did. I laughed and took pictures (I'll post once developed) but felt me trying to ride it would end up with someone having to mop it afterwards.
I hope there aren't any other pending closings on the North end of the strip, because we only made it to 2 on our farwell tour.
Staggered back to the Bellagio. I think we spend some time trying to find food at 400AM in that place (I don't think there is any). Went back to the room and packed and headed for the airport. While at the airport I played WoF (I don't know why either) but ended up hitting 3x7s with a 5X pay for a cool $100
A nice way to end a good week in Vegas. I hope it holds me until January.
Thanks for listening.
Checked into the Bellagio, didn't try any $20 trick, didn't care since the view was not a priority for me. Ended up getting a pool view. No biggie, at least the room had the automatic curtain opening/closing buttons by the side of the bed.
The deluxe room was nice - king bed, not too small, large bathroom, crappy 19 inch TV - I had no complaints about the room.
So we rested for about 5 minutes and then took off to the BC to catch the bus to Sam's Town. I expected a little shuttle bus that would show up roughly at the times on the schedule. Uh-Uh, this was a full sized tour bus and the driver stuck to his schedule exactly. When the schedule said 5:50, he closed the door and pulled out at 5:50. Which is why when we showed up at 5:51, we had to get a cab down to the Tropicanna to catch the bus there. This time we made the 6:10 departure. The driver was like a ranting talk radio type who had a loud opinion on everything happening in Vegas. Made for an enjoyable trip out there.
Sam's Town was underwhelming for me. When we first got there, we stopped for a quick bite at the food court (Panda Express) and then my wife (the Cowgirl) noticed Shepler's on the second floor. She said "I'll see you in a few hours" and took off to shop. So I wandered around, took in the waterfall show, played various slots, checked out the arcade & bowling alley and was bored in about 90 minutes. The inside decor didn't thrill me, I did not find the slots any looser than the strip, the table games were all nearly empty. The only spot that looked busy was the VP section (which admittedly was pretty big). But that's not my game baby. They also had bingo and a movie theater. So we caught the last bus back for the night (9:30 I think) and were the only ones on the bus (besides the driver). Maybe it was better on days other than Monday, but I gave Sam's a 5. Nothing wrong with it, just nothing really cool or good vibey either. In bed by Midnight.
Tuesday, went to work (meetings) over at the Venetian. Back to the room at 5. Medical crisis! The wife had a crown break and had swollen up her jaw to where she couldn't eat (or open her mouth very wide). A quick call to the conceirge had us headed to Harmon Medical Center (open 24 hrs) right behind the Alladin. This place did an excellent job for a walk-in clinic and is right next to the strip. Handy to know if a problem ever comes up. After an hour or so in the clinic, we had some antibiotics and pain pills and were back on the go. Stopped by the Big Country Buffet at Ballys for soft foods (a good buffet that is hidden in the corner and barely advertised, making it seldom crowded), then for gambling on the south end. We went casino hopping as the mood hit us (my favorite way to play the strip) but had the best luck (and therefore spent the most time) in Tropicanna and Alladin. Craps at the Trop is always the best. $5 tables, good crowds, entertaining dealers. I stayed within $10-20 of even.
The rest of my time I spent playing penny slots. I have found a new hobby in going to each machine and playing until I hit the bonus game, then cashing out and moving on to the next one. I start with $5 per machine and play 9 lines by 2 or 3 credits per line. I stop when I lose the $5 or hit the bonus game. Most times, I left the machine between $1-4 ahead. At the end of an hour, I was up $20 and by then end of the night I had made $80.
This was all countered by my wife losing an equal value playing WoF. Tuesday night, in bed by 2AM
Wednesday, another day of work (somebody has to pay for this) and then off to the mid-strip this time. Neither one of us felt like seeing a show so we hit the Buffet at Harrah's (not the best buffet, but I find it edible and the good part was there was no line to get in). Now to drink and gamble around mid-strip. Spent considerable time in BC, Flamingo, Ceasars, Harrahs and O'sheas. More Craps and penny slots for me. More quarter slots for the lady. I lost about $100 on craps, but made about $50 on slots. My wife lost about $40 but got proposed to by a drunk guy in Harrahs. He said that he loved her from first site and wanted to bring her home to his mansion, because he was rich. When she asked what he did, he said "I'm a butcher and I kill my own food". I don't know how she resisted this pick-up line but she didn't leave me and we got to bed around 4:00AM.
Thursday - last day of working, done at 3. Too bad it rained all day. Now we head North for our goodbye tour. First stop is the Stardust. I got stuck in here because they had the Twilight Zone slot machine and I ended up playing it for almost 2 hours on $20, but it was worth it because that is a very fun slot to play. The bonus game is like 4 levels deep (touch screen, wheel at the top, more touch screen, free reel spins) plus it has a progressive. Bought a goodbye shot glass, took some pictures and then headed to the Frontier.
Ate at the Steak house in the Frontier (forget the name). Nothing exciting there, just a steak dinner. Then I hit the craps table and got on a tear. Played for about 2 hours (and must have made it through a whole bottle of whiskey) and was up $200. WooHoo. Went and played some slots and I had some lady luck action going. Monopoly Hotel nickel game = + $185. Sun & Moon penny game = + $40. Tiki Torch Penny Game = + $50. Price is Right nickel game = + $85. Hit the roulette table (I don't know why either) lost $40 in about 30 seconds. Some quater slot where you round up cows - I don't even remember. Hey, there's Gilleys. Hey baby, I dare you to go in there and ride the mechanical bull. She did. I laughed and took pictures (I'll post once developed) but felt me trying to ride it would end up with someone having to mop it afterwards.
I hope there aren't any other pending closings on the North end of the strip, because we only made it to 2 on our farwell tour.Staggered back to the Bellagio. I think we spend some time trying to find food at 400AM in that place (I don't think there is any). Went back to the room and packed and headed for the airport. While at the airport I played WoF (I don't know why either) but ended up hitting 3x7s with a 5X pay for a cool $100
A nice way to end a good week in Vegas. I hope it holds me until January.
Thanks for listening.
), it is below Mirage and