Trip Report 6/12-6/14

Left Anaheim, CA (my brother and 2 friends) about 11:30 am on 6/12, arrived in Vegas around 3 pm. Not too bad of a drive, very light traffic. If anyone has ever left SoCal for Vegas on a Friday you know how pleasant leaving on a Wednesday is.

Checked in and NYNY’s invited guest line, courtesy of Wagerworks. We had 2 rooms, but were aware that they would try to stick us in Standard rooms rather than Deluxe rooms; they tried and failed. So we got 2 adjoining Deluxe rooms on the 25th floor of the Chrysler building – one of the rooms was handicapped though. The rooms were nice, kinda dark, hot, and a long walk from the elevator, but they were comped. We set up the PS2 in one of the rooms and waited for our other friend to arrive (he flew). He called my cell phone and said he was knocking on the door, but we didn’t hear anything. I opened the door and nobody was out there. Apparently, he thought we were staying at the Mirage and was knocking on someone else’s hotel room door. This is the same guy that’s getting his PhD at Harvard. The handicapped room was cool, it had handrails all over the place, and a seat in the shower – I did not want to touch that seat, luckily someone else removed it.

I’m a fan of NYNY, it’s not very big and it’s a short walk to 3 other casinos. Even if you have to put up with the New Yorkers that stay there; I heard people yelling stuff like “Hey Paulie, ovAH heAH!†all night.

After relaxing after the drive for 30 minutes or so, I went down to the casino to wait in line for my slot card. Two people were at the front of the line arguing with the NYNY employee, so I had to wait about 20 minutes just to get a slot card. I’ve gambled in the NYNY casino before with no luck, but decided it was better than walking somewhere else in the heat. The casino has a weird sweet, pungent aroma – it must be their air-freshener. However, it was cold and virtually smoke-free which are big advantages.

Put $20 in a JOB VP machine and was up $17 after about 20 minutes, quickly cashed out and went back to the room.

After a few Captain & Cokes we walked over to the Bellagio for our Wagerworks buffets. It was about 5 or 6pm (hard to remember after the drinks) and still over 100°. The buffet was the same exact damn food I had when I went in April – I was disappointed and wouldn’t recommend spending the money for this buffet unless you are a seafood fan. After the meal we walked to Bally’s and took the tram MGM and walked back to NYNY (this way may have been a longer walk, but most of it was air-conditioned).

I got separated from everyone and decided to watch the Lakers game at the bar in the America Café. It has one of those giant maps that shows illustrations of what they have in different regions of the country, for example, they have oranges in Florida and lobsters in Maine – it’s worth taking a look at. No big surprise, the Lakers won.

After that I got a call on my cell from my brother who was at the sportsbook watching the Angels game. So, I went over there and watched them win too. Then we went to the ESPN Zone bar and had some beers. We met some fellow Anaheim Angels fans who were nice people and also talked to the bartenders who were both UNLV students. We only got charged for about 20% of our tab, so we tipped generously. I didn’t check out the menu at the ESPN Zone, but I assume it’s the same as the one here at Disneyland. Anyway, it’s about $10 for an ordinary hamburger/sandwich and fries, the only bright spot about the place are the TVs in the urinals and the stalls in the bathroom – so you’ll never miss any of the game.

We found everyone else and decided to play some Pai Gow. The NYNY tables were full so we went to MGM, I played until 2:30am and was down about $60. Went back to NYNY and played Craps for a little less than 2 hours and lost $120 at a $5 table only betting pass line, odds, and placing the 6 & 8. I went to sleep after losing too much money. I didn’t give the dealers my slot card because I didn’t know if they even pay attention to you if you’re betting nickels. But with the odds bets and place bets, I was usually betting well over $25 a roll – my question is, would they rate you based on that, or is it a waste of time to give them the slot card?

Day 2

Woke up and showered about 9am, and then tried to wake everyone else up. After I finally succeeded, we went to the breakfast buffet at the MGM Grand. They had nothing that stood out and most of the food was very bland. I’m not a fan of sausage, but decided to try some chicken sausage, I took one bite and it was pink in the middle so I spit it out.

Everyone went back to sleep but I wanted to try some more VP, I was even after about 45 minutes. Then I played some Pai Gow and broke even again. Went back to the room and took a nap.

When everyone woke up we went to the Mirage buffet and skipped a huge line thanks to wagerworks. The food was not that bad, even though the guy making the pasta was a jerk. He was yelling at people in line, and when my friend asked for the tube pasta and alfredo sauce, he replied snootily “That’s mustaccholi and cream sauceâ€. And when I took 3 pieces of bread he said, “Why don’t you just take the whole tray?†The guy was a dick; he wasn’t being sarcastic at all.

Later that night we went through Excalibur and Luxor playing random games of Pai Gow and Blackjack, we checked out the girls waiting in line for RA and they weren’t that impressive. Back to NYNY from some more blackjack; nothing noteworthy other than the dealer getting 4 aces (in a row), a 9 and an 8 to beat my 20. Then went to sleep.

Day 3

Had all-you-can-eat breakfast at Nathan’s the next morning and headed home. Overall, I lost about $280, but everything else Wagerworked so I had no problem with the loss.

I remembered the chap stick, bottled water, and visine this time and found them essential for being in the desert.

My next trip will be 8/7-8/11 -- two nights at NYNY and two at Aladdin. Does Vegas have a monsoon season during August like Arizona and parts of CA do?