1. Welcome to VegasMessageBoard
    It appears you are visiting our community as a guest.
    In order to view full-size images, participate in discussions, vote in polls, etc, you will need to Log in or Register.

Vegas birthday celebration... MGM Oct 26-29

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by DrMBachJr, Oct 26, 2018.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. LB9

    LB9 PH Blackjack Degen

    Joined:
    Jun 6, 2013
    Messages:
    3,635
    Location:
    D.C.
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    10
    Excellent report, you sound a lot like me at the BJ tables with respect to tipping, albeit betting at a bit of a higher clip lol. It is true, if you tip well and ask your rating, 9/10 I’ve had the pit boss ask me “well, what do you think it should be” and if your ask is reasonable, they’ll do it.

    Thanks for taking us along!
     
  2. boxofbirds

    boxofbirds Royally Flushed

    Joined:
    May 23, 2014
    Messages:
    3,252
    Location:
    Seattle
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    37
    Damn, I'm jealous of all of your wins at the BJ table! Enjoying the report!
     
  3. DrMBachJr

    DrMBachJr Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Aug 7, 2018
    Messages:
    227
    Location:
    High Desert in Cali
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    40
    I know it seemed like this report was over, but not quite yet.

    After I showered and cashed the bets at the sports book, I checked my MLife account and I was at 64,000 points. So close to Gold?When I checked in I was at 1,800 (from my MLife CC) since they reset points in October. Since I was so close to Gold, I decided to go for it. The Wonder 4 Tall Fortunes is a great way to put in some CI. I was up for the trip and I started good, but ended losing a decent chunk. I was still up overall for the trip and it took me about an hour but I was able to reach Gold. I went over and got my new card at the MLife desk. I asked them where the host office was and the lady told me they didn’t really have one but there was usually a host on duty in the high limit area, but there probably wouldn’t be one there until around noon. She asked if I had a host and I said no, so she asked what I wanted to talk to a host about. I told her I wanted to find out if I qualified for any back end comps. She said they usually called from their desk. Sounds great. One less place I have to go. The lady basically told me not to get my hopes up, but I felt like I had put in some pretty good play. I had about 15k CI for the weekend with about 3-6 hours a day at the machines, I played 3 card poker at about $40 -$50/hand for 5 hours the first night and I played a good amount of BJ at $50/hand and better for probably at least 2-4 hours per day. She was on the phone for at least 5 minutes and while she was on hold told me that maybe I would get lucky since it was taking so long. By the end of the call the host told her she could take an extra $25 on top of the $53 or so dollars I had in Express Comps off my bill. I thanked the lady at the desk and gave her a $5 tip for her teh call, but I was a bit surprised on the outcome. I know there is some formula they use, but we only ate maybe one or 2 meals and didn't charge much to the room (I spent most of my calories on adult beverages so I didn't eat much and I used my Starbucks gift card for coffee/breakfast each day). $30/day for the room upgrade and $40/day for the resort fees and my total bill at checkout, before the express comps were taken off, was about $450. The “comp room” value was $452, so the total comp value would've been around $900? I’m a newbie at this so maybe I'm expecting too much, but I felt like I played enough to get comped more than $25 on the back end. Here's the other thing though, when I did checkout, the supposed extra $25 wasn't taken off. Whatever. I headed over to PH before I left to the Gold to Diamond match. Not sure if that will gernerate a gaming day. It took a little longer than expected but I finally got it. He did tell me I would need to earn 3,750 points by Dec 31 to stay Diamond next year. We'll see if I can do it. That was pretty mcuh the end of one of my most epic Vegas gambling weekends. I'll try to make one final post in here to summarize some of my thoughts, but thanks to all who have followed along.
     
    • Wow! Wow! x 1
  4. luck.ofthe.draw

    luck.ofthe.draw VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2016
    Messages:
    7,672
    Location:
    Las Vegassss
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    55
    I would contact a host to get a breakdown and see where to fall. That sounds like too little, especially because you tiered up as well! Geez.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  5. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2013
    Messages:
    31,303
    Location:
    Chicagoland
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    28
    He says he had about $900 of charges. But he only had ~$1500 theo in slots.

    $50 BJ for ~10 hours total on the trip? That's like $250 in theo at 3/2 BJ.

    $40-50 3CP for 5 hours? Meh, maybe $500 theo if he bet ante and PP equally.
    So that's $2250 theo total. A third of that (which is a reasonable comp number imo) is $750.

    So if the room value was $452 and EC only plus $25 was used to cover fees and charges (~$525 total comp value applied), then yeah he was a bit shorted on this trip at least.
     
    Last edited: Nov 1, 2018
    • Agree Agree x 2
    • Like Like x 1
    • Informative Informative x 1
  6. luck.ofthe.draw

    luck.ofthe.draw VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2016
    Messages:
    7,672
    Location:
    Las Vegassss
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    55
    Thanks Tring! That helps haha.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  7. boxofbirds

    boxofbirds Royally Flushed

    Joined:
    May 23, 2014
    Messages:
    3,252
    Location:
    Seattle
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    37
    Yeah, sounds like they should have comped more off the back-end. I have noticed they are more generous when you have a big loss, FWIW.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  8. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2013
    Messages:
    31,303
    Location:
    Chicagoland
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    28
    Yeah, depends on the casino, but losing players definitely can get better comps. Makes sense really. For example, if two players both had a $2000 theoretical loss, I would rather give more comps to a $5000 unlucky loser vs. a lucky $1000 winner. The winner is likely more willing to come back on his or her own.
     
    • Like Like x 1
    • Agree Agree x 1
  9. DrMBachJr

    DrMBachJr Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Aug 7, 2018
    Messages:
    227
    Location:
    High Desert in Cali
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    40
    I know it has been almost a week since the end of my trip, but I did want to give some final thoughts and put a bow on this thing.

    1) I ended the trip being up about $1k. It always feels good on the drive home to leave a winner
    2) I like MGM and their sports book. It's not the biggest or best book and casino, but it feels like home. I was definitely disappointed, like I said, that I didn't get a little bit of better back end comp, but I also understand that the casinos do have to make money, so it is what it is.
    3) That being said, I really liked the CP book size and location on the casino floor. The location on the strip is ideal as well.
    4) I received an email from a TR host on Monday before I even had left Vegas and I began receiving offers right away. I decided to book an offer from CP for my MM weekend through the website. For my dates (3-20 to 3-24/25), I got a Laurel collection Augustus Strip View 2 queen room (don't know if that is a good room or not honestly, lol) for 5 nights, 2 nights "free" and 3 nights "comp" with no resort fees. Not sure about the difference between free and comp, but $0 is what it says for the charges. Also, that is the only hotel booking where I put in the last night as my checkout instead of the day (ie we are leaving Monday, but it has Sunday as my last "night"). Hopefully I did it right.
    5) I have offers for pretty much every TR property, but I think I may book Bally's for my stay in February. I am there for a CE course that is right across the street at the Westin, but it is also SB weekend. Any input on Bally's vs PH or Cromwell would be appreciated.
    6) Trip reports are a lot of work! lol. I really did enjoy doing it, but it was hard to try and keep up with even semi-live.

    Thanks again to everyone who followed along on one of my most epic Vegas weekends.
     
    • Like Like x 3
  10. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2013
    Messages:
    31,303
    Location:
    Chicagoland
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    28
    That they are. I know to not even try to bother with live, especially since my gf has the better camera. Lol

    So thanks for putting in the effort to share your trip with us!
     
    • Like Like x 1
  11. Horseplayer1

    Horseplayer1 High-Roller

    Joined:
    Mar 1, 2017
    Messages:
    775
    Location:
    West Coast
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    14
    Haven’t stayed at Cromwell or PH but I was just at Bally’s a week ago. I was pleasantly surprised by the size and convenience of my room since it was a comp, the quiet-actually slept uninterrupted the whole time, great views from the room. Didn’t gamble much there. Great location on the strip and being attached to Paris is a plus, as they have better food options.
    PH- gambled some there, it was super loud and the drink service on the slot floor was slow. Cromwell played VP there, liked the vibe.
     
    • Like Like x 1
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.