glad you had fun stevie!
________________________________
From: straub4 <straub@shore.net>
To: vpFREE@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, August 3, 2011 8:33 AM
Subject: [vpFREE] XVP: Trip Report Las Vegas July/August 2011
LAS VEGAS JULY/AUGUST 2011 TRIP REPORT
Trip Started: Thursday July 28
Length: 6 Days
Stayed: Las Vegas Hilton 4 Nights; Rio 1 Night
Highlights: Hitting 2 Sets of Deuces Paying $500 and $625 on 25 Cent VP Machines, Seeing the Lovin' Spoonful at the Suncoast Casino.
Lowlights: Dropping $400 playing 25c fullpay Pick'em video poker at the Fremont Casino.
HILTON/PALMS/GVR/LON BRONSON
Arrived from Manchester NH by Southwest before noon and with a Dollar rent a car made it to Stripburger outside the Fashion Show Mall for a burger and fries (very good as usual and they had the "misters" spraying with outside temps in the 100s). Armed with matchplay and freeplay (MP and FP) coupons from ACG and LVA MRB, I drove to Ellis Island to use an LVA MRB coupon: play $10 get $10. On the $10 I played on a 9/6 JoB machine I broke even but that allowed me to come back the next day to collect $10 of free play.
Checked into the LV Hilton and scored a North Tower (near the parking garage), redesigned room (worth the $20 tip). For four nights, the cost based on a USPS mailer was $129 total including a Friday and Saturday night, so worked out to about $32 per night (no resort fees charged here). Although the rooms were kept up, the hallways definitely needed new carpets.
After relaxing a bit in the room, I made my way down to the casino and played full pay Loose Deuces Wild (LDW) video poker for a while and lost $100. I then drove to the Palms where I used a coupon I bought on-line: pay $25 get $40 in slot play. I lost the entire $40 (but it only cost me $25 ;) ). I then played the FPDW machines for a few hours and although I ran through a couple of thousand dollars through the machines (luckily with no loss), I then went to the player's club to use my MRB coupon: play $1,000 get $10 of free play. The guy at the booth claimed he saw no play and then said you must have played on the FPDW and these were not eligible. I said that unlike other coupons that state not eligible on certain machines, these coupons do not state that. He said that on the machines themselves, they state that they are not eligible for any promos. I said that the same situation existed last year and that this particular coupon was honored last year on
this machine. He went out back to check, and they told him that they will no longer do that. So all my play got me nothing toward the free play. I protested and said that they should have included the limitations on the coupon so people would know beforehand and felt, therefore, it should be honored. I was unhappy and was planning to let people know on the LVA forum. No one else had mentioned this limitation before. Also I was going to let Anthony at LVA be made aware of it. Little did I know that things relating to the FPDW machines would get much worse the next day. For now, the good news was that I broke even on my play on the FPDW that day.
That night I drove to Green Valley Ranch (GVR). Upon arriving, I played some FPDW and LDW and lost about $30. Next at the GVR food court using some points I had from a previous trips I had a comped turkey sub at Capriotti's in the food court. Next, I went to the free Lon Bronson Show in the GVR Ovation Lounge. Having never before seen them, the band was better than I imagined. I believe it is composed of a bunch of area professional musician's that play regularly in some of the better shows on the Strip. So these guys know how to play. One guest sax player was from the Matt Goss show band. This guy stood out and could wail. Despite it being a horn-focused band the rotating group of lead vocalists and back up singers were equally as talented as the instrument players. Amazing group, especially when you consider the price of admission: $0.00 with no minimum drink requirement either.
TERRIBLE'S/RAINBOW CLUB/FREMONT ST.
The next morning I headed over to Terrible's Casino for a coffee and pastry to-go and while there played a $10 MP on "Even" … but "Odd" came up. From there I continued south on Paradise, through McCarran and then through the tunnel and got on I-215 east. This eventually brought me to downtown Henderson and the Rainbow Club Casino: owned by the Peppermill (Nevada Casinos and Las Vegas Blvd coffee shop and lounge fame). The attraction here is the 50c FPDW, but unfortunately they have no comps or points: they do not even have a player's club at this particular casino. After a few hours of play and managing to stay even, I hit four deuces for $500 and shortly thereafter left up $500.
I decided to stay with the downtown theme, but this time went to downtown Las Vegas. I took Boulder Highway and along the way made a brief stop at the Longhorn casino that has some excellent blackjack rules at low limits. With the help of a $10 MP I managed to leave there up $35 after five or ten minutes of play and continued north on Boulder until it turned into Fremont St.
Although I've been downtown many times, I've never been to the Western Casino and coming in from Boulder it was the first casino I noticed as I entered the downtown area. So armed with a $5 MP I made my way through their hallowed doors. Depressing place: everyone there seemed to have the "all-who-enter–here-are-doomed" look on their faces. And I was beginning to join in with them when I realized that none of the table games were open during the day. At least now I can say I've been there.
I then parked at El Cortez garage and redeemed my first $10 freeplay coupon (this one from ACG). With no luck after running the $10 through a JoB VP machine and with only a $2.50 balance, I kept playing and quickly lost my remaining $2.50. From there I walked across Ogden to the Gold Spike, another never-visited casino (at least by me). I heard they were giving $15 of free play for sign-up to their Seigel Slot Club and I managed to parlay it into $35 playing a poor paytable JoB machine. The interior was astonishingly nice. It was entirely renovated a couple of years ago and it appears they had used high quality materials and workmanship. Unfortunately, the low traffic and low visibility location works against it.
From there I did a downtown Fremont Street coupon run (except for coupons from the Plaza which had not reopened yet.) My 4Queens $10 FP netted me $15 and the Las Vegas Club/Vegas Club (not sure which and apparently neither are they once again) freeplay netted me $5.00, but the MP lost me $10. Next I went to the Golden Gate which netted me $15 combined on a FP and a MP coupon. But the siren song of the Pick'em machines at Fremont Casino lost me a fast $20 (no freeplay involved).
At some point I made it back to the Hilton and at the Sportsbook snack bar had a BLT compliments of the Hilton. They gave me a $10 food coupon for foregoing one night of room service in an effort to show that they are going green. I also took them for another $50 on their FPLDW machines before retiring early for the evening.
$625 HILTON WIN/PALMS FPDW MIA/LOVIN'SPOONFUL
Having crashed early on Friday night I got up at 4:00 AM on Saturday and at the Hilton played a long VP session culminating with four deuces paying $625 on their 25c LDW machines. I think I next went to the Peppermill restaurant on the strip just north of Encore and had some of the best coffee in Clark County along with a delicious and enormous loaf of banana bread.
From there, I went to the Palms thinking I would try running $1,000 through a 50 play penny machine just outside the High Limit room. I mostly played 50 hands at 4c per hand or $2.00 per hand and eventually gained 1,000 points to qualify for $10 of freeplay using the MRB coupon. All in all including the freeplay I ended up with an overall $15 profit.
I noticed, however, that the FPDW machines in the front valet area were MIA. I figured this must be temporary again since it was the weekend and possibly they were having another gala event which in the past has caused them to clear out machines from the front valet area temporarily. I figured by Monday morning I'd find them tucked away in their usual spot (not to worry). CEO George Maloof himself assured the gambling world only a week or two ago on a Las Vegas gambling radio show that these machines would not be removed or downgraded in the foreseeable future. Well apparently he didn't yet get the memo from the guys that now own the other 98% of the casino – and it has made George look a little foolish and maybe is now beginning to appear a little bit impotent as the alleged leader/frontman of the joint with only a 2% share. Anyway as almost everyone now knows, the FPDW machines are gone along with many other 100%+ potential payback machines. The word
is they are not expected to return (at least with the previous paytables and comp rate). Since my average VP bet tends to be about 50c x 5 (but I fluctuate from $1.25 to $5.00 per hand) I see little reason to play there any longer (save for a little fun on the 50 hand, penny machine).
From there, I drove across the street to Gold Coast where I played a MP and a FP coupon that netted me $35 followed by a $5 MP with a $10 win at Tuscany. Next I picked up my $10 of freeplay at Ellis Island (from yesterday's play) and won $15.
That evening I had second row tickets to see the Lovin' Spoonful (a moderately successful 60s band with some talent) at the Suncoast. On the way, I stopped at Lucky's Club in North Las Vegas for which I had a $10 MP and a FP sign-up coupon and turned it into a quick $25 profit. The clientele looked a bit sketchy so I'm glad I got there before dark.
Also before going to Suncoast I swung over to Red Rock Casino, where I played 25c FPDW and 50c LDW. When it was time to leave for Suncoast unfortunately I was down $200. At Suncoast before the show, I stopped at their Bagel Corner and Deli restaurant and had a decent yet inexpensive corned beef sandwich before the show.
The show was better than I expected especially considering John Sebastian was not part of the band (think CCR without John Fogerty). Nonetheless, Jerry Yester guitarist (who replaced Zal Yanofsky early on) and Joe Butler (original drummer) who now no longer drums but is the primary lead vocalist and plays a little autoharp) and Steve Boone (original bassist still playing bass) were really excellent accompanied by a new drummer and second guitarist. Every hit and semi-hit were performed as well as a few other songs (both new and old). They seemed happy to be there and it came through in their performance. In particular, their vocals were surprisingly strong, especially Butler, who I didn't even know sang.
I'm really glad I went, as I've always liked their music and used to play many of their tunes in my late 60s high school band. I even bought the same guitar that Zal Yanovsky used to play: a Guild Thunderbird S-200. I actually still had it until about 5 years ago when I sold it on Ebay for seven times what I bought it for new in 1968.
After the show I decided to swing by the Orleans since I had both FP and MP coupons and went 1 for 2 with no gain or loss.
ELCO/VEGAS CLUB/PICK'EM PICKS MY POCKET
The next day, Sunday, I trekked back downtown to use my other El Cortez $10 FP coupon and converted into $10 cash. Also I won a Vegas Club MP for $20. Being up about $900 I decided to take it easy on video poker and felt I would be pretty safe playing 25c FP Pick'em at Fremont Casino. At full pay tables, Pick'em is essentially a breakeven game with a very low variance of about 20 (lower than JoB.) Additionally I know the game cold playing it regularly at Mohegan Sun at the $1.00 level. So what could go wrong playing for measly quarters?
Well $200 lighter later I've never had such miserable cards like these in my six years of playing this game. Over the next two hours, I got the fewest number of three-of-a kinds, straights, flushes and full houses I've ever had playing this game (forget about getting any 4-of- a- kinds or straight flushes). So in total frustration I gave up. It seemed like about every fifth hand I was dealt two 7s and on the draw like clockwork got the inevitable no improvement (it takes nines or better to win on this game). I've never dreaded being dealt two 7s so much, because I knew it wasn't going to improve on the draw and my $1.25 per hand was just being sucked dry with no wins to relieve the pain (wine over for now).
I quit with the most unfun $200 loss I have ever had and headed back to the Hilton for another quick $20 loss on LDW.
Eventually that evening I decided to return to the scene of the crime and try to get even with the Pick'em machines at Fremont Casino. I knew a bunch of fours-of-a-kinds and possibly even a straight flush were just around the corner. Besides I could use all my accumulated B-Connected points to pay for dinner.
Well things did change: they got worse and this time the pick'em machines ate my next $200 even more quickly (with absolutely no upward swings at all and more of the good-for-nothing dealt pair of 7s).
The upside, I did make enough points to pay for my full course $8.95 prime rib dinner deal with my B Connected points at the California coffee shop. But the "free" meal cost me $400.
GVR/SHINY COSMO FREE PLAY/WINCARDS/ CHECKING INTO THE RIO/ECHOS OF THE `60s/LAMB BURGER
On Monday morning, up now only about $500 I thought about quitting gambling for the rest of the trip -- but only for about 10 minutes. I decided since the Palm's no longer had 25c FPDW I would head to GVR to play it. After playing there for a while I lost a slow $50.
Next I decided it was time for my first trip to see Cosmopolitan. I had my choice of a $100 loss reimbursement with $100 of freeplay or $10 of freeplay upfront. For no particular reason, I took $10 of freeplay upfront. Freeplay can't be used on any progressive machines but otherwise appeared to be usable on most machines. I think I played on a 9/5 JoB machine and left with a $15 profit. Did I say that Cosmo is shiny everywhere you look. I did like the parking spaces in the garage with overhead red and green lights visible from a distance to let you know quickly where open parking spaces existed. I'd think they could save electricity by only lighting the green lights above the open spaces (and forego the red lights above the taken spaces) and it would be just as effective.
Since I was on the strip I thought I would try the Wincard deal: pay $20 and get $30 in playable but not cashable chips at both the Luxor and Mandalay Bay. I first hit the Luxor and they said I couldn't do it because my one year period between uses would not be up until the end of August. So I struck out there (last year the woman at the Player's Club told me it could be done once per month). So I walked through Mandalay Place to Mandalay Bay where apparently they use the once a month rule there and I qualified. I played $15 of my $30 in chips at blackjack and upon being dealt a 6 and a 4, I put down my remaining $15 in chips on a double down against the dealer's hand showing a 3.
I got a 6 and the dealer didn't bust so my $30 in specialty chips went into the MB chip rack and I quickly headed back to the Luxor to retrieve my car in the garage. I then head back to the Hilton where I had to check out by noon and on the way out I won $10 playing LDW and had a free lunch courtesy of another $10 Going Green Hilton voucher I used on a sandwich at the Fortuna Café & Wine Bar
From there I checked into the Rio on an online deal I got via SmarterVegas.com for $30 a weekday night (no resort fee here either). This was my first time staying at the Rio. The room was larger than a standard room and had a couch and the room was fine, but for the most part looked like it hadn't been updated since it opened (no LCD or plasma TV) and early 90s decor.
Early in the evening I planned to go to Echoes of the 60s show at the Planet Hollywood (PH) Miracle Mile V Theater. I had a 50% off printout from one of the Vegas coupon websites. So it cost me $30 instead of $60. After buying my ticket at the V Theater box office about 5:00 PM for the 6:00 PM show I went to the front of PH where for free they allow you to spin an electronic wheel and you can win numerous prices such as PH freeplay, restaurant vouchers, etc. I did not win anything of any value and was awarded a consolation voucher that I could redeem at the Player's Club booth. But the line at the booth was long and I passed on what would have been probably a player's card bungee cord or some other trinket.
The show had six, superbly, multi-talented musicians that could all sing their asses off as well as play multi-instruments. A couple of the guys were from the former Danny's Ganz band. Their Crosby Stills Nash version of Helplessly Hoping" was spot on. The woman lead vocalist could really belt out numbers (such as Janis Joplin numbers and others). I might see this again on my next trip with my wife.
After the show, I walked over to the Paris Hotel and ate at the Le Burger Brasserie. Since I like lamb, and you can't typically get it for reasonable prices at most restaurants, I had a lamb burger. It tasted fresh and was cooked perfectly with a nice char on the outside but still juicy on the inside. It was $11.50 but with a Caesar's Rewards Card they take 50c off plus I had a $5.00 off coupon with me that I got at check-in at the Rio.
GVR $5.99 BUFFET/FINAL COUPON RUN/ UP $590 FOR THE TRIP
My non-stop flight back to Manchester NH was leaving today at 4:15 PM, Tuesday, and I had to check out of the Rio by noon. So early in the morning I drove out to GVR for their $5.99 breakfast buffet, which I paid with my remaining points. If you order coffee they bring you a full pot of coffee and leave it on the table. At most places coffee alone is $2.00 to $3.00, so the buffet itself really only costs $3.00 to $4.00 once you subtract the value of the accompanying drink. IMO it easily worth $12+. They have a custom omelet station, eggs benedict, bagels with a variety of cream cheese flavors, fresh fruit, pancakes, waffles, hand carved ham, bacon, sausages, blintzes, and all sorts of danish pastry, pies as well as many other items that I can't recall.
Being up a little more than $500 for the trip, I wanted to leave with a $500 profit so I decided to just risk $20 at FPDW at GVR before leaving and if I won $10 I was going to leave. I won $10 and left. From there I drove back over to Terrible's on Paradise and played a low risk $10 MP. Usually they ask to see your player's card to play it and I couldn't find mine. So I had to go to the Player's Club booth to get one before playing the MP. After getting the card I noticed next to the booth there was a machine where you could swipe your card and possibly win some sort of reward. So I figured, why not? Anyway it said I had won $15 in freeplay. So I took my card to a 25c 9/6 Job machine and downloaded the $15 and cashed out with a $10 win. I then played the MP at blackjack and won $20 more.
Being around the corner, I thought I'd try a very low risk $5.00 MP at Tuscany. I lost that one, however. but before having to check out of the Rio at noon I still had time to try a $10 MP at the Orleans. It netted me another $20 win. I then checked out of the Rio but before heading to the airport I drove across the street to the Palms to see if possibly everyone was wrong and they had put the 100% machines back. But they hadn't. So (thinking of no compelling reason to return there in the future) I decided to convert my Palms points (about $30 in points into freeplay) and I ran it through the 50 play machine at 2c a hand and left with $20 in additional cash. Lastly, I played my last Palms $10 MP on "Odd" but "Even" came up.
It soon became time to fill up the rental car with gas and get to the airport and head home on six hour flight that allowed me to compose much of this trip report before hitting the ground at 1:30 AM EST.
THE FINAL TALLY
In the end, I left winning about $590 (about $80 in MPs and $510 in FP and VP. Thanks for reading this.
SteveT
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