Very interesting. Where is the Peppermill? Your fruit plate sounds great. I think my husband & I will split one on our trip in January.
Pat McCauley
On Dec 7, 2012, at 8:34 PM, "straub4" <straub@shore.net> wrote:
> Trip Report 8 Days Las Vegas - Late Nov/Dec 2012
>
> Intro
>
> This trip was eight days with my wife. Left Boston on 11/29/12. Flight required a tight 40 minute plane change in Cleveland, which left us running down and up escalators from one terminal to the other. Made the second flight and got to LAS about 2:30 PM. Rented a mid-size using Dollar Express. Began making reservations a few months ago at an initial cost of almost $300, but with a number of rebookings and cancellations eventually got it down to $155 with the "City Special" (including all charges). We then drove to Green Valley Ranch (GVR) where would be staying. Because we were starving we first hit the food court for a late lunch at Capriotti's. I had a great-tasting turkey sub and my wife a salad.
>
> Accommodations
>
> We checked into GVR on a 4 night stay with 3 nights (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) comped. I haven't done any significant gambling at GVR lately so the three night weekend comp offer was a surprise. According to the booking agent the comp nights included the resort fee (but later I found out that I had to pay for a la carte Wi-Fi charges at the ridiculously high price of $15.95 per day. In the end, (I think by error) they comped me all four room nights instead of just three, so my only cost was $15.95 each night for Wi-Fi. So I was a very happy camper. The rooms aren't oversized, but the quality of the finish and furnishings are very high and there are many good restaurants and facilities there. And when you add in the shops and restaurants at the abutting District,GVR makes for an overall pleasant and cozy stay. Additionally, since it abuts I-215, you typically can get to the strip in less than 15 minutes.
>
> Subsequent nights (M-T-W) we decided to stay in the strip area and got a spacious three room, 1 BR suite at Elara Hilton Towers, which is physically connected to the Miracle Mile Mall and Planet Hollywood. It was a unit on the 20th floor facing south with floor to ceiling windows in the living room and the bedroom providing exceptional views of MGM, MGM Signature, City Center, and Monte Carlo (as well as distant views of McCarran runways). They also had smaller one room studio units with just kitchenettes for $80 to $100 per night, but I decided to go with the larger three room suite based on a special AAA discount that brought the cost down from $170 to $126 per night. The unit was very large and sleek (bordering on almost too sleek for my taste). But the unit had a full-sized, eat-in kitchen with dishwasher, coffee maker, and microwave. There were four flat-screen TVs (kitchen; living room; bedroom; and bathroom) as well as a projection TV that displayed on an enormous, automated, wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling white window shade.
>
> In addition to double sink vanity and oversized shower stall with rainhead showerhead in the bathroom, it had a washer and dryer combo (which came in handy after 4 or 5 days into the vacation). Unlike the l-o-n-g walk from the self-parking garage to Planet Hollywood, Elara is directly connected to the parking garage without having to walk through the Miracle Mile Mall to get to the hotel. I've stayed at other vacation type condos in Vegas on rentals and on trades and this was the best located and overall nicest so far.
>
> Entertainment and Food
>
> The first night we had tickets (discounted through Travelzoo) for Terry Fator with my brother and his significant other (SO) who were also in town staying at Springhill Suites on Paradise. Despite its great reviews, I wouldn't have gone to the show on my own volition, but the others wanted to see it. Nevertheless, I found many parts of the show to be exceptionally well done (though some were a bit corny for my taste). After the show, we went to the Peppermill and my wife and I split the fruit platter that came with a dish of ice cream (nearly a pint) and banana bread (essentially a full loaf). The fruit platter itself was also enormous and between the two of us could barely finish half of it (despite that it was fresh and delicious).
>
> The second night (at my wife's request) we got tickets to see Brad Garrett at his namesake comedy club at MGM (just my wife and me). Before leaving for the show we ate at GVRs Grand Café and I had one of their specials, veal cutlet, for $7.99, which was very good. Garrett was interactive with audience members and improvisational and nearly X-rated, which all made the show better than I had expected. Also one of the up-and-coming supporting comics gave a quality performance.
>
> On Saturday we ate at the Cheesecake Factory in the District for an early supper, which I paid with some gift certificates that I had accrued. Can't remember what I had but remember it was good and we split an excellent lemon cake for dessert. On Saturday night by getting the tickets online a couple of months earlier (the instant they went on sale) I got four front row tickets to see Three Dog Night at Eastside Cannery (with my brother and SO). Two of three of the original vocalists are still with the band as well as some of the musicians. They had excellent energy and vocal skills and put on a very good show reeling off hit after hit and still not getting to them all.
>
> My brother and SO left Sunday AM and on Sunday afternoon I grabbed a quick pizza to go at Settebello in the District (the best pizza in Vegas IMO). Then my wife and I went the Tropicana to the Mob Attraction (had ACG $10.00 per ticket discount coupon). Unlike the Mob Museum (MM) downtown, it had somewhat of a performance aspect to it with a few live characters playing mob guys and cops. For me this was a turnoff, though some of the exhibits were interesting. The other difference between this and the downtown MM is that this exhibit limited itself to mob guys associated with LV, while the MM was all mob guys. I'd give this a 6 out of 10 and the MM, which we saw last trip, a 9.
>
> That night (Sunday) my wife and I had tickets to see Train and Better than Ezra at the Joint at the Hard Rock. Train as expected was very good as was BTE. Not having time for supper before the show, after the show about midnight we went to the GVR Grand Café and had pancakes and French Toast. Again the food here was excellent and reasonably priced. The only faux paux here is that after getting the check our waitress disappeared for about 15 minutes and we wanted to leave right away. I finally tracked her down after 20 minutes and she said I could have paid it at the receptionist area. I said to her why didn't you tell me that when you left the check, so I wouldn't have wasted 15 minutes of my life waiting for you to return? Otherwise the service and the food were excellent.
>
> Monday we took the day and night off from entertainment, but had dinner at Maggiano's at the front of the Fashion Show Mall. I had a $10 off coupon sent to me by email for our anniversary. I also had a gift card. As usual the food was excellent and I chatted with the manager for a while about the restaurant business in Vegas and in general. After dinner my wife and I walked around the Fashion Show Mall for quite a while. It was very quiet there that evening.
>
> On Tuesday night we drove out to LV Speedway to take in the Glittering Lights exhibit, essentially a drive through exhibit with a wide variety of creative Christmas lights sponsored by casinos and businesses for charity. After that we went to Mr. Lucky's for dinner. I used a restaurant.com $25 certificate that I had bought for $7.00+-.
>
> On Wednesday we went to the Bellagio conservatory Christmas display (good as always) and then to the DaVinci Exhibit at the Venetian ($5 per person discount coupon), which was well done and interesting, though small and limited. Ate dinner at the Grand Lux. As usual, the ambience and food was excellent and reasonably priced.
>
> On Thursday morning before out late morning flight, with my wife still sleeping, I did a ham steak (about 2 pounds of ham) and egg breakfast at Ellis Island and used an LVA 50% off coupon. I then gassed up the rental card at the corner of Koval and Flamingo for $3.35 per gallon (cash only).
>
> Gambling
>
> Nearly all of my gambling was done solo between 6:00 AM and 1:00 PM. I had matchplays and freeplays (MPs and FPs) from ACG (2012 and 2013), LVA MRB, and other sources. Since GVR was in Henderson, while there, I limited my gambling to Henderson. Friday morning went to the Rainbow Club Casino in downtown Henderson and played $0.25 x 10 coin FP Deuces Wild (FPDW) VP. The only downside is there is no player's club, thus no comps or cash back. After about three hours with no deuces, I left with a $300 loss. Back at GVR, I then played FPDW and Loose Deuces Wild (LDW) for a loss of another $140.
>
> Saturday morning went to the Rainbow Club Casino again and played $0.25 x 10 coin FP Deuces Wild (FPDW) VP. After about three hours with no deuces, I left with a $220 loss. Back at GVR, I then played triple deuces wild for $0.25, which in the long run at perfect play pays back 99.92%. It is even more heavily dependent on getting deuces than FPDW or Loose Deuces (LDW) paying 3,000 coins or $750 at 5 quarter play (but pays less on lower quality hands than does FPDW or LDW). After about an hour I left with no deuces and an $80 loss.
>
> Later in the afternoon at GVR I helped my wife play triple deuces and she held her own for a couple of hours for only a $20 investment (but still no deuces).
>
> Sunday morning headed back to Rainbow Club and dropped another $300 on 50c FPDW with no deuces coming my way again. I had also bet $10 on the Patriots to win by 7.5 points and when I got back to the room they were winning by 10 with just a couple of minutes to go. But in a matter of seconds after a field goal they were only winning by 7 and I lost that bet as well.
>
> Thus far I was down a total of $1,050 for the trip with no wins and no deuces coming my way at all.
>
> That afternoon we went to the Tropicana to take advantage of online Free Slot Play Coupons for which we each paid $25 that gives you $50 of slot play as new slot club members. I also wanted to take advantage their loss reimbursement for new signups, but they informed me I couldn't do both. So for new members that want free slot play, but also want to take advantage of the loss reimbursement program, only get the $40 for $25 online coupon for existing members; signup; do the reimbursement program first; and then ask to do the $40 for $25 slot play coupon. Either way, they also give you a $10 MP upon signup.
>
> I turned my $50 of slot play into $75. So at a cost of $25, I won $50 and then another $10 on the MPs (going 1 for 2 on my wife's and mine). My wife also netted $15 on her Slot Play coupon.
>
> On Monday morning, I played a few hours of a combination of 0.25 FPDW and $0.50 and $1.00 Loose Deuces Wild (LDW) VP at GVR. Since I hadn't had deuces since I'd been there on Thursday, it seemed like a good plan at the time to play LDW that paid $625 for four deuces instead of playing FPDW just paying $250 (but with a very high variance and lower overall long-term potential return). I also wanted to move up in denomination to $0.50, but was concerned about blowing through my bankroll. So I played 20 hands of LDW at the $0.25 level, and 20 hands at the $0.50 level and just to spice it up one or two hands at the $1.00 level. Then I would start over at the $0.25 level with the same routine. So my average bet was about 40c x 5 coin at LDW.
>
> I finally hit four deuces luckily not playing 25c FPDW for $250, or playing 25c LDW paying $625, but at the 50c level of LDW paying $1,250. That was the good news. The bad news was that it was just enough to warrant getting a W2-G. Still, I was extremely happy to have cut all my losses. Based on today's net gain of $1,080, I was now up $70 for the trip (from being down nearly $1,100).
>
> We next checked out of GVR and into the Elara Hilton. So my Henderson area gambling was done for the trip.
>
> On Tuesday morning my gambling began at Circus Circus (CC) playing 50c Aces & Eights VP with a potential long term return of 100.25%+ (with the + for the progressive aspect of the game). After playing a couple of hours and being down a couple of hundred dollars, unbelievably I pulled six sets of quads in about nine hands and was quickly up over $400. I eventually cashed in a $600 ticket after having put $200 in the machine for a $400 win.
>
> Next, at CC I signed up for $30 for $20 and $15 for $10 Wincard deals at the CC player's club giving me $45 in chips for $30. I did poorly, however, playing $5 blackjack. Although I lost $30 in these chips, I only lost $15 in real money (as a result of getting the free chips). Next, I walked over to the Riviera and played a $10 ACG MP on red but black came up.
>
> I then drove downtown to El Cortez and used an LVA coupon for $10 in FSP and lost the freeplay. But I threw a $20 in a downtown deuces machine there and cashed out $30 in quarters for a $10 win.
>
> Later in the day my wife and I went to the Palms to play our buy $40 for $25 online Slot Play coupons. I turned my $40 in slot play into $26 for a $1 win.
>
> On Wednesday morning I went downtown again and at the Fremont armed with my large Dunkin' Donuts coffee played 25c Pick-a-pair aka Pick'em. The game is a potentially breakeven game with perfect play. I know this game cold having played it for many years in CT. After a very short period a got quads, which pay $150 and left with a $150 profit. I next went to 4Queens and took advantage of their advertised deal that they will give you $10 in FSP (even to existing player's cards members) by showing a player's card from another casino. I first pulled out a card from the Palm's and she said that I couldn't get the FSP because the Palm's wasn't a downtown casino. So then I showed her an ElCo card and she gave me $10 in FSP that I turned into $10 cash in a 9/6 JoB machine. Next stops were Las Vegas Club and the Plaza where I played a 2012 ACG $5 MP for a win and a 2013 ACG $10 MP for a loss, thus breaking even. The pit woman for the Plaza apparently had never seen a Plaza ACG MP and examined it with everything but an X-ray machine, but eventually accepted it. I told her they did not have them in the 2012 book and the 2013 book, which this was from, just came out about a week or two ago. So I'm sure she will be seeing many more of these in the future. The 2013 coupons are pink.
>
> Later, I did a near-strip coupon run including MPs for Tuscany, Terrible's, Hard Rock, Orleans, and the Palm's and won most of them playing mostly Red or Even. Lastly, I threw a $20 in a FPDW machine at the Palms and cashed out with a $100 ticket for an $80 profit. There is a lot of rearranging and construction going on throughout the Palms right now.
>
> With our plane leaving in the morning, no gambling was done on Thursday as I had to pack, have breakfast, and gas up the rental car. Fortunately, the flight home was a direct flight to Boston on Jet Blue.
>
> Although I was down at one point nearly $1,100, in the end I left winning a total of $766.
>
> Thanks for reading this.
>
> ST
>
>
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