WARNING: This is very long
Sunday 11/18/18
This was a solo trip to Las Vegas. I left my house north of Boston about 3:30 AM to get a 6:00 AM non-stop JetBlue flight from Boston to Las Vegas. Flight arrived at 9:00 AM Vegas time.
Car Rental Info
I rented a mid-sized car at Dollar. Initially booked at $350 but after numerous rebookings eventually paid $225 (all in) based on a Sunday morning to Thursday evening rental.
With Dollar Express membership I got the last mid-size car (Mazda 3) available in the mid-size section. Took it, but reported it having many significant scratches (down to the primer) on the passenger front door.
Also as I was driving out I noticed the tire-low light on the dash. Stopped at gas station and pulled up to the air machine. It wouldn't take cash, only credit cards, but not Discover. Discover was the only credit card I reported before I left that I would be in Vegas, so the card would not be rejected for unusual activity. I didn't report my trip to Mastercard or Visa card so was reluctant to use those even though I had them with me. I eyeballed all four tires and the rear tires looked fine. One front tire looked a little low, but not low enough where it would be dangerous to drive it. So I didn't put any air in, just drove the car with the indicator on. If they weren't concerned about the low indicator light before they put the car out for rental why should I worry about their tires wearing out sooner than they should?
Room/Hotel
Next stop was my comped hotel room. Unfortunately the comp was at Circus Circus (CC) (where I play a lot of full pay video poker), but at least I got a renovated room in the Casino Tower. My wife who prefers the Venetian (when she travels to LV with me) would not be happy staying here, nor would I bring her here for an overnight stay. One nice thing, however, unlike all other MGM Resorts (or Caesars) owned hotels in Las Vegas, self-parking was free here.
The room had some newer touches, but still was nothing to write home about. But it was 100% free for three nights including the resort fees. The rooms themselves are alright, but the common areas including the casinos suffer from deferred maintenance. The exceptions are four well-maintained common areas: 1) The Steakhouse; 2) the Westside Deli; 3) the fitness room (though small and difficult to find); and 4) the newly redone waterpark and waterslide pool area. Being the lowest priced large hotel within walking distance to the strip (currently ending at Encore), and with the many kid-friendly attractions/amusements at CC, it largely attracts extremely budget-minded families. Spanish seems to be the most prevalent language here including much of the music played in the casino and common areas.
Lunch
Since I had not eaten since 5:30 AM EST which is 2:30 AM Vegas time and it was now after 11:00 AM Vegas time, I was ready for lunch. Maggianos had sent me a $10 off coupon on a $30 purchase. So I went there. The location at the Fashion Show Mall also has free parking and overlooks the north strip. I find the food there (primarily Italian) to be excellent (as does my wife when she has been with me -- and she is Italian). I had chicken parmesan with pasta, a salad, and a drink. The salad and house dressing was fantastic and despite being a solo diner at a table that would seat four, the waiter was energetic, personable, anticipatory, and accommodating.
After lunch, I played quite a bit of 50 cent x 5 coin Aces & Eights video poker (A+8s VP) at CC, but lost $30.
Show
Following that I had a ticket for a 4:00 PM show to see Nathan Burton (a magician) at the Saxe Theatre at the Miracle Mile Mall located at the rear of Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino. I got it online at TravelZoo before I left at the deeply discounted price of $12.50. Again free parking was available here as well.
The show was better than expected, as some of the disappearing person tricks and person switch tricks in enclosed boxes were amazing. The only problem is after the fourth type disappearing person and person switching trick occurred, he seemed to repeat the same tricks with a different box or a slight twist/theme on the setup. So to me it eventually became redundant. I probably have a shorter attention span than most people.
Supper
Since I was already at the Miracle Mile Mall, after the show I got a quick sandwich at the Earl of Sandwich there. As always the sandwich was fresh, tasty, and reasonably priced.
VP
After that I drove back to CC and played some more 50c A+8 VP. Based on hitting a couple of 4-of-a-kinds, I ended up $180 for the session.
Daily Gambling Tally: For the day I was up $150
Monday 11/19/18
Played 50c A+8 VP at CC. Based on not hitting any 4-of-a-kinds, I ended down $150 for the session.
From there I went on a downtown coupon run using American Casino Guide (ACG) and Las Vegas Advisors' Members Rewards Booklet (MRB) coupons
After parking at Binions, I walked to El Cortez. I had a $10- $100 MRB free slot play (FSP) coupon. After spinning the wheel I got $10 in FSP that I played in a video poker machine but couldn't hit much so I ended up cashing out with $0. I typically also play their Downtown Deuces VP coin dropper machines, but they have removed them, so instead it was on to the "D" casino. I played two $25 match play (MP) coupons from ACG and MRB: one at blackjack (BJ) and one at roulette. Unfortunately the dealers hand was higher than mine at BJ, and red didn't come up on the roulette wheel, so I lost both bets. From there I walked over to Downtown Grand where a $10 FSP won me $10, but a $10 MP lost me $10, since red did not come up again. It was not far to 4 Queens at which an MRB $10 FSP coupon raked in $0 at a 9/6 Jacks or Better VP machine.
It was then a long walk to the Plaza casino at which a $10 FSP coupon brought me $10 in profit on a VP machine, a $25 MP on red won me $50, but on the next spin a $10 MP on red lost $10. Next, at the Golden Gate the first $25 MP at BJ won me $50, but the second $25 MP at BJ lost me $25.
To cap off the DT coupon run I played a $10 MRB FSP coupon at Binion's, which brought me $10 playing VP and I also got my parking receipt/ticket validated, so my DT parking was free.
Palace Station Buffet
For lunch I decided to try the newly renovated, highly touted, and updated Palace Station buffet. With my MRB 50% off coupon and showing my Station Casino players card it was $5.50. I had eaten at this buffet once about seven years ago and it was horrible. It was no longer as bad as I remember it, so it has improved. Had it improved enough to motivate me to want to eat there again? The desserts and the French Fries were very good, but otherwise there was nothing else that I had that I would consider that appetizing. I'd rate it better than before but still below other off strip buffets such as Sunset Station or The Orleans, etc. On a 1 to 10, I'd give it a 4. The overall Casino and Buffet décor looks great, however.
Afternoon Gambling
Since I was there, I decided to play some 25c FP Loose Deuces Wild (LDW) VP. While I was there the fire alarm kept going off but since no one else seemed to care about it, I figured it must only be a recurring glitch (at least I hoped that was the case). After not long I lost $20 and left.
Since it was nearby, I decided to try a $25 ACG MP at SLS at BJ also on Sahara. Other than a few loud Asian guys at a Baccarat table yelling at the dealer (and at each other), it was a ghost town there. I won a fast $50 there and decided to mosey over to Westgate across the street at Paradise Rd., where I have had good luck playing VP in the past. Although they are now set up with gates to charge for parking, parking at Westgate was free there that day. I also played 25c FP LDW VP here, and dropped $20.
From there it was just a short drive down former Riviera Dr. nka Elvis Presley Dr. back to CC. At CC I signed up for both of their Wincard deals: one gives you $30 in chips for $20, and the other gives you $15 in chips for $10. Armed with $45 worth of chips I sat down at a $15 minimum BJ table that paid 3 to 2 for BJ (as opposed to the rest of tables at $5 minimums only paying 6 to 5 for BJ). I played until my $45 worth of promotional chips ran out. In the end I had $75 of real chips that I cashed in for $75 netting me a ($75 minus $30) $45 profit.
After that I continued playing 50c A+8 VP but lost $60.
Carrot Top (CT)
I had 8:00 PM tickets for Carrot Top (CT). Let's just say that despite the great reviews he gets, based on my knowledge of him from seeing him on TV many years ago, I thought he would suck like he did then. Since it was Thanksgiving week many shows were dark so choices were limited. So I took a chance. He's not my cup of tea, but I can see why so many people enjoy the show. His jokes and props come at you rapid fire so even if one out of four or five are good, you do spend a reasonable amount of time at the show laughing, but half of the show is stupid and/or not funny. But I guess it depends if you look at it as the glass half full or half empty. If you have other good choices for shows go see them, but if your choices are limited then it is not the worst show I have seen. I'd give it a 5 out of 10. I think many people would rate it higher (and that is okay with me).
Strip Parking Adventure (LONG)
Now let's talk about the MGM Resorts and Caesar's parking fees: I hate them and that is another reason why I spend less time on the strip than I used to. I know I could get free parking if I got an MGM Resorts credit card or Caesar's credit card, but I have enough credit cards and I have had many of them for a very long time which helps keep my FICO credit score high. If you apply for a new credit card the company must do a "hard" credit pull/check and that by itself lowers your credit score for a period of time. In addition the average length of time that you have had a credit card from a credit card company also affects your credit score. The longer you have it, the higher the score and vice versa. So getting a new card is also reported to lower your credit score for that reason.
So what is your alternative: If you are going to the northern end of the strip you could park for free at the Fashion Show Mall or the Venetian, or mid-strip at the Miracle Mile Mall parking garage at the back of Planet Hollywood. For the southern end of the strip up until about a month ago, it was also possible to park at the Tropicana (except since then they instituted a parking fee when any major event was occurring at the MGM arena or the T-Mobile Arena behind NYNY and MGM Park).
Unfortunately, that night the NHL Golden Knights Hockey team was playing at T-Mobile so the Trop would be charging for parking. So now since I would be there for more than one hour, the only reasonable alternative was to pay MGM Resorts their parking fee. I found out I could stay from more than one hour up to four hours for $8.00. So I figured out how I could get the most bang for my $8.00 without going over the four hour pricing bracket. The next step is based on 4 to 12 hours at a higher rate.
The show was at 8:00 PM at the Luxor. So I decided to park at the Luxor at 7:00 PM and walked through the Mandalay Bay (MB) Mall to MB where I played their Wincard deal of $30 in chips for $20. For the sake of time, I bet all $30 in chips on red (black did not win, but just as bad #0 green won) and my $20 was gone in an instant. I next walked back to the Luxor and went to the CT show at about 8:00 PM.
The show got over just after 9:30 PM so about 2 ½ hours were used up leaving me with about 1 ½ hours. I next took the tram to Excalibur and from there walked across the elevated Tropicana Ave crosswalk to NYNY. I made it to Greenberg's Deli in NYNY just before they closed at 10:00 PM and got my long anticipated corned beef sandwich with half sour pickle and a Dr. Brown's cream soda and ate it on the adjacent patio area next to the restaurant while listening to the music from the very popular Time Square piano bar across the walkway. I next found out where to get the NYNY Wincard deal and got it at the cashier's cage. Again I got $30 in chips for $20 and again I played all $30 on red -- and again red did not win. Okay now it was about 10:30 PM and I needed to pay for my parking at the Luxor by 11:00 otherwise pay the 12 hour fee instead of the four hour fee.
So I book it out of there but ended up taking the wrong escalator to the elevated walkway to MGM across LV Blvd and not the one to Excalibur. I walk very fast back down the empty staircase parallel to the escalator I just came up and locate the correct escalator across the NYNY casino up to the elevated walkway to the Excalibur that crosses Tropicana Ave. From there all I could locate was the express tram all the way to Mandalay Bay and not the two stop tram to the Luxor. I decided to take the express tram all the way to Mandalay Bay and then catch the adjacent tram (that I knew where it was located) back to the Luxor. The express tram came right away and made it to MB very quickly. The tram to the Luxor was visible from there only a few feet way. I waited only a couple of minutes for the tram to the Luxor to arrive and was at the Luxor pretty quickly. Now it was just a question of walking to the self-park garage at the rear of the Luxor. There I located an automated pay machine at which you insert your parking ticket and pay at the machine. Then you insert the paid ticket at the gate and the gate will then go up.
When I got to the machine to pay I had ten minutes to spare. Unfortunately the screen on the pay machine read "Out of Service". I noticed there was another machine in a dark corner across the hallway. I walked over to it and it appeared to be working. Both machines in bold print indicated they do not accept coins. So I inserted my parking ticket and it indicated I owed $8.00 and then on the right side of the machine a blinking light appeared above a slot and I assumed that would be where I would insert my credit card to pay.
So I inserted my credit card and my card got pulled in to the machine. I waited for the screen to tell me it charged my CC $8.00 and my CC would then come back out. Well I waited a minute and nothing happened and it still said to make payment of $8.00 on the screen, but the rest of the machine was pretty dark and I really couldn't read anything else on the machine. I got my phone out to illuminate the machine and below the slot I put my CC in it said insert cash here. I then illuminated the rest of the machine and noticed to the left of where I inserted my parking ticket (which was still in the machine) was another slot which said insert credit card here.
So I had inserted my CC into the slot for currency/bills and time was running out. So I pushed every button on the machine to try and get my CC back out of the money/cash slot but all that happened is that the ticket finally came back out unpaid but my CC had been eaten by the machine. So now not only was I at risk of not paying on time, but also now my credit card was gone and for all I know shredded inside the machine. What a nightmare! No one from the Luxor was nearby nor was there any service button to push on the machine.
So I got the main telephone number for the Luxor on their website in my phone and dialed it and got a long recording followed by a list of departments to dial none of which seemed related to the parking garage or paying for parking. After all the choices were rattled of, they said if you wish to call security you will have to dial an entirely different phone number and all I could remember was 702- and the first three numbers, but not the last four. So now I realized that not only was I not going to make the four hour deadline, but much worse I may have lost my credit card for at least tonight and perhaps forever.
After standing there not wanting to leave my CC in the machine and hoping security or someone from the Luxor would walk by that could help, after about 10 or 15 minutes a guy wearing an orange vest comes walking towards me and I am praying he works here and can figure out what I should do to get my CC out of the machine and finally pay my ticket.
He said he worked here at the Luxor and I told him what happened. He said that the machine would have to be opened to get it. He said he did not have a key (oh crap), but he had one in his car and he would go get it (yippie) and he would be back in about 10 minutes. Given the possible outcomes at this point I was doing cartwheels in my head, but still was a bit skeptical about the chances of getting my credit card back in one piece or at all.
In about ten minutes he came back and had the key to open the machine and my credit card was sitting inside the machine on the rollers that move the bills to the machine's cash box -- undamaged.
He handed me the credit card. I was so happy to get it in one piece that I didn't bother to ask him about paying the lower four hour rate at this point. So he then closed the machine and I reinserted my ticket and it now indicated I owed the higher rate for up to 12 hours and I put my CC in the CC slot on the upper left side of the machine and it accepted the higher payment and the ticket came back out showing that it was paid. He said I now just need to insert it at the gate and the gate would go up allowing me to exit. I thanked him for his help and got into my car and drove up to the gate and stumbled around with the paid ticket in my hand and took a bunch of time to make sure I inserted the paid ticket in the right slot. All of sudden without me inserting the paid ticket in the machine, the gate goes up and a recorded voice says please pull forward and the gate stays up and the message keeps repeating please pull forward.
Now I'm thinking if I had known this was going to happen, I wouldn't have bothered to pay at all. I thought Rod Serling (Twilight Zone fame) was going to emerge from a dark corner. I left there with the paid ticket in my hand, WTF.
So now I hate pay strip parking even more than I did before (if that were possible). MGM Resorts your 6-5 blackjack sucks; your video poker pay tables suck; your phony rooms rates suck that do not include your exorbitant resort fees that you add on; your exorbitant ticket prices for shows suck; and your exorbitant prices for drinks, buffets and restaurants suck.
I drove back to CC and before hitting the hay, I played a bit more A+8 VP and lost $20
Daily Gambling Tally: For the day I was down $180, and for the trip $-30.
Tuesday 11/20/18
Abutting CC, at McDonald's I grabbed an Egg McMuffin and a large coffee and ventured east about 12 miles to the Skyline Casino on Boulder Highway in Henderson. They have full pay deuces wild (FPDW) VP at 50c per hand (actually 25c x 10 coin). The machines are old, slow, and do not have ticket in and out capability, so although bills of various denomination can be put in, money is paid out in quarters and the machine only holds 1000 quarters or $250 dollars. Although they have a slot club (and they gave me $5.00 of freeplay for signup), these Full Pay coin dropper machines are not eligible to earn slot club points.
I inserted three $20 bills in the machine and after playing about an hour with no more money inserted, I hit four deuces. Since 25c x ten coin is bet or $2.50 per hand (instead of the typical 5 coin bet or $1.25 per hand), instead of $250 payout for four deuces it becomes $500. Since the machine does not have the capability to pay $500 in quarters, the machine instead froze up and payment was via a hand pay. Within less than 10 minutes,
I had $500 in bills placed in my hand and the remaining balance was left on the machine. About an hour later I was running well and then I hit a wild royal that began spitting out quarters and it required the slot person to refill the empty machine coin hopper with 250 quarters. I don't fully understand the coin out part, but the bottom line is after about four hours there and cashing out my two buckets of quarters worth $160 (less my initial $60 investment, plus my $500 deuces wild hand, plus $5 made on the freeplay), I left there up a total of $605. I then celebrated in their restaurant with their $2.95 shrimp cocktail special (very small shrimp but in a full large old fashioned "ice cream" sundae shaped bowl/cup).
Since I was already on Boulder Highway, I next drove over to Sam's Town casino and played a $10 FSP coupon that ended with $0 gain. Next across the street from Sam's Town at the Longhorn Casino I played 1) a $10 slot play coupon for which you pay $5 that resulted in a $10 net gain; 2) a $5 MP at BJ for a $10 gain; and 3) a "Free (imaginary dealt) Ace" coupon at BJ resulting in a $5.00 win/gain. I then realized that I still had a $10 FSP coupon for a casino on Boulder Highway that I had never been to called the Klondike. It was back in Henderson near the Skyline.
I double backed to there, and everything inside appeared to be new including all the machines. I had a $10 FSP coupon for signing up for their slot club and managed to walk out with a $10 profit. I then drove back to CC and played a bit more 50c A+8 VP and broke even.
Evening Activities
I don't remember what I had for supper, but afterward I headed over to the Tuscany Hotel and Casino just east of the strip along Flamingo Rd. to see Michael Grimm perform. He is mainly a blue-eyed soul singer and plays at various Las Vegas venues (Sunset Station, Mandalay Bay, Red Rock, Smith Center, and Green Valley Ranch), and is a former national winner of America's Got Talent and also has many albums out. Sometimes he plays with a band, but at this venue he was playing solo accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. He has a unique excellent voice and is an excellent performer. I'm always amazed that he hasn't made it bigger than he has on a national or even international level. He played long sets and was interactive with the audience and even took a few song requests. As usual he put on a great performance.
Before the show and in between sets, I played a bit of bonus poker VP at Tuscany. After the $10 in FSP I got there for renewing my player's card, I broke even there.
Before hitting the hay at CC, I played a bit more A+8 VP at CC and won $50.
Daily Gambling Tally: For the day I was up $690, and for the trip up $660.
Wednesday 11/21/18
Room /Hotel
Today I was checking out of CC and checking into The Orleans Resort Hotel and Casino just west of the strip along Tropicana Ave. Based on limited prior play, I got two nights comped except for the $27 per day resort fee. Parking is free here. This place is a very good resort overall with many amenities, good blackjack rules, and fairly good VP paytables. It has a variety of good to very good restaurants and a reasonably priced buffet.
It has a multi-screen movie theatre, bowling alleys, a fitness center and spa, as well as casino lounge entertainment, a good sized entertainment showroom, and a large attached arena. It also provides free shuttle service to and from the strip.
All rooms are good sized and have been updated in the past couple of years.
Before checking out of CC, I played $25 of FSP I accrued while there and also played additional A+ 8 VP. Overall in this final session there, I lost $20.
I then headed over to Ellis Island where I had two $10 FSP coupons and two $10 MP coupons. I won $10 overall on the FSP coupons, but lost both $10 MPs when black came up twice instead of red.
From there I made my way to the Orleans and checked in. At the Orleans at some point I played a $10 FSP coupon and won $10 and then a $10 MP at blackjack. On the MP I was dealt a total of ten, while the dealer showed a 4, so I doubled my $10 bet and won $30.
My plan for the evening was to go see the group "The Fab" an all-Beatles-song band of excellent musicians and vocalists. Unfortunately they were playing far out at Sante Fe Station, which is about 20 miles northwest of the Orleans.
I had a 50% off coupon from MRB for the Sante Fe Station buffet so originally planned to eat supper there, but on the way decided to stop at Red Rock Resort instead, which typically has the best buffets in the Station group of casinos. So I went to Red Rock first and had their buffet also with a 50% off MRB coupon. It was miles ahead of Palace Station's buffet, but not as good as I remember it being about five years earlier when I stayed there. Still I found many items that were very good and the desserts were outstanding including the gelato. But unlike last time I ate there, there was no prime rib or peel and eat shrimp. Still I'd rate it 7.5 to 8.0 out of 10.
Before I Ieft there, I played a bit of 25c FP Deuces Wild VP and broke even. From there I continued on to Sante Fe Station looking for "The Fab". After walking around the entire casino once and not seeing or hearing them anywhere I decided to check their website on my cell phone. Apparently sometime after I made my plans to see them, Station Casino in the last couple of days decided to usurp their venue: The Chrome Showroom and instead were using it to hand out Thanksgiving pies to loyal Sante Fe Station customers that day and night since it was the day before Thanksgiving.
Upon reading that, I thought to myself, What Goes On; I Should Have Known Better; Tell Me Why; Help!; now I'm In Misery. With the bummer of it beginning to sink in I tried to Let It Be. Initially, my Plan B was to get revenge on Sante Fe Station and play their rare 50c, ten coin, Triple Deuces Wild VP machine there that would pay $3,000 for four deuces. It was a long shot and at $5.00 per hand I couldn't afford to play long. After dropping $40 and rethinking the wisdom of that plan I stopped. Plan C was to just get out of there, so I headed back south thinking what my next move would be.
decided to stop at the Palms Hotel on Flamingo and see how their renovation was going. Although much was done, major construction was still going on and the normally busy west side exterior entrance into the sportsbook, food court, and movie theatre looked to be permanently sealed off and a new entrance was added to the front northwest side of the casino going to the Sportsbook. Many other construction projects were also going on in the parking lot along the front and the side.
Anyway I played a $10 MP from MRB at BJ and won $20 and then played quite a bit of FP Deuces Wild VP in a bank of six machines just inside the new front entrance to the west of the main front entrance (near the Sportsbook). After playing quite a while, I broke even on the VP there.
Daily Gambling Tally: For the day I was down $10, and for the trip up $650.
Thursday 11/22/18 (Thanksgiving)
I started the day traveling north on Arville Rd. from the Orleans to Einstein's Bagels on Flamingo near the Palms. After getting a coffee and bagel with a shmear I headed over to Gold Coast Casino (also on Flamingo) and played a $10 FSP coupon on a VP machine resulting in a nice $40 win, but also playing a $10 MP resulting in a $10 loss.
Next stop was the Palms (across the street) where I played 25c FP DW VP and 25c FP LDW VP and lost $40. Next I moved on to Hooters at which I played $20 in FSP losing $5 and a $10 MP on red winning $20.
For Thanksgiving dinner, I stayed away from the buffets. The lines at the casino buffets such as the AYCE Buffet at the Palms and the Orleans Buffet had lines stretching as far as the eye could see. This is the day, if you are smart, to not go to a buffet since many locals take their families and apparently use their player points to pay for it all. Since they can pay with their player's club points, to them it is "free". But the price you pay is that you w--a--i--t in a nearly endless line for what appeared to be hours. For anyone coming in from out of town my recommendation is to not go to a buffet in a casino property on Thanksgiving here unless you want to wait in line for at least two hours, may be more.
I went to Blueberry Hill, a non-casino off strip restaurant just a bit west on Flamingo Dr. (I think there are three or four of them in Las Vegas). They are not franchised but are owned and operated by one owner. I had a turkey dinner with a salad and all the fixins, a soft drink and pecan pie for $16.60. The turkey and fixins were all excellent as was the pecan pie (though the waitress was bit harried having been given too many tables to wait on). They were very busy, but I only waited a couple of minutes for a table with no reservation (I don't think they take reservations there).
After my Thanksgiving Day meal, I made it back to the Palms for more VP but lost $20. My Jetblue direct flight back to Boston was leaving tonight about 10:30 PM and getting into Boston about 6:00 AM.
Later I headed back to the Orleans and changed and then worked out in their fitness room. Next I played some LDW VP there and lost $20. I then took a shower and packed. On the way to the airport I gassed up the rental and dropped it off at the rental car center and then took the shuttle over to Terminal 3. I had a window seat and tried to sleep for most of the redeye flight despite a persistently screaming baby from hell across the aisle. We made it back to Logan on time by 6:00 AM Friday.
Daily Gambling Tally: For Thanksgiving Day I was down $35, but for the trip I was up about $615.
Hope some of this may be useful or entertaining to you. Thanks for reading this.
ST
