Back home from Las Vegas last night; good trip but no big wins. Our
goals this trip was to feast like royalty and play VP until we puked.
Wednesday we checked into the Fremont for two days and was issued a
gold card good for full comps in any restaurant in Fremont, Cal, and
Main Street Station. Our room was a corner room, a little larger than
the standard room but, unfortunately, the corner was next to the
Fremont St Experience and a little loud at times. The room was
tastelessly decorated in Art Shabby but was mostly clean. The
bathroom, decorated in domestic chrome and plastic, was a model of
efficiency everything in the bathroom is within easy arm's reach
without moving. Continuing the clever space saving design, the stool
was of commercial public bathroom design; no bulky water storage tanks
to take up room.
We headed off to the "pretty good" buffet in the Fremont closed for
the season. Went by Second St Grill to make reservations for the
evening meal closed for the season. Ok, there is still two more to
select from. Went to the Redwood Grill in the Cal dark on Wednesday
and Thursday. Damn! The Pullman in MSS is pretty good so will go
there. Not! Closed for the season. Double Damn! The only thing
open was Tony Roma's and the MSS buffet. So we only feasted like
commoners.
Downtown was mostly deserted, the smallest crowd we have experienced
there. About 90 % of the few people there were Asian, many from
Hawaii. We read in the KC paper last night that a woman from Hawaii
hit the Megabuck jackpot for $8.5 M at the Fremont just after we left.
Found out from the host that the combined slot card account with Cal
and MSS is for cashback points only. Each casino still does their own
comps according to play in that casino. They do not have access to
the level of play in the other properties. Bottom line, if we wanted
to continue our gold card status we should do most of the play in the
Fremont. So we did; played lots of VP, mostly Treasure Chest which is
basically an 8/5 Bonus game with no guarantees on 4 of a kind payout.
But it adds a little element of gambling excitement to the game and
we came out pretty good getting one hit for 500 and several for 180
coins.
Friday moved to the Venetian. Classy. What else can I say. We found
no full pay machines at the 25 or 50 cent level so didn't do much play
there. Probably won't get invited back. We spent most of the day
Saturday in the Rio and found a few playable machines. Lucky Lucy had
a good day but no royals. We found the Diamond Lounge in both
Harrah's and Rio a good place to chow down. Lots of free food and drink.
Big crowds on the Strip, again mostly Asian but quite a few Europeans
thrown in. Not at all what we expected but at least all the
restaurants were open.
Sunday moved to the Bellagio for the last two days. I talked the desk
clerk into giving us a lake view room and it was great the highlight
of the trip. Still a classy joint but not quite at the level as when
Wynn owned the place. Big crowds, teeming masses of people choking
the aisles, very long lines at the buffet (we had a line pass), but
very few at the gaming tables or machines. I think most of their
visitors, especially this time of year, are tourists and not gamblers.
Lucky Lucy came down with a case of food poisoning, we think it was
from potato salad in Harrah's Diamond Lounge, so was not feeling well
the rest of the trip. She was able to attend the Blue Man show on
Monday which we both greatly enjoyed. But couldn't partake of
Bellagio's excellent buffet or other fine restaurants. We did go to
the noodle place and hit the coffee shop.
We found some 50 cent progressive full pay bonus machines and spent
most of our time there. They were ugly to me for the first day but
turned around and gave up some good wins the last night. We also
collected our $100 freeplay and actually came out ahead after running
it through a 25 cent short pay machine. The B picked up our food
charges, about $40, and handed over $67 in cashback for our limited
play. I thought that was pretty good and will probably go back if
offered free rooms again.
So we didn't dine like royalty or play VP until we puked (but did play
until we were queasy). Ended up the trip winning about $75 in the
airport on short pay machines while waiting for our flight. Hay, when
you're hot you're hot! Down about $600, no royals, only paid for one
meal, cheap vacation, good to be back home.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good royal.
Rick