Right. This TR will be no mighty tome. I returned almost a week ago and
work is still kicking my butt, so a trip report of the quick and dirty
variety will have to suffice.
The Plan: 3 brief nights in Las Vegas, Wednesday through Friday. This plan
does not make it through the trip intact.
The Flight: Southwest again this trip. With no FC upgrade possible, it is
not my favorite airline, but the price is right and we have some credit from
a previous cancelled flight to use. The flight in arrives a half hour
early.
Caesars: This has been an outstanding comp play for Nancy and I. I am just
shy of breaking even for the year and would prefer to stay someplace with
positive vp (to give me the best chance at finishing the year in the black)
and less plush digs, but Nancy gives me the hairy eyeball when I suggest a
couple of other options, so we will squeeze the Emperors udder one last time
before Harrah�s and Total Rewards makes the milking more difficult.
We�ve requested the new Augustus tower and are quite willing to expend a
portion of our overloaded comp account, but no dice. A mistake was made in
our ressies, several conventions and NFR are in town and we have to talk our
way back up to even Palace tower. It would have been nice to take the new
rooms for a spin, but it is no tragedy. PT rooms are good.
Gambling
Caesars: I saw no changes necessary to the database �3/5 play 9/6 quarters,
STP, single play MS and the newer quarter NSUDs were present and accounted
for. I did not check the 5play MS, .50 3/5play JB, spin poker or anything
in the roller room.
As is my MO, I started with STP and got killed, then switched to the tamer
3/5 JBs. I played a fair amount of Multistrike this trip. I generate a lot
less action per hour playing MS and the game requires a lot more of my
concentration; I actually had to knock off the game because of all the
distractions around Shadow bar during busy hours. I was making too many
mistakes.
I lost at Caesars, but nothing extraordinary.
MSS: Every time I come to LV I try to fit in a couple hours of play at MSS.
This trip is no different. I find an open FPDW upright and play for a
while. 3 scratchers at $2 each, and per my usual, I forget and play off my
first quad before collecting on the promo. No deuces, but I�m up $6 at the
end of my session.
GVR: We spend what is supposed to be our final day after Caesars check out.
I do a bit of quad hunting on the 10/6 DDBs and catch a little bit of luck.
After lunch I settle into the FPDWs and catch my first ever dealt royal. I
blinked, missed the damned thing and then took about 20 seconds for my brain
to register what had happened. No balloons or confetti dropped from the
ceiling, but after this I am in the black for this trip.
Palms: We spend the day after what was supposed to be our final day in Las
Vegas here �Again, after checking out of Caesars. I use a Palms 3X coupon
and devote all of my time to the FPDW Prog. I lose a couple of hundred over
6 hours of play. 14 hours of deuces this trip and not one set. C�est la
viepie.
Dining
Mesa Grill: I like this place a lot. Prices are probably a little steeper
than they should be ($12 margarita? I always feel a bit like Travolta
asking about the $5 shake when my wife orders one.), but they take
Connection comp dollars and we earn these at such a furious pace that I
remain unperturbed. I order a shrimp with corn tamale appetizer and a chile
relleno entr�e. Nancy orders the NY Strip and a salad. Very good.
Caesars Room Service: Nothing extraordinary here, but we use it several
times this trip and it is very fast.
Palm: The lunch special is still in place --$18 now, I think. Potato soup,
filet with saut�ed mushrooms, thin sliced cottage fries and hash browns were
all very good.
777 Brew Pub: A darned good fish sandwich special, but the lobster bisque
was filled with large chunks of surimi.
Lucille�s: It is a restaurant in GVR�s The District mall area, oh so
carefully conceived to mimic (in a safe way) a real barbecue joint. I have
read good reports about this place and I agree, food and service are very
good. Fried pickles, moist biscuits, pulled pork, slaw with chopped nuts,
cheese grits and strawberry lemonade. Do not go if you might be intimidated
by hundreds of people waving bones the size of souvenir baseball bats in the
air.
Garduno�s: We did the Sunday buffet with all you can drink margaritas. At
$15 I thought it was a pretty good deal, especially if you are a drinker.
The mariachi band was darned good.
Comps
Caesars: We accrued comp dollars at Caesars at a .7+ rate even though I
came in on a marketing offer. Within a few hours of our arrival to Caesars
we were forced to do a little impulse shopping just so we didn�t go over the
$1000 maximum balance to the comp account. The next morning we thoroughly
surveyed the selection of stores where Connection comps could be used. It
took us a few hours, but it was absolutely essential if we did not want to
waste any comps. We settled for buying gift items for Christmas. The new
gift shop near the Caesars Augustus tower and Lenotre at Paris provided
more than the usual tourist crap and we did most of the shopping there. It
wasn�t too difficult to deflate our comp account by several hundred dollars
and come up with some decent gifts.
Unfortunately our comp dollars were no longer available for use at Flamingo.
They were all ready folded into the Total Rewards system.
We put in about 20K daily over 3 days, had all Caesars meals comped and did
several hundred dollars worth of shopping and still have a sizable comp
balance to be converted to TR. Last May we put in about 1/3 more in play
and had all comps taken care of without hitting our Connection dollar
account. I�m gonna miss this comp gravy train when Harrah�s takes over.
Note: the Caesars machines I played no longer showed point/CB/comp accrual.
I had to check periodically at the kiosks to gather enough data to figure
out my comp rate/action.
MSS: I mentioned I hit this place for a few hours of play a few times a
year. I didn�t know if they banked comps or not, but I thought it worth
asking for a 777 comp after my last session. The host offered $20 and I
took it. It was probably based on the few hours of fpvp quarter action we
had that day.
Palms: It had been a long time since I played the Palms, but my points were
still there. We used the 50% LVA coupon for our Garduno�s meal and took the
rest off of points. It�s an easy system. I wish I could use it upstairs at
Alize.
The Change In Plans
We call SWA to confirm our return flight and find it may not go out and will
definitely be delayed. We checked out of Caesars almost 8 hours ago and it
is a busy Saturday night in Las Vegas. It could be a problem. Rather than
return the car we stop in short term parking at Mcarran to check out the
situation. It is 7PM, The SWA desks are a madhouse and there are people
there from the 1PM flights being made to wait in line to get there bags
back. All SWA flights into Midway are cancelled. A quick call to SWA (
rather than wait in line) has us on a 8:15 PM flight the next day, another
to Dollar and we have wheels for 24 more hours, and one more to Caesars has
us in a comp room for one more night. SWA claims it is weather related (I
think it is more related to an unfortunate runway accident the previous day)
so no help with room, transport or any other compensation is forthcoming
from Southwest, which makes the offer of the extra night at Caesars really
appreciated.
We end up staying on the concierge level. I don�t think I would have wanted
to pay extra for it, but it included a continental breakfast, an upgrade in
toiletries, a few extra doodads (including a tiny flat monitor TV in the
bathroom) in the room and a very grand entrance as you exit the elevator.
We arrived home at 5AM Monday morning. I went to work at 9AM.
Final Note: This year I have only made two trips to Las Vegas. I used to
do 4 to 5 trips annually, and the reduction is a direct result of
competition. I made trips to Reno, Laughlin, Tunica and the Gulf Coast this
year. I made decisions to go to these places over Las Vegas. The simple
fact is that the gambling product and incentives at other destinations can
be as good or better than Las Vegas.
Chandler