Just got back from my third LAS trip this year a couple of weeks ago.
This was my first positive trip of the year. Flew direct from CVG to
LAS on Delta using frequent flyer miles. Flight was only half full
which is unusual as they are normally packed. Rented a car with
Thrifty instead of Dollar and found them to be very good and fast.
Landed at 10:25am, was in the car and on the road by 10:50am! Helps
if you only bring carry on of course.
CASINO MONTELAGO
I decided to check out Casino Montelago for the first time. Nice
casino, not very busy. I also checked out the rooms at the Ritz which
were very nice, if a little smaller than I was expecting. I decided
it would be a nice place to bring the Wife for 1 or 2 nights. Played
FPDW for 4 hours and ended up with no royals or deuces and an overall
loss including cb of $275. I have a bad track record with FPDW, over
200 hours of lifetime play with a payback of 98%. In fact it seems
that the bigger the edge the worse I seem to do! I actually have over
1000 hours of 9/6 JoB with a payback of 100.25% (including CB). FYI:
I tried to use the American Casino $25 match play and was told by two
different dealers that they no longer took them.
RIO
Left Montelago and headed for the Rio. First time here as well. I
had an offer for 2 free nights and $50 in cash. I got this from about
4 hours of play on a 2c 50-Play 8/5 SA machine in Wisconsin. I only
checked in so I could get the cash. I decided to check out the rooms
in case I wanted to stay one day with the Missus on a non-gambling
night. It was nice and large and I loved the floor to ceiling
windows. It did however feel just a little worn around the edges.
Very nice but not great. Not even close to the quality of THEHotel
rooms. I checked out another room in one of the other towers and it
was basically the same. Had dinner at the Village Seafood buffet
using a $10 coupon and another $20 of old Harrahs comps from a KC AA
visit. The buffet was awesome. I did discover that it was possible
to eat too much lobster! I would highly recommend the buffet
especially if you can get a coupon to help out with the $35 cost.
STARDUST
Left the Rio and checked into the Stardust for two nights. I picked
up $30 in BB cash after checking in and then left. I was going to
play here, but I only play the triple play Jokers which are now gone.
I had to check myself just to be sure and it brought tears to my
eyes. I have a lifetime 101.1% payback on those machines, so this was
a sad day. INVENTORY UPDATE: The 9/6 Job Multi-Strike are at the 5c
and 25c only. There is no 10c level.
GOLDEN NUGGET
Ok, THIS was my home for the stay. 3 nights comped and $200 in free
play. I checked in to the south tower which I think is a little nicer
than the others and got my free play. The 10-Play DB was open so I
sat down and turned my $200 free slot play into $225. I then put in
about 3 hours of play until it was about 11pm (2am EST) when I was
starting to get too tired to play. I love this machine which has
produced a lifetime payback of 100.82% (with cb) for me. That night
it dealt me 2222 and 3333. Ended up with a $550 profit PLUS the $225
bounce back. Great Day!
Got up at 5am to put a session in but this was locals x2 cash back day
and the machine was occupied by someone. I could tell that they were
in for the long haul so headed out for the morning.
RAMPART
I had been here once before. I really like the casino and most
importantly I love 8/5 SA in 10-Play nickels. I basically grew up on
this game at Belterra in Indiana. It was double points day so this
was a pretty good play. Played for about 3 hours and hit aces 4 times
. Ended up $100 up before I left. I also checked out a couple of
rooms which were very, very nice. I liked these better than the Rio.
This is definitely a place I would be taking the Wife.
Went back to the Nugget and managed to get back on the 10 Play machine
and put 5 hours in. Ended up losing $50 despite hitting a Royal. I
also checked out some of the casinos downtown. INVENTORY UPDATE: I
noticed a 1c, 2c, 5c 50-Play machine at the Fremont, in Penny town,
that had 9/6 DDB. Not my type of game, but I know some people love it
(now if it had been 10/6 DDB I would have given it a big hit!).
GOLDEN NUGGET
Next day I spent gambling at the nugget all day. Ended up playing
about 8 hours on and off throughout the day. Hit 3 royals and lots of
Aces. This machine is so good! Ended up $420 up for the day. Cashed
out $70 in cash back and got an $80 comp for Zax. I really liked this
restaurant as it had a cool atmosphere but was still nice and
intimate. Food was good (not great).
SANTE FE STATION
Checked out of the Nugget and drove to Sante Fe. I had a two night
comp and $100 resort credit. Sat down at the 10-Play Jokers and
proceeded to get whipped! After about 6 hours I stopped, $250 down.
No royals and no 5-kind (must have used my luck up at GN). Had dinner
at the steakhouse which I thought was nice, nothing special but
certainly a good place to eat free meal.
The next morning I checked out (only stayed one night) early and flew
direct back to CVG. Overall results, including BB and CB, less tips
was about $850 up. This put me almost back to breakeven for the year
(had a bad -$1000, no royal, no STFL 3 days at the Hilton earlier in
the year).
Received a 2 night, $100 Free play, $100 comp from Golden Nugget
yesterday. Not sure if last trip was part of that offer.
Cheers
