LV Report 4-7-06 (6 of 12)
Today was going to be my walking on the Strip day. Each trip I make
a tour of the main Strip hotels. I like to keep my slot cards
active at these places because sometimes you just don't know. In
the past I've received offers from Bellagio, Caesars, Wynn, and
others. Of course, the exercise is good too.
It was about 8:00 AM and I parked at the Wynn. One of the nice
things about going to these major properties in the early morning is
that parking is a breeze, and there's few people walking around the
casino except those like me and the red-eyed all-nighters. The plan
is to do the usual sightseeing, and risk a twenty in each place.
I started at the Wynn and played the penny video Pharaohs game that
I had an amazing run a couple of trips ago. It started out slow, but
I finally hit a good bonus round and end up breaking even. Not much
has changed here at the Wynn since I stayed here last December, but
it remains a class place with excellent beverage service at the
machines.
I walked over to the Venetian and lost my twenty there, but I had a
nice time walking around this huge place. I wanted to see their new
poker room. It's located just to the left of the escalators at the
main entrance, and it's a large room. This morning, so far, there
were no tables occupied. Flat screen TVs surround it. The games
they offer are the same as Bellagio starting at 4/8 limit and up.
I should note that today is a Chamber of Commerce day in Las Vegas.
It's just below 80 degrees with a very slight breeze. The weather
simply couldn't be more perfect for walking and sightseeing.
Next up was Caesars by way of walking through Harrahs for a brief
stop to watch the Texas Hold `em table game. When I got to Caesars,
I tried my card to play my twenty, but it was refused. Great! It's
finally here. I have to go exchange my Caesars card for a Harrahs'
Total Rewards card. This is depressing. First of all, people who
know me are aware of my distain for anything Harrahs. However,
sometimes you just have to just accept the reality. I exchanged the
card and was told that I had $9.00 in comps coming, which I'll use
some other time, and they have a promotion going: If you put 75
points on your card in 24 hours, you can come back and get a free
Caesars traveling bag. In order for me to put that many points on
my card, I'd have to play that much. It's not going to happen. I
put my $20 in a Keno Four Card nickel game. Again, I played five
numbers on the four cards overlapping each other over seven spots.
Again, I hit a five spot for $51.00. Good enough.
A couple things of note: Watch out for the Caesars
(Harrahs) Bonus Poker schedule. It's different. Instead of the
usual bonus pay for quad A's through 4s, they simply offer 150 coins
for any quad. This is new to me, and have no idea if it's a better
deal or a worse deal (knowing Harrahs, I would guess it's worse).
Also, the new Poker Room at Caesars, next to the sportsbook, is also
a vast space with about 50 tables. The smallest game they offer is
5/10 limitfar too rich for my blood.
I walked over to Bellagio. It's now around 11:00 AM and the
place is packed. I walked over to their sportsbook and relaxed for
the next half hour in one of their leather chairs watching the Cubs
game. The atrium again is simply amazing. They have a huge banyan
tree they shipped from Florida that covered almost the entire back
half of the atrium. Tulips, butterflies, and a water bridge are
just a few of the things of note. This place is always worth the
visit. There aren't many penny games at Bellagio, but I did find a
Star Wars machine and played the requisite $20. I hit a couple of
nice bonus rounds and cashed out for $30. Back-to-back wins: good
news for just wanting to keep my cards active. I have about $12
cash back from Bellagio (MGM), but I'm going to wait until it's over
a hundred before I cash it in. At this rate, that should be
somewhere around 2015 or thereabouts.
It was time to start heading back. I walked through the
Forum Shops, and once again, there was Pete Rose sitting outside the
sports store signing autographs for $20 a piece. I've read this is
his only income now, which makes it kind of sad. However, he looked
like he was having a good time chatting it up with people and
staying in the limelightsort of.
Making my way back, I stopped for a bite at Wynn at a small
place called the Sugar E. Lee. They had a French Onion soup for
five bucks (anything at the Wynn under $20 is a bargain), so I
ordered a bowl with some ice tea ($3.50). This place has a patio
you can enjoy your meal at that has two very big waterfalls to watch
coming off the Wynn Mountain. It really is a beautiful place to
relax while you eat. The soup was absolutely delicious, the best
French Onion I'd ever had. I heartedly recommend this for a small
snack and when you add the incredible viewwellthat's Vegas in a
nutshell.
I went to Starbucks on Decatur to file yesterday's report,
and I stopped at a Wal-Mart along the way to pick up some cough
medicine and some aspirin. Somewhere along the way, I've managed to
pick up a bit of a chest cold. I haven't had a cold or been sick in
any way in about two or three years, so it's a little frustrating to
get it now while I'm on vacation. By the way, in yesterday's
report, I mentioned the idea of picking up some no-doz so I could
sleep a little better. A lot of you in your messages on the board
told me that would be a crazy mistake. Thank you for your help.
But I simply had a brain-fart and meant something that induces sleep
not something that keeps you awake. It turns out that last night I
had a nice nine hours (the cough medicine might have helped with
that, so all is good.
I finished the night early after watching the Area 51 show
in the Freemont Experience (the best, I think), and ordering a
teriyaki beef bowl from the California Hotel's snack bar to take to
my room. Tomorrow I meet AP (an old Las Vegas bulletin board
friend) and I believe Martin (MMoy/Martimus) comes into town, so my
solo days of this trip are coming to an end.
More tomorrow.