My flight on Midwest out of Milwaukee was scheduled to depart at
7:30pm, but did not leave the gate until 8:00pm. I had booked a
window seat in a row of three seats; when I got to my row, a man was
sitting in my seat, with his wife/companion in the middle seat next
to him. Clearly, they were hoping whoever was supposed to sit there
would be a weenie and just take the aisle seat. I kindly pointed
out that he was in my seat and he quickly got up and climbed over
his companion to relinquish what wasn't his. His companion just sat
there and looked at me. Finally, after a brief stare-down, she
says, "Do you want me to get up?" I couldn't even believe she was
asking me such a stupid question. I replied with, "Yes, unless you'd
like me to fall all over you." With that she begrudgingly got up
and allowed me to take my seat. This woman clearly thought she was
a princess and was going to be certain I knew my "place." She used
both arm rests the entire flight and leaned into my "space" as much
as possible. When we landed 45 minutes late in Vegas, I couldn't
wait to get off that plane.
Picked up my car at Dollar and got my first employee discount with
the company. I already had a good rate (thank you LVA), so this
made the deal even sweeter. Drove off in my Sonata to the Cal for
my first three nights. Check-in was a breeze and I was assigned a
Parlor Suite even though there was a big golf tournament going on
(thanks to my host). The Gold Card was also issued to me which
made dining extra simple.
Although it was late and I was exhausted, I decided to go put in a
little play before hitting the sack. I sat at my favorite old 50c
10/7DB end-cap (the only like this left in the place) and fed in a
$20. On my fourth FH, I happened to notice I only got 45 credits.
Thinking that I was just tired and saw it wrong, I continued to
play. A few minutes later I got another FH and sure enough, only 45
credits. I stopped play immediately and called over a floor-
person. A slot-tech was called over and he was told to shut down
the machine. They were very nice and gave me 25 coins to pay me for
the 5 FH's I was shorted on (took my word for it). I moved on to a
$1 10/7DB near the bar and played there for awhile. The same slot-
tech came over to me and asked if this machine was paying
correctly. Having not had a FH yet, I told him I didn't know. He
asked if he could go inside to check the settings so he would know
how to reset the 50c one I had recently been kicked off of. This
seemed odd to me, but I agreed. He said they had put a new chip in
some machines recently and that the 50c one must have been reset
incorrectly. Although I feared my fav 50c machine would be "down"
for the remainder of my trip, when I quit for the night, I moseyed
over to it to find it was up and running again. Yeah!
I have read that when playing on a mult-denom machine, that you only
get credit for the lowest denom, even if you are playing a higher
denom. Also, the databases I referenced before taking this trip
states that points accumulate at 1 per $1 wagered on less than $1
play, and 3pts per $1 for $1 and up play. I decided to check both
of these out the next day at the Cal and MSS.
Neither statement proved to be true. I played on a variety of
machines and always got 1 point per dollar, whether I played on a
single denom or multi-denom machine and whether I played at the 50c
or $1 level.
Everyone at the Cal was wonderful to me, as usual, and after two
days of play I had accumulated 39,495 points which was then tripled
due to a coupon offer I had. Took my cashback and went over to
Binion's to use the $10 freeplay coupon from the LVA book. To my
disappointment, it takes 72 hours for the freeplay to show up in
your account what a stupid way to handle this! Gave them zero
play and went over to the 4Q. Asked at the club about any promos
that might be going on (none) and if I had any cash in my account.
To my pleasant surprise, I had $76 which I took. I cannot help but
wonder how much cb and comps I have "left on the table" over the
years in ignorance. Played here briefly, losing $300 rather quickly.
Time to move on to the Rio for two nights. I apologized at the
Diamond check-in for being so early (it was only 10:30am) and told
the woman that I didn't expect a room this early, but would
appreciate if they'd hold my luggage. She was very nice, told me my
room was ready and that I had been upgraded. The regular rooms here
are great in my opinion, so I have never even requested an upgrade.
Why would I get one? No clue. I was sent to room 30029 (a
Masquerade Suite) and was "wowed" from the moment I entered the
room. There was a sea of windows/glass. The view was of the entire
strip and downtown and was simply spectacular. A dining room with a
large round glass-top table with 5 large chairs and a wet bar, a
full-size living room, large master bedroom, and a bathroom that
went on and on (even had a small walk-in closet). The hot-tub was
right next to the window so that you could soak and enjoy the view
(which I did). This room was so large that it had four
thermostats! I kept thinking, they've made a mistake and will be
calling to say so
. Actually, the phone rang about 10 minutes after
I got to the room. They were calling to be sure the room
was "satisfactory." Yes, it is just fine, ty. The amazing thing
about this is that I have been staying at the Rio for many years and
have given them zero play
yet every trip they seem to be nicer and
nicer to me. On my last trip in August, I stayed at the Rio for 5
nights and had charged food to the room several times and made
several phone calls. Upon checking-out, I was asked if I would like
all of those charges comped, to which I said, "Yes, please." The
charges were removed but my account balance was left untouched. Go
figure. I am afraid to play here at all for fear it will screw this
whole great deal up!
These two days were spent playing at FH/Wynn/Palms. At this point I
was down about $3k from my play at the Cal/MSS/4Q's. I hit great
streaks both days and ended up winning back all I had lost plus
another $1k
without hitting any RF's.
While at FH, I checked my comp balance which was at $180. Knowing I
will never use that on food, I decided to hit the gift shop where I
found a cute purse that I would have never bought with real cash
($125), but was fun to get for "free." Had the delicious bacon-
wrapped shrimp at the Margarita Bar (as I always do) and was lucky
enough to win $350 while I munched on my appetizer and had a great
margarita.
At Wynn, I had earned the 2 free buffets and $10 FP for getting 500
points last July but had never used either; Sharon Laffey (a host)
had assured me these would be good for a year. I went to the club
desk and found out that Sharon is no longer with Wynn (another
correction for the database), but that the info she gave me was
correct. I was given my buffets and FP, no problem. While playing,
I was lucky and won $68.71 when the bingo game came on. That never
happened to me before. The buffets were wonderful too. Cocktail
service was spotty, in my opinion.
Hated leaving the awesome room at the Rio. Dropping off my car at
Dollar was a total PIA. It took a good half hour as they were very
backed-up and appeared to be short on help. Took Southwest to San
Diego (where it snowed for the first time since 1941) for three
nights to see my son's graduation from Marine Boot Camp at MCRD
(next to Camp Pendleton). Truly, a once-in-a-lifetime experience!
Back home safely on Midwest on 3/11.
Correna Correna