Trip Diary 8-10-06 (7 of 20)
It's moving day once again. I enjoy some coffee while
writing up yesterday's trip report and then pack up my things. I
might be in some trouble as far as my offers from Sunset Station go
because I've played very little here this trip. It wasn't a
deliberate thing; I simply didn't find the time. I wasn't on the
property very much during this stay, and I regret not gambling here
to keep my offers coming. I suppose I'll just have to see how it
comes out.
I wasn't very hungry and skipped the breakfast this
morning. I drove across the street to the Galleria Mall. I needed
to buy some clothes, and I have a coupon that that came with my new
Macy's card now that they've merged with Robinsons-May. Some people
wonder what I do about clothes while on such a long trip. I know
some LVAers go to a Laundromat; however, I simply take the plastic
cleaner bags from my rooms, throw the dirty clothes in them and put
them in my trunk. My underclothes I throw away as it's time to get
new ones anyway. I rarely go clothes shopping at home. I use these
August trips to do that. Therefore, most of my clothes are new. I
digress: I'm waiting for the store to open (it's already starting
to get toasty outside), and check out the men's department. I don't
see anything that I like, and the one's I do like are too
expensive. I'm only looking for casual here: some shorts, a pair of
black slacks (for PHAMTOM this Monday), and a couple of shirts. So,
I left the store with nothing.
I drive over to Target (I can almost hear someone laughing
under her breath back home), and I find everything I need, except
the shirts. As the counter girl is ringing up my clothes, she's
talking to me about this whole new terrorist plot they've just
uncovered. I don't know what she's talking about, so after getting
back in the car, I search for an NPR station. I get caught up on
what's going on and make a note to tell Martin, who has to fly back
to San Diego on Wednesday.
I get to the Orleans to pick up Martin, but I'm about
fifteen minutes early. At the end one of the casino wings where the
garage is at, there's a bank of nickel Flaming 7s. This is a
popular spinner slot machine. Each machine in the bank has its own
progressive, which resets at $50. I'm going to wait for Martin
playing one of these, so the biggest progressive I find is $56 (as
if it makes a difference, I've never hit a jackpot on these type of
machinesever). I put in a $20 and at fifteen cents a spin begin
watching my money slow melt away. I'm getting a few bars, but I'm
not hitting any sevens at all, might as well the flaming 7s.
Suddenly, all three flaming 7s line up, the machine locks up and
begins playing that obnoxious tune "I'm in the Money." A few people
come running by and ask how much I won. I'm almost embarrassed to
say, "$56.00!" This is a ticket machine, so why I have to wait for
a hand-pay is beyond me. However, I gladly take the money, give a
tip to the attendant and continue to wait for Martin.
While still waiting (he's running a tad late), I notice a
video poker machine that has 9/7/5 Double Bonus for only nickels and
dimes. It's 10/7 (full pay) for quarters. For nickels and dimes,
9/7 is not that bad of a play. I'm surprised that a Coast casino is
offering some full pay machines again. I show Martin when he
arrives and he explains that their White Aces game is also full
pay. Good for the Coast! Maybe I can actually consider playing
there again some day.
We left the Orleans and stopped at a Starbucks on Flamingo
to file yesterday's report. After playing one Hold `em game online,
we went across the street to the Palms. On Tuesdays and Thursdays,
the Palms offer 3X points in the month of August. I wanted to
attack the 9/6 Jacks or Better machines on their 50 play for
pennies. Now, though pennies don't sound like much, you need to
understand that each game costs five cents and at fifty games,
that's $2.50 per deal of the cards. For a nickel and dime player,
that's a lot of money each time I hit the button. However, the
volatility of this game is so small when you consider the many, many
small wins along the way while waiting for a big hand; it's a game I
can enjoy. Last time I played this game, I played for over two
hours before finally succumbing to the house edge scooping up
thousands of slot club points along the way. There is also a
revenge factor here. As long as I played last time, I never hit one
royal or was dealt four-to-the-royal, and I know that I'm due on
this game.
At pennies, a royal is only worth $40; however, if you're
dealt four to the royal, you have a good chance to hit four to six
at a time after going through all fifty hands. If you're not
familiar with this machine, this must sound terribly confusing, but
I really don't know how to explain it, but I'll give it a try.
You're dealt one "master hand" with the other 49 sets of cards
turned backwards. When you chose which cards to hold on the master
hand, let's say a 10 of hearts and a Jack of hearts, than those same
two cards now turn over on all the other 49 hands. You then hit the
re-deal button, and now each of the fifty hands re-deals the cards
independently of each other. The KEY to this game is that the first
deal of the cards on the master hand have something good like two
pair, three-of-a-kind, or higher. Of course, this doesn't happen
that often. It's a game that's a lot of fun, so I play it here
because the Palms is one of the few places that offer this game with
a full pay schedule.
I'm going to cut to the chase here. Martin and I both begin
playing. I put in a hundred bucks to start. We play for about an
hour; Martin gets bored and wants to go play live poker. I stay at
the machine. Before all the dust is settled, I play on the same
hundred dollars for FIVE, straight hours. I cashed out for
$132.00. Martin and I did the calculations dividing the points by
three (3X day), and then found that I had played a total of just
over 2000 master hands. That means with 50-play, I played over
100,000 hands of poker. I managed only two royals and only one
straight flush. I was never dealt four-to-the-royal or even four-to-
the-straight flush even once in the 2000 hands. That, of course,
was totally disappointing; however, I still managed a profit of $32
and now have $75 worth of comps based on the total points I know
have. One dealt hand was four jacks, good for over $62.00, which
kept me going. This machine has not seen the last of me. I will
wait for the next 3X points' day, and I will be back. I'm going to
tame this bronco some day during this August trip. My butt was
sore; it was time to leave.
It was time for dinner, but Martin and I hadn't checked into
the Hilton, where we're both booked for the next three days. We
parked in the front of the hotel where Martin told me we could park
while checking in. I had never seen this little spot before, so
it's nice to know it's there hidden just past the valet loading
area. We checked in and were booked on the same 27th floor. I have
one of the best views (including when I stayed at the Wynn and the
Bellagio) in all of Las Vegas. I am not only facing the pool, which
is on the third floor, but I'm also facing the entire strip with the
Wynn to my right and the rest of the strip to the left. I also have
a perfect view of the airport with all the incoming and outgoing
flights to say nothing about the rest of the Las Vegas Valley. If
you ever stay at the Hilton, ask for a high floor facing the pool.
The view is breathtaking.
The Hilton has the standard, nice bed with large TV. The
window with the view I just told about has a long marble desk with
chair so you can do your work (as I am now writing this trip report)
as you look out at the view. There's also another small desk. The
bathroom has two vanities, one outside the over-sized bathtub and
one in the bathroom. This is very nice as one person can shower,
while another can put on makeup or whatever, outside of the other
without worrying about privacy or steam from the shower. This is a
very nice touch. I give the Hilton 4 sheets on the 5 scale.
After unpacking, we headed for dinner. On my "to do" list,
I had copy and pasted from someone's trip report that the Great
Moments Room at the Vegas Club downtown served and excellent Steak
Dianne. This is a favorite dish of mine, and it's hard to find
places that still prepare it. Even better yet, LVA's booklet has a
two-for-one coupon for the room.
Now I've stayed at the Vegas Club for the past couple of
years, and I'll readily admit, this hotel has seen its better days.
However, it's an excellent low-roller play. I've always walked by
this little room and peered inside on occasion, but I've never eaten
there. All the hotels have their own steak rooms, and I could just
imagine what this one must be like, considering it's in the Vegas
Club. Well, if I've ever been wrong about anything, my idea of this
place was as far off the mark as I could have got. It is a hidden
gem. It's old Las Vegas: small, elegant, beautifully appointed with
wonderful pictures, mahogany walls and fixtures. The service is
first class and the foodI'd rank it right up there with any of the
best steak houses in town, but in a much more intimate setting. Who
would have ever guessed that this great restaurant was here all the
time as I walked past it over the years?
I had my Steak Dianne and Martin had a medley of meats and
shrimp, which included lamp, beef, and pork. All were prepared
perfectly. You're shown to your seat by the matre'd, who appears to
have worked there for forty-plus years. You're given a hot basket
of three types of bread and butter along with your drinks. Like
most gourmet rooms, your dining is slow and the main dish takes a
while, but your beverage is never more than half empty and the
tossed salad with the house dressing is wonderful. Also, prices are
what you'd expect for fine dining. Most of the dishes average
around $30 each. However, the 2-1 coupon makes this a terrific
bargain. I heartedly recommend The Great Moments Room to all5
forks.
After dinner, we walked over to the Freemont Experience
where we enjoyed a fun show (one I hadn't seen before) on the
overhead canopy. We then headed over to the Freemont where Martin
said they still had a bank of coin-fed Game Makers that had full pay
Pick `em Poker for quarters. This is a rapidly vanishing game in
Las Vegas, and that's too bad because it's a game I really enjoy
playing. The looks of the machines tells me these won't be here
long either. We both put a twenty in and began playing. It wasn't
long and Martin was putting in his second twenty. I had hit a full
house, so I was still playing for quite awhile. To my surprise, I
was dealt a Q, 10, with another 10, which I picked, and a 10 was
followed by another 10 for a quad. Yea! $150.00! I cashed out (it
was strange actually scooping out 600 quartersit's been a long time
since I've scooped coins). I came back with cash in hand, and put
in another $20. I doubled that in a short time and cashed out
again. That was going to be all for me. I was determined to have a
winning day after four straight losing days. Martin finally cashed
out with a small loss and we headed back to the car, which was
parked at the Vegas Club.
As we walked into the Vegas Club, I noticed that the ten-
coin nickel deuces progressive was over $800.00, double the usual
royal. I put in a twenty and went after it while Martin chose to
play quarter Joker's Wild. I lost the twenty, but Martin managed to
make a small profit and we left to go back to the Hilton.
All told, I played a lot more video poker today than I
usually do, but the VP gods (and the slot gods) were nice to me, and
I'm back in the black. I had a lot of fun today and enjoyed a
terrific meal. It was a good day to be in Las Vegas.
More tomorrow.