This trip wasn't a long range planning session - I received an invitation to
a Sam's Town slot tournament and a Maui Jim sunglass giveaway at Caesars for
the same week, I regarded this as a mandate for a trip to Vegas.
Unfortunately, mandates with short planning periods come with expensive air fare. The
best we could do on Southwest was close to $400, that's the most I've spent
on air for a trip to Vegas. However, the rooms were comped so I rationalized
that it was still a cheap vacation<g>. My friend, Gerry, had to cancel last
year's Vegas trip so she promptly signed on for this one and was able to use
her Southwest credits for her air.
4/30/07
We usually book the nonstop, but this flight made a short stop in Chicago
with no change of planes. Good flight except for some turbulence over the
plains; got in about 15 minutes early and our luggage was quickly out on the
carousel. Off to our first experience with the new rental car garage, I'm happy
to report that I have no complaints. There were a couple of buses at the
curb, we promptly got on one and were at the Dollar Express booth in about 10
minutes and out of the garage and on our way in about 5 more minutes. Our
flight got in at 4 PM and there wasn't too much traffic, especially because we
were heading to Sam's Town - looked like everything was going the other way:)
Checked in at Sam's, registered for the tournament and enjoyed a nice
Italian themed welcome party. Stuffed our faces, had a welcome cocktail and then
quickly ran out so we could commit some bucks to our favorite plays - video
poker for me, miscellaneous slots for Gerry. Unfortunately, all those
machines were apparently mad at us because we both went off to bed as losers for the
night.
5/1/07
Head downstairs for the first session of the tournament, my scheduled time
was 9:30 AM and they had a very nice continental breakfast out with lots of
fresh fruits, various pastries and bagels. My session was pathetic! The lady
playing next to me had 13,800 points and I had 6,136....when you're not even
half way up to the competition you kind of get a sense of foreboding<g>. I
had another session at 12:30 and hoped I would get a better machine for that
one.
In the meantime, of course, we went to play some more. I quickly hit a
royal on a quarter DDB single line machine, so I didn't really care too much
about how I was doing in the tournament. Good thing I felt that way because the
afternoon session was as sad as the morning session! I had my digital camera
in my purse and I quickly took a photo of the royal, I noticed when I looked
at it at home, that I was so quick that the 4000 credits hadn't finished
registering!
We had to run over to Caesars to register that afternoon in order to qualify
for the sunglass giveaway so off we went. Lovely room in the Augustus Tower
two doors down from the one I had in January. Decided that eating at the
Augustus Cafe was probably the most convenient thing to do as it was 2 PM and
breakfast seemed a long time ago. As always, food was good (I had the Hanger
Steak Salad) but the service was slow. The place was almost empty, so I
don't know what the problem was, but it seems like it's always that way.
We knew we weren't going back to Sam's Town to sleep when we had that great
room overlooking the Bellagio Fountains, so we just separated to our favorite
machines. I was playing 5 hand bonus poker on the quarter machines (I know,
terrible paytables 7/5) but I was doing quite well when I was dealt the K &
Q of hearts and hit draw - one of the lines filled in for another royal! Now
I am really excited, two royals in one day! Of course this was another
photo op:) Gerry came along to see how I was doing and she couldn't believe my
luck.
Decided we would head to the Diamond Lounge for a drink and some snacks in
lieu of a regular dinner. Whenever we're in Vegas we have the weirdest eating
habits, we seem to get caught up in our favorite machine and dining becomes
an afterthought. Spent about an hour there, it's pleasant to get away from
the noise and smoke and just relax.
After that, back to our "favorite" machine. Gerry was playing something in
back of me, when I was dealt the Q, A, 10, and K of clubs and one line filled
in for another royal! Called Gerry over to admire it and another photo was
added to the library. I usually call hubby when I get a royal, and I had for
the first two, but this one was at 11 PM and I didn't think he would
appreciate a call at 2 AM! When I told him about it the following morning, he was
totally amazed.
Up to the room after that incredible string of royals and found that my host
had sent up a basket of triple dipped strawberries - they were huge and were
white chocolate, pink chocolate and dark chocolate....and people wonder why
I love to go to Vegas.
5/2/07
Decided there was no point in going back to Sam's Town for the last session
of the tournament, as I was already somewhere around #230 in a field of 250.
Took a ride out to MonteLago, it's always pretty and quiet out here. Played
for an hour or so with nothing exciting to report then decided we would stop
at Wynn.
The Strip was still fairly empty of traffic, even though it was almost 1 PM
and valet was not really hopping either. We took a few pictures in the lobby
and then headed off to our respective favorites - my choice was one of the
five play VP quarter machines near the elevators. Played on my first $100 for
almost an hour, got dealt the J, 10, Q and A of hearts and drew the K on one
of the lines. Interesting that at Wynn this generated a hand pay, my other
royals all were tickets. Call to home...."what, you're lying, you just want
an excuse to go back"...finally convinced him it was true and I had pictures
(and cash) to document it! We decided to have a late lunch at Wynn's buffet,
excellent as it was the last time I was there.
Back to Caesars and more play, but no more royals for the night! Caesars
has changed the eight slant top machines in the Palace Court casino from MG/MD
to 9/6 JoB MD in $1, $2, and $5. When I played them, I observed that only
base credits were earned on them - I confirmed this with another player. I've
updated the database to reflect the change.
5/3/07
Back to MonteLago today as Gerry had forgotten to cash a $70 ticket when we
were here the other day. Headed to Red Rock Station after that and spent an
enjoyable afternoon playing here. We had the buffet and it we both thought
it was quite good. This was Gerry's first visit to this property and she
enjoyed it as much as I had. I don't know if a couple of hours of play will
generate any offers, but I'm hoping it will. I would love to stay here for a
couple of days.
After that, headed back to Caesars and played the evening away. Gerry
doesn't play VP that much, but she thought she would like to try the penny 50 play
- I sat next to her and put $40 through, playing Bonus Poker. I managed to
get two royals on this machine, though at 50 play, I don't know if that
really counts as royals....it certainly didn't thrill me as much as the others
did, even though I cashed out with over a hundred bucks!
5/4
Our last day - I can't believe how fast time passes here! I decided to take
advantage of the two free tickets I qualified for and got tickets for
Society of Seven with Lani Misalucha. We really enjoyed the show and she has a
stunning voice. Loved her impression of Celine Dion and Beyonce, and the rest
of the group certainly was very talented. After the show we stopped in at
Bill's Gambling Hall to see Big Elvis. I got tired of waiting for him and went
back to Caesars, but Gerry stuck it out and enjoyed his performance.
No more royals for the evening, but I played on one benjamin at the $1 JoB
for over three hours, finally cashing out with $600. I dragged my sorry butt
up to bed only because I knew we had an early flight in the morning and I
still had packing to do.
5/5/07
Turn on the TV and find out that a light plane crashed on the south end of
the Strip last night but everything is apparently cleaned up. We're out and
waiting for valet to deliver the car by 7 AM, drove down the Strip to return
the car to the new facility, took us perhaps 15 minutes and no problem, good
signage to the garage. Had the car dropped off and we were dragging our
luggage outside in another 5 minutes or so. I did stop at the luggage check in
station at the garage to inquire what the charge was if you checked your
luggage there and it is $20. We didn't think it was worth it and just went out to
the shuttle, a couple of busses were lined up and we were in one and on our
way very quickly. Yes, the walk to Southwest check in is a little longer than
before, but it's not bad and I needed to walk off some of the meals we had.
Much fuller flight than the one we came in on, again, bumps in the
midsection of the country because of the terrible storms those poor people were
enduring. Arrived in Hartford on time and were home by 8 PM. Another fun trip has
ended:(
Closing thoughts - This trip set a record for number of royals for me; last
time that I had a trip like this was in November of 2005 and I had four royals
in five days on that trip.
Weather was in the upper 80s and low 90s the first couple of days, then got
cooler and windier - not great for anyone who wanted pool time.
I've found the Diamond Lounge to be a nice option in lieu of dinner; we find
that having lunch a little later in the day seems to work well as our
"large" meal.
Just home and already thinking I might be going back in July - I did bring
almost all of my winnings home, so I'm bankrolled for the next trip!
Sandy
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