Hi Everyone!
I'm back from my trip to Vegas. The end result, lost about $580 and gained about 5 pounds.
My flight over on Monday (Nov. 18) was uneventful, but too long. The movie "The Bourne Identity" was silly. But I didn't pay for it, because you can plug your own earphones into America West seats and you don't have to rent them.
Got my rental car and hoofed it to Laughlin. Harrah's put me in the old tower (north). The room was comfortable, but the carpet and furnishings were beginning to show some wear. After unpacking what I'd need for the next two days, I hit the casino. I found the Game Makers with a lovely river view and 9/6 JB. I proceeded to lose $140 in them. Then I went to $5 blackjack and lost $28, and called it a night.
Tuesday morning, I decided to try $20 at roulette, even though it's a sucker game, and quickly lost the cash. Then I hit the Game Makers again and threw another $140 in without hitting one quad. Time for a break. I went to the spa to work out. It's a nice little place with a river view, and I worked off some calories from the breakfast buffet. The visit was free because I'm a Platinum member at one of their AC properties. Then a comped trip to Laughternoon in Laughlin. I thought it was hokey, definitely G-Rated (I prefer a little spicier), but a decent way to eat up an hour when I was losing bad and wanted a break from the machines.
After the show, I hit the 9/6 Jacks or Better again. I hit a straight flush, but the credits didn't last too long, and I lost another $60. After a comped dinner in the coffee shop, I took the river taxi to the Pioneer. I highly recommend this form of transportation in Laughlin. The round trip is $3, and it's a nice ride. My luck got better at the Pioneer, where I played $3 single-deck blackjack. I lost, but it took 2 hours to lose my $30. Then back to Harrah's, where I threw another $60 in the Game Makers. Since I was over budget if I wanted my bankroll to last the entire trip, I switched to 7/5 JB nickels. Crappy game, but THIS machine spit out quads all over the place, and I got back $10.
Wednesday morning, I picked up my $15 cashback from Harrah's, and hoofed it to Green Valley Ranch for the VP Free Lunch. Great buffet, even better company. It was real cool to meet some of the people I've been corresponding with on this board. After lunch, I broke off with Susan Sims and Shirl from Ohio for my first try at full-pay Deuces Wild. I couldn't do a thing, and went to the ATM for $100, since my travelers checks were in the car. That C-Note went down the tubes quickly, and I questioned my sanity as I went back to the ATM. I sat down next to Shirl, and lost another $50 in Deuces Wild, and switched to 10/7 DB. Then things started to heat up. I hit a straight flush, 4 Aces and a bunch of other quads, finishing up $150 for the session plus the $10 free play I got for signing up in the slot club. I even earned enough points to get a GVR jacket. Don't ask me what I'll do with it. I have more from AC than I can use.
Then I went to the Orleans, and checked in. I got a room in the new tower, quite nice, and the decor is not as frou-frou as the old tower. I threw another quick $120 into Deuces, without getting a *&*$@ thing. The guy two machines away hit the four ducks, followed by a natural royal, but none of the luck rubbed off on me. I was ready for dinner, and went to the slot club to ask a quick question. There I saw a sign saying it was double points from 6-9 p.m., so it was back to the machines. This time I went to 8/5 Aces Bonus, and won $140, including hitting the aces. Another $40 in Deuces Wild, and I got a comped dinner of grilled trout in the coffee shop. It was quite tasty, and a steal at $6.95 (if you had to actually pay for it). I had a free drink at the bar, and won a bit at 10/7 DB before heading to bed.
Thursday morning, I hit the Orleans' 10/7 DB again, and won $100 before breakfast. Then I went to give the LV Hilton a play, because I heard they send generous offers to people who give them a couple hours of action. I lost a quick $160 in 9/6 JB and Pick Em, and went downtown to meet a friend who's active in the LV Catholic Worker. They were doing a peace picket at the federal building. It was real great seeing her, but she was too busy for a quick lunch at our usual spot (a Salvadoran place on Main Street where we're always the only Anglos.) So I went to Lotus of Siam on East Sahara, because I read great things about it. The lunch buffet was good, but I've had better Thai food. Still, it was a step up from casino buffet fare, and I recommend it for people who like Asian food.
After lunch, I went to the Sahara, picked up the fun book, and won $80 in 8/5 Bonus. One of the coupons was for $50 in action chips if you gave them $40, so I took it and made for the blackjack tables. I hung out for a while, and won $10, but put back about $15 in reel slots. I was too full from the buffet to ride the roller-coaster, so I headed downtown. On Fremont Street, I tossed a quick $200 into 10/7 DB and 8/5 Bonus at the Four Queens, and then hit the $2 blackjack table. It was a cool experience, except some clown on the other side of the pit was smoking a stinky cigar and the pit boss refused to ask him to put it out (because he was playing $25 a hand, and besides, if we go into a casino, we should expect to deal with smoke, she said.) I couldn't get my fan to work, so I and a couple women at the table made some loud comments about how rude it is to smoke a cigar in public, and that men who do it must be gay and smoke the things to keep women away from them. The guy finally got up and left, but I don't know whether it was due to our comments or he was leaving anyway. I didn't care.
Then I stopped at Fitzgeralds, and lost another $40 in 8/5 Bonus. I shot some craps in the Nevada Club, winning $17 and went back to the Orleans, where I threw another $195 into the maws of their machines. I was still stuffed from lunch, so I went up to bed without getting dinner.
Friday morning, I lost another $80 in 10/7 DB, and then decided to hit the spa for a comped workout. I heartily recommend this joint for anyone staying at the Orleans. The lobby is plush, and the locker room includes a steam room and hot tub. I spent 35 minutes on the treadmill, pumped a little iron, and then relaxed in the hot tub and steam room. A nice shower (fancy soap and shampoo included) in a glass-doored, tiled stall, and it was back to the casino. I blew another $150 in Deuces Wild and Aces Bonus (I couldn't hit 4 ducks to save my life!) and then it was out on the town.
I met a friend from AC (who moved to Vegas) at the Bellagio. She had another friend with her, and this woman had more juice than a power plant. The woman's husband is some high-ranking mucky-muck at the Bellagio, and we got treated like queens without gambling a nickel. First it was dinner at the buffet, where we walked past a line of about 50 people and got seated immediately. The food is scrumptious. I must have eaten a pound of fish: salmon cooked about 6 different ways, grilled tuna, Chilean sea bass, and a bunch of veggies. If you're a meat eater, they have all sorts of exotic stuff (venison, buffalo) that you usually can't get anywhere else. They served champagne with the meal, which was quite good. I had a creme brulee for dessert, which was out of this world. Then we went to the Fontana (?) night club, again passing a couple dozen people in line to be seated immediately. Our drinks were comped, but I only had non-alcoholic fruit punch (delicious) because the glass of champagne was my limit of booze for the night and I was driving back to home base. I thought the performer (a dance cover band) was pretty hokey, and I'm not into the nightclub scene, so I took off at 10:15. (My friend told me later they stayed out til 4 a.m., and she was too drunk to drive home so she had to leave her car at the Bellagio and get a ride. She also got a tremendous hangover.) I tossed two more pictures of Andrew Jackson into the Orleans' Deuces Wild machine and went to bed.
Saturday, my luck finally began to change. I played 10/7 DB and Aces Bonus at the Orleans, and won $40. After breakfast, I hit the blackjack tables, played about an hour and lost $2.50. I picked up $20 in cashback and checked out.
For lunch, I went to the Todai sushi buffet in the Desert Passage section of the Alladin, and it is to die for. My brother said it kicks butt, and he's right. If you're a sushi lover, go. It's about $15 for lunch on weekdays and $17 on weekends, a bit more for dinner. I felt like I died and went to heaven. There were about 20 varieties of sushi, and the quality was as good as anything in town. The tuna and salmon just melted in my mouth. Don't ignore the veggies, they're awesome too, and there was also tempura, tepan and other Japanese dishes. The only problem was, there wasn't enough room in my stomach for everything that my mouth wanted to eat.
From there, I walked to the Barbary Coast (gotta burn off those buffets somehow). As I was signing up for the slot card, Shirl from Ohio walked up to me. She showed me where the good machines are, and her husband, Stan, let me have the 10/7 DB machine that had taken his money. I have to say this, sitting next to Shirl is good luck! I hit a quad almost immediately, and another a bit later. I was up to about 600 credits, and the machine took it back. I was going to move, but the guys at the adjacent 8/5 Bonus machines were smoking, so I went back to the 10/7 DB. I hit a straight flush, quad deuces, and some other stuff, and cashed out at the break-even point. Shirl also showed me a cool fan she got at Walmart that sends smoke away from you, and you don't have to hold it. I'll have to get one. Linda (Miss Craps) was also there, so I got to meet her too.
From there, I went to the Hard Rock to deposit my suitcase at the bell desk, returned my rental car, and took the bus back. I got my $10 free slot play with the Casino Player coupon and went to a 10/7 DB machine, and got quad 3s pretty quickly. I cashed out and went to a coinless 9/6 JB machine. I hit a couple more quads, and got two scratch cards, one good for a shot glass and the second for $5 in free play. I was getting hungry, so I cashed out a $100 ticket and put it in my wallet. Had a nice dinner at Mr. Lucky, including a free dessert with the six-pack coupon. I picked up my free souvenirs, and headed back to 10/7 DB, where I hit a bit more. I lost $20 in 9/6 JB and it was time to pick up my $16 cashback and head to the airport.
When I got to the airport, I discovered a big mistake. I had forgotten to cash in my $100 voucher at the Hard Rock! YIKES! It was too late to run back there, so I called them from home Sunday morning and the slot supervisor said he'd talk to his boss and e-mail me whether I could mail the voucher in for payment, since it's only good for 60 days. I haven't heard yet, so I'll let everyone know if and when I do.
The red-eye flight home was uneventful, except that the guy in front of me was cutting some smelly farts all the way back to Philly. It's not his fault, but it still stank. We landed early, and I got the 9:30 a.m. train from Philly to AC, and got home to my cats at around 11 a.m. I took a nap, and went out to see some friends, but slept nearly 11 hours last night to catch up on my ZZZs.
That's about it. Bottom line, lost about half my bankroll, ate some great food, saw some old friends, made some new ones and am ready to do it again soon.
Blessings and royals to all.
Elaine
PS I went to Resorts in AC this afternoon and won back $200 of my losses. They say the odds are better in Vegas, but I seem to do better in AC. Go figure.
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