DAY FIVE: MONDAY
Day 5 of 8
Monday morning got up early and went to Terrible's to play a few more
matchplays and won $20, but lost $20 at Tuscany Casino playing 5c, 10
coin, full-pay deuces wild. We planned an afternoon trip to Lake Las
Vegas to the Casino Monte Lago. On the way there, I checked out the
Silverton Casino. It was very nice for a local's casino and had a
Bass Pro shop attached. After walking around a bit, I decided to play
a POV MP and won $10.
CASINO MONTE LAGO and GVR
We then got back on I-215 east and headed to Casino Monte Lago. It is
very nice and looks a bit like villages in the lakes region of
northern Italy. The Casino Monte Lago is attached to the Ritz. The
video poker is excellent with full pay DW and JW (as well as Pick'Em
up to the 50c level). I got $10 of free play with a player's club
sign-up as did my wife. She played DW and I played JW. Neither of us
did well and we were both down, so I switched to Pick'Em and
eventually hit four-of-a-kind for $300 playing 50c a hand x 5 coin. I
then won a bit more with some smaller hits. As we were leaving, I
tried a $20 MP I had from ACG, but lost. So overall won $187 in VP
and lost $20 on the MPs. On the way back, we stopped at Green Valley
Ranch (GVR) for an early dinner buffet about 4:30 PM. I had both a
POV and an ACG 2-for-1 coupon and used one of them. As usual, the
buffet and the venue were very good. The turkey and the ribs were
excellent, as were the sweet potatoes and the variety of breads.
Desserts were very good especially the ice cream.
VENETIAN CHECKIN
After GVR, we headed for the Venetian. We were in line at the
Venetian hotel registration with only a couple of people in front of
us, when we were whisked away to the Venezia Tower and taken up to
the 10th floor check-in area. We were checked in within minutes and
walked across the bridge back to the main Venetian Hotel and took the
elevator to the 27th floor where we checked into room 312. It was a
large mini-suite with two TVs, a sunken living room with large desk,
couch, chair, table and a magnificent bathroom (dual sinks, etc,
etc). We had an excellent view of the Mirage volcano, which was fun
to watch especially at night. Our complimentary refrigerator and our
luggage arrived immediately. Housekeeping service went beyond the
call of duty during the remainder of our stay.
That night we walked around the Canal Shoppes and then listened to an
excellent band in the Venetian Casino lounge. We then played some
penny slots, but gave up after a "yenta" sitting next to us kept
telling us what to do, because "she knew how to play this game". What
a pushy old broad she was. I complimented her on her Hebrew lettered
necklace (hoping to loosen her up) and she looked at me like I was
rob her. We got away from her pronto.
Although both of us were full from the early buffet supper at GVR, we
were looking for a snack. We went to the food court in the Venetian
casino and found a takeout stand, San Gennaro. The fries looked hand-
cut, fresh, and fried just perfectly, so we ordered some. I've never
had fries that tasted better. I think I dreamt about them later that
night.
DAY SIX: TUESDAY
Day 6 of 8
WYNN BUFFET HUNTING
I got up early and walked over to Wynn at 7:30 AM. I planned to play
one of the four higher payout VP machines (near Lure) that offered a
payout a bit higher than regular 9/6 jacks or better. These four
machines offered a 90-unit payout on a straight flush instead of the
standard 50. Also you could play 25c, 50c, or $1.00. I was planning
to play 90 hands at $1.00 x 5 units, which would push through $450.
As a new player club signup during a weekday this would qualify me
for 50 points, therefore, two free buffets. I figured it would only
take at most 15 minutes playing slowly and carefully.
The casino wasn't busy, but the four premium pay machines were all
busy. So I decided to look for a regular 9/6 jacks or better machine
at the $1.00 level. I found a small bank not too far from the
player's club kiosk. It also allowed $5.00 play, which if you bet 5
units would mean you'd only have to play 18 hands to qualify, but for
my bankroll that was too rich for my blood. So I played more hands at
the $1.00 level x 5 units.
As expected, it took about 10 to 15 minutes to play the 90 hands and
in the end I lost $30. I'd have preferred to have won $30, but I got
to play video poker for 15 minutes (in the most comfortable video
poker seats in the world -- by the way) and got two free dinner
buffets that would have cost me $68 including taxes. I had heard that
the buffets came with VIP line passes, but subsequently found out
line passes are only given if you qualify on the weekend at the
higher hurdle, which is ten times the weekday level of play
(obtaining 500 points versus obtaining only 50 points on the
weekday). If you play slots instead of VP, you can obtain the 50
points on weekdays by pushing through only $150 through the slot
machines and then you'd qualify for the two free buffets.
Note: The buffet comps are only good for 24 hours from the time they
are loaded on your card by the player's club personnel. So if you
don't plan to use it right away, you should wait until the day you
are going to eat before you have the buffet comps loaded on your
card. We did it (got the comps loaded on the card) just before going
to the buffet the next night.
MINI-COUPON RUN
After getting enough points for the two free buffets, I walked over
to the New Frontier (talk about going from riches to rags) and played
another $5.00 MP at blackjack and lost and then played some FPDW
video poker at the 25c level for a loss of another $4.00. I walked
back to the Venetian but kept going until I got to the Imperial
Palace where I played a $5.00 MP from POV. I lost that one as well.
This was my first losing morning since hitting town. But although I
was down $44 for the morning, I was still up $595 for the trip.
I got back to the Venetian by 9:30 AM and met my wife at a quaint
Italian bakery/café in the Canal Shoppes called Tintoretto's. In
addition to coffee, they serve full breakfasts. We each only picked
out a few Italian pastries and cookies with coffee.
EMPTY BELLAGIO CONSERVATORY
We next went to the Bellagio to see their Christmas display in the
conservatory. We stayed at the Bellagio two years earlier during the
same post Thanksgiving period and they were just finishing it. This
time the conservatory was cleaned out -- just an empty shell. My wife
was disappointed. Later that night we did get to see the large
outdoor Christmas tree at Caesars, which allegedly has more lights on
it than the tree at Rockefeller Center in NYC. We did once again see
the chocolate fountain at the Bellagio and it's still pretty cool.
PALMS 24/7 RESTAURANT -- BIG SAVINGS
Over Thanksgiving, my brother who travels a lot, learned that we
would be in Las Vegas during a period that overlaps part of his
business trip. So he called me on my cell and we made plans to get
together for a late lunch after his arrival. His plane landed about
1:30 PM and then he checked into the Hard Rock. So he called from the
Hard Rock and we immediately went over and picked him up. We decided
to go to the newly-designed Palms coffee shop, 24/7. I had a 50% off
everything coupon (up to $50) from the POV booklet. So we ate very
well: two large shrimp cocktails which the three of us shared. I
can't recall what my wife had, but my brother had a large plate of
Chinese-style spare ribs, and I had the Kobe beef meatloaf with
potato. We all just had soft drinks rather than beer or wine. The
shrimp cocktails were large and excellent, especially the sauce and I
think they were $13 each. The total bill for the three of us came to
$72.00. But with the POV coupon it was reduced by $36 to only $36, a
nice savings. The food was slightly above average, but nothing to
write home about.
EXPLORING HARD ROCK
Although we've been to the Hard Rock Casino, I've never stayed there
or seen what the rooms are like there. So I asked my brother if we
could see his room. The rooms are modern style with almost a space
age look, but they aren't large. Although the bathrooms have marble
floors and tub surrounds, the bathrooms are small with only one sink
and no separate shower stall. It was in good condition, but the
carpet looked a bit worn and dirty, probably because of the light
color. I had heard early this year they had upgraded every room with
a large flat screen plasma TV and that was the case here and that was
very cool. In addition the room had its own Bose radio and CD player.
Both of these features are a plus over rooms at the Bellagio,
Venetian, and Aladdin, although I hear Wynn has plasmas in every
room. Of course here you are offstrip and in the flight path of the
airport. When we were in the parking lot we could see the color of
the eyes of the landing passengers as their plane passed by (a slight
exaggeration but landing planes were low, loud, and very close to the
building).
I had the POV booklet with me and it had a $10 Hard Rock coupon for
free Slot/VP play as well as a $10 MP coupon. I gave my wife the $10
Slot/VP free play card I received at the Player's Club booth. She
couldn't find any good paying deuces wild machines or any 100% or
more payback machines, so she settled into a multi-game machine and
played Bonus Poker. I had a basic simplified jacks or better strategy
card with me and she played according to that and won $30 with no
investment on her part or my part. I was really happy she won as I
was having sympathy pains with her inability to come out with a win
anywhere we had been so far.
AVENUE Q ON LAS VEGAS BLVD.
We had 8:00 PM tickets for Avenue Q at the Wynn Hotel. The show is
partly performed with muppet-like puppets and in part was a musical.
I do not like musical plays and I'm not a big fan of the muppets, but
I heard this was very entertaining. In fact one of the performers
worked for 15 years with Jim Henson and designed many of the puppets
for this show. But this was not your kid's muppet show. It was R+-
rated and as a result at the intermission a number of people who
evidently were expecting a G-rated show did not return. It involved
puppet sex acts and unrestrained language and frank discussions about
sex and relationships (hetero- and homo-). But it was extremely
funny, intelligent, and entertaining. I felt it was worth the time
and money (which says a lot since I normally hate plays and detest
musicals). I guess the reason I liked it is because it didn't take
itself too seriously, yet it was honest, (a down to earth plot) and
the performers really seemed to be having fun up there.
GRAND LUXE CAFE MOSTLY CLOSED
After the show we had hard plans to eat a late supper at the Grand
Luxe Cafe. My wife got me a $50 gift certificate before we left for
the trip and we already postponed going there once on a previous day.
So we really needed to use it before we left. They are open 24/7/365.
Since we got there about 10:00 PM there was no usual line. As we were
being brought to our seats, the hostess/greeter informed us that they
have no hot food since the kitchen is being reconfigured tonight. But
they do have a cold food menu. Boy, was I pissed!
I told her that we were starving and that there were no other full
service restaurants in the hotel serving this late and this was
really a great inconvenience to guests of the hotel. She said we
could order room service in our room. I said that I had a gift
certificate my wife gave me for the Grand Luxe and we really didn't
want eat in our room. I asked if we could have the room-service
kitchen cook our order and have it served there. No sir! Anyway, the
bottom line is this purported 24/7/365 restaurant was in reality a
24/7/364.50 restaurant and we happened to be there the 0.50 day of
365 days it was not fully operational with a gift certificate.
Weren't we lucky!
PLAN B
We were both starving and tired and didn't feel like having to leave
the hotel to eat as it is so big it's a 15 minute walk just to get
off the Venetian grounds or to get to the parking garage. There was
some sort of Asian restaurant open, but my wife dislikes most Asian
food. So we headed over to the food court in the Casino and checked
out the take-out food, She had a pizza from one of the little take-
out counters and I had a grilled chicken sandwich with some more
delicious french fries from San Gennaro. The fries at San Gennaro
made me forget all about the Grand Luxe fiasco for the time being.
(to be cont'd with one more installment)
Steve