TR Snippet - Live Low Limit Poker

One of the most satisfying parts of ny 23 day trip was to see my low limit poker play had improved enough to put me over the break even point.

I can't even fully explain what happened. I have noticed improvement in local games. Certainly, I have tightened up even more. Also, I lay down more losing hands.

And in Vegas I worked hard for table selection.

However, I just could sense that my brain was working in a new way and making controlled and clear decisions, sometimes on an unconscious level.

Ironically, although I know that the 3-6 and 4-8 games better overcome the rake, I lost money there. I won at 2-4 and the spread limit 1-3-6 at El Cortez.

I could sense that the higher level games, expecially those with kill pots, could potentially yield higher profits, but somehow whatever was happening below my conscious level was not happening there.

I won at Suncoast's 4-8 with full kill, but it was just getting great cards at the beginning of my play. So I bet out and looked like a new guy on tilt when actually I was getting prime cards all in a row right as I sat down. It was such a run of luck that the table was shy of me, so I stole a couple hands as well.

I ended $150 ahead, but after lunch lost $100 at a 2-4 game there that was just too loose, with guys reraising on nothing preflop just to get a big pot. There I was unlucky or I'd have cleaned up. However, playing prime cards cost me money when the flops did not match, and I was forced to lay down. A guy might cap my Ace King preflop and then catch his low junk on the flop.

I lost again at the Golden Nugget. All my friends rave about this game and yet I could not seem to get my traction. It is a 3-6 with a full kill going to 6-12. The pots I won were small. I was sorry I played there.

I'll play 2-4 next time.

I am always attracted by both the American Casino Guide extra $10 buy in coupon and by 4 hours of play yielding a buffet comp that just about covers the cost of the cheaper weekday breakfast buffet.

Golden Nugget has a great buffet with my favorite smoked salmon, capers, onions, tomatoes. And I've learned how to mix cream cheese and horseradish to produce a half way decent creamy horseradish sauce.

I played well at the local dominated early morning game at Imperial Palace where the old guys gather more for the cracked Aces than to play poker. Here were the Three Musketeers, three guys who sit together, get up together, certainly signal when they have the Aces so the pot is big enough. They talk and play and leave together. They are very funny.

Some other really tough players are there too, and I made some really wrong bets against one old guy who beat me every time.

I met Fitz, and old buddy from the El Cortez game years back. That was pure pleasure. He and I talked, too much for the old regulars, and I showed my Resort Fee article and we got caught up.

I like this guy.

He reminded me that Harrah's was giving Veterans a free one day buffet pass on Veteran's Day and I remembered I had brought my DD Form 214.

It worked too. I had a breakfast at Paris and a supper at Caesar's.

Fitz had a run with cracked Aces and also with the cracked kings (starting at 11 AM) He was really lucky.

Our hours were added up to qualify for a freeroll, and I won one of those for a free $140 when the final table split.

I also ran into Mohave (or Drawing Dead), an old board buddy, and he gave me a ride out to North Vegas to get fed at the Lucky Club and invited me another night to Rio's Diamond Lounge.

So by playing at the Imperial Palace I managed to realize four meals.

Also, Imperial Palace puts out some pretty good cookies. One or two of them with a Caesar's packed with as many olives as the drink waitress can fit makes breakfast. I think tequilla is better than vodka in those clamato based drinks. Followed with coffee and Sambucca I don't need any more food to start my day.

I met a fellow from Alberta named Gary, a fine fellow who reminds me of one of our poker buddies here at home. They have the same facial look. It was eerie. I played with him in a few places over the week. He was conservative and good. Another guy from Calgary just lived in the Imperial Palace. He was a bit annoying. Narcissistic and negative. Perhaps if I were a great lover of sports it would have been different as he did seem to lighten up and laugh if he could talk about a hockey game. However, our first conversation I noticed that he had nothing good to say about his own Canada. He was complaining about their casinos not being as good as Vegas, and perhaps that is true for all of us, but I started talking about what a fine job Canada does at Niagara Falls and how much it rises above the work the states have done, and I could see that my praise cut into his griping in a way that made him uncomfortable.

( to see my Niagara Falls poker trip click here and scroll down below the green tomato post)

http://foxwoodspokertr.blogspot.com/ )

One night at the Imperial Palace a fellow from Pennsylvania had a shirt that said he was drunk and had lost his horse. He was drunk, and he was full of fun.

I joked with him and he came around often for another round of lost horse banter, even when he was playing at the next table. Some of the more quiet and conservative ladies were annoyed, but this was my bread and butter.

The next day at the freeroll he had sobered up, changed his shirt, and did not even remember me. It was an amazing transformation.

I kidded him. Asked him now that he found his horse could he look for his party self. He laughed.

The dealers are just great at the Imperial Palace. One looks just like Chandler from Friends and has the same mannerisms. They always remember my name.

At one point a fellow leaving the table and got permission to splash the pot with the last of his chips, $16. Of course, everyone was in the hand even though the flop came with two kings. I had the only pocket king. It was low kickered, but it did the job. So I tossed the dealer $5 that hand.

The worse thing about this poker room is that the bathroom is a long, long walk. It is annoying. Instead of running to fit the bathroom between blinds, I just started going just before my blind and coming back at my leisure and then waiting for the blind to come around. That gave me some time to see the Dealertainers. Great little acts. It was a fine idea.

Another negative is that Harrah's has decided that 2-4 poker play was getting too many comps. So they reduced the dollar an hour to fifty cents and the tier credits were chopped as well. Most of the locals will be affected because they all have diamond cards from almost daily play. I lose 50 cents and hour, but I don't think the tier reduction will bother me. I never am diamond, not with just a couple trips a year.

I can't seem to tell if my free room offers will dry up as well. We'll see.

What needs to happen is that the locals need to go to a 3-6 game and then get back the dollar an hour and more tier credits as well. If that happens, I'll be thrilled. To have 3-6 take over as the basic game in Caesar's casinos would be a great advantage unless the tourists keep playing a 2-4. Right now the 3-6 interest lists never make a game. There is just so much room for limit poker and 2-4 dominates that room.

One young fellow named Doug played almost every day and I heard that he is supporting himself with this 2-4 play. He was a fine and friendly young man, without affectation or that bravado that is so annoying in some younger players. We could not help but like him. He was tough to beat. I watched him come and go and realized that he was letting table selection determine whether he stayed or not. I need to do that.

Another regular was Louie, an old guy with Parkinson's and a very distinctive hat. There was lots of jokes about Huey, Louie, and Dewey. One day a drunken player decided he was Huey and refused to be called anything else.

Louie was a conservative but good player. He was in and out of the game often. I don't see that it gave him an advantage to make his blinds a larger percentage of the hands he saw, but that is the way he played.

Louie was best friends with Jimmy who features my last trip as a fellow player at the Eastside Cannery.

I was sad to hear that Jimmy died. He went in for a hernia operation, they found all sorts of things wrong, and he died of a heart attack while in the hospital at 55 years of age.

Action Jackson told me the sad news.

Now there is a funny story.

Action showed up at the Imperial Palace and I asked if he was going to play.

"Well, I am a little short." he said.

So, I gave him $20 to buy in.

He came and talked with me a while, but when he seat came empty, I looked around and he was gone.

I hate to see this character, who used to be so full of fun and craziness so down and out. I generally buy him a meal when I come to town. I'd have given him $40 if he'd asked.

He deals the World Series and is considered a very skilled dealer. He never drinks when he deals. They he goes traveling to find other jobs dealing games around the country.

I had good comps at the Flame last trip and asked Jimmy to tell him I was in town, but Jimmy never passed that on.

Well, I'll see him again.

And chew him out for not playing poker with me.

El Cortez used to be full of fun and crazy characters. Most of them have been 86'd and remaining are for the most part dull old men who say very little and are a bit grumpy.

I'm tired of grumpy old men talking of operations and recent funerals. And if i wanted to play poker with quiet, serious guys, I'd play no limit and not drink.

So I play less at the El Cortez now.

And the way they jerked me around while I booked this past trip also discourages me.

I played very little in their slots this time. I played a bit in the old slot machine near the elevator that is the last of its kind in Vegas. I hit too, and quit ahead.

I guess I should thank them for pushing me over to the Gold Spike where there is a heated pool, free wifi in the room, and good television. I had booked there two years and been attracted back to the El Cortez, but now I'll go there as my main home downtown.

Flamingo poker was also delightful. The dealers there know my name as well and they are full of banter. Steve, an old guy, calls me whitehead. He bought some silver strike rings from me to give his kids, realizing that they are quite unique. Once he held back half the pot to see if I would notice, and I did not. The table gave me a good razzing. And of course, having tipped for the first part, I had to tip again for the second in appreciation of the joke.

Bill is very funny. He is a teasing dealer.

All the dealers are full of fun and they treat me well there.

Once they let me change tables even when it left the table I was leaving with an extra empty seat. One night I moved my table twice before I found people I could beat, and then I took home $150 even with plenty of alcohol and some inbetween advice to a fine looking woman from Alabama sitting next to me who was very new to the game.

Flamingo also has a very small bad beat bonus now. That would take the edge off getting four Jacks beat by a straight flush as I did last year at the Imperial Palace.

In addition, locals at the Imperial Palace who play 20 hours get twice the chips for the weekly freeroll. At Flamingo, once the base hours are met, everyone gets the same. Then too at Flamingo there is now an automatic chop. The last fifteen players get $100 each. No debate.

One day at Imperial Palace we chopped, but in order to agree to it we had to pay the high chip person $5 each and cover a dealer tip of $5 each as well.

The woman who was high chipped had about as many chips as the rest of the table combined. Had I been her I'd have pissed off the rest and put off chopping at least until it was down to four. She would have just needed to play blinds and fold the rest of the time until more people were eliminated. However, there is a great deal of peer pressure to chop.

Generally, I like chopping because whenever I am at the final table I am uncomfortable and I need a restroom break that is not coming until the game is over.

And both the Flamingo and the Imperial Palace have long hikes to the restroom

Of course, all this will change before I got back. The new Linq project will combine the Imperial Palace poker room with O'Shea's poker room, give it a new name, and perhaps a new location, hopefully a spot closer to the bathroom. Who knows if the same dealers will be there.

I played two 3-6 games. At Mirage I played late afternoon and always found it was full of regulars who were tight and tough to beat. I lost money. Also the dealers were less friendly. Getting rake reduction was harder. And one dealer got annoyed at me when I went to the bathroom and broke up one game.

I don't like playing 5 handed with little rake reduction.

Let them get as annoyed as they like. At 2 AM the table is not going to fill and even if I wait a bit for a seat at a combined table, I'll get one soon enough.
I missed cracked Aces here.  They go from 8AM until 2PM.  They also have a small bad beat and high hand awards.  I did play Monday thru Thursday 1pm to 8 pm when they have a high hand award every hour and those who earn jackpots are excluded so that it will often hit the Aces full crowd.  Their freeroll for 25 hours looked good as it was 250,000 and everyone who played receives some share.  I did not make that.  The game would have to be a bit softer or I would have to be a bit more skilled for me to want to play that long.
There was on Asian fellow who did things I did not expect.  I raised with a king on the board and one in my hand.  He reraised.  I had some good draws and he had been irrationally aggressive, so I raised again.  We gave each other two free cards.  He had a pocket pair of jacks.  The whole thing confused me.  Was he also capping for free cards?  He was not an idiot.  Over on afternoon he had accumulated large stacks of chips and he rarely paid much attention if he was not playing, reading the Poker News.  It was unsettling.

The other 3-6 at Bally's has always been tough on rake reduction for short handed play. They always have to ask the floor and the floor is always slow, and then it is like they are doing us this huge favor by dropping from 5 and 1 to 4 and 1. In past years this made me angry. Now I just cash out and take a walk, come back and put my name on the list again if I think I can get a full table.

I did like the Bally's game. For one thing I earn my full dollar comp and I get credit there that will give me free rooms for my next trip. For another, it was really just like a 2-4 game, full of tourists and easy enough to beat. I did not beat it. But that was just the luck of the river.

This 3-6 at Bally's however is a late night game. I waited my last time playing there about 30 minutes for there to be enough to play, and then there was no dealer and we waited another 15 minutes at a full table for a dealer to show up. This was at 8 PM.

For late night games like this I need to sleep in the middle of the day. I always wake up early. However, the heated pool at the Gold Spike and the 8 AM games at Imperial Palace give me plenty to do before I am ready for a nap. With the right nap, I can play the late shift poker, the shift that usually pays better than anything else all day.

The best example of this was when I went to bed at 5 PM and woke up at midnight to play the 1-3 spread limit game at the El Cortez. There was only one old guy local there, Alex. I got him started telling stories, and he would not quit. He had things to tell us about all the Presidents and plenty of personal stories. He never listened, just talked. At times it distracted him, an added benefit.

The rest of the players were average to bad and the average ones left to go home.

I was playing with a short table here, but remember the rake caps at $2.50 here.

A young man to my right was full of bravado and wanted to project a table image that he was a wild and crazy poker player who knew the game inside out. His favorite strategy was to bet $3 in the dark preflop. Now, remember, this is a game that has just a single one dollar blind, so his bet created a huge big blind that only he paid.

Then came a hand where I held a nine of hearts with something that did not catch. On the river the board had five hearts, including a 3 and a 4. I bet $2, the fellow to my left called, the poker expert raised to $5 and I figured I might be beat, but I called and the other fellow called.

I had the only heart.

As the dealer pushed me the chips, poker expert said, "Wait, wait, we all have a flush and we split."

"No," Tim the dealer tells him. Dewey's nine of hearts plays.

"But I only raised because I thought that to win a guy needed an Ace of hearts to beat the king on the board."

So we called the floor which at the El Cortez is Jimmy just a few steps away.

Jimmy explains to the poker expert how flushes are valued and all about the best five cards.

I collect the pot, and the game begins to break up.

"Well." says poker expert, "that is not the way they play in Florida."

Now I had not challenged any of his "knowledge" up until then because he was the fish and I did not want to slip the hook out of his braggart mouth, but since the game was breaking I said to him, "At what casino in Florida do you play that has this ridiculous rule?"

And he put on a sheepish grin that said, of course, he played no where in Florida at all and certainly no where that supported his sense of poker.

I took close to $200 off that table that night. At the El Cortez that is a huge profit.

I did not play at Eastside Cannery for more than a few minutes late one night because I spent the night there in the lounge listening to some of the greatest Latino sounds I have ever heard. Monday night the Claudine Castro band

http://www.executiveservers.com/claudinecastro-com/

plays and she is just wonderfully full of energy and stage presence. There is an occasional hint of English, but most of everything is in Spanish and authentic. When she gets the audience to tell countries of origin, there is Chili, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Honduras, Mexico, Guatemala, and more.

I did not play at Venetian. All my poker buddies swear it is a money maker, but Wild Bill just made $20 when he went. I made $22 that same night at Flamingo and put hours toward free rooms.

The entire 23 days I only hit one bonus pay. I took the last of the cracked kings for $50 at the Imperial Palace one afternoon.

Meanwhile, at Suncoast I had Aces cracked twice and would have lost a third time had my Ace of Clubs not seen the fourth board Club on the river. At Imperial Palace I would have made $200 on those losses and almost broken even for the trip. The insurance of cracked Aces is something to consider.

Also, it means when I am against pocket Aces and drawing, I will get all the free cards I want because my opponent also wants me to win. This makes straights and flushes easier to achieve. The house pays off the pocket Aces and I catch for free on the river. Finally, when a guy raises preflop after eleven AM at Imperial Palace, I can put him on queens and when an Ace or King comes on the board, I can bet with just one in my hand. The bonus changes the game.

I was disappointed not to see quads at least once. However, coming out ahead on my poker play without those bonus benefits makes me know that my play is better now and I look forward to another trip next year.

I lost my last two days, but I saw that the losses were simply lucky rivers and my opportunities were very slim because I did not have decent cards dealt to me.


I did not play the Palms although it was recommended.  Mohave told me the cracked Aces promo had been withdrawn, so it did not seem worth bothering to go there.

It was a fine trip. I like to think I will be mentally ready for the next one. I hope so.

TR Snippet- Toast of the town

This show is clearly my newest Vegas addiction.  It is good entertainment and free.  Fits my profile.

When looking for gambling buddy Lucky Pete at Sam's Town and not finding him, and unable to call him because my phone had no charge, I ran into the show Toast of the Town just as it was beginning to start at about 2 PM

It is so ironic that last trip I stayed at Sam's Town and forgot to go to the show and this trip did not expect to see it and walked right into it. I did not even have my B connected ticket with me, but the woman let me in without it. I just could not swipe for a ticket so I wasn't in the drawing for prizes.

It surprised me. I thought it was going to be more of a talk show like the one I saw at Cowboy Christmas a while ago.

Instead it was a variety show with performers selected from around Vegas in current shows or perhaps older performers a bit beyond their peak. It is a long show.

I could not stay for all of it, but I wanted to.

This was the 100th show.

Starting out was Ronnie Rose, an older Black vocalist. The first song out of his mouth was "Rock Around the Clock" which is probably the first rock and roll I remember. I have it on 78 RPM. He was good, and the right away I knew that this variety show was going to reflect was my era of music. No rapping would come in this session.

Ronnie followed up with "Rockin' Robin.

Then he sang Fats Domino's "Blueberry Hill" and actually did the stroll steps on the stage. Amazing!

The band was a base guitar, regular guitar, drummer, and Saxophone. The sax played some mellow jazz.

The pianist, Bill Fayne, is also the musical director.

Ronnie came back. He was the emcee. He said, "This music came from the days with linoleum floors. " Wow. I want to remember that one.

Then Carmine Mandia who sings at the Clarion in "Shades of Sinatra" came up to give us a taste of his ability. He said it was not meant to be an impersonation of Sinatra but only a celebration of the music, but his voice was so close and his styling so similar. He started with, "Didn't We "

However, in this one I thought there were places where his styling needed work. "Almost Being in Love" was just great.

Ronnie was back with a Black female vocalist, and they sang that duet that Nat King Cole did with his daughter, "Unforgivable" It was really done well. The saxophone stepped in for a part.

Next came Cork Proctor, a 79 year old comic who was funny. He made some old jokes. He still performs in small venues. His next would be Railroad Station Casino. He wore a tangerine colored coat and made some jokes about that. It was to celebrate Halloween.

He complained that the young people were annoying.

"One of my children borrowed my car, and wrecked it, smoke all my dope and ran off with my girlfriend...................and that was my daughter."

He complained about modern times when it seemed everyone was using the F word all the time......Foreclosure.

A man goes into a restaurant and orders some soup, and the waiter comes out with his thumb in the soup. The man complains.

"I keep my thumb in the soup because I have an infection in it, and my doctor says I should keep it warm."

The angry customer retorts, "Oh, go stick your thumb up your ass."

And the waiter says, "Yeah, that is what I do when I'm not serving soup."

A man buys a parrot, but the parrot's beak is too sharp and every time it pecks him, it causes a wound. So he goes to the hardware store to get a file and talks it over with the hardware store operator.

"I wouldn't file that parrot's beak. It will kill him. He'll either die of malnutrition or frustration."

"Just sell me the file," the man says.

A few day later the man comes back to the hardware store and the clerk says, "So how did that work with the parrot?"

"The parrot is dead," answers the man."

"Well, I don't like to say I told you so, but was it malnutrition or frustration?"

"It was neither. The parrot was dead when I took him out of the vice."

And then I had to leave. I missed another comic and a magician. I hope to get back to see the show again. It is different every week, but I suspect they play to an audience that is my age.

WEEK TWO

Wild Bill and I went to the show on the second week. It was not a good as the first, but still worth seeing. This week the hosts were a couple. They sang together. He did not do very well, but she was great.

All the rest of the show was music as well. A three person group from the local area did Peter, Paul, and Mary sang "Jet Plane" and "If I Had a Hammer" and did them very well.

Next a woman probably older than 75 sang my favorite lounge music song, "Someone to Watch Over Me." She was very good too, but her style was more formal. She said the song was 85 years old.

She also sang a song I did not know, "The Ship."

A young Black singer had an amazingly powerful voice and proved it in one song but rested it in the second.

A woman ventriloquist performed but moved her lips too visibly and did not have good material or very interesting dummies. She did have a nice voice. Her audience was probably not adults.

Third Show

I went up the next week and saw another. This was focused on Broadway, called a Broadway Razzle Dazzle," and hosted by Jay Joseph and Natalie Carson. Compared to the man and wife team last week, this was one hundred percent better. Natalie had a powerful voice that could sing wonderfully strong. Jay knew how to sing along with her, and how to sing by himself as well.

This show was was just like being in a musical except the best of the music was in front of us, and we did not have to wade through the corny plots to get to the great songs.

Natalie sang "On My Own" from Les Miserable.

They did a perfect duet version of "Anything you can do I can do better."

Jay sang, "Anyone can whistle."

They dressed and acted out "Suddenly Seymour" from Little Shop of Horrors.

The great lyrics of this song emphasize that being cool does not make us the best partners, but rather being a good friend, "Sweet understanding, Seymour's your friend"

Strong voices here and the characters they assumed were very believable. I think this is harder to do out of context. In the musical there is plenty of time to establish character. Here they needed to do it in just a few seconds.

Barry Marshall came out and sang "Hello Dolly" and one other, but it was clear he was beyond his prime. Then he did a wonderful bit from "My Fair Lady" which was more dramatic reading than song, and his performance was over the top. He should have done two of these. His training showed and he managed well to capture the conflicted state of Prof Higgins who is both madly in love with Eliza Doolittle and at the same timne angry that she intends to marry Freddy. Flute like music in the background.

It was wonderfully done with both of the extremes of emotion believably presented. I liked it better than any version I have seen before.

Bobby Brooks Wilson came out and did a great job with some of Jackie Wilson's songs. He just mentioned it was his father. None of that smaltz that Deanna Martin uses. Then he sang and performed like a 50's singer. He had a pompadour with a DA and he would wobble his legs and travel the stage just as was done in the old days. With a bit of gravel in his voice at times he did, "Stand By Me" " When you Walk Through a Storm, " "Higher and higher" "Under the Boardwalk" "Lonely Teardrops" "Just too Good to be True" and he had such stage energy. He took off tie and suit coat and danced around the stage. It was like being a teenager again and perfectly styled for the 1950's.

This show is so much better than many of the shows I pay to see. There used to be a Vegas variety show that was free at the Stratosphere, but it was always the same. This is brand new every week except for the band and all of it is focused on an audience of seniors.

I'll be arranging my Vegas time around this show next time. And right outside for a quarter I could get those delicious Jelly Belly jelly beans and chocolate covered peanuts for a quarter a spin. I'll have to put a sandwich bag in my pocket next time.

TR overview: Just the bare bones

I am home and and almost unpacked after a 22 night trip to Vegas.

Trip reporting 22 nights is impossible.

Over the next month I'll write up snippets of the trip and place them in appropriate board places, but I thought I'd just do a bare bones overview.

Vegas is clearly the least expensive place to visit if we do our homework and make frugal choices.

Many people I talked to before I left thought it impossible to go to Vegas for such a long time on a frugal bankroll. I find it impossible to imagine going for three days now that I am older and take time to adjust to the weariness of plane travel.

My pace is a bit slower than it once was.

Still, I was a bit worried about bankroll and during the first part of the trip I limited my gambling and expanded my experience of other Vegas fun.

It helped to have buddy Wild Bill with me and also some time with Lucky Pete because I could watch them gamble. It was especially helpful for me to watch Bill play VP because he does not know all the smaller play decisions, and I could watch and coach and feel really not much of a difference in the pleasure of it.

However, even in those early days of the trip, there were quite a few poker sessions that extended into the morning hours. Some of the best live poker is between midnight and 4AM. I don't think there were many days that I took a full break from gambling.

My VP play I saved for the nights that I needed either to seed a casino hotel for the next trip or protect offers I have coming.

So, playing hard the seven nights I was at the Four Queens on my favorite 10/7 DB, the two nights I had from the Orleans on my favorite nickle 3 play 9/7 DB with progressives, and seeding Fitzgerald's by playing a nickle Deuces Wild and the Vue bar progressive 8/5 was pretty much the extent of my VP play.

I don't do slot play except for an occasional very limited 10 pulls on the Megabucks with money saved by not playing the local lottery over the year. Megabucks is better mathematically than those lotteries and playing just a bit and walking away reduces long loss experience and still lets me plan how I might manage the millions I might hit on all the sleepless nights over the year. Many Megabucks winners have only put $20 at risk.

Below are most of my actual expenses.

There are missing expenditures: tips, bottled water, a few items like band-aids and antibiotic ointment to wrap my blistered toes. I did not keep track of those expenses. But here is a good sense of what the trip cost.

Vegas offered an inexpensive bed:

I played with different ways of representing the cost of hotels and decided to break out the free food and the freeplay and let the first reduce my food calculations, while the second reduced my gambling losses.

I paid an average of $14.68 a night, with all taxes and fees:

2 nights at Fitzgerald's $36 total

7 nights Four Queens(3 in Oct and 4 in November) $27 total

2 nights at the Orleans - free

2 nights at El Cortez $34 total

3 nights at Harrah's - $34 total
7 nights at the Gold Spike $192 total

(note: I ended up double booked for a night, so there are 23 booked nights here, but for the calculation I divided by 22)
Vegas was a frugal show trip:

I saw 13 shows:

Bull riding $45

Beatles - Fab 4 at V Theater - $30

Orleans Big Al's comedy $14

Orleans Big Al's comedy free

Xtreme Burlesque at Flamingo - free

Two shows at Fitzgerald's comedy- free

Three Toast of the Town Vegas variety shows - free

Sandy Hackett's Rat Pack - $20

Sin City Comedy - $10

Eastside Cannery Latino Lounge Act (2 sets) - $3 for 2 beers

Total $122 dollars or $9.38 a show.

Vegas was a cheap Moveable Feast:

I ate whenever I wanted at buffets and restaurants and diners and snacked in the room for 23 days for a total dollar charge of $161 or $7 a day. ( not including bottled water or tips)

I had $50 in food comp at the Four Queens based on play, and $50 at Dupars for winning the American Casino Guide contest by writing casino reviews. Veterans Day was a real freebie with Harrah's giving a full day buffet pass to Veteran's.

However, I don't need to eat often when I play live poker. Sometimes a free cookie at Imperial Palace and the olives in a Caesar's with tequilla was a meal.

Vegas reduced my Silver Strike ring gamble:

Thinking they would make great card protectors, I bought a bucket of Silver Strike outer rings for a wide variety of casinos. A guy had popped out the silver and sold it at melt down prices. I got the rings for scrap value.

At poker tables I sold $17 worth of these rings, bringing the recovery on my investment so far up to $47 of the $100 I invested.

Vegas was a venue of inexpensive transportation:

Vegas was not a free flight trip:

For years I was the one to use the free Southwest flight because I had the largest flight expense. With the new point system, the points work more like money so the family politics of who gets the freebie is more balanced. This was not may turn for a freebie.

The nonstop from Albany to Vegas was $379 or $16.47 a day

However,

I traveled all around Vegas on the bus, riding almost everyday, and took the bus from the airport and back for $31 total or an average cost of $1.34 a day.

So for $18 a day all my transportation was covered.

It costs me twice that in gas and tolls to drive to my local casinos.

Vegas was never a completely sober adventure:

I was rarely was excessively drunk; however, I was never completely sober, starting the morning with coffee and Sambucca and expanding later to clamato with tequilla and lots of olives, Hennessy, Myers dark rum, nuts and berries (my new drink), Dewar's, more coffee with Sambuca, hot chocolate with Frangelica, rusty nails, red wine, and assorted beers including a few microbrews.

I chased the alcohol with orange juice, clamato juice and my favorite Perrier with lime.

Cost (without tips) $3 total for the trip (2 Eastside Cannery micro-brews while seeing the Latino lounge act). Otherwise the only drinks I bought were in bottles of water.

Vegas was a frugal gamble:

Played hours and hours of limit poker, often six or seven hours at a stretch and a good bit of video poker, seeding free room offers for my next trip. Added a bit of single zero roulette, some Megabucks so I can keep my millionaire fantasy life alive, and one slot which I played a penny a spin for 45 minutes in the lobby of Fitzgerald's while waiting to meet up and get a ride. I risked $5 and cashed out for $5.37.

Two days before I left I was ahead $42, but the last two days drained me down to a net loss of $232. I guess this means that I did not have the bankroll for 22 days and should limit myself to 20. But even so, this means I recklessly gambled away just $10 a day on average.

So this rich and wonderful trip, not counting tips and water, cost me

$59 a day.

Vegas was a social trip:

Listened to the life stories of people from Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Hawaii, California, Oregon, Washington state, Alberta, Ontario, New Brunswick, Mexico, Scotland, Norway, England, Israel, Australia, Vancouver, Alaska, Florida as well as those of my sister's children and grandchildren and great grandchild.

Met Vegas discussion board posters from four discussion boards at a couple of last minute meets, and over a half dozen poker table players I had met on prior trips. Sailor, Rambler and his wife Irisheyes, Hardware, and Passline were among those whose faces I can now match with names.  I have exchanged banter with Sailor for many years and finally we met face to face.  And thanks Ian for a good meetup while you took me and my luggage from downtown to Harrah's.  Donnigan and I met three times without any planning.
From Linda Boyd's board I met Casino Camper, a very interesting fellow who has lived a life on the road in an RV camper for many years, working out of the camper.  I've been looking for my notes to remember some of the details of the conversation, but that morning has kind of slipped out of my mind.  Now the computer I brought to Vegas has also crashed taking with it plenty of writing that I had not backed up in the cloud, so actually getting the details of this trip written and saved is going to be a challenge.
Anyway, it was great to meet everyone.  I was overtired that morning too and inept'  I seemed unable to remember the most common details in a conversation.   I hate that.  Why yesterday I gave my phone number to a fellow making a Thanksgiving pie for me, and out came the number I had thirty years ago rather than my current number. What is that about?

Hung out and gambled and ate with buddies Wild Bill from home, Lucky Pete and John from Florida, and Mojave from Nevada.

Joked and bantered with some of my favorite dealers at the El Cortez, Flamingo, and Imperial Palace.

Vegas was a daily exercise:

I don't need a workout room at my level of sedentary decadence. Just the constant walking, the skipping meals to stay at the poker table, the running to catch buses, the hiking to see attractions, the pulling of heavy luggage, and the swimming means that I put myself in better shape over those 23 days. Without diet and even with the added alcohol calories I came home 5 pounds lighter and feeling much more fit, which suggests some muscle development replaced fat. Especially dramatic was that one muscle issue I had that put me in a good bit of pain the month before I left, was worked out and eliminated with swimming exercises and walking.

Vegas was a learning trip:

I have plenty to write about this trip. Slowly I'll post the details over the next month. But here and now I'll just list a few bits that caught my attention:

I rode and enjoyed the new buses. 
see the bus details here
http://vegasonthebus.blogspot.com/2011/11/22-days-of-vegas-buses-and-couple.html 

Contrary to what Gold Spike told me when I booked, the Gold Spike outdoor pool was heated to feel like bath water and I swam without my wet suit most of the 6 days I stayed there.

Four Queens comp calculations for free offers and Binions poker room rates are mutually exclusive on the computer. This means I can book my free nights and play the VP hard while I stay for free, but I can avoid check in check out by adding a poker room booking at Binions for as many other nights as I might need without affecting my play score at the Four Queens (as long as I don't play just a little VP on the days I book to play poker.) Eventually, the two cards will become one and the poker may contaminate the VP statistics, but for now there is a separation in calculation.

Poker now starts at 8 am at Imperial Palace and Flamingo with cracked Aces and sometimes Kings, so waking up early does not mean waiting for a game.

My low limit poker skill has clearly reached another skill level, and I'm consistently playing beyond the break even point.

Bull riding is just great to watch.

Toast of the Town on Thursdays at Sam's Town is a hidden gem of a show, especially for seniors.

The Cosmopolitan newbie signup is probably the best gamble in Vegas. My play-the-volatile-first strategy worked for me and others I talked to.

In November a very light summer shirt ,two warm pullover shirts, a scarf, and a warm hat allowed at least Northern blooded people to walk outside, wait for buses, and be comfortable in all November weather. The outside air was cold at night. The casinos were too warm. Layers is the answer.

The new Margaritaville has two amenities to travelers. First it means that one can walk from where the Boyd shuttle lets off at Bill's to Oshea's with only two small bits of the walk in the cold of the outdoors. I stayed at Harrah's, played at Flamingo, and just dressed in a light shirt even on cold nights.

Second, waiting for the Deuce there means being entertainted with plenty of Jimmy Buffet sounds instead of the usual rock pumped to the street.

Okay. that is enough. I'll detail all I experienced and learned as I write over the next month. For now, it was fine to see many of you and this was my best trip in a long while.

I think I am finally really booked

October 25-26--  Staying at Fitzgerald's.  Two nights $36 total with $10 food. $15 freeplay, $15 matchplay, and 2 comedy tickets, basically getting my money and more back in comps. I still am booked at the El Cortez in case something changes, and I need to move things around again.

The Fitz room charge is $36 with tax.
October 27-28-29 Free at Four Queens with $50 food credit and $60 freeplay. Bill is at Orleans 27/28/29.
October 30-31 - Paying $34 with tax for El Cortez Pavilion using ACG coupon.  Bill is at El Cortez.
November 1- 7 -  Paying $192 to stay at Gold Spike through their website.
Bill is at Gold Spike 1/2, then back at Orleans 3/4, and then he goes home Oct 5.
November 8-9  Free at Orleans with $10 food credit
.
November 10, 11, 12,13 - Staying for $27 at Four Queens.  3 nights are free.  Also I get to be enrolled in a slot tournament. And I get $60 freeplay as well.
November 13 14 -15 - Paying $34 with tax to stay at Harrah's (although I'll probably pay less to nothing after applying my to be earned poker reward points.)  I am doubled booked one night (13) with Harrah's, but that will make the move easier if I don't get a ride.  I don't have to take all my luggage at once.

Odd that I made all these changes to try and get 14 nights in one room at the El Cortez, and I did not manage it, and I don't care now as the whole policy soured me on the goal just to stay there in one place my entire trip.  Now I am back just jumping from room to room based on offers, deals, and cheap basic prices.
At first I had a booking with booking.com and hotels.com.  I got into an exchange of email again with hotels.com over who collects the resort fee at Gold Spike.  They don't know that they do.  They won't admit that it is the "resort fee;"  they call it a "service charge"  which they pass on to the hotel.  I see the advantage for Gold Spike, as the money is collected long before I arrive.  It is a disadvantage to the discounter because it makes their price appear $9 a night higher compared to booking.com or other discounters that do not collect for the hotel.  Expedia does the same.

Then I found a cheaper price right on the Gold Spike website.
However, altering this is hard.  Next time book in two and three day bits that are easier to cancel.

• 11/01/2011 ------ USD 12.00  add to each the resort fee of $7.95 
• 11/02/2011 ------ USD 12.00
• 11/03/2011 ------ USD 12.00
• 11/04/2011 ------ USD 27.00
• 11/05/2011 ------ USD 27.00
• 11/06/2011 ------ USD 12.00
• 11/07/2011 ------ USD 12.00

Room charge  is $114.00      Resort fee is $56.00

subtotal           $170.00
13%                   $22.00 (resort fee is also taxed)
Total                $192.00 for 7 nights at gold spike ($27 a night on average)

Plus $36 for 2 nights at the Fitz

plus $34 ElCortez ACG coupon deal for 2 pavillion nights
plus $102 Gold Spike- Nov 10-11-12 (until 4 Queens gives me this free)  This is now cancelled
plus $27 total for 4 nights at the Four Queens (3 free)
Plus $34 Harrah's (to be reduced with points to 0 after playing poker)
$0 at Orleans
$0 at Four Queens in October


total = $14.68 on average per night (if my math is right)


Total food and freeplay that comes with rooms:
$180  If I added that into the formula, the rooms would cost me $6.50 a night.
And I expect that the Harrah's will be free and save me another $34.  Then the average would be $4.96.
*****************************************************************************   

Fly home on Nov 16
Had I known that I could shorten my stay at the Gold Spike, I would have left the Fitz in that last week in November, but thinking I was double booked, I moved it to the October 25-26 two night block and will cancel the El Cortez.  I save $50 in mandatory food expense which is about equal to saving $45 in Gold Spike room expense.  I always have plenty of free food in Vegas.  It also gives me 7 nights with no moving at the Gold Spike, an easier move from the Fitz to the Four Queens and if they let me use the free comedy tickets on my check out day, 27th, Bill can come and see that show with me.  I see prices of $40 dollars for this show, so the comp is a good deal.
note to self:  first confirm the Fitz.  then cancel the EC.
*************************************************************************

Absolutely the longest and most confusing bookings I have ever made for any trip.  I will have to make certain that all the cancelled rooms are in fact cancelled when I finally settle this all down just before I go.
Why does the Four Queens wait to make mailed offers just weeks before the event?  Perhaps they want to catch the attention of those who have not yet decided to go.  However, it makes planning complicated.  I have to have a backup to cancel if and when they send me an offer.  Waiting until the last minute to book would be deadly.

Last day before Vegas

Whew! weeks of planning and packing and still a long list things to.

I leave about 5:30 am tomorrow morning.  Such an early flight.  I hope I can get my second sleep on the plane.
I got another request for a meetup on the boards today.  However, the family dates seem to be emerging and I am coordinated with Lucky Pete and Wild Bill, so I think as much is done that can be done and it all seems to be falling into place.

My suitcase is packed right up to the 50 pounds this time, so I may have to break it in half for the airplane part of the journey.  


Yesterday was a fine day.  We went with Peter and Donna  for a fine drive through the Berkshires.  We stopped to see War of the Worlds,
http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/10-08-2011_war-of-the-worlds.htm,

a fine recreation of the live broadcast that is such classic old radio.
It was wonderful!  Not a weak spot in it. All the actors were very good and the theater was very small, so we had great seats.
In fact, we were in the front row.
Here was old radio blended with this particular event and with current commercials.
It is hard to explain, but it worked on every level.  I thought that at least one level might be poorly done, but it all worked.
And once again the monsters were destroyed by the common cold.

We had a bit of salmon at Salmon Run in Lee.  I went for the Buffalo wing spiced gorgonzola salmon as I always do.  Peter and Donna entertained us with stories, travel talk, history and analysis.  Such a complete pleasure!

Donna, without being prompted,  said she liked reading about the food here on the blog, and we laughed loud and long.
Take that Lucky Pete! Take that Courtney!  Take that Elizabeth!
My food themes have been vindicated.

Thanks, Donna.

I talked at length to Keith Reynolds on the phone today who is recovering slowly from an operation and seems in good spirits and improving daily.  We had quite a bit to discuss as always.  It was like days long ago when we were more constant friends.

And a fine Autumn day here at the lake.  I'l get out for a short boat ride today and we'll have the perch and crappie I caught two days ago for our supper.

El cortez walleye garnish named

One poster said that they are called sea beans:

Mysterious green plants known as sea beans have becoming increasingly prominent at farmers markets and restaurants. Although their scientific name is salicornia, they are frequently referred to by many names, including pickleweed, glasswort, drift seeds, sea asparagus, sea pickles, and marsh samphire.

I do wish that the ElCor would re-rethink the cafe. It just doesn't "feel" right...




http://www.epicurious.com/tools/fooddictionary/entry/?id=4399

Cosmopolitan pool issue

Don't swim in the pool at Cosmopolitan

http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/news/2011/sep/25/heads--dont-try-swimming-cosmo-pool-concerts/

Orleans Gaming

However, in our enthusiams, we do need to remind people that these games simply make the Orleans playable. They don’t make the gambling stand out. We would not search the place out as a hidden gem of gaming.

If we check this survey, we can see that this sort of craps is the median for Vegas

http://wizardofvegas.com/guides/craps-survey//
If we check these comparisons, we can see that with all the rules figured in the computation, Orleans comes out again pretty average for Vegas.  Perhaps it will more often deliver a $5 game.

http://wizardofvegas.com/guides/blackjack-survey//

At 040% it is playable, especially compared to some strip properties or abominations like 6:5 , but not outstanding, like the El Cortex single deck game with a house advantage of 0.19% Huge difference between these two games.

And while 8/5 Bonus Poker may be considered “full pay” and may be welcome in this current trend to downgrade VP, it is also pretty average in Vegas and nothing compared to the advantage once possible in their signature game, 10/7 DB which they downgraded to unplayable. I would not call 8/5 Bonus “best” in any sense. "Basically playable" comes to mind. “Average” again comes to mind. We would not go out of our way to search out the 8/5 Bonus at the Orleans. And while it may be a bit more rare to find it at a bar, there are plenty of places that have it and some that have it better at the bar. The Vue Bar at the Fitzgerald’s, for example, has it and tops the low full pay off with three progressive lines.

And when they did downgrade the DB in December 2006, they made it 9/6, a game you really should run from.

So, just looking at the math, the Orleans gambling is just okay. Nothing to stand up and cheer about, but if you enjoy the ambiance, the gambling is endurable in short sessions.

Live poker too is average because the fine ambiance and friendliness of the room is often offset by the dominance of local folks who play and play well there everyday with each other; their experience grouped together around your table can makes the game tough to beat. For softness of game, strip live poker is better.

When does a progressive tip a short pay into a full pay?

Here are some common examples:

http://www.videopokerinfo.com/progressives.htm

Lite beer

What I like about lite beer is it is all pretty organic and easy to make.
We make it here on the farm.
All you need is a bucket of beer, a thirsty horse, and an empty bucket.

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1809/is-light-beer-made-by-watering-it-down

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-light-beer.htm

And I guess I am wrong on the drink issue at El Cortez.  Just out of my league I guess.

http://lasvegascitylife.com/articles/2011/09/22/eat_and_drink/crawl/iq_47466226.txt

Orleans pros and cons

pros

* Rooms are probably the best in that price range.
* Always quiet.
* Location is away from noise and confusion, but well connected to the strip. There is the free shuttle that goes to the Flamingo corner and the city bus that goes down Tropicana to theNYNY corner or farther to pinball hall of fame. shuttle to Gold Coast with Palms and Riothrown in the ride.
* McMullen's Irish Pub (click)is right across the street. Can you say Smithwick's? Great potato chips and dips.
* Great pool in season. Great hot tub anytime. Clean workout room.
* Free wifi in the coffee shop near the check in, and even places to plug in.
* Resort fee has not been charged when I book on B Connected or for comped room specials.
* 9/7 nickle three play Double Bonus with progressives.
* great oatmeal at the Cafe with lots of stuff to add
* Buffet- good all day deal that lets you skip the line and pop in and out as many times as you want. Grazing then replaces overeating.
* Al's Oyster place where oyster chowder is off the menu, but will be made for you if you ask
* comfortable and friendly poker room
* I can wheel my luggage to a laundromat. It is a long walk, but safe down Arville.
* I can wheel my luggage to the Gold Coast. Longer walk,but great for booking those two back to back.
* great aligator door handles
* good shows at good prices for guests and sometimes free


cons:
* $6 resort fee
* gutted the great 10/7 DB they once had and replaced it with 9/6 DB that suckers in those who don't know there is 9/6 DDB.
* no other really decent VP unless some progressive is high
* Not many places to walk to after dark.
* tough local competition in the poker room.
* eliminated silver strike machine


more comments here:
http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?p=554636#post554636

First time playing live poker

I play mostly limit, so some of my responses may be geared toward that game.

Many places you play will have a different set of bonus awards. Some have bad beat jackpots. Some have high hand awards. Some have cracked Aces or even Cracked kings. Some have so many hours for a free tournament.
At Flamingo last year I was in a $2000 tournament with just 4 hours of play. We split at two tables and everyone got a black chip.
Because in limit you are trying to overcome the rake, you need to never miss a high hand or other bonus payout.

Ask about these bonus awards, so you know before you play. The most common one to miss is cracked Aces, where you are beat and just toss in your cards rather than show that you are beat with pocket Aces, and so you lose $100 from the house.
This bonus in limit even changes how people bet. Pocket Aces won't raise preflop to push out anyone since the award might be more than the pot and will require a minimum in the pot to be awarded.
In no limit I make certain every new player knows about Cracked Aces. If the bonus is $100 and they follow you to the river and you bet $50, they will call just to get the bonus. I have had guys fold the Aces rather than call my river bet, show them, and then they learn they just lost $50. And I lost $50 too.

Unless you have some complicated comp formula combining slot play and poker play, always swipe your card.
At any Harrah's now Caesar's place they will track you and you can get free rooms for the next trip. You can play at O'Shea's and still get a choice of free rooms at Harrah's. I did that. Next trip I have two free nights and one at $30 just due to poker play. And a look at the credits I have right now tells me that I have $15 to put toward the last night so it will end up being free as well.

Some places you have to be certain to swipe out when you leave or you get nothing. Even the dollar an hour comps add up over time.

Don't talk about possible hands unless you hold cards and then watch what you say. Don't read the board. Don't say, "Wow, someone could have a straight flush."
Don't act out of turn.
Don't be afraid to ask if you are unclear what a player did. Don't shout to the player. Ask the dealer. It is the dealer who has to know what is what and will make any calles in a decision. The player needs to make certain the dealer knows when there is a raise. Say you are in a limit $2 round and someone ahead of you pushes out a red chip and mumbles. Ask if that is a raise before you act.
"Did he raise or just call?"

Watch string bets. Say what you are doing before you do it. "Raise, fold, call" are great words. Raise is the most important of the three. If you say, "raise" in limit it is clear how many chips you are putting in the pot. If you say "raise" in no limit then you must announce how many chips are going to be bet or move them all at once. A great habit is to set up your bets and then move them in one motion.

Use a card protector. Some players will by accident or on purpose toss cards on your cards. If they are covered, then the dealer can sort it out. If not, you lose your hand. This is especially important when sitting either side of the dealer. S/he may pick up your hand easily by accident if it is unprotected.
Protect your hand. Develop a way to look at your cards that blocks your neighbor from getting even a glance at the suit. This is one of the biggest differences between on line and live poker. So many times players reveal their cards because they look too often and don't cup their hands over the cards. You can't pull the cards back from the table so you need a way to look. Watch the other players.

When you win a pot, turn your two cards over and make sure the dealer understands you are the winner. I usually put one finger on each card until the losing hands are mucked by the dealer. If the dealer tries to take them before taking other hands, I say, "I have the straight flush" and push down on the cars, holding them in place for a reread.

Otherwise your winning hand can be misread by even the best of dealers, swiped up quickly, and then, oh, well... the best you can do is protest a bit and see if the buy collecting the chips will split the pot.

You can change seats usually fairly easily. You ask the dealer and most places they give you a button that says seat change. You may want to do that for some strategic reason, like getting to the left of the wild raiser. In limit don't play immediately right of a habitual straddle player. Basically, this will kill your bid blind. You will never see a free flop.
You can change tables some places as long as they can keep them fairly even.
You can request to play with a buddy and some places will try to make that happen. Let folks know what you want.

If you have a problem, don't argue a lot. Ask the dealer. If you don't like the dealer answer, ask that the floor be called. Again, just present your case or questions calmly and whether you get the ruling or not, say thank you. Don't tell the dealer or the floor how the rules ought to be. But don't be afraid to ask for clarification. At worst, you then know what not to do next time.

If you play limit and like kill pots, great. You may find them in some casinos.
Make certain you know in a kill pot who acts last. Patterns change. And if you don't like kill pots and are playing in a no kill game and you are the only one who does not want to change. Tell that to the dealer. Yes, you will be unpopular, but in most cases the game can't change to a kill game unless everyone wants a kill pot. consider your bankroll, not just peer pressure.

When you are on a seating list waiting for a game you can often watch the game you hope to join. Sometimes the dealer does not communicate an empty seat to the floor. You can do that. Just walk back to where you signed in and let them know there is an empty seat on table number XX. If you are next in line, this can save a ten minute wait.
You can call ahead to get on seating lists at some casinos. You might like carrying a list of poker room numbers and calling to ask what is being spread and if they can put you on the list.

Watch for free food. They might bring in cookies at the Imperial Palace but they might not tell you, and you can have one while you wait for a seat too. You should never, ever be shy about cookies

Fremont Street Experience Coupons

realvegas is the password

Fremont coupons

__________________

How I pack

I start making lists when I start booking, at least 6 months in advance.
Often I pack for Vegas while unpacking from some other trip, even with a month or so inbetween. I do laundry, and repack Vegas clothes right then. This precludes me forgetting the kinds of things I want to pack for every trip. I especially want to set aside certain shirts that are easy to wash and will dry quickly and are light against the Vegas heat.
And it saves last minute laundry.
The travel steamer takes out the wrinkles well enough for me. And they are going to be there even with stuff packed last minute.

I am going to pack the largest suitcase the plane allows.
I have a good sense of what 50 pounds is, and I weigh at home, but in the bag goes an empty light bag and if I have gotten too heavy and have to, I repack at the airport as SW still lets me take 2 bags free. Usually I weigh in at 49 lbs.
The light bag will be good for anything I buy or win in Vegas, so my plan is to keep it empty until I come back. Generally, I finish my trip with ACG coupon at the El Cortez and shop for souvenirs downtown. The free shuttle eliminates the hassle of the extra bag for a bus ride to the airport. Next trip I ended at Harrah's, so things will be different.
I carry-on my computer and my sleep apnea machine, drugs, some coupons, kindle and maybe change of underwear /socks.
Since I am going on one plane with my luggage, I don't expect it will get lost. It never has on SW to Vegas. On other travels I once was up to lost luggage 5 trips in a row as well as stolen stuff going into Mexico.
The lost stuff showed up, but a couple days later.
Once, flying into Madrid for a month in Spain, it was good that I had changed from driving immediately out of Madrid North, to staying a few nights first as they delivered the next day easily since I was still in Madrid.

Anyway,
After I arrive in Vegas, I put my carry-ons into the extra suitcase space and have one bag to roll on the buses or between hotels.
I am alwasy going for at least 14 nights. My next trip is 22 nights. And I am moving from freebie to freebie or cheapo place and either rolling luggage or taking the bus.
It has to be easy. I found the large bag easier than packing light because the wheel base is wide and rolling never twists my wrists.
If SW starts charging I'll give up luxuries and go super light. One advantage to that would be using the Deuce/SDX to go between hotel and hotel.
However, for now, having the computer and apnea machine in the rolling bag rather than strapped on my back makes the longer rolls, say from Orleans to Gold Coast, much easier.

I make sure to unpack and repack my wallet so I have my senior bus ID and American Casino Guide ID, but I don't have my local grocery store advantage cards.

Things I pack include:

• small bag clips to clip window shades closed
• small travel one cup coffee maker, my own coffee, tea bags
• ceramic coffee cup- I like my own
• small travel clothes steamer.
• trail mix for plane, but mostly for room.
• 3 mil plastic bags for clothes in case I encounter undetected bed bugs and need to seal up stuff before decontamination.
• plastic bib and clip to keep my shirts free of stains
• blinders for a nap on airplane
• airplane noise reducing earphones for airplane and sometimes hotel naps and for computer
• ear plugs for loud music concerts or swimming.
• Old CD movies or short stuff, like George Burns old shows.
• small jar of Louisiana hot sauce.
• Cheese and cut apples for the plane ride. cheese keeps pretty well and leftovers will be great in the room.

I have given up taking shaving cream. It seems to make messes. I use a mixture of soap/ shampoo and lotion and it seems to work fine. I don't shave much anyway, just a bit above the beard.

Booking.com and hotels.com thoughts

I have used them. I like they do not take all the money upfront. So they are the only discounter I use to book early deals. Usually I end up cancelling and rebooking as I find better deals or free offers. They support easy cancellation.

This year I booked the El Cabana suites for November, making a five night reservation and another 3 night reservation. It was just as the El Cortez was starting the "resort fee after 7 nights" policy.( ya know, to get rid of all those cheapskate, brokeass, small potaotes, flea gambler like me as well as the flocks of homeless crowding into the Cabana rooms for the $34 dollar a night specials)
So I was booked with confirmation when someone at the El Cortez told booking.com that the EC would not honor my second booking. I liked how booking.com got in touch with me, offered explanation, gave me people to follow up with a phone call, and were clearly as annoyed as I was with this midstream change in policy and reversal of a confirmed booking.
Then the EC was just limiting booking to 7 nights. Soon afterwards, I guess they decided that they had to do too much oversight and they just passed the extra fee of $25 on for any booking over 7 by a person or a spouse in a single calendar month.

That way they did not set adrift any person's bookings that slipped through the net, but they still did not have to honor the original agreement of price.


Booking with a discounter always adds a middle man, but in my view booking.com passed the middle man test.

Oh, also they had a problem with a calendar on one of their pages. I wrote them. They wrote me back, wondering if I was making the mistake. So I walked them through the problem, and very soon it was fixed and they thanked me.

In contrast, I have written about 8 emails and made phone calls to Hotels.com/Expedia in reference to the way they handle the Gold Spike. Basically, they collect the "resort fee" up front, but won't admit it. They call it a "service fee" Then in the fine print it says that the "resort fee" (equal exactly to the "service fee") will be collected by the hotel. Well, I have asked Gold Spike over two years about that at least a half dozen times. The Gold Spike does not collect any resort fee from Hotels.com or expedia booked people because that fee already has been collected.
I trust the Gold Spike version of reality. It actually hurts the Hotel.com sales because if booking.com matches the same price, it looks cheaper.

So when compared with Hotels.com (and I like their service fine in most cases) booking.com also does not collect the $9 a night resort fee up front either. So you can book for insurance of price, and then look for direct booking deals, but not have hundreds of dollars tied up in the first booking.

Also, I may be imagining this, but every call to booking.com has me taking to someone who might even speak English as a first language. I would never book at Hotels.com on the phone. Once they canceled one booking, made another for the wrong month, and then I booked what I really wanted. Meanwhile they held up a thousand dollars and told me that it might take a full billing period for my credit card to be credited. Hey, it takes a few seconds to be charged.

Now here is the disadvantage of all these discounters. You may be able to cancel without a fee (not so by the way at i4vegas, they charge you) However, you can't catch a sale one month for say 7 days and then drop 2 of those days and keep the same price. You must cancel and rebook at what then will probably not be sale prices.
So I quickly switched to the Gold Spike when I caught a better deal I booked 9 nights in a row (take that El Cortez bean counters) and then I got 2 free nights at the Orleans. I wanted to drop to 7. The rooms I booked for $12 plus resort fee on that day were $80 and on a sale day later were $45. But after a bit of a hassle, the Gold Spike dropped the last 2 nights but let me keep my rate. In May I did the same with Sam's town. Booked on B -connected for 9 nights at $10 a night, and twice dropped nights to end up with just 6 when I got free rooms in other places.
So, whenever you can book directly.
Even then, the best strategy for long bookings is to book in bits of 2 or 3 nights and have a few connecting reservations. Then you can cancel one of those easily, right on line, with no confusion, if you get late free offers.
Finally, if you use any discounter, call the hotel directly a few days before you are going to arrive and confirm they know you are coming and confirm the dates so that they agree with what you booked. This means that if they have to communicate with the discounter because the paperwork has been mixed up (three mix ups in my experience) it will not be done in line at the check in when you are tired and waiting for a room, but while you are still home. Once I was in the middle of the desert driving to the Stratosphere from California and I called from there to confirm. Good thing. They had no record of me coming. Three hours later when I got to the Stratosphere all the paperwork was clear and check in was easy. The lines were huge. It would have been a nightmare.
Actually, I try to confirm a couple weeks after booking and I confirm again just before I go to see that my confirmation phone calls have not been confused

Senior Bus Passes after 9-11

Current information saved and updated here:

http://vegasonthebus.blogspot.com/2011/09/senior-bus-pass-rates-and-issues-after.html

email to Vegas bus company after 9-11

Please be careful to research the details of your answers.  I will be sharing them with discussion boards, with the press, and with AARP.

My concern is exactly how the RTC affects senior tourists.

In particular:
1. Which reduced fares are no longer accepted on the Deuce, SDX.  The website says the 30 day pass is still all access. Information on your Facebook site recommended I buy the 5 day pass and use it with no ID requred, and anecdotal traveler data suggest that the 5 day pass is all access and recommended tourists use that pass and no ID would be required. Did that change yesterday?
2. How does a tourist get from the airport on the WAX and then down the strip?  Is s/he required to buy two passes?  Will the WAX bus driver sell a 24 hour pass that is not residential only and good on the SDX as well?
3..  Since these changes apply only to tourist travelers, what can you say about the RTC intention to create two classes of senior riders, locals and tourists?  Since stimulus funds are being used to overhaul the Las Vegas bus company, how is it fair to charge out of state users twice the price of locals? How does it promote the use of the buses by tourists?
4.  What route would you suggest for the tourist who will now ride the buses from downtown, but want to ride on a residential pass? What would be the safest bus stops at 1 am in the morning?

Any other light you might throw on this issue would certainly be helpful as I inform my readers and others of these new changes and their affect on trourist seniors.

Thanks

laughlin notes

This day trip includes Hoover Dam

http://freevegastours.com/ - Laughlin free trip includes the Hoover Dam.

Destination.com has a coupon I printed for a free trip just to Laughlin.


More possibilities here:


http://vegasonthebus.blogspot.com/2011/07/laughlin-bus-tours.html

general boilerplate

Watch the water taxi. It is not the same old ride for $5. Reports lately have the driver adding extra fees depending on where he is going. So a person I know gets on (when Tony is driving) with a handicapped person, boarding at the Golden Nugget and off for Harrah's. Tony charged $16 because he went to Riverside before turning around. Then he charged another $8 to get back to the Edgewater. He claimed he was charging so much due to the huge crowds and big demand. There were two people on board. River Palms is still a wasteland. They ripped out a whole floor in anticipation of an upgrade involving other businesses and the deal fell through. The beds there, however, have improved. VP has been downgraded most places. The Aquarius is an exception. They are trying to market as not changing value or getting into the room price wars. Many people like this spot. I found it nice, but I hit an unvacuumed room and did not like the isolated pool in the hot sun with no chance for shade. At Riverside I love the Watchman store and am addicted to buying watches there. This week I was wearing the one that looks like turquoise and silver, but is not. I saw this for over $100 in Zion. Good deals on unique watches, especially if you buy 4. The live poker is both very good and very tough. Often you are playing the same players. There are lots of bonus awards because they rake $2 to give back in promotions. The rake itself caps at $3, so it is the same as Vegas but better value. There are few no limit opportunities. The popular game is a 2-6 spread limit game that is a lot of fun. I've encountered the most tourists late at night in the 2-4 at the Colorado Belle.  
Cracked Aces are a favorite and the bonus changes depending on place and time. The Riverside had $500 bonus for blacked Aces cracked for a few hours on Sunday afternoon. Because of the downgrading of VP I won't give them a week anymore, but I go up on the free bus for a day. Destinations.com has a coupon that makes it completely free for the direct to Laughlin and back, one day only. Others charge $5 or $10 and you may be on the same bus. There is one route that includes 20 minutes at the Hoover Dam. I may try that one this time. [URL="http://freevegastours.com/"]http://freevegastours.com/ [/URL]- There is an Inn and Out Burger joint across from Colorado Belle. I know you are driving out. Others reading may want a bus. Rivercity runs one and you can go round trip from Terribles or the airport for about $100 and drop or pick up from any casino in Laughlin. Stay away from their competitor as they will cancel if you are the only passenger. Rivercity often gets their leftovers. The driving is easy, however, once you get away from Vegas except for Searchlight where there is a speedtrap. I think it goes down quickly (one sign) to 30 miles an hour. Don't coast;brake. The cop is waiting to boost the local coffers. Having a car is a definite benefit. Walks can get very long. Some speculate that the nearby Indian casinos are giving better value and helping the Laughlin recession. At any rate those casinos are hurting. I saw rooms at the Colorado Belle for $7.77 this past month. 2 for 1 buffets all over the American Casino Guide. Many are new. Most do not split for solo at 50% but Harrah's used to allow that. Have you card with you as they do look. Gandma's Sunday buffet, one of the best meals in the World, is gone. The upscale restaurant is still there, but pricy. Watch the dress code if you are too casual. I always liked the free dixieland band that played in the casino near the door of the Colorado Belle. It was hard to find a seat, but no one bothered folks sitting on machine chairs and the music was just great. Comedy is the same as it is in Vegas. Often they get the same acts. This is an easy free ticket for a host to give out. Okay, that is all I know.

Board Discussions on Laughlin here:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g45964-i292-Laughlin_Nevada.html


update:   Just heard the great Dixieland band is gone from the Colorado Belle and that the poker room at the River Palms is being moved to the Tropicana.  Edgewater no longer has a room.  All the games are at the Colorado Belle.

And speaking of small potatoes- Newest coupon deal

http://www.rtcsnv.com/transit/tiyot.cfm



Okay, coupon lovers.  This is a real deal.  I have not called every place on the list, just the Four Queens, but they have been working on this for about a year and it is just now implemented.
Good for locals and tourists.
Good for any pass, from 24 hour pass on up.
Of course, you need to be 21 and have a Four Queens player's card.  You go to the promotions booth with your bus pass to get all that taken care of.
Good at even the most expensive eateries at the Four Queens or at Binions.

And while it is not good with other offers, it may work when you charge the bill to the room and then write it off with a food comp and in that way stretch a food comp.  I did not ask this.

I'd still call ahead to other places before I went just to be sure and it can be cancelled at any time.
I talked to Vinny at food and beverage at the Four Queens, a most delightful woman.  She invited me to stop in and say hello when I am there in October.

Great contest at American Casino Guide site

http://forum.americancasinoguide.com/general-discussion-forum/4739-win-buffet-2-arizona-charlies-plus-2-tix-xbu-flamingo.html

Hitler fights Resort Fees

http://www.fivehundybymidnight.com/fhbm/2011/08/05/las-vegas-resort-fees-video/