Trip reports 2003

Date of Trip: January 17, 2003 to January 25, 2003 Hotel Stayed At: Fiesta Henderson Report by: Dewey From: Averill Park NY

TRIP REPORT: Jan 17-25 I met up with old friend Jerry and his family for a couple days and guided a newer friend Jill to show her around Vegas.

HOTEL ROOMS: Stayed at Fiesta Henderson the entire week with $30 weekends and $11 weeknights on a mailer that was supposed to end in December, but when I called they extended. Some extra charges, the energy tax and $10 for the phone. Still a good deal. Nice rooms, better than the cheaper rooms downtown. Clean and with coffee pot and hair dryer but no safe. Very quiet. Still in the Reserve style with zebras and gazelle and tasteful leopard skin bedcovers and curtains. Just fine unless you needed Mexico up here too.

Two major highways systems make it very easy to get to downtown, to the strip from east or west, or to Boulder Strip. Boulder by back road is very close anyway, with Joker’s Wild just down the road and around the corner.
I liked being able to park so close to the elevator. If you park near the pool, behind the volleyball court, and use that entrance, the elevator is just ten steps inside. I got in at 3:30 AM on my last night and there was a spot first in the row, so my checkout suitcase pull was the shortest I ever remember and no awkward trip through the casino.

The food was great, but one of the music at the Fiesta was very good. Arizona Charlie’s Boulder is a similar type of casino, but I’ve liked the music better. Fiesta was dark more than it was alive. The guitar bar was a disappointment.


GAMBLING:
I keep a lifetime account of my gambling. Thanks to a $1000 Fiesta 10/7 DB Royal, the $685 I won gambling ended a long stretch of losses or small wins. I don’t add in comps or tips. But this time I used over $60 in food comps and got cheap rooms based on prior play, so perhaps I should begin account for them somewhere too. The $685 brought me up to + $2150 lifetime score. Not a bad hobby. Sure beats golf!

CRAPS:
I still try to set the dice. I must not have it right. I did think I had longer rolls, but did not repeat numbers enough to make a profit in any session. My last roll saw me throw eight 4’s 9’s and 10’s with my money on 5’s 6’s and 8’s. I then hit the 8 only to seven out. Still these Fiesta tables are great for low rollers, a dollar on the line and ten behind. In the morning I could play alone and really practice rolling. Great, helpful, friendly dealers. Easy tables. The spirit here is not the loud whoop-de-doo I’m on vacation hoo-haw or Casino Royale, but it is not the downtown meeting of grumpy old men either.

LIVE POKER:
Okay, so once again I tried the big league seven card stud players at Bellagio in the 4-8 structured game and once again got beat. This time I quit at a little under $200, after the barefoot Chinese guy took me again in a big pot which I started with my rolled up tens and ended with the same, losing to his damn straight. Last time he beat me with a river pulled nines full house while I limped out with never filled Kings up. And he always takes such pleasure beating me. Barefoot poker at the ritzy Bellagio! That’s Vegas!

Later I played at the Palms and found a game of $3- $6 stud with no ante and much loser players. I did not get great cards often. I broke exactly even over about four hours of play. I liked the game. The players bet into and called me even when I indicated high cards and had played tight a long while waiting. Lots of little bonus pots for four of a kind and straight flushes too. I did not hit any, but they were fun to think about. They gave me a $10 food comp, without asking, when I left. I like that a lot. In fact, I like the Palms casino in general.


VIDEO POKER:
I played quarter 10/7 DB at Fiesta Henderson and the Palms last week. I hit a Royal in clubs at Fiesta. Great fun. I liked the machines at the Palms better. They were newer, with tickets, and large card displays. The sounds worked. Fiesta had most of the 10/7 machines places placed near the doors and it was drafty. I finally found comfort at one bank near the Sportsbook tree. No crowds here, however. Great little casino for peace and quiet. No lines to check in or out, to eat, to check comp points. Mostly locals here. Four 10/7 nickle “double on” machines require max bets of ten play and others had similar ten play Bonus Poker 8/5. That is fifty cents a spin. Not a nice as the old Fiesta nickel games, but still pretty cheap fun.

I play a very tight strategy based on the Zamzow VP tutor and Tomski’s strategy sheet maker. I bring Dancer’s report and the color coded sheets with me and look up hard hands. I know that is not what the pro’s do, as they play fast for so many dollars per hour, but I take my time to watch a pretty girl, sip my free brandy, and enjoy the study of the hand as much as the rest of the play. I don’t want it to be a job with a time clock. I want to have fun. I just don’t want to lose in the long run. Played this way 10/7 is never boring It is not as exciting as live poker, but there are always things to consider and think through.

Once again, carrying my sheets attracted the attention of other players. A nearby fellow and wife were almost laughing at me for correctly holding a bare ace rather than an offsuited king (when the penalty cards were right). It takes me a while to be sure what to do there (Is there a card under six? Is there a flush penalty? Is there an unsuited ace?) so his arrogance was annoying. I tried to engage them, show them my literature, etc, but they were so sure they had perfectly learned the strategy last summer, even though they had no real idea of the difference in the various games. Once I heard her say that she did not care what “the book” said, she was holding the “winner.“ Ironically, she was picking two jacks over a four card flush of small cards, so her guilt and protest were unnecessary; she was playing by “the book.“ While I hear that the dollar and fifty cent 10/7 machines are drying up or slowing down around Vegas, I guess these folks will keep 10/7 quarters in the casinos for a while, as few really play anything close to the recommended strategy. I was glad that they did not see me split the three ace’s out of two full houses that day. I’d have never heard the end of it. Luckily, I was able to see them later and brag about my $250 winnings. While the win had more to do with standard deviation than any strategy, it did set his dentures back a notch, as he was just below even. The VP did well for me this week. Even had I missed the royal, I would have been a couple hundred ahead in VP and that covered other, poorer gambles.

TOURNAMENTS:
Played my first 10/7 VP tournament at Fiesta with paid entry and another lucky 7’s slot tournament at Sunset Station that was free as part of a radio promotion for the new broadcast studio there. I got a free Sunset Station T -shirt as well just for visiting the studio. I heard themon the radio and went in at the last minute. No lines for T-shirts, even though the casino was full of people. No luck in either tournament.

RICHOCHET- This game at Fiesta was new for me, a cross between craps, roulette and Chuck a Luck. Three dice. You bet on a layout with your own colored chips, picking what pairs will show with what other number. The shooter rolls until a six one show paying off any pairs that show. Trip bets and some other bets possible too. I don’t know the house advantage or odds on individual bets, but it was fun to watch. Since it is new, I assume it is tough to beat, but you never can tell. Foxwood’s Catch a Wave proved to be as good a Blackjack as long as you used perfect strategy.

IMPERIAL PALACE- Before I came Jill spent two nights at the Imperial Palace using that $30 winter special. Because she was brand new they gave her a coupon for $100 in Blackjack $5 matchplay plus two mathcplay coupons . That means 22 hands that pay 2-1! We got terrible cards and still wound up $10 ahead. A great deal.

COMPS
From now on I’m just going to the points counter every day to ask about specials and confirm advertisements. That is the only way to keep up with these tricky casino promotions. One day Fiesta had a couple coupons for seniors that had not been mailed to me. Another day they had 5X points advertised on a slinger in my room, but nothing told me I must up to the counter and tell them to credit my play as 5X the points. Otherwise, I’d have played all day and missed the promotion. A similar thing happened when Gold Coast offered to add a couple thousand if I played during my birthday month. I was there and made the trip to play, but the points were not added automatically. Two months later, it took me two women and three returns in two hours to get them to add them in. In the fine print it is only the locals who get the deal automatically. The out of state crowd must tell them they played. Don’t assume anything. Ask them to do it, and then ask them if they did it. They are nice enough, just not about to give much away easily. Actually, the great Fiesta room deal was mailed to me for December. I called and asked if they could extend it to January, so they did. Then I called three more times just to be sure they did not change their minds.

ENTERTAINMENT:
LOUNGE ACTS:
Big Elvis at Barbary Coast- always a kick. Fine voice and a good place to park and use an old Orleans funbook coupon for a free drink before walking the strip.
Ghalib Ghalab at Caesar’s Palace: Absolutely one of the best I’ve seen in free lounge music. This fellow is very talented and a great showman. Sitting in the plush overstuffed sofa and sipping expensive cognac made a fine and fancy time.
Groove Kitty at the Palms- Oh! Oh! I just don’t get hip hop. Sorry. And the girls walking around the casino were sexier, so I took a walk and played live poker.
Tweed at Sam’s Town - “Classic” rock from the 80’s? I’m getting old. Next thing I know they will sell 80’s antiques. But there was Billy Joel and Elvis and a nice rendition of Johnny Be Good with other things I knew, so it was all good. The crowd was a fine multicultural mix of friendly strangers. One sweet, just-married girl named JoLisa asked me to dance and enjoyed some of my old swing steps. A tall, Black man, my age, in a multi-colored striped shirt and a fine gray hat danced a bit by himself, and then grabbed a beer, sat next to me, and commented on the strange fact that this a cute little Filipino girl, dancing with her six foot tall man, repeatedly smiled directly at us as they turned on the dance floor. Meanwhile, some cowboy in a big hat and buckle sauntered by, while the long blond haired rock lead jumped down on the bar and into the audience and back on stage again. At break he came down to sit in front of us and soul kiss his girl, a sweet little honey who, when she danced, made us all wish we were rock stars too. It was a prime night, my last in Vegas, and I milked it with sweet limed Coronas until 3 PM.
Neonopolis rock band- Great sax player made the old hits of the 50’s and 60’s come alive. Too bad the free parking is history there.

SHOWS
Trop overhead - Great one to see. Well, worth it. We caught it right after the lion feeding at MGM grand. That too was well worth going. They feed the lions by hand and only the glass separates them from you. Very good, close up view. I’ve been other times and was bored.
Shark Reef - At MGM I had lions over my head. Here there were sharks. I liked this aquarium. Plenty to see.
Penguins - I missed their feeding but Jill saw them and raved about it, especially the little ones just born.
MSS men’s bathroom - Put this on the list if you are male and old enough to remember how frustrating the Berlin Wall felt. You get to urinate on it. Women miss out, unfortunately. I tried to sneak Jill in at a quiet time, but the men kept coming in droves. I never knew there were so many dedicated anti-communists still around. But there they were, all ready to ritualistically express themselves, and whisper with old JFK, “Ich bin ein Berliner.”

SRATOSPHERE TOWER

I’ve taken so many people up here at sunset and still it never ceases to amaze me. I think sometime I’ll just plan to spend an entire evening writing up there. What a view! This time I noticed that those huge undeveloped sections of brown desert, so prominent in the daylight between the casinos, fade away completely into all the other background blackness when the lights come on. Great fun to identify all the places once visited on ground level.

STAINED GLASS AND OTHER SIGHTS- - I like stained glass. I like the large pictures at Main Street Station and even the little ones scattered through Barbary Coast. But this display at the Sunset Station was incredible. They try to capture the colors of sunset in abstract canopy that completely covers an entire bar area. Wild!
On the Jerry-Guzik-double paced-sprint from Tropicana to Bellagio and back to buy a Bellagio money I saw the Bellagio gardens all dressed for Chinese New Year in statue, fruit and flower. What a place!
Downtown Jill took me to a small park near a children’s school to see a stream and waterfall and a tiny poetry bridge. Very unusual across from the huge courthouse and in the midst of so many high rise office buildings.

FOOD:
Fiesta - Overall the food was great. The seafood buffet was just too much of the same as the other days, adding cold crab and a couple fish at an inflated price, but the rest was nice. M-F lunch was on sale for $5.99 and a coupon for seniors on Tuesday took two dollars off that. The champagne tasted nice on Saturday morning so maybe that was worth $10. My favorites included the fish and chips, the fried chicken, a Chinese vegetable medley, roast duck, pecan sticky buns, almond bars, chocolate chip bars, and the cheesecake. Fruit was just not there. That was disappointing.
Fiesta on seafood night was a great place to take seven relatives for a nice long feed and talk session. It was uncrowded, no lines and we did not feel rushed. The stories were great.
In the fiesta Baja Cafe near the crashed plane is the Feel Good Soup which so many on bulletin boards have raved. It is a meal in a bowl, a great dish of serious slices of pork and chicken, of fine big mushrooms all simmering in a wonton greens rich broth with choice of steamed or fried wontons. Great! And you get to try to eat soup with chopsticks. $4.99.
Green Valley Ranch Station Sunday Brunch- made my LVA 2-1 coupon worth $17. Most places do not allow weekend use of coupons. This was a great bargain. We started with the best bloody Mary I have ever tasted, meticuously mixed and shaken. It went uphill from there. I think it compares with Bellagio and Paris for brunch. Hot precracked crab, a wonderful hot sticky pecan sauce, for waffles or ice cream (if carried it across the room), and lamb chops were my favorite. Fine variety of meats. Good desserts. Nice selection of fish. And some little green pepper thing I’ve never seen by the gefilte fish.
Paris Buffet- Wonderful. My friend Jerry took us for the Breton. He remembered the taste from his last trip. Everything was good. Even the bacon is different and better. No big silver tea set, however. I miss that elegance.
Main Street Station- I love the feel of this place, the uncrowded openness and the airy ease of it. I like the Hawaiian food and the great collard greens, as well as the chicken wings. No unique flavor of soft ice cream this time; perhaps they have stopped that. Plenty of good vegetable dishes.

HAIRCUT
If you are like me you intend to get your haircut before you go on vacation, but you don’t take the time. Twice now I’ve had my lion like flowing mane and Santa beard trimmed back to good looking and comfortable by Linda at Magic Hair and Nails 4926 Tropicana (almost to Boulder Highway) 454-0057. Each time I just walked in and she did a great job, putting it in a fine shape and fussing with it, much better than my local barber and cheaper too. Tell her the guy from Albany NY told you to try her.

SHOPPING:
Jill took me to a downtown Vintage clothing store and we got to see how that style develops. It is bizarre to me. I’m sorry that the name escapes me. Basically, you put together all the clothes from the 50’s that you thought looked dumb in the 60’s and mix them in ways your mother would never approve. Then add an outlandish scarf, hat or other accessory. This store made their own line of clothing also. Great to see!
Bonanza was another blast with Jill. She likes all the crazy look of purple hats and the fun dancing hamsters singing hip hop. I bought a Three Stooges refrigerator magnet set for a Stooges fan I know.


So it was a great trip. Isn’t it always. It was a nice break from the week of below zero weather here in snowy upstate New York. And it was nice to get home too. It is all nice.

Enjoy
Dewey
Dewey - Averill Park NY

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Date of Trip: February 17, 2003 to February 28, 2003 Hotel Stayed At: Palace Station Straosphere NYNY Plaza Report by: dewey From: Averill Park

Dear gamblers,

Here is the piece I put on the bulletin boards for Vegas travelers. I’m not sure that there is much here of value except for people thinking about a Vegas trip. It is pretty dry so you may just want to delete it.

I wasn’t going to return to Vegas so soon again, but my buddy Peter from Florida called with free and reduced hotel room deals and a wife who did not want to go back, and I have all these 2-1 buffet coupons and a wife who doesn‘t go, so how could I say no. I spent eleven nights there and the total cost (air, room, week of rental car, shows, food) was $514. A true low roller deal.

It was a fine week even with the rain. I actually ran through a hail storm to get to the Venetian and then watched it from the balcony. That was unusual.

I met some interesting people: a fellow in the poker room who two weeks ago buried his wife and that morning had just gotten a new job driving the people to the girls in Parump and had some stories, another fellow with a printed strategy chart for VP who was spending a month at Amerisuites in Vegas after losing his wife. In NYNY I watched an Australian new bride in bridal gown, her groom and best man have a very good series of craps rolls to the shouts of “thunder from downunder” from table player answered by some Australian unison chant. And I met a fellow at the MacKing show who told me a great story about losing his guide in the Amazon jungles of Peru and stumbling into a spear toting, blowgun armed isolated indigenous tribe for some tense minutes before the guide found them again. Vegas people are really quite a mix.

HOTELS

Palace Station: We stayed four nights and enjoyed our room and the gambling. I was happy to see 10/7 Double Bonus there. We also enjoyed the Monday and Tuesday late night free tournaments in which men compete against women. It was easier to qualify as a man perhaps because fewer men participated in the tournament. You also had to wait less time between the qualifying round and the final playoff if you were male. I won $20 one night.
Staying at the Palace Station gave us free tickets to Laugh Trax and I enjoyed the show.

STRATOSPHERE: I like staying here, but this time they did not have very good music

NYNY: Peter had free weekend rooms in spite of a rather modest record of play. He probably will not again as we did not play much there. We did play some fine JOB 9/6 and put a little in Megabucks.

I enjoyed the crowd excitement, but this is not my favorite casino. I forgot to ask for a room away from the roller coaster, but it was not loud enough to bother us at all. The rooms were very nice.

PLAZA: After Peter left I took a couple nights by myself at the Plaza and the rooms there were comfortable and quiet. Mine looked down Main Street and the view of Las Vegas Club and other neon at night was delightful.

AREA PREFERENCE IN GENERAL:

We stayed in these hotels because they gave us the best deals, but none of them really satisfy me for location. I did enjoy the nostalgia of Palace Station because on my first long visit to Vegas, about eight years ago, I had stayed there with an old college buddy and my oldest son. We actually walked to the strip then all the way to the other end and back to see all we could see. This was in August. but now I know so many more satisfying places to go.

I liked the Friday and Saturday night crowds around NYNY area and I did enjoy some of the music, especially a band that featured two black male dancers who danced in a graceful harmony, some of their movements approaching acrobatics. But the NYNY lounge is not built so that you can see the acts from the lounge tables. People stand in the way. Getting a seat and waiting for the next set was of no use.

I usually like downtown, but lately I am getting less pleasure from it. The gambling is much better than the strip, but not better than other off strip areas. There are just too many seedy characters around. At the Plaza some fellow grabbed a cup of quarters and ran with it. I suppose that can happen anywhere, but I doubt it happens much at Silverton or Fiesta Henderson as there is no where to run to, nor do I feel the same tension in Rio/Gold Coast/Palms/Orleans area. When I stayed at the Plaza, I found myself taking a bus to Harrah’s then the free shuttle to Rio, walking to the Palms, then catching the free Gold Coast shuttle back to Barbary Coast and taking a bus back downtown.

We visited Silverton for the first time and we both liked it. We visited Jean also for the first time and we both hated it. Silverton had great gambling, a friendly crew. Jean had stressed dealers and very bad VP.

SILVER STRIKE COLLECTING:
The entire week was driven by Peter’s desire to expand his collection of silver strikes and he managed to do that, coming home with about $2000 in collector coins including four of the $200 coins. I guess he has some representative coins from every casino that currently offers them.

OTHER GAMBLING:


I play 10/7 Double Bonus video poker for the most part and just did not have much luck all week. No royals, one set of aces, and some nights when quads were as scarce as Megabucks jackpots.

I played a small amount of money in the Megabucks, hitting and keeping $100 of profit the first night, but losing it by the end of the week. Peter hit for $450 and then again for $1500, both at the Palms while waiting for me to leave a live poker game. But then Peter hit everything he tried coming back with a profit of about 4 grand, about half of that i collector coins

Peter looks for the haywire slots with two coins that do not pay huge top jackpots. His reasoning is that he will hit more of the smaller pays and it seemed to work that way on this trip. His Silver Strike gambling also seems to pay very well for slots. Perhaps the casinos can set the slots a little looser because they know that a certain portion of the coins won will never be redeemed for money.

I introduced Peter to craps at the Fiesta Henderson in the morning. This is the best craps game in Vegas. There you can play $1 on the line with 10X the odds, so taking three numbers is not a bankroll killer. I had fine rolls and walked away with a profit of $300. Peter rolled well too and also benefited from my good rolls. I highly recommend this place, especially if you want to teach someone the game. The dealers are easy and friendly and a modest $5 Yo bet for them is met with incredulity. The other players are easy, often locals who come often. It is a nice game all around.

But then I like the casino overall. Good 10/7 Double Bonus, inexpensive and good buffet, and great tournaments and point promotions. You swipe your card for meal comps, or accumulated points can be used at other Station Casinos simply by going to the promotions booth and moving points. I did it at Texas Station. It is quieter than some places, but sometimes I want a relaxed time.

At the Stratosphere I played over 100% 9/5 Bonus Poker but did not do well.

There are some great coin fed JOB machines at the Plaza just inside one of the doors. They are really antiques, and I expect we will not have a chance to play such old fellows in the future of coinless tickets. So try them out for a bit if you have the patience. Be careful about selecting what you hold, however, as you can’t change your mind and decide to hold other cards.

I played lots of match plays but just about broke even.

TOURNAMENTS:

Monte Carlo’s daily FREE slot tournament and raffle:
If you are willing to spend time in the casino or at least in that area, this is a great deal. For signing up we were given a great traveler beverage cup or really good quality key chain. The raffle ticket is held until later in the evening and five are drawn for $100 each. You play a qualifying slot session. Top two scores of the eight hourly sessions are invited back in the evening to play with a total of twenty people for $500. Each of these final round participants gets a tee shirt that reads “tournament winner.” Losers are given tickets for a drawing at the playoffs. Four seats of the twenty are drawn from loser tickets as well as hats and shirt prizes. We played on three days and I ended up with a tee shirt and a hat and four of the colorfully decorated Monte Carlo traveler cups. (We signed up for one session and did not make it to the slots in time)

Fiesta Henderson has daily VP, Pai Gow or Blackjack tournaments with free entry coupons in their mailings. Replays are $5 with the fifth one free. So I tried the VP tournament five times for $15. It is played on 10/7 DB formats. Hitting quad jacks or better gets you a nice extra large Fiesta sweatshirt. The high score for the day gets $1000. We did not do too well, but I won two sweatshirts and Peter won four.

LIVE POKER:

If you want a friendly, easy, fun game of either seven card stuff or Texas Hold ’Em go to the Palms in the afternoon. Their 3-6 structured stud game, when they have enough players is a fine game. Unlike those 1-5 spread games, the pots are large enough to offset the rakes. Their beginners $2-4 Texas Hold Em game was a great way for me to learn how the game goes. I have been intimidated other places because the Hold Em players all seem to have a much greater grasp of odds and poker and some of them are too serious and too arrogant. I tried a $1-$8 spread limit game at the Sahara and ran into that kind of crowd. Ugly manners and no slack for beginners. At the Palms a dealer named Joe took time to show me the basics and suggest a safe strategy while I was learning. A young kid from the higher stakes games also showed me a little information and both Joe and the kid then checked on me to see I was comfortable and things were going well. I never got such fine attention in any poker room anywhere.

While waiting for a seat, I could play 10/7 DB Poker on a fine, new, clean, ticket out machine and listen for a pager call. Food comps bought me the buffet or a fine late night steak at the diner.

There is no huge progressive, so the game does not attract those old locals who play tight every day and have a bad attitude as they are just waiting to get beat with four of a kind and hit the thousands. There are nice bonus pays for four of a kind or better. Of course, as luck would have it, while I was playing a guy with four kings beat four sixes. At another casino I might have shared a few thousand dollars for being in that hand. But that won’t happen very often.

My most frustrating hand was to have aces full in a seven card stud game and be head to head with a fellow who had kings full only to have him go “all in” and so stop what would have been a fine betting frenzy. I hate those “all in “ players.

FOOD and DRINK: Our buffet choices were usually determined by 2-1 coupons or comps and often we ate just once a day, midday.

Hilton
Fiesta Henderson
Main Street Station
Texas Station
Silverton
Stratosphere
Palace Station

The Hilton was clearly better quality than the others, offering beer or wine with the meal and nicer selections of food.
Although the buffet is very limited at the Silverton I rate it high because the food was very tasty and unlike food in other areas. I loved the pepper pot soup there.
We were also comped at Chin Chins NYNY The food was very good and it was the only good cup of tea I had on my entire visit.

Once I snacked at the Gold Coast. I used my two drink LVA coupon for a couple Coronas, bought a $75 hot dog with kraut, and took them to my table to hear the Dixie land Jazz Group.
We had a cheap breakfast once in Jean. Just Okay.
I caught the unadvertised late night steak at Binion’s and enjoyed it.
I tried the 99 cent artificial crab cocktail at Gold Coast and liked it as much as the shrimp..
Peter is a coffee person. At McDonald’s he bought coffee once, saved the cup, and got many free refills other mornings.

For breakfast I like a hot chocolate while playing video poker. I drink Corona or scotch or cognac always ordered with a bottle of water. Playing poker at the Palms I drank double Hennessey. Very pretty and friendly waitresses.

SHOWS

The Drifters tribute at the downtown Horseshoe was a good show.

I finally caught the comedy/ magic of MacKing at Harrah’s and enjoyed it very much. Get there early if you want a good seat. Everyone has free coupons.

The Dixie Land music at the Gold Coast was great as always, but their off the cuff rendition of “She’s Got It Bad and That Ain’t Good” in Louie Prima style with four different endings was top notch. Nothing canned about that afternoon’s performance. I just wish the sets were longer.


I guess that about sums it up. A good week. A great price. When I go again, I guess I want to stay in the Gold Coast/Palms area and just skip renting a car. Unless I get a great deal at the Fiesta Henderson.
Happy gambling!

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Date of Trip: June 25, 2003 to July 04, 2003 Hotel Stayed At: Stratosphere/Plaza/Orleans/Las Vegas Club Report by: Dewey From: Albany NY

HOW THE TRIP HAPPENED

Lucky Pete called me up and told me he was going to the Silver Strike convention and do a
couple weeks of Vegas with mostly free rooms and would I like to leave the women at home and
share his rooms. I patched in two free nights at the Orleans, packed all my free and 2-1coupons,
and off I went to meet him. When you go to Vegas with Lucky Pete, the goal is to spend the most
number of days for the least number of dollars. So here is how the free trip went.

AIRTRAVEL:

Southwest out of Albany NY Cost: $228. Voucher after getting voluntary bump: $308. So I was
80 bucks up before I left the ground. Thank you, Jean Scott.(even if I did have to run between
terminals in Baltimore to make my connection in 7 minutes)

HOTELS:

Lucky Pete and I patched together free mailings and managed nine totally free nights for our
mutual time together. As for the quality of the rooms, hey, we quit worrying about hotel room
quality. They are all better than any $50 motel on your way to anywhere else. And they are free.
Besides, I hardly use the room.

I get up at six to work out and shower either in a fitness room or before I swim the pool and then
gamble or play until midnight or later and then crash.

We tip the maids and tell them not to bother cleaning up until we check out.
When you’re paying less than camping prices, who cares if you don’t have lots of little stuff in
bottle to take home or a brass bed? And we even had one of those at the Orleans. We had 2-3
day stays at Stratosphere, Plaza, Orleans, Las Vegas Club. All the rooms were fine. Las Vegas
Club North tower was much better than any others, except the Orleans which was not any more
roomier or comfortable, but was more plush. But what do I need with an ironing board? Oh, at
LVC you need to ask a maid for bar soap or make due with soap from a dispenser.

FOOD

Lucky Pete and I both need to lose weight, but we both wanted to over indulge buffets. So, we
ate once a day, midday, all we wanted, snacking on free fruit in fitness clubs, airplane peanuts,
free scratch card ice cream or some other small something in between. Unless of course we had
a free breakfast. We took anything free. We did have to pay some cash for our main meal twice
in the ten days, for a total of $33.00. We’ll try harder next trip. Here is how I rate what I ate (on
a scale of 1-10):

#4 Sahara café Prime Rib special. Had to pay for this one because I arrived too late after the
bump and too hungry from ten hours without food.
#4 Stratosphere Buffet
#1 Las Vegas Club Upper Deck 20 oz sirloin and prime rib. See the LVC story of how I got this
comp.
#4 Silverton Buffet. I know it is small, but I like the taste of what they serve, especially
strawberry shortcake over cornbread with thick whipped cream.
#2 Fiesta Henderson buffet. Includes duck.
#2 Boulder Station Buffet. Always a treat.
#1 Texas Station Buffet – Great for beef. Don’t miss the selections of chili on the end. My
favorite is Buffalo Breath and I like it served in a crispy, deep fried shell I find in the Mexican
section located near the middle of the buffet.
#1 Einstein Bagels on Maryland near Tropicana. My hardworking grandnephew is Assistant
manager and he treated us for breakfast. Tell Chris Rehac I said, “hi” if you eat there.
#2 Las Vegas Club Upperdeck breakfast free with free room.
#2 Las Vegas Club pistachio ice cream won on a scratch card. Made a good breakfast.
#1 Hilton Buffet. Free wine or beer at night only. Great desserts like cream
#3 99 cent fake crab cocktail at Golden Gate.

puff balls with real, old fashioned cream. A definite cut above the others in this list.

You can see I liked everything. For true low rollers there really is no such thing as bad food just
as there are no bad hotels or no free things to pass up.

GAMBLING NOTES

This live Texas Hold Em is killing me. Do these guys play together every day? I guess I’m just a
poor liar. Good $2-4 games at the Palms and at the Plaza. Spread limit 2-4-8 games seemed ok
at the Monte Carlo. I won’t play the tight locals at the Orleans anymore. Don’t confuse the game
with what you see on TV. Low limit is not like that. Absolutely best dealer overall for the second
trip is Joe at the Palms in spite of the free comedy tickets a woman who says she is related to
MC Hammer got for me at the Plaza. I think Hammer was at the Palms in the high roller area.
Some hi hop fellow was, with body guards. But what would I know. Too old to be hip hop.

Fiesta Henderson craps is the best in Vegas. Very friendly dealers, no heat if you set, $1
minimum with $10 free odds and never full. I got next the short throw space to the dealer every
time I played in the two days we went there. Only I lost. Still, my points at Fiesta bought me and
the grand nephew and a grand niece a free buffet.

I used Win cards at Fiesta Henderson and the Four Queens, but you now only get them once a
lifetime.

Video poker was very good to me. I hit the Royal at the Plaza and with the $1000 went a bonus
of $50 in Mobil gas cards, but I still only tipped $5 for the hand pay. At the Las Vegas Club I only
remembered to stop playing after two 4-kind in order to wait to get their scratch card
promotions, but I got a really nice hat for one of those and an ice cream for the other. Well,
actually, it was supposed to be for a frozen drink, but I talked the waitress into a cone to go.

I played 10/7 in quarters at the Palms (ticket in ticket out- great for waiting for a seat at live
poker) at Fiesta Henderson, at the Orleans, the Plaza, and The Four Queens where there is a full
pay progressive that was up to $1400 when I played. I found full pay 10/7 DB at two Orleans bars
too if you like to play there in spite of the recent notes that VP is poorer there. I also played a
nice 9/7 bonus poker at the Stratosphere using a strategy sheet I created with Tomski’s VP
Strategy maker. No real wins expept the one royal. Did not even hit the aces all ten days.

Blackjack at the Golden Gate with an hour LVA coupon for 2-1 pays and the first deal a blackjack
on a $10 bet still cost me $135 and I played head to head in a double deck game and could count
aces and slip back to $5 when too many showed. Go figure?

Slots…..well…..I don’t play them. Dropped just $5 in nickels twice because I was waiting to play
the free tournament at the Monte Carlo and wanted some of that micro brewed jackpot ale. The
bottle made great souvenirs.

Using matchplays I played blackjack, craps, roulette and even a game of keno at the Rivera the
Stratosphere. Broke about even. Don’t forget the single zero roulette at the Stratosphere if you
play much of that game. It makes a bit difference.


TOURNAMENT PLAY

Used coupon and $15 to play the video poker tournament at Fiesta Henderson five times, but did
not even hit a jacks or higher four of a kind for the free carry bag. Played the Monte Carlo
tournament three times so I have three free coffee cups and I won a nice blouse for Lucky Pete’s
wife in the drawing.

SILVER STRIKING

To go to Vegas with Lucky Pete means that you follow the Silver Strike trail. To go at convention
time means the trail is everywhere and eternal. But it is a lot of fun to watch someone enjoy his
passion and learn more about collecting and about other collectors. For those of you who are not
aware of Silver Strike slot machines, they are in many of the Vegas casinos and in others around
the country. They payout in limited edition, $10 collector coins cast in silver with Brass borders.
In some places 20 of the $10 coins can be turned in to the casino for a $200 coin. Some of the
coins double or triple in value, so the collections are investments too. Lucky Pete writes on
Silver Strike bulletin boards every day and pays attention to e-bay sales. He came prepared to
win more coins, to trade coins, to upgrade his collection and to network with other collectors
and he had a fine time doing that and left ahead of the slot game because the value of his coins
offset his slot losses. Playing the slots is also how he gets so many fine free room offers. Much
more than I do for playing over 100% video poker. And yet by knowing what he is playing for, he
also realizes over 100% of his invested slot play.

Tracy is another Silver Strike collector. Tracy and Lucky Pete know one another from talking
about Silver Strikes on the Internet. Both are passionate and can trade and talk for days just
about Silver Strikes and the different configurations and which are most popular. The hobby is
half collection and half investment.
So Tracy drove from Seattle to Vegas for 14 hours and started to play Silver Strike machines.
Four days later he figured maybe it was time to get a room, only he had not made any
reservations, and it was a Friday night.
Generous Lucky Pete invited Seattle Tracy to stay with him in his room (for three nights Pete
actually had two free rooms, one for him and one for me.) Tracy stayed with Lucky Pete for two
nights and the plan was that we were all going to hit a buffet with our free coupons, but Tracy
never showed up to go eat.

The next day Pete found him at the Four Queens playing the Silver Strike machine and there
Seattle Tracy stayed for another four days, until he had to drive back to Seattle to host his 4th of
July party.

True madness!

MUSIC and SHOWS

Lucky Pete is not the lounge lizard that I am, so I never see as much live music or shows on our
trips. I did catch the Tuesday night jazz show at Brendan’s Irish Pub and a very talented and
sexy young woman sang blues, R and B and moved in ways that made my caught my attention.
In between sets she stopped to thank me for coming. Her name was Debby and the group was
something like Winelight. It was a fine night of free music with a pint of free Irish stout. Lucky
Pete and I caught the topless version of the Folies on a 2-1 I caught in the Tropicana free pull
coming in. The show was wonderfully sensual and tasteful with women who did not need
silicone implants and a pole to entertain and titilate, but just small breasted grace and beauty. I
love that show anyway.
We paid to sit in front, but I should have sat just a bit back in the half circle booths. My favorite
parts were the 30’s feather dance reflected in a circular mirror and the 50’s beat scene where
only day glow gloves, stockings, and hats are visible in black cubicles until the women disrobe
and then are “Real gone!” as the beats say.
At the Plaza I saw the Sunspots but their stereotypical faked Chinese humor was inappropriate.
They get away with it because they are Filipino and white guys figure all Asians are alike, but
they should not. Otherwise, they were corney but fun. They are followed by Dusty who I always
enjoy seeing with all his props and assorted music and comedic interactions with the audience.
The Fremont Street performing Chaskis were the best bamboo flute players I have seen.
Once again I caught a couple short sets of the Dixieland guys at the Gold Coast and they were
great as always. Very talented and every time is different. It feels just like being on Bourbon
Street fifty years ago.

Great old piano player at the Golden Gate one late morning about one. He talked to us about
each song. It was like Marilyn Mcpartland’s jazz piano show.

FREE AND INEXPENSIVE STUFF

The fellow in the downtown store who sells us our favorite 4 for $9.99 T shirts was out of them
this time. We did find some fine fleece jackets at the Silverton on sale for $10 each. With a $5 e-
mailed coupon and my points, mine cost me 60 cents.

The Four Queens has a great luggage tag. Use the free coupon you get at the free pull. Better
than another key chain.

Free cards and keychains at the Riviera.

50 cent cards and 25 cent used dice in the Orleans gift shop.

Free colorful insulated coffee cup in the Monte Carlo slot tournament.

FITNESS ROOMS

I worked out for about two hours every day, except my first and my last. Most of the fitness
rooms were very basic, but the Orleans with free coupon is plush and a wonderful treat. I even
got a breakfast there of tomato juice and a sweet apple as well as a bottle of cold water to go.
The pool at the Orleans opens at 10 AM. One morning they let me swim at 7:30AM. Another they
did not. It doesn’t hurt to try. The outside Jacuzzi is open even when the pool is closed, so don’t
go back when you see the closed signs. If you are staying at the LVC, you can use take a LVC
room key to the Plaza desk and they will print you a fitness room key. The stratosphere charged
me $5 to workout.

THE LVC LIBERAL BLACKJACK DEBATE

On the Las Vegas Club website last month I put a note. I wondered why the web site did not
mention the new promotions and why the food advertisements had December dates on them. I
knew the LVC had improved much of their casino and rooms and the web did not seem to reflect
that. I thought I was being helpful.
But I also added my biggest beef, that the “Most liberal Blackjack in the world” was no longer the
liberal game it once was because of the change in BJ payouts.

A week later Calvin Mack, director of Casino Operations, called me up and wanted to clarify what
my comments meant. We talked a long while, and I told him that I had actually felt tricked when
I sat down to the table under the same signs I had remembered where I had played hours in other
years. He said that since he had taken over, he had not changed that game, but that he had
added some very good single deck BJ and he felt that compared to the 6-5 BJ in some places the
LVC was giving good gaming. I am not a mathematician, but I told him I would check with
someone who was and get back to him. He invited me to come and see him, and he would buy
me dinner. Actually, he said something about there being a new chef and my fantasy was that
maybe it would be the Great Moments Room, so I got excited. I checked out the math on this
great blackjack site: http://www.skister.com/bj/

It did not list that game, but I wrote the site owner who told me how to figure the changes. It
turns out the liberal game is not liberal at all. So I brought some of that information and talked
again to Calvin Mack in front of the game. He was very cordial, but not giving an inch. He
claimed that numbers can be skewed to indicate anything. Hard to argue with that. But he
comped us for the Upperdeck, which was just fine with my buddy Lucky Pete because he would
rather have the cheaper meal than the fancy one that requires the bigger tip. In fact, the
waitress had to talk a long time to convince Lucky Pete to order the prime rib and try it. He is a
pot roast kind of low roller guy. She just kept telling him that they were “famous for their steak
and prime rib.” Which was a way I think of telling him the pot roast was not that great. Later he
admitted it was a fine prime rib and that it had not disappointed him as the cheaper prime ribs
often do.

If you play at the Las Vegas Club tell Calvin Mack that Dewey sent you. In spite of the math
argument, or perhaps because of it, I really wound up liking this guy and the casino. I’m going
back next month and play some single deck blackjack.

So there it is kids, all the details and adventures. Few regrets. I could not use all the free meal
coupons I had and have two free served dinners at the Orleans to get in August. I did not have
the Feel Good Soup at the Fiesta Henderson. Otherwise a fine trip.

DESERT HEAT

By the way, I did not mind the heat. I was only oppressed by heat when I came off the plane and
ran into Albany, New York in the humid high 90’s. I could not get over what a shock that was to
my body and how quickly I was uncomfortable. The dry heat is much easier to bear, even if you
do feel you need gloves to drive the car out of the parking lot. But then I did not spend much
time wandering in the desert, either.


And the final score looked like this:

Total expenses, including airfare and $66 in souvenir clothes- $494

Total winnings - $449 left from the royal and a $308 travel voucher for next time.

Lifetime gambling score (counting every win from a wager over the last nine years of this hobby)
Ahead exactly $2000.

And another trip scheduled for the end of next month. Not a radical low roller trip , but not too
expensive either.

Thanks for reading. Have some luck.
dewey

******************************************************************

Date of Trip: August 18, 2003 to August 30, 2003 Hotel Stayed At: Las Vegas club / Fairfield Grand Time Share Report by: dewey From: averill park NY

HOTELS:

Las Vegas Club – 4 days for $15 each using LVA on line coupons and then three free. Had fine
rooms in the North tower. I’m really loving this place.

Fairfield Grand Resorts – invited to stay a week by a buddy who bought a share there.


FOOD: Really a mix this time.

Ate at Paris and Bellagio and enjoyed both as always. Especially remembering the Paris
brouchette sausage and peppers grilled on a stick and those cheeses at Paris.

Finally got to Wild Wild West for that great $1.99 hamburger and fries and $1 rolling Rock draft.
Had a two for one coupon to use up so it was a cheap meal. Great burger and fries cooked
exactly to order. What a contrast to Albany where the last thing I had before leaving was a
burger and fries at Maxie’s on Wolf Road. I requested crispy fries and got strips of limp rubber.

Ellis Island steak: wonderful piece of meat and a $5 matchplay made the meal free.

Hilton buffet: nice but seemed to have less of selection than last time.

Harrah’s buffet: Two free coupons and not bad at all. A good feast.

Texas Buffet: Went twice and it was different. Only one time found Buffalo Breath Chili. Also
had a crisp duck that was the best I remember anywhere. I use my Fiesta points and 2-1
coupons as the gambling is not very good at Texas.

Palms: Unique in all ways. Really exceptional for a price of $6.99. A whole section of humus
and related eastern-veggie specialties. Unique dishes and especially good small bites of
pastry.

Monte Carlo Steakhouse: Great porterhouse and tasty snails in French sauce, but when a
“free” meal ($100 comp) ends up costing $25 (tax, tip) because the prices are inflated, I’m off
to Ellis Island for steak. There the sides are not an extra $8.

Binion’s coffee shop: had the roast chicken special on a poker comp and it was tasty.

Las Vegas Club Deli: Two slices of pizza, Two hot dogs, two scoops of ice cream, a frozen
drink all on scratch cards received by hitting quads at VP. Good ice cream.

Free breakfasts in LVC Upper Deck – Fine free meals. Good service.

Gold Coast 75 cent hot dog with sauerkraut, onions and everything else. One of these and a
couple free Coronas using Orleans funbook coupons and I’m set for an afternoon of Dixie land
music. Unfortunately the band quit early the day I went there.

RENTAL CAR: Tried US Rent a Car. Don’t do it! The computed price on line was not what
they charged me. What I thought was free shuttle from the airport cost $4. And no one seemed
to know what they were doing. I had to ask especially to have the car noted for damage
(which was all over) before I took it. I could not figure out who was checking it in. And the
car I got was a Hondai Accent with no power and back seats that banged forward on every
speedbump. This was their midsized (not economy and not compact). I’m running back to
Dollar next time.

COMPANIONSHIP

My 28 year old son and two gambling buddies at various times in the two week period. Great
to gamble with them and have company for meals. But I tried to do too much and got too
exhausted and confused on directions, coupons, planning, etc. I wake up at 7 AM daily
regardless. If I’m going to gamble until 4 AM, then I have to plan a nap time.

The kid brought me a neat hat for vegas with a band that identified the Chicago Bears. Keith
and his wife are big sports fans. I looked quite the character. But I am not a football fan. The
hat kept generating football conversations, the kind where they ask you about past game
results, or team chances. I’m possibly the only male in America who knows so little about
football. Asking me about a team’s chances is like asking the Amish how to tune up your
caddy. So the conversations were a little odd. The final irony was at the Orleans Lounge. My
buddy struck up a conversation with a pretty woman from Israel after recognizing her accent.
He had family in Israel not far from where she had been raised, so we joined her at the table
and I expected some interesting conversation. What did she ask me? Only questions about
American football!!! A Packers fan from Israel.

GAMBLING

I’m giving up the live poker in casinos. I don’t know if it is me, or so many locals, or being
tired, or the high rake, but in the first three days I was down $600 and it took me the rest of
the two weeks playing VP to catch up and leave down $237. I find the 10/7 VP with perfect
strategy a paying game in spite of the volatility. It is volatile, but I can get back. I get to think
on every hand. And as solitary as it might seem, I meet other players, especially at the
Palms. This time a cute little of duty waitress and I played together for a while and then I met
a local woman who teaches special ed. In live poker everyone is an adversary. No royals in
VP. A girl in live poker at Monte Carlo had a royal for a $1340 bonus payment.

My second favorite game is craps when it is $1 on the line and $10 behind at the Fiesta
Henderson, and I am trying to set the dice. This time I dominated the table. I played my slow
hedge system until the dice came to me and soon only two were left, the other fellow passing
the dice to me. I just was in that groove.

FREE AND ADVANTAGEOUS RISKS

The Monte Carlo free slot tournament is still the best deal. My buddy hit it for Lance Burton
tickets one day, $100 toward a meal in the steakhouse on another, and $100 in the drawing on
a third day. In between he hit the Fiesta Henderson Blackjack tournament (free with LVA
printout coupons-rebuys $5) for $250. I tried the video poker tournament there and caught 4-
jacks for a little decorative plate.

Played plenty of matchplays from coupon books or wherever I could find them. Caught one in
a cookie going in the Golden Gate and another by asking the waitress after a meal at Ellis
Island.

The STRATOSPHERE changed their funbook and matchplays so only one can be used per hotel
stay. They must be run by the slot club booth and noted on your player’s card. They also
advertise a Viva Las Vegas deal with $10 in gaming chips. Don’t’ believe it. You get a ten
dollar, one time, paper to play which is removed either way. Stick with the $5.95 with drink
deals for that show. Mailings from Fiesta Henderson include some matchplays.

Played LAS VEGAS CLUB for the scratch card promos but no free rooms. I did go to the big
end of the year drawing and enjoyed it although I did not win the $10,000 or any smaller prizes.
I never seem to be in town for those final Grandslam type draws. It was exciting. One
morning my video poker machine was roped in for carpet cleaning. But attendent Juliet got
me permission to play anyway. Just as the fellow was moving in the regular chairs, I hit the
Aces. That Juliet is a real treasure. She took time to get me a duplicate card so I did not
wake my room mate and a place to play and was so personable. I must write the LVC and tell
them.

At the Tuccany, playing all night video poker, I got every quad except the 7-8-9 for the free tee
shirt and finally they took pity on me and gave me one.

SHOWS:
Saw the Folies again with free tickets caught on the free pull. I won the magic show but
asked for the Follies and they gave it to me, but not the 10 PM topless show until I asked a
long time and a lot of people. Great seats and a fine show.

Saw Viva Las Vegas again and enjoyed it, but I see it too often. Hard not to take people, and
it is so cheap.

Enjoyed Divalicious, free at the Fitzgerald’s and drink just $3.

Enjoyed the comedy at the Palace Station on a 2-1.

In the lounges saw Jazmyn again but the lead Singer, sweet and sexy Debbie was less able to
experiment with her voice at Mandalay Bay Island Lounge than at Brendan’s Irish pub for Blues
night. That strip lounge crowd ignores the music anyway so there is a constant din of talk
competing. Caught Smith Brothers and Bruce Conti and a few other acts. That Conti is great!
At Tuscany caught a latin group but missed the name. The place was full of people, perhaps a
Latin Dance class who could really dance. Great to watch! I saw an Irish band for Jazz night
at Brendon’s Irish pub. Go figure!

TIME SHARE EVALUATION:

I should say that I started out not very interested in time share deals, so I am not objective.
Overall, I see how it might be a draw for some people, but it does not meet my needs. It was
nice of my buddy Mike to invite me, so I could experience the timeshare without all the hard
sell and get a sense of it from the inside, without some obnoxious salesperson there telling
me how to think about it. But here is what I think:

1. Too isolated: We were too far from any casino action. There was a shuttle to Harrah’s
until late evening. But if I wanted to play VP for an hour before breakfast or after midnight,
while by buddy slept, I needed a car. Walking home from the Tuscany at 2AM was perhaps not
as bad a risk as walking the Atlantic City Boardwalk, but a bad idea just the same. I stuck to
the median in the middle of the road and hoped that the pimp, loudly chastising his Ho for her
“attitude” did not take much notice of me as I sauntered by. The timeshare price is often
compared to strip priced property. Strip properties offer immediate access to gambling,
shows, all activities. These are not the same experiences. Off strip casino/hotels offer a
more similar experience at much less cost.
2. Rooms were more spacious and comfortable than the hotel rooms I rent. Two bathrooms
was great. This would be great if you wanted to bring lots of people to Vegas to share a room
with you. A Jacuzzi in the master suite is a nice addition.
3. Workout rooms and pool were just adequate; they compare to those in low priced casinos
like the Stratosphere and the Plaza. Two treadmills, three bikes (only one recumbent) One
stepper and one television for all of those. Three weight machines. No outside view. There
was nothing like the experience in the Orleans spa.
And it seemed that the time share folks really used these facilities, so they would crowd up
fast. The casino places have been deserted when I’ve used them. I never had to wait my turn.
4. Too much business going on. Maybe because they were still selling a newly opened tower.
On my way to the pool, I’d walk by business offices and salepersons hovered around tables
with perspective buyers. While swimming, I’d se perspective buyers would walk by in groups
and look around or be given a terrace view of the pool. I did not like being on display.
5. Actually the most animated pool crowd was the group of salespersons on break talking
strategy. Everyone else seemed just a bit too reserved for a Vegas pool.
6. Having a kitchen is an advantage in some cities, or if you have large crowds, but in Vegas I
want to eat out.
7. Certainly nice to have a laundry.
8. No lifeguards. No fitness attendant unless I went looking for one. Contrast the Orleans
where a fellow greets me the second day by name, asks if everything is fine and if there is
anything else I need beside a hundred ice cold bottles of water, fresh fruit, two kinds of juice,
razors, cologne, foot powder, spa magazines..well you get the picture.
9. Competition in Vegas for gamblers keeps everything in top condition. Once all the time
shares are sold, what is the motivation to keep things in perfect shape? My buddy had some
issues he will pursue with management. Things like a flood in the parking garage untouched
for a week. If you own something, then there is always some responsibility for monitoring it
and seeing things are taken care of. If I rent in Vegas and my place displeases, I just go
somewhere else. And I can’t imagine that the timeshare will decide to implode and rebuild
from bottom to top when the structure ages.
10. I also like it that I can change my plans 48 hours in advance with any casino reservation.
This trip started as one week and then expanded to two as people decided to join me. I
changed my reservation four times just at the Las Vegas Club to match my guests, even
getting two rooms for one night to accommodate the three of us comfortably. In other towns
this might be expensive. In Vegas, most weeks, I can do it cheaply. This week, even with the
two rooms cost me $60, which is the monthy maintenance fee my buddy pays at the time
share all year around. My last thirteen days were free. In fact, I’ll bet that my five thirteen
day stays in Vegas this year were had for less than the timeshare yearly maintenance fees.
11. I think that timeshare resale is a gamble. Prices might go up, and then it is an investment
that pays off, or twenty years down the line you might be hoping to get what you payed for it.
Then it is a loss.
12. My buddy says there are 29 places in the country he can go and use his time share. To
another buddy who rarely travels that seemed like a lot. What I’ve discovered in retirement is
that I can’t predict where I want to go. A ukelele concert determined my last destination
where I ended up eating homemade blueberry pancakes at a B and B with a German Chef and
an Englishman in the music business. I guess I want to be free to plan my trips and I trust I
can find a way to do it inexpensively in many places.
If tomorrow, I become disabled and have to stay home, or I fall in love with Europe or Central
America, my travel money is not all tied up in a finite number of places.

Finally, I like the variety of being different places and meeting all sorts of people out on
holiday. I am planning now for Vegas in December and I can’t decide where I want to stay, if I
want to bother with a car, where I want to position myself for maximum enjoyment. Those
decisions are fun for me to make. If I owned a timeshare, most of them would be determined
before I planned the vacation.

But thanks Mike. You can’t know if you don’t try.


so that's all folks. Until December

*******************************************************************

Date of Trip: December 07, 2003 to December 30, 2003 Hotel Stayed At: Terrible's Tropicana Gold Coast Orleans Stratosphere Report by: Dewey From: Albany NY

December is the time to get good room rates and use up those matchplay and 2-1
coupons. So I decided to take my 23 year old son Peter along with me for a lesson in
free and low roller gambling. He did fine and came home after four days with an extra
$230 and a fine assortment of free T shirts and hats and bungy cords and a couple of
pictures outside the Imperial Palace. We did not hit the tournaments at Monte Carlo,
but we did root for Walter and watch him win the $500 with a triple Monte Carlo in the
last 42 seconds of the slot tournament. Peter said it was better than winning to see
this 92 year old man in his fine black cowboy hat hit the big money. If you play in the
last qualifying tournament of the day, you will see Walter and his lady. They play
everyday. We did not hit the Fiesta Henderson video poker tournament either nor did
Pete like craps much as the table was cold.

Pete’s best win was when he took the free $10 play at the Hard Rock, plugged it into
a 10/7 DB and was dealt four sevens. He played down the free money and strolled out
with $72. He enjoyed just as much his Palms $10 free dollars used in penny slots.
They kept him busy and he finally left with $6, a profit since the buy in was free. And
we both enjoyed playing one 10/7 DB machine together at the Palms; with pooled
money we hit the four aces.

It might seem odd to teach a kid 10/7 on his first trip, but I coached him and we used
Tomski’s strategy printout and looked up the hard hands. At Terrible’s we played a
little JOB 9/6 as that was the best I saw. And we saw one really corny free show at
Fitsgerald’s at 5PM where a fellow sang tom Jones like songs. It was so corny it was
fun. We enjoyed Jubilee with a 2-1 coupon Peter could use as a first time player at
Bally’s. We took a drive to Red Rock and ate at Bellagio and saw downtown. It was a
good introduction for the kid.
The rest of the trip was rather dull. I was sick with a fever for a few nights and then a
stomach virus followed for a few more. One morning I woke up drenched in a soaked
bed and just slid over into the other bed for the day. So I missed board meets and
playing with friends. I finally felt better and managed to lose $875 after being up
$400 at one point. Cannery let me use two LVA coupons for an extra $12.50 on a
quad and I did well, then lost it at Ramparts chasing the same deal. But most of it I
lost at the Orleans, so I am hoping for some good room offers.

I drove out to San Diego, met my wife and drove up the coast of California,
experiencing the 6.5 earthquake while eating breakfast at the end of the 1950 foot
Sterns Wharf in Santa Barbara. For a few long minutes we thought we would end up
in the ocean. We had Christmas with family in San Carlos. I lost $25 playing Hold Em
on my brother-in-laws internet game, and then my wife and I went back for one night
at the Stratosphere before flying back to Albany NY. We went to the buffet at the
Orleans and lost some more money but ate good crab. And we caught Huck Daniel’s
Monday jam session where many of the local entertainers gather on their dark night
and are invited to join Huck on stage. It was an incredible lounge show with some of
the best raunchy blues Iíve heard and an assortment of other kinds of music.

So all told I had 13 nights in Vegas for a hotel bill of $102. Terrible’s at that $9.95
special, free nights at Orleans and Gold Coast, one free night at the Tropicana (which
I did not like much- too far to go with luggage and not that great a room) and one
Stratosphere night from a discounter. The Stratosphere never received that
reservation, but calling ahead in the morning I easily straightened out the paperwork
error and we had our room on time although, after experiencing that earthquake, I
should have asked for one that was not on the 10th floor of the World II Tower where
we could hear the roller coaster. I slept fine anyway.
I suppose it was risky too to show my wife the largest tower west of the Mississippi
River on Dec 30th with all the terrorism hype, but I estimated that I’d taken a dozen
people up in that tower at one time or another and never got kissed so some risks are
worth it.

Regarding the Stratosphere room, it is always a good idea to call the hotel to confirm
that they get the information from the discounter and to have a printout of the
confirmation. The Stratosphere did allthe calling to fix the problem.

I wish they would do as well with the video poker. The only 10/7 DB left are these old
machines way off in the corner marked 100% and some of them are 9/7 DB
masquerading as 100% payback. As much as has been written about the cutback in
Orleans DB, I found 10/7 at every corner in the Orleans and fine fast ticket machines
too. At the Gold Coast I played 9/6 JOB in between sets of that Dixieland jazz they
play in the afternoon. With the stomach virus still negating any buffet pleasures, I
sipped free ginger ale and Crown Royal high balls using old Orleans funbook coupons.
One day I had five of them. All in all I heard 11 sets of that band and only heard them
repeat a number once in all that time. I would try to go after Monday because the
regular trombone player is off on Monday.

The craps was bad to me all around. I played lots of advantage craps with free chips
or matchplays covering my pass line and full odds behind just for one roll. Still I lost.
At the Cannery I played win ticket chips with full $30 odds and lost four rolls in a row.
No real dice setting or slow hedge this trip. Never felt well enough to stand that long
or wanted to be right in someone’s face when I had been sick.

Well, that’s it for 2003. Have a good one.
dew
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December is the time to get good room rates and use up those matchplay and 2-1
coupons. So I decided to take my 23 year old son Peter along with me for a lesson in
free and low roller gambling. He did fine and came home after four days with an extra
$230 and a fine assortment of free T shirts and hats and bungy cords and a couple of
pictures outside the Imperial Palace. We did not hit the tournaments at Monte Carlo,
but we did root for Walter and watch him win the $500 with a triple Monte Carlo in the
last 42 seconds of the slot tournament. Peter said it was better than winning to see
this 92 year old man in his fine black cowboy hat hit the big money. If you play in the
last qualifying tournament of the day, you will see Walter and his lady. They play
everyday. We did not hit the Fiesta Henderson video poker tournament either nor did
Pete like craps much as the table was cold.

Pete’s best win was when he took the free $10 play at the Hard Rock, plugged it into
a 10/7 DB and was dealt four sevens. He played down the free money and strolled out
with $72. He enjoyed just as much his Palms $10 free dollars used in penny slots.
They kept him busy and he finally left with $6, a profit since the buy in was free. And
we both enjoyed playing one 10/7 DB machine together at the Palms; with pooled
money we hit the four aces.

It might seem odd to teach a kid 10/7 on his first trip, but I coached him and we used
Tomski’s strategy printout and looked up the hard hands. At Terrible’s we played a
little JOB 9/6 as that was the best I saw. And we saw one really corny free show at
Fitsgerald’s at 5PM where a fellow sang tom Jones like songs. It was so corny it was
fun. We enjoyed Jubilee with a 2-1 coupon Peter could use as a first time player at
Bally’s. We took a drive to Red Rock and ate at Bellagio and saw downtown. It was a
good introduction for the kid.
The rest of the trip was rather dull. I was sick with a fever for a few nights and then a
stomach virus followed for a few more. One morning I woke up drenched in a soaked
bed and just slid over into the other bed for the day. So I missed board meets and
playing with friends. I finally felt better and managed to lose $875 after being up
$400 at one point. Cannery let me use two LVA coupons for an extra $12.50 on a
quad and I did well, then lost it at Ramparts chasing the same deal. But most of it I
lost at the Orleans, so I am hoping for some good room offers.

I drove out to San Diego, met my wife and drove up the coast of California,
experiencing the 6.5 earthquake while eating breakfast at the end of the 1950 foot
Sterns Wharf in Santa Barbara. For a few long minutes we thought we would end up
in the ocean. We had Christmas with family in San Carlos. I lost $25 playing Hold Em
on my brother-in-laws internet game, and then my wife and I went back for one night
at the Stratosphere before flying back to Albany NY. We went to the buffet at the
Orleans and lost some more money but ate good crab. And we caught Huck Daniel’s
Monday jam session where many of the local entertainers gather on their dark night
and are invited to join Huck on stage. It was an incredible lounge show with some of
the best raunchy blues Iíve heard and an assortment of other kinds of music.

So all told I had 13 nights in Vegas for a hotel bill of $102. Terrible’s at that $9.95
special, free nights at Orleans and Gold Coast, one free night at the Tropicana (which
I did not like much- too far to go with luggage and not that great a room) and one
Stratosphere night from a discounter. The Stratosphere never received that
reservation, but calling ahead in the morning I easily straightened out the paperwork
error and we had our room on time although, after experiencing that earthquake, I
should have asked for one that was not on the 10th floor of the World II Tower where
we could hear the roller coaster. I slept fine anyway.
I suppose it was risky too to show my wife the largest tower west of the Mississippi
River on Dec 30th with all the terrorism hype, but I estimated that I’d taken a dozen
people up in that tower at one time or another and never got kissed so some risks are
worth it.

Regarding the Stratosphere room, it is always a good idea to call the hotel to confirm
that they get the information from the discounter and to have a printout of the
confirmation. The Stratosphere did allthe calling to fix the problem.

I wish they would do as well with the video poker. The only 10/7 DB left are these old
machines way off in the corner marked 100% and some of them are 9/7 DB
masquerading as 100% payback. As much as has been written about the cutback in
Orleans DB, I found 10/7 at every corner in the Orleans and fine fast ticket machines
too. At the Gold Coast I played 9/6 JOB in between sets of that Dixieland jazz they
play in the afternoon. With the stomach virus still negating any buffet pleasures, I
sipped free ginger ale and Crown Royal high balls using old Orleans funbook coupons.
One day I had five of them. All in all I heard 11 sets of that band and only heard them
repeat a number once in all that time. I would try to go after Monday because the
regular trombone player is off on Monday.

The craps was bad to me all around. I played lots of advantage craps with free chips
or matchplays covering my pass line and full odds behind just for one roll. Still I lost.
At the Cannery I played win ticket chips with full $30 odds and lost four rolls in a row.
No real dice setting or slow hedge this trip. Never felt well enough to stand that long
or wanted to be right in someone’s face when I had been sick.

Well, that’s it for 2003. Have a good one.
dew
Dewey - Albany NY

trip reports 2002

VEGAS - September 17-20
September 30- October 9

VEGAS HOTELS:
ORLEANS
the good:
$39 weekdays. I found the Orleans to be everything I have been reading about. The rooms were comfortable and spacious, filled with coffee pot and ironing board and room to sit and write. The lounge music was exceptional, the access to the strip was easy with a car; the Rio and Gold Coast even easier to explore with not strip traffic to contend with. The full pay VP was everywhere. Coupons included a free day at the spa, lots of beads at the gift store, free drinks. Two free night coupons at checkout. Lots of free drink coupons.
the bad: $89 weekend days. Our friends left after one night because construction noises kept them awake. Desk clerks claimed there was no way to predict where or when noises might occur so room movement was not a solution. The elevator warning noise could be heard inside the closed door of rooms well down the hall. Why do they need such a loud noise to tell people the elevator has arrived for them? Aren’t lights and open doors enough of a clue?
tips: Use the free drink coupons during lounge music acts. Plenty to drink and free music and dancing for just the price of a tip.

ARIZONA CHARLIE’S
the good: $29 weekdays and $59 weekends. I liked having my room just a short stairway walk from my car and separate from the casino. Easy, uncrowded casino. Plenty of full pay Double Bonus. Friendly dealers. Another good spot for lounge music and dancing. Clear and easy to understand cashback and comp policy.
the bad: Too far from the strip if that is your main destination. Rooms were poorly designed and bare bones. Or it may have just been my particular room as I took an oddly shaped room with two private sleeping areas to accomodate visiting family members. Unheated pool. Heated pool is a drive down the road at the RV park and using it is awkward.

GAMBLING:

video poker: I played Double Bonus at the Orleans, Arizona Charlies, and 10/6 Jacks or Better at the Stratosphere. I loved the new ticket machines at the Orleans. I could put in a hundred and not have to worry about waiting for a hopper full when cashing out. I could play just minutes before a time to go to dinner with friends or while waiting for a live poker game and know I could get away with no difficulty. I also like the game telling me my score in money rather than in quarter units. I did not win at the Orleans, but that is just the way it went. I played a 9/7 Double Bonus triple play in nickles for fun and actually did very well at that. It was just to the right of the stage and a good place to play away the time between lounge acts as it also had the ticket payouts so I could make the music in time for a good seat. I also liked playing at the Stratosphere but there are only four of those 10/6 machines (only four of them in the entire World I guess)so they are sometimes busy. The 9/7 are also there, but I find the strategy changes to accomodate the higher paying flushes too difficult to keep straight. These four JOB machines are the least volatile of all video poker possibilities and the easiest to play with just a basic JOB strategy.
Quads eluded me for the first part of the trip. At Arizona Charlie’s I hit aces twice and finally on the last day hit the royal so the video poker paid my gambling for the trip.
Since I go armed with Tomski’s color coded printed strategy sheets, I can look up those statistically close and difficult hands. I still find that Double Bonus a challenge to play near perfectly. I can see why the casinos can keep it paying back over 100% and depend upon imperfect play for their profit.

CRAPS:

Maybe someone can set those dice, but not me. I lost almost every roll all trip at all different casinos whether I played pass or no pass or the complicated hedge, rolled myself or bet on others. I lost even with about ten different matchplay attempts when the advantage was mine. The closest I got to winning was at this cute little new table at the Nevada Palace where quarter chips make it possible to bet a dollar on the pass and still take correct free odds on 6 and 8. I played there for an hour with my grand nephew and only lost $3. It is a great little table and fun to try dice setting. I thought I was doing pretty well but I was too sick to play too long.
Don’t play there with a raspy voice, however. I got grilled by a dealer. I was teaching Mike the game but my extensive laryngitis made me limit my words, and sound like I might have come direct from the Sopranos. She carded Michael again, gave me a suspicious stare when I returned a dropped die, and started asking me who I was and if I knew Mike. “For our protection” she said. I got a little testy, but afterward my niece said they probably thought I was an old letch hitting on a young boy, or that he was a young boy hitting on an old gay guy. Gee! And I didn’t even have my multicolored Mexican bag with me!

BLACKJACK

This was my retirement blow-out-once-in-a-lifetime aggressive gambling trip so I decided to play this great double deck game at the Orleans at $25 a hand using my coupon that pays triple on the first blackjack. Well, out came the double downs to give me the advantage. I lost them. Soon my basic bankroll for the day was gone so I pulled back to $5 a hand and on the first deal came the blackjack. Ouch! The dealer tried to hide my coupon, but the pit boss was looking on and there was nothing to do but take the measely fifteen dollars.
I also met my wife’ brother from California. He is a card counter so we tried the best single deck game in Vegas at Binions the night before they ran out of money. It wasn’t our fault. We tried to help them remain solvent. Rich decks or poor we lost at blackjack too. And then I lost at a $3 game just passing through SlotsnFun. Lost six in a row and quit.

SILVER STRIKES

I am beginning to think that these are loose slots because people keep the coins as collectibles. Anyway, I made money or broke even every time, coming home with some from the Orleans, the Gold Coast, and the Stratosphere. Now I need to find a way to display the collection and trade my doubles.

SLOTS

I don’t play slots. Some of those around me played nickles and some quarters but no big wins this trip.

LIVE POKER

I’d explored a little of the information on live poker games, but people on the internet are tight lipped about such opportunities because they don’t want others poking into good games. I play very low stakes seven card stud because I think the Hold ‘Em is too competitive and too predictable for the better players. I am not a great player, so I hope to sit at tables with loose tourists used to playing around the kitchen table. Then I have a chance. I played at the Bellagio, The Orleans, The Luxor, Circus Circus, looked at possibilites at The Stardust and The Saharra. There just were not enough tourists to give me much of an opportunity. When the players all know one another by name and know the dealers, it is time to get up and walk. When the bets are all tight, and no pots get beyond ten or twelve dollars, it is time to move along. When fewer than five people are at the table, it is impossible to win anything. I was actually at one Circus Circus locals table where they talked about how nice it was to play “honest poker” and told everyone their cards after every hand. They never bet. They all told stories about so and so and the dealer was in the mix of the talk with them. I felt very unwelcome. I left when one woman with pocket aces failed to ever bet an aces over fives hand and won a pot of five dollars at the showdown. I found the Orleans rather tough and I’d avoid it most times. Bellagio had a tough reputation, but I found my table to be average. It was a quarter ante game which made it hard for tight locals to just come and wait all day for the nuts. The Luxor was great until dinner time. Everyone quit. I was disappointed when I only took a small pot on four nines there, but the house added a $40 special award. I also took an experienced local and very tight player for his bankroll on a hidden full house. He was so mad that he had misjudged me as a complete rookie that he left the game. I guess Circus Circus is my favorite as they have more bad beat awards. But it all depends on who is there. Finally, my cold wiped me out. You can’t be sick and play live poker.

Tic Tac Toe

I did not beat the Tropicana chicken but I heard someone else has done it.

ENTERTAINMENT:

After seeing a variety of shows in Vegas, I’m finding that I am tiring of those midpriced impersonation shows where entertainers pretend to be famous singers. We saw Honkey Tonk Angels at the Gold Coast and one in Laughlin with male country impersonators. I see that it is a more and more popular genre of musical entertainment. The Scintas were a step up from the usual. One fellow in that family is incredibly talented and really carries the show. But I may be prejudiced as they are from West Side Buffalo. However, I guess I best like the lounge acts because the setting is more intimate and the performers more accessible. There is more music and less hoopla. I like the freedom of sitting for a while and watching the performers or doing a little easy dancing and not being tied into a time frame. It certainly is an inexpensive way to experience live music. I’ve begun to do a little investigation before going to vegas by finding out who is playing where and running google searches to get reviews or information. This trip I enjoyed Nick Conte, a jazz blues group playing songs I knew mixed with some original pieces. I also was impressed with Huck Daniels who I saw at the Stratosphere opening a Monday blues review. The groups to follow were not memorable, but Huck was very talented. I caught The Checkmates at Arizona Charlies’ and enjoyed their act which has been around Vegas for a long time now. I was not impressed with Susan McDowell or The Next Level, except that the girl dancers were sexy. Finally, I went to see Viva Las Vegas, the cheapest show in Vegas and it was great, just like old vaudeville.

I am tired of two other things. I don’t want to be told when to “put my hands together.” I’ll do it when the music moves me. And I don’t like all the flag waving, maudelinly sentimentally patriotic, oh-how wonderfully-we-love-our-country endings that so many shows have begun to exploit in order to produce a mandatory standing ovation as a closing.

BUFFETS and FOOD

I loved Bellagio The Gold Coast, and the Orleans. The Stratosphere was fine. The Rio was way over priced but the deserts were the best I’ve ever tried. The Saharra was a real bare bones buffet. Don’t eat there. Boulder Station was fine. Arizona Charlie’s East gave me quite a lunch for about $5. I ate there often because I played there. Sam’s Town has dropped that great fudge ending and I found their buffet disappointing. At the Nevada Palace cafe we ater simple, tasty cooked food and the waitresses were so easy and friendly that they became part of the family. Some of us were there just there to talk and ordered nothing, but we were never rushed or made to feel in the way. On the contrary, the staff joked and told stories and encouraged us to take our time and enjoy each other’s company. The Orleans graveyard specials had cold eggs twice. Arizona Charlie’s specials were tasty including the inexpensive T-bone steak. The service there is very friendly and out to make you feel relaxed and happy.

FINAL TIP
Order a water with every drink while gambling. The tip is the same. Because they will not bring a covered water bottle, stick a few bottle caps in your pockets and you can cover the water and easily take it along with you as you wander. It will keep you cheaply hydrated.

SIDE TRIPS

LAUGHLIN- At the last minute we grabbed a $25 room at the Flamingo and spent one night. It was a fine room with a view of the water. People in line ahead of us had coupon specials mailed to them for $7 rooms there. We walked to the famous watch store in the casino next to the Flamingo and bought a few. All sell for $20 and there is everything you could ever imagine there. I think they advertise 30,000 watches all out for easy examination. It was great to see the river and we were given free show tickets.

FLAGSTAFF-
Using this fine town as a home base for four days we spent one day exploring the Grand Canyon, another seeing Walnut canyon and other local Native American places of interest. We took in sunset in Sedona and the setting sun colors were intense and wonderful. We bought tourquoise jewelry from native American craftspersons. We ate at Black Bart’s steak house where the waiters and waitresses pause from their duties to sing old musical numbers all during supper. They were all music students from Northern Arizona University. From there we went down to Tucson to see family.
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dewey089 <> - Averill Park NY


*************************************************

Date of Trip: December 01, 2002 to November 30, 1999 Hotel Stayed At: Stardust, Stratosphere, Orleans Report by: dewey089 <> From: averill park NY

ABOUT TRAVELING SOLO

I think Vegas is the easiest place to go alone, especially if you can break it up and touch in with relatives or friends at some point in the trip, and I do it often. Strangers on vacation are easy to engage in conversation and even the mundane details of someone’s lives can be fascinating if they are from a different culture or even just some different part of the county. It flavors their stories and language with regional spices.

Of course, you have to leave the right woman at home. I have one. Elizabeth and I have a fine, secure, open and independent relationship and it frees me from some of the more conventional difficulties some men might experience in solo travel.

THE FLIGHT OUT

I left Albany on Southwest just before sunset. I could see the sun beginning to color the horizon and those long, red streaks through gray clouds continued as we chased the sun into the west. It was a long and luscious sunset, an extended race, but Phoebus himself must have been driving the chariot well that day, and he did finally beat us, the dust behind him settling down into the deserted plains and desert. When we arrived in Vegas it was through tiny clusters of lightbulbs like Christmas lights on a dark December street.
On my way I did see Chicago, easily recognized with Navy Pier jutting out into the dark blue Lake Michigan. Living in Chicago are my two sons, with wife and girlfriend and other family. I waved. I thought I saw them waving back.

HOTELS and GETTING AROUND:

I stayed one free night at the Stardust using the annual LVA free offer, two nights at $15 at the Stratosphere using a wholesale service, then two weekend nights, at $65 for both, from a Stratosphere mailing, and finally two free nights at the Orleans from coupons after a our stay there in October. All the rooms were comfortable and clean, quiet and fine. The Orleans was the most roomy and the plushest. I asked to be away from the Orleans ding of the arriving elevator (that can be heard from inside some rooms) and they gave me a fine strip view on the 9th floor. Easy first stop elevator access. It seemed that all construction was over.
I walked from the Stardust to the Stratosphere with my rolling luggage. I guess I did not feel all that comfortable doing that through the blocks of empty lots waiting for development, even in the daytime. I thought it would be too easy for an easer theif to grab my rolling luggage and go. There were some street kids furrowing though the dumpsters. I won’t do that again.
I found that the Stratosphere gave me very easy bus access both to downtown and to the strip. Going and coming from downtown was fast and easy, much better than parking.
I had decided to join Terrible’s slot club and took a 301 bus from the Strat to Imperial Palace and then walked around the Bally’s Flamingo corner to use a free transfer for a 202 to Terrible‘s. It was easy. After a free hat and a $3 buffet on coupon, I walked back to the strip from Terrible‘s, stopping at Key Largo to win on one LVA matchplay and discover some 9/7 JOB.

GAMBLING:

I had determined to play off all the funbooks and matchplay coupons I had collected throughout the year before they expired, and to just keep moving from casino to casino until I had done that. I found it a lot of fun and I liked having the advantage on every bet. I played full odds on the craps matchplays so in one sense I reduced my advantage. But this was a wild way to play. At the Stratosphere I used $7-$5 matchplays and then put $50 in odds bets for that one exciting roll. Sometimes it hit, sometimes not. My best hit was one morning when I played by myself, rolled a four (3-1) for a point, and then followed immediately with the same roll.

I did not find the dealers to be unfriendly with this sporatic style of play, although some teased me when I left with my one shot winnings. Many checked to see the coupons were valid. A couple told me they were not good on weekends, but that proved wrong and they relented when I persisted in a friendly but assertive manner.
The funniest was one grumpy craps dealer who checked and rechecked my $10 matchplay at Terrible’s, finally letting me play it. I only put $20 odds on this bet and hit on the point 9, making a nice $60 profit. Then I moved to a blackjack table because I had a second similar matchplay. There the dealer read what I had missed. It was a Tropicana matchplay, not Terrible’s at all. I had misread the casino name. At the Golden Gate I caught another $10 matchplay in a fortune cookie at the door. Don’t ignore these fortunes. It paid me an extra ten dollars on the craps table.

I was sorry to see Stratosphere video poker completely changed. The high pay JOB 9/7 and 10/6 are gone. Now there are others advertised as above 100% but not as much above it as were those old JOB. So get your Tomski’s strategy sheet engine ready for the new paytables. There were two 8/6 (100.2597%) Bonus Poker machines and 2 9/5 Bonus Poker(100.3174%), and two 8/5 Bonus Poker with 40 for 2-8 four of a kind( I did not know how to run that; I’ll have to write the Wizard of Odds. Time for a Bob Dancer new edition.
I feel very sad about the old JOB machines. They were the only ones in the world. If you miss the 9/7 check Key Largo. Unless they messed with some of the upper numbers, there are two there which were guarded by locals who gave me those German Shepard looks as I took notes. Sorry I missed the details, but I thought one woman there might nip me if I stayed longer.

So I played the 9/5 Bonus Poker. I can’t get into those games that increase the flush payout as the strategy requires changes that bother me. I did well enough.

Oh, there is some 10/7 there also but at 100.1725% and that weird and aberrant strategy, why not play the easier and higher 9/5 game?

I remember going around one morning and writing down other pay tables from the Stratosphere, but I can’t seem to find those notes. I do remember seeing some 9/7 Double Bonus game at one of the Stratosphere bars, worth playing short term if the music was good.

SILVER STRIKES

Once again I wonder if these machines are not the loosest slots in the casinos because the idea is that people keep the coins and take them out of circulation. I hit them at the Stratosphere and the Orleans with very little investment. Watch that machine at the Orleans, it jams on payout and you need to call an attendant. Even then the door does not always close right.

LIVE SEVEN CARD STUD

I sure wish someone out there knew where to play this game above a $1-5 level. After months of playing at this low level, I am convinced the rake can’t be beat in any way that would give me a long term edge. Many dealers in Vegas and Atlantic city agree with me. John Scarne thought 5% was outrageous and casinos now get 10% and a healthy tip on top of that. I played four hours at the Sahara and the game broke up. All the players cashed out at the same time. I was down $60, and some others had lost money, but no one seemed to be up more than a dollar or two. So that is it for me on these low limit games. At Bellagio I played a $4-$8 structured game and that seemed to make more sense. There I lost $400. So perhaps I should quit live poker altogether. At least in the structured game other, smarter players made good money. The pots were big enough to overcome the rake and the fifty cent ante got rid of those old guys who are content to sit for five hours and play three hands while waiting for the progressive to roll around. Around supper time Bellagio gave easy comps just for asking, $15 off the buffet.

50-40

I liked the deal at the Sahara where you pay $40 for $50 chips and win cards. Maybe I liked it because I ran my $50 up to $212, but, in general, I think I will look for all those deals. They are around. I tried dice setting again and once again I kept rolling 8’s so now I’ll try starting with placing the 8 and a pass line bet as well as see it there is anything to this dice setting or it is just my own brain imagining patterns in randomness. The cheap minimum of $1 with 5X the odds was nice too. I bet that for all the other rollers, let the dice come around, and then played the $5 win chips with full 5X odds when I rolled. These win chips cannot be broken down. They have to be bet as $5 bets.

ENTERTAINMENT MUSIC

For most of the week, Vegas was inundated with cowboys and cowgirls in full dress, celebrating the National Rodeo Finals. The casinos were decorated in cowboy style; casino staff were dressed for the occasion. Costumes were incredible: all boots and big hats and colorful shirts with Western designs that ranged from the traditional plaids to wild, abstract collages of color.

Live country music bands dominated the lounges or large screen televisions broadcast the rodeo and packed in an intense crowd of whooping fellas and gals, all excited and commenting on details of bull or bronco riding the way folks here talk about football on Superbowl Sunday.

It was like walking into an entire cowboy culture, like being a kid again and watching Roy Rodgers and Dale Evans on Saturday morning television. I found I was humming to myself “Happy Trails” to myself or the Garth Brooks wish: “Me upon my pony upon my boat.”

I did not really engage any cowboys in conversation. They are generally taciturn and tend to mind their own business, hoping others will do the same.

I would have loved to engage one of those the cute little cowgirls, all dressed up and clearly a healing sight for sore eyes. What beautiful women there are in the West! All around were fine, tall cowgirls tossing out long, graceful legs in strong determined steps. Two strode by with lariats on their shoulder. Whoa! What was I thinking years ago by not taking the advice: “Go West, young man, go West!”

I also loved watching those tall, lean, long legged senior couples moving across the dance floor, dressed in their jeans, conservative Western shirts and decorative leather belts. Holding themselves at attention, tall and stiff from the waist up, they move their tall boots in easy steps around the dance floor, faces solemn, making eye contact with no one. This is serious dancing, Western ritual at its best.

And that is the beauty of Vegas. You just don’t know what it will be. It is so cosmopolitan, and constantly changing.
One other advantage to the cowboy theme was it held off the PA tinkle of Seasonal music, so only on the last day of video poker, with the Rodeo over, did I have to endure endless memories of Mommy Kissing Santa Claus or walk in a Winter wonderland and conspire by the fire, over and over again to endless sleighbells. (It is “conspire” right?.......not “perspire”?......somehow I always want it to be “perspire.” ) And we wonder why Robert Frost’s poem of sleighs and horses, snow and woods is about death!

At the Stratosphere were two very different groups in two different lounges and one late night I just sipped a brandy and sauntered from one lounge to the other. One was a hot group of young dancers with the cutest lead dancer , Filipino I think. The other a country rock group called Pork and the Havana Ducks, the lead singer Pork, dressed in bib overhauls and sunglasses and chewing gum in time constantly, was quite a character. In spite of the name I heard nothing Cuban here. Some good old truck driver country songs all with attitude and Pork sure knew how to deliver that. One night a guest fiddle player joined them and heated up the place in a grand way, old Pork slapping at him in mock jealousy. At the lounge bar in the back the waiters also took turns juggling glasses and bottles, ice and olives and pu on quite a show of making drinks.

I was sorry to miss the Canadian country singer Lisa Hewitt after reading so much about her. Instead, at Barbary Coast I caught David Langely. He had a fine traditional sound and some good tunes and there were a few young cowboys whooping it up and singing their own songs in the intermissions.
At Gold Coast I sat through two sets of the Dixieland jazz band and loved both. Wished I knew someone there to dance with. What a great show! Two of the players were not regulars and still it was fine dixie Land stuff from Ty Lamly’s crooner tunes and their fine rendition of Louie Armstong’s “ New Orleans” or a Dean Martin syled “ Who Knows where or when” to a little blues sound in “You got to see Your Momma Every Night or You Can’t See Your Momma At All.”
I got a good sense of what teen country rock is like at the Orleans Irish Pub. Louder and more calls for whoops and cusses. “Somebody yell Goddam!“

There too was a contrast in Western dance. This 20’s something cowgirl did not dance the serious steps of her grandmother. She did some of the sexiest and seductive moves to country tunes I have ever seen, her cowboy boyfriend sitting there stonefaced and apparently completely unmoved. Ah... gather those rosebuds while you may, young bronco buster.

At the Stardust I used the $10 off coupon in my free room to go see Bob Anderson and it was a fine show. I love that lounge, love the bar so close to the performers. This is truly old Vegas. Even when Anderson sang in his own voice it was in the style of the old rat pack singers and a good sound.
Larry Jones at the Fitzgerald gave a great fast paced impersonation of singers from the 50’s up until today, and was very energetic and talented. There was a tad too much saccharin schmaltz in parts, especially that obligatory stand-up-for-the-flag number that just seems exploitive to me. The rest was wonderful. And the price of $3 a drink was easy to take too.
Just before that show there is a woman magician who was fun too. This would be great for kids as she talks as if her audience is in the 4th grade. Being just a kid at heart I loved being a kid again. The magic was still sophisticated enough for adults.
At Laugh Trax Comedy Club in the Palace Station I saw a great act by Peter Fogel and then when I went back to the hotel and turned on Jay leno, here was fogel again rifing a bicycle in some taped comedy skit. Wild coincidnce!

PEOPLE WATCHING -PASSING STRANGERS

One of the great parts of going to Vegas alone is time to watch and sometimes meet strangers. One old fellow at the Sahara breakfast buffet told all his stories in a loud voice and was wonderfully entertaining. He had hunted and fished somewhere near Sacramento for years, sneaking in to fish on the McCloud and Shasta Rivers and then back to camp. He’d gone duck hunting on horseback, saved up the ducks and traded them for the favors of girls who he said in those days could be bought for $1.50 - $2 a pop. He was quite a character, annoyed, but proud of his 6’7” son who insisted on skiing instead of basketball and his daughter who went to “The most Goddamn liberal school in Oregon.” “That’s what she wanted, so that’s what she got.”

His fellow story teller was just as interesting. He was from Montana and had been a National Geological surveyor and charted huge sections of Spanish land grant territories. He talked about how hard it was to establish lines, especially when rivers that had been used as boundaries changed course so a fellow who bought 50 acres might, after a couple decades of river changes, only be left with 25.
I also met another solo traveler, Bigdogmom, who sometimes posts on Vegas bulletin boards. We shared breakfast at the Gold Coast and supper at the Orleans . Now you would think that a woman with the board handle, “Bigdogmom” would have some girth to her and I expected someone as least as heavy as I am. But here came just the wisp of a woman who happens to own...yep....you guessed it...a BIG dog. She was a fantastic meal companion, mixing gambling analysis with stories of trout fishing and camping outside Denver and her dad’s school teaching in Boston. We have a lot in common and I hope we are able to share a meal again.
On the way down I traveled in the plane with Lakeem Meadows, a student from a middle school I taught in years ago. He had not been in my class, but remembered me from those days and we shared some old stories and Vegas strategies.
I visited my two Vegas nieces, Gayle and Melanie, and the children there and saw some of their preparations for Christmas, including a very pretty tree. My grand nephews helped some in chauffeuring me from hotel to hotel and we shared a buffet and some live comedy together.

TIPS

1. Duct tape works great on window cracks for later morning snoozes.
2. Order every drink with a water and no straw. That means even with tip your drink is free, you just paid the price of the water. Carry one water bottle cap in your pocket in case they forget to give you one.
3. Collect and play matchplay.
4. Stay with good pay tables on VP only. Just count it up sometime when you play a 9 for full house instead of an 8 and see how much you would have paid to the casino in what really amounts to a low pay tax. Ten full houses in a evening of play and you have been shorted $12.50, which in Vegas is enough for two nice buffets. And that will not have been wagered money unluckily lost. It was winnings taxed. There never was a chance at getting that. That was $12.50 is what you paid the casino for the priviledge of playing in that low pay machine. If you like to give away your winnings, you might just as well save a couple bucks by playing the better paying machines and then tipping the waitress ten dollars above and beyond the usual buck.

I can’t figure how people who would drive five miles to save a few cents a gallon in gas will not walk around a little to save this much in VP play.

FINALLY

So all in all it was a great trip. I ended $117.00 ahead in spite of loosing almost $500 in live poker. 10/7 video poker really made the difference and I hope I played enough on double points December to have the Orleans send me some more free nights. One night of play has gotten me some great rates at Henderson Fiesta. So January 17-25 will see me there, with at least two good friends (one a Vegas virgin) sharing the wild joys that are Vegas.

Until then, have a good holiday, everyone.
Thank you all very much for all the kind and detailed responses to my questions. Without that sharing, I’d be much poorer.
Go be lucky!
Or smart!
Or both!
(I agree with Jean Scott that the two are the same. Dumb luck is very short lived and the playmate of the poor.)

Dewey
dewey089 <> - averill park NY

For a really low volatility pattern of play that keeps house advantage at a minimum and heightens entertainment, try this slow hedge system.

One of you (in our case, husband) places a don't pass bet until he establishes a point and then lays full odds. He makes no other bets. The other ( in our case the wife) skips the come out roll, and then places a Come Bet or two or three with full odds.

Then, generally, (unless you decide at some point to bet that the shooter is on a long roll) you both wait for ALL bets to win or lose and then start the pattern over again.

Unlike the do-don't pattern, you are not actually betting against one another, only to be worn down by the boxcar double loss. But you are making the seven do different things to your bets, so it is less likely to have huge losses or huge wins and a smaller bank roll will give you just as much fun and the same good house advantage, plenty of time to drink the free drinks and more opportunity to quit a little ahead when it is time for the buffet.

However, if the right numbers come in the right patterns, you can have a big win, or on a long roll without sevens, deciding to replace come bets can let you win with the table, or if the table is choppy with point, seven, point, seven, you will also clean up because you win the don't and the initial come bet. If you like to roll, the choppy table is the best scenario because it will clear the table of players while it doubles your bankroll and give you plenty of turns at rolling the dice.

What is also fun is you can pretend to have this great fight where the wife says, You are sooooo stupid for betting on the dark side against the shooter, What is the matter with you?"

And he answers, "Just wait until you see how the dice fall out, then you can talk out the other side of yo face."

And she retorts, "Yeah, well we'll see how the dice' fall out' mister BIG ROLLER, and you better hope they fall out on the good guys side or you'll see what doesn't fall IN when we go back upstairs. "

It is so much fun to play with the table superstitions. We have had a blast doing it. The fake argument also gets rid of those stares the old guys give you for betting the dark side if you try this pattern by yourself. One time it even inspired an old guy to make an extra bet, "for the little lady" just to give her support in the fight of the good against the evil. Almost like coming to her rescue in a domestic dispute.

And of course, since you are working with the same bankroll, you both have plenty of action because whatever you might pretend to say, you are hoping, in your heart, that both bets will win.

Since you have two people watching the payouts, you reduce the chance for dealer error, not that the dealers will get very bored with you during play fighting, or lose their sense of how you are betting. Often they will get involved in the banter and the drama too which is a good thing because it keeps their concentration on the outcome of the game.

We usually decide where to stop the pattern of betting and wait for reconciliation of the bets by the volatility of the number that becomes the don't pass point. If a don't ten is thrown, and then a do six, we will be more likely to take a couple more come numbers than if a six is the don't and then a ten is the come. In fact, if we want to play conservatively when a don't six or eight show, we will wait for that to win or lose. leaving it bare without any come numbers following it. Or if we have a good bankroll for liberal betting and a ten don't is followed with a six come and then an eight come, we just keep putting up come bets until another number shows, hoping that lots of sixes and eights pop up in a row before the seven hits. That is a great money maker too.

An of course, when you don't play together, one person can manage all of this quite well except for the play fight.

Generally, after the first don't bet I take come numbers depending on the number that was thrown for the don't. Again, this does not change House Advantage, but it wager more money when the house has the least chance.
If the Don't is 6-8, I simply wait for it to win or lose.
If the Don't is 5-9 I make at least two come bets.
If the Don't is 2-10 I make at least three come bets.

If I have not lost money in a session, and any of the 6-8 come bets pay, I make one more come bet and continue after every 6-8 pay until there are no 6-8 come bets waiting for decisions.

Finally, while I may get a few negative stares playing solo when I make the first "don't" bet, I just dismiss any negativity with " That is just a hedge" and lots of cheering for the Come Numbers with no complaints or whinning when the Don't loses and the same verbal kudos to the good roller. Generally, I am not excluded from the general good spirits of the table. The exception is when the rolls follow a pattern of immediately establishing a point and then bringing the devil seven on the next roll. The table loses, but I win both bets and it makes people mad. However, those sorts of choppy tables mean that generally craps players will leave soon.

car rental issues

note:Ignore the date of posting on this post. It is current as of 2008. I just wanted to bury it here for easy access by one link and yet not have it in the sequential way of my blog.

I was leaning in the direction of renting a car for my next trip. But after hours of researching how insurance works and doesn't, I am not very comfortable renting without the full waivers and that puts the price up pretty high.

Before you dismiss these issues, be sure you read a bit and talk to more than one insurance agent. My State Farm agent did a 360 degree turn around after telling me for years that I was covered.

And using the Visa may not do it either.

Here is what happens.

You get in an accident. Your insurance covers you minus your deductable up to the amount you carry on the car you drive at home. So I drive a 99 Saturn. Odds are I would still have quite a bit to pay if I totaled a brand new rental expecially after one of those free upgrades that come along.

OR

You get in an accident. Your insurance does not cover loss of use, but the Visa does. Read the fine print. The Visa demands the car rental company send them a a fleet utilization log that shows that while the car was out of service, they did not have other rentals. Guess what? The Rental Car company just ain't gonna send no log So who is responsible for the loss of use fees? Well, You are.

OR

You have an accident and the car is damaged. The rental company decides not to fix it but just to sell it off as salvage. You are stuck with the difference in the full value of the car and what they get. Does the insurance company cover that cost? Well, not all the time. So a $35,000 sold off at $7,000 leaves $28,000 for you to pay. And the rental company is conservative about what they will fix and put back out there because if a rental has a damage history, it leaves them open for lawsuits in a future accident. They like to get rid of the cars and start over. Especially since someone else pays.

And even if things go smoothly, you are responsible for the damage until you get your insurance company to pay for it. Any accident may raise your premiums so you pay for it over time for the rest of your life. And you better not have a drink. Drinking, speeding, reckless behavior, having your car impounded by police all void insurance policies as does letting someone else drive for a while who not on the rental contract. I have a family fight every time we rent a car about that one. it is so easy to get tired and just let the kid drive for a while.

Basically, I am back to deciding that car rental is sort of like playing video poker. The Royal never comes and never comes and never comes..............and then when you least expect it........there it is. Only the Royal is a good thing in Video poker . The casino pays off. The accident is a not good. You pay.

From what I gather from my son who as a financial advisor and talks to insurance agents every day, the entire issue is being debated around the agents' coffee meets. My own State Farm Agent is doing some research. Perhaps she will come up with some definitive angle. My son recommends getting the waiver.

I did find that renting from some companies using AARP will give you a cap on anything you are liable for.; the cap is 3 grand some places and 5 grand others.
I also found this site that sells a cheaper policy than the car rental places offer.
This one at $9 a day is nice but not for me as I am a NY resident

[url]http://www.tripinsurancestore.com/rental-car-insurance.shtml[/url]
This one has no deductable for $13 a day and you don't have to rent on this site to add the insurance:

[url]http://www.carrentals.com/home.jsp;jsessionid=NCJNLNOOHHBM?psid=NCJNLNOOHHBM&rg=1210041363337&service=submit&location=&location2=&pickupMonthYear=0708&pickupDay=28&pickupTime=10%3A00&jsPickup=07%2F28%2F2008&dropoffMonthYear=0808&dropoffDay=4&dropoffTime=10%3A00&jsDropoff=08%2F04%2F2008&submitButton=Search+CarRentals.com[/url]

Travel guard offers the same type of coverage and seems to have pretty good press.

[url]http://www.travelguard.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=national&utm_term=travel_guard[/url]

However, this is still an insurance where you must do the work of collecting. If anything does not work the way you hope it will, you are still responsible.

I also found out that Visa does an easier job of negotiating with the car companies than Mastercard and that American Express promises much more than they deliver. They require a log.

But all insurance leaves you responsible to have a claim approved and doing the paperwork. What the rental car places give you is not insurance but a waiver of their right to recover money in case of accident, theft, damage. That is why they can ask such a huge fee for the waiver. It is not covered by insurance regulation, so they can ask whatever the market will bear.

I will keep asking questions. If I find out anything, I'll add it to this post. In the mean time, I know this adds anxiety to those of you who rent everytime you go to Vegas and are proud of the $9 a day you manage with codes and specials. I am one of you. Frugal to the bone. Just don't dismiss the issue of liability because someone once told you that you were covered. I asked my agent if State Farm would send me something in writing, and she just laughed. Take the time to review the issues and make the agent focus on Nevada which has different rental laws and sketch out the loss of use and the selling off the car as salvage senarios for the agent. Some states do not allow the company to charge loss of use, for example.

Here are some articles to read around this issue.

[url]http://www.denverpost.com/ci_8625501?source=rss[/url]

This seemed the most comprehensive article. Don't neglect the comment section as that has more information.

[url]http://www.bnm.com/insgas.htm[/url]

[url]http://www.smartertravel.com/travel-advice/some-second-thoughts-on-car-rental-insurance.html?id=2544570[/url]

This one discusses the AARP cap at $3,000. He mentions that Alamo is a participant but the AARP did not include that company, just National so Alamo may have dropped the AARP cap. Alamo also has some cheaper waiver deal that covers the first $3000 of damage which would be the large majority of accidents. Less risk on the smaller amounts.

[url]http://www.smartertravel.com/travel-advice/more-rental-car-credit-card-grief.html?id=2451464[/url]
[url]http://www.smartertravel.com/travel-advice/gaps-in-credit-card-coverage-for-rental-cars-part-ii.html?id=2443878[/url]
Here is an older article, but I like the questions it raises:

[url]http://money.cnn.com/2000/08/02/banking/q_bankrate/[/url]

[url]http://automotive-insurance.suite101.com/article.cfm/rental_car_insurance[/url]

Happy motoring.

JUSTIGNORE POSTING DATE PHOTO IS POSTED JUST FOR REFERENCE