trip reports 2007

Date of Trip: June 22, 2007 to July 05, 2007 Hotel Stayed At: El Cortez, MSS, 4 Queens Report by: dewey089 <> From: Averill Park (near Albany) NY

I guess I never really wrote up the entire trip because I got caught up in going to California and then to Hawaii, but since there seems to be some interest expressed in another thread, here is a good sense of what happened to me in June in Vegas.

Keep in mind that my evaluations are from a frugal point of view. I am happy with almost anything when I travel. For a room I need hot water, air conditioning and a clean bed. Vegas always gives me that anywhere.

14 nights all downtown at an average of $22 a night was a good deal considering I had to do two weekends and the 4th of July. The poorest rooms were El Cortez pavillion. The best was MSS. Binions and 4 Queens were in between.


+ I liked an electric coffee at Binions and MSS. I make tea from my own brands.
+ I liked the small pools at Binions and the smaller pool at California. MSS guests can use it. Good for an early morning stretch. Binions was especially fine at sundown. Heliocopters and a view of the city. No key check at Binions. Key needed at California
- - I sleep midday. It was not possible to close off all the afternoon light at MSS. Other places I bring dollar store bag clips for drapes.

POOLS

I got my little in water stretching going every day at Binions or at MSS (you can use California pool) Small pools and no people. Perfect for me. You need a key for California. Mentioning you are at MSS will get one. Nothing needed at Binions.

FOOD

Rarely paid for food, Ate comps where I played. At El Cortez this is harder, but I had a light breakfast there three times and the bacon was crispy. All free. And did I mention the bacon was crispy. There is little else of value to say. Great place to talk. Unless you have someone to talk to, avoid this place.

In fact, there is nothing much good to eat at El Cortez short of Roberta's and I find that place too expensive. Still I had hallabut one night and porterhouse another with little tiny three penny size tastes of garlic onion medallion. Vegetables are extra. We used up free coupons and with the conversations of Bigfus (Roberta's is her happy place) I had a great time there oncoupons and her comps.

Careless Kitty's is only good IMHO for Jackie's melt (nice to use up $5 funbook coupon) or the prime rib.

I loved the spice market buffet at PH. Everything tasted better than average. the middle eastern section is wonderful. I love their plates at this place. Here and at cravings the plates are sort of half bowls. Also the butter at Spice Market is in great little dishes. Nice for dipping. So much good food here but I can't remember. I payed to go twice. LVA was right to rate this place again. Cheap too compared with Paris and Bellagio.


I loved Mamacita's across Freemont from the El Cortez. Just like Mexico and maybe Cuba too (I have not been to Cuba) and a wide assortment. I had a seafood 7 flavor stew, yucca with garlic, and horchata with free refill.

I loved the eggs cooked at the Plaza buffet in the live cooking station. There I don't do any deep fried but the beef is always good.


Cravings tasted better to me this time, but that may have been that it was free. Four hours of live poker gets you free buffet, line pass and solo you can sit at the counter. No waiting. Still, I won't wait in the middle of my game again. I need more leisure for a good buffet like that.

Bigfus had a rest.com coupon for Mikie Finns and I ate a wonderful scallop shrimp grilled deal with veggies on a stick.


Mamacita's across Freemont from the El C is a really authentic Mexican restaurant and perhaps authentic Cuban also. I have not been to Cuba. Mexican in my town is nothing like this. At home it is all the standard American idea of what Mexican food should be. this was a real experience and I loved it.I ate a seven variety seafood stew, yucca with garlic and drank horchata with free refill. About $28 for more than I could eat. Other meals are cheaper. It is half Mexican and Half Cuban and will vary the food for the flavor of either country.

Along with the food comes the latest variety of Latin music on video screen. Great for solo eating.

MSS buffet, lunch or breakfast free with $1000 pumped into machine that day or the day before. Always my favorite. If they just offered Hawaiian pulled pork and collage greens I would be happy, Oh, and butterfinger pieces for the iced cream.

DRINK

The doc gave me a vacation from arthritic meds. When I hit Vegas I had not had a drink of alcohol in 6 months unless you count O'Doull's. So that MSS Black chip Porter went down very very good. Also thanks to the poster who mentioned the drink nuts and berries. Very good, but I like the hazelnut by itself better. Finally, at El Cortez they will give you Myer's rum over ice. Yummy.

SHOWS

Saw Makuri at the Sahara and loved it. Got a free ticket on Goldstar.com for $9.50 handling fee and the ticket had $10 free play on it. Used it at the Sahara, used my winnings to play two matchplays, then to play a craps matchplay at the Strat and a little VP to save points there. Result $27. Not bad on a $9.50 investment.

Huck Daniels review. If you like rhythm and blues, Black American music before hip hop, and being in a small music community of folks, go to the Strat lounge on Monday night and stay for the jam session from 10-2. Local performers are gathered together there and they perform on stage taking tours, Even musicians are changed up after every few songs. Different every week. I saw the Ray Charles immitator and he was incredible. Free. Buy one $5 drink and nurse it, Hold your seat and people watch. It gets crowded. Dancing too. Absolutely the best thing for me in Vegas. Lawrence T is always a treat.

Gold Coast jazz band. If you don't mind old people and like music from your grandmother's era check out this place in the afternoon. Again free. Got old Orleans funbooks? Use the freeGold Coast coupons for a drink. Dancing too but everyone is over 75. Ed was there for his birthday. He was 92. Danced every number.

Hypnosis Gone Wild. Get a $10 coupon and see this show if you want to begin to understand how little your mind is in charge of your actions. Funny adult humor underlies the antics of those from the audience. Moving soon I hear to Mandalay Bay but now in a little theater across from Monte Carlo.

I like the Trop comics. Three for $15 with drink. ($5 coupon in the free books) Non smoking show is early evening.

GAMBLING

I play live poker and 10/7 DB. The live poker killed me. The World Series attracted too many high level players who spilled into my limit games. They could beat me and they did not stay long so the tables were chaotic and playing the people was impossible. I got killed. Even at EC little local game the World Series attracted guys showed up and were as hard to beat as the tight morning locals. I won't go at this time again. I am just a limit player and usually I can grind out a profit, but it was hard.

Of course, I played with Jackie a couple afternoons. What a treat. Time is running out for this old joint. Fremont expansion is coming a little at a time. New neons are in the center of Freemont. Soon the deals at Ec may dry up. And when Jackie dies, well, who knows. the poker game has to be there just to entertain him on afternoons. It is the only one like it in all of Vegas. 1-3-6. I love it.

VP gave me a royal at 4 Queens. Dealt club flush broken to catch the queen. $1090progressive.

Now let's once again explain why we all should look for good pay tables and extra pay deals.

I lost $85 total in all gambling in my 14 days.
Suppose I had played the same games on 10/7 DB machines that had reduced pay tables and there were no benefits other than cash back.

I would have been short payed $90 on my royal win
I would have been short played by my estimates $63 on full houses (conservatively figuring I hit one about every 200 hands)
I would have missed the MSS scratch cards and missed $25 on my quads there.

So even a conservative estimate of my losses for the week would be $177 or over THREE TIMES what I actually lost.
And had I played at the 9/6 DB that in December the Orleans put in when they slaughtered their signature 10/7 VP, it would have been even worse after the short pay on the flush was added in.

Note that this has nothing to do with randomness or luck or anything except getting less money on winnings. This is just how much less they would have given me for exactly the same play and exactly the same luck at casinos or games that paid less than full pay.

If you are serious about gambling, look for the good deal games if you value money. Skip the other games and ignore those on the boards who tell you that game selection does not matter.

Actually, table selection in live poker is crucial too. I may have ignored that advice myself this week to my downfall.

I did make the Saphire level card that the El Cortez. Over 6000 points in four days. I also pumped the 4 Queens and MSS hard (for frugal me), so I hope to get good room deals for December. I'm booked for another 14 days with free air starting Dec 2.

FELLOWSHIP

I met up with two regular posters on the LVA board who I met last December and had a great time. Joel is one ( I can't remember handle) and Bigfus is the other. They were wonderful gambling/couponing companions and very smart about deals and comp strategies. I also met with some local nieces and nephews, watched Yatzee craps fest for a while and me Northern Girl and had my son's exgirlfriend drive 4 miles each way from Irvine California just to spend a day with me watching dolphins, lions, IP old cars, and catching up. then my brother-in-law spent one night with me after he cinched up his reservations for the World Series of Poker. He'll be be playing on July 8. So for a solo trip I hardly had a moment to myself.

Also met a few folks at poker tables. Saw again this sweet Jamacan girl Jelly who mostly watched poker. She was all over downtown watching games. Lots of good conversation at the tables. Playing limit you can talk between playable hands. I had long stretches between playables. Long, long stretches.

TRANSPORTATION

I bought the $40 30 day bus pass and was glad. It meant I did not have to carry quarters or figure a frugal bus strategy. I learned the 105 route and I loved it once I found out which bus to take. DTC is in the middle of that route. The Deuce is just too crowded.

I rode the bus a lot even on the 4th of July when the temperature was 124 degrees. But I'll ride it more in December.

LOSSES

Other than the $85 loss I mourn the loss of my journal where for the first week I had recorded details like tips, food expenses, poker hands, for later detailed write up.

PURCHASES

Fine fishing lures at the Silverton Pro Bass shop.
Great 75 cent cards at California gift shop. Opened boxes and no black marks on them.

So, that is all for Vegas for me until December when there are no World Series no limit yahoos confusing me, and no days when 107 was cold so I can ride the bus to find the better games.

Well, that is enough for now. I have a few days here in San Jose, then six days at Fort Bragg on the ocean, and then 6 days at Kauai Hawaii. From the Pavillion El Cortez rooms to the Hyatt regency in Kauai in one vacation. Now there is contrast.

Good luck to all. I will get to read comments and answer questions for a few days. then not until I get back home on July 23. Good gambling and good luck to all.
dewey089 <> - Averill Park (near Albany) NY

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Date of Trip: December 03, 2007 to December 17, 2007 Hotel Stayed At: MSS el cortez binions 4 queens Report by: dewey089 From: Averill Park NY

INTRODUCTION

Generally, I like writing trip reports because I can relive the experience of Vegas, but this time the experience fell short of my expectations. I am more tempted to just forget it and move on. However, perhaps there are some small parts that would be helpful in planning. However, the rush of holidays and the planning and packing and house shutting for our coming two month escape to Florida make a well polished trip report impractical. And as I write I am still sleeping more of the day than I am awake. Please forgive the rather rushed, first draft nature of this writing.


THE OVERVIEW

Being sick and tired in Vegas is rather a drag. Being sick and tired and way down in gambling bankroll is worse. I started with sleep issues. I could not seem to regulate my sleeping. I got so tired that I did not want to drink alcohol, so free drink offers were wasted.
One sober afternoon, I tripped on the high curbing in front of the Plaza, could not catch my forward motion, and went down pretty hard on the concrete. I bruised some ribs and they bothered me all the while I was there and still have not healed.
A week later I caught the cold going around Vegas and felt even more tired nd washed out. That too is still with me. I have been sleeping on and off since I got home with no real pattern to the sleep, awake some early morning hours, asleep some entire afternoons.

I play 10/7 Double Bonus and live poker almost exclusively. I pepper it with seven pulls on the Megabucks and craps and blackjack with matchplays. It is a frugal approach to Vegas.

My 10/7 DB video poker play was the worst I ever experienced. My first night I ran over $4000 through the a MSS machine without one single 4OAK. So much for scratch off advantages. The entire week I hit 4 aces only once and never another premium 4OAK, just the lower pay.
My live poker game seemed off. Too few tourists. Too many locals who all knew one another. Being sick and tired did not help.
By the end of day 7 in a 15 day trip I was down $1400, which for me is a record. I wondered how to sustain my play for the rest of the week.
The El Cortez helped me by eliminating all the good paying VP. While I played the last 10/7 DB coin dropper that was left there, they came around and put a sticker on it indicating that it took $3 on that machine to earn a point.
So I quit trying.
After all the pavilion rooms are so cheap there and the food so generally poor, that playing for comps makes very little sense compared to investing in the much better games at 4 Queens and MSS.
That decision helped.
By the end of my visit I was only down $1153, and if you combine that with my free air flight and my $8 room rate average and my $8 a day food average, it still cost me less to go to Vegas than to go on vacation anywhere else. It should feel great, but I can't quite rise to celebrate yet.

THE HOTELS

I am not fussy about where I sleep, so I don't have too much of value to report. I think MSS are great rooms, but not as practical for me as others because they have slats on the windows that preclude napping without light and plenty of noise from the trains or car traffic below. I choose to start the trip there so I am somewhere else when I get really tired.
I loved the South tower of the 4 Queens. Even had a coffee maker so that I can brew my tea in the ceramic cup I carry.
I did not experience the Vintage Room at the El Cortez. They gave me a free upgrade to the Pavillion room I already occupied. I forgot about the stairs and carrying luggage too, so when I injured my ribs I did not want to carry bags upstairs. Guess I'll stick to the Pavillion. Keep an eye on their own website. I got weekend nights for $26. Also they don't take the money out ahead of time now as they did last year, but just use your charge card to put a hold on the rooms and charge you when you get there. That makes booking and canceling so much easier.

Binions was fine. Shabby rooms, but the poker room is at the bottom of the elevator. This year I got stubborn and only played there once. My stubborn nature emerged when I reserved a room with the ACG coupon for $39 and when I got there after having dragged my large suitcase up from MSS with my bruised ribs, they would not give it to me for less than $59. The booker had made a mistake. I am writing a letter of protest and will make a separate post with the entire incident detailed for board view once they respond to what I wrote them. I won't go there if I can't count on the price they quote. I may not anyway.
The one time I did play at 3 AM when the ribs kept me awake, I listened to old dealers remember the old days when the casino really was managed right and was the pearl of downtown gambling.

Hints: Ask to be away from the Freemont noise and bring dollar store bag clips for those pesky sunlight leaking curtains. Call and confirm the price a few times before going. Have back up plan ready.

FREEMONT EAST

Okay, I know this is not a renovation that is awe inspiring to anyone, but for me it was just fine. I loved it. I just like neon. I'm not much for flat screen fast moving movies ont he strip signs. That stretch is delightfully quaint. It seems an extension of the neon museum.

I like the bright new lights. I like the ever present security guard. I like the guys on bicycles. And I liked the entire feel of the walk to the El Cortez. It was December and still the tourists and walkers were out and about.

So I suppose that the El Cortez will tighten the gambling and raise the room rates. Maybe to find the real future frugal deal, I'll have to go to the Western. Already they gutted the VP. Then they added that damned high hand BS to the poker room. Will the BJ be next? Will all gambling in Vegas soon be set up to fleece with no chance at even for frugal victory, but just those occasional winning moments that are a great rush as long as you discipline yourself not to add up what they cost in the losing drain of the rest of the visit?

THE PEOPLE

I did have some fine encounters with people, old and new. My brother-in-law and poker lover flew in from California and spent a few days playing with me and giving me pointers. My poker playing son came at the end of the trip and stayed with me a couple days. My poker buddy Slink was there for almost a week. And I met people from the talk boards who I have only written to. Matt for the Uk, JerryG3, Mohave, and my long time board buddy Catherine who brought her mother for a first visit. I also connected to a couple fine guys at the El Cortez who are locals. I love that poker room. So full of life. And I did well there even in the mornings against those fine old tight and tricky players. Plenty of interesting strangers encountered on buses too(see that section) i even met former Mayor Ed Koch at the Wynn.
My son and his wife and her brothers came. Son Keith came a couple days earlier and one day he wore the T shirt they made last year with my picture on it. When asked for photo ID I just pulled down the zipper of his sweatshirt and showed my photo. It was a great deal of fun and a fine honor too. He and I hung out when I could stay awake and then the others arrived and we had a fine meal at Spice Market Buffet at PH. One of the brothers had just turned 21 and was having his first Vegas experience.
One other son's ex girlfriend Amanda, came up from California to spend some time with me. She really likes me and it is such a kick to have a cute little twenty something smiling and joking and flirting with me in Vegas.
Actually, my fondest memory this trip going to Ellis Island with her and my son Keith (married one above) using the 4 drink coupons, getting the steak special, feeling a little afternoon drunk on the wine, and in the middle of all of it getting a call from a nephew who has been lost to me twice and recently reconnected. It felt like Christmas.
hint: If you order the special steak medium well, they butterfly it and cook it. It is not the same steak then, but so much thinner and probably not as appealing. Perhaps that is the source of those negative Ellis Island posts. Ordered medium rare it comes thick and juicy with plenty of garlic green beans and a bit of porter. Great cheap meal.



THE VIDEO POKER

In the future I am just going to pay for rooms at the El Cortez and not play any machines unless they put back the high pay. Orleans dropped the 10/7 last time last time in December. So that casino has been off my list.
Perhaps all the 10/7 machines are doomed. The advantage players play them too well, I suppose, and the rest of the folks, well......they don't really care what pay tables look like. To them it is all luck.
But for now I can put my money in 4 Queens who are giving great comps and MSS who have the scratch offs for 4 OAK. Pumping all my VP money through their machines will give me free rooms in both those places. The 4 Queens gave me weekend nights free, free food every day, and free play. Also, I got a fine whiskey decanter set for my play this December. No cheap thing either. It was so heavy I had to get another duffel bag brought in by my son to get it home. Finally, the MSS still has 9/6 JOB at the bar where if I am well enough, I can get those fine pints of black chip porter and play the easier strategy and play until I am too tired or drunk to read the strategy sheets, or care, and then just hobble to the elevator. I could not do that this time. I was too sick and tired with no alcohol.
At the 4 Queens I decided to chase the progressive when it was about $1100 until it hit the tax documenting place at $1199.99. It was the best odds I had all week, but I could not hit 4OAKs or that fine royal. I lost $525 until 4 aces brought me back a bit.
Unsure of the tax cut off spot, I asked the woman next to me.
"Isn't it $1200?"
"No," she said, " It is $1199.99" and I laughed until at $1199.53 I was dealt 4 to the royal. Then I realized that you needed to be exact if you did not want a slip generated. Two hands later I got dealt 4 to the Royal again.

CRAPS

I only played craps twice except for matchplays. Once was at the Sahara on $50 for $40 and it went well enough. But on my last morning I just wanted to play a bit at the El Cortez. $3 pass line. 10X odds but my bankroll did not allow that. I bought in for $40 and I was the shooter. Point was nine and in three rolls I hit the seven.
The next shooter set the dice and had that nice arc. We won. I replaced my bets and we won again. Then I noticed that the shooter was betting the dark side against himself.
But he was setting for positive numbers.
And he caught them.
With very little noise in between, he rolled over and over and over and hit point after point. Sevens and elevens came first. And all that while he lost. He switched his bets to a doey-dontey system. Crazy betting. Letting the eventual 12 wipe out the other break even bets.
Before he was done he had made me $102 on my little $3 and double odds bets. Nice. I quit and went to find a poker seat to take on the morning El Cortez rocks. It was my last day and I was to make my best profit $130.


SPAMALOT - Almost for free.

I had bought two half priced tickets before I learned that my poker buddy Robin could not come due to failing health. He wanted to pay for his ticket, but I said no, I'd try to sell it. I could not see him not getting to come and still having a bill to pay.

A very interesting fellow named Matt bought it for $20 after I offered it on the boards and we enjoyed the show together. Matt had some interesting stories too. He teachers people to drive the trains that go through London. Imagine. This is a bit like teaching driver's ed only when the student can't seem to hit enough brake, well, it is a huge, heavy train that we are talking about. What tense teaching that has to be!
So I paid $83 and with Matt's $20 I was down to $63.
In the envelope was a deal for $25 freeplay so I loaded it on my card. When I loaded it, they also told me that new signers at Wynn could get the buffet for just 75 points ($3 equals one point). I found an 8/5 DB progressive 50 cent game at the Wynn and decided to go for the buffet.
My freeplay yielded $23 and from then on I got trips almost every hand. I have never seen such a run of trips in my life. Without a 4OAK or much of anything really I quit with my 75 points and $50 cash.
So for my $83 investment I got a $34 buffet I've been wanting to try, and $70 cash and the show.
Not bad.
And to top it off the buffet could be claimed anytime up to 72 hours after my play so I could get an appetite and come back rather than squeeze it in on a day when I'd eaten.
I loved the show. They captured the humor of Monty Python and the music was the best I ever remember seeing. I don't like musicals much. This musical cracked on itself. The soapy overacted songs were all about joking how soapy and overacted they were. I loved it. A musical that trashed musicals and still had you loving the sound of the trashing.
I had watched the Holy Grail movie at home before I left and was glad. I liked having a sense of the movie when I saw the stage presentations.
Much of the music drew from Black American tradition, jazzy skat singing and tap dance were perfect. I loved it all.
My seats were front balcony just to the right of that plastic guard that can block aile seat view. I could see around the edge of it. Great view. No close sense of faces but a fine sense of the patterns on stage.
Matt was a fine companion.
And for one night I managed to stay awake after 8 PM. I avoided alcohol all day and did coffee early enough so as not to have to be uncomfortable and ready for a potty break. It was one of by best nights in Vegas.

OTHER SHOWS

I saw big Elvis who is not quite as big. It was packed but I found a single seat by some folks who did not like me sitting in that empty chair but tolerated me. I enjoyed him but less than last time.

I heard a great country band from the stage at the Plaza. I could play poker and hear the music.

I heard two sets of the Classic Jazz band at the Gold Coast. Great stuff. Under attended and under appreciated. What talent they have, especially on horns.

I walked into the pool area of the Golden Nugget and around to the other side of the aquarium where you can really see the sharks and other fish. You can't see more than half of the aquarium from outside the pool area and there were no sharks visible from there.

TIM ARNOLD'S PINBALL MUSEUM

What a treat to finally go there. I played this old Bugs Bunny machine for almost a half hour on 75 cents and felt like a kid. I also shot a lazer gun from 1966. What an amazing place! Tropicana and Pecos, tucked back in the plaza just beyond Putter's Bar and a comic book store. Ask around if you can't find it. Look at the large plaza sign to see which plaza has the museum.

COUPONS

I had a bunch of coupons this time. I had bought three ACG books last November for my December Birthday Bash gathering and people gave me leftovers. But I did not have the energy to chase them this year. Here are my few uses:

From downtown took the 108 (in front of MSS) to the Hard Rock where you can do a matchplay, get $10 freeplay, and buy the new win cards $20 for $30 all on the same day. Walk back to Terribles and get the free hat (POV) and play off some matchplay. Breakfast is cheap as they take 50% off with coupon but this trip I just had too much free food to do that.

You can walk down to Ellis Island and use some coupons there, but I did this part on a different day.
Remember that they will want to see your ACG identity card and limit what you do. Lots of talk about a hard guy Pete who gives everyone trouble.
Take a 4 free drink coupon to the bar while you wait for a table an carry the drinks in to the restaurant. We did not use coupons there, but got the steak special.

Use golden Gate coupons for free decks in conjunction with matchplays there.

My funiest coupon was at Terribles when I decided that a Heineken and a snack bar in my carryall bag would be lunch.
I was in a dull, spacey state, my cold making me almost senseless.
The funbook coupon used to give one for 75 cents but now it was 95 cents. I was thinking it was free. I handed the bartender a dollar and the coupon. He played with the cash register for a long while and then apologized that he did not have nickels to give me my nickle change.
I was very puzzled.
I told him the dollar was intended as a tip and finally it registered that the beer was not free, so I gave him another dollar.
A few long minutes more of punching buttons on the cash register, and he was still totally flabbergasted. He explained that Terribles had changed the coupon from 75 to 95 cents, but that he did not know how to put in 95 cents in the register unless it was in nickle change and he did not have any nickles.
I suggested he just charge me a dollar for the beer.
"Well, that is a great solution," he said.
I laughed so hard to think of two grown men spending ten minutes trying to figure out what to do with a nickle.

THE FOOD

For the most part I eat where they comp me.
I had $25 free at El Cortez and they will give you a $5 comp every other day for 4 hours of live poker play at Careless Kitty's. The pattie melt has gone up in price, so it costs another $2. The prime rib is good, but I was never there when it was ready.
I had $20 a night free at Magnolia's in 4 Queens and we used it for two breakfasts. One day my buddy Slink got a BJ comp there. Man, that was something. Two rounds of drinks, appetizer, entree and desert all comped. I got the beer sampler which counted as two rounds and we had huge platters of food.
Main Street Station let me get a buffet comp without playing when I first arrived. It took me two line waits as the clerk said no but the host said okay. I got another the next morning for breakfast based on my play but remember that was $4000 and all lost.
The Plaza gives a $7.77 comp for live poker play of about 4 hours. Be sure you have your card with you. Late at night you can't get a card but you can get the comp. The poker room closes at 2AM regardless of players or games in progress. The comps are good for 72 hours, so you can save it. I know the buffet is dumped on, but for over easy eggs exactly like you want them, you can't beat that chef. Remember that I go for 15 days. Were I to eat lush buffets all 15 days, even once a day, I would not have to worry about falling again, because I would just roll everywhere I went.
El Cortez Breakfast buffet (2 come free with comped rooms) is "gullet filling" as my buddy Catherine says, but it is a nice quiet room for talking and my son and I caught up on all the family news there.
I ate twice at the Spice Market Buffet at PH and it was great. I love the crab legs warmed on the grill. Great tandori chicken. Wonderful tempura shrimp. I could just eat that. Fine flan for dessert. What a great bargain!
I ate at Mamacita's twice. I love this place too, but I order too much food. This time I fully black bean soup with garlic bread, and it was great. Also had a fine pork chop dish garnished with green onions. I met the chef and he was delightful.
While you eat, you can watch fine video music although I did not much like the hip hop videos except to wonder why Spanish Americans would borrow all that cliche when they have so much culture to draw music from. The place is just like Mexico. And it is just steps from the El Cortez. Use the exit directly across from the parking/Pavilion room elevator doors.
I was so sick one night that I did not think I could get out of my Pavilion room bed but I managed it that far and was so happy as the meal cheered me up.
I had two free hot dogs at Slots A Fun, while I was picking up my free cards and heading over to play poker at Riviera. That is an easy access area from downtown as you don't get much traffic until then. Also the 105 goes back behind Circus Circus and Riviera. By the way with a coupon from Slot A Fun the funbook their decks are just 75 cents and come in a variety of colors and had no black markings.
I ate one hot dog with sauerkraut when I went to hear the afternoon jazz at the Gold Coast. The bar also took the old drink coupon if I showed my Orleans room key, so I still got my cheap lunch with entertainment. I was sorry to hear that band only once. I was sick and staying at the Gold Coast one trip and did nothing but drink Crown Royal and listen to their sets and go up to bed.
Wynn Buffet - it was grand, but I think I like the Spice Market just as much. I would not pay the $34 for that experience.
I had one late night steak and egg at Careless Kitty's and it was fine, but nothing to write home about. The server was incredible.
Again I found bringing plenty of dried fruit and nuts and buying some juice at the Walgreen's kept me from being hungry between meals. I also filled in with two shrimp cocktails and some piano music at the Golden Gate. Often that was all the breakfast I wanted.

I ate at the Main Street Station buffet and found it just great as always. I love the bits of butterfinger for the ice cream. Sometimes at a buffet you create some recipes, combining the tastes of different places. Here is my favorite combination. A nice heap of the Hawaiian pork in the back section of the buffet.(this pork is just like what I ate in Hawaii) Mix in some of the collard greens in the Southern foods section near where the buffet turns. Top with those crunching Chinese noodles and a bit of Chinese hot sauce and mix it all up. Yum!!
I also like their sticky buns at breakfast and their fried seafood.

I had a nice time eating at the Golden Nugget on poker comps with my brother-in-law Jim but went the next night on my own, paid too much (the comp is just $10) and found it lonely.

GETTING AROUND

My son rented a car and so I experienced the driving in and around Vegas again. For me it does not compare well with the bus, especially in December. The Deuce can be packed or there can be a long wait, but there is no pressure of finding my way when I ride the bus. No spaghetti bowl decisions in the dark.

Solo it is just great on the bus. I met so many interesting people on the bus that week. I met a crane operator who will retire after 30 years in Vegas and sold his 90 grand house for 900 grand to buy an RV; he plans on just traveling for a couple years. I met the most delightful woman who was as excited as a little kid to have found a sale on jackets and bought a winter, down-like jacket that came below her knees for just $7 at some store called SaveMore. I met an old drunk trying to hit on some European blonds. I met a Black preacher in the DTC with the most friendly manner who welcomed me to someday come back to Vegas, but assured me that if he were not here when I returned, he knew where he would be. "Well, I'll see you there, then."I replied, and he was so pleased at that response. I met cowboys with accents that fascinated me and kidding banter different from what goes on in my family. I rode for quite a while with a great looking little cowgirl from North Carolina who had just spent the day at Cowboy Christmas.

Each time I go now I try a different route. So after doing the Hard Rock to Terrribles coupon run, I decided to go out to the Pinball Museum on Tropicana and Pecos and to avoid the strip by taking the Flamingo bus to Pecos and then over to Tropicana. That would have worked fine except that the Pecos bus just never came. While waiting for it an ambulance went in the direction of the bus and ten minutes later along came some of the passengers. It seemed that a man had had a heart attack on the bus. they were walking toTropicana.

But I had my cold and my ribs hurt. I just sat and waited for the next bus. That delay was just a half hour. There are two 111 buses running down Pecos, and one of them goes all the way to Green Valley Ranch. There is an interesting adventure for another day.

I took the 108 directly to Cowboy Christmas. Easy ride I did it on the way to the Hardrock.

I took the 105 directly to the Fashion Show Mall to do some shopping and head over to the Wynn for live poker and Spamalot. That is a great route. Easy. It is also a great direct access to Ellis Island and the short walk down to that section of the strip. Nice to avoid the Deuce.

I also figured out how to come back on the 108 on Swenson even after dark. It drops you right downtown near the Fitz. You don't have to walk to the DTC to use that route.

Helpful too that I carry a nice fleece scarf and a hat and dress for winter. After dark in December, it is very cold in Vegas and can be windy at those bus stops.

THE POKER

The closest thing I have to the Cheers experience is playing poker at the El Cortez poker room. The characters repeat themselves over many trips and because the dealers play when they are not working, people shift roles too. When I win money, especially in the morning, I feel as if I have accomplished something. When I losemoney, I generally learn something about myself, my opponent, or the game. It is such a fun poker game, so different from limit with so many possible moves and that big 6 dollar bet on the river that makes trapping pay. The rake is the lowest capped at $2.50. If pots are small, tipping a quarter is not frowned on. I could go to Vegas and stay at the El Cortez and just play that game for the rest of my life. Even sick it was a wonderful treat.
I played at Caesar's and ordered my Myers Rum.
Sorry Sir, no decent alcohol served here.
At the El Cortez I order my Myer's rum with two limes and light on the ice and they come just that way. I say keep them coming and they come and come and come until I tell the waitress to stop for a while. While the rest of Vegas is just becoming one big con, this place seems friendly, easy, full of gambling characters, and offers an island of comfort. It is the only game I miss when I am away. I would rather go there and lose than go other places and win. I will rarely lose more than my rum would cost me.
However, there was a great young blond local guidance counselor at Caesar's who was a great deal of fun. She played to my right a while and then decided she wanted me to her right. I did not want her to my left, but I let it go. She was very good and very funny with one of those little girl voices that are so attractive. So I enjoyed that game too until the blind straddle-I-raise-every-hand-with-nothing- young yahoo joined and changed the table. I left with a little profit. I'd have had more with the girl to my left.

At the El Cortez this trip I actually met a couple fellows who may end up as friends, Kevin who started in New Jersey and a fellow known as The Rockman, not because of his play, but because he collects all sorts of rocks and brings samples as card protectors.

Both of these fellows were easy going and welcoming. They are regulars in the morning playing crew, the tight games where players really watch what is played by who and give plenty of respect. You can play for a long while some mornings and never see any cards. Those players may still be there when Jackie Gaughn, Downtown legend, comes to play.
Jackie may have been a good poker player once. He still plays almost daily and he also plays Pan up at the Plaza, a game so complicated that few understand it and all are amazed to see players holding half a deck of cards in their hands.
In Hold em I watched Kevin play four two's in an easy manner against Jackie, urging Jackie to fold, and not raising on the $6 river. The El Cortez is probably the only place you will ever see a multi-millionaire taken care of by an average guy. It was the strangest hand of my week.

In contrast to Kevin I am not a charitable player against the old fellow. I look forward to Jackie building the few pots I am lucky enough to win. He does not trick his opponents, although he may call when he should fold, so we may get in the habit of staying with him a bit too long. But he makes few bluff raises and you think after those few that he might just not have known he had next to nothing.
I am not a charitable poker player. For example, in one hand against Kevin he held A-J and I was stuck with A-2, and he bet after the flop gave an Ace. I called. That was a bad move. I should have raised or folded. Had I put in a bluff raise, Kevin may have folded. I regret not trying to trick him with that bluff raise.
The only charity I offer is to write this where Kevin will read it and be ready for me next time.

In Rounders when Matt Damon goes up to play in Atlantic City he finds the table filled with players he knows waiting for the fish to come up. He says that they did not really play in collusion with each other, but that they did not actually play against each other either. Now that is no limit and an entirely different class of poker, but the El Cortez morning feelsa bit like that to me. Here are a bunch of regulars who know each other and how each plays and every so often a tourist like me gets fleeced. In between they take a bit from each other back and forth more for amusement than profit.

One regular fellow plays a very different game. Action Jackson he is called. If he is not actually playing while you are there, you will hear his name mentioned by the players. One of my best mornings was winning hand after hand from him simply because I had cards just a bit better.
It was fine turn about.
I gave the money back the next morning, but the victory was sweet while it lasted.

One of my favorite times in poker is when I have not yet established myself as relatively tight and I get a string of good cards that come too often to be believed, so I look like a loose fish to the good players. That is what happened that morning. I get called then. I make money. If I have established myself as tight first, I get fewer callers and the pots are smaller.

Another player also had an encounter with Action Jackson. This young fellow was a marine with huge arms and so uptight I wonder if he is suffering from post traumatic shock. He was so angry at the old semi retired Poker Room manager Ralph for not giving him that $5 food comp that he carped and complained and finally went to a casino person, got the comp and stormed off saying he was going where he could be appreciated.
Remember, this is a game with a rake of $2.50. It is not like there are any high rollers there whose business will cost the casino damage.
And Ralph is an easy, friendly fellow who looks like a throwback to the 50's with suspenders and a pocket pull of cigars. He used to be there regularly but he is only there on occasion now.
Well, it seems that while Action Jackson was in the men's room, our marine threatened to beat him up for some affront at the table. Action Jackson is a bantering, loud fellow so he may have said some things to rile the Marine, but it is all in jest. Practically nothing Action Jackson says is meant to be taken seriously.
Action laughed the threat off, but he came back to the table and thought it was meant to be serious.
Ironically, while Action was missing from the table yet another time (Action probably has ADD; he can't stay in a seat too long) this Marine got in an argument with another drunken, happy player because that player had claimed that he was the second worse player in Vegas (Action Jackson being the absolute worst) Well, the marine went on and on about the ethics of insulting someone behind their back when they were not there to defend themselves and calling Action Jackson his friend and objecting to that friend being insulted.
It would be funny if it did not sound so serious.
Such is the Soap Opera quality of life at the El Cortez live poker tables.

At Bally's a 3-6 the table was full of people who were regulars when I sat down and got a string of cards that gave me $100 in just a few minutes. When the string ran out, I asked for a table change to a new game just starting up, and my luck kept coming. But I played too long there and only had $32 at the end of the evening. I think that I am going to leave games more often once I am up $100. The action after that is just bound to be less. Good players give me respect for the good cards I play, and poor players get intimidated by my wins and won't call me enough.

At the Golden Nugget I had that intimidation experience at a 3-6 full kill game. I hate kills. But I was there with poker buddy Slink and so I played. Sure enough when I finally won a second pot, I saw half the pot go on the Kill button. I was dealt 4-7 off suit and felt my usual resentment at winning only to lose to kill rules when I flopped an open ended straight draw which gave me a high straight on the river.
My one opponent bet into me and I raised and showed my hand for the pot. The table was starting to believe I was very lucky. Out went my $6 on the chip again.
This time I was dealt pocket aces.
"I am on a rush" I announced and raised my kill chip to the groans of everyone. Now my good poker playing son says I should not have announced a fake feeling of Rush because what I wanted was to win the pot right there and not encourage callers, but I say that the only ones to stay would be folks with high cards. I would get out the crazy draws. No one would pay $12 to see the flop unless they had some high cards, and if I put the money in without something said and they put me on aces or kings, I think I might have only won the blinds.
As it was, my aces held so I put another $6 on the button for the next hand.
I got 5-8 off suit.
I did not bet.
But Neither did my opponent.
He did not bet even when he caught his jack high spade flush on the river. He checked because even with my weak play and his good hand he was certain I had him beat because I was just too lucky.
I guess an early bet here would have won that hand too just on my reputation.

But perhaps my son Keith is right. He is an excellent player. I looked forward to playing at the El Cortez table with him and he managed to take $160 off the table playing very well. In the most impressive hand he bluffed out the most aggressive player at the table with nothing but K-Q for a big pot. A few hands later I tried it. I had K-Q and the flop came Q-5-5 with the aggressive guy doing the betting and raising he always did on such flops. I reraised. On the river came a King and I thought for sure I had him beat as I put him on A-Q at best and I was representing a full house. I thought he would fold it up and I could show my bluff cards, the same as my son's. Well, it was an expensive mistake. He had the trips with an Ace.

How much of that was trying to impress my kid with my play is hard to measure, but it could be that it is hard to play with him watching me. He is so much better that I can't always understand what he tries to teach me. I can't seem to do the math in any truely calculating way. I do take pot odds into account, but only estimated. Mostly I play the people. In limit a glance at the pot gives you pretty accurate sense of what can be won with a bet and what is just not worth the trouble.

After I said goodbye to my son I played at Bally's against a father and son that reminded me so much of Keith and I. The dad was playing his second live game and raking in chips by betting in ways his son told him afterwards were totally wrong, but which forced us out of pots. The relationship between them was so much like my relationship with my Keith. the dad won, even got a straight flush high hand. He was so pleased that he had his picture taken with his chips and his son. I suppose that is what I want too.

I was so happy that Keith took a couple days and came to Vegas early to spend some time with me. He even wore the T shirt that he had made for my 60th birthday party with my picture on the front. Once at the El Cortez, the desk clerk asked for my picture ID so I pulled down the zipper on his sweatshirt and showed her the shirt. I thought she would fall down laughing.


In the evening games at the El Cortez I met Brian, a short, stocky guy with thick lensed glasses who dressed in Army camouflage and talked with a distinctive gravely voice, giving opinions or narratives between poker hands. Brian is a regular, and we seemed to hit it off quite well. He was an easy going, friendly fellow and a good player. I did not stay long in hands he bet or raised. He would wink once in a while when he had bluffed out opponents.


One character I enjoyed but felt bad playing against was a tall, swarthy faced man named Kenny. He was a little drunk and loud and said things that did not make sense. On his jacket was an army pin and once in a while he stressed the syllables saying "Arrrr....my" in a loud cheer like tone.
Visually, he reminded me of a pirate. his features were big and his cane was almost like a carried sword. I saw him get a bit angry when beat a few times in a row, but most of the time he was more like a happy ten year old. His poker was terrible, but his money seemed endless. When he spoke, you could hear him out on the casino floor. "Oh, my God" he exclaimed loud and often.

Someone said he had suffered a stroke.

I positioned myself to his right because he called anything and bet sometimes with very little. I wanted two of the better players to my right, and I wanted to see the cards better from Kenny's left. I thought that I might use Kenny to bet and then raise after the table called him, but the strategy did not work as I did not get cards. Finally, I got tired and felt just a bit bad to see Kenny just being fleeced, so I went to bed.

One hand was very funny, however. Three aces flopped and Kenny's opponent held pocket kings. Kenny always called bets and raised when his better cards were easy to read. So when he bet this one, he got callers and of course the guy with two kinds stayed with him. It was amazing that the guy did not raise him given kenny's history of loose play.
Kenny showed the case ace, and the whole table cheered. I think most people wanted Kenny to win something, but it is poker after all, and the weak get fleeced.

I always play my advantage against any opponents. If I can't, then I leave. I did wonder about that strategy , however, when across the table from me sat a pretty dark haired girl with the most interesting face, and I pushed her into an all in bet knowing my trips had her beat. She lost and left the table. I was not sure if I won or not.
"What did you have to do that for?" the fellow next to me asked with a grin.
"I don't know what I was thinking?" I answered.

Overall I lost money at poker. I don't know just how much as I keep a total score and don't break out the poker losses separately. Few places held what I look for, a table of predictable players who are fairly tight, just lightly seasoned with idiots or fish and no maniacs.

At the Riviera 3-6 I found that, but just did not get cards. Two guys who knew one another were drunk and playing terribly. They could not be predicted and had to be called down.
I won my first hand when I caught a river flush and the one fellow asked the dealer if a flush beat a straight before he decided to call me or not. The other fellow once asked if a straight could go over the top, as in Q-K-A-1-2. Had they been squeezing us I'd have thought it all a scam, but it was real. After being called down with Ace high and losing, the one fellow would hold his fist up to be bumped with his opponent's fist. It was all too funny. Finally they left for the craps table and I left with $42 because I did not get cards to play. With a good run of high cards, I'd have left with a few hundred.

But the next night everyone there knew everyone and the dealer and played in ways I could not figure out. Once again I did not get cards for a long, long while. A no limit waiter who had too much energy and was talking and fidgeting sat to my right. I got A-K and lost when it flopped Ace-rag-Queen to a guy with pocket Queens. Next hand I got A-K and no limit guy bet when the flop came A-rag-Jack. I called to the river and saw him collect a high hand award for quad jacks so I went home.

I hate high hand awards. Not only don't I win them although I pay for them in every pot I win, but it also changes the way people play. At the Golden Nugget I had my pocket kings cracked by a guy who caught a straight with a 4-5 of clubs that he admitted he played in spite of my preflop raise because he wanted a chance at the high hand straight award. And even if you win, it can be frustrating. At the Palms a fellow caught a diamond flush for $439 and not thirty minutes later another diamond flush emerged. This one only paid $50. I think high hand favors the loose players.

One place with a great rake and no high hand was the Wynn. I played 4-8 there. If I understand the rake correctly, they take $1 at ten, twenty, thirty and eighty so many of the pots cap at $3 rake. Of course, the downside is that they are good players attracted by the low rake and so harder to beat. I played there early in my trip when I still had some bankroll in conjunction with seeing Spamalot. One day I was up $200 and I gave most of it back. That is a good case of a time when I should leave with my winnings after the players get a sense of my play. I walked out once for a break and met Ed Koch, former mayor of NYC in the hallway. He shook my hand. He looked the same only with hearing aides. But then he always looked old.

I liked playing the Plaza. At first I was depressed they were working on the bar and so the room looked very small with black plastic as one wall, but when the bar opened I got the idea. Dancing on the poles of the bar were two cute little cowgirls. When they took a break a great country Western band played at the next stage and all of it was visible from the poker room. This is going to be a favorite place to play for lots of folks. Iike the comps there too. After a few hours of play they easily give out the $7.77 buffet comp good for up to 72 hours. It is a small buffet but every place had advantages and how much can I eat anyway. Here for breakfast the chef will make you any sort of egg you like. It is the only place I can be certain to get an egg over easy(or is it over medium?) with running yolk but no slimy white.

Joining me at the El Cortez twice was a poster named Mohave who was banned from the LV Talk boards during the recent period I think of as the grand inquisition when he voiced some criticism of a new moderator who had gone on tilt. Mohave is still is around on the poker boards and Brian's boards sometimes with a different handle. I tried to get him to ask to come back as I loved his funny prose and his dedication against flamers and those with false names and identities whose real purpose is just to carp or insult rather than share information. He knows plenty about downtown Vegas and is a regular at the El Cortez. He does not live far from Vegas. Anyway, I had never actually met him and then there he was playing against me. Later we rehashed the game at the bar and talked poker for a long while.
It is nice to meet people whose posts have entertained during some of those long, dry weeks between poker games..

THE SHOPPING

I am not a shopper, but Cowboy Christmas was more a museum than a store. What interesting things are in the Western culture. I loved all the wood, the fine burl tables with stonework inlayed between the twisted grains. I loved the bronzes similar to the old Remington, all depicting some Western activity. I never knew how much you could buy related to a horse. Such fine leather work. I could not see all there was to see. Turquoise and silver work was here too. I bought my wife a ring and a necklace.

On Freemont street we found some $2 T shirts with small Vegas 2006 logos. They were those AAA shirts that last a lifetime. I bought three.
And thanks Yahtzee for the tip on $1 bottles of Tapatio hot sauce in the dollar store near the El Cortez. I brought two bottles home.

I decided to get the Vegas monopoly for some of my Christmas folks, but will order it at home on line. Too big to carry.

REGRETS

Plenty of them. I was too tired and sick to chase down places I wanted to see or games I wanted to try.

Missed poker games: The 4-8 at Sam's Town which has a 1-2 dollar blind. The 2-6 at Excalibur. OShea's noisy and crazy room. Mirage 3-6 with Cravings buffet as a comp. the Luxor cheap buy in no limit.
Food: gumbo soup at Magnolia's. Yahtzee's market Street Cafe Salmon with black vinegar sauce and the prime rib there. Missed Gold Coast steak dinner. Missed in n out secret recipe adventure. Even had the secrets with me.
Entertainment: Missed most of the good country music. Missed a second day of Jazz at the Gold Coast. Did not have the energy to chase Squirrel Nut Zippers. Missed the Mirage lobby aquarium.
missed drinks: not one new drink tried. Not one rusty nail. A bit of breakfast amaretto in hot chocolate. Myer's rum. beer. Ellis Island holiday egg nog.
Forgot to ask for my free plush toy at MSS
Missed going to Texas Station/Fiesta for the barbecue and some poker.
Missed all of Boulder Highway, especially craps at Jokers Wild/
Missed seeing my nieces and nephews.
Missed doing much of anything after 8 PM on too many days.
dewey089 - Averill Park NY 

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Birthday Bash trip report

Well, my 24 day moveable feast of a party to celebrate my 60th year alive was a huge success. From Dec 4 until Dec 28 I met and partied with assorted friends and relatives. The youngest was my great-great-nephew George (3 years old). The oldest was the 89 year old mother of an old high school/college friend who kept up the Vegas pace just fine.

25 friends and relatives joined me over the month and I met 8 people from bulletin boards. I could have met more, but my schedule was hectic so I only tried two meets and one must have been moved or canceled. As well as having many people to entertain, I was very tired all month. I could not get my sleeping to arrange itself around other people. I was awake at 4 or 5 every morning and it was hard to grab a nap many days. I suppose some of it was being too excited. Then again I found the pattern exhausting. A few people would come in town all pumped up and ready to go and I would try to keep up. When they left after a few days, another group would come in pumped up. I did not want to miss anything. But it did take a toll on this old body and brain.

I walked the strip with some, gambled with others. I joined a group of nieces and nephews who live in Vegas and watched them put up their Christmas tree. I celebrated my birthday and Christmas Day with my wife, five sons, and four of their girlfriends/wives.


At a meet at the Orleans I met about a half dozen people from the LVA board, including my good LVA board friend Bigfus at an Orleans meet. What a lively, happy, good humored, witty, delightful woman! We met up again for VP lunch and a matchplay adventure at Terrible’s.

I tried to meet with the Las Vegas Talk crowd one day at the Orleans Mardi Gras but no one was about at the scheduled time. Perhaps the site got switched when I was in Vegas. I missed a couple people, Sorry. It was a hectic time and I was overtired almost the entire time.

Thanks to all who shared information, advice, coupons, suggestions, stories. I planned this continuous party on a Blog site which I set up just for that purpose. It is more for newbies than you Vegas regulars, but if anyone would enjoy skimming it for information, here is the address:

http://vegasbirthdaybash.blogspot.com/

You can also contact me there.

Here are highlights of the trip:

HOTELS: I shared a week of rooms with poker buddy Slink during the overpriced cowboy week. Patching together comps and coupons, one week at the El Cortez- $30 each. Pavilion rooms. Fine, as far as I am concerned. From Dec 10-28 I was at the Orleans in room 1930 with a fine view of the strip. With 8 free nights (4 were on my son’s mailings) and many reduced rates my entire average nightly hotel expense for the 24 days in Vegas was $17 a night for my room. No family or guests who met up with me paid more than $40 a night per room, most paid $25 and that included weekends.
I doubled up once and took one free night at the Fiesta Rancho and enjoyed playing VP there and eating at Texas Station. By doubling that night with a night at El Cortez I could take the bus out and back with only one night’s luggage. It was an easy ride. I’ll do that again. On the way back the bus stops right at the foot of the Freemont Experience so I won’t be wary of going there by bus next trip.


I visited rooms in Bellagio and Tuscany. Bellagio was nice, but not nice enough. I don’t like the big places. I get lost too easily. I liked the large Tuscany suites with microwave and refrigerator, but the location is still pretty isolated without a car and the casino itself seemed a dull place to be stuck late at night. No good music. Very poor poker room action.




Well, my 24 day moveable feast of a party to celebrate my 60th year alive was a huge success. From Dec 4 until Dec 28 I met and partied with assorted friends and relatives. The youngest was my great-great-nephew George (3 years old). The oldest was the 89 year old mother of an old high school/college friend who kept up the Vegas pace just fine.

25 friends and relatives joined me over the month and I met 8 people from bulletin boards. As well as having many people to entertain, I was very tired all month. I could not get my sleeping to arrange itself around other people. I was awake at 4 or 5 every morning and it was hard to grab a nap many days. I suppose some of it was being too excited. Then again I found the pattern exhausting. A few people would come in town all pumped up and ready to go and I would try to keep up. When they left after a few days, another group would come in pumped up. I did not want to miss anything. But it did take a toll on this old body and brain.


POKER:
Somehow my play has turned a good corner. I won session after session, usually playing limit $3-$6 or $2-$4, but at the Stratosphere I took $300 off a no limit table over a few hours of play, and I took another $100 at Caesars no limit. The no limit just makes me a bit nervous because I am usually tired and drinking. One mistake and there goes the whole bankroll.

I was almost two weeks playing before I lost money in a single session. It felt very good. I also saw that I got a lot of respect at the tables. I know in past trips I have been the fish at the El Cortez. This time I was skilled enough to feel people worried about me and what I might be doing.

At the Gold Coast $22 daily tournament I came in third one day for $144. That was great fun. I was short chipped in the beginning. Then I had a table change and I caught great cards four hands in a row. I made money too because most people there had not played with me very long and thought I was loose by the third hand, so they stayed with me. At the final table with five players left and not much chance for first place, I let them fight it out so I would be in some of the money. Lots of poker there for $22. The first hour is limit and then they go no limit. I think people can join as long as it is limit, or at least they can replace players who lose during the limit session.

In one tournament there that I did not win, I actually came back to have enough to play with after an all-in loss left me with just two chips. People were laughing and teasing me about “a chip and a chair” but luck gave me back a good stack. I’d have won a hand with Q-2 off suit too if a woman had not called three all-in bets with a pair of sixes and caught a set on the flop. I caught 2 pair and would have beat the others had she not called.

In the game in which I placed third, I fooled one fellow who I noticed liked to take advantage whenever he detected weakness. I caught an ace high flush on the river, and made a face when the river card showed, so he took me for nothing much and went all-in with his trips. It is fun to go into a little act once in a while. I can’t do that at home because they all know me too well and as they fold they tell me how full of s**** I am.

My favorite game is that $1-$3 (1-6 on river) spread limit game at the El Cortez. No jackpot rakes. They cap a single rake at $2.50 and tipping a quarter or fifty cents on small pots is not considered insulting. There is a single, one dollar blind. So you can drink and listen to the banter and wait as long as you want for cards. Compared to the Orleans, where a half kill rule creates three blinds in a good portion of the hands, this game is a tight player’s dream.

The only other game with such a low blind was the old Excalibur 1-3 game that is now gone. And that one did not have the nice big bet on the river, ripe for check raise.

The savings in rake and tip over hours of play really adds up. And what a colorful experience that place is! Jackie Gaughn comes down to play in the afternoon. He is dressed to the nines and calling his famous, “One for the money!” Every once in a while he will wink humorously. It is old Vegas sitting right next to us.
One evening I had a loose, drunken kid to my right and “loose Mike” to his right. They were betting into one another and into me and I was catching cards that just would not stop. Low pairs of 5’s 6’s 7’s 8’s and 9’s all developed into winning sets or full houses. I took $250 off that table, and the kid got so mad and so verbally abusive to me for winning, that they called security and had him thrown out. I had quietly taken all his verbal abuse (along with most of his money) so that after he left, I had both a huge stack of chips and the sympathy of the entire table. That is one hard combination.

I got a little drunk one night on red wine there myself and talked a long while to “Jelly” a sweet Jamaican girl who watched but rarely played. When I get drunk, I tighten up and play just the best cards or flops. I kept winning even while drunk. Nine contestants in a Thai beauty contest were at the bar and the winner came over to say hello to her ex-husband playing across from me. This destroyed his ability to play well for the rest of the night.
That night there was a fist fight. I helped calm one fellow and the floor person helped calm the other until security came. They through one fellow out and I thought it was the wrong guy. But the other player’s thought more about poker than justice. The guy left was a classic fish. “We like having guys like him,” one local explained to me. I heard the next day that this fish had dropped $500. Too bad I needed sleep.

That poker table captures some of the most interesting characters and a mix of some of the worst and some of the best players I have ever seen. My most memorable hand was at a table of very good players in the morning. The flop gave me trip nines as well as three to a straight for my opponents. The First to act, bet. I was fourth. I figured I needed to fold or raise. I did not believe the first actor would bet out if he had flopped the straight, so I raised to push out other straight draws. An old local fellow after me, who had seen me play super tight for two hours, threw in his flopped set of tens. There was no straight, and I won the pot. The old fellow was flabbergasted. He still could not figure that raise. I was happy. I knew for the remainder of the afternoon he would be calling all my raises.

Fine news for me was to find that the weekend before I arrived the El Cortez poker room went “no smoking.” That made the experience much more fun and less risky. Smokers need to go about ten feet away from the table into the casino. That is enough; it makes the atmosphere so much more pleasant.

We also played at the Nugget. I like to play a few hours in the late evening and then get a nice comp after midnight for the next day. That is a great buffet. You can take the comp and go to bed, then go over the next day for lunch and not need to eat again that day. And it works as a line pass. That Nugget buffet can have a 40 minute wait. They used to be tight with those comps and strict about the time. There was a good looking brush who just would not give you an inch. If you forgot to sign in, oh well....no comp for you. But now it is friendly. Once they even changed the date on a comp I had not used. I don’t think they attract as many players there as they did when the room was out in the middle of the casino.

They were efficient, easy for table moves, responsive to requests, and very friendly. Once old “loose Mike” from the El Cortez came in to play $3-$6 at the Nugget. He sat down directly to the right of me and I knew what I was in for. He did not remember me from the night I took the $250 at the El Cortez, but I remembered him, and if I could have caught cards, I’d have cleaned his clock. Others there did discourage him after about an hour. They were good players and they did not loosen up as I have seen in some cases when a wild bettor joins the table. They gave him plenty of little pots and then killed him when they had cards.

There too I later saw a fellow who had played well for over two hours go completely on tilt and start betting anything and everything. I took one pot from him, but the rest of the table just cleaned him out. Discipline is everything. That night I had been playing on a $2-$4 table, but everyone was mindlessly in every pot and so I moved to where some real poker was being played.

I flopped a straight flush A-5 of spades at the Orleans and got a poker room shirt. Somebody stayed with me to the river too even though I had the A-5 in my hand. I don’t know what they had.

Someone also stayed with me to the river when I had pocket aces and caught four aces at Excalibur and spun the wheel for a mere $20. That night four or five of my grown kids were all wearing this birthday shirt they had made for me with my picture on the front of it, so at each table the dealer’s were looking at my face. They all wished me Happy Birthday and then it was great to hear tables cheer for my spin.

I finally played at the Venetian, but all the good comps I had heard so much about were gone. Just the standard $1 an hour and no free bad beat award. I did not care much for the place. Everyone said that it is the best run, but I found the floor persons a bit confused and slow to notice free seats. I liked Caesars best. Their 3-6 limit with no high hand rakes or kill pot was my favorite, but I heard that they are switching to the high hand rake too. I am going to keep looking for $3 - $6 games with no kills and no bad beat rakes. I did well too at MGM $3 - $6 game. I like when I catch a fairly conservative game where most of the players play their cards in predictable manners with few raises or reraises before the flop. I can put them on hands with some success and if I catch cards, rack up some money.


I think those are my favorites after the El Cortez.

I lost most of my sessions at the Orleans no matter what I played. I thought it was just bad cards. One session I lost in a short time with pockets jacks, queens, kings, and aces and a couple of those looked good for a while, so they cost me money. In retrospect, I think there is something working there that does not give me success. Maybe the players are just a bit better. Or maybe that damned half kill stuff just loosens the game too much for me. I know I don’t like it when I manage to take two in a row and then have to be this stupid big big blind. It might be fine for loose players, but I am not likely to be in three pots in a row. I’d rather keep my $3 profit for a hand that I want to bet.


But sometimes there I found bad players. One was a young kid with a tatoo and sunglasses who agonized over his 2-4 bet like it was a no limit. He was a very loose and bad player. He would pay you on the river even when he had nothing. Once after a long, tight session, I raised on the button in order to buy a free card. It worked, but my hand did not develop. He clearly had something to bet on the turn, but he waited for me and when I check he was so annoyed. He was one of the easiest players to read I ever played with.

My buddy best liked the $4-$8 game at Texas Station. He said there was no kill and no crazy players outdrawing good cards with nothing, just pretty regular and predictable players.

Of course, I know that no poker room has predictable players. They change from time to time. But both my buddy and I are getting to the point in our game where we want to avoid a table with too many people just in for the hell of it, the “it’s only money” crowd who never take any note of how you play and they seem more prevalent in high tourist areas and in the lower stakes games.

Finally, I was often in games of 5 or 6 and asked for rake reduction. Rarely was I told no. At Caesar’s I played an hour with no rake whatsoever. I like a five person game because I am used to that at home. I can play more hands and be more aggressive and those conditioned to the 10 person games will still be folding. I especially like a 5 person game if all five have been playing with me for a few hours and view me as tight.

OTHER GAMBLING: I don’t play slots except to use money that I have not played in my State Lottery all year. I put that in Megabucks, so I can have the fantasy of being filthy rich all year, but have it based on a better bet. Often I give myself 7 spins a night and then take the profits, win or lose. Total spins this time were less than 70 for the trip. along with small hits, I hit at the Orleans for $900 one time with 7-double-double.

Video poker was sadder. No royals. Orleans kept taking my 10/7 DB down to 9/6. I’d play a machine one day, and arrive the next morning to see it closed and on the chopping block. Sad, sad times for VP players at the Orleans. What are they thinking? VP players would have to be brain dead to play 9/6 DB. I chased the nickel progressive 9/7DB royals there for days and lost money. I hit nicely at 9/6 JOB at Terrible’s.

LIVE POKER


FOOD: I eat at the low end. Coupons for Orleans and Gold Coast were a great help. I really like that Gold Coast breakfast. Very cheap. We would go over early and sign up for the $22 tournament and then have breakfast before we played. Cravings at the Mirage was fine, but not as different as I had hoped. Paris breakfast was wonderful as always.
For Christmas dinner we took our restaurant.com $25 certificate (which cost just $4) to McMullan’s just behind the Orleans. We had the place to ourselves. The celebration there included my five sons and four of their wives/girlfriends, my wife and me. So it was great to be able to be as loud as we wanted. Murphy’s stout and Fat Tire made a big hit as did the homemade potato chips and the tasty dips that come with them. We also had nacho’s made with those chips. I have been on a low carb diet and have had virtually no potato for the last six months so it was great to binge on crispy chips. I love that Guinness mustard. We got away at about $25 a piece, everything included.
Another night with one nephew, a poker buddy, and his wife we went to Marrakech out Tropicana for the dinner and live belly dancing and had a blast. They serve six courses for $35 a piece. Alcohol was expensive, but few of us drank there, so the bill was cheap for dinner and live entertainment in a very unusual setting. The dancers were full of humor and many got up and danced with them. It was very funny.
I had the Ellis Island steak 3 times and I’d go again tomorrow if I could. those garlic green beans are great. One crowded night we only found room to sit at the Chicago Pub in the 4 Queens and I had that New Orleans special sandwich called Mustafa(New Orleans style) and a micro brew sampler. Good food. Better Mustafa than I had in N’Orleans.
Elizabeth and I also ate at the Ba-re-ba Spanish tapas place and had some tasty tidbits. This was while we were shopping at the Fashion Show Mall.

DRINKS: I carried a whole list of new drinks to try and did not try any except Amaretto. I did like that sweet drink. Drink coupons worked wonders, especially that 4 free cocktails coupon at Ellis Island. We used the coupon at the bar and carried the drinks into the restaurant. I had plenty coupons for everyone at the Orleans, and at the Gold Coast where I listened twice to a few sets of the Royal Dixie Jazz band. I sure like that old time jazz music. This trip I even managed to dance with my wife a bit.

SHOWS: LOVE was the big one for the whole family. It was great! We had good seats in the 200 section and a good view of all the action. I saw only one other. I saw the Follies again when we won some tickets on the free pull. Good show as always. Odd. I usually see more than that when I go solo, but most of the people I was with did not plan shows into the mix. I saw some good lounge acts, including Susy Dobbs at the Gold Coast just at the end of the Rodeo days. I love to see those cowboys and to listen to their talk or horses and bull riding, all so different than anything in my world. I enjoyed the Royal Dixie Jazz Band at the Gold Coast and the Smith brothers at the Orleans. Some woman from Virginia picked me up one night in the Orleans lounge and danced with me for a set. No, she was not a hooker.
But at my age and weight I am not used to being picked up by a cute 40 something woman even it she is a bit tipsy. So that was a treat.

SANTAS

Slink and I sauntered through however many thousands of people in Santa outfits for the great Santa Run which was trying for a Guinness Book of Records. It was surreal. Here is a Blogger who ran:

http://www.robinlynn.org/

JEAN SCOTT

Jean did not plan to be part of my birthday bash, but I went to hear her speak at the Las Vegas library along with Viktor Nacht who co-authored her new book. So I’ll count her. It was really a great time. There were only a dozen people in the audience so she had plenty of personal time for everyone. I had my picture taken with her (Jean wearing Reindeer antlers on her head) and got a signed copy of her new book. She was just as she seems in print: practical, down to earth, equipped with facts.

She has been such an inspiration to me, that I was really thrilled to meet her. It was one of the highlights of my trip.
Certainly she has taught many low level gamblers to find ways to have fun without losing too much money. I admire her for that. Frugality is the key to her success. That is my way of life.
I honestly thought that the book would be interesting, but not too useful for me, as I have limited my VP play to just playing for room mailings, and pretty much know what I need to know. But I was wrong. In the book was a simple formula for evaluating a progressive. I used that the next day because that was all there was at the Orleans. And other parts were very helpful also.
Her software does something I have been wanting for a long while. It takes errors and generalizes them and then feeds them back randomly. This is a fine teaching strategy. The old Dancer program I use feeds my errors back in a group and they are exactly like the hands I missed, so sometimes my memory comes into play rather than my correct application of a principle.
Good Teachers know that good practice must make the student rethink a similar problem in the right way, not just remember an answer. Jean is a master teacher.
Also her software prints strategy sheets. However, they will not print an advanced sheet with penalty cards like Tomski’s VP Strategy Maker does. Jean leaned more into ignoring the finer distinctions. Still having the ability to print good strategy sheets is a great advantage because you can take them right in the casino with you, lose them, and print more next trip. Also, you can actually print them big enough to read without squinting. And I find that I confuse myself often on big issues and need to check the sheet. Or when coaching someone, it is nice to show them the answer on a printed page so they are not just relying on your memory.

Quotes from Jean:

“Brad says I’m ‘crazy frugal’ and that’s true.”

When we started, “we just wanted to break even and get all the free comps.”

“For a casual gambler, losing less is very good.”


“Multistrike poker can turn a preacher into a swearing sailor.”

“I think multiline poker is one of the best things to happen to Video Poker, but it is also one of the most dangerous.”


She talked about tough sessions which she reported as sessions in which:

“I’m not getting any dealt good hands.”
“We don’t get discouraged enough to quit, but we do get pissed off.”

PROMOTIONS:
Encouraging five sons (25-35), many of whom do not make much money, to meet me in Vegas was risky. I worried that they would gamble above their level. None did. Part of that is because I push coupons and promotions. We spent a lot of time playing free promotion money off on a VP machine one quarter at a time with me coaching from my strategy sheets, so as to realize some profit every time. It worked. Matchplays at Ellis Island worked also as did Win Cards at the Westin. Such promotions set good stopping points. Poker buddy Slink and I made some wild coupon runs also, especially one at New Frontier where we played 4 matchplays each in the same visit. However, for me the matchplays did not win with slink or much later either. On my way out of town at the Hardrock, both my wife and I played 4 matchplays and only won once. Two losers were $25 bets.

The best advantage on a promotion was when son Frank signed up for a Sahara Card. He got $10 free play and then took one free spin on a promotional slot and won $25 more free play and $25 in food comps. We were planning on catching the Sahara Buffet, so as to be on the cheap that night. Frank’s comps were doubled at the buffet cash register, so he bought 4 free buffets, and the rest of us went for 2 for 1 coupons. Now the Sahara buffet is usually one I avoid, and this happened to be Xmas eve. But this night they had a special spread. Everything was very good, including my favorite smoked salmon with onion, tomato, capers, and creamed horse radish. The value of Frank’s sign up was $35 in VP play and $54 in food comps. Not bad for free.

WINS AND LOSSES: I was down $300 in the first week, and then I was up again and never went below 0 again. At my peak I was ahead $1700. Then I hovered around $1300 profit for a week and the last day took a big chunk, ending up PLUS $984.
Much of my loss was VP at the El Cortez (which by the way has a new bunch of 10/7 machines) and at the Orleans. So all the money dropped will generate future free room offers. I played VP only where I stayed. One buddy who had never played video poker before asked me to coach him on a JOB machine at the Gold Coast. We argued about whether to play 3 to the Royal or keep four hearts. I won the argument and he caught the Royal. First day and less than an hour of play. A nice $1000.

TRANSPORTATION: I did not rent a car or drive at all. I am perfectly content on buses or free shuttles and much happier. In December they are comfortable and uncrowded. Others who came did rent cars, so I was driven around many places. A car makes some sense if you are staying for only a few days. But it scares me. I was in at least a half dozen situations where accidents might have easily occurred.
I did not buy the month long bus pass, but I did often buy day passes. They worked great. The Tropicana bus fro the Orleans was easy and fast, and when I started my 24 hours on that bus, the $2.50 day pass with 50 cents more per ride on the strip worked better for me than when I started on the $5 Deuce and had to pay $5 for a pass. Once when toe blisters slowed me down, I missed my last Deuce connection bus in a 24 hour period, but the next driver let me slide by. I also saw a couple old fellows just put in a dollar and say “senior citizen”. No one asked for an ID. They told me they had been doing that their entire week on the Deuce with no difficulty.


By the way if you have been saving old Orleans room keys to use on the free Coast shuttles, forget them. The white keys are gone and now there is a colorful 10th Anniversary key. No one ever asked for a key anytime we rode the shuttle including when people without seats were asked to wait for the next one. But technically you are supposed to have a key.

RED ROCK: Went out to Red rock twice with folks who had never seen it and enjoyed the view, the wild burros and road runners.

MOST USEFUL TIPS:

Planning, planning, planning.
coupons organized in labeled envelopes in a separate bag.
Cell phones, the key to all coordination.
Traveler’s checks.
A clip for the drapes for afternoon naps.
A small roll of duct tape for a million uses.
Blister protection, especially some first aid tape for taping up fragile toes.
Order a bottle of water with each alcoholic drink and drink it before the next drink. Keep a few bottle tops with pocket change for the places(Orleans) that won’t give you the bottle with a top on it.
Dried fruit and nuts for the room.
Cash out slot tickets immediately after play.

PLANS FOR NEXT TIME

Well, next trip won’t be a Birthday Bash. I may go solo, or I may try to entice small groups of people to come for some portion of my trip. I’d like to go one time with all poker players. I’d like to find a group of swing dancers to go, stay at the Gold Coast during the week, and then dance every afternoon while drinking free on coupons.
I am definitely hooked on downtown and especially on the El Cortez which will send me a mailing for 2 free rooms over 3 weekend nights and the ability to extend for about $25 a night. Coupons and other free night offers downtown are easy to use. Every casino is just a short roll away.

If i do decide for some time closer to the strip, I am looking more and more at the Gold Coast as a substitute for Orleans now that the good VP is gone. At least they have 9/6 JOB still at the Gold Coast. Also the rooms are cheaper, the buffet better, the swing dancing a favorite of mine, and they have that fine $22 daily poker tournament which I can’t play by shuttle from the Orleans because the tournament is on before the first morning shuttle. I can also get back to the Gold Coast more easily after midnight if I want to play poker at Caesars or Flamingo, and I can easily grab the CAT bus to Terrible’s or to Ellis Island.
I would like to get my packing down to bare bones, so I can take my suit cases on the city bus easily. I already have found that Penny’s stain free supershirts wash easily, dry quickly and look great. If I can be more mobile, I can take more advantage of free or 2/1 coupon rooms.
In general, I want to plan so that I take full advantage of free offers and reduce my transportation expenses while not renting a car.

I will organize all my reservations by confirmation number and do all my confirming one number at a time and reconfirm often. I lost $80 at the Orleans with a reservation mixup, too many changed reservations to plug in free rooms or better prices made the entire thing confusing and left two errors in the booking.
The El cortez had me coming in the day before, but since I had confirmed that reservation a few days before arriving, and they had that on record, they accommodated me and took it as their error.

I also need to think about whether I want to share my room again. It cuts expenses, but my sleep habits are irregular, and I may need to pay the extra price for the comfort of being by myself and sleeping at any time of the day I want without disturbing or being disturbed.

Okay, that is about it, I guess. I tried to keep it down to the facts. I did not take as many notes as I do on a solo trip. Too busy. Too tired. Now the question is what do I do on a frozen lake in January. Well, I’ll start with a poker game on Sunday. Perhaps that will help some.

Good luck everyone.



TO CUT IN LATER


As far as I know, you can only use a coupon once for 2-1 in any given stretch of days. Perhaps they will let you go back to back with LVA and ACG. If you can put the reservations in different names, then you can better string them along together. I did that in December. Or id your stay is long enough you might be able to use one the first days and then again on the last days.

Once you get established, you may find you get the best mailings from the El Cortez. They usually offer 2 rooms for 3 nights and include weekend bookings. Also they let you extend at $25 night and throw in $50 of free food. Be sure to reconfirm your reservation soon after making it, and check the dates. They had me for the wrong dates. They accomodated me when I arrived because I had reconfirmed 3 days before leaving and they OR I) had not caught the date difference.
I have stayed in the Tower rooms. They are basically identical to Orleans rooms. Pavillion are as mentioned above motel like, but I liked them fine. I don't know the vintage rooms. They seem just too much in the action for me. I liked the night view on the balcony on the way to Pavillion rooms. Toliets flush poorly so flush more than once and hold down the handle for a bit.
The poker room has gone no smoking, so you can play live poker more comfortably, and they have an original game like no other in Vegas. I included some report on that in my TR.
If you play VP, there are some good games there including some new 10/7 DB around a pole in front of the rest rooms in the Classic slots section.
$3 craps with 10 X odds is pretty good too. And they have some of the only single deck 3:2 BJ left in Vegas.

The food is not that great. I'd stay away from that Empress Buffet. Roberta's is liked by many, but too expensive for me except when they give me a free comp. I usually eat other places unless I get a poker comp for Careless Kitty's where the hamburger melt and the prime rib taste just fine.

Run 1000 points thru the machine daily and you will get mailings. The cool thing about downtown is that you can patch together coupons and free rooms and get from one to another with no car. Also, the bus from the DCT will get you anywhere. One cool ride is the 108 to Hardrock and Terrible's. It avoids the traffic and holdups on LV Blvd. and gets you close enough to walk to Ellis Island for cheap steak and matchplays and then head to the strip. 24 hour passes for regular routes are $2.50. Then you add 50 cents for each Deuce ride. Deuce 24 hour passes are $5 and will give you unlimited rides on any bus.

I also found the bus to Fiesta Rancho/Texas Station very convenient. I'd even come back at night because you can hop off right next to Freemont street and avoid that walk from the DTC after dark.

That's it

Except for the coming Trip Report The official end of the Birthday Blog is now.
Thanks for reading.
Thanks for planning to come.
Thanks for coming.
Thanks for imagining you might someday come.

Have a good holiday, everyone. Enjoy everything.
And may the New Year bring you jackpots of joy!!