Comparing 6 hotel room experiences

I’ll rank the rooms I tried this past trip in order of the best to the good.

ORLEANS

Of the frugal and free rooms I choose, this one is always above the others in comfort and classiness.  Everything is always clean here and quiet.  Generally, I don’t bother with view but take a room that will make the elevator trips easy.
I oversold that I wanted quiet this time, because I ended up with a room so far from the elevator that I did not need any time on the treadmill, just a walk to my room and back.  I’ll not stress quiet so much next time.
I am not certain I will be putting this place in the mix.  My play is slight here and I get two free nights with food every six months.  The trip out and back from downtown is inconvenient and long. If I dropped this place, I’d save luggage on the bus, and the way downtown is shaping up, I don’t need these two free nights.
But the room was as nice as always.

GOLD SPIKE

I had my doubts about this place.  But it turns out to be where I will look for a sale my next trip.  Here are the details”
http://vegasbirthdaybash.blogspot.com/2011/11/tr-snippet-gold-spike-room-review.html

It really ties with the Orleans.  It is not as plush but the wifi in the room as well as a heated pool and TCM on the tele makes it a great choice.
Also, the location is easy for check in check out as it is around other hotels I would use.

FOUR QUEENS

I like these rooms. Everything is comfortable.  I like the television and the coffee pot.  I like the way they treat me when I check in and out and the way the maids are.  I like it that they comp three nights a month rather then two, and I am getting weekend nights comped.   I found out that I can extend my stay without pumping more money into the VP by taking Binions poker rate of $24 a night and I’ll try that for at least a couple days next trip.  Five in a row is very nice.
This trip for one weekend I was in the North Tower for the first time.  I’ll try to avoid that.  They said that they would put me in quiet, but I could hear faint street music.  It did not matter because I never slept during that time, but clearly the South Tower is better.  One advantage to dropping the Orleans is that from wherever I come downtown, I can walk over early and ask to wait for a South Tower room, and just go back for my luggage once the room I want has been cleaned.
Coming from the Orleans I showed up tired after luggage on buses and just wanted to get in any room.

PAVILLION

I got a much better Pavillion room this trip. Perhaps that is because I asked if there was a room with a table for my computer. There was not, but it may have made a difference in where they put me. Or it may just have been the luck of the draw. New safes are installed here and there is a coffee maker.  I don't remember having either on my last trip.

The biggest issue here is that any noise in the walk around area outside the room is heard in the room. After an all nighter, I wanted a early morning nap, and it was impossible. The room cleaners’ carts sound like there is a little train running right outside the door and the workers or cleaners shout to one another because they are outside and that seems fine.
However, I think it will be fine if I sleep in the night time.  And if I use them at the end of my trip to also get the free ride to the airport, I’ll not need to worry. The last couple days of any trip I exhaust myself getting the last little bit out of Vegas and preparing myself to be sleepy on the airplane ride back, so I shorten it with sleep.
However, with the right rates at Gold Spike, I’d skip the El Cortez altogether next trip as well. The WAX is just as good a ride to the airport, can be taken any day and at later hours than the EC shuttle, and requires no tip.

To make up for a computer table, I opened the first two drawers in the phone cabinet next to the bed and pulled over this long padded bench. My computer rests easily on those shelves. Using the phone book and some other bits of things I propped up the Gideon's bible and it makes a fine mouse pad. So I can write comfortably.

HARRAH’S

Except for location, this Mardi Gras tower room comes in last. I did not want to pay for a renovated room, and I found the room pretty old looking and dull. Also, it just was not cleaned properly.  I found nail clippings on the poorly vacuumed rug.  
I cleaned up enough for me and requested no service the three nights I was there because I tend to spread out a lot with piles here and there, and I just don’t want anyone in the room, and I don’t feel like picking up for the maid. Solo I always have plenty of towels. I can make my own bed.
Well, this maid had just a touch of attitude about that. Seemed odd. I was saving her work. I did not like it. Usually I just practice a bit of my Spanish and make a call to housekeeping and put up my "Do Not Disturb" and it is seen as standard practice.
It may have been that I got tired of the “Do Not Disturb” sign slipping off the door handle and falling on the ground whenever I opened the door, so I stuck a bandaid on it to secure it to the door.  I liked that too because I knew if I got my room number mixed up, I could find the door with the bandaid.

In the end, on checkout I left and forgot a couple shirts, so I came back and the maid  was fine about letting me in again.  I had checked out, and my key did not work. So who knows.
In terms of location I love Harrah’s when it is cheap or free, so I’d go again, but this was not like the room I had in Mardi Gras Tower before.  I even had to move a round table over near the bed to hook up my computer as where the table was, the electric box had a plate over it.  
It did not matter, I carry two electrical splitters and an extention cord, but I expected better at Harrah’s.



FITZGERALD’S



Fine location and an okay room, but the beds are just as folks say.  I was too tired to care the first night, even to move to the other bed which was soft.  I laughed because I don’t think I have had a bed that hard since basic training in the Air Force. And then I feel asleep. 
The second night I slept on the soft version in the other bed.  However, these thin mattresses are very different from those of the Four Queens that are twice as thick and moving from Fitz to 4Q I really got a sense of the contrast.  If Fitz gives me a couple nights free, I’ll take a room with two queen beds and put the soft mattress on top of the hard one.
Location was great.  It is just a short walk across a narrow street to move luggage to the Four Queens.
I liked the little pool and would like it better in warm weather.  One day the sun took the icy feel off and I swam for a while.  Another day I put on my wetsuit and went in for a while, but the water was still pretty cold and I did not swim for the near two hours I swam at the Gold Spike.
So, here is a question to keep asking. Is that Gold Spike pool going to be heated now all the time?

Laughlin- old reflections

I can't seem to find my photos and reports of trips to Laughlin, especially the one I took with Frank from London to show him a bit of America.  But here is some collection of what I could find.  I did not go there this past trip. I probably won't go on the next one.  Much of what I went for is gone.
However, once the Chinese invest in green technology of that area, it may make for some good deals again.

Much of what was really good VP has dried up.  The Aquarius still has full pay.

http://www.vpfree2.com/casinos/laughlin.html

I don't think there is anything there that can't be matched or beaten by Downtown now.

I don't know if these are still good contacts for the buses. I used them a few years back.  You should not pay more than $5 for the trip so keep asking until you get enough contacts to find a five dollar or free day trip.  Some offer a stop at the Hoover Dam.

http://www.sightseeingtourslv.com/contact.html

http://www.lasvegasgrandcanyontour.com/BUS-laughlin-day-tour.php

Here is how one of those trips looked a few years back:

http://vegasbirthdaybash.blogspot.com/2008/05/tr-snippet-laughlin.html

Expect very little of the free buffets.

I always like visiting the Watchman Store

It is a walk from where the bus drops.  I have a large collection of watches from there.

http://www.thewatchman.com/

I run questions by this following discussion board before I go.  I especially like Grif there.  But it is a board that celebrates, so the information is not really balanced.

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

Clearly renting a car for trips longer than one day is the easiest way to go.

You can make a nice trip back to Vegas  by going from Laughlin up to Oatman to see this little town and feed donkeys in the streets,


along part of route 66,
(we got a great hamburger here and I loved the root beer)



to Hoover Dam area and back again.  I can't remember the exact geography but I took a London buddy up through there and it gave him a good look at that part of America.

We stopped and walked around a really small town on that trip called Chloride.  It is the first reviewed here:

http://www.lvlg.com/lasvegas/attracts/ghstwns.htm

We saw a little old jail in that town.  It was such a relaxed visit that we stopped at the General store and they told us where the little jail was and told us we could go inside but please close the door when we were done.
Here is the jail

Yards were often decorated with found art:

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If you hate to rent cars, this bus below gave good service and with car rental and gas came to less.  I used to spend a week there and the hotel room discount paid for the bus ride out.

http://rivercityshuttle.com/

It is not cheap, but neither is gasoline.  The service was good each time I used it, and I like not having to drive tired and sometimes drunk.  It will pick up at Terribles or at the airport and deliver to whatever casino is requested.  I am not certain it will go to Avi.  That is a bit isolated and away from the strip of casinos along the river.
When I stayed there I moved my luggage from casino to casino on the river taxis which were inexpensive at that time.

But that was when I had a host at the Edgewater got a string of free tooms, and the VP was semidecent.

I liked the live poker games, spread limit 2-6 with a $3 rake and $2 taken for bonus awards so that those were very generous.  Cracked Aces can be found 24/7.

However, I found that I was playing the same everyday locals wherever I went and I could not beat them.

Vegas prices are so cheap now and there is still good VP to be found.  After my last trip I can't imagine doing more than than riding out for a day, just for a break.  And even that seems less attractive than all the places available on buses now from downtown.  I did not get everywhere I wanted to go in Vegas over the last 23 days.
It was nice to see the desert, but I got a taste of that by walking the UNLV campus and looking at the gardens they have established there.

Missing in Laughlin:

The great Sunday buffet at Grandma's at the Pioneer.  This was the best buffet I have ever experienced with an atmosphere more like a the fancy restaurant that Grandma's is.
VP at the Edgewater, Colorado Belle, Pioneer.... all downgraded.
The host that gave us a great deal for our sort of advantaged play.
The great jazz band that played nights at the Colorado Belle.

That being said the river is always nice.  I liked it when I could feed the fish.  That is gone as well.

Coming soon to Laughlin is an incredible project which may change the economy there, and perhaps the gambling as well, especially around Avi.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/sep/19/chinese-energy-company-seeks-more-county-land-eco-/

This article is not comprehensive, but if when you load it, you look at the related articles that come up, you can get a fuller view of what this means.

I talked to folks from there this past trip and they are very excited about the jobs and money that this would mean for their community.

TR Snippet: Gold Spike room review

I had heard these rooms were nice, but I did not expect to be as comfortable as I was there. I was first in 503 and it is a fine room, but I moved to 502 after Wild Bill left that room, and it was much quieter.
I am not suggesting that the rooms compare with the Orleans let alone any upscale casino, but it does compare well with downtown casinos. I find it much better than the Fitzgerald and better than the El Cortez Pavillion.
Here is what I like about the room:

The beds were comfortable.

They told me that the pool was not heated, but it was. The air was very cold, and I knew I would not try my wetsuit, but the water was bath water warm. I did not need it. I swam in the morning when the air was in the 40's and could stay in the water easily for an hour or more. I was by myself most days. It was great.
It is a strange pool. About a fourth of it is just a few inches deep so you could recline in the water and still be getting sun. Nice for summer time.

There are two tiny waterfalls giving the sound of water and acting a bit as white noise. The street is not far, but it did not intrude. Two nice hot showers were there as well. Towels were plentiful except when I went before opening time, and then I called to a maid doing the poolside rooms and she brought me some towels.  

Those rooms look interesting, but I had heard they were smaller than the tower rooms and I don't much like having folks walking outside a window on a balcony just outside my room. this is like the El Cortez Pavilion. It was a bit of a brisk walk back to the main casino and tower rooms, but I liked those better and they have had better reviews.The pool is open at 9 and closes at 10. But one morning I got my times wrong and was swimming at 8.

That nice celebratory green found in El Cortez Cabana suite walls was reduced to one green wall and green around and behind the television insert. The rest of the room was beige.
The television was a fine flat screen. I don't watch much of it this trip, but when I do, because of the way it is placed in the wall, it seems to float in a rectangle of darkness. I like the feel of it.

While there is no closet with a door, the rack for hanging clothes bullt into the furniture on the wall was plenty big enough and included a construction of parallel bars so that it was very easy to hang hand washing in a way that would dry clothes easily. I did my laundry in the sink there.

Wifi hooked up easily. It looks like they have two accounts, so we can pick the strongest. It all works well and is so nice to have for getting information and directions. I find that I have little energy for carrying my computer to search out hotspots for wifi. Mostly I like the computer for writing up the day's adventures so as not to forget what happened and I do that on the word processor.  

However, last night the computer I took to Vegas crashed and took a nice chunk of my notes with it. My room reflections I had put in the cloud before I left the Gold Spike wifi, so it was still here to revise into a post. I think I'd like having that insurance on future trips.

The bathroom included an exhaust fan that took the steam out of the room and made shaving easy.
All plumbing in the bathroom worked perfectly and that is a first for this trip.

Part of the reason for that may be that each room is inspected after it is cleaned before it is released for booking. Bill and I booked early and the inspector walked up with us, looked around, and told us the bathtup plunger was missing. Bill said to forget it as he would never take a bath, and we were in a hurry. 

"It drains fine," the inspector said.

Now who would think that a room would be inspected for speed of the drain.

This guy was efficient, and I could see there would be fewer room surprises.The television included more channels than any other place I have stayed, other than the Koval Super 8. Turner Classic Movies, my favorite station, was included. This means that were I to get sick, or go broke early, I'd be well entertained without the commercials I so hate and avoid at home with taping or Netflix.

The drawer space is huge and there is a part of the unit that would include a refrigerator and a safe, but is empty and great for dirty clothes.

There was lots of room for more furniture in the room. Lots of open space waiting for "improvement" with stuff. I liked the open space. The Fountainebleau furniture is very nice, very functional, some of my favorite for storing stuff. Let us hope that improvement is a long way off.

The ice was very odd. To get ice I had to go to the bar and then they scooped it in the back. They were perfectly nice about it. The ice bucket in Bill's room was huge, so I used that. After this huge feast at the Lucky Club, I could not finish the fajitas and took it home in a bag and kept it on ice in that bucket. While I wrote in the morning I snacked on cold fajita flavored chicken and steak. I could see that with a little planning I could cool a sixpack of water or seltzer in that bucket and have a cold drink when I wanted.

I first drew a room on the street, so there was some traffic noise, but it really never kept me awake or was a bother. If I listened carefully, and was quiet, I could tell the television was plahying in the room next door, but there was no annoyance and even the sound of typing on the computer seemed to drown it out.

I brought along exterior speakers so I could use the wifi to listen to Ray Smith's Jazz Decades, my favorite music venue. That worked great. I loved having that music when I had things to do in the room.

When Bill left, I moved to his room and away from the street. I liked that much better.

Modifying the negativity of the resort fee are real amenities. Also when I booked the resort fee was listed upfront and named in the booking. There was no mystery. I suggest folks book directly here. Try for a match in discounter prices.

Deals are frequent and very good. I paid $12 (weekdays) and $27( weekends) plus $9 a night. This makes it a good casino to fill in around the comped places I visit. I don't have the bankroll to play anything other than live limit poker every day over 22 nights, so I need an inexpensive place to rent where I don't intend to play for comped rooms and need not worry about reducing my average daily gambling score by staying for a long stretch.

Also there is nothing like the El Cortez ridiculous seven night limit after which a $25 fee kicks in on top of the room charge. So I can plan my visits with a great deal of flexibility. I was, in fact, booked for 9 nights in a row but at the last minute 4 Queens gave me more free rooms and I dropped to 6 at the Gold Spike.
The heating and cooling was very easy to adjust. This was in stark contrast to the Harrah's room I had where some automatic feature turned on a loud fan when I entered, and I could not seem to just turn it off for once and for all. It would click back into some automatic mode. In both rooms at the Gold Spike, the little heater cooler could be simply turned off and the room made very quiet.

The new Boulder Highway buses, built like the SDX, only with a cheaper residential fare, pick up and deliver just a half block from here.
On Thursdays I can go out to Sam's Town for the free show Toast of the Town on the HDX and get there in 12 minutes.

On Monday nights I can go out to Eastside Cannery and see Claudia Castro's Latino lounge act on a slower bus, the BDX.

During the daytime hours the HDX gets to Sam's Town in 12 minutes because it only makes one stop at Sahara before it gets to Nellis. The BDX makes all the Boulder Highway stops so it takes more like a half hour, but it would drop me at Boulder, Arizona Charlies, or anywhere along the Boulder Highway, and then turn and take me to Sunset Station if I like.

Or I could easily stay anywhere on Boulder Highway and hop one comfortable and uncrowded bus with my luggage to stay next at the Gold Spike. So I am thinking again of a couple nights at Eastside Cannery for some poker and Claudia Castro.

In fact, I am back to seeing downtown as the place to stay, a hub with buses that go anywhere and faster than ever. Avoid the Deuce by using the SDX of the WAX or the CX and the strip is quickly accessible. Boulder Highway is accessible. The UNLV campus is accessible. 106 still goes out to Texas Station and Fiesta.  and checking in and out downtown is much easier as luggage can just be rolled from place to place, and often the desired room could be arranged more easily by going early and coming back for what I want if it is not available early. I settled for Four Queens North Tower because I was there with luggage and tired after riding buses so I just wanted to get in and get settled.

I wanted to take the HDX to explore downtown Henderson and especially to play the Club Fortune Casino if it was not too long a walk from downtown. However, my toes blistered and my feet gave out, so I had to strike it off my list. Next trip I'll put it early in the plans.

And the El Cortez small live poker game is not far away. Fremont is closer than it is from the El Cortez. It is not the best location, but it is not that bad.


Here is what I did not like:

There could be more hangers. I'll pack a few next time.
The door of the room when open makes getting to the small bathroom a bit awkward.
There are plastic slats on the window and light defuses through them. I can't make the room totally dark.
No safe or coffee pot. I bring Traveler's checks and my own little coffee pot now and enjoy my own brand of coffee and never run out.

There could be more outlets, but I carry an extention cord as well as a couple electrical splitters so I can always arrange things conveniently. Many places limit outlets and I have the computer and a sleep apnea machine and like not to have to keep plugging and unplugging. My last casino stay was an unrenovated Harrah's and where I wanted to hook up my computer the outlet box was covered up with a plate. I had to move the table there near my bed and run my extension cord.
Resort fee of $9

In the first room, 503, there was a constant pulsing noise of the air conditioning fan outside and just below my window. It worked as white noise, but I'd prefer total quiet and I got that in 502.

There is no gambling I can play. The VP is terrible. Blackjack has pretty girls and ugly rules. The Megabucks is not my sort of $3 pull. There is no craps table. There is no live poker room. I did not even bother getting a card.

At the same time that did not seem to matter to anyone. I was well served and they sent me a letter afterwards, thanking me for coming and hoping I would return soon.

Checkout is at 11 and can be extended to 12. I prefer those that are at 12 that can be extended to 1 simply because that makes it easier to arrange where I am going next.

And of course, I don't like resort fees, even $9 fees, even those put right up front, and even those with the value in amenities not found other places. However, I understand that this fee is not so much a way to trick newbies at the Gold Spike, but simply a way to pop up first on the discounter sites as the cheapest in downtown.

I strongly suggest not booking this hotel at Hotels.com or Expedia. Those are a mess with the discounter collecting the resort fee upfront, refusing to admit they do, pretending that the casiono will collect it at checkout (they won't but the fine print says they will) and just avoiding the issue if asked or emailed. Watch their own website for sales. That is how I got $12 weekdays and $27 weekends plus the $9. If you find a good price somewhere, call and see if the Spike will match it. In one conversation they said they would price match discounters.

I would also suggest booking long stays in short chunks so that smaller individual bookings can be cancelled. I did get my 9 nights reduced to 6, but it took a couple calls before the clerk seemed to know how to do that. I had another 3 day reservation that I needed to cancel and just cancelling it was simpler than making a modification. They would not match their own on line rates by phone.

I could see how some folks might be a bit taken back by late night walks along Ogden. I used to not like those couple blocks. However, they are very different. The condominium high rise is developed with lighting at the base of it, so that there are no corners. The empty lot has been leveled and there is no debris there. I did not see any street people in that area at all and was never approached for money or bothered in any way. Security seemed to be about, and there was generally activity and people out in the street. It is very different from the way it once was.

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I'll stay there again. It is comfortable enough to make it my downtown home base and do what I thought I might do at the El Cortez Cabana rooms, slow up the hopping from hotel to hotel even if the rooms are free. The hop to the Orleans and then back with lots of luggage just seemed more bother than a free room with no wifi or heated pool was worth. Hopping around downtown is much easier.

TR Snippet: I Invite a girl to play Poker

I've reported some of the dry details of my trip.

I think it is time to tell a story.

It is about 8 AM and I am playing poker with the old regulars who come to the Imperial Palace to play for the Aces cracked, to lose a small pot but get $100 from the casino as a bonus.

To my left is an empty seat, a rare thing most mornings as these tables fill quickly and stay filled often until all the cracked pockets are gone.

I am often the most talkative and the loudest at the table. At times I know some of the old local regulars resent having their routine interrupted by a tourist in party mood playing an predictable game.

To my left is a huge Black fellow who might have played some football. He plays decent Hold Em, but he is no match for these tight regulars. He is in way too many hands, raising without reason, and the fellows are passing him around.

He is not unpleasant, but he is a bit surly, the way one gets when one is in hand after hand as second best and confused by it.

When I get some good cards, most of my opponents fold, so I end up head to head with him, and I win about three hands that he calls to the river. 
 He is not happy.

A couple hands later my cards go nowhere, but I bet the river anyway as I detect he is weak, and if I don't bet, I can't win.

He considers.

He wants to call me.

Perhaps he senses I am weak as well and just pushing.

Certainly, he just figures that I can't have good cards all the time.

But having only showed good cards, I have a good table image, and so he folds.

As he folds, he says, " There will be a hand coming where I will get you."

It is not friendly banter.

I try to loosen him up just a bit.

"Hey, you're not one of these guys who takes 2-4 seriously, are you?" I ask smiling.

And in saying this I have given him an opportunity to laugh, to say he isn't taking things that seriously, and make a joke and be friendly.

But he is quietly raging inside, and there are no jokes in him this morning.

"I just said there will come a hand when I will....take... you... down," he says, and the threat is clear.

"I got that," I answer. "I also caught the tone."

"That is the nicest tone I have," he says, and that would have been a good joke, but he is not joking. 
He is all threat.

I laugh anyway.

That will be the last I ever say to him.

And I won't be bluffing him off another hand either. He has warned me that he is primed to sock it to me. So I  only go after him when I have the goods. I  do this twice more over the next half hour or so in hands where I look weak until the river when I raise, after which he changes his seat to another table. Later I am moved to that other table, and he stops playing poker altogether and leaves, probably having lost money, not much of it to me really, but certainly projecting on me his puzzled frustration.

It is true that I am one of the more aggressive players at this table. The rest seem to have a sort of unspoken agreement that they won't compete too much for pots, but just wait for the Aces (at $100) and later the kings ( at $50). It does make good sense not to bet if we can't beat a pair of kings. It may well be out there waiting for us and hoping to be cracked.
One regular bets into me with a pocket pair of Queens when I have the Aces and I call to the river.  He bets then too, and I'm hopeful that I am beat, but instead he is beat.  Invisible Aces.

Three guys at one end are jokingly called the Three Musketeers. They come together, sit together, go to the bathroom together, leave to cash out together. Certainly they have some silent signal when one of them gets the Aces, but I never catch it.

At Imperial Palace there only needs to be $10 in the pot for cracked Aces. At Flamingo there needs to be $20. So that keeps the tightest old guys at Imperial Palace.

Another regular is Louie. He is an old guy, older than I am. Whenever he shows up with his dressy hat and maybe a sporty suit jacket, you think,  "Mac the Knife is back in town."  
Louie has Parkinson's so it takes him time to assemble chips for a bet. The guys who know him say to watch him, and if he bets without shaking, then fold, because he has the goods.

I think of this not as real information, but just a joke, the irony being that an other player with shaking hands is signaling that he has good cards.  It is a classic tell.  So Louie is the opposite.

I am never in many hands with Louie, because he is flighty. Perhaps he is just getting in his hours. He plays a hand or two and then is gone for a while and back to play a hand or two. I don't see how this is good play because he plays more blinds that way, but maybe if a guy is very low bankrolled, he can squeeze out the hours he needs for the weekly freeroll.

But he is always very friendly. Maybe because he heard me mourning Jimmy's death, and he was one of Jimmy's best friends.

At times there is joking about having Louie and Dewey at the table. One day a guy got very drunk and insisted he was Huey, insisted he be called Huey, bet with statements of his alterego in the third person like, " Huey just calls."

He got so drunk he bet straights that were only in his head.

But this morning it is still early. Just old guys, good players. No Louie. No drunken guy taking on the name of Huey.

I am the only one drinking.

Coffee and Sambucca. My usual breakfast.

I see the pretty girl watching our game high up on the elevated glassed-in section to my right. She smiles when I look up,  and I wave to her to come down and join us, showing her the empty seat next to me, teasing her to come play with us.

A minute later she is there in the empty seat to my left.

She is good looking and very friendly, but she can't play because not only does she not know anything about this particular game, she does not even know the ranking of poker hands.

She has a pleasant face, soft olive skin, and when she slips off her coat I know I'll be well entertained between playable hands. She is dressed in black, something a little lacy, but not so provocative as that lingerie look the girls now put on to go clubbing at 2 AM.

"I just learned Blackjack," she tells me.

She sits in the empty seat, and watches, and I tell her not to play with her money, but I give her some sense of the game between hands, just what beats what and a bit of poker 101. 
She is a great contrast to the quiet old men. They are not actually grumpy, but they are quiet and they come for poker, not camaraderie.

It might be that Gary from Alberta is there to my right. I think so, but it is hard to remember for certain. Gary is a quiet man, but very friendly, and I like having him about for a bit of conversation. even with long pauses in between.

He is a twin of a fellow I play with every week. It is eerie.

I know that my buddy from the old El Cortez crowd is not there. He comes later that day, and we get caught up on all the old characters, tell a couple Action Jackson stories, mourn again the death of Jimmy at 55 this year, and in general, we have a great visit. I show him my American Casino Guide Resort Fee article and we talk a bit about that frustrating practice.

I am Facebook friends with him, but it is his children who put up all the pictures from his childhood, and actually work his site.

He is an honorable and friendly guy, and a wonderful poker player. He will talk and tell stories and knows a little something about most topics.

I hate being in a hand with him; I certainly will lose.

Anyway, in the early morning there is only the girl who is talking, and I talk to her while I throw away junk after junk after junk and just play blinds, and even those I cannot play very aggressively.

One thing about this game is my blinds generally see free flops. A guy with pocket Aces won't raise preflop. After 11AM, a guy with pocket kings won't either. So my blinds rarely need to be protected. Probably the only raises except mine are A-K and pocket Queens. I sometimes raise in last position with suited connectors, but in this game I may lose too many callers to make that a good bet.

The other thing I realize is that my biggest leak is playing connectors from 7-10. I like them too much. 
 In this game they are not a bad play in late position with plenty of players  in. I do restrict myself to the button or near the button and I need to have enough callers.

On this table I don't raise either, as I might in a no fold em game. These guys will fold.

But a guy with Aces, rather than push me out, is hoping I will catch and will give me free cards without my having to make a button raise to get one. He will give me the free cards just because he wants to be beaten and get the $100 bonus.

The girl says she is 21 and from Miami.

"Are you Latino?" I ask.

She responds, in a little bit of huff, that she is obviously Black, and it puzzles me that she would be surprised to be asked that question, an olive skinned girl from Miami.

I apologize, tell her there are lots of Black Latinos, and that I only asked because I knew of a great lounge act at the Eastside Cannery that has a wonderful Latino show.

" Well, I would not understand that," she said, "because it would all be in Spanish."

"Yes, " I answer, "it would."

We are still friends.

The Black guy is interested, but he is still not friendly even to her. They talk a bit, and then she turns back to me.

I wonder if he feels like I am beating him at poker and pretty girls.

The night before I played with a Black girl to my right who was overweight, fat faced, and not particulary attractive, but very, very sweet.

Her boyfriend played a while, then he gave the seat up to her. He was an easy going guy, and we had a good friendly banter, so when I took down a big pot, she bumped me a bit.

"Did you feel that bump?" she asked.

"Yes....I did....and for a 65 year old guy that was better than winning this pot."

I don't think too many men compliment this heavy girl and she just beamed.

This morning someone comes to play in the empty seat, and this girl moves behind me and a bit to my right.

I'm sorry.

I now have to turn to talk to her and to see her pretty face.

And then I get the second hint.

From behind, she rests her head on my right shoulder.

Soon, she asks me if we can meet for a drink somewhere, and I say a ridiculously disingenuous thing,

"Thanks for that invitation, but I'm a very conservative man."

"Well, you drink, don't you?" she asks.

"Yes........I do.........but I drink here..........for free."

So , soon she is telling me it is time for her to go and to watch for her if I change my mind. She is friendly until the last, and I don't have that sense I have wasted any of her time. She was on and off her cell phone and I think this was dead time between clients. 
And  she got a free orange juice.

My buddy Wild Bill will talk to the working girls a while. His famous line is, "I can't afford you because you are too pretty."
That gets them trying to explain how reasonable they are and keeps them for a while in a conversation. He got approached seven times once walking from Mandalay Bay to Bellagio and with his line of talk had one walking companion or another almost the entire trip.

But I don't like using up their time. I think of it as hard work with plenty of people taking advantage. I don't want to be one of them.

The table meanwhile has been silently cracking up all this while. The dealer says that she tried to hit on him when he came to work that day, but he did not want to say anything to me because he did not know if I was trying to get something going.

"No, I don't want to get anything going in Vegas. The health statistics are pretty sad here in Vegas. If I wanted to get something going, I'd pay the big bucks and go out to Pahrump where it is safer."

So the poker continues, the Black guy moves to the other table, and the game goes along in the quiet, plodding fashion of old men waiting for cracked Aces.

Ah, Vegas.

Nothing like this every happens to me at home.

Reflection on "Why not play more and quicker?"

I get more pleasure out of getting the most for my money. I liked coming home from Vegas and knowing I had seen more than a gamble. Watching the bull riders ride was wonderful. All the music was delightful. Meeting so many strangers was fine as well. And seeing 23 days of beautiful women everywhere.. well....
A limit poker table is one of the few places where an old man can stare right into the face of beautiful young girl and it is acceptable.
I like travel even with no gamble, and Vegas gives a good bit of travel pleasure and collects a delightfully Cosmopolitan mix of people as well, all in party mood.
It is the only place I have ever found so many small communities of happy people.
Also, with live low limit poker my major game, I have hope that playing won't always be stretching a bankroll across negative expectation play. I see the guys who live there and have their low limit game to the point where they play everyday, all year long, and end up ahead. That is my goal. This trip gives me hope. 
I am already doing that in the weekly game here at home. 
No limit poker gives the kind of dollar swings that attract some, but we pay for the thrill of the win/loss with a community that is generally a bunch of dead stones flavored with constant whinners and a few young folks who are either hidden in musical hoods or all bravado attitude. No one says much unless it is about "outs" or someone's poor play, or the latest poker celebrity news, or the sad fact that in a random universe the "river" often brings tragedy.
Since the low limit games are simpler, the players can be more fully human. Randomness can often be laughed at; the talk is richer and the people more natural and less fanatically focused on just one aspect of living.

And the advantage video poker play as well should statistically let me grind out a bit of profit if I am slow and careful, especially when freeplay and cash back are figured into the gamble.
I guess for me learning and developing a gaming discipline gives more pleasure than a brief burst of uninhibited pleasure.
Then I have the fun of the gaming without the tax of the vigorish. 
I like being a long term winner.

This trip the mathematics tells me I am doing well. I stayed about even for most of the trip without a VP royal and without any luck on high hand bonus awards. Had those hit, I'd have come home well ahead. One royal would have almost paid for my trip.
You have to also appreciate that I am retired with a great wife, so I am not motivated by a need to escape the stress of a job or marriage and the anxiety that go with that; the drive to go on tilt for a few days is unnecessary therapy. 
But we all do this differently.

TR Snippet - Buddy Hackett's Rat Pack Show

I may have just been too tired to fully enjoy this.
Or it may be that I did not like waiting at the Hilton because I just don't like the Hilton
I did not like listening to a couple of "businessmen" half drunk and holding their own serious meeting in the men's room.
I  did not like paying $3.85 for a large water and then not being able to take it into the show with me, and of course forgetting it when I left.
The Hilton is just not me.

Or the opening of the show may have glorified the mob just a bit too much for my stomach.  Okay, I watched the Soprano's, but do I want bullies and cold blooded killers in charge of anything?
No.

Or it may have been that I remember Joey Bishop. Sandy Hackett makes a much better
Brad Garret than he does Joey Bishop.  Bishop was small, like Frank.  Hackett looked stupid trying to move like Joey moved.  I have seen some other Joey's.  They were better.

Or it may be that although I know Frank was pretty moody, he was not so moody on stage, not as much as the guy who plays him and that guys looked more Polish than Italian.
Harry Connick Jr. would have made a better Frank.
Or it may be that I just don't like impersonations any more at all.
There is something very creepy about them.

The music was fine, but nothing moved me much.
The voices sounded something like the originals if I closed my eyes.
But the faces made it all seem pretty creepy.

The theater was not crowded.  We all had good seats.  I guess it is not a popular show.
Radio Deluxe gives me a better feel for that old music.
And I thought the quality of those era songs was better at the free Toast of the Town shows.

I know Sandy Hackett was there back in those Rat Pack Days and should be able to add an authentic flavor to the show.
But at Toast of the Town Jackie Wilson's boy produced the feel and energy of Jackie in a much more authentic way,  There I saw how it could be done and how I might be transported back into a musical time.

I was not transported in this one.

It was a good deal at $20 from Groupon.
The original black and white clips were good.
The rest was just okay.
http://www.tix4tonight.com/sandy-hackett-rat-pack-show.html

TR Snippet: Video Poker

Absolutely, my best VP play was at the Cosmopolitan with their sign up bonus.  They offered to give back in freeplay the loss of $100 to any new sign up.  It took me a while to get the real sense of this and I was afraid that there was a loophole.
The way it was first explained, I thought that were I to win $60, then that would count against my $100 loss, but actually it just worked that if I won $60 I needed to play that down to zero in order to get the freeplay.
I knew the trick here was to play a high volatility game for the first hundred.  I actually considered two spins on a $25 two coin slot.  But that seemed a bit too volatile.  Still, it was tempting. When else would I ever do that?
I was looking really for a $5 slot when I came across a double double bonus spin poker machine.  It was 25 cents but max play would be 15 lines and about $19 a spin.  Okay, that seemed good.
It played more like a slot because I could not really follow more than the three lines I could see.  I was down to $83 when I started to hit.
I was dealt a straight and then a flush, but I am not sure if that is such a good thing when most of the line bend.  I seemed to do best with a pair of 6's that went somewhere into quads.  I was breathless when I had three to the royal.  No hits there.
I would be content to double up, but I kicked up into about $268 and so I used my normal technique when I play just $20.  I would stop either at $200 or $300.  Then I was kicked to about $340 so I reset my stop numbers to $300 or $400.  No more big hits.  I cashed out at $301.  So I did not need freeplay.
Had I lost and used the freeplay, I'd have then gone to low volatility and just run the freeplay through once.
As it was in less than ten minutes I had pocketed $201 bucks and was on my way to see Sin City Comedy.
**********************************************************************

During my free days at the Orleans I put a good bit of play on the nickle triple play with progressive royals.  At one point one of the royals was up to $580.  I was hoping.  But I lost money there.  Since my live poker play is becoming stronger, and the Orleans is tough to access on the bus for just two free nights, and downtown is so much easier, I may just drop that play and put the bankroll into my favorite game of 10/7 DB at the Four Queens where it generates 3 free nights and this trip gave me 3 in october and 3 in November, both on weekends and added a free slot tournament with two free breakfasts, $50 in food, and $120 in freeplay which I played through once and cashed out for $260.  Pretty good for free.  The Orleans does nothing for me like that.
Also, I found that for the days I don't play VP, but stick just with live poker, I can extend my stay at the Four Queens by getting a poker rate from Binions of $24 a night and those nights will not show up on my Four Queens computation of play or reduce a daily average.
So I could go for a week, hit the 10/7 DB progressive hard for the three free days they give me, and then play only poker over the next 4 days.
Nice for avoiding check in and check out.
I also seeded the Fitzgerald's this trip, playing the Vue Bar 8/5 DB progressive and actually hitting the quads twice when they were up $20 extra.  That casino is being sold, but I hope that my play will generate from free room offers.
Checking in and checking out from Ftizgerald's  to 4 Queens is a short crossing of a tiny street.

The 10/7 DB is just a great play.  The royal progressive was up to $1100 plus most of the time I played. Sadly there was no royal for me, but I did have one day when the quads seemed to be as free as pairs.  I loved it.  Overall, I guess I lost money.
It is hard to measure.
I played some Megabucks there as well. Not much, but I figure it presents me as a mixed player.
They gave me $35 in cashback, I ate good both trips, and I covered those expensive weekend rates with free rooms.  One time I stayed in the South Tower and another in North Tower and both were just fine.  They arranged for quiet in each place, but the South was quieter.  Still neither kept me awake.
That is another problem with going to the Orleans.  If I am staying anywhere downtown, I can walk to the 4 Queens without luggage and negotiate a room.  I can wait until what I want comes available and then go get my luggage.  If I lug my luggage from the Orleans by bus to the Four Queens, then I want to get a room it they have one, whether it is my first choice or not.

Lucky Pete from Florida took a good bit of money from that 10/7 DB while he was here with the Silver Strikers.  He just seemed to hit the quads easily.  It was great to hang with him a bit, and his buddy John.  We all ate on my $50 free food and he gave Wild Bill a ride down from the Orleans a couple days later.  I love Lucky Pete.  He is such a good hearted character.  I saw the new $300 silver strike issue while I was there and heard plenty of stories as well.
The new $10 coins have no silver in them. The new large coins have a bit of silver, but it is not like the old days.

I played a bit of VP at Sam's Town, but I could not remember the Deuces strategy well enough to feel comfortable.  I played the coin dropper 10/7 DB near Friday's and broke even.  I did not play much, but I don't worry about playing light there because Sam's does not send me much in the way of free rooms anyway.
If I decide to get serious up that way, I'm going for the old fashioned machines in the classic area of Eastside Cannery.  For a while they sent me a free night and often there is a $30 a night senior citizen deal.  With the new Boulder buses I'd be tempted to stay out there for a couple nights and play poker.  Monday would be my favorite as the Claudine Castro Band on Monday performs a great Latino Act.  For the price of a couple of $1.50 local Eastside Cannery microbrews, this is one of my favorite music venues in Vegas.

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

I watched Wild Bill play in many places.  He is just beginning to get the strategy.  I would  stand behind him with my sheets in hand and coach. He just rolls his eyes when I say things like, "Okay there is one Ace, if there is a offsuit ten, you play her by herself, but if the ten is suited, you pick up the other face card with her, unless, of course, there are no penalty cards 5 or under to toss away.  If there are no wheel penalty cards, you just play that Ace alone hoping the wheel will come."
Well, with 23 days in Vegas I have to do something besides put my own money at risk.  Watching Bill play is just as much fun as using my own money.
Wild Bill liked going with me this time because I had so much free food.  Four days into the trip he looked at me in amazement and said, "We've been here for 4 days and I've only spent $11 on food!"

And that was it on the VP this trip.  I played none at El Cortez.  I was mad at them.
Extra $25 a night for any nights after 7!
Dumbest thing I ever heard!
Well, they pushed me down to the Gold Spike, and I've found my new downtown home.  Nothing to play there, but the rooms, heated pool, free wifi, and TCM television are all great.  And even with the stupid resort fee, their rates rock.  The hotel manager sent me a nice note asking me to spread the word and to come back.

I hit no royals, but had many close calls.  I hit Aces and Deuces and Fours in a single day of play.  I missed playing $20 for a free Black Chip Porter at Main Street Station. It seems odd to say that 23 days is not enough to do everything, but I was never thirsty for beer when I went to Main Street Station, but just went in for some free buffet with raspberry tea.
I caught one straight flush, holding just three cards.  Jacks were my most regular quads.
I caught no quad Deuces when I played that game or in the live poker either.

9/6 JOB GONE AT ELLIS ISLAND
Well, another good play is gone.  The JOB is down to 8/5 and so unplayable.  Too bad.
I used up the last $3 of my food comps and now I'll just go to eat and then not at regular eating hours because there is nothing to entertain me while I wait.

CROWNE AND ANCHOR

One of my weakest plays was at the Crowne and Anchor bar out by the Pinball Hall of Fame on Tropicana.  They offer a free lunch for $20 played through the bar VP.  The paytables are not great, but the rules are clear.  One must play the $20 through at least once, 15 hands of full play.
I loved the waitress, loved the lamb stew in bread, loved the bread itself, and loved the beer.  I was allowed to taste three beers before picking my free one.
Blues played while I ate and I enjoyed the entire ambiance.
So I played on as I ate, thinking I'd quit when I was even, and I lost $100.  Suckered in and fleeced.  Rare for frugal me.  Had I stuck to the rules I would have lost about $10.
So I only  recommend this lunch deal only to those with discipline in the face of just wonderful atmosphere.
And the worst of it is that in retrospect I don't regret it.  That's how I know they really had me.