TR SNIPPET PEOPLE MET IN VEGAS

One of the things I love about Vegas is that although I go solo, I generally meetup with people there. This trip my son had a birthday party, so it was in part a family reunion. And I met up with nieces and nephews who live in Vegas, but I don't always see on my visits.

My son turned 40 and invited folks to come and celebrate. His wife hosted a party at Aria in a Spanish tapas restaurant.

http://www.aria.com/dining/restaurants/julian-serrano
 

All five of my boys came and assorted other family and friends. I was able to meet up with many of Keith's friends and his wife's family and friends who I often hear about but have never met.

http://vegasbirthdaybash.blogspot.com/2015/10/tr-snippet-julian-serano-at-aria.html?zx=bc875d37e05a9358

My meeting with nieces and nephews included a fine buffet at Palace Station, a home cooked meal of grilled steak and salmon, a visit to the Clark County Museum, and a nice lunch. Instrumental in making this happen was my new (first) smart phone and texting for the first time.

I met with Steve Bourie who creates the American Casino Guide, his son Matt, and John Grochowski, a very famous gambling writer from the Chicago area who I have been reading for years. He writes often in various periodicals and newspapers and he has published some books.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Grochowski

http://grochowski.casinocitytimes.com/

All these fellows are smart and informed on the latest in gambling issues and innovations.  There was plenty of discussion of the new skill based slot movement and speculation as to how the game makers would arrange the paybacks so as to keep unskilled players but not give away too much to the skilled.

But strangers too offer an endless supply of stories and perspectives. In Vegas folks may come from any part of the world.

This trip the stories were not as unique or unusual, but for a fellow who generally isolates himself in his house and related primarily on social media, they were a treat.

There was a fellow at the Plaza poker tournament in a motorized scooter who had driven truck for a living. He was living in Niagara Falls NY and just decided to go to Hawaii. He sold his house for a dollar to a homeless friend and started out driving to the West Coast. When he got to Vegas, he liked it so much that he just stayed. Odd to set out for beaches and settle on desert.

There was a very pretty and personable young Latina mother with her husband and very young baby in the Gold Coast pool. She had such a charming way about her that it was enough for me to watch her face, regardless of what she was saying. She came from California.

At the Gold Coast pool were some older women talking and eventually I got into conversation with each of them. One was a serious shuffle board player and had been in major competitions. I did not know it was such an organized sport. I've been fascinated with shuffle board since I was a kid, but although I am in Florida for much of the winter, I don't have a spot to play there.

The same woman played a good bit of bridge on the computer and suggested some sites to my wife.

In that group was a woman who might have been annoying if she were not so amusing. She played a good bit of video poker and ranted against Bob Dancer, although she never really explained why. She played in many of the local casinos, mostly playing a Triple Bonus game. She did not seem to pay much attention to pay tables and she paid no attention to learning the nuances of strategy. She talked of being invited to tournaments, but my question as to how she changed her strategy for tournament play fell on deaf ears.

At the Onyx Theater there was a high school boy dressed as a pirate who had made the rounds of the doughnut places that offered a free dozen for folks who dressed the part of a pirate. It was an interesting promotion. He knew a friend who had picked up six dozen that day.

He was waiting for a girl in the play and I thought it was an actress, but he was shocked that I would think these older women could be with him. She worked as a stage hand. I am so old now I can't tell a high school student from a 20 something actress.

At the Golden Nugget poker table I met quite a few of folks I've played with before. Emilio and Jeffrey used to play at the El Cortez.

Jeffrey is a young Black man who is generally easy going. He told us his friends call him “little George” because he looks like George Foreman.

I got into one bit of tension with him when he complained and moaned about one particular dealer, a fine young woman, and blamed her for his bad luck. She was tolerant. He comes every day. I was annoyed with it and called the idea that the dealer controls the cards, “Superstitious crap” and he got ticked off.

Somehow he decided I was “rich” and that was his rebuttal. I don't quite follow the logic nor do I understand how he could imagine an actual “rich” person playing 2-4 at the Golden Nugget rather than a higher stakes limit game, at least 4-8 at the Venetian.

But we did fine in the games after that and his irritation as well as my distain were short lived.

Emilio is an old fellow who can be an irritating grump. He takes offense easily. He is a good player and hard to beat. He successfully check raised me on his quad 5's. However, he loves to tell stories of his past, most of them to illustrate how smart of fluent in German he is. Sometimes he loses his audience as the stories are long and interfere with the game.

He can also offer insult.

As I left my last session, Jeffrey was joking that I was taking all his money. This was true. I had doubled up in an hour. It seemed I could not lose except to Emilio's check raised quads.

I joked back that I would be using his money the next day in New York for my home game.

Emilio glanced at me and then said to the players around him.

“Do you know the best thing about living in New York?”

pause

“Being able to get on a bus and go to Boston.”

He did not chuckle. It was insult, not tease.

I told the table that I did not live in New York City, but near Albany, the Capitol of the state and that in fact I lived in the country on a little lake.

Emilio did not reply.

Jeffrey did however, announcing to the table that I was “rich.”

I laughed and said that Jeffrey seemed to have gotten that impression.

Cute little Bridge (short of Bridgette I assume) said,

“He must have access to your bank records”

I also played with a very attractive woman in her 40's from Hawaii. She was a good player. She was fairly quiet, but on some occasions when there was teasing, she slapped me on the shoulder and laughed. I liked her.

At that table too were some obnoxious players. A drunken kid sat next to me and insisted on asking me questions about the game. I kept directing him to the dealer. He took some offense.

Cranking him up was another youngster who talked constantly. I think he was a drug dealer. He took the drunk kid out one time and I suspect they added something more potent to the alcohol.

He kept talking about the hands and telling the kid when to bet and when to raise. I asked for that to stop. For a while I thought it all my be an act to cover collusion, but it turned out it wasn't.

The dealer finally had enough and had the guy sent out of the poker room, but a while later they let him back in. I left then. I'd had enough of him.

There was another loud mouth from Ontario who at first I liked and then found annoying. He would pretend he was playing his card blind, but actually would have sneaked a peek and knew what he had. He would seem to be a loose drunk, but he played a good game, a rare aggressive style that dominated the table by betting and raising into perceived weakness. I stayed away from his table the next night.

I liked some of his earlier talk about Seneca Niagara and their games, but after a while he was just annoying.

I liked all the dealers but Tim seemed the easiest. He remembered me from game to game.

I very much liked Donald from Texas. He was a very good, tight player and walked away from the table with money every session. I did not like to be in a hand with him, except that I could generally put him on what he was playing and that usually meant I folded.

He missed a few teeth in the front and wore a great old straw hat that he said he had worn for many years. He was quiet mostly, and we talked about poker when we talked at all, but he had a fine, gentle personality and I thought if he lived in my neighborhood, we would be friends.

I seemed to meet lots of folks from Texas, but none knew about Kat Edmondson, the singer from Austin who I just love and will see here in town this month.

http://www.katedmonson.com/

At the Orleans poker table I met a fellow who ran boxing gyms. He had fought too and his nose showed it. He would start to tell me a story and then lose the thread of it. He apologized. “Occupational hazard” he said. He had done some sort of training in the Albany Armory. I liked him.

At that table were two Asian regulars I did not like. I check raised the woman with a full house when she had the Ace high flush and she raised me back. It was a good sized pot. She could not believe that she had lost. She got angry, picked up the rest of her chips and went to sit behind her husband who proceeded to get testy.

I flopped trip sevens in early position with two in my hand and two diamonds on the board.

I checked.

The turn came another diamond and Asian guy's wife caught the Ace high flush and bet. I called. The river paired the board with a second 10.

I check raised my opponent and she reraised me my last $5.

It was such a surprise to her that she could lose that hand. She was mad. She quit and went over to sit behind her husband.

I engaged an older good natured fellow who looked Cuban to me and we talked about a few things, none of them poker.

Three hands went by that I folded.

The Asians were still steaming mad and Asian guy could not let it rest. He stared at me and said, “You Win!” I was confused and asked, “What?”

“Are you deaf,” he barbed. “I said, “You win!”

“I have not played the last three hands,” I said, “ And while I may be a little deaf, at least I am not rude.”

And so the exchanges started until the dealer said, “Enough,” and the Cuban fellow lectured the table on taking good care of the tourists because they fund the city.

I assured him that I was not offended.

I might have said, since it was the verb tense of the attack that had confused me, “I also am not inarticulate; I can speak English in more than just the present tense.” or, “You can't really expect success at this game if you reraise on fifth best hand or are surprised that a paired board might give your opponent a boat. “

It had been a large pot and part of a half kill so it was a 3-6 hand. 
And still I left that table down money.Perhaps the most interesting stranger I met was Seigfried, the philosopher at the Eastside Cannery Claudia Castro show. 

http://vegasbirthdaybash.blogspot.com/2015/10/tr-snippet-east-side-cannery.html

Of course, there were people I would rather not have met. I agree with much of the board postings on the street people of Fremont that they are getting increasingly aggressive. The worst were two prostitutes. They were together at 4 AM and one called to me and ran up to me to sollicit. 

“No, thanks,” I said.

She left and the other came up and asked me why I was so unfriendly.

I told her that I was not unfriendly, that I had said , “No thanks.”

“Well, suppose we go for a drink somewhere. Or do you say 'no thanks' to that as well?”

I just shook my head.

There were other things I wanted to say.

These two were both those hard faced women, unattractive and the last women I would want to be in bed with, or anywhere really.

Finding the pool inside Binions can be a chore. Generally, I walk around the building and go in the back door by the place where they now have a blowout sale on shirts. However, this time I had to pass through five homeless and one ugly woman with really bad beaded hair apparently did not like my simple hello. She tossed a plastic water bottle so that I almost tripped and when I looked back she was doing a nine year old like mock of my walk.

Guys called to me from behind, “Excuse me. Excuse me” and followed me down Fremont.

Walking just a bit to the Golden Nugget was like walking a gauntlet. It took the pleasant edge off downtown, and I think that is hard to do to me. I have great tolerance for people in general, but this was just too much.

I don't encounter that in the quiet local casinos, but I also don't get much of a cosmopolitan draw in places along Boulder, so poker can be dull with the same regular rock locals and the same talk of sports or whatever.

Take the time I was in line for the buffet at the Palace Station with a 2 free buffet voucher and just me to feed. I thought perhaps I'd join some other solor traveler or even one of the couples and let them have a free buffet. Nope.

A day earlier with a 2 for 1 I had been more fortunate

I met Jim.

The line was short, but the old fellow paused in front of me and so we started talking politely as he urged me to go ahead. When I saw he was going to pay by cash, I asked if he wanted to share my 2 for 1, warning him that he would suffer the pain of eating with me and hearing my stories. As it turned out the buffet would have taken my ACG coupon for a solo 50% but this was much more fun anyway.

Jim was 84 and in better health than I am, but he was beginning to feel tired more often. He had been a great outdoors hiker, especially in Colorado. There he told me he once started a hike against his better judgement because it was so windy, the car shook in the parking lot. However, he thinks that added infused oxygen gave him a boost of energy that lasted for four days.

He was also a gem collector.

When I told him where I lived, he asked me how far it was to Herkimer and I knew he wanted to go in search of the Herkimer “diamonds”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herkimer_diamond

He knew plenty about rocks. What a great hobby!

He had built houses for a living in Denver and then in Tucson. He loved Denver and all of Colorado, but he could not stand the winters anymore. In fact, the Tucson winters were hard on him. It was sad, but he did not complain.

We talked about the Tucson Reid zoo and he told me that they just had a baby elephant born there.

He did not share anything about family, even when I did. He did say he had a fellow who usually came to Vegas with him, but he had gotten ill.

He said that in a book he had read that seltzer helps to balance PH. That was good news because seltzer is my drink.

He was surprised.

I really liked this quiet spoken sweet old man.

Had I come with the free coupon a half hour earlier, I might have treated him to breakfast. I talked to him in the buffet and wished him well.

On my last day as I sat on the bench waiting for the WAX a woman turned to me and said,

“Are you Dewey?”

It turned out she reads my blog and although she is a local, she enjoys the tips. Well, that made my day.

Then on the WAX I met a fellow from Montreal who was in Vegas for work. He did not gamble. He did advise me about what to get for my blisters and I have ordered the aloe cream and will see in November if it precludes those nasty foot bubbles.

TR SNIPPET LAST NIGHT CLAUDINE CASTRO

I went up to Eastside Cannery on the BHX from downtown to see Claudine Castro. I got there early enough to secured a small table right in front, the best seat in the house. By the end of the night, as generally happens, that table was connected to another with five friendly Latinos and although the conversation was limited, we managed to say “Salud” and click glasses.

I drank three beers.

One fellow was dressed in a dark hat and very white dress shirt. He had a great look.

This is unusual because I have avoided beer since the diabetes. Modelo seemed to fit the night. Since they did not have the Negra I had the Especial on tap.  It was very good.

Since I had seen her last, Claudine had trimmed down quite a bit and looked very appealing. She had many new songs to sing, especially in the first set. She dropped the “Hotel California” so all the songs were in Spanish. She retained the groups dance about coming from Havana to Miami.

I am not really up for dancing. My feet are blistered. I don't meet anyone to dance with although Seigfried would have probably hooked me up with a partner had I asked.

I met Seigfried in the Men's room on a break. He opened conversation with whether I had won that day or not and we were soon chatting away, in English. He is just my age, turning 69 this month, and he lost his wife three months ago. However, he is not giving himself over to grief, but out looking for a “lady” preferably one with a good degree and a sense of world travel.

Seigfried was educated in philosophy, best liking the existentialists. He liked Neitche, Satra. With his wife he ran a private school in Europe for a while where his wife taught English, French, and Spanish. He lived in France, Spain, and Italy, best liking Italy. However, he is happy to be here for the comfort of the US and he loved Vegas. He thought he might like retiring in the Carribean, but it was too primitive. He just got back. He told me there were 8 million ladies in our age group looking for love. “Are you going to date all of them?” I joked.

There were some very attractive women dancing. I remember in particular one tall, long legged woman who was perhaps Cuban. Also, there was a couple dancing right in front of me in slow and sultry movements with plenty of body contact. There dance was really making love, his face in her dyed red hair. Cuban motion is just so sexy. I will see this girl in my daydreams for a while.

And old women are grand to watch. They know still how to move. Their bodies somehow stay very young to the beat and the sound.

They have signs that there is now a two drink minimum, but I guess that is for the night. I bought a beer and water, but they came around often to ask if I wanted more. Then each set I had a beer. It was nice to be going home on the BHX because it runs from right in front of the Eastside Cannery for 24 hours. I usually only catch two sets and take the 202 back to The Gold Coast, but I liked being downtown. The BHX can be a bit seedy, but it also generally has security guards and since the conversion from SDX like buses, the driver is available should any difficulty arise.

My Spanish is very basic. I did not really get much of the songs. I should. The words are repeated usually over and over. I wrote down bits and pieces, but there are so many similar songs that I can't really find the ones I heard. I wish she had a CD.

“Si tu te vas

te vas, te vas” was one I understood, but searching it produced too many songs about leaving.

It was a grand last night in Vegas.

THIS IS THE END OF THE OCTOBER TRIP REPORT 2015

Reflections on Low roller comps

All fine advice.
I think comps have come more quickly in downtown or off strip places. As a low roller I have never gotten much from the big guys like Mlife or CET.
And weekend nights are very hard to comp.

The Four Queens was my downtown place of choice, but lately the mailings have decreased in value. At the same time, however, the Comp Dollars earned with play build up quickly and to some extent make up for the loss of great mailed offers. So if you are seeding the Four Queens one year and coming back before a year has gone by, you will walk into a bunch of Comp Dollars. And when you play, you will earn more that can then be applied to your room when you check out. Their basic two for one offers include weekend, but of course you pay higher on the paid night.

I also get good offers from the D, but only 2 for 1 as a low roller, and now they want us to pay a $20 resort fee on the paid night so the benefit of the comp is reduced in value. I don't get weekends there either.

Downtown is evolving upscale. As it does, the cost of staying there gets higher and the blackout dates for comps are more often. It is anybody's guess how this will come down in the end, but it is very bad news for low rollers.
Conventions other places affect comps as well. I was just reading posts on VP free about the affect of GE2 convention on car rentals at the end of September.
Following those sorts of trends in Vegas is as important as concentrating your play.

I'm seeding other places and using the American Casino Guide to get 3 nights for the price of 2 at the Fremont downtown to see if seeding that will get me any offers.

I do get two free nights from the Orleans for very low roller play. I play only nickel triple play VP. And somehow with no play but just paying for rented rooms I get offer from their sister casino, the Gold Coast that cuts in half the standard rate on B Connected where Boyd card members book, and sometimes a couple free nights there as well, probably a come on wash over from my Orleans play.

The key, whatever casino you decide to seed for offers, is to concentrate your play in that one place so you look like a bigger gambler than you are. This means staying out of that casino, even for a player's club card food discount on the days that you don't gamble and perhaps taking two days of gambling bankroll and using it in one day and taking day two for a ride to Red Rock.

Also, send a private message to the host from the Plaza who frequents this board and see what he could do for you based on your play.
http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/for...484-feadolphus
This might be a place to seed on your next trip.
Ask him if there are certain weekends that are better for booking than others.

Try to estimate how much coin in you play rather than how much you can afford to lose in a trip. That is a more important number in determining comps. Someone else here can respond to table game requirements, but in some places you need to make larger bets to even get rated at games like blackjack. Feadolphus can give you a decent sense of that too. Being board officiated should help you get dependable answers, although I got wonderful honest and transparent perspective from this fellow when he worked for the Four Queens just by going in and talking to him for an hour.
Talking to a host can be great help.

Also, I hope you are asking for casino rates at places where you have played even when you don't get an offer.
You can call a host and book at the Four Queens if you have some gambling history at casino rate and then you can apply a mailer later when it comes.
You can book a place at casino rate and see a host on check out to have room or food or both comped.


Calling is a good idea too because mailed offers just don't always show up. At the Four Queens I call, ask for a host, and ask them to look up my offers. At the D they know right at the desk what they can do. I happened to call on the day of the mailing and the clerk was surprised to see the offer was up. All these places send low roller offers rather late in the planning.

If you are flexible, pay attention to when you are going. Don't go downtown during the Life is Beautiful festival, for example. Low roller comps won't be available. 2 for 1 offers will come with a higher price or be blacked out. Look for cheaper times of the year, August or December if you don't mind some shows being dark.
This board can help with that. They can direct you away from the most busy times. Also, here is a site that lists conventions so you can plan around those.
http://www.vegasmeansbusiness.com/pl...tion-calendar/
Book directly at a casino and charge food to the room if you eat there. Then you can see what a host will do for you before you check out.
.    

Silver Sevens

from American Casino Guide Vegas Values

Silver Sevens: New Member Scratch Card. Guests that have never registered for an A-Play Club Card account with Affinity Gaming may receive a new member scratch card at the A-Play Club upon signing up. Win prizes including drinks, comps, gifts, free slot play with the chance of $1,000 cash. Receive $2 Free Slot Play or 1,000 points for providing a valid email or cell phone. Maximum of (1) one redemption for each device. “Like” us on our Silver Sevens Hotel & Casino Facebook page, “Follow” us on Twitter, or add us on Instagram and receive 400 points. New members can also participate in a swipe & win at the kiosk after earning 250 base points. Can win anywhere from $5 Free Slot Play up to $500 Cash. (Replaces all former new member promotions and is ongoing until further notice.)

Likq's new 1-1 game coming in the reopened poker room

Near the end of August there will be a poker room once again at Linq.
They will try a 1-1 NL game.
Here is what I think about that game.


I'm not an expert and the variation in poker is largely a factor of who sits at the table.
That being said. 1-1 is basically a low stakes 1-2 game with a smaller minimum buy-in.
In some places the minimum is as little as $20 and the maximum $60. Linq advertises a minimum of $50. I don't know about max. I think in Vegas most 1-2 games have a minimum of $100. If the max is unlimited at Linq, then some of the advantage of the lower blinds goes away for frugal players.

In theory 1-1 should not play much differently than 1-2. In practice, I've found it attracts folks who don't aim to make a lot of money and don't play as well as 1-2 players, often loser players who are out to have fun. That might also be local rocks who play every day on small bankrolls and play for freerolls and food comps and the odd chance to find a table with 3 or less fish.
It might mean tourists who would play 2-4, but like no limit if the by-in is more affordable.
It attracts players who want a bit more action, who don't want to wait an hour for the playable hand.

Sometimes 1-1 becomes a flop game. It is almost an understanding at such times that no one makes preflop raises.
Almost every round the minimum of $1 is called until the flop.
Few preflop raises. Hardly any preflop reraises.
I am much happier with a flop game. That means it is more like 2-4 limit in play. In fact, if you best like playing after the flop, this no limit game offers a bargain because it always costs at least $2 to see the flop in any limit game. Here you might see the flop for just $1.

Folks will play more hands because it may only cost a $1. Those who don't like chasers won't like this game. Those who like permission to chase a bit and to play more hands will like it.

Button raises to see a free card (a common technique in limit poker) will often work in this case as well. So if you play J-Q on the button and make a small preflop raise (in some games even a min raise of a dollar,) you might get table respect even from those who have flopped two pair. They wait for you to bet again so they can raise. But you check and get a free card. So, if K-A comes on the flop, you can just check and see the turn for free. If this works on a particular table, it gives you permission to play even middle connectors or hands like K-X suited on the button. And if you catch, you are not limited when betting the turn/river as you are in limit poker.

It also means that you might see a lot of your blind hands for free. Both blinds are $1, so even the small blind sees the flop for free if there is no preflop raise. So you play more hands.

In this game tight players are less likely to get blinded to death. They have blind bet two hands out of 9/10 but they see the flop for free, so all of a sudden their 2-3 off suit has flopped the wheel.

Of course, what can be a rather tight game until the flop with some selection of players, can become a maniac game with players pushing all the time with another group. It depends on who sits down. What is a game requiring less bankroll to play, can become a game that it is easy to bully. I don't much like that game, and I won't play it. I generally watch a game before I take a seat. I leave a table if it evolves into a game of maniac bingo.

Bluffing power is reduced especially at a new table. Everyone has just $50. It is harder to bully with that.

It is hard to get a lose enough limit table to overcome the huge rakes the casinos now take. This game helps with that as well. Pots are generally bigger than 2-4. You generally won't end up passing around winning post while the house takes a third of the money out of each one.
That being said, if you get stuck at a short table with 6 rocks and see no pot every approaches a size to offer much of a profit and no one plays second or third best, then it is time to get up and leave. Join a loose 2-4 with all seats taken. Join a newly opened game. That happens at Mohegan. I move from 1-1 to 2-4 depending on how much action is at the table.

Finally, if you do have the best hand and accurately put your opponent on something less, you can more often get them to call their second or third best hand than you can in 1-2.

Again. Every table is different depending upon who sits down.
I play with a limited bankroll, so this 1-1 cuts my entry buy-in in half. I can more often play this game than 1-2. In Vegas I never play 1-2.

Also, the social aspect of the game may be better. NL is generally all about poker: poker faces, poker mathematics, poker macho attitudes, sun glasses, uptight and sometimes unhappy opponents.
2-4 in Vegas offers another value. It is like sitting down at a bar with strangers and striking up conversation. Serious poker players want nothing to do with talk or stories or joking banter.
2-4 players are just there for the fun.
1-1 is somewhere in the middle. However, those of us who appreciate the social/story aspect of the game may find that 1-1 attracts people who can have a discussion that isn't limited to "outs" and strategies. In a city where people come from all over the world, a poker table of storytellers is what I'm looking for.
And I like it when the pretty girls outnumber the old grumps

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

postscript added when a board poster liked the above information:

Just pay good attention to the other players before you sit down at a table. Look at their chips stacks. The 1-1 games I play have buy ins from $20 to $60 or $50 to $100. This one is $50 to $300. If players come and most buy in for $300 then it is just a 1-2 game with one lower blind and much farther from limit poker than the game might be had they limited maximum buy in to low roller amounts. I did not know the $300 MAX when I posted that long post you quoted. I'm sorry Linq went with that option.

That large MAX buy-in can fundamentally change the game, adding back in the bluffing and bullying aspects that don't come in those smaller MAX games. Hopefully, the dedicated no limit players will still be attracted to the 1-2 games where there is tighter play and less chasing, less preflop limping and more preflop options to push out low chipped guys. Many limit players hate playing at a table with many low chipped players because they can't read a $40 all-in bet, can't go over the top to push out.

Of course, some MAX buy-in players will still be hopping in and out of the 1-1 while they wait for seats at the games they really want to play, and they may hop with large buy-ins and destroy the low roller aspect of the 1-1. That happens in limit games. But limit is so much different that often good limit players have an advantage over the no limit players because of the amount of chips opponents have has much less importance in a limit game.

I suggest you watch the games a while. If you see little preflop raising (or only min raises) and see that chip stacks are fairly low, then it might be a good game for a limit player. Even if one player buys-in for the MAX, it won't be bad because you can stay away from that player.
However, this game won't be like the games where all-in losers have to start with low chip stacks and work their way up slowly with good play. If you see players losing all-in bets and rebuying for large amounts, go back to limit. If you buy-in for $50 and a good all-in bet doubles you up, but others are matching you by just pulling more dough from their pockets, then quit after you double up.

Oh, one other thing. Don't drink alcohol when playing this game. Drinking at a limit game, once you have a good feel for the game and sense of the table is not much a problem. In fact, at games filled with good tight players, free alcohol is perhaps the only way in a 2-4 to get enough value to overcome the rake. And if you are a good limit player, a bit of drink and acting out may give you a better table image than you could ever fake. I have often won more drunk because folks would call me and pay me. But drinking in no limit is suicide, especially if you are new to the nuances. You have to be attuned to so much more in no limit and the drink reduces those perceptions. And mistakes in NL are much more costly.

Another fun move out of limit poker with little $$ risk is to try those Plaza tournament games on the electronic tables for buy-ins from $5 to $15. Those are low roller dreams and will give you a sense of no limit, although tournament play is a bit different from no limit cash game play if you want to get in the money.
For some those games seem like internet poker, but I don't see any truth in that argument; there is not much comparison except that it is electronic. No one is home in their underwear. No one is playing while on the phone to a fellow player sharing information. No one is playing with some computer program that helps decide options. The entire ambiance of the casino is around. Pretty women pass. At the Plaza you may have live jazz just across the casino floor.
The social aspect is alive and well. No one is home alone.
There is still plenty of interaction with other players, often times more because there is no dealer to butt into every player conversation. Lower rake, no tip, no chance to bet out of turn, no difficulty in seeing how much opponents have, no misdeals, much less calling of the floor for arguments over who said/ did what and when, no prematurely revealed cards, no need to have a card protector, no dropping of chips, and no sharing of every live germ any player carries with them. ( Chips are the dirtiest bits in casinos.)    

A thread of thoughts on the Four Queens

Plenty of discussion of the new comp system at the Four Queens and my thoughts about moving on.


http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?123038-4-Queens-Question/page4

Early check in fees are not at Mlife

Okay, I did get a chance to call the Luxor, and there is no early check in fee or late check out free (often you can extend an hour) It is based on availability. They did have a fee policy, but they discontinued it.
There is a fee if you want to arrange a guaranteed room check in early. That is $20 and that is what is listed on their internet site. But if you just stumble in from the airport at noon and they have a room, you are good to go to it early.
If you move from hotel to hotel in Vegas pack a small bag with medicine, VP strategy sheets, swimming trunks. Then if they can't check you in early, you can check your luggage and still do what you want.
Board friend Joe wrote about the Downtown Grand. They checked him in and said they would phone him when the room was ready. They did that, but at the time there was a line of 25 people just so he could get his key.
So, hope to check in early; if they  have available rooms at Mlife you get them.

I usually call and extend my checkout time an hour at no cost. That gives me less time to have my luggage with the bellman at the next spot. In fact, if I have any travel time between casinos, I check out at say 1PM  and am at the next place fairly close to check in time.
The rules at Mlife are not the same at CET.

 I know of a fellow, for example, who was staying for a convention at the Rio with his wife in an expensive upscale room and wanted to downgrade for a few more solo nights after she went home. The room was ready, but they wanted $20 for him to move his luggage to it. He talked them down to $10. 
Checking luggage with the bellman is great, but it does require a complete and careful packing up.
I've been booking the D and the Four Queens back to back most of my trips. It is a very short walk, so I walk over with no luggage and do the bed bug check.

Then I pack out some things, put them in the next room, and then go back for other things. There is no requirement for fitting everything in the suitcase perfectly. Often I make three trips. Both places will put me in as soon as the room is ready unless I want a particular room at the Four Queens.  In that case, I often do have to pack carefully and wait. Sometimes it is worth the wait for the room of my choice.
Once the D put me in at 9 AM. No issues. No fees.

That probably won't happen at Mlife places. Some report being charged before noon.  But noon or after they should pop us in an available room with not early check in fee.

Why I eat at buffets

Since I go to Vegas for 20 plus days each trip, savings add up, so I'll add the frugal notes.
Buffets are generally good value because they provide the drinks for free and the tipping is rarely the 20% I leave at a restaurant. 
Getting the lunch price is great.
Going into some at lunch time and just waiting for supper offerings is another frugal trip.
Buffets are a more easy comp.  The comp covers the entire bill and it is not compromised by having to leave an incredible tip.  If I score an upscale restaurant comp from gambling worth a decent amount of money, the tip is easily double the price of an entire buffet.
My last trip I ate on an average of $11 a day, eating generally one buffet a day ( not at the Orleans on senior day when two are free) and just having a bit of healthy food in the room,
There are more often specials focused on the buffet.  So on Veteran's Day I'll eat two buffets for free just with my DD-214 from long ago.  Last year I had breakfast where I stayed and lunch at Paris.  Call and ask if you are a Veteran.  Oh, and not one of those places actually examined my DD-214.  But don't lie about it, unless you want to run for public office.  However, if you don't have the form, just say you are a Veteran and it probably will work.
Personally, I am overweight and diabetic.  I control the diabetes only with diet.  The easiest place to do that is at the buffet.  Trying to figure what they will give me at a restaurant and bargaining the high carb sides for broccoli is an enormous pain.    The simplest foods of the cheaper buffets keep my sugar right around 100 in Vegas.  With the walking it is really a health spa for me.
Someone mentioned the sugar free desert.  These don't come in restaurants much.  In the buffet there is usually at least one thing I can eat that ai don't eat otherwise, even at home.  Otherwise I don't eat pie or cookies or pudding.
If I am worried about my sugar that day, a buffet can be an all I can eat lettuce, raddish, spinach onion event. 
Stop thinking you have to eat every you can to get full value.  You have value if what you pick would cost more ordered separately in a restaurant.  Two good salads and some soup make the buffet break even, and if you try the soup and hate it, you can take a different soup. 
This week my wife ordered a $30 plus fillet mignon and it was so terrible she sent it back.  The cook said it was fine.  They did not comp her meal.  She was not that hungry and she just took a bit from each of our plates.  Four of us.  Each ordered appetizers.  I disliked my pasta fasule.  None of this would happen at the buffet.
I also like the ability to combine foods as I want them.  I can make soup with all sorts of ingredients and flavors.  I can do what I do at home, mix up thinks, taste, add other things until I get the recipes just right.  I don't have the spice options.  Sometimes I bring my own hot sauce or cinnamon for coffee.
Certain buffets are better than others for certain diets.  The diabetes put me off my much loved Main Street Station buffet and into the Golden Nugget.  There I love making a breakfast of smoked salmon, capers, tomato.  That might be all I eat. 
I can make a hamburger with no bun on lettuce.
But even at Main Street station I can fill up on soul green collards topped with Hawaiian pulled pork and manage that in the diet.
I can more easily control portions in a buffet than in a restaurant, taking large portions of the right foods that are unlimited and getting perhaps just one small piece of potato that I never eat at home. 
My favorite is Red Rock.  There I had a wonderful meal because they had about four different kinds of roasted vegetables and I actually ate three deserts and did not affect my blood sugar.  That is a record.
I also travel solo and the buffets offer other opportunities.
At the Orleans, at my free breakfast, my first full day in Vegas I was in line and three women from Calgary and Alberta who were just behind me. Their talk was so perky and funny, I listened in and made some comment. They were so open and friendly that by the time we made the buffet, they had invited me to eat with them.
They asked about music.  I told them about the Nite Kings.  So we spent a few hours there together as well with some great talk and some dancing.
I have dined with a whole table of French folks, a fellow who did tax advice for a famous Japanese baseball players, a few teachers, a cute little Pilipino woman and her husband. 
Like the bus, the buffet line is a social event. 
Sometimes I have a free passes, so I ask if there is anyone in line who wants a free meal.
When I do stay solo, I pull out my journal and take trip report notes.  I am much more comfortable doing that in a buffet. than a restaurant.
Wine with the meal in a buffet can usually be brought in from where I last played.  At Eastside Cannery I have coupons for free wine at the bar and carry in two glasses to eat a free buffet on my voucher. 
Also, the poker and other gambling is the big draw for me to Vegas, and next the shows.  At home we go our to eat for recreation.  In Vegas I want to do something I don't do so much at home.
Finally, although some of the all day buffets are ridiculously prices,  the Orleans all day buffet is just $27 for the whole day (not 24 hours but all day)  You get a little bracelet and come and go without lines by using the VIP entrance.  So, you can go four or five times if you want, go just for coffee and fruit or just for a bowl of soup.  I would do this more often except I always book the Orleans for senior Wednesdays with an added $10 added to the comped rooms.  I liked it when I played poker there.  I could stay at the game and wander is for a bite and then go back.

What paying resort fees on 2 for 1 at the D did to my frugal thinking

At the D high level gamblers who get full comps pay no resort fees.
However, mid level to low rollers lost a comp this year.
Last year resort fees were waived on a 2 for 1 mailed offer. Now, they must be paid on the cash night portion. So, for low rollers, this was about a 50% reduction in comp. The D is still a decent deal most of the time, but I concentrate my play to preserve my bankroll over these 23 to 25 day trips and to get the most EV for my play.
I like to low roll somewhere and get decently comped.
The D's decision to toss in a hefty resort fee was in part to raise hotel rates for those who don't gamble. Now, they've decided to raise them just a bit more for those who gamble moderately.
Then too I loved that nickel drop full pay deuces and I'd play it for hours between the times when the 8/5 Vue bar Bonus progressives were not in a player friendly place. I was entertained, my mind challenged, at real nickel rates. No longer possible. That machine is gone.
Finally, some nights the D has rates as low as $16, so even with the resort fee, the 2 for 1 mailing is a great deal. However, the LIfe is Beautiful and other festivals push up room rates downtown. I only used 2 nights of the offer during this year's September time and the rates were $34 a night , so $56 with resort fee. $28 a night does not reflect much EV gained by gambling.
In fact, in November I booked 3 nights for $28 right across the street at the Fremont using the American Casino Guide coupon (buy 2 get one free, no resort fee, no gambling daily score to maintain)
There are similar coupons for other downtown properties.
My strategy for the next 2 day trip will be to cut back on play and see how little play at the D will still generate the 2 for 1 offer and to look for other places where moderate play might capture more comps.
Playing nickel triple play at the Orleans on senior Wednesday is probably the best bang for my buck.
The 9/7 with progressive DB is a more dependable VP than the D 8/5 Bonus.
I'm low rolling there with more entertainment for my risk. I get three lines for 75 cents a spin rather then one line for $1.25 a spin. I get two free buffets, reduced movie tickets, $10 free food added to my 2 free nights, drawings, The Nite Kings, a much nicer room, a heated pool ( my son and I braved the D pool last November and were pleased for the polar bear experience but it can't compare with the Orleans pool)
 Then last year right in the middle of the day Orleans gave out $5 to anyone with a player's card who stood in a short line.
And their elevators are efficient.
 And somehow my Orleans play must be affecting Gold Coast offers. Last year I got 2 free nights. This year I got a nice mailing with reduced rates. I don't play there except for a bit of diversion, $20 here or there. I don't worry about daily play averages. So why they cut in half the B Connected rates is well beyond me, but I'm glad that they did it when a family meetup (most of them staying at Bellagio) made the Gold Coast the only reasonable choice.
Also, points I earn with just a bit of play at Boyd casinos can be used so many places. D points can be used just at the D in the café. I love the café, but gambling more than I need for breakfast gives me points I won't use.
Since I figure my gambling bankroll as the difference between my other expenses in Vegas and what they might be in other places in the world, I want to reduce expenses as much as possible. In one sense, I want only to gamble with their money.
I know that my situation is a rare one, and that my low rolling seems ludicrous to many Vegas visitors. But to put room rates in perspective, last year in November I was in Vegas for 25 days (4 at the D) and spent $9.25 a night on average for room costs (resort fees, taxes, everything)
It was a losing trip. I lost $928 gambling.
However, by keeping expenses down it still is a lot of fun and a grand vacation for very little expense. Being retired I have much more time than money and I sit home some days when I'd like to travel because the money isn't there. But the money to travel to Vegas is always there for a low roller like me.
Details are herehttp://vegasbirthdaybash.blogspot.com/2014/11/tr-snippet-costs.html

Actually, when I budget in not using my car for 25 days, not going grocery shopping, etc even a losing trip to Vegas saves me money. Thanks Jean Scott.

El Cortez thoughts

There is more going on at the El Cortez.  They are closing the cafe and blending it into the Seigel upscale restaurant.  I think it will mean a return to the good upscale food, but an end to the good downscale prices.
http://lasvegasweekly.com/as-we-see-it/2015/may/27/el-cortez-restaurant-revamp-downtown-evolution/

Also, you can eat while you play
EL CORTEZ
From a news release: El Cortez players can enjoy the luxury of Gambling Gourmet, game-side dining, which allows guests to no longer worry about deciding between dinner and winning. Guests can enjoy the great food El Cortez has to offer without ever leaving the casino floor. Gambling Gourmet is available every day from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.

The biggest personal loss for me was the closing of the poker room.  It was an interesting and very cheap spread limit game like no other and over the years I came to know the dealers well and some of the regulars. 
Although many of the regulars I enjoyed years ago were banned.
Action Jackson was one.
And some died.
Jackie came down every day and splashed the pot with his strange, loose play.  It was sad to see him go down hill over the years, but fun to be at a table with him.  I don't suppose that will come back. The room really was a playroom for old Jackie, a place for him to enjoy a game with folks who loved and respected him.
The last renovation of the café, a few years ago,  also took out a favorite of mine.  Since I go solo, I loved the old bar stools where I might end up eating with one of the fellows I had just played against at the poker game.  The renovation created islands where solos eat alone.  Now I guess it will be just tables of some sort and perhaps upscale.
I don't usually eat upscale, but I did like the Flame and often there were good deals.  So I'm looking forward to seeing what the new restaurant is like and how they blend that into the café menu.  I wonder if there will be any good restaurant.com deals.  I doubt it will be the cheap café prime rib that was served.
Every one of these Vegas renovations of late takes out the inexpensive deals and replaces them with good food at a higher price.  But for me personally, since the onset of diabetes, I tend to eat more at the Golden Nugget buffet because I can get foods that fit the diet.  Playing poker there, I get ten dollars off.
I am pretty easy on frugal rooms, but I've given the Pavillion rooms up.  It is hard to find room for the computer.  The noise from the wrap around walkways can wake me up, especially if napping in the morning when the maids shout at one another and run their carts along the concrete sounding  like little trains right outside my window.
Vintage rooms are cheaper than Pavillion, but are an acquired taste.  There is no elevator (although there is a way to take the elevator up to a certain Pavillion floor level and then go in an unmarked door and have just a few stairs down to the Vintage hallway. It is much easier than luggage carried up the huge staircase. Sorry, I can't remember the floor.    I was annoyed with dueling televisions on my last attempt to stay there and thin walls.  I'd call these rooms a taste of old Vegas.  
[url]http://vegasbirthdaybash.blogspot.com/2010/11/el-cortez-vintage-rooms.html[/url]
There are some large Vintage suites tucked in up there somewhere.  They are not offered in booking, but you can get them, sometimes for no money for upgrade.  Many have written liking these. Sorry I can't find details and I haven't stayed in one.  
I love the Cabana rooms, but not on the first floor street level where street noise from walking and talking people is right outside the window.  I guess sometimes there is noise from some bars nearby, but I have never been bothered.  I love the classy feel of these rooms, the wild green color, the refrigerator, the choices on the television, the free fruit in the lobby.  I don't see the walk outside as worrisome (there is always a guard) or long.  However, there are three levels of these rooms and many have found the cheaper levels very tiny for their needs.  Again, I am solo, so I don't care. There are some great deals on the smallest of the Cabana rooms every so often.
Now, some of my information may be dated, but here are some photos of the Cabana rooms from an old TRhttp://vegasbirthdaybash.blogspot.com/2011/05/tr-snippet-hotels-compared.html

Here is a more recent review
http://www.vegaschatter.com/story/2014/6/12/2120/92359/vegas-travel/You'll+Never+Believe+What+An+Extra+$10+Gets+You+At+El+Cortez

The Tower is quiet, comfortable, perhaps a bit dull.  The rooms are very much like Orleans rooms.  The bed mattresses are just great, huge and thick.  Also these are right in the casino.  Years back they still had small screen televisions.  If that matters to you, ask and see if that has changed.
Sometimes Tower does not cost more than Pavillion.  I booked three nights over upcoming Halloween weekend and the Tower offer was the same as the Pavillion offer.  I'm printing that out, however, as it was from a new discounter and I'm wondering if I will have difficulty on check in.  I read some negative reviews.
There is a daily resort fee of  $9 plustax.  There is also a fee if you book more than 7 nights in a row.  It is a strange unique fee.
The casino itself has some advantages.  I don't much like gambling there solo, but a group can have a great time.  Craps is some of the best in Vegas, often three dollars with ten times odds.   I just read they have fifty cent chips for paying off those 6/8 place bets,  Roulette was cheap.  There is not as much full pay video poker as there used to be when JOB 9/6 was everywhere.  Just before Dancer did a VP workshop there, they installed some full pay JOB at his insistence.  Just after he left, they pulled them out.
There are still some 10/7 DB and some other good plays.  There were still some coin droppers. 
I think there are decent Deuces, but they have in some cases odd pay tables.  Scroll down and see Mike actually write that he is not sure of what to call some of the El Cortez games.
[url]http://wizardofodds.com/games/video-poker/tables/loose-deuces/[/url]
There were also some penny slots that actually  took a bet of a penny.  When they pulled back on good booze at the poker game a few years ago, I played off ten dollars in freeplay at 3 cents a pull and drank four Myers rums for a profit of $6 at cashout.  I guess the American Casino Guide coupons from the El Cortez are no longer part of the book, but that $10 freeplay was one of the better deals.
Right next to the elevator going to Pavillion rooms is one of the most unique old fashioned slot experiences perhaps in the world. 
There are a few slots that actually work with slots inside, antiques.  They pay pretty well.  They take a coin like a silver dollar available at the cashier.  I play every trip just for the feel of olden days before even my time.  They do measure points and start the turning of the reels with electricity, but the results are based on actual slots catching the grooves inside as they spin. 
The Sinatra impersonator I saw last time in the upscale bar was just great.  If you like fancy drinks, I'm told these are done by a good mixologist and at reasonable prices compared to other fancy drink places.  I miss the old lounge where I could meet people and walk in with a comped drink from the poker room and find plenty of room to sit.  But I see how it is an upscale improvement.
The El Cortez would like to join that Freemont East revolution, but frankly I don't see too many young folks there.  I went once to a young folks gathering in the outside courtyard and it was packed with upscale youth.  I was perhaps the oldest guy there.  But in the casino were my peers.
They did have plans to have a pool, but I don't see those developing. 
There is more and more thematic reflection of the mob.  I'm not too nostalgic about the mob.  Today their tactics would be called terrorism.  But folks love them like they love pirates and wild west bandits. 
My poker buddy had a "talk like a pirate" poker game.  I came with a Somalian dictionary for some modern pirate talk.  However, if you are nostalgic about old Bugsy... this is the place to go.  In the really upscale, one of a kind, suites there is even one surrounded by desert scenes where you can sleep in safe luxury and imagine where the bodies are buried.
When I first started gambling, the El Cortez was one of my favorites with good comps and frugal deals.    It is not a place I invest in or seed for future trips.  I do that at the D and at the Four Queens.  There have been folks noting the loss of long time established comp patterns.  Some of my friends went there exclusively with a host, and that all backfired.  They don't go there now.
I do use them for cheap nights that I pay money for in between my comped nights downtown. 
It is a great place to park a rental car. 
And while it is not in the heart of the Fremont Experience, it is in right there for Fremont East, so especially for the young who like that scene, it now has good location.  I never minded the walk.  Now that is upscale as well.
 The biggest personal loss for me was the closing of the poker room.  It was an interesting and very cheap spread limit game like no other and over the years I came to know the dealers well and some of the regulars. 
Although many of the regulars I enjoyed years ago were banned.
Action Jackson was one.
And some died.
Jackie came down every day and splashed the pot with his strange, loose play.  It was sad to see him go down hill over the years, but fun to be at a table with him.  I don't suppose that will come back. The room really was a playroom for old Jackie, a place for him to enjoy a game with folks who loved and respected him.
The last renovation of the café, a few years ago,  also took out a favorite of mine.  Since I go solo, I loved the old bar stools where I might end up eating with one of the fellows I had just played against at the poker game.  The renovation created islands where solos eat alone.  Now I guess it will be just tables of some sort and perhaps upscale.
I don't usually eat upscale, but I did like the Flame and often there were good deals.  So I'm looking forward to seeing what the new restaurant is like and how they blend that into the café menu.  I wonder if there will be any good restaurant.com deals.  I doubt it will be the cheap café prime rib that was served.
Every one of these Vegas renovations of late takes out the inexpensive deals and replaces them with good food at a higher price.  But for me personally, since the onset of diabetes, I tend to eat more at the Golden Nugget buffet because I can get foods that fit the diet.  Playing poker there, I get ten dollars off.
I am pretty easy on frugal rooms, but I've given the Pavillion rooms up.  It is hard to find room for the computer.  The noise from the wrap around walkways can wake me up, especially if napping in the morning when the maids shout at one another and run their carts along the concrete sounding  like little trains right outside my window.
Vintage rooms are cheaper than Pavillion, but are an acquired taste.  There is no elevator (although there is a way to take the elevator up to a certain Pavillion floor level and then go in an unmarked door and have just a few stairs down to the Vintage hallway. It is much easier than luggage carried up the huge staircase. Sorry, I can't remember the floor.    I was annoyed with dueling televisions on my last attempt to stay there and thin walls.  I'd call these rooms a taste of old Vegas.  
http://vegasbirthdaybash.blogspot.com/2010/11/el-cortez-vintage-rooms.html
There are some large Vintage suites tucked in up there somewhere.  They are not offered in booking, but you can get them, sometimes for no money for upgrade.  Many have written liking these. Sorry I can't find details and I haven't stayed in one.  
I love the Cabana rooms, but not on the first floor street level where street noise from walking and talking people is right outside the window.  I guess sometimes there is noise from some bars nearby, but I have never been bothered.  I love the classy feel of these rooms, the wild green color, the refrigerator, the choices on the television, the free fruit in the lobby.  I don't see the walk outside as worrisome (there is always a guard) or long.  However, there are three levels of these rooms and many have found the cheaper levels very tiny for their needs.  Again, I am solo, so I don't care. There are some great deals on the smallest of the Cabana rooms every so often.
Now, some of my information may be dated, but here are some photos of the Cabana rooms from an old TRhttp://vegasbirthdaybash.blogspot.com/2011/05/tr-snippet-hotels-compared.html

Roulete is a vicious game

And we are not just talking about the 5.6 house advantage.

http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-news/19127-gambler-sues-casino-for-300-000-after-roulette-ball-hit-him-in-the-face

Vegas Chatter will end publishing

Those of you who have loved this site for information that was often based on inside investigation, will be sad as I am to see it going away for good.

http://www.vegaschatter.com/story/2015/7/27/92228/9786/vegas-travel/We're+Cashing+Out+for+The+Very+Last+Time+

Riviera will definitely come down

And sooner rather than later.
Sad.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/business/lvcva-committee-votes-demolish-riviera

Frugal Booking getting harder

With the improvement in the economy and the upsurge of downtown, those of us who go to Vegas frugally and ride buses have harder challenges finding cheaper places to stay.
I was a great fan of the Four Queens, but they pulled back quite a bit on free nights. The same play that got 3 nights (even weekends) now gets buy one get one, and that promotion is no good if there is a festival or the casino has a tournament. I have a mailer for buy one get one and booked 4 nights at the end of September, but the Life is l̶o̶u̶d̶ a̶n̶d̶ c̶r̶o̶w̶d̶e̶d̶ Beautiful festival means that none of the four nights count as the free night offered on the mailer. Others report similar frustrations with Four Queen restrictions.
It is hard to really know what that means, however, because of the new comp$ program. For example, although I ate at Magnolia's every chance I could last year, I left with $40 in unused comp dollars that expire this fall. That is a free night in my 4 night stay.
Oh, by the way. If you use any coupon at Magnolia's, you can't use comp $ to pay the bill. However, if you stay there and put the cost of the meal on your hotel bill, you can use comp $ at checkout.
Also, note that one of the best coupons in the American Casino Guide is the Four Queens double point coupon. If you double the max, 500 points, and get 500 points, it is a great deal. It used to be worth $12 in cashback. I'm not sure now, but it is still good.
The D now charges the $20 resort fee on a 2 for 1 room for the night that is paid.
One of my favorite bookings was the D back to back with the Four Queens because check in/check out was so easy.
I guess that one is getting away from me especially with the loss of the coin dropped full pay Deuce machine that kept me entertained between good progressive numbers at the Vue bar VP.
So, it may be time to seed other spots. One of interest is the Fremont, still with no resort fee, using the ACG buy 2 get one free coupon. I'll try that in November. Of course, I could only do that once a year, but there are similar deals at other Boyd places downtown. Using that coupon might be a good way to get some cheap rooms and then seed the casino with play for future offers. Boyd offers seem to be keeping pretty steady, although I do hear of Gold Coast offers being cut back. I get the same offers from the Orleans, and using them on senior day, get a pretty good deal playing tripleplay 9/7 DB in nickels with royal progressives.
I'm only willing to play VP in any super aggressive way if the pay tables are good and the comps good as well.
I can be entertained just playing live poker with no house advantage, especially with the Golden Nugget offering double bonus hands (and perhaps soon $2 an hour comps) after 2 AM to 2PM and The Plaza offering the frugal poker player's dream tournaments where one might play for a couple hours and listen to live jazz and get free drinks for a $15 buy-in.
Two other venues are attracting me.
First, Arizona Charley's Boulder is always one the cheapest in a search and for just $5 or so extra the double room "suite" can be had. Things might be a bit scruffy there and it is out of the way, but those are good prices and other Boulder casinos are not far away, even Skyline which is like old Vegas with nickel full pay VP, good food deals, and the Dumpkof's band on Sundays.
Next is something completely new to me. Hipmonk searches now include Air B and B offerings. I've booked one in particular for September because for $101 total I covered a weekend. For that I get my bed and a private bath. I also get to do laundry in the middle of a 23 day Vegas trip. Shared areas are living room and kitchen. There is a tennis court and Jacuzzi and perhaps a pool.
While the one I booked is quite a ways off strip, it is very near the 109 bus route. That is one of the buses that serves the airport. It is also near the 202 serving Flamingo, and of course, for you car renters, it is easily accessible.
I'll let you know how it works out. So far, the posted reports are just fine.
One downside is that it is not completely free cancelation.

And of course, with Stations taking MyVegas points that is a great way to book a room for free. Even the resort fee is covered on weekday rooms. I'll be seeding Palace Station in September. I have three free nights booked. I want to see if I can get any future offers just playing dimes. I can play all day on dimes, even if I lose. Food is cheap. And there is a free shuttle to and from the airport. So, I booked the Air B and B back to back to Palace Station because the 109 will get me to the airport from the B and B, and the free shuttle will get me to the Palace Station and back to the airport, where the WAX will get me downtown for my next 6 nights.


Of course, to gamble from the B and B is harder. Still, I just can't see seeding and aggressively gambling just to get room offers that are equal to these sorts of offers where no gambling is required. And I can book the B and B for a week if I want without watering down my daily average of coin in.
Then I can go play a bit of live poker, or see free shows, or do whatever. And it costs the same for housing.

MyVegas and rising prices also had me take a good look at Excalibur. I got one weekend night there for the resort fee and paid for another at $70 plus resort, and then got 5 weekday nights at $22 plus resort fee. When I booked this was just $22 I see it is up $6 more dollars now, but I expect they will honor my booking. This is more than I like to spend, but it is another week long stay in one spot with no gambling required. The 2-6 at Excalibur and Monte Carlo is a very attractive poker game. The 3-6 at Monte Carlo was soft last year. But the best times are late night after the local rocks have gone home to their families, so to really take advantage of softer tables, I need to sleep nearby. I also love a lazy river with no tube first thing in the morning as exercise. Monte Carlo will let me do that, even if I am staying at Excalibur, for $10 and that is worth it for me. I also heard the the Excalibur concierge might be able to make a deal with Monte Carlo some mornings so I get in free. I guess when I drop $10 for a hour or so in the lazy river I have moved on from frugal travel, but with all the downtown places getting more and more expensive, that may be what I do.

Plaza requests advice

A host from the Plaza on the Vegas Message Board requested suggestions for improvements, focusing on no early checkin fee and a shuttle to the airport.
http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?122535-The-Plaza-wants-your-opinions/page2

Here is my response:
Are there early checkin fees at the Plaza now?
Early check-in fees are one of the most annoying fees in Vegas.  Why any hotel/casino would want to annoy people on their way in is beyond me.  My buddy stayed in an upscale room at the Rio with his wife (who was on convention) and booked a few subsequent solo cheaper days in a cheaper room.  He had to talk long and hard just to get the "early check-in fee" reduced to $10 from $20 and he was right there in the hotel the entire time,  just changing rooms. 
He won't do that again.  He was pretty mad and he didn't gamble there either.  If you have no early check in fees, I'll let him know and perhaps the next convention he will go from the Rio to the Plaza.
Low rollers who in mailings get a couple free nights because they focus gambling dollars on just a couple days at a hotels have to hop from place to place and so staying downtown is more appealing.  I do that now with a focus on the Four Queens and The D, but I gamble in both.   Changes at the D may have me looking for another second choice.  Were I to catch two free nights at the Plaza, or even a 2 for 1 offer, I'd want to stay just two nights and focus my bankroll on those.  I would pay to stay somewhere else for the rest of my downtown stay.  Early checkin is a great convenience then.
 Say, I did not gamble at Main Street Station, but just used an American Casino Guide coupon for 3 nights at a reasonable rate.  Then I rolled down to the Plaza with my bankroll on a 2 night mailing. I'd want to be able to leave MSS, roll down, and check into the Plaza with no early check in fee.
In fact, I might not want to meticulously pack to make the move, but come down with some luggage, check the bed for bedbugs, check in, and then go back for the rest of my stuff  That makes packing very simple.  It is what I do now between the D and the 4 Queens.   Sometimes making a few trips with a rolled bag is less bothersome than carefully packing everything once, especially if my bags are going to sit with the bellman.  Then I have to have my swimming gear, my gambling sheets and coupons, my meds all in a day pack to wait the 3 hours for a room that is just sitting there.   I would say that at the D and at Four Queens about 90% of the time I get early check in. 
And this might also happen.
With my bankroll in my pocket and one small piece of luggage I walk over early from MSS paid rooms to see if rooms at the Plaza are ready.  Perhaps they are not at 11 but will be by 12 or 1.  I am free to start gambling and wait an hour or so and ask again.  My luggage is still accessible in my MSS room if I really need something. 
So, free early checkin encourages me to book a hotel that offers it, and brings in my gambling money early.
Here are other things that would attract me :
1.  Turner Classic Movies on the television - I used to book at the Plaza just for that.
2.  More offers that waive resort fee.  It just feels good not to have to pay it.  It is the D charging resort fee now on the paid night of 2 for 1 mailings that encourages me to abandon them.
3.  A coin laundry like the Plaza used to have.  I'd book with you in the middle of every trip.  I'm going out in September to an Air B and B primarily for that amenity.
4. Any improvements in the pool.  That attracts me to the Plaza as well because I do like to swim every morning.  The Orleans and the Gold Coast have heated pools when I go in the fall.  I love that.  The D and the California have pools of ice water.  My son and I did the D pool  in the fall of last year.  It was a polar bear experience.  If a heated pool were one of the amenities of a resort fee, I'd not complain about paying it.


I think the WAX does take care of many folks who don't carry much luggage and are mobile. I use it.  However, I also used to book El Cortez at the end of my stay because I liked the easy ride to the airport.  For some travelers having luggage lifted and packed and transported is a huge benefit.
From the casinos point of view I think a shuttle would attract folks who don't get around so easily, folks who would stay and gamble at the Plaza.  I remember my ex mother-in-law going to Vegas, staying at Main Street Station, and never leaving the hotel.  While I can't understand that, she was satisfied.
Nice to have you here asking. Nice to feel the Plaza wants our business. Everything is becoming so impersonal in many venues. 

 

Strategy for getting rooms comps for low rollers

If you concentrate your play downtown, only let that casino know that you are there on the days you are playing at your top amounts. Stay out of it the rest of your trip. Don't do just a $20 one day at that place. Don't use your Player's Card for a discounted meal. Then you will look like a higher roller than you are.
Check to see that each casino has your correct mailing address and email.
And then call. I often get comped at the Four Queens and at the D without ever seeing an offer in the mail. At the Four Queens you ask for the VIP line and whoever is the host of the hour will look you up. At the D the clerk at reservations will look you up.

I'm not exactly sure how Boyd does what they do, but I only get offers at the casinos I play in. My triple nickel play at the Orleans gets me a couple free nights every six months. My almost nothing play at the Gold Coast where I often rent for cash but don't play much gets me casino rate offers. That may not seem like much, but I booked my wife and I at the Gold Coast as the cheapest place near a son's birthday party and on B connected the weekend was $150 each night. I was stuck in that location so I booked it on B Connected. Last week I got a mailing and saved myself $150 on that weekend using the offer in the mailing of $75 a night. Sam's Town, Freemont, California, Main Street Station all seem independent to me, except that once in a while they must share information as out of the blue I'll get some offer, usually one I can't use. I do some low level play at Sam's Town and that used to generate offers, but now it does not. For a while MSS liked my low level play and then the same play generated nothing. So I don't play there anymore. Next trip I'm seeding the Fremont to see if they will see me as a pretty new guy. All my play is VP quarters. Next trip I'm trying a lot of VP dimes at Palace Station to see if I can get some deals there that I can link up with MyVegas free nights.

I also managed a Four Queens casino rate for the last weekend in September (when I could find no cheap places at all anywhere downtown because of the 𝘓𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘴 c̶r̶o̶w̶d̶e̶d̶ a̶n̶d̶ l̶o̶u̶d̶..... 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭. It inflated all the room prices.) by talking with a host on the phone. Talking with a host at the Four Queens to check on mailings, I learned that even when their mailings came for September, I could not use them for that Festival weekend, but she checked me out and gave me casino rate, again much cheaper than just booking, even at a discounter site.

One frustration is that if you get comped two nights and then buy three more you will not be able to focus you play as a low roller on that visit for the next one. That is the low roller Catch 22. The Four Queens in a comped offer will give me extra nights for $24, but if I stay there for 6 days on my same bankroll, I won't get the best offers on my next trip. High rollers get all the nights and anytime they want and every month if they want. Low rollers get a 2 for 1 or a couple free and that probably won't be every month.

One trick is to add three nights ot a 2 night comp on a discounter, and then hope the casino does not notice. I was advised that because they are on separate computer systems adding three nights at the Four Queens by using Binions poker rate would not show up on my playing average on the Four Queen card. The trick is to concentrate play on the comped nights and then don't play on the paid nights.
Or you can hop from place to place.
Downtown, since you can roll luggage from one place to another, hopping from place to place is another strategy. I like hopping from the D to the Four Queens because it is a very short walk so I don't really have to pack as I can make three trips and both places are pretty good about early checkins with no fees if they have the rooms so that gives good overlap time for moving luggage. The Boyd Shuttle between the Gold Coast and the Orleans will take luggage, so that is another fairly easy move. I go for over 20 days each trip. I gamble mostly in places I only stay in for two or three nights. I pay cash in places where I won't gamble at all, using MyVegas and/or found deals. That way I am not hopping all around all those 20 plus days and I can concentrate play in the places I want to revisit on a comp.

That system gives me money to play a bit of live poker at the Golden Nugget. Live poker gets nothing in comps. Once in a while there is a slightly discounted rake. Or I might play the cheap live tournaments at the Plaza electronic poker tables. Again, that play would not get me any offers.

Poker Downtown

I think GN is the better room. It depends on the promotions, but there usually are more tables there and better table selection. I think the GN attracts more tourists, but all the limit games have some daily regulars. I think Binions pays $2 a hour still for playing. That really makes a difference if you are playing long days. Your $10 food comp at GN will not improve after 4 hours. You might better go eat and go to Binions. Also, the GN comp is just for the day it is issued, unless it is close to midnight. So, I always ask after midnight and then have the voucher for the entire next day. If you go to the buffet, this voucher is a line pass. Go to the VIP cashier. I once skipped 20 people waiting for breakfast.
There are no longer an kill pots offered and rarely a 3-6 limit, just 2-4, but that is a great game to play for the bonus money.
American Casino Guide has a coupon that will get you $60 in chips for $50 buy in. That goes a long way for paying for the book and downtown makes a great place to make a matchplay run, one of the few kinds of frugal gambling where you have a huge advantage.
Also, at GN note the time you start play. After 4 hours of play you can have a voucher for $10 off food. They don't track you with a card. Generally, I ask about the promotion when I come in even though I know about it. Asking helps them remember who you are and when you came. Ask when you arrive because they are in the process of starting logging by player's card and will offer $2 an hour. The fellow I talked to said that they would expect those rules by September when I go next. I'll love that mostly because points can be used when I am hungry, even a week later.
From 2 AM to 2PM the progressive high hands are doubled by the casino. So I once got paid $600 on quad jacks. Pay attention to what those progressives are paying. They will encourage players to play more hands in limit games. Hands like 2-6 clubs. If you have the Ace high flush, look for the straight flush possibility. It might be there.
As I remember bonus pays required $10 in the pot. Someone correct me if it is $20. Ask when you go. If you are playing limit with a pocket pair, keep in mind the bonus. Find something to say if you need help to get the $10 in order to win $50 or a lot more. Don't be obvious. "I heard it is snowing in Paris" might work with the right folks, especially if you laugh about it before hand. "Dealer, could you spread the pot?" also is a classic tip off. Good sportsmanship says that if someone calls your quads just because they got it that you needed more in the pot for a payout, you return their bet to them at a later time.
Two cards in your hand must play. I don't think one can be an Ace kicker with trips flopped. Ask that question, or someone here will know.
No cracked Aces.
Offer 4 daily tournaments.
1-2 is a $100 min and no max.
And please use a card protector. I hate that whining when someone tosses their cards on your winners and so it all gets mucked and the pot goes to the other guy who was not even going to call you. It happened to me in my last game. There sat the guy's mistossed cards on top of mine. However, my nice smiling Greek God face was in between them and the dealer just snatched up the mistoss and I won $33. I see it at least once every Vegas trip. Drunks don't throw straight. Guys angry at randomness act like little boys, and old guys with arthritic fingers just miss the target. In the first or last seat this also protects you from dealer mistakes in pickup.

Folks either like or hate the electronic machines at the Plaza, but they do allow for frugal tournaments. The disadvantages are obvious. The advantages are that no one can act out of turn, there is no dealer to tip, you easily know what your opponents hold in chips, there never is confusion on reading the cards. No dealer mistakes. No card protectors needed. No need to watch for prematurely revealed cards by the dealer or the player. No need to call the floor, put the card back in the deck to be reshuffled after someone is missed in a betting round. In my last session an entire flop had to be picked up and reshuffled fro some dealer error
So you can drink and listen to the music and watch the passing girls and not have so much to watch in your opponents. The tells are sometimes different.
Also, you are not handling chips which are some of the dirtiest bits of disease spreaders in the casino. Nor will arthritic hands knock over stacks that old back-issue bodies have pain picking up.
I am amazed that they still offer these cheap tournaments. All poker rooms tend to be lost leaders, but these machines can't make much for the casino. I never played a cash game there, so I don't really remember if the rake is also really low. I'd play there just for the experience. I don't expect they will be there for years.