TR snippet: EL CORTEZ VINTAGE ROOMS

Well, with lots of good help from fellow board members I gave the El Cortez vintage rooms a try and was delighted with everything.

These are small, cozy, clean and very quiet rooms. Unlike the Pavillion where everyone walks by on the outside corridor, there is no traffic here. The window is frosted glass that lets in life but offers no view. There is no table for my computer, but a nice easy chair pulled up to the set of drawers near the bed works well, especially tucked in close with the top drawers supporting the computer.

Getting to these rooms has always been a hassle for a guy who carries a huge suitcase that can weigh 80 pounds when all three carry ons are packed into it. However, using the secret passage from the second floor elevator I managed to get into the room with a short flight of stairs that went down.

The room itself has

* a fine queen bed and very rich dark furniture reminding me of the wood in the Golden Gate.

* a hair dryer.

*a coffee pot

*two small garbage cans

*clean and fresh interior

*small but old fashioned bathroom with faux ivory faucet handles.

*no smoking

*plenty of lights

*quiet. I hear nothing here. A huge contrast to the pavillion motel like rooms where any noise it just outside.

*television more diverse than in other casinos. (Quite a contrast from the Orleans where some folks watched "Meet the Folkers" twice because it was the only free movie available.)

*an exhaust fan in the bathroom

*good shower head.

NEGATIVES

*small closet only had hooks. No bar with hangers.

*no safe

*tacky parrot

AND THE FINAL NEGATIVE WHICH DISCOURAGES ME FROM STAYING AGAIN. TELEVISIONS CAN BE HEARD THROUGH THE WALLS. SO AT ONE IN THE MORNING I AM WOKEN UP BY A NEIGHBOR. TOO BAD TOO. THE REST WAS VERY QUIET.

TR snippet: VINYL COFFEE AND FREE WIFI

Well, it may be harder to take a bus to the El Cortez, but it just got easier to get wifi. A new coffee house is open right across the street as you head down to the Experience. It features some healthy food choices, coffees, some interesting beer, and free wifi as long as you buy something. Seems a fine alternative to the long walk to the Krispy Kreme.

The place is a true relaxed coffee house with a scattering of small tables and some cases of books to borrow. I can't remember all the offerings but organic green salad was one and there were some interesting sandwiches for about $6. For the truly frugal they adverised a 7-9am special of drip coffee for a dollar and a muffin for another dollar. Seems just wonderful. I was there about noon and there were about 8 people with computers. My guess is that for a while it will be uncrowded for those staying at the El Cortez. They are open M-F 7am until midnight. Sat 9am until midnight. Sun 9 am until 3pm.

It was very quiet and some soft music was playing. I saw a record player and an assortment of records. They advertise themselves as the only independent coffee house and record store in Las Vegas.

I love records and have a large collection of my own.

This is my kinda place.

www.thebeatlv.com

702-686-3164

Also on the corner of Freemont and Las Vegas Blvd there is an interesting place called the Hookah Lounge all done up in exotic decor and connected to the Cigar store. It was not open, but it sure adds decor to the old parking lot on that corner. Perhaps there is still parking for $10 as I saw a sign set off to the side.

TR snippet: TELEVISION AT THE EL CORTEZ

Okay, I know that we don't go to Vegas to watch television.

However, here I am writing on my word processor in this fine, quiet little Vintage room at the El Cortez.

I have such a cold!

I thought about trying to arrange going home early today, but it seems such a waste when I can sit at the video or live poker even feeling a bit under the weather as long as the coughing eases up so I don't bother anyone.

Meanwhile I dozed off to some television.

I like it that here there are some stations with movies and things to skip to when the commercials come.

Some people we met at the Orleans spent some time watching television there, perhaps with kids, and saw "Meet the Fockers" twice because it was the only thing that was on.

I'm skipping between some comedy station, some sitcom bits, and a movie set on Mars and it entertains me.

Of course, this is nothing like watching at the Super 8. There I have my favorite TCM channel and a few HBO stations so there is no need to play "time the mute" for commercials.

Then too, I find here in the El Cortez vintage that I can hear one or even two other televisions when mine is off. What a shame! That spoils the otherwise unaffected quiet.

I am spoiled because at home we have teevo and so there are always interesting things to watch with the commercials in fast forward, and then the Roku further spoiled me because there we have no commercials whatsoever.

I don't watch much television, but when I am sick I like it better than reading although I did bring along my Kindle this trip and love it. I loaded almost a hundred books for about $5 total (most were free) and I can increase the print so that I don't need my reading glasses.

I'll never read all of them. I"m well into Dickens' Bleak House, however and some of what I loaded can be read in snatches, like collections of anecdotes, word lists, the entire Bible, poetry. In the case with the pop up light I could read in bed while my wife slept and not bother her at all.

Then for Christmas I bought myself an NPR radio. This manages to get about 800 radio stations, and all the NPR stations in the country, by using the wireless computer router. It is a fine little box and ends forever my constant moving of radios and antennae trying to get a clear NPR signal just from the local station.

A fellow I met on the Tropicana bus was ranting about how much better it was back in the 50's when we were kids and he made some excellent points. However, to be old in an age of technology is just delightful.

EL CORTEZ POKER; THEN SHUTTLE TO AIRPORT

I love the poker at the El Cortez. Some of the best poker players play there; however drifting in and out of the mix are some of the worst players as well. They don't last long.

I aspire to play well and to mix up my game so that my table image is tough to pin down.

My toughest challenge is to be patient and throw away hands that should not be played. Those semi-good hands will cost me money. Others will play them, especially Ace-rag because the call is just one dollar. But I want to be on the river with a much higher Ace.

I did win once with A-2. It was my blind and A-2 flopped and then another 2 as well. A fine full house. But that was a fluke.

I also won with A-6. I flopped two pair and bet it and was called too. The turn was a 9, I bet and was called. The river was a 9. This is the reason not to play Ace-rag. Here I have all this money invested in the hand and my great second pair becomes a weak kicker. Incredibly, no other caller held an Ace and I win with Aces over nines and a six kicker.

Characters at the table:

Many of the old tyme players are gone, but a new crowd of daily rocks have replaced them. Most sit and play very tight poker, grinding out a good bit of profit. Some come every day.

Jackie Gaughn was there again but just a small shadow of his

former self. There is no hearty, "One for the money." and when one fellow asks, "Do you remember me?" Jackie just gives the stock, "Sure, you're the one who took my money."

Jackie remembers very little.

So sad to get old.

Gary has another beard, a chin brush gone long. He is his usual even tempered delightful bantering self. He comes and goes, but he is there most of the time. I took him down one night and sent him home, but the next day he recaptured the little I won from him and more.

There are plenty of quiet old surly rocks who have only distain for the tourist banter and the half baked theories about what to play and why and what they had and how they would have played it had they had something else.

One of the loudest is a new face who announces to a woman who plays only on the internet that he teaches this game for a living and then proceeds to play aggressive, bad poker. The woman leaves. I wonder why a guy who teaches the game for a living is not out playing no limit, or why he gets so mad when a really good, quiet, steady player always has better cards than he does.

Doug is the fellow who could teach the game.

He is not an old guy like most of us, but seems to be there every time I play. I think he plays around the clock. He is very studied, very tight, and tough to beat. He tried to sully his own table image by showing a bluff now and then, but generally if he bets, he has his opponent beat. He cannot be read.

Eskimo Ron is not always my favorite player. He is often angry at everything and rants like Archie Bunker only more mean spirited. Still it is interesting to play with an Eskimo fisherman and the day after he wins the high hand of the day award, he is in better spirits and tells stories. He tells about bringing in the four whales allocated to each village each year and cutting them up for distribution to the whole community with the best cut reserved for the Greek Orthodox priest who has blessed the hunt. He tells us that none of us beef eaters have tasted anything as delicious. He loves to talk about eating what he calls " bull nuts" just to see, I suppose how people react.

Some of his stories may point to why he is so angry and surly. All shot up in Vietnam and of his fellow marines, thinking he had little time, stripped him of all his gear. And each time I have played cards with him his father at 17 told him it was time for him to move out. He does not tell too many details about the fishing he does a few times a year in Alaskan waters. He is my age or older but in good shape. His arms are huge and hard. I would not want him angry at me.

I remember years ago the first day I played with him and how quietly angry he was. But now he knows me and I can banter a bit.

There is more talk around this table than most poker tables. Alex, a young electrician, talks about his work and the different pay tables in Nevada and Arizona. Another fellow is a welder. An older Black man talks about the new rules that stop drinking or smoking even in the public park in a development where I gather he lives.

The staff is much the same, but they don't tell as many stories. They ask about me, but I don't have too much to tell really. I don't want to complain about my cold. All in all this a very comfortable crowd to end my time with. I was up in the first two sessions but lost it back playing the final day, too lose, too tired, but it was my last day.

One night I use the once every other day $5 comp offer and get half off on the large prime rib at the Cafe.

On my last night it is fine to be able to play right up until the last couple minutes before the free shuttle leaves for the airport. Mark is still driving and we talk a bit about poker.

Another couple are there who play slots and video poker, but have not figured pay tables beyond the one book they read by Lenny Frome. I talk a bit too much I suppose, and I think they resent that. I tell them a bit about computer tutors, but they don't want to know, really. Their 1994 Lenny Frome is enough for them. After that when they ask a question, they ask it directly of Mark. They just want to talk to him.

Mark stays with sports and no limit and shares some sense of the card rooms. He is interested in many things and especially surprised to hear that I can get free rooms with only live poker play from Harrah's and how I arrange the rooms of my trips.

so is was a good trip, except for this cold I brought home with me.

TR snippet Orleans jacuzzi

I was determined this trip to shift my focus from gambling to indulging the simple pleasures of travel and especially to enjoy more of the amenities included in each hotel.

This visit to the Orleans, although it was in cooler Autumn weather, I decided to use the pool area.

I found the large jacuzzi very pleasant with moderately heated water and plenty of space. I could store my Kindle and shirt wear I could easily see them while to enjoyed the massagin bubbles and the fine back scratches of protruding rocks that form the center of the Jacuzzi.

I think that having my back scratched is second only to sex as pleasure inducing and these rocks performed that task as did some of the textured parts of the pool on the bottom of my feet.

Outside of Taos, Elizabeth and I paid a good bit of money to soak in pools with similar textures. The water was of various minerals, including arsenic which surprised me. Other than that this pool did all of the things that the Taos pool did and for no extra money.

While soaking I took a good look at all the green around me. When I was a boy, my family never traveled out of the Northeast, so when I went to Air Force basic training at Lackland in Texas, I was fascinated to see my first palm tree. We would stand at attention, drill marches, get lectured, and all around us were these wonderful new trees. I could see them, but I could not walk over and touch them until my first day of liberty, a couple weeks into basic training.

And that is the first thing I did on liberty. I took some time to touch and explore these great trees.

Here in the pool at the Orleans there were no lectures or drilling or any of the constraints of basic training. While I would not mind putting up with all that again if I could also be the age I was, it is some comfort in old age to know that I am free to look and touch and enjoy the pleasure of the water, sun, and greenery ??

In the trees were those blackbirds so common here in the West. And I watched and listened to them as well.

These birds are another example of common pleasures that are so easy to ignore.

On the strip yesterday I saw the parrots at Margaritaville and they were fun to see. But these plain black birds had songs and squawkes and those parrots were silent.

What a variety of sounds these birds make. I sat drying in the sun and one perched right over my head and talked to me. I answered with just a bit of a simple sound I heard him make and he answered with so many different sounds that I laughed with delight.

It was fine for me to finally not be so drawn into the gambling that I missed indulging these fine pleasures.

Also most pleasing was my Kindle. I had packed the last morning and my reading glasses were no where to be found, so I just upped the letter size on the Kindle and read easily without difficulty.

I used it to when I arrived before the pool opened. Just in the doors on the way to the Fitness Center there are some fine, large cushioned chairs and I waited there reading the Kindle. On the the attendants asked if I would like a juice and offered me four kinds. I am going to remember that place. That tomato juice and the free poker doughnut I had earlier was my free breakfast at the Orleans.

Since the swimming area does not open until 10 am, I was worried that I might miss my checkout time, but they easily extended my checkout until one PM. This helped me relax and enjoy the pool and meant that by the time I made the walk to Flamingo Avenue and caught a bus to the Super 8, it would be time there to check in. 

Wild Bill and me in Vegas

Well, it is November 2 and while most folks are voting, I'm goofing around on another kind of machine.  So far the score has been in my favor, but I know as soon as I report that, I will start to lose, so I'll soft peddle it.
Brandy was the drink of the evening last night at the Flamingo where Bill and I played for about six hours of 2-4.  I was in fine party mode and had some good conversations with a woman from Maryland, an 85 year old math professor who looks so much like Al Molinaro (Happy Days, Odd Couple) that he used to be used in look alike commercials and has met Al and talked to the woman who did the Where's the Beef? commercials.  This fellows name was Al as well.  I guess, "it was Al all the time" for him.
I was down about a hundred when my cards took off and I won or stole a long string of hands and then caught a $100 bonus with a 9-K straight flush in diamonds.  Flamingo does not have a bad beat, but they do have early in the evening cracked aces and high hand awards all the time.
Today we played free bingo here at Ellis Island and won nothing.   Bill and I made a side bet for breakfast and I won that so I had bacon and eggs for free while Bill ended up being the only guy who could play free bingo and lose $8.
My meet up with board friends from Vegas Message Board is happening in a few minutes.  I already met Boomer from Depew.  Strange to come all this way to see folks who are so close to home. We had a good talk about the Buffalo area and other gambling issues.  He and his wife were comped some Paris rooms and freely upgraded to wonderful suites, so he is having a fine time on his 15th honeymoon as he calls it.
I got my time twisted up because my clock here is not working right and ended up going for the meet early, so I played off a matchplay ($20 profit) and then played a bit of JOB 9/6 and in the course of a little while I turned $20 into $80, so for the day I have a profit of $80.  Not bad.  This has not happened on my last few trips, so I was pleased and also quit with the profit rather than chasing the royal.
I also won a hand sanitizer spray for being an old guy who could get a high pair on the promo video poker machine.
Hopefully Bill and I will go to the Westin for the Burlesque show at 9 tonight.  We have 2 for 1 tickets and have been trying to get to a show, but I have just been too tired.  Tonight I am just going to go tired. Yesterday was a long day of poker.  I was up playing at 4 am and quit at 1 am with some breaks, but I still woke up a bit before 6 this morning.  I wonder how the change in time will affect my inner body clock.  So, I'll take a bit of rest from the poker and the alcohol.
My computer went crazy again this morning, but I think I may have solved the problem by turning off the automatic updates that don't manage to update anyway and just use up hours trying to update.  Maybe when I get home I'll just boot the whole thing up new again and start over.  I hate losing all my favorites and cookies, but everything else is stored in the clouds, except my photos which can be backed up.
Oh, and I did vote by absentee.  That will please some of you and annoy others.
I am sorry not to be watching the returns as I enjoy the contest in spite of the fact that very few people agree with my agenda and the kinds of changes I would welcome or want to hear my analysis of issues.
I am very tired of the shouting.  More of it on Facebook today.  Why is it that people think if they get mad enough and shout and rant, they can solve problems?  It was interesting in the Lincoln book to see how he handled his quarreling cabinet and tried to make progress. And key to his success was his ability to form compromise and include many factions in some compromise.  I think Obama hoped to be able to do that a well.
Board buddy Boomer talked about his hope to leave NY state.  Many of the retired folks are doing that. Maybe they have some points, but I really love living where I live and I love visiting other parts of the state as well.  It is having hard times just now, but so are most states.  All are looking in some ways to raise taxes and get more revenue to pay bills.  That is certainly annoying.  But I never wanted to run away from NY state.  At times I think I see some place I would like to run towards, and some of my friends are certainly doing that more than trying to escape NY.  That is a different motivation all together.  My buddy Lucky Pete and his wife Carol love Florida so much that it is hard to even revisit the cold of NY.  That makes sense for them.  They left a long while ago.  But the folks who in the middle of an angry rant about how unfair it is to them to be living in New York and how they might want to "vote with my feet" as one fellow said to me last week in my view are doomed to be unhappy wherever they might go.
Well, perhaps that is my rant.
I am enjoying this visit to Las Vegas in spite of being held back by my sleep issues.  So much fun and easy times with some food and drink indulgence that is fun as well.

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

The meet was a good success with lots of shared stories and it was good to put faces on names.  I'll have a photograph and info on all the people.  We had more coupons than we knew what to do with and everyone had great information.  I was happy to have done it.

In between I have tried to sleep without much luck.  I don't feel as tired as I did earlier.  I watched some HBO, the roller derby movie Whip It which I thought I would not like, but I did like.  Another coming of age theme with a wonderful cast. And a sub theme exploring the effect of not being honest on relationships.
The violence seemed playful.  I am not certain that is the way it really is in the world of roller derbies, but that is the way it was portrayed.  Ellen Page was just wonderful.
They have roller derby events here in Las Vegas.  Perhaps sometime I'll attend.

Planning for November 2010 trip

Itinerary:


2 free legs on SW direct flight puts me in Vegas Oct 30-- Nov 16.


Bill will be there with me, coming in a day earlier on October 29 and staying until Nov 6.  Elizabeth will come 6-13, one night at Super 8, 5 at Harrah's and one at Orleans.
We will have a car that time.
She had one leg free and caught the second for $144.


Here are my hotels so far.  
Oct 30-31
Orleans comped 2 nights with $10 food


Nov 1-2-3-4  
$126
and a second reservation
Nov 5-6
$117
Super 8 on Koval


Nov 7-8-9-10-11 Harrah's free
12-13-  ORLEANS FREE two nights with $10 food.
Nov 14-15 - El Cortez  $31 with tax using ACG coupon.


Nov 1-6 at the Super 8 will give me wifi, put me close to the strip for that convention dominated time, and let me do a load of laundry.  Having these nice long blocks of time in one place will be easy as well, avoiding the check in/ check out business.


My average  cost  for these seventeen nights, including taxes and fees is $22.40 a night and since it includes two weekends, a free ride back to the airport for me  from El Cortez, and for the most part less between-casino travel with luggage, seems like a good deal to me.


Five free nights in a row at Harrah's was quite a suprise and along with Elizabeth's dates let me drop my Gold Spike booking and avoid the newly raised resort fee.
Four nights free at the Orleans was satisfying since I don't expect to gamble enough to earn that kind of attention after this trip, so I want to hit them for as much as possible on this trip.  Four weekend nights makes up for my losses there last April.


Here is a thread for El Cortez  and Four Queens compared.
http://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/showthread.php?p=434252&posted=1#post434252

Poker rakes, house edge, thoughts

I posted this in response to a question on house edge on the Vegas Messageboard and ended up feeling it was worth saving in a more permanent location.
This is it.

Kind of a late comment here, but

When you use the term "house edge" in gambling, it really does not apply to live poker. In all other casino games your opponent is the house and mathematically they have the advantage and the casino will grind you down at different rates over the long run.

In live poker, the house does not have or need any edge. You pay them a fee for the service of offering the game, dealing, enforcing the rules, etc. The "edge" is developed by the player who is your opponent. 
If your opponents are drunk and poor players, then you have the edge. 
If they are skillful and patient and read the cards, odds and players well, then they have an edge. 
Of course the person with the edge is not always perceived as winning. As in all gambling, in the short run anyone can win. The slot house edge does not mean the casino walks away all the time with the money because you hit a jackpot and go to lunch. 
A good player's house edge does not mean s/he walks away rich either. At my last game the "fish" kept pulling trips on the river.
The house gets the rake regardless.

However, if you play very low limit poker (say 2-4) at a table which is raked aggressively and full of very tight players, it can be impossible for your winnings to overcome the grinding of the rake. 
If the pots are all small and the players equally matched so the money just is passed around from person to person, then the only winner at the table will be the house. 
This is particularly a problem because a limit poker game puts a limit on the size of the pots, so the house rake is a high percentage, while no limit can see pots of hundreds of dollars with the same rake and tip as a game that sees pots of under a hundred dollars. 
And in no limit, you might win one hand an hour and triple your money. That one pot was raked once. In limit it might take you four hands to make that much money. So the same winnings would be raked and the dealer tipped four times. While the rake might be presented as the same 10% it is hugely different.

There are some people who feel that it is nearly impossible in the long run to make money at a 2-4 limit game because the rake just grinds out any possible profit.

This can be one reason to search out 4-8 or higher games because the size of the pots (given the same kind of players) double while the capped rake and tip stays the same. 
On the other hand, I have been in casinos where the 2-4 pots are a good bit larger than the 4-8 simply because folks stay in and bet second best cards. In a tight 4-8, the house may more often take more dollars out of your winnings than in a very loose 2-4 game.

And here is where your question becomes very complicated. In all other gambling the information you get from those who have played the game will be useful when you sit down at the same game in the same place. 

In live poker the effect that the rake has on your chance of winning money changes everytime the player's change and that is a continuous change. So if I tell you that XX casino was good for me because of XXX condition, you may not find that at all when you arrive because the opponents will have completely changed.

Here is another complication. You can find out ahead of time which place gives the best rake. I used to think that was the best bet for me. I avoide Harrah's because Harrah's rakes more than many other venues. 
But if that means that the tighter and better players avoid those games and flock to games that charge the lowest rake, then you don't gain advantage by seeking out those games only to find that your opponents are all Vegas regulars who not only play poker every day, but play at the low raking casino with players they know like a book.
This is especially true if you are a beginner. For the expert player, the lower rake adds to money won. For the beginner, if the lower raked games fill the table with all expert opponents then what is saved in the slight lowering of the house rake is lost in the playing against opponents with a huge "player's edge."
And perhaps at higher raked games there is an automatic self selection of players who can't do math or won't. If they don't do the math of the rake, they probably can't count outs and compare that to pot odds either.

Table selection is seen as a key element in playing limit poker.

The best advice is to watch a game a while before you join. This is often impractical as we don't go to Vegas to watch and we often can't pick the table when it is our turn to take a seat. However, we can play tight, watch how the game develops, and then leave if it seems that it will be unlikely that the pots will be large enough to overcome the house rake.

Of course, then supper time comes and half the table changes to other players. Frustrating.

On the other hand, if everyone is in every hand every time and forever calling (no foldem holdem) then we will overcome the rake, but we can expect to lose hands that we play well against crap cards that suck out wins against us.

I like a game where there are up to three loose but not too aggressive players and the rest of the table are predictable folks who are only in hands when they have good cards. That gives me the best balance. It offers me enough action to offset the rake and yet not so much that luck determines the winning hands more than poker skill.

In these games I may have pocket Aces and get called by a couple people chasing crap cards as well as some good players with other high pairs. However, my Aces won't face seven opponents who all have crap cards but will draw to anything. 
In the totally loose games the rake is offset by the size of the pots, but one of those seven maniac chasers will beat my Aces more often than I will beat all seven of them.


Another rake consideration is in how many players need to be at a table for you to continue playing. Playing five people if the rake stays the same is not worth the game, and you should not do it for long. Ask for a rake reduction, and if it does not come quickly, walk. Sometimes, with just five players, the house will take no rake for a while except maybe a dollar for a bad beat or high hand bonus. 
This is a good five person game and often a time to start playing more hands more aggressively. 
When the table fills, the house will start raking again, and if it shrinks again you may have to ask again for a rake reduction. Remember to do that.

Sometimes it is frustrating to play in a casino where you are on a list waiting for a seat, but that may be the better venue.
I played at Foxwoods last week and had a dramatic example of this in 2-4 play. I waited for a seat for ten or fifteen minutes and spent the time getting a flavor for all the 2-4 tables. 
I got a seat at a new game I could not watch, and within the first 8 deals had pocket Aces, pocket kings, A-K, A-J, and two other sets of playable cards. I won most of those pots, but when I looked down at my chip stack I saw I had practically no profit because I was at a tight table. 
I saw a seat at a loose table I had checked out earlier and was allowed to move, and on my very first hand played a 6-9 off suit (had to post to join the game) that caught the nut straight and won an $80 pot. This table called around, even (with third best hands) called raises that screamed out we raisers held straights.

I was lucky, but more than that, my table selection meant I got paid. 

Sorry this is so long. Hope it was helpful.

RAKE INFORMATION

http://www.allvegaspoker.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2619&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

Best updated rake information.

American Casino Guide note on Ellis Island

One of the posters on the ACG board wrote Ellis to clarify how their coupon policy has been evolving.  Here is what she got back:

I did write to Ellis Island and got the following response:

Hello Mary,

We did experience some fraudulent coupon use and worked with ACG and did get everything resolved 

We are accepting all ACG coupons as printed in the ACG book

Thank you and hope to see you soon. 

Marcus G. Zavala
General Manager 
Ellis Island Casino & Brewery

Vegas Trip April 2010

The following posts all reflect my 16 day Vegas trip this April.

I first posted snippets on narrow topics like Red Rock or Hotel comparisons that will appear in Discussion boards as single focused posts.

Then follows the daily narratives of what I experienced written as journal entries while I was in Vegas

And yes they are long and detailed and rambling, but my primary audience are folks collecting details from discussion boards planning a trip.

And the audience is also me planning my next trip after I have forgotten the details of this one.
Skim reading is the skill to employ here.

I welcome all your comments here, critical or otherwise, but if you come from a discussion board, you will have more interaction if you comment back on that board.  These posts are meant as a resource for those boards and not as competition.  So it is better to leave your comment on the discussion board thread that provided the link to this blog.

If you came here directly, then by all means leave a comment and I'll answer here.
You can choose the anonymous comment option, but please give me more than a letter to identify yourself.  I have more than one reader with the initial C beginning the first name.
Comments will always  have to be approved by me before they are posted, so there is some delay.  The need for this is simply because after all these Vegas losses, I just am not up to advertising for odd Chinese drug salesmen or folks who seem obsessed with finding ways to enlarge the penis.  I'm not into drugs other than free Myer's rum at the El Cortez and I've been perfectly content with my penis for 63 years, thanks.  In fact, I find it much more reliable than my poker skills.
So anyway when I review comments, those spam comments just don't get posted.

Thanks for reading.

Vegas 2010

I guess I did not update this thread.
I went to Vegas irrationally worried that the Super 8 or Vegas Club would have bed bugs.
The only place I would evidence was the Flamingo.  There were blood lines in the couch cushions.

They moved me twice without inspecting what I found.  I suspect they rerented my room.  Odd response I think.  I the first room I trapped a live bug under a glass, but no one wanted to look at it.

While I came with powder and 3 mil plastic bags and dis-solvable bags for laundry, I found the best defense was my flashlight.  I kept my luggage in the bathtub overnight the first couple nights until I could be sure.  When I got up to to to the bathroom, I rechecked the bed with this little two inch LED flahslight I bought at Home Depot.
Super 8 was very accomodating as I explained my fears at the desk.
Vegas Club also was sympathetic and told me they had not had any problems in the North tower.

All in all I was much more relaxed than I thought I would be, and clearly got my rational mind into the set that this could happen in any hotel and the smaller, cheaper places might even be better at accommodating my fears as expressed at the check in desk than the big places.

The cleanest hotel, behind headboards and furniture, was the Gold Coast.  Everything was vacuumed.  Now did that mean that it was easier or harder to check for bedbugs?  I don't know.  It seemed easier.  It certainly was easier to check for blood lines, but perhaps harder to check for discarded casings.

I have decided that while they can appear anywhere, they are least likely in off strip hotels that cater ot middle America and not as much to world travelers.  Other countries are the source of most infestation so avoiding the hotels that attract that tourist is probably a good bet.

TR Snippet review of Ellis Island and Super 8

This may repeat some of the information in other snippets, but I liked the way it flowed on a reply on one thead so I'll use it again.
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The price of the steak special has nothing to do with the quality. It is a come on to get people in the place. And it works. During normal eating hours the cafe draws a good crowd and you may be asked to take a number. So they get the gambling started during the the waiting time.

A microbrew or a root beer comes with the meal now. I was amazed at the size of the beer they brought. For my taste a red wine goes better and I have used the 4 free drink coupon in the ACG to get the drinks and then carry what was left into the restaurant. No one cares. But if you like beer, this is value.

All that being said something put me off my steak special this last trip so I understood the mixed reviews of this meal. However, it may just have been me. I generally get the special in the early hours of the morning to avoid the lines, and this was a graveyard meal after a losing session. I expected it to cheer me and it did not. The steak seemed just a tad dry. The green beans were tough.

I went back on an ACG coupon a couple days later and used it for the prime rib (no coupons can be used on the steak special) and had a fine meal. The garlic green beans were tough the day of the steak special, but fine the day of the prime rib. Over the years I must have eaten a couple dozen steak specials and never been disappointed before.

Both potatoes were good. I had a baked with the special and mashed with the prime rib. The portion was huge.

All that being said the place won't compare with actual gourmet big buck cuts of beef. It will fare just fine in comparison with Outback. I don't do the expensive steak house experience in Vegas. I ate on $8.39 cents a day (plus tips) this trip including room snacks. One fancy steak meal would double my frugal food budget.

I'll be eating there more often on my next trip because I tried out the Super 8 next door and was very pleased. Small rooms, but I am solo and the amenities were fantastic. I have sleeping issues so good TV really helps. I like Turner Classic Movies and they have it and twice as many other stations as well, including three HBO. There is free wifi in the room. I used it. I used it in the guest laundry room too where I did my laundry at 3AM when I could not sleep and was on line all the while the clothes washed and tumbled. That was the easiest laundry time I ever had in Vegas. I put the place in the middle of a 16 day trip. Coffee makers in the room brew hot water for the teabag I bring from home and put in the ceramic cup I also bring.
I did not try the pool. It was small and basic.

I did not use the free transportation to/from the airport either but I saw the vans and plenty of folks did use them. There was a group of musicians and all the instruments were in the van.

There were also pilots and stewardesses in between flights.

The Iceland ashes hit and one group of German tourists could not go home. In spite of being very full, the Super 8 extended their stay at the $40 rate they had negotiated.
Parking was easy.
The folks at the desk could not be nicer.
I have great fear of bed bugs ( which can be anywhere) and I explained this as I checked in. They listened sympathetically and assigned me a great room 3045. Inspection showed no activity, current or prior. (Flamingo moved me twice before I passed on the room there. Blood lines in the couch.)
In the lobby was a small machine that dispensed cups of fancy coffee and hot cocoa. This was a nice cup to take out in the morning as I walked to the strip.
They said next trip they would negotiate 7 nights with one free so that the average cost would be around $40.
I caught a good weekend rate on Priceline, but cancellation was without any refund. I called and for a few dollars more caught a AARP rate that allowed normal cancellation without penalty.
I expect I'll start my next trip there once I save up another bankroll and get over being beaten to death at the poker tables this trip.

TR snippet- Rooms and Locations

TR Snippet- Hotels and Locations Review

I planned my trip to be closer to the strip and hopefully play poker with tourists rather than local regulars. I also wanted to avoid the buses because with all the new routes I did not really know how the buses were going to run.


ORLEANS
Always a delightful room, especially for free. They dug back about four years to offer me this room as I have not been there since they eliminated the 10/7 double bonus.
I intended to try the pool, but I never made it.
I did got down to Seattle Coffee and use the free wifi. That was just great. I did not even buy coffee. It was listed as an amenity on my $5 resort fee.
Two free nights and $10 in free food offset the resort fee. I have to check my records too as I may not have been charged the fee.

GOLD COAST

April is such a pleasant month and I wanted exercise, so I decided to walk from the Orleans to the Gold Coast. It took me a half hour and was very easy in every way except the sound of racing engines so close.
I did notice that the laundromat on Arville is closer to the Gold Coast than the Orleans and I would roll a suitcase up there and do my laundry in pleasant weather when staying at the Gold Coast.
This was one of my favorite spots: Afternoon jazz band, great location for getting to other casinos, fine buffet with redeye gravy for breakfast, and a small, uncrowded pool with warm water. I also used the Fitness Center and liked that it looked out over the pool. Fine machines. Everything was uncrowded. Of all the hotels this one was the cleanest. My sleep apnea machine needs to be plugged in so I see behind the unmoved furniture and the bed bug inspection has me looking behind the headboard. Everything here was clean.
They have a $3 resort fee, but it was no on my bill. I did ask about it and the girl said that it probably had been booked wrong, but I booked on line using my B Connected card. Others report the fee dropped on comped rooms.

SUPER 8 KOVAL

I was very hesitant about booking this place. No matter what the logic that bed bugs can inhabit anywhere and cleanliness is not the issue, I had read that they had some incidents (ironically while hosting an exterminators convention) and I worried. So I brought up the issue with the desk clerk, explaining that I took medication that lowered my immune system and I feared that bed bug bites might be big trouble for me. He was absolutely the most accomodating fellow of my entire trip. He game me room 3045 which he said was used the family of the manager when they came to town and which had a brand new bed. He also told me that whenever this happens they throw away everything.
I knew these rooms were small with just one queen bed, but I found this place delightful. No maze of hallways and the amenities were really incredible and without a resort fee. I did not try the little pool, but they have one. I did use the wifi and the great television. Three HBO channels and Turner Classic Movies, which satisfies me, as well as many other stations. The best television in Vegas.
So I had my sleeping issues at 3 AM. I packed up my dirty clothes and went to the laundromat right there in the hotel and did my laundry. I brought my computer and was on line all the while my two loads washed and dried. It was such a treat and it set me up half way through the trip to have plenty of socks and underwear and choices of shirts.
It was quiet.
I had a coffee maker so I could make my morning tea and use my ceramic cup. What a treat that is!
In the lobby was a machine that dispenses coffee, hot chocolate, something vanilla, and other hot drinks. I took one with me every time I left the building. Also int he lobby was a large screen television and during one rainy morning I just hung out and waited for the rain to end while I watched someone cook food.
I did not need the free transportation to and from the airport or a place to keep my dog with me, but all that is available at the Koval 8 too. They said that they would negotiate a rate of about $40 a night if I stayed for a week next time and I may very well do that. I forgot to ask about cancellation policy, however. I would need to be able to cancel without penalty.
With Ellis Island right next door for food and the strip a short walk this is a great location.
I could build my Flamingo/ LV Boulevard part of my trip around the Super 8 and the Gold Coast and be very content.


FLAMINGO
My treat to myself was five nights at the Flamingo where Harrah's had comped me two nights on my poker play. I looked forward to being right on the strip, to having a wonderful pool, and to being able to easily find a poker game.
I then filled in my 16 nights with two free at the Orleans, three fairly cheap at the Gold Coast, a weekend at the Super 8 and another at Vegas Club, and my final two nights at El Cortez where I always end my trip on an ACG coupon so that thirty dollars gets me two nights and a free ride to the airport.
As it turned out my least favorite stay was the Flamingo.
It started badly when my inspection for any sign of bedbugs showed a clear blood trail under the couch cushions. There was a live bug there also. Perhaps this was not a bed bug and the activity was old, but most places throw out the beds and furniture after an infestation. I moved and they let me.
However, I was a bit shaken and then I saw another blood trail in the second room I called again. They moved me again, but they weren't nice this time. They had given me early check in and now the desk clerk told me that if the third room was not satisfactory I would have to wait until check in, which she quotes as 4 PM. She was testy.
I just said, "I understand," but what I thought was that if the third room showed the same blood trails, I was out of there, comps or not and off to perhaps Eastside Cannery or back to the Super 8.
The only pool open was like ice and the weather turned cold as well, so I swam two days, once in a crowd of folks filling the chairs and eating the grilled hamburgers and once almost by myself when I just could not tolerate the icy water nor tolerate the cold air even for reading by the pool. When the lifeguards are all dressed in sweatshirts and wrapped in blankets it is not a day to swim.
The hot tub was delightful, however, and I stayed in that a long while the second day.
The grill looked wonderful, but it did not help me as I struggle not to eat too much to smell all that fine cooking meat. So what would clearly be a perk for most visitors was a difficulty for me.
The room itself was basic. I understand that were I to pay for a GO room, I'd have done better, but I am always frugal, so actually it was no different than my other hotels except it lacked a coffee maker. I missed that as I brought my own tea and a fine ceramic cup for early morning.
Part of the issue around my careful bed bug inspection is that it is made more difficult if out of the way places are never cleaned. Behind one table in one of the rooms I left was an old sock and a couple months of dust and dirt gathered around it. I don't really get what is so hard about vacuuming behind the furniture once a week.
My sleep issues were compounded by the fact that I could not keep a Do Not Disturb sign. Apparently the kids staying on my floor were collecting them for their college dorms and mine disappeared every day and had to be replenished. The maid was great and took care of me, but it was just one more hassle I did not need.

VEGAS CLUB

Here was another worry on the bug issues. I know this place is in decline and has had some incidents. I was concerned.
I booked for $29 on a weekend using this search engine which sent me to Priceline.
http://www.bookingadvisor.com/

I love this site as it gives me the top three picks for my dates.

When I called to confirm, they asked me if I would like to upgrade to the North Tower for $5 a night and I jumped on that. I am still unsure when they charged me the $5 and they may not have included it anywhere. I expected to pay it to the hotel on checkout, but I did not.
Turtleman has said often that the North tower is a value secret in Downtown and he was right. My room was fine. The couch had one spot of wear, the rug had a coupld spots and they had taken something off that was wall mounted and left four small screw holes, but everything else was clean and comfortable. The television sucks. Plaza had TCM last time. Not here.

EL CORTEZ

Pavillion.
I generally love the El Cortez, but it did not come up to good standards this time and did not compare well to the others of the trip. The shower door made noise. The hot water was tough to regulate. I missed having a table. The doors require slamming to close and that can be heard in the rooms.
I did like the new elevator with key entry to the fifth floor. That feels more secure. They look great too with all the wood inside.
I probably could have been moved, but I spend most of my time there at the poker table anyway.
The price is right. Two nights for $30 with a free ride to the airport.

While there I walked down to Krispy Kreme for the free wifi and bought coffee (which was wonderful) and a doughnut (quite a treat) Sitting outside in the morning along quiet Freemont was just perfect. The wifi was fast and easy with no hassle connecting.

TR snippet - Hiking in Red Rock

Generally I ride the bus in Vegas, but I decided to rent a car for one day and spend the day at Red Rock. It was a good decision.

Only renting for one day meant that the Crash Waiver was worth the price. Rental, waiver, and taxes gave me a little Hundai for $50. The waiver relieved me of some of the anxiety I have about the loopholes in converage.

The route to Red Rock took care of the fears I have about being on Vegas roads with tourists who do erratic things and drunks and racing idiot kids or missing a sign on a fast moving expressway. Taking the Blue Diamond highway early in the morning from the new car rental facility (two rights and a left put me out on Las Vegas Blvd going South and the Blue Diamond was easy to find) took care of my total inability to go anywhere without getting lost..

I guess the Blue Diamond used to be an escape into undeveloped dessert, but that has changed now. Developments and malls are along much of this route. Still, it was easy driving and I loved the approach to Red Rock as one off the Blue Diamond road and on the Blue Diamond cut off, there were increased views of the colorful canyon rocks.

The ease of the driving also made it easy for me to stop along the way out. At Subway I got a tuna sub for my lunch in the Subway. At Target I got half a case of water for $2.50 and some juice and iced tea to keep in my room over these five days. At Bank of America I got some money to replace what I have lost without cashing my Traverler's checks.

On the way home I could have visited the old town at Bonnie Springs. I did take a drive through the town of Blue Diamond and was sorry that the tiny library was closed on Monday but delighted to see this little place that so far has resisted development. I could live there. Then an uncrowded McDonald's gave me an hour of free wifi for the price of a nice cold drink.

Finally, the highway goes right by the Silverton, so I went in to shop for fishing tackle and equipment at the Bass Pro where I think that I have actually seen the boat I want to buy. Called a Pond Prowler it offers me two high fishing seats to keep my wife's knees from cramping, a mount for the motor at both ends, the ability to rig the boat for rowing, a rear plug that can be pulled so rain can wash through, and a price of just $855 which includes electric motor and battery. I have been trying to figure out what to buy for three years now, so this was a great find. There too I shot the lazer rifles and watched the targets spin and spent some time admiring the large fish tank.

Well, this is a report Red Rock so I had better get to the Canyon itself.

April seems the perfect time to visit the canyon. Every other time I have gone to Red Rock it has been hot weather. The sun was warm, but there was a cold breeze that just cooled us down. There were plenty of folks who knew this already because the turn offs were full of hikers and rock climbers.

Calico Hills is my favorite stop. I always have to remind myself to linger there because it is one of the first stops and it just seems I should be moving on. Actually, the trip would be worth it just for the red colors and all the swirls of Calico Hills. I thought about doing the hike there, but I had my mind set on something a bit more challenging and had Ice Box Canyon in my mind. I was fairly sure that I could not do both.

The fine thing about the way Red Rock is constructed is that you can just drive around, drive around and stop at the marked turn offs. Walk in a bit at each turn off, or choose long hikes. To just drive through takes 30 minutes. I was to spend 5 hours poking around.

While the turn off parking areas were full of cars, I did not see or hear many people. It felt uncrowded. There were times when loud talking seemed to drown out the voices of the rocks, but for the most part I could find places and times when for sound there was just me and the breezes with a few bird calls.

Even eating lunch in a picnic area at Willow Springs was relatively quiet. I chose a picnic table set back from the others, and once I got rid of a group that just seemed to hand their waiting to get in their white van again, it was quiet.

It seemed this one fellow was chatting up a girl. He was European; she, American. I guess I understand the drives of love in the canyon, but I also feel a bit annoyed by people who come all this way, stand at the food of all this beauty, and ignore it to have conversation. Why come?

At another stop there was an arrogant biker girl who had to tell her entire party every bit of wherever she had biked before, and of course make all the other trips seems superior to this one. Her biking companions must have wanted to see her wobble and slip over a cliff.

I remember at an Indian reservation in New Mexico the guide pointed out some large rocks far in the distance and told us that they could speak to one another and that while the White man might not hear them, his ancestors and perhaps some contemporary shaman could hear them talking. Well, Nature does not speak to me quite so intensely, but even if it did, some of those who come and look and walk around me would never hear them. Some cannot hear much more than the sound of their own voice.

I liked thinking that here would be a canyon of beauty on which no cell towers would be erected.

In most cases I could escape the noise of the other tourists simply by walking in a bit. Unlike Vegas, Red Rock Canyon offers the visitor plenty of places to sit down comfortably. I used them.

The day before I had been totally exhausted but determined to see the fountains at Bellagio. I can't sit up on those stone fences. So that left the sidewalk, and I took a spot directly behind a fellow huckstering;

"Watta, watta, watta, one doughlar

ice cold watta."

My mind drifted a bit.....well, okay, I fell asleep"

And then when the time finally came I listened to the water dance to the opera.

At Red Rock, when I tired, I simply sat down and let the breezes cool me. And even short walks produced new perspectives.

At Turtlehead I found an easy section of rock to climb and quite a variety of multicolored views. Above and to my right was the huge grey Turtlehead itself, then an off white section, and to my left the jagged, sharp looking mountains with that red stripe. All this while I sat on swirls of the eroded and sculpted red rock near a bit of green moss that managed to find some life.

??Here too is the Excelsior Stone Quarry where the Big Devil engine promised profit from quarried stone. It reminded me of places I had seen in Italy where they cut out marble. The Big Devil worked, but there was still no profit in this stone and all of the efforts to retrieve it ended in failure. No attempts after 1912.

The Canyon was more full of life than I had remembered in the hotter times although there were not as many wildflowers as I had hoped. Death Valley was having a record 20 year bloom and I had thought about going, but I have been very tired this trip and did not want such a long drive.

My favorites were ??? small trumpet shaped red flowers which appeared in many locations. Also there was a small purple flower that was very common. Some of the greenery seemed fresh and alive, but the flat cactus in many spots seemed somewhat parched.

At the highest points, like on top of the rocks that formed Ice Box Canyon, were some pines. I wonder how they seeded up so high. What a struggle to maintain life.

I saw plenty of small warbler like birds?? one two foot orange and black snake, and dozens of little lizards scooting in and around the rocks int he trail. At Willow Springs there was were some chipmonk like fellow who probably do get a bite of food from the tourists who eat there.

At Willow springs I ate my tuna fish sandwich.

My major achievement was my hike into Icebox Canyon which is labeled as difficult. I skipped the last small and most difficult bit of it, but I did reach the mountain springs. The hike is like walking a dry and rocky stream bed and going in it is all uphill. I only had to negotiate on tough climb down, but then I skipped the tougher climbs.

For me this is more arduous hiking than I have done in years and I was quite pleased to feel in good enough shape to make the walk. It was thrilling. Also, going into the Ice Box Canyon was a slow change of perspective. In the beginning it is flat and open. Gradually the canyon walls tighten in on the view so that coming back at first just offered the view of one section of red rock (Calico Hills I think) and then gradually expanded until the view was wide and of much of the canyon. Before completely descending I sat a long while on one inviting rock and sipped my water, felt the breeze. Some dark cloud cover reduced the intensity of the sunshine. I enjoyed the feel of all of it and enjoyed the sense that I had managed a good long walk, two hours of stepping on and about rocks. It still feels very good.

In one sense a day in this Canyon is like being in an art gallery. I had forgotten my camera, and probably could not catch the exact bits of aesthetically pleasing shape and color and delightful contrasts.

At one point I looked up into rock, surrounded with deep blue sky peppered with wonderfully white clouds. In another spot were ancient hand prints, art in the rocks that might be as old as some of the oldest inhabitants.

In another spot the rock looked like a gigantic tongue.

Lost Pine Creek offered what is called a remnant biotic community where what is growing reflects what has been there for a million years, in part maintained by fire.

In another spot ancients roasted agave for food.

All in all, a delightful adventure and a fine contrast to the sound of machines and music and the cacaphony of voices along the strip.