Once again, it's my girlfriend's M's birthday, and once again, we are off to Vegas!!! This has been a tradition since our first Vegas trip together. We have went over her birthday nearly every year since! It's doesn't hurt that post Labor Day seems to be CHEAP in Vegas. And to expand on the cheapness, while in the car way back from Tunica for our anniversary, we booked $20 Frontier flights for this trip!
Unfortunately, that reduced the scope of our usual trip down to about 80 hours (similar to our Feb. '16 trip), and a dreaded “red eye†home, but we thought it was worth the gamble. Also at the last minute found a $68 rental from Payless, so took that gamble too. I also gambled by leaving two $50 bills in my wallet! Will it pay off? Read on to find out!
The flight to McCarran was pretty uneventful. We did well in the “Frontier Lottery†as they gave us the two-seat row in front of emergency so we had no seat mate! Touch down. Aaaaah, I'm back!!!
We'll be seeing you later!
We got a decent amount of upgrade push back from the Payless employee, but at least no hidden upcharges. And away we go for one night at the “Dirty Birdâ€!
Thanks to a “clerical error†at a Chicagoland casino, I was able to tier match to Diamond this summer. So I was excited to skip the disastrous standard Flamingo check-in line. I was sorta sad it was the shortest I've ever seen! Nevertheless, check in. Get a FAB room with a decent view...but one problem. Bathroom smells like smoke. Ugh. I was on the fence about immediately switching, but to help keep M happy, decided to. So go back down. They apologize, and end up bumping us up to a Go room for the inconvenience. FAB rooms are okay, but Go's are defintely better!
Now run off to Ellis Island for a BBQ dinner. To save money once again, play for my dinner drink at the bar. A “Summer Shandy†(?? ABV; 3 sips).
An ominous start to my trip...quad 4s on “Airport Deuces†(98.91%).
I send a quick message to jenblase and w**ker751 *****ing about it with the quote, “How I end my quad drought. F*** me.†Jen said I was “just warming upâ€. I didn't really believe her at the time...
Go to the restaurant. They hint it will be a 15 min. wait, so they take M's cell number. Go back to bar. It was really a 5 min. wait, so run to restaurant. I hit the cashout button but left the ticket in. Dumbass! But a nice neighbor informs me of it. Graciously say thank you and go off to dinner.
Dinner was solid as always. M had one of their classic root beers. It's seriously better than their beer!!! (N/A; 4 sips) And their BBQ...Nom nom nom. Great as always!
After dinner, I decided to grab one of those root beers myself! And we donk around on the “full pay†nickel units. Nothing doing, but still a good time.
A quick 52.5X bonus on “Dam Lumberjack Beavers†though.
Now go back to the Strip and plan on meeting breanna61. So we drive back to Flamingo valet, and park the car for the night. Pop into the Flamingo gift shop along the way and find this.
Now hit up my 2nd home, TAG Lounge, “en route†to Venetian. Now tonight was going to be a significant moment in my “beer tracking careerâ€. I planned to have my 777th “unique†check-in on Untappd (SN: Vman96). So I have had over 777 different beers in about 2.25 years...please judge me silently...lol And due to a rave review from jpw711, I knew which beer too. “Citrus Mistressâ€. So after a friendly hello, I ask Kaliq the bartender if they have that beer, he says, “No man, we switched that out a few days ago.†So after some hemming and hawing, I settle on a Joseph James Busker Brown. Great for the style, but I'm not huge on brown ales. (5%; 4 sips)
Unlucky for me too, ate a $20 quick. It wasn't unlucky for everyone though. M hit this betting 1 quarter.
She gave me a good amount of **** too because I suggested that game for her, 7/5 Triple Bonus Plus (96.42% - 1 coin). On HER game, 8/5 DDB (95.55% - 1 coin), it would have been $100 instead of $60! While in my head, I'm thinking, If I hit it, it would have been $300!!! But nevertheless, if she is winning, it makes my trip better too.

Now move over to Venetian. I'm playing beer catchup, so get to the Sportsbook bar, and ask for my strip go-to, Scuplin (7%; 4.25 sips). Try some 6/5 Super Double Bonus (96.87%) and again fall flat on my face for a $20. Hoping this isn't a trend. M finds a slot she wants to play, and gets a strawberry daiquiri while I steal most of her initial Sculpin. I pass on ordering another, figure I would get more later at TAG. Watching her while hoping my luck will turn.
Some divine intervention?
Get back to TAG. I want to speed up. Joseph James Hop Box (9%; 4.25 sips).
Great as always but another $20 sucker. But not before this tease! 8 Royals overall, but nothing above dimes or Spades! Another “pity straightâ€...sigh.
At this point, M bids adieu as travel has got to her. But I never like to quit when running bad so I press on. Another TAG favorite, Pizza Port Kook Double IPA (8.5%; 4.5 sips).
About 20 minutes later, I just moved machines I get four to a Royal again. I give it an agonizing pause, and wonder if I should call Stan over. But Stan was busy and not around. Eventually I just point it out to my neighbor, so he could watch the inevitable failure as happened to me on bartops dozens of times before...
Wait...WHAT?!?!?! HOLY S***!!! FINALLY!!! We give each other a high five and he gives me a heartfelt congratulations. I can't believe it! Such a great moment! First quarter Royal!!! First bartop Royal!!! Eventually Stan returns, congratulates me, and I give $20 for the bartenders. Something that I long planned to do before hitting that Royal. Hitting it at TAG with Stan working. It just seems right. WOW! Moments like that is why people crave Vegas!!!
Some “celebration beers†are definitely in order!!! First, a Petrus aged pale. A sour pale ale, but I still liked it a lot. (7.3%; 4.25 sips)
Next, I confer with the overnight bartender if he can comp me a Chimay. He's like, “oh, your diamond? Yeah, I can do that.†$12.50 retail for “freeâ€. I flat out admit I've never tried one, and he steers me toward “Bleueâ€. What I planned to pick anyway. Well, I'm glad a got it for “freeâ€... Seemed “chewy†and “raisin-likeâ€. Not my thing. (9%; 3.5 sips)
At this point it's just me and him. I love TAG, but 24 hours is questionable to be brutally honest. And then “beverage manager†comes in. She notices I'm diamond and starts kissing my butt a bit. If she only knew my ADT...lol
Before going toward Flamingo though, I was able to sneak in a quad switching it up with 6/5 Bonus w/STP (97.14%).
Now I stumble back to Flamingo to “wrap up the nightâ€. Walk into Margaritaville and see this...
Well I can't let a “good thing go to wasteâ€. So I turned that into this.
Then I hit up the Margaritaville bar because I know they can comp frozen margaritas. So I'm willing to deal with 30/6/5 Bonus (96.18%) for one of those. And a water of course, as I'm “wrapping upâ€.
That was an expensive margarita with nothing doing, so now I really start planning to “wrap it upâ€. But before I do, I think to myself. Well let me check the high limit room, just in case if I found something like I did earlier. Well, sure enough I did. But what happened next, I did not expect...
A quad from a pair on the key line!!! First dollar quad!!! Nearly a $750 total win!!! BEST GAMBLING NIGHT EVER!!!!!! To be honest, I was a bit more shocked from this than the Royal!!!
Of course this means another “celebratory drinkâ€. Lol So I have a Sculpin with water. Near me there are two women from New Zealand having a debate about politics, including US politics. I couldn't help tossing in my opinion (I was getting a VP beating at the bar anyway), and my opinion was mostly in line with theirs. We had a nice chat session for well over an hour. And eventually, they ask if I wanted to get breakfast with them. If I was single...HELL YES. But I had to decline as I “should have†been in bed with the woman I came with hours ago. I'm a bad boyfriend, but not evil.
Why yes, yes I did...
I left this out on the bathroom counter over two hours after the dollar quad (6:40am!!!) in hopes of a more effective forgiveness less than four hours later...