The El Cheapo Trip: Good Things Come in Threes?

[Vman96]

”Price Is Right” El Cheapo

Day 1: Tues. 1/16/18 Room Roulette and Everyone's Favorite Casino, Ellis Island!

Hey everyone! We're back in Vegas once again thanks to some great last minute flight deals on Frontier ($40 round trip each) and some cheap rates on Flamingo Go Rooms trying to take a last shot of avoiding those pesky resort fees thanks to my very fortunate tier match this summer (see this TR for details). But schedule is tight, only 54 hours in Vegas! :( Can we repeat the luck of last trip?!?!

Weather was very cold leaving STL, in the teens when we left. Flight wasn't the best as we had some of the few noisy neighbors on the plane. My g/f, M, wanted to sleep, but that wasn't really going to happen even with earplugs! Some guys drinking plus a sorta spoiled (and semi-ignored by her mother) toddler. Bleh. But bad luck out of the way early right?











Pick up a rental car from Thifty for $60 all-in. It was a perfectly serviceable Hyundai Accent and begin to head toward the “Dirty Bird” for two nights.



I ended up booking a 2 queen go because it was a cheaper rate. But upon check-in, I played dumb and acted like I thought I booked a king. They insisted there were no more kings available (the internet said otherwise), but offered to put us into a Go Executive (50 more sq. ft.). Not bad!

The room was almost perfect...









The a/c wasn't on and it was 74, so we think, “No problem, flip the a/c on, and let's go to the Diamond Lounge cuz I'm still Diamond, dammit!” So we go down to the Flamingo Diamond Lounge and although it was small, the hostess and employees seemed to make a good effort to make you feel welcome. They made some decent margaritas too! So we hang out there for about an hour, and now we wanted to go eat at Ellis Island. We had eaten it on the first night of the trip the last two trips. But we needed to pick something up from the room first. Get into room with fan blowing max, still 74, CRAP! No way we'll sleep well in a room with busted a/c!

So go down to the front desk, and ask for room two. They give us same floor in different area by the spa elevators (which M realized she immediately hated). Walk into room, fan is on full blast already with a target temp of 65, still 73...CRAP! Immediately turn around, and go back down.

They then decide to try to put us in a newly renovated Flamingo room. The room was pretty nice, but it's a FAB makeover for sure with a Linq-like bathroom, and they also had something we hate, adjoining doors. It was warm in there too, but when I turned a/c on, cool air was coming out. But the look on M's face, she definitely wanted a Go room back. So even though I probably would have kept the room...she obviously didn't want it. I didn't get pics of the main part of the room, but a couple of snaps of the bathroom!





So back down at front desk. Man points out that all Flamingo and FAB rooms have adjoining doors (I don't think that true either). He confers with some others, and there is a report that this next Go room has a/c working. At this point it's after 9pm and Ellis Island BBQ closes at 10. So we say we'll take the room and if something is wrong with it, we'll come back after dinner.

So get to Ellis Island and immediately earn the points needed for a discount and go eat as it was now 9:40. Yes, we were one of “those people”. But glad we did because it was one of the things we were looking forward to all day.



Chicken was on point again, the ribs, meh, I thought they were a little overdone. M didn't seem to mind the ones she ate though. Only had the root beer (N/A; 4.25 sips) because I have not been impressed with their beer and their tap maintenance lately.

We also bought an American Casino Guide, so we used the coupons from there as well. Got a T-shirt, $10 of slot play, and $10 match play. We get 14 vs. a 4 in the matchplay. Dealer flips over 7, damn. Gets a 3, yes. And a “monkey” to bust with 24!

Now normally my MO at Ellis Island is to belly up to the bar and get a beer while playing quarter “Airport” Deuces Wild (98.91%). But since I already had a root beer and this is the “El Cheapo” trip, I play some nickel 9/6 DDB (98.98%) instead. Why wasn't I playing “Airport” Deuces?!?!?



M got into the quad act too by holding just one card!


We were having a nice time having root beers and playing nickel VP, so we got some more. And before you know it, it was almost midnight! But she's up 30 and I'm up 10, so we'll take it!

Back to Flamingo for the moment of truth. Front light switch with disco lights, click. Nothing. Argh... But a/c works!!! And this point we're like screw it, let's keep it for now. I offer to head toward Sheldonland if she wants to. But she's not feeling it right now as the traveling day is beginning to catch up with her. Of course, I want to go to my “2nd Home” and she's okay with that, but she just wants to play a little penny VP in the Linq's “VP punishment corner”.

Get to TAG and say hello to Stan and decide to get a Kook Double IPA (8.5%; 3.75 sips) because I need to catch up on drinking again...lol Only 3.75 this time because can date was 8/31/17, and the hops have started to fall off. :( Helps the buzz though, and I'm off to a good start! 3X full house even before Stan got my beer! I sucked with some pics this trip as I have a different phone now, I swear I wasn't that drunk!







Up $40 in four minutes!

It cooled off a little, and I cash out $30 up and tell Stan I'm going to check on M and bring her back to say hi. She didn't do too bad on pennies but wasn't winning. Another set of kings for her though. Lol



As my beer gets empty in the penny poker area, we head back to TAG together and I get a classic Vegas standby, Joseph James Hop Box (8.2%; 4.25 sips)



And this Hop Box is definitely on them. Another premium quad!



And a few minutes later I get this...



I debate on when I should hit it. I wave Stan over. I offer him to tell me when to hit it. He balks at that because worried I might get mad if I miss (understandable, but I would never do that). Eventually I push it, black 2. Bah. Still pleased with the run so far though!

Now I move onto Palo Santo Marron (12%; 4.25 sips). Solid imperial brown. This is also noteworthy because it's my 2018th checkin (with 929 unique) on the Untappd app since June 2015. Yes, I like beer...lots and lots of beer. Lol



The machine bleeds off a bit, but this brings me back to where I was!



Nine minutes later it's still going up and I find my first 10X winner, I'll take it!


Because it's slow, Stan closes up early at about 2 am. :'( But he makes sure I have a roadie to go. In this case, the IPA cousin of Kook, Swami's (6.5%; 4.25 sips). This tasted better because it was a mid October canning.



Once I have this beer in hand, I don't necessarily need to play the bartops, so why not play the pennies? Nothing exciting there, but getting more drunk and I'm still ahead! Eventually run out of beer, and peak over at Catalyst to see if my fave bartender from there is working (he'll steal stuff from TAG for me). Nope. So off to Harrah's who are a bit crafty themselves.

Settle on this Lagunitas Imperial Stout (9.9%; 4 sips)



Plop down on the unit next to the wheelchair unit as it has both 6/5 Bonus and 8/5 DDB with STP (97.14% and 97.06% respectively). Bonus was getting me nowhere, so switch to DDB and a few hands later, glad I did!



About 30 minutes later, the count team appears at 4am...yeah, it's getting late. M told me no coming in at 5am either...

Stumble to Margaritaville, get a frozen margarita and two waters. Yeah 5 am isn't probably happening now. 2 hookers at the bar ignore me. They must have sensed my cheapo ways. :( $20 later, I move to Bugsy's for more water. I also check the HL room just in case I can repeat last trip...nah, nothing there to play off. :( Eventually I stumble up about 6:45 I think? M not thrilled of course.

[Vman96]

Day 2: Wed. 1/17/18 Juggling as Much as We Can / Beer Comps Are Great, Eh?

Get up about five, I mean four hours later, and I'm still somewhat drunk of course. Doh. We get up and get moving, and hit the shower. Well, we realize that the tub made this shower tinier than the ones without the tub. Meh. So we thought, wtf, why not switch rooms again! We are pros at it by now!

View of old room



View of new room



And for future reference...lol This room was fine because Drai's was out of action. It probably would suck otherwise for noise.



Say goodbye to Captain the Macaw...lol



So now, M wanted to go eat lunch at GVR buffet as we had a buy one get one from the ACG. I wasn't that hungry after the beer of course, but I would try my best. Unfortunately, the stuff they had today wasn't the best, slash I was getting hungover (big shock). Try Advil, does nothing really. So after the buffet, we decide to play there for a half hour. Although I try not to start drinking too early, but I thought maybe some “hair of the dog” might help. Sure enough this Sculpin (7%; 4.25 sips) helped alleviate the headache better than Advil. Cost me $10 in 8/5 Bonus (99.17%+prog.) losses though. I like Stations casinos, but I honestly lose there EVERY time.



Since we had a rental, we decided to check out “Seven Magic Mountains” a free exhibit near Jean that is there til at least May 2018. So if they decided to move these suckers, we thought we should at least check it out now!

Scenery on the way to the site.







Pics of the pretty colored rocks!









And someone was nice enough to take a pic of us too!





We enjoyed it for something different, but be forewarned, the drive one way is probably longer than a lot of people will actually stay there. We took all those pics in about 10 minutes. Now I saw this as a great opportunity to briefly hit up M Resort as you have to drive directly past it to get to Seven Magic Mountains. M, on the other hand, is not fond of “her resort”. But she relents when I say we can reset our Marquee Rewards dates there, and we will only be there an hour “tops”. We didn't have much time beyond that anyway because we had free Diamond show tickets to Jeff Civillico at 7pm and it was about 4. So off to “her resort” that I love!



And why do I love M Resort? Because they are crazy enough to comp beers like this!!!!!!



This is Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout (11.7%; 4.25 sips). Why is that a big deal?



The 750 ml bottle in this person's hand has a suggested retail price of $24.99 at a store, NOT a bar!!! And it's also a pain to find too! Stores will often sell out of it quickly, I've never even found it in a store. But they will give it to me at M Resort for “free”??? Hells yeah!!! I should have asked the bartender what they were charging for it...lol

M got this hit on Miss Kitty while I enjoyed my beer and trying to drink the rest of my headache away. Lol



She eventually joined me at the bar and got a Sierra Nevada for herself (5.6%; 4 sips).

Unfortunately, time is running short, and the beer snob in me wanted to add another beer not on my Untappd, so I chose Tenaya Creek Hop Ride (7.2%, 3.75 sips). Meh. CBS encore would have been better. This one is not overly hoppy.



Actually blasphemously waste the last half of the Hop Ride as it was now 5:15 and hoped to hang in the Paris Diamond Lounge a bit before the show. Valet park at Ballys.





Minutes later, crap, M realized she left the phone in the car. She tries to describe where it is and they radio to valet. Valet guy that parked it doesn't see it. So they take us down there. She can't find it first initially, but then thinks of another place and whew, there it is.

On the way to the Diamond Lounge, M thinks I need this hat while I'm here. M's Dad is also Richard (he goes by Rich, not Dick...lol)





So now hustle to Paris DL, and its 630 and they just stopped hot food. Damn. I had a quick Lagunitas IPA (6.2%; 4 sips), but probably should have had something else. This isn't a great chugger either. Had to ask where the “Anthony Cools Showroom” was, it is near the Sportsbook (Le Livre du Sport?).

Get to Jeff Civillico with a few minutes to spare. And he starts the show, M thinks we made a big mistake and threatened to leave early. But overall I thought he was very energetic and had a pretty good sense of humor, and M even came around eventually. Was it worth retail? No. Free? Sure! I would be even okay if we paid $20 or less each.









And he offers free pics after the show! Yes, I'm a big child with that shirt on. Got it in Disney World last month.



But hey at least Figment's a gambler!



Car you can win at Ballys



Now we decide to work our way down the Strip a bit to Park MGM, God I hate that name. But first we stop and get a quick meal at Chipotle in Miracle Mile Shops. That was a mistake; maybe the worst Chipotle we ever had. Chicken very spicy, plus the chips seemed to be made of yellow corn instead of the usual white. I was lucky to eat half of it. But I'm on a liquid diet right??

So we press on through Crystals.



And here is a view of Park MGM's pool area from the tram.



Front desk kiosks, because you know, this place is so fancy you should bother to check yourself in.



The new center bar.



And of course I wanted to go there. Why? Space Dust on tap! (8.2%; 4.25 sips). Now the first machine a sat at a hooker was to my left trying her best to scam the bartender out of Hennessy by betting one quarter at a time (I'm shocked they didn't put the light system on this thing.). He comes by and tells her to bet a dollar. So she moves to 50c, and when he goes away, bets 1. He tells her she needs to bet 2 when he comes back.

Now to my right, a lady was completely wasted. Also she was acting like she thought she knew video poker. She was questioning my correct plays of course and was way more annoying than the hooker. lol Fortunately, she and her friends left after 5 minutes and I told the bartender, “I wish I was as drunk as she was!” He got a laugh out of it. Here he is in the background of the Space Dust. I have to give him credit as he was the only one to ID me this trip. But then again, half the bartenders “know” me this trip.



Eventually I decided to move units as well, wished the hooker a quick “Good Luck.” and moved to the other side. And get tilted for two reasons.



Missing the draw of course. But look at the unit! You put the old units into this nice new bar??? Murren, you cheap jerk!!!

Anyway, that Space Dust cost me $5 plus tip, and now we decide to move on from the “Vintage, Froo-Froo, Throw-Up Casino” as M called it because the Cher performance is flooding out. Also decided to cut through Aria to avoid a tram mess.

Ad for the magic mountains



But since Memorial Row 802 was open, I thought it would be a good idea to hit and run 8/6 Boner Deluxe DSTP (98.99%). This hit helped me escape unscathed.



Buddha in Crystals



Britney still trying to leave a “piece of her” on that building!





Wanted to hit up Cosmo, but time was really starting to tick, and I knew we were coming back there tomorrow anyway. We had high roller happy hour tickets thanks to a friend that we wanted to use tonight and they stopped those at 1am. So move on to Planet Hollywood instead as I was informed that they had 2c Ultimate X spin poker, and I thought I would give it a whack. 8/5 DDB too, not shabby for them. Very glad I tried because this happened...





3 quad 3's at 3X each for $72 total! Cashed out $60 ahead in a flash!

M didn't do too badly herself.



Now move the car from Ballys back to the Flaming-Ho and go toward the High Roller.



We had about 7 people in our car total. Drinks came in tiny cups. M and I had 5 each on the ride and one to go. I was starting to feel something. M too. Unfortunately, alcohol never seems to do much for her. :( To get any realization of retail value on those tickets, you need to be constantly drinking though. Thanks again buddy!

Some pics and video while on the ride.











View at the top...unfortunately, we were at the ****ty end of the pod at that time.







Here's the video. The woman talking about Fremont is our bartender. I thought she was pretty good.

High Roller Video

M was a bit hungry since we ditched a lot of our Chipotle, so she decided to give In-N-Out one more chance. The only other time we tried In-N-Out, it involved hitching a ride with a random Asian Lady leaving NYNY's parking garage, getting two of the worst burgers ever (think hockey puck), and bad fries to boot. While waiting in line with a drunk, chatty Islanders fan who liked to talk food, we eventually get ours. Mainly hers. I was just gonna steal fries (still suck). She thought the burger was decent, but paid extra to put cheese on her fries after the fact.

At this point M hints to go to the room...and also says we can go back out afterward. My dumbass fails to get the hint, and I'm wanting to go back to you know where. She eventually relents and goes with me for awhile.

More “free” hop box on them!



Quad 3s again! Third time this trip! Wrong game though...lol



Of course M is getting really tired now because bar top poker isn't that fun to watch, even if your drunk, degenerate boyfriend is winning. So she slinks off to bed at about 230.



I, of course...have another drink. This time a Dogfish Head Burton Baton (10%; 4.25 sips) before Kaliq shuts it down for the night.



But before he went, he got to see this, 3X baby!!!



Somehow that broke a huge streak of 53 non-multiplied STP quads!!  Ouch!

Still chipping up!



After awhile, move over to Catalyst with my beer, and the bartender I like is there. He asks me what I want from TAG, and basically give him a vague description. I couldn't think without seeing the beer case. Get menus TAG!!!

He brings back a few, one of which is Pinner Throwback IPA (4.9%; 4.25 sips). I typically don't drink session IPAs unless well, I'm drunk already. But this was a good one. Hoppy and fruity.



But now being drunk...I'm in a time warp of course. I sorta get roused from it when I hear Daft Punk's “Around the World” for the 2nd time tonight. I have completed the Linq's entire music loop! *Sarcastic Cheer* Time is 525am. I'm dead. I don't recall doing bad at Catalyst...but hell, I probably blacked out at times.

”Around the World”

Stumble back to Flamingo for some quick hydration and winning!




Sneaky 8X win!



Nice 10X deal!



A tease here as I wrapped up play.



Wrong elevator dumbass. M loves this color wall though. 650am!!!



Judgment awaits...but at least I'm winning!!!

[Vman96]

Day 3: Thurs. 1/18/18 One Day Left, Let's Try to Cram It All In!

Of course, this morning was very rough. Wake up in the ten o'clock hour with just over 3 hours of sleep. M is rightfully angry. And I spend the next hour or so trying to apologize while we get ready for the day. She brought up a really good point of “Why do I even come here with you?” Ugh. I am really an jerk when it comes to Vegas, and I flat out admitted it to her. I have no clock. As a result, my initial plan of meeting a friend before he went to Bacchanal for brunch was going to fall through. We tried to rearrange, but didn't work out. :( Was fun meeting up in Epcot last month though!

As per usual on days like this, I try to let M call the shots. I did what I wanted already to be honest, minus some impromptu meet-ups. First take a quick peek into the Habitat. I always like this place.



Another Buddha



Duckies!



And the stars of the show, Flamingos!



We now decide we'd weasel our way to Aria to have their lunch buffet, which we had a buy one get one award from myVegas. Some strip walking first...



You can see the Griffin's boobs! Heh heh heh



A Samurai on Horseback



On the way to the conservatory, saw a “Vacation” slot machine, and thought we should both play that.

It went like this...

Slot machine summary

Down quick $20 between us in minutes.

As per tradition we stop into the Bellagio conservatory, and M perks up with this display as it is the year of the Dog, so there are dogs everywhere!

People working on a display



The big dog



His tail wags every five minutes!

Tail Wagging





M with a “Buffy”. She calls all poodles this. That was the name of her male dog growing up...poor dog.









Take this pic every time...lol She loves it.





Heading toward Aria's Buffet and we see this sign



But I BELIEVE in Unicorns! I BELIEVE!!!



Image courtesy of a VMBer. Unfortunately, not his “unicorn” either. :(

Hit up Aria buffet. Of course, I still am mostly on a liquid diet, so I wasn't terribly hungry. Good thing because we struck out more than usual today. Probably won't be coming back at even half price... Dessert the only food porn I can remember to take was decent though.



Entrance to Aria's Baccarat room



Spotted an “Anchorman” machine and figured I better give it a whirl before I go back to VP tunnel vision. Ron calling for Baxter created a bunch of wilds. This hit helped me not lose.



Walked back up the strip toward Flamingo.





Captain is on “Vacation”. And we're on vacation from Flamingo. Hope we will be back soon!



Now off to the Outlet Mall because M has good luck here usually at Vera Bradley.

Sorry Lady Liberty, maybe next time!



Sorry Trashy Castle!



Surprisingly M struck out for once, so we head back up to Caesars Palace to check out their Diamond Lounge.

Our version of visiting the Welcome to Las Vegas Sign.



Get to a packed CP Diamond Lounge. Not that impressed. I asked if they had frozen strawberry daiquiris, I got a daiquiri with ice in it!!! I had a decent salad for food? Lol M wants to go back to Paris.

Paris food selection was better and M enjoyed their chicken wings. I enjoyed a REAL frozen strawberry daiquiri.



All the while I was trying to juggle with with more people to try to meet up. Get a couple to meet me at Chandelier a little beyond 7. But first, we decide to take a quick stab at Paris. I decide to plop down a 10-nickel VP unit for a few minutes and take a stab at 6/5 Super DDB (97.69%) as all the other games are TERRIBLE. M plops down at Cats and does better.



And about this time, M comes by and informs me that a lady hit a Royal and locked up the machine. I say, “Okay, I'll take a look.” Internally I'm saying “Lucky B****!” But that was just the start of it. She's playing a Progressive 9/5 DDB with the Royal at $4016 (LOL Caesars). And what does she hold to make the royal??? DAMN ACE-TEN OF CLUBS!!!

It's the 2nd time I've seen this in person and at least 8 more times on the 'Net, including ones by Florida Phil. Has it ever been the “correct” hold??? Of course not. It becomes correct if the Royal is $7764 or more. That machine will never make $7764 with their crappy settings. I would love to hear Bob Dancer's scathing words about a play like that. But “Good for her, I guess.” while muttering “Lucky B****.” again.

Wondering over to Cosmo...



Leave M off to her own devices while I plop a seat down at Chandelier so I can have one of those “fancy drinks” of theirs. Reading it from another report, I wanted to try a “Raspberry Lemon Drop”. I had a bit of a communication barrier with the bartender at first, but he eventually got the idea. It was pretty good!



About this time, they stopped by and said hello. A very nice couple who look like they have a lot of fun in Vegas themselves! And were having the trip of their lives makes it even more fun!

While they were around, I was holding my own at VP, but when they decided to move on to Aria...I began to question if the husband took my luck with him! Haha I wanted to have another one of those “Raspberry Lemon Drops” though, so I thought I would play for a drink voucher. About 26 minutes and 26 dollars lighter after I started, a drink voucher popped out at exactly $120 coin-in (96 max quarter hands).

I decided to look for M who got off to a bit better start. Wonder 4 playing for fleas.



Decent bonus here



Find M and catch up a bit. But inform her that I was meeting another who was coming back to Cosmo to say hello. A few minutes later, he shows up with his friend B and we have a nice chat about general gambling stuff. Eventually he and I go double check the new Triple Triple Bonus games.

Before the trip this is was in my head for quarter play:

9/6 (99.75%) = Hell yes, but Kevin Sweet (Cosmo's Slot Director) isn't stupid.
9/5 (98.61%) = Sure!
8/5 (97.55%) = Meh, maybe til I get dealt 22A, 33A, or 44A once or lose $20. 
7/5 (96.50%) = No thanks, I'll be at the bar. 
6/5 (95.44%) = CET accidentally delivered a game to the wrong casino.

$5+ is 9/5, $1-2 is 8/5, and 25-50c...

”Price Is Right” Losing Horn

7/5 (96.50%) = No thanks, I'll be at the bar. 

So to the Sports Bar we went! Start playing 8/5 Boner Deluxe with STP (97.67%) and chat about various VP dork stuff most of this forum would fall asleep over. Having a good chat with him with another on point Space Dust IPA, but I couldn't hit the side of a barn. He was doing better since he pulled an 8X flush drawing four! But before you know it, M is looking to move on as time was ticking away. Had a great time meeting everyone I could squeeze in!

On the way back to the car, we were able to catch a fountain show! Haven't watched one of these in a while.



A partial video

Fountain Show Video

Pics on the way back to CP



The new Hell's Kitchen



What's going on here?!?!



A final look at my “Second Home”...Hope to see you soon!



Now we wanted to shove in Silverton before getting back to McCarran. We decided the “El Cheapo” and fast route and had McDonald's for dinner. It was slow and not that great, but I finally sort of had an appetite! Maybe I am five years old if this seemed the 2nd best meal this trip! Lol

Take a couple of pics of the aquarium. Unfortunately too late to see the Mermaids. Maybe some other time.





I decide to squeeze in one more beer in that I haven't logged on Untappd. Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale (5%; 3 sips). I should probably rerate eventually since the taps probably sucked (bit buttery).



Held my own at the bar, and thought I should take a last stab at another lifetime goal, quarter deuces at deuces wild! So sit down at a “Loose Doose” (99.19%) machine and it surprisingly craps out this early when not holding a thing!



It lets me play awhile but eventually I cashed out at 340 quarters of my $100 stake. M holds her own with a last second “Road Trip” bonus.

Well, even though I was wearing my “Lucky Flamingo Shirt” today, maybe it works better if you're actually checked in at the Flamingo! Down about $75 or so today, but still quite up for the trip! Probably up about $200 before all my drink tips! My first two days, I never ran into any real drought. And often hitting a quad in minutes! It's the way video poker should be!!! And M was only down about $15 for the trip (granted, she barely plays...lol), but still had a few bonuses and 3 quads! But gambling isn't why she comes to Vegas. Something about the Strip attracts her...I'm not going to argue with that!

So going to the car rental return, my dumbass misdirects M. So we wasted maybe 7 minutes there. Still make it with 10 minutes to spare. Get to Frontier check-in. Uh oh. Their kiosks are down. Employee at the back of the line thinks we'll make it on time (75 minutes before departure), but the line is barely moving. So we try to check in via the web, but that has an error too. The employee and another couple who had bags to check-in said to try their app. At first it didn't work either, but M tried it again, and yes! It checked us in. And gave us aisle seats next to each other, “No, you jerks!”

Go to security. Still working on a nagging cough since Christmas, we bought some partially used cough medicine in a 8 fl oz. bottle. This size is allowed for medicine, however, thanks to residue on the bottle, it had to get checked. They were having issues with their machine, and 10 minutes later they did a sample and they finally let it go. Before it was all said and done, we got to the gate right when boarding began... Glad we didn't wait in that check-in line! Moved seats eventually, and she sorta slept. Me...nope. :(

And even though I was a complete jerk about a lack of bedtime this trip (more than usual), M still thinks we will eventually come back. Hopefully sooner than later!!! Thanks for following along!

[markinca]

Nice report! I almost bugged out when I saw that 20x dealt royal!

I love the M - their 'play for your free buffet' comp is a pretty great deal - free weekday lunch buffet for just $850 coin-in on VP. And the buffet ain't some cheapy buffet with crap - it's got a lot of good stuff.

The M is always my first stop when I get into Vegas so I can take advantage of this.

[Vman96]

Nice report! I almost bugged out when I saw that 20x dealt royal!

I love the M - their 'play for your free buffet' comp is a pretty great deal - free weekday lunch buffet for just $850 coin-in on VP. And the buffet ain't some cheapy buffet with crap - it's got a lot of good stuff.

The M is always my first stop when I get into Vegas so I can take advantage of this.

Yeah, I added that in because of the responsible playing ad talking about unicorns. On the other forums I post at, several members, including me, call the 20X DSTP dealt royal the "unicorn".

Yeah that buffet deal is a good one. I dunno if I could convince M to stay there that long to play though! :(

[alpax]

Much appreciated for sharing another trip to Vegas and always love how you come up with a theme that sets the tone for each one. I miss the days when Bob Barker was hosting the Price is Right. Very enjoyable to read your trip reports compared to the repetitive crap and trolling that goes on here.

Although it was just "54 hour" trip, everything had to be well planned (and it was executed well) to be able to get through as much as you guys did. You probably could not afford to get as drunk as other trips due to time constraints.

From the shots of your Flamingo room the last two trips, CET has done a nice job at renovating their antique properties. It is awesome how you exploited CET and got Diamond status for a limited time.

The scenic shots of the strip at higher altitudes were well done as well as the Seven Magic Mountains is certainly a sight to see.

I was in Vegas for CES last month, and from reading this, I will be motivated to finish up my "lesser" report.

Some decent amount of quads and moreso better slot hits (I know when I see them).

Thanks again for the effort and sharing on multiple forums!

[pokerpokerpoker]

Another entertaining trip report, thanks.

I have a trip planned for later in the month. What is the best game at Chandelier bar for quarters or less?

[Vman96]

Another entertaining trip report, thanks.

I have a trip planned for later in the month. What is the best game at Chandelier bar for quarters or less?

Thanks for reading!

Unless they have the "Superstar Units", 6/5 Bonus (96.87%) and 8/5 DDB (96.79%) are the top two games. When I perused Chandelier last trip, I didn't see any Superstars.

The Sports Book does have the Superstars though on some units. With things like 6/5 Bonus UX (~98%), 9/5 TDB w/DSTP (97.51%), 8/5 Bonus Deluxe (97.67%) for STP all for dimes+. Also there is single line 6/5 Super DDB there (97.69%), some units are progressive.

[olds442jetaway]

Always enjoy the reports, the pics, and the beer. Still haven't been to Vegas. Closest I ever got so far was Tahoe. Probably will later this year when the Mrs. retires. Iv'e been retired fifteen years already. Still have dad as a full time job that I am so lucky to have. Going on 94 and a proud World War 2 Vet. Not many left now. Smart phone coming later this year so after I figure how to use it, I will take and post some pics of some local Ct. craft beers. Lagers are still my favorite. Again thanks for the great report and pics.

[DaBurglar]

Very cool thread Vman, I read it during my last nonvoluntary enforced absence, and since it's been over 20 months since my last Vegas jaunt I appreciate seeing the subtle changes that have taken place in some of the pics you posted.

Quite simply you are far and away the best poster on this website...an obviously intelligent, level headed, grounded young man, whose only weakness seems to brewskis (nothing wrong with that, just don't drive!). Your mastery of taking and posting pictures is Central to the enjoyable nature of your threads...not that, in today's idiot proofed tech world such a thing is a big deal, but your time and patience in sharing is greatly appreciated.

You remind me of the actor John Carrol Lynch ( aka Norm "son of a" Gunderson from the Coen classic FARGO)...I applaud your willingness to post your actual image.

Thank you