Using the import tool for the first time after the update.....Will try to post as reply.

 

Going to attempt my first live TR (or any TR for that matter). Flying from CLE-LAS. Wife and I staying one night at Tropicana and three nights at Caesars. I figured I would try a TR on this trip as I will be going to some way out places to get chips for my collection (I always rent a car). I need 16 more chips from casinos in the greater Las Vegas area. This trip I hope to get to places like Joker's Wild, Skyline, Longhorn, and Lucky Club. I am hoping to hit 8-10 of the places I need. I gamble for about 20-30 minutes at each place then move on.


Staying at Tropicana (first time staying) on a Penn National offer that includes dining credit and show tickets. Staying at Caesars (11th time staying) in comp Palace Tower room (likely upgrade at Diamond check-in to Laurel collection like in the past). Show plans include KA and Penn & Teller. Will likely hit downtown one night. Restaurants planned include Rao's and Tender, and other than that, no concrete plans. Mainly a slot player with tables mixed in about 30% of the time gambling. Gamble about 6-8 hours a day.

Although we will be there for the Riviera implosion, I had read that it will not be a big deal with fireworks and such, just a straight up implosion. Not sure if that is true.


Counting down the hours....

Not too great of a start. Flight delayed just over an hour. Leaving 9:15 eastern, arriving in Vegas and it will feel like 1am eastern. Not too sure much happens tonight by the time we get the rental car and head to the Trop to check in. We are Hhonors gold and my birthday was yesterday, so I am thinking we will get a decent upgrade.


The skies are clearing here after an afternoon of strong storms. I will have to try Tapatalk's photo post feature late tonight or tomorrow morning.


Talk to everyone from Vegas!!!

Landed around 11pm. Pretty smooth flight overall. One strange thing was about 5 rows in front of me was a guy who wore a virtual reality device the entire flight. Not sure how he could see straight.


Even on airport slots after running about 100 through on quarters and dollars. Off to pick up rental car and then check into Tropicana....

Checked in to Tropicana. No Hhonors upgrades available. Got a Bungalow room. Room is clean but on the small side for a Vegas hotel room. Going down to gamble for a short while then hitting the bed.


Pretty tired as it is 4am eastern and I am not as young as I once was (just turned 42). More details tomorrow!

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Morning gambling session was up and down.. Down on slots and up on tables. Had breakfast at Beach Cafe. Thankfully, they have replaced the wobbly directors chairs with normal chairs.

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The breakfast buffet was good, but not worth the $21.00 price. I base that strictly on the lack of variety. Most Vegas breakfast buffets have a much better selection.


From there we went to MGM to pick up KA tickets and lose some more.


Drove to Caesars to check in and Diamond check in is packed! Will update on room given in a bit.


It is sweltering hot today....

Diamond Check in moved pretty quickly. Was given a newly refreshed Augustus tower room facing North strip. Very nice remodel of the room.

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Heading out soon to some outlying casinos for chips. I will get some info on each place with some pictures.

As I went to head out, the Caesars valet brought the car out and I saw the bottom front trip hanging by a thread. I filled out an incident report, but after running things through my head, I determined that this happened at Tropicana and drove to Caesars with it hanging.


Well, since I am pretty mechanical, I went to Harbor Freight and got a basic toolkit and fixed it. The day has sort of gotten away from me. Going to room to regroup....

Stopped at Rio to pick up Penn and Teller tickets and played some craps. Saw a pretty crazy play. Guy walks up to table, has a Fanny pack full of chips, pulls out about 10 red and 5 black chips and sets them up on the rail in a very methodical way. He puts 10 on the pass line and 100 on a Yo 11. Rolls a yo on come out. Calmly takes the stack of black, pulls his chips off the pass line, and shoots again. Rolls a 10, then said he is leaving. Put all his chips back in his Fanny pack and walked away. I found out that he plays every day and does this frequently.


Me on the other hand, had no luck at High Card Flush, Three Card or craps. It has to get better eventually, doesn't it???


Heading to dinner soon then to see KA.

The bad luck continues.... Just can't get anything going. At all. Not sure what to try next? Horse betting?


We went to see KA last night. Boy, i don't know what I saw... Both my wife and I slept through most of it. I still have no clue what I saw. Very strange. I have a deep appreciation for the skill and ability of the actors, but the story was impossible to follow.


Used Uber for the first time. What a great first impression. Flawless in all regards...


Gambling continues to be a vacuum. But I had my first 4 to a royal on a dollar machine...

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Didn't work out this time...


Went to bed early (midnight) and slept past 8am.

Heading out on a chip run finally. Pics to follow.

Left Caesars around 930am. Headed to Henderson and stopped at GVR on the way. Had the breakfast buffet which was good. Played some slots and finally had some decent hits.

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From there, stopped at Fiesta Henderson. Played some pitch BJ and ended even. Unremarkable casino. Basic Station joint.

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From there stopped at Emerald Island Casino. Thought they had tables. Oops. Just a penny slot place.

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Easy to get rewards. If you get 50 base points, you get a free burger combo. I was back up at the desk after earning the 50 points in about 10 minutes of Wonder 4 play. Lost 20 betting 2.00 a spin. Having the burger combo now. Heading to Jokers Wild next, then Skyline.

Stopped at Joker's Wild. Decent sized place that appears to have been around a while. Friendly dealers and low limits. Left up a little.

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From there, stopped at Skyline. I guess I should have done better research as they only have blackjack tables after 5pm. They had three tables. Tons of video poker, many of which are coin droppers. The cashier was able to get me a brand new, uncircumcised chip.

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Next stop was Longhorn. Wow was this place small and busy. $2 blackjack and some old slots. Place looked stuck in the 90s. Heavy cigar smoking going on here. I was in and out quick.

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Last stop was Eastside Cannery. What a surprise this was. I had no expectations going in, but this place was VERY nice. Quiet vibe and very clean.

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All these visits ended up with a net loss of about $150.


Got back to Geezers on the I-15. Went to pool to join wife and roasted until I got in the ice cold pool. Wow. What a contrast. Took my breath away it was so cold. Refreshing but shocking.


Tonight is dinner at N9NE, then Penn & Teller. Then gambling at Rio, Gold Coast and back to strip to hit Ballys and Harrahs most likely.

Recap of last night...


We loved Penn & Teller last night. What an entertaining show. Some of the tricks I could not figure out. Very well done production. Even got a picture with Penn in the lobby afterwards. Very nice, down to earth guy.


After the show, wife wanted to play three card poker. Sat down and bought in for 100. A few hands in, she had 8-8-J. Dealer flipped 8-8-A. Paid 50-1 ($250). Wife was excited and promptly ratholed the chips. Played out the original buy in in about 30 minutes. One thing I noticed about Rio's three card that I had never seen before was the fact that after folding your hand, they do not immediately collect the pair plus bet. They leave it up until the dealer settles the 6 card plays, then collects both bets. I asked the floor person about this and he described that Rio is the only place that does this and that is purely psychological. He said that people felt their money disappeared too fast when playing 3 card, so they know the bet loses, but it makes players feel their money lasts longer... I had never seen this before. He also said their drop in three card has increased greatly. I found that interesting.


Went back to strip to Harrah's wife doubled buy in at 3 card. Guy next to her had two 3 of a kinds in 4 hands. Beat the odds for sure....


Headed to bed around 1am....one more full day to go.

Went downtown for our annual stop on Fremont. Parked at Golden Gate and since it was 10:40, we missed all of the breakfast buffets. I had Boyd points so we went to the Paradise Cafe at Fremont. Pretty solid breakfast. Nothing to go crazy over, but the food was hot and the service was good. From there hit some slots and tables for about 45 minutes at Fremont, the D, and Binion's. Headed back to the strip. My wife loves Alex and Ani bracelets and they have a store in the Grand Bazaar Shops. They sell a Vegas bracelet that you can only buy here. She got that and pointed out what she also likes in case I need gift ideas in the future!


Headed back over to Geezers. Wife is heading to pool and I am going on a chip run.


Dinner at Rao's tonight and no plans past that for our last night...


Will report on chip runs in a bit.

Oh no! The wonders of autocorrect. How embarrassing.

Obviously meant uncirculated....


Last day and wrap up of trip coming likely tomorrow. I am beyond wiped out after getting home just now.


No big wins to speak of, but had a great time as usual.


Can't wait for the Super Bowl Guys' Trip in February (trip #17 for me)...

After leaving Caesars, i headed North on the I-15 toward Bighorn Casino. It is owned by the same entity as Longhorn. Bighorn was a bit bigger and the dealers couldn't have been friendlier. The floor person at table games was also very nice. They had a bunch of old slots and three blackjack tables with dollar minimums. There seemed to be a good number of security guards around for such a small place. I have no idea if I was in a sketchy area or not... Played some blackjack and left even after trying a bigger bet on the last hand, getting two aces, splitting them and getting 19 and 21. Dealer flips 12 and draws a 9..... I colored up and headed out.

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Next stop was Lucky Club. It is located near a highway on ramp so I passed it and had to turn around because the entrance is off of a side street. Place was about the size of a CVS and had mostly old slots with some new models. Had one craps table and 4 blackjack tables with 2 dollar minimums. I cashed out down a little and moved on. Overall a clean place, but dealers and floor person were pretty emotionless.

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Next, I stopped in Cannery. Very nice casino with friendly dealers and what appeared to be some nice restaurants. They had 3:2 blackjack and various gimmick side bets (lucky ladies, royal match, etc.) left there up a little off of some slot hits. I thought the door handles actually looking like cans was interesting.

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Last stop was Aliante. Wow, what an impressive property... I was at the extreme end of Las Vegas for the first time. Nothing North of me but desert.

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Aliante is beautiful inside. Looks and feels like M Resort and Red Rock. I remember when it was built by Station Casinos. I played some 3 card but eventually lost my buy in after about 40 minutes of play. They have their own in-house progressives on table games with a dollar bet.


One thing that really irritated me was while I was playing Buffalo Gold, there was a guy next to me who was talking to himself a great deal. He put in a hundred and was betting max. Every 4 or so spins, he would mutter something and loudly and aggressively kick the machine. Thankfully he lost the money he put in and turned around and left. I didn't get any shots of Aliante casino, just the hotel lobby.

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After this, I realized I was over 23 miles from center strip and needed to head back to make our dinner reservation at Rao's.....


Dinner and our final night to follow later tonight or tomorrow.

Well, our last night was to have dinner at Rao's for the first time, then no specific plans past that. Got to Rao's on time despite my mad rush driving from Aliante. We were with another couple of which one them had an urgent work call which delayed the start of our meal, but was not big deal at all. Once we ordered, we got an appetizer order of meatballs and the others got salads. I am an extremely picky eater, so I ordered penne Alfredo, not on the menu, but obviously they have the ingredients and they happily obliged.


The bread served with the meal was a combination of baked cheese Flatbread and Multigrain Italian bread. It was served with a trio of butter, one was regular, one was onion infused, and the last was a red pepper garlic blend.


The meatballs were outstanding. Hard to decide between these and Andiamo for best meatballs in Vegas.


Main courses were all excellent. Everyone left full and satisfied. We did order some desserts, but I can't recall what they were. I didn't take a single picture all night.


After Rao's, we decided to head to Planet Hollywood for some cards. Got the car, and for one of the few times this trip, put the top down on the convertible. Was going Flamingo to Koval to Harmon. But as we were driving by one of my favorite places, Ellis Island, we decided to stop. Wife wasn't too thrilled, but I convinced her to check it out. Played blackjack with their 'singing dealers' who rotate Karaoke singing after their breaks. Many are dressed the part.


At our table were some German guys who knew little English. One of the guys playing was standing up and was a bit back from the table. He kept making, in my opinion, ambiguous stay or hit hand signals. Sort of like waving his hand in a downward motion. One hand it happened where he did this signal and he busted, but swore he motioned to stay. This caused arguing with the pit boss who voided all the hands and made the guy sit down.


After I had a root beer (outstanding there, they brew their own), we went on to Planet Hollywood. Very uneventful session, both of us losing buy ins. At this point we called it a trip with the gambling, and overall, as it was midnight and we had a 9am flight. Back to the room to pack and get some sleep.


Final thoughts and observations tomorrow....


Thanks everyone for following along. I hope to improve on future reports.

Some additional, random observations from the trip:

Uber and other rideshare companies will continue to grow and could push out some of the smaller cab companies. As a first-time user, i was very impressed with the speed and ease of use of the Uber service. CET properties seem to have embraced this as all of their properties have clear signage as to where the pickup areas are.....At MGM Grand, it was a bit tricky to meet up with the driver.


After putting nearly 160 miles on the rental car over the 4 days, I can say that drivers in Vegas are some of the best in any big city. They are quick to merge on the highways and rarely cut you off or drive erratically.

Tropicana is a solid overall option for someone wanting a more relaxed vegas option. It is not jammed, prices are reasonable, and the staff is very friendly.

For those always looking for $5 tables on the strip, I can say, that on a Saturday night at 10pm, there were $5 tables for every game except roulette ($10). Blackjack, High Card Flush, 3CP, LIR, and Crazy 4 poker were all $5 minimums.... I only ever saw one table open in high limit, and it was a $100 minimum table that appeared to be reserved with a lady playing one-on-one with the dealer.

Caesar's Palace, for being the flagship property of the chain, still can't keep up with keeping the casino clean on a daily basis. Slot platforms are covered with used glassware and napkins, and many of their VP machines have buttons that don't work. I understand the financial constraints they are under, but they have never given the proper attention to CP for keeping it in pristine condition. This never happens at Wynn, Bellagio, or Aria.

Rio, while off strip, continues to attract good weeknight crowds. Most of the tables were filled, and the slot areas were busy.


In a rare trip, never set foot in any of the east side strip Properties except PH and Harrah's. Typically we would definitely hit up Linq, Flamingo, Bally's and Cromwell.


The pedestrian areas and bridges around NYNY, Excalibur, and MGM Grand are massively crowded. Its as if you are leaving a sold out NFL stadium. Wall to wall people. I hadn't been down that way in quite a while and was surprised at the foot traffic.

The locals places I visited ranged from low end grind joints (Bighorn/Skyline) to strip quality places (Cannery/Aliante). It is night and day with regards to better slot payouts and table games rules off strip. Obviously everyone knows this, but it was plainly visible this trip for me. Longhorn even allowed double after a hit, which i had NEVER seen at a table I was playing at. The Strip Casinos were airtight. I chalk it up to bad luck, but this being my 16th trip to Vegas, my money has never evaporated so quickly.

The weather was oppressively hot, but at night it was tolerable for short periods. We didn't do any heavy walking between casinos, but according to my phone, I walked the equivalent of a marathon (27.3 miles), which i would not have guessed.

Not sure where wife and I will stay next summer. I may try and get back on the MGM radar and see where that goes.

Next trip is planned for 2017 Super Bowl weekend with the guys. Should follow the same scope as last year: Gambling, Steam, Football, steam, and more gambling..... Can't wait!!!! Hope my Browns are playing in it!!!!!

Good luck to everyone heading out to Vegas for Labor Day and the rest of the year! I hope to read some great reports!

Forgot to post a pic of the chips I collected...

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Awesome report! Thanks for sharing your adventures.

 

Nice report. I liked the small casino hopping. We usually do some of the bigger ones but for our October trip we might try your approach.