It's really nice to head for Las Vegas feeling lucky, and I was definitely feeling lucky Saturday morning since my mom and I had just flown home from Nashville via LAX, and our luggage actually made the same plane in spite of the usual delay in Los Angeles<g>. There was no way I was could drive all the way down to Las Vegas that day, so I had reservations at the Best Western Bakersfield Inn ...right across the parking lot from the Crystal Palace, and I was able to enjoy a good show with Buck Owens and the Buckaroos. The songs I remember are Ring of Fire and Streets of Bakersfield. YEE HAW! The group has a young lady named Kim that did a very good version of Looking for a Soft Place to Land.
I was up early on Sunday and made it into Las Vegas with time to spare before meeting Jeff and Patti for brunch at Mandalay Bay......this was my first visit to MB so I wandered aroung the casino admiring the sights before sitting down and earning breakfast money at double double bonus. I never did see any full-pay machines there, but a quad is still a quad. [img]http://www.talkvegas.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img] Breakfast was some really good cheese blintzes in the coffee shop with the Senator, the First Lady and their friends, Myrna and George. Jeff met his match in a (really nice) waitress that insisted that he was going to drink all that decaf coffee if she had to bring an extra carafe just for him<g>.
Check-in at Caesars was not exactly smooth, in fact, there was a long line waiting at 1 p.m......so I left my luggage with the bellman and wandered out to find John and Veronica battling with their favorite VP machines........these machines became the informal gathering place for the Talk Vegas gang. LeeAnn and Michael wandered in on their way to Bellagio, Walt stopped by between BJ sessions, and Mark and Nadia also stopped by to join in the fun. The pain of a losing session was offset by the camaradarie......and by sipping Tia Maria<g>. I wandered over to a much shorter check-in line and was graciously upgraded to a room in the Forum Tower, but the room wasn't clean yet, so I got to make yet another trip later to stand in line for my key, but I did eventually get into the room with time to hop in the jacuzzi before meeting LeeAnn and Michael for dinner. I think I'd call the room "the house of mirrors" ...there were mirrors as you walk in, mirrors throughout the bathroom, mirrors around the jacuzzi, mirrors on the armoire, mirrors around and over the bed...........some mirror company must really love Caesars!
Dinner was a lemon-chicken combo (including won ton soup, fried rice and egg roll) at a restaurant recommended by a friend of LeeAnn and Michael.....great people to go out with since they bought dinner<g>. I think it should qualify as a business expense since we did (briefly) discuss the pharmacy business when we overhead a conversation that indicated we had some pharmacy students from my home town at a nearby table.....small world! When we sat down, I couldn't help noticing that the silverware was only a fork and spoon, but my lemon chicken strips were so tender that they were easily cut by a fork.....and the spoon was for the homemade ice cream included with the meal. [img]http://www.talkvegas.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img]
We got over to NYNY with time to spare before meeting everyone for the Dueling Pianos at the Times Square Bar. This was my first trip there, and I can understand why everyone enjoys it so much. It was really fun having one of our group serenaded, but I'll leave the details to be reported by the instigator of that incident<g>. Five of us ducked out for a few minutes to run upstairs and catch the last ride on the Manhatten Express; Nadia and I were seat-mates and kinda bonded on that commute. [img]http://www.talkvegas.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img] I'm glad we had to leave everything in the locker; I'm rather near-sighted, and I think I enjoyed the trip MUCH more without my glasses. V told me about the great upside-down view of the strip that she got from the top of one of the loops, but I'm just not sure I need to see the strip that way.
Everyone eventually wandered back to our "headquarters" at the VP machines in Caesars, and Veronica demonstrated correct strategy. There was a quarter progressive Royal that acted like a magnet since the Royal was over $1700, and we all sat down at some time to build up the jackpot. I started an annoying and exciting habit of getting four to the royal here......the excitement is obvious, but the annoyance was not even getting a flush as a consolation prize once in a while. [img]http://www.talkvegas.com/ubb/frown.gif[/img] I headed back to my room and got some sleep in spite of all those mirrors.
Monday started in the jacuzzi.......then it was off to Summerlin to pick up Blos for lunch at the Resort in Summerline. As we're going out the door, Blos turned to Hal to say "why don't you go with us? Oh, that's right, you just ate." Two grinning ladies exited the house quickly. The brunch has been well described, but I did try all five varieties of jumbo shrimp, the sirloin steak was excellent, had fresh fruit and limited myself to one slice of cheesecake at the dessert bar......until Blos strolled back with some tiramisu for me. [img]http://www.talkvegas.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img] We rolled out the door and drove over to the Fiesta for some quality nickel deuces time. NOT! Those machines kicked us rather well, so Blos headed for the bonus machines, and I went to a rather brutal quarter deuces machine. Properly subdued, I decided to go back to nickels and sat down at a Triple Play machine, put in $10, selected double double bonus, punched the max coins button.....and was dealt four 3s! I happily held them and hit the deal button.....and kept staring at the machine trying to figure out why the top two lines paid 400 coins, but the bottom line paid 800 coins? I was so tired that the gentleman next to me had to explain that I'd gotten an ace kicker on the bottom line<g>. Two days later I realized that I had never ever looked at the fifth card on the deal....I was so dingy I may have discarded other kickers. However, a hand-pay on a nickel machine was a great way to turn around my gambling luck! Blos had also had a nice run, so we packed our wallets and returned to Summerlin, and I headed back to Caesars for a much-needed nap!
Energized again, I wandered downstairs and played without much luck on both bonus and deuces until I found bank of machines where Veronica and I had surrounded John with quads on our last trip<g>..........and Daisy Deuces finally struck! It was a bonus machine, but I was still happy to see quad deuces.....both times. [img]http://www.talkvegas.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img] I sat at that machine so long I developed "VP butt"......but I gathered miscellaneous quads along the way, and I got serenaded with You're in the Money while I waited for my hand-pay for 800 credits. I went back to headquarters and watched Veronica continue her winning ways.....then kinda surprised V and John when I followed them over to the crap tables<g>. We had some good rolls, but the dice turned so I headed back to my new favorite bonus machine......only got one quad.....ACES! A very good ending to a very good day!
Tuesday morning was check-out time for Caesars, and Plan A was to head over to Orleans to see if their breakfast buffet had improved. By the time I got out of the jacuzzi, packed, ran downstairs to check my Emperor's Club points and waited for the bellman and the General Lee, Plan B was to check out the lunch buffet. ( How can they cut off breakfast at 10 a.m. in Las Vegas?) I had been impressed with the improvement in the Orleans buffet on my last trip, but I was definitely underwhelmed this time. The Chinese section looked good but didn't taste that great, and the Mexican and pasta stations didn't even look good. On the positive side, the seafood looked good, the ribs were good, and the chocolate pecan pie was as good as I remembered. [img]http://www.talkvegas.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img] I'd had a down session of video poker while waiting for the buffet to open for lunch, but I found a nice deuces machine that gave back my money so I headed out to Mesquite even for the day.
I'd gotten a pretty good dose of desert and joshua trees on my way into Las Vegas, so the first part of the drive to Mesquite seemed bo-ring<g>, but the last few miles get more colorful. The TalkVegas gang was either golfing or lunching, so I cheerfully headed over to the double down stud machines....and left very shortly later wishing they had taken them out! It seemed like a good time to check in, and I got a nice room on the first floor waaaaaay down the hall (Patti and Veronica were rather impressed with my version of the room number<VBG> ). The three of us hung out at some bonus machines for a while, then I had a nice session at a deuces machine before joining them, Walt, Jeff, Randy and Kelly at the bar. By that time, I was VERY impressed with the champagne served to slot players. [img]http://www.talkvegas.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img]
Walt & Veronica headed back to Las Vegas, and the rest of us headed to the Casa Blanca coffee shop for a very pleasant dinner. I couldn't pass up the $10.95 new york steak and lobster special; and I'll need that hallway exercise route to work it off! We all headed out to battle various VP; I at least got to see four deuces in front of a TalkVegas member<g>, but I still could only find 3 at a time on my machine. At one point Jeff & I thought we were going to have a version of "dueling quads" at double double bonus; we both hit one quickly, but neither one of us could keep the string going, so I headed out to support a local blackjack dealer ....then decided to be sensible and get to bed early (read that as I went to my room to sip Macallan and sulk)
I'm not a pool lounger, so I lounged around my room Wednesday morning, sipping coffee and bringing my trip report up to date. I finally wandered down to the pool to visit with Patti, but I steered clear of Jeff in the poker room.......it looked like there was serious business going on there<g>. I liked my point total at the Good Sam slot club; I had enough play to comp my room and lunch at the buffet.....which is best described as "ok".....not as good as dinner in the coffee shop but still fueled me up for the drive back to Las Vegas. It's amazing what a difference a good solid seven hours of sleep can make; the drive seemed much prettier this time. [img]http://www.talkvegas.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img]
Sam's Town is a mess with the construction going on; it would really be nice if they would put some up better signs to the new valet location<g>. They still had the large overhead signs directing traffic to the right from the Flamingo entrance, but the entire area along the Boulder Highway is under construction, and the valet is now located close to the shuttle bus stop. Check-in was pleasant and swift, and in no time at all, I was in my ninth floor atrium view room......rather tired by then, so I relaxed in the room for a while before heading down to MSS Brew Pub to meet the TV gang. I definitely didn't feel like messing with rush hour traffic in the spaghetti bowl area, so I drove downtown on Fremont.....and even got to surprise Gail and visit her petting zoo along the way<g>.
Gail beat me down to the meet (I detoured through the Lady Luck), and we were joined by V, Walt, LeeAnn and Michal.....and promptly got to celebrate a TalkVegas Royal from earlier in the day! I broke my BBQ bacon cheeseburger tradition with an excellent Cobb Salad.....washed down with lots of Henry Weinhard's best root beer. The meet broke up early since the east coast gang had to either catch a plane or get up early to catch a plane, but V stuck around to chat a little more with Gail, and I continued searching for those elusive deuces.......I finally gave V an interesting ride back to Caesars. She detoured me down Industrial for a drive-by tour of some rather fascinating business establishments<g>. I hung out with the gang one last time before heading over to the Cheesecake Factory to drool over my late night snack choices......finally settled on the white chocolate macadamia nut cheesecake. I think I drooled in anticipation all the way back to Sam's Town, but disappointment was in store for me. The white chocolate was only in a thin slab on the top, and I was expecting more than one lonely macadamia nut too. [img]http://www.talkvegas.com/ubb/frown.gif[/img] It was another "ok".....and I expected better from them.
I woke up Thursday morning, intending to go over to Sahara Speedworld, but I had a long, exciting deuces session.......it took me three hours to finally donate $20, and I kept seeing three teasing deuces. By this time I was rather hungry, and I decided to check out All-American Sports Park over on Sunset Road, specifically, the food there<g>. Another nice plan that went astray<g>.....they were just opening up as I got there, but the food places (1) weren't staffed and (2) wouldn't have tempted me if they had been open. It was still an interesting side trip; this is one giant arcade! There are go-cart tracks, a batting cage, miniature golf, an awesome assortment of generic arcade machines.....and two 5/8 size Nascar racers. [img]http://www.talkvegas.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img] You know I had to try those<g>.....however, I had a little trouble trying to figure out the set-up, and my one run was something worse than a disaster. This place would be great for families bringing kids to town, but I'll stick to Sahara Speedworld.
Since I was already on Sunset, I headed over to Sunset Station, mulling over the idea of having my first FatBurger......nah, the Feast Buffet is one of the best in Las Vegas, and I headed right in<g>. I even stoked up on ribs and texas chile, hoping it would like a fire on a double double machine, but I shortly tucked my tail in and headed back to Sam's for a restorative nap!
A nap had turned my luck around at Caesars, and it also worked at Sam's Town....I proceeded to hit 3 quads on a Treasure Chest machine before switching to double double bonus. I only hit 2 quads there......threes and deuces.....and a kicker each time. [img]http://www.talkvegas.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img]
I cashed out and headed over to Town Hall to see if I had enough play to improve my $25 casino rate, and the slot hostess (Rachel Hunt) comped one night of my stay. That three hour session this morning obviously helped since Rachel explained that Sam's comp policy is basically $2500 coin in for each day of your stay to qualify for a room comp. She said I also had some meal comps available, but I need to get out of town early tomorrow so I'll collect those next time.
My thanks to all the Talk Vegas gang for making this trip another special memory!

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Daisy-Beyond Vegas Moderator
daisy@talkvegas.com

Daisy,

Great report! You always have so many exciting tales of those elusive dueces! I have to figure out a way to be there at the same time with you! It's hard enough trying to meet with you in CA!

Trina

Daisy, Great trip report! Sorry I didn

Daisy,

I am tired after reading your report. It sounds like you had a gambling, good time. Glad to hear that you liked the dueling pianos at NYNY. It is one of our favorite places to visit. I would like to adopt Christina, but Beth says "NO WAY!" Oh well. The problem with us staying at Sam's Town and not renting a car is that we can't stay on the strip late and see the dueling pianos. We have to figure out a way to use the CAT bus to get us back. Of course, we could always cab it. Thanks for the report and hope to see you in December.

Great trip report! I felt like I was walking behind you the entire time, taking in the whole trip! Glad you had some nice video poker sessions.

Trina....maybe we should meet in Reno? I know where there are some nice progressive deuces machines at the Peppermill<g>.

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Daisy-Beyond Vegas Moderator
daisy@talkvegas.com

John, I'm also sorry we didn't get a chance to meet this time, but I would have had to give up the Grand Ole Opry on Friday night in order to make the meet at Tommy Rockers, and that just wasn't gonna happen<g>. I think we may have had the same room at the GN, but I agree that the view at night was awesome!

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Daisy-Beyond Vegas Moderator
daisy@talkvegas.com

Fred, I was tired BEFORE I started this trip<g>. I know where the CAT bus stops out at Sams, but that doesn't sound like a good option right now since the area by the bus stop is totally torn up for construction. All the crew at NYNY was great, but Christina still stands out, and I think it's very mean that Beth won't let you adopt her.

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Daisy-Beyond Vegas Moderator
daisy@talkvegas.com

Gregg...did you get really tired walking down some of those hallways<g>? I'm wading through a couple weeks worth of mail, then I'm going to try to post a short sequel of over-all impressions.

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Daisy-Beyond Vegas Moderator
daisy@talkvegas.com

Daisy: Wow! You sure got your trip report up F-A-S-T. Thanks for the great report.

How would you rate the Resort at Summerlin's buffet on a scale of 1 - 10? How about a Sunset buffet comparison?

WTG with the hand-pay win at Fiesta. I've never won there once and quit going a few trips ago, so it's nice to hear that someone actually can walk out of there a winner.

I enjoyed not only reading about your winning sessions but witnessing a few of them too on your trip.

I guess Caesars' and the others' breakfast buffets are stopped by 10:00 am in order to set up for lunch, but I've always thought it would be nice to have a breakfast buffet extended a lot later than 10 since so many people in Vegas stay up so late.

Thanks again for a super report, even though you cheated and used the laptop!

Daisy,

I think I hear Reno calling my name....like maybe next month? [img]http://www.talkvegas.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img]

Trina

Daisy - Great trip report. Sorry we didn't get to meet up this time. If I wouldn't have been in Vegas, I would have met you in Nashville, only I would have had to pass on the Grand Ole Opry as country music is not my thing.

Sounds like you had a rather good trip. Wait until I post mine. This was this best trip we have ever had.

Maybe next time we can get together.



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Doye/KY

Daisy,
Thanks for the great report. Mine is coming, I just had to get some stuff caught up around the home. So I've been off the BB for a few days.
Sorry we didn't meet up this trip, but there is always next time. So, with that in mind.....when are you going back? I'll be in LV Nov 20th to 28th, are you going to be intown then?
Sounds like you had a great time and sure wish our stay would have been longer so we could have met up. I'd also like to try Mesquite sometime.
Thanks for a wonderful report.



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Lee-PA
Moderator, What's New Forum
lee@talkvegas.com

Daisy,
Great report. You left a few things out. Like the excitement at the MB coffee shop [img]http://www.talkvegas.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img]. Guess if you can't say something nice....

You could have come into the poker room and said hi, that serious look is just an act [img]http://www.talkvegas.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img]. I'm so glad you made it out to Mesquite, and thanks for the scotch. I carried it out to teh casino with me and a guy in the elevator said it smelled really good. Glad they took care of your room. They're pretty good with comps.

Glad you had such good luck with the VP. At least someone had a good gambling session!



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Jeff, Gambling Moderator
senatorjm@talkvegas.com

Daisy,
Thanks for another great trip report. We sure had a great time in search of those Dueces didn't we? Thanks for the lessons. It was great to learn from the master of deuces. <vbg>
Michael and I really enjoyed spending time with you. Hope we get to see you again soon.

Lee Ann
Past, Present and Future Forum Moderator
leeann@talkvegas.com

Daisy, as always, great report. I've instructed Caesas not to give me any rooms with mirrors. I don't want to look<G>
I kept getting four to the royal on those progressives also. Someone finally hit it the following morning [img]http://www.talkvegas.com/ubb/frown.gif[/img]
Whenever you go out with Blossom and Hal you have to watch them. They always show up at the table with an extra desert for you, but never one for them<G>
Also, I think all the larger properties in Las Vegas should have one restaurant that serves breakfast 24 hours a day. It's not fair to us that sleep until noon.
It was great to see you again and hopefully we'll attack the vp machines together soon.

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John
Moderator Dining Forum
john@talkvegas.com

Great trip report as usual Marianne. It wasn't nice of you to have such fun while Hal and I were confined to an Embassy Suite at LAX for 4 days. Even a beautiful hotel is a prison if you are stuck there. And they didn't have any deuces machines in the lobby. <ggggg>.

Hope we get the opportunity to visit more than once when you visit next. Glad you had fun anyway.

Doye, the last trip (or the next trip) is always the best one. [img]http://www.talkvegas.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img]

Lee, theoretically, the next trip will be in December. You should try Mesquite.... especially if you like pools; they have a beauty out there.

Jeff, you make a really good point ...I have nothing nice to say about the excitement at MB<g>.
Remember all those chips I had on the table when you buzzed my blackjack session? Well, a black cloud kinda swallowed them, and I didn't want to return the dratted thing to you in the poker room. [img]http://www.talkvegas.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img]
I was surprised by the comp room & meal at Mesquite....it's not that often a quarter player gets that kind of royal treatment. As for the scotch.....my pleasure!