This is my first trip report posted to this new board. WARNING: this is WAY too long. It was just a great trip, and I couldn't seem to quit blabbering about it. We flew NW airlines out of Detroit-got great fares of $192 each, direct flights. It's about a 2-hour drive from our town to Detroit, but it's an easy drive. No problems on the flight, only complaint is that NW doesn't have movies anymore. That seems a little cheap, and a movie really helps a 3-4+ flight go by more quickly.

When we arrived, we picked up our Neon from Dollar car rental. We didn't look very closely at the car when we picked it up, as we've had Neons before and have liked them. This one was pretty ratty, though, and I wish I would have been more picky. It got us from place to place, though and the rate was pretty good. We stopped at Vacation Village, as we do every trip, for our free airfare. The TWO people in line right before us each won their airfare! First time I ever saw anybody win it, much less 2 in a row! Of course by then all the luck was used up, and I won $5 and my husband won $1 or something like that. This time we stayed awhile, I was really, really, hungry. We'd been up since 3:30 am, it was about noon LV time (3 pm Mich. Time). So we bought $10 worth of quarters each at the bar and had the hot dog and a long island iced tea. The hot dogs weren't bad, or I was just too hungry to notice otherwise.

Went to Caesars to check in for our 3-night room offer in the palace tower. We tried to "downgrade" to a Forum Tower Jacuzzi room, but they said the Forum Tower was completely sold out. Oh well, had to "settle" for Palace Tower. J Our room was on the 15th floor-1513. It was very nice, but I still don't see what all the screaming is about, and I still prefer the Forum Tower Jacuzzi rooms-go figure! I do have to admit, though, that the Jacuzzi area in the Palace Tower is also very nice, kind of set off from the main bathroom, with soft lighting, etc. so it can be a romantic setting, also (like the forum jacuzzi). So we called down for our bags, and ran down to the emperors club booth to get our free buffets (we received a coupon for 2 buffets along with our room offer, but it had to be used before 2 p.m. on Friday, or after 4 p.m.. on Sunday, and since we had other plans for Sunday, we had to hurry). We got to the buffet at about 1:45 and it was quite good, better than it's been in the past when we've had it. Not a lot of selections, but this time, anyway, all the selections were very good.

Now, that's about as far as I can remember in terms of a day-by-day, hour-by-hour, account. The rest is just what happened, sort of in order of what happened first, etc., but pretty jumbled. We played the triple play (very short pay) VP games at Caesars. I had, against everything I know to be true and good, been playing double double bonus on our computer at home and had been having very good luck with it. Now, this has always been my husband's favorite game, and I would never touch it with a 10-foot pole because it's not close to full pay. And Caesar's triple play version is absolutely dismal. I can't even put down in writing for the world to see just how short-pay it is, but suffice it to say, it is SHORT-PAY. So, I sit down and gleefully feed $100 into in (what fools these mortals be, eh?). And within the next hour, after holding my own pretty well up to this point, I draw to AAA and hit the AAAA with a 2 kicker! 2,000 coins -- $500 hand pay. So who's the fool now? And I am instantly hooked on DDB. And Juan is just sitting there laughing at me.

I'm going to stop here to explain our new gambling bankroll system that we tried this trip. We had $X to spend on gambling. Instead of, as we usually do, splitting the $$ into 2 equal bankrolls for each of us, we split it 3 ways-1/3 for him, 1/3 for me, and 1/3 for us to both use on video poker only and only at the two hotels we were staying in.
Then, since most of our food and entertainment was going to be free this trip, we took $500 (100 per day) as entertainment money, which we called "walking around" gambling money-it was used to throw $20 into a slot machine here and there as we walked from casino to casino. So our VP bankroll was now up by $500-great! (BTW, this system worked out really, really well for us, for lots of reasons, and we ended up putting a fair amount of points on our Caesars and Luxor slot cards.)

OK, so I end up crashing really early (about midnight) and Juan stays up to play some blackjack. It seems like he always has his best blackjack runs when I'm not around, and this was no exception. He had a really good run, buying in with $200, at some point getting up over $1,000 and finally cashing out at $800 (up $600). So, we've had a really good start to the trip. Juan came up pretty early, about 1:30 or so and went to bed. Now, for our version of the earthquake. I'm sound asleep, when I'm slowly awakened (I'm a GOOD sleeper-I regularly sleep through REALLY LOUD thunderstorms in Michigan) by some strange noises in the room. The closet doors are moving, and at first I think somebody's walking around in our room. Then the doors on the armoire that holds the TV start waving back and forth. Juan starts to come awake and I say "what's that?" He of course (being a man and all) is at the ready with an explanation of some kind "Oh

Gail,

Your trip report was a joy to read. Never too long!

Sounds like one super trip with great food, great rooms, and ESPECIALLY great machines that liked the two of you. Congratulations!!!!! I would have felt as if I were in a dream just as you did.

I find lately that the machines I do the best at are definitely not full pay ones. Believe there may be a lesson there?????

Glad you posted the report on TalkVegas. It was fun to read and makes a person feel as if they were gambling right beside you and Juan. Happy to hear about all the wins. We all deserve a trip such as that every now and then. Mine will be in December.<g>

Beth

Gail: What fun to read all about your great gambling luck. Thanks for posting your report!

I see you had no problems with NW, so I take it you were not delayed in departing? NW has gotten some bad press about late departure/arrival times, so it

Beth--Thanks. You're right--you can go all over town looking for full-pay, but in the SHORT RUN (which is all most of us visitors have) it's really luck that seems to matter.

Veronica--Thanks. Yes, it WAS quite a surprise that we couldn't get a Forum Tower room. Something was going on, I think, that had the Forum Tower rooms filled up. They're still my favorites! I remember you (I think it was you) telling me back on the old board that I'd like the Forum Tower--that was back when I was planning my first trip to Caesars. Little did I realize at the time what a favorite the place was going to become!

Gail in MI

Gail,
This was the most fantastic trip report!!! I'm always interested in the gambling results, especially where video poker is concerned. Congratulations on your win. I have to admit that I am somewhat hooked on double double bonus now. I know it's not full pay and goes against all the experts advice. I love to play video poker and play on riverboats almost every weekend (and there is no full pay available). Believe me, I've learned that over the short run, anything can happen playing video poker. Congratulations again. Must have been a great trip.

Gail,

Thanks for the report. You certainly had a great run of luck. I've always liked the jacuzzi room like you had at the Luxor. They have a larger jacuzzi room in the tower but I don't like it as well. The tu's in the bathroom and not hear as nice.
Thanks for sharing your trip!



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Jeff, Gambling Moderator
senatorjm@talkvegas.com

WOW! What a great trip report. Thank you for taking the time to write it. It's always great to hear about a winner.
Gale

Wow, Wow, Wow!

What a great Trip Report! And they can never be too long! I'm thrilled that you and Juan had a lucky streak - seems appropriate since you were celebrating your 19th anniversary!

Thanks for letting us live vicariously through your excellent report! Oh how I wish I could be there now!

Gail in MI,
Thanks for the report! I agree with everyone else, there is no such thing as a trip report that is toooo long!
While you seemed to have trouble at both hotels at the start, it all worked out in the end, I think? [img]http://www.talkvegas.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img]
Glad you had some good luck!
Thanks for taking the time to write a report for all of us that are stuck working and not partying in LV!

Lee-PA

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

To everybody who respoonded on my trip report--Thanks for your kind comments. I'm just going to cold-turkey quit apologizing for the length of my reports--I always like to read long ones too!

Lee--thanks. No, I didn't really have any trouble with either hotel in the beginning. We wanted to downgrade to the Forum Towers at Caesars, but we weren't really disappointed with the Palace Towers--just wouldn't pay extra for them. And the room at Luxor was really quite fabulous, except for the bathroom being quite plain. I love both hotels.

Gail in MI

Gail, winning trip reports are never too long<g>. WTG! You made a good point about short term luck vs. full-pay long term luck; I know double bonus is better-paying, but the strategy is also very difficult compared to DDB ....my personal odds for the two games may be very similiar since my DDB is MUCH closer to correct strategy<g>.