This was sort of/kind of a last minute trip.

A couple buddies asked me to lunch a couple months ago. They were planning a Vegas trip and wanted to try another hotel. They asked for recomendations. I knew they both liked to play poker so I suggested the Orleans. They asked if I wanted to join them and I said yes. The wild card on this trip was my wife. She was having her 4th surgery for a broken arm about a month before this trip and I wasn't sure I'd be able to leave.

I booked a room at the Orleans, $59/$69/$49. The last night was on a promotion that included 2 free buffets and a coupon for 2 free nights in September. I booked a full size car with Thrifty, $30.99 for one day and $28.99 the next 2. I didn't book air becasue of the uncertainty of my trip. I kept watching the air fares go up. Finally, about 10 days out, everything looked good for me to go. I started playing around with air fares which were now up around $400 unless I wanted to take red-eyes. I noticed that leaving a day early on Saturday would help a little bit. I've got a friend who lives in Phoenix who's been wanting me to visit. I usually fly America West from Columbus and they have direct flights to Vegas or you can go thru Phoenix. I checked flights thru Phoenix with an extended layover on my outbound flight and it was cheaper that going direct to Vegas on Sunday so I booked it. I had a coupon from a complaint a made a while back that's worth $25-$100 depending on the price of your ticket. Mine came to just over $400 with all the fees so I got $100 off. Somehow my total ended up under $300.

I called flight fund after ticketing to upgrade. Because of he extended layover, they would treat my outbound as 2 seperate flights which would cost 20,000 miles to upgrade. I decided to just upgrade my return flights.


THE FLIGHTS:

COLUMBUS TO PHOENIX: Left Columbus Saturday morning for Phoenix. Changed my 9D seat to 22D to get an open middle seat. The plane pushed back from the gate and I heard a strange noise. The pilot announced a hydraulic problem. Said they'd remove the shroud on one engine and replace a couple switches. Repairs were successful and we left 45 minutes late. Buy-on-Board meals. I kept a menu but don't have it with me. I'll post it later. I was impressed with 3 beverage services for the flight.

PHOENIX TO VEGAS: I was booked in 9D from Phoenix to Vegas on Sunday. Checked in at a kiosk. It offered an upgrade for $50 which I declined. No line at kiosk or security. Had a buffalo chicken piza at pizza hut and went to the gate. Kept thinking about the upgrade. Got to thinking that drinks are $5.00. If I had 3, the seat would really only cost $35. Went to the podium to find 1st class full. BUT, there's another flight leaving at the same time and they have 1st class. Asked for my favorite, 1C, which turned out to be available. Boarded the plane, pushed back from the gate and just sat. Pilot finally announced that McCarren was going to be closed for an hour because of President Bush being there. We finally taxied away from the gate and sat for another 30 minutes. Sure glad I upgraded!

VEGAS TO PHOENIX: Already upgraded, 1C all the way home. Used 1st class check in but lines were short everywhere. Used 1st class line for security but only a dozen or so in the regular line. Plane was a few minutes late ariving from Detroit (found out why later) so we were a few minutes late boarding. No beverage service on the ground, guess they were hurrying. Took of almost on time. Good Bloody Mary's. We were over the end of the runway in Phoenix when the pilot poured on the power, pulled up the nose and around we went. He came on and announced that another plane wasn't clearing the runway. I could talk to the flight attendants from where I was sitting. She said the same thing happened when they arrived in Vegas which is why they were late. Two in a row? Pilot error??????

PHOENIX TO COLUMBUS: Got my first Glenlevit on the ground. Best flight attendant of the trip. Mature female. Lunch was a cold pasta salad with choice of chicken or shrimp. I went with shrimp, 3 nice sized ones that weren't too bad. Came with bread and apple pie. She finally had to call back to get more scotch. I was going to be very disapointed in myself if I hadn't been able to at least empty one cart! Landed in Columbus on time. First flight of teh trip without an incident!


RENTAL CAR:

About 7 days before my trip, I checked rates at Thrifty (I wanted to use them because of a $50 certificate) and found a full size for $15.99 per day. Booked this and cancelled my earlier reservation. Arrived at the lot and went in to the desk to have my coupon taken care of. It was PACKED! Nobody working the Blue Chip counter. Finally got an attendant's attention. She apologized for my having to wait. Asked if a luxury car was alright (duh). Drove out in a Chrysler 300 (new model) with about 3,500 miles on it. I kind of question calling this a luxury car. It was a V6, no sunroof, no climate control? I noticed the gas guage was a few ticks below full. I asked a lot attendant and he said that was normal for this car. Gas prices mostly $2.10-$2.20. I found $2.07 my last night and filled up. Guess what, gas guage went a few ticks ABOVE full. My bill after the coupon was about $10! for a 3 day rental in a "luxury" car.

HOTEL:

Stayed at the Orleans. Requested an upgrade at check-in, no-go. Got a room in the old tower, almost to the end of the hall, pool view. Maybe I pissed her off asking for a free upgrade? Matress seemed unusually hard, everything else was very nice. Went to leave my room the next morning and the door wouldn't lock. I was in a hurry to meet someone so asked for another room and specified the new tower. No kings available but took a room with 2 queens, pool view (1154). Bed was much more comfortable. Was able to notice a couple things. New rooms have TV in an armoir. Nicer shower head. Neither room had a coffee maker or safe. Still trying to figure out what the soap in the shower smelled like, kind of spicy.
They've got a new kind of adult channel. I think it was called Sextopia. 24 hours viewing, Noon to Noon. It says there's 30 movies to choose from and over 300 "scenes". You're supposed to be able to fast-forward, rewind, pause, etc. And are you ready for this??????? $29.99! WOW!

FOOD:
First evening was Orleans' buffet with my buddies from Columbus. I'd give it a 7 on a 1-10 scale. German chocolate cake was an 11!
Next morning was the coffee shop at the Silverton with Mike, an old friend from Columbus who moved to Vegas a couple years ago. Country fried steak with eggs, potatos and toast was great (and BIG). Could this be why I have a weight problem? :rolleyes:
Dinner was Chinese at Green Valley Ranch with Randy, and old Prodigy BB friend. Can't remember the name of this place. It's right by the main, front entrance and was very good. I had fried squid and crispy, garlic half chicken. If you try this chicken, ask them not to cut it into small pieces. Made it hard to avoid the bones.
Tried to do Orleans' breakfast buffet the next day but arrived at 10:10 and it was closed. Returned for lunch. I'll give this one an 8.5.
Back to teh Silverton for dinner with MIke and his wife at the steak house. The prime rib looked great and I wish I'd ordered it. My bone-in ribeye covered with blue cheese and mushrooms was over done but I didn't send it back, preferred to eat with my friends. Three steak dinners which included salad and 2 sides, 1 glass of wine and 2 iced teas was $75.
My last morning I was 10 minutes late for the breakfast specials in the coffee shop so went to the buffet. I'll give em a 9 for breakfast.

GAMBLING:

I gambled harder this trip than I have in years! Actually, I did nothing but gamble, eat, and sleep. And I didn't get much sleep!

Played Pai Gow, 3-card poker and Video Poker. Hit deuces 4 times. Unfortunately, only 2 of them were playing deuces wild for quarters. One was on DDB so it wasn't a total loss. The other was playing deuces wild, 5-play for dimes. Hit trips at 3-card poker one time. Had one marathon Pai Gow session at Green Valley Ranch. About 8 PM until 3 AM. Bought in for $500, was down to the felt twice and walked away with about $300.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Gambling total was about $200 in the red with the Orleans picking up my room. Figure that gets me about even!

Will post a few odds and ends later.

Nice report Jeff. I will be at GVR in a little over a week from now and I am looking forward to staying there.
I'm proud of you for cleaning out the beverage cart. Us J's have a reputation to uphold<G>
I have not seen Randy in a couple of years. I wondered how he was doing. The last time I saw him he was in a group that chased progressives all over Las Vegas.
Glad you didn't lose too much. If I can lose less than $100 a day I consider that a victory.

Senator,
Graet report, and you didn't do bad for the amount of gambling you did. Just please tell me that dime machine was a ticket in/ticket out type machine!!!! LOL
You always work a better deal then I, on those car rentals. I think you made the right choice on the Hotel too. It ended up being a non-factor.
So with a free room in September, does that mean a september trip in the works???? My dates are 9/4 to 9/11
I like playing Pia Gow poker at GVR. Sharon and I had a long session on our last trip, and they sent us a nice offer 9reason we're staying there 2 nights this trip.
Thanks for the report, and I'm looking forward to those odds and ends your going to post!
Oh, did they comp those $29.99 room charges????

John,

Actually when i called Randy and mentioned going to GVR, her aske me to checkl the progressive at the bar an call him if it was over 1900. Guess he;s "still chasing royals".

Lee,

Actually the dime machine was not ticket in/out. I cvashed out for sometin g like $50 and it was a hand pay!

Just got lucky on the car.

I'll make a note of your september dates. Patti's biurthday is September 9 so that might not work gor me.

And no, they didn't comp the $29.99 you smart ass!

Thanks for the TR, senator - I needed a wake me up this morning, reading that did the trick.

I really like the way you categorized the report, with all the flight report in one section, car in the next etc.

I rented Thrifty last December and also had a gas gauge a few ticks below full. Attendant said that's normal. When I filled it, same result as you. But my car was a little - oh, I forget, something compact.

Hmm. Do you think those cars were from previous renters choosing to let Thrifty fill up?

Kestral

Kestral,

I thought maybe I wouldn't ramble so much with the catagories but I think I did anyway.

I'll probably write a letter to Thrifty about teh gas. Good question on who filled them up. I've returned cars before that weren't completely full an never got questioned on them.

The lack of sleep sounds like me. I NEVER can sleep in LV.

LV is the only place that I really sleep good.

Interesting trip report, Senator! Glad you went to Silverton............I like their coffee shop AND steak house........we "go away" for the weekend to the RV Park there once in awhile.

Jeff,

You made a nice trip out of that "spur of the moment" deal. It sounds like a sampler LV junket with you hitting a little of everything. I enjoyed your adventures in transportation both on the ground and above it. I always feel a little guilty when I fill up much before returning the rental car, but if it still shows "full" I let it go at that. There can be 50 miles of driving between actual fill-up and the needle going down to "full". I wonder what the float profit for Thrifty is nationwide on that two or three gallons. I guess the guy that gets stuck with filling it up is the one that pays.

Wow, seven straight hours of Pai Gow. I'm going to have to check into that game and see what the attraction is.

Nice report, Jeff. Thanks.

Bob

I'm kinda jealous about those deuces ... haven't seen 4 of them since March<g>, and it sounds like you had a great time with gambling and hotel bills only $200!

You definitely have me drooling for some of that German chocolate cake ... do they serve it for breakfast at the Orleans?

You mentioned dinner with Mike and Randy, but did you get to spend time with your poker buddies that inspired the trip?

jrinct & Larry,

I usually sleep just fine in Vegas. Not sure what my problem was this trip.

Tater,

I used to go to the Silverton for their early breakfast specials occasionally, back before they moved their coffee shop.

I wasn't really impressed with my dinner in the steak house. As I said, the prime rib looked VERY good. Also, I didn't like their salad dressing. Do you know if you can get something else? For those of you who haven't eaten here, they bring a large bowl of mixed salad to the table for everyone.

Bob,

I'll typically fill up the day before I leave. As you said, you can typically drive 30-50 miles before the needle falls below full.

I figured out teh real rip off is buying the tank of gas from the rental company. Trying to take the car back as empty as possible is crazy.

The attraction to Pai Gow is two fold for me. First off, there's a lot of pushes where no money changes hands. Secondly, it's a very social game. Most of the time, the players interact with each other and just have a good time.

Daisy,

Yes, the do have the German Chocolate cake at breakfast!

I had dinner with my buddies the first night then lunch the last day. We did get to gamble together some too. We all have pretty much the same philosophy about a Vegas trip. First priority is to gamble and have fun. If while doing that we get a chance to spend time together, fine. I hate spending half my time in Vegas trying to coordinate with other people's schedules.

When I hit the deuces on the DDB machine I was dealt 3 deuces, and ace, and something else. I probably spent 2-3 minutes trying to decide if I should hold the ace kicker. I threw it away and caught the fourth deuce on my SECOND card!

Jeff, you didn't mention live poker in the poker rooms. Did you play any of that? With the new publicity on Vegas poker and the mainstream poker enthusiasm, did you notice if the poker rooms were more crowded? It seems like a good opportunity to give some rookies a lesson or two.

JMT,

I went to the Orleans' poker room 3 times. Each time I would have been at least number 10 on the waiting list for the game I like to play.

So I think there is a lot of new interest in the game and I'm sure there's lots more easy marks. Unfortunately, I didn't have the patience to wait for a game any time this trip.

My buddies played a 4 tournaments. The Orleans' poker room has 2 tournaments a day. There was a tournament for Omaha-8 which is what I like to play but it was on a day that I had already made other plans.

Jeff, At Twin Creeks, we just asked for our "regular" salad dressing, on the side.............no problem. I like the new coffee shop better than the old, it has kind of dragged the Silverton, kicking and screaming, into today!

Tater,

I liked the coffee shop alot. The food was good as was the service and they still have huge portions for reasonable prices. All the TV's were nice too. I didn't notice any specials posted. Do they still have the big strawberry shortcake special?