I know when I read the ad for "Las Vegas Club Crawl" it isn't about crawling around on the floor of the Vegas Club on Fremont St. But that's what ends up in my mind EVERY time I see the offer.
I didn't know you had to pay for the privilege either! I thought if you could get there floor naps were on the house...
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Friday, December 14, 2012
Room 20041, The Mirage
On Day one we were amazed with the Mirage. Day two killed that feeling,
and then stomped on its carcass and threw it in the lion habitat.
Check in was on Sunday December 2. We booked this room on a winter offer CP got from the MGM/Mlife folks. I do about 90-95% of the gambling between us and for some reason they give her an offer that was literally twice as good as mine. At least that is how it looked before we checked in... more on that soon.
The four of us drive over to the Mirage. CP and I hit the check in. A gorgeous woman helped us out and sent us up to the twentieth floor. We hit the room and it is pretty nice. At least twice the size of the Fremont room. I am pretty sure this is the basic room except we had a view of the volcano. It was fun to watch, once.
The king size bed was a little on the soft side for me. Cat loved it but hated the real down pillows. I didn't mind them. The toilet was one of those that could take you with it if you weren't careful. LOUD AND POWERFUL!!! I woke up once in the middle of the night when CP flushed. LOUD!
There was a love seat and two smaller chairs. So we had plenty of seating for staring out the windows. Speaking of windows, one of them opened! I love all of that fresh air!
On our first night there was a knock at the door. CP answered and this guy handed her a wrapped box and said "Compliments of the Mirage". Cookies, chocolate covered raisins and mixed nuts. Nice! They were killing it!
Now for the not so nice or day two.
We went to the Mlife desk to get the freeplay added and were told it wasn't valid because they were having their holiday gift thing. We weren't told that when we made the reservation and we weren't informed of that when we checked in. We foolishly believed the money would be there and we were wrong.
When the girl at the desk was explaining why there wasn't any freeplay she said "Well you got one free night and a great rate on the other one..." I pointed out the $25 (+ taxes!) resort fee she said "well you also get..." She couldn't add anything because that was what our offer was for. One free night with one discounted (plus the $25 plus tax resort fee!) and the freeplay that they wouldn't give us. Bad/Lame.
I head over to the holiday gift deal to see if I can get something. The computers are down. And they were down the next three times I went by.
This is when we said screw it. I would have started playing at the Mirage (I'd been knocking out the points to keep my platinum card for the CET folks the day before) but I didn't feel like giving them another penny at this point. I could have easily lost ten times the value of the freeplay and been OK with it. But I was over and done with the place by then.
We had around $60 in Mlife comp dollars left over from our last trip (at the Aria where we were treated very well), so we used that to help pay for the one night that wasn't comped. We ended up paying around $15 on top of that not bad but...
I am not sorry for stiffing them. When Mlife/Mirage want to change the terms mid stream they can suck it. Future offers be damned!
Check in was on Sunday December 2. We booked this room on a winter offer CP got from the MGM/Mlife folks. I do about 90-95% of the gambling between us and for some reason they give her an offer that was literally twice as good as mine. At least that is how it looked before we checked in... more on that soon.
The four of us drive over to the Mirage. CP and I hit the check in. A gorgeous woman helped us out and sent us up to the twentieth floor. We hit the room and it is pretty nice. At least twice the size of the Fremont room. I am pretty sure this is the basic room except we had a view of the volcano. It was fun to watch, once.
The king size bed was a little on the soft side for me. Cat loved it but hated the real down pillows. I didn't mind them. The toilet was one of those that could take you with it if you weren't careful. LOUD AND POWERFUL!!! I woke up once in the middle of the night when CP flushed. LOUD!
There was a love seat and two smaller chairs. So we had plenty of seating for staring out the windows. Speaking of windows, one of them opened! I love all of that fresh air!
On our first night there was a knock at the door. CP answered and this guy handed her a wrapped box and said "Compliments of the Mirage". Cookies, chocolate covered raisins and mixed nuts. Nice! They were killing it!
Now for the not so nice or day two.
We went to the Mlife desk to get the freeplay added and were told it wasn't valid because they were having their holiday gift thing. We weren't told that when we made the reservation and we weren't informed of that when we checked in. We foolishly believed the money would be there and we were wrong.
When the girl at the desk was explaining why there wasn't any freeplay she said "Well you got one free night and a great rate on the other one..." I pointed out the $25 (+ taxes!) resort fee she said "well you also get..." She couldn't add anything because that was what our offer was for. One free night with one discounted (plus the $25 plus tax resort fee!) and the freeplay that they wouldn't give us. Bad/Lame.
I head over to the holiday gift deal to see if I can get something. The computers are down. And they were down the next three times I went by.
This is when we said screw it. I would have started playing at the Mirage (I'd been knocking out the points to keep my platinum card for the CET folks the day before) but I didn't feel like giving them another penny at this point. I could have easily lost ten times the value of the freeplay and been OK with it. But I was over and done with the place by then.
We had around $60 in Mlife comp dollars left over from our last trip (at the Aria where we were treated very well), so we used that to help pay for the one night that wasn't comped. We ended up paying around $15 on top of that not bad but...
I am not sorry for stiffing them. When Mlife/Mirage want to change the terms mid stream they can suck it. Future offers be damned!
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Room 726, The Fremont
Room 726, The Fremont.
We checked in on Saturday December 1 around 7PM. There is no self parking at the Fremont so we pulled in to the Valet. They were incredibly friendly and told us to take our time. I gave them a $2 and we headed to the front desk which is about twenty feet away. The lady was very nice and gave us our keys and we headed to the elevator, about fifteen feet away. Seventh floor and a ten step walk to the room. Everything is close at the Fremont.
The room is small (not as small as my room at the Sheraton on Canal St in NO the week before) and a little warn, but perfect for $32 with tax for a Friday night. There was only one chair but the bed was close enough to the windows that it wasn't that big of a deal. The safe has a key... I hate that. Do you hide it in the room or walk around with it all night and probably loose it?
We were right by the elevators so we heard a fair amount of foot traffic in the halls, but nothing obnoxious. The bed slept well, but it only had three pillows. I got one and CP complained that she only got two. Poor girl.
We were in the newer section and our friends BC and WK were in the older section. Their room was on the back side of the old elevators and had a little hallway and an odd little door. Everything else was about the same. They had a view of Fremont east (we had west) so it was nice getting both perspectives in one visit.
Checkout was on the TV around noon with zero extra charges. Fremont!
Thursday, December 6, 2012
The Imperial Palace is on it's way out!
The Imperial Palace sign is leaving the building, literally.
This is the view from our room at Harrah's where we watched them take down the "E". It went from "Erial Palace" to "Rial Palace".
Good by IP. Hello Quad.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Why Las Vegas is the best.
I was at Harrah's Casino in New Orleans last weekend. I was having a
great time but I started thinking about Las Vegas and why I love it so
much. The NO Harrah's is a nice place and they give me a fair amount of
free rooms, food and play. I am not slamming them in any way, it's a
great place (and NO is a really fun town).
But, when it comes to gambling, no place beats Las Vegas.
When you are on a bad run In NO you can't walk out and head next door to another casino and start playing there. You can't do it if all you want is a change of scenery. They are the only game in town and the nearest casino is miles away.
In Kansas City you can drive a couple of miles and hit another, but that means you can't drink (and they don't give you free drinks anyway!) I understand that in Atlantic City, Tunica, Biloxi and Macao you can do a little bit of bouncing from place to place, but the options are fairly limited. A half dozen properties is a good start, but it's not enough for me.
This is why Las Vegas wins.
To be able to jump from property to property, or even regime to regime is a wonderful thing. Let's say you are bored at Bally's (a CET property) and you want to put some points on your MGM card. All you need to do is walk across the street to the Bellagio. Simple.
Downtown makes it even easier.
Fremont street is the absolute best when it comes to casino hopping. The distance from the El Cortez to Main Street Station is shorter than it is from the front door of the MGM to the parking garage. They pack fourteen casinos in that area. That is the very definition of gaming convenience and it beats the pants off of the "Starbucks on every corner" business model.
It makes it easy to want to go back again and again.
But, when it comes to gambling, no place beats Las Vegas.
When you are on a bad run In NO you can't walk out and head next door to another casino and start playing there. You can't do it if all you want is a change of scenery. They are the only game in town and the nearest casino is miles away.
In Kansas City you can drive a couple of miles and hit another, but that means you can't drink (and they don't give you free drinks anyway!) I understand that in Atlantic City, Tunica, Biloxi and Macao you can do a little bit of bouncing from place to place, but the options are fairly limited. A half dozen properties is a good start, but it's not enough for me.
This is why Las Vegas wins.
To be able to jump from property to property, or even regime to regime is a wonderful thing. Let's say you are bored at Bally's (a CET property) and you want to put some points on your MGM card. All you need to do is walk across the street to the Bellagio. Simple.
Downtown makes it even easier.
Fremont street is the absolute best when it comes to casino hopping. The distance from the El Cortez to Main Street Station is shorter than it is from the front door of the MGM to the parking garage. They pack fourteen casinos in that area. That is the very definition of gaming convenience and it beats the pants off of the "Starbucks on every corner" business model.
It makes it easy to want to go back again and again.
Saturday, November 24, 2012
The Vegas Dead Zone
One week away from our next trip!! I could break the exclamation point
key off the keyboard from using it so much. I am that happy.
We have the flights, rooms, rental car and a show booked. We have some pretty good ideas of some nicer places to eat, but we don't like to plan food too far ahead of time. Everything is set and ready for fun. But there is one little problem... I'm getting bored. It happens every time I go to Vegas and it hits me about a week before we are ready to fly out.
I love looking at Vegas sites and reading forums and blogs (!). Over the years I've gotten a ton of great tips and deals from scouring the inter-webs for Vegas information. But when I'm this close to a trip I don't want to think about it too much. Somewhere in my brain I guess I'm thinking I'm going to ruin the trip by being "over Vegased" before hand. It's like heading to see a concert and only listening to the band you are going to see for the whole week prior. I just can't do it. I need a little Vegas distance before total immersion.
So here I am stuck in a dead zone malaise for the next week. And then!!!!!...
We have the flights, rooms, rental car and a show booked. We have some pretty good ideas of some nicer places to eat, but we don't like to plan food too far ahead of time. Everything is set and ready for fun. But there is one little problem... I'm getting bored. It happens every time I go to Vegas and it hits me about a week before we are ready to fly out.
I love looking at Vegas sites and reading forums and blogs (!). Over the years I've gotten a ton of great tips and deals from scouring the inter-webs for Vegas information. But when I'm this close to a trip I don't want to think about it too much. Somewhere in my brain I guess I'm thinking I'm going to ruin the trip by being "over Vegased" before hand. It's like heading to see a concert and only listening to the band you are going to see for the whole week prior. I just can't do it. I need a little Vegas distance before total immersion.
So here I am stuck in a dead zone malaise for the next week. And then!!!!!...
Saturday, November 17, 2012
When the working girl got a royal flush.
I was at the MGM playing some quarter VP in a section of the floor with a
really friendly cocktail waitress. She wouldn't stop bringing me
drinks. I asked for the first one and the others kept flowing.
Beautiful. It might have been because I tipped her a decent amount on
the first one or because I'm incredibly handsome. It's one of those two
options and I'm betting it's the latter.
I was more than a little tipsy at this point and this extremely well dressed, good looking woman sits down at the machine next to me. From the way she smiled I knew what was up. She was working. I didn't feel like getting hassled and I didn't want to leave my waitress. After a nano second of internal debate alcohol won and I was staying no matter what.
Since I am a moderately friendly person I say hello, smile and got back to my game. It was obvious she was trying to chat me up, but my single syllable answers weren't giving her any help. So she started acting casual, messing with her purse and phone. Eventually she put $5 in to her machine and started playing. One coin at a time.
My waitress comes by with another drink for me. The lady orders a water, doesn't tip and continues to slow play, one quarter at a time.
About ten hands later she gets dealt four to the royal. Holds the four and the fifth card pops up. Boom! A royal flush, the most beautiful hand in all of video poker. Since she was only playing one quarter at a time (instead of five) she got 250 coins instead of the 4000 she would have gotten if she'd been playing with full coin in. $62.50 verses $1000. Ouch.
This time she screwed herself.
I was more than a little tipsy at this point and this extremely well dressed, good looking woman sits down at the machine next to me. From the way she smiled I knew what was up. She was working. I didn't feel like getting hassled and I didn't want to leave my waitress. After a nano second of internal debate alcohol won and I was staying no matter what.
Since I am a moderately friendly person I say hello, smile and got back to my game. It was obvious she was trying to chat me up, but my single syllable answers weren't giving her any help. So she started acting casual, messing with her purse and phone. Eventually she put $5 in to her machine and started playing. One coin at a time.
My waitress comes by with another drink for me. The lady orders a water, doesn't tip and continues to slow play, one quarter at a time.
About ten hands later she gets dealt four to the royal. Holds the four and the fifth card pops up. Boom! A royal flush, the most beautiful hand in all of video poker. Since she was only playing one quarter at a time (instead of five) she got 250 coins instead of the 4000 she would have gotten if she'd been playing with full coin in. $62.50 verses $1000. Ouch.
This time she screwed herself.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
A really bad Vegas magic show
A couple of years ago CP and I decided we wanted to see the brand new
Cris Angel/Cirque du Soleil show, Believe. Neither one of us are big
Angel fans and I hadn't seen any CDS shows (CP had see O), but this was a
new Vegas Magic show so we made plans.
I looked around and scored a pair of seats to the third show in the preview run. The seats were in the fifth row from the stage and we were right on the aisle. Everything was golden. We booked the rooms. We booked the flights. We booked the rental car. We were ready.
A couple of weeks later I get a refund from the Luxor on my card. The show was pushed back. I'm back on the phone and I get us the same seats for the third preview show. We were able to move our flights (thanks old SWA) and rebook our rooms. The folks at the Luxor box office even gave us a couple of buffet passes and two tickets to Carrot Top to make up for the hassle. Nice. Basically everything is the same just three weeks later and we get food and Carrot Top for free!
Another week or two goes by and the same shit happens again... There are still delays and the show is not ready. On the phone again, rebook both show tickets, re-book flights, re-book rooms, re-book rental car. Pain in the ASS! This time the CDS folks gave us two tickets to Love to make up for the second hassle. Nice, but this is getting old.
The trip finally comes. I refuse to read any of the reviews. I want to go in to the show with no knowledge other than "New Vegas Magic Show". And I wanted it to kick my ass!
We walk in to the theater and it is pretty amazing. The hall that leads up to it (where they are having people leave their cell phones and cameras, oy...) is really cool. It has a bunch of illusions on the sides and as you move by, you see different things. Impressive. The theater is a steam punk fan's wet dream. All kind of ornate clock styled pieces and rabbits, lots of rabbits.
Since it's CDS there are clowns running all round the room. The lead guy, Maestro gave me his business card. It says "Maestro, Magician/Illusionist, Luxor Las Vegas." pretty cool. One of the other guys was about to give me a big bear hug but a bell rang to start the show and they all ran up to the stage.
Cris comes out on stage and talks a little. He pulls up a sheet and suddenly he is unzipping a fat suit in the audience, one step below our seats. CP and I were knocked out! Really cool room. "Business Card" from someone in the show. The first trick ends up almost in our laps! How could this go wrong?!!!
It would go wrong in a lot of ways...
Really bad tricks performed by a bad magician. Several dance numbers. SEVERAL!!! One included a break dance contest between the three clowns and Cris (four clowns?). And then he lip synced the theme song to his TV show.
It really was horrible.
When he was sawed in half you could see the trap door his legs were tucked into. A woman came out of his stomach and you could see the light from where she was coming from the side. The birds were moving under the cloak they "appeared" from. And on and on. I don't even want to get in to the whole pure/innocent little white dancer vs the mean/evil black dancer thing. It's not just racist, it's lame third grade storytelling.
So it's been a few years and I hear there is no dancing and it's pretty much all magic now. But considering how lame of a magician he is, that can't be a good thing.
We won't be going back.
I looked around and scored a pair of seats to the third show in the preview run. The seats were in the fifth row from the stage and we were right on the aisle. Everything was golden. We booked the rooms. We booked the flights. We booked the rental car. We were ready.
A couple of weeks later I get a refund from the Luxor on my card. The show was pushed back. I'm back on the phone and I get us the same seats for the third preview show. We were able to move our flights (thanks old SWA) and rebook our rooms. The folks at the Luxor box office even gave us a couple of buffet passes and two tickets to Carrot Top to make up for the hassle. Nice. Basically everything is the same just three weeks later and we get food and Carrot Top for free!
Another week or two goes by and the same shit happens again... There are still delays and the show is not ready. On the phone again, rebook both show tickets, re-book flights, re-book rooms, re-book rental car. Pain in the ASS! This time the CDS folks gave us two tickets to Love to make up for the second hassle. Nice, but this is getting old.
The trip finally comes. I refuse to read any of the reviews. I want to go in to the show with no knowledge other than "New Vegas Magic Show". And I wanted it to kick my ass!
We walk in to the theater and it is pretty amazing. The hall that leads up to it (where they are having people leave their cell phones and cameras, oy...) is really cool. It has a bunch of illusions on the sides and as you move by, you see different things. Impressive. The theater is a steam punk fan's wet dream. All kind of ornate clock styled pieces and rabbits, lots of rabbits.
Since it's CDS there are clowns running all round the room. The lead guy, Maestro gave me his business card. It says "Maestro, Magician/Illusionist, Luxor Las Vegas." pretty cool. One of the other guys was about to give me a big bear hug but a bell rang to start the show and they all ran up to the stage.
Cris comes out on stage and talks a little. He pulls up a sheet and suddenly he is unzipping a fat suit in the audience, one step below our seats. CP and I were knocked out! Really cool room. "Business Card" from someone in the show. The first trick ends up almost in our laps! How could this go wrong?!!!
It would go wrong in a lot of ways...
Really bad tricks performed by a bad magician. Several dance numbers. SEVERAL!!! One included a break dance contest between the three clowns and Cris (four clowns?). And then he lip synced the theme song to his TV show.
It really was horrible.
When he was sawed in half you could see the trap door his legs were tucked into. A woman came out of his stomach and you could see the light from where she was coming from the side. The birds were moving under the cloak they "appeared" from. And on and on. I don't even want to get in to the whole pure/innocent little white dancer vs the mean/evil black dancer thing. It's not just racist, it's lame third grade storytelling.
So it's been a few years and I hear there is no dancing and it's pretty much all magic now. But considering how lame of a magician he is, that can't be a good thing.
We won't be going back.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Don't be this guy
I took this in the LAS airport.
This guy did this for a half hour or so. He kept his eyes covered the entire time. I don't know if it was a ritual or he was stuck on autopilot and didn't know better.
Don't be this guy.
Friday, November 9, 2012
The working girls of Las Vegas
This will be a multi post topic. It's about one of the Las Vegas favored
gems. The casino Hooker. Everyone has a story. Here are some of mine.
My first trip I went with my female friend MM and we crawled around town together all day and night. Not a single working girl approached me. My next two tips were with my friend RS who is gay. RS and I roamed all over town together all day and night and I had zero Hooker contact. A few months later CP and I go to LV with RS and I still had zero Hooker contact... I was starting to think it was a myth. At this point I'd been to town eight or so times and this mythical nymph had never turned her head my way. It made no sense. I was kinda bummed.
A year or so later I planed my first solo trip. I was staying Downtown at the El Cortez. The first night I was playing some video poker at the bar in the Golden Nugget. I was drinking a beer and this really pretty blonde, girl next door type, sits down next to me. A few hands later she starts talking and instantly starts in with her sales patter. It sounded as if she had a full and extensive menu but I am a relatively honest and loyal guy so it wasn't gonna happen with me. She moved on and I watched her head off with four men that night. Go up to the room. Knock one out. Head back to the bar for the next one. This chick was pulling in some serious cash.
The next night is my last and I'm back playing VP at the GN and this older woman sits down next to me. With the benefit of hindsight it is obvious. I was the rube at this VP Bar. She didn't give off the same hooker vibes that the girl from the night before did. And since the blonde was my "first" I had no other way to measure the situation.
She strikes up a conversation. Some simple small talk and I am thinking she is staying here and has a husband upstairs. About ten minutes later she says "Do you have $200?" I said yes and she said "Want me to suck your dick?" I was pretty flummoxed. Thirty seconds earlier I'm thinking she is some small town schoolteacher but she just asked me for $200 for a blowjob. I was knocked clean off my regular game. She was not. She told me we could do it in my room or we could get a room at Binions for $30 if we needed. All of this before I could say Uhh...
She asks me where I'm staying, somehow I'm able to answer El Co. She asks "Why the hell are you staying all the way down there?" Somehow I was still able to talk about hotel "deals", I quickly answered "I had a coupon for two nights for $35." She tells me it's a good price "But I'll need an extra $50 if you want me to walk all the way down there..."
I politely declined and headed "all the way" back to my room. On the way it hit me, when they saw me with MM they thought we were a couple. With CP we are a couple and they still leave us alone. With RS the thought we were BOTH gay and that has got to be the biggest waste of time for a working girl.
My first trip I went with my female friend MM and we crawled around town together all day and night. Not a single working girl approached me. My next two tips were with my friend RS who is gay. RS and I roamed all over town together all day and night and I had zero Hooker contact. A few months later CP and I go to LV with RS and I still had zero Hooker contact... I was starting to think it was a myth. At this point I'd been to town eight or so times and this mythical nymph had never turned her head my way. It made no sense. I was kinda bummed.
A year or so later I planed my first solo trip. I was staying Downtown at the El Cortez. The first night I was playing some video poker at the bar in the Golden Nugget. I was drinking a beer and this really pretty blonde, girl next door type, sits down next to me. A few hands later she starts talking and instantly starts in with her sales patter. It sounded as if she had a full and extensive menu but I am a relatively honest and loyal guy so it wasn't gonna happen with me. She moved on and I watched her head off with four men that night. Go up to the room. Knock one out. Head back to the bar for the next one. This chick was pulling in some serious cash.
The next night is my last and I'm back playing VP at the GN and this older woman sits down next to me. With the benefit of hindsight it is obvious. I was the rube at this VP Bar. She didn't give off the same hooker vibes that the girl from the night before did. And since the blonde was my "first" I had no other way to measure the situation.
She strikes up a conversation. Some simple small talk and I am thinking she is staying here and has a husband upstairs. About ten minutes later she says "Do you have $200?" I said yes and she said "Want me to suck your dick?" I was pretty flummoxed. Thirty seconds earlier I'm thinking she is some small town schoolteacher but she just asked me for $200 for a blowjob. I was knocked clean off my regular game. She was not. She told me we could do it in my room or we could get a room at Binions for $30 if we needed. All of this before I could say Uhh...
She asks me where I'm staying, somehow I'm able to answer El Co. She asks "Why the hell are you staying all the way down there?" Somehow I was still able to talk about hotel "deals", I quickly answered "I had a coupon for two nights for $35." She tells me it's a good price "But I'll need an extra $50 if you want me to walk all the way down there..."
I politely declined and headed "all the way" back to my room. On the way it hit me, when they saw me with MM they thought we were a couple. With CP we are a couple and they still leave us alone. With RS the thought we were BOTH gay and that has got to be the biggest waste of time for a working girl.
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Our next trip, part two
More "next trip" details.
We are going with a couple of our friends, BC and WK. They are going to run the LV marathon. It's something a lot of people are crazy about. It runs down the strip to Downtown to the North LV airport and ends in front of the Mirage. I'd like to rent a bike and ride the route just so I could ride on roads I'd never be able to ride on otherwise. During the race I think we are gonna do a dinner marathon. I want to know if I can eat for three and a half hours...
For the first night BC/WK booked the same deal we did at the Fremont. Part of the reason we booked the Mirage for our second hotel is it's right on the finish line. I booked a comped room for the marathoners at Harrah's, across the street from the finish line. That way if they are near death they wont have to walk very far.
CP and I only have one show booked so far, but it's a big one. We scored a deal on some VIP seats for Coco's first performance in Peepshow. I saw Holly Madison in it last year when I was on a solo trip and I really enjoyed it. I know, when boobs are around it's easy for me to be entertained. We have seen Jubilee and a short lived boobie show at the LV Hilton (with the Lorena Pearl who sings in the boobie show at the Luxor). I've seen X Burlesque and Striptease (a show that lasted about a month at the Sahara). Hell, we even saw Scarlett the Queen of magic at the Riviera and she had a couple of topless girls in that show. Vegas loves boobs, that's nothing new.
All of the "Adult" shows are advertised as if they are actually dangerous and as if you might get laid just from buying a ticket and showing up. This is not the case. Vegas boobie shows are incredibly tame. Even the low budget shows at the small places. No one in the audience is going to get laid from anyone in the show. If you want that head to Amsterdam.
Coco's first show should be pretty cool. I'm not some huge Ice and Coco fan, but I love a good circus and this has tons of potential. And boobs!
We are going with a couple of our friends, BC and WK. They are going to run the LV marathon. It's something a lot of people are crazy about. It runs down the strip to Downtown to the North LV airport and ends in front of the Mirage. I'd like to rent a bike and ride the route just so I could ride on roads I'd never be able to ride on otherwise. During the race I think we are gonna do a dinner marathon. I want to know if I can eat for three and a half hours...
For the first night BC/WK booked the same deal we did at the Fremont. Part of the reason we booked the Mirage for our second hotel is it's right on the finish line. I booked a comped room for the marathoners at Harrah's, across the street from the finish line. That way if they are near death they wont have to walk very far.
CP and I only have one show booked so far, but it's a big one. We scored a deal on some VIP seats for Coco's first performance in Peepshow. I saw Holly Madison in it last year when I was on a solo trip and I really enjoyed it. I know, when boobs are around it's easy for me to be entertained. We have seen Jubilee and a short lived boobie show at the LV Hilton (with the Lorena Pearl who sings in the boobie show at the Luxor). I've seen X Burlesque and Striptease (a show that lasted about a month at the Sahara). Hell, we even saw Scarlett the Queen of magic at the Riviera and she had a couple of topless girls in that show. Vegas loves boobs, that's nothing new.
All of the "Adult" shows are advertised as if they are actually dangerous and as if you might get laid just from buying a ticket and showing up. This is not the case. Vegas boobie shows are incredibly tame. Even the low budget shows at the small places. No one in the audience is going to get laid from anyone in the show. If you want that head to Amsterdam.
Coco's first show should be pretty cool. I'm not some huge Ice and Coco fan, but I love a good circus and this has tons of potential. And boobs!
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Our next trip!
Our next trip is planned for December 1-4. The Saturday night to Tuesday
night for us is an easy (and frequent) getaway. We fly direct for AUS
to LAS via SWA and for the last ten or so years it's cost around $100
each, each way. That gets us to/from LV in about three hours. I think
that's a hell of a deal.
Since we are in the middle of the SEVC we will split the trip up staying in two hotels. This time we are knocking out The Fremont and The Mirage.
Our one night stay at the Fremont is $29 with $10 in freeplay (after you play through $20). Nice deal for a Saturday night. My regular offer from the Downtown Boyd properties was decent at $40 for the same night, but this one beats the pants off of it. A very cheap way to check one off. And I love freeplay even if it is only $10.
The Mirage stay is a bit more convoluted. First off the Mlife offers don't make any sense. CP and I have connected cards. That means what we play counts towards our tier status and the offers we receive. I play about 90% more than she does on any given trip, but my fall corporate offers were half of what hers were. My Mirage offer was for $69 a night (plus a $25 (plus tax!) resort fee on the non-comped room) with $30 freeplay. Hers was buy one for $39 get one night free plus resort fee (plus tax!) for the one night and it comes with $60 in freeplay.
So for the same two nights I'd be paying in the neighborhood of $208 (after taxes) with $30 in freeplay and she will be paying $72 with $60 in freeplay. Does this math make sense to anyone? As you might guess we took her offer. We really want to stay at the Mirage, but I have a feeling my gaming dollar will be spent elsewhere.
Since we are in the middle of the SEVC we will split the trip up staying in two hotels. This time we are knocking out The Fremont and The Mirage.
Our one night stay at the Fremont is $29 with $10 in freeplay (after you play through $20). Nice deal for a Saturday night. My regular offer from the Downtown Boyd properties was decent at $40 for the same night, but this one beats the pants off of it. A very cheap way to check one off. And I love freeplay even if it is only $10.
The Mirage stay is a bit more convoluted. First off the Mlife offers don't make any sense. CP and I have connected cards. That means what we play counts towards our tier status and the offers we receive. I play about 90% more than she does on any given trip, but my fall corporate offers were half of what hers were. My Mirage offer was for $69 a night (plus a $25 (plus tax!) resort fee on the non-comped room) with $30 freeplay. Hers was buy one for $39 get one night free plus resort fee (plus tax!) for the one night and it comes with $60 in freeplay.
So for the same two nights I'd be paying in the neighborhood of $208 (after taxes) with $30 in freeplay and she will be paying $72 with $60 in freeplay. Does this math make sense to anyone? As you might guess we took her offer. We really want to stay at the Mirage, but I have a feeling my gaming dollar will be spent elsewhere.
Friday, November 2, 2012
The Stay Everywhere in Vegas Challenge
I know this may sound crazy, but we want to stay at every Strip and Downtown property. We love Vegas and all the kinds of DIFFERENT you can
find there. Fancy is nice, but some of the older, smaller places have
some pretty cool features and accessibility you won't get in a newly
designed resort.
From here on out this will be called the Stay Everywhere in Vegas Challenge (SEVC).
The "rules" are simple. Stay at every hotel/casino in the major tourist sections on LV. So even though we've stayed at the Rio, Gold Coast and Orleans, they don't count. The Stations Casinos are not on the list. Not because we don't want to stay in their hotels, but they don't have a property on the Strip or Downtown. The Trump won't make the cut either. It's right on the Strip but no casino. Sorry Donald... your not even in the running.
For Downtown we've stayed at,
Main Street Station
California
Plaza
Golden Gate
Golden Nugget
Binions
4 Queens
El Cortez
On our next trip we are going to knock out Fremont (a post about that is coming) and we still need to do The D, Vegas Club and the Gold Spike.
For the Strip we've stayed at
Stratosphere
Sahara (RIP)
Riviera
Circus Circus (I stayed here on my first trip, CP has not)
Stardust (RIP/I stayed here on my second trip, CP missed it)
Wynn
Harrah's
Imperial Palace
Caesars Palace
Flamingo
Bally's
Paris
Planet Hollywood
Cosmopolitan
Aria
NYNY
MGM
Tropicana
Luxor
Mandalay Bay
On the next trip we will knock out the Mirage and we still need to stay at Encore, Treasure Island, Palazzo, Venetian, Casino Royale, Bill's, Bellagio, Monte Carlo, Excalibur. CP says we need to do the big clown once for her.
I'm guessing we will have this all knocked out in a couple of years and then we will decide where we liked the best and stay there. This kind of stuff is fun for me!
From here on out this will be called the Stay Everywhere in Vegas Challenge (SEVC).
The "rules" are simple. Stay at every hotel/casino in the major tourist sections on LV. So even though we've stayed at the Rio, Gold Coast and Orleans, they don't count. The Stations Casinos are not on the list. Not because we don't want to stay in their hotels, but they don't have a property on the Strip or Downtown. The Trump won't make the cut either. It's right on the Strip but no casino. Sorry Donald... your not even in the running.
For Downtown we've stayed at,
Main Street Station
California
Plaza
Golden Gate
Golden Nugget
Binions
4 Queens
El Cortez
On our next trip we are going to knock out Fremont (a post about that is coming) and we still need to do The D, Vegas Club and the Gold Spike.
For the Strip we've stayed at
Stratosphere
Sahara (RIP)
Riviera
Circus Circus (I stayed here on my first trip, CP has not)
Stardust (RIP/I stayed here on my second trip, CP missed it)
Wynn
Harrah's
Imperial Palace
Caesars Palace
Flamingo
Bally's
Paris
Planet Hollywood
Cosmopolitan
Aria
NYNY
MGM
Tropicana
Luxor
Mandalay Bay
On the next trip we will knock out the Mirage and we still need to stay at Encore, Treasure Island, Palazzo, Venetian, Casino Royale, Bill's, Bellagio, Monte Carlo, Excalibur. CP says we need to do the big clown once for her.
I'm guessing we will have this all knocked out in a couple of years and then we will decide where we liked the best and stay there. This kind of stuff is fun for me!
Thursday, November 1, 2012
One of my favorite places in Vegas
Mostly because it's so ridiculously HUGE! Look at that lonely little Freak Van. That wall is glorious.
It's behind what is currently the Imperial Palace and Harrah's. If you've ridden the monorail you've gone past it. You can get a pretty good view of it from one of the north tower rooms in Bally's. I've been told it's an employees parking lot at the moment, but that could change with all the Linq stuff going on.
This is the kind of place that could be amazing if someone like Banksy or Austin's Truth (or a number of people in LV) could be given free reign to do what they want. Imagine that!
I know this isn't the most exciting post, but this wall is one of those things that makes me happy every time I see it.
P&T
Penn and Teller!
We've seen them ten or so times over the past few years. They mix in new "tricks" so the show has something different every time we've been.Once they even stopped a new trick in the middle because something was messed up (and saw the trick in full the NEXT time) pretty cool. Personally I'd be fine seeing a "greatest hits" show over and over, but they are actual artists and they take their jobs very seriously, so that wouldn't happen. On our last trip we saw them again and there was some real magic.
A little background.
As I said my sweetie (CP) and I have seen them a bunch over the years and she keeps bringing up the time she saw them when she was a kid. Penn singled her out to help with a trick and she has been "rubbing it in my face" for years. So there we are walking out (let's say the sixth time we'd seen them) P&T and Mike Jones are standing in the hall on the way out of the theater signing autographs and thanking folks for coming (they do this every show) and CP leans over to me and says "You know, I was on stage with them..." A couple of shows later we get pictures with them and she tells Penn "You know, you pulled me up on stage..." And on and on, twisting the knife in my side a little more with each and every retelling of her story.
So here it is the last full night of our trip and we get a sweet deal (!) on tickets and head to the show. About halfway through Penn is walking up the aisle very close to us. He and I actually make eye contact for a second and I say in my head "Oh crap, I'M GOING UP!"
Penn says, "excuse me sir what is your name?" I say "RM" and he says "OK RM wanna help us with a trick?" So I follow him up to the stage meet Teller and help with an escape trick. Teller is put in a plastic bag that is filled up with Helium. Penn takes a picture of the audience and suddenly the bag is flying, with only me holding on to it. Teller is kneeling on the floor between us and Penn says "Go ahead and let it go RM." The bag floats up to the ceiling. P&T thank me and I head back to my seat. Wow!
CP instantly shoots me the "you are one lucky bastard" look and I smile.
So the show ends and P&T run out of the theater and stand in the hall. This time we go for the pictures. Hi Mike. Hi Teller. By the time we get to Penn it takes a little while to get up to him, but we are happy to wait it out. We get a little closer and he notices me and smiles. CP gives me a slight elbow. Soon it's our turn and Penn says "RM! Great job up there buddy, we couldn't have done it without you". We take a picture and head to the rental car.
We get to the escalator and I sigh ever so slightly and CP looks at me laughing (we have been together for so long we pretty much always know what the other one is thinking) and says watch it! We get to the rental car and I say "Yup, I think I'll add magicians assistant to my resume." She returns with "I've done that too." She has nothing to say when I counter with "Does Penn remember your name?"
I can't wait to see them again!
We've seen them ten or so times over the past few years. They mix in new "tricks" so the show has something different every time we've been.Once they even stopped a new trick in the middle because something was messed up (and saw the trick in full the NEXT time) pretty cool. Personally I'd be fine seeing a "greatest hits" show over and over, but they are actual artists and they take their jobs very seriously, so that wouldn't happen. On our last trip we saw them again and there was some real magic.
A little background.
As I said my sweetie (CP) and I have seen them a bunch over the years and she keeps bringing up the time she saw them when she was a kid. Penn singled her out to help with a trick and she has been "rubbing it in my face" for years. So there we are walking out (let's say the sixth time we'd seen them) P&T and Mike Jones are standing in the hall on the way out of the theater signing autographs and thanking folks for coming (they do this every show) and CP leans over to me and says "You know, I was on stage with them..." A couple of shows later we get pictures with them and she tells Penn "You know, you pulled me up on stage..." And on and on, twisting the knife in my side a little more with each and every retelling of her story.
So here it is the last full night of our trip and we get a sweet deal (!) on tickets and head to the show. About halfway through Penn is walking up the aisle very close to us. He and I actually make eye contact for a second and I say in my head "Oh crap, I'M GOING UP!"
Penn says, "excuse me sir what is your name?" I say "RM" and he says "OK RM wanna help us with a trick?" So I follow him up to the stage meet Teller and help with an escape trick. Teller is put in a plastic bag that is filled up with Helium. Penn takes a picture of the audience and suddenly the bag is flying, with only me holding on to it. Teller is kneeling on the floor between us and Penn says "Go ahead and let it go RM." The bag floats up to the ceiling. P&T thank me and I head back to my seat. Wow!
CP instantly shoots me the "you are one lucky bastard" look and I smile.
So the show ends and P&T run out of the theater and stand in the hall. This time we go for the pictures. Hi Mike. Hi Teller. By the time we get to Penn it takes a little while to get up to him, but we are happy to wait it out. We get a little closer and he notices me and smiles. CP gives me a slight elbow. Soon it's our turn and Penn says "RM! Great job up there buddy, we couldn't have done it without you". We take a picture and head to the rental car.
We get to the escalator and I sigh ever so slightly and CP looks at me laughing (we have been together for so long we pretty much always know what the other one is thinking) and says watch it! We get to the rental car and I say "Yup, I think I'll add magicians assistant to my resume." She returns with "I've done that too." She has nothing to say when I counter with "Does Penn remember your name?"
I can't wait to see them again!
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
New Las Vegas Blog!
Here we go!
The first post of a new blog is always fun. It's even more fun when it's a blog about Las Vegas! The town I think about on a daily basis from my home in the middle of Texas. When things get boring here, my mind goes there.
Fortunately I get to go too. Three or four times a year I make the round trip flights and soak up a couple of free rooms, eat some amazing food and do the thing I love to do most, Gamble. I love it. I started doing it as a kid with my Nana and Grandad when they lived down in Florida. They had a big tin of change and we'd watch horse racing on TV betting and occasionally "winning" some of that cookie tin's riches. I will be forever hooked.
So what is this blog all about? Everything I find interesting about Las Vegas. This will include tales of gambling, shows, hotel rooms, food, hookers and some of the craziest driving I have ever seen.
I hope you like it
The first post of a new blog is always fun. It's even more fun when it's a blog about Las Vegas! The town I think about on a daily basis from my home in the middle of Texas. When things get boring here, my mind goes there.
Fortunately I get to go too. Three or four times a year I make the round trip flights and soak up a couple of free rooms, eat some amazing food and do the thing I love to do most, Gamble. I love it. I started doing it as a kid with my Nana and Grandad when they lived down in Florida. They had a big tin of change and we'd watch horse racing on TV betting and occasionally "winning" some of that cookie tin's riches. I will be forever hooked.
So what is this blog all about? Everything I find interesting about Las Vegas. This will include tales of gambling, shows, hotel rooms, food, hookers and some of the craziest driving I have ever seen.
I hope you like it
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