February Trip Report - Featuring the Pig and the Strawman (M, 4Q, Jerry's, Laughlin)

Disclosure: I will receive no income from views of this trip report, even if read on my trip report blog.  Further, I think that encouraging donations from readers, is against everything that the whole LV message board community is about!

My trip reports do not have gambling pics.  What is most important and memorable to me in a trip is not individual hands of play, but the places, people, and situations that I encounter.  I'll discuss my play only if I think there it is something noteworthy.  If pics of winning hands is something you need to see in a trip report, then this one isn't for you!

THE GENESIS 

For February, the Chinese New Year month, each year, the Four Queens sends me an offer for a jeweled New Year's figure, after earning a level of slot points.   This is the year of the pig.   The idea of earning a "collectible jeweled pig" was probably enough to warrant a trip to Las Vegas just for that alone!   When I found a decent airfare, I booked a 3+ day solo mini trip.

THE FLIGHT

As I waited for my connection flight to board, I was entertained by the prior flight deplaning.  One woman was carrying a full sized, round, lighted make-up mirror, complete with dangling power cord.   Not in a box, not in a bag, but just holding it loose against her chest as she exited the jetway.

I had a middle seat for the second segment of my flight, and at one point I needed to get something out of my bag under the seat in front of me.  It was awkward trying to lean forward and a bit to the side at the same time, while reaching down, and suddenly I felt  a muscle in my rib cage cramp badly.  I've never had anything like this happen before.  I was doing everything in trying not to groan, nor grab at my ribs, as I figured those around me would see me in pain, grabbing at my chest and think that I was having a heart attack, and call for help.   After a few minutes and many breaths, and while holding completely still, it finally calmed down without anyone noticing.

Head winds were so bad that the pilot announced that we'd be flying the whole way at only 26,000 feet to avoid the strongest winds.

M SUITE DEJA VU

In my last trip report, I discussed after years, finally getting a suite upgrade at the M Resort, and not only did I get  a suite, but a huge ~1200 sq ft corner end suite.   Well on this occasion, when checking in, I was told that there is a convention that took all the available rooms.   Due to that, they upgraded me to a suite.   Not just any suite, and not one like the one I had last trip, but the top of the line, 2 level end suite!  Ridiculous since I was staying alone.   This was the first time I had a room in any hotel that had stairs inside the room!   There was an elevator in the room, but it was locked.  I assume they unlock it for handicapped customers.  The tiny nit was that it was a handicapped suite, so the bath and shower area were a bit different than the other rooms.

2nd Floor is the bedroom/master bath area.  Stairs in back.

Foot of bed, looking out

Lower level.  Stairs way in back.

View from bedroom, down.

More suite pics at the M's website:  https://www.themresort.com/hotel/loft-suite

DOWNTOWN

My downtown day was cold and windy.  Not just Vegas cold, genuinely cold, if you considered the 30-40 mph winds.   Each time the corner doors of the Four Queens opened, a gust of cold air blew through that entire side of the casino, blowing around any napkins and papers.   If you played at any of the machines nearby, it was as if you were playing outside.   That whole area pretty much emptied out of playing customers.   So, management closed that entrance, putting signs like the one below on all the doors in that corner

I noted this sign at the Four Queens, asking customers who play the Silver Strikes to please give up their seat to anyone waiting once they hit a Silver Strike payout.   I know the Four Queens is different that many other casinos, but doesn't it seem odd that if the machines are so popular, they wouldn't just put more machines on the floor, instead of encouraging customers to leave the machine after receiving a single Strike?

FINDING THE STRAWMAN

I had a dinner at Hugo's at the Four Queens.  They've "updated" their menu, changing many of the dishes, and, just to help us out, raised their prices about 10-15% again.

I tried wanted to try something different this time here, so I had the duck.  I was very disappointed.  I was expecting that rich decadent taste of duck, yet here, this was almost like eating turkey!

I was very entertained by a guest seated at a nearby table.  As I was seated, the sommelier had just left this person's table.   I did a double take as I glanced at his table.  That couldn't be straw in the wine glass, could it?   It must have been a water glass.   No, it was his wine glass, and here he was eating in this gourmet restaurant where the entire staff wears tuxedos, and having just had a sommelier assist him in selecting a wine.   Too bad I missed the moment when he probably requested the straw from the sommelier.  Seeing him attempting to hide his shock would have been priceless.   The Strawman then proceeded to nearly cough up a lung every few minutes.   All diners receive a table-side made salad.  When it was his turn to select the salad toppings, he opted to skip over many of those "healthy veggie things", as I expected.  The server proudly listed the 3 selections of in-house made dressings available, but Strawman would have nothing of those.  "Got any oil and vinegar?", he asked.  The server paused, and then said.  "we can get you some". and had that brought to his table.   

Then, after salad time, as is the custom at Hugo's, they brought a very small amount of sorbet in a mini cone as an intermezzo.   Strawman immediately looked at it, and had a request.  "Got a spoon for that?", he asked.  Hey, I guess he figured, if he was being served "ice cream", then why not a spoon for it?   At this point, I am looking for cameras, and thinking there is some kind of joke put on me to see how I react to all this!   This can't be for real!

When it came time for the entree to be served, I desperately wanted to make a bet, with odds, with anyone, that he had ordered prime rib for dinner.  Yes, I suppose a steak would be possible, but in watching and hearing him, and seeing that stupid straw sitting in the wine glass, it screamed out prime rib!   (As I side note, I have nothing against prime rib or prime rib eaters, and I am sure most prime rib lovers drink wine without a straw)  Just then the waiter appeared with, an order of prime rib, of course.

As the waiter came over to serve the entree, Strawman inquired as to whether the dish came with "juice for the beef".   The waiter replied "yes, it comes with au jus".   Not surprising, but the customer had no idea what was meant by "au jus".  Finally the waiter cleared up the misunderstanding and assured him that the au jus that he was about to serve was in fact the "juice" that he was requesting.

Later on, the sommelier came by to top off the glass.  The Strawman encouraged him.  "No, fill it high".  And so, he kept pouring even though it was customary to pour to level an inch or so in the four inch deep wine glass.   It was up to 3 inches, and the cries continued, "no, higher"    The pour stopped at about a half inch from the rim, as if this were a tall cup of Coca-Cola at a McDonald's.  "Now" the Strawman exclaimed, "you won't have to come back to fill it again,see"!

I regret that I didn't arrive a bit earlier as I am sure the wine selection discussion would have been entertaining as well.  Something like, "oh you have more than one color of wine here"?

I desperately wanted to chat with the waiter and sommelier about what went on at that table, but Mr Strawman ended up seated longer than I was, so I couldn't have that conversation with him still seated nearby.

THE PIG!!!

At night, I redeemed the jeweled pig offer at the Four Queens.  There were two pigs to choose from.   I earned the points required, and choose the more popular fat round pig.  The attendant handed me a receipt and told me that I needed to sign for the pig.  I told her that I was pretty sure that this was the first time in my life that someone requested that I sign for a pig.   Here she is:

CASINO PLAY

Now I'm about 2 days into the trip at this point, and it is not pretty.   I was shaking my head when I calculated midway through the second day that my return playing mostly video poker was about 90% of my coin in, even though I was playing games that had expected returns in the upper 90% range.   That's even a bit extreme on the down side even for my all too common bad days.  I even hit Aces in Double Bonus once.  Of course that helped, but that's not enough big wins for almost 2 days of play.  On the other hand, a 90% return would be just a bit under the 92% or so typical slot machine hold.  So, if I were playing slots, this loss would be almost the expected results of play without a large hit.

JERRY'S NUGGET "SIDE TRIP"

I thought I'd make my first visit to Jerry's Nugget in North Las Vegas, in part, in order to use a matchplay and freeplay coupons, which in the past have gone to waste.   This place is like taking a step back in time.  The "ambiance"  reminded me of entering the El Cortez 10-15 years ago.   I immediately noticed that I had more teeth than any of the other patrons!  It was interesting to see that the gift shop doubles as the slot club desk!   I signed up, and played, drawing two 2's with my blackjack matchplay, splitting, and watched the dealer bust to win both hands.   I ended up netting almost $30 in just a couple of minutes.

The place is one big room, and even the coffee shop, which for a long time was the LVA's pick for best prime rib deal, opens right into the casino.  You can see all the coffee shop's tables right from the casino floor, as there is no front wall in the restaurant.   Inside, the casino is dark-ish, a bit dirty, lots of old dated red carpet in need of replacement years ago, and of course smokey.  This is pretty much what I had expected.

I love how the older coffee shops have the tradition of glass cases of their desserts.  In the cases here, the eclairs were huge, and the strawberry ring looked delicious.  I didn't do much pre research here, and I am regretting it, as the desserts are indeed legendary and are an attraction here in addition to the prime rib.   Also, there are several first day slot club incentive/promos which I was unaware of until sign-up, and simply had no time to take advantage of.  Maybe on a future trip we will stop for a dessert.   Assuming that my walk back to my car in the parking lot would be uneventful, I stopped back in the gift shop to ask if I could purchase a "I Survived Jerry's Nugget" t-shirt, but they didn't seem to have any in stock.

Is it safe?  Well I made sure to go in the daytime.  There is a security guard stationed right at the main door, looking out to the parking lot at all times.   That, I am sure, helps.   In the last 1/2 mile of the short drive there from downtown, there were homeless on many of the corners.  But hey, it's not like Fremont St doesn't have its share of homeless as well, and some of them are just called "entertainers" there.  On my drive back there was a homeless man approaching each car at the traffic light for donations, once again, really not that much different than some of the "entertainers" and others at the FSE.

I think the ideal trip would be to go mid/late afternoon with the LVA and ACG coupons, get a new slot card, play $2,000 coin in for VP, and then have an early evening (daylight) prime rib dinner and dessert for 2, effectively comped with the first day promos.  In addition you get $100 in free play after the $2000 coin in on VP. (Yes, that's 5%!)   For $1000 coin in VP you'll get the meal comp dollars, but not the $100 free play.  The play requirements for slots is half as much as VP, but don't go in expecting to see Heidi slot machines!

FYI: License plates are optional in North Las Vegas

DAY 3


On the third morning, I played a long session of Bonus Poker. I got a special four of a kind, but it wasn't enough, and the losses continued! It's been 2+ days of putting in cash, trying to stay even for that mini bankroll, losing it, putting in more cash, trying to stay even for that mini bankroll. Rinse and repeat! Dare I say it, I began to question my idea that acquiring the Pig was going to change my luck, as this was my first day playing since I received it! At one point, I stopped and counted my cash, and got a sick feeling when I realized that even a royal flush now would not bring me back to even for the trip! That hurts! If this were a week long trip, sure that would be very possible, but here, in just over 2 days and be in this situation? Sick!

I am in total belief of the randomness of Video Poker, but, I have noticed many times when I have a session when I get say eight or so near royal flushes, that I end up hitting a royal later. As if the close calls are a sign that a royal is coming. It's happened quite a few times. Well now, on day 3, although losing, I'm getting many, many near royal flushes. I actually reported home to say that I believed I was going to hit not one, but two royal flushes. That's pretty hard to imagine given the pounding I had been taking.

Roughly 90 minutes later, while holding 2 cards, my eyes first get drawn to the words "Royal Flush", which flash on the screen above the hand. I look below and there it is, a royal flush, and machine is beeping away counting the win.

A near-by lady hears the beeping from my machine and comes by my row to take a look. After seeing my screen, she doesn't say a thing to me, and goes back to her machine 2 rows away. I took a bathroom break and saw that she was playing $10 VP. In the next hour, she had at least 3 hand pays, and the attendants were all chatting with her, being "friendly", before getting, obvious due to the attendants responses, nice tips. Note though, any four of a kind is a handpay on a $10 machine. Later, she walks by after finishing her session, and tells her friend she is taking a long break due to losses!

Of course having hit my royal, I was relieved, but I still had to deal with the concept of having this "luck", yet still having a small loss in just 2.5 days. But hey, this was a big relief, and it meant the trip wasn't going to be a disaster! Obviously, I had to give full credit that this drastic change in luck was attributable to my new Pig!




LAUGHLIN

I made a side trip down to Laughlin. First, I gassed up the rental car over the bridge in Arizona, as tradition. A slot machine business on that side of the river caught my eye that even had a few dusty/filthy slot machine cabinets out front (with electronics and reels removed). It was before the 11am opening time, but as I snapped these pics, the owner drove in quickly, in his pickup truck, kicking up dust in the parking lot. I guess he lived close by and had some web cam set up to alert him to visitors. The owner was part friendly but with a hint of almost being confrontational. I told him I didn't have much interest in buying a slot machine, but I had never seen slot machines for sale outside a store before now, so I was taking some pictures to document it.















The food court of the Laughlin Outlet Center is a tough business, as there really isn't enough foot traffic to support a food court. As such, the businesses are constantly opening and closing. Some try to save some cash by cutting corners. If you look closely at the sign below, note that the right side has a yellow painted rectangle that isn't the same color as the rest of the sign. The old business used to be "Unique Eat and Out", but the new place is called "Unique Eat". So I guess "Out" is gone, whatever that means. All the business is take out from the counter really, so it's not like they only have eat in dining.

I later read a post where someone speculated that the business name was too close to "In and Out", and they may have gotten a legal notice from In and Out threatening to take action if they didn't change the business's name.










I passed through Harrah's in Laughlin and shook my head when I saw this woman who pretty much set up a mini residence in the casino, with several bags, blankets, and with an area for her dog! 






LAST DAY



Bellagio Year of the Pig display

A distant cousin of my Jeweled Pig

My last day I had a flight out in the evening, so it wasn't a full day. I set out playing my least favorite "good game", double double bonus, realizing that with a day without many four of a kinds, I could easily end the trip with a significant loss.



To Coast on Some Wins or Continue Double Double Bonus?

I've long thought of a "strategy" given a scenario that never seemed to come about for me. This would be that if playing double bonus or double double bonus, and if hitting several high paying 4-of-a kinds, and more than halfway through my day's play, I would consider switching to Jacks or Better or Bonus Poker, with with idea of at least keeping some of my gains, and lowering risk. This scenario is yet to happen to me.

Well, on this last day, in the first hour, I hit four 4-of-a-kinds, all the 250 variety. Obviously, this was a great start, as in an average hour of play, a fraction over one 4-of-a-kind would be expected. As "lucky" as that first hour was, just 40 minutes later, I was below break even for the session! Ridiculous! What if for the next 2 hours I didn't hit a single 4-of-a-kind? I'd still be above average in 4oKs for the session, yet be very deep in the red for the day and trip.

After enduring this early win which had turned into a small loss, in the next half hour, I had another good run. First with AAAA without a kicker, then 4444 without a kicker, then AAAA again without a kicker. A kicker in any of those would have been nice, but together, those wins added up to a HALF OF A ROYAL that I was now ahead for the day, and ahead for the trip! On the other side though was another factor, as I was only around 30% through my planned day of play. It might be too early to already switch to a lower volatility game, and "coast" through the rest of the day with an almost guaranteed profit.



Decision made - Coast

I made the decision to move from Double Double Bonus to Jacks or Better. Right from the start, I did well with a few full houses, and flushes. I played another 15 minutes and thought about taking a break for breakfast, but then decided to play another 15 minutes or so. Just 10 minutes later, holding 3 cards, I drew the second royal flush for the trip! The second in less than 18 hours! The Pig did it again! Now of course, had I still been playing double double bonus (at a different machine) I theoretically could have hit a royal flush on that machine, but probably not, so I was immediately thrilled at my choice of switching games/machines and to defer breakfast a few more minutes.

What's more, is that even without the royal, later on, I continued to do very well at Jacks, and was up a few hundred credits even after a few hours of play! After even more play, I ended up cashing out for the same amount of credits (ignoring the royal) that I had before I made the switch to Jacks! I'll take it!

So, it "only" took two royal flushes for me to show a profit for the 3+ day trip! And, maybe even more importantly, I got to bring home a stunning jeweled pig! ;-) My new lucky pig was responsible for bringing me the two royal flushes, and sending me home a winner!

(PS) - Later, I noted that I did not have a single straight flush on this trip, yet 2 Royals!

AC EPILOGUE

Normally, I'd prefer to not head to another casino so soon, as I had enough play for a while.  But, as it worked out, we had plans to head to Atlantic City for a one night trip just days after I flew back from Las Vegas.  But then again, I'm thinking, I have the power of the Pig!   Maybe it's good to play again this soon while the magic is alive.  Number one on my packing list was, of course, my jeweled pig!   She's headed to AC with us!

In my October trip report, I mentioned that after many years of Video Poker, that I had yet to get a Royal Flush after only holding one card, until that trip.   I checked that off my list, and figured it would be many more years until it happened again, and that would be fine.  But, now I have a the power of the Pig!   After being down somewhat in the first day, I held a lone Jack and ended up pulling another Royal Flush!    That now meant 3 Royal Flushes in the 3 Days of play after receiving my Pig!   Twice in the past 6 years I have gone an entire year without a single Royal Flush, and yet now, I have 3 in 3 days of play!  Insane!

The next morning we checked out and stayed around for part of the day to play a bit more.  I think it would be too much to ask, even of a lucky pig, for a 4th Royal Flush in this now less than a day of play remaining.    I started out playing Super Double Bonus, which is like Double Bonus, except in return for reduced full house and flush payouts, the four of a kind payouts for Kings, Queens, and Jacks are 600 coins.   What is funny is in this game, when I get four 2's to 4's for 400, I'm happy, but it doesn't seem like it is a great hit, since the A,K,Q,J four of a kinds pay so much more!

I started the day early, and within about 10 minutes, I held two Kings and drew the other two KKKK, for a nice big start.  Then, five minutes later, I held two Aces, and drew the other two AAAA.  Just like that, I was up a third of a royal for the session, and had made back the pre royal losses from the prior day!

I stopped and stared at the screen showing the original buy in plus 1400 credits, wondering if I should cash out and move to Jacks or Better, just like I did just days ago.  As much as I thought about continuing, I knew that I'd feel really stupid if I didn't lock up this win, vs continuing and ending up feeding the machine with more cash later.  So, I cashed out with the Aces still on the screen and moved to a Jacks or Better machine.  FYI, Super Double Bonus has a higher volatility factor than even Double Double Bonus.   A thousand credit loss in just over an hour is more common than you would think in this game!   I did fine at Jacks, and it turned out that for the 1+ day trip, I was just slightly up even without counting the first day's royal flush!   So, while the Pig did not bring me a royal in the shorter second partial day, I did have a win on both, non full days of the trip.

You can be sure that my Pig will be coming with me on future trips!   She is worth her weight in Royals!