My reports concentrate on people, places and things we encounter on our trips. Although I play a lot, especially video poker, my view is that details of royal flush near misses (which are very common btw), ordinary four of a kinds, etc, are not noteworthy enough to be documented in a trip report. As such I don't post much on my play and do not post pictures of hands. If those things are important to you, it's probably best to skip reading this report.
Unlike the trend of people looking to make income off others viewing their trip reporting, I receive no financial benefit for posting this report, just like 99% of us! My reports, however, are my property and not to be copied to other websites.
FYI - Clicking on any pic brings up a full size version which allows you to scroll through all pics.
Contents:
Ethel M's Cactus Garden
Downtown Market has Closed
Testing My Lucky Pig!
The Naked Man
Food Highlights
Electric Daisy Carnival
Random Notes
AC Epilogue
Epilogue II
Ethel M's Cactus Garden
It has been many years since we had taken a trip to Ethel M's cactus garden at any time other than Christmas season at night. Since the weather was mild, and we were relatively close by, we visited again. Being Spring, it was a good time to go, as many varieties were in full bloom!
Downtown Market has Closed
Testing My Lucky Pig!
In my last trip report, I wrote about receiving a Chinese New Year Jeweled Pig in the middle of a bad, losing trip. https://deamonlv.blogspot.com/2019/02/february-trip-report-featuring-pig-and_19.html Subsequently, I hit two royal flushes in less than 24 hours, and then hit another one on my next short trip to Atlantic City. Since then, I have not played until this trip. Of course, I packed my jeweled pig for this trip, and was hoping her powers would still be working.
This was a 7 day trip, and days 1 & 2 were losers, but not outrageously bad. I have a hate-hate relationship with NSUD video poker, as I nearly always lose despite playing it on a machine with a good payscale. On day one I managed to hit four deuces, for the mini jackpot, yet managed to have a losing day (inducing more hatred for the game)! On day two I faced an early decision playing Double Double Bonus, as I hit a ridiculous amount of four of a kinds in the first hour or so. In the last trip I took my profits when this happened, and moved to play the rest of the day at much lower volatility games and protected my win. Hindsight is 20/20, and this time my initial luck was so quick that I wanted to give this game a longer shot before switching over, but it cost me, as I ended up being down for the day. I ended on a good note when I played the last 15 minutes of the day back at double double, and hit four 4's with a kicker to cut the losses, and called it a day. I admit, I was starting to question my lucky pig.
On day 3, I played relatively early and was dealt a straight flush before breakfast. This was my first straight flush of the year, despite having 3 royals! After that, it was pretty much downhill for late morning and afternoon. Then, just before dinner I held two to a royal, and my pig took over, giving me a royal flush!
I made sure my pig could not see the name of this establishment below. Obviously it would be too upsetting for her!
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| The Smashed Pig |
Day 4 was uneventful, with a small loss. Day 5 wasn't going that well, and although I had already hit one royal flush for the week, I was a bit frustrated, as I was counting on my pig to provide another during this week long trip. I started calling out to my lucky pig while drawing 3 or 4 to a royal, but it wasn't helping. I was losing faith in her!
We saw this bride playing blackjack, but what was really notable is that no one from the wedding party, including the husband, was anywhere near her. She was totally alone playing heads up in her wedding gown!
We saw this bride playing blackjack, but what was really notable is that no one from the wedding party, including the husband, was anywhere near her. She was totally alone playing heads up in her wedding gown!
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| The sign on his cart says all! |
My quirky "fan"
As I played on this long day 5, I encountered an interesting fellow near my machine. Some background first. I like to load the machine with a nice bankroll to start a long session, as it is easier to track wins/loss vs repeatedly, periodically (painfully) sliding bills into to the machine over and over. If I get some decent hands early, my total might look to a stranger like I was way up when in fact I wasn't.
I was playing, minding my business when I heard a voice from behind me "you got the straight flush?". It caught me by surprise. "What was that?", I asked, not understanding the context, as I did not hit a straight flush on this day. "You must have hit a straight flush, eh?" I then realized he probably saw my credit total, and had assumed that I must have hit a straight flush to get this level of credits on the machine. I paused, turned slightly and just said "no", and turned back to play, not wanting to strike up a conversation with this potentially nosy person.
About 20 hands later, I sensed someone nearby behind me. This same guy was now sitting at a slot machine seat in the row behind me, intently watching my every hand. I don't mind someone pausing and watching a few hands, but when someone parks and my play becomes a stranger's entertainment, I draw the line. Just then, the player next to me left his seat. The "watcher" pounced in, plopped down in the seat next to me, slid a bill into the machine , and played a couple of quick hands, with one or two credits a hand. At times he made impulsive quirky noises and quick, nervous hand motions as he played. Then, just as quickly, he got up from the machine and returned to the seat behind me to watch me. This upped the creepy factor, so I stood up and cashed out, figuring this would give him no more reason to stay, and he would move on. Surprisingly, he then sat down at the machine I was playing and continued to play a credit or two on each hand, for about 20 minutes. I left the area for a while.
About 20 hands later, I sensed someone nearby behind me. This same guy was now sitting at a slot machine seat in the row behind me, intently watching my every hand. I don't mind someone pausing and watching a few hands, but when someone parks and my play becomes a stranger's entertainment, I draw the line. Just then, the player next to me left his seat. The "watcher" pounced in, plopped down in the seat next to me, slid a bill into the machine , and played a couple of quick hands, with one or two credits a hand. At times he made impulsive quirky noises and quick, nervous hand motions as he played. Then, just as quickly, he got up from the machine and returned to the seat behind me to watch me. This upped the creepy factor, so I stood up and cashed out, figuring this would give him no more reason to stay, and he would move on. Surprisingly, he then sat down at the machine I was playing and continued to play a credit or two on each hand, for about 20 minutes. I left the area for a while.
A bit later, when I returned to the machine that I had been playing, another customer was playing in that seat, so I instead sat at a machine in the next row, and continued to play. I was losing, but not badly. But, if the rest of the week kept going like this I'd likely be down at the end of the week despite a royal flush. About 10 minutes later, holding 2 to a royal (again) my pig came through for me again, with yet another royal, the 5th royal flush since I obtained my lucky pig in February! Ironically, by giving me reason to take a break from play, which then led me to play at a different machine, the creepy guy was indirectly "responsible" for me hitting this royal! I started apologizing to my lucky pig for doubting that her luck had worn off!
Day 6 and 7 both started off good and ended badly. Usually on a week long trip, I have a least one and sometimes two days of wins without a royal flush. On this trip the only winning days were on days were I had royal flushes. I guess that is a good "problem" to have?
My 2019 Lucky Pig Royal Flush scorecard is:
- 0 Royals holding 4 cards
- 1 Royal holding 3 cards
- 3 Royals holding 2 cards
- 1 Royal holding 1 card
- 0 Royals dealt
The Naked Man
We spent one early afternoon relaxing on the beach at Harrah's Laughlin. It was the most busy we'd had seen it for a non summer weekday.
About an hour into our visit, we noticed a Police boat speeding around. We just assumed they were doing rounds, looking for drunken operators, etc. Then we noticed that some of the jet ski rental staff were standing at the shore with binoculars, watching the police activity for quite a while. Some of the other guests near us went over to inquire about what was going on. I heard the word "naked" spoken as part of the explanation. In a few minutes, a more full explanation was overheard. The word was a very drunken man took off all his clothing and had jumped into the river in a non swimming area, and refused to come out!
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| Police and Fire boats |
Now there was a Fire Dept boat as well as a Police boat in the area. I guess the "negotiations" were going on for a long time, and going nowhere. Now the entire beach had heard the story and was looking in the direction of the boats wanting to see how this would get resolved.
Next was a big surprise. The police sent a message to the Harrah's Laughlin staff that they demanded that the beach be evacuated on this beautiful beach day! The staff walked the beach until everyone left the area. The police felt that this man was unpredictable and dangerous, which seemed like overkill, (a naked man "armed and dangerous"? Insert your own joke here.) but we all complied. We watched for a while from the upper patios above the beach, and saw that the naked man was now attempting to board the fire dept boat, to end the standoff. What was odd is that none of rescue squad attempted to help the man board. No rope ladder or float was extended for him. It would be difficult for anyone to board a boat from the water with having to pull himself up onto the boat from the water below, especially someone very drunk.
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| Naked man attempting to board the Fire department boat. |
After about 10 minutes of attempts, he managed to board the boat. Now what was odd was that aside from throwing him a towel, no one attempted to handcuff him, or restrain him in any way. Just as it looked like this might be over, he had a change of heart, tossed the towel, and jumped back into the river, drawing "oh no's" from the assembled crowd! This whole incident was over a hour long at this point, so we left. I had to get some more play in.
This didn't make any of the local media reports. You can only read about it here!
This didn't make any of the local media reports. You can only read about it here!
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| Ex-naked man wearing a towel on boat for 5 minutes. |
Food highlights
Bellagio buffet breakfast/lunch
Time and time again I've read in reports and reviews about the Bellagio buffet being no longer a premium buffet, for reasons including supposedly now having self served beverages and no servers. Well my experience was that while all buffets have changes over time, this one is still near the top.
The ironic part is that on this occasion, I can say that we received the BEST service ever at any buffet, at any time, by our server at the Bellagio! Ironic, because others have mentioned in reviews that there was no longer any beverage service! We found while there are self serve beverages available, the servers were still coming by each table to take orders for drinks, making this the best of both worlds, immediate self service, and waiter service.
Forgive the focus issue, but I built a nice dish with smoked salmon, tomato, guacamole on a half mini bagel with a dab of creme cheese, which I came up with on the spot, and was my favorite bite. The picture doesn't do it justice.
We stayed until the lunch items were brought out, and I snapped two pics of something you won't see at lower end buffets. Sure, Bellagio is no longer a premium buffet, I'm sure they have a similar area at Palace Station's buffet, right? (heavy sarcasm)
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| Poke bar is staffed behind glass and will make your dish to order |
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| Special limited time "lit cigar" exhibit at Bellagio |
Aquarius Laughlin Brunch
There was a recent trip report posted by someone that mentioned that they heard great things in advance about Aquarius' weekend seafood brunch crab legs. I had advised that they were going to be disappointed. However, in that trip report it they reported that the crab legs were excellent during the visit. I made sure to note them in this trip's visit and snapped the following picture which I think says all! I have never seen such skinny low quality crab legs before. These are small even for snow crab legs! While the shrimp at the brunch are actually very plump and tasty, the crab legs have more weight in their shells than meat inside, and are very salty. I will maintain my negative review on these!
Emeril's New Orleans Fish House
This was the first time we've eaten here, and part of the attraction is that like Bobby Flay's Mesa in Caesars, the pricing is relatively reasonable. For appetizers, we went with his classic BBQ shrimp and a bowl of gumbo, both excellent!
For me, the entree highlight of the week was the lobster pot pie that we had there, but again, the picture will not do it justice. It was a deconstructed take. The server brings over a pot with the contents, and pours it over a puffy pastry shell which then deflates with the weight and moisture. The sauce/broth in particular was light and delicious, and nothing like the gluey contents you'd find in a chicken pot pie. Mini onions and mushrooms, and other assorted veggies were part of the lobster mix as well.
Our other entree was his famous pecan crusted redfish over grits.
Finally, we split the legendary Banana Creme Pie, which is a must try dessert, and easily an all time top dessert for me, which we first tasted many years ago in New Orleans.
Second Street Grill - Last of the Boyd value restaurants
We had dinner at one of our favorite long time restaurants, and really one of the last of the Boyd value restaurants, Second Street Grill. One by one Boyd has redone most of the restaurants at each property, and when they re-open the good values are gone, the prices are up, and the menus are ala carte. So far the Fremont restaurants are untouched. The dinners include the most amazing sour dough bread with butter or garlic eggplant spread they make, which is amazing. The entrees come complete with a salad, starch and veggies, and the pricing is old school. My go to there is the Ahi Tuna, which is $30, and in these days, sounds insane.
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| Crab cakes appetizer |
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| Blackened Tuna |
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| Rack of Lamb |
In lieu of dessert we each had a cappuccino, and it was the best one I've ever had. I don't think you could even compare theirs to Starbucks version in the same breath.
Boars Head Bar - Main St Station
I played a while at the Main Street Station Boars Head bar. I managed to be entertained by the two men, each travelling solo and meeting each other for the first time. One had a LOT to say. He resembled a younger, slightly slimmer version of Wilford Brimley, including his voice! I just bore down at the machine and played while listening to some gems. I learned (true?) that if flying back to the US from London, you are better off flying to Amsterdam, and then to the US to save on airfare. He liked Amsterdam, did not partake in the red light district, but would go there to "research" how the girls marketed themselves to the men!
One of my favorite parts of the conversation was when the big talker discussed his current international travel philosophy. He doesn't travel much anymore in part because he found that when you travel, you find that people in the other countries are just like "you and me", so that travel really wasn't very interesting or worthwhile! Oh, I said to myself, this was going to be a fun session! He talked about how he traveled to Las Vegas from the Midwest two 4-5 day trips a month with his wife remaining home alone!
The other gentleman told a story about how he was in Australia for a period of time, and met a woman who was at the time naked on the beach. They had a long-ish term relationship until one of her friends told her, when he goes back to the US, your relationship will end, so why are you in it? She must have agreed, as she ended the relationship right there.
One of my favorite parts of the conversation was when the big talker discussed his current international travel philosophy. He doesn't travel much anymore in part because he found that when you travel, you find that people in the other countries are just like "you and me", so that travel really wasn't very interesting or worthwhile! Oh, I said to myself, this was going to be a fun session! He talked about how he traveled to Las Vegas from the Midwest two 4-5 day trips a month with his wife remaining home alone!
The other gentleman told a story about how he was in Australia for a period of time, and met a woman who was at the time naked on the beach. They had a long-ish term relationship until one of her friends told her, when he goes back to the US, your relationship will end, so why are you in it? She must have agreed, as she ended the relationship right there.
I know I am next to alone on this thinking, but please, how would seeing pictures of 4 four of a kinds be more interesting than this conversation? In 2 years, will anyone remember that they got X four of kinds on the X day of their trip in 2019? However, in 2 years, I will still be entertained thinking back to this conversation!
Having said that, I had a run of four of a kinds at the bar, requiring waits for scratch cards, including about 3 in 15 minutes (and 10 of those minutes was time waiting for the attendant to bring the scratch cards). I figured I'd get some comments from the bar mates, but they just went on with their stories seemingly without noticing, which was fine by me!
Another funny moment was when a man approached the bar and bought a drink for him and his friend. The bartender told him the price and the man said "for both?", thinking that the price quoted was too low for two drinks. The bartender said, "Yes, for two. You're in downtown Las Vegas!". It was as if I was watching a commercial for downtown being filmed.
Another funny moment was when a man approached the bar and bought a drink for him and his friend. The bartender told him the price and the man said "for both?", thinking that the price quoted was too low for two drinks. The bartender said, "Yes, for two. You're in downtown Las Vegas!". It was as if I was watching a commercial for downtown being filmed.
Seeding the Golden Gate
I was surprised that my 35 or so minutes of play in October resulted in some low level comped room offers from the Golden Gate. It's been a long time since I seeded a new place to start getting offers. I wanted to double book a room there mainly just to see it and have the experience of being able to say I sort of "stayed there". That will have to wait because my room offer wasn't good on Fridays. But, my $10 Free Play and $15 Food credit could be used even without booking a room, so I figured I'd stop by again. This time, I played for about an hour.
My idea is that when Circa is finished, players from Golden Gate and the D will get comp room offers at Circa, and I wouldn't mind getting in on that. I'm going to ramp up my GG play each trip and see where that gets me.
The $15 Food Credit was usable at the Project BBQ food truck next to Circa. We split a brisket sandwich there, which was disappointingly the least satisfying food item of the entire trip.
The side gate to the Circa construction site was open for a few minutes, so I snapped a quick one of the ramp leading down to the basement of the construction.
Electric Daisy Carnival
I realized that the end of our trip coincided with the beginning of the EDC festival in Las Vegas. I thought that maybe by staying at the south end of the strip for the last two days it would minimize the impact, but I was wrong, as some of the hotels there had pre festival events, drawing many EDC customers.
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| Raider Stadium under construction |
The subject of the festival came up at bars at the Golden Nugget. The bartenders discussed how it was very popular time for bartenders to take vacation. The reason is that the EDC customers fill the hotels, displacing regular customers. Even more of a factor is that according to the bartenders, many of the EDC customers don't have money to spend on gambling and drinks, but instead sit or walk up to the bars asking and expecting to be served complimentary water as they recovered from the prior long night out. Even if they were to be served a glass, they usually don't tip. The result is the worst tipping income weekend of the year for bartenders! One of the bartenders was teasing the other because he had the wrong date for the festival, and took the wrong weekend off. So, he had to unexpectedly work EDC weekend.
Another disappointing EDC story was the negative impact on local businesses. The local TV news station interviewed a couple of business owners, including one a diner owner, who said that they would close for the EDC weekend! This because the EDC customers in prior years filled his business, filling up tables, sleeping in the booths, and ordering next to no food. He had trouble asking them to leave as they would stay for hours, some without having hotel rooms for the festival. Since there was so little revenue that weekend, and he still had to pay his staff, it made more sense to just close the business during the festival days than to deal with all the headaches!
Random Notes:
- I've always been fascinated by these dust devils that stir up on the dry lake on the road to Laughlin. We missed taking a photo when it was at its peak, but got this one before it died out.
- Can you imagine having the need for this sign in a hotel room? Almost certainly the signs were made up due to a prior incident(s). "Hey Dad, time to turn the steaks?" "Gee Son, I can't really tell with all the smoke in the room!"
- I defy anyone to spend a day of play at the Four Queens without hearing "Bette Davis Eyes" playing on the casino's sound system. I further defy you to hear the song in any other casino!
- I've really thought about creating a blog recording history of casino's nickle and dime savings efforts. My latest "favorites" are how casino hotels are stocking smaller and smaller soaps. A special shout out award goes to the Aquarius in Laughlin, which gives you one small bar of soap that you are to use both at the sink, AND in the shower. So if someone wants to wash their hands while someone else is taking a shower, they won't have soap! Well done Aquarius!
- I've really thought about creating a blog recording history of casino's nickle and dime savings efforts. My latest "favorites" are how casino hotels are stocking smaller and smaller soaps. A special shout out award goes to the Aquarius in Laughlin, which gives you one small bar of soap that you are to use both at the sink, AND in the shower. So if someone wants to wash their hands while someone else is taking a shower, they won't have soap! Well done Aquarius!
AC Epilogue
In my last LV trip report, I added an epilogue about my short Atlantic City trip, a week later, in which my pig came through with another royal flush.
Well, once again, about a week after this LV trip, we had a short AC stop, and we packed my pig.
About 20 minutes after beginning on a Double Bonus machine, I held two 8's and drew a four of a kind. Then, the VERY next hand, I was dealt two 8's and drew a four of a kind! I may have had consecutive four of a kinds once or two before in my years of play, but never the same rank, twice holding 2. About 20 minutes later, I held three Aces and pulled the fourth, and amazingly, 2 minutes later, I held three Aces, and pulled the fourth again! By far the quickest second quad Aces in Double Bonus ever for me!
I was now faced with that decision again. Do I continue at Double Bonus, or move to Jacks or Better with my winnings where my nice bankroll of credits would typically set me up for coming close to breaking even? I moved, and while I lost at a rate greater than I expected/wanted, it wasn't a disaster, ending with a small loss. Yes, my Aces bankroll vanished in time.
In the afternoon of the second day, we were planning to head out to the beach for a few hours, and then to an early dinner. But as we talked about it, we ended up not heading to the beach, and I don't know the exact reason why. They were running a weekend of drawings, throughout the day, in which you had to be present to win. But it seemed ridiculous to hang around for hours, just for the one in a couple of thousand or so chance of winning one of the drawings. We rolled our eyes when the next winner, Mary Casino's name was called! I said to one of the attendants, "Mary Casino? Is that for real"? He joined in the humor, by replying, "yeah, they can do better than that, can't they?"
Blowing off the beach, we went our separate ways to play a bit more before an early dinner, when shortly after, as I held a dealt straight, my phone rang with some news. I didn't hear the announcement, but they announced that in the latest drawing round that we had won $4,000! If we had gone to the beach, we wouldn't have been able to claim the win, and probably wouldn't even had known we had potentially won! I have to think, this was my Lucky Pig again, coming through with a win for us, in a totally different way, by subliminally telling us to skip the beach, so she could bring us another win! She is obviously quite sly!
So, we are closing the book on this trip report with a score of two royals and a drawing win for my lucky pig in the month of May!
Last week I found that I needed to take a trip up to Foxwoods in CT because I had not been there in a year, and the comps on my account were going to expire. Of course, my pig was packed for the trip.
We visited their new remodeled buffet that opened within the last two weeks. We were not impressed!
I started with a so-so session, highlighted relatively early with a straight flush! Midway through the day, not winning but not having too bad of a day, I held three hearts to the royal, and of course, I landed another Royal Flush! This meant that I played for "the cycle" on this machine, as I hit all the paylines on this Jacks or Better machine in my session! Most times people hit a royal flush but do not get a straight flush in the same session.
Just before we left, we sat and played another 20 minutes to finish out the day when I held a 3,5,7 of hearts, and said out loud, "miracle", and then had a big laugh as the 4 and 6 of hearts filled in the second straight flush of the day.
This streak is becoming so ridiculous that I am almost numb to this point! There is no other explanation to this streak except for attributing it to my lucky pig!
So now I am updating my 2019 scorecard:
- 0 Royals holding 4 cards
- 2 Royals holding 3 cards
- 3 Royals holding 2 cards
- 1 Royal holding 1 card
- 0 Royals dealt
So, we are closing the book on this trip report with a score of two royals and a drawing win for my lucky pig in the month of May!
EPILOGUE II
Last week I found that I needed to take a trip up to Foxwoods in CT because I had not been there in a year, and the comps on my account were going to expire. Of course, my pig was packed for the trip.
We visited their new remodeled buffet that opened within the last two weeks. We were not impressed!
I started with a so-so session, highlighted relatively early with a straight flush! Midway through the day, not winning but not having too bad of a day, I held three hearts to the royal, and of course, I landed another Royal Flush! This meant that I played for "the cycle" on this machine, as I hit all the paylines on this Jacks or Better machine in my session! Most times people hit a royal flush but do not get a straight flush in the same session.
Just before we left, we sat and played another 20 minutes to finish out the day when I held a 3,5,7 of hearts, and said out loud, "miracle", and then had a big laugh as the 4 and 6 of hearts filled in the second straight flush of the day.
This streak is becoming so ridiculous that I am almost numb to this point! There is no other explanation to this streak except for attributing it to my lucky pig!
So now I am updating my 2019 scorecard:
- 0 Royals holding 4 cards
- 2 Royals holding 3 cards
- 3 Royals holding 2 cards
- 1 Royal holding 1 card
- 0 Royals dealt
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