August 2023 Trip Report, Including a Free Small Kine, Slot Machine Exploit, and Why We Can't Have Nice Things!

 

We took a rare summer trip, mainly because we wanted to take advantage of our Southwest Air free companion pass that we have for a year.   This, along with the freeplay offers, make a sub week trip hard to pass up!

Flights

On both legs out we had an empty seat between us.   Lots of empties in first leg to Chicago.   That qualifies as sort of a mini upgrade.   All flights, in both directions, were on time or a few min early.

On the outbound flights, we carried on our bags onto the plane to skip the wait for baggage so that we could more easily make the CX bus which was scheduled 30 minutes after our scheduled arrival.   Upon arrival, and when walking by baggage claim, bags from our flight were already coming out in the baggage pick up area !  I was wondering if this was due to this being a daytime flight, as most of our evening flights involve waiting 10-20 minutes for our bags.

We ended up having plenty of time to catch the next CX bus from the airport.   We waited outside for 25 minutes, and it was on schedule.  While we were waiting,  I checked Lyft and with a promo for me being a 5-star rider, it was $10 to get to the Horseshoe, vs $2 for the bus!   I was leaning towards the Lyft but after discussing, we decided we'd rather have the experience of taking the rare bus ride from the airport to practically the side door of our hotel, Horseshoe (formerly Bally's), with a $2 fare.

General area that we exited the bus, just on the side of the Horseshoe.

We got to the Horseshoe around 12:30pm, and we were able to check-in immediately!   A half hour after checking in and setting the room thermostat to 68 (the lowest it could go), it was still 78 degrees in the room.   We had to call maintenance, who came while we were downstairs and corrected the AC to a comfortable level.

You have no daily Diamond Plus Voucher credits on your card!

Across the street at Caesars, we planned to dine at the ever price increasing Bacchanal buffet.  $80 a person now!  With the prices of all of their restaurants being so high now, the buffet is still relatively competitive in price though.   I went to use my Diamond Plus virtual vouchers to get a glass of wine at the Lobby bar to take into the buffet (they do not accept the vouchers at the buffet).   When the bartender swiped my card though, she said there were no vouchers available!   How could this be?   When I told her I hadn't used any that day, and all four should be on the card, she instructed me to get this cleared up at the Caesars Rewards desk, while she held my poured glass hostage.

Well there were only 2-3 people ahead of me on the Diamond line, but it was as if there were ten people.  Service was beyond slow, and every time someone was finished at the desk, another Seven Star level player showed up on that special line, and were taken before me.  Frustrating!   I did notice a sign at the desk that they were having issues with "Many systems".   Perhaps this explained my issue.

15 minutes after I arrived, it was my turn at the desk.   I explained the situation and they verified they could not see any vouchers.   The representative returned and said her supervisor was adding $100 comp dollars in lieu of the four, max $25 vouchers that I was supposed to have.   Now, I was happy.  This was better than the vouchers, as we were planning to have some cappuccinos that "only" cost $8, which would consume 2 of the vouchers.   Now I could pay out of the $100 I was allocated!

I went back to the bar and the bartender had given up on me, and had trashed my glass!   I informed her that all that time I was waiting on line, and they had added comp dollars to my account in lieu of the vouchers.  Off I was now with the wine and to be seated at the Bacchanal!

The Bacchanal buffet is fine, but I still think Wynn is better.   And I've never found a "must have" dessert at Bacchanal.   I think desserts are their weak point there.

The next day, I made sure to attempt to use a voucher early, hoping the vouchers weren't working, again.  Sure enough, I was told nothing was on my account, so I headed over to the Caesars Rewards desk and they loaded another $100 in comps on my account.   So, $200 was loaded in two days, and I spent $39 of it, and banked the rest.   If the program worked like this all the time, I'd go out of my way to be Diamond Plus every year.

Cappuccinos being prepared for us, paid for with part of my $200 in compensation comps.

NOTE:  A couple of weeks later, the minute I read about the cyber attack issues at MGM casinos, I realized that the issues here at Caesars Resorts too, were likely a result of a cyber hack attack.

The New "Normal" - Rain in the Desert

We were present for one of the 3 or 4 heavy rain events in Las Vegas during this period, complete with the required casino leaks/flooding that comes along with it.

Later as we were going to sleep, we heard a strange noise outside, only to find it was monsoon rain pounding against the glass.

A Free Small Kine?

I love a good promotion, as it takes us back to the glory days of LV.   So when we saw that on Thursdays, the Plaza had a "Free Small Kine" dish at their Hawaiian Food Court restaurant in a promotion, earned after attaining only a hundred slot points, we added it to our plan.   For days in advance, we had fun repeating that we were looking forward to a "Free Small Kine".   Try it yourself!  Say to someone near you, "I'm going to have a free Small Kine on my trip".   You'll quickly see how impressive it sounds!

  Well when the time came for our long awaited Free Small Kine, we were disappointed when we learned that points from Video Poker play do not qualify for these promos.  This caveat is never mentioned when they boast about these promos.   I calculated that assuming a typical 93% hold of reel slot machine play, that I'd be much better off just paying for the food out ourselves, as the expected loss from play would greatly outweigh the value of the promo food!   Alas, no free small Kine for us!

A Slot Exploitation?

We were walking around through a couple of Strip casinos, when someone playing at a machine caught my eye.   The way he and his friend were hitting buttons was abnormal, to put it mildly.   I watched from a distance, and noticed that when they began to sense I was watching, they cashed out.   It was at that moment that I realized, I was witnessing two people exploiting a weakness in a machine, for profit.   I don't think I saw enough to exactly replicate it, but I did see enough to generally know what they were doing, and could experiment a bit to try it myself.   And no, of course I'm not going into any more detail on this.

Sphere views from the Horseshoe

Another example of why we can't have "Nice Things"

We've always admired the custom Andiamo custom metal candle surrounds at each table, at Andiamo restaurant, at the D casino.

  

A couple of trips ago, we noticed that our table did not have one of these custom surrounds, and then noticed that the custom ones were on most tables, but not all.   This time, at dinner there, we discovered that now all tables had the generic surround, without the Andiamo name on it.   

Immediately, I had a suspicion of why this change was made.   We asked the waiter and he confirmed my sickening suspicion.    They replaced the remaining candle surrounds with generic ones, because yes, as I suspected,  customers were stealing them!    Our waiter said they actually caught a few customers taking them and had to ask them to place it back on the table!   So in order to end this whack a mole game, they decided to replace them all!  Thanks slimy casino customers!   This is why we can't have nice things!

Usually at Andiamo, the day's specials are very pricey, and we pass on them.  On this day however, it was a decent deal.   A large New York strip steak, on the bone, along with an 8 ounce lobster tail, with diablo sauce, and some pasta, for 2, served on a wooden board (then transferred to a plate), for $140.    The experience was great, and it was refreshing having something totally new there.  The lobster of course was not one of the great fresh Atlantic tails, which have a fresh snappy flesh, but instead clearly frozen Pacific tails that were mushy.   Still, they tasted fine.

Match Lose Play

We managed to lose $63 playing $200 worth of match plays on this trip.   On our last trip, we only broke even after playing the same amount in match plays.  So in the last $400 in match play history, we've netted a $63 loss!  Hard to do this poorly!

Rejection at the D

I decided to apply for credit at the D casino, as since I have been playing there more, I thought it would be a good idea for supplying my bankroll if I am having a bad trip.   A couple of weeks before the trip, I filled out the application.   A week before my trip I called and they confirmed that I was approved, and that I just had to visit the cage with ID to activate the credit line.    I was busy, and not needing cash while at the D, so it wasn't until about 8pm that I made it to the cage.

I explained what I was there for, and handed them my players card.   The cashier went back and returned to the window, telling me, that my credit has been "revoked" and that I can "never apply for credit at the D again"!  How dramatic!  I was half looking behind me for security, expecting them to tap me on the shoulder and take me to the back room!  What was going on?   I told them that I spoke to the credit department a week ago and they told me that I was approved.  So then, what happened during the week?   And how can my credit be "revoked" if I never activated credit there before in the first place?   They shrugged their shoulders and said the last credit department employee had just gone home for the day.   They said I could speak to the credit department the next morning.

The next day I went to the cage and the same cashier was working.   She immediately told me, "after you left, we refreshed the screen, and we saw you are approved.  We made a mistake."   Okay, that's an odd one.

No Straw?  You're Fired!!!!!

A new picture for my collection of interesting unique signs.

A Laughing Hyena at the Four Queens

I encountered a laughing hyena at the Four Queens.   While playing in the casino, I could hear over a bank or two of machines away, out of my sight line, a woman very loudly laughing hysterically every minute or two, max, for at least a half hour.   It was about 10am, and I imagined from the context it was a bachelorette party group that was up all night, drinking, and having fun.  That's the only scenario I could think of to account for this, as nothing could be this funny, for so long, while sober.   Well an hour later while eating at Magnolia's, and after I finished mentioning this experience, we heard loud laughter!  I looked around to see where it was coming from, and it was her, again!  And now I could lean a bit and see her, about 4 tables away!    She was a middle aged Hawaiian looking woman at a table with 3 people, one of them a man who was telling stories.  And, they all seemed totally sober!  I took a video to capture some of her laughter.  It doesn't do her laugh enough justice for you to hear what it was like in person, but you'll get a good idea!    We were marveling at her laugh when we noticed the next table too was now laughing at her laughter.   We started sharing our observations about her, and of course, laughing too.   If any TV show taping needed a laughing audience and would pay for a good laugher, she'd have a great career.  I've never heard anyone in my life laugh as much or as loud as this person, and this was going on during the entire meal, just like it was in the casino earlier!

(Video to be uploaded soon)

A Wine Upgrade

I sat a casino bar that I was new to, to play video poker.  In conversation, I was asking the bartender why every casino offers mid level brand liquor to customers, but serves only their cheapo house wine, even at the bars.   Well my timing turned out to be good, as the Food and Beverage shift manager was behind the bar, and overheard me.   He probably asked how long as I was playing and if I was playing full coin, and then gave the go ahead to the bartender to open a semi premium bottle for wine to serve to me.   This kind of thing is service like you'd hear about in the "old days", and this kind of service made me feel like a true VIP.  I impressed myself!  Of course I'm not going to mention the casino where this happened, because the last thing I need is dozens of people demanding the same thing in the same place, and the bar revising their policy to no longer do this.   

First meal at Binion's Whiskey Licker Up restaurant

I had an offer with a voucher to be used at Binion's Whiskey Licker Up restaurant.   I had read some reviews that were very lukewarm about it, and nothing on the menu looked that exciting.    We usually eat at nice sit down restaurants, so this would be a change.   The experience was a pleasant surprise.  First, I picked out what I think is the best table in the place, with a view of the revolving bar and the TV's, and with views of the FSE in either direction.

We figured we'd order like we would from any menu, and split a salad plus each get an entrée.   The waitress was a bit confused, and when we were served, we found out why.   The salad isn't really a side, but instead intended to be a meal.  Plus we had added a grilled chicken option to it.   The Southwest salad in particular was very tasty and presented well, with a whole sliced fanned avocado.   We both felt pretty full just finishing our half salad each!   

My sandwich choice in particular was excellent and I'd seek out having it again.  The Grilled Chicken Ciabatta.   It had so many tastes going on with the bacon, chicken, cheese and whatever else was on it.   We took half of our sandwiches back to the room to the fridge and had the remainder on our flight home.

The side choices that come with the sandwiches leave much to be desired.   Just as I had read on the online reviews, the fries are very soggy!   I hoped that the cole slaw would be average, but their version I did not enjoy at all.

2 Dollar Dog and Drink Deal Done?

We were at the Downtown Grand right in the middle of their new Hot Dog cart promotion hours, yet it was closed with no explanation.  Perhaps they are cutting back on this?

Return Flight

On one leg of our return flight home a young woman sitting next to us was doing something very odd, for hours!    She studied the ends of her hair strands, while holding a few dozen hairs in her hand, for most of the entire flight.  It did not appear that she was doing this as a nervous flyer.  Very strange to see!