Preliminaries:

No hookers, expensive meals or $500 hands. I lay low and roll low.

This trip mainly fell into place because my cousin (C) moved out to LV a few weeks ago to start a new career. He has a place in Summerlin and was nice enough to let me crash with him for the duration of the trip. Because of his work schedule and hatred of weekend mornings we mainly got together at night for dinner. Like last year’s TR, I must give the appropriate thanks to my fiancé for her blessing for yet another solo trip to Vegas. Props also go to Southwest’s liberal frequent flyer program yielding a free RT ticket for this trip.


Thursday, 3/13/08

Travel day. I hate travel days even when the destination is Las Vegas. I left my home at 5:30 a.m. for an 8:00 a.m. Southwest flight out of ISP. I left my car with family and got a ride the rest of the way. Total travel time to the airport was about one hour. Check-in was a breeze and boarding was a great. I secured the A-19 boarding pass and with no one in Business Class (A1-A15) I was forth on the plane and snagged the window seat of the exit row on the left side of the plane. No one sat in the middle seat either! That, combined with free drinks from the TA (they would not take my rowmate’s money nor my drink tickets) made this feel as close to first class as possible without paying for it on another airline. This was the day after the grounding of 38 planes was announced, so perhaps this was a little PR stunt? Heck, I was happy my flight was not canceled. The only con about the flights was we took off 30 minutes late so the pilots could “fill out some paperwork.” However, we landed on time: 10:55 a.m. Vegas time.

I had no checked luggage so I headed straight for the rental car shuttle. I was in my Alamo rental within 30 minutes. I booked a compact with the hopes of none being available for that free upgrade, but no such luck. I grabbed what appeared to be the nicest car on the compact lot: a Kia Spectra. No, it’s not much of a car but the gas mileage made up for its shortcomings.

My first stop was Huntington Press near the Rio to pickup my Pocketbook of Values coupon book (POV). Finding it was a bit of a hassle, but now I know for next year. Next up was the Orleans for lunch at the French Market Buffet which, as always, was more than sufficient and is the main reason why this buffet is in my personal Top 5. Apparently I had enough Club Coast points (and then some) from last May to cover the balance due after using an American Casino Guide (ACG) coupon. ~ +$4 comp, -$2 tip.

Next I headed to the Alligator Bar to attempt some VP on the machine that Sailor53 hit his Royal on last May. The machine was taken, but I played for a bit at the bar anyway and gave Sailor53 a call for good luck. Perhaps I needed a Crown Royal and Coke in hand to improve my odds: -$10 on Bonus Poker Deluxe.

I suppose it must have been 2 p.m. by now. The next stop was the Gold Coast (GC). By far I spent the most time at this casino. I feel the most “at home” here and the full pay quarter JoB VP, my game of choice, is simply just everywhere. With that said, I headed to the Sportsbook to place some NASCAR bets. I put $10 on Clint Boyer (finished 3rd) and Kurt Busch (finished 12th) to win. -$20

Then I settled into one of the bartop machines to put in several hours of VP while waiting for a call from C to meet up for dinner. While rotating between Crown and Diets and bottled waters (the con of having to drive in Vegas) I hit several 3OAKs and Full Houses which is the reason I was able to cash out Even after close to three hours of play. +/- $0

I drove up to Summerlin to meet C, unpack a little and grab a shower to wash off the airplane grime. C is also a sushi lover so we headed to Little Buddha inside the Palms casino for dinner. The prices are not horrible and the food is excellent, all while the restaurant (along with its female patrons) is aesthetically pleasing. We each had an appetizer, three rolls and a drink. The bill came to $75 after using a $25 Restaurant.com certificate. C treated me to dinner for my birthday which was a few days earlier that week, but I left the tip for the table: - $20.

I imagine we did not return to the house until close to 11 p.m. I had an early day scheduled for the next day, and I was still on New York time, so that is all Thursday in Vegas would bring.


Friday 3/14/08

Most of us here know of the man, the local Las Vegas legend, LV_Norm. I met Norm last year after attending a few meets and going hiking with him as a guide. We have kept in touch since that time and when I told Norm I was headed to town he was nice enough to set aside a time for another hike. Norm is an all-around nice person and a very knowledgeable guide.

Norm picked me up in front of C’s complex about 7:30 a.m. and we headed across the NV-AZ border to embark on the Liberty Bell Arch hike. The trailhead starts on Route 93 about 3.5 miles east of the Hoover Dam. The hike was about 3 hours total and was probably 4 or 5 miles roundtrip. The dessert landscape is just breathtaking with the many early blooming flowers and the overlook 1,000 feet above the Colorado River at the turnaround point of the hike was definitely the highlight of the trek.

Liberty Bell Arch:
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo...ost=good-times

Overlook of the Colorado River:
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo...ost=good-times

After the hike we stopped at Green Valley Ranch Resort and Casino (GVR) to partake in the lunch buffet. We are both buffet fans and GVR, like Red Rock Casino, offers perhaps one of the most expansive and best quality buffets in Las Vegas. The GVR buffet did not disappoint. $23 for two after Boarding Pass discount (no coupons accepted Friday or Saturday); Norm covered the tip for the table. Norm had plans for the early evening so we parted ways shortly after lunch.

After returning back to C’s to shower and check my e-mail, C and I discussed the plans for the evening. We decided on the Las Vegas Wranglers (ECHL hockey) at the Orleans arena with dinner at Don Miguel’s prior to the event and headed to the Orleans at about 4:30 p.m.

C ordered a shrimp something or other and I got the Steak and Chicken fajita combo. I swear you can make a meal out of the nacho chips and dips they serve to every table before you meal. Delicious. I asked for separate checks so I could use an ACG 50% off fajita coupon good when dining alone. The cashier mistakenly subtracted a $10.95 coupon discount from my part of the bill leaving a balance due of $2; C’s meal was about $17. Thanks to my birthday bonus points from GC and the Orleans, my Club Coast points covered both checks. +$19.

The Wranglers game was a great experience, sans the obnoxious drunken fan a few seats over who clearly got lost on his way back to the trailer park and who, upon sitting down told me if I touched his wife’s leg I’d have to pay him $50; she interjected that she wanted $100. I’d have to be drunker than he was and he’d have to pay me significantly more than that to touch any part of her (think tattooed meth addict looking and pushing 40) LOL. To my pleasure, they moved down to the boards for the 3rd period and annoyed other fans.

The Wranglers won the hard-hitting scrappy game, but IMO were dominated overall by Utah. C and I are huge hockey fans so it was great to be able to take in a minor pro game while I was in town. We got our tickets a few hours before the game and scored 4th row, center ice seats near the penalty boxes. -$40 for two tickets.

The game wrapped up about 9:30 p.m. At some point that night we decided to head over to South Point casino to play some JoB VP at the bar and have a late night meal. When we got there I was disappointed to find that there is no JoB, let alone full pay, anywhere in the casino. This is a far cry from last year when all the bars had 9/6 JoB VP. I ordered a drink and played Double Bonus Poker for maybe 30 minutes before cashing out -$15. I do not like to stray much from JoB since I do not have the basic strategies for other games memorized. The food options did not appeal to us so we headed home for the night to have something a bit healthier.


Saturday 03/15/08

As a birthday gift to myself I snagged a ride-along voucher for the Richard Petty Driving School off eBay for $50, saving over $50 off the gate price. I left the house at 7:30 a.m. and made the 30 minute drive to Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS). After checking in you stand in line (I was fourth) and wait to be called over to put on a driving suit and helmet. Eventually, around 9 a.m. the ride-alongs started. You climb thru the window of a real 800+ horsepower stock car and get strapped in by a racing belt and the HANS device for the helmet. We were told hot lap speeds would range between 150-160 MPH. I’ve done 120 MPH in a passenger car before, so all I know is we were going faster than that. When the car gets up on the high-banked turns you really feel the G-forces and bumps that the drivers have to contend with for 500 miles during a cup race.

If you are a NASCAR fan or just like to go fast (think roller coaster ride), I highly recommend doing at least the ride-along. For $39 they offer to sell you a DVD video of you in the car during the ride-along or a picture of yourself strapped into the car (I do not know the fee for just the picture). I am not that nostalgic, and there was no coupon, so I declined to purchase either I do have to say there was no hard sell; they simply told you that it was available and no one tried to shuffle you back to the souvenir booth after you got out of the car. Overall I was impressed with the Petty School’s professionalism and organization.

I left the track at 9:30 a.m. and sped down to the GC for the breakfast buffet. At first I was told it was closed (I got there almost exactly at 10 a.m.) but then was told I could go in so long as anything I wanted to eat was on my plate by 10:30. No problem. The GC breakfast buffet is similar to the Orleans buffet, and even offers Eggs Benedict which were average at best. Otherwise it is standard breakfast offerings. One surprise is the addition of an Omelet station where you can have one cooked to order while you wait. $2.75 after ACG coupon, plus $2.25 tip: -$5.

I had plans to do a casino signup/coupon run this morning so I did not stop to play VP at the GC after breakfast. From the GC I headed to Hooters to get in on the $100 Free Slot play offer with Player’s Club signup up. They literally have someone put a $100 bill in one of many designated machines. They were all the older style reel slots with no multiline option. I played the max $2 per spin and lost it all. The casino as a whole is a dump and was a major disappointment. Perhaps I’ll return after the conversion from Hooters is completed. Before hitting the next casino I stopped at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf to grab two Light Ice Blended drinks (my West Coast weakness) with a BOGO Entertainment book coupon: -$5

Up next was the Rampart on Rampart Blvd. in Summerlin. I used the $25 POV Matchplay (MP) coupon at a Blackjack (BJ) table and won. This was a good session and I cashed out up $105 and gave the dealer a $10 tip (yeah, too much of a tip but I was in a good mood): +$95

Down the road on Alta Blvd. is the Suncoast, which was my next stop. I also used a POV MP here and won. After a dealer switch and a few losing hands, I cashed out up $37 and gave the dealer a $2 tip: +$35

I headed home to meet C for a late lunch. We ate at a nice place called BJ’s Brewhouse over on Charleston Blvd. The restaurant is sort of like a Friday’s with a lot of TVs, good food and their own house brews. So really I guess it is nothing like a Friday’s except for the family atmosphere. I was still pretty stuffed from breakfast so I only ordered a Chicken Caesar sandwich with seasoned fries and one of their beers. C ordered Pot Stickers and a Blackened Chicken sandwich. I think my fries are still in C’s refrigerator. I used my winnings to pick up the tab: -$45 with tip.

I dropped C off so he could go about the rest of his day and I headed to home base, the GC. I put in another several hours of VP and knocked back four or five drinks and a few waters. This was a losing session but racked up about 1,000 coin-in Club Coast points: -$60.

Sonic burgers came up in a conversation with C about In-and-Out burger, so I filled my urge to cross Sonic off my to-do-list and grabbed four singles from the West Flamingo location for C and myself: -$10 after Entertainment BOGO coupon. I swung back home to have dinner. Sonic offers a pretty good burger for the money, but I still prefer In-and-Out. I never did get around to trying Fatburger.

Anyway, after dinner we hit Red Rock Casino which is only 1.5 miles from home. I played some progressive Double Bonus VP and cashed out +$60. That wrapped up the day for me.


Sunday 03/16/08

This was yet another early start for me. I was out the door by 7 a.m. on my way east on the 215 to the Fiesta Henderson. I struck out here all around. I lost the $25 POV MP at the roulette table and then lost another $20 playing VP. -$45

I made up the losses over at Sam’s Town on Boulder Highway at Flamingo. I hit a 4OAK on the same machine upstairs as the 4OAK last year and cashed out up $90. I headed back downstairs to a BJ table. I used a $5 POV MP and won, but a dealer change and a string off bad decisions on my part let to a loss of my buy-in of $25. Overall I was +$65 at Sam’s Town.

The late breakfast of the day was had at the Sam’s Town Firelight buffet, the Sunday Champagne Brunch to be specific. I really did not care for the offerings at this buffet nor did I like the layout of the stations. The food was average at best and the highlight is the omelet station. $4.85 after POV coupon, plus $3 tip: -$7.85

This was a pretty mellow day for me. I spent the entire afternoon over at the GC Sportsbook watching the NASCAR race that I had money on and the early NHL games. I also played a little VP midway thru the race and ended up down $10 a few drinks later. -$10

After the race I headed back home to sure up my dinner plans with C. We both wanted Mexican food so I suggested Garduno’s inside the Palms casino. This place had come highly recommended by a few locals and they were right. The menu is downright expansive and entirely reasonably priced by my standards. I ordered the rolled taco appetizer and the grilled steak enchiladas for an entrée along with two Dos Equis Ambers; C ordered a Shrimp salad and steak fajitas. The bill came to $66 before the POV Palm’s 50% off coupon: -$43 for two with tip.

Since the Palms is one of the few remaining casinos with full pay JoB VP we stuck around to play a little before calling it a day. -$10


Monday 03/17/08

I was out the door and behind the wheel of the Kia before the clock hit 6:30 a.m. The first stop was Palace Station. I thought I saw OJ at one of the bars and I figured it was best to leave before Metro raided the place. Also, there were no open seats at the only $5 minimum BJ table for me to use the POV MP, so I just left. There really is nothing to see there.

Next up on the day’s casino run was the Sahara. I stopped at the casino cage and redeemed the POV 50/40 coupon and hit a $5 minimum BJ table. This was the first 6/5 table I encountered; everything else I had played at thus far was 2/1. What the hell is going on with the odds in this town? Anyway, after all my nonnegotiable chips were gone I cashed out +$10.

The next casino on the hit list was the LV Hilton. I sort of liked this place although it was a bit of a trek from the parking lot to the casino floor. I had to get a Player’s Card to use the $10 POV MP and then hit yet another $5 minimum 6/5 table. I hit a BJ on the MP. Then after a dealer change I cashed out up $12 and tipped the dealer $2: +$10.

The Orleans breakfast buffet is always on my to-do-list so that was the next stop. A welcome addition from the last time I was here was an omelet station and Eggs Benedict. The latter were pretty bad and over cooked. Everything else, along with the drink service was above-average. $3.72 plus $3 tip after POV coupon: -$6.72

After that wonderful meal I tried to summon the good luck of Sailor53 by playing Bonus Poker Deluxe at his lucky bartop machine, this time with a Crown Royal and Diet Coke in hand. I guess I needed more help than that: -$20

The casino coupon run then continued Downtown. I parked in the free garage at Main Street Station. I had a coupon from El Cortez which included, among other things, a $5 slot play with signup so I walked thru the Fremont Street Experience to El Co. I used the $5 on a VP machine and cashed out +$10.

On my walk back down Fremont, I hit the Four Queens using the POV $10 slot play and free funbook coupons. Again, I played the $10 on a VP machine and cashed out +$9.

On the way back to the house to get cleaned up a bit, I again hit the Coffee Bean for a few Ice Blended drinks with a BOGO coupon: -$5

Today was St. Patrick’s Day, which means it was 6X points at all Coast Casinos. With that said, I settled in for a 3 hour VP session at one of the GC bars. Although I racked up 7,000 bonus points and had about six drinks the run was nothing but a disappointment: -$120

It was 6 p.m. and was also time to drown my sorrows over at the Cortez Room, the steakhouse at the GC. I ordered the Cortez Cut, a 14oz Prime Rib cooked to order with soup and potatoes for $14. There are a lot of good values to be had in Vegas and I think this is one of the best. The food is simply superb and the prices are insanely inexpensive. The total bill with a soft drink was $16.50. I paid this bill with Club Coast points: +$16.50; -$5 tip.

I wrapped up dinner at about 7 p.m. and headed back home to run a few errands with C. We hit “Sushi in Summerlin” so he could destroy their all-you-can-eat offer of $24. I ordered a BBQ Eel and Cucumber roll to go on C for a later night snack. Yet another day in Vegas gone.


Tuesday 03/18/08

I got a late start today and decided to cook breakfast at home before meeting Rhonda, OpenVegas’ resident real estate expert, at her office at 10 a.m. for a morning chuck full of checking out several northwest neighborhoods. The SO and I are contemplating buying a rental property at some point down the road, and Rhonda was kind enough to take time out of her busy schedule to spend some time helping me with some preliminary research. After a busy morning of house hunting, we hit a place called Mimi’s in Centennial Hills for lunch. We both had the Albacore and Avocado sandwich less the avocados. Over her objections, I insisted on treating her to lunch for putting up with me all morning. -$34 with tip.

After lunch we headed straight to Bill’s Gambling Hall to catch the 3:00 p.m. Big Elvis show. When we pulled into the parking garage, Big E and Chuck, who is the Conway Twitty impersonator, were in the car ahead of us! We arrived about 30 minutes early and got a good table. I have to imagine this is one of the best lounge acts in town as Big E and Chuck were awesome, and it is free. The performers had to contend with a drunken fan constantly walking up to Big E and shaking his hand and talking his ear off. They handled it very professionally. The show wrapped up around 4 p.m. and Rhonda dropped me off at the office to retrieve my car.

Big Elvis:
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo...ost=good-times

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mister Conway Twitty:
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo...ost=good-times

Rhonda and Isles1 at Bill's Gambling Hall:
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo...ost=good-times

From there I headed home to sure up dinner plans. After confirming with Norm that there is in fact a good array of sushi at the dinner buffet, C and I decided on the Red Rock Casino buffet. The line was a little slow going, but it was peek dinner time when we arrived at 7 p.m., so a line is to be expected. Like GVR, the selections at this buffet are top notch and very fresh. The sushi bar could use some more variety, but I was happy to see Eel sashimi and Spicy Tuna rolls. There was salmon sashimi and California rolls too. Besides the sushi I also had some Chinese and BBQ offerings. I do not think you can go wrong here. $18.31 plus $5 tip after POV coupon: -$23.31

I dropped off C and headed out at around 8:30 p.m. to the GC to play a little VP. I do not recall anything of any significance happening after a short session. -$5

I was disappointed to see that the Courtyard Café at GC did away with the midnight special and I was pretty much not in the mood to gamble anymore, so I took a ride to the Orleans and used a Two Free drinks ACG coupon and hung out at the sportsbook and watch some drag racing. I did run a few bucks thru a slot machine at the Orleans in the hopes of keeping those slot tourney mailers coming (although I was never a slot player in the first place). -$1

The Courtyard Café at the Orleans does have late night specials, so I ordered the standard eggs, bacon, potatoes and toast and paid with points: +$2.95; -$2.75 tip.

With this being my last night in Vegas, I knew I would not be back at a Coast Casino so I went to Club Coast and cashed out my remaining points: +$17


Wednesday 03/19/08

I had decided a while back that breakfast at Le Village Buffet would be my last meal this trip. I had tried the breakfast for the first time last year and it was simply perfection. There was mention that there was a coupon in the Bill’s funbook for money off at the Paris buffet, so I parked at Paris and walked to Bill’s to get a book: No go. I headed back to Paris and waited on the 30 minute-deep line for probably the best breakfast in town. The Eggs Benedict here are perfect! The poached eggs are cooked perfectly and the sauce has jus the right kick. I had two of those, along with some bacon, potatoes, a freshly made blueberry crepe and Challah (thick bread) French toast. I took my time here since my flight was not until 3 p.m. $16.15, plus $3 tip: -$19.15

Admittedly I was just killing time from here on out. I walked thru Paris and Bally’s and got lost a few times. Just one of the reasons I simply do not care to hang out on the Strip anymore; the casinos are just too huge and crowded for my liking. From there I took a ride down to Hard Rock, pulled into the parking lot, which was blocked off for a Jagermeister concert, so I just left and drove down to the Silverton. I walked around the Bass Pro Shop at Silverton (impressive!) for quite a while before hitting the casino floor. The old progressive VP bar is gone, replaced by a progressive bar at the Mermaid bar, which has no JoB at all! I searched the floor for 9/6 JoB for quite some time before finding a bank of full pay Game King quarter machines near the bathrooms. 8/6 and 7/5 games are scattered about the floor. I played on the full pay machines for a little while before heading to the rental car center: +$10.

I hit the rental center around 12:45 p.m. and was thru security a little after 1 p.m. I read a book to kill time before boarding started at 2:30 p.m. Aside from the last two people to board asking me to surrender my aisle seat so they could sit together (yeah right!) and a bit of turbulence on initial decent and final approach, the flight home was okay and landed 15 minutes early at 10:30 p.m. My SO picked me up at the airport and we got home a little after midnight.

Final Tally:

Rental Car: $122 for a weekly rental, the most I’ve ever paid in Vegas
Gasoline: $40.50 (not bad for traveling 380+ miles)
Airfare: $0
Comps: $59.45 (Club Coast meals and cash)
Meals and tips: $257.13 (many meals were for two people)
Bar drink tips: $30 (approximate)
Entertainment: $40
Gambling: $12 (net loss)

Total out of pocket: $442.18

I am not sure where else I could disappear to for six days with entertainment, transportation and meals (often paying for two people to eat) for such a nominal cost. Until this changes, Las Vegas will always be a top vacation destination of mine.

Things I did not do that were on my list:

-Ellis Island for the Steak Special...there are just not enough meals in a day
-Arizona Charlie’s, either location for the $100 slot rebate offer
-Wynn...I wanted to get in on the buffet 50 point promo, but again, I can only eat so much
-Texas Station
-Fiesta Rancho
-GC Monterey Room Steak dinner
-Nathans for a free hotdog
-Slots A Fun for a free hotdog and beer
-Downtown Fried Twinkie/Oreo

Observations:

-I have virtually no more desire to visit the casinos on the Strip and I am entirely content at GC for gambling purposes.

-I have no idea how I racked up so many Club Coast points this trip. Monday night I had 11,000 after eating at the Cortez Room; Tuesday night I checked my balance after earning a few hundred daily points at GC and I was up to 18,000+. The birthday month bonuses had posted earlier in the trip. Are there other bonuses I am not aware of? I am not complaining

-There are so many beautiful communities in the Las Vegas area and so many shopping centers opening to support the needs and wants of residents. I sincerely hope the available water supply can support all the continuing grown in the area as I’d love to retire to Las Vegas some day.

-Many people will question the validity of traveling to so many casinos just to use matchplays or signup for player’s clubs. But for a person like myself that does not set aside a large amount of money to put at risk per day, winning a matchplay bet or walking away with cash from a signup bonus really extends my bankroll and adds to the entertainment value of the gambling process.

Thanks for reading!

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