TR 6/2 to 6/5, day 2

Posted by misterKeno on 06-07-2005

DAY 2

The night before i called down to schedule a wake-up call. Nine times out of ten im up early anyhoo.... and i didnt mind sleeping in. I just didnt wanna sleep 1/2 the day away...so a conservative 9:30 wake up call was requested.

I woke at about quarter to Eight. The sun thru the drapes was blinding, so i shut those turkeys!! Went back to sleep for another 40 miinutes. Woke up & showered, and went down to the pool. It was about 9 or 9:30, and there were already a good amount of people there for a friday morning. It was easily high 70's by then--very bright sun. I havent gone swimming in LV in i'd say a good eight or nine years. The water was felt good. I'd say it was around 77. Maybe its just me, but i can guage the warmth of pool water pretty good. When we used to have a pool, i could dip my hand in & take a guess & usually NAIL IT when i looked at the thermometer, lol lol lol. I swam around their jumbo pool for about ten minutes, then stood under the waterfall & let it pound my neck and back. Got out, dried off, got some sun for about an hour. There were a ton of food/drink persons walking around if you wanted anything.

Back upstairs, relaxed for a bit. It was about 10:15. The breakfast hour had passed, so i held out for lunch. I got dressed. Actually put on my good suit for lunch. Luckily THAT didnt get drenched in hair spray. Walked over to Delmonico's @ the venetian. They dont open til 11:30...so i opted for some roulette over there. Won some--lost some. Walked around the casino for a bit. A combination of 'looking around' plus 'im sorta lost'. (o:

Almost noon... i'm @ Delmonico's! They only had two tables of guests dining at that point. Quickly seated. I ordered a soda, i was thirsty. Downed that quickly & pondered the menu. They had an insert-page in the menu, but i remember it from a few months back. So i think its standard 'faire'. Waiter explained some specials & made some suggestions. Told him to put me down for a mozzerella/tomato-spinach something appetizer while i decided.

I couldnt set my water glass down for more than seven seconds & not have it re-filled. He soon came back & opted for the sirloin tips w/ horseradish mashed taters that was with these curly-q's of something else. Cooked medium. Also, told him i wanted a glass of Cabernet w/ a specific texture that i wished & said keep it under $20 / glass. Of note, delmonico's has a TON OF WINE by the glass, and if i remember the list goes from about $8/glass to $55/glass. Maybe more. I wasnt given a wine-list, but no worries. I would trust his selection. Appetizer came, yummy! Baggets of fresh bread, really good. And, my glass of wine. WOW. Really good stuff. With a very very clean finish. It was what i'd call a DRINKABLE wine. You didnt have to take gentle sips, nor did you have to wonder what was still on your pallet two minutes later. BUT, complex enough--that your tongue was dazzled with each sip. Fifteen minutes later, entree arrived. Very good. Meat cooked to a perfect 'medium'. I became quite full at the end. NO NEED for dessert.

Let's see...
$26 entree
$9 appetizer
$15 wine
$2 soda
$?? tax ??
$8.50 tip

So, basically--a REALLY great meal. I actually emailed Emeril's website when ii returned home to say 'i remember this Cabernet, it was something-something-santa barbara, and it was $15/glass, but i cant remember its FULL NAME, can you help me....." etc etc. LOL

It's early afternoon on friday...i played in the Venetian for another 20 minutes...then opt to try the monorail. The closest station is harrah's. I am told by three different persons:

"go to the 4th floor of the parking garage"
"go to that elevator over there, then 2nd floor"
"go to the 1st floor of the parking garage, then ask em"

Sooo---i finally got 'there'. Purchased my ticket $3 ticket & rode it to the Sahara. I wanted to do SPEED the ride. So in my full suit i did that. It's got a really quick take-off. Zero to 70 in 4 seconds i think. $10. A pretty good ride. Not great, but oh well.

I had planned sometime during the trip to make it to the Strat & do their new one, but never did. I just didnt feel like much HOPPING around this trip. Sigh.

Got off the ride, walked to the Sahara poker room. Bought in for a rack of chips & played 2-4 holdem. I'd say the mix of players was 'fair' to 'good' in skill level. I won the 2nd and 4th hands for around $35 each pot. So i held my own well for at least 35 to 40 min. But, soon i got ran over by a couple of full-houses that beat my full house, and my 3-of-a-kiind. Oh well.

About 4 o'clock now...waited out front of the Sahara for a cab. There reallly werent cabs THERE waiting on people. The other way around, actually. Heehee. So i cabbed it to the T.I.. Figured i could tram it back to mirage as soon as i did a gander at Treasure Island. I had a black chip from the Mirage in my wallet i forgot about. So i decided to buy in at th

"NO FOREIGN CHIPS!!!!" says the oriental pit-boss @ the t.i.

I walked over to the cage & cashed it in for paper $. That's weird, the t.i. cage WOULD take the chip, but the t.i. tables would not???

....
.......So i decided to buy in at the roulette table. Played mostly 6,9,12, and then 23,34...hit a few numbers here & there, then plopped a TOWER OF CHIPS between 6,9 & #6 hits. So that was a $230 win, woohoo. Played for another 20 minutes, got some small wins. And losses. So i cashed out for around $292. Went to the bar & played some v.p. Ordered a strawberry daquiri, but the bartender became LOST after my 1st drink. Oh well. Went to another bar, got a malibu & pineapple, and played more of my TITO. Won $12, and managed one more drink, good bartender this time.

TRAM'd it back to Mirage. It was now fri evening & the mirage was CONSIDERABLY more busy. Although the check-in area was totally vacant. And this was abour 630/7 pm on a fri evening. Bought in at craps, and lost very quickly. Back up to the room.

The room was all made up nice. I left a note that morning with a few bucks 'thank you, may i have a couple extra bottles of lotion, etc'. My mom always liked when i brought those home. Then, i had another flash in my head about my mom. )o: )o:

Got cleaned up. I think they left 5 of each item for me. Went downstairs, figured i would bet on a baseball game on acct of i would be leaving the next morning. Bet 60 clams on my Oak A's. And, bet $15 clams on the SEA game to go 'over'. The sportsbook at 7pm on that fri-nite was really close to empty. I guess the nba games had been completed already or something, who knows.

I was getting hungry...so i walked over to see how the line looked at CPK. Suprisingly, no line @ 730pm on a fri nite, woohoo. Now the nite before (thurs nite) at about the same tiime--there were 30 people in line. So i walked up to the hostess stand & said 'i'll take a counter seat please'. I love sitting up there--you get to see the fellas making the stuff!! Ordered a five-cheese & added sausage. Guy got me a plate of garlic bread while i waited (no charge), and kept my water & soda filled. In about 6 miinutes, here comes my pizza. Awfully good. I think it was $17 with tip & all.

I was plenty full, heehee. Decided to either hangout in the sportsbook, or maybe go over to the bellagio. Well, i decided on a cab to the bellagio. Cabbed it over there. Oh my god.......

The ride from the mirage to the Bellagio was fine, when we arrived at the Bellagio--the backup of cabs trying to get in was INSANE!!!!! Seems that they 're re-doing the main entrance & the roadway is narrowed, or something. The line of cabs is NOT MOVING. My cabfare was $5.20
$5.40
$5.60
$5.80
$6.20
the line is NOT MOVING. I say, hey 'im gonna jump out here' "even though it was another good 30 yards to the entrance". I hand him $9 & jump out. I dont think you're technically allowed to do that, but oh well. I walk along the fountains towards the entrance. Then overhear someone saying that its about two minutes til the next show. TONS of people along the railing. So i stop trying to fight the elbows, and wait for the show. Then--hear 'due to high winds, fountain show cancelled'. Darn it.

For my whole trip--i saw zero fountaiin shows. Darn it.

Get into the Bellagio..the place is pretty crowded. Only $25 tables & such. Craps is at $10, $15, or $25 min. Take your pick. I took my pick. $25 min. Which i HATE!!! But, i figured, i'd just do a roll or two & get out. Sooooo, i lost quickly. I walked around a bit, walked by the thing called 'snacks'. I've heard that folks say their snack bar (( called Snacks )), is darn good. Still full, i didnt buy anything. But the look of the sandwiches and JUMBO onion rings got me thinkin---hmmm, maybe i can fit in 1/2 a sandwich and

well, no i didnt... plus the line was pretty darn long.

Walked around some more, and decided to leave. Was going to cab it back to the mirage. But the cab line had at least 120 people in it. What a mess!!!

I walked to casino royale, and played there for about 1/2 an hour, lost thirty bucks. The dice tables were $2, with 100x odds. I made a couple of people a handful of dough by rolling the number '8' five tiimes in a row. Why wasnt i on that!! LOL. Walked over to harrah's, their casino wasnt busy at all. I found a $5 CS table. So i bought in---its REALLY HARD TO fiind a $5 CS table anywhere in LV. I hit a couple of pairs with dealer qualifying, and worked $40 into $155. But, i got greedy and worked my way back down, way down. Phoooey. Walked outside for some fresh air. It was the carnival court--really busy, and a band was playing. But, not my style of music.

Walked back into harrah's. Noticed a roulette game. Grant--maybe you've seen this. It's an actual roulette wheel, with a dealer spinning it, then a keyboard and puter monitor next to it. Then players sit at a console and bet on an electronic display. This was jam-packed. I noticed it wasnt a TITO machine, or you oculd even put $$ into it--you needed some kind of a CARD, instead. But, a novelty i guess. Who knows--it may STAY FOR good. No errors in payouts, and no re-stacking of chips.

My feet are getting tired, so i decided to get back to home turf (mirage). I was ready for some dessert. So, i opted the carnegie deli (new at the mirage) for a slice of their cheesecake. Mostly this place is noted for huge huge huge sandwiches of pastrami,roastbeef, that sort of thing. Then, their cheesecake is supposed to be NY style and good. One slice for $8.00. Folks, this stuff isnt that good, at all. Really really dry cheesecake, and the cherry topping didnt help it that much either. Stay with cheesecake factory stuff is my advice.

Was going to play craps one more time before bed, but all the tables were packed, then i noticed one spot. So, i snuck in, and put down a stack of 5's and 1's (paper money), on the dont pass. It was $82. Lady crapped out. So i had my $82 doubled, woohoo. Figured i'd place a number for $150. So, i chose the 8 for a $150 place bet. I know--its a RICH bet for me, but oh well. I nailed it three times. Plus, another # too, woohoo. So i turned my $82 into $713. Cashed out @ the cage. Up to my room. Watched jay Leno & turned in.

Posted by Grant

Matt,

Great finish on the craps table! Love when a big run happens at the end of a night or trip.

I have seen the roulette thing at Harrah's but I wouldn't play it. I enjoy placing the chips watching the ball ,etc..

Also the electronic version goes a lot faster! They don't have to clear chips, etc.. so you will play more spins per hour. Because roulette has suck a big house advantage, you want it played as slow as possible. One advantage is last time I was there I think the min was $2, (.50 chips). $2 is better than the $5 - 10 at most real tables.

Posted by ladydancer

Matt,

I also saw the "new" roulette at Harrahs last year. What kind of music was playing in the Carnival Court? Just curious since the Wonder Boogie is no longer there.