OK, so this is what the VP tournament at Aladdin was like.

We leave Phoenix on Friday afternoon. This time we take Donna’s (DJ) Mustang instead of the truck. It was faster but it still sucks driving over the Hoover Dam!!! We make the haul through the mall and up to VIP check in. I am getting used to this VIP stuff, check in is a breeze and we need to register for the VP tournament. So up to the room, it was not a strip view…I was almost pissed but it was close to the elevators and thats what really matters i guess. Back down to register and I get machine 33 and 6 first day 18 and 20 the next. When you walk in they have very pretty girls holding lots of drinks. I am a beer drinker so I thought the drinks were way to strong. Nice touch though!!

Down we go to start what we are really here for, after a stop at Spice Market for crab legs and shrimp of course. So it’s gambling now. DJ carried us…I was getting my head handed to me. It went that way all night…thank god for DJ.

Saturday we get up and I try to practice for the VP thing (practice, what was I thinking)…..so I thought this was like a slot thing. Play fast, play very, very fast. It;sa not like that at all. You have to play quickly but not stupid fast. The first round I played stupid fast. It’s hard to judge those cards and then just drop it. Did i mention the pretty girls with drinks were there again? I did what you would expect in the second round so I didn’t finish in the money. After that it was just gambling all day long. DJ was still carrying me when out of no where ….bang…..I get a ROYAL..never saw it coming, just pow. Now Iamb not playing .25, it”sa dollars for me all the way. You can lose a lot of dollars fast. This is when something that has never happened to me did. DJ says your drunk and your going to bed. I say it’s Vegas and its only 9 what are you thinking?? DJ says your going to bed….so I did….at effing 9.

Sunday, it’s up for round two of the VP thing. DJ was right, you should see my eyes, these are some serious beer goggles. Can some one actually see out of those things? Don’t know the result of day 2 of the VP thing but my scores were lower than day 1 so I don’t think we are going to get anything.

At check out I asked about comps (like you guys always demand..thanks). We got $90 taken off the bill on first ask. Then I asked why DJ was not getting any offers since she plays just like me? The gal takes her card and bang the rest of the bill is comped, I think she got lost in the system some where. I think DJ will start getting offers very soon. Well that’s it, like always it was a blast. TA- what? Not soon enough.

Just got in and figured I better get the trip report out before I blow it off. A little back ground info first for those that will be visiting Aladdin in the near future.

We stayed at Aladdin on an earlier trip in May. That was our first ever stay at Aladdin. We stayed there on the $49/night promo that someone on the board turned us all on to. The construction at Aladdin did not bother us at all on the May trip and it did not bother us this weekend either. The trip in May Donna and I flew out my sister and her kids (26 & 27 not little ones) from Pa. and stayed 4 nights at Aladdin and 2 nights at MGM. Our normal budget for gambling is $300 each per day. We asked about comps when we left and had $750 of food charges removed from the bill. Always ask!!!!! Since there were 5 of us when I asked for the comps I brought all 5 of the players cards with me. They would not comp anything for my sister and my niece, because they didn’t play enough, so all of the comp was based on the play of me, Donna, and Richie. I had 430 points, Donna had 280 points, and Richie had about 600 points (talk about beginners luck he took home about $1100). I mention the numbers so that those going soon will know about what to expect based on their play. When we got home from that trip the offers started rolling in. The trip this weekend was on one of those offers.

We live in Phoenix so we drove. On Friday Donna and I both worked a half day and then it was home and off to Vegas, woo hoo!!! The dirve was nice and the excitement built as we got closer. For those who will make this drive getting across Hoover dam on Friday and on the return on Sunday is a nightmare. It took 25 minutes on Friday and 40 minutes on the way home today. But we got there and then it was all good.

There was no slot tournament or anything like that associated with this offer. It was their ” pick a gift event “. It was Friday and Saturday night free and pick a gift on Sunday morning. The gifts were all very nice. I am guessing in the $250 to $300 range. Donna picked an Ipod nano.

So we arrive on Friday and make the trek through the mall to VIP check in. In may they had free ped a cabs to ride you through the mall, this time they were no where to be found. Not a problem for us as we had very little to haul and we are both walkers. At check in we had a SNAFU. Our bank, in all of their wisdom, decided that we should not be in Vegas and someone must have stolen our debit card and so it was “declined” on check in. After the 5 hour drive and being pumped about being in our favorite city I didn’t think twice about it when Mark the check in guy said don’t worry about it you just can’t charge anything to the room. Duh, I want to be able to charge to the room that’s how stuff is free. (I did call the bank on Saturday afternoon and got it all straightened out).

We get up to the room and it is what you would expect on an offer. High floor with an incredible view of the strip and close to the elevators. Ours was 3341. After quickly settling in, we are off to the buffet. I know some folks don’t care for the bufffets but Donna and I really like this one.

This trip for us is all about gambling, no shows, no fluff, just down in the dirt get to it. We stick our first hundreds in and let the games begin. We don’t play table games, mostly VP and some slots sprinkled in here and there. Donna is doing well but I am falling fast. I have $13 left on the first $100 when bang….. 4 dueces for $250. We are playing the 3 line multi strike so when it hit there was some other stuff also. When the smoke clears I have $280, thank god, some wiggle room. We continue to play and about another hour and bang….. 4 dueces again and I am up to about $580…..woo hoo!!! A couple hours later I hold A, Q, and 10 of diamonds because I’m tired of throwing everything away and bang….. a ROYAL I’m now at $1370 while Donna is feeding in hundreds like she is feeding fish. Donna drinks very little but they can’t bring them fast enough for me, this was my down fall. I tried the 50 hand 25 cent multi strike. You can lose money fast on that one. I was down a bunch on it when I was dealt 4 aces (still deuces wild), thats at least 4 aces 50 times and ended up with 5 aces a lot of times. In the end I have $1470 which turned out to be the high water mark.

If you hate stupid people…..read no further. Seeing as how I was invincable and tired of VP I decided to play the slots and get some bonus rounds. Well, I got my clock cleaned to the tune of $600 or $700, and it didn’t take very long. I will not play slots again, I will not play slots again, I will not play slots again. I did get a kick out of “all that glitters” though. So we go to bed and Jim has $630 on the TITO and Donna is pouting. This by the way is 5:30 am.

Up at 10:00 am, get something to eat and then go to prove that I have not learned my lesson about slots. Donna is still chowing down on the desserts when I go up and play the “Frog Prince” game. In less than 30 minutes my $630 TITO is a $450 TITO. OK, I’m getting it now. So back to VP. Someone is at “our” machines so we have to play the single line ones. About 20 minutes in (me looking over my shoulder often at the a-holes playing “our” machines) and bang…..4 deuces so I am up to $680 again. The rest was a slow bleed for me at “our” machines but Donna held her own playing all day Saturday on $100. We couldn’t play late since we had to drive back to Phoenix Sunday and Donna had to pick her gift at 10:00 am.

In the end I ended up $100 and Donna ended up down $600. We also gave $100 to Mega Bucks.

All in all it was a blast, although I need to dry out and get the booze out of my system ( thank god Donna was willing to drive home to Phoenix!!!)

We have recieved 4 offers from Aladdin since the May trip and we also booked a VP tournament on August 4. It’s Friday and Saturday night free and 2 tournaments. The tournaments are 12 minutes each one on Saturday and one on Sunday. Each has $25,000 in prizes with the top prize $10,000.

Since we came home this time with $1200 more than I expected I am trying to talk Donna into going back again on an offer we have at the end of August.

Well that’s it. Thanks for reading if you made it this far. It was fun rethinking it all. I already have a Jones for the next trip.

Jim