Trip report 7-24 to 7-27 at the Venetian

I don’t have a lot of time so I will try and make it short and sweet. Had a great time wandering the strip and eating way too much rich food. I needed my batteries recharged and this fit the bill.

Flights: America West from MSP to LAS non-stop and upgraded to first class both ways. Bloody Mary’s on the way out and Jack and Coke on the way home. Only bit of excitement was an aborted landing at MSP. We were over the wet lands to the east of the airport and perhaps 200’ off the ground when we went back to full power and pointed back skyward. Once we were back at about 2000’ the pilot came on and said that the NW flight ahead of us had blown a tire upon landing and the runway had debris on it, so after another half hour of the scenic cruise of western Minneapolis to western WI we were finally able to land ending up about 45 minutes late overall since we were also a tad late leaving LV.

Limo from Presidential met us at ground 0 and off we went for a strip cruise and then on to the Venetian. It was only 10:30 in the morning so I checked the luggage assuming that there was no way I would be getting a room but upon entering the hallowed halls decided I would check at any rate. Walked up to the invited guest desk and after waiting for 1 person to check out walked up to the counter where the gal said can I help you and I said I’m going to tell you I’m here to check in and your going to laugh at which point both she and her desk mate did:) She punched my info into the computer and said I have nothing ready with a view which you were going to have but if you wouldn’t mind looking East I can put you up right now. Wife unit was tired and wanted a nap so I said sure since we never spend time sitting in the room staring out anyhow and actually ended up with a nice enough view looking out to the hills in the east. Wonderful room of course and enjoyed our stay as we always do.

Gambling: Sucked the big one is all I can say. Truly unreal. I took 6 markers for 20 units and I doubt that I played over 35 hands or for more the 45 minutes on any of the sessions. It was bad enough that the host comped off our room charges (just beer and snacks) of 55 bucks just cause he felt sorry for me not because I earned it. I know I didn’t have 5 hours of play over 3 days. Brutal is all I can say. Dealers pulling 5 card 21’s when I had 20, etc. Only highlight was splitting 9’s against a dealer 6 and getting a 2, double get 10 for 21, get 9 on second and re-split, get ace for 20 stay, get 9 on 3rd nine, split, get another 9 and try to split and told I can only split 4 times so I stay, get another 2, double get 5 for 16, dealer flips a face for 16 and busts. I have to remember this hand as it is truly the only memorable thing that happened while playing BJ. So on Tuesday the wife informs me that I have to play slots if I want to win money. Yeah and if you believe that I have a bridge you can buy. So off we go walking around and she points to a dollar Wheel of Fortune machine and says lets play that. Whatever. So I throw a hundred in and we take turns losing our 2 bucks when the wheel deal hits. Spin the wheel and hit 125. She said see. Yeah that’s nice. 2 spins later the wheelie dealie again, spin 500. She said see. 4 spins later wheelie dealie again and 500 more I’m like this is nuts. She said ok, time to cash out. Off we go walking and as we go by the high limit slots she spies another WOF. In we go and shove 200 in a 5 dollar machine. About 5th spin what do you know, wheelie dealie and another 500 bucks. About 5 spins after that, guess what? You’re right it’s wheelie dealie time again for 1000. Unreal. Walking around the strip in just about every casino this is the way it goes all day long. 200 here, 400 there. Unreal. Wednesday she had some time to recreate this wonderful event and was quickly humbled but she had fun on Tuesday:) I don’t as a rule even play slots but ran up like 750 points over the days just walking around plunking in a few hundred here and few hundred there. If I get any future offers it surely won’t be because of my table play on this trip. (more…)

Very short trip but decided to make the most of my time there. Started in San Francisco at work on Friday afternoon.

My manager told us to have the rest of the day off on Friday at lunch so I spontaneously decided to book the first flight to LA from Oakland (I’m from SF). My gf drove back earlier that day to pick up our dog, and I decided to tell her to pack her bags because I’m coming to LA and we will be in vegas THAT NIGHT! She was very surprised and happy and happily agreed. Went home, packed, booked one night at Venetian for $199 (I am a 3-4 star hotel guy BUT even the Frontier wanted $175 for Friday night) and went to the airport.

Arrived in LA a little after 8:00PM and went straight to Vegas. Usual traffic here and there and stopped by Barstow as usual and ate IN n OUT for dinner. Got into Vegas at 12:45am (LOOOONG DRIVE!) and checked in. Lines were pretty long @ the Venetian but after 20 minutes of waiting, we finally got our keys. Booked at the regular tower but they gave us a free “upgrade” to the Venezia tower. Since this is my first time there (hell, my first EVER 5 star hotel stay), I didn’t know what the upgrade meant. After the LONG journey to our room, I finally opened the door and WOW! JUST F*CKIN WOW! The suite was HUUUUGE! For those who haven’t stayed at the V, try it ONCE! The room was gorgeous, bathroom was clean, and the living room area was huge! View sucked but I didn’t care. (more…)