Day 4
The first point of business today was to hit Binion’s for some video poker. The plan here is to use the 5000 points coupon, play VP to generate some mail and hit their gift card promotion where minimal play gets you a Wal-Mart gift card. I met up with Rich and Dawn and we played over at Binion’s. We wanted to do this promo fast so we just played the short pay 7/5 bonus triple/five plays. I hit aces early on and the kept me playing long enough to max out on the promo. Dawn hit aces too and Rich got aces dealt. I finished this session up by $120 and walked out of there with a $50 Wal-Mart gift card. Now this is the way promos are supposed to work.
Once we were done with the promo at Binion’s we all came over to the Cal to eat lunch at the Cal coffee shop. I tried out the Won Ton Min soup. It had wontons, roasted pork, and noodles. It was tasty and hit the spot. While we were eating Yahtzee Mike called and I heard music playing in the back. It was a royal flush for him so he was happy.
Today is moving day even though I’m still registered here at the California. Originally I was scheduled to spend the next 5 nights at Caesars Palace. I was looking forward to this stay because I like the video poker offered here and the rooms are really nice. Unfortunately since my last trip they killed off just about all of their playable video poker. My plan was going to be to simply stiff them but then I got an offer from Green Valley Ranch that is good for free entry into a $10,000 video poker tournament and 3 complimentary room nights. I’ve always liked it here and free nights plus a VP Tournament is enough to get me away from Caesars for this trip. I can stiff them some other time!
When I got to GVR there was no line at the check in area. I played the “I’m here for my birthday” route to try for an upgrade. Normally this is a prime week for upgrades because it’s slow but I had my doubts being there is a tournament this week. I was offered 3 or 4 types of upgraded rooms ranging from $75 - $400 per night. I declined & wasn’t given an upgrade. I got room 8433 in the east tower. This is their standard room with one king bed, nightstands, small sitting area, work desk, table of over priced snacks, a big 27 inch flat screen TV in a armoire and a view of the pool area and I could see South Point in the distance. The bathroom has a glass shower stall, bathtub, vanity area and a toilet room.
Once I got everything up into the room I met up with Rich and Dawn and we went to Boulder Station to play some video poker and to use the POV coupon for 3X points. The first game we played was triple play with 8/5 bonus on them. My machine was really slow and I got my ass kicked here too. I hit no quads and very few bigger hands like full houses and flushes. I dropped $100 here in no time at all.
Next up we found the bank of triple plays with individual progressives for each line and one for the dealt royal. I started off with 8/5 bonus and was getting killed here again. I dropped another $50 and decided to switch over to NSUD. It wasn’t much better on this game for me either. I had the meter all of the way down to $7 but I got dealt a dirty royal and got back into the game. From here things were good and I had the meter back up over $200 covering the losses from the first machine. We played for about an hour here and I finished with a whopping win of $1. Don’t knock it. I was happy to win a dollar after being down $193 at my low point.
We were supposed to meet up with Steve and Anne for dinner at the GVR buffet but they cancelled. This gave us the option of still doing the buffet or trying out something else. Instead we went to Sunset Station to Capri. We used the POV 50% off up to $25 coupon and Dawn used points to cover the rest of the bill. The food is always good here and I’ve never had a bad meal here. I went with the chicken parmesan. Now normally I don’t think $16 and the word chicken belong in the same sentence and I still don’t. This chicken though isn’t your typical pizza place version. Much tastier and the portion is big enough for 2 meals, especially when you factor in the soup and the bread they serve. The meal was great and we were all stuffed when we were finished.
From Sunset Station we came back here to GVR. We took a short break and played and S&H Green Stamps penny slots. These aren’t very entertaining. I hit a few bonus rounds and filled up a stamp card but in the end lost $10. I don’t expect to win playing these though and that $10 strictly goes towards the entertainment value of the day.
We were all tired at this point and I was exhausted. I haven’t had a good night sleep since I got here and was hoping the nice bedding here would help me out and get me some much needed rest. I packed it in early and watched TV for a while, including the Spanish version of Deal or No Deal on Telemundo called Vas o No Vas. It was hard to follow with my limited Spanish skills though. So hard that I fell asleep during the show!
Total win/loss for the day $100
Sunday December 17, 2006
Total comps for the day $214