Day 5
Sunday December 16, 2001
I got up early today in order to get ready and to get packed up. Today is moving day over to Bally’s. I also have 2 slot tournament sessions to play in.
I had 2 sessions back to back in the slot tournament. The first session I was on machine 5. The game was Double Diamond. The best combination I got contained 2 diamond symbols and a triple bar. On the last spin of the session I was able to get triple diamonds but still didn’t have a very high score.
In session 2, I was on machine 8. Things were worse on this machine than the first one. I think I’m the only loser that can go 10-15 spins without getting a winning combination on a tournament machine. Meanwhile a lady a few machines down hit the triple diamonds 3 times.
After the tournament I came back to the room and finished packing up. It’s now time to make my move over to Bally’s after a stop at Terrible’s for lunch. I have 1000’s of points from my last trip here so lunch will of course be comped!
When I got to Terrible’s I was expecting there to be a long line at the slot club but I was surprised when there was only 1 person ahead of me. I got a comp for the Bougainvillea Café for soup and a sandwich. It’s a bowl of soup and a half sandwich. Doesn’t sound like much but that half sandwich was as large as some full sized sandwiches I’ve had. It’s normally $4.99 for this meal but through the slot club it’s only 250 points. That’s equal to $250 coin in or $50 coin in during one of their 5X points sessions. The sandwich was large and good. The soup came in a small sized bowl and appeared to be made with leftover rotisserie chicken.
After lunch I played some quarter jacks or better. I got to play for a while and cashed out ahead about $30. The machines here are coin-less so cash out is fast. Since today is Sunday they are offering 5X points so I was able to rack up about 4,000 more points. I can probably eat here everyday for the next year and still not run out of points with the 14,000 that I have.
After cashing out it was time to head to Bally’s. When I pulled up to the parking garage I was met by security and asked for photo ID. I asked what that was all about much like I did at New York-New York and the security guy said it’s related to 9-11. No photo ID no admission to the garage. He said you’d be surprised how many people turn around and leave when he asks for ID. I still don’t see what having an ID will do though.
I was staying here at Bally’s on a birthday offer. There is some history about the offer. I was mailed an offer for 3 nights, upgraded room and $200 in chips. When I called to reserve this great deal the computer said I only had the 1 comp night deal and additional nights at casino rate. The agent said that if I faxed the offer they would honor it. I called the next day to verify that and was told the same thing. I faxed the offer and I was called back shortly. The agent said his boss would honor the room but not the chips. This really pissed me off and I asked to talk to her. When I asked why she said the offer wasn’t intended to be sent to me. The outside company they use to print and mail the offers made an error. When I brought up the point of being told the offer would be honored if I faxed it she said the best she could do was the room and upgrade to a grand suite. I persisted but she wouldn’t budge on giving the chips. I took the offer she gave with intent of sending a letter of complaint to Park Place Entertainment’s corporate office. We’ll see what happens with that, if anything.
I was allowed to use the casino invited guest check in. There was no line over here and I was checked in less than 3 minutes. I have room 734. This room is a 10-mile walk from the elevators since the grand suites are at the end of the hallways. The room is great. The entrance is a long marble hallway and leads to the bedroom. The bedroom area is very large. Probably about twice the size of a normal standard room anywhere else in town. It has a king bed with a mirrored wall behind it. There are nightstands on each side. The windows are floor to ceiling and go the entire length of the room. In the middle of the windows there is a small sitting area with 2 chairs, a small glass table and a footrest. There is also a desk and a TV cabinet dresser combo with a 32-inch TV. The desk also has 2 bottles of water that cost $4 each if you drink them. Another hotel that must be desperate for a few extra bucks.
To the right of the bed there is another large room that is up 2 steps. There is a walkway on the left and the right and in the center is a large Jacuzzi tub. It’s large enough to fit 2 people but it would probably be a tight fit. On each side of the room there is a closet. One of the closets has a safe and an iron and ironing board. Farther back there is a vanity on each side. Behind the Jacuzzi there are 3 doors. The door to the right is the toilet room. The center door is a standing shower and the left door is a bidet. Of course being the wise ass that I am I had to turn it on full blast and simulate the fountains of Bellagio!
The view isn’t spectacular from this room but there is a balcony that you can actually go out on. From here there is a clear view of Paris and to the right you can see Bellagio and the real fountain show (not the bidet version). You can also see the new Bally’s sign and the Rio off in the distance.
I went back to the check in area to see if they had one of these rooms on a higher floor with a better view but they didn’t. I just decided to keep what I had rather than give up this grand suite.
From here I went up to the car to get my bags and when I got back up to the room my keys wouldn’t work. I had to get security up here to let me in and her key didn’t work right but we eventually got in. She called the locksmith and he had to change the battery in the door lock. He reprogrammed the lock and gave me new keys. This whole process only took about 10 minutes.
I finally got settled into the room and it was time to head over to the Las Vegas Hilton. I was supposed to meet Anne and Terry here for dinner at the steakhouse at 5pm. Everyone finally got there and we found the steakhouse was closed because it was so slow. Terry’s host gave us a comp to the coffee shop instead. The service was average at best here and the food wasn’t much better. I had a mozzarella stick appetizer and the prime rib special. It’s a ¾ pound prime rib, veggies, potato, soup, and a beer for $14.95. I didn’t think this prime rib was worth this price. It was similar to some of the late night prime rib deals around town I’ve had that run about $5.
After dinner I played some blackjack. This appeared to be a double deck game with a shuffle machine (not continuous). At one point though I noticed when the deck was gone and the dealer went to put the cards in, there were already a bunch of cards in the shuffler. It was actually 6-8 decks and 2 decks were randomly shuffled out. This is just an awful thing and as soon as I noticed it I quit. Of course I quit down $75. Gambling this trip up to this point just hasn’t been good.
Getting tired of losing at everything I played I decided to leave. I went back to my room and filled the Jacuzzi up and just relaxed for the next hour or so and then went to bed.
Total win/loss for the day -$50
Total comps for the day $55