It's that time again. Time for another trip to Las Vegas. Although I'm not doing full reports anymore I'm still going to do a daily summary of what went down. That means much less detail but the result will be the same. Let's get going!
Booked 1st class for $608. This will be reimbursed by Caesars as part of my diamond elite trip. Security was quick, especially with CLEAR and TSA precheck. Flight 373 scheduled to depart at 6am with an 8:24am arrival time with a 5 hour and 24 minute flight time. We departed on time and arrived over 20 minutes early.
Originally had a rental car booked with Avis with a discount through work for a full sized $765 all in but last week Hertz came through with a discount from my credit card for a mid sized SUV for $654 all in. I ended up with a Honda CRV with 28,000 miles on it. Not my top choice but it will work.
I'm double booked for the next 3 days. One booking at Planet Hollywood (Room 2034) which also comes with $100 free play and $50 resort credit, so I can use my diamond elite trip and get $600 back on my airfare. They are also running 5x tier points these days. The other at Rio (Room 1561). Out of the blue got an offer from them for 3 nights, $400 free play and $100 food. Not sure where the offer came from as I haven't been there since well before Caesars sold the place. I'm guessing a host from another property took my information with them.
Gambling today was not good. Played 25k at Horseshoe and dropped a little over $100 thanks to my first royal of the trip. Turned the $100 free play into $75 as the VP continued to suck.
Played 10k at Palms to take advantage of $30 free play, $20 food and a free gift. Well nothing is free and dropped $995. Got $41 back from the $30 free play and $5 point play.
Rio was smoother. Played dime airport deuces triple spin poker. As a new member I got $8 in free play and won $5 more in some fake wheel spin when I got 1000 points. Also played a little craps. They have a $10 game with 3-4-5x odds. Got about an hour of action and won $11 after being up $200.
Ran my $413 free play through slots of all thing and cashed out $430. No bonus rounds but had some big hits.
Meals today were at Jack in the Box when I landed for some tacos. Send Noodles at Palms for Wor Wonton Soup and Tony Luke's Cheesesteaks.
Total Win/Loss For The Day = - $1069
Total Comps For The Day = $1021
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Day 2
Wednesday June 19, 2024
Went downtown today to play at the Four Queens. I have a mailer for $40 free play. They are also running a summer promo if you earn 300 points you get $10 free play and a coffee mug, 600 points $30 more free play and 1200 points for another $100 free play and $50 comp dollars. Play here was up and down. As always the last 200 points killed me. Lost $234. Took the $180 free play and only got $150 out of it. Net loss was only $84.
Also played at Bally's and despite hitting another royal, only won $23 on 27k in action.
Lunch was of course at Magnolia's where I got my typical bowl of gumbo and Raspberry Salad. Dinner was at The Horseshoe at Guy Fieri's Flavortown and a crispy cheese burger.
Also hit the Pinball Hall of Fame. Place is just depressing compared to the past at the smaller locations. Just way too many broken machines and machines that don't work correctly.
Total Win/Loss For The Day = - $61
Total Comps For The Day = $1164
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Day 3
Thursday June 20, 2024
Had a pretty free day so hit a few minor plays. First was Gold Coast. I didn't realize it but I hadn't been there since Christmas day 2015. The only reason I was here was to start earning tier to keep my Sapphire card alive. Played some Spin Poker switching off between deuces and bonus. Other than hitting deuces it was a bust. Dropped around $500 on 9k in action. Did play enough to get a “free” rice cooker. I also had $5 free play in my account.
Had lunch at Chicken Crush at the Rio Food Court. Just had a 3 piece tender. Pretty good but nothing spectacular.
Next up was Virgin. They sent me an offer with $320 free play and $100 comps. I had no desire to play here especially since the casino is changing hands again by the end of the year. Ran the free play through $1 video poker and turned the $320 into $260 with nothing better than trips.
For dinner I met Anne, Evelyn and Stacy at Juan's Flaming Fajitas. Had Queso and a 2 taco platter with rice and beans. After that we went to Handel's for ice cream.
After dinner went over to M. They sent me $100 in free bets. Played craps, lot those plus another pile of money. It was just bad.
Came back to Rio to pack up for the move tomorrow.
Total Win/Loss For The Day = - $1072
Total Comps For The Day = $356
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Day 4
Friday June 21, 2024
Headed to Laughlin this morning. Staying at Aquarius on a mail offer for $550 free play. This offer expires Sunday and the next offer starts the day after which is for $525 free play.
Also played at Tropicana because they are running a 7x tier promo this weekend at both properties. Trop today, Harrah's tomorrow. I also have $50 free play and $25 food.
Room was ready at Aquarius, 18071 my usual room.
Had lunch at Cafe Aquarius and got the pot roast. One of my favorites and was happy to see they still had it.
Went over to Tropicana to play. Started with 10 play deuces for quarters. Was getting lots of stuff like dealt quads and pulling lots of quints and dirty royals and doubled up the buy in. Bumped up to 50˘ and there was no looking back. I was still getting lots of dealt winners and was hitting deuces as well. The count was up to 3 when the unicorn showed up about 3 hands after the 3 set of ducks. Yes folks, dealt deuces on 50˘ 10 play for a $5000 hand pay. Continued pounding away and 10 minutes later got dealt 4 to a royal and filled it on line 6 for another $2000 hand pay. I still had plenty of credits and the bleed started. I was actually down to my stop loss at $1500 on the meter on my last hand when I got dealt a quad. This got me back into it and things got good again including my 4th (or is it 14th ?) set of deuces. Powered the meter up to $2800 and cashed out just over $2500 for an additional $2000 win on top of the 2 hand pays.
Came back to Aquarius and caught game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals (Oilers vs. Panthers).
After the game hit the Cove and had the steak sandwich. Quite tasty.
Next up was video poker. Got very little play and dumped 5 bills on under 4k. Ran my free play through single line dollars and cashed it out at $600. Thanks to free play cleared $105 on video poker. Also won a little over $100 on slots thanks to a great bonus round.
Total Win/Loss For The Day = + $9379
Total Comps For The Day = $772
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Day 5
Saturday June 22, 2024
Stayed here at Aquarius all day. Played vp on and off most of the day with a few slots thrown in. Also played both of my rounds in the High Card Flush Tournament that's taking place this weekend. Got a lot of action in on the video poker but took nearly a $1500 bath on 31k in action in very streaky play. A few key hands on Super Times Pay saved me (hitting 5 flushes on an 8x multiplier for example). Won over $300 on slots thanks to a sweet bonus round.
Meals were nothing special today. Was going to go to the Cafe but the line was almost to the casino. Opted for McDonald's because I had a $2 breakfast sandwich available in the app (regular $6.69 here, WTF?). Hard to pass up $2 breakfast.
Had the prime rib at the cafe for dinner. Cooked perfectly to medium rare and was decent for a cafe cut. I would get it again.
Total Win/Loss For The Day = - $1168
Total Comps For The Day = $175
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Day 6
Sunday June 23, 2024
Did all of my play at Aquarius today. Odd session in the morning hitting aces 5 times and a straight flush but losing $100 on 8k in action. This had me shaking my head. Played later in the day and was bleeding when I hit my 4th royal of the trip. While I was up it wasn't by much. Cashed out before I bled it all back. Had a few small hits on some slot machines and added around $50 from those too. All in all it was a winning day but nearly as much as it should have been.
For breakfast I met friends Lolly and Bruce at Cafe Aquarius. I had the chicken fried steak and eggs. Standard issue out of a bag but was tasty. Met back up with them at the Cove for dinner. I grabbed the steak sandwich again. Lolly covered both meals with her vouchers and some points. Thanks for feeding me Lolly!
Grabbed a snack later in the day using a $5 food voucher I had from Edgewater. Got a $6 slice of pepperoni pizza at PT Express.
Total Win/Loss For The Day = + $279
Total Comps For The Day = $69
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Day 7
Monday June 24, 2025
Did all of my play at Aquarius today and used the new free play offer as well.
Had a bleeder of a session to start the day with little to nothing. The rest of the day I still bled and by the time I was done playing I had dropped $1300 despite hitting aces 11 times and 4 straight flushes on top of that. I ran the $525 free play through single line dollars and thanks to a quad cashed in for $600. Net loss of $700 which isn't too bad considering 39k in action.
I also won a few hundred on slots today. No bonus rounds but lots of little “stuff” as Dee used to say.
Meals were simple today. Pot Roast for lunch at the cafe and a cheese burger and slice of pizza over at PT's Express in the Edgewater.
Tomorrow I head back up to Las Vegas
Total Win/Loss For The Day = - $479
Total Comps For The Day = $609
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Day 8
Tuesday June 25, 2025
Today is check out day but I was up early and it was 4x points on video poker and 8x on slots. I hit the VP machines and rode the roller coaster. Up and down the whole time. I checked my points and I was close to getting to the Legit level again. Rather than wait until next trip I kept playing. Usually this bites me in the ass but this time it worked out. I cashed out with a small loss.
I cashed out my points for $150 in free play. Ran it through triple play quarters and turned it into $140 cash. Total loss after this was $158 on 22k in action. Not bad without any royals.
Grabbed breakfast at Cafe Aquarius and had corned beef hash and eggs.
Left Laughlin and headed back to Vegas. The next 3 nights will be at Wynn. For some reason they have been sending my some really good offers. I booked this one for 3 nights with an upgrade to a Parlor Suite on weekdays and $600 resort credit.
Checked in but the room wasn't ready yet so hit the craps table. Pretty smooth session and when I got a text the room was ready I was up around $300.
Got the room keys (2906) and was pretty impressed when I walked in other than the slight smell of weed. This suite is about the size of my house. Huge living room, bedroom, bathroom that's bigger than most regular hotel rooms, and views of the golf course and sphere.
Got my stuff to the room and then went to eat dinner. Had to wait a while but I got my name on the waiting list at Red 8. I had the roast pork and the beef tenderloin and black pepper sauce. Food was excellent but they pissed me off charging $5.88 for a cup of rice that comes standard everywhere else.
Hit the tables again after dinner. Big swings at the craps table but I was able to catch 2 back to back shooters that were good and got out with a profit of almost $900 after the second shooter went out. Colored up and it was midnight and I was beat.
Total Win/Loss For The Day = + $741
Total Comps For The Day = $498
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Day 9
Wednesday June 26, 2025
Started off with brunch at Terrace Point Cafe. Had French Onion Soup and a Cobb Salad. Food was good but a total rip at around $50. Welcome to Wynn.
Played a session of craps with mixed results. One good shooter than 2-3 bad ones. Decided after being up a bit and losing it to just cash out. Had a $25 win! Whoo hoo.
Spent the afternoon just relaxing for a while and the headed out to dinner.
Went to dinner at Guy Fieri's Vegas at the Linq with Anne and Jason. This is a regular favorite of all of us despite the prices. Luckily I've got comps or I wouldn't be eating here. Had my normal Motley Cue pulled pork sandwich and we shared a queso for an appetizer that was very good. For dessert we all split a brookie. It's a choclate chip cookie with a brownie on top with ice cream on top of that in a skillet. Used a 7* celebration dinner and point for the rest.
After dinner rolled the dice for a little while and got crushed. It was definitely a don't bettor's game for sure. I had to go pick up The Cousins at the airport so I left after a bit of an ass kicking.
Took Rick and Wendy to their time share and hung out with them for a while and came back to Wynn. It was after midnight but decided to roll the bones for a little while. Table started out like the one before the airport run but then turned. I got back everything I lost earlier and had some profit. Every one else left the table but I stayed and shot and went on a mini heater. Rolled for 15 minutes on a dead game and never hit a 7 along the way, not even on a come out. Fired up the bets to maniac level and kept hitting. Finally colored up with a huge win.
Total Win/Loss For The Day = + $2650
Total Comps For The Day = $534
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Day 10
Thursday June 27, 2024
Slept in and started the day at the spa and a massage.
Came back to the room and got ready to go out and take the Cousins to go shopping for the week. I did laundry in their time share while I was there.
After we got back from shopping we came back here to Wynn and went to dinner at Allegro.
Hung out in the suite for a while with the cousins an then I took them back to their condo.
When I got back to Wynn I hit the craps table. Started off a little choppy but then a slow rise. Nothing major but each shooter rolled a few times before going out. Things really changed when some lady had a long roll, even hitting the ALL – TALL – SMALL bet (I don't bet it but when someone hits it it's a good roll because every number got hit without 7). This put me in good position and I was up close to 2k. Stayed for a few more shooters and then I shot and sucked. Colored up with a $1625 win. Craps was really good to me these 3 days at Wynn.
Total Win/Loss For The Day = + $1625
Total Comps For The Day = $1045
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Day 11
Friday June 28, 2024
Got up and got packed up. Ran down stairs to the cage to pay back my marker AND cash in an additional 5 grand in profits!
Headed out and up to Rampart where I'll be the next week. Booked through my host into 1 bedroom suite. I also have offers for Q1 and Q2 for $900 free play and $40 food so will have quite a bit of free play available. Got into room 4100 in the Spa Tower shortly after I got here. Got everything to the room and then went to eat.
Tried the buffet tonight for the prime rib. Quite good I have to say especially for a buffet cut.
After dinner I hit the machines. The machines hit me back. I couldn't hit a thing to save my life. Of course if the name of the game was low pair I would have made 10 grand tonight. Machine after machine, it just didn't matter what I did.
I ran my free play through single line dollars and the bleeding continued even on that. Turned the $300 free play into $200 cash and didn't hit anything better that 3 of a kind the whole time.
The only good thing about tonight was I did 29k in action.
Came up to the room early tonight!
Total Win/Loss For The Day = - $2261
Total Comps For The Day = $604
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Day 12
Saturday June 29, 2024
Started off with a little VP action on 10 play. Up and down for an hour but cashed out up $3 on 6k in action. Headed out to pick up Anne and Evelyn.
Spent most of the day with Anne and Evelyn. Started off with lunch at Bob's Big Boy. No big deal. They touted how great everything is here but it was nothing special. Good? Sure. Worth the drive? Not so much, especially out to Indian Springs.
After we ate I drove while Anne did some uber eats deliveries.
For dinner we went to Juan's Flaming Fajitas. Anne and Evelyn would eat here 7 days a week if they could. It's good but it's not that good.
Got back to Rampart and hit the machines. I was pretty tire at this point so only played for about 30 minutes. Using my ticket from this morning lost $2.
Ran my $300 free play through dollar single line and took a beating again only cashing out $200. Only got trips once and a straight. Not much action today and a small win on 9k.
Total Win/Loss For The Day = + $205
Total Comps For The Day = $572
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Day 13
Sunday June 30, 2024
Started off the day with some 10 play. I only had about an hour to play and it was a good session with lots of dealt jacks, two pair and trips. The highlight was getting what is only my second dealt quad of the trip and once again it was four deuces. Cashed out with a $600 win.
Next I went to pick up the cousins and their daughter and brought them back here to Rampart. I had a cabana booked at the pool today. Joining in later were Anne, Evelyn, Steve. Spent the whole day at the pool.
We had a giant lunch at the cabana from the waterside cafe. I had a burger and hot dog but there were tons of other offerings the we ordered as well.
Brought the cousins back to the condo and hung out with them for a while and came back to Rampart.
Played for a while running my free play through single line again with better results cashing it at $300. One short session of 10 play wiped most of that out.
Went to Earl Grey for a late night chicken friend steak and eggs. Way too much food on this one.
Total Win/Loss For The Day = + $608
Total Comps For The Day = $1283
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Day 14
Monday July 1, 2024
Went downtown to repeat the Four Queens play I did last month and to meet my buddy Wayne for lunch to use the Whiskey Liquor Up Comp.
Went and picked up the cousins and then back downtown for dinner at Four Queens in Hugo's Cellar.
Had time before dinner so they went exploring and I played. Got beat up but maxed out the promo. Ran my free play through jacks for halves and got $150 out of $180.
I had the rib eye at Hugo's. Great meal here as always and like everywhere else prices are getting out of hand here.
After dinner walked Fremont Street with everyone and caught a show on the canopy.
Took the cousins back and then came back to Rampart.
Played for a little while and stayed pretty close to even the whole time. Squeaked out an $11 win.
Total Win/Loss For The Day = - $351
Total Comps For The Day = $852
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Day 15
Tuesday July 2, 2024
Video poker was not very kind this morning. I even switched it up from 10 play quarters to $1 triple and 5 play. Didn't matter, nothing worked.
Flew back and forth to LA this afternoon in an effort to preserve airline miles and status on two airlines. Not counting the time involved it was cheaper to do it this way with low cost flights to/from LA.
Played again in the evening and it was better but too little too late when I hit royal number 5 of the trip. I effing hate booking a loss on days I hit a royal but this was a real butt saver.
Meals today were simple. Amex lounge in Vegas and their small but good buffet. Earl Grey in the evening for a crispy chicken sandwich.
Total Win/Loss For The Day = - $680
Total Comps For The Day = $298
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Day 16
Wednesday July 3, 2024
Today was a strange day for sure. Got caught up in the room on a few things and then went to brunch at the buffet. While I was there Yahtzee Mike arrived.
We hit the machines and it looked like it was going to be a great session when I popped a royal early on in the session. This started getting a little rough and then a sloe bleed happened. Next thing I knew the royal money was gone and I was hovering close to the even point before that disappeared too. I had $1200 on the meter and a little while later had none. WTF? Took a short break and moved to the machine next to it. Switched to the dark side of DDB and it rained quads for a while, sometimes 2-3 on a draw including 2s with a kicker, 3s with a kicker, 4s twice and aces along with a bunch of standard quads. In a span of about 8 minutes I swung from being down $500 after hitting a royal to being up $200. Went back to bonus poker and hovered for quite a while and slowly bled back. I decided on a break when I was down $400 after 22k. Normally I'd be thrilled to only be down $400 after 22k but after hitting a royal it sucked.
After the break collected me two beach towels in this week's giveaway. Met Norm and Mike for dinner at Jade. Food was great as always and ate family style with Beijing Beef, Chicken Lo Mein, Singapore Noodles, and Sweet and Sour Chicken.
After dinner we hit the machines again. I was hovering and then bleeding. Managed a few quads but then would give it right back. Finally got dealt a quad (5's) and got back to where I started the session. Was pounding away when for the 3rd time today got dealt 4 to royal. The previous tries were all failures but this time was different as I landed my 7th royal of the trip. Now after 2 royals and a dealt quad today, along with the quads I hit on DDB I was up $383. I played the meter down to $1005 and quit for the day with a $5 win. Again, normally I'd be thrilled to run over 33k through the machines and be up $5. But after 2 royals, a dealt quad and premium kicker quads on DDB and I'm up 5 bucks, WTF? NOT cool.
Ran my first $300 installment for July's free play through dollar single line and turned it into $250 cash.
Total Win/Loss For The Day = + $255
Total Comps For The Day = $685
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Day 17
Thursday July 4, 2024
All I can say today is, if you like ass kickings, this report is for you. Was up early playing with Mike. Could not hit a thing. I was down a grand on 16k. Played a little more later in the morning and on 7k dropped a couple hundred more. An afternoon session saw a little more devastation. Was was way low on quads and dealt hand weren't coming. I did pop aces a few times but they were of no help. Now down 2k on the day on 33k in action. An evening session was the greatest f the day. I ran 16k through and broke even, a huge win with the way today went.
Decided to roll the bones and that was crap (no pun intended) too. Dropped another pile of cash on that table.
Turned $300 free play into $225 cash on dollar single line.
With all that said I did play a little heavier than normal because I was up so much. I wasn't expecting it to be so bad though. Totally glad that every day wasn't like this.
Meals were at Early Grey for breakfast and dinner. Breakfast was an omelet and dinner was the chicken sandwich. For lunch we snacked in the Summerlin Room.
Caught some fireworks up on the parking garage roof. The locals here really blow a ton of money on fireworks for sure.
Total Win/Loss For The Day = - $2700
Total Comps For The Day = $676
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Day 18
Friday July 5, 2024
Today is the final day of the trip. I've got most of the day because my flight isn't until 9pm tonight.
Slept in and got packed up. Ran today's free play through $1 single line again and turned the $300 into $320. There would be no additional play today.
Had lunch at the deli and got Philly cheesesteak. Also grabbed a few things to go so I could use up the rest of my $40 food credit for the month of July. Dessert for later on after dinner with the cousins.
Left Rampart around 4pm and went to see the cousins one last time and have a quick dinner before going to the airport.
Returned the rental car with no issues and shuttled to the airport. Checked the bag and security was quick.
Hit a few slots in the terminal and turned a small profit before boarding.
This is flight 2057 non stop to Newark. Scheduled to depart at 9:19pm and arrive at 5:12am. Booked first class for $628 because I had $600 of my total airfare coming back from this being my diamond elite trip with Caesars.
As always baggage claim sucked in Newark. Takes them way too long to get luggage back to you and priority tags are usually meaningless.
Picked up a rental car at Avis using a discount through work. Booked a full sized for $69 base $106 all in.
The ride home at this time of day on a Saturday was smooth sailing.
I pulled into the driveway at about 7:30am as another trip has come to an end even though I'm still a registered guest at Rampart for the next 8 hours or so!
Total Win/Loss For The Day = + $389
Total Comps For The Day = $669
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Final Thoughts
Eff Yous
Total Win/Loss for the Trip = + $6,302
Total Comps For The Trip = $11,892
Rooms = $4,838
Free Play/Cash Back = $4,023
Food = $1,823
Gifts/Other = $1,208 (Airfare & Spa)
