First 3 nights at California, 2 nights Southpoint, 2 nights ( including New Years Eve ) at Green Valley Ranch, and the last 3 nights at the Gold Coast.
Airport Security: Kennedy on Christmas day was a madhouse. American Airlines charged us $20 for our checked bag. Good thing it was under 50lbs, else $50, and over 70 lbs its whopping $100. The wind gods were on our side, and our AA flight actually landed 45 minutes early ! Waited only 15 minutes for the bags, and the cab line was only a quick 5 minute wait.
California Hotel: Its going downhill. Room was cold. Pasta Pirate was good, but Buffet was horrible. The "free food" offer consisted of a coupon book. We had to go to the host for some good comped gourmet type restaurant fare. Also for $2 more , you can substitute MSS buffet ( do this in a heartbeat @! ). The Boyd offers are decent, and they almost always give you a choice of CAL or MSS. From now on , I'm going to be choosing MSS.
California Games: Big disappointment - They removed ALL NSUD! That was my favorite game over there , so its a show stopper - really disappointed !!!!. Still good games left like 10/7 DB, 9/5 white hot aces with 25K diamond Reversible Royal, decent progressives, 7/5 super aces multistrike, 9/6 Jacks, 10/7 DB with 5000 coin Hearts royals, Treasure Chest, good-AA. I just had no luck there, and was constantly losing.
I got killed net/net playing dollar 10/7 double bonus. But once in a while got thrown a bone like These 4 aces hits:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vpFREE/photos/album/1552346091/pic/2005765832/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc
Main Street Station: Ok, its inventory is similar to CAL but I had luck on my side over there. While watching the football game at the main bar, and $60 invested , I hit a $2000 royal flush playing 9/6 Jacks . http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vpFREE/photos/album/1552346091/pic/1313715053/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc
Also had fun playing Ugly Ducks super times pay machines, triple play deuces, and 5/8 bonus poker progressive.
The Red-Hot-Jackpots machines seemed super loose.
Downtown LV:
Got lucky at the Fremont, and made at least $800, playing my downtown favorite machine, the dollar/ $1199 9/5 Triple Bonus Plus machines. Did not hit the Aces this time, but a nice profit on various quads.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vpFREE/photos/album/1552346091/pic/1267342066/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc
Car Rental vs Hitch-a-Ride:
Well , Got away cheap this time with a total LV taxi cost at under $80. This compares to my best car rental offering of $260. I met up with a vpfree friend of mine who had a car, and bartered some free coupons and free buffets ( against my comps ) for car rides. This also worked out well because we were able to compare notes on machines and advantage play.
SouthPoint Hotel:
This is industrial Gambling at its best , bright lights , antiseptic atmosphere, square casino design. Checkin was easy, but I could not use my "buy one -night / next night free" coupon. The clerk pointed out the fine print clause...."prevailing rates" and since I was getting a good internet discount, the coupon would actually raise my cost. At checkout the casino picked it all up anyway so it was ultimately a moot point. Rooms were nice, they have security, and it reminded me a lot of the Orleans if anyone is familiar with their hotel. I really liked the Cinemark Theater where we saw Avatar in 3D, and if you have not seen this yet, go see it - you wont be disappointed.
Food: Seattle's Best Coffee was good all around, took comps and points.
Don Vitos: Really nice , reasonably priced Italian restaurant, great service - Use coupon book at checkin for free dessert.
Buffet: Giant lines but worth the wait.
SouthPoint Games: I cant mention all the games I played here, but lets suffice it to say its on my top 10 Nevada list for a reason, and it aint the Hotel, location, or food.
* Sex in the city slots - fun and loose ( note - fun collection of slots here too numerous to name )
* Big times VP with 9/6 DDB (99.5 )
* Spin Poker with bonus deuces and white hot aces
* double pay poker with 9/7 DB
* Ultimate X with 8/6 bonus deluxe and pnsud ( note - got killed on these )
* 9/6 Bonus Deluxe multi denom ( same machine has 50C/$1/$2 ).
* Super Triple play with 10/5/4 bonus poker ( 99.5)
* progressives at the bar. Played mucho positive 8/6 bonus deluxe with $2300 RF.
* A five play nickel machine with the best game 6/5 super aces. That would normally really suck, but the dealt royal was $22,000 and you could hardly get a seat. Yes, I did hit 4Aces , doubled my money, and ran.
Plenty of NSUD - like this machine that I hit ducks on.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vpFREE/photos/album/1552346091/pic/294730260/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc
The Goodtimes NSUD ( EV same as base game ) machines are my favorite at SP. On this particular machine I went 8 wins / 8 sessions which made me think later that I should have ignored all others. Here are quad ducks X2
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vpFREE/photos/album/1552346091/pic/1642219067/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc
I got lucky with the multipliers , with good hands like quad ducks:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vpFREE/photos/album/1552346091/pic/600766788/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc
The Dream Card 9/6 jacks are fun, and while I did not score a RF , this "dealt" SF was comforting.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vpFREE/photos/album/1552346091/pic/759360526/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc
I had some mild success with spin poker Dreamcard. Here, I only played 3 lines and got this nice quad threes on 9/7 DB Hit.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vpFREE/photos/album/1552346091/pic/789127077/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc
This is my second favorite play at Southpoint, the five play 9/5 Super double machines. Got Dealt Jacks here....
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vpFREE/photos/album/1552346091/pic/202782002/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc
Green Valley Ranch Hotel:
This place is classy with great restaurants. Terra Verde is open for lunch and has a fantastic Gorgonzola salad.
This was the best New Years Party I have gone to in years, Not because of the food or open bar but because of the entertainment. I got to meet Phil Vassar who plays all genre's with a fantastic party band. The pictures a blur, cause I was dancing while taking this shot from my cell phone.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vpFREE/photos/album/1552346091/pic/1294123904/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc
The Coffee Bean is a fantastic shop at the next door GV District shopping area. Make sure to order the Hot apple cider with honey to kill that cold or make you feel great. The buffet was very good.
Green Valley Ranch Games:
Ok, they have a very good selection, but all games 100% and over need $4 / pt. Their cash back / free play system is really poor compared to the others discussed here. While there, I did not re-qualify for Platinum ( I have 100,000 pts, but they were earned in 15 months not 12 --- so the boothling says ) Overall I lost big here ( They will be inviting me back, and maybe I can negotiate for a platinum car ) , but the comps were great ... here are some of the ones I tried:
10/7 bonus poker
15/8 loose deuces
10/6 DDB
8/5 bonus multistrike
7/5 super aces five play multistrike
8/5 bonus multistrike with progressive royals. Note the $ machines were better here, but you must play all 4 lines ( $20 a shot) to qualify for the progressive Jackpots.
Ugly Ducks triple/ five play progressives ( pros hitting these hard while I was there because of large RF's )
9/6 or 9/5 DDB quick quads and 8/5 bonus QQ. ( Note --- got killed on these and quickly )
Gold Coast Hotel:
Rooms are nice and comfortable. Good security at night. The noodle shop and Ping pang pong restaurants are two of my favorites. The buffet is terrible, and Seattle's best coffee does not take comps and charges extra for cream cheese ( for the sparse amount put on their bagels ).
Saw the Jasmine Trias and Society of Seven show. I had front row seats which cost $50 , and well worth it - Highly recommended. I met Jasmine after the show and she took a picture with me, and I got the entire SOS to sign autographs.
They are running a special for this month, 2 - 1 show tickets, but you have to ask.
Gold Coast VP:
What I like most about my Emerald "B-Connected" card is that one same card worked great at CAL, MSS, Fremont, Gold Coast, Orleans.
Gold Coast has a great VP selection where 3-way Action is king. I don't know why this game ( 99.3) is so popular, but locals actually lock up machines while they go to lunch. The Wizard has a good strategy for it on his site, but its not optimum, as that would take hundreds of lines and he's compressed it to 50.
I love the NSUD multistrike machines. I have yet to hit a top line at the quarter level, but it was nice when it dealt me the following royal flush for $2000 on line 3.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vpFREE/photos/album/1552346091/pic/620661028/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc
There is Nothing like luck. The best pay schedule on the spin deluxe is 9/7/5 DB. Ok , not great but worth a $60 shot on a spin poker deluxe. Ended up getting 4 $240 30 penny royals like this one.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vpFREE/photos/album/1552346091/pic/426879575/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc
For the second trip in a row, their best paying game resulted in big beatings. I really know the 12/4 DB deuces game (99.8) strategy . Once in a blue moon a hand like this ( 5 aces ) got me close, but 15 minutes later back deep in the hole.
These machines play lightning fast, and at one point I lost $1400 in about 90 minutes.
PS - On New Years day, could not find a single pro pounding these playing two $2 machines at the same time. Whats up pro's 5X points are not good enough anymore ? Anyhow, here are quint aces...needed a few more of these.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vpFREE/photos/album/1552346091/pic/1134484418/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc
Other games worth mentioning are full pay bonus deuces(9/4/4/3), $2 NSUD in high roller room, and various progressives. They really got the kinks out of their free-play system and it seemed like every hour I had another $10 in there for me to download. But when I asked the boothling to explain the difference between free play and comp dollars she could not. So I'm still confused, but who cares, got plenty of cash back , and the casino picked up all charges.
Rio and Orleans: A short walk from the Gold Coast thru the valet park entrance gets you to the RIO quarter Ultimate X machine. I played this on quarter 3 and 5 play PNSUD. Getting killed, 100, 200, 300, 400 in straight loses. Ok, Finally played one more hundred, got a few good hands including this one, and finished up $200.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vpFREE/photos/album/1552346091/pic/1043684733/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc
The walk from the GC to the Orleans is a nice one which I've made many times. While there I played some 8/5 bonus Multistrike and broke out even on them. Moving over to the Ultimate X machines, I played the best schedule 5C/10C 9/5 DDB. Once again, got killed playing this game to the tune of down $400 in an hour playing dimes! The lady next to me was having luck playing a poor EV 20/12/10 Ducks dream card spin game. When she left ( because her husband kept nagging her to leave NOW and beat the traffic ) , I gave it a shot.
Was doing well at 5C , when I thought...hey...what the heck lets go for it. So.... It was costing $9 a play betting dimes, and I was holding out mildly ahead and up when I got a dream hand.... JH/TH/KH/QH..and then ....the dream card converted to Ace Hearts... A dealt royal flush! Folks, there is something about a $3600 hit your last day in town, that is near and dear to my heart.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vpFREE/photos/album/1552346091/pic/770729816/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc
I walked back with a giant smile on my face ! I have to re-think my Ultimate X strategies and temper my efforts with modest session stop losses. While I love to play this exciting game, Its costing too much until the big one hits! But Dream card, moves up as one of my top ten games now.
Homeward Bound: We left extra early before 5:30 AM to catch a 7:30AM flight , anticipating Giant lines at the airport. I was kind of tired, and I told the Philippines lady cabbie - American Airlines please. Well , half asleep I noticed we had barreled past Tropicana and was Taking the Tunnel to the airport! Oh no..... So what should have been a $16 taxi ride via Tropicana was now $27, only $3 less than the much longer non-tunnel route from GVR to GC! Ok, so I was long-hauled , and that resulted in a substantial reduced tip as I balled her out for ripping me off. The airport had long lines as expected, but surprisingly fast security. On the flight back , the only big change was an announcement to stay in your seat for the last 20 minutes of the flight, with attendants checked that all the toilets were vacated.
Summary: I'm going to say 'dealt' top hits were prevalent for this trip , as more often than not my big hits were all dealt. I tried a one card draw on at least 30 hands that would have paid over $2000, but none of these came in. Big negative swings tended to take away my profit, BUT in the end a $winning$ trip prevailed.
Hope you enjoyed my report, and Happy New Year and dealt royals to all....Tom
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