May 2023 Resorts Redux & Vdara
I know, I know. A lot went wrong at Resorts World a few months back. My host, who is a Rock Star, promised to triple check everything this go round. Same setup as last time. Same suite, same $300 resort credit and same $800 in free play. What could go wrong?
Ditching the girls this time, and its just me and my brother. That means just one thing. No shows, no Adventuredome, no shopping and no pool time.
Just Gambol!
We are all set to fly out of Chicago at 10AM via Spirit. And then Spirit being the shit box airline that it is, delays us once we get there. They don't update the flight times on the board or anything. But when we don't start boarding when we are supposed to, and there isn't even a fucking airplane at our gate. We know the jig is up.
An hour after we were supposed to board, we finally do. Instead of landing in Vegas at 12:30, we don't get there until almost 2PM. And to rub salt in our wounds, no Resorts World Limo Driver to greet us at baggage claim. WTF?
We wander around for 15 minutes, hoping he is just late. But no one called us to confirm either. And that Rock Star Host is actually in England right now.
So, I call the VIP number she left for me. And after waiting 15 minutes on hold, Dude over there tells me that the host canceled the ride. A claim she later vehemently denied. He did offer to send a car, once one was available. But by the time that happened, I could already be there. Cab it is!
To no one's surprise, the room was not ready. Its 2:30PM, and check in begins at 3PM. But whatever. Drop our bags off, and I go to show him around the place. He is a RW Newb.
He sees, what everyone sees. Its a pretty resort and you can still smell the newness of it all. Plus it is super fun to have an entirely new casino to explore. Sure, I find comfort in knowing where "my" games are. And looking forward to things I know. But it gives you a special tingle in your bottom when everything is fresh and unexplored.
Hit up the cashier cage, which is still doing double duty as the Rewards Desk. To get a new card printed, and have them confirm I was bumped up to Ace status. A status my host said I was at the last trip, but the cage failed to actually do. Which means I lost out on all the extra point play I should have earned.
This time, with her triple check, the host made sure to confirm I was Ace. But, in typical RW fashion. They fucked that up. They told me to call my host, which I knew was worthless as she was out of the country. And even her emails were going to Out of Office. I showed them one of the many emails we exchanged in this regard. I also showed them my MGM Platinum card (which expired Jan 1st), my Cosmo Gold card (which doesn't show an expiration date). And my CET Diamond card (which is typically worthless these days).
It took some doing, but after 20 minutes of them taking my phone to show my emails to "The Boss". And doing God knows what with my other players club cards. They match me to Ace. Finally!
I had also downloaded their Resorts World App, but I couldn't log in for some reason. It kept saying my email couldn't be found. They fixed that for me as well, and I confirmed it showed Ace. They print me off a card, which is just the exact same card as everyone else gets (they are working on that). And I remember to ask if it shows my free play. Since last time there was a whole no resort credit being loaded debacle.
What do you mean, free play? Fuck me. They didn't load that either! Well, they loaded some. $500 worth. But not the $800 I was promised. Back to the VIP Boss, who came out this time. And back through me scrolling through emails with the host, confirming the $800. My host later confessed, she had only 2 clients get fucked out of their free play getting loaded while she was off. Sadly, I was one of the 2.
First the limo getting canceled. And now me stuck at the players club desk for 40 minutes. Come on Resorts World. Get your shit together!
I load $100 of free play into a Gold Standard machine. The same slot I won $1,000 on here a few months back. And turned that into $303!
We then headed into the High Limit room, where I turned $400 into nothing. And I mean nothing. $30 spins of Top Dollar for $0.00. $50 spins on Money Frog for $0.00. I really fucked this up!
Ended back on the main floor, and took some $15.00 swings on this new slot below. That got me a $180 win.
Kept playing on it, and hit for $240 more.
I turned my $20 bill into $704 on free play. Took that over to Total Meltdown, and my measly $5.00 bet landed me a $225 hit. Now I have $876!
I never play the below, but my brother was sitting on one of these machines. I'm glad I wanted to tag team with him, as just a few spins in I hit for $120.00. Now I have $986 between my $20, their free play and a little luck.
I could have cashed out, but this game was sucking me in with the bonus game symbols. Every time you see one on the top of the screen, it could pull down another set of them. I hate sucker games that hook you like this, and yet here I am.
But a sucker I am not! I got the bonus, and I filled the screen. I had $960 going into the final spin. Which could have gotten me a 2 X, 3X or even the Grand! Which would have added $7007 more to my $960. Hell, the worst I could have done was another $200. Hand Pay here I come!
And... $200. $1,160. Cant be mad about that! We have only been here about an hour by now, and half that time was at the players club desk.
So I drove my $20 up to $1,868! Vegas Baby!
I then played a 9 line $1 denom game I like, and that ended in a $168 line hit. Setting a new dollar high point for the trip. $1,874!
I was way too invested in this stupid Lucky Devil game. The best I did was a $100 bonus on a $9.00 bet. So I ended up loosing about $250 on this one.
And then I go on tilt. Everything I touched turned to shit. But that's more on me. The euphoria of winning. The being hot and horny in Vegas. The place I often day dream being at. It took a good hour, but I dropped a grand from that $1874 I once had, but made up a little of it on the below $173 hit.
I played the above ticket down to $1,000 and cashed out. Yes, for sure, I fucked up by not cashing out at $1,800. But do you even know how gambling works? Scared money don't make money! And you never never walk away when you are on a heater.
By now its nearly 5PM, and still no fucking room. We wander through the mall a bit, so he gets the full on RW experience.
Finally they text me my room number, and that I can come pick up the keys. So we figured we'd grab dinner while we are down here first, and bring that up to our room.
Slowly they are flipping the Famous Foods dining hall from all Oriental food. To stuff with more mass appeal. The addition of this Fish and Chips place is a welcome sight.
But my brother soon learns, like most people have already. That the stupid Kiosk only menu system is trash. I mean, its fine if they did it like McDonald's. With an actual means of adding or changing what you want to order. And still have the option to shop over the counter, if you don't trust a machine.
We settle on Burger Barn, which is reasonably priced for Strip standards. About $10 for a burger, and $6.00 for fries. The problem is, my 30 something year old brother is like a 300 pound toddler. He will only eat certain things. And unlike most grown men, will refuse anything that his delicate pallet says is not in his wheelhouse.
And in the case of Burger Barn, that would be the Shichimi Togarashi-Seaweed Dusted (I googled that, to spell it correctly!) fries. And there isn't an option to order the Lucky Fries without some of that. You want to order your food your way? Yeah, go fuck yourself says Resorts World. No Fries for You!
So we end up at the Mouse House, and order grilled cheese sandwiches like school kids. It was fine. Pricey, but on the house.
So after getting here, and checking in not long after 2PM. By 6PM we head up to the room.
One real bed for me, and one pull out couch for him. BUT, they are in their own separate rooms. Which is important for 2 large men that snore!
A lovely view of a massive abandoned lot where the New Frontier once stood.
And the host even had it set up, to get us Champagne and strawberries! Very romantic for me and him.
I had some people ask me about the mini bar prices after my last trip. Here you go. If anyone was curious as to what is in the $48 Sex Kit. You get a ribbon to use as handcuffs (like that would hold me). A blindfold, a mini vibrator and something else I forgot. Not worth $50, but also wouldn't be used by us either. Not this trip at least.
We eat, and unpack the way guys do. That is to say, we take out the shirt, socks and undies we will be wearing the next day. And leave everything else in the backpack. Why make extra work for yourself?
Back to the action!
Things start off well for me. I bang a $139 hit on whatever the fuck this game was. Seriously, why the China overload of slot titles? Everything is Fho Fung this, and Ping Pang that these days. It all runs together in my head.
I land a great bonus on the below for $380. But piss most of that away, until I nab a $108 bonus. Which was shit on a $7.50 bet.
I should have cashed out after that lame bonus, but stuck around for this next one. Which was the right move. $445!
I ended up pissing most of that away, until I played this Fu Dau Le baby game. $8.88 max bet, but that was only $2.22 per game. I got a full screen of hidden symbols, and was pissed when they turned into just Queens. But even Queens paid $425!
I donked off some more, before landing a decent line hit on Wheel of Fortune. Sure, it was a $15 bet. But $240 is $240, and I'll gladly take it.
I ended up driving that $454 TITO all the way down to just 2 cents. My last max bet on this Genie game, and I picked a box worth $101.83.
Took that over to some other Asian themed game, which Resorts World has in abundance. And landed a $140 bonus to get me back up to $187.
Then another $240 bonus. And a Line Hit for $148. I went from having 2 cents left this round, to nearly $400.
Yes, Resorts World has all kinds of staff issues. They seem to either be lazy or just fuck ups. But as far as gambling goes, they really are on point. I feel like I get a fair shake with their slots. And that is the most important thing of all. I am here to gamble, and if the slots are too tight, I'm not coming back.
And speaking of fair, I land a 2X wheel spin on this stupid Buffalo game and hit the $210 wedge for $420. From 2 pennies up to $736!
But I piss most of that away. We are both holding our own, but the odds are slowly chewing through our bankroll for the day. Until I Conan'ed the shit out of this spin for $610!
I play that down to $600 and cash out. So I am not a total fuck up. But I do put $100 into Grand Ave here, before we head up for the night. It was the right move. $254 more. I bank that $300 TITO, and we call it a night at about 9PM. Which is 11PM Chicago time.
We end up at Suns Out for their famous Poutine! And the kid likes it just as much as I do. IMO, its the best thing here. And for $15, its truly a meal unto its own.
Bankroll check, and I am up over a grand on the day. Being Ace, its $1.00 of coin in on slots for 4 points. Which is a whopping 4% back in point play, and a very fair return. We end up earning 60,000 points. Which is $15,000 coin in. Hes down a few hundred bucks, and I'm up over a grand. Yes, they spotted me a good chunk of money. But the play was more than fair.
Day 2
I go to check the weather, and expect to see Paradise NV. Sure, what we call Las Vegas is really the city of Paradise. But I had to google where Winchester was. Turns out, Resorts World is in a town called Winchester. Same goes for Circus Circus, Westgate, Sahara and the soon to be built Fontainebleau.
And you thought you wouldn't learn anything today, by reading my trash!
I couldn't sleep at all last night. Between all the gambling, and winning, and just being on vacation. I was hopped up to go! By 7AM I was kicking my brother awake. We wander a bit before deciding on which of the 3 places that were open, we should go eat at.
Nothing beats having an entire casino to yourselves! Who can eat, when there is money to be won?
I manage to piss away about $400, before I got something going on the below.
I was holding my own, even though the wins were not equal to the bets. IE, $10.20 bet = $185.25 bonus. $10 bet = $101 bonus. $12.50 bet = $118.75 bonus. I expect at least 25 times my bet on a bonus. These 10 Xers are pretty shit.
I was nearly out of morning money, as I gave myself $500 to play with before we head out. And after getting skunked 3 times in a row on the below game, I finally landed a good $280 bonus, on just a $6.00 bet.
But don't worry, I pissed that away as well. Fuck it, lets eat.
We picked The Kitchen, which was fine the last time I had it. We still have over $200 in resort credit, and we check out in the morning. Which was good. Cause his French Toast and my Scrambled Eggs cost over $50 to get.
Also, for those that say I don't take enough pictures of my food for these resorts. Here you go! I am trying to be more mindful that me just saying something was good, or not worth the price, is useless without pics. So you be the judge. Is $65 with tax and cokes worth it on the below?
The plan for today is to head out and get some fresh air. We are going to double up on his players club card, and see if we cant get him some offers at the Wynn. He is childless, so he and his wifey would get more use out of Wynn than me and my grubby kids could.
To everyone that thinks Resorts World is too far removed from the rest of the Strip, it really isn't. Sure, its fucking far from Mandalay Bay. But each casino pretty much has their own neighborhood. And its like a 5 minute walk into Encore from RW.
So your neighborhood over here, is Venetian/Palazzo. Mirage (soon to be Hard Rock). Treasure Island. Wynn/Encore. Circus Circus and soon to be Fontainebleau. Not too shabby!
I honestly couldn't tell you the last time I played at Wynn. But it looked just the way I left it. Look at all those gorgeous old IGT Top Box games!
I ran $200 through what might be the last Phoenix Gold on the Strip. Nothing there. $5.00 pinball worked, and I hit that for $300!
Which I lost farting around, and was down to just $2.00 on this never before seen by me Frank Sinatra slot. I got the bonus, on my $9.00 bet, for only $100. Which sucked, but I still liked the game. Even though its just a reskin of James Bond, Elvis, Johnny Cash and a dozen other versions.
I turned that $102 into $134 with a $110 Easy Money hit. But still walk out of Encore down $200
Wynn had a promo going on, with every 150 points earned you spin a credit wheel. The lowest you could do was $5.00. $5.00 in slot play = 1 point. So you get to play once with every $750 of coin in. Which is a nice little promo.
Wynn was every bit as pretentious as I remembered it. And me with my black tank top and tattoos, and him with his bald head, were NOT the typical clientele. Lots of fancy overdressed people meandering around.
Even though I was placing decent sized bets, I just couldn't crack much more than a hundo off anything I played in the main casino.
After a good 90 minutes of being here, we managed nearly $4,000 of coin in. Which got him 5 wheels spins, for about $30 in free play. I ended up dropping $700. On top of the $500 I doinked off at RW this morning, and I am now even for the trip.
Mirage is now under Seminole control. It only took a few hundred years, but those Injuns are slowly reclaiming this country. And with their launch of the Unity Program, they are matching higher tiered club cards. My now expired Platinum card from MGM should be worth $300 in comp with the match. So we head over there.
Across to the Fashion Show mall and into Treasure Island. Looks like the Sports Book will soon be a food court, which is badly needed here. ti has garbage food options. A stupidly priced cafe, some seafood place. And really not much else outside of Senior Frog and Gilleys. They had a burger joint in the casino, but shut that down awhile ago.
ti was a factory of sadness when we walked through at 11AM on a Sunday. Almost no one was in here gambling. I'd like to think it was me putting them on blast, the last time they fucked me when I stayed here. And that was their downfall. But its most likely them driving the place into the sewer that had to do with it. I did see a lot of people with luggage walking around. Just no one actually playing. For the location, and room price, ti isn't a bad option for those on a budget.
And in typical Treasure Island fashion, we walked through here to get to the tram, that would get us out of the heat and over to Mirage. But with zero signage anywhere, we had to walk our way to the second floor, to figure out the tram wasn't running. Put up a fucking sign ti! How hard is that?
So we hoofed it over, and Mirage looked just like it did the last time I was in here. Really, only the players club desk changed. As that had the Unity brand slapped on it.
I already mentioned my MGM card stopped being Platinum on Feb 1st of this year. After the jacked up what it took to move up in the club, I kinda bailed on them. But I figured I cold rope-a-dope them, and claim I just got into town. It was only expired by a few months, and clearly my name was on it.
Nope. She suggested I go to their sports book and print out a new card. As that is still ran by MGM. Opps. I told her I didn't want to have to wait in line again, as there was a decent line waiting for cards and only 2 of them working the booth. I flashed my Gold card from Cosmo and showed her my RW app, where I was Ace. That only got me $200 in comp to match to Icon.
Better than nothing! We didn't need any more free food, we still had about $200 to go through at home base. But you can convert those comp dollars into free play, just not at 1 to 1. So I only got $114 in free play. And what a debacle that was!
The first 3 games I tried to play it on, wouldn't accept my PIN. Even though I had to enter it to get the card. And enter it once more on the kiosk to convert to free play.
Back in line, and they cleared the lock out for me. And it still wouldn't work! Back in line again, and this time I got an email from them telling me to set up my online account. Once I did that, the fucking card worked. But I had to hustle for it!
I guess I found where all the ti people were. They must be over here, cause I haven't seen the Mirage casino this packed in awhile!
I found one of my old favorites, and turned their $114 into $234! This $110 hit was my last spin.
After losing well over a grand today, I was just going to fuck them and leave. The casino is still pretty small and a bunch of the games have long been removed. I don't think I'd stay here, even if they'd have me. But then I saw it!
I rarely call out slot machines in these reports. The last time I did so was many years ago when the Goonies slot first appeared at MGM. Lookey at what Mirage has!
Its just a clone of the newer Gold Standard Machines I keep playing. But Goonies flavored! I had to play it, and it cost me my $300 TITO. But it was fun! If you get the One Eyed Willie skull in the middle reel, it will either be a multiplier or unlock the bonus wheel. I got to do both! While certainly not profitable, it was a nice piece of my childhood brought back to mind. And well worth it!
By now its nearly 2PM. We did play around Mirage for a bit. But I still have ground to make up back at RW. I don't want to dick my host over, and short play her any. We opt for a $20 cab ride back ($10 plus $10 tip) VS walking back in the desert heat.
Lunch was at Suns Out, after realizing there just wasn't much else for our discerning tastes here. We both manage to eat just half of ours, and the kid runs whats left back up to the room. He volunteered to do so, which I assume meant he had to take a shit and I know he doesn't like to use public toilets.
With him gone, I hit up the same slots that started my heater the other day. While down slightly for the trip, I was still up $700 here.
And I held my own! Notice, both of these wins were $120.00. And I got the second one, to put me exactly back to the $121.75 I was at.
By the time he found me, I was down a few hundred bucks. Although I got this Ox hit to get me back half of that.
There was this group of girls camped out on the below slot I wanted to play. I had only seen this game for pennies before, and really wanted to play it for quarters. But they were using the slot for their own personal phone booth / dining area. I could have told on them, and had security make them move. But I didn't want the bad karma.
They finally left, after I lost even more money stalking out the area. And I did manage a bonus game of 11 spins at 2 X. My $15 bet only earned me $161. Another lousy 10 X bonus. I seem to be getting plenty of those this trip.
I took that money over to the stupid Donkey Pinata game I played last time. And I kicked its ass! $10 bets, I hit for $141. And then got the bonus for $360!
I played around some more, until we hit 40,000 more points. That put me over 100,000 points with Resorts World for the 2 night trip, and was just over $25,000 of coin in. When all was said and done, I ended up dropping a grand here. On that much play, that's a good deal. I converted those 100K points into $100 of point play. And just pissed that away playing video poker.
But the night is still young! So we walked over to Circus Circus to see just what kind of air born diseases we could collect! After hopping over a homless guy sleeping in front of Slots-O-Fun. We make our way through to the main casino.
Gambling started off slow. And I was down a couple hundred bucks. I only wanted to play games I couldn't find at RW. And came across this new (to me any way) Fu Babies. And wouldn't you know it, I hit for $260!
Stuck that TITO into $5.00 Top Dollar, and got a pretty fast bonus for $200 more! I cash out that $500 ticket, and was happy being up $300 here.
But the siren song of those older coin slots was calling my name! So I got $20 worth of coins, and the kid started feeding them into the machine as I yanked the handle. No Fucking Way! $200 hit! And the sound of those coins clunking into the tray, brought me back to Vegas of the 90s with my dad!
We filled an entire bucket up, and headed to the cage to turn it into real money.
Here is what the aforementioned Fontainebleau looks like now. She is almost complete, after starting construction over 15 years ago! Although, not sure why its FB on its facade, when Fontainebleau is just one word.
We are both a bit thirsty by now, and we still had resort credits to burn...
So we plowed into a giant icee mountain for $10.00. We ate that shit like Archie and Veronica with two spoons. It was very romantic!
After running the math, we bought a bunch of bottle of coke and a half dozen donuts with the last of our resort credit. We ate the rest of our now cold poutine. And chased that with a donut for dessert. Leaving both of us 2 donuts for breakfast. That way we can snack in the morning, before heading out to Vdara for the last leg of our trip.
Once more, while I didn't win. Resorts World let me play, without taking too much of my money. Which is something that's getting harder and harder to find in Vegas. Even though they are a bunch of Fuck Ups. I'll be back. Like I said before, gambling is the most important thing to me. And I can get plenty of that in here.
Day 3
All packed up and ready to rock! We book out of Resorts World by 9AM, and get to Vdara way too fucking early to check in.
Honestly, I never thought to stay here before. Even though it would work out great with the kids. Since it didn't have a casino, I never considered it. Until I started to dig a bit deeper. Even after 20+ year of Vegas, there was still some stuff I didn't know.
Vdara is not only connected directly into Bellagio, via a short 5 minute elevated cross way directly from the lobby. But both the Aria casino and Cosmo are about a 5 minute walk away as well!
Rooms not ready, and we drop our bags. MGM has this new thing, where you don't need to be checked in in order to use your free play. The day of your stay, its already on your card. Not that I have a ton of free play here. My offer only came with the suite + $225 in free play and $100 in resort credit.
It took about a minute to go from the lobby into the side door of Aria. Ive seen this gift shop before, but never knew Vdara was right outside!
I turn my $225 into about $150 on these old as fuck Spin and Win machines. These games used to be everywhere in Vegas. But now they are pretty hard to find. Aria had a lot of older games for me to play, which is a 180 from Resorts World.
Once my free play was up, I kept playing and did hit for $200! So in my mind, I turned my $225 into $212, where I cashed out.
Both of us were winning here. Not huge hits, but not nothing either. This $170 win on Lobster Mania 2 kept the good vibes chugging. And that was on just a $3.00 bet!
And even though I mentioned that Vdara was connected to Bellagio. For our stay at least, that walkway was out of service. Turns out, they shut it down so they can knock a hole in Cosmo and extend the pathway to them as well. So we had to take the Aria Express to get to Bellagio.
To MGM's credit, they had signs all over stating the walkway was closed. See Treasure Island, how fucking hard is that?
And there she is! Bellagio! So many great memories here! Being at the B is the epitome of Vegas for me. The sites, the smells, the over the top garishness of everything. I love it here!
And per usual, the B was jam packed with like minded people.
So the plan of attack, since MGM royally fucked up their players club program, making it that much harder for me to maintain status. They keep rolling out a series of "better than nothing" bonus points. While much, much shittier than Caesars Rewards bonus program. Its better than nothing.
10,000 tier credits gets you a 5,000 TC bonus. 20,000 gets you a 20,000 bonus. The 10K is doable, even though you need a slide rule and an abacus to figure out their earn rate, now that its based on theoretical losses per machine. The 20K would be ideal. Since if we can hit that today. And then again tomorrow. I'd be at least Gold again.
Here is the official breakdown between CET and MGM Bonus Tier Credits:
CET is straight forward. $5.00 of coin in on a slot, any slot, gives you 1 tier credit. For example, $5,000 coin-in is 1,000 TCs and gets you a 1,000 bonus, so a 100% bonus. $5,000 coin in at MGM gets you a 1,250 bonus, so 25%.
$12,500 coin-in at CET gets you a 200% bonus.
$10,000 coin-in at MGM gets you a 50% bonus.
MGM is much more convoluted. You earn tier credits, based on the theoretical holds of each machine. With Caesars Rewards, those tier credits are always earned at the same rate.
For MGM, $6,250 coin-in at a machine that pays back 90% (10% hold) is $625 in theo. And that earns you 5,000 TCs. Only $5,000 coin-in at 87.5% pay back (12.5%) is still $625 in theo. And still 5,000 TCs. Are you keeping up? There will be a quiz.
They consider their math a bonus to those that play higher holding games. Whereas I consider it a penalty on me, because I play lower holding games. The days of grinding my money on looser slots, to earn points, is pretty much dead here now.
Enough with the math you Nerd!
Bellagio, right out the gate, fucks us both. Hard too! I drop $500 playing around the High Limit room. I was looking for my 21 Gambler machine. A slot I have played for decades here. I cant find her any more.
I have some fleeting luck on this MGM themed game. But on a $9.00 bet, I expected to win a lot more than $130 for matching black 7s X 5 + mixed 7's X 3.
I took that $324 tito into the HL room, where they have this tax avoidance slot I have been looking forward to playing. Instead of giving you $5,000 for 3 Quick Hits off the center line. You get 5 spins of a wheel, where you should win $1,000 per spin. Each spin is its own game. So no taxes, as you never cross the $1,200 mark!
But it wasn't meant to be. I did get a $125 hit once. But I ended up losing almost $500 in this machine alone.
We played on some more, and I lost some more. We took a break for lunch, and burned up some express comps. The resort credits cant be used, until you get checked into your room. As they need a room number to attach it to.
At "Snacks", they have a good combo deal going on right now. A drink, garlic knots and sauce plus a big hunk of roman style pizza or $12. A deal you would laugh at in your local malls food court. But in a fancy resort like Bellagio? That's a deal!
We both gave up on Bellagio after we ate. I know he is down too, but I am afraid to ask how much. I know I am down $1,600 here. Fuck me. Where did I go wrong? My big bets just weren't hitting. Not even those shitty 10 X bonuses. I was getting no bonuses. Variance can be a bitch at times.
I took one last hundo, to try and right the ship. And it was the right move! I got back nearly a third of my losses, on this $480 win. But the damage was done. And we limped out of here the best we could.
Thanks for nothing Bellagio! After I talked you up and everything!
Back on the monorail, and out to Park MGM. I cant even recall what I was playing. I just know I lost $400 in here too. Resorts World play this is not!
I was up a couple hundred at Aria. Down $1,100 at Bellagio. And tossed another $400 into the fire at Park MGM. I have only been playing with MGM for a couple hours, and I am out $1,300.
What can I do? Piss and moan about it? Fuck no! Over to New York New York! You cant dig yourself out of a hole, if you throw down the shovel.
And I started losing here too. I just didn't have the bankroll for the day to keep swinging like I wanted to. I found this Royal Wilds game, with a Mega bonus at 101 wilds. But only at the $2.25 bet level, which was just fine by me at this point.
All I did was win, and win and win on it.
It is worth noting, that NY NY has the Giant new Goonies here as well. And you can play it for as low as quarters if you wanted to.
After cashing out the above, I stuck $40 into Flaming Bonus 7s here. Another slot I have played here for the past 20 years. Its like seeing an old friend. But this one put out!
You don't know how much you won, if you get all matching Red 7s. The lowest you can win, is $300. The most is $1,000. The flaming balls on top start flashing, and where the end is what you get. I got $300. Boo!
Still, that was all my money back here. So no harm no foul. Although the kid took a nut punch.
Still, NY NY has the best remaining theme in Vegas. And even when I'm not winning, I love being in here.
My brother finds this weird slot on the way out. Its one of those newer Advantage Slots they have been shoving down our throats for years. Where if you play the video game aspect well, you earn more in the bonus game. These things always fail. And this was no different. On his $3.00 bet, he won $11.00 in the bonus.
Finally, the text comes through that our room was ready. Thank God! We were just about out of money! We need someplace to cool our jets.
Back to Park MGM, back through to Aria and out to Vdara.
I present to you, the 2 bedroom hospitality suite! It was like having our own condo in the heart of the Strip.
Full kitchen, dining room, Living room and 3 shitters.
The kitchen has everything you'd expect. Full fridge, oven, cook top, microwave, sink, dish washer ETC.
You can even do your own laundry while on vacation! I do like that there is one stand alone chair at the foot of the bed. Whenever I have someone come by to watch me fuck, they usually have to sit on the floor to do so. But not here!
Wraparound windows everywhere. But since you are behind the Strip, the views are a bit Meh.
I did enjoy being able to take a shit and look at the freeway.
To make sure you have what you need. You can call the desk and they will bring you up forks, pots and pans to cook with. And they have an onsite market place as well, where you can buy food to cook yourself. Seems exhausting to me. But considering I usually travel with a celiac. It could come in handy.
I guess Vdara is all about healthy options. Gluten Free Pizza. Vegi pastas and the like. It is an OK assortment of shit, if you wanted to cook your own meal.
They also have a full service deli here, that will make you sandwiches and whatnot. And a restaurant on site. But you are better off going into one of the bigger resorts to eat, if you want more choices.
Back to gambling! No huge wins, but we were able to chug along at Aria all night. I wish I didn't blow so much of my money at Bellagio, as there were a lot of games I would have played higher on here if I didn't fuck myself earlier.
The below $220 on Monopoly was the best I could do this round. Aria gambling is going OK. But I am so low on funds, I just cant bet big to win big.
An OK Wheel of Fortune Spin.
$152 on Mega bucks doesn't help much, as I am now down $3,000 for the day.
We both are pretty sad by now. Sure, we put in a solid days worth of gambling. But at what cost? The hotel did send up a couple Fiji waters and some fruit. Kinda like a "Hey, sorry we took your $4,000. But have a banana on us"
So how did we do after 1 day of gambling with MGM? To quote the movie Hangover "We fucked up". Even after converting that measly $225 in free play, into almost $300. It was still a $3,800 loss. And we only played through $17K. So it was twice the loss that I expected. Shit happens.
I asked at the club desk, how many points I earned today. I have an MGM credit card, and I knew I had a handful of tier credits on the account from that. But like a dummy, I didn't think to take a screen grab prior to playing.
But once I know how many I earned now, I could just subtract that from my total TC's. And then I would know what I started with. Turns out, I had 1068.
So on $16,686.66 coin in. I earned a whopping 16,879 tier credits. Plus I over kicked my coverage, as I only got 5,000 Bonus TC's on the promo. That kicked in at 10,000. If I just pushed for another 3,121 TC's, I would have gotten a 20,000 Tier Credit bonus. So I fucked that up, but I really lost way more than I wanted to. And I didn't want to spend the last of my money right now, and be broke for tomorrow.
Unlike day one, where I was too exited to sleep after all that winning. By the end of day 3, I sobbed myself to sleep pretty fast.
Day 4, Last day.
As promised. Here is your first look at the soon to be hole in the side of Cosmo. To the left of that, is the walkway from Vdara to Bellagio. And in other news, there is a Fire Department under Vdara?
Super easy to get to Cosmo from here. Walk out of Vdara, and hang a left. You'll see a set of stairs, or an elevator. Either one will get you to the ground floor. From there, the entrance to the Cosmo's parking garage is immediately to your left.
MGM painted all kinds of signs and laid out a pedestrian path to make it safe to get in from here. It dumps you right into the check in area.
The plan for today is, since we are in such dire straights gambling wise. Is to go to Cosmo and steal my $300 in free play from them. Since my host left for Resorts World, and my newly assigned Cosmo host doesn't want to do shit, beyond have me book my own offers online. I have zero plans of staying with them. So if Rome burns, so be it.
With the assumption, that once they are under the full MGM banner. My rated MGM play will get me back in if I wanted to. And I could use my good MGM host, to then book my stays for me at Cosmo.
I hit the rewards desk, get my free play loaded and add my BOGO buffets.
Its been awhile since I've done any kind of buffet. They seem to be a dying breed in Vegas these days. And when did the breakfast buffet here go up from $29 to $39 during the week?
The food was fine. $20e fine. If we had to pay $80 for the 2 of us, it would have been a huge ripoff.
After converting my $300 into $330 on video poker. There was a lot of games we wanted to play. Fuck it! Lets jump in! I am canceling the steal.
Not many big hits for me, but the kid was doing well. He could sit and play Anchorman for hours on end. And I think Cosmo might have the last pair in Vegas.
They have the last 5 line Elvis Slot on the Strip, for every place we gambled. And that stole $200 from me. But I did OK on the below, and left Cosmo with a couple hundred bucks, and managed to do $4,000 coin. Which is solid, considering I was just going to rob them.
Back over to Aria, but still way, way down on gambling funds. I did take a grand out of the ATM, which I hate doing. But desperate times and all!
And I got fucked, for a good hour. I wasn't betting big, and even when I was winning, they were nothing to write home about.
I was $200 into some old Hawaiian Hula game I found, that's a really oldie. I chased that bonus, and when I finally got it. I won $50 on my $10 bet. Lame.
Hells Bells did a bit better. $134 win on a $5.00 bet.
That $180 TITO was the last of my money. So I swung for the fences! $10 bets on Maggie and the Martians. Go big or go broke.
And, I won! $380 line hit, and now I had $405.
I played on, $130 hit, then a $185 hit. Then a $90 hit and finally a $275 hit. This is the gambling euphoria I mentioned at the start of this trip. The feeling in your tummy you get, when gambling is so easy! I had $40 left to my name, down $4,000 on the trip. $3,000 of that, in the past 24 hours! Now I am clutching a ticket worth a grand.
I finally got the bonus, but it was only worth $40. In my face! I took that as my sign to cash out.
I went back to my tried and true Spin and Win machines, and spin and win I did.
I ran through a few hundred playing in the old High Limit room. Where I flushed my $100 in point play through it. I had a couple of decent hits, the best being for $250 on my $15 bets. But not enough to make up any ground. The new High Limit room is just weird. Like something out of Star Trek. And not the colorful fun 1960s Star Trek. But of of the menacing Deep Space 9 version. Everything was dark, and the machines were in these catacombs.
I decide to pocket half the $1,000 I took out of the ATM, and shut things down for the day. Outside of Aria, and small run at New York New York, MGM beat us both into submission this trip.
Today's loss at MGM was $1500. But a few hundred of that was Cosmo's money.
For tier credits, I ended up with 29,926. - 1068 that I came with. -5,000 from the bonus I earned last night. And that is just 23,858 on $24,304 of coin in. Or, just 1 TC for every dollar I ran through. Before they broke their players club, for every $3.00 of coin in you got 10 tier credits. So now it takes triple as much play for the same status. Just pitiful!
2 days gambling with Resorts World, and I had just over $25,000 coin in. And I lost $1,000 in doing so. Sure, they gave me a lot more free play. Which was then cycled into my coin in. But not enough to really throw off the math.
2 days gambling with MGM, and I had just under $25,000 coin in. And lost a staggering $5,633. 5 times as much as RW.
Sure, my actual loss wasn't the combined $6600. As I had over $1,500 in free play this trip. And that was turned into money I ended up losing as well. My actual out of pocket was still close to $4,000. Making this one of my biggest losing trips ever in Vegas. I might put a little distance between this one, and my next one. Vegas is just losing its value to me.
