Embedded Files
Wednesday
The usual suspects for this trip. Mr. & Mrs Grid. I've been to Vegas for X-Mas once before, but it was a boys trip for my brothers 21st birthday. So needless to say I didn't really get to take in the holiday spirit and decorations with that type of debauchery happening. Mirage sent me an offer that was too good to pass up. 3 nights comped, $200 in free play & $100 in eats. So I book a cheap flight out on Spirit at $300 for us both and we seek out a way to get back all the money we spent on Christmas gifts. Trust me, with a big Irish Catholic family that adds up fast! Funds are capped for me at just $300 a day. Figure in my free play ($200) I have $1K to play with. The extra hundo for cabs tips and what not.
We had no idea the NFR was in town. For those of you that don't know, its the National Finals Rodeo. I've never seen so many Cowboy hats and giant belt buckles in one place before. They were all over town. I loved it! Sure I'm a city boy, but I always wanted to be a Cowboy. We saw one high roller with a buckle so large he couldn't sit to play the slots, he had to lean way back!
Flight out sucks, we land late but the room is ready. Rock Star views of the strip. I can see from Encore down to Harrahs. And we can watch the volcano show from our room. Its 12/12/12 and their are wedding parties all over mingling with the Cowpokes for attention.
There was a problem with my account that I caught right before we left. Some how these fuckers at MGM stole $40.00 in comps off me during my sleep. Sure its only $40.00 but that's my $40! They said I used some seeing the shark reef back in 2011 and they forgot to charge me for it, so I have to cough it up now. That's nice. With that, and their new program changes, I don't feel the need to be my usually compulsive self this trip. I'll get what I get and I wont chase comps or tier levels like I've been.
If you have read my other trip reports you'd know I have a Morgan Silver dollar for good luck. I flip that bad boy before I head down to gamble. Heads I win (or at the very least wont lose) and tails, well tails means I might as well watch TV for the night. I flip andddddddddddddddddd Fuck. Tails. Spongebob isn't on right now, so I push my luck.
The little troll at the MLife booth had to activate my free play and didn't want to hear my bitching about that $40.00 at all. He said it might have rolled off, but didn't know. Either way I should be happy that I have $200 now. I say I'd be happier with $240.00 but whatever. I convert that free play money into about $180.00 playing Deuces Wild video poker.
Now its time to strike it rich! I do well, not great but no slap in the face. Plenty of small hits. The wife is hanging in there as well. I keep playing Kitty Glitter for nickles and lose. A lot. Like $40.00 each try. Same goes with Cleopatra I & II. Just cant bonus on them at all. I do great on these at my local casinos, but cant win now. No worries whatever I lose on them, I make back on the boring Mechanical Reel dollar slots. We never played anything but the old reel type slots. But once you get a taste of the crack cocaine that is penny slotting its hard to stay with the old boring slots!
We head over to Bellagio since its so close. Up and down per the norm. I got my $180 converted free play money up to $240.00 at one time but slowly the B is taking that. I'm down to $100.00 left of the "On the house" money and I go to cash out when I see a Giant Double Double 7's machine $5.00 a push. Spin one nada. Spin 2 $80.00. Back to good. No picture as I snuck off to play it while the wife cashed out her TITO.
The gardens are as nice as ever.
Have dinner at the Carnegie Deli, it was OK. Usually I love it, but their omelets sucked. Very dry. But its free and the staff is always nice so I'm happy.
For the most part day one went like it should. I played all night on that converted free play. So it didn't cost me a dime to play. The wife did OK as well. No one was rich but we chased our jackpots. I put a lot through Megabucks. Since it was sitting at $17.3 Million! But nope. Go to bed and just happy to be back at "home".
Thursday
This should be the best day of the trip. Wednesday was a 1/2 day. Friday will be the last day in town, so we usually pull up stakes early for bed. Plus the last day is always the sad day since it means the trip is almost over. We fly out early Saturday so I only have these 2 days to make my money.
I get up at 6:00AM. That's just what I do. Hide in the john, text my brother at work and regale him with tales of my adventure thus far. Flip the Morgan, Heads! Today will be a winner! How my wife can lay in bed sleeping with the news that I just got heads and I'm ready to go is beyond me. After about an hour of me staring out the window at the strip and nervously (and excitingly) twitching my leg like I'm working a sewing machine, finally she gives in. After I started jumping on the bed...
They say it might rain, so I grab my Cubs hat just to play it safe.
The day starts off well. Mirage has their little atrium decked out for the seasons. This display was of 3 Polar Bears. But here is just one of them. Those crafty fucks move fast!
My mission this trip is to take pictures of all the Holiday happenings for everyone that reads my little site. So I plan the day as such. Walk through all the Caesars casinos and take pictures of their festive displays end up at MGM, burn some Express comps on lunch and head back from Mandalay Bay gambling and taking photos. Hitting many jackpots along the way.
First up to bat is Harrahs. Walk through, nothing. Head over to their lobby. Maybe a little tree or some garland. Pretty weak. Not even worth taking my camera out. But I do see a Napoleon & Josephine slot with a must hit progressive. The mini was at $47 (must hit by $50) and the big boy was at $474.00 (must hit by $500)! Why this machine was just sitting there and no one was trying to pluck it I have no idea. I check the game stats and it hit the big one at $487 & $492 the last time. I never play these.
In my experience the games pay back like shit since a lot of wins feed the progressives. I once saw my kid brother blow through $500.00 in 30 minutes chasing one of these without hitting it. But he is a loser, and I'm not so against my better judgement I slip in my card and a hundo. Max betting! First hundo nothing, it moved up like $0.80! I once got 20 something free games at Max Bet ($2.00) for like $17 bucks.
The wife chips in $40. Nothing. I feed another hundo and hit the mini for like $48. I get the Major up to $477 and we are back to even on the machine. Then the wheels fall off the cart. My money, her money before you know it we dump over $300.00 in this jerk and its only at $480.00 so I walk away. Pissed, but I leave it before losing all my money and risking it not hitting.
Well, that's what happens when you are a gambler. Now I have no money left for the day, its like 8:00AM but we solider on. Stop in to check out the scene at IP, sorry, the Quad. New entrance but that's about it. Still the same old shithole. I would like one of those Dragon Head buttresses though before they rip them out. No decor so we head to Ballys. Same thing, very depressing. No Holiday love. I gamble some borrowed money from my Friday stash but lose it.
Head to Paris and see one of their lone tree. If the french don't care about the holidays why should I?
Gamble some here, trying to dig myself out of a hole to no avail. Now I'm in for another $100 of Fridays money. But I've been here before. Keep chasing and something will break free. I've always rebounded! Head into Planet Ho. They have a promo going in the mall where they are giving away free gift bags.
The bags are nice by themselves. Inside they have a tin of mints, coupon book, snack bar, water bottle and a coupon for Garrett's Popcorn snack bag. They are a Chicago Popcorn place that just opened up in Vegas. I'm a Chicago guy so I know how small the snack bags are. They toss those into the crowds during parades here. But still. Free is free. These gift bags might even have a $50.00 gift card in them. So its like gambling for free!
We got no gift card but headed over to redeem our popcorn cards. Turns out they didn't advertise this very well, and we had the only 2 bags given out (you have to sign a sheet and they card you to make sure you don't double dip, we were the only signatures on the list). Garrett's seemed confused, but the manager told them to fill up 2 small bags and give it to us. The small bags are $4.99 each and the size of a football. This cant be right, but with everything else going wrong all day I just take it and run.
We go through the coupon book and they have one for a free appetizer at Panda Express. We both are plenty smart, and look for the fine print. There is none. Score number 2! I walk in there and slap them on the counter and order up some egg rolls. They tell me I have to buy a drink and a dinner. I say Bull Shit, show me that on here. The manager grabs a big sign sitting next to the register that reads "Sorry there was a misprint in the Miracle Mile coupon book..... Go fuck yourself". That's more like my luck!
Planet Ho has nothing for X-Mas that I can see, Scrooges. And we end up in the new little mall on top of Walgreens on that corner. Even Eli Roth has the Holiday sprit at his Goretorium, but not CET? Tisk Tisk.
We don't gamble at the HO, since we have never once won anything there and finally make it to MGM! I get my nachos for lunch and look at all the cowboy stuff. If you are a Rodeo fan, which I am not, you should be at MGM for the NFR. They have everything, the best display and plenty of meet and greats to go along with autograph signings of your favorite stars. It was still cool to see. I guess people go nuts over this stuff.
Where lions once played is now a stage for plenty of hick music. Sad...
I play some Lions Share with its legendary progressive that hasn't hit in over a decade and sits at 2.5 Million. Stick in $30.00 and 10 spins later......... Nothing not a single hit! I promptly lose $80.00 and turn around and leave. Why come up heads if it was all a lie?
By the time we take the tram to Mandalay Bay I'm down like $600.00 of my $300 daily budget. I'm so frustrated that I didn't even think to look for X-Mas stuff here but I did manage to piss away more money. Same goes for Luxor. The only thing I lost at Excalibur was interest in gambling there so I didn't play. I did buy a couple of Notre Dame hats from lids in their mall though. BOGO 1/2 off the second. I've been waiting since High School for them to be good again. Plus I'm Irish so I like the little leprechaun. One Black & one Green.
Get into New York New York and see a giant wreath. And also saw a few more ways to lose.
I have no idea whats happening. I'm playing all the games I normally play. Just not winning. I give up on Megabucks and the high risk games and I'm playing the normal beatable stuff I'm just sucking in the bonus games. The games I normally hit for $100.00 in a bonus like Spin & Win or Top Dollar are coughing up pathetic wins like $15.00 & $20.00.
We run through Monte Carlo since its now raining. In a desert. Figures the way my day turned to shit. I don't play here since I'm now down $700.00. Yup. I only have a hundo left to play with for the entire trip. And its like 4:00PM.
At Aria...
Take the Aria Express to Bellagio, see a chocolate Santa and wonder if they eat him when all is said and done. And if so does it taste like dust since he sat out for a couple months?
Since its raining outside still we walk through Caesars Palace for some free activities like looking, but not shopping, in their mall. We make our way into the Forum Casino and Holy Shit, its Gordon Ramsey standing in front of us for a photo op at the opening of his new place.
I had a picture of us with him, but Photobucket, the piece of shit that it is, ate it. I have a hard copy somewhere. I'll find it one day!
Not much fanfare. Pretty much just us, him and his staff and a lone photographer. Pretty neat. Swing back into the Mirage and watch some SpongeBob.
Its now like 7:00, I'm racking my brain at what I'm doing wrong. I flipped the coin. I don't wear lucky socks or anything. That would be stupid. I know the wife isn't a jinx I've won with her before. Think Grid you dumb bastard what are you doing?!?! Fuck me! I've been wearing the Cubs hat! If that doesn't embody losing I don't know what does! I grab the black Notre Dame hat and we head over to The Venetian for their free parade.
Looks like its rained out so we'll try again tomorrow.
We do see a bunch of people in the area between Venetian & Plazzo .
For whatever reason their theme was White Peacocks. I don't get it. I have a friend named Battani, and he has all kinds of white porcelain figurines around his house. Maybe this is an Italian thing. I don't know.
Take a look at this Fucking Nightmare! No clue what she has to due with Christmas, or Peacocks-Fest.
We end up gambling my last $20.00 at Treasure Island and I hit for $80.00 on a dollar Spin & Win. Play around some more and I'm doing well. Get back to Mirage with a hundred dollar bill and I start my come back. End up playing for another 2 hours on that bill but lose. Below is a gingerbread pirate ship at Treasure Island.
Sorry it looks like shit, they stuck it in the small glass box in their revolving door. I actually had to spin around in it a couple times trying to get this shot.
End up in bed by midnight sad and penniless. Good thing I gave the wife $25.00 the night before when I was up for cab fare. I have done stupid shit like this before so I hedged my bet just in case.
Friday
I dump the black Notre Dame hat. It did me OK, but did not turn me into a winner. For the first time in my life. I do the walk of shame. We head down to CVS and I take $300.00 out of my account. What can I do? I pissed away over $700.00 in cash in one night. No real hits to show for it. I'm now grasping at straws.
The sun is shining so we hit the CVS near Monte Carlo and walk outside to the MGM.
The stupid ATM spit out all $20's. I like hanging onto a hundo so I know where I am. Way too easy to keep grabbing for another $20.00. Obviously if there's one thing I know its money management!
I still haven't broken the hundo win mark but I'll take anything right now. Walk over to NY NY and take them for $20.00 after up and downing for awhile.
End up in Monte Carlo and play on the greatest Munsters video slot around. Its a new machine running the old software. Slow and steady I get a $5.00 bill (playing at nickles) up to $40.00. End up play this silly old video slot. Something Leprechaun related. I must have sat there through a couple beers and almost an hour. Slowly bumping my way to winning $100.00 total. Probably the best slot in Vegas, I'll go back to her again some day. Pull out of the Monte with exactly $135.00 in profit. By now I'm up $200.00 for the day, with plenty of play through.
Walk around and win win win. Nothing huge. $20.00 here, $20.00 there. Stick and move just like I used to play. I get up over $200.00 and hand the wife some money. I'm like Curly in the 3 Stooges now when he inherited a fortune. I'm lighting cigars with $100.00 bills!
Back to home base to eat up some of our $100.00 in free food and go for the buffet. We did it here before for breakfast and I hated it. Why I thought dinner at $30.00 each would be any better is beyond me. Even for free it sucked. F for selection, there were probably 7 stations but only like 4 or 5 things at each. F for bland food. I tried a little from each section. Pizza, shit, Mashed and gravy, shit, Tamales and chips, shit you get the picture. What didn't taste bad just tasted bland. The desert area was even worse. They put their cupcakes in a freezer so they where hard as rocks. Outside of some cookies they just didn't have much there. Boo! I don't think I've ever had a good buffet at an MGM casino before.
Finally Venetian puts on their little show. It was OK. A little lame.
First they ice skate. But not overly well. I've seen the Olympics so I know what good skating is. It was better than I could have done, but lets see them do my job I bet they'd suck at that. Notice in the background, in case skating was too Christmassy, they pulled out a giant menorah on a wagon.
What do you want for nothin? Rubber Biscuit? (Look it up)
Getting late now we walk through their casino and I spot a $1.00, 2 credit Pinball machine. I love these. A few spins in. And I finally won my hundo.
Played on through the night. Ended up giving some back trying to chase my entire lose. But in the end I went from the brink of blowing through over a grand and ruing my Perception of Vegas. Normally I'm a good loser, but going down so fast and so hard hit me like a ton of bricks. And seeing that someone hit my Mega Bucks for that 17 Mil didnt help. Nor did the guy that tried to run across the street against traffic in front of Harrahs and got hit by a car. Stopping all North bound lanes on the strip. Or the murder suicide at Excalibur. Thinking back, a lot of crazy shit happened in town while I was there. The fact that the trip ended up costing me just over $500.00 makes me think I got out of town pretty light.
Page Views
All images on this site are original content and taken by us, you may not use any of our images without our written approval. The Grid.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse