Will post as a reply.
TR 3/18-3/22, Flamingo %26amp; March Madness
This is my first TR, which came at the urging of my sister who is a regular contributor on the site. So if it%26#39;s too long and boring, I apologize.
The first half of the trip (Sunday - Wednesday) was a business conference in San Diego. I stayed at the Sheraton Hotel %26amp; Marina. Very nice hotel, but I didn’t get a chance to see much of the town. I left Vegas on Wednesday to meet a couple of friends from back home (T %26amp; C) in Vegas for the basketball tournament.
Wednesday, March 18th
I got in town a few hours before my friends, so I checked in at the Flamingo, went to the convenience store by Battista’s to get some water and beer, then headed to the Venetian to cash in my Steelers’ future bet for this past Super Bowl. My friends got in around 7:30-8:00 and checked in. They had paid to upgrade to a Go room, but were told they were sold out, so they ended up in a standard room like me. The rooms were clean, but definitely old and in need of renovating. Had dinner at Margaritaville and then headed to Paris and gambled some there. I had no luck at either blackjack or let it ride.
Thursday, March 19th
Thursday morning, we were up early for the basketball games. First, we hit the Paris buffet which was very good. My only complaint is that it took us forever to get our drinks. They put us in the back room and my one friend actually had to go out and find a waitress to get some drinks because we had already finished our first plate of food. Poor drink service seemed to be a reoccurring theme of the weekend. Paris was especially bad. Besides the buffet, it was almost impossible to get a drink while gambling there, too. It actually seemed to get better as we got closer to the weekend as I assume they had more waitresses working. I understand that weekdays are normally slower, but they had to figure that the casinos would be a little more crowded for the tournament. Anyway, after breakfast, we headed to the Paris theatre to watch the games. I broke even on my morning bets and we were all feeling pretty good after countless buckets of beer. After the second set of games, we went back to the casino and gambled a little more, mainly roulette. My bad luck streak continued as my friends started calling me “the cooler” as I was starting to affect them, too.
After the numerous beers and more losing, we decided a nap might be order. Apparently, while I was sleeping off the buzz and bad vibes, my friends decided to try their luck at the Flamingo casino, but unfortunately described it as a “bloodbath.” After my nap, I called them and told them I would be down to meet them for dinner in a little. After a quick shower, I headed down to their room to find their door propped open, but when I went in, the room was dark and they were both passed out in their beds. My buddy T woke up and about jumped through the roof as he thought I was an intruder in their rob them. C never woke up and ended up sleeping through the night. T showered and we headed to the Venetian for dinner at Grand Lux. This was my first time there and I thought it was really good. It wasn’t crowded at all and we were seated right away. You could tell it is owned by the same folks as Cheesecake Factory as the food was similar. After dinner, we decided to take a break from gambling and checked out Palazzo, Wynn and Encore as he had never been to any of them and it was my first chance to see Encore. Wynn and Encore were really dead this night. I hope for their sake it picked up over the weekend.
Friday, March 20th
In the morning we headed back to the Paris theatre for more basketball. This time we skipped the buffet and early morning Bud Lights. One of the registers at the temporary betting station was not working making the lines extra long. We were concerned we weren’t going to be able to get in the Syracuse bet because it was the first games and we were stuck way back in line. Fortunately, we just got it in and were happy we did as it paid off for all of us. The theatre was definitely more crowded on Friday which made for a great atmosphere except when was I was trying to root for my hometown Pitt Panthers who were struggling against the 16 seed. That turned everyone into underdog fans, but luckily my Panthers pooled it out (but they didn’t cover my bet). After the Pitt game we headed to, to the Hawaiian Tropic restaurant in Planet Hollywood. Average food, but good atmosphere.
That night, no one was really hungry, so we just hit Chipotle outside of Harrah’s. Then we went to Treasure Island for blackjack because I knew they had $10 tables and thought they might pay 3:2 on blackjacks. We found a good table, but were disappointed to find that they only pay 6:5 on blackjacks just like the Harrah’s properties. I know everyone says ';don’t play blackjack with 6:5 payouts,'; but seriously, where can you find 3:2 mid-strip? I couldn’t find it anywhere. We did, however, get comfortable at the TI tables and played there for about 4-5 hours straight. At about 3:00 a.m., I was pretty tired and kind of drunk (the drink service was better than Paris) and decided to head back to the Flamingo about $100 up (I finally broke the cold streak and it only got better). My friends kept playing, so I stumbled back to my room by myself, crossing over the Strip at the crosswalk by Venetian. As I took the escalator down toward the Venetian, I suddenly realized a young lady going up the escalator was talking to me:
Her: “where are you going?”
Me: “to my room.”
Her: “with me?”
Me: “No thanks.”
And that was the end of my first encounter with a working girl as she kept going up the escalator never to be seen again. I didn’t think my pregnant wife back home would appreciate me sampling the local fare, so I had to politely turn her down.
Saturday, March 21st
I slept in a little on Saturday because I had already bet on the early games the night before. Plus, I knew my friends would not be up very early after their late night gambling. We met up and headed over to Caesar’s to find a place for lunch. Ate lunch at the Planet Hollywood in Caesar’s. It was pretty good. You may notice a reoccurring theme of us eating at standard, chain-type restaurants. I know, it’s not very exciting, but the three of us went to Vegas for basketball and table games, not fancy restaurants. After lunch, we had wanted to go the pool for a while as the two previous days were beautiful, but Saturday was overcast and windy so we scrapped that idea. My friends were still struggling from the night before so they headed back to the room. I went to the Venetian to place some more future bets for myself and friends (the Venetian consistently has, by far, the best future odds of any of the sports books I have been to) After I placed my bets, I stuck around to watch the end of the games that were on and played some Wheel of Fortune (the only slot machine I like). Lost about $50 and headed back to the Flamingo. My sports bets went really well that day as I won them all including a two-team and three-team parlay.
I then showered and got changed for the evening and met my friends at some video poker machines downstairs. Played some vp for a while and then headed to Toby Keith’s for dinner. Food was good and atmosphere was fun as we were all into the Duke-Texas and Gonzaga-WKU games. Especially me as Texas and WKU both covered to hit my three team parlay with Purdue. After dinner, we went back to TI for blackjack. It wasn’t as much fun as the dealer was miserable and we just weren’t feeling it. I still managed to break even before we went back to Flamingo to finish our last night. I have failed to mention that all while we have been wondering through casinos, my friend C has been playing a lot of roulette. He likes to play black chips on red-black or odd-even. When we got back to the Flamingo, he settled in at a table and I wondered around for a little while. I came back to find him in the middle of a nice run of red hitting for him. It had probably hit 8-10 times in a row when I arrived. He had a nice stack of chips and was still betting red. By this time, everyone was convinced that black was due to hit and was betting against him. Much to their dismay, red it another 7 or 8 times in a row before finally hitting black. C had a nice payday (though he was still WAY down) and we walked away. He had never played let it ride so he wanted to watch for a little while. I thought about playing, but usually I lose my money really fast. We watched for a little bit and I decided to play. C watched for a little longer and then decided to find another roulette table. I was doing okay, down about $50, when I was dealt three 5s. This was my first ever “big hit” at let it ride. I quietly put my cards down under my chips without saying anything. The dealer then flipped over a King, and then another King to give me a full house. I quickly was trying to do the math in my head ($10 bets, $5 three card bonus bet, $1 bonus). After all was said and done and the pit boss had approved it, my winnings on the hand was $630. I tipped the dealer $20 and played a couple more hands before leaving with my winnings. I decided I would leave Vegas with a good taste in my mouth and didn’t do anymore gambling.
Sunday, March 22nd
Sunday morning, we got up, headed to the airport and flew home. It was another windy day which made for a very bumpy takeoff. All in all, it was a good trip, which is a good thing, because the new baby will probably make this my last trip for a while.
TR 3/18-3/22, Flamingo %26amp; March Madness
Glad you had a good trip. When is the baby due?
thanks for the TR, not boring at all.
thanks for sharing
I would of hated being bumped from the To Go Rooms at Flamingo. But, it did seem you spent much time in the room anyway but to sleep, so money saved there I guess.
sorry, meant - you ';did not'; spend much time in the room
Too bad you didn%26#39;t get to spend a couple of days seeing San Diego, it really is very nice.
And that really sucks, paying for a GO room and getting downgraded. At some hotels it doesn%26#39;t matter that much, but at Flamingo that is a huge downgrade.
Sounds like you enjoyed the March Madness experience. Thanks for the report.
Stillers - can you give me a little idea of what the Paris set-up is like for the games? I%26#39;m thinking of going next year for the first weekend of MM. Are all the tv%26#39;s HD, and do they have all of the games on at once? How big is the room that they set up in?
Thanks everyone for the replies.
Luck B A Lady - The baby is due in mid-June
jakbnimble - It%26#39;s the theatre down near check-in at Paris. They set up four large, projection screen TVs in the room. They are not HD. One game is put on each screen and the guy working the controls switches the sound from game-to-game depending on the situation. You don%26#39;t have to be there at 5 a.m. to get a seat or anything. I heard it seats about 1,500. The theatre actually doesn%26#39;t open until 8:00, but don%26#39;t wait too long to get there. It does eventually fill up and not all the seats are great. If you get stuck in a corner or right up front, it might be hard to see. We actually went up to the last row, which wasn%26#39;t bad because we could stand up if we wanted without being in anyone%26#39;s way. They open up the snack bar to sell hot dogs and buckets of Bud and Bud Light. The betting lines are long, but no longer than the sports books.
Finally a trip report from you - great job on your first one!!!! Sorry you had to tell me about it. I checked for a couple days then figured it would be like your previous trips - no report.
I am so happy for you - a full house on let it ride the last night you were there. That is so awesome. I hope I can do that some day. My best hand on that game to date was a straight.
Great trip report and may I say you have a great sister too. Please keep visiting.
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