Vegas trip report

Baberuth

Well-Known Member
#1
I love standing on the bridge between MGM and NYNY, viewing the strip and knowing I am in the best vacation place in the world and the trip just might be free or better.
Orleans was great to play with fun dealers and friendly pit personnel. The 2 deck game was the standard Vegas h17,das and the pen was .75.
We watched others betting 300-500 often at the 25 min. table which was more than our 8 unit max. and good for us.
Everyone has their own cover techniques so I will not boor you with mine.
It was easy to get in a game with just 1 or 2 players at either the 5 min. or the 25 min.
We ran into no one counting. We did well.

MB had the same 25 min. game and some 15 min. at slow times. They also had a couple 50 min. and 100 min. games. The first session we had, we were sweated by a female pit all stone faced and cold. We left after one round. After that we had many sessions and it was fun. We did see one guy going from 1 unit to 12 units while playing 2 hands. We heard the pit say to the dealer he was a counter, but they let him play on. he moved to another table after a while and we stayed and won. There was also a 25 min. 6 deck game which I played and did well.

MGM 6 deck games were plentiful. Same rules and pen as above. The higher limit games were empty or almost empty when we checked.

NYNY had 6 deck games with same rules and we played for a short time and were ahead.

Excalibur had many good 2 deck games with 10-25 minimums and same rules. This was a change from the last trips. We had fun playing there with no heat left plus for both sessions.

Bellagio had a 6 deck 25 min. and no 25 2 deck games. What a beautiful place.

Aria had one table of 25 min. 2 deck, but all else was 8 deck. We did not play there.

Luxor- had a few 25 min. games, but we never played there

MC had nothing for us. all 8 deck.

Cosmopolitan was fun and had 2 deck 25 min. same rules and a fun pit and 2 dealers who were fun. They seemed to be recruiting new customers. They let me win and leave twice while chatting about golf, fishing and staying there in the future. I liked being treated so nice. Pen .75

GC was sweaty so we did not play.

El Cortez – One deck, good rules. We finally went and I played the 5 min. just for fun and one of us played 25 min. with a 1 to 4 spread. He was watched 80% of the time, but allowed to win several hundred. I didn’t think we should both play at the 25 min. table. A bet of 45 dollars drew a call from the dealer for checks play. The pit never looked over as they both were interested in the 25 min. game. I noticed the pit guys were extremely well dressed for any casino. They looked all business. We will always stop there and play from now on.

Other fun. Big Al’s Oyster Bar at the Orleans was fabulous. The 3 of us ordered different dishes and shared. All excellent.
We had great steak and eggs at Raffles in MB.

We had 100 coronas and slept only when we had to.

The light show Friday night downtown was worth going, but playing in the El Cortez made the cab ride worth it.

On the strip a group of young kids were doing the Jackson Five and we enjoyed it. they had quite a crowd around them.

We didn’t fish Lake Mead this time, but last time we chartered a boat for half a day and caught over 40 striped bass. We followed the gulls, who followed the bait fish and had the bass following them. I never realized what a wonderful fishing hole you all have there.

St. Roses Hospital - Thanks Doc Martinez, Brian and staff.

Can’t wait to go back and it may be soon. I love Las Vegas.

Babe
 

aslan

Well-Known Member
#2
Nice report. Makes me feel like returning sooner than my planned trip. How many of you were there? Apparently, no back offs-- good going. Did MGM or Mandalay Bay have LS? I thought one or both did my last trip. You did not make it to The M Resort, but I take it you did not have a car since you took a taxi downtown. Did you go by Mirage, Treasure Island, Venetian or Wynn? You did take in a lot-- how many days? Again, good and informative report for those who already know Vegas. Did you get any meal comps? I've had a few that gave me excellent restaurant comps ($50 to $100), Mandalay Bay, which you went to was one of them, and they have some excellent restaurants-- but then, those were times when I played longer than usual. My sessions are much shorter nowadays. BTW, did you play rated?
 

Baberuth

Well-Known Member
#3
Missed the M resort

I had M resort in the plans and ran out of time and energy. I did not see LS. We had a car and drank coronas too much to drive. We were ahead from the start and didn’t care about cab costs. I was there 6 days and my 2 sons were there 4 days. I lost a day in the hospital with a-fib, got shocked back. Never missed a beat after that. We play rated and get comp rooms & food. There is no reason to get tapped with good cover and short play. I can’t believe they let a guy push out 2 hands of 300 from a 25 min. bet. They knew he was counting and never backed him off. Maybe they did later. I don’t know if he was rated. I don’t know if I would have done anything different on this trip. I did miss M resort, GVR and the Mirage. We would have made the Venetian and Wynn with more time. I have been to many other casinos and enjoyed the visit, but for the time we had, we needed to narrow it down to where we could score and have as much fun as possible.
 

aslan

Well-Known Member
#4
Baberuth said:
I had M resort in the plans and ran out of time and energy. I did not see LS. We had a car and drank coronas too much to drive. We were ahead from the start and didn’t care about cab costs. I was there 6 days and my 2 sons were there 4 days. I lost a day in the hospital with a-fib, got shocked back. Never missed a beat after that. We play rated and get comp rooms & food. There is no reason to get tapped with good cover and short play. I can’t believe they let a guy push out 2 hands of 300 from a 25 min. bet. They knew he was counting and never backed him off. Maybe they did later. I don’t know if he was rated. I don’t know if I would have done anything different on this trip. I did miss M resort, GVR and the Mirage. We would have made the Venetian and Wynn with more time. I have been to many other casinos and enjoyed the visit, but for the time we had, we needed to narrow it down to where we could score and have as much fun as possible.
Well, you certainly seem to have achieved your objective. GVR I found very boring, but maybe on another day it would be okay. pen was mediocre, and all I could do was break even. Mirage I hear is too much heat. Wynn is mainly a sight to see. The M is the only good game I believe you missed of those mentioned. Also, maybe the Venetian double deck some times, but it is often $50 min when I've been there in the past, at least in the evenings, and there is no grandfathering.
 

bj21abc

Well-Known Member
#5
tolerance of low/mid-level counters

Reading between the lines of quite a few recent posts, adding that to my own trip experiences, it seems that some or even many of Vegas' higher-end stores have understood that low and mid-level counters do not represent any serious threat to their bottom line (or that the damage caused by barring ploppies misidentified as APs outweighs the benefits of backing off counters).

In many cases (I include myself in this category) whatever camo one puts up, your betting spread is fairly transparent if you are playing anywhere near a strong (counting) game.

Could it be that the counter paranoia is easing up in some places, giving way to a more practical, Zender-like approach ? Win-win for all sides ?....

D.
 

aslan

Well-Known Member
#6
bj21abc said:
Reading between the lines of quite a few recent posts, adding that to my own trip experiences, it seems that some or even many of Vegas' higher-end stores have understood that low and mid-level counters do not represent any serious threat to their bottom line (or that the damage caused by barring ploppies misidentified as APs outweighs the benefits of backing off counters).

In many cases (I include myself in this category) whatever camo one puts up, your betting spread is fairly transparent if you are playing anywhere near a strong (counting) game.

Could it be that the counter paranoia is easing up in some places, giving way to a more practical, Zender-like approach ? Win-win for all sides ?....

D.
If you overstay your welcome in the larger casinos, you will find that they are still more than happy to back you off. But there is, even then, a certain tolerance level. If you're under a $1,000 in winnings, it may be more trouble than it's worth to back you off, but don't take that to mean they have not ID'ed you or that you're free to run up a nice win after you should have left. As a general rule, respect them and they will respect you. Stay for a good plus count, then politely leave for the next store.

If you get heat right from the start, play it by ear. You should still be able to get a good run in if they haven't already called upstairs. I mean, how many places have you evaluated because they don't like the way you part your hair? If they do, you must be blatantly telegraphing your intentions.
 

Lonesome Gambler

Well-Known Member
#7
bj21abc said:
In many cases (I include myself in this category) whatever camo one puts up, your betting spread is fairly transparent if you are playing anywhere near a strong (counting) game.
Oh, if only people would pay attention to sensible comments like this...
 

bj21abc

Well-Known Member
#9
I have not been able to find any way to avoid the main cost of short sessions - reduced table time.

Factoring in travel time between stores, plus wasted trips (tables full, closed, etc) I have rarely been able to get in more than 6 hours net of table time in a 12 hour + Vegas day. That's ok if you're a local but it can be a pain if your travel costs are high.
 
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