Trip Report

[redietz]

Not much to report. I'll run down some practical matters for those planning an LV visit in the near future.

1) Driving still a pain in the F1 ass. I managed a dirt cheap $100 four-day rental from Priceline, insurance included. Things weren't quite as bad as last year at this time, but it was still a mess. Trop west of the strip a mess. Flamingo west of the strip worse. Flamingo a block east from the strip full of construction. Lane messes and constrictions from the airport all the way in. Took me more than an hour to go airport to downtown on Sunday. Took an hour and a half to go South Point (kewlJs' fave) to downtown Tuesday. The rodeo had left by Sunday late, but there was the Monday night Raiders' game influx and the NBA in-season tourney final bogging everything down in general, even though I avoided the times those would be the biggest issue.

2) Had the Steelers beaten the Eagles Sunday, I would have pulled a few triggers, but I really did very little. Scouted all football odds and potential contests. Nothing worthwhile. Circa still the most useful place if you're just checking one source for futures. But I did the legwork and checked Westgate, South Point, and so on.

3) Ate okay. No steakhouse excursions this trip. I still recommend Pink's at the Plaza for donuts and coffee, and I still like the Main Street buffet to start the day. Big room, bright, lots of air. Skipped many of the classics this trip -- no shrimp cocktail at Fremont, no South Point breakfast buffet with bloody marys. Had breakfast at Magnolia's, as I always do, and dinner at Claim Jumper's. But:

3) Shout out to Esther's Kitchen and its new location, half a block from the previous. Place looks great. Menu, I think, is improved, and it could be my imagination, but I think in general prices are lower.

4) Prior to eating at Esther's, I perused the shops. My fave is the place with the giant metal dinosaurs. I love this stuff. Lifesize Alien and Predator greet you as you walk in. One of the shops had a collection of vintage Stardust baseball caps. I did not check the prices but will do so next time.

5) My gambling consisted of video poker (-$200) and a couple of ridiculous slots (Frankenstein and an NFL slot). Mickey tells me the NFL slot is vulturable. I know nothing, except I'm amazed that the Frankenstein slot is popular. It's classic Karloff. I try to give the Plaza some video poker business, as I appreciate their effort with promos and free lunches and all that. I'll probably stay there next time.

6) Stayed three nights at the Golden Nugget and one at the Tuscany, as is my usual pattern. Road closures created some issues getting in and out of the Tuscany, but not too bad. Nugget was very good, as usual. Tuscany put me in the "B" complex, which had been refurbished and painted recently. Both places are my cup of tea. The Tuscany reminds me of the resort in Dirty Dancing.

Weather was fine. A couple of days in the 60's. Lows in the high 30's at night. Walking from the Tuscany to the strip was a little bit of a pain with fencing up and crossing paths closed, but it was okay. And, oh yes, Ellis Island was being heavily renovated (still), so I skipped the steak dinner.

[mickeycrimm]

Frankenstein is also exploitable. It's one of the more popular games with slot AP's.

You didn't see those multipliers building as you were playing? Imagine those multipliers are already there when you start playing. That's what AP's look for. How many multipliers did you leave them?

[redietz]

I can't imagine too many. I ran $20 through each machine and actually hit the bonus on Frankenstein, which led me to break even on the day. I have no idea what I was looking at, but I was big Karloff fan as a kid. Had a collection of Famous Monsters of Filmland magazines.

I'd rather listen to "It's Alive!!" over and over as opposed to "Push the Button!," which evidently is right behind the bank of video poker machines I played at the Plaza.

[AxelWolf]

Scouted all football odds(edit)


Nothing worthwhile.
.

Meanwhile some new guy was crushing it.

[tableplay]

The Frankenstein slot should have been called Frankenstein's Monster since it is Frankenstein's Monster that is the main character in this slot and not Dr. Frankenstein (Dr. Frankenstein is merely one of the payline symbols in this slot).

[redietz]

Scouted all football odds(edit)


Nothing worthwhile.
.

Meanwhile some new guy was crushing it.

See, this is what makes vegascasinotalk so worthwhile. I post a trip report, completely factual, with details, obviously not promoting or aggrandizing or even saying anything remotely positive about myself in any way.

So I get responses regarding my putting $20 in Frankenstein (a Dancer move to prevent pigeonholing as a video-poker-only person) and a comment about some "new guy crushing it" regarding what, futures? Okay, great, post the evidence. I love when folks beat sports books.

I wasn't talking about straight betting. I've won seven of the last eight weeks with a marginal loss after breaking even the first eight weeks. I'm not betting enough to say I'm "crushing it," but I guess one could say I'm cruising. WIth dinner money won on my only future (Vols at 50-1), which wasn't great, considering one could get 25-1 if one had waited until the playoffs were set.

And nary a word about lunch with the inestimable Mr. Munchkin, which was fun and insightful, as always.

But I get these responses from Axelwolf and mickey. Nothing positive. The great Wolf, living the life of Riley while hanging with the adjunct prof. Casinos quake at their approach.

[The Boz]

Nice to see an actual trip report. But damn you get so defensive quickly. I don’t see Mick as antagonizing you at all. He was showing you what is a semi obvious AP opportunity as the multipliers build. The trick is knowing the right number to play.

Shocked you actually pay for insurance on a rental car, most major travel cards cover it. It’s one of the biggest scams out there but you still got a good deal.

Wish I was there to catch up, one of these days.

[accountinquestion]

Scouted all football odds(edit)


Nothing worthwhile.
.

Meanwhile some new guy was crushing it.

See, this is what makes vegascasinotalk so worthwhile. I post a trip report, completely factual, with details, obviously not promoting or aggrandizing or even saying anything remotely positive about myself in any way.

So I get responses regarding my putting $20 in Frankenstein (a Dancer move to prevent pigeonholing as a video-poker-only person) and a comment about some "new guy crushing it" regarding what, futures? Okay, great, post the evidence. I love when folks beat sports books.

I wasn't talking about straight betting. I've won seven of the last eight weeks with a marginal loss after breaking even the first eight weeks. I'm not betting enough to say I'm "crushing it," but I guess one could say I'm cruising. WIth dinner money won on my only future (Vols at 50-1), which wasn't great, considering one could get 25-1 if one had waited until the playoffs were set.

And nary a word about lunch with the inestimable Mr. Munchkin, which was fun and insightful, as always.

But I get these responses from Axelwolf and mickey. Nothing positive. The great Wolf, living the life of Riley while hanging with the adjunct prof. Casinos quake at their approach.

Baby doll chin up I enjoyed your TR

[accountinquestion]

Scouted all football odds(edit)


Nothing worthwhile.
.

Meanwhile some new guy was crushing it.

See, this is what makes vegascasinotalk so worthwhile. I post a trip report, completely factual, with details, obviously not promoting or aggrandizing or even saying anything remotely positive about myself in any way.

So I get responses regarding my putting $20 in Frankenstein (a Dancer move to prevent pigeonholing as a video-poker-only person) and a comment about some "new guy crushing it" regarding what, futures? Okay, great, post the evidence. I love when folks beat sports books.

I wasn't talking about straight betting. I've won seven of the last eight weeks with a marginal loss after breaking even the first eight weeks. I'm not betting enough to say I'm "crushing it," but I guess one could say I'm cruising. WIth dinner money won on my only future (Vols at 50-1), which wasn't great, considering one could get 25-1 if one had waited until the playoffs were set.

And nary a word about lunch with the inestimable Mr. Munchkin, which was fun and insightful, as always.

But I get these responses from Axelwolf and mickey. Nothing positive. The great Wolf, living the life of Riley while hanging with the adjunct prof. Casinos quake at their approach.

Baby doll chin up I enjoyed your TR

[accountinquestion]

That fucking much

[redietz]

Nice to see an actual trip report. But damn you get so defensive quickly. I don’t see Mick as antagonizing you at all. He was showing you what is a semi obvious AP opportunity as the multipliers build. The trick is knowing the right number to play.

Shocked you actually pay for insurance on a rental car, most major travel cards cover it. It’s one of the biggest scams out there but you still got a good deal.

Wish I was there to catch up, one of these days.

Mickey was less-than-neutral with his post. I was aware the NFL slot was exploitable, thanks to mickey's previous posts, but I was just mix-and-matching to set my profile a little. I wasn't going to play a slot machine for any length of time with a 96-hour feet-on-the-ground time frame.

The rental car -- my cards don't cover the insurance free any longer -- it broke my heart when Discover stopped doing it -- so I use the el cheapo Priceline option. The trick to Priceline is that you sign up with an options selection (Alamo, Dollar, and so on -- I don't use the discounters), and then they try to stick you with an electric car. I then say something like, "Great, well, I'm looking forward to the tutorial; hope I don't wreck it" when you get to the desk, and then the booth guy, who will be responsible for you learning how to use the thing, says, "Ummm, wait, I think we have a nice gasoline RV right here," and off you go. I wanted to ask you about the credit card option for rental car insurance -- my cards are not top-of-the-line; they are pretty ordinary with maybe 15K limits except for Discover, which had been my go-to card. But Discover dropped the insurance coverage. So what would you recommend? I'm probably going to qualify for almost any card right now, so I will follow your advice. I appreciate it. Yeah, I used cards for insurance coverage up until the pandemic started, then the peon cards dropped it for the most part, and Discover quit.

Note: Boz's advice here will be worth it's weight in gold, so pay attention.

Two further comments: If you get out to South Point, they have decorated all of the trees surrounding the casino parking areas, so it's really quite old-school lovely. And I realized, after reading what I wrote as a summary, you know what's curious about the thousands of kewlJs posts? No details. None. Not about eating, driving, decorations, music, what they do for entertainment, absolutely none. I bet a police interviewer would have a forensics blast with analyzing the kewlJs' posts.

And yes, MDawg, please quote me, and put another coffee on my tab.

Also, just for the record, the airport Starbucks is cheaper than the $6.50 a cup GN Starbucks. Forensics details -- the key to credibility.

[mickeycrimm]

Mickey was less-than-neutral with his post. I was aware the NFL slot was exploitable, thanks to mickey's previous posts, but I was just mix-and-matching to set my profile a little. I wasn't going to play a slot machine for any length of time with a 96-hour feet-on-the-ground time frame.

I was actually quite soft on you because my first thought was "goddam, this dude just don't have a clue!" You watched those Frankenstein multipliers collect up as you were spinning and a light bulb doesn't go off in your head?

The first one of those Frankensteins I seen the graphics caught my attention. Ploppies were playing them and I'm watching those multipliers getting banked. I said "Self! You are going to have to analyze that game."

Redietz, I figure you are great at football handicapping. But sportsbetting ain't the only thing out there. You just don't have the mentality for the rest of it. I can understand you not figuring out the NFL slot, but Frankenstein? That shit was right in your face. You didn't have to figure the whole thing out on the spot. But you should have gotten some kind of a clue that something was up.

It don't make you a bad person. It just makes you a ploppie.

I'll see if I can find some footage of the NFL slot to give you a clue.

[redietz]

Mickey was less-than-neutral with his post. I was aware the NFL slot was exploitable, thanks to mickey's previous posts, but I was just mix-and-matching to set my profile a little. I wasn't going to play a slot machine for any length of time with a 96-hour feet-on-the-ground time frame.

I was actually quite soft on you because my first thought was "goddam, this dude just don't have a clue!" You watched those Frankenstein multipliers collect up as you were spinning and a light bulb doesn't go off in your head?

The first one of those Frankensteins I seen the graphics caught my attention. Ploppies were playing them and I'm watching those multipliers getting banked. I said "Self! You are going to have to analyze that game."

Redietz, I figure you are great at football handicapping. But sportsbetting ain't the only thing out there. You just don't have the mentality for the rest of it. I can understand you not figuring out the NFL slot, but Frankenstein? That shit was right in your face. You didn't have to figure the whole thing out on the spot. But you should have gotten some kind of a clue that something was up.

It don't make you a bad person. It just makes you a ploppie.

I'll see if I can find some footage of the NFL slot to give you a clue.

Now be nice. I am slightly aware of some things. We have reached that point in the history of slots where -- get this -- Dancer is playing video poker as cover for his slot play. Whodathunkit? I don't play any serious amounts on slots -- I wouldn't do that without knowing what I was doing. I'm probably down $200 lifetime playing slot machines.

By the way, my current loss dropped my lifetime winnings on video poker under 5K. Might be time to call it a day on the video poker front.

[The Boz]

I personally use a Barclays Silver American Airlines card for 99% of my spending. Because I fly AA almost exclusively, it makes sense for me to get all the miles I can to use. Yes it covers rental car insurance but also gives 2 miles per dollar on hotels and rentals so it adds up.

As for cards that cover rental car insurance, there are less than there were years ago but these banks/cards are good options.

All Wells Fargo cards
All Chase cards
All American Express
All Capital One Cards

But it’s important to know and occasionally check you benefits because cards change often with just the legal requirement of notifying you, usually the customer misses it.

As for Discover, I’m shocked it’s still popular with only 1% cash back along with limited 5% each quarter. I say limited because there is a limit on how much you can get back. Even the basic Wells Fargo card is 2% and others offer even more on targeted categories.

Finding the right card is an individual decision based on spending habits but the research can pay off big time. Obviously only if you follow rule #1 of card whoring….pay the balance off each month.

[kewlJ]

, you know what's curious about the thousands of kewlJs posts? No details. None. Not about eating, driving, decorations, music, what they do for entertainment, absolutely none.

Are you fucking out of your mind Redietz? No need to answer. Your posts over the past year or two speak for themselves. I think there is almost an unanimous answer to that question.

No AP has shared more details of what they do and in mostly real time, than I have over the years, including where I ate on many days. Used to be a lot of buffets at Station and Boyd properties, or East Cannery back in the day or sometimes the little coffe shop restuartants at Club Fortune or even Jerry's nugget. Now that buffets at the local places are mostly gone, I still share details of lunches at Victory Burger, and Bacon Nation ect. That doesn't sound familiar?

But the fact is that I share less and less about what I do now, playing, eating, everything. All sharing my experiences as an AP got me was people calling me a liar.

BUT, I enjoy most trip reports from others, especially Vegas, including yours Red. As long as they are real and not full of bullshit gambling winning claims, and all the non winning claims only meant to impress people. I am speaking of Dawgs reports of course. Yours, Red are fine. Enjoyable. For the most part that of a guy who is enjoying himself and enjoys being in Vegas.

But stop lying because you think I am all of the sudden your enemy. I have shared more of my experiences in detail than anyone on this forum.

[tableplay]

Two-Minute Drill !!

[redietz]

, you know what's curious about the thousands of kewlJs posts? No details. None. Not about eating, driving, decorations, music, what they do for entertainment, absolutely none.

Are you fucking out of your mind Redietz? No need to answer. Your posts over the past year or two speak for themselves. I think there is almost an unanimous answer to that question.

No AP has shared more details of what they do and in mostly real time, than I have over the years, including where I ate on many days. Used to be a lot of buffets at Station and Boyd properties, or East Cannery back in the day or sometimes the little coffe shop restuartants at Club Fortune or even Jerry's nugget. Now that buffets at the local places are mostly gone, I still share details of lunches at Victory Burger, and Bacon Nation ect. That doesn't sound familiar?

But the fact is that I share less and less about what I do now, playing, eating, everything. All sharing my experiences as an AP got me was people calling me a liar.

BUT, I enjoy most trip reports from others, especially Vegas, including yours Red. As long as they are real and not full of bullshit gambling winning claims, and all the non winning claims only meant to impress people. I am speaking of Dawgs reports of course. Yours, Red are fine. Enjoyable. For the most part that of a guy who is enjoying himself and enjoys being in Vegas.

But stop lying because you think I am all of the sudden your enemy. I have shared more of my experiences in detail than anyone on this forum.

I'm almost certain a forensics expert would disagree with you. Your "details" are all generic and have no elements that could be checked/verified in real time.

The lack of detail, in fact, is stunning. Your posts simply don't contain any descriptions that are verifiable. Almost no detail at all regarding places or food or people or events outside a pit. When you step back and examine your thousands of posts, there is no (to use an overused phrase) "there" there. It's very, very odd.

I think that's what triggers so many people to believe most of your stuff is invented. Again, I can't say one way or another, but it's very strange.

It's as if you move through a world, and report on it, where the only thing in focus (to use an Alan Mendelson double entendre) is you, and even that varies all over the place.

[kewlJ]

Your "details" are all generic and have no elements that could be checked/verified in real time.

The lack of detail, in fact, is stunning. Your posts simply don't contain any descriptions that are verifiable.

And just how would you suggest that I or any other advantage player whether mickeycrimm, Axelwolf, any other APs on this forum, or any other forum, or even your boy Munchkin, go about posting “details’ of their play that can be checked or verified?

You seem to be name dropping Munchkin this week, so did you ask him when you had lunch, just what “details” of his play he has EVER posted that could be verified?

Any form of doing what you are suggesting would be giving up the anonymity that APs work hard to preserve and would have consequence akin to walking into a casino with “advantage player” tattooed on our forehead.

What is stunning to me, and I would bet every other advantage player that posts on this forum is your complete lack of understanding what it means to be an advantage player and the relationship between APs and casinos.

For a guy who claims to have spent 100 days a year in Vegas for 45 years, that lack of understanding is what is stunning.

[accountinquestion]

Keel you can't even verify a surfboard in a bedroom in your home.

[MDawg]

There are two reasons why UNKewlJ’s stories are so bland and generic. One is because he’s lying. He can’t flesh out what he never did and simply lifted from what he read or heard. The second is that he has all the personality of a wooden rocking chair and couldn’t come up with much interesting to say period.