VEGA$ '08!!!!!              

                 10/25

Hey Now! So we went back.. Flew in, grabbed a car, and drove to Primm.    Basic room, Terrible's bought all 3 Primm properties a couple of years ago.. big mistake. 20 years ago, maybe..  It could end up costing them the Farm.

Played some $3.00 BJ, pushed.. slots were tight..   

          10/26

Got up Sunday morning and headed out for Vega$..     

Got to our home away from home and all the usual suspects were there...Dolly checked us in, Tim was at the gift shop, and Ziggy showed up and treated us to the Prime Rib Buffet after introducing us to his lovely wife Bose....

The Player's Club turned a $25.00 free play into $100.00...and Ti turned it into $150.00 on her lucky Double Diamond Run machine..

Meanwhile, I doubled my duckies at 6D Bj...

2nd of many busy days...  

      10/27

Monday at the corner of Flamingo and Paradise...Had the first of lots of killer workouts at our own private spa.. complete with 2 ellipticals, 5 gallons of COLD spring water, and FREE computer....shhhhh- don't tell anyone!

Ended up down at the pool (BRRRRR!) and hung out at the Hot Tub...    

We met up with Scratchy at Ziggy's Bar         and he took us out to dinner at Casa di Amore    and it was something right out of Rat Pack Vega$..

As a matter of fact, there were pictures all over the walls of 50's stars that were autographed to the owner. Off the strip on Tropicana, very small and intimate, this place has a real Mafioso feel, with genuine Italian food..

And a local doing Sinatra challeling (and playing the keys)..

Ti's lasagna smelled so good, you could taste the scent.. I had pizza for a treat, and Scratchy had spagetti with HUGE meatballs..

One of the finest dining experiences I've ever had.

Next time we'll take advantage of the complimentary limo service..

                 10/28

Remember, it's not a race.. it's a Marathon..

Found Lee's Discount Liquor  and they had my 2 cases of Kalaber waiting for me as promised....  Nice  ... We made a grocery run and iced down some brews and milk and took off down Flamingo for Bellagio's.  We self-parked there..

HINT..park on the roof of Ceaser's instead...

Walked right in to the Conservatory...              

ever changing scenes..  VIDEO HERE   

On thru the hotel..     past the concrete swimming pond..          onto the Strip...         on to Ceaser's Palace..     freeking jumbo casino.. across the flyover to Bill's Gambling Hall for a free hot dog and the Flamingo  to see the Bikini Pit.. (closed due to daylight) and the giant Osmond teeth..     

Back home for some 2D BJ and to get ready for the show.

I sat down to a 2D game (Bose was dealing), not really knowing much.. First thing- only use 1 hand to hold the cards.. And keep up with the table.. this game is fast/ but with 3 players there's alot of shuffling.. Since I don't count (YET) I think I'll stay with the 6D game..

I am a sucker for that sucker bet.. Lovely Ladies.. Hit it 25 to 1 with a $5 bet out.. best score I had on the whole trip!

Drove back to the Strip and parked behind the Luxor. Now, this thing is a pyramid, but it doesn't feel like you're walking into one. Pretty much like and other casino, at least from the back. So we walked around, and went in search of some food. Had a coupon for House of Blues, so we took the underground towards Mandalay Bay , but time was tight, so we went into a Burger Bar across from the Lush.

Scored a couple of St. Paulie Girl N/A's and made new friends over Burgers and fries..

We met a really nice couple from Scotland. They had been to Colonial Williamsburg, so they knew our area. Ray and Joan. One of the best things about traveling is meeting new people. We always end up doing it....

On to the show, after being metal detected..

No cameras allowed..

It was time to take our seats, so we made our way. Big crowd. Our first Vegas production, and a Cirque show to boot. At the Luxor. Nice theater, bigger than I would have supposed. Starts out with videos of his TV show..pretty lame..

He did a couple of tricks, and then went into this fantasy scene.. They probably need to work on this whole premise, but I digress..

I'm glad I didn't pay full price.

Back home to crash after another lap of the south end of the strip.

                10/29

Hooked up with Scratchy  and walked over to the Atomic Testing Museum and spent a couple of hours wondering how mankind got so diabolical.. This is a must-see y'all. And then at the end they talk about the effects on the Native people. Jeez..... Back home for yet another meal- T-Bone with everything..$7.99. Hung out at Ziggy's Bar for awhile, and Scratchy went home so we put our Gambol on for the evening.....

                     10/30

Woke up early to go to Hoover Dam.. It was amazing!!

Our tour guide was very nice and very informative. Another must-see..

Big ol' gift shop with an Australian greeter.. Take that Wally World.

Clerks were strange..  GO THERE EARLY!! Beat the crowds..        VIDEO HERE 

NEXT!

Made the "Boulder Highway Coupon Run" on the way home. We hit the spanking new Eastside Cannery, which was very nice. We played $3 BJ and won! Decor in this place is retro 60's. Couldn't find the better VP- on to the spanking OLD Longhorn.. won again, but the people were rude. Make sure you leave the coupons in the book.. Got free cookies tho.. tiny place this..

Next!

On to Sam's Town ......  probably the 2nd biggest casino in the area. It is HUGE! We had a yummy buffet 241..Overlooked the atrium in the hotel. Lost a bit there..

NEXT!

We cut short our run on account of the traffic situation.. Found Flamingo Dr. and went home...

We worked out upstairs (and downstairs) and headed out for the "Flamingo Rd. Coupon Run".

Parked out back of the Rio(Harrah's) and went in..

Found the show and played a 3 wheel slot- it played us.. and enjoyed the show.

Ti caught some beads and didn't even have it flash for them!

NEXT!

On to the Gold Coast.. my kind of place this!

More like off the strip. We both did good, and I really enjoyed the BJ there.. Lots of tables, friendly dealers and great rules.. Double on 2 or 3 cards.. I will be playing more at this joint..

Only a mile from home too...

NEXT! On to the Palms..which is across the street from the Gold Coast..

The Palms is where the Playboy Club is, and it was too Hoity- Toity for us. Took our money too.....

Back home, Ti crashed out, so I went for the Pit again.. Bad move.. The night time dealers suck. My luck did to.....

          HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

Worked out as usual, I love it, not even busy on the weekend.. And they brought more water..I played a bit of 6D- Bose dealt for a shift.. Jason took over and we had a couple of shoes, I has ahead a bit so I cashed out and on my way back to the room I went by the table, and the Pit Boss and Jason stopped me and had a Green Chip ($25) I had dropped from my pocket,, Won't play in THOSE shorts again! Nice guys, thanks to the eye-in-the-sky...

Ti and I met up with Ziggy after his break and he filled us in on their health issues.. Ti told him to change doctors....

Let's go downtown with all the crazies!!!

To the El Cortez where we parked across the street. More on that later...

The El Cortez has new owners and the slots are pretty loose. We got some freeplay for signing up and I did pretty good with it,, Ti found her Diamond Run and I played SD for a while..

Always nice to walk away with $$$$$...

Truckin' on down to the Experience, we stop in the street's namesake for some seafood...

Heard it was good and Sure Enuff..

241..that always works. Oysters on the 1/2. crablegs. TONS of all kinds of seafood, and Ti finds her sushi.

The best part was the waitress.. she completed the place. Pretty darn fancy...

We strolled Fremont and hit Binion's for our photos with the million bucks 

Hit Mermaids and the LA Bayou next for the beads and the cash in/out on the slots so we can say that we handled Vega$'s REAL dirty money..

By this time the crowds are getting bigger and drunker.

Souvenir shopping at the same place as last time...same junk too, and we discovered the upstairs....more of the same junk. Reminds me of Bldg. 21 at the Pottery.

On to the 4Queens for some more free $$$$. They said to hit the Golden Nugget, so we did, and more $$$$ without using YOUR $$$$$...

One last stop at the Fitz...no free play so Bye-bye...

We walked back to the car and a nice lady said we were parked in a condo parking lot-oooops!- We also got freaked out by 2 cars of Beaners racing while backing up the exit ramp, but we made it to the car and home safely.

We got home @ 11:30 just in time to do some GAMBOLING!!!

Looking for a fresh game we found in our home casino what we hadn't been able to find anywhere else in Vega$...

REELS O' DUBLIN

Had really good luck on this type machine in Dover so it should play even better here, Right??

We shall see..

I showed Ti how to make money on this one, so she did and went to bed happy.

I played some more 6D and quickly got down a Buck...

So much for another shitty day in Paradise...

BOOOO!!!!..scared ya didn't I????

             11/01

Easing our way into November, I did my usual thing whilst my Lady Ti slept in.

Hung out with Ziggy after our weekend workouts...Time to get ready for the show!

We headed North/West by way of Paradise, stopped by the Hilton to check it out, glad we got to see the Star Trek stuff last time as they shut down the whole experience earlier in Nov. Won't be the same without Quark's Bar.

Part of the casino is still semi- Star Trek.. cheezy as only Vega$ can pull off.

Don't remember the matchplay results, mustn't have been much.

On to the Santa Fe Station by way of Nellis AFB.. took the scenic route. Still can't figure out the speed limit is on the wide open interstate. Near as I can get is either 100 mph, or just a bit faster than everyone else is going... 

Thru the rain down Ranchero Drive to Santa Fe Station Down the excalator past the Hooters...what??... 

Huge place, all the station properties seem to be BIGGIE SIZED.. We had just enough time to grab something overpriced to eat from the food court before the show.. Never eat at Quizno's..

We had killer seats at this small theater for Hiroshima  these guys were very tight and had many friends in the audience..  Chrome Theater only holds around 500, so the worse seats in the place are still very close.. Each member of the band did a solo, and they played a pretty long set with a 3 song encore. 

After the show we played some slots, and stopped up the short craps table and got fleeced.. on to the BJ! Found 6D/$5  -   empty and ready. Won the $25 MP.. that'll pay for those coupon books. Noticed a crowd gathering so I told everyone to make themselves at home as they bought in. I did notice that they were all Asian. And a couple of them looked familiar too.. That guy at 1st base is the band''s stage manager. And the guy next to him is the band leader..

I told them how much we enjoyed the show and how much energy we got too.. they said that was the reason they played.. We played 3 shoes or so...What a Blast!

I was doing really good, but I was desperately looking around for Ti ..who was desperately looking around for a Reels 'O Dublin machine.

I went to look for her and the dude beside me took 3rd base.

By golly, Ti wasn't in the banks of slots I asked her to stay in, so I went into search mode ..fanning out further from the pit each time..

Didn't take me long to find that Ti had found her a machine..

I talked her into coming over to meet the band- I wanted to check out the guy who had taken my seat.

Everyone was really nice and stopped playing and got up and shook our hands and it was a special moment.

What a nice night.

Off once again, we hit the next station down Rancho Drive...Texas Station   Huge place once again. Movie Theaters bowling alley, shops, all they were lacking here is some peoples..

Saturday Night before midnight, and the place is empty. Poker Room, pit, shops....

Didn't even try to play the MP.. Baby Duck was tired and we're a long way from home...

We went home via DT and the Strip..

Thank goodness tourism is down, cause it's hard enough to deal with the Spaghetti Bowl on a good day, but at night with the construction... No lines on the roads either..and everyone drives like they're late to work....Go Speed Racer!!!!    

                11/02

Kick-Back Day.. 

Time to re-group and start getting ready for reality..And get in as many points as possible...3X Sunday!

No time to work out today,,Reels 'OD calls!!

Breakfast/Brunch/Lunch all in one at the Bourgin V..back downstairs to the pit for a few shoes of 6D...did alright....

Scratchy came on over, and we watched him do Captain Morgans and Tuacas and beers....

THEN he hits 4 Aces with a kicker for $1000 on a Double double bonus VP table....

Go Steve!!

We said our goodbyes to Scratchy after he tithed everyone, and Ti started packing till she got too hungry, so we hit Prime Rib Buffet... 

I still say this buffet ain't so bad...

Back to Ziggy's to hang out again, Zig got off at 6pm, Bose got off at 7pm.

We made our plans for April- they want to take us to Red Rocks and the Valley of Fire....to funny, as those were 2 of the places we'd been planning on seeing..

Bye y'all!!!!

Too many plans and too many distractions collide head on.....BOOM!!!....

Ti finished up packing and crashed as I doubled our seed money (well mine anyhow) on 6D and Reels 'OD...

I caught the players club before they closed and cashed in some points for 4 free nights and some trinkets..

                  11/03

Got up early and took some shots....   VIDEO HERE

Easy rental return,check-in,search and destroy, 2 hours to spare....bad airport VP anyone??

Another east transfer in Hot 'Lanta.. then a couple of tarmac bonding hours...

Wonderful trip..always too short although 8 full days in Vega$ is just about right.

Terrible's  is a great place to stay. Nice basic room- we like the 1st floor, tho a Tower room on the 2nd floor would be easier access to the gym...