Vegas History

Las Vegas Trip Report Part 4

Las Vegas Trip Report Part 4

Hope all the readers here are having a happy and healthy holiday season. Despite unseasonably cold weather in Georgia and viruses hitting friends and relatives right and left, we felt blessed that we could spend some time with family members on Christmas Day.

Now that the festivities are over and our life can return to a fairly routine schedule, I want to finish up reporting on my recent visit to Las Vegas with granddaughter Kaitlynn.

One of the questions that keeps popping up was how different I found Vegas this trip from when we moved away three years ago. I’ve described in the last three parts how we could do some of the old things we used to do, such as the money-making coupon run, and how we enjoyed the new activities, particularly the mind-boggling Area 15.

But I must tell you about one of our evenings that encapsulated this merger of the old and the new so well. It began by meeting long-time friends at the classic Hugo’s Cellar restaurant at the Four Queens, a nostalgic visit to a place we first tried about 30 years ago.  Absolutely nothing had changed: We were once again greeted by a gracious tuxedo-clad host, who gave all of us ladies a long-stemmed red rose. The servers were also formally dressed and impeccably but warmly efficient. Once again, Jon Simons was our sommelier, giving us wine advice like he’s been doing there for 37 years. From the time we walked down the stairs from the casino level, I felt like I’d been transported by a time machine back to our early Vegas days when everything was so new and exciting.

But after we finished our magnificent meal, it was time to have the time machine transport our whole group back to the present and set us down across Fremont Street at the shiny new(ish) Circa Casino. We were going to use our LVA coupons for complimentary glasses of champagne at the Legacy Club. We knew this would be a classy bookend to complete our classy start at Hugo’s. So we took the elevator to that elegant rooftop lounge on Circa’s 60th floor and walked around those floor-to-ceiling windows for a night-time bird’s eye view of the city lights.

From a dark basement to a sky of lights – yes, it was a dramatic difference, but perhaps symbolizing all the changes I’ve seen in Vegas since Brad and I first arrived in 1984. But on the way down on the elevator, we stopped just before the ground floor and had a passer-by take this picture of our group, we ladies still with our red roses from Hugo’s. And in the background was 43-year-old cowgirl Vegas Vickie, still kicking after being refurbished and a new leg motor installed when she was moved from outside on Fremont Street into the Circa.

I’m guessing that no matter how much Vegas changes, it will always be a “kickin” place.  How long will I be “kicking” enough to write about it? Hopefully, a long time to come.

But for a short time now, perhaps a few weeks, I’ll take a little rest from blog writing.

Below is a photo Kaitlynn took of me when I found a great vibrating couch in Area 15, with beautiful changing lights and enchanting music, where I could rest my feet after two hours of non-stop activity.  (Security said I was fine there, but just don’t close my eyes, since sleeping isn’t allowed!) I’m going to spend some time in January trying to replicate that relaxing experience, but sleeping will be allowed!

Happy New Year to all of you.

35 Years of Advantage Play – Part 5

Last week I ended my blog by stating that for our first 8 years of gambling the “total casino experience” was more important than our financial bottom line.  That is not to say that we could spend lavishly without thought.  For one thing, we had a very modest amount of discretionary income at that time, and we certainly weren’t people who would go into debt or tap retirement savings for entertainment options.  However, our goal was not to make a profit in gambling but to take reasonably-priced vacations by playing smart BJ and using the slot club benefits and comp system.

As tourists, “living” in casinos for long periods of time, although we played BJ several hours a day, we were always looking for fun things to do when we weren’t at the tables.  We both loved to travel, so we would often choose destinations where we could combine sightseeing and casino play.  We hoped from casino to casino couponing around town in Reno and then taking a scenic drive down to Tahoe. When we were in Atlantic City, we would leave the casino often to do our power walks up and down the boardwalk and perhaps drive to other beach towns and hit their boardwalks too. Several times we took a side trip by bus to see the sights of New York City, a memorable one over Christmas to see the holiday decorations.

We took a short-term cat-sitting job in Maryland so we could tour the sights in Washington and then found out about gambling in some of the local firehouses.  It was run as a “charity” and the food served by the ladies auxiliary was terrific.  And the BJ games, staffed by volunteers, offered good rules so we sat down and played.  We were very naive back then and didn’t wonder if everything was on the up-and-up since there didn’t seem to be any good oversight much less governmental regulations.  After awhile I told Brad I was going to go play poker.  I don’t know my thinking at that time to make such a bad move.  Unlike Brad, who had played poker his whole life, I had little experience in the game, barely knowing the basics. Maybe the gambling gods take pity on silly amateurs.  Anyway, about an hour into this low-stakes Hold’Em game I was in shock when I ended up making a royal flush hand. I tried to stay cool but I think my face probably turned white –   I didn’t get any calls on the river and the pot was small!  However, I did take down the $500 bonus being offered for that hand.  No friendly congrats – the table was full of frowning local old men who didn’t appreciate an out-of-town interloper.  Brad and I hightailed it out of there very soon after!  It might have been a “charity” endeavor, but we suspected it probably was run by a criminal element.

We expanded our travels out of the country, taking six cruises during this time period, always playing blackjack in the ship casino between shore excursions.  We hit Central American and island ports, went through the Panama Canal locks, and then a long Mediterranean voyage visiting many sea ports.  We even rented a car and took a long road trip around Europe, where we visited and played BJ in a London casino, in one in Luxembourg, and two different ones in the Netherlands.

However, we spent the most time in Vegas, with longer and longer visits after Brad retired.  And in Vegas there was never an end to entertainment options.  Since long brisk walks was our exercise of choice those days, we could hit the many casino promotions up and down the whole Strip, like no-fee daily slot tournaments and free pulls on slot machines.  With some you would always win something, maybe just a free drink or a kitschy souvenir:  keychains (I used to collect these and had dozens), magnets (I still have some of these on the front of my frig), cheap logo hats or Fannie packs.  But at times you could snag something more valuable:  a T-shirt, a free afternoon show ticket, or maybe a comped buffet.  I don’t know how many Sands mugs we picked up as we walked the Strip – probably dozens – so many that all our friends and relatives started declining these “gifts.”  And– of course – we always hit the free popcorn at Slots-A-Fun.

I don’t need to mention how important couponing was during those days;  I’ve written about it many times.   Not only were these a positive play, often a better return per hour than playing low-level BJ, they gave us a break in our long walks and a chance to check out many different casinos. In my first Frugal book, I talk about how we would tip maids and they would save coupon books former guests had left behind.  I remember one valuable coupon book that was often found by the maids, because many visitors weren’t going to go off- Strip just to use a coupon.   But they gave us motivation to take the coupons and hike from the Strip over to Palace Station several days a week, with one memorable visit when we hit a big payout on the free keno coupon.  I also remember Brad telling me we should be “fair” and not just play a few hands to use a VP coupon and then run.

“Okay, we’ll play for a little longer,” I relented.

And then what happened?  He hit a $1000 royal flush.

“I don’t think the casino is going to be impressed with your fairness!”

When we stayed downtown, there were never-ending interesting things to do – the ubiquitous promotions like on the Strip and many coupon books that often included free food.  One – I think it was the Plaza – had a coupon for a free breakfast – pancakes? – and there was also a coupon that you gave to the waiter that covered the tip!  We used to buy valuable coupon books given out freely by the Western Casino from those customers that preferred cash to coupons. One coupon was for a free bingo session. I have always hated bingo – thought it was the most boring game one could play.  But free is free and I temporarily lowered my standards, successfully picking up some cash wins!

Another interesting thing we did when we were downtown was to go to court.  We’d go to the courthouse and asked a security guard where the most interesting trial was going on and he would point out that courtroom.  We enjoyed some pretty good juicy drama!

I never remember using a taxi to get around those days – not frugal I thought – so we would use the bus or shuttles to add new destinations to our daily walks.  Once we started to drive from Indianapolis to Vegas to stay long periods, avoiding the cold Indiana winters, we could expand our entertainment activities.  We liked to visit companies that gave visitor tours, learning the manufacturing details for cranberry juice, clown figurines, potato chips, chocolate candy, and marshmallows. This last one was popular when the grandkids came to town. Speaking of kids, we spent a lot of non-gambling time entertaining out-of-town friends and relatives.

I could write endlessly on the fun factor in Las Vegas, but I must wrap up this long detour.  If you are interested in more of these memories, I talk a lot about our early casino years in my first Frugal book, especially in the chapter “Long Term in Las Vegas.”

I will return to the math in my next blog, reporting how changing games gave our positive expectation a major boost!

35 Years of Advantage Play – Part 1

I’ve dragged out boxes full of hard-copy gambling records from the last 35 years. They safely survived two major moves – from Indianapolis to Las Vegas and now to Georgia, where they are scattered all over my office. When every desk and table and cabinet surface is full, the floor becomes an organizing station.

How to tackle this monster project! How to describe such a long road!  And how can I give a final financial report when there were so many stages and changing circumstances.

I guess I will start at the beginning – that’s always a good starting point! I will give some details about our activities and the gambling environment so that when I mention the financial details they will make more sense than if there was no background information.  An important note here:  I did not keep good records in the early years. How could I know then that 35 years later I would really want to remember some of those little details!

After our first trip to Vegas in 1984 as purely unknowledgeable recreational gamblers, we had decided that we needed to study so we wouldn’t lose as much as we had that time and we could go more often.  We didn’t know about video poker then – most people didn’t – so we started studying blackjack.  We read books from the library and went to a seminar and bought a workbook that described and gave instructions for card counting.  We practiced at home with cards on our kitchen table.  If there was Internet help, we didn’t know about it since I didn’t yet have a computer.

That first trip in April – when we had stayed at the Landmark but played mostly at the Westward Ho – generated a surprising invitation from the ‘Ho that came in the mail just a couple of weeks after we returned home. Wow!!! Free room for 3 nights, free mini-breakfasts every day, a free tournament, and a free party. “Free” had always been my favorite word and now I was seeing a wonderful world opening up to us just by giving our names to the BJ pit boss on that first trip.  I’m not sure I even realized then that these were called “comps.”    But “free” was a strong enough word to get my attention.

Soooo…we felt we just must return to take advantage of these free things, a feeling that would be an overwhelming motivator for the next 35 years.   We crunched the numbers and decided that with the Westward Ho freebies we could afford an “inexpensive vacation” back to Vegas in Sept.  On this second Vegas trip Brad ignored the slots he played – and lost on – that first trip and joined me at the BJ table where we both started using our very rudimentary card-counting skills. Then in November we went on our first cruise – a 4-night trip on the Carnival on which we were less excited about shore excursions in Freeport and Nassau than playing BJ, honing our skills in the little ship casino  from the time they opened until they closed  down in the wee hours of the morning.

We continued  getting regular  mailings from the Westward Ho so returned in March and May of 1985 and despite the sketchy records I have for this time period, I did note our first (of many more as we would find out later) airline bump of $800 TWA credit.  Hurrah – that would pay for our next TWO trips to Vegas!  Coupled with freebies the ‘Ho sent us regularly, we could take more frequent vacations than we would ordinarily be able to afford.

Our next casino trip was a 10-day road trip to Atlantic City, with lots of BJ play every day. Still doing very sketchy record-keeping.  But after modest losses (in red) in our previous low-level BJ play, I finally could add a green entry for this trip: “Broke Even.”   And a note I added then makes me smile now: “We know how. Start cumulative records.”

Little did I know how little we knew!

We were still in the “elementary school of gambling.”  But I did start keeping a little more detailed records, although diary-style in a 3-ring binder, adding pages frequently as our casino trips increased.  (It would be years until I broke down and bought a computer although I continued with mostly pen-and-paper records to the very end.)   Although Brad was still working full time, he had a lot of vacation time in his government job, and we took many casino trips for the next few years. At the end of 1988, I made a summary in my diary of those first 5 years: “33 casino vacations at the cost of $287 each.”

Looking back at my skeleton notes now, there is a problem with those figures.  First, we counted all expenses for these trips, including airfare.  And casino visits weren’t the only kind of gambling we were doing.  When we weren’t out of town on those usually short 3- or 4-day trips, we were doing heavy Tonk play at the local Moose Lodge just down the street. We never could figure out exactly what advantage percentage we had in that game full of mostly – how can I put this politely…well …not very savvy gamblers. All I know is that we made enough money over those years to pay cash for our Indianapolis condo and finance a lot of our travel during those years. I also made a lot of money at Catholic Church Monte Carlo crap tables. (That is a long and so far untold  story in itself.)  And we added all that income to our casino gambling figure.

There is another problem with my figures those first 5 years.  We had the common mindset that one could never beat a casino game.  I figured we could maybe break even counting cards at BJ.  But I was quickly learning that if you played the comp game wisely, you could take marvelous vacations for free.  And that was our only goal those early years.

I can see now that this “financial report” I promised may take more background explanation than I planned.  So, I just added Part 1 to the title and I will continue this saga in my next blog.

A Story – Under a Harvest Moon (Part 1)

Once upon a time – about a week ago – an elderly gambling couple decided they were tired of staying home.  They had not been going out much because the gentleman was pretty frail after a hospital stay and continuing serious medical problems. But they had received an invitation to a pre-gaming-convention cocktail party where they would see some old friends and the lady would enjoy connecting with some of her fellow gaming writers.

The problem with this party that they both wanted to attend was that it was in downtown Vegas – a bit of a drive from their home. The man, at 87, finally had recently turned in his keys – so the woman would have to drive.  She had driven her whole adult life until the man’s retirement 30+ years ago.  Then they were always together and she had taken the wheel only a few times – mainly like when he was having a heart attack or was in the hospital.  She was now afraid that she had perhaps lost some of her safe-driving skills.  She could cope with the chaotic scary Vegas traffic when the destination was on a familiar route near their home, but she just didn’t want to tackle the downtown maze of constant construction and unknown parking possibilities. At one time they had known every nook-and-cranny of the area and every detail of every casino, but this hadn’t been their gambling stomping ground for many years, and they knew things had been changing.

But then they remember their handy friend, Uber!  They had used share-rides to and from the airport in the past, but decided that this could be the way that they could still enjoy going out even when driving themselves sometimes was not a good option.  The woman hesitated, as usual thinking of the cost.  The woman’s daughter finally convinced her that at age 80 she could let up a little on the extreme frugal concept.  And the man, who had never joined in 100% to the “crazy frugal” concept, reminded the woman that this was the “old age” that they had been saving for all these many years.

So… their beautifully warm autumn evening jaunt began with a jolly Uber driver picking them up at their condo and cheerfully loading the man’s walker into the trunk.  With no concern about the traffic, the couple could enjoy sight-seeing out the windows as the driver took a route they hadn’t been on for several years, noticing all the many changes in the city that had been their frequent vacation destination and then their home for almost 36 years.

The experienced Uber driver knew all the shortcuts and the trip was over quickly, the couple and their walker dropped off conveniently right at the back entrance to the El Cortez, where the party was happening.  They were about a half-hour early so they did what they had been doing for 36 years when they visited a new casino or one that they hadn’t been in for a long time: the woman pulled out coupon books from her purse and found two joining-bonus coupons.  They didn’t know how many years it had been since they last played at the El Cortez.  Would their names still be in the players club database and they wouldn’t qualify as a new member for this bonus?  They knew some casino databases seem to stretch back forever.

The man reminded the woman that he clearly remembers playing a $1 Triple Deuces VP machine here and hitting 4 deuces for $3000.  He doesn’t remember when it was – probably almost 20 years ago – but he said he would never forget the stir it caused as all the “little” players crowded around him, marveling at someone who hit a jackpot on a dollar machine – and at “full-coin” to boot!

Anyway, there was no record of either of their names so the players club clerk processed the coupons for them.  They would each have $10 of free play.

What machine to choose?  This was no time, they agreed, to look for “good” video poker machines; they would go for something fun.  They came across a nickel Triple Play Ultimate X, which was often their “just-for-fun” short-time choice – who cares what the paytable is! They played 5 minutes and then had to quit to head for the party.  Turned the $20 into $5 – cash out – okay – that covers the tip for the Uber driver one-way.

Although the couple had been on the El Cortez casino floor many times, they had never had a room there – and they certainly had never been up in the penthouse suite, which is where the long-time owner, Jackie Gaughan, lived for 25 years, until his death in 2014.  The suite has remained unoccupied by a permanent resident since then although it may be rented out – at a high price, of course, by someone who wants to enjoy the throw-back luxury of the 50’s-60’s.  It is also available for group functions, such as this party the couple was attending. They not only enjoyed chatting with old friends and making new acquaintances, but the 15th floor patio view at dusk gave a beautiful picture of downtown, with both the familiar old sights they remembered and the new buildup beyond the Fremont Street Experience.

The couple left the party, happy that they had made the effort to get out of the house that evening.  It had been an interesting and entertaining get-together.  Should they order up an Uber and go straight home from the El Cortez?

Or, should they continue down Fremont Street and revive some more memories?  There were still lots of coupons in the lady’s purse.

Tune in next week for the answer.

More April Casino News and Promos

PALMS

More info about their April promotions I talked about in my last blog.

Tuesdays double promo has a welcome option. If you earn 300 points, you can choose either the free movie ticket or car wash.  But if you earn 600 points, you will see two places to touch on the kiosk screen and two vouchers will spit out.  Each voucher gives you a choice between a free movie ticket or a free car wash.  So, you can either get one of each or two of the same, i.e., 2 movie tickets.

Other details about the Thursday gas gift card promotion: Different than in previous versions before the Palms became a Stations property, there is no carry-over provision.  You can only get gas cards for the points you earn that same day. The gift card requirements are for base points.  However, you do not have to redeem the points so they remain in your point bank to use for cash, free play, or comps.

ELLIS ISLAND

Ellis Island has just released some details about their casino-wide anniversary party Saturday, April 14, celebrating “50 Years of Ellis.”  The festivities will include giveaways on the casino floor and in the karaoke lounge, drink specials in the bars and dinner specials in the restaurant, including the original bowl of chili and ham sandwich combo available back in 1968.  Their brewery will release a 50th Anniversary Golden Lager April 2 to commemorate the milestone.  A collector’s edition anniversary $5 chip will also be available at their gaming tables throughout the remainder of 2018.

Click here for a short but interesting video about the history of this family business.

Interesting Read

Think the lottery is never an advantage play?  Read this article.  It’s long but was fascinating to me for many reasons, the main one that reinforces my belief that successful gambling is never easy.  It takes intense effort.  Fun but work!

Gallows Humor

I regularly shop at the 99-Cent store – probably not shocking information to anyone who knows me at all.  The other day I nearly got run over in the parking lot of one of these stores.  Brad and I decided that if that ever happened it wouldn’t be a happy event, of course, but it might be an “appropriate” way for me to exit this planet.

Last-Minute Freebie

Ordinarily if you want to take a trip back into Vegas history, told through the neon signs of the past, you have to buy a ticket for a guided tour. However, I just ran across this frugal option on the Neon Museum website:

 Join us on Saturday, October 28 from 1 to 7 p.m. for free, self-guided access to the Neon Boneyard in recognition of our fifth birthday.   Reservations NOT required.  The lobby opens at 12:30 p.m.

A Memory of 9/11

Soon after September 11, 2001, this was the piece I wrote for my “Frugal Fridays” column about my new hometown.

A Red-White-and-Blue Las Vegas

Las Vegas is a city with patriotic feelings as strong as anywhere else in the U.S.A. As I’ve been traveling all over our spread-out city since September 11, I have proudly seen the proof of that everywhere, from children’s make-shift pictures of flags and eagles in the windows of simple homes in the most impoverished neighborhoods to the big new flags that wave from tall new flagpoles I can see above the cinderblock walls that guard the most exclusive suburban enclaves. When we went looking to buy a flag, no store in town had one of any size, so we cut out the full-page color flag from our local newspaper and put it in our window.

Sure, we’re a “company town,” but the towering casino marquees replaced their flashing advertisements of magic, or dancing girls, or the message of possible riches, with eagles and waving flags and the simple message of “God Bless America.” A couple of large casino companies have contributed a million dollars for disaster relief — but small businesses all over town have donation jars at their cash registers in their best effort to help fellow Americans in this time of crisis. Our firemen have been out on the street soliciting contributions for the families of their brothers lost; our entertainers are unselfishly showing up everywhere for benefit activities. And so many people arrived to give blood that the blood banks all over town were swamped.

If you just come here on vacation, you might think of Vegas mostly as the Strip, or  the downtown casino area, or perhaps a few casinos scattered around the outskirts. Actually, casinos make up a very small percentage of our city. If you fly into town in the daytime, you’ll see that most of the buildings are not tall casinos, but are red-tile-roofed houses, stretching in neat rows for miles and miles beyond the Strip or any casino. And in each of those houses is a person or groups of people that have lives much like residents in any American city. Some of these people will never enter a casino their whole life, will never play a slot machine or sit down at a blackjack table, will never eat a meal at a casino restaurant or see a casino show. Many may go to work in casinos, but when they come home and take off their black-and-white dealer uniform or scanty cocktail-waitress costume, they’re simply tired mothers who are cooking their families’ dinner or dutiful husbands who are cleaning out the garage when they would rather be watching a ballgame on TV.

Of course, many local residents do visit casinos, but because of time or money constraints, this is a special maybe once-a-month treat. Even most of the retired residents with extra time and money don’t go to casinos every day. Most of the time Vegas residents are busy with the same activities that you and your family are busy with in a non-casino town: going to school, earning a living, playing golf, standing in line at the DMV, reading old magazines in a doctor’s office, shopping at the mall, figuring out how to make enough money to cover all the bills, reading a newspaper, getting married or divorced, finding privacy time and space to have sex, doing volunteer work, welcoming new babies, and burying the dead.

And when disaster strikes in our beloved country, like it did on September 11, all of our eyes are glued to the TV, just like anywhere else, whether we’re in a casino or at home. For a few days life seemed to stand still, even when we wandered around doing necessary tasks, our pain so great we could barely breathe. The normally raucous casino atmosphere was strangely quiet, with most of the scattered gamblers around only because their planes had been grounded and left them stuck in a place where they really didn’t want to be. Everyone longed to be home, and that was where most Las Vegans were whenever that was possible.

Getting to Know the Greenbacks

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Have you seen Buck and Winnie Greenback at Harrah’s Las Vegas – at least the statue of them in the background of this photo?  I have noticed the Greenback statues for years , always smiled at the over-the-top sterotype of the Vegas tourist,  but I never really gave them much thought.  However, recently I saw this real live couple whom Harrah’s has hired to give visitors an amusing photo opportunity.   They are such an unbelievably double for the statues and so charming that I forgot that I wasn’t a tourist anymore and posed for a cheesy photo.

I wanted to learn more details about this quirky Vegas scene and did a  Google search.  However,  that revealed limited information.  Maybe some of you will be more successful.