Please ADD your own Las Vegas Trip Report. Date of Trip: July 31, 2005 to August 03, 2005 Hotel Stayed At: Wynn, Wife's Birthday Trip I Report by: ktinca <> From: Bay Area, Ca

My wife had a special birthday this year (ending in 0 or 5). Unfortunately it came out on a Tuesday. Try and find something special on a Tuesday.

Well, after much searching I did. At a winery in Saratoga, Ca. (appx. 2 hr drive) Le Ann Rimes was giving a concert on my wife’s birthday.
Found an Inn and arranged a short trip.
Those were MY plans for her birthday.

As the song says “If you want to hear God laugh, just tell him your plans”.

My wife received an invitation from Wynn for 2 nights and free play and said
“This is what I want to do for my birthday”. So much for my surprise.

Flew SWA Sunday. I don’t normally include flights in my TR, but this was the 1st time ever we had a mechanical problem with SWA. A faulty gauge kept us on the ground, in the plane, for an hour. The crew was nice, and considering how often we’ve flown with them, we were probably due.
So, we got to Vegas around 2pm.

No problems checking in at Wynn. Wife requested a high floor with a golf course view (tipped $20) and received room 5718, golf course & pool view.
This is our second stay there, so I won’t go into descriptions.

We never make plans for the 1st day as we like to rest and get acclimated.
Dinner was at Grand Lux (wife’s choice). Always, good food at a fair price.
Although, we were shocked at the large number of kids of all ages at the Venetian.

Did all right the 1st day. Wife made small profit and really enjoyed playing her nickel video WOF, and put her $100 free play into $1 9/6 JOB ending with $70. I also made a small profit playing VP.

Monday: Went down early to make some arrangements with concierge for wife’s birthday, and talked to registration about keeping our room.
Both my wife and I individually received offers for 2 nights from Wynn, so she had a reservation for Sunday/Monday, and I had one for Tuesday/Wednesday nights (although we were actually flying home on Wednesday night). Desk clerk said no problem and held our room.

Buffet for breakfast. I agree with others who have said the buffet has improved from the opening month, not that it was bad then. They’ve added more items, and the quality is still outstanding.

After breakfast, we headed down to ESPN zone to redeem our coupons. They are out of the coolers again. Spent a little time there but didn’t eat. We will save the coupons for our October trip.

Wife wanted to play some pai gow poker so we headed to Monte Carlo. To our surprise the game was $10 minimum on Monday afternoon (my wife prefers $5). So we sought out the 6 remaining quarter 9/5 JOB machines. Played for a couple of hours, I won a little she broke even.

Took the tram to Bellagio, stopping at the chocolate fountain (1st time for us, wasn’t impressed) and the conservatory. This was our first summer trip, so our first chance to see the summer patriotic decorations. JMO, but find both the spring and fall designs more original and decorative.

Obviously, no cheap pai gow at Bellagio, so it was on to the Barbary Coast.
IMO, Barbary Coast has the best low-limit pai gow on the strip. Friendly dealers, mostly people playing for fun and not stressing about the money, and almost always at least 3 $5 tables going.

We played for a couple of hours, doing fairly well because the dealer never really got hot.
Then it happened! Everything changed! All of a sudden the dealer started getting great cards. I felt it change, but my wife doesn’t have my experience and frequently doesn’t know when to stop, after all she is there to have fun.

Tried to get her to leave for something to eat, but she wasn’t ready yet. You know what happened next, so I won’t go into details. Most of the profits disappeared and all of a sudden BC wasn’t as fun. Finally wife and I both had flushes, but lost because the dealer had a higher flush. This finally convinced the wife it was time to eat.

I mention this because it was a turning point of our gambling fortunes this trip, and I could actually feel it happen.

We had been wanting to try Margaritaville, and it seemed like a perfect time for a dinner of nachos and margaritas. There was a 30 minute wait for a table, but we were lucky enough to find a table in the bar. One order of nachos and a couple of margaritas raised our spirits. We enjoyed the food, drinks, atmosphere and the show, and will be going back again.

Wife then wanted to go back to BC for more pai gow poker, so back we went for more punishment. I’m sure it was painful to watch. At least I was getting some sympathy from the dealers.
I’ve seen it before, so I was smart enough to bet $5 most of the time. I Lost $80—2 $10 bets and 12 $5 bets, WITHOUT WINNING A HAND.
For those of you keeping track that is 14 hands in a row (I did have a couple of good hands that pushed).
Finally, my wife took pity on me (she was only down around $40) and we left.

Headed back to Wynn, stopping across the street from the Mirage to wait for the 9pm volcano eruption (another 1st for us).
Checked out the ½ price booth for a late show but nothing thrilled us. So on to the Frontier, again looking for $5 pai gow, but the cheapest game was $10.
Wife won $20 on her nickle WOF machine (I of course lost $20 as the losing was just beginning) and it was back to Wynn.

Couldn’t get back to that wonderful room at Wynn fast enough. When things are going that bad you’re better off to avoid the casino and call it a night.

ktinca <> - Bay Area, Ca    2619

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