Please ADD your own Las Vegas Trip Report. Date of Trip: September 10, 2006 to September 14, 2006 Hotel Stayed At: Wynn Report by: ktinca <> From: california

This probably won’t be the most exciting TR ever written, but every trip doesn’t have to be full of activity to be enjoyable.

Because my wife had a recent leg injury and had to use a cane to navigate, we stuck pretty close to home this trip. And home this trip was Wynn.

This was not our 1st stay there and we knew what to expect. I won’t go into the rooms as they have been discussed in exhaustive detail. But service has been a major topic lately, especially at Wynn, so I am going to mention a few service items, and each reader can decide whether Wynn provided us the service they expect.

Arrived at McCarron around 3:30pm, picked up our bags (no wait with SWA) and proceeded to cab line. In line a couple of minutes when a security guard noticed my wife’s cane, pulled us out of line, and escorted us to the front. Service at the airport, AMAZING! Offered guard a tip but he refused.

The cab/valet area at Wynn is not the largest and best designed, so you frequently exit the cab with a walk to the entrance. No one came to pick up our bags (2 rolling & 1 carry-on) so I took them myself. As I got near the entrance a greeter asked if I wanted help and called a bellman over (good or bad service?).

No wait at check-in:
I hand clerk ID, credit card, and $20 tip.
“Welcome back to Wynn Mr. T. your reservation is for 2 nights. We notice you prefer the golf course view, so we’ve set aside a room with a very nice view of the course and the pool. Since you require a fridge I’ve already sent one up and it’s in the room.”
Wife: “What floor is the room on?”
Clerk: “This is the 38th floor and has a very nice view. If you like I could look for a room on a higher floor”
Wife: “That should be all right.’
Me: “We also have a reservation beginning Tuesday for an additional 2 nights using an offer my wife received. Could you check that and arrange it so we don’t have to change rooms?”
Clerk: “Yes I see it and I will take care of it. I will also add your name to the reservation so there won’t be any problems. Is there anything else I can help with?”

We’ve now had pretty much the same room on the 50th, 54th, 57th and now 38th floors (remember no 40’s at Wynn) and my wife actually prefers the view from the 38th, so maybe higher isn’t always better.

Wife decides to take a nap (Dramamine does that to her) so I head down to the racebook, watch a couple of races, then check out the casino. Wynn still has plenty of 9/6 JOB on the floor and now also at the new bar. They also still have the 4 9/6/90 JOB machines near RED8. Lost a few dollars at VP before heading up to wake wife.

Wife is awake and says “You have to see this, the sheet is torn”
And the bottom sheet was, “Wow, I can’t believe the maid missed that, you want me to take care of it”.
“No, I called housekeeping and asked them to have the night maid change the sheets.”

We weren’t that hungry so we decided on Red8 for dinner. My wife really likes the décor and atmosphere of Red8, although I consider it a little overpriced. We had pot stickers (fantastic) a ginger beef dish and a shrimp noodle dish. Just right if you’re not starving. For some reason the $7 Red8 charges for a pot of tea really bugs my wife. It doesn’t bother her that they charge $18 for a dish that should probably be $8-$12, but the price of tea gets to her. She seems to think tea should be included, or at least cheap, at any Chinese restaurant. Anyway dinner was $62 with tip.

Tried to get on the 9/6/90 VP but they were full (the same people lock them up) so we played her video WOF but couldn’t get anything. Went back and was able to play those VP machines but neither of us could hit much. So we decided to call it a night. I ended up the day down $160.

Returned to the room a little after 10pm, evening maid had been in and turned down the bed, but did not change the sheets. So my wife called housekeeping and asked that a maid be sent up with new sheets. She was assured it would be taken care of.
25 minutes later still no maid! So my wife called the front desk and explained the problem. Within 10 minutes a new maid had arrived with a fresh set of sheets. It was now almost 11pm and we sat there and finally watched our sheets being changed.
This maid was a nice person and she knew the situation and that we probably weren’t happy. But she was pleasant, apologetic, and handled the job professionally. And even though we knew it wasn’t her fault, she was probably the only hotel employee we had contact with the entire stay who did not receive a tip. It wasn’t fair, but acknowledging this service with a tip just didn’t seem right.

Monday 11th
Woke up at 5am. It really sucks being up early in Las Vegas. Not wanting to wake the wife, I went downstairs about 6. Walked over to the Pai Gow table but no one was playing and I don’t like to sit down at a table by myself. So I went to play some VP, hit a 4OAK and made some money but wasn’t really interested so I cashed out.

Decided to walk over and check out Tableau, had never been there and was planning on having breakfast there on Tuesday. When I reached the Tower lobby I asked for directions and was told to go in, relax and have a cup of coffee. Tableau wouldn’t open for another hour, but they had an area set up with coffee & tea, mini-muffins so I sat with a cup of coffee and read the paper, very nice and peaceful in the morning.

After a brief walk on the strip to check the weather, I returned and found someone seated at the $25 Pai Gow table so I joined him. He was obviously a regular who knew all the employees, especially the dealer. He knew the dealer for years, when the dealer was at Caesars. When Wynn opened the dealer moved and brought this player with him.
As I sat down he explained that he took the bank every other hand and said I could bet against him, as long as it didn’t push his limit, or if I wanted I could play as part of his bank. I told him I was just killing time and he wouldn’t have to worry. He was betting around $400-$600 per hand.
I bought in for $300 and asked for some reds as I like to bet odd amounts, my typical bet being $25-$50 unless I get hot.
I played about 15 minutes losing more than winning and then I started to get a few hands. In the mean time the other player is having a bad run and has taken out another marker.
Then come THE HAND:
IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND PAI GOW SKIP THIS PART.

I have maybe $50 out and the other player has $450. I have a decent hand and the other guy has a bad hand. The dealer, who is also the bank, turns over the top pair and a 5&6. He then breaks top pair and sets the hand as 9/8. The player then speaks up:
“You can’t do that. When you taught me to play at Caesars you said the house can not split top pair.”
The dealer said “That was at Caesar’s at Wynn and everywhere else you have to split and play the best hand.”
It didn’t matter to me, I had a higher 9 and was going to push either way the hand is set, but the other player loses if the pair is split and pushes if the pair is played.
Needless to say a discussion ensues involving the pit people, the dealer is deemed correct, and the player loses his bet.
For those who do not play Pai Gow, understand ANY PLAYER would set the hand that way, it was definitely the correct thing to do, and I do not know why Caesars would have that rule. It was just unfortunate that this player learned to play at Caesars.

After a couple of more hands (which the player lost) he decided to move to the other empty Pai Gow table and I left, ahead a grand total of $30. But it was interesting.

Picked up some coffee and Danish and went upstairs to wake wife. This was a pool day, and wife stayed all afternoon. I stayed long enough for one of those $14 Pina Coladas and left around noon.

My job was to go to Mirage and pick up our tickets for Love, and make dinner reservations at Onda. Took a look at the Onda menu and they had dropped the Spaghetti Carbonara so instead went back to Wynn and made reservations at Corsa Cucina.

With 3 hours to kill went to the Wynn poker room and sat in a $4-$8 game. Nothing very exciting happened, fell behind but ended up $33 ahead.
You now see my master plan; I’m going to nickel & dime Las Vegas to death. At this rate another 250 years and I’ll own this town!

Dinner at Corsa Cucina (our 1st visit) was ok. To me a restaurant is supposed to be a quiet retreat for dinner and conversation. This is not Corsa Cucina. It is modern and noisy, and just not my style. We had an appetizer of pan roasted scampi, a dish with short ribs & pasta, and of course my spaghetti carbonara (had been craving for a week), couple of ice teas for a total bill of $113 including tip. No coffee, dessert or after-dinner drinks, as the atmosphere didn’t make us want to linger.

Off to Mirage for the 10:30pm performance of Love. Mirage was completely mobbed, with people just out from the early show and those waiting for the late show. The contrast between the high-level energy at Mirage and the laid-back atmosphere of Wynn was mind-boggling.

We had $125 tickets and I strongly recommend them. The $150 seats are on the floor and force you to look up (much of the CDS action takes place above the stage) and then back down to the stage. The $125 seats are stadium seating and allow you to look down and catch more of the action. The balcony seats, especially the upper balcony, may be too far away.
The sound is great, but not overwhelming, as the speakers are in the seats.

I’m not a big CDS fan, and the show seemed a little long to me. Love was not as acrobatic as Mystere, and there was more dancing than the other CDS shows, but of course the music was great. My wife thought it was great, and I agree it is a must-see.

Tuesday 12th
Woke up early again. My brain knows I’m on vacation, sure wish someone would tell my body.
Played a little VP to get a cup of coffee, made $70 but really wasn’t into it so I cashed out a small winner again.

I went to the Pai Gow table and there was another player there so I joined him. Bought in for $200 and started out badly. Was down to $60 without winning a hand, and then started getting good hands and went on a little run. My bets started growing and after a few hands I now added $5 for the dealer every hand. Things were going well, ran that $60 into over $500.
Then it happened---I did a really dumb thing. I knew it was time to lose a hand, so I dropped down to the $25 minimum. The dealer mixed the tiles, and at the last minute I said to myself “Don’t be a dummy, ride this streak out” so I increased my bet to $80 with $5 for the dealer. YOU NEVER CHANGE YOUR BET.
Everyone knows how this works; bet on number 7 fifty times in a row and as soon as you move to another number 7 comes up.
A clerk at the track makes a mistake and gives you a ticket with the wrong number, so you take the ticket back change it, and the other horse wins.
Decrease your bet and you will win, increase your bet and you are doomed to lose. It works that way every single time.
Of course, I lose the next hand! Play one more hand, lose again and know the streak is over.
Worse than that, I can actually feel my good luck is now gone.
Ended up $140 ahead, but didn’t feel good about it.

Walked to registration to close out one reservation and check in the other one, but everything was already taken care of. They had even changed the name on the phone & TV to Eileen (good service). All I had to do was pick up my copy of the bill.

Breakfast today at Tableau. Both my wife & I chose one restaurant before we left for this trip, and this was mine. We really enjoy Country Club Grill for breakfast but after reading so many positive reviews I wanted to give Tableau a try. The setting is beautiful, and perfect for breakfast.
When you see the hostess you are asked your name and room number and then seated. From that point on every employee, from the waiter to the busboys, address you by name. The service was outstanding. We had the warm beignets (good), wife had the peach pecan ricotta pancakes, which she enjoyed, and I had the Kobe short ribs and eggs which was good (but I’m sorry Brian not life-changing). The potato pancake was outstanding though. All things considered we did prefer this to CC Grill, and will continue to use both for breakfast, but IMO Verandah is still the best place for breakfast on the strip.

Today was my wife’s spa day. For those interested, this was her 2nd visit to the Wynn spa and while she enjoyed it she has decided she prefers the Bathouse at THEhotel. She likes the natural light that streams into Wynn, the treatment rooms, and the deluge water pounding down. But she did not like that there is no pool for swimming, and no chaise lounges to recline on, only straight-back chairs. And she did not like that you have to ask for juice, cold water, and snacks, they are not placed in the open or freely offered.

I had the day to kill so I played $20 in quarters on the 9/6/90 machine to confirm my luck was still shaky, and to no surprise the machine sucked up the money.

Walked over to the mall to pick up something to read at Borders, realized I needed to eat lunch so stopped in at the food court. Laughed when I realized I traveled to Las Vegas to eat in a food court, something I wouldn’t even consider at home. Had a bacon cheese dog at Nathans, IMO the Nathans at Monte Carlo is far superior (can’t believe I just reviewed a fast-food hotdog place).

Back to Wynn for some poker. It was brutal. Couldn’t get practically anything to go right, odds mean nothing when you are on a bad luck streak. Twice a bad player caught the ONLY card that could beat me, and once a decent player did. A few times I lost more than I should have, because players pumped up the pot with what they thought was the best hand, and then I was later outdrawn. I know how to adjust for these streaks, but sometimes there is nothing you can do. Played 4 hours for a loss of $122. I know this isn’t a huge loss in a $4-$8 game, and of course I lose every once in a while (everyone does) but I could almost feel the bad luck weigh down on me.
Oh well, been through this before. It will change eventually.

This was the night for my wife to play Pai Gow Poker, so we went to the Gold Coast. To my surprise there was only 1 $5 table (the others were $10), on all our previous visits $5 was the norm. Maybe even Coast Casinos are starting to increase minimums. Played for around 90 minutes, wife making a small profit and I had a small loss, then proceeded to the Cortez Room for dinner.

The Cortez room is everything a “fine restaurant” at a local’s casino should be. A nice, quiet tasteful old-fashioned place with good food and service at a fair price. Staff acts like they know you (and in many cases do as they have many repeat visitors) and genuinely value your business. She had the Maple Grilled Pork Chops served with Potato Cakes & Applesauce and I had the small cut Prime Rib (10oz) which was excellent and more than enough.
Total with 2 Iced Teas was $37, a real bargain.

A little more Pai Gow Poker, and some quarter 9/6 JOB filled our evening. We really like the atmosphere at the Gold Coast, and enjoy spending an evening there.

Wednesday 13th
Breakfast is coffee & Danish by the pool again, another grueling day for my wife spent by the pool.
Unlike Monday when I only saw one child, a toddler, at the pool area today it was MOBBED with children. There was a family with 2 boys around 8 & 10 years old, and another with 3 girls around 5, 7, & 9.

Warning: Children at Pool Story, if not interested Scroll Down.

We’re seated on the other side the thin section of pool in sight of the restrooms. I see Grandpa walking with the youngest girl (5?) they get within 15-20 feet of the women’s restroom, he points out the door to her and she runs by herself and goes in. Now Grandpa is left standing around, trying to look inconspicuous. He looks through the windows of the gift shop, walks around feeling uncomfortable and trying not to stick out.
Most men are used to waiting outside of women’s restrooms, we’ve been doing it all our life.
When you’re a boy you wait outside for mommy. Then a few years later you start waiting for girlfriends, and if you’re lucky one day you get to wait for THE GIRL. And of course you end up waiting for your wife and later your daughters. By this time you’re pretty much used to it.
Then one day your granddaughter, who is 3 or 4 at the time, looks at you and says, in that sweet voice you love, “No Grandpa. I can do it myself. You wait here.” And it starts all over again.
I felt like crossing the pool and walking over to that Grandpa and saying “I understand, we’ve all been there” but he was obviously uncomfortable and I didn’t want to embarrass him.

BTW: I’ve seen the subject of bottled water at the Wynn pool brought up frequently. It was in the high 90’s both days we spent at the pool and attendants did not pass out water. However, there was a big tub full of water at the towel desk for guests.

Stayed at the pool until about 1pm, then it was back to the poker room for me. I considered going to the Venetian, where I like the poker room, to try and change my luck but it didn’t seem worth the walk.
Found exactly the type of game I enjoy at Wynn. Not one full of new or easy players, but a good mixture. There were 3 tourists who were decent players, 1 person who was playing in a casino for the 1st time, who wasn’t very good but wasn’t overly aggressive so only cost you money when he outdrew you, one lady tourist who wasn’t very good and was a major contributor to the game. One local, who liked to play a lot of hands and was very aggressive. And one older local woman, who was a very good player, and the big winner in the game. She was interesting to play with and took a while to figure out. If she decided she was going to call you she would, no matter what she had; she would sometimes play the player instead of the cards. But she couldn’t figure me out and so a couple of times gave me more action than she should have.
She also got mad at the new player because he checked and then raised her one hand. I’m not sure why she got mad. She was an experienced player and knew it was part of the game. I did the same thing to her and she didn’t get mad at me. Maybe it was because she respected me, or she perceived an attitude in the new player that I didn’t see. She didn’t hide the fact that she was angry with him, and actually changed her game. She waited to trap him, and of course I noticed this and adjusted my game anytime they were both in a hand. Eventually being the better player she got him, but it was interesting to watch.

I bought into this game for $160 (tried to change my luck) but it didn’t help. Losses continued, including one memorable hand where I called a raise from the aggressive local who had the blind, to draw to 9c10c. Flop came 3 clubs, series of raises with 3 of us still in. I then realized local may have me beat (luck is still bad) so I called next 2 bets without raising, and lost to his Kc5c.
I want to mention one hand that came up during this streak for those who don’t play much poker. I had the button and raised before the flop with AsKs. The flop came K,10,8 different suits. There was a bet and 2 raises before it came to me, I showed the hand to the person next to me (who wasn’t playing) and folded. I folded the top pair with the best kicker. I knew the players, knew I was beat and the odds were against me. Two of the other players had me beat, so I saved a lot of money. This is what poker is really about.
Time to make a re-buy. Then FINALLY things began to change. I won a couple of hands I was supposed to win and things were back to normal.
I did have one big hand: There was a raise before the draw and I called. The flop came A,Q,5. I bet, the good local lady raised and I re-raised. The turn came Q, I checked, she bet and I raised, she called. The river came blank, I bet and she called asking me if I had the Ace. I said “I have the nuts” and showed pocket Queens. She probably had an Ace with a weak kicker, but had decided on the turn she wanted to see my hand.

One really nice thing did happen in this game. The lady who lost consistently caught a royal flush. She has the king of clubs and the rest came on the board. If you don’t play frequently you rarely see a royal, much less get one yourself. We were all happy for her, it was that kind of table, and she’ll have a great Las Vegas story.

I was able to get all my money back and actually ended up with a $53 profit, officially ending my bad luck streak. But more importantly, playing in this game reminded me why I play poker in the first place---because I enjoy it. Sometimes it’s more like work and I have a tendency to forget that.

Dinner tonight was at the Country Club Grill, this was my wife’s choice. We had gone there for breakfast many times and enjoyed it, so she wanted to try dinner.
They tried to seat us at a table in the bar area which was too noisy for a nice dinner, so even though we had reservations we had to wait with the other couples who also wouldn’t accept these tables. 25 minutes later we finally got a table in the dining room. We both had salads, I had the NY strip steak, Eileen had the filet, and for sides we shared sautéed mushrooms and the crisp potatoes (the potatoes were different and outstanding), with 2 iced teas, and coffee and 1 Baileys after dinner, the total was $178 including tip. Service was mediocre at best early when they were busy, but did improve later when it slowed down.
Overall, the meal was in the same price range as SW but the food was not quite as special, and the service and atmosphere not comparable. Will stick to breakfast there or possibly lunch.

We spent our last night playing VP, a little video WOF, some 100- play VP, and of course staying up too late.
Did see one thing of note; we were playing penny 100-play VP and across the aisle from us someone won $5000 (dollars not credits) on a nickel Monopoly machine. I looked at the machine, but I don’t play slots and have no idea how he won that much.
Thursday 14th
Slept a little later, the one day it didn’t matter. Time to pack as we had to leave at 11am for the airport.

Wife used the $60 in free play earned during the last 3 trips (can you say low roller?) at a 9/6 JOB machine and turned it into $75 in real money.
Then it was time to go home.

Musings & Odd Thoughts:
We really could have used another night (I guess most people think that) 4 nights is all right, but we prefer 5.

This may be the first Trip Report ever written that includes 2 Pai Gow stories.

If you are having mobility problems Wynn is a great place to stay, very well designed with everything within a short walk. Wouldn’t have been as nice a stay at one of the larger mega-resorts.

Even though I actually ended up losing a few dollars overall at poker, which is very unusual, we stuck to mostly high percentage gambling and only ended up a couple of hundred down between us.

For those who wonder how people like us get free nights from Wynn read the above report. This is our 4th stay, and we have used free nights on the last 3 of them. We had 2 free nights and 2 nights @ $179 using an email promotion. One night was paid for in advance, but our hotel bill still hit 4 figures. Wynn knows EXACTLY how little we gamble but sends us offers anyway. Because they also own the spa, restaurants, hotel and even the newsstand where I buy the morning paper. Even though they don’t make money on us in the casino we still contribute to the bottom line. Wynn truly runs a hotel/casino instead of a casino/hotel.

Wife only left Wynn twice, but still managed to have a great trip.
Every trip to Las Vegas is different, and Las Vegas is truly different for everyone.

Next Trip Report will be in the spring, hopefully most of you will have finished reading this one by then.




ktinca <> - california    3392

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