Great thread TF.

Wonderful Trip Report.

Companion nights don't have to be used at the same time as you are staying there? How exactly does this work?

Figured I should add my praise to the chorus. I've really enjoyed this TR and am definitely looking forward to more. I have one question for you, though. When you're bringing champagne through, are you just packing it in your luggage? I expect you're not buying it at duty-free, correct? I've never traveled with anything under pressure but I'm thinking it might be nice for this summer. TIA.

Yes you have to be staying there to use companion nights as far as I recall. Most trips my wife comes with me except for he occasional extended wsop trip or guys trip. The companion nights have to be used by someone else who is staying with you at the same time. The best use of these nights is for Friday/Saturday since the weekdays will usually be cheap or comped anyway.

I use my 2 nights for one fri/sat and then the two companion nights for a separate trip booked under wifey. Then if you get your sun-thurs comped or cheap each time it’s like two solid weeks.

Does that make sense.


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Yup just packed in regular luggage wrapped in clothes or if room, bubble wrap. Haven’t ever had any explosions yet. Absolutely always nice to have a good champ or two sitting around.

Less than 72 hours til next trip. This one will be mega food heavy but will gamble a bit too.

TF


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We always travel with a bottle of champagne and usually a bottle of wine. We have a few special bottle carriers, but have used plain bubble wrap or just a pair of jeans, too. So far, so good.

Can't wait for the next TR to start!

Thanks for the help (and @Javanewt too!)
Excited for part 2. And honestly, Vegas is always about the gambling, but your depth of food reporting is awesome and appreciated.

Thanks Java. Exact same for us for packing wine. Actually have had two mishaps the past 10 or so years of wine muling. One was a 1982 Beronia that blew up on the way back from NYC. Managed to get it out of the clothes somehow with a lot of oxi clean and scrubbing. The silver lining of old Rioja is there isn't a ton of color

The other was a bottle of Dresden Gin coming back from Germany last summer. Fortunately that came out of the clothes pretty easily. In both cases we had way overfilled the suitcases, so prolly our own fault.

Cheers,

TF

how did I miss this?

great thread

When transporting liquids in checked baggage, I've used Hefty Jumbo bags to carry wine etc.

I haven't had a mishap, so unsure if those will contain a spill as much as I hope they will.

I checked a case of wine from Washington State to Kentucky once. Cost $25. They all made it!

Sorry to derail, TF, but we have a little time, and who doesn't love wine and beverage conversations.

Awesome TR. Sent you a PM - would love to meet up some time (In AB or Vegas). Chat mixed games, etc

Day 1

It's been 10 days and it's cold AF in Calgary, better get back to Vegas. This trip will be mostly about the food though as I'm taking a friend (we'll call him Mike for fun) for basically his first Vegas trip. He's been once before, but just for 48 hours of pool parties and there was no eating or gambling whatsoever.



Wine, check. Super bowl prop bets, check. LFG!

Head to the airport and we are already gambling as a massive snowstorm has started the night before and there will be 50 cm of snow in a 24 hour period. I think the chance we take off this morning is about 10%, just hoping the delay won't be too long.



Grab some avocado toast for breakfast because my friend is a big Timmy Brady fan and I have to eat this just to needle him for the Super Bowl loss. It's actually quite tasty tbh.




We actually manage to board on time in the midst of this blizzard and boom we've taken off within 20 minutes of scheduled departure. Running good.

We get to LV and I bet that my bag will come off conveyor first. Boom easy $10.

We then take our first of three interesting Uber rides of the trip. As an aside, the reason I always take Uber in Vegas is because of the terrible long hauling that occurs with cab companies, so I don't want to give them any business. We get this sleazeball real estate agent who has 30K worth of shiny veneers in his mouth. He decides that the best route to Aria is to go South of the airport and then take the freeway lol. Obv it's time to give him the 1 star and complain about the longest of long hauls and get that trip refunded.


Uber driver

After checking in we head over to Cosmo to meet my friend Ed for lunch at Milos.

Estiatorio Milos (or just Milos) is a Mediterranean seafood restaurant that originated in Montreal in the 70s and now has multiple locations, one of which is at the Cosmo. It has probably the best lunch deal on the strip, which is a 3 course meal for $29 (although there are supplements for a few of the options). A few years ago it was $20 plus the year in cents. Eg. $20.12, $20.13, etc. each year. Now they've bumped it to $29, which is a steal, even with $10 for the Octopus supplement.



Assyrtiko is an indigenous grape to Greece. It has excellent acidity, Sauv Blanc will be your closest comparison. Great with food and overall just a very nice wine.




The octopus appetizer course is mandatory and absolutely outstanding. I would eat three courses of this if it were an option. Octopus can be incredibly difficult to prepare without making it tough as nails, so for this course they tenderize it by beating it in the sink (phrasing) for about half an hour, followed by a red wine vinegar braising in the oven. At this point it reaches an incredible texture and is grilled. Previously it was served with caper, red onion and parsley, but they are now serving it on a very nice fava bean puree. The downside is you get less octopus than you used to, the upside is the puree is very good.



The lobster pasta is also a supplement course, and on this day, it wasn't particularly great. Lobster was a bit on the tough side and the level of flavor/umami intensity in the pasta was a bit lacking. I would recommend you get the Dorade course instead, and it saves you the $15 supplement.




Dessert is definitely the weakest of the three courses. Fruit is the winner of these two. The yogurt is the very rich Greek variety, more like cream cheese in consistency. There are also Baklava and cake as other options.

Now that we are stuffed, it's time for a little VP. We head down to play a little 25 cent ten play and grind it out for a few hours. During this time I decide to hit a bit of the Powerhouse Poker since I've been playing this at home and having fun with it. Unfortunately the live version just gives you more hands, but not all the multipliers like online.

I threw $200 into the $1 triple play and am down to the final $9 when this happens.



I had literally turned to Ed and said, "watch me hit a royal since I don't have the max credits". Sure enough. I hit my first Royal in forever on three credits and then puke all over the machine.

Bah. I console myself by saying that if I had taken the time to put in the extra cash to play max credits, the RNG would have changed and no Royal at all. Please hit me with the shame, I deserve it lol.

Now that we've had a few hours of solid grinding in and nothing else exciting hit wise, it's time for Kabuto. Both Ed and Mike have never been before, they have no idea what kind of awesome they're in for.

Before we leave I put a whopping $200 on the lock of the century, Tampa vs. Vancouver.



As usual we go with the nigiri course and then add on a bunch of extra fish. Here's the menu today. They are out of akamutsu. Nooooo!




Aperitif sake is lime today



Jacquesson 736 DT, this is a spectacular champagne. Could get into details forever, but a grower champ made by Gaston Chiquet and extra brut with 3.5 g/L dosage. 2008 is base vintage and 88 months on lees. Decided to try this because Krug was so huge last time.
It still pairs great, but tuna is a miss with Champagne, becomes much too metallic. Ikura is still the nut pairing, as are oysters.


Bonito - Very good, top vegetable was flavorless though


Seattle Kusshi oysters, excellent.

Disclaimer* Not 100% on all the fish this time since it's been a week. I'm about 85% sure.


Itoyori (Bream)


Hirame (Fluke)


Ma aji (Jack mackerel)


Ikura (Salmon roe)


Inada (young yellowtail)


Akami (Red tuna)


Ma-saba (Japanese mackerel) - May have reversed with ma-aji


Zuke (Soy marinated tuna)


Gyoku - Much better than last week but still not the best


Hotate - Scallop, very good and better than last week


Botan-ebi (Sweet shrimp) - This week they had two shrimp, the sweet and the kuruma, both were amazing.


Kuruma prawn

The tunas I may have incorrect but we had Jabara, Kama****a, Wakaremi and Hagashi toro. All were outstanding










2010 Egon Muller Scharzhofberger Spatlese. One of the wines of the year for sure and it's only February. Peach, nectarine, golden sultana, lime zest, grapefruit, mango, mineral, great intensity, acid and length. This stuff will make you cry its so good.


Black sesame panna cotta


Cheesecake

After this we head over to TI where they have the best blackjack rules on the strip and grind some $10 double deck. It's amazing they have $10 double deck paying 3:2 while Aria is paying 6:5 on a shoe game. For $25 you can play hi limit double deck and dealer stands on soft 17. I'm not a big blackjack degen, but many friends are so I'll always take them to TI. Mike doesn't like to gamble much, but he sure has beginners luck. He proceeds to make a 20 or 21 on about 80% of his 15s and 16s while I am eating more Queen's than Lancelot in the same scenario.

We end up making a couple hundo at the blackjack and Ed needs to crash since he flies out in the morning. Mike and I walk back to Aria a few hours later and put in Mike's first live $1/2 poker session at Pho. We sit down at an amazing game full of people drinking and having a good time. I'm mostly folding or taking down pots with PF raises and C-bets, while Mike is busy crushing the game with a more unorthodox style. In the first awesome hand Mike calls a PF raise to $15 with 910cc, it folds around to the only old man nit at the table who shoves for $100. Easy call. Dealer rolls off three clubs and GG to old man and his aces.

Now Mike is sitting on about $185 when the next hand comes up. Guy in seat 5 ($700) has been in hyper spewtard mode and has been beaking Mike because he only bought in for $100. He's literally been talking **** for the last two orbits for no apparent reason as Mike hasn't said a word. Mike is in the 9 seat and opens to $15 in the CO. I call OTB ($350) with Ac10s as does the beaker in seat 5. Flop comes out with Q75 all clubs and it checks to me. I bet $25 and seat 5 raises to $120. He's been doing all kinds of crazy unorthodox **** and I am surprised when Mike then flats in the CO. Getting a good price I call as well to an off suit 8 on the turn. Seat 5 jams and Mike calls off his last $50. Assuming that one of them has a flush and 2 clubs are probably dead, I need to call $215 to win $900 with 7 outs and make a stupid fold. River is obv a club and Mike turns over AsKc to scoop.

The best part has nothing to do with the hand or strategy at all, but what happens after. Mike is still being pushed the pot when he starts looking for a rack since he's locked up a big win. He's pretty much untucking his shirt and ready to load the chips right into it when I grab him a rack. I'm laughing my ass off, but this is poetic justice since the guy had been beaking Mike for no reason the whole time.

I grab myself some delicious Earl of Sandwich and it's off to bed.

Cheers,

TF

Fantastic write-up!

I feel like I should ask you this since you seem to be knowledgeable.

I have tried sushi once in my life, it was at a discount sushi place in a suburb and I thought it was terrible. It was raw, smelled VERY raw, and I couldn't get over the rubbery texture.

I have friends who love sushi who say I probably just had a bad experience. That if I tried GOOD sushi I'd see the light.

I see those pictures and I see what looks like (maybe fresh?) raw fish that probably has a rubbery texture. I get intimidated when I see what looks like eating arthropods, and I don't want to look like an uncultured simpleton when I take a bite out of lobster exoskeleton.

What makes good sushi good, and would I like it if I went to Kabuto?

Sushi is good when it has a great texture, which can vary from firmer to softer depending on the fish (eg. white fish often firmer than belly cuts of tuna) and occasionally a touch chewy (clams, squid and octopus). Fish should never be smelly, and smelly has nothing to do with rawness. It's all raw. Smelly has to do with age and quality of fish. Good fish is odorless.

My wife actually didn't like raw fish at the beginning until she started eating high quality stuff which changed her perspective completely. She still doesn't eat sushi in Calgary, but in Japan or Kabuto/Yui in Vegas or Shiro's in Seattle and other select places, she loves it and wants to go every day. I can handle it when the quality is a bit lower, but the difference between high and low quality fish is massive.

Some fish will be stronger than others, some will call it more fishy, but that's not necessarily right. Anything with a silver skin (eg. mackerel or kohada) will be very strong, and if not high quality, probably inedible.

If you go to somewhere like Kabuto and don't like it, then you can likely just stop eating it and saving yourself the time of trying others. But I'd try a great place once in my life if I were you.

TF

LOL at your royal. Game is ridiculous.

Thanks, I knew you'd chime in about that one lol

Turd: a+ TR both food and gambling!

Tj: go read Leon’s report, this discussion just happened recently re: someone not liking sushi. Cliffs: sushi is great and you should try it at a good place, but not jump straight into someplace like kabuto.

Wow great thread, i love it!

I myself had the 2013 Egon Muller Spatlese, i loved the roundness but it was a little too fruity for me. Overall 8/10 for the wine. Never had the 2010 before.

Day 2

Wake up after 4 hours of sleep around 9 AM and start looking into the NHL lock of the day since. Decide on LA vs Florida at -110 is just too good a price so make a little bet on that one.


Go Kings!

Mike hasn't ever had a Vegas buffet and since I get 2 for 1 at Wicked Spoon, I figure we might as well try it out. I will say it's a pretty solid buffet, though I think Wynn/Bacchanal are better. That said I am not an expert on buffets and usually just load up on any shrimp or crab/lobster items to "get my money worth". We're doing a double dinner at Scarpetta and Carnevino tonight so we eat a bit but don't stuff our faces too hard.

We do see a couple of funny things at the buffet, one is two middle aged ladies who are filling their backpack with bananas and apples before leaving. Another is a table with a guy and girl who have about 16 flutes of champagne for the two of them. After wondering forever what the hell is going on, Mike asks and finds out that they're doing the unlimited alcohol for two hours for $17. Pretty great deal if you can actually crush a bunch of drinks. It's funny to see them as a table covered in individual drinks rather than being brought a couple of bottles of champagne but I understand.


I just put the crab legs and eggs benedict since these were two of the better items.

After lunch we decide to go play a little live poker at the Bellagio and hop into another very good $1/2 game. Standard PF raise is $15 with 3-4 callers, just like home. Most significant hand is when an OMC makes it $21 pre flop and gets 2 callers including myself with 44 OTB as well as the SB. Flop is 554, boom. He c-bets $25, I call, SB folds. Turn is a 9, he bets $25 again, I bump it to $80 to set up a the river shove for his last $120. He tells me he has "too good of a hand to fold" and calls. River J and he checks. I shove, he calls off with aces, easy game. I chip up to $750 from $300 when my name gets called for the $20/40 mix.



I sit down in the mix with the usual suspects and proceed to blow through $1K pretty quickly by missing one draw after another and also having David Levi draw three in A-5 and make a 6 perfect when I am dealt a 4 card 6. Blerrgh, drawing games. I basically brick one street after another in all the stud games and miss every draw in Badugi/Deuce, etc. Not a fun session, should have stayed in the $1/2.

Mike unfortunately gets taken to value town with A10<AKs in a SB vs. BB situation and it's time for a few more sports bets before dinner.

BTW, so far our two locks (Tampa and LA have won both games). This will not continue.



On our way back to Aria we stop in at Cosmo to use up some accrued points on the February promo slot tournament. These things are always hilarious as you just mash buttons for two minutes and hope you get the highest score and a bunch of freeplay.



And guess what we won...



For dinner we are starting at Scarpetta at Cosmo to have their delicious spaghetti and then will move down to Carnevino for the amazing riserva steak. I like doing this because Scarpetta makes much better pastas than Carnevino and the walk/gambling in between breaks up the dinner and makes it much lighter.


The best spaghetti


1990 Gaja Sperss. Corked. MFer@#$*$@!#*!@

After our Scarpetta appetizer, we head downstairs for a little VP sesh and fortunately Mike still has his beginners luck which keeps us from dusting off all our money. He makes pairs into quads on a semi regular basis and we end up losing a couple of hundred, but have a few tasty beverages so it's pretty much a wash. Sorry, no pics.

We head down to Palazzo and it's time for the main course of the evening, riserva steak. I've spoken about this before, but it is an off menu, minimum 6 month dry aged steak and is my all-time favorite steak. On this occasion it is a 10 month aged version and has taken on an unreal intensity, with crazy umami, nutty and grassy flavors. It has the depth of something rubbed in porcini dust but is just a steak. Unreal. My 6th time having it and cannot recommend this enough.


Appetizer gougeres. Meh, not very good.


Butter and lardo (straight pork fat)


Bread


2 inches of 10 month riserva rib eye







The wines are no slouches this night either, with an absolutely fabulous bottle of 1990 Roberto Voerzio La Serra. Pure ruby, with cherry, strawberry, tar, roses, a tiny bit of menthol and still ripping acidity and tannin. I've been decanting these 2-6 hours and this one was peaking after 2, but sadly the last bottle. This could go another 20-30 years easily. Nebbiolo is truly the perfect pairing for riserva steak.

The 2004 Cheval Blanc is a great bottle and hitting a very good place in its evolution. As a shoulder vintage, the 04s are all coming into a good drinking window and offer very classic Bordeaux characteristics of plum, graphite, tobacco, great rosemary/thyme herb, and wet forest floor. This is in the primary to secondary transition phase and the highlight is actually a beautiful strawberry and floral component that you rarely find in Bordeaux. This is very good, but the Voerzio is easily 3-4 points better, the Cheval is just a bit lacking in intensity. Also, Bordeaux doesn't have the acidity to rip through the fat of the riserva steak, need some lamb.

This was a 10/10 dinner, a perfect steak, perfect wine. Good times.

Time to head back across the street to TI to get our blackjack on. We initially play a bit from a shoe since all the double deck is full. We get run over in that for a while before a couple of seats open up at a double deck game. We hop in the game with 3 funny Vietnamese guys and a young New Zealander. We are having a good time and everyone is making money when one guy suggests we start having Tokyo tea. Having never had this before, I ask what's in it. All he tells me is "5 clear". I assume this means 5 clear alcohols and sure enough it is all the clear alcohols, with a tequila floater and some midori for the green and sweetness. I thought I had a good buzz on, but after three of these we were lit up. Between that and about 3 red bulls, we played blackjack for 6 straight hours before almost falling asleep at the table around 630 AM.


Tokyo Tea - Party time

In the end we all doubled or tripled our money and it was a great time. Tokyo tea is definitely added to the party drink list from now on, but only when it's time to really get bombed.
We meander back to Aria and crash for a few hours before it's time for day 3.

TF

good stuff man. I am really sad to see another LVL TR with a non max credit Royal, but you're probably right that if you took the time to add on, it would have never hit. Keep it up!

Does the riserva steak come pre-sliced or did you do it prior to taking the pic? If they're slicing it for you prior to serving that seems odd.

It’s carved tableside. Here’s a pic of same.




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Great reading again. You're whine taste is exquisite.