Yeah I've never personally thought much of VPfree. Most of the info about the casinos I'm familiar with is wrong.

One wonderful thing about Boyd's (Orleans, Gold Coast) is their searchable database that not only gives you good descriptions of their machines and paytables, but their locations within the casinos. I think that includes their slot machines also.

Oct TR

Featuring... jackpots!





We just got back from this trip. I knew I was headed here again even as I was writing up the Sept TR but didn't want to spoil the surprise. This trip was planned with the Sept trip- as my parents are still in town, and unlikely to make it to SD this time around, we needed to get my wife and kids out there to see them as well. So when I departed in Sept, I knew I'd be back in less than 2 weeks which of course was an amazing feeling

The continued rungood at the local just made me even more confident going into this trip- I knew I had a real bankroll again, and I've subsidized my wife's garden project to a large extent. So, I'm bringing 20k with me, knowing I've got the funds to play, but strangely gunshy for reasons previously discussed. We'll have to see how it goes.

Agenda-
- Gamble
- eat a bunch of food at my parents' condo- they elected to stay there and not join us at the Wynn which is easier on my mom. So, we'll be going back and forth for several homecooked meals which my family has requested.
- two days of cabana at the pool- it's supposed to be slightly cooler than usual and possibly overcast. We'll see how that goes
- not donk the entire 20k off
- ? Circus Circus, NYNY arcades

Day 1

We leave basically on time- I've purchased the Early Bird option for Southwest to make sure we get a good position boarding. Didn't pay for my family on the assumption that Southwest would let us all board together (and if they don't I'll just have to hold seats for them). We do all get to get on together (I'm A28) and grab some premium seats. Win #1.



Best pic I could snap coming in, over my son's shoulder.



We've had this limo driver before- she remembers my kids.



I get relegated to the back by my ungrateful children.

We get to the Tower Suites and meet my parents. Everyone is hungry, so they all head to Red 8 to order while I drop our bags off. We've got a Parlor suite for me and my wife, and a regular connected room for the kids.



Best (only) shot of the food I got. Everyone was hungry and had started already. This unfortunately will be a theme of most meal non-pics this trip- it's hard to get the kids to wait for dad to take a picture of food for some random internet discussion board!



Parlor suite bathoom.



Master bed.



Main room.



Main room, view from entrance.



I initially made this reservation under my parents' name, thinking they'd be staying with us. Thus, they've left us more of an Asian spread of free goodies.



With eating out of the way, my wife takes the kids upstairs to get them situated and ready for bed. She's pretty tired and mostly interested in just chilling, so I'll be weapons-free to hit the VP machines hardcore. My mom heads to penny slots, and I get my dad set up at a machine.



Got my 1000 free credit loaded, and we're starting with 3500 pts again. The 3500 is not a coincidence- like last trip, I've started many trips with about that many points. 3500 must represent the amount of coin in I always give myself on the last day of the prior trip, after I've cashed out all my points and set whatever stop loss/win.

As can be seen from the pic above, the Wynn has adopted a new system for many of their machines; they've clearly implemented this sometime in the last two weeks (since I was here 2 weeks ago and it wasn't this way). The sidebar/player's card info pops up when you first card in, any time you put in money, and if you choose to push a button. So fancy.

5 min later, I pick up my first quality draw and bink.



Good start!

Unfortunately, things really go cold after that. I try spin poker but it's no good. I've given back that 2k and am now stuck, of course. My dad is playing the 10$ progressive single line where the progressive is near its base 40k; meanwhile on the other side of the bank, the 5$ progressive I played last trip is sitting at 23k+. I convince him to move there, and I play alongside him.

Things remain cold and I dump 2k really fast. Uh oh. Move to 20 line spin poker and play all 20 lines, hoping for some magic. I get to experience the downside of spin which I forgot about after last trip and how hot spin poker was that time- when spin is cold it's REALLY cold. Makes sense bc when you catch blanks, you're catching blanks on multiple spots. I'm down about 5k now which is basically my stop loss for this first evening. I cut it back to 10 lines, and of course shortly thereafter I see-



This is the fun of spin poker. Try and see how many ways I hit!

Turns out this is worth-



Magic. When you make a hand on the center line in spin and are playing multiple lines, it's a multiway hit pretty much guaranteed.

What a nice save! My parents head back to their condo and I move back to my usual machines.



Fantastic. No long waits for a 4000!

I go to 2$ credits and find an Easter egg.



It's official- I'm running like god these last few months, and this trip is off to a great start!



Bink my first real draw at 2$ credits too!



Pair of aces into a premium hand AGAIN, at 2$ credits! I've got 16k in this machine and am UP 11k after being stuck about 5k a couple hours ago!



ANOTHER Easter Egg! I'm at 20k now.

I'm just on cloud 9. This is so so sick. I'm so hot right now. I briefly consider going to 5$ credits but realize that's just hubris talking. The next hand is just the next hand, and of course I'm a favorite to lose. 250$ a push... exciting but I know I'd be really upset if I gave all this win back in a few min. As it is I can coast for a long time on this, and barring a total **** show the rest of this trip I'm likely booking a winner!

Good thing I didn't go to 5$ credits. Things really turn south after that. I give back 4k lightning quick. Move back to spin poker and lose more. Decide to head to UX and play 10 lines, 1$ credits. That's 100 coin in, but I figure it's "the same" as what I was just doing- 2$ credits, 10 lines. Yes, the same IF I got good multipliers which I don't do, and IF I got any hands whatsoever which I don't do either. I had earmarked 4k for this little endeavor, but after losing 2k in literally 2 min I decide to back down to 5 lines. Ugh.

That slows the bleeding a bit, but not the outcome. I'm ONLY up 6k now after having been up 15k a short time ago. I feel a little sick. I consider using up my free credit now but then kick myself and remind myself I had planned on saving it until the end. DON'T IMPLODE THIS FIRST DAY! I've only been here a few hours and have seen both the glory and huge downside of going big. It's super late (almost 1:30am) and I'm really tired. Let's be reasonable and live to fight another day. Sure, I WAS up 15k but that's gone. Starting up 6k is still a great start by any measure.

I make the most intelligent decision in the last 2 hours and head to bed. Tomorrow is going to be rough...

Day 1 result- +6k

Day 2 coming soon...

Why is going up $15k and landing up $6k feel so much worse than being down $15k and landing up $6k?

What a sick run!

Is a better question.

Because when one ends on an upswong it colors the whole thing. Plus snatching victory from the jaws of defeat, etc. Starting up and ending on a huge downswing, I just feel like a donk.

Whats an "Easter egg"?

Geez, A28 is the best you get for paying the extra charge? I though they were supposed to be A15 or higher. I guess SWA has succumbed to the greed like everyone else.

I simply used the phrase to try and indicate finding a prize or something cool out of nowhere. We could substitute "eureka" or "found an acorn" instead.

It's 20$ per person for Early Bird. There's still A list, Business select, premium upgrades, etc. Not sure where all of those things fit in but I never expected a mere 20$ to get me into the first 15 seats given other people are paying plenty more.

"Premium upgrade" for Southwest sounds funny. I haven't flown on Southwest in a couple years so I'm (thankfully) not up on all their new ways to squeeze money out of customers. It's not the kind of thing you would see when Kelliher was running the show.

It sounds like you're basically relegated to B group any more without paying up.

Best way to get A1-A15 seating on the cheap is to get the Wanna-Get-Away fare. On the day of your flight, go to the counter at the gate and ask the agent if there are any priority boarding seats available. If so, it’s usually around $30 and you will get A1-A15. Is it worth it for the 1 hour flight from SoCal, not really, but I still do it, as I like to be towards the front and in an aisle seat...and it’s only around the price of one push of the button on VP lol


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Sad thing is by simply only degrading their quality slightly since they started, Southwest has become one of the best domestic airlines to fly. Most of the legacy carriers now charge fees for luggage, some even for carryons, special fees for different seats, change fees, and a number of other charges designed to nickel and dime you to death and have shrunk their seats so much that only a child can fit in them comfortably.

Proposal: auto-ban any non-leon poster who bumps this thread while we're mid-trip and waiting for updates.

Effective: immediately after this post.

Personally I love Southwest and I think they deserve all the success they've had. They gave us all an affordable option by changing up the paradigm a bit and I still think their customer service is generally good. Contrast this with basically all the other airlines as you've outlined above- so many hidden fees, terrible service, terrible everything. Southwest may have their flaws but compared to the other airlines they're insignificant to me.

It's all good. Interesting discussion keeps me coming back here in between the gamble. Next update being typed now.

Update- had everything 95% typed out and the browser crashed from all the ads on 2+2. So annoying. I'll try and redo things later today, don't have the energy right now. Sorry.

You're gonna get a pass because of who you are and the entertainment value you add to the forum, but otherwise I would be rooting for bad things to happen to you for doing this.

Southwest will always be the nut low of airlines because they allow this to happen.

Think about it, pay for one early bird and save four seats. Seems fair, unless of course you are someone who also paid for early bird and got worse seats than someone who didn't pay for it, right?

Were you the hall monitor of the year back in grade school?

Dont hate the player hate the game.

hey leon, just gonna be the 1000th person to say i spent weeks catching up on the whole thread (kinda disappointed i have to wait now) and its awesomeness. managed to not reply to any old messages along the way except one now

when you said your cats ran away, the general rule of thumb is to keep them inside for 2 weeks anytime you move, ESPECIALLY if its close to your old house, so they can get accustomed to the new house, and not run back to the old. not sure if you did that or not, but just an fyi. growing up we've had more dogs than cats but sadly im a cat man through and through. mine is the king of the house now.

oh and my gf loves bak choy and kung pao so i guess ill be buying some red8 next visit

GL!

I get that people will take that attitude because it's Leon, but if you are on that flight (or any of ****ty Southwest's) when does it not become OK? 5 seats saved? 10? More?

If you paid for early bird seat selection why should you select a seat AFTER someone that didn't pay for it?

Again, forget that it's everyone's hero (who likely could have afforded the extra $45) and tell me what you think.

Check out SW's complaints and see what the #1 complaint is.

Hall monitor out.....

Completely agree with this; one time some dude was saving an exit row seat and I asked him if it was occupied, and he happened to be talking to a flight attendant at the time, and the flight attendant answered for him and said "there are plenty of other seats available". This was a several hour; direct flight, from Costa Rica to Baltimore; Nut low indeed.

You have a valid point but wishing bad things to happen to him is a dick move. You can feel that way, but accept you’re no less a dick than Leon, you’re just a dick who doesn’t have to deal with his wife and two young kids on the flight. It’s all good, I’m a dick at least twice a day it feels better when you own it

Ah this is so infuriating, has happened to me once, then I just decided to always hit Ctrl-A and Ctrl-C before hitting publish as well as a few times through the writing. Has saved me a few times since.

Looking forward to the update.


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I'm not exactly sure what you are trying to say here. The "wishing bad thing to happen to him" is really just an expression. Even if it wasn't, I really don't have that kind of power so it really doesn't matter.


Otherwise, I have been in the position of paying for four people in my family to early bird so we could sit together on a 4+ hour flight only to find someone saving over 10 seats for people who had not paid for it. The response from the flight attendant when people (more than just me) complained was "our policy is we don't have a policy".

In other words, fight it out if you want, but we ain't getting involved. Southwest maybe be the least expensive option, but they are the absolute nut low of airlines. They can assign you a boarding spot, but not a seat? GTFO.

I don't have Leon money, but I'll be damn sure to pay extra to fly on an airline I don't have to worry about this ****.

If someone said they are saving 10 seats and you’re too beta to sit your ass down and dare them to make you move... that’s on you buddy boy

Leon... I'm playing this VP tournament at Rio this weekend. Any tips?