Just from the way you're talking about it I assume you like it much more than Guy Savoy?

Leon it is time to start a thread for epic runs in Craps!

Nice to get both (VP n Craps) incredible run reports at once place, but, with this trip you made it clear that it is possible to run like god at Craps too

What was B's thoughts on the meal?

I'm imagining a non-foodie can still feel like it's one of his best meal experiences but would normally be unwilling to justify the cost if it weren't for the company.

Definitely. Guy Savoy was good, but some obvious holes (eg, one dish was too salty, the restaurant is actually too big- you feel like you're eating in a hangar).

Exactly this. He thought it was awesome but would typically never pay out of pocket for it. In regards to the 35k bottle of wine, we had the same thoughts as probably most other people here. At some point, the cost stops being relative and becomes absolute- I don't care how rich you are. The three of us all said we'd much rather pay for a stranger's college, donate the money etc than spend 35k on a bottle of wine, even if net worth was 500 million or whatever. At some point it just becomes a waste and so much more could be done with that money. Obviously we all have personal things that we spend money on that another might judge to be a waste (eg, gambling), but that was the point- when is too much too much, irrespective of how much absolute money one has?

B said the type of people who can afford and would pay for a 35k bottle of wine are the same people who wouldn't give a **** about whether it was a waste or not. It's hard to argue with him.

I don’t know the exact brand but I know JRB regularly orders the most expensive (20-30k) wines at Aria. I agree, I wouldn’t personally pay more than $100 for a bottle of wine. Hell, the Australian wine we get here are absolutely amazing and they are $5 a bottle.

I'm with B, would never spend that kind of money on food. However, I'm a cheapo.

Glad to read your report and pictures, and equally glad that you guys *do* enjoy fine dining that much. Thank you for sharing.

Especially when talking about wines where the cost drastically does not equate to quality. A car that costs 100 Toyota Camrys may be 100x worth it for someone, or come somewhere close.

I probably couldn't taste the difference between a $35k vs $100 bottle of wine. It definitely has to be the type of people where price of things, of all things, just don't matter.

Day 3

I sleep in a bit, but still up at 5:30am. Head downstairs, get absolutely drilled by the UX machine and once again find myself using free credit so as to not play "too much" of B and my joint investment without him there.



Got this for signing up early for the tourney.



Start.



End. Over 200% payback, hard to complain.



Just another quad on the complete redraw. No multiplier, obv.

At some point I must have gotten fed up with the UX machine and move to an old school one.



Wow. 3 times! I'll admit, part of me was annoyed that they came here and not on UX.

Pretty soon, get the same draw again...



Jeez. Happy/sad. NEED THIS ON UX!

I move back to UX, B is awake soon after. I bring him up to speed- we're EVEN for the day, in spite of those 4AWAKs. Crazy. We stick with 5 play- gotta make this money last. We're not getting S and the money is going fast. Finally, pick up a monster draw-



Haven't made a royal this trip- now's the time! I've also never hit a 12x/4000 at the Wynn- 48k would be AMAZING right about now.

Result-


Blah.

Alas, we hit ABSOLUTELY nothing, and finish the AM stuck almost 10k. We head upstairs for a room service breakfast (forgot to take pics). After, I check us into the cabana and then it's over to the slot tournament- let's think positive and bink this F'er!

B takes the first round. They've updated the machines, which now pay out much more than the old ones. In addition, we've got 3 10 min rounds, which makes it hard to tell what a good score is.



B's first. We can surmise given we saw several 180k's that this isn't going to cut it.

Wife goes next... and it's mediocre as well. I'm super irritated with slot tournaments, yet again. All those hopes and dreams basically dashed in a few min. I was obv always going to play this one bc my buy in was comped, but still... each tournament with only 100 runners each time... it's just not THAT hard to put up a good result once in a while?! We're not even going to crack top half here.

I'm next- if this AND my rebuy round aren't god like, we're not making any real money this time. AND... it sucks. I literally thought about just standing up in the middle, give a big middle finger to the whole thing. The only thing that kept me in my seat was the knowledge that if I got a higher score, I might edge up into slightly more free credit... sad.

As we walk back to the cabana, I try and think positive. Still up 13k. However, that fear/doubt is back- I can't count on the slot tourney anymore. Have to assume the rebuy rd will be a bust, have to assume I'm getting the bare minimum (1 or 1.5k in free credit). I've had my big hits already this trip- if it stays cold I could easily book a loser!



Single pic I snapped of the food. It was meh.









We kill some time at the cabana, then I head back to play the rebuy rd myself. I wish I could report binking that, but of course it's crap as well. After walking from Wynn pool/thru Wynn/Encore/to ballroom and back and that result, I wish I'd just stayed put. Totally wasn't worth it.

After a while, B and I decide to play craps. It's garbage, I lose several 1000 and I'm now stuck 12k? for the day. Head to VP, it's no better, until the 4th dealt quads of the trip!

Result-


I'll take it... but, not enough.

We step back to 10 play...



And... back down.



We played for a while, but ultimately that session was a loser too. I'm thinking I'm down 15k in what is turning out to be a horrible day. We check out of the cabana and actually chill in the room for quite a while before dinner just to slow the bleeding down.

Wing Lei

Mostly eating here bc we haven't been in a while, as I've posted before I've always been underwhelmed by this place and have no idea why it has a Michelin star. The decor is nice, of course.







Booker's to ease the pain of gambling.













Food was basically a 6-7/10- not bad, as expected. Definitely not worth it if I was paying out of pocket.



Wife's dessert- 10/10 for presentation for sure. It was pretty tasty too if memory serves.





After dinner, the three of us head to UX. The three of us have actually done very little gambling as a unit this trip- it's mostly been B and I with my wife's work getting in the way, and then her hanging out at the cabana all day. We're tired but it's the last night and I'm looking forward to this.

And... for the most part it sucks. Wife did manage to bring one good hand in-



We take the small win for that session (+2k), -13k on the day.

Day 3 result- -13k
Overall- +10k

Final day

I sleep in a bit more. It's 6am before I open my eyes. I know I should try and go back to sleep, after all I'm trying to preserve a win here. But, of course I can't do it. It's the last day!



All the free credit and points, including 1.5k prize from the tournament. It's now or never.



Start.



End. Over 100% payback again. I'm running good on redeeming free credit, at least?

I play that off really fast and B comes down. We play 5 play and tread water, then back upstairs for room service breakfast again. After breakfast, we've got about 4 hrs before it's time to head to the airport.

I'm up 10k for the trip still. We all know how fast that can go. I'm up enough where it would sting to book a loser... but not up so much that I'm safe. We've played so much 5 play in the last day and it's been just as bad. Plenty of good draws that haven't come in, and it makes you wonder "what if" we had been playing 10 play. B and I head downstairs with wife reminding me that if I book a loser I'm going to be pissed.

Yeah, should listen to the woman.

We get downstairs and I tell B that we should play 10 play, I'll put in a 10k ticket and we "should" be able to make this work. If we give back the 10k, oh well, even for the trip is still a good result in the grand scheme of things, let's go for it, blah blah blah. Mostly I just want to check with him bc that represents his profit as well. He's good with it. And... someone is sitting on "my" UX machine. We move over to one a few feet down, which is the same but has no sound. We quickly donk off 5k in no time flat. THIS IS NOT WHAT I NEED RIGHT NOW!!!

Finally that machine opens up. We quickly move over.



Of course, that is the last jackpot we see. We blow though the 10k, I'm now even, and we've still got hours.

Meh F it. I came to play, and if you told me pre-trip I'd "only" lose 10k on a trip, I'd say that's not bad. Back upstairs to grab chips and cash. We hit craps to slow things down... and lose 3k in 10 min. Just ice cold. I'm thoroughly annoyed now, thinking about all the dealt quads... the lack of kickers... the lifetime run at craps, everything. Any serious gambler knows what I'm talking about- the pain of regret and thinking what could have been, and what until just recently was money in the BANK!



We play SO SLOWLY. And, ultimately it doesn't make a difference. Wife is hungry and wants to hit Red8 before we leave. I look at B- we're booking a loser, and it doesn't look like it's going to change. We get up and join her for lunch. GG Wynn. Of course our flight is delayed as well- seems pretty standard that when you're defeated and just want to get home from Vegas, they manage to stick the knife in just a little deeper.



Gift from the slot tournament. Can I have my money back and we call it even?

Day 4 result- -16k
Overall- -6k

Postscript- I gotta say, in some ways this has to be the most tilting TR I've ever written. To know all the highs, and yet to finish stuck... so ridiculous. Now that you all are up to speed we can look back on those dealt 4 aces and really say conclusively that was the "make or break" moment of the trip. It deals it with a kicker and I've got a 120k lifetime record monster. It even gives me one 12x from the hand before as another poster pointed out? Well, at a minimum that would have been 7.2k more in the bank. God forbid it actually gave me two kickers- I've have finished the trip up.

Second "make or break" moment? The table max situation on six, BUT I didn't really get to capitalize. Same thing, just one more 6 and I would have booked a winner for the trip. 10 or 20 min more to that roll? Who knows? 50-60k swing?

So, yeah. I'm a degen, obv. Objectively not a huge loss. In many ways, a great trip. But still. Even now over a month later I feel like this is the one that got away. I don't think anything will make me change my mind until I have that monster trip that this could have been...

thanks for reading. This was bittersweet to type up.

This, or they're self-absorbed A holes which was kind of the sentiment I was probably being a little too subtle about. I think B's exact quote was "the type of A hole that can make 500 million is exactly the type of A hole that would waste it on a bottle of wine, wouldn't donate to the poor, etc".

Leon, your story entertains so much people. Don't see it bittersweet. Thnx again for writing!

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Win, lose, or draw your trip reports are always enjoyable.

Thanks, Leon..

Very entertaining. Hopefully a big upswing is coming at the local in the near future

That is a saddest 6k loss trip ever, which, you know, is pretty close to even. Imagine you were down the whole trip, like 40k, and then won big at the end to get to -6k. I know I know, the mentality doesn't let you.

I remember at Aussie Millions one year there was a 200-400 PLO game going with a 70k minimum buy in. They were all drinking bottles of Penfolds Grange, which is about the most expensive bottle of red here - standard retail of $400 for the cheapest vintage in a bottle shop and then goes up and up for the better years.

At first I thought they were being overly 'flash' and show offy and then I realised that if a bottle of the best red is the same price as a pre flop raise, you may as well drink good stuff

As someone who still lives for the degen tingles on a $125 win, I can't imagine the pure rush of the swings in this one.

Legalized Speedballing. What a ride.

Everytime I see a Leon TR, I start plotting on my next one.

Thanks Leon.

leon, i think you'd like the duck more with more filler to wrap ratio, in fact, i've never seen so little put inside that they could be wrapped so extensively as yours

this is the only way i've ever seen done, put wrap on your hand, load stuff up, basically fold it over like a taco

sorry for the bad end to the TR Leon but thanks as ever for the journey

Entertaining as always to feel the ups and downs of a high roller. Definitely sorry this one ended down for you.

I'm sure you explain your game plan to friends who will be traveling with you and come to some sort of agreement of percentages and splits and whatnot. Even if they aren't big gamblers, I assume being +/- $5000 isn't going to make or break anyone. However, my nit-brain just can't get over the fact that a 'normie' would let it ride after being up a considerable amount. Have you ever had a friend do a trip with you and ask for a buy out while you are up? Or is that bad form seeing as how your comps are mostly paying for all expenses anyways?

1K maxed??

I don’t understand. Most dice games have a max bet of 6K on the 6&8 on a 5K table max.

Sick trip as always Leon. Definitely been there with the "If only ONE more 6 (or 8, or 9, etc.) hit...". Total trip/session changer for sure.

RE: wine - good friend was a sous chef at a posh NY restaurant in the late 00's/early 10's. Would tell me stories from time-to-time of celebs and other big wigs who'd come in and drop 20k+ on bottles of wine with their meal. Whole other world from what I live in for sure.

I suppose, and perhaps I'm being judgmental, but I'm going to assume basically no one at that table had the ability to enunciate exactly WHY the increased price was "worth it". Far more likely to be a "look at me and how baller I am" move.

They prepared those wraps for us. I generally eat half the wrap/meat ratio anyways, open it up and eat the good stuff and don't eat the wrap at all on half of them. Gotta keep the carbs down

It's actually never come up. Since everything is a strict % presumably everyone is up or down an amount they're good with. Eg my buddy who had 5%, even when we were up 30k he's "only" up 1.5k. He makes good money so that was never going to be an amount where he's like "OK, I'm never gambling again". Same thing being down, bc of the % invested, I'm actually the only one who's been far enough in the hole where I either want to or have to stop.

I wouldn't consider it bad form if someone wanted a buy out though, totally easy to calculate and doesn't make one bit of difference from a math perspective.

ok that makes sense, probably overdue it to prevent any chance of slippage or spillage

weird they do it, i've been to what's considered the finest duck places in all of beijing and everywhere it's wrap your own, must be a us adaptation rather than a high end service decision

Mu shu pork was always done at the table for us, even at the lower end mid-tier Chinese places we'd go to.

i just had to look up what you're talking about, so weird

this is what is in china, no wrap of any kind

Great trip report - it took every fiber of my being to wait a few days so I could have the joy, and lack of suspense, of reading it all at once. I almost feel bad that by doing that I somehow jinxed you after the fact. My advice - anytime you feel down about the loss go back and check out the Robuchon pictures and I'm guessing the feeling will wash away.