As I said, I'm a donk. I can't f'ing believe it. Yes, definitely always max bet. Always. Learn from my stupidity.

Nice day 1 Leon! Brutal about the premium quad Aces with less than full bet but a win is a win

Holy **** w the 4 credit hit.

A better way to look at it is that the second or two you hesitated about the max bet issue is why you hit the quads. Every fraction of a second hesitation completely changes the cards.

You KNOW you would not have hit it if you spent the time to put in the extra money. Like you said, it was taunting you.

Day 2, part 1

Wake up at 6am... I know today is going to be rough but I just can't help myself. We've got the buffet for breakfast at 8:30. I give myself "only" 3k for the pre-breakfast session.

Very early on, I'm dealt 4 to the royal. This would be an ideal way to start the day!



Result-


Blech.

That session was complete ice. I pumped in 3k in an hour, and like a moron lose an additional 2k for a pre-breakfast loss of 5k and violation of one of my goals. Argh. I head up to the room to shower and still have 10 min before breakfast. I figure, might as well keep playing.



Make this third hand in, and get paid in time to meet my family on time for breakfast. Nice- now I'm ONLY stuck 3k for the AM.



Omelet bar.



Omelet, hash browns, corned beef hash, eggs benedict. This is the only buffet food pic I took bc, well, platefuls of food aren't particularly visually appealing.

After breakfast, the plan is-
- I take kids to the arcade at NYNY
- lunch afterwards (location TBD), then I watch a movie with them and put them down for a nap. I figure I'll nap while they watch a movie. This should give my nanny most of the morning and some of the afternoon completely free
- super early dinner (4:30pm) at Wazuzu, so we have time to make the limo for the Michael Jackson show at Mandalay
- post show snack, kids go to bed, I play

Of course, after breakfast I leave a bit early with my dad to help him get situated and I end up with 5 min to spare. Stick more money in the machine.



Why hello! Now I'm only stuck 1k for the day!

Bobbing and weaving. Often I pick wrong. This trip, I seem to be picking right more often than not. I even get paid in time to take the kids to NYNY, no one the wiser about my degeneracy...

NYNY and the ball game

OK, some backstory. NYNY has a game where you can win tickets that is pure skill. Basically, these buckets revolve around and you have to drop up to 50 balls in them before time expires. More successful drops = more tickets. Get them all, and you get the jackpot (min 500 tickets). The timing is tough and you need to move otherwise time will expire, but it absolutely can be done. The last time we were here I noticed the game, played it a bit and got 49 balls many times but never 50.

Like many of us on this forum, we grew up with video games and if you're like me have spent a lifetime finding ways to break whatever game lay in front of us. We know most games can be broken, it's just a matter of how I certainly enjoy the challenge and it's a great feeling to know you unlocked "the secret" to whatever game is in front of you, whether it's the infamous capcom code, unlimited lives on Mario, etc. The ball drop game is no different- any of you who grew up smashing games and being "the best" in the neighborhood could be the game (so basically, this whole forum).

Anyways, so a few months ago I took my kids to one of their friends' B day parties, and at the place they had the same ball game. I figure, why not. Took a try or two to get my timing down, then I smashed the jackpot. Bang. Quite satisfying, this big alarm goes off, and there was an attendant who was watching me who actually got way more excited than me- he was this 18 yr old kid and when I beat it he yelled "oh my god, you did it! That was awesome! I'm watching and I'm like, "this guy's going to do it" and you actually did it!". Also my youngest son saw it happen and he was running around the place saying "my daddy hit the jackpot! my daddy hit the jackpot" LOL. So that was fun.

So now, my plan is to go to NYNY and simply abuse this game. I'm going to ring up so many tickets and actually get a decent prize. We all know 99% of all those prizes are junk but maybe I can win a playstation, Nintendo DS or something just to say I did it. Of course, there's going to be a lot of other video games as well with my kids, but my mission is to JACK THE BALL GAME UP.

Each play is a dollar. I figure, I'll probably succeed 1/3 of the time at best. Play once- 49 balls. Play again...



LOL so satisfying.

I think I hit the jackpot 3 or 4 more times during that session, I can't remember which. That said, 1/3 was way too optimistic- I was probably more like 1/8. Like I said, if you miss even 1 ball that's it, no jackpot. So I pumped in almost 40 dollars on this machine and ended up with 5k in ticket. Didn't matter much, bc they really didn't have anything at all worth getting- the only 5 figure prizes were some trash camera and some headphones, and I'm only 1/2 way there in terms of tickets. Some of the mid-level prizes appealed to my boys, so we ended up stopping close to lunch time and didn't even spend any tickets, instead deciding to save them for the next day (we knew we were coming back). OK, so I didn't own the ball game but I probably crushed it for more tickets than those people had seen in a while

Unfortunately, I received a call from our host's assistant during the session- bad news, Mandalay screwed up the tickets and reserved for the wrong date. So now I've got to pick another show. Mystere? Dark Fridays. O? Sold out. My youngest really liked Love and he's become a huge Beatles fan since, but we've all seen it (including my nanny) and my oldest doesn't want a repeat. There's really not many other options... Love it is, again. Since it's so close to the Wynn, the limo departure time gets pushed back to 6:20 and dinner gets pushed back to 5. Fine with me.

Probably a good stopping point here. Rest of Day 2 coming soon.

Completely agree. Would not have turned out the same if ANYTHING was done differently. And still...

Then again - if you'd taken some time to get some money and max bet all lines, you could have been dealt AWAK!

Stop it, you.

Day 3: leon gets 86’d from the arcade. Great report, as always!

I've only hit 2 royals playing before. The 2nd one was recent on my last tilt bet with the credits left and I hit it on a 2 credit bet for a whopping 500 quarters. gg fml

Awesome report as always Leon. I'm sure we missed each other by minutes at the Wynn.

Will be back in 2 weeks to degen again.

Cheers

TF

LOL see? The machines know, they know...

Thanks man, following your TR as well. Headed back in 2 weeks? Jealous!

Yeah taking on another med friend on basically his maiden voyage. Should be fun.

I'm very curious how often you post during a long case. Not the peds tympanostomy tube room obv. Pretty sure we'd just talk shop mostly if we played VP together anyway.

TF

Not as often as you'd think- today is an exception bc I got relieved early. A whole room cancelled and I have to go back to work tonight so they sprung me out.

YOU might want to talk shop, I try to avoid any work talk when I'm not there as much as possible

I generally avoid it as well, but it just kinda happens sometimes. Have a good night, hopefully the OB don't keep you too busy

I posted some reading material for you though the VP was not kind on Day 2.

TF

Day 2 part 2

After we got back from NYNY we met up with my parents and nanny for food. I wasn't hungry at all and wanted to stick with the original plan of a super early dinner prior to the show. More from a convenience standpoint than anything else, everyone else chose to eat at Red8 again. They were seated in the same room as the first night, which basically meant my kids could somewhat see me degen while they ate lunch

In spite of that, I chose to play a bit prior to the impending movie/nap. Gave back a G while my kids were clamoring for the "light to go off" (hit a jackpot), as if I had any control over that. Walked back over to the restaurant and told my kids to settle down; walked back to the machine and made the light go off...



Bang!

So now I'm up for the day again, about 2k. Take the kids upstairs and I let them choose the movie, as I'm planning on sleeping while they watch. That plan fails between the noise of the TV and noise of the kids- the best I can do is shut my eyes and end up with that "too short of a nap" feeling. Once the movie finishes up I put the kids down for a nap, head downstairs, grab a coffee and resume battle with Mr. Wynn.

My dad is playing on the spin poker machine, so I belly up next to him. Thus begins some ridiculous swings- I pump back in 2k in about 15 min and am no longer up for the day. Keep going and now I'm down a G again.



Aiee so close.

After a bit, I'm now down TWO G again. I can feel tilt starting to settle in, when once again I pick up 4 to a royal, again in clubs. Hold the cards, get my dad's attention, and hit draw...



Wow! Third royal in less than 24 hrs!

I've learned from painful experience that unless one hits multiple 4000 credits/top prizes over a long weekend of play, it's essentially impossible to book a real win. On the other hand, when you DO hit multiple 4000s, barring a disaster a win is almost assured. So I'm feeling super optimistic now.

Keep playing- give back 2k, even for the day AGAIN. Make another score...



Another 4000!

I end up giving back 1k before stopping to get ready for dinner and the show, up 3k on the day.

Wazuzu at the Encore is pretty convenient for meals that need to be taken at "odd" times, since they're open from lunch through dinner. We get a ton of food, but unfortunately I can't grab any pics bc I left my phone in the room to charge (this will be a recurring theme through the rest of the TR). I leave dinner slightly early to grab my phone and the tickets.



Note the base price. If memory serves, the last time we saw Love the base price was ~110. These seats should be good! I suspect our host's assistant was trying to make amends for the Mandalay snafu.

Our ride is a Rolls...





There's a ton of traffic and it actually takes us a true 10 min to get to the Mirage. I must confess, I felt like kind of a jackass taking a Rolls rather than a walk that would have taken the same amount of time. It's fun and all to pretend you're a baller, but at the end of the day it's pretty ridiculous. Next time we're walking.



As I've mentioned in previous TRs, I love this casino for what it meant for my poker career and memories.





Seats were amazing, as predicted.







This was my 5th time seeing the show, but I was happy to see it again. Our nanny and the boys all liked it even more this second go round so I'll call it a win. Afterwards, we head back to the Wynn and grab room service for a late dinner.

It's about 10pm before I go down for my evening session- I'm completely exhausted and was considering going to sleep and just locking in a win for the day. I should have considered more, as it was ice cold again- I ended up losing 5k in a little over an hour. I finish day 2 stuck, annoyed, and in bed by 11:20pm (at least I saw that goal through today). Ugh.

Day 2 result- -2k
Overall- +6k

To be continued...

I love love love your TRs. Thanks!

Another 10/10 trip report, Leon.

My wife and I went to the 7 pm show the following night..Saturday the 27th.

We had an e-mail link for special 'friends and family' pricing. We got the best seats (ie. the most expensive A group) in the house, and even with the really good discount, both tickets with all fees included came to around $210..without the friends and family discount it would have come to the prices shown on your tickets..about tree-fiddy, for both tickets.

It was our first Cirque show, and it was much better than I ever anticipated. One of the most impressive things was the actual stage..just amazing. Beatles LOVE now passes Absinthe as my favourite Vegas show I've been to.

Didn't do well in Video Poker..a Hot Roll machine at the Mirage just destroyed us..

For being an Advantage Player, lol.

Do these kids even know who Michael Jackson was? His heyday was over before they were born.

Every trip I throw a twenty into a Megabucks machine, for s&g. It scratches any itch I might get to buy lottery tickets (odds are much better than any lottery). Three coins to win the 10 million+, and usually I hit a win here and there before the twenty is gone. But even then, or if I blank every spin, the final spin is likely to have less than three bucks in the machine unless I throw a random single or two in. Sometimes I don't have any singles but I spin it anyway in some perverse desire for self punishment.

Haha, same here. I rarely ever play slots, but every trip I make it a habit to put $20 into Megabucks, $20 into Wheel of Fortune (either the 5x25c or the 2x$1 version), and $10 into White Orchid (I've always had a weakness for that game). I've had a couple of ~$200 hits, but nothing huge. Just waiting on the $10mil.

I've never seen Absinthe but it's on the list. They really did a good job with Love. Too bad the machines were cold for you.

Yeah, I think they actually know the music I grew up with way more than whatever's current. Always my music in the car, which means they've been listening to metal since they were born. From there it's a hop skip and a jump to anything on guitar hero, which includes Beat It. They knew nothing of the Beatles until Love but now my youngest can sign basically every song, he knows them far better than I do.

Please stop doing this. I don't want to read about a 2+2er almost binking something and blowing their brains out.