Checked into the Imperial Palace room 13111. Yes the 'Lucky' 13th floor!
Add up all the numbers and you get even 'Luckier 7'
Had a quick bite to eat and an hour of BJ, ending up $63
Went to check them in at the Bellagio for their 3 nights.
Played VP and slots to rack up points on our card to keep it activated.
Eventually ate at the 'Cafe Bellagio' We all went for some form of salad. Beautiful food indeed!
Now, here is a teaser for you, when you eat here check out the salt and pepper dispensers. They are not marked up at all. When you get the pepper and check it out, have a look at the gold band around the top. You will find the letter 'F'
But why? There's no "F in Pepper."
Consequently there's no "F in Salt" either!
(There is a very small white dot on the salt pot though)
This observation had the waitresses and near by tables in hysterics!
After dinner we returned back to the Imperial Palace for some serious BJ.
Ending up $430 and a meal comp, which I didn't have to ask for!
(Be friendly, chat with the dealers, tip them a dollar upon sitting down, chat to the pit guys, play $10 to $15 a hand. 2 hours later you are in 'Comp Territory)
Early-ish night (reverse jet lag)
Made our way to the Mirage to see a slot host friend, I asked about the availability of Mystere tickets, the 'rocking horse shit' type. "Hold on",,,,, (phonecall) "Can I get 2 tickets for Mystere please?"
"Well Bob, do you want the early or late show for tomorrow night?"
What can I say about it without giving too much away?
It is like circus acts with music, but its not really circus acts, its sort of acrobatics,,, or is it?
It is very difficult to describe.
From what I have seen and been told I thought it was a sort of 'circus tumbling act show'. How I was very wrong.
Go See It!! There arn't really any bad seats in the theatre.
After racking up more Mirage slot card points playing VP and also coming out way on top, funnily enough it was machine number 01192 which add up to 'Lucky 13' :-)
We then went over the road to check out the Venetian.
This place is absolutely amazing indeed. The beauty and the luxury are outstanding.
We joined the slot club and proceeded to play some VP.
After 2 hours we were about $200 down and 41 points better off.
There was a strange thing happening with the points display, first it showed zero points, then 'Not Rated' and other error messages.
Putting 2 cards with the same number returned different error messages.
We approached a Slot Host and asked what was happening as we had played for 2 hours and got 41 points, but it showed zero.
Hang on and I'll check, she said.
Upon returning she told us that we did have 41 points and to ignore the machine display, the master computer was correct. (Teething troubles)
She then went onto tell us that as we had 41 points, they were obtained at "$25 per point" as we had 41 points in 2 hours then we MUST HAVE run $25 times 41points = $1025 through the machines.
Here you go Sir and Madam entry and membership to the 'High Rollers Club'
I wasn't going to argue was I?
Later we went back to "The Suite in the Sky" at the Bellagio. Top floor and on the end nearest Caesar's.
The sofa was dragged upto the window and we all sat there while the Butler served us Coke.
The water fountain shows from the road are very good indeed,,, but from up high in the sky, the show takes on a totally different view. ASTOUNDING describes it mildly.
You can see the water show as it was designed to be seen, while listening to the music on TV.
Viewed from the floor now, it seems pretty lame. It does really spoil you :-)
Along came the opening of Paris with the fireworks, again what a wonderful view indeed. (And the Butler served more Coke)
I had an amazing photo opportunity and took it with open arms.
Around 12:30 am we went to the Bellagio Cafe to eat. We waited over 20 mins to get a seat!
After eating, the crowds in Paris had subsided a little so around 1:30am we went in for a look.
Geez, what a let down indeed. This is a Hilton property yet looks much worse than a Circus Circus property. EVERYTHING that should be something is cheap plastic and poor quality paint.
The Check In area is plastic marble, the gold paint is in several shades, the fitments look like they were Mirage cast off's and K-Mart specials.
The Lobby floor is plain concrete with a brick like pattern embossed into it to make it look like 'block paving'
It was reported in the press that Hilton had cut corners, looks like it cost around $100,000 to build it!
Don't get your hopes up when you go in, Outside, yes its superb, inside? No.
The Casino floor is much much more compact and claustrophobic than NYNY, yet it looks almost like NYNY. Strange.
There are fake towers holding up the roof, (which is exactly the same pattern as the Forum Shops) but there is a huge gap at the top where you can see shadows.
The cocktail waitresses are dressed like a Bell Hop.
The floor cleaners look like onion sellers.
The security look a little French Police, but only just.
Draw your own conclusions, but the above isn't far wrong.
Eventually hit the sack around 4am.
Well, from what people have said and those who have actually done the 'Buffet Challenge' I can safely say that they were correct.
On the dinner buffet you got "Brown Guess Meat" and "Sand Coloured Guess Meat" and some "White Coloured Guess Fish"
Please eat elsewhere where you at least get some idea of what is actually in the glop :-)
We eventually ate at the Tea House off the menu and the food in here is very nice indeed.
We walked over to Treasure Island to see Mystere, great show.
On the return we walked past the Venitian and my mother needed a restroom, so while she went I dropped $20 in a $1 machine just outside.
She took around 1 minute and I took the same to be $185 in profit! That went towards the Mystere tickets!
After returning, played VP & BJ ending down just slightly, up a comp and up a load of slot club points.
Well what can I say? The food was absolutely beautiful indeed. The price was low as well.
Somewhere in the region of $20 per person or less.
Service, surroundings and decor were perfect.
I've eaten at Blackstones (Monte Carlo) and other Steak Places and the food was superb, but in Embers I think it was better, and cheaper.
Go try it out.
Walked it back to Caesars for dinner, stopping in 'Slots of Fun' to see if I could get any of their "Free Crap"
After dinner we went and picked up Brenda from the Venetian to drive her back to the airport for her 'Red Eye' flight back to Cleveland.
It took me 1hr 10 mins to return back to the Imperial Palace! The traffic was so bad it would have been quicker to walk. This was Labour Day weekend, so what would it be like around New Years Eve? It must be a Mad House!
After walking round the Pit for sometime I eventually found an empty seat and prompty sat down
Around an hour later I got a tap on the shoulder and my mother asked how I was doing, "Fine" I said
"You OK for money" She asked.
"Errrrr, (quick count) yes, I'm around $450 up at this point....Why?"
"Want some of this?" she asked, showing me a hugh wad of rolled up bills?
As I turned fully round she stood there shaking holding the wad tightly.
"Where the hell did that come from?"
"I just hit a Royal for $1,002.50 then just after the floor guy in a suit hand payed me I hit for another $164 on the machine next to it.
I think I'll go up to the room now and get rid of this in case I lose it all"
I had another hour or so and then hit the sack myself ending up about $300
By this time the heat was unbearable, it was getting difficult to breath. When you inhaled it felt like nothing was going in. We decided to make our way back to the IP, eat there and then stay inside for the night.
After dinner the place filled up very quickly and finding a BJ seat was impossible so played VP and a little slots. Unfortunatly it wasn't very profitable again.
Decided to visit the Auto Collection and pick up the fridge magnet. When we got there they told us that the promotion had ended, shame.
Returned back down later for some BJ and found a seat, with some idiots as I found out later :-(
2 'kids' sat down, they looked no older than 16, within seconds Mr Pit Boss was there asking for ID. "There is no way you are 23 years old Sir, but I can't dispute your ID" he said.
Yes you guessed it, they played like 16 year olds. One hand the dealer showed a 3, he had two 2's, drew and Ace for 5 or 15, then stood, even after the dealer asked twice if he wanted to stand.
This got the table a bit pissed to say the least, every one stood/bust and the dealer drew to 21
A few hands later the dealer showed a 6 and he had 15, then drew a card! Obviously bust. Everyone else stood and the dealer drew a 5.
The (big) guy next to me went balistic at him, ranting and raving and shouting, I though he was going to give him a 5 knuckle sandwich. 5 seconds later they were sitting at the table on their own:-)
I had a chat with the Pit Guy appologising that I couldn't play with them, he smiled and said "I understand Mr Robert, I'm sorry, will you be down tomorrow?"
"Sure I said" and he then smiled again and passed me 2 comp slips.
After the slow bus trip back, we got off at the MGM for dinner, as the Hollywood Cafe was closing for renovation that night. The 'Fish & Chips' were as superb as they normally are.
After a short rest we went to see The Rockette's late show at the Flamingo.
This show was sort of 'OK' that's all, nothing special but enjoyable. Not worth a second visit unlike Jubilee or some of the other shows.
Returned to the IP after the show and got stung for 300 big ones :(
No matter what anyone did or what the dealer was showing, he pulled almost everything to 21, or he had a blackjack.
Changing tables several times made no difference at all.
One consolation, the pit boss was chatting to me calling me 'Mr Robert'
Then 2 comps arrived before I placed my first bet or even changed the first $100 bill. Now that's what you call looking after the (regular) players.
Before eating we got the free deck of cards and took a visit to the Legends Hall of Fame. We spent almost 2 hours in here just looking round. There was so much history and nostalgia it was amazing indeed. They show TV footage of the last few implosions and some of the recent bad fires, plus other interesting info.
If you get a little spare time then go take a look, you will not be dissapointed.
Returning to the IP after dinner we then watched some of the Hawaiian Luau from my balcony, seems lame but it really is quite a good show, dancing and singing and other entertainment. The fire dancing/eating section is outstanding indeed.
Eventually we made it to the Monte Carlo, for early evening where we rode the tram to Bellagio and back for the first time, then gambled a while to keep the slot card active and finally eating at the Cafe.
What I did notice, and partake of, is that they now serve all of the Micro Brew beers in the Cafe, $2.50 on draft or bottled.
I went for the 'High Roller Red' which tastes a little like what we call 'Bitter' in the UK, very nice indeed.
Due to our massive win we walked all the way back to Caesar's for dinner. I really like the food here, reasonably priced and wonderful service. Around $35 for two people, but well worth it.
Tonights BJ session wasn't profitable at all :-(
More to follow in future updates.
If you visit then please send me Mail telling me what you think?
