Las Vegas musings 2013-2014

[Dead Money]

First of all, Merry Xmas and happy New Year to one and all.

Its far from perfect here in Vegas, but waking up to full sun, blue skies and 50 degrees does wonders. When I left Oklahoma we were scheduled to have ice and snow. We beat it by about 10 hours.
It was on the news as "Winter storm Gemini"; I am amazed we now name big winter weather events...bless the media for pure distraction.

Driving thru Flagstaff at 1 AM my cars outside temperature registered 17 there was snow banks everywhere and I suddenly ran into a huge cloud of fog....all of a sudden, believe it was "ice fog"?
Visibility was near zero for about 5 miles, I had never experienced this before. Luckily, zero traffic to contend with.


ANYHOW, on to restaurants and what-ever, I will keep it short and sweet.

Great new restaurant find....

JAYDE FUSION at the "M" resort, exit 27 on I 15 south of South Pointe.
Restaurants got a great story...a Korean gal Seonkyoung Longest won the opportunity by winning Restaurant Express cook-off show.
Its format is Korean-Asian fusion with her personal twists.

It is absolutely to die for....our party shared Duck Sliders, Sushi with Kobe beef, Walnut Prawns, Beef Broccoli that literally melted in your mouth, Crispy Lemon Chicken, and a noodle dish with Beef Tenderloins. Prices were a bargain no entree (except lobster $30) was over $19.00......
Total Bill for 4 with a bottle of $35 Sake was $130.00
Worth the drive, open 5Pm-10Pm...need reservations, its a packed house.

PAWN STARS, the PLAY opens Jan 21 at the Golden Nugget...according to the playwriter, "Its sketch comedy like Madtv, it won't have the stink of art or theater in it""
Pawnstars Rick has blessed it "It's the most ridiculous idea in the world and the most brilliant at the same time"
According to the article, Rick got his start as a high school drop-out selling Gucci knock-off bags in Southern Cal, taking in $2000 a day.
The rest as they say is History....



Thats all for now, gotta dig the winter shorts and super dark sun glasses out of storage.


Celebrity sighting at lunch.... Palazzos Grand Lux....Leonardo DiCaprio sporting mustache goatee dark shades and a cap. Wife and sister in law spotted him, one of their favorites.

 

[azbob]

Thanks for the note on the Jayde...we've been running out of reasons to go to the M but, your description will get us there for a try...which space did this outlet take over?

Ping Pang Pong at the Gold Coast has always been a favorite in this category.

We've got a townhouse in Flagstaff and know that can be a very difficult drive in the winter time as you never know what you are going to face over each hill.

Looking forward to more updates including your first ride on the Big Wheel.

 

[Dead Money]

Thanks for the note on the Jayde...we've been running out of reasons to go to the M but, your description will get us there for a try...which space did this outlet take over?

Ping Pang Pong at the Gold Coast has always been a favorite in this category.

We've got a townhouse in Flagstaff and know that can be a very difficult drive in the winter time as you never know what you are going to face over each hill.

Looking forward to more updates including your first ride on the Big Wheel.

Hi AZ.....not sure what was there.....did notice a pasta bar up front that I don't remember seeing there last time out....seemed pricey too me. The Jayde Fusion will knock your socks off, we like Ping Pang Pong a lot, Jayde is very different in a good way.
Tried the Grand Lux at Palazzos today, outstanding huge entrees for 12.95-19.95,lunch specials 7.95-9.95, soda pop was free.
I had a flank steak sandwich on butter toasted artisian bread with sweet grilled onions, white cheddar, arugula,heritage tomatoes, and creamy horseradish sauce for 13.95 that was near amazing...I always seem to gain 10-12 lbs everytime I winter here.....can't figure out why....not sure about the ferris wheel, seems out of place to me.

 

[kickserv]

F

PAWN STARS, the PLAY opens Jan 21 at the Golden Nugget...according to the playwriter, "Its sketch comedy like Madtv, it won't have the stink of art or theater in it""
Pawnstars Rick has blessed it "It's the most ridiculous idea in the world and the most brilliant at the same time"
According to the article, Rick got his start as a high school drop-out selling Gucci knock-off bags in Southern Cal, taking in $2000 a day.
The rest as they say is History....

Well how about that.

 

[yyz]

Jayde Fusion replaced Marinelli's.

 

[Dead Money]

Jayde Fusion replaced Marinelli's.

And Marinelli's moved up front...that was the pasta bar we saw near the entrance to casino.

 

[azbob]

I guess it's the circle of life as, if that's the case, Marinelli's replaced the steak/seafood place near the entrance...they had a high top seating bar where you could order oysters, salads, meals, etc plus the main dining area.

The only thing you get credits for in the sportsbook at the M since Cantor took over is for horse racing. Used to spend the day in the book, get a certificate for credit and have clam chowder and a salad at that place...was always pretty good.

Last time we were at SouthPoint, they have a new sushi place in the corner past Steak and Shake...ate there twice on the last trip as they had some unique selections although it is hard to bypass the .75cent hot dog cart there.

Also...at SouthPoint they had a free comedy show at 12:30am on Friday night (no minimum) that was entertaining (and raunchy) and featured a few comics we had heard of. Probably best attended when you have a room there as it ended after 3am.

 

[Dead Money]

O'Sheas re-openned today

O'Sheas re-openned today

Near the Flamingo in the "Linq" area....all of 11 gaming tables....same old toad of a leprechaun, looks like a shell of its former glory...original marquee kept.

Anyone coming out for New Years can expect awesome weather...Sixties and blazing sunshine.

Ferris wheel scheduled for late Jan-Feb if you are so inclined.

 

[kickserv]

Ferris wheel scheduled for late Jan-Feb if you are so inclined.

I see what you did there.

 

[Dead Money]

Aria breakfast buffet + KGB burgers

Aria breakfast buffet + KGB burgers

Aria breakfast buffet 19.99....

Very very good..... got there 10:30, lunch is at 11 (transitions at 10:45).

Name your favorite, eggs, omelets, honestly good corned beef hash, chicken and waffles, pancakes, bagels,yogurts, potatoes in many forms, really good bacon, turkey bacon (yuk), portuguese sausage, carved link sausage chunks, complete with breakfast fare from all the international stations...Chinese, Italian, Mediterranean.

The shrimp bar was stocked along with smoked trout, salmon, ceviche
dishes + Breakfast dessert bar.

At 10:45 out came lunch (27.99) Brisket that melted in
your mouth, split crab legs, carved turkeys, hams, chickens,
Fabulous Jambalya, steamed clams, baked cod, mahi-mahi, good Pizza
and some gluten free stuff. Mediterranean lamb, pork, and beef dishes. Then they changed out the dessert bar to complete different offerings...killer pumpkin pie with nutmeg topping, fresh made pies,
puddings, cakes, more pies...this place is not for the diabetic.
Top it off with 12 different sorbees.

Buffets are pretty much what you pay for them, this one is money well spent.



KGB burger at Harrahs good broiled half pound angus burgers built anyway you want them with many different bun and topping combos.(including shrimp and fried eggs)
15-17 bux ..(I had a half price groupon from a neighbor)

I had barbecue burger on onion roll with onion rings, gouda cheese, bacon. lettuce tomato bacon....really good and filling.
Fries come with it, they were generic.
If you got burger craving, worthy of consideration, lots of Cold war and spy scenes decorate the walls.

Heading out to the dog park, more later.



CALIFORNIA CLUB DOWNTOWN
Lunch today 1-10...
California Casino downtown (walkway to Main Street casino)...a couple blocks from Mob Museum.

I like the downtown casinos furthest from Fremont St experience, they are as close to "old vegas" style as you will find today. Built in Mid-70's, chandeliers and lots of wood, give it the old time look: I guessed built in late 50's. The strip casinos to me for the most part, are antiseptic and sterile of character.


The Cal caters to Hawaiians, flight information for tour groups was posted near the elevators, the uniforms are Hawaiian floral shirts, casino has an island theme.
Way back when, they offered $9.00 flights from Hawaii, to this day, The Fremont, Main Station, and Cal get 90% of the hawaii trade.
Heard the sounds of coin poker slots, they had bunches of quarter and dollar machines along with the newer voucher stuff.

Second floor includes an "Aloha Specialties" restaurant....actually run by Hawaiians for Hawaiians craving island food. Mahi Mahi sandwichs, noodle dishes, soups, etc.
We had 2 wonderful huge bowls of Hawaiian style rice and Teriyaki chicken, total cost was $7.50...one bowl would feed 2 people.

Across from the restaurant is a Lapperts Ice Cream....if you grew up in Hawaii, this is where you went for ice cream...wonderfully creamy, $3.00 huge scoop of Macadamia Nut.....yum.

Worth the stop if you are Downtown...

 

[Dead Money]

Casino story, Main Street Casino Downtown

Casino story, Main Street Casino Downtown

Yesterday went to Gold Coast for Chinese food....Ping Pang Pow....one of the finest for Dim Sum lunch.

Outstanding lunch for 2 $20.00

Wandered over to gaming tables saw a crowd watching a "Dragon 7"
Baccarat table inhabited by Chinese gamblers.

The game suddenly stopped with a lot of animated Chinese conversations. One apparent hard luck player got up to use the ATM. Interesting to me, the whole table waited till he returned. Pit Boss and floor come over and dealer explained they were waiting. Floor asked if this was the case, they all said yes.
Floor and pit boss was all female
Player at ATM was getting no-where and headed for the cashier cage..20 minutes pass he returns with $3500.
He immediately plunks it ALL on the house hand to win..even money bet...his wife blindly puts her entire bankroll $2k plus on the same bet.

You could have heard a pin drop at the once boisterous table....
Cards come out of the shoe...he wins, the table erupts, they are paid,
wife tosses dealer a $25.00 chip, they get paid and leave.


On to Main Street Casino breakfast this AM.....

Hard to beat a $6.99 all you can eat breakfast these days in Vegas...
Main Street is done in a semi-Victorian style, lots of old wood, stained glass, chandeliers, really a very nice casino with lots of upbeat atmosphere, the gaming tables were packed at 11 am. The strip casinos at 11AM, you could throw bowling balls by the tables and not hit anyone.
They have a micro-brewery, Triple 777 Club.

Typical breakfast, Good Bacon, Ham, Sausages, waffles, pancakes, blintzes, good hash browns, and omelots to order. The omelette guy was a showman..he flipped eggs in the air, even semi solid omelets went flying never saw him miss, tipped him a buck for the show.
Nice to eat 10 pieces of good quality bacon without much guilt.
Going to try lunch here next week, $7.99..parking free with validation.

Comment on slot play in Vegas.....the strip casinos are not worth playing, hardly ever were, especially in light of recent strip earning reports.....their machines are on ABSOLUTE maximum suck.
Outlying casinos and downtown are your only hope for slot entertainment and a chance at winning a couple bux.
Wife and I played at Main Street and next door California Casino almost 2 hours and left exactly even, upstairs they had the old 9-6 poker payout coin operated slots I remember from the early 70's...they were very loose.

Slot entertainment used to be just that, win a few bux, lose a few bux.
With the absence of Asian whales, Indian Casinos everywhere, Vegas
is not the ultimate gambler destination anymore.
Many of the strip properties are just near empty caverns much of the time.



The Adult entertainment convention is on at Hard Rock, and Capt Kirk (William Schatner) is putting on a one man show at the Smith Center, did not know he was Canadian.

 

[kickserv]

Capt Kirk (William Schatner) is putting on a one man show at the Smith Center, did not know he was Canadian.

Yep he is one of us. A couple years back he was considering running for Parliament, but he backed out because of age, William Shatner was born in 1931:scared

 

[kickserv]

Wandered over to gaming tables saw a crowd watching a "Dragon 7"
Baccarat table inhabited by Chinese gamblers.

The game suddenly stopped with a lot of animated Chinese conversations. One apparent hard luck player got up to use the ATM. Interesting to me, the whole table waited till he returned. Pit Boss and floor come over and dealer explained they were waiting. Floor asked if this was the case, they all said yes.
Floor and pit boss was all female
Player at ATM was getting no-where and headed for the cashier cage..20 minutes pass he returns with $3500.
He immediately plunks it ALL on the house hand to win..even money bet...his wife blindly puts her entire bankroll $2k plus on the same bet.

You could have heard a pin drop at the once boisterous table....
Cards come out of the shoe...he wins, the table erupts, they are paid,
wife tosses dealer a $25.00 chip, they get paid and leave.

Cool story, can't believe the staff waited that long, wow:scared

I love baccarat, I am usually the only white guy at the table:lol:

By the way the dude bet on the "Banker" which is not even money, you have to pay 5 percent commission when you bet on the banker. The guy had to pay 175 bucks on his 3500 dollar bet.

Note: If he bet on the "Player", the bet was even money.

 

[kickserv]

Dead Money your Nevada write ups are awesome:0055

You should consider writing a book on your exploits in Nevada.

 

[Dead Money]

Thanks Kick

Thanks Kick

Could you take a moment and give me an online short lesson on this new version of Baccarat? I noticed EVERYONE at the table was taking notes on the cards played, card counting? Player or bank wins?
Floor did not seem to care...try to make notes at a Blackjack table, and you will hear about it.

Any tips appreciated, I hate to jump in half blind.

 

[kickserv]

Could you take a moment and give me an online short lesson on this new version of Baccarat? I noticed EVERYONE at the table was taking notes on the cards played, card counting? Player or bank wins?
Floor did not seem to care...try to make notes at a Blackjack table, and you will hear about it.

Any tips appreciated, I hate to jump in half blind.

Well I am by no means an expert, but I can tell you that baccarat has good odds, one of the best odds of any game in the casino.


Rules are a little complicated, but ya don't need to know em. Just bet on "banker", "player" or "tie". That's all ya need to know.


As for odds........


8 deck odds

Banker odds = 45.86 percent chance

Player odds = 44.62 percent chance

Tie odds = 9.51 percent chance


Not sure where you are going to play, but keep in mind that "mini baccarat" has lower limits then "baccarat". The only difference between the two is that in "mini" you DO NOT touch the cards. In baccarat you touch the cards. There are some casinos in Nevada that will let you touch the cards in mini baccarat but for the most part the dealer is the only one that touches the cards in mini baccarat.

Tip #1: Sit out hands.....you do not have to bet every time, sitting out hands helps.

Tip #2: Look for a streak......I still remember the day when the table I was at had 33 "players" in a row. What a great night that was. If there are 5 "players" in a row.....keep betting "player" until it stops.

Tip #3: stay away from the tie, the odds are bad, most casinos in Nevada pay 8-1 on the tie, some 9-1 but that is super rare, very rare. If a casino pays less then 8-1 on the tie they are ripping you off. Player pays even money, banker is even money but you have to pay 5 percent commission if you win. Meaning if you bet 100 bucks on the banker and you win you get back 95 bucks.

Remember you pay 5% commission on the "banker", sometimes people forget that.

If you play "baccarat" the person who bets the most on "player" gets the "player" cards. The person that bets the most on "banker" gets the "banker" cards. Most casinos will let ya rip the cards up.....that's always fun. Of course as stated earlier if playing mini-baccarat you can not touch the cards (most of the time).

By the way you were watching Mini Baccarat, and like some casinos in Vegas they have gimmicks. The "Dragon 7" is a gimmick, it is just a bonus bet you can place on each hand that is dealt. The house edge is 2.65% on the player Dragon Bonus and 9.37% on the banker Dragon Bonus. In other words stay away from that crap. The Dragon bonus would be something like "Player hand will win by 7" or something like that, just stay away from it, it is just a way to take your money. Like if you are playing blackjack and you put 5 bucks down and see if you get three 7's. You get the idea, stay away from those gimmick bets.

Note: In Vegas if you are "off the strip" you can usually find mini-baccarat for 10 bucks min bet, on the strip 25 or maybe 50 min bet. Baccarat is usually 100-200 min bet, if you are really lucky maybe 50 bucks, but highly unlikely. And if you want to watch Asians throw around money playing baccarat go to the Wynn or Bellagio and watch em play

 

[Old School]

good stuff..

need more contributions from members like this..

a solid read with a purpose plus insight..


:0055

 

[Dead Money]

Thanks Kick

Thanks Kick

Very well presented....you need to write instructional gambling software or apps......you would clean up.:0070


I will give it a try some night....did not see any Baccarat at MainStreet or California. Game probably caters to more well heeled players on strip and casinos catering more to Asian trade, like Gold Coast...

 

[kickserv]

I will give it a try some night....did not see any Baccarat at MainStreet or California. Game probably caters to more well heeled players on strip and casinos catering more to Asian trade, like Gold Coast...

Yep, the game is not in every Nevada casino that's for sure. And yes you are correct, you can find mini baccarat at Gold Coast, lots of asians and lots of tables, sometimes they have 3 or 4 tables going, which is rare. Usually if you find mini baccarat there will be only one table open.

Of course on the strip you can find 3 or 4 baccarat tables open but as stated those are in the high limit rooms and players (almost all asian) are throwing down 500 bucks a hand:scared

By the way sometimes in baccarat they will play with cards that do not have numbers or letters on them. The really high limit tables sometimes have this feature.

 

[kickserv]

By the way odds are if you play you will be surrounded by asians, if they are yelling "Monkey" they are not calling you a monkey they are asking the dealer for a face card or a ten.

Also if you are playing by yourself and want to sit out a hand some casinos will deal 1 or 2 hands with nobody betting. Just ask nicely and they will usually do it. Meaning if you want to "sit out a hand" and you are all by yourself you'd have to ask the dealer for this favor. Some casinos won't do this but most do. I have played by myself before and a dealer has dealt three hands with nobody betting. But as I said sometimes they are not allowed to do that.