Ongoing VP TR, PART 2!

Gotta get back to Kentucky one day. Spent a long day in Lexington 20ish years ago, thought it was nice, but kinda small. Love this portion of the TR, leon. Thanks for sharing!

Agree with your assessment of Louisville. Went to the 2021 Kentucky Derby. Seemed like they're trying to redo downtown and make it a place to live, dine, and go out in, but it's not there yet.

Do they still give away the miniature bat as part of the Louisville Slugger tour?

If I had had a night like that, I'd tell everyone who would listen that Louisville is a top 10 city! I've only passed through there so I enjoyed the report. We spent the night in Lexington and got the same college town vibe. I think the fact that the annual Blue & White (?) basketball game was being played a block or two from our hotel may have contributed to the vibe. And police sirens all night long. Those folks truly believe that basketball is something special.

I'm very disappointed that the huge bat outside the Louisville Slugger factory is made of steel rather than aluminum.

**ding**

Second Vegas trip, Part 1

I manage to drag myself through 2 long days at work, and soon enough I'm going back to Vegas again! Backstory, apologies if any of this is a repeat-

This is the annual March Madness trip that I got invited to several years ago and am now part of the group. I've always felt somewhat like an outsider on these trips, only bc I'm not the main organizer and most of the other guys don't gamble. OTOH, I did meet D through these trips so there's that, and this year we're staying at the Wynn and D and I are supplying the rooms and whatever food comp we can get, so I'm starting to feel like a bonafide member of the group.

D and I are both getting a 2bd room Parlor Suite and both have 2k free credit, 1.5k food comp. We SHOULD have enough given we're eating dinner Fri at Cosmo and Sat at Resorts World, but I'm a little worried I won't be bringing extra bourbon home with me. D and I also scored invites to a free giveaway Sat night- must be present to win, 100 people invited, 8 names drawn. 25k to first, 8k to second, etc. It's likely nothing but it is a shot.

To top it off, my former SD colleague J who lives in Alabama can join us. He's got to get in a day early and needs to leave on Sat, so I've got my room teed up to start a day early. All told, there'll be six of us this trip.

Agenda-
Thurs- get in late AM, dinner at Delilah
Fri- hit Cosmo at some point to put some action on D's account there, dinner at Zuma
Sat- dinner at Bar Zazu at Resorts World, drawing afterwards
Sun- head home

The others will be watching a lot of basketball and paying full freight for drinks no doubt.

Bankroll- 70k. Not taking any chances of running out of money on this one.

Day 1

Never gets old.

I meet up with one of the guys who got into the airport early. He's just been sitting in the airport lounge waiting for me. We find our limo driver and go. On the way to the Wynn, I get a call from some SD number and ignore it, figuring it's spam. I then get a text from the same number- "Leon, I think you have my bag. I have yours. I need you to call or text me ASAP". Oh sh...

Call the person. Sounds like an angry woman, somewhat understandable. I tell her I'm 5 min away and immediately turn around to the airport. I suggest we meet at zero level so we can literally just switch bags, but she says "I don't know where that is, you took my bag, you should meet me where I am". Fair enough. In my defense, my suitcase is large, hard case and soft pink. I've never seen any other like it. I just reflexively grabbed it and obv didn't look at the name tag.

When I get there's, she curt. Her friends are much nicer, maybe they felt bad for me? I apologize, again, they say don't worry about it, we're in Vegas, let's have fun, etc. The woman is already walking away. My bag is now with SW lost and found so I have to go there. The SW employee gently reminds me, "that's why you need to check your bag tags" and I say, "I get it. In my defense, how many people are walking around with large pink suitcases?" and she says, "more than one, apparently". I go, "well, from my POV as a heterosexual male, I MUST be the only heterosexual male with one of these". She laughs and agrees.

On the way back, the woman texts me. She's calmed down a bit, says we have great taste in bags, haha. More on this to come... all told, that derails us by about an hr. I'm REALLY ready for the trip to begin now! I'm going to take this as a good sign- little bit of run bad early, hopefully lots of gambling run good.

I meet up with J. He'd like to partner with VP but doesn't know how to play. I decide I'm going to change this trip up, I always start with UX, let's hit hi limit multiline and see if this POS machine can actually print money early for once. I put in 10k, J gets 10% and I start to teach him how to play. We play just a few hands when J asks me why I'm holding one ace. I pause and explain, some of the EV is from the low (but not zero) chance of making 4AWAK, etc. Then I hit draw and we see-

What a way to drive the lesson home! So early in the trip!

Soon after, dealt quads #1 of the trip!

Spoiler

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I mean, we'll take it...

D and the rest of the guys show up at some point. They're gonna check in, chill etc. D comes in for his 10% and J and I keep playing.

Despite all these hits, if you look at the total credit counter we are just hemorrhaging. Finally, we busto the initial 10k and I head to UX. Not a good start. Actually, a horrible start if you figure I've already been dealt quads once and have hit several 4000s.

D comes down and is ready to play dice. J could go either way. I want to get this money back, so I tell them go for it. They partner again for VP and I partner with D for craps. Shove money in the UX machine, and pretty soon see dealt quads number 2!

Spoiler

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Premium!

Kicker draw result-

Spoiler

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Average, which I will of course take. First 5 digit hit in the books!

I text D and J, "I told you boys! We're back in business!", then keep forging ahead...

To be continued...

The bag thing is such a bad feeling. Brother and I were headed on a golf trip and got delayed so we were in a super hurry so we could get to the hotel and get our round in before dark. Get to the oversized bags and two are there, my brother's and a silver/black TourTrek just like mine. No others.

Same thing, get a call from random number, ignore. Get call right after that from airline in that city, uhhh, hello? You have this guy's bag. FORK. We are in taxi, so have to have him turn around and then I run in and swap. I was mortified and felt awful, but he was pretty chill about it. Added $50 and an hour to our trip and we really had to rush golf that day.

Sounds like the intro to a Penthouse story.

i see you've been reading tails of real estate
particularly associated with stories about top floor doors and back doors

i sense a drive through chapel being part of the next installment

Late to the party, here for the complimentary feels.

Excited for the Mary Swanson update.

Loving the UX updates.
Always triple double bonus?

Leon, what's the process for you when the limo pulls up night 1 (in general)?

Host greets you?
Special line? Or...
No line?
Room always ready?

Bags just show up?

Check out the same?

Unrelated: how did you get the liquor home on SW?

Always. I know if I play anything other than TDB at this point I'm a lock to be dealt 4 aces and smash the machine. On a more serious note, I'm here for the fun and the roller coaster. Something like JOB is like watching paint dry and if you don't make a royal you basically can't win.

Nothing special. I get dropped off, they offer a bellman but I always turn it down. Head to the VIP check in which is slightly better than normal check in. Sometimes there's a line, sometimes not. Sometimes room is ready, sometimes not. Check out I just leave and periodically confirm with host if all charges are picked up (eg, I charged more than intended, etc).

I just packed the liquor in checked luggage. TSA has a 3L limit.

Day 1 continued

I play on.

These are the only hits over a several hr span which is never a good sign. I think at this point I was even for the day- stuck big, then that monster hit, and now barely keeping my head above water. I lock in a big ticket for me, D and J which is really just us being even. It's as good of a time as any to use my free play. I'd rather not so early in the trip, but I definitely want to put this big ticket in the safe and I'd rather not pull more money out of my pocket just yet.

Start.

End. Just abysmal, < 50% payback.

Keep going- dealt quads number 3!

Spoiler

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So meh. This'll be gone in 5 min potentially.

OK this is nice! 5 digit hit number 2 of the trip!

I think I head into dinner at Delilah up just a few 1000. Not the best given I've already been dealt quads 3 times and have hit 2 5 digit hits, but certainly better than losing.

Delilah

For everyone but me and D, this is their first time. We order a range of food and go family style.

I think most dishes were 6-7/10. Maybe I've eaten at Delilah too often recently and I'm just getting tired of it. The best thing I've had there was their fish and chips and they took that off the menu. The crab endive salad at the beginning used to be the bomb, but I'm definitely tired of that dish- I think I had like one and was good after. D and I have ordered it 3x in a row, I know that.

After dinner, D J and I try in vain to convince the others to play dice. The three of us find a table and it's cold and unfun. I dump a few k and head back to VP with J. D wanders off to find another table.

We're making regular hands on big multipliers, and no big hands on big multipliers. That's not a recipe for success.

Case in point. Objectively a great draw- but it's not a knockout punch.

Kind of absurd to get a handpay from this.

From one ace. So close to actually being amazing.

Again, kind of ridiculous. Comes in three times, but the one spot with the kicker is the one without the multiplier. Because of course it is.

Any long time reader of my TRs can probably tell I was pretty frustrated at this session. Lots of base hits. Lots of massive multipliers but never with a monster hand. I'm getting less and less enamored with UX the more that I play it; as we'll see later in this TR this may? be a good thing. Anyways, I go to bed slightly later than I wanted, basically even for the day. It could be a lot worse, I suppose. Live to fight another day.

Day 1 result- even
dealt quads- 3, 1 premium
2 5 digit hits

Day 2 coming soon...

Thread always delivers. Thank you for keeping it interesting, and real with your ups and downs (both emotional and fiscal).

next trip to America will probably be a wander through Kentucky and Tennessee (for a variety of reasons), so delighted to get some early thoughts on potential spots to visit from Leon

great TR as always, love it when the Vegas TRs venture out of Vegas for a bit

It's my pleasure. As I alluded to earlier, I really got emotionally whipsawed this trip. I was dead-tired for a few days when I got back, partly physical (sleep deprivation) but mostly just mentally exhausted from the highs and lows. I'm hoping to convey the emotional roller coaster even semi-accurately.

Basically just hanging out, paying for drinks and people watching. Of the group, D J and I are the gamblers. Lots of VP/craps between the three of us. The other 3 would literally just spend the day sleeping in, watching basketball and drinking. I suppose they did place a few sports bets but really small, 20-30$ on some games and a few parlays. I don't consider that "gambling" LOL which I suppose is unfair. Getting them to put money down on a table or machine is like pulling teeth. They'll happily pay 20$ for a drink but won't put a penny on the craps table lol

Leon - first and foremost thanks for continuing to do these. They never fail to deliver, and maybe some of your run good is positive karma for all the time and energy you selflessly spend in doing these reports.

Here's a question. At the risk of being presumptive and not wanting to derail such a great thread or to jinx you, inasmuch as you're in the medical field I'm guessing you're reasonably up to date on COVID vaccinations for your age range and risk profile. And I figure you would've noted if you'd ever contracted COVID while on a trip, but, unless I missed something, haven't. So my question is whether you've ever come down with it soon enough after returning home to have it be clear you got it while there? If not, do you think it's just more run good?

I'd forgotten about this bourbon thread over in OOT. Maybe be of interest to you. I imagine those folks would enjoy a link to your TR, though I wasn't so presumptive as to put one in there.

Thanks! You can go ahead and link my TR if you want.

well done - I've actually been meaning to do that, but haven't got round to it

Woof. I've purposefully tried not to talk about COVID, masks etc bc that's an invitation for the thread to be insta-tarded up by politics and idiocy. I will put in a request to the mods right now- please delete any post that is of that nature. Here goes-

I am up to date on my vaccines. I visited Vegas with my family soon after they reopened in 2020 and got a great pic, below-

Zombie apocalypse!

I wore masks when I had to and I'm sure that helped. I actually had two trips in 2021? The first of which was just after the mask mandate got dropped. No mask that trip. I went back a few weeks later with B who just had a newborn at the time. We agreed we'd wear masks to reduce the chance that he'd get something and give it to his kid. So when one of the craps dealers at the table saw me, he asked the very reasonable question, "2 weeks ago you were here and not wearing a mask, but now you are. What gives?". Of course when I told him, he understood.

In my >40 trips to Vegas since COVID, none of my family has gotten it once from Vegas, guaranteed. I've only had it once and the rest of my family twice. I got it in Disneyland, we went and then classic symptoms a few days after. I was basically back to normal after a day- it was the mildest cold I've had in years. Tested positive for 10 days though. My family has contracted it through the usual school etc- never from a trip. And, they've never given it to me either time but infected each other both times LOL. Mild for everyone, every time, thank god.

I attribute my "COVID" run good mostly to the vaccine, luck and the fact that in the early days of the pandemic I had my face inches away from COVID + people basically every day at work. For the first year or so my dept was primarily responsible for intubating all COVID pts. All of the other so-called experts magically were not up to the task, shocking I know. So I got micro-dosed with antigen over and over which I'm sure helped build a natural immunity- basically, like a vaccine. I was actually surprised when I got it- I was so sure I was never going to get it. It's a funny virus and the conclusions that people draw based on their utterly limited experience and no understanding of science or epidemiology are laughable. If we ever see a true pandemic with a higher kill rate we're doomed- people freaking out over toilet paper tells you all you need to know.

Eagerly awaiting people drawing conflicting conclusions based on what they want to believe

That pic is so sick, I would have liked to have tried running down the middle of the street like Cillian Murphy

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never mind - I've done it