Buggy's Wynn/Palazzo TR, One Post Version

A compilation of my several part TR from a few weeks ago, for those that prefer to read the TR in one post as opposed to sifting through the comments to keep up.

Buggy's Wynn/Palazzo TR, One Post Version

The players: Myself (Ron, 38) and my wife (Jessica, 31). We go to Vegas about 5 times a year. This was going to be a Christmas shopping trip mostly, but we managed to work much more into it.

THURSDAY DEC 18:

We were originally going to arrive on Dec. 19th, but my wife was able to get the 18th off work so we moved our arrival up a day to the 18th. We had the Palazzo booked for the 19th-23rd, but instead of just adding another day to the Palazzo, my wife wanted to stay at the Wynn for a night, since she had never stayed at the Wynn before.

I thought that was a great idea, so I quickly looked through my offers to see what I might be able to get at the Wynn for the 18th. I haven’t gambled much at the Wynn, so the best I could get was a free night and $100 in Slot credits. I booked it, then reluctantly canceled my Palazzo Limo airport pick-up. I was going to have to take a cab from the airport for the first time in a long time, because Wynn doesn’t hold me in the same class as MGM or Venetian players clubs because I’ve only played a few hours at the Wynn.

We were lucky to get to Vegas at all... We arrived the day after the big Vegas snowstorm that shut down the Vegas airport, and took off from Grand Rapids, MI just a few hours before the huge Michigan snowstorm that shut down several airports.

We arrived in Vegas at 6 PM Vegas time and the airport felt empty. We didn’t have to wait for our bags at all by the time we took the leisurely stroll form the gate to the baggage claim area, including a brief bathroom stop. Our bags we one of the first off (my luck was looking good so far, couldn’t wait to hit the tables), and we headed out to the cab line for the first time in years.

There were cabs lined up about 10 deep with cabbies standing outside the cab looking bored. We knew we were headed to Vegas at a dead time of year, but this was crazy. NOBODY in the cab line at all, so we were scooped up immediately. Normally I don’t care what route the Limo takes me to my hotel (they almost always take the tunnel), but just to see the reaction, I said “Wynn, no tunnel please.” Our cabbie didn’t flinch at the request and we were pulling up to the Wynn quickly with a $16.40 fare.

Jess and I were so excited and happy to be in Vegas that we were being quite silly and giddy. There was a Wynn employee there to open our cab door and offer luggage assistance. I was a bit surprised because I have found that in the past couple of years, the baggage assistance has been harder and harder to come by at many of the strip hotels. We took him up on the offer and continued to act like excited school kids, which prompted him to ask if we were on our honeymoon. Of course I said YES! Then Jess told him we have been married 9 years, to which I replied “Don’t honeymoons last the first 10?”

We stopped and started taking pictures of the lighted, tree lined walkway leading into the casino. It felt very Christmassy and added to the giddy feelings we were having just being here. We wandered into the check in area and were next in line in the invited guest check in.

I was assuming I would get just a basic resort room since I didn’t have much of a history at Wynn and I was correct. We were assigned Room 5018, which the desk clerk told us was a Panoramic View suite or something like that. I am pretty sure it was just a basic resort room with a high floor number, which they renamed a “whatever” suite in order to make it seem like it was a better category room. The room was great (comfy and clean). I actually liked the colors and decor as did Jess. I had heard horror stories about people who have hated their room décor, but we either just got lucky or we have completely different taste. We overlooked the golf course, which looks amazing, with all the water hazards and beautiful waterfall, but I’m not much of a golfer.

It was approaching 8 PM and we were hungry. We thought about making a reservation somewhere but the town is so dead I was sure we could walk into anywhere and get seated. We took a quick shower to freshen up and dressed up in some spiffy clothes and headed downstairs for dinner. We wandered and checked out many menus, but decided on Tableau.

THURSDAY DEC. 18th, 8:30 PM

We decided on dinner at Tableau, in the lobby of the Wynn Tower Suites. An adorable and tiny (to us anyway, I am 6’ 4 and Jess is 6’ tall) hostess sat us in the Atrium. It is a beautiful room to dine in and we happened to be the only ones in it at the time (it seats about 50 comfortably I would guess) so it was even more romantic. The only other people in the restaurant were an Asian family sitting near the front of the restaurant, which has a view of the Tower Elevators, so I was very grateful for the Atrium table, with it’s much better atmosphere and view.

The staff was amazing and very attentive (not sure how it would have been if there were more customers, but we were impressed). Jess loved the fact that they brought over a tiny little mini-bench to sit by her feet that held her purse. It was sort of a “high-chair” for her handbag.

We didn’t really look the menu over too well, as both of us were in the mood for variety. We ordered the Chefs 6 course Tasting Menu with wine pairings. The cost was $185 per person. I will describe each course, but it was OUTSTANDING from start to finish. What a great atmosphere, great service, and unbelievably delicious food. I would highly recommend Tableau. I took notes during the meal so I could share the details with you, but there is just no describing how great this meal was.

They started off by bringing fresh baked bread and a couple of mouthwatering butters to the table. This isn’t fair, because the last thing I want to do is fill up on bread knowing a 6 course meal is coming...

COURSE 1: Ahi Tuna paired with a Riesling. I never imagined 10 years ago that I would enjoy raw fish, but since Tuna is one of my wife’s favorites I have come to enjoy it as well. This was a perfect way to start the meal.

COURSE 2: Seared Foie Gras paired with an Australian Muscat. This is another food item I never imagined I would like, but the wife got me to try it and it was sooooooooo good. From what I understand foie gras is duck liver (sorry Topeka Ducky), but don’t let that stop you. I still can’t believe how tasty this was. The Muscat was a bit too sweet for my taste, however.

COURSE 3: Sea Bass paired with Santa Ynez Chardonnay. This course was supposed to be scallops but I have a shellfish allergy so Sea Bass was substituted. Sea Bass is far and away my favorite fish and this was no exception. Perfectly prepared and seasoned and the wine was perfect with it.

COURSE 4: Rocky Mountain Elk Mignon paired with a Spanish Granacha Red Wine. This was my least favorite food item, and my most favorite wine. I am not a big red meat fan, but I do enjoy a good filet every now and then. The elk was just a bit to tough for me to thoroughly enjoy, but it was good. The wine was awesome, however. I like a big red, and the finish on this one was great.

COURSE 5: A Fontina Cheese plate and the same wine as course 4. We were thrilled to get another glass of the delicious Spanish Red, and the cheese was magnificent.

COURSE 6: A wonderful dessert trio of chocolate mousse, an apple crisp, and pear and pecan ice cream. Oh my Gosh what a great way to finish of an amazing meal.

Our server brought us a Navan Vanilla Cognac with desert. I am not much of a drinker at all so by the time I finished all those wines and topped it off with the cognac I was very loopy. I hadn’t been this drunk since Pook made me drink slushies at gunpoint during last summers MEGA.

Our bill came to just under $400 and the service was so amazing I just rounded up to $500 when I added the tip. I was hoping to play enough before check out tomorrow to get the meal comped, but it would be worth every penny to me even if it wasn’t.

We stumbled out of Tableau completely full and very tipsy... Time to GAMBLE. :)

THURSDAY DEC 18, 10 PM

We stumbled out of Tableau feeling no pain. It was that good kind of drunk, where you know your judgment is severely altered, but you just don’t care. :) What a perfect time to gamble.

I’m not a slot player at all, just can’t get excited about them and the few times I’ve tried them I might as well have been flushing my money down the toilet. Since we had a $100 slot credit as part of the promotion, we headed over to the Red Club Desk to get it activated. While I was getting the $100 credit put on my card Jess signed up for her own card and got $10 in free play for signing up.

Since neither of us are big slot fans we wandered over to the high stakes slots so we could blow the $100 quickly. It worked. I’m not sure what machine I even sat down at, but my $100 credit was gone before I knew what hit me. The impressive thing was that before we had even set up the machine to accept our free play we had a server offering us drinks. Not sure if it was because we were in the high stakes slots area or if it was just because the casino was pretty empty. We both just ordered a bottled water since we were still feeling pretty drunk from dinner.

I figured I should put another $100 in the machine as we waited for our waters, and she was there with them before I busted out again without a winning spin. At least they were Fiji waters, so it was worth the extra $100 we lost (hahahaha, oh well)...

As we walked out of the high stakes slots we remembered Jess still had $10 on her card in free play. She walked across the walkway from the high stakes slots and sat down at a Wolf Run Slot. Jess is currently reading the Twilight series, and I guess she likes Jacob, because she said she just had a “feeling” about the machine because of where she is at in the book. I rolled my eyes (lovingly, of course) and watched as she set up the machine to take her $10 free play. She used the entire $10 on her first spin and WHAM! she gets a bonus round. Since we aren’t very “slot savvy” we really had no idea what was going on except the machine just kept spinning and spinning and the credits just kept climbing and climbing. Since we were already giddy because it was our first night in Vegas, and add to it all the drinking we did at dinner, it must have been a hilarious sight watching us sitting there staring at the Wolf Run slot, laughing so hard we were falling of our chairs (literally at one point) and high fiving after each free spin. Not sure how long all the free bonus spins lasted but after the machine stopped making noise we had a $561 win on her first spin. Crazy. I waste my $100 credit and a $100 bill and don’t get a single measly winning spin, she spins once and wins $561. She didn’t even think twice about spinning again, she immediately cashed out with her win and walked over to the machine that pays out winning slips and tucked the money in her wallet.

I wanted a taste of that winning feeling and walked around through the table games. We were surprised to see on a Thursday night around 11 PM at Wynn that almost all of the table minimums were only $10. I headed over to the craps table and realized I had left all my gambling cash in the room. I had applied for a line of credit online the week before we arrived so I headed over to the cage (right next to the craps tables, how convenient!) to activate it. They couldn’t find my credit line after about 10 minutes so they sent me next to the cage to the host/casino credit offices. After even more run-around (I could have made several trips back and forth to the room at this point to get my cash) they figured out the problem. It seems as though they created a new Red Card number for me when they processed my line of credit, so they couldn’t find it when they looked under the Red Card number I was using. They processed it and gave me my new Red Card with the line of credit attached and I was good to go.

The problem now was that we were crashing fast. It was approaching midnight (3 AM back home time) and our buzz was wearing off. We decided to call it a night and head back to the room pass out. But at least I was all ready to wake up early and get some craps playing in before we headed over to the Palazzo.

FRIDAY DEC 19th, 6 AM

Woke up with quite the hangover. I%26#39;m not used to drinking and I really overdid it last night. Took a VERY long shower then snuck out of the room while Jess slept.

Stepped up to the only craps table they had running ($10 minimum) and got a $3k marker. I love the craps table at around 6 or 7 AM because I am usually the only guy there that just woke up. Everybody else still hasn%26#39;t been to sleep yet and it%26#39;s pretty fun for people watching.

There were 3 other people there this morning and all 3 fell into the category of ';haven%26#39;t been to sleep yet.” One was pretty drunk and quite comical. He was making rude comments to anyone and everyone and kept accusing the dealers of stealing his chips. He was losing almost every bet he made and kept digging in his wallet for more funds every 5 minutes. $20 at a time. If he wasn%26#39;t so pathetic his comments might have been offensive, because he was being pretty creatively rude to everyone. He was so drunk and harmless though everyone just kept laughing at him and didn%26#39;t take offense to his put-downs. Even the dealers didn%26#39;t seem to mind him and viewed him as entertainment.

The good thing for me is I was playing the don%26#39;t side and he could not hit a point to save his life. He%26#39;d roll 2 numbers and out, 3 numbers and out, 1 number and out... He just couldn%26#39;t understand why I kept getting paid and he kept getting his money taken. The dealers just told him they liked me better rather than explain to him what I was betting.

The drink service was again very quick and always around. With my hangover I just kept ordering Orange Juice, but my ';buddy'; who couldn%26#39;t hit a point kept ordering 2 Dos Equis at a time and the waitress kept bringing back 1 Corona for him. He argued that wasn%26#39;t what he ordered but everyone at the table told him it WAS what he ordered. He was so confused but no matter what we did we couldn%26#39;t get him to leave. He didn%26#39;t seem to be running out of money but was only betting $10 on the pass line each roll so it was taking a while to break him even though the table was cold.

At about 9:30 I was getting hungry so I cashed out at $4,400 and paid back my marker for a $1400 profit (HA! I don’t need no stupid slots!). I headed up to the room to see if Jess was feeling as hung over as I was and she was still sleeping with the pillow over her head.

I decided to grab some luggage and head over to the Palazzo to check in there and grab a light breakfast while Jess remained in her coma.

FRIDAY DEC 19, 10 AM

Off to the Palazzo I went with most of the luggage. Now I know that the walk between Wynn %26amp; Palazzo is VERY short, but with my hangover and the luggage I was seriously considering getting a cab anyway. I decided against it (was afraid he’d take the tunnel) and started my trek to the Palazzo lobby.

It was a pleasant morning. No sign of the bad weather that shut the city down just 48 hours ago. I really like Vegas this time of year, because even though it’s a bit chilly, the crowds are down and it’s still pleasant to walk outside in the sun.

I found the Palazzo lobby and glanced around to decide where I wanted to check in. I was basically alone in the lobby at 10 AM on a Friday! That’s how you know business is down right there... They have a large general check in area, then just to the left of that an invited guest check in. I started to head there when I glanced to the right and saw a large doorway with VIP above it... Yeah, that’s where I wanted to go. :) My standing at Venetian/Palazzo is much better than it was at Wynn thanks to a crazy trip there with my Mom last year (you can read that review by looking at my posts from 2007).

I walked into the VIP check in figuring the worst they could do was tell me to get out (LOL). Through the doors was a marble foyer with the check in desk to the left. I walked up to the desk as the only customer with 4 clerks ready to wait on me. Sue Yang-Peace (got her business card because she was so helpful, wanted to remember her name so I could write a letter to her supervisor thanking her) checked me in. The first thing she asked was if I needed help with my luggage or a cup of coffee. I declined both but it sure is great when you receive great service. I was now coming out of my hangover cloud and Sue put me in a great mood.

We went through the check in process and I was assigned a Sienna Suite, room 47-802. Sue told me that with this Suite I had access to the concierge suite on the 23rd floor as well. Seems as though Palazzo was really happy to have me there. When I called my host to book he said he would hook me up, and that my only job was to not cancel the reservation. It looks like my host did his job well.

After I got my room keys Sue escorted my around the corner to an area in the VIP Lounge with many plush seating areas and an area with light breakfast foods and drinks. I grabbed an apple danish and a muffin with some OJ and enjoyed filling my stomach a bit before heading up to the room.

I exited the VIP area through the back doors which opened to the high limit slot area. I fought the urge to slide another $100 into a slot just to prove that I could at least get 1 winning spin in my life at a high limit slot. (I’m not talking about a jackpot here, I have never even won as much as $1 on a high limit slot! How does Texas Teejay do it?)

I found the elevators and headed up to my room. I was relieved to find it was only about 20 steps from the elevator. Jess and I were just commenting on how whenever we are in Vegas our rooms seem to be 100 miles from the elevator at the very end off all the halls so this would be a welcome change.

I opened the door and was blown away by the room!

FRIDAY DEC 19, 11 AM

I walked into my Palazzo room 47-802 and was very pleased. It was a double door entry into a marble foyer. There was a half bath on the right and another door to the left that I bypassed for the moment. I walked into a dining room area with a bar set up on the left side and a nice dining room table. On the table was a fruit basket and a letter from my host explaining all my goodies for the trip (I’ll get to that later). Beyond the dining room was a living room area with a large sectional couch (big enough for Lowrance to sleep on for sure), an entertainment center with a big screen TV, and a business desk with internet hookups and a printer and fax machine.

I walked through another set of double doors to the left of the living room and entered the bedroom. It had a nice king bed, a big screen TV on the wall and a larger dresser. It had some sitting chairs and a table by the big window (with a remote control blind/drape system). The view was a strip view that looked down at TI and their empty lagoon out front (the Pirates show is shut down for the holidays). The great thing about the view was that to the left you could see the Mirage Volcano and their new Volcano Fire Show, which we caught several times from our room. I put our bags in the walk in closet and checked out the bathroom.

On the way to the bathroom from the bedroom there was a separate vanity area with a nice bench and a large lighted mirror. The bathroom was huge with 2 separate sink areas on either side of a large whirlpool tub. It had a separate toilet area and a large shower that could easily fit about 15 people (now that would be a party!) The shower also had a spout system that ran up and down the wall so you had water shooting at you form about 6 angles. It cleaned me in places I didn’t even know I had! Jess seemed to like the shower A LOT! :)

As I kept exploring I walked out the back of the Master Bathroom to yet another room. It was an exercise room. In my suite! What?! It was a nicely decorated room with a large elliptical machine in the center and a towel rack. Funny thing is it didn’t look like it had been used very often. Can’t imagine people not finding the time to work out while in Vegas. LOL. At least if we got the urge, we could work out naked in our own room. :) Through the workout room was a door that led back out to the foyer.

I opened the letter from my host and found that I had tickets to the Real Deal, Phantom of the Opera, and a $500 match play coupon to use in the casino. Man, what a nice morning. I was in a great mood and headed back over to the Wynn to wake up Jess and carry her over here if need be.

When I got to the Wynn room she was awake and getting ready. She was feeling a bit rough as well but I took care of her enough to get her going. I stopped by the VIP lounge at Palazzo on my way back and brought her a bagel and coffee. I told her I had checked into the room at Palazzo and it was “okay”. :) When we got there she was thrilled, and Wynn suddenly seemed like a distant memory.

We unpacked in our ridiculously sized suite and Jess was in the mood for some shopping. It was around noon and our tickets for the Real Deal, Venetians relatively new Poker Show, were for 5 PM so we decided to walk through the shopping malls at Venetian and Palazzo before heading back to the room around 4 to get ready for the show.

FRIDAY DEC 19, NOON

We were off to do some shopping. We went through the shops at Palazzo first, browsing quite a few stores but only doing damage at Victoria%26#39;s Secret, where she went nuts and bought 8 new bras. “It’s buy 1 get 1 half off, look at all the money I saved!”

We entered the Venetian Canal Shops and Jess made a bee line to Dooney %26amp; Bourke to shop for a purse “for her Mom”. Well, she couldn’t find one her Mom would like, but somehow managed to find one perfect for her. :)

We hit Banana Republic and both did some serious damage there with all the great sales they had going on. Only 2 hours into shopping and it looks like we’ll be buying another suitcase to carry everything home.

Jess went into a makeup buying frenzy at Sephora (although she sure doesn’t need it... why do naturally pretty girls buy so much makeup?) and we were both getting hungry. We decided to head back to Palazzo and grab some lunch at Dos Caminos before heading up to the room to get ready for the Real Deal.

I had read some good reviews of Dos Caminos and Jess absolutely LOVES Mexican cuisine. I’m not a huge fan but I do like the more boring Mexican foods. :)

Dos Caminos is a club at night with a nice bar area, but serves great food in a great atmosphere during the day. The dining area is a large open room with amazing decor. The walls are covered with old time Mexican road signs and billboards turned into very cool looking art. It has a large silver wall at the rear of the restaurant covered with silver skulls lit up with candles. My description doesn’t do it justice, but it is an amazingly decorated restaurant.

The bathrooms are very cool as well, as you stroll through a dark, candle lit hallway and end up in a large circular room with a large Mayan(?) statue in the center. The bathrooms are 6 or 8 individual rooms lining the outer edge of the circle.

Our waiter was very friendly and attentive. Since it was our first time he went over many of the menu items in great detail. He seemed to love eating there as much as he seemed to love working there. There is nothing better than an enthusiastic server at a nice restaurant.

We started with the homemade guacamole. Each guacamole is made to order and you can add or subtract any items. This was a first, since Jess and I both love guacamole but neither of us like onions. We ordered it minus onions and had to choose between mild, medium or spicy. I said mild at the same time Jess said spicy, so we looked at each other and laughed and agreed on medium. :)

The guac was as delicious as everyone says. It comes with chips and a trio of salsa (salsa verde, roasted poblamo, and habenero). I don’t like salsa so I have to tell you that Jess said all three were delicious, even though she kept going back to the Habenero, which started her mouth on fire. She said it made the guac, which I thought was spicy, seem like a nice cool down.

On to the main course which for me was a chicken quesadilla (told you I was boring) and Jess had the Dos Enchiladas (one with a mole sauce and one with a tomatilla sauce). Mine was awesome for being so boring and not only did Jess’ dish look like a work of art on the plate, she could not stop raving about how good it was.

We were considering ordering a pitcher of Sangria but decided against it after we remembered how hung over we were just a few short hours ago. We decided to just have a couple soft drinks.

Total for lunch was a reasonable $58.18 before tip. We room charged it and headed up to the room to get ready for the Real Deal.

FRIDAY DEC 19, 4 PM

We decided to stop off at the 23rd floor concierge lounge on the way back to the room and check it out. It was a very cool lounge that took up the entire strip view side of the 23rd floor. It had 6 or 7 different seating areas, a large bar area, a business center, a couple conference rooms, a large movie viewing room, and more. The place was staffed with about a half dozen concierges who were eager to help you with anything and everything. Jess got herself a peppermint tea, I grabbed a few bottled waters for the road, and we headed back up to our room to get ready for the Real Deal.

I have heard some mixed reviews about the Real Deal, mostly negative, but I was eager to see it. For those who don’t know I am an amateur poker player with dreams of being a pro. I have played in several large buy in tourneys and many WSOP events, and have played at the same tables as many of the biggest names in poker. Thoughts were dancing in my head about getting chosen to play at the Real Deal table and who the pros were going to be that day. I was wondering if I had met them or played with them before and I was quite anxious to check it out.

All these hopes and anxieties came crashing down as we walked up the Real Deal Theater in the Venetian and it looked closed. I quickly checked my tickets again and sure enough, it was the correct time and date. I walked up to the employee standing in front of the closed doors who handed me a sheet of paper explaining the refund policy. :( It seems as though about two hours prior to my walking up to the theater, a decision was made to close the show for good. :( I can’t believe I missed out. At least they could have finished out the weekend as it was scheduled for a two-week holiday break after Sunday anyway. :( No Real Deal for me... or anyone else from now on. :(

FRIDAY DEC 19, 5 PM

The wife did a good job trying to console me in my depression about not getting to see The Real Deal. Plenty of hugs, kisses, pats on the back, there there’s, and I was slowly coming out of my funk.

So, what to do now? My first thought (as always) was gamble! But the wife was worried that if I was bummed now and I followed it up with a losing session it might ruin my whole night.

I thought she was being very thoughtful, but after she suggested more shopping instead, I thought she might just be sneaky. :)

I agreed to do another round of shopping with her and we jumped a cab to Mandalay Place. We arrived at Mandalay Bay and our cab driver pointed out that theHotel tower was dark. Not a light anywhere, it was completely pitch black. We walked into Mandalay Bay and headed back to the entrance of Mandalay Place, which is also near the hallway to theHotel. We noticed what appeared to be a mass exodus from the hallway with bellman and carts of luggage headed over to the Mandalay Bay check in area. Uh oh. Looks like a power outage.

Sure enough, the escalators to Mandalay Place were not working so we hesitantly climbed the steps to the mall... Closed. Everything shut down and closed up and not a light on in the whole place. Ugh... When was the last time you tried to do 2 things in Vegas at 5 PM on a Friday and both were closed? Maybe Jess was right, gambling right now might be a bad omen. After quizzing a security guard it seems the snowstorm had caused quite a bit of built up moisture which ended up causing a power outage and shorted out the generators as well.

We walked through the Luxor on the way out to get in a cab again. The Luxor has really put a new face on it in the past 16 months. Now they just have to bring the rooms up to par with how great the casino is looking.

We headed to the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood hoping a tornado hadn’t hit it and closed that as well. :)

We were shopping fools at Miracle Mile. I decimated Ben Sherman. Jess went denim crazy at MetroPark. I saw her denim and raised two pair of shoes at Steve Madden. She went all in with a tear through Aveda and Lucky. At this point we needed one of those luggage racks to get all our bags back to the hotel. Yikes!

We hopped a cab back to Palazzo and dropped our booty (not that kind of booty, Lowrance) in the room. We shopped up a storm but Jess wanted to swing back by Dooney %26amp; Bourke for a wallet to match her new purse.

We made quick work of the wallet hunt and wandered out into the Canal Shops starving... We made a bad choice for dinner. A very bad choice.

FRIDAY DEC 19th, 9 PM

So there we were in the Canal Shops and absolutely famished. We decided to eat at the first place we found, and that happened to be Canaletto. What a mistake...

Our server seemed bored and irritated. The wine was very disappointing. The food was bland and tasted like it was prepared in a microwave. I had a fettuccini castellana and Jess had a seafood soup. It was so far below average we barely touched it. If our server would have come anywhere near our table after taking our order we would have sent both back.

After waiting forever for someone to check in with us a person came by and asked us how it was, I said ';far below acceptable, Olive Garden prepares their food better than this';. He said ';okay'; and wandered off never to be seen again.

Total for the two of us (which included a $38 bottle of Montepulciano) was $92.56. I left a very meager tip to let him know exactly how much I appreciated his service and we left feeling like zombies.

It was such a strange day and we were having poor luck at every turn (Real Deal closed, Mandalay Place power outage, terrible dinner) so we decided to call it a night. It was funny that everything seemed to be going wrong but we were still having such a great time. We both know how to make jokes out of bad situations and we were constantly cracking each other up.

We were sidetracked by a dessert shop as we walked back into the Palazzo. We both enjoyed some delicious gelato that seemed to diminish the dinner disappointment.

We stopped by the Concierge Suite on the way to the room for a complimentary nightcap. Jess got a 21 year old scotch straight up, I chose the Apple Juice (I%26#39;m so lame).

I slept like a baby in one of the most comfy beds ever. I was wide awake at 6 AM however to head down and do some gambling!

SATURDAY, DEC 20, 6 AM

Awake and ready to do some gambling. Jess usually sleeps until around 9 or 10 every morning, which works out well for me. My hosts like me to gamble a minimum of 4 hours per day, in return they take very good care of me. I love to gamble in the early morning, so it works out great that Jess likes to sleep until 10 and I am usually heading down to gamble around 6. That gives me my 4 hours right out of the gate and anything else I gamble during the day is just icing on the cake.

While I was showering in the gigantic shower with waterspouts pelting me from head to toe I was thinking about craps... Once I stepped out of the elevators though something was pulling me to the Baccarat tables. I didn’t fight that feeling and I made my way over to the Salon (not the hair salon, that’s what they call the baccarat room at Palazzo).

For the uninitiated, Baccarat is a mysterious game for those that don’t play it. The tables are usually tucked away in a separate room away from the rest of the casino. It’s unusual to find a baccarat table that has a table minimum of less than $100 a hand which also lends itself to it’s “exclusive” aura.

There are two types of baccarat tables. One has 14 places for players and one has 7 places for players. The smaller table is called mini-baccarat. Usually seat number 4 (and 14 in the larger tables) is missing due to the number 4 being considered bad luck in Chinese culture.

It’s a game that is extremely popular with Asian players. It’s typical for a baccarat salon to be 90-100% Asian players. I am quite a minority when sitting down to a baccarat table and I actually like the awkward feeling of being the token “white guy” in the room. Whenever I play, however, dealers always remember me from previous trips and make me feel very much at home.

Since I have never played at the Palazzo, all of these dealers were new to me. I wandered into the salon looking confused on purpose, just to watch the reactions of the pit boss and dealers. I made a slow lap around the tables checking out the table minimums. They ranged from $100-$500 per hand. Only a couple of tables had players playing. I sometimes like the feeling of playing with others at the table, but I also like playing alone. I never join a table that already has players playing in mid-shoe however because Asians take their superstitions very seriously.

Every set of eyes in the room was staring at me, wondering when I was going to realize my mistake and turn around and get out. After taking my lap, I settled on a mini-baccarat table with a very friendly looking Asian woman named Choi dealing. As I sat down I got the typical thing most baccarat dealers say to me when I sit down, “You know dis is no blackjack, right?” I smiled and acted panicked and got up to leave. She started laughing and I sat back down and told her I knew where I was at. :) I handed the pit boss my Club Grazie Card and asked for a $2,300 marker. 23 is my lucky number and I sometimes find ways to use it when I’m feeling especially superstitious. My chips were pushed over to me and I put a $500 bet on the banker.

Baccarat looks complicated and scary and mysterious, but it’s actually one of the easiest games in the casino. It’s like a glamorous game of war, and the only decision you have to make is to bet on banker, player, or tie. Two separate hands a dealt, a banker hand and a player hand. Whichever hand ends up closest to 9 wins. A face card is worth 0 (baccarat), and if your cards equal more than 10 the first number is dropped off (for example, a 9 and a 5 would equal 4 (14 with the first number dropped off). An unwavering set of rules determines after the first two cards are dealt to each hand whether or not the hands get a 3rd card. After all cards are dealt, if the “player” hand is closest to 9 it wins, if the “banker” hand is closest to 9 it wins, and if it’s a tie hand the tie bet wins. Never bet a tie in baccarat, it’s one of the highest casino advantage bets ever.

I made Choi like me from the get go, because the banker hand (which I had bet $500 on) was in the lead after the first two cards were dealt. The player hand got to draw another card and I told Choi I would give her a quarter ($25 chip) for a monkey (a slang term for a face card, which has 0 value) when she drew the 3rd card for the player. Sure enough she drew a monkey, and I tossed her a green chip as she slid over a purple ($500 chip) to me.

Things continued like this for about two hours and I continued to bribe Choi with my “quarter for a monkey” pleas. It was working out well for both of us as after two hours I had bought back my $2,300 marker and still had about 4 grand in front of me.

When Choi went on her 2nd break another nice Asian lady took over. Choi said as she left to the new dealer “He is very nice man, pays very good if you give him right cards so make sure you give him right cards”. :)

I stepped away from the table for a bathroom break and wandered around the salon. It was littered with many private rooms and a very nice private bar with extremely high end liquor. There was also some breakfast goodies so I grabbed a cheese danish and and OJ and sat down at the bar admiring the shelves of premium liquor on the wall behind it.

The bartender was trying to talk me into getting a drink but I rarely drink at night, let alone before 9 AM. If Jess was here, I’m sure she would have loved a nice high end scotch, however. They had a scotch called King George, which is a limited edition higher end version of Johnny Walker Blue, one of her favorites. I must bring her back here at some point.

I headed back to the baccarat table and played a bit longer but I was beginning to feel like the tide was turning and I should quit. I cashed out with a $3,600 profit and I decided to head over to the craps table.

SATURDAY DEC 20, 9 AM

I headed over to the craps tables figuring I had an hour to kill before I went to wake Jess up. I took $2,000 of my Baccarat Chips and exchanged them for normal sized chips (baccarat chips are slightly larger than the regular casino chips) and cozied up to my favorite spot for my “don’t” betting, in the very back corner of the table next to the dealer.

I like to bet the “don’t” from this spot so I can remain inconspicuous if there are players at the table betting the pass line. I can get paid off while they keep losing and most of them don’t notice I am profiting on their bad luck because the dealer can discreetly slide my chips to me. I keep a very low profile while betting the don’t and usually only the dealers realize how I’m betting.

I was, however, using the same tipping logic with the dealers that I was using with Choi, bribing them to call the right number. I would bet $25 on the don’t pass line with full odds ($150) on the point, and then continue to bet the same way on the don’t come with full odds until we got a 7 out. Once we had three numbers up on the don’t side, I would say to the stickman “A quarter to call it for me right now”, the other players were assuming I was wanting him to call the point, but he knew I was hoping for a 7. He would tell me “You got it”, and then more times than not this session, sure enough, the next roll was a seven out. While the rest of the table groaned the stick man winked at me while I tossed him a quarter ($25 chip) and discreetly piled up my big messy stacks of winning chips.

It was a perfect table for don’t betting and in the hour I was there I nearly tripled my money from my 2K buy in, walking away with $5,600.

It was such a great way to start my morning after the non-gambling bad luck I was having yesterday. If the rest of my gambling sessions went like this I was dreaming about that new car I was going to buy. The Palazzo is being very good to me.

I went up to the room to find Jess was awake and getting ready. She knew from my mood that I had a good morning session and said, “I can tell that we get to go shopping again today!” She is such a sweetie, neither of us shop that much at home, but we sure go crazy when we are in Vegas.

SATURDAY DEC 20, 10:30 AM

When Jess was ready we left the room and headed down to the concierge suite for a complimentary breakfast. The ham and cheese croissants are such a great way to start the day.

We were also deciding where to eat for dinner. One of the concierges pulled out these huge books full of menus from practically every dining establishment on the strip, but we decided to stay in-house and eat at Lavo for dinner, but declined to make reservations since we were not positive of the time we wanted to eat and it was so dead we figured we wouldn’t need them (we were right).

Once that decision was made we needed to decide what to do ';right now';. Jess wasn%26#39;t kidding about more shopping :). She wanted to hit the Fashion Show Mall and I just couldn%26#39;t force myself to shop yet again so I told her I%26#39;d give her a 2 hour head start and meet her over there after some more gambling. I was having a very good morning so I slipped her three $500 chips to cash for shopping money and I headed back to the craps table.

I nestled up to my favorite Palazzo craps dealer Mary and bought in for 3K. I was the only one at the table since her table was a $25 minimum and everyone seemed to be crowded around the $10 minimum next to it.

The dealers are always a bit surprised when I play from the don%26#39;t side even when I am shooting. They tell me most don%26#39;t players will never shoot, because the feeling of shooting yourself in the foot with a good roll is too painful. For about a half hour I proved to them that I didn%26#39;t know the meaning of a good roll.

I wasn%26#39;t making a ton of money but that%26#39;s because my rolls were SO bad I couldn%26#39;t build up many bets. Point, 7. Point, 7. Point, 7. It was crazy. If I were betting the other way I would be pulling my hair out.

Finally someone else stepped up to the table. It was an older Asian couple, and I thought about the irony of how strange it looked to have them saddled up to a craps table, the same way it was so strange for me to be at the Baccarat tables this morning. Gambling stereotypes are funny. :)

The bad part is that both of them had great rolls. One after the other. They were hitting points and repeating numbers like crazy, which is a nightmare for the don%26#39;t players. Mary was giving me much sympathy, but no chips. She even suggested, ';maybe you should just stop until their rolls are done, and then start again when the roll comes to you';. I was too stubborn though, the tables have been cold all morning, so I couldn%26#39;t believe they could keep it up. They did... Ugh.

At one point before they showed up I was up to 5K, but as I looked down at my chip stack it was only about 1K. I decided to walk away with a loss and not try to chase the loss and end up wiping out my good morning.

I called Jess and headed over to the Fashion Show to meet her for lunch. We have a ';lunch tradition'; while in Vegas at the Fashion Show. It was completely by accident the first few times, but we have now eaten at this place for lunch for the last 10 trips or so. I can%26#39;t even remember the name of it, maybe you guys can help me. It%26#39;s little pizza/Italian place that is similar to Sbarro. You can get a gigantic slice of pizza, salad, and drink for $7.99 or something. I have no idea why we always end up here once per trip, but it just feels right, and the pizza is yummy. :)

After stuffing ourselves, I helped carry Jess%26#39; bags from Clarks, Macy%26#39;s and Guess back to the Palazzo after lunch and we dropped them off in the room.

SATURDAY DEC. 20th, 2 PM

We only had a few hours before dinner and then the 7 PM seating for Phantom Of The Opera so we decided to just do a little sightseeing.

It was a beautiful day so we strolled down the strip and ended up at the Bellagio. We went in to see the Christmas display in the conservatory. Wow, was it crowded. If Vegas is wondering where all the people are, we found them. They are in the Bellagio lobby. The gaming floor is dead, but all the common areas are filled to the max. Yikes.

We got a bit claustrophobic in the Bellagio so we wandered outside and took a look at the City Center. I can%26#39;t believe just 18 months ago this was nothing more than a huge hole in the ground. It%26#39;s so massive now. I just don%26#39;t know what to think about it though. It looks like it%26#39;s going to be spectacular, but for some reason I don%26#39;t think I like it.

We crossed the street and headed back up to the Palazzo. In all of our trips to Vegas together Jess had never been in many of the ';lower end'; casinos between Bills and Venetian, so we strolled through a few so we could say we did. I had the itch to gamble at a few but we didn%26#39;t have time if we were going to catch dinner and Phantom, so I didn%26#39;t get a chance to scratch the itch.

We got back to the room in time to shower up and get ready for an early dinner at Lavo.

SATURDAY DEC 20, 5 PM

We were off for an early dinner at LAVO. We had stopped by last night to check it out on the way back to our room but it had turned into the ';club'; atmosphere since it was after 10 when we stopped by. The wife and I are only in our 30%26#39;s but we just can%26#39;t seem to get into these high end Vegas nightclub scenes. The music gives us a headache and I don%26#39;t think we%26#39;re quite pretentious enough to feel ';at home'; with all the hipsters.

During the early evening however, when LAVO still has the ';restaurant'; atmosphere, it%26#39;s awesome. The place is stunning. It%26#39;s pretty dark but once your eyes adjust it%26#39;s a very cool decor and vibe. The dinner music they play is mellow and soft, but with a good sensual beat.

The service was outstanding, it never seemed like we went more than 60 seconds without someone within waving distance, but they weren%26#39;t intruding, just making sure they were accessible if we needed them.

The menu is Mediterranean, and designed to be shared. It has many different appetizers and tapas. We came here in part because the menu looked light and fun, which is good for such an early dinner. We figured we would get dessert after we got out of Phantom if we were still hungry. We ordered several menu items to share:

';Ludo crudos';, which was raw salmon, tuna, yellowtail, and beef filet. (I couldn%26#39;t bring myself to try the raw beef but the wife said it was good). The fish was excellent.

';Trio dips';, dips of Hummus, baba-ganouj, and tzatziki. I wasn%26#39;t much of a fan, and this was the wife’s least favorite as well.

Caprese Salad, which was prepared a bit differently than Jess was used to. She liked it but didn%26#39;t love it. I didn%26#39;t try it.

Meatballs, I am not sure how they were prepared, but they were amazing. I was hoping Jess wouldn%26#39;t like them so I could have them all, but she loved them as well, so I had to sneakily take more than my share in hopes of not getting caught.

Asparagus, which was prepared with a delicious topping, although I can%26#39;t recall what it was. I LOVED it though, and wished we had ordered more.

We each had a glass of Sangria, which was great.

Total was $109.74 before tip and we both felt full, but not too full. It was exactly the light, delicious, fun meal we were hoping for.

On the way out of LAVO we stopped by the restrooms. Not a typical restroom experience for me... They have a restroom ';attendant'; that helps you out while going to the bathroom... I%26#39;m a pretty friendly guy but I really didn%26#39;t need this guy chatting me up while I was standing at the urinal. After I finished and zipped up, he was right in my face with a bottle of soap ready to squirt it on my hands as I stepped up to the sink. The sink in LAVO is VERY unique, you step on a pedal on the floor and water falls in a stream from about 2 stories up straight down into the basin. When you put your hands out to wash them the water is moving at such a speed that water splashes EVERYWHERE! The attendant told me to hold my hands as far down in the basin as possible to avoid this, and that seemed to work. He then offered me cologne, hair gel, mints, cigarettes, and everything else under the sun. I thought I just needed to pee, but apparently bathrooms can%26#39;t even be just bathrooms anymore in Vegas.

It was now about 6:30 so we hurried off to the Venetian for the 7 PM showing of Phantom of the Opera.

SATURDAY DEC 20, 6:30 PM

We arrived at the Phantom Theater in the Venetian with about 10 minutes to spare and settled into our seats. The theater is awe inspiring. My wife and I have seen several Phantom productions in several cities in the U.S. and Canada and nothing has ever come close to setting the mood as this theater did. Wow. The chandelier effect alone is worth the price of admission. ';It%26#39;s time for some ILLUMINATION!';

That being said, from the outset of the play everything seemed a bit rushed. I knew that they would have to cut some scenes to get it into the 90 minute Vegas attention span window, but it seemed as though the actors were really in a hurry, almost talking over each other at some points. We saw the Toronto production several times and it is still our favorite Phantom show as far as the quality of the performance, even if the stage doesn’t come close to this production.

Since we were fans of Phantom and had high expectations, we were a tiny bit disappointed by everything except the theater. If we had never seen the Toronto production however, this would have been our favorite. Although for the Phantom fans out there, can someone explain to me why they thought it was a good idea to cut the ';Keep your hand at the level of your eyes'; dialogue when Raoul is descending into the cavern? It%26#39;s such a memorable scene. I prefer the noose theme to the cage theme they replaced it with.

When we got out of the play Jess was still weeping a bit, she%26#39;s such a sucker for a good love story. That mood was quickly changed by the crowd in the Venetian. It was quite a party as the University of Arizona football team and all it%26#39;s fans were whooping it up. They had just defeated BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl and were sure having a good time celebrating.

It was neat for a big sports fan like me to be able to interact with some of the best athletes on the planet. We shared several elevators and hallway walks with the players since we arrived since the team was staying a Venetian/Palazzo. (I can only imagine the BYU team was staying off strip in a nice quiet hotel). I%26#39;m a pretty big guy (6%26#39;4, 220), but many of these guys made me feel petite. Some of them would have made Lowrance feel tiny.

When people are partying in Vegas and you are in a good mood it%26#39;s quite easy to get caught up in the party, and this was no exception. We ended up at one of the Palazzo lounges right next to the Grand Luxe (can%26#39;t remember the name). There was a decent cover band playing and many U of A fans partying hard.

We couldn%26#39;t hang with the wild and crazy U of A fans and we started to turn into a pumpkin around midnight. Both of us started craving the oh-so-comfy bed awaiting us in out suite and snuck away from the party for a good nights sleep.

Sunday morning I was up early again and ready to do some more damage at the craps tables.

SUNDAY, DEC 21st 6 AM

Up again at 6 AM as if there was an alarm. For some reason I just can%26#39;t seem to sleep past 6 when there is a casino under me!

After a nice long shower and a quick kiss on the wife%26#39;s cheek while she continues to sleep and I am heading down for the craps tables.

I get a $2,300 marker and saddle up to my favorite don%26#39;t betting spot. I normally don%26#39;t play the don%26#39;t 100% of the time but it has worked so well this trip I am afraid to change it. It continued to work well for a couple hours as I slowly built my chip stack to nearly $4K, and the dealers were loving it because when I%26#39;m winning I tip like a madman.

Right about 9:30 AM is when I ran into a buzz saw of a man who could not roll a 7. The guy was insane. At one point he rolled five 10%26#39;s IN A ROW! I%26#39;m sure HardTenRoller could tell you how impossible that is. If I were betting the ';right'; way those five 10%26#39;s would have won me thousands betting the way I usually do on the ';right'; side.

I couldn%26#39;t stop or change my bets in midroll though, knowing if I did the next number would be 7 for sure! So instead, I increased my don%26#39;t bet to $50 on the don%26#39;t come and $300 odds every number thrown to try and stop the bleeding and recoup some of these losses. His good luck didn%26#39;t stop and my misery didn%26#39;t stop. I was cleaned out of my 4K on his roll alone and had to get another $2,300 marker.

He finally hit a 7 and I was eager to have the next guy shoot. No way could we have 2 great rolls in a row right? Wrong! Destroyed again. Point after point. The entire table celebrating while I just looked down at the table with my head in my hands. Another $2,300 marker later and I was down almost 7 grand (over 8 grand if you include the money I was up on my first marker of the day before it all went south.)

I decided to step away from the table and head up to the concierge suite for breakfast and start over later, trying desperately to forget what just happened...

SUNDAY DEC 21, 10 AM

I was sitting in the Palazzo Concierge suite drowning my sorrows in cinnamon rolls, when Jess called to see where I was at. She said she%26#39;d finish getting ready and meet me here for the free breakfast.

I%26#39;m sure if you are reading this forum you have all had a big loss in Vegas at the tables or slots. Whether it%26#39;s $100 or $10,000, losing sucks. All the usual things were floating through my mind. ';Why didn%26#39;t you quit sooner?';, ';Man, do you realize what I could have bought with that money';, etc., etc.

Even though I am very sensible and only gamble with money I have pegged for entertainment, it%26#39;s tough to lose so much so fast. I%26#39;ve lost more in one sitting for sure, but it never gets easier. The good thing is before the big loss this morning I was up over $10k for the trip before it started, so if I stop gambling now, I would still be up a little for the trip.

I often do this, think about stopping a day or two before my trip ends, but it rarely works. I have seriously even considered dialing up the Gamblers Anonymous help lines. I know this all sounds like I was a bit crazy, but I’m actually a very rational guy and think things through with every possible scenario. I talked myself off the ledge :) and realized that I was still up a bit for the trip and not to let my 8K loss this morning ruin my mood.

Jess showed up and I shared with her my nightmare. She sympathized for a minute before asking me for some more shopping money because she still needed some things from Mandalay Place (if the power was back on, that is). She said, “If you can blow 8 grand at the tables, I get to blow a couple grand on stuff that I can actually bring home”. She makes quite a bit of sense, you know?

SUNDAY DEC 21, 11 AM

I saw Jess off in a cab for another shopping trip, and I headed downstairs to the sports book to check out some NFL games.

The Palazzo sports book is separated from everything else in a strange way. You have to take an escalator down to the “basement” to get there. From what I understand the sports book is located in what used to be a big sports themed night club owned by Jay-Z.

I explored a bit and found that they had blackjack and craps tables set up in tiny rooms that were more than likely VIP rooms at the Jay-Z club. The craps table was set up in a room so small that there was just enough room for the table, dealers, and a few players to fit comfortably. It was cozy and looked inviting. The Big Screen TV on the wall behind the dealers even had my Detroit Lions game on, so I got to watch them get destroyed by New Orleans while I shot the dice. It was a nice distraction, but kind of an omen, as the other team from Michigan (myself) was getting destroyed again as well. Another 4 grand disappeared, and I was in one of the biggest craps funks of my life.

I was now down 12 Grand from my high point early this morning and wishing so bad I would have just went shopping with my lovely wife.

I decided a change of scenery was necessary and I headed up to the Salon for some baccarat. I sat down at the table feeling good, but another $2,300 marker was gone in the blink of an eye. Literally, I don’t think I was there more than 5 minutes... Arghhhhhh...

SUNDAY DEC 21 2 PM

Jess called me and was on her way back to the Palazzo and hungry. She was craving Mexican so it was back to Dos Caminos for lunch. Being the boring eater I am I went with the Chicken Quesadilla again, while Jess went with some sort of blueberry corn pancake concoction. We also ordered another side of the delicious Guacamole, minus onions of course. The lunch bill cam to 53.87 before tip.

We headed back up to our beautiful suite and relaxed, had a bit of fun, and dozed off for a nice nap, our first nap of the trip!

SUNDAY DEC 21, 5 PM

We woke up from our nap feeling a bit groggy. It’s strange waking up around 5 and seeing it pitch black outside. Strange time of year. We were both looking out the window at the lights of the strip when the Mirage Volcano started going off. We couldn’t hear the new soundtrack but it sure is pretty, especially if you are a pyromaniac. The entire lake lights up with fire shooting everywhere now.

We didn’t have any set plans for tonight, but we were both feeling like a nice dinner. We decided to try a steakhouse, since we hadn’t been to one yet this trip. We decided on Mario Batali’s Carnevino Italian Steakhouse. We were going to call and make reservations but remember the city was still a ghost town, so we decided to just “walk in” when we felt good and hungry.

Jess asked me what I felt like doing and of course, I couldn’t help but think of the craps tables. (I never learn). I was excited to hear that she wanted to join me for some gambling. Jess is a very practical person who works hard for her money, so she usually is never in the mood to possibly gamble it away. She puts up with my gambling because she enjoys the perks that we get because of it and she knows how much I love it, but she just can’t stand to watch our money get pulled off the table. She stresses much less when she leaves the gambling to me. I love the fact that she trusts me to know when to quit and only spend my allotted gambling money and never questions my losses, knowing I would never use more than my “share” of our entertainment money. I am happy to report we’ve never had even a tiny little fight about gambling. She rocks.

We stepped up to a $25 minimum table and I decided I was done with the don’t betting for this trip. I decided to just play $320 across (placing bets on every number, $50 on the 4,5,9, and 10, and $60 on the 6 and 8). Things went okay for the first roll, and we came out with an $80 profit. I would usually bet a bit more and differently but I didn’t want to lose big right away and put Jess in a bad mood, so I held back a bit.

Now it was Jess’ turn to roll and I put out a $25 bet with full odds on the pass line and placed the other number at $50 (and 60). I am happy to say Jess had a great roll, hitting 3 points and several numbers in the process. Our chip stack was growing and growing and I was beginning to remember why I like this game. :) I was a bit nervous taking the dice, as part of me just wanted to quit while we were ahead on a high note after Jess’ roll, but I took them and held my breath. I somehow rolled two points back to back so all of my money on the table was a freeroll now, taking the pressure off. I didn’t stop at two points however, as I continued for a 20 minute roll that built our stack to a “giddy” level. I wasn’t going to tempt fate any more and cashed out up over 3 grand from our starting point.

All the dice rolling worked up our appetite and we walked the 100 yards to Carnevino for dinner, laughing and talking about what a great time we just had. Isn’t winning fun?!

SUNDAY DEC 21, 9 PM

We were seated at Carnevino and had impeccable service for the moment we walked up to the hostess stand until we left almost two hours later. I really think it might be the best service we ever received at a restaurant.

The menu was mouthwatering and we couldn’t decide what to get. Our waiter (well, one of them, it seemed as though we had four, all going out of their way to help) went through the menu and made several suggestions. We took them all and basically let him decide what our meal was going to be.

We ordered a bottle of Brunello ValduSuga 2001 that was the best wine I have ever had. It was so full and big and absolutely delicious. The server brought us some bread for the table and it was warm and soft and oh so good with the whipped butter. They also brought a side of lard spread for the bread. I didn’t have the guts to try it, but Jess said it was very good.

We started with an appetizer of Truffle Pasta. I am not a huge fan of mushrooms and Jess would more than likely slap me for calling a Truffle just a “mushroom”. She LOVES Truffles and was so happy they were in season (I guess they are in season only about 2 months of the year). They brought the pasta out and then “presented” the Truffle, shaving it right at our table into our pasta for the maximum freshness. I love pasta and I loved the dish, but really could have cared less about the Truffle flavor. Jess, however, was in complete ecstasy the entire time. Every single bite she closed her eyes and made nice little mmmm and ahhhh and soft groaning noises. I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to see her enjoy her meal so much. She is a foodie, and we often compare my love of gambling to her love of food, which is why Vegas is such heaven for the both of us. (By the way, since the Truffle pasta wasn’t on the menu Jess and I made a side bet about the cost, with the line being $80. Jess took the over and I took the under. I lost, it was $100. I can’t tell you what we bet, it might get the post deleted :)

For our main course we ordered the Porterhouse for 2. Jess prefers her steak flavorful and marbled, while I prefer the soft and tender filet. With the Porterhouse, we get the best of both worlds. The presentation was amazing, with the steak being brought out and carved by our server table side. He filled both of our plates with bite sized portions of the most amazingly delicious steak ever. Wow. We wished we had another couple with us because they really should rename it the Porterhouse for 4.

We also had a few side dishes that were delicious. Root Veggies and brussell sprouts made the meal complete. We stuffed ourselves to the point of no return and there was still so much food left. It broke our heart to see it leave the table and know it was headed for the trash. Food that good should never be wasted, but we just could not eat another bite... Or so I thought. After about 15 minutes Jess decided to order a Sorbet Trio for dessert. I don’t know how she did it but she managed to finish most of the dessert by herself. I had one tiny bite but I was so stuffed I really did unbutton my pants!

The manager came by and talked with us for about 10 minutes about food and wine and Vegas and blah, blah, blah. It was a nice conversation while we worked up the energy to try and get our full stomachs up and out of the restaurant.

The total bill was $433.16 before tip. (284 food, 118 wine, 31.16 tax)

We slowly got up and headed back to the casino for a very slow stroll...

SUNDAY DEC 21, 11 PM

Jess and I made a few laps around the casino to people watch. Our full bellys were starting to calm down and Jess wanted to grab a nightcap. A lightbulb went off in my head as I remembered I wanted to show her the private baccarat bar in the Salon.

I walked her past the tables and took a left to the hidden bar. It%26#39;s such a nice, tranquil atmosphere. We were the only ones back there aside from a bartender so it was romantic as well. She ordered one of her ultra high end scotches and I had a LIIT in honor of Lowrance.

As you can imagine, a big meal, a nice walk, and a nightcap lends itself to getting sleepy, and we both were. It was the last night in that comfy bed so we headed up to the 47th floor to enjoy it.

MONDAY DEC 22, 6 AM

As usual I was up and restless at 6 AM. It was my last morning to gamble in Vegas so I decided to take advantage of it. I took a nice long shower and headed down to my favorite craps table. I took another $2,300 marker out and got started.

I decided to start slow, as if Jess was with me, and play the ';right'; way. I was using the same betting patterns as last night, and with a few exceptions, it was working pretty well. I wasn%26#39;t gaining or losing too much, but I was enjoying myself and tipping the dealers well while not losing my stack. That%26#39;s a successful session in my book. After a couple hours I cashed out at $1500, an 800 loss, but it felt like a win after my disaster yesterday.

I headed back up to the room about 8:30 to see if Jess wanted to go somewhere other than the Concierge Lounge for breakfast. I really liked the convenience of the lounge, but I did kind of miss hitting an actual restaurant for breakfast.

She was still sleeping so I climbed into bed next to her to cuddle up and ';accidentally'; wake her up. When she woke, she wasn%26#39;t feeling so great. Seems as though eating her entire body weight at dinner last night and topping it off with a couple glasses of scotch wasn%26#39;t sitting to great with her.

She told me to grab some breakfast wherever I wanted because she might just sleep through breakfast. I gave her a kiss and headed out. Breakfast at a restaurant without her didn%26#39;t seem as much fun so I just grabbed some at the Concierge Lounge again and then headed back to the gaming floor.

I looked at the craps table at it didn%26#39;t excite me. I wandered by the Salon to see if Choi was working and she wasn%26#39;t.... Hmmm... what was I feeling like doing? I even considered playing some high limit slots to continue my quest to get at least 1 winning spin, but that didn%26#39;t look fun either once I got over there.

I decided to play some blackjack. I gave up blackjack years ago, but it sounded like fun so I sat down at an empty $10 table and bought in for 1K. I was only going to bet the table minumum to start out so I didn%26#39;t give the dealer my players card. Whenever I bet lower than my usual I never give out my card so my average bet stays high. I%26#39;m more than willing to give up the ';hours played'; to keep the ';average bet'; over $500. I figured if I decided to raise my bet up I would fork over the card then.

Things were going back and forth and I still had my same bad habit of never hitting anything over 12 because I hate busting myself. It%26#39;s funny, because I am very much a ';stats'; guy and I know that playing this way gives me less of a chance to win over the long run, but I just can%26#39;t pull the trigger when I have a 12 or higher. The dealer got a big kick out of my refusal to do this and was making fun of me every time I agonized over whether to hit. She%26#39;d say, ';you know you aren%26#39;t going to, so why are you pretending you might?'; I loved her smart as* attitude. She was so much fun.

After an hour or so I was exactly $100 up so I called it good and colored up my chips. I went back upstairs to check on Jess.

MONDAY DEC 22, 10:30 AM

I got back to the room and Jess was still sleeping. I thought, if you can%26#39;t beat %26#39;em, join %26#39;em, and climbed back into bed and fell asleep spooning her. We both were in and out of consciousness until about noon when we woke up and decide to take a walk.

We headed over to Wynn because we heard Encore was opening today and we thought we%26#39;d get a few pics. When we arrived we were told it wouldn%26#39;t open until 8 PM tonight. We decided against trying to fight the crowds tonight because our flight was leaving at midnight. Looks like we%26#39;ll just have to wait til next time.

Jess was getting a little hungry since she didn%26#39;t eat breakfast, but wanted to get something very light since she still wasn%26#39;t feeling her best.

We decided on Canyon Ranch for lunch. As we headed up to the Canyon Ranch via elevator we heard the Jersey Boys ad featuring ';Sherry Baby'; for the millionth time this trip. I%26#39;m sure that the show is great, in fact I don%26#39;t think I have ever read a bad review, but the constant beating over the head of this song has made me never want to hear it again. I missed out on Mamma Mia at Mandalay Bay for the same reason. I heard it was great, but if I hear Dancing Queen one more time in the elevator there I%26#39;m going to pull my hair out. :)

MONDAY DEC 22, 2 PM

We arrived at Canyon Ranch Spa and were the only customers dining that didn%26#39;t have spa robes on. I thought about asking for one because they sure looked comfy.

I was lame again and ordered yet another Chicken Quesadilla, it was good, but sure didn%26#39;t compare to Dos Caminos! Jess had a Chicken Pesto Sandwich with a side Caesar Salad. She said it was exactly what she needed and was extremely happy with the luck. She got a lemon bar for dessert and I ordered a chocolate chip square.

One interesting thing about the Canyon Ranch Cafe is that they don%26#39;t have regular soft drinks. They have a little blurb on the menu about Coke/Pepsi not being very healthy, so they had to create there own ';healthy'; sodas. I ordered a cola, and they bring a bottle of soda water and a small glass of their home made ';syrup'; to the table. You pour the cola syrup into the soda water, mix it up and... you have your ';healthy'; cola. I could tell it was healthy just by drinking it, because it sure didn%26#39;t taste very good. :)

Lunch total was only $40.95 before tip, and we were both plenty full.

MONDAY DEC 22, 3 PM

After lunch Jess made an offer to me that once again secured her status as the coolest woman on the planet. She offered to go back up to the room and do all of our packing while I stayed down and did some more gambling. How did I get so lucky?

I stopped by the Casino Credit desk to see how much money I was down for the week. They told me I had $7,600 in markers that I still owed. After my nightmare of a Sunday that didn%26#39;t seem too bad. :)

I told myself I would take out one more marker for $2,400, that way if I lost it, I would be down 10K, but if I had a good session, it would cut into the $7,600 I owed and make the check easier to write.

I headed for the craps tables and decided to do one more round of dont%26#39;s. Despite my bad luck with them this trip, it still has been my most consistent way to win.

I decided to start off betting big, as I was either going to win my money back or go home 10 grand in the hole quickly. The first 2 rolls went well, with a 3 numbers and out and 2 numbers and out. I was up over a grand already in about 5 minutes, a very good sign. I was winning and tipping the dealers like crazy, making it the most fun I can have while gambling. After a while it looked like I was doing real well so I sat one roll out to organize and count my chips.

I had just over 6 grand in chips in front of me. I bought my marker back for $2,400 and had $3,700 left. I decided to cash out with a good feeling and walk over to the casino cage to deposit $3,600 of my winning. This brought my marker total down to 4K. After losing my butt on Sunday it seemed like only a 4K loss for the trip was a Christmas miracle.

MONDAY DEC 22, 7 PM

Back in the room, Jess had finished packing up. She is a miracle worker, as we needed to buy only one extra suitcase to bring back all of our shopping goodies.

She was feeling better, but still not great, so we decided to take it easy for dinner tonight as well.

We headed down to Grand Luxe to fill ourselves up before heading home on the redeye. Grand Luxe is ';old reliable';. You know exactly what your getting every time. Decent service, good (but not great) food, gigantic portions, a book of a menu that will satisfy whatever craving you are having.

Jess ordered the Fresh Mozzarella Pizza for herself. I should have just shared that with her, since it could have fed a family of 5, but I wasn%26#39;t in a Pizza mood. I ordered a Chicken %26amp; Mushroom Garlic Cream Pasta. It was quite good, I wish I had a doggie bag for the pound or so left over after I was full.

Dinner was $37.60 before tip, and all the food could have easily fed a family of 4, so it’s very reasonable for diners on a budget.

It was about 8:30 and we still had a couple hours before we needed to leave for the airport so we decided to try to see Encore again. We walked over the ramp to Wynn and noticed a huge line that went the entire length of the Esplinade and out the doors. We asked a security guy if that was the line for Encore and he told us it was about a 2 hour wait to get in. YIKES! There went that idea.

We walked back to Palazzo and decided to end it like it started last Thursday at the Wynn. We put a $100 bill into a Wolf Run slot and started playing. No big finish here, as it was gone in about 10 minutes...

We stopped at the Concierge Suite one last time for a free cocktail, went back up to the room for a once-over to make sure we didn%26#39;t leave anything, and checked out.

My host looked over my play and wiped our bill clean. Now, I have been RFB%26#39;ed many times before, but this was the first time I have ever had my tips at the restaurants paid for by the hotel. In every other instance, they would wipe my bill clean EXCEPT for my tips, which makes total sense. I wasn%26#39;t going to complain or ask questions however. I thanked him for his hospitality and free show tickets, even though they closed the Real Deal before I could see it. Funny thing, this was the first he heard of it. He hadn%26#39;t even been informed the Real Deal had closed yet. Weird.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read my novel of a trip report. Can’t wait to go back!

Buggy's Wynn/Palazzo TR, One Post Version

Holy Cow!!!!

Had I known it was this long I would have never read it! LOL!!!

=)

Is there a pic thread yet???? (Besides Jess%26#39; video?)

This was a great read. My husband and I usually stay at the best hotels and have nice meals, but the gambling wow! Can%26#39;t even imagine.

We are planning a ';horrible-economy-cheapo-Vegas- trip'; next month. It%26#39;s fun to plan, but I am wondering how we will do at the 4 queens after staying at the Wynn last trip :-)

Thanks, I one that does prefer to read it all in one post. Great TR, really enjoyed reading it.

Enjoyed your post. I%26#39;m strictly a slot player myself but being a finance officer, in the real world, I loved all the up and down $$$s of your report LOL

On our last trip to Vegas in Nov we also had to pick up an extra day due to flight changes and decided to give the Palazzo a try for one night. I%26#39;m not sure why, but THANK-YOU to the powers to be we got upgraded from a regular room to a Sienna suite WOW!! (you described it perfectly). Once I got over the awe of the size of this suite I dropped by the front desk and left an envelope with a $20 in it for our check-in clerk.

M

Hi, Ron :) Like a lot of us here, I think you like to relive your trips through the written word. =)

How amazing the human brain is in making our experiences come to life.

It%26#39;s great to read this version but I love your long, epic reports.

Now I have to save this version too...lol...love it. (for quick, haha, reference)

What a gosh durn minute...this is no shorter...as you said, it%26#39;s in one loooonnnnngggg piece...lol.

Sorry so repetitious...where%26#39;s Jess%26#39;s video clip??

Great read. Without re-reading (read last night) two questions:

1) Reservations required at Carnevino?

2) 10 dollar bones at Wynn?????????

Thanks for posting this, buggy. I loved reading it the first time and I loved reading it just as much the second time!