Wynn Las Vegas Resort Room 3240 (3/2008)

Wynn Las Vegas Resort Tower Room 3240, from March 23-24, 2008.

Main Street Station Room 1416 (3/2008)

Pictures from Main Street Station Room 1416 from March 22-23, 2008.

Main Street Station Room 924 (8/2008)

Pictures from Main Street Station Room 924 from August 8-11, 2008.

Bally's Las Vegas North Tower Room 2021 (8/2008)

Pictures of Bally's Las Vegas North Tower Room 2021 from August 11-13, 2008.









































View of pool cabanas from parking garage

Harrah's play update

Well, in June I said I would try to maintain a 500 TC "average" play to try to increase my offers from Harrah's. There was a bit of a discussion regarding the old "ADT" and KarenTN said that ADT was figured from TC and BRC. Given this, I present the following:

TC BRC Casino Date
581 0 Showboat 6/7/2008
608 627 Bally's 6/27/2008
346 283 Bally's 7/3/2008
802 583 Showboat 7/5/2008
838 890 Showboat 7/6/2008
452 0 Showboat 7/7/2008

TC = 3,627, BRC = 2,383

So with TC + BRC =
581
1,235
629
1,385
1,728
452

Total = 6,010 Jun/July

Now unfortunately I wasn't keeping track of points earned since the beginning of the year, I can only use the e-summaries they've sent me:

03/31 - TC 2771
04/30 - TC 4441, est RC earned 858, BRC 1670
06/30 - TC 5631, RC earned 1,189, BRC 409 (this is according to their records, which is short 218 BRCs from my stats).
07/31 - TC 8072 (3 more than my total), RC earned 2,438, BRC 1,756 (these are from my stats, not their summary)

So for the year I've earned 8,072 TC and an estimated 4,835 BRC. As near as I can calculate, I've made either 11 or 13 trips (depending on whether our poker play and DL was a "trip" and my parking at Caesars and not playing was a "trip").

So if "ADT" is TC+BRC/TRIP, then I have an ADT between 1,173 and 993. Granted I only saw an decrease in my room rate after my July play and only at Showboat, so that further solidified the idea that each property has an ADT in additional to the systemwide ADT. But before my "big" July play, my ADT would have been between 771-964.

So if ADT is truly TC+BRC, it seems as if one needs to maintain a total point earning around 1000 to get a "reasonable" weekend rate at a Bally's, Showboat and standard Harrah's and Caesars rooms.

The other thing for me to consider is if my table play is hurting my rating. Some have said yes but other's no. I asked the pit person at Wild Wild West when I bought into a Pai Gow game and she said I wouldn't earn as much as I did playing VP (duh), but I should have asked her what she did rate me. Of course I did get rated at our last craps experience at Showboat, but apparently I showed up a bigger winner than other people. . .

And as Bob always likes to bring up, denomination makes a difference (to which I ask him why he always has to bring up religion). I'm sure my room rates dropped after earning around 100 points on the 2-coin $5 Top Dollar slot (thank you Michael!). What casino doesn't love $5 slot players as opposed to quarter 9/6 JoB & 8/5 BP players? Granted I haven't heard much from Trump after I dropped $300 on $1 8/5 BP last month (although I did win some of it back the next month).

The Las Vegas trip may complicate things as we will be staying there and I'm not sure if we are going to stiff them as we would like to earn points towards our diamond card for next year. Hopefully we'll hit a few jackpots before we get there. . .

All I am hoping is to keep at least one property where I can get a decent weekend rate. I'd prefer Bally's to Showboat, since the pool area is much nicer and I enjoy playing there more than Showboat, but that's something to work on, I guess. . .

Resorts Mailer!

And just in time, because I no longer receive an AC Hilton mailer. Now, I do have to earn 3 points to receive my gift offers (and I'd love to know how much coin in a "point" takes) but I'm pleased just getting the mailer.

This was triggered by about an hour of quarter 8/5 BP play in April with Harv and Cath.

There's nothing I want to earn in June, but I'll probably keep receiving the mailers.

I've decided to give my Total Rewards and Trump cards a rest for the summer. My theos at both places are in the garbage and I want to take a shot at redeeming myself, especially since I no longer go to AC ten times a month. If I don't start to get Friday night comp rooms at TP in the fall, I'm going to let my Chairman's Card lapse. That is THE ONLY perk that Trump gives me above Harrah's. Trump did really well marketing to me: I was bumping up in denomination and starting to play short games during an entire year of losing there. Even with this escalation in play they still cut my offers for the summer. The last straw was finding out that Lydia receives THE EXACT SAME OFFERS AS I DO, after she played there casually a few times. Give me a damn break. It's time for me to wise up.

I'll give my Borgata and Resorts cards some use for the summer.

- The New Improved Bigfus!

I Think I Love Trump Plaza

I looked at my "Center Stage" monthly offer booklet from Trump Plaza today and they may have convinced me not to bother making a run at the Harrah's Diamond Card for next year. Of course, there's a lot of "year" left, as I've only made one trip to Atlantic City thus far this year, but the Plaza has a huge leg up on their competitors now, as they've actually offered me free rooms for "ANY DAY OF THE WEEK" next month. I circled that when I read it, because I wanted to make sure I actually read that phrase right. Of course, this could have been a misprint (I even checked that that booklet was actually addressed to me - it was), so I checked the web site right away and I've already booked three different dates that Harrah's was ready to charge me over $150 night (or more) for. This makes me want to run out and buy a toupee, just so I can let it flap recklessly in the spring breeze.

The room offers were enough to make Trump Plaza worthy of praise, and I find their newly redesigned web site much easier to navigate than what they offered in the past, but that wasn't the only thing that pleased me about the April offers I received. Here are some highlights:

• April 1 - May 10, Complimentary Overnight Stay ANY DAY, Valid Two Times Per Week
• $30 Bonus Cash (I had been receiving $5 offers, though mine used to be for $20 about 2 years ago) on 4/8, 4/12, 4/16, 4/19, 4/24, and 4/28 (this includes two Saturdays)
• I've been put back on the "Gift" list, after an absence of several months, and there seem to be 2-3 gift days every week
• $100 Comp Dollars with 3X or 4X Multiplier on additional points earned on 4/10
• $50 Macy's or Dick's Sporting Goods Gift Card on 4/14
• $50 Cash on 4/15
• $50 Cash on 4/20 (A Sunday) and 4/30

So, did the Plaza up the ante with anyone else for the month to come? Or, did my neglect in playing there very often pay off with The Donald trying to woo me back?

Mattress Poker Tour 2008 Schedule In the Works

Poker players and fans rejoice! The discussion around the Mattress Poker Tour's 2008 schedule is finally taking place. Take a look at this item from the MPT blog to express your opinions now.