page contents
Only a hour flight away from Las Vegas we visit frequently, sometimes once a month. I'll be sharing our trip reports, tips on making the most of your stay in Vegas, reviews of restaurants and shows we have seen, along with my thoughts related to our favorite place to get away from it all.

Monday, March 9, 2015

Valentine's and President's Day Trip Report!

My wonderful husband and I enjoyed a Valentine's day lunch together and then for my present he sent me off to Las Vegas that afternoon to have fun with my friends while he stayed home for a father and son weekend. After 27 years of marriage my husband knows it's not flowers, candy or jewelry I want for gifts. ;)

Airport check in was easy, flight left on time and actually got into Vegas 10 minutes early! Unfortunately my limo driver didn't get to the airport early and was on the freeway so I had to wait for him for about 10 minutes. We then took the back way to Palazzo and longest limo ride ever! The roads were packed this holiday weekend and the light at Sands to Las Vegas Blvd and then the one at Las Vegas Blvd to turn into Palazzo took us over 20 minutes to get through.
Fortunately VIP lounge check at Palazzo only takes a few minutes and they had my favorite room on a high floor in the 900 section overlooking the strip ready for me.
I quickly unpacked as it was already around 7pm and my friend Leah had tickets to Venetian's Lipshtick show tonight starring comedian Loni Love at 9:30pm that we were going to and I wanted to grab a bite at the Platinum lounge and then play a few slots before meeting up.
My comped offer this trip as usual included free play so I started out using some of it in the dollar Jungle Wild slot and was happy when I quickly hit a bonus on it! Since 4 pyramids had hit I received 7 spins instead of the usual 5, but for 7 spins the bonus was disappointing.

To watch that bonus and other slot bonuses mentioned in this and past trip reports go to my youtube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/Dianaevoni
I continued to play Jungle Wild and immediately hit a second bonus which only the speed of getting the second bonus made up for a sad bonus of only $70.00.
After Jungle Wild I moved on to dollar Quick Hit Platinum in the Palazzo High Limit room and was happy to hit 6 Quick Hits for $750.00! I didn't qualify for the progressive because while I was covering all the lines betting $15 a spin one needs to bet max at $45.00 a spin to hit the above progressives.
I had a bonus after my $750.00 win but it didn't pay as much as I hoped so I walked outside the HL room and went over to my favorite $5 Wheel of Fortune slots where I hit a bonus on my first spin! Unfortunately it only paid $125.00, but still a first spin bonus is always great.
After my $125.00 bonus on WOF, I tried some penny slots without much in the ways of wins at Palazzo before it was time to walk over at 9:15pm to meet Leah at Venetian to see Loni Love.
Leah's host had arranged for great seats we were fourth row center!
While Lipshtick headliners are all women comedians, Loni's two opening acts were men, both were good and made Leah and me laugh. Loni however was hilarious and I would go again to her show. If you have a chance to see her and I believe she is playing at Venetian again this summer for a weekend, catch her show!
Thanks Leah for sharing your tickets with me, great show and company!
After Loni Love both Leah and I were thirsty and went to Venetian's Gold Lounge where I ordered a spicy bloody Mary. Speaking of Mary, this delightful lady is also named Mary and she's a fan of my blog and even lives in the town next to me in California! Mary it was great to meet you and your friends, hope to see you again soon!
After Leah and I enjoyed our drinks at the Gold Lounge, it was time to get our slots on.
Surprisingly I had some nice wins and was staying a bit ahead, something that doesn't happen often on the first night of my Vegas trips.


I played quite a few of my favorite slots but it was The Walking Dead that gave me my Big Win of the night during a bonus where I hit only 6 spins on the wheel! This bonus is on my youtube channel if you want to view it.
I've never watched the television show but I do love this slot since I first played it last May at MGM Grand for the first time.


After my win on The Walking Dead Leah and I ended up playing the new WMS Slot Elton John. Leah lost on it, and I had some brief fun on it and left it mainly even. I had plans to return to it later in the trip and boy was I glad I did as you will read further down!
Leah and I said goodnight after Elton John but I hung around and played more penny slots at Venetian, continuing to hold my own but nothing great to share.

Walking back to Palazzo to go to sleep I was able to get some photos of the Palazzo Waterfall Atrium decorated for Chinese New Year!
While I was taking photos of the Atrium a group of ladies asked me to take their photo by the waterfall and then one of them returned the favor.
Returning to my room at Palazzo I had a peaceful night's sleep.

Weather was great in Vegas this holiday weekend and I awoke to a beautiful morning!
I met Leah around 10:50am and we took a taxi to Cosmopolitan to meet Danielle for brunch at Wicked spoon. Danielle (kidcorb) is a fun lady I know from one of the slot message boards and Facebook. This was the first time I had met Danielle in person even though it turns out she lives about 40 minutes away from my home! All of us had a great time at brunch and I'm looking forward to meeting up with Danielle again this year and if not in Vegas we'll be meeting up around where we live for lunch! There's also a potential plan for a group of us to possibly go to Lake Tahoe this coming June for gambling, a birthday party and fun, but more on that this summer if it turns out I can attend.
Here's some photos of the food we had that day at Wicked Spoon. If you want to see more of Wicked Spoon's buffet set up go to this link on my blog:

http://www.lasvegasdaze.com/2014/05/wicked-spoon-buffet-at-cosmopolitan-re.html
After eating at Wicked Spoon we walked over to Aria to meet Derek and his wife Amy. All of us know Derek from a slot message board where he writes great live Vegas trip reports under the handle of dvandentop.
Upon entering Aria we saw that the Buddha was decorated for Chinese New Year too.
Danielle and Leah above.
I'm placing quarters on Buddha for luck.
We quickly found Derek and Amy over by Avatar. They were leaving for the airport to return home but we had time for a quick chat and photo op! I'll see Derek and Amy again on my next trip to Vegas in early April.
Leah and I briefly played some slots with Danielle at Aria but we weren't winning so we said goodbye to Danielle for this trip and returned to Venetian.
Leah decided to take a break and go back to her room before we met up again for dinner while I went for some more slot play. Years ago I had a hand pay on a fly by bonus on Top Gun so I always play it each trip hoping for another one.
Behind Top Gun is the Willy Wonka slot and I had a lot of bonuses on it but the largest hit was a Oompa Loompa bonus for $96.50.
Went back to $5 Wheel of Fortune at Palazzo but it wouldn't give me a spin this time, but gave me a nice hit at least.
A little action on Outback Jack, a old classic slot that I like. There's still three of these at Palazzo.
At 6:30pm it was time to meet Leah for dinner at db Brasserie. A great dinner starts with a fabulous champagne and Leah is a wine connoisseur and had brought to Vegas a 2003 Dom Perignon for us to share! This was a wonderful champagne with hints of citrus and a mineral streak. Though my palate is not as refined as most, I liked it better then the Cristal I had on New Year's Eve, not that I would ever turn down Cristal.
 
Our dinner amuse was a airy cheese Gougeres similar in taste to the Cut's amuse but 5 times the size, it was yummy, I ate it all!
My first course was the Heirloom Beet salad, Roasted Beets, Goat Cheese, Quinoa with a Pistachio Sherry Vinaigrette it was delicious.
With our entree we shared a side of what the menu names Supergreen Spinach and it's in a light cream sauce and is very good if you enjoy Spinach.
Leah ordered a wonderful pasta special they had that evening, Agnolotti with lots of truffles! The pasta was light and the truffles earthy, it was great!
We both ordered the Scallops as our main entree. Scallops are normally a light dish but this was very rich tasting with Celery Root, Mushrooms, and a Apple and Nut Greamolata.  I enjoyed it and would order it again.
We were both too full for dessert but to end the dinner I had to have my favorite cocktail the spicy Smokey Bandit! Thanks Leah, for not only the wonderful treat of a great Champagne but a delightful dinner!
After dinner it was time again for Leah and me to play more slots.
I had some nice hits but was no longer even for the trip and starting to lose.
Leah and I were playing a few slots in the Venetian High Limit lounge and she was just getting ready to leave to retire for the evening when who walked in but Albert, ShinobiYT and his brother BeamMeUpSlotty! All of us have slot channels on youtube, hence the handles. I had met Albert in person last year but this was the first time meeting Shinobi and his brother. So after introductions and then saying goodnight to Leah we headed off to Palazzo to find slots from Alberts favorite company Ainsworth.
Of course we had to stop for some photo ops at the Palazzo Waterfall Atrium!
After walking to Palazzo we couldn't find the Ainsworth slots I thought were there, oops, so back to Venetian we went where the guys found a few to play. I watched them for a bit and Shinobi and his brother were doing quite well while Albert and I not so much, LOL!

When the guys head out after a hour or so I said goodbye to Shinobi and his brother as they were heading back home that evening but Albert and I would see each other again as we had plans on Tuesday.
That evening I played the new Hangover slot called "Pretty Awesome! I've always had fun with the original Hangover slot and it was the same with the new Hangover, I like it! There are a couple videos on my youtube channel of this new slot for those who are curious about it.

While I was playing this slot a lady set down next to me and her daughter who was standing next to her caught my eye and asked if I was the Diana who writes the blog as they like it. It was great meeting Christi and Cathy and I hope we run into each other again at Venetian on a future trip!
After Hangover 2 I headed back to the HL room to try my luck at $1 Double Davinci Diamonds but couldn't get much going on it or a couple other HL slots I tried so it was back to the penny slots for me!
They had moved the original Hangover slots and for a while I thought they were gone until I found them off by themselves near the escalator.
Previously I had a favorite Hangover slot in the group that would go into a cycle of bonuses and after a few tries I figured out which one I thought was my old favorite.
It didn't disappoint, lots of bonuses and fun, even though no big wins.  I still walked away a bit ahead and made lots of Grazie points too.
It's true, I can't stay away from The Walking Dead, and had a couple more good hits on it.
Left Venetian and returned to Palazzo and had some fun with Sphinx 3d and Lord of the Rings.
Still trying for the jackpot on Dollar Quick Hit and failing, LOL!
Went to bed after playing Dollar QH and was down a bit but not by much and had lots of fun and play!
Lunch on Monday was solo at Grand Lux Cafe. Leah was leaving this morning for home but I will see her again hopefully later this year.
 I ordered one of my two favorite salads from Grand Lux, the Sonoma Chicken salad with goat cheese, chicken, dates, raisins avocado and greens.
After lunch it was time to start winning and getting ahead again so stopped at Lord of the Rings near Grand Lux.
A few of my youtube viewers had requested some videos of Titanic but I just couldn't get any great wins on it, though Leah before she left had done well and had bonuses that were in the range of $600 and $700.00.
Walked over to Venetian and found the new Jeopardy slot. Sorry I found it! Did get the bonus on it but it has the fastest timer I have seen on a slot in a bonus that auto-picks for you if you have a moment of indecision!
Monopoly Bonus City gave me a bonus when I was about ready to leave it, for a good win of $200.00 on a $2.00 bet.
I had several bonuses with the 88 Fortunes slot Machine at Venetian and enjoyed playing it. A few weeks after my trip Bill one of my gambling friends on Facebook won the big jackpot on it at Venetian for over Twenty Five Thousand Dollars, congrats to Bill!!!
After having fun but not making my fortune with 88 fortunes I went to Venetian's HL room where I had a small hit on Pinball but couldn't get the bonus so it was back to the penny slots once again.
The Venetian penny slots weren't doing too much for me until I started to play Hangover again and it went into a cycle of bonuses, mainly low paying bonuses, but still walked away with more then I put in the slot due to how quickly they hit.
Dinner tonight was at Table 10 at Palazzo with Terri my friend who lives in Las Vegas.
Tonight we were celebrating a belated birthday for Terri.
Click on the menu pages to enlarge them if they are hard to read.
Both of us ordered from the Four Course Prix Fixe menu for $45.00 per person.
My favorite drink at Table 10 is the spicy Mango and Spice Cocktail.
The Lobster Amuse tonight was delightful and since Terri doesn't like Lobster I ate both!
We both enjoyed the Cauliflower Bisque with Almonds and Raisins. It had a slightly sweet taste to it.
Terri liked her Squash Gnudi with Sage Butter, Pecan and Romano Cheese for her second course.
However we both agreed that my second course of candied bacon was one of the best dishes of the evening!
Terri's entree was the Waygu Skirt Steak with Pearl Onions and Carrots in a wine sauce. I've had this on a previous trip and it's great.
I went with the Arctic Char with mixed Olives, Smoke Tomato and Polenta. It was fine but I'm not sure I would order it again as the flavors weren't inspired and I prefer a lighter taste.
Terri's dessert was the White Chocolate Malassadas below with Cinnamon Sugar and Raspberry Sauce. Terri said it was good but she would have preferred to have the sauce separately,  then on the bottom of the dish.
While the speciality dessert at all Emeril's restaurants is his fantastic Banana Cream Pie, I went for one I enjoyed on our Thanksgiving trip, the Milk Chocolate Mousse S'Mores which I love.
After dinner Terri stayed for a couple hours and we played some slots together at Palazzo and had some fun bonuses though no big wins.
Ruby Slippers did give me a couple bonuses with my best win being $96.00.
After Terri left for home I went back to Venetian and gave some play to dollar Quick Hit and had a couple bonuses on it.
I was starting to win back some of my losses from the previous day but decided I better return to the penny slots.
The Walking Dead were calling my name and gave me a couple bonuses.
After The Walking Dead I went to the new Elton John Slot and surprise, I hit for $853.00 on a $2.00 bet, which would turn out to be my largest win for this trip! Thank you rocket man Elton!
I almost had all my money back so back to the Venetian HL room and again to dollar Quick Hit which gave me a bonus, but not as much as I was hoping to win.
So I went out and played some penny slots again and had a nice hit on an old favorite the Top Gun Slot!
It was getting late so I cashed out my Tito and walked back to Palazzo to get some sleep but made a detour to stop by Palazzo's HL room and try dollar Quick Hit there where I won the highest QH bonus of the trip for me at $711.00. I went to bed that evening back to even at Venetian and Palazzo which I considered a win for me, LOL!
Next morning I decided to eat at Grand Lux again before leaving for Cosmopolitan since I had a late check out time.  I went with a salad again but this time my old favorite, the Manhattan Chopped Salad.  I was surprised to see they now serve it a bit differently then in the past and instead of having chicken with the shrimp it's now shrimp and avocado. Still a good salad but I did miss the chicken.
After eating it was time to pack up and move over to Cosmopolitan. The photo below which unfortunately came out dark is to show that some rooms at Palazzo that are not handicap rooms do not have the sunken level where you have a step into the couch seating area. I've been asked this before and these rooms do exist though most Venetian and Palazzo rooms do have the step into the living room area.
Check in at Cosmopolitan was smooth except the clerk couldn't understand why I didn't want the premium view room they reserved for me on a high floor and instead wanted the view toward Mandalay Bay to avoid nightclub noise. However the rooms with the view toward Mandalay weren't ready so I took room 3411 in the West Tower with the beautiful view of the strip and Bellagio Fountains. This turned out to be great because this trip no nightclub noise!
After partially unpacking I went down to Cosmopolitan's casino where I found the new Lord of the Rings Slot with falling wilds that is similar to the new Madmen slot. I had some fun with it but my wins were low. I did see the lady who took my place on this slot win almost four hundred dollar on a $1.20 bet a few minutes later so we know there's some potential there.
I played a few more penny slots in the area and then decided to go to Cosmopolitan's High Limit room and play my free play through $1 Davinci Diamonds. That slot has been good to me on past trips but no love this time so I tried an experiment. During my NYE trip when I stayed for a couple nights at Cosmopolitan and was playing in the HL room on Davinci  Diamonds a man two slots over hit the bonus on dollar Diamond Queen and won a hand pay on it betting only 5 lines! So I sat down at the same slot and instead of betting all lines which would be a $20 bet, I bet 9 lines and decided to put a $150.00 through the slot. Before I lost my $150.00 I was lucky enough to hit the bonus but it only paid $405.00. Not the bonus I was hoping for but I walked away with more then I put in so that was good.
After Diamond Queen I played $5 Pink Diamonds and had a couple decent hits.
Then went to dollar Wild Blue Quick Hit where I got a bonus. After that bonus the limited luck I was having left me so I left the HL room and returned to the penny slots.
I had a couple decent wins on the Michael Jackson wanna be starting something slot but all the other penny slots I tried which were quite a few I was losing on. Normally I do okay at Cosmopolitan but not this day!
I returned to my room a loser so far at Cosmo and put on my walking shoes as I was walking to Caesar's Palace to meet Albert for dinner.
Before I left I spent a few minutes out on my balcony admiring what has to be one of the best views on the strip.
Up above is the pillars near Cosmo registration area with their ever changing graphics.
I enjoyed the walk to Caesar's and met up fairly quickly with Albert at the Bacchanal Buffet for dinner. Perhaps this should be a tradition for Albert and me as this is where we ate dinner together last year too!
I didn't take photos of the buffet as I've done that in the past and the set up is same, though naturally some of the food offered is different. Go to this link on the blog if you want additional photos of how the buffet is set up:

http://www.lasvegasdaze.com/2012/10/bacchanal-buffet-at-caesars-palace.html
 Important for lovers of crab legs: there is both hot and cold legs available. If you want them hot though don't go to the seafood section, go to the Italian section around the corner where they have them steaming. Also if what they are serving is Snow Crab ask them if they have King Crab legs as the man in front of me did and they brought out frozen ones to heat up for him and the rest of us in line who then asked for the same!
Here's what we ate that evening.
See the cute cupcake below? They are in different flavors and you take the plastic syringe and inject the flavor into the mini cupcake. Unfortunately the kids love these too and quite a few were running up to the dessert station and grabbing the syringe out of the cupcakes and injecting the flavor into their mouths. Typical thing for kids to do but I'm sure they were also touching the cupcakes as they removed the syringes.
After dinner Albert and I walked back to Cosmopolitan to play slots together.
Couple photos of the Chinese New Year decorations at Caesar's Palace.
As we were walking through Cosmopolitan Albert spotted a new slot we had heard about where instead of playing for the bonus you can just buy it outright and how much money you spend on the bonus determines your number of spins. Since this slot bonus has sticky wilds it made sense to us to spend a hundred for the bonus and get the most spins, however each of us lost this time. I got back $64.75 from my $100 bonus and Albert a bit more then that. We have watched a video on youtube by someone who won over $200.00 on buying their slot bonus on this slot so it's possible to do better this we did. I'm not sure if I will try this again in the future or not but I was happy to try it once despite the loss.
Once back at Cosmopolitan it was time for me to do the monthly contest that some of us who upload slot videos to youtube participate in once a month. For February the slot was Bier Haus and the rules are you put a $100 in the slot, pick your bet size and then play until you either lose the $100.00 or get a bonus. The winner of the contest is the person who won the most during their bonus based on bet percentage. This month I had a first for the contest with a zero bonus! It's a short but funny bonus and here's a link to it if you want to watch it.

After my zero bonus on Bier Haus I played Kitty Glitter and was rewarded with a bonus.
Albert and I continued to play some slots but neither of us were having much luck. As we walked around the casino we found the Lucky Cat exhibit and went in to have it give us a fortune.
While Albert just got a fortune card from Lucky Cat, my card said I won $10 free play! Hey it's not much but it was still a win, LOL!
After Lucky Cat Albert and I played Lord of the Rings and while we didn't get any great wins from it both our slots went into a cycle of bonuses and we had some fun with it for a while before Albert had to leave and return to Caesar's Palace.
After Albert left I just went on a big losing streak despite a bit of luck for a while on the Willy Wonka Slot.
Before I knew it I went from breaking even on the trip thanks to the slots at Venetian and Palazzo to being down about $1500.00 and I just wasn't feeling good about staying on for a extra day/night so I decided to go home the next morning. This is why I love Southwest Airlines, because earlier in the month I couldn't decide if I wanted to stay 4 or 5 nights in Vegas I bought tickets to return home for both Wednesday and Thursday since there's no penalty to cancel out with Southwest as long as you cancel a hour or so before your flight.  Back in the room I canceled my flight for Thursday and then called up the front desk and told them I was checking out a day early. No problem with canceling and 10 days after my stay I received a even better comp offer in email from Cosmo for my next trip so I'm guessing they liked my losses that day. :)
Next morning my flight was on time and I was safely back home by early afternoon.
Next trip is early April and has been in planning for about 8 months now.  It's a Meet with a slot message board and Facebook group of friends.  I also have some friends outside of the group who will be in Vegas that week so it's going to be five days and nights of non-stop fun!

Thanks for reading and hope all of you have a winning time time in Las Vegas on your next trip!

34 comments:

  1. Another fantastic TR, Diana! What a great husband you have to give you a Vegas trip for Valentine's. I know you normally get your Diamonds and Pearls there, but I did not see any mention of it this trip. Unless I missed it. I think I have recognized a pattern when it comes to your trips. You always seem to start off by playing Jungle Wild. LOL!

    I bet you never knew you would become such a celebrity. It is so cool to see so many people recognize you on your trips. One day I will get my photo op with you.

    Thanks again for this spectacular TR! I am looking forward to following you and everyone else during the April trip.

    Zeus (Don)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL Don, on the Diamonds and Pearls. :)

      You've got my number on starting off with dollar Jungle Wild when staying at Palazzo. I do have my patterns even with the food I order at restaurants. hehe

      I'm sorry we missed our photo op when I was too sick to get to KC, but I agree one day we will meet in person! I'm really sorry you won't be with us in April, but I'll try and do a lot of live tweets that trip and of course Derek will be there for part of it and I'm sure doing one of his great live trip reports!

      Cheers!

      Delete
  2. Hi Diana,

    I love your trip reports but they always leave me feeling hungry...lol!!

    I'm glad the first half of your trip was a winning one but it's a shame the second half didn't match up. I think you made the right decision to leave early and mitigate your losses.

    Hopefully your next trip will provide you with that handpay that seems so elusive at the moment. As a matter if interest, what's the lowest amount that you've been betting when you've had a handpay? Is there any hope for us low rollers ;-)

    Take care
    Mark (& Andrea)
    xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Mark and Andrea!

      I did have a hand pay on the New Year's trip but despite that I actually lost more on that trip then this last one when I didn't get a hand pay. Sometimes I would prefer just to have a bunch of hits around 1k though those have gotten pretty rare for me.

      I think the lowest amount I've had a hand pay on has been $2.00 a spin and that was on the Top Gun Slot a few years ago. I have seen vids and photos of people winning 5k on Willy Wonka on a 40 cent bet, so I know with certain slots it's possible to get a hand pay on a minimum bet.

      Thanks for commenting, see you on Facebook!

      xoxo

      Delete
  3. Thanks so much for all the slot info at Venetian/Palazzo.
    Can't wait to play the new Hangover.
    I also saw the Flinstones slot is at Palazzo, thanks to
    spotting it on your wonderful youtube channel.
    We'll be there in less than two weeks, and you have made me a very happy camper knowing that some of these new games are at our homebase hotel. (Palazzo)
    You're the greatest! I hope the new LOTR slot shows up before we get there! Good luck on your next trip. I hope to meet you someday at the slots!

    dee-(ardee on the VMB greenboard)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Dee, great to hear from you!

      Have fun on your Vegas trip! I wish we weren't missing each other by a couple weeks. :)

      The new LOTR should be at Venetian or Palazzo by now since Cosmo had it last month.

      Hope you win lots, and if you spot any new slots on the floor don't forget to let me know. :)

      Cheers,
      Diana

      Delete
  4. Awesome report as usual! Love all the pics and food porn! Sorry cosmo did not treat you better! Thanks again!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Ken, I appreciate you letting me know you enjoyed it. Good luck on your next Vegas trip. :)

      Delete
  5. Always enjoy reading your Blog and Trip Reports.
    Hope to meet up some day,
    Susan

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Susan for letting me know you enjoy reading my trip reports. It would be a pleasure to meet you in Vegas sometime. Next time you have dates for a trip let me know and we'll see if they coincide with mine. :)

      Delete
  6. Hi Diana! Great TR. I am a big fan! I am always checking you youtube channel daily to see if you posted any new videos.. Cant get enough.

    But I have a question that is off topic from this TR. I am a big slot player and huge fan of new slots. I am not the biggest high roller but I do max bet most the time. It has been a dream of mine to attend G2E. I am trying to plan a trip for this years dates and I see you have attended a few times. Now I know this isnt open to the public but how can I attend? I would do whatever or pay whatever just to get in one day! Any info you have would be great. Again I am willing to do anything just to get passes for a day. Do you have any idea who I can contact or who I need to know in order to gain access? I know this is a long ways out but I figured the earlier I start to plan this, the better chance I have to getting in.

    Thanks in advance!

    Ben

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Ben,

      Some of the exhibitor's at G2E start giving out codes for free passes to it around the end of July or August. It's only good for the exhibit hall but works for all 3 days of it. This year the exhibit hall starts on September 29th and ends on October 1st.

      You can check back with me the first of August and I'll let you know if I have any information at that point where you can get a free pass. Also, when it gets closer to G2E we'll likely be talking about it on one of the slot forums such as the new Joker's Wild Gambling Emporium.

      http://www.jweforum.com

      Hope that helps!

      Cheers,
      Diana

      Delete
  7. Hi Diana!
    It was great meeting you in the Gold Lounge. I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but I discovered your blog when I was looking for more information about the Grazie gift events and have been hooked ever since! :)
    Hope to run into you again soon.
    Take care, Mary

    ReplyDelete
  8. Mary, it's fun to find out how readers found the blog so thanks for sharing that with me. I hope we run into each other again too! When you have a trip scheduled in the future let me know your dates and I'll let you know if I'm also going to be there too.

    Cheers!
    Diana

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll be back March 27-30 and May 14-18. Maybe I'll see you in May? You mentioned possibly going for the Billboard Awards. I love Vegas in Spring!

      Have a great weekend!
      Mary

      Delete
    2. Mary, I can't find anything about if the Billboard Awards are going to be the weekend of May 15th or not, I was assuming they would be around that time but now I'm not sure.

      I also love Vegas in the Spring! There's a possibility though that I might still pop in to Vegas in May around the 15 for a few nights, depending on how well my April trip goes gambling wise! Would love to chat with you again if I go but I won't know until around mid-April. :)

      Have a good weekend and lots of fun next week in Vegas!

      Diana

      Delete
  9. Love your reports.. have been following your and Albert's channels for awhile now.. I will be going again in June and August and I am taking notes !! :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks, it's great to hear you follow Albert's and my slot channels and also read the blog! Have a wonderful time in Vegas in June and August. Not sure yet if I will be there during those months or not.

    Cheers,
    Diana

    ReplyDelete
  11. Well, it was wonderful to return from our vacation and find your new report. Excellent as usual. Thanks for the pics from DB Brasserie and Table 10. I can't believe how many times we have stayed at Palazzo and not eaten at either! They are on the list! We did, however, finally get to the Country Club brunch at Wynn. We had a wonderful table and as it was around Christmas, they alternated between jazz and Christmas songs with a slight jazz flavor. I didn't know there was a new LOTR slot! I'll keep an eye out for it. Have a great time on your Apr. trip!
    Cheers!

    Cheri

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Cheri, I'm really looking forward to next month. :)

      Hope you had a great vacation!

      I'm happy to hear you had a great time at Country Club Brunch!

      Regarding new LOTR slot verdict still out on it, but if you try it I hope it gives you lots of bonuses and wins!

      Cheers,
      Diana

      Delete
  12. Diana,

    Your blog is so enjoyable to read. I live vicariously through all your travels to one of my favorite cities in America. Between your blog, videos, and SDGuy1234's videos I am so excited for my trips in July and October. I only wish I could get out there sooner.

    Thanks so much for the amazing blog. You look like you're a blast to be in Vegas with!

    -Robert

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Robert, I'm glad you enjoy my blog and our videos. :) If you're in Vegas around July 9th to the 14th let me know. I'll be there with friends and family during that time.

      Take care!

      Delete
    2. Oh damn. You'll just be missing me! I will be there from the 3rd through the 6th. Going to see Kathy Griffin at the Mirage and some other vegas shows! Then back in October for Madonna since my boyfriend is obsessed with her! But i look forward to reading about your April trip! I'll be in Orlando. First Disneyworld trip. I am trying to get out there for memorial day weekend cuz July just isn't coming soon enough. I also read about you possibly being in Tahoe in June. I'll be there the first weekend in June. Scattering my Mom's ashes.

      Delete
    3. Very sorry to hear about your Mother. Lake Tahoe will be a beautiful place to scatter her ashes. I'll be in Lake Tahoe June 19th.

      We used to live in Florida so took our son to Disneyworld a lot, love it there. You will have a great time, though the holidays and summer it's very crowded and lines can be long.

      I saw Kathy Griffin a few years ago at Mandalay Bay, very funny. Sorry we miss each other in Vegas this year, but perhaps next year we'll have coinciding trips. :)

      Cheers!

      Delete
    4. Thank you. She was an amazing woman and we had always talked about taking one last Tahoe trip before she passed. She was taken way too young unfortunately.

      As far as Disneyworld is concerned I'm very excited. A lot of trip planners and forcasting sites suggested the week in April we picked as the best week cuz it's supposed to be after spring break so we miss that crowd. Looks like a it may rain once or twice while we are there...weather is suppsoed to be what we are used to here in SoCal so I'm really excited!

      Yes, hopefully there will be a coinciding trip soon. Now that my mother is gone (She was my gambling partner since she liked it as much as I do) I need some gambling friends! :)

      Have a good trip in April! :) Safe travels and lots of winnings!

      Robert

      Delete
    5. April should be good at Disneyworld since you are missing spring break and it's before the intense heat/humidity of summer and sudden quick rain storms.

      I see you have joined Joker's Wild Emporium so I'm sure you will see updates by Derek and others on our trip next week. I've been so slow to write up my trip reports it may be the end of April until I post anything other then on Twitter where I'll do some live tweets during the trip.

      https://twitter.com/imevoni

      Thanks for the good wishes, it would be nice for a change to have lots of winnings!

      Delete
  13. Hi Diana. I read your blog all the time. Love your YouTube videos too.. Love going to Vegas, but we only go once for my husband's convention in May. Can't wait to read about your April trip and maybe one day we can meet. Mary S.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Mary, thanks for letting me know you like the blog and youtube vids!

      What's your dates on your May trip, perhaps we'll coincide as it does look like I might be going next month.

      I'm currently sorting through photos for last week's trip, hope to have a TR on the complete trip in a week or so and in a few days a review of e' at Jaleo and our slot company tour.

      Cheers,
      Diana

      Delete
  14. We will be in Vegas from May 16 thru the 20th. We are staying at the Aria. I think that weekend is the Billboard Music Award. Cheers to you too!!! Mary S.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mary, it's looking like a good chance we will meet. I'll also be at Aria on those dates except I'll be leaving on the 19th. :)

      Delete
  15. That's great!! We are having dinner at Julian Serrano Saturday nigh at 7:00pm. Maybe we can meet before that or during that weekend. Thanks Diana.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Would be happy to meet you. :) If you want to exchange cell numbers you can send me a private message on the following new message board. It's free to join and you might like reading the posts from the Meet that was held in Vegas last week. It's the Joker's Wild Gambling Emporium and here's the link:

    http://www.jweforum.com

    Cheers,
    Diana

    ReplyDelete
  17. Just discovered your webpage and I like it. Though you may be a bad influence, I discovered it via Willy Wonka slots- which I've never played but I find myself fixated to play. (take my money Willy.. I mean, show me the money Willy)
    Anyway, as a Las Vegas newbie. I'm already learning a few tips and tricks. Thank you

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hi Tim, glad you like my Vegas site. Those Wonka slots can be dangerous. I've had a couple friends now win the 5k golden ticket but so far it's a fail for me. The new Flintstones slot is fun too and I've had a lot of luck with the new Elton John slot since it arrived in Vegas as I just played it about 10 days ago and had another big win on it at Cosmopolitan.

    There's a bunch of us that just returned from Vegas a week or so ago and there's some live trip reports to read if you are interested on a new forum called. Joker's Wild Gambling Emporium. There's a link to it on the right of my blog under favorite Las Vegas and gambling message boards if you want to check it out.

    Cheers,
    Diana

    ReplyDelete