The birthday and summer grazie gift show TR!

I left San Jose on Friday, June 22nd on Southwest airlines excited about going back to Vegas after a busy 8 weeks of moving to a new house. My husband who had taken time off from work during our move had to return to work but encouraged me to join my friends in Vegas. I think he might have also wanted a break from me constantly moving furniture around. :)

I was looking forward to seeing my friend Terri again and having fun again with Gwen (yourstarla) and our birthday girl Liz (Cassley). When my boarding pass for Southwest ended up for the first time A1, it felt like the first win of the trip!  Flight was alright though we landed in high winds. Palazzo's limo was waiting and my luggage was among the first few suitcases out of baggage claim. VIP check in was quick and gave me a  coupon book for their 3 months of Carnevale celebrations which mainly consisted of discounts at restaurants and shops, though it did have a coupon for a free Carnevale cupcake!

In addition to all the live entertainment for Carnevale such as the living Mona Lisa above, I was there on the Grazie Summer Gift promotion and it was currently triple point days for earning additional gift points.

Since Liz and Gwen weren't due in until Saturday and I had a few hours to kill before meeting Terri, one of my best friends for dinner, I went right to the slots after unpacking. My luck so far in 2012 has been really sour and I was hoping for a winning trip. I quickly lost $200 through the $1 Quick Hit Slots in the Palazzo High Limit Room and then the $5 Wheel of Fortune slots outside. I decided to walk over to Venetian and play the Showgirls penny slot and I did hit a bonus on that for $185.00.
https://twitter.com/imevoni/status/216289653685354496/photo/1

Feeling my luck might be changing I entered the Venetian High Limit room and started playing my beloved $1 DaVinci Diamonds which quickly rewarded me with a win of $310.00.

Another quick win of $260.00 was making this trip's gambling start out promising! It was great to see some wins again on this slot as the last couple trips it had been very stingy.

Moving over to $1 Jackpot Party at $15 a push I didn't get to a party bonus but I hit a great win of $1010.00. This was more like it so I went over to $5 pinball at 2 credits a push and hit a bonus for $400.00!

Grazie Gift Extravaganza VIP Party

I'm exhausted, it's a good thing I return home tomorrow. I'll post the details of the last day/night of my trip in a day or two, but for now I wanted to share photos of the Grazie Gifts Extravaganza VIP evening which was Friday, November 19th, from 5pm-9pm.

I believe the only thing VIP about it was we got in a day early before the rest of the Grazie player card members.

Socalgirl and I arrive at 5pm and there was already a reasonably long line in place. Our host met us about 2 minutes after we arrived and kept us company at the event for about 2 hours, and then walked us back to the Palazzo.

The Grazie gift party is set up a bit differently then last year. Now you enter a room with a counter and a handful of employees who take your player's card and ID and then issue you a badge to wear. They hand you a clip board with a form that has the number of points you have to use, and point you out the door where you go around to the Bellini ballroom where the gifts are displayed.

G2E and Grazie VIP Gift Extravaganza

Today, I'm packing and getting ready to leave for Las Vegas tomorrow morning. This trip's original purpose other then fun was to attend the VIP premiere night party for the Grazie Gift Extravaganza at Venetian with my friend Socalgirl.

It has now turned into catching the last day of G2E (Global Gaming Expo) and as I start to receive texts from them on the welcoming party and opening ceremonies as they celebrate their 10 year anniversary, I'm just sorry I didn't arrive yesterday instead. I might be able to catch a couple hours tomorrow before the Expo floor closes at 5:00pm but it's looking doubtful due to flight arrival, checking in at Venetian and then getting over to the convention center by at least 3:00pm.

Wish me luck that I make a couple hours on Wednesday since they close early at 3pm on their last day which is Thursday and there's a lot of exhibits that I just won't have time to check out. I definitely plan on going first to the WMS booth and then on to IGT, following up with Ballys, Aruze and Konami so hopefully I will have some information to share on their upcoming new slot machines.

More to follow tomorrow night!