Slot Fanatics Meet in Las Vegas!

This trip was about 7 months in the making as the main purpose of visiting Las Vegas in April was to attend the annual meet of the Slot Fanatics. Originally I was going for 3 nights from April 10th to the 13th but this changed when friends Laura and Yon asked Gwen and I when our next trips to Vegas were so they could try to time theirs around ours so I mentioned my upcoming April trip and Gwen, Laura and Yon all ended up booking around that time too.

Gwen decided to depart on Sunday April 7th and stay at Palazzo so I found myself scheduling a trip to Palazzo for two nights starting April 8th and changing my previous reservation for THEHotel at Mandalay Bay to arriving on the 10th and departing on the 12th. My friend Terri who lives in Vegas was also going to be staying a couple nights at the Four Seasons at Mandalay Bay to check out their newly renovated rooms.

We have three cats, and Troy our Siamese let me know he wasn't happy that once again I was off to Vegas without him so he briefly staged a sit in until lured out of the suitcase with bits of salmon.

I fly a lot but I hate flying in storms or high winds so I wasn't happy that both San Jose and Las Vegas airports had high wind advisories the day I flew out. Upon arriving at San Jose Airport I found long lines at security due to only having one x-ray machine running and only 2 lines open, but the good news was the planes for the most part, including my flight was taking off on time.

The high winds ended up working in our favor as we made it to Las Vegas in record time, only a hour flight, however the flight was bumpy and the landing while safe was interesting.

My Palazzo driver Robin was waiting for me at baggage claim and soon I was on my way to Palazzo. Notice how much Robin's hair was blowing in the wind in the covered parking garage.

Home sweet home, the lobby area of Palazzo. Check in,  as always was quick at the VIP lounge. Gwen who had already checked in the previous day and had won at least two hand pays on Ultimate X poker had texted to say she was taking a short nap so I went up to my suite and unpacked.

On the way to the room I was surprised that the bank of Palazzo elevators for the high floor rooms now at one end had a private elevator roped off.

As soon as I was unpacked I couldn't wait to try out the latest Wizard of Oz slots with the new Gamefield xD cabinets. I enjoyed playing the Haunted Forest, love the game cabinet and graphics but was getting low hits like the one above so decided to wait and return later. I played a few other favorite slots and was holding my own but it wasn't until I met up with Gwen and we went over to the Palazzo $1 slots outside of their HL room that I finally had a decent win, which I chalk up to touching Gwen's lucky Vegas bag which will be featured later in this trip report.

While Gwen was playing $1 Zeus next to me and getting a couple good hits, I hit the bonus on Jungle Wild for $449.00. While we were laughing and enjoying ourselves I discovered that Gwen hadn't really eaten anything all day and since we were going to have a late dinner I talked her into walking over to Venetian's Gold Lounge where we had some appetizers and soft drinks before trying a few of Venetian's High Limit Slots.

WMS Slot Studio Tour Revisited!

On April 10th, 2013 a group of us from the Player's Life Forum were invited to tour WMS Studios in Las Vegas! I was lucky enough to do this last year too and it was just as much fun to repeat it this year!

Terri drove Gwen, myself and Manette to WMS studios where we signed some paperwork and received a visitor badge with our photos on them. My photo was still in their computer system from last year but since I didn't like it I had them retake it.  I'm always after a good photo. :)

After we put our photo badges on we entered the WMS Slot Showroom and I immediately ran to the back of the room trying not to knock over anyone else so I could play the new Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Slot. !

Willie Wonka uses the new Gamefield xD technology which is already being seen on casino floors with the new Haunted Forest and Emerald City Wizard of Oz slots. Of course I was playing with fake money but the truth is I like winning, even if I can't take it with me! ;)

The sounds and graphics of Willie Wonka are fantastic and it was hard to drag myself away from playing. This slot is due out on the slot floors this summer and I can't wait to play it for real money!

As you can see from the photos I had some nice wins but I got my bonuses by using a feature on the showroom slots so I'm not sure how difficult it will be to get one when playing for real.

After being encouraged to give someone else a chance to play Willie Wonka, LOL, I made my way to Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King. Great sound and graphics on this game too.

I'm not sure when The Return of the King will be out on a casino floor. I liked the Return of the King but for me personally Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is the slot that I'm looking forward the most to playing.

The new Spider Man Slot seems fun too. Since I got to spend some time with it last year at G2E, I didn't play it during this evening.

Brent is playing it above and seemed to be having some fun on it.

I believe there was a group of 30 of us at WMS for the focus study and studio tour. Above is Brent again with Dan looking on.

Some random shots of the WMS Studio Showroom.

Restaurant week in Vegas March 2013

This was a quick two night trip to Las Vegas to see my friends Terri and Claire and go to a couple restaurants during Three Square restaurant week. Flew out on Sunday March 10th at San Jose airport after first having breakfast at the airport at Ruby Tuesday.

Flight was uneventful and while waiting for luggage I ran into Claire waiting for hers. Don't try to spot Claire in the photo above she managed to escape my camera. :)  After jumping up and down in glee at being back in Vegas, oh alright, after a sedate chat, we parted ways after getting our luggage as Claire was checking in at Cosmopolitan and I was using a Myvegas reward for 2 complimentary nights in one of their one bedroom tower suites.

When I arrived at Mirage there was a very long check in line, but I patiently waited my turn to find out they were completely full due to a convention. Since I had arrived around 11am I was going to have to wait for the suite to be made ready, though the nice man at the registration desk promised me he was putting a rush on it. So I checked my luggage and went off to find some luck which so far during 2013 has been doing a great job of eluding me.

One of my friends Brian T was texting me to play Clue while I waited for my suite so being the low maintenance friend (LOL) that I am, I obliged.

Playing Clue at Mirage was a good suggestion, thanks Brian, as it was active with some bonuses and wilds which was a nice surprise.