Our listener Rich Liu (@RichLiu_ on Twitter) took the time to write up the details of his 3 day trip to Vegas in late September. He touches base on multiple properties and his experiences throughout the trip. Enjoy the read and another person’s take on parts of Vegas!
9/29/2022
Started my day with a 4-hour road trip from LA to LV. Originally, I was going to fly from Burbank Airport. But I wanted the flexibility on arrival & departure and decided to drive last minute even though I had already bought plane tickets.
The drive started around 10 AM and such a weekday trip should be easy. The usual Barstow stop took about 10 minutes that included a tank refill, coffee and use of the bathroom. Barstow has always seemed to be the perfect location for those road tripping to/from Vegas from LA. I’ve done these Vegas road trips for over 20 years, while some things change, some things have been stuck in time.
Arrived at Paris LV around 2PM for a mortgage conference. I wanted to arrive earlier in the day to attend a session, but it didn’t happen. Not a huge loss as I told myself if I made it, great. The amount of smoke and foot traffic around the craps tables and throughout the casino left me desiring for a calmer, fresher gaming environment. Subconsciously, it could be me getting older and my style of play. I finally succumbed to the whispers of Wynn and left Paris.
Arrived at Wynn around 3PM. The valet, bellhop and front-desk staff were friendly and welcoming. It’s such a stark difference between how customers are treated at different hotels. The culture of such properties, akin to the Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton, is second to none.
I attempted to check in, but surprisingly the room, Wynn Resort King, was not ready. There was no rush to get to my room as I needed to grab a bite since I hadn’t eaten since breakfast. First stop was the Terrace Pointe Cafe. Life can’t get any better than a high-end hotel that serves breakfast all day. This place reminded me of the Bellagio Cafe, where I’ve often frequented, before it became Saddelle’s. I haven’t been back to Sadelle’s since the change. I imagine their food hasn’t changed much. The restaurant was about a quarter full as they were closing soon. In terms of equal opportunity, steak and eggs, medium rare and over easy, always gets a chance for my indulgence to be satiated. In terms of taste, it was on par with the best I’ve had. I was a little caught off guard with the portion size but it certainly benefited my waistline.
One thing I learned when attempting to charge to the room is that until the room is ready, there may be difficulties for the server to do as such. Fortunately, I received a text from the front desk notifying me that my room was ready and was able to charge the room.
Once I arrived at the room, curtains were open, sheer was closed, Sinatra was playing on tv. There was a spa-like aroma in the room. The size of the room was just right for 1-2 people. I’ve been in larger suites at Palazzo and Mandalay Bay, but walking in and touring the room made my mind at ease. The natural lighting in the room while overlooking the golf course was perfect for a long day of travel and work.
After 10 minutes getting situated in the room, I should have realized that the bellhop was not going to deliver my luggage until I called. Made the call and was told it was going to be 30 minutes. Fortunately, I was not in a hurry as I didn’t have plans that night.
Once the bellhop delivered my luggage, he gave me the tour of the room and accessories that came with it. He must have read my mind about the water rings on the desk as he pointed out that it was embedded in the marble. I’m not much of a stickler for details, but I was surprised by the quality control, especially at a place like Wynn, at installation time allowed it.
I hit the craps table around 5PM and the swing shift was dealing at the tables. I am attracted to empty tables as I play both do/don’t. Before I start playing, I try to have a plan on how to play and how to adapt to the momentum of the dice throws. I really, really, REALLY hate betting on purely random shooters. If I do bet on random shooters, I’m more inclined to bet on the don’t.
Took a marker and proceeded to play at a $50 table. I started with $50 on the pass with max odds and $30 on 6/8. I know this doesn’t get much in ratings, but I really wanted to see what kind of rhythm I had in my throws. I remembered from my last trip that I was able to throw 7s at a better than true statistical frequency. A few throws in at my empty table, I went completely to the dark side. I started betting $50 / $300 (odds) on the don’t with one $50 / $300 DC and $5 / $30 for the dealers. Let’s just say, the dealers weren’t shy about rooting for a 7 out. A couple players hit & run, but overall, I was up 150% after an hour. I lost track of how many times both the dealers and I were hitting on the don’ts. It’s such a nice feeling to tear up the marker at the table with some Bananas and Barneys in hand ready to cash out.
Afterwards, I went to Lake of Dreams (formerly, Parasol) to chill out for a while. I’ve never been there solo, but it was rather pleasant not having to mingle and just enjoy the ambiance and shows. It was 11PM and it was time to call it a night. As I headed toward the elevators, there were $50 / $100 tables. It was hardly enticing as I was tired and slightly under the influence.
9/30/2022
The next morning, I was up at 430AM. This is my typical schedule when I’m home. Excited from last night’s winnings, I proceeded downstairs to hit the tables. Hard to believe they were $50 tables. I asked what’s up with the $50 min tables at this time of day and one of the dealers said that I can play $25 if I like. Like the night before, I took out a marker and proceeded to play $50. Started to mingle with dealers and was surprised that the graveyard shift started at 4AM. I was still in a quasi-woken state and was in dire need of coffee. The cocktail waitress was nowhere to be found for at least 15 minutes. After getting my first cup of coffee, I was down half my bankroll. Things declined further from there. After my second cup of coffee, my rail was all but empty. I still had a don’t come bet with max odds on the table. If I remember correctly, I didn’t have enough for a minimum line (do/don’t) pass. Since nobody else was at the table, I asked if I could just shoot out my don’t come bet. Initially, the boxman said no and I would have to put a minimum pass/don’t pass line bet. The dealers actually wanted me to finish out my shoot (dealer bets can come in handy) without a pass/don’t pass. Conversation & debate reached the pit boss and he didn’t want to deal with the minutiae of the “rules” especially on an empty table at 5AM. Pit boss said go ahead to play it out. Didn’t matter either way as the dice was not behaving the way I was hoping for.
After that session, I proceeded to get ready for a full day of mortgage conferences. Came down to the cage with some of last night’s winnings to pay off the marker only to find out it was still at the table. Went to pay off the marker and thanked the dealers and proceeded to Paris LV.
[Mortgage Conference | 8 AM – 5 PM]
Team dinner at Mon Ami Gabi. Crazy packed. For business sake, this was good. It seems that as I’ve gotten older, I try to shy away from large crowds if possible. Seems like the older we get, the more we relish a calm, cool and collected environment. Ironically, Vegas is probably one of the last places on earth to find that.
Got back to Wynn around 11 PM and went straight to bed. Too tired to focus on craps, too irritable (when tired) to deal with the Friday night crowd.
10/01/2022
Up at 430AM and re-energized for another day of craps and conferences. Headed down to the craps table around 530AM and met up with Michael (boxman), Shirley and Rick. Started playing $50 / $300 don’t pass, $5 / $30 (dealers) and laying $100 on 4 & 10 . The 7s were definitely getting hit in a very timely fashion. Dealers, with tokes on the line, were quite vocal and delighted receiving $35 + payouts on those rolls. Had a couple players hit and run, but nothing serious.
Rick and family members have had season tickets to Eagles for decades. Most of the time he ends up selling them for a profit.
Michael, New Jersey transplant, has a good sense of humor as far as boxmens go. A bit of history, he dealt for THE Anthony Spilotro. The mob, Tony Spilotro. We got on the topic of why mortgages and wound up doing a mortgage Q&A for a few minutes with the crew.
Our conversations were cordial and even comedic at times. I’m always intrigued by casino stories. Whether it’s embellished or completely as-it-happened, it’s entertaining and allows dealers to be more social. So I was told that one time they had a drunk lady go into the safe deposit room (adjacent to the cage) by the craps table. Craps pit watched her as she went in (not secured) but never came out. One of the dealers went to open the door and she was nowhere to be found. Pit calls the cage and explains to them that there’s a drunk lady wandering around in the cage area. As the story goes, she was able to fit between the gap between the cage door and the wall. Cage personnel found her and appropriately escorted her out.
Ended the hour session doubling my marker and onto breakfast at Terrace Pointe Cafe. Upon checking out, I couldn’t help but to reflect on how good of an experience the past couple days at Wynn were.
Later in the afternoon, I came back to Wynn to pick up my luggage from the bellhop and car. As much as I like to talk to staff, having kiosks to check in / check out is a nice convenience. It makes me wonder how long before human interaction becomes a thing for the privileged.
I proceeded to check into Venetian later in the afternoon. It’s my first time staying at the Venetian as I’ve always preferred the Palazzo side. The Venetian atmosphere is a bit too chaotic for my taste. After resting for about an hour, I headed down to the Palazzo craps pit. I have never found dealers at Venetian / Palazzo all that engaging. I’m not sure if it’s how they’re trained or just the type they like to hire. Nonetheless, I proceed to take out a marker.
I started playing at an empty ($25) table employing my $50 / $300 don’t pass, laying $100 on 4 & 10. 7s again were somewhat timely. Another player (“The Chemist”), came over and started to play on my side of the table. I was hoping he was a rhythm shooter otherwise, I was done at this table. Just my luck he was. After a couple rolls, I started to play the box numbers. After hitting on a point, I went full $50 / max odds on the pass line and placed the 6 & 8 when available. He was on a pretty good roll. Our interaction was nice as fellow strangers go. After about an hour, I asked him if he was here with anyone and coincidentally he, too, was on a solo trip.
Since neither of us had dinner yet and we were up a bit from our winnings, both of us decided to color up and took a cab to Bellagio. He’s never played at Bellagio but we ended up not playing as the tables were completely full. There were a few empty tables but it appeared the casino was short staffed. It was 6PM and we weren’t hungry enough for dinner. After a quick tour around the craps pit, we decided it was time to play elsewhere.
We took the tram from Bellagio to Aria. Aria seems to have more craps tables than any other casino on the strip. The floor was hopping and we bought in at a $25 table. I played conservatively until it was The Chemist’s turn to shoot. His rhythm definitely carried over to Aria. He proceeded to have a decent roll. I almost never place any hop bets and was contemplating hopping 5-5. He was one short (10) of the Tall and his dice was showing a 5 on a few consecutive rolls. I decided to gamble and was hopping 5-5. Low and behold after 3 rolls, the 5-5 came up! He had such a good roll, by the time he crapped out, I pressed 6 & 8 to $540 each. While I’ve seen some close calls, The Chemist actually hit the dealer in the head at the other end of the table. Fortunately, the dealer was not hurt.
One only hears about stories being propositioned at casino bars. During one of the Chemist’s shoots, a seemingly, slightly inebriated woman with drink in hand inquired if The Chemist was a “professional”. He, the dealers, box lady, and reacted in a puzzled manner. More concerning was whether the woman was going to snag some chips off his rail. We were all watching her like hawks and after a couple of minutes, she wandered off. Chalk it up to another laughable moment at the tables.
During our play, there was a player with a right arm sling. He was positioned stick-left. Needless to say, we were wondering if he was going to shoot. My goodness, talk about the last player I ever want to place a bet. If you can imagine one playing hot potato with dice, this was the player. In one fast arm motion, he would grab the dice and fling it wildly across the table. After a couple rolls, he sevened out. With a decent haul, The Chemist and I colored up and headed for dinner.
We made our way to Mandalay Bay for a quick bite. Afterwards, we toured the craps pit. By far, the Mandalay Bay casino floor has got to be one of the dimmest floors I’ve ever witnessed. I’m not sure the reasoning behind it, but it was not very enticing and we decided to head over to Cosmo.
It was about 930PM when we arrived at Cosmo. Being a first timer at Cosmo, I didn’t know what to expect. From previous reviews, it was a younger crowd. The observations were on point. If you’re a parent with teenage kids, you hope you never find your kids wandering around. That’s another topic for another day.
We toured the heavily packed craps pit. All but one table were $25 mins. The odd table was a $50 minimum table. At first we couldn’t figure out why they dedicated this one table to be a $50 table. It was a bit too much for The Chemist to play on. So he watched for a bit as the other player on the table was playing the don’t. I proceeded to buy in and play $50 / $300 on the don’t pass, laying $100 on 4 & 10. As usual, I had a cordial conversation with the dealers and boxman. I inquired about their decision to have this table at $50 minimum while all the other tables were at $25. He pointed at the $2.5m in chips (stacks of $5000 cheques) reserved for a player. I guess if you’re going to have a player with that kind of bankroll and size of bets, you want your dealers focused when making correct payouts of these large size bets. At least that is the only rationale I can come up with.
After 10 minutes or so, The Chemist bought in at a $25 table. I had a couple good rolls with dealer bets. A lesser experienced player bought in during my roll and decided to play pass / box numbers. Unbeknownst to him, the other player and I have been playing the don’t. He didn’t understand the bet and proceeded to lose a few of his bets. He asked the dealer about our bets and explained to him that we were betting for the 7 to come up. He sounded a bit perturbed and the dealer told him that there are many ways to bet in this game. It just happens to be a way other players like to play. Man, the dealer bets pays dividends and then some.
After that encounter, I was done at this table and moved over to play with The Chemist. I just didn’t want to deal with the drama. I played a little more at The Chemist’s table. By 1030PM, we were done. We took a small hit to our bankroll at Cosmo, but still came out quite ahead for the night.
Since I was driving back home the next morning, we decided to head back to Venetian / Palazzo. On our way back, I’m not sure how the cabbie was under the impression that we were going to Luxor when we were supposed to get dropped off at the Palazzo. A 10 minute ride took us almost 45 minutes.
After arriving, we exchanged phone numbers and offered safe travel wishes.
This trip was unique in many ways, as most trips to Vegas can be. It’s why we love to go and see what new experiences we can have.