5X MegaBuffet Trip Report

Monday, June 11th. Day 4

We were up again at 9 Monday morning and after a quick shower
I went down to the casino for some VP and a coke.  When Tootsie
came down I cashed out up $200 then went to the slot club desk
to get our buffet comp that came in the mail and to see how 
much cash we had accumulated.  From our play at Caesars Palace
this weekend we were given a check for $180 in cash back awards.
We walked over to the casino cage, cashed the check, then went 
to the Palatium Buffet for breakfast.  The food was ok, standard
breakfast fare, really nothing special.

Since it was almost checkout time we went back to the room,
finished packing, and checked out on the TV.  Our bill for three
nights was $0.  Not bad considering we had a strip view, jacuzzi
suite in Caesars newest tower.  Called the Bell desk to 
retrieve our luggage and were soon riding in a cab to our hotel
for the next three nights, the Tropicana.

The short cab ride cost $8.20 mainly due to traffic on the strip
and on Tropicana Blvd.  We left our bags with the Bellman and
walked over to the VIP desk for check-in.  Wouldn't you know, 
the room wasn't ready.  Now I guess that is to be expected on a
Monday at noon so we killed time in the casino.  First thing we
noticed about the Trop is they have moved the table games from
under the stained glass dome just to the left in front of the 
check-in area, Strike One.  I also noticed they no longer have 
two deck hand tossed Blackjack, Strike Two.  Everything is 
either six deck shoe or four deck tables with those shuffle 
master machines.  I then looked for the video poker choices.  
No full pay VP in either JOB or Deuces, Strike Three.  What 
could they be thinking ?  Its not like the Tropicana is one of 
the newest properties on the strip nor do they have the best 
location.  So what do they do ?  They take out every good 
gambling option.  I did find one full pay VP machine in the High
Limit slot area.  A $5 machine.  I figured what the hell, I've 
won a lot of money so far on this trip, and promptly lost $100.
I dropped $200 more on other various slots before trying a 
craps table.  After about an hour I was down almost $300 before
one shooter got hot and held the dice for about twenty minutes.
I was able to win back my buy-in and $300 more on that one 
roller.  Time to see if the room is ready.

It was and we had our luggage sent up.  Room #1920 in the 
Paradise Tower.  On the table was a wine, fruit and cheese basket 
compliments of our casino host, thanks Sharon.  Those type of 
things really come in handy late at night when you need a little
snack.  The room was right at the elevator and had a wonderful 
view of the south strip overlooking New York2, Excalibur, Luxor,
and Mandalay Bay.  Nothing near as nice as the Palace Tower at 
Caesars Palace but quite comfortable.  A king size bed, table 
and chairs, safe, refrigerator, armoire with a 19" television, 
and small desk.  The bathroom was normal with off-white tile 
floors, the unusual thing were the fixtures, (tub, toilet and 
sink) all a dark shade of brown.

By this time it was late in the afternoon so we went to Calypso,
the Trop's coffee shop, for lunch.  (Private joke here:  If you
are reading this Jeff, Dave said "Where is Jeff ?  Tell him I 
said Hi !")

After lunch we walked over to Excalibur and trammed to Mandalay 
Bay.  I'm not sure what it is about Mandalay Bay but we really 
like this place.  Even tho it's the last place on the south end 
of the strip it's not that inconvenient to get to.  The tram 
stop at Excalibur is right out front on the sidewalk, no walking
all the way thru the casino to get there.  A quick trip delivers
you a short escalator ride from the casino. The return ride 
makes a stop at Luxor if you'd rather not make the short walk 
via the walkway.

After walking around the casino Tootsie settled into a .25 5X
machine she'd found and I decided to play a $1 Deuces Wild.  I
slipped a C note into the bill acceptor and on the third hand 
was dealt two deuces.  Holding those, I was then dealt the other
two.  Four Deuces, good for $1000 !  I can't believe the luck 
I'm having on this trip !  I played several more hands before 
cashing out $1100.

Not long after that we walked over to Luxor via the walkway.  At
Luxor my luck changed.  I dropped $400 in a couple of $5 slot
machines and lost another $100 on a 9/6 JOB VP machine.  We then
walked to Excalibur via the walkway.  I noticed in both walkways
that neither had security present or any noticeable cameras.  I
also didn't see any thugs hanging around.

Krispy Kreme was in full production at 10:00 pm.  The "Hot Donut"
sign was on and people were lined up waiting to purchase a dozen
of their own.  I also saw many people in all three of these
casinos carrying KK Donut boxes.  Wish I would have bought more
stock than I did.

We then walked thru Excalibur (the place was packed) and headed
back to the Trop for one of those giant margaritas from the
bar at the back of the casino.  Don't mistake these with those
.99 margaritas sold downtown.  These are expensive, $5.95, but
they do contain alcohol.  After that drink my better judgment
told me we shouldn't gamble in this condition so we went back
to the room to enjoy the view and call it an early night.



That was Day 4 of the 5X MegaBuffet Trip Report.  My luck
continues in Day 5 as the 5X MegaBuffet pattern continues.