Hipfest V: The Birthday Celebrations!!! - Day Five

 

Leaving Downtown and heading to The Strip, we check out of The D.

We were going to have breakfast at Magnolia's at Four Queens, but I had earned a $40 dining credit at Jerry's Nugget, so I said we had to use it!  We get there around 12:30, although the place wasn't crowded, we had to wait for a few minutes.

We had $40 to use (plus I had some earned comps), so Kip started off with a margarita (since it's 5 o'clock somewhere). . .

We also got a plate of onion rings and I got an open-face turkey sandwich (Kip got huevos rancheros, not pictured).

Onion rings!

Turkey sandwich!

Onion rings, margarita, orange juice, huevos rancheros, and the turkey sandwich came to 34.92.  I read a post on the Five Hundy By Midnight Facebook group about someone who added a cinnamon roll to their order since they had extra comps, so we did the same.  We got two, so our final total was 39.92!  Pretty good maximization of the comp!

I'm not sure if this picture truly represents how large the cinnamon roll was!

We decided to play a bit since we were there (of course).  We tried a $20 in 25c NSUD and lost.  Tried one more, hit a dirty royal (with three deuces) and called it quits at even.

We didn't go for it. . .

So I was supposed to go to Total Wine when I got to town, but due to my delayed arrival, I didn't.  I was pretty busy Downtown, so since we were heading to Wynn, Kip said we should to Total Wine.  I told her it was past Wynn, but she didn't realize how far past.  No matter, we weren't in a hurry, although we did tell my friend Jill that we were going to the Loco Hour at El Segundo Sol.

3:15 PM at Total Wine, 4:00 PM back to Wynn, 4:22 PM in room, then 5:00 PM we're across the street at El Segundo Sol.  Some chips, some margaritas, and a lot of conversation, it was good catching up with Jill, since I can't remember that last time we saw each other.

Chips!

We're all here!

Margarita!

Since I did a status match at Wynn last year, I had Platinum status, which entitled me to a $150 dinner credit.  I booked Sinatra for us at 8:00 PM.  We had a few hours to wander around the casino before heading to dinner.  We looked for the restaurant in Wynn, but didn't realize that it was in Encore.  Then we missed the turn for Encore and walked down where the Plaza Shops were.  We asked a security guard and he pointed us in the right direction.  We were about ten minutes late for our reservation.

I had asked for outdoor seating, which would have been nice, but there was an event going on outside, so we sat inside.  They had these small chairs for purses (and possibly a monkey, if one happened to have one). . .

Missed out on monkey seating!

Kip said since it was my birthday, we should splurge (even though tomorrow we'd have $300 in dining credit for her birthday).  We reviewed the drink list, she got the La Fleur, I got the "Piggy Back" Old Fashioned.

The specialties!

La Fleur!

"Piggy Back" Old Fashioned!

They served bread, which was pretty good.  Kip got the Beet Salad and Capesante (no photo) and I got the Veal Parmesana with a side of spaghetti.  If I had seen how large the veal was, I would have passed on the spaghetti.  Since it was my birthday (month), they gave us a complimentary Panna Cotta and gave me a nice card.

Bread!

Beet Salad!

Veal Parmesana and spaghetti!

Happy Birthday Panna Cotta!

A nice card from Sinatra (the restaurant, not Frank I presume). . .

We went a wee bit over my $150 comp, but we're worth it.

Afterwards, my notes say we wandered around Wynn and Encore in a food stupor.  I believe it!

Hipfest V: The Birthday Celebrations!!! - Day Four

Sunday, the last day downtown before we conclude our trip on the Strip.  We have our last video poker tournament session today.  Hopefully we can hit some big multiplied hands.

Kip and I have our in-room coffee before heading down to Vue Bar to start our morning.  I hit two quads before we head to Magnolia's for breakfast (again).  I got something different this time though.

Hash and eggs!

Today's session is at 10:50 AM, so it was a hurried breakfast.  But the session did not give us anything good. . .

Saving the worst for last. . .

There didn't seem to be a point to buy the last mulligan.  I mean, I could have gotten some ridiculously high score, but it didn't seem likely.  Ah well, get gave it a shot, and we had a good time.  I should mention, that we (Scott, Kip, and I) were very vocal during our sessions, talking quite a bit of smack between ourselves, which I don't think I saw in the sessions before or after us.  I think the hosts watching the tournament liked it, they kept trying to get the crowd going.  We were pretty much being our usual selves. . .  On a side note, Dave overslept for his third session, bought the mulligan and ended up in 12th place, getting $75 in free play.

So, it's back to Vue Bar.  I'm not sure exactly how long we played, but in that time, Scott hit 19 quads!, I did hit 11, and Kip hit 9.  No straight flushes or royals though.

Since Kip micro packed, she needed to do laundry.  We also had dinner reservations at 8:30 PM at Hugo's Cellar.  I dropped her off at Busy Bee Laundromat about a mile or so away.  I wasn't sure what I was going to do, but I went to Jerry's Nugget because I thought there was a coupon.  There wasn't, but they have a new player promo where you get the following:

• 50 pts = $5 comp
• 100 pts = T-shirt
• 250 pts = $20 comp
• 500 pts = $40 dining credit
• 1,000 pts = $100 free play

They have 8/5 Bonus Poker and Not So Ugly Deuces, so I texted Kip to see if she'd be in on this and she said yes.  There were supposed to be machines at $1 and 50c, but the ones I found that had NSUD were only full-pay at 25c.  I only got two five-of-a-kinds and no dirty royals, so I had a bit of a loss.  I did get the 1,000 points and turned the $100 FP into $90 cash, so not too bad.  Plus I'm getting $60/wk FP offers from them, so that will get back some of the losses.

Kip had been ready, so around 7ish I headed over to pick her up and we headed back to The D, plenty of time to get ready for dinner.

The reservation was in my name, and Scott wanted to add two guests, which wasn't a problem.  We actually had to wait a bit for them to seat us.

The dinner party!

Somehow I missed taking a photo of my salad, but here's the rest of my meal:

Lobster bisque!

Lemon sorbet.

Surf and turf au poivre!

It was an excellent meal and our company was excellent as well.  We headed back over to Vue Bar (of course), and they did join us for a little bit.  I hit seven quads, Scott hit six quads and a straight flush, and Kip hit three quads and a straight flush, but she also hit aces, while Scott and I could only manage one bonus quad each.

They changed up the bourbon at Vue Bar, so no more Maker's Mark.  They have Frey Ranch (from a northern Nevada distillery), Larceny, and Elijah Craig, as well as Jim Beam and Evan Williams.

A bit of Elijah and Coke. . .

Kip had monthly comps to blow out, but just enough for one shot, and we tried this:

It was pretty good, not as good as the Clase Azul we had last summer, but still nice.  We tried one more shot of fun play on Dream Card, but no luck this time. . .

Hipfest V: The Birthday Celebrations!!! - Day Three

I guess we didn't have in-room coffee yesterday, but we did today. . .

Kip and I both enjoy coffee.  She flew Spirit, so she was micro packing.  I flew Southwest, so I could have two free bags if I wanted.  She had a percolator that she travels with, but since we live a bit a part, she purchased one and had it delivered to my house and I packed it (along with the mugs) for our trip.

Since we were up "a bit" early (around 7:00 AM), we had a chance to catch up on things.  One of the things she picked up for me when she was here before I was and was out at Cosmo was the $2 bill wallet.  I think it's only for Lunar New Year that they create these wallets with 50 or 100 $2 bills that are gummed at the top like a notepad.  You just pay face value for them, so you're getting the wallet part for free.  Although I thought I'd be using them for tips, I still haven't used one.  It's sitting on my kitchen table.  The gum is coming off, so eventually, I think, I'll just have 50 loose $2 bills. . .

After getting ready, we headed to Magnolia's at Four Queens for breakfast.

Same breakfast, different day. . .

We went back to Vue Bar to hang out before our VP session.  My second session didn't go well as well as the first.

Not sure where I finished this session. . .

So, after the first two sessions, you could buy a "mulligan" round for $50.  After the third session, you could buy one for $75.  They take your best three scores to determine the winners.  All three of us decided to take the first mulligan, which would take place at 3:10 PM.  We had concerns that it would interfere with the 5:00 PM corral time for the 5k, but we'd be done in plenty of time.

We went back to Vue Bar to pass the time until the next session.  I hit a few quads (six), including the always nice aces. . .

Always pretty, even with useless kickers. . .

3:10 PM came up and we went to the tournament area.  I had high hopes for a better score, but I did worse!

Seems like $50 down the drain. . .

I believe Scott went over to Four Queens, while Kip and I stayed at Vue Bar.  We only had an hour or so before we needed to get ready for the 5k.  We a bit behind meeting Scott downstairs, but it didn't seem to matter, and the corral times didn't seem to be loading on time.  That, and it wasn't a staggered corral start time, just a staggered corral loading time.  So all of these people were getting loading into the corral, and just getting crowded together and backed up.  At least we were near the front.

All smiles before getting in the corral. . .

When we finally started moving, and there were more people behind us!

The course was pretty plain, I mean, how exciting is it to "run" around Downtown Las Vegas?  Approaching the Fremont Street Experience at the end was nice though.

Nearing the end!

The end was its own fiasco.  The finish line went for a few feet, then funneled down to a space about two persons wide.  And it didn't help that many people were either stopping to rest right after the finish line, or were waiting for friends.  Then you got your medal, then had to go down another corral to exit, although they did have water, energy drinks, and snacks along the way.  There were barricades all around, so we had to take a roundabout way to get back into The D.

I know, Scott needed to be a few more inches to his left. . . 

We went back up to the rooms to get cleaned up, since we had 9:00 PM dinner reservations at Andiamo.  I showered first and I noticed that the drain seemed to be draining slowly.  In fact, it apparently wasn't draining at all.  Ugh.  I told Kip and she didn't think she'd be able to shower without it overflowing.  We called to maintenance and they said they'd send someone up to fix it.  Scott offered Kip to use his shower, but she said she'd manage.

It soon became time to head to dinner.  Andiamo never disappoints, I've never had a bad meal here, although I typically always get one of the steaks (and the lobster bisque).

Lobster bisque!

Rib eye!

The four of us (Dave joined us) ate for $300, which was pretty good.  We used all my monthly comps, plus Dave's reminders, and part of Kip's.

After dinner, there was more Vue Bar play (of course), and then some Dreamcard fun play (of course).  In my notes, I have us playing Triple Double Bonus, which is what I originally wanted to play, but after looking at the rule, the dreamcard doesn't come up as frequently as it does for Jacks or Better or Bonus Poker (for obvious reasons).  It was too bad we weren't playing TDB, since we hit the following:

That would have been fine on TBD. . .

Um, yeah, this would have been really good on TDB, even DDB. . .

We didn't double up, but we each took a $29 profit, so a second successful day of Dreamcard fun play!

We get back to the room, and right as I open the door, it smells musty.  I'm thinking, they didn't fix the shower.  Sure enough, I look in, and there's still standing water.  I don't even think it went down at all.  Kip is incensed.  She called down and was complaining to a bunch of people, was put on hold, complaining to me, and complaining more.  While she was on the phone, there was a knock on the door and the maintenance man was there.  I showed him the shower and he said it wasn't like that when he was here, which meant that he went to the wrong room.  After a while, he got the drain unclogged.  I can't remember if Kip showered off that night, or if she was just too tired after the whole day's experience. . .

Hipfest V: The Birthday Celebrations!!! - Day Two

I guess I typically wake up early on my first Las Vegas morning due to the time change.  I assume I was up relatively early, since I was showered and ready to go do the early check-in for the video poker tournament at 8:00 AM.  Scott was already at the registration desk and said there were plenty of spots for Group F, which was at 11:50 AM.  Kip and I got down there and registered.  We then headed to Magnolia's at Four Queens for breakfast.  It's pretty solid for breakfast, and all of us have loads of comps to use.

Our miserable view through the miserable building wrap. . .

All smiles at breakfast!

King's Court breakfast with a 2-1 coupon.

We head back to The D and have some time to kill before our tournament session, so what are we going to do?  We play at Vue Bar!

His happy place!  Well, a lot of ours. . .

It's tournament time.  We've discussed strategy, about how going for royals or high paying hands would be important in the five minute timed event.  It's also double double bonus ultimate X, so even making smaller hands will give you a multiplier for the next hand.  And all that strategy discussion went out the window, and we all pretty much just played regular strategy and hoped for the best.  I recall getting a bonus quad with a kicker, I think I had a small multiplier, and after the five minutes were done, I had the highest score for the session.

We were staying at The D, so we did want to put in some play there, so we played at Vue Bar for a few hours.  I guess this is the best hand I hit, since it's the only photo I took.

Yay, straight flushes!

Looking back at my notes, I see I hit nine quads this session, 4s were my only bonus, plus this straight flush.  Kip hit ten, but hit aces three times and 2s once.  Scott, of course, hit the most with 12, but only one bonus quad (2s).  In the pre-tournament session, Kip hit eight quads and a straight flush, Scott hit one, and I hit zero!

Around 3:30, we had lunch at Whiskey Liquor Up.  Mark was working and he stopped by for a visit.  We met him on a previous trip, very cool guy and knowledgeable on the tiki culture.

Mark!

Mark and the crew!

I believe this was the Drunkin Burger.

We had to get to Resorts World to pick up our race packets, then go pick up Lola since we were going to happy hour at Golden Tiki.  We got to Resorts World right around 5:30, which was right on schedule, kinda.  We hustled through the hotel/casino trying to find the fitness expo, which was actually in a tent outside, which we passed on our way into the casino.  After going through the gauntlet of booths, we finally got to the packet pick up.  We hustled out of there and headed to NoMad to pick up Lola.  Kip called GT to let them know we were running late, and they told her we might have to wait a bit.

We got there around 6:30 for our 6:00 reservation, but I dropped Kip, Lola, and I believe Scott off as well, as I went to find parking.  That lot is so small, I went down the back alley and parked where I thought I could.  We went in the back and they were already seated in this corner:

How'd they know it was us?

.

I used to get a few different drinks, and at least always a Blue Lagoon, but I'm driving, so I can't have too many, and lately I've been getting the boozy Dole whips.  So tasty!

Jacques and the ladies!

A busy Friday night!

Dole whips!

Dole whip!

 

We dropped Lola back off at NoMad and headed back Downtown.

We had 8:30 dinner reservations at 8 East, but with the late lunch and Dole whips, we weren't that hungry so I called to see if I could cancel without a charge (the website says there is a $10 cancellation fee) and I was able to do so.

We wandered down to El Cortez to get their boarding pass promotion ($10 free play, $25 match play, and a few drink).  I turned my $10 free play into $20 cash, and Kip and I halved our match plays on roulette since we didn't want to jump in on one hand of blackjack.  We gave it a group play shot on Deuces Wild (since Kip was in town on 02/22/22, she played a group play for us on Downtown Deuces, but we had no luck.  We had a bit of luck, especially if we were playing a different game.

Nerf.  Isn't that always the way. . .

We headed back to The D and settled in at Vue Bar.  I hit a nice regular quad and another straight flush, but Scott hit three straight flushes and Dave hit a royal.

Nice jacks!

Another straight flush!

Trying out some of their new bourbon.

It was around 1:00 AM and we had the 5k today, but I coaxed Kip into a little Dream Card fun play.  This was our best hand, and we hit a few more to cash out up $25 each!

Dream card winner!

Hipfest V: The Birthday Celebrations!!! - Day One

This was a trip where things seemed to work out.  Kip and I were planning on coming between Feb and Mar to celebrate our birth months, but as an added incentive, we also had Wynn status comps for birthday dinners for $150 (me) and $300 (Kip).  AND it so happened that the Las Vegas Marathon was that weekend, so we signed up for the 5k, which was Downtown on Saturday the 26th.  AND The D Hotel and Casino was holding a video poker tournament that weekend as well!

My flight was leaving DCA at 4:20 PM, with a stop in OMA (no plane change) with an 8:00 PM arrival at LAS.  Well, the weather was bad, and there were delays.

It was 14 degrees in Omaha!

The snow is coming down sideways and we're not moving yet!

So my scheduled arrival time was 8:00 PM, we landed at around 9:38 PM!  Ugh.  I was supposed to pick up the rental car, stop by Total Wine and Target to pick up a few things.  Problem is that due to COVID places still aren't open as late as they used to be, both of those places close at 10:00 PM.  So that was out.  I was hoping I'd still be able to get a rental car after my fiasco last year.

After getting my bag, I get to the rental car facility around 10:15 PM.  I rented through Alamo, with accelerated check-in with skip the counter, so everything should be ready.  I get out to the lot and it appears there is one midsized car left.  I guess that's the one I'm taking.

It's a car!

Kip arrived on Tuesday, and Lola Bellini arrived on Wednesday, so they already got a head start on me.  Since it was too late to run my errands, I headed to where they were at Park MGM.  I quickly found them.

Here we are!

I was told I had to see the room, which had the bathtub in the middle of the room (it was really to the side), and the fact that the bathroom was directly connected to the bedroom, you had to walk through the living room to get there.  It was quite strange that there wasn't a bathroom in where the shower was.  But it was a nice room, and Kip and I were talking, waiting for Lola to get up to the room.  We were picking up Scott later that night, so after dilly dallying around, Kip and I decided to go to Ellis Island to play a bit before heading back to the airport.

Wouldn't you know it, by the time we get to the airport, Scott messages us letting us know he just landed.  Well, I guess that saved us losses (or cost us winnings!) and we head over to the airport.  Scott was going skiing so he had a few bags, but there was still plenty of room for his bags and my bags, and we were off to The D.

So, we really needed four nights at The D, but our offers are only good for three, so Kip booked two nights and I booked two nights, and we were going to see if we could just stay in the same room.  I thought I'd have to go to the front desk to see if we could do that, but when Kip checked in on Thu, she asked the clerk and was able to do it then.  What if you were a stalker?  How could they do that without my authorization?  I'm thinking if it was the other way around, she would have had to come to the desk to make that request.  But anyway, it was convenient that I didn't have to do that, since apparently there was no one at the desk when we got there at 2:15 AM.

Well, as I had just arrived and I already had a room, Kip and I headed up and wished Scott good luck in checking in.  Although we tried, I did no gambling on my first night!