It's the last day in Las Vegas, and it's going to be a good one!
Good morning, Las Vegas! Don't be suck!
We start the morning off with 9:45 breakfast at Jardin.
Morning beverages (no bourbon)
Steak and eggs, which is what I got last year
Kip's Chilequiles Rojos and Lola's Strawberry & Grand Marnier French Toast
Kip said the Grand Marnier French Toast was really, really good and she'll get that next time. No special breakfast dessert for my birthday (Kip got a small cake when we were here last year for her birthday).
We headed over to Arizona Charlie's Decatur to use the $10 match play and play some full-pay kings or better joker poker. Well, much to Kip's dismay, they had removed that paytable (they always take out the games she likes, she says).
We went to the tables to play our match plays, we bought in for $100 each at blackjack. I won my match play, she lost hers. We were doing okay and played for a bit. When we decided we'd had enough, I was up $55 and Kip was up $36, so yay us!
Although they didn't have the FP KJW, they did have a decent version of Deuces Wild. The four machines the game was on were taken, but one machine opened up so we took it. Another machine opened up a few minutes later and the woman on the other side of our machine told us, but we wouldn't be sitting next to each other, so we declined. We bought in for $20 each. Just a few hands in, we get dealt three deuces and. . .
BAM!
We cashed out at $280, so a nice $120 profit for each of us!
It was about 1:30, and we had to hurry back to Wynn for our Bubbles & Bites MasterClass at 2:00, so we hurriedly drove and parked and hustled down to Lakeside where the event was being held. We were slightly late, but we got in!
We were greeted with this mystery wine which we had to identify
Kip says cheers!
Bubbles & Bites!
The MasterClass paired champagnes with food and it was very enjoyable. I even tried food I hadn't had before. The first course was Kampachi Crudo paired with Henri Giraud.
Kampachi Crudo
The different champagnes
The second course was a Gosset with Shrimp ravioli, caviar, lemongrass broth.
Shrimp ravioli, caviar, lemongrass broth
The third course was a Drappier with Snake River Farms New York Strip, roasted red beets, oyster mushrooms, apricot.
Snake River Farms New York Strip, roasted red beets, oyster mushrooms, apricot.
The dessert course was a Laurent Perrier with Panna Cotta with Citrus.
Panna Cotta with Citrus.
Our special treat at the end of the class was some Dom Perignon!
Fancy Dom Perignon!
This was the second MasterClass I've been to, going to Brunch Entertaining Made Easy last year, and they were both excellent. I highly recommend attending one of these if you have the chance.
After the class, we went up to our suite for a little gathering. We had some drinks and talked and laughed, it was a continuation of a great time. Kip and I did have 6:30 dinner reservations at Sinatra's, so the party ended and we got ready for dinner.
The last sunset in Las Vegas, at least for us. . .
I didn't have to dress too fancy, but I decided to pack something nice, including a tie, which I don't wear too often.
Apparently I clean up pretty nice. . .
We went to Sinatra's for my birthday last year and absolutely loved it. We liked it better than when we went to Lakeside for Kip's birthday last year, so we went back to Sinatra's. I think this will be my birthday dinner treat.
We started off with cocktails (of course), Kip with The Way You Look Tonight and me with a Chairman of the Board.
The Way You Look Tonight
Chairman of the Board
Last year I got the veal parmesana, which was Tomahawk style and a side of pasta, which was a bit too much. When I asked our server if he recommended the veal or the ossobuco, he recommended the Ossobuco, and it was excellent!
Ossobuco!
We got bread with our meal, and Kip ordered a side of polenta.
Polenta and bread
Kip's dinner of Insalata di Barbabietole and Crema di Fagioli!
Because it was my birthday (and I think we had comps to burn), I got a cappuccino.
And two macaroons!
Kip thought our waiter was the same waiter we had last year, and I looked up the receipt, and sure enough it was. We mentioned to him that he served us last year on my birthday and that we'll look to see him next year!
Well, last night in Vegas means there is some gambling to do. I had seen a few video poker variants I hadn't played before and usually that means good luck. I saw a variant called, "Stack the Deck", if you get dealt four-to-a-royal, five extra of the missing card is added to the deck, if you get dealt four-of-a-kind, five extra of the rank of the four-of-a-kind are added, and if you get dealt a full house or three-of-a-kind, five extra of the rank of the three-of-a-kind are added (I guess making you break the full house). I hit a few regular quads and was down a few hundred. I was thinking if I just got five-of-a-kind, I'd do okay, and I was right:
Losing session made winning session!
I saw another game that looked interesting to me, Stack 'Em High. If you get dealt at least two aces, those aces are "sticky" across bonus hands (the number of bonus hands apparently depends on the game). I was playing Bonus Poker, so I got six additional hands. I got the feature a few times but never made quads. I was in for $200 when I got two aces dealt. They stacked up for nine hands. I drew the third ace on the second hand, and then the fourth ace on the third hand! I watched as the aces went all the way to the top!
Cha-ching!
A nice $705 hit and a $527.50 profit, thankyouverymuch! (As I'm writing this in July, I had played this at Hard Rock Atlantic City in April and did not have the same luck. I guess it's all beginner's luck and I'll just have to keep finding video poker games I've never played before).
I played my Free Play on the "best" game I could find, which was $1 9/7/5 Double Bonus. Not the best game to redeem FP due to the volatility, but I figured it was the best I could do. Unfortunately, I didn't hit any quads, so my $241.07 in FP (I had some earned previously) became $161.07 in cash.
I decided to treat myself to a victory cigar and was playing various video poker games. I played Pick-A-Pair deuces wild (lost $20) and Dice Fever (won $10) and then Fast Fours, which is like Quick Quads, except the Jacks, Queens, and Kings count as 11, 12, and 13. That high level math never came into play for me, but I did get one Quick Qua, er, Fast Four.
Anecdote, I was almost done with my cigar, this woman walked by me a few times, chasing who she said was her drunk mother. On the third time going by me, she asked me if she could take a puff of my cigar (no seriously). Since I was mostly done, I handed it over to her and she took a few puffs and said it was good and handed it back to me. I held it until she left and then I put it in the ashtray.
Fast Fours, not Quick Quads!
Where I was doing pretty well, Kip wasn't. We were separated and she wasn't doing well, so she turned in early. I felt for her, since we had been doing pretty well, but it just takes one bad downswing to break the day. It also means that we should probably stick together when we gamble.
I took one last night photo before heading to bed.
Saturday, February 4, 2023
At least our flight is at 11:35, so it's not a super early morning!
Our breakfast was "TBD", but I think I just got something at the airport. Rental car returned at 9:49, to McCarran, er Harry Reid at 10:12 and waited for our 11:35 flight.
We connected in Dallas Love and had a late lunch/early dinner at Chili's.
We arrived at DCA around 10:42 PM, took the Metro to my office where I parked my car and drove home to where Kip parked her car. Since it was so late, Kip booked a nearby hotel for the night.
And thus endeth another Las Vegas trip. As always, there were highs and lows, but for the majority of the time, it was fun. We did our usual things and checked out a few new places, there always seems to be new adventures to be found!
