Horseshoe Baltimore - Diamond preview reopening, 06/27/20

I received an email 06/19 that Horseshoe Baltimore was going to reopen on Sunday, June 28, but it would open at 8:00 AM on Friday, June 26 to Diamond and Seven Stars members.  I happen to be a Diamond cardholder, and was curious to see how they would handle things during the pandemic.

I took some pictures, but didn't take a lot because I know sometimes security gets upset when you take a lot of pictures.

I arrived there around 3:30 PM.  There is a Diamond parking level where the signage says you need to swipe your card to get in, but the gate was up.  Parking is free anyway.

Right inside the door to the hallway to the casino, there were security guards and a thermal scanner.  They asked for my player's card to verify I was Diamond or Seven Stars and then stepped to the spot to get my temperature checked.  I passed, so I was allowed to walk down the hallway to the casino entrance.  The person at the desk asked me to lower my mask to my chin and look up at the camera.  I know there are cameras all over a casino, so I did not immediately see the camera pointing at where I was standing.  I didn't ask what that was for, but he said I could go in.

A quick view into the casino revealed not many people.  Granted, it was only open for Diamond and Seven Stars members.  I could see that there were only three chairs per table game, and about every other slot machine was inactivated and the chair removed, if possible.  At the craps table, it seemed they were playing six to a table, three on each side.

View into the casino.

Rows of every other machine turned off and seat removed.

Six players per craps table.

I did a walk around the top floor of the casino, there was a bar open, with a couple talking with the bartender, but no one else.  Everyone had a mask, although I saw a few slot players had removed them while they were playing, and I saw a few people walking around with their masks pulled down.  There were quite a few hand sanitizing machines and signage on the casino floor.

Empty High Limit room

Signage around the casino.

They have a Topgolf suite on the casino floor, but it didn't seem open. The poker room was also not open.

Topgolf suite.

Poker room was closed.

They have a beverage station where you could get your own soft drinks, but it was shut down.

Closed beverage station.

They do not comp alcohol at Maryland casinos, but I did see cocktail waitresses with trays full of sodas and bottled waters.  They were also wearing masks.  The Laurel Lounge was not open, but there isn't much value here, as you cannot get free drinks or food here.  But, if you don't have to pay to get in, it would probably be a nice place to chill off the casino floor.

I noticed the escalators I usually take to the lower floor were out of service, so I was wondering if the first floor was closed.  I spoke with some security guards about this, and they said I needed to take the elevator.

There was no one in the elevator, but the capacity is four, although there were not spots marked on the floor to indicate where people should stand (I guess it should be obvious that people should stand in each corner).

Social distancing in the elevator, please.

There were less people on the first floor than the second floor.  I was thinking it might have been because people didn't know how to get to the first floor as I did.

Even less people on the first floor.

The B'More Beers bar was closed, all of the machines were turned off.  Most of the restaurants in the Baltimore Marketplace were closed.

The Asian Gaming pit was open, and I saw one player.  The FU Noodle restaurant that is adjacent to it was also open.  The Face-up Pai Gow Poker table was full (three people), and all of them were playing two spots, but the two $50 midi-baccarat tables were empty.

I went back up to the second floor, and noticed a podium with a monitor that said, "Poker Waiting List".  A closed look showed that this was actually a table game waiting list, as listed the wait (or interest) for various games.

Wait list for craps.

Wait list/interest for baccarat and Ultimate Texas Hold'em.

I saw a man go up, and the employees took his phone number and told him they would call him when a spot opened.  So it currently seems that one can not just walk up to an open game if there is a waiting list.  I saw an open spot at the craps table earlier, and the employees escorted a woman to the open spot.  As I was not going to play, I did not make any further inquiries about it.

I discovered that they opened a new outdoor gaming area, The Terrace.  Their website says that it features 160 slot machines, 16 live table games, 15 video poker machines, and a bar.  The gentleman I spoke with about it said they opened it two months ago (I guess while it was still closed) and they are still completing work on it (which you can see in my photo).

A view of The Terrace.

Pricey cigar selection (there is a second humidor as well).

Full dice table, unsure if this is connected with the waiting list inside.

Other than the craps table, there were only two or three other gaming tables open (with no players), although there was one player at the baccarat/roulette stadium game.

I was considering opening a play day, since they are currently offering 5x Reward Credits and Tier Credits, but the gaming is pretty bad (but pretty standard for Caesars properties).

I did find a linked video poker progressive that was to be removed once it hit.  It was almost at $1,300.  I took a shot to help them remove this game, but fell short.  I dropped $40 at 25c double bonus, and then switched to a very poor deuces wild game, where my first hand was a dealt wild royal flush.  I then managed to get five-of-a-kind and cashed out up $5.  I found another linked machine on the other side of the bank, and hit four-of-a-kind on double double bonus and cashed out with a $40 profit.

I went upstairs and played my "lucky" Super Draw Triple Play video poker machine.  I almost lost my winnings and then some, but was rescued by another quad and I decided to cash out with an $8 profit, and walked out up $53.

It's hard to say how things will be when it opens to the general public (which was today).  I felt comfortable playing, there were hardly any people around.  Most people seemed to be social distancing and most people wore their masks.  I didn't have too much interaction with anyone, other than speaking with the people as I entered the casino and the security guards that I asked my question.  People are definitely closer than six feet apart at the table games, I believe, but I think my main concern would be at the craps table.  I did not stand by the table games to observe any sanitizing processes.  I also did not see any attendants come right away to wipe down the machines I was playing.

I'm sure it is a nice place to hang out after attending a sporting event, it's very close to Ravens Stadium and Orioles Park at Camden Yards, but the lack of comped alcohol, poor video poker paytables, and high table game limits makes this place a turn off for me.

**EDIT:  I should mention that I saw a lot of white buckets, such as the one on one of the table game photos and one on the end of a slot row, which I image are cleaning supplies.  These were abundant around the casino.

Hipfest III - Final tally

So, here's the tally for my trip:

Transportation:

Airfare:
Outbound:  01/24:  Southwest PHL-BNA-LAS:  $5.60 (flight booked with points)
Inbound:  01/29:  Frontier LAS-PHL:  $19.85 ($100 flight credit, plus $4.55 and $15.30 additional)

     Total Airfare:  $25.45

It could have been less if I downgraded my Frontier flight, but if I knew that flight was going to be so empty, I wouldn't have upgraded to the stretch seat.


Ground Transportation:
Work to Colonial Airport Parking, Lester, PA:  Approximately 137 miles (x 57.5c/mi = $78.78)
Tolls:  $12.00
WAX bus from airport to downtown:  $2.00
WAX bus from downtown to airport:  $2.00
Dollar Car Rental:  $66.09 (1.5 days, $33.05)*
Gas:  $9.00* ($4.50)
5 days parking:  $45.21

Colonial Airport Parking, Lester PA - Voorhees, NJ - Home:  Approximately 195 miles (x 57.5c/mi = $112.13)

Tolls:  $9.00

Gas:  $27.25

     Total Ground Transportation:  $325.92

So here's where flying out of PHL gets me.  For gas, tolls, and parking, that's $93.46, but if you factor in mileage at the Government reimbursable rate, that adds $284.37.  Not much of a savings if I flew from IAD or DCA, I think.  But, I got to fly back with my friend (although we didn't sit together), and I enjoyed a free dinner with my friends.  Alternatively, I could have taken the Amtrak up to Philadelphia, but I think it worked out best by me driving.

*Rental car and gas in Las Vegas was split between Kip and I.

***  Edited note:  Bob pointed out to me that the reimbursable rate includes gas (and tolls as I discovered), so those amounts shouldn't be totaled together.  I wasn't really sure how to quantify my travel time in relation to the cost to get to PHL.  But, as I related to Kip, there is also the factor of time in the inconvenient itineraries for the flights between DCA or IAD and LAS (one included an overnight layover in DEN).  Without gas and tolls, the travel "amount" comes to $190.91, plus the $25.45 airfare comes to $216.36, which would probably be close to a decent round trip flight from the Washington DC Metropolitan area.

Lodging:

4 nights, Golden Gate suite:  $0

1 night, Wynn:  $0

     Total Lodging:  $0

I got the 4 nights comped through my monthly offers.  I redeemed 2,900 gems for a two doubles room at Wynn from the Wynn Slots app.  I paid no resort fees.

Food:

01/24:  Lunch:  Chickie's & Pete's, PHL:  $23.49

Something to eat before I got on the plane.

01/25:  Lunch:  The D Grill:  $0 (actual price $35.96)

01/25:  Dinner:  Andiamo:  $0 (actual price $99.71)

Both lunch and dinner were for three.  Scott chipped in $7 comp for Lunch, and my monthly comp offers covered everything else.  The tip was left by Scott and Kip.

01/26:  Breakfast:  Magnolia's, Four Queens:  $0 (actual price $26.51)

01/26:  Dinner:  Top of Binion's Steakhouse:  $0 (actual price $123.96 w/o tax)

I redeemed 2,000 crowns from the Four Queens Slot app for a $25 comp at Magnolia's.  I redeemed 10,000 hats from the Binion's Slot app for a $100 comp at Top of Binion's Steakhouse, where I was also able to use the 25% off LVA coupon.  Although both apps give you a QR code, I had to go to each slot club to get a printed comp voucher.

01/27:  Dinner:  The Buffet at Wynn:  $0 (actual price $89.98 w/o tax)

I redeemed 2,400 gems from the Wynn Slots app for a buffet for two.  I had already booked a buffet for the next day, but I had no issue cancelling that one and booking this one (you cannot have more than one buffet comp per day).  Redemption was easy, I just showed the confirmation on my phone to the buffet cashier.  The only trouble was the cashier reading the small print!

01/28:  Brunch:  Market Street Cafe, California:  $8.66 (actual price $16.65)

01/28:  Dinner:  The Buffet at Wynn:  $0 (actual price $89.98 w/o tax)

The Market Street Cafe meal was the only one I ended up paying cash.  If Boyd didn't wipe out my comps, I would have used those.  We did use the 2-1 LVA coupon for this meal.

I redeemed 2,400 gems from the Wynn Slots app for a buffet for two, which I booked this morning.

01/29:  Dinner:  Iron Hill Brewery and Restaurant, Voorhees, NJ:  $0

I was fortunate that my friend Bob had accumulated comps for this meal.  I left $10 as part of the tip.

     Total Food:  $32.15

So, we missed a few meals, but we powered through. . .

Drinks:

01/27:  The Laundry Room:  $64.00 for drinks (4), $24 in tips.

A really cool speakeasy bar inside Commonwealth.  Reservations are required.  Seems all the drinks are $16, including the personally crafted ones.  I highly recommend this place!

01/28:  Golden Tiki:  $0 (tab picked up by Kip)

We were there for happy hour, which includes some discounted drinks.  I only had one, since I was driving, hence Kip picked up the tab.

01/28:  Parasol Up/Down:  $35 for drinks (2), $8 in tips.

Since we did well, we treated ourselves to cocktails and a great view of the Lake of Dreams show.  I just had a neat Woodford, but Catherine enjoyed her cocktail, although she said it could be improved.  Could not beat the view we had (and we saw three shows), but next time, perhaps I'll get a cheaper beverage.

This doesn't include drinks/tips we had while gambling at The Vue Bar at The D, Prohibition Bar at Golden Gate, or Boar's Head Bar at Main Street Station.

     Total Drinks:  $99.00

Gambling:

Pretty simple.  Alone, I was probably around even, but with the Joint Venture with Kip, I won.  Sure, you might not like having a gambling partner (or partners), since all of your winnings will be divided among the group.  HOWEVER, all of your losses will be divided too.  What you are doing is spreading the variance around, hopefully one person's losses is offset by another person's winnings, and that's what happened to me.  Kip hit two royals this trip, of which I was able to share 3/8ths (since they were reportable winnings), and that saved me.  We also had a combined $1,050 in match plays to use, so I figured we should come out ahead.

We also used coupons from the Las Vegas Advisor's Member Rewards Book (MRB) and the American Casino Guide (ACG).

The D:

$25 Match Play (ACG)

$25 Match Play (MRB)
$25 Match Play (show Southwest boarding pass within 48 hours (?))

$5 Free Play per 50 points, up to $100 (MRB) (we maxed this coupon out)

El Cortez:

Show Southwest boarding pass for a chance to win $10-$1,000 in Free Play, and a $25 Match Play

Four Queens:

$10 Free Play (MRB)

Double points, up to 500 points (ACG)

Fremont:

$10 Match Play (ACG)

Downtown Grand:

$10 Match Play (ACG)

Earn 25 points, get $10 in Free Play (ACG)

$5 - $50 Match Play (MRB)

Binion's:

Double points, up to 500 points (ACG)

$10 Free Play (MRB)

Golden Gate:

$25 MP (ACG)

$5 Free Play per 50 points, up to $100 (MRB) (we maxed this coupon out)

Ellis Island:

Play $10, get $10 in Free Play (ACG)

Play $20, get t-shirt (ACG)

$10 Match Play (ACG)

Play $10, get $10 in Free Play (MRB)

$10 Match Play (MRB)

There were a lot of coupons I didn't get to use this trip, so hopefully I'll use them later this year.  Kip and I played it "safe" on our match plays, betting red/black at the same time.  We know it's not the best mathematical play, but I know I hate just jumping in on a blackjack table to play one coupon.

So, overall it was a very enjoyable trip.  It seemed fast, with all of the planning we had, and we did change a few things on the fly, but we made some time for things we wanted to do (and discovered that some of the things we wanted to do were closed).

Let me know if you have any questions!

Hipfest III - Day Six

Wednesday, January, 29:

Just a few hours of sleep, and we're up and ready to go.

We get gas at the Arco a block away from the rental facility (instead of the gougy Sinclair across the street).  We drove 54 miles, and yet it took 3.216 gallons to fill the tank (apparently it wasn't "full" full, or the car get really bad gas mileage).

We're on the shuttle to the airport at 6:55 AM.  Kip hasn't checked in to the flight since she's waiting on a decent seat assignment.  Since I'm on the flight as well, but already have an assigned seat, I can see the seating, and it looks wide open.  Kip gets seat 8F, a window seat, she's happy she's not in the middle!

7:06 AM, we're at the airport at Terminal 3, and thanks to TSA Pre-check, I'm through by 7:15 AM.  It only takes Kip seven minutes longer.  We get to the gate, and it is hardly crowded, apparently there are only about 30 people on the flight!  I'm seated around 7:46 AM, and it seems we take off around 10 minutes early.

My crazy amount of leg room!

Good bye for now, Las Vegas.

I spent most of the flight sleeping, and we arrive to PHL early, around 3:38 PM.  We get my bag, and the parking shuttle is right outside.  Kip runs out to hold it while I get my bags together.  We're at Colonial Parking in no time.  I discover that my parking rate is a bit cheaper ($45.21) than I reserved ($52.97).

Hello, Philadelphia!

The battleship New Jersey!

Another view of Philadelphia.

Philadelphia's sports complex.

While we were on the shuttle, I suggested to Kip that I have dinner in the area, since it was rush hour, and perhaps we should see what our friend Bob was doing, and perhaps eat at Iron Hill Brewery.  When we land, I see we have a text from Bob, asking if we had dinner plans.  Great minds think alike!

I had to take Kip to Bob's place anyway, since that's where she parked her car during her trip.  It took around 30 minutes or so, and then we arrived at the restaurant around 5:20 PM.  Kip and I hadn't eaten since last night, so we were a bit hungry!  Kip just got an appetizer and a bowl of seafood bisque.  I ordered a cup, but apparently they gave my cup to Kip.  The waitress noticed the error and gave me a cup, and got Kip a refill.  I had a nice pan-seared top sirloin steak.  Bob had points for this restaurant which he kindly used for our meal (another comped meal!).

Pig Iron Porter!

Seafood bisque.

Pan-seared top sirloin.

We headed back to Bob's where we all said our goodbyes.  I still have a long drive ahead of me, and with one stop on the way, and another for gas when I got home, I finally arrived home around 12:30 AM.  It was a bit later than I wanted, since I had to go to work the next day!

Hipfest III - Day Five

Tuesday, January, 28:

Last full day in Las Vegas, and we had a lot to see.

As I recall, I was up a bit early, and we getting things ready to go.  Kip woke up a bit later and we worked out what we wanted to do in the morning.  Having breakfast was on the top of the list, so I showered and went down to check the progressive while she got ready.  No one hit it, it was at $1,265.39, but the straight flush was at $135.58.  I gave it a shot and at least hit a quad for $39.50.  Kip arrived and we sunk $120 chasing the RF/SF to no avail.

We headed over to California and Market Street Cafe.  They have a small breakfast buffet for $7.99, which includes coffee or tea.  I find it to be a good value, they have eggs, rice, potatoes, bacon, Portuguese sausage, corned beef hash, ham, biscuits and gravy, fresh fruit, and other selections.  Using the LVA 2-1 coupon, the total was $8.66.

Market Street Buffet breakfast items.

We went back to Golden Gate, checked out of the room, took our bags to the car and went back to check the progressive. The Royal Flush still hadn't been hit, it was at $1,281.71 (and the straight flush was $151.98).  We took one last shot, saw that someone hit the straight flush while we were playing and I managed to cash out up $60.36 and Kip was up $0.27.  We decided to move on, since we had places to go and things to see!  Twice during our play (uncarded), we were approached by slot attendants asking us if we wanted cards.  The first time, we said we weren't going to play much, and the guy was a bit persistent, and I said we didn't want to open a short play day.  He then got it and said that was advantage play, and as he walked away he said, "I never saw you".  The second woman was a bit more persistent, but I didn't outright say that we didn't want to track a short play day.  We just thanked her for asking.

The first stop was Palace Station for some Chinese New Year chips.  I couldn't find anything on the web regarding which casinos had them, so I went to the Chip and Token report from the Nevada Gaming Control Board website and discovered that three casinos had chips approved for Chinese New Year (Palace Station, Cosmopolitan, and Rampart).  I stopped at the first table I saw, an open roulette table and asked the dealer for a chip.  She said she hadn't heard of them.  Odd.  While I was verifying my information, I finally decided to go up to the cage and ask.  The attendant said, not only do they have one, they have two!  Since they were $5, I got both.

Kip saw they had Multi-Strike, so we decided to give it a shot at nickels.  We tried Joker Wild-Kings or Better, but that wasn't working, so we switched to Bonus Poker.  We did get on a little roll and decided to cash out with a profit of $12.80!

Next stop was Hard Rock, to take one last look since it would be closing at the end of the month.  They had a promotion for a free closing t-shirt for 1,000 points, which I was considering, but we didn't have time.  It was pretty empty there, but a nice stop.

Prince memorabilia

Tom Petty memorabilia

Our next stop was Ellis Island for some couponing there.  Last time Kip and I were there in 2018, it was her first time and she hit a Royal!  This time we had no such luck, we lost our free play chasing a $1,500 royal, and didn't hit a quad either.  Ah well. . .

Golden Tiki had a happy hour from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM, and we wanted to make sure we made one.  We got there around 4:45 PM.  I ordered the Blue Lagoon, Kip got two Scorpions.  We brought the leftover lobster mac and cheese from our dinner a few nights ago, and had in the refrigerator in our room at Golden Gate.  We snacked on that with our drinks.

Blue Lagoon!

Scorpion!

A free mini Dole whip!

We wanted to see the Lantern Garden Show at Fashion Show Mall at 6:00 PM, so we hastily left and headed to Wynn to park and walk over to the mall.  The show was at the Great Hall, which is just about the furthest part away from the Las Vegas Boulevard side, and apparently we missed it.  The security guard said that it was a short two minute show, and the lanterns just went up and down.  We might have been disappointed even if we saw it.

These lanterns were supposed to dance.

We walked back to Wynn and I went to check in, since we were close to the registration desk.  Self park is close to the elevators, so we got our bags, went to the room, left our bags, and headed to the buffet for another dinner (I booked dinner for tonight early this morning).

We got to the buffet around 7:00 PM, and this time there was quite a line.  I anticipated it to be around an hour, and I was pretty close (it was an hour and ten minutes before we were finally seated).  The night before, we were seated close to the buffet, but this time we had what the hostess called, "balcony seating", as the table overlooked the exterior hallway.  It was kinda neat, it certainly was interesting.  The food was pretty much the same, although I did get more desserts than I did last time.

Our "balcony" seating!

Our "balcony" seating!

More crab legs!

Those chicken & ginger pot stickers, spring roll, BBQ buns,
pork belly with hoison, and mac and cheese.

More ice cream!

We wanted to see the Lake of Dreams show, and I said that if we did well during the trip, we'd splurge and get cocktails at Parasol Up/Down and watch the show.  Since we did do well, that's what we did.  Kip got the Pear-a-sol, and I just got a Woodford.  We caught three shows while we were there, the shows were interesting, whimsical, and bizarre, but entertaining.  I wonder how many different shows there are. . .

Our view of the Lake of Dreams.

A look back at Parasol Up/Down

Kip's Pear-a-sol!

Kip enjoying her drink!

We still had a few more stops to go, so we left around 11:30 PM, and headed to Bellagio to check out the Conservatory.  We missed out on the fountain show, but took in the splendor of the Chinese New Year display at the Conservatory.  I've seen quite a few, and this one was among the best, in my opinion.

Bellagio Conservatory.

Bellagio Conservatory.

Bellagio Conservatory.

Bellagio Conservatory.

Bellagio Conservatory.

Bellagio Conservatory.

Our last stop was the MGM Grand, to check out their lobby. Not much in rats (the year of the rat), but lots of pandas.  Fortunately, the lobby is close to the self-park, so we were in and out pretty quickly.

MGM Lobby

MGM Lobby

MGM Lobby

MGM Lobby

We got back to Wynn and realized that we didn't look around at the displays at Wynn!  We took some time to walk around and take some photos there.

Chinese New Year decorations at Wynn

Chinese New Year decorations at Wynn

Chinese New Year decorations at Wynn

We tried some last shots at some slots, Kip lost at her choices, but I wanted to try Pinball, which I had done well on in the past, and I did well this time as well, getting us a little over our buy-in.  We then tried some video poker.  They don't have great games, but I wanted to try the Triple Wheel poker.  Since we were taking a shot, we played double double bonus.  We got a few bonus wheels, but no large wins.  We then got dealt three deuces, which got us a wheel spin, but we also had a chance to hit either 400 or 800 credits, but we couldn't fill a four-of-a-kind.  We did get 800 on the wheel spin (the second highest), and cashed out for a $20 overall win.

It was probably around 2:00 AM, and we had to get up for our 8:24 AM flight!