The Slot Fanatics Annual Spring Meet Trip!

Seems my motivation these days to finish my last trip report is another trip, so I guess I need more trips to Vegas as this one is pretty late. 

The plans for my April Las Vegas Trip started last year in the fall when Slot Fanatics announced their annual Spring Meet and Greet. This year the main schedule was the following:

Thursday, April 3^rd

11:00am Tour of Bally Technologies

2:00PM: Tour of Aristocrat Slots
Organized by Rob (NYphinix)

8:30 – 9:00PM: Check-In for Slot Fanatics’ Vegas Week - Kick Off
Check-in table located at Luxor, in front of their High Limit Room
Conducted by Joey & Deb

9:00PM: High Limit Pull
Located at Luxor’s High Limit Room ($25 per Share)
Conducted by Slotspert

10:00PM: “Toast to Slot Fanatics”
Located at Luxor’s Centra Bar (2 Drink Minimum)
Conducted by LAURIEK1 – Toast given by (Deb & Joey)

Friday, April 4^th

11:00AM: Downtown Stumble Buffet
Located @ Main Street Station Casino’s
Garden Court Buffet ($15)
Conducted by Joey

12:00PM: High Limit Pull Stumble Kick Off
Immediately following breakfast.
Conducted by CennPennTraveler

CPT’s Las Vegas Downtown Stumble
Full stumble schedule TBD
Conducted by CennPennTraveler

8:00PM: Plaza Hotel & Casino
Shuttle Service to Las Vegas Sign (Free)

Las Vegas Sign
Mini Bus will transport us from The Plaza Hotel at 8PM
and head to the Las Vegas sign for a group photo.

Mini Bus Drop-Off @ Main hotel locations
Saturday, April 5^th

1:00PM: Slot Fanatics Afternoon Tea
Located at Bellagio’s Petrossian Bar
Conducted by Mauretania

Sunday, April 6^th

12:00PM: Jazz Brunch
Located at Wynn’s Country Club (Aprox. $65)
Conducted by clemi

There were also a couple unofficial events as Shamus from Player's Life and also a member of Slot Fanatics had organized our yearly spring tour of WMS slots for Wednesday night April 2nd at 7pm and we had a ECC (Exotic Cocktail Club) meet at Wynn's Parasol Bar on Sunday the 6th at 3pm. 

After months of chatting with friends online about the April Meet I was eager to fly out to Las Vegas for the fun to start, so I flew out early on Tuesday, April 1st from San Jose on Southwest and had a uneventful flight, which to me is always the best kind to have.

Ken (CPT or CennPennTraveler) was staying at the Paris Hotel that night so since I had a comp for it and had never stayed there before my first night was at Paris. It didn't take long for me to get my luggage and the taxi driver took me straight to Paris with no tunnel or other detours. Thanks to my text to Ken while I was in the taxi he was waiting for me and ready to point me in the correct direction for registration, room elevators, and was also kind enough to help me with my luggage.

Thanks to the Total Rewards Credit Card I was Platinum with TR so was able to use that line at registration and also was given a complimentary upgrade to a Red Room Luxury with a great view of the Bellagio Fountains.

The Red Room was very nice, though I had a issue with the safe that besides taking a number combination you also use your room key with it. Not sure if it was me or if the safe was broken but I couldn't get it to work.

My other issue was the old fashion lighting in the room was not always shining where I wanted it to but still a nice room and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the Red Room to others or stay in it again myself.

After dropping my luggage off we walked from Paris to Caesar's Palace for the Bacchanal Buffet as Ken was on east coast time and I was getting hungry too. Thanks to the TR credit card I had a coupon to turn in at the CP Total Reward desk for two 24 hour buffet passes so Ken and I were set up for meals for the next 24 hours.

I was a bit concerned after reading Yelp reviews that we would encounter heavy lines at Bacchanal but perhaps due to it being Tuesday or early around 5:30pm it was not crowded at all, plus they had a separate line for Platinum TR members so no wait for us. While the rest of the CET buffets are free with the 24 hour pass there was a $30 per person surcharge with the pass, but TR points took care of that.

I had eaten previously at Bacchanal shortly after they opened and thought it was the best buffet (not counting Sunday brunches at non-buffet restaurants) now on the strip. In my opinion it still has the largest selection and best quality though a few things I liked are no longer available.

The above and below photos are of Ken's food selections and he liked his food!

They have both cold and hot crab legs and while you can serve yourself the cold legs at the hot station they serve them to you. I asked for just a few and still got the huge pile of crab below. You should have seen the servings they gave to the people ahead of me who didn't ask for just a few!

Ken and I both text and take photos while eating as I'm sending mine to twitter and he is one of the masters of live trip reports on the Slot Fanatics message board. It's good to be with my people who don't think I'm rude to text at dinner, LOL!

Fun times! We're in Vegas and surrounded by food!

I have a previous review of the Bacchanal buffet at the link below so I didn't bother this time taking photos of all the stations with the exception of the dessert station.
http://www.lasvegasdaze.com/2012/10/bacchanal-buffet-at-caesars-palace.html

The last time I ate at Bacchanal they filled the dessert crepe for me as they made the crepe this night they just handed me the crepe and told me to fill it. Not sure if this is standard now or not as we ate there again the next evening with friends and that time they made the crepe for me complete with the fillings I requested. I'm not someone who normally likes eating crepes, pancakes or waffles but these crepes really are delicious!

After our dinner we walked back to Paris to play some slots.

With the exception of one good Gold Fish bonus all I did was lose and I tried so many slots at Paris. Ken on the other hand was winning!

Around 9:30pm it was time to meet up with one of my youtube slot channel viewers, Kagamijuice otherwise known as Kelvin. Kelvin was originally suppose to leave the next day but found out that he had to return earlier so would be driving back to California after we hung out to play slots. I was happy he was able to stay for a couple hours as he was a lot of fun to play slots with. Kelvin had his dogs with him in a pet friendly room at Planet Hollywood, but I only saw photos of them, they were both very cute.

Since I wasn't having any luck at Paris, Kelvin, Ken and I walked to Ballys. This is when I realized that Paris and Ballys connected and that I liked the slot selection better there. Unfortunately I continued to lose so no photos or videos to show. Ken continued to have some nice wins and Kelvin was holding his own. Earlier in Kelvin's trip he had some big wins on the new Willy Wonka 3-Reel Mechanical slot at Bellagio and also the new Clue 2 so I was looking forward to playing the new Wonka.

After Kelvin left and Ken had decided to go to his room as he had been awake for around 24 hours I decided I had lost enough and headed up to my room, but on the way had a nice surprise when I ran into Margie (Irisheyes), her husband Al (Rambler) and their daughter Colleen.

Once back at the room I had to admire that great view but not for long as I had to get up early next morning to meet Ken at the Paris Le Village Buffet.

Once again Ken and I were able to enter the buffet without a wait but it was early around 8am. 

This was my first time eating at the Paris Buffet and while it was very pretty inside, I really didn't care for it. However, I did like the fact that this is the only buffet I know of in Vegas that you can make reservations for on OpenTable!

The food selection in comparison to other buffets I have eaten at was very poor, though if you mainly just want breakfast food like eggs, waffles, pastries and breakfast meats you will be fine here. Personally I prefer a wider selection of foods like they have for breakfast at the Wicked Spoon Buffet as I'm not a big fan of your typical breakfast type foods.

The Paris buffet is unique in that it does make a variety of made to order crepes and they are good. So if it's basically crepes you want for breakfast then this is the buffet for you.

Ken enjoyed his breakfast but he also thought the variety of dishes at the Paris Buffet was lacking and since we ate at quite a few more buffets this trip, I feel I currently have a handle on the quality and variety of some of the main strip buffets and out of all those we ate at I would put this one at the bottom of my list. Those of you who mainly want crepes, eggs and pastries might feel differently.

After breakfast we both checked out of our Paris rooms and Ken who had rented a car drove us to Cosmopolitan. Original we were suppose to pick up PawPaw (Cecil) at the airport but his flight was delayed so instead I checked into Cosmo.

I had a comped Terrace one bedroom but upgraded to the fountain view so I ended up in the Eastside tower in room 2995.

Ken then left to check in at Aria and to pick up Cecil but I decided to lose some more and not go with him to the airport.

I was really lucky on Fireball Afterburner last February at Cosmo but while it gave me a few bonuses this trip I couldn't repeat the big wins of last trip. I still like this slot and intend to continue to play it as Ken and a few others at the Meet had some good wins on it.

The Oompa Loompa's came out to give me a bonus but after that they grabbed the money back! After Wonka I walked over to play the Lord of the Rings slot and while I was playing a nice couple came by and asked if I was Diana and said they enjoy reading this blog. Lynn and Jim, it was fun to meet you and I appreciate you stopping to say hi!

I had some brief fun with Flashdance but the wins were low and I figured with the music always playing I couldn't get any good youtube videos to share so I gave it up.

I found myself playing True Blood even though I'm not a fan of the TV show. No huge wins but I was getting 2 bonus symbols and then picking the wilds so I had a few good hits on it. I like a game that gives you something for 2 out of the 3 symbols needed for the bonus showing up.

Kelvin the previous evening had told me about his big win on the new Wonka 3-Reel Mechanical Slot. He hit the Wonka bonus and got 50 spins and then re-triggers for a win over a grand, so of course I had to walk over to Bellagio and play it.

I sat down at the Wonka slot that Kelvin told me he thought hit bonuses more frequently then the other three in the bank and it did seem to get more bonuses. Unfortunately they were all low paying bonuses. I still enjoyed seeing how the slot plays and it's a lot like the Lord of the Rings Reel Slot. I will be playing this slot again for the fun factor and potential big win. Here's a video of the new Wonka slot that has some live play that shows you the hits I was getting and how fast the bonuses were coming.

After Wonka I walked back to Cosmopolitan only stopping to play Fireball Afterburner on the way to my room and while I hit the bonus it was disappointing again.

Quickly freshening up and stopping to watch one fountain show from my balcony I went downstairs to meet Ken and we walked over to Caesars Palace. Tonight we were returning to the Bacchanal Buffet to eat with Cecil, Mike (20cardmg), Chrissy (NhMajik)and her husband Steve.

Once again there was no line for the buffet but it was early at around 5pm.

We had a lovely large table on the other side of the dessert station and service was excellent.

I asked if they had the pistachio soufflés I had read about but unfortunately they weren't on the menu tonight.

I was happy that tonight they made my dessert crepe by doing the fillings as it was cooking. Just makes it better in my opinion then trying to open up the cooked crepe and putting the fillings in afterwards.

Food was good, the company better, we had fun and very full tummies at the end of dinner. 

The group split up after dinner as Ken, Mike and I were due at WMS Studios at 7pm for a visit.

To read about our visit to WMS click on this link:
http://www.lasvegasdaze.com/2014/05/wms-studios-tour-2014.html

After our fun visit at WMS Ken drove us back to Cosmopolitan. While I was playing the True Blood slot again and Ken was playing Fireball Afterburner with Mike looking on, a cute couple sat down next to me and introduced themselves as Mark and Andrea fans of my youtube slot channel. Mark and Andrea are from the UK and I had a lot of fun chatting with them.

 Earlier this evening my friend SDguy arrived so it was time for me to meet up and play some slots with him. I left Ken still playing a few slots at Cosmo while I think Mike headed back to Aria where he was staying for this part of his trip.

For some reason I didn't take any photos of Sdguy and myself this trip, guess we were having way too much fun playing slots and drinking. Since it was Bellagio my drink was their delicious frozen Bellini's and Sdguy had his usual Malibu and Sprite. We played a few various slots before making our way to our objective playing the new Ruby Slippers 2. Our friend Dan (DProxima) was already there playing the slot on the right so Sdguy and I played the one on the left together.

We had a lot of fun playing Ruby Slippers 2 but were losing initially and down about $250.00 before we finally hit a bonus! Here's our bonus if you want to watch it. WARNING: the language is R to X rating so if that bothers you please skip viewing this video!

We continued to play Ruby Slippers 2 and were making a bit of noise, okay Sdguy was making most of the noise when a guy taps me on the shoulder laughing and asks what all the commotion is about. Turns out it was Mark and due to all the Bellini's I had been drinking I didn't recognize him at first. His wife Andrea joined us a few minutes later just as we hit another bonus and on this one we asked them to do some of our picking and they both did great. Thanks Mark and Andrea for helping us leave Ruby Slippers 2 winners.

After Ruby Slippers 2, Sdguy and I headed back to Cosmopolitan where we played one of our favorite old slots Airplane!

We had a few good hits on it but I was really tired, I hadn't had much sleep and had to get up early the next morning so I said goodnight to Sdguy with plans to continue our slot play together the next night.

The next morning I met Ken and we went to breakfast at the Wicked Spoon Buffet.  In my opinion this buffet was so much better then the Paris Le Village Buffet! To see photos of the Wicked Spoon Buffet click on the link below:
http://www.lasvegasdaze.com/2014/05/wicked-spoon-buffet-at-cosmopolitan-re.html

When we finished eating at Wicked Spoon on our way out we saw Mike, Terra (Skyler and  Terri (Tgib22) enjoying their breakfast so we sat with them briefly to have a nice chat before it was time for Ken to drive us to the Tropicana to pick up Cecil and Alicia (Lady Clare) to head out to Bally Technologies. It was a quick stop at the Trop to pick up our friends as they were waiting for us. Ken got us to safely to Bally Technologies where the group was already gathering outside for our 11:00am tour.

To read about our Tour of Bally Technologies click on the link below:
http://www.lasvegasdaze.com/2014/05/bally-technologies-studio.html

After we left Bally we headed out for our appointment to Aristocrat where they had a nice lunch waiting for us. To read about our visit to Aristocrat please click on the link below:

http://www.lasvegasdaze.com/2014/05/aristocrat-tour.html

 There was just enough time after our slot company visits to have a break for a couple hours before dinner and the official check in for the Slot Fanatic's Meet at Luxor's Hi-Limit Room. I took a brief rest in my room admiring my view and then went downstairs for some brief slot play that didn't end well.

Originally I had plans with my friend Jason (jrp227) to meet up for dinner and then walk over to Luxor but his flight was delayed. I had a back up plan in case that happened to use a myvegas reward for the Aria buffet and join the group of SF members who had planned to meet for dinner there. After checking with Jason to make sure that was okay with him I headed out to meet our group.

We had a nice group at the Aria Buffet, Gina (Wildheart) who organized the group, Ken, me, Mike, Rob, his wife Tammy, Cecil, Alicia, Janet (NurseJanet), her husband Dan, Cindy, Monica (Mauretania), and California Dreamer. If I left anyone out sorry, blame it on how long it took me to get this trip report written.

We ended up with two tables near each other at the Aria Buffet. To get one table for the group would have involved a extra charge which was ridiculous so we didn't do it. The last couple times I have eaten at the Aria buffet I thought it was fine for free but nothing that I would go out of my way to eat at. Tonight I thought it was better then the two previous visits. The raspberry macaroon below was one of the best I've ever had. The BBQ brisket was also very good.

As some of us were leaving the buffet we ran into a forum member that hadn't been able to make any of the Meet activities and was on his way home that evening, it was Ashwin! I think the way we all grabbed him and posed for a photo that some of the people standing in line to get into the buffet thought he was a celebrity!!

After the buffet Ken drove Alicia, Cecil and me to Tropicana. We left Cecil there to gamble and decided to walk over to Luxor for the Slot Fanatic Toast and High Limit Pull. As we left the Trop, we saw Linda (Luckylinda) outside so we all walked over together. When we arrived at the Luxor High Limit Room it was full of about 70 SF members. 

During Registration and the High Limit Event I was really happy to get to meet some members in person that I hadn't met previously like Tracy (MomnKid), Katdancer and her husband (Englishman) who I was later to see also at Wynn and also greet folks that I have met before. Due to the large amount of attendees this year I didn't get to chat with everyone during the event which I regret.

So how does a High Limit Slot Pull work? Slotspert has been organizing these for the group for years now and has it down to a science. Here's how a Slotspert HL event works for those of you who haven't participated in one yet and aren't members of the Slot Fanatics Message Board. By the way, it's very important to reach out ahead of time to the slot director of the casino you intend to have your HL event at and clear it with them. They will let you know if photos and videos are allowed and what their policy is on serving a large group drinks while the event was going on.

When: Thursday, April 3, 2014 at approximately 9:00pm; SIGN-UP WHEN YOU CHECK-IN between 8:30pm-9pm the evening of the event. No advanced reservation or commitment necessary.

Where: Luxor High Limit Slot Room (same table as checking-in for the Meet and Greet)

How Much: $25 per share and you can buy as many shares as you would like. Because of the structure of this event there is a good chance you will get something back at the conclusion of the event. Winnings must be collected within 20 minutes of the conclusion of the high limit pull by the same individual who first deposited the money.

Who: Open to registered attendees of the Meet and Greet and their guests who sign-up before the registration desk closes at approximately 9pm and are physically present at the HL Pull at the start, during, and immediately after the HL event concludes.

Process of Spinning, Reinvesting, and Cashing Out Credits:
Collected bankroll will be cycled (by percentage listed below) ONE TIME into the respective machines listed below plus:
100% of additional credits per hit of 15 credits and below will be replayed into that respective machine.
50% of additional credits per hit for credits between 16-99 credits will be replayed into that respective machine- the other 50% of credits will be returned to participants proportionately per share.
80% of additional credits per hit of 100 credits or more will be returned to participants proportionately per share and 20% will be played back into the machine.

Expected games to be played and their respective bankroll percentages are as follows: NOTE: Slotspert took votes on the board from the participants on what slots should be played after he did the research to know what slots were available in the HL room.

REEL SLOT: 50% into $5 Monte Carlo (max bet $15 per pull)
VIDEO SLOT: 50% into $1 Cleopatra (max bet up to $45 per pull)

Based on actual availability at the time of the event, denomination, max bet, and game choice subject to change without notice. A substitute game will replace that game for that portion of the bankroll with a game chosen by the organizer.

Slot Club Puller: Administrator “Joey”; who has agreed to use his tax ID for all winnings up to $10,000. In the event hand pays amount to greater than $10,000, 25% above that $10,000 amount will be withheld to cover his taxes. However, if for any reason it becomes required that we issue W2G’s, participant agrees to provide the information required prior to receiving their payback. Up to 2% tip on hand pays to attendant/cashier will be deducted.

Organizer/Record Keeper for the event: “Slotspert” who will collect your deposit (exact amount is appreciated) when you check-in at the M&G reception desk starting at 8:30pm.

While we have yet to hit it big including this year, we had lots of fun and hey there's always next year for the big win to happen! At the end of the slot pull event we all ended up with $7 back from our original $25. Thanks Slotspert for organizing and doing all the work for this!

After the High Limit Pull most of our group left for the toast at Luxor's Centra bar where I heard Joey generously bought champagne for everyone and the group had a marvelous time.

I ended up skipping the toast because my friend Sdguy was leaving to return home the next morning and I wanted to spend some more time playing slots with him. While Sdguy didn't attend the HL pull he had been playing slots at Luxor so we made plans to walk over to Bellagio with the intent of meeting up with some other friends there and on our way out we found Jason still playing slots in the HL room  and asked him if he wanted to join us which he did. Well it seems we should have taken a taxi because we had to stop a lot on our way to Bellagio as we kept seeing shiny slots on the walk to distract us.  One of them was the $5 Monopoly Boardwalk Sevens Slot at Aria for $25 a push that we all went in together on. We had some exciting spins but our final result was losing our money.

After Aria we walked through Crystals where they have the odd mannequin display above and over to Cosmopolitan. Jason's boyfriend Chris had just landed at the airport so we waited at Cosmo for him to arrive. The three of us again pooled our money and started playing 5 cent Airplane for $15.00 a push. We had a couple bonuses that were just average pays but hit several times on the Wild Ottos for some decent wins. We started to lose though so when Jason's boyfriend Chris arrived we had a nice chat and then went our separate ways with Sdguy and I finally making it over to Bellagio!

Somehow we didn't meet up with our friends there though Sdguy might have caught up with them later. I was getting tired so we just played a few slots together, had some fun bonuses though mainly lost and then we walked back to Cosmopolitan and said our farewells for this trip.

Of course on the way to the room I had to play one last slot.

The next morning I checked out of Cosmopolitan at 8am to make my way to Wynn to check in for a early breakfast with friends at Tableau. My fabulous Wynn host Edward had arranged for VIP registration and lounge for me. The star below on m room key indicates VIP lounge access. Check in was immediate and I was given a great room in the Wynn Tower Suites on the 58th floor.

No time to unpack it was time to go to Tableau for breakfast with Clemi, Cassie, Brent, Michelle and Dan. Food was great but the company was fabulous!

Some of the delicious foods we had for breakfast are pictured below. I think we might have had a new server as service wasn't quite as good as I've had in the past at Tableau.

Someone had Banana pancakes, I think it was Clemi, they looked so good!

After breakfast Clemi went off to gamble, Dan, Brent and Michelle headed downtown to the stumble in Brent's car while Cassie and I were picked up by Presidential Limo and headed down to to Paris to pick up Jason and Chris. It was a happy ride to Main Street Station as we broke out the limo supplied champagne!

We arrive about 30 minutes before the HL pull so I played a few slots at Main Street Station at around 80 cents a spin and got a few bonuses on Twilight Zone which were fun. Then it was time for our last HL event.

So everyone who organizes a High Limit Slot Pull has their own techniques. Ken who organized the Downtown Stumble and the HL event at Main Street Station does it this way:

Here's the $5 Wheel of Fortune that we played with our organizer Ken to the side of it.

Ken said he collected $1240.00 to play on the 3 credit $5 WOF. Slots4me was picked from a hat and she was the groups spinner.  It was a very long HL event as we had several spins where we won over $500 and some others that were lower. The group could have cashed out even halfway through but we took a vote to go all the way and we did, we lost it all, LOL! Hey, go big or go home, right? I recorded this slot event but the video is about 40 or so minutes so I haven't uploaded it yet. I might edit the heck out of it at some point and upload it in the future.

After the HL event our next stop on the stumble was the California. I lost there too, who said the downtown slots were looser? That's never been my experience. :)

After California we went to the new Downtown Grand. Nice casino with a lot of slots I like but again I just lost. The Grand liked me losing because ever since my hour of play there they are sending me offers of comped rooms and free  play! At this point I decided I could lose on the strip and give my play instead to Wynn so I caught a ride with Brent who also drove back Deb's husband Dave, Michelle and Dan.

Back at Wynn I decided to walk over to Encore where I found the new WMS slot Cheshire Cat. This slot has some potential in the bonus for big wins but unfortunately I couldn't line up the wilds in the right order and my bonuses were sad.

I was a bit disappointed that full screens don't seem to pay much but I guess it's the trade off for what seems to be a slot that hits a bit more.

After a few more slots at Encore and losses I returned to Wynn and played their penny video megabucks slot and had some nice bonuses on it.

After that I had to try my beloved $1 DaVinci Diamonds slot but while it gave me some nice hits, those wins didn't last long.

I tried numerous other slots, Avatar, Lord of the Rings, penny slots, quarter slots, dollars, lost on all so I was glad when it was time for dinner!

Tonight no more buffets! It was dinner at Lakeside at Wynn with my friends Terri, Liz and her friend Mihee.

We were seated at a table inside with a nice view of Wynn's Lake of Dreams.

Assorted breads and breadsticks, good as always.

We were served a amuse of Arancini (Italian rice balls) with truffles. Below is one broken apart. It was okay, not my favorite Amuse.

A couple of us ordered various salads.

I had the starter of Crab and Avocado with a orange emulsion, had it before and will order it again!

Liz ordered the Scallops that were served on mashed potatoes, one of her favorites.

Mihee's Lobster Risotto looked great!

All of us shared some asparagus.

Terri had the special that evening which was a Chilean Sea Bass that I believe had Panko crumbs on it and was fried.

Another side of rice, peas and mushrooms.

The baby rainbow carrots were sweet and tender!

I  really liked the new Scallops Mediterranean with artichokes, very light and tasty!

We were too full to order dessert but Mihee was surprised with a birthday cupcake!

At the end of our evening one of the servers brought around the lobster cart to the table across from us and I couldn't resist a couple photos.

It was so nice of him and the lobster to pose for me! LOL!

After our dinner it was out to the casino to gamble again. Wynn and their floral displays are just perfection! Love the new one of the hot air balloon.

Liz had been telling me she had a lot of luck on the new Bally Technologies slot Grease Pink Ladies. I had tried it earlier but couldn't get any of the main bonuses on it. Liz kindly showed me the slot she had won on earlier and let me play it while she took the slot next to it. I did end up with a few good bonuses on it and one of those videos is in my Bally Tour link that was earlier in the trip report. Thanks Liz!

After Pink Ladies we all drifted off to other slots and I returned to Wynn Megabucks which once again gave me a bit of action. While I was playing it the lady playing next to me at the slot said hi, turned out it was Debbie who reads my blog and whom I have met previously. Debbie was there for a Wynn Slot Tournament. Debbie, I hope you ended up one of the top winners!

I've had some great bonuses from Triple Trouble in the past but this bonus at Wynn was disappointing plus I was asked by security to stop recording. The only time on the trip this happened at Wynn.

It was time to go back to my lovely room in Wynn Towers and for a change I fell asleep quickly only to be woken up at 4am when the neighbors in the next room (not the connecting door room) started to have a party. I called registration and they sent up security which I could hear talking to them, but unfortunately they started back up after security left so I called back down and asked for a new room. They did offer to kick the group out but I just couldn't bring myself to agree to that. I was moved down to a room on the 33rd floor and it had a great view of the Lake of Dreams and strip and more importantly no noise!

After moving rooms and lack of sleep on all the previous nights, I was grateful to sleep in a bit today and meet Terri at Tableau for a late Brunch.

Yesterday during our breakfast only Cassie in our group was given the stool for her purse, either Clemi's and my purse didn't measure up or like I assumed our server was new,  today both Terri and I both had stools and our server was great!

I needed a drink after all these days of losing so I order and enjoyed the Nirvana Sour!

Menus for the curious:

The assorted popovers are to die for, really very yummy. I had two of them, don't judge!

Terri and I split the La Scala Salad.

I don't recall what sandwich Terri ordered.

I had a wonderful Chilean Sea Bass with trumpet mushrooms, asparagus, peas,and cippolini onion.

After our brunch Terri and I walked over into the casino and straight to the $1 DaVinci Diamonds slot where Terri hit the bonus and a great hand pay on it. Wish I had gotten the video on that one. As it was instead I slunk away to find my next losing slot.

I love cat themed slots and this slot was cute, but the cats were not in a generous mood.

Walked over to Encore and tried a bit of Aladdin and had a decent and fun bonus on it before the wins stopped. I tried Buffalo Stampede at Wynn after watching someone win a 2k progressive on the machine at Encore. Had a couple decent hits and a few low paying bonuses.

Dinner that night was at Red 8 with Liz, Mihee, and Terri.

We had the private table that overlooks the casino and has some couch seating.

Our view into the casino, great for people watching.

Menus at Red 8!

My yummy Mango-Yuzu Highball, with Absolute Mango Vodka, Triple Sec, Mango Puree, Agave Syrup and unsalted Yuzu Juice. Please sir, can I have another!

Great Sea Bass with broccolini!

XO green beans just delicious!

I don't recall every dish we had so it's time to play guess that entree and I've already given you the menus above to help. This is about the third time I've eaten at Red 8 and everything has always been good!

Love the Spicy Pawns, just enough spice to feel a bit of burn which I like.

After dinner we split up and I continued to lose. I had a few wins on the following slots but not enough to even break even for the day!

Played more quarters slots at Wynn this trip. Saw lots of other players getting hand pays on them, but not me, LOL!

Wandering around the casino I ran into Dan and friends at the Wonder 4 slot bank and finally had my first good hit on this slot when I sat down to play a bit with Dan.

After some brief play on Wonder 4 we all walked over to Palazzo to play Clue 2 since at the time Wynn didn't have it.

That's Michelle and me in front, with Brent, Tony and Dan behind us.

Tony now taking the photo with Theresa in back of Michelle. I had a lot of fun playing Clue 2 with everyone but continued to lose at Palazzo so I returned alone to Wynn to go to sleep. Before I went to bed I did go by the Wynn Mega Buck Penny Slot again and hit a bonus on it. Tonight I didn't have any noisy neighbors so I didn't have to switch rooms, yippee!

 Sunday morning I woke up just in time to make our brunch at the Country Club's Jazz Brunch. Clemi did a great job of organizing this brunch and it's a lot of work because the restaurant expects 50 percent up front for large groups and requires the person reserving to sign a contact!

The group gathers in wait for our table.

We had twenty for brunch, this is one side of our table. Below the other side where I was sitting.

Also having brunch that day at the table next to ours was shocker, my friends Liz, Terri (mystery woman behind the napkin) our host Edward and Mihee!

Drink menu at Brunch:

This is the menu you can order unlimited items from cooked to order in addition to taking unlimited food from the buffet table.

Photos of various plates of food that our group selected is below. For photos of the Buffet you can check out this review from February of 2013. There are more recent photos in some of my trip reports from last year, but you will have to search them out if that interested.
http://www.lasvegasdaze.com/2013/02/wynns-country-club-jazz-brunch.html

That was my mini chocolate shake below taken from the buffet table. Incredibly rich, a dessert in itself, I want it now! Gimme!

On the menu of made to order items they offer poached eggs with Barbecue Smoke Pork. I don't care for poached eggs but they are always happy to bring me out a dish of just the BBQ Pork.

Thanks to Chrissy a surprise for me this trip was discovering that the Jazz Brunch has a Vegetarian Menu! As many times as I have eaten at this brunch I didn't know that until now!

Chrissy order several dishes off the Vegetarian menu and they looked really good!

Above is crispy Yuca Fries with Roasted Garlic Mojo Sauce. I tried one and liked it!

The Truffled Wild Mushroom Napoleon was very good too!

The desserts I selected from the buffet. Love the chocolate mousse lollipop!

We were celebrating three birthdays at Brunch! There's Chrissy with her birthday Tiara, looking fabulous!

Linda also had a birthday.

Laurie was our third birthday girl. Happy birthday ladies!

After brunch we had a group photo but due to how large our group was service was just a bit off and took longer then usual so we're missing a few friends from our photo because they had to leave.

Terri of course was our photographer for our mini-group photo. :)

The Jazz group now plays behind the buffet. I've been going to the brunch now for about 4 years, it's the same group of players and they are good.

After Jazz Brunch I started texting Laurie and Jolinda who had earlier eaten at Jazz Brunch and we had just missed each other by about 30 minutes. Laurie and I had known each other online from TA, Facebook and this blog but had never crossed paths until now in Vegas. Fortunately I was able to catch them before they left Wynn and while our meet up was short, it was fun and I hope next time that we all have more time to spend together. I also loved the gift they brought me which was a box of Kentucky Cream Bourbon Balls which both my husband and I enjoyed eating when I returned home.

At 3pm Mike, Cassie, Laurie, Clemi, CyndyGa and I met up at Parasol Up for a meeting of the ECC (Exotic Cocktail Club). The ECC was started a couple years ago by our friend Boots who didn't attend the SF Meet this year because she was having fun in Europe!

Here's the main drink menu for Parasol Up for the curious.

Lychee Blossom Martini below that our server recommended. I didn't like it, no one else that tried it liked it so I asked for my favorite the Cucumber & Ginger Cooler. Our server was nice enough to take the Lychee Blossom Martini off our bill though I didn't ask or expect her to do that.

My favorite the Cucumber & Ginger Cooler.

Strawberry and Grapefruit Collins that Clemi enjoyed.

I think this is Mike's drink. Not sure if it's the Berry Pisco Punch or something else.

Cassie's lovely and tasty Cranberry Mojito! This looked so good I have to try it next time!

Our happy group at Parasol Up! Mike, me, Laurie, Clemi, and standing Cassie and CyndyGa!

After our drinks at Parasol Up our group went their separate ways with Mike and I going off to play slots together.

Mike and I pooled our money and we went on a fun afternoon of playing a lot of slots!

We hit a lot of bonuses, some of which we thought might turn into hand pays but they never did. I don't have photos of a lot of the slots we played because I took videos instead that are on youtube. We have one video where we played $1 Quick Hits, got the 20 with the wild 5 for 25 spins and then re-triggered only to end up with a win over $300 on what we were hoping was going to be over a thousand. We played quarter Quick Hits and re-triggered twice during that bonus for another disappointing win. We played quarter slots like Cleopatra II where I saw people hitting bonuses earlier for over 4k but we only won slightly over a $100.00. Our luck only extended so far I guess. :)

We stayed ahead the whole time we played together and had hours of enjoyable and I can't complain as this was the best winning session I had during this 6 day trip! However, we played Wynn's WindFall Slot and it says on the pay table that if you hit the two double 7's with a WindFall symbol you win the minor progressive which was over 10k. We thought for sure we hit it below only to get $480.00 instead because the double 7's below were slightly different shades of what looked like the same color to my poor eyes. Of course $480.00 is a good hit on a $3 spin, but still tricky to have double 7's that are so close to the same color!

After Mike's and my fail of winning the minor WindFall Progressive it was time for us to cash out and meet our friends for dinner at La Cave. While we didn't walk away big winners we did walk away a bit ahead after several fun hours of play so I'm calling it my only win for this trip! I didn't have a winning day mind  you, but a winning afternoon. ;)

We were given a outside table at La Cave with a fabulous garden view with the new Hi Roller Observation Wheel in the background!

Our happy group in the above photo starts from the left with Laurie, Mihee, Clemi who is behind Mihee, Liz, myself, Cassie and Mike.

The menu that evening that is slightly different then La Cave's online menu.

Mike's drink of choice tonight was the above Fruli Strawberry Beer from Belgium.

I have a favorite drink that I always order here and it's La Flama Azul, Casamigos Tequila, Nagomi Peach, Vanilla, Fresh Lemon Juice and Jalapeños!

Mixed green salad with goat cheese, tomatoes, and grilled onions.

Jumbo lump crab lettuce cups with citrus segments.

Warmed Beet Salad with Pistachios and Whipped Goat Cheese.

La Cave Caesar Salad with Prosciutto and Lemon Anchovy Dressing.

Onion Soup, Puff Pastry and Gruyere Cheese.

Mushroom and Grits and Pecorino Cheese.

Roasted Salmon with Blistered Green Beans, Olives and Pine Nuts.

Cavatelli, Veal Short Rib and Brussels Spouts.

Sliders above and the fries it came with below!

Pasta with Chicken and Pesto. This was really good!

Beef Filet, Caramelized Onions, Mushrooms and Blue Cheese Flatbread!

Diver Sea Scallops on Polenta Cake with Shrimp Sauce.

Laurie's birthday treat courtesy of La Cave.

Can't go to La Cave without getting the S'mores Flatbread! Thanks Clemi for ordering this!

Such a fun and delicious dinner and the last one for most of us for this trip as many of us were leaving the next day.

I played for a few more hours before retiring and had some wins but nothing that even broke me even for the day.

When I returned to my room I found my quiet room with the lovely view was quiet no longer. Instead of going to a club my next door neighbors had brought the club to their room and were partying hard, (sigh). Down I go to the VIP registration desk and once more I move rooms this time back to one with a view of the golf course on the 50th floor.  Honestly I knew I was going to move and pack up a lot this trip but I had no idea I would be moving twice at Wynn during a three night stay. Good thing I have the packing up and moving rooms down to a science at this point and can do it in about 10 minutes!

The next morning I was heading home and decided it was time for one more buffet because I hadn't eaten at enough of them this trip, LMAO! I blame it on this daily contest that Wynn was having called Press for the Prize. Mainly what I won participating in this contest was free buffet passes that had to be used within 48 hours or so.  Mike and Alicia joined me at the Wynn Buffet for lunch and I was pleasantly surprised that it was better then the last time I had eaten here which was almost a year ago.
Link to photos and comments of Wynn Buffet:

http://www.lasvegasdaze.com/2014/05/wynn-buffet-re-visited-april-7th-2014.html

After we enjoyed our free buffets we had a quick stop at the Wynn VIP Lounge as I had a errand at the registration desk.

Wynn VIP Lounge:

Registration Desk Area:

At various times during the day they put out different small sandwiches and sweets. I tried a couple of their Vegan sandwiches during my stay and was shocked to find out I liked them.

Mike and Alicia enjoying a chat and some water while waiting for me.

Alicia and I in front of this expensive sculpture by Jeff Koons called Tulips. I just read that Wynn recently bought another Koons sculpture for his property, a one ton sculpture of Popeye!

Before I left for the airpot I wanted to use my last tickets for the Press for the Prize daily contest. Alicia and Mike went with me to cheer me on and to take photos.

It was held every day at Encore starting at 3pm for a few hours. I would give you more details on this contest but it's no longer active unless they bring it back again later as a promotion.

I always went around 3pm so I could be one of the first to win my free buffets, LOL!

I won some free play too, but like today it was never more then $30.00.  I also won a few tickets to their big million dollar prize drawing that was being held later, but shocker didn't win.

After the drawing I said goodbye to Mike and Alicia and went upstairs to get my luggage as it was time to catch the limo to the airport. I was driven in style back to the airport in one of the Wynn Rolls Royce's. Wynn presently has a fleet of 13 Rolls and various other limos.

The flight home was fine except for the man who had to take the middle seat in my row despite there still being seats available on the aisle and window.

As mentioned in the beginning of this trip report the last year or so it seems I can only get motived to write up my last trip report right before I leave on a new trip so it won't be a shocker that I'm returning to Las Vegas on May 28th for 3 nights. I'll be staying at Cosmopolitan again for the first two nights and then staying for the fist time at MGM Grand on the third. Looking forward to seeing friends, having fun times and hopefully a winning trip!