Saturday Morning Special

April 13th, 2024 by

Some video of sharks at the Mandalay Bay Shark Reef I took during my vacation.



Thanks for stopping by.

Friday Fish Fry

April 5th, 2024 by

I took a vacation to Las Vegas early in the week so I did not post anything Monday-Wednesday. I stayed at Mandalay Bay, it is a great place to stay, I highly recommend it, but the only drawback is the location. It is the furthest south resort on the strip, and you have to do a lot of walking, since the monorail that runs from Mandalay Bay to the Luxor or Excalibur does not start running until 10:00 AM. (9:00 AM on weekends). It’s location is ideal for the NFL stadium, which is about a half mile west of the resort, and the famous “Welcome” sign is about a half mile south. Though it is now a major tourist attraction, and that destroys the enjoyment.

Las Vegas Resorts have tightened up the slot machine payouts, so it makes gambling not as enjoyable. It was not a total disaster like last year, where I barely walked away with any money. I felt like I was working harder for every win, and may have to adjust my strategy. My current strategy is to put $20 in the machine, bet max, and see what happenes. I end up with 5 to 7 plays, usually it seems like a waste of $20. In the past betting max usually got a bonus game within the 5 to 7 plays. I was on a machine that was sort of playing with me, so I decided to put in another $20. It paid off. I thought maybe adjusting the strategy to where I put in $100 and bet max might work, but I did not try it.

If you go to Las Vegas, even regularly, always go to the resort rewards booth, and check with the people there about status, and other information. I went to upgrade my MGM Rewards card, and found out do to certain things, I was a tier above what my card indicated. I am Pearl status. This is due to my using an MGM Rewards charge card. The credit card I pay off, sometimes carry a balance, but it adds up as points to my overall. This also gives me slot dollars. Slot dollars is a form of free play.

When I initialize the slot dollars, I went through a process, then activated things by putting in a slip or money. The slot dollars replace the money I bet on the machine until the set amount of slot dollars runs out. This helped me go through down periods, and I was actually making money. So it sort of plays into my observation that I may have to put in $100, and bet max, ride out slow periods and hope for bonus games to happen.

If I went with my modified strategy, I might end up running out of gambling money quicker, and spending more time in my room. This is why I usually bring some books along, and like a nicer room. Right now I am debating about going back next year.



Thanks for stopping by.

Friday Fish Fry

February 23rd, 2024 by

What is it about Las Vegas that keeps pulling me back? Is it the glitz, the gambling, the potential for wealth. I do enjoy the glitz, I am not a big gambler, and I do not delude myself thinking I will get rich. I do enjoy going to Las Vegas, because as a single person, I do not stand out. Las Vegas assumes you are there as a tourist or convention goer. If you are single and male, you might be there for some convention or something, and so no one cares. I sit at a bar, order food, drink and eat, then move on.

I have a gambling budget. If I lose the money too quickly, it can be a long day. I can walk up and down the strip, and if I stick to the plan, I can have fun gambling at casinos. It used to be win some, lose some, in the end when I came home, I might be short $100. People would call that a win. It is not a win, it is a loss. I paid $100 to end up having fun. Unfortunately my previous trip in 2023 was a total loss. Casinos seem to have really tightened up slots.

This is why my 2024 trip will be two days instead of three. When I was losing all the time, and not enjoying myself, three days became too long. I have done two day trips before. It means more money per day to gamble, since the gambling budget is not spread over three days. When I did two days, I spent one day going up and down the strip, and had fun gambling. The next day I did not gamble a lot, but enjoyed amenities.

Ultimately, I will see how the upcoming trip works out. If even during two days it feels like the casinos are tight with payouts, I might have to find a new place to go.



Thanks for stopping by.

Special Friday Video

April 28th, 2023 by

My Las Vegas Vacation from the first week of April 2023.



Thanks for stopping by.

Special Wednesday Video

August 17th, 2022 by



Thanks for stopping by.