A Free Play Whore No More in Las Vegas

I've always been a free play whore. If a resort
offers me free play and free rooms, I'm there.
No more. I just got back from Las Vegas and was
offered free play at MGM properties. I checked into
Treasure Island and New York New York for the
free play. Waste of time and effort.

I've been a die hard MGM resort fan. I always liked
the treatment and the amenities from the hosts and
the staff. I also liked the points that you can redeem
at the end of the year at their Players Club
Holiday Gift Shoppe. In the past, I've scored some great gifts
using my accumulated points. I played at different MGM resorts
and couldn't hit a thing. I didn't see any jackpots, either.
The machines were tighter than a
bad face lift. I couldn't get my points to rack up. Sigh.

Something has changed and I can't put my finger on it.
I went for my birthday and the usual champagne wasn't
offered, nor was the usual snack basket from my host
and my play hadn't changed. Hmmmm. Cutbacks, maybe?

New York New York has at least a third of their casino
under construction. I peeked behind the curtained off
area and there were piles of dirt and holes cut in the floor.
No construction was going on. It made the casino
claustrophobic and darker.

TI was not busy at all. It was empty all the time we were
there. Not one machine was hitting, didn't see one jackpot
the entire time we were there. I always hit something on
the video poker (usually a jackpot) and couldn't even hit
quads on anything!

Now back to my free play. Didn't win a nickel on it either
place. Makes me wonder if your machine goes into a different
mode when you are playing free play. I know all about the
number generator. I know its not easy to manipulate the
payouts, but it still makes me wonder. As soon as I pulled
out my players card and reinserted my card to stop the
free play, I hit something. It was little, but it was a hit.
Weird coincidence or is it a conspiracy to get us in the door to
play by dangling free play money in our face?

What do you think?

My free play whore days are over. I could have stayed
free at Red Rock Casino which is way more fun and way
more luxe than either TI or NYNY. But I went after
the free play, gambled and lost.

Las Vegas Hotel Review: New York New York

New York New York Hotel & Casino has the huge
statue of the Statue of Liberty marking its front,
along with a tug boat spewing water, a bridge and
the famous NYNY roller coaster speeding around
the property. There's a lot going on here!

I remember watching them assemble the
Statue of Liberty. I watched as they put the arm and torch
on the statue. I've seen Miss Liberty dressed in a huge
tee shirt. And who could ever forget the 9/11 tribute
that was on the grounds?

I had heard a lot of negatives about NYNY, but since
they invited me to stay, and it was comped, oh, hell yes.
I heard the rooms were small. Yes, they are. But they
are comfortable and well appointed. They have sort of
a cool cosmopolitan vibe. They remind me of a
midtown NY hotel. As my husband said, DUH...that's what
its supposed to look like! Nice sized bathroom with the
usual toiletries, the requisite marble and shower.
The room has a safe, tv, desk, everything you need, AND
its really clean. Oh, nice thick towels, too.

I heard that the noise from the roller coaster can blast
you awake and keep you from sleeping. So I requested
a room away from the roller coaster and they obliged.
I asked people whose rooms were near the coaster about
the noise. One said it was horrible,
the others said it wasn't that much of a problem since it stops
running at 11pm during the week and midnight on weekends.
I'm not in bed that early in Vegas, so I wouldn't notice it. ;)

The hotel rooms are in the towers and you have to zigzag
down the halls from building to building to get to your room.
The buildings are connected by corridors. It wouldn't have
been that difficult if I wasn't dragging my suitcase and running
my mouth and not paying attention to the hall. I ran smack
into one of the walls. I just pretended
to be tipsy instead of a total ditzy blonde.

The hotel has a food court area that looks like a
New York city street. Their cafe is called America
and has the coolest 3 D map on the wall.
Decent food, large sized portions, good service.

Husband loves the ESPN Zone. Its a huge sports bar
with tv's everywhere blasting out sports. It used to be
the Motown Cafe. It has the usual man bar food, sliders,
subs, cheese fries and stuff that you eat when watching
sports. All you need is a sofa and a remote. Its a good place
to park the men while the women go shopping.

One of my favorite restaurants is here. Il Fornaio has great
Italian food. Problem is the service sucked all five times I was
there. Last time the waiter said they were out of
bolognese sauce. Come on, no Italian restaurant is EVER
out of bolognese sauce. Couple came in after us, had a
different waiter, got bolognese sauce.
Damn! Their home made bread is to die for, and its
baked there. You can dine inside or outside which is
actually a faux garden area in the casino. My hope is to
sometime get a good waiter. I know they
have them, I've seen them. I just always get the guy
on his first day.

The casino is a bit difficult to maneuver. The casino looks like
its set in central park. It really has the feel of being in a city.
They have some faux rock boulders near the bridge and
I always manage to trip because I don't always watch
where I'm going. They annoy me!

The machines are tight here. I did see a big jackpot the last
time we were there. We got up from a machine, a woman
sat down, put in a $20 bill and hit for 8 grand on the first pull.
It was oh, so painful. The video poker is just so so. Not great
pay tables. Lots and lots of penny games, including those
annoying 20 line million reel spinners that make
way too much noise.

If you like nightlife and bars, this place has Coyote Ugly and
9 Fine Irishmen as well as the Times Square bar. Lots of
partying goes on here!

Interesting hotel, fun casino and it can get really loud.
If you like loud and boisterous, this is your happy place.