Las Vegas - 3rd September

I woke up around 9am and went to the buffet breakfast at the casino. The buffet cost $9.50 and you could get as much food as you liked. A lot of it looked inedible to me so I stuck to Sausage, Bacon, eggs and some pancakes.

Heading off I caught the ‘Deuce’ bus which I mentioned yesterday. It cost me $5 and I can use it for 24 hours as often as I like. It comes along every 20 minutes all day long but as seen yesterday it does have its peak times where you cannot get on and you either have to wait for the next one or start walking. I went down the strip and got off at The Mirage and walked through the casino and picked up some poker chips. I enquired about the Cirque show ‘Love’ which is a show using all Beatles music as background to their performance. Unfortunately it is not on again until Friday so I will miss it.

To get my $5 poker chips, I have been playing blackjack, sometimes single deck or other times six deck. Most casinos have ten dollar minimum bet tables, some only have fifteen dollar minimum at nights but a few have some five dollar tables during the day.

My strategy has been is to sit at a table and get $100 worth of chips. I pocket what I need from the pile, if they only have a chip with their name on it I have been keeping 4 of each. I have been playing either till I run out of chips or if I have one enough to cover the chips I have put in my pocket and then cashing in and moving on to the next casino. Some casinos have promotions for some of their shows on the chips so if that is the case I have been getting four of each. Also some casinos upgrade the design on the chips so if possible I have been getting four of each design.

The reason for four of each is I know other people who collect the chips and will offer them some when I get home.

I walked from there next door to Caesars Palace Casino. The front of Caesars Palace is a shopping centre full of all the exclusive brands from round the world. It is a three storey at the front with a big open area
with a circular escalator
domed ceilings


Then there is a mall going back into the block. All the store designs and the architecture of the building are fantastic. The ceiling is like a blue sky and you would think you are outdoors.
The Gucci Store
A store selling children's toys has a wooden horse at the front
I then went through the casino area picking up poker chips, not being able to continue my streak from last night. I also joined the players club getting some free poker chips to use and a shoulder bag.

I then walked out front of Caesar's Palace and took some photos of the casino and other casino's across the road showing their advertised shows.

I walked further and crossed the pedestrian bridge to the Bellagio. I first went in and got tickets to some more shows. I have decided to see more of the Cirque shows and tonight will see ‘Mystere’ at Treasure Island and tomorrow night I will see ‘O’ at the Bellagio.

I then got the poker chips (winning again!!!) and walked out onto the street in front of the Bellagio.

They have a huge lake at the front of the casino and I was lucky enough to be there as they run through the feature show in the lake. They have hundreds of fountain jets pointing upwards and they play music as water is pushed up into the air at various speeds and heights as well as swirling around which makes for a very visual water display. They replay this show many times during the day and night.

I walked from there to the Monte Carlo Casino which has a Roman style theme at the front.

They advertise that they have their own micro brewery in the casino but when I went to check I found that they had to remove the brewing vats so that some new buildings could be built next door that will form part of a building complex development called City Centre which is being built next door and due to open next year.

They still have the pub there so I bought a t-shirt from the pub gift shop and got talking to the lady, Terry, who works there. She told me about the history of the brew pub and I told her of my interest in brewery collectibles. She told me to come back tomorrow and she would bring in some items she has at home from when they closed the brewery down. I agreed to come back in the afternoon tomorrow. I then went to the pub and was able to get some coasters.

I was then down next to New York, New York, where I had already been yesterday so I had completed that side of the strip at the southern end.

From outside I walked across a overhead walkway and took some photos of other Casinos.

The Mandalay Bay building in the background and the Sphinx head of the Luxor in front of it.

The Excalibur Casino

MGM Grand

For something different I walked down one of the streets off the strip to Hooters Casino. The casino is of course based on the Theme Restaurants’ of the same name and the card dealers are in similar attire. They had 5 different types of chips in use and I managed to get four of all of them plus still walk out with double the cash I started with so my luck was on the improve again. I purchased so items from the gift shop and then walked back to New York, New York to look in the shops they have and then caught the ‘Deuce’ back to Circus Circus to shower before going to tonight’s show.

I caught the ‘Deuce’ back to Treasure Island and got the poker chips (with a small profit) before going to see ’Mystere’. It was a great show. The artists were very good, the music was excellent and really fitted the show well and I felt this show was better than ‘Ka’ which I had seen last night.

After the show I walked across the overhead walkway to the Venetian Casino. There is two entries to the Casino at the northern end you enter into a large open area with a beautiful ceiling.The casino is set up outside as a replica of Venice in Italy. There is a waterway which they have gondoliers you can ride in and inside there is a street scape similar to Venice complete with canals and bridges.
As you walk through the street there are different shops and cafe’s you can use and as you walk further you come across the gondoliers again.

I was lucky here as the Venetian and the Palazzo are run by the same people and I was able to get the poker chips for both from the one table, no luck with the fall of the cards though. As you leave via the main entry there are some very impressive paintings on the domed ceilings.

As I left the Venetian I continued south on the east side of the strip going from casino to casino. Firstly Harrah’s then the Flamingo and Bally’s, none of which are not themed casinos like some of the others on the strip.

Next I moved onto Paris Las Vegas, which has a replica of the Eiffel Tower and a gigantic Hot Air Balloon set up out the front of the casino.

You can have dinner in a restaurant at the top of the Eiffel Tower and the casino has one of the base sections of the Eiffel Tower set up in the gambling area. As you leave the casino at one side is a replica of the Arc De Triumph.

Finally the last casino before I got to where I had already been the night before at MGM Grand was Planet Hollywood Casino. This is a set with very modern decor and is has plenty of space around all the tables unlike some of the other casino’s which cram in as many as they can fit. By this time of the night (early morning) there were not many people in this casino and it was very easy to get onto a table to gamble. I was able to come out in front again here.

In between all these casinos there were a series of smaller Gambling Houses which are not as big as the casino’s but still have gaming tables and poker machines. I managed to stop at each one and get some more poker chips for my collection.

When I walked out of Planet Hollywood I was able to get the ‘Deuce’ back up to opposite Circus Circus where it stops out the front of the Riveria Casino. I went in and was able to get the poker chips and then walked across the road to my room and finally after a long day and night was able to get to bed at 4.30am.

Slots of Fun - A separate building at the front of Circus Circus run by the casino.