How about dinner in Vegas?

Time to choose a venue

We've had three recommendations for a venue for our dinner. The count of guests is officially at 17, and I expect we'll make 20.

The three restaurants:

• Benihana, at the Hilton: It's certainly convenient, but I see two problems with this choice. One, the table configuration is 8 guests per table, so we'll be split into 3 groups. Two, Tinker can't attend there.
  
• Smith & Wollensky, a well-known steakhouse, located opposite the Monte Carlo. Read more here:
  http://www.smithandwollensky.com/LasVegas.asp
  
• Outback Steakhouse. a national steakhouse chain, located mid-Strip at the Casino Royale.

I've posted a poll to gauge the opinion of all those attending. With cmonseven's help, a decision will be made soon. The poll will be a factor, but I'll get her off the hook and say it's not the only factor.

The votes are anonymous, but I'll 'fess up to mine. I'm voting Outback for purely financial reasons. I have lots of comp dollars built up there, so I'll be eating courtesy of Casino Royale if we end up there.

I'll be comfortable with any of these three however.

 

I look forward to seeing you again.

Our count is now at 19.

 

Yes, on both counts.

 

Why I'm arriving on Wednesday

When I was booking my travel, I ended up with a choice of flying on Thursday, or Wednesday. Normally, I wouldn't come out a day early, especially in this case when my wife Jan won't be coming along. However, flying on Wednesday was a little cheaper...

The real reason? I can't imagine how awful it would be to have a flight scheduled on Thursday which was cancelled or delayed causing me to miss the mandatory sign-in at the Hilton. Once I thought about that, my decision was made. I arrive just after noon on Wednesday.

 

I'll be on my own getting there, since I'm headed over an hour or two early, to play this month's batch of coupons at Casino Royale and get a comp for Outback.

For anyone driving, you'll want to park behind the Casino Royale. There's a driveway between Casino Royale and the Venetian that leads to a parking lot behind the casino. If the parking lot is full, there's a garage available there as well.

 

Three questions answered

TxTour: Coupons at Casino Royale:
If you haven't signed up for their players club yet, you're in for a treat. They usually have a special set of coupons for first-time signups (I think you must live outside Nevada as well). When I signed up, there was a 2:1 blackjack coupon good for bets up to $100, among other nice coupons.

Every other month I get another set of coupons, one batch for each upcoming month. They're not as good as the initial set, but they're still quite valuable. Typical bi-monthly mailing includes 2:1 BJ ($25 max bet), $10 match play, $5 match play, and a $25 bonus for 4-kind on 25c denomination or higher, with two free room nights (three in the offseason).

Now, Casino Royale is not much to look at, and there's only one decent blackjack game in the casino, a double deck game. Hint: Use your 2:1 at the awful 6:5 single deck games! But everyone is very nice, and the offers are hard to beat. The rooms are clean, but nothing special. I usually compare them to a Holiday Inn.

cmonseven: What is JOB?
JOB is short for Jacks Or Better, which is the most common video poker game.
9/6 JOB is a video poker paytable that pays 9 coins for full houses and 6 coins for flushes. This is normally referred to as "full-pay" Jacks or Better, even though the return on the game is still under 100%, at 99.54%.

gflan: Is there any 9/6 JOB?
No unfortunately. I never saw any 9/6 in there, but apparently there were a handful of games until recently. I learned about them when I read that they had been removed. I play my coupons on the 8/5 Bonus Poker games, which have a return of 99.17%. If you play during triple points hours, that's still close to break even before the coupons.

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More on cashback and comps:

Cash back is odd there since it's based on coin-OUT. So if you have a bad session on video poker, you won't make much cash back. But it all evens out in the long run. The normal cashback rate is 0.25% of coin out, but every day there are several hours of double points and triple points.

There are two important points to make about their point-earning system:

First, You must earn a minimum of $10 cashback before you can redeem it, and the cash-back expires 24 or 48 hours after your last play. So, if you earn enough to cashout, cash it or lose it.

Second, and this is the best part in my opinion: In addition to the cashback points, your play also earns comp dollars, usable in these restaurants at CR:
Outback, Denny's, Subway. Table play earns comp dollars at a very nice rate as well.

This is one of the best comp deals for low action anywhere in Las Vegas, and it's located right in the middle of the Strip.

I'd recommend if several of you are new to this casino, perhaps you should sign up together, and pool your results so you can play higher limits on all the 2:1 coupons, with less risk of losing a lot.

I'll also wait until dinner at Outback to tell one more reason I like Casino Royale.