Post Mortem, Xmas Vegas 2023.

OK then.

That was OK. Slightly strange, but a good time. Highlights by subject, as always, below.

Flights:

Both good, on time, but I did have to check my bag both times. Not ideal and on the in flight it freaked me out because I inexplicably left $7K in the checked bag. Luckily I had honest or oblivious bag chuckers on both ends or it could have led to disaster. As it turned out though no issues with United.

Rooms/Resorts:

Again no complaints. 1 night at Cosmo was good though all I really saw was the bed. Had the PH facing view. Then Delano for the last 6 nights was, again, fine. I'm an old pro on the MB campus now and the suite was a fine place to start and end the days. Resort was pretty mellow except the first couple days at MB, they had a football bowl team staying there so a lot of them around but otherwise pretty slow.

Food/Bev:

Had a few good meals, did a great bone-in pork chop at Blue Ribbon on night 2, good tapas on Xmas night at Jaleo and had good sushi at Kumi on the last night. Everything else was pretty much food as I found it and again it wasn't enough to counteract the drinking, of which, wow. Was in the bottle most of the trip, that I was awake for, anyway. Never got stupid drunk though.

The Strip:

The trend continues - all, and I mean all, of the Indo-Pacific and Middle Eastern nations bring their entire families, including at least 2 strollers each, to Vegas every Xmas now. I almost cried one night when I had to traverse through Bellagio at dinner time. Literal hell. It cleared up a bit after the 26th and regained a bit of normalcy but I will have to factor this into my plans going forward at Xmas.

The Show:

Atomic Saloon. Hasn't really changed much. Still funny and I was right on the stage so I got in the act a bit. Worth the $50.

Gambling/MGM:

The literal definition of up and down. I hit 4 hand pays of $2K on the trip, $7200 (after tips), yet still only came home with $3K. That's bad math to have to do but that's around $10K just...poof. The pattern was hit a hand pay early in the day then spend the rest of the day losing it back, +. When you factor in the taxes I'm going to get killed for it'll be a total loss, like the June trip, but at least I hit something this trip. That said, I did NOT reach MGM Gold, so that was another fail. Only got to 69K points, so not even close, really. I didn't keep a close enough eye on it during the latter stages of the trip. So, in retrospect, I guess it was pretty much all down. Yay! Coming back with half the bankroll isn't ass cancer though I guess.

The Positives:

It wasn't all fail. I had a great time in general. The body for the most part held up, as did the chemicals I had along, and I saw some bartender buddies and made some new ones. Fontainebleau is 100% gorgeous, just a stunning place. Strangely not very gambling friendly, only one VP bar in the entire place, but it will probably be a place I spend time in on every trip going forward. The trip went by very fast and that's a sure sign you're having a blast. It was a great return after 6 months off and I'm already fiending for the next trip, which will be April for the Bday. The Vegas bug in me is fully back, and this trip helped that.