Trip Report (Travelworm sucks and first time getting the boot)

Last week I booked a night in Vegas on Travelworm.com. After driving all day I get to the hotel with my girlfriend and they have no record of our reservation and are completely full for the night. Being the responsible company that Travelworm is, when the hotel notified them that they were full, they didn't bother to tell me I didn't have a reservation. So after an hour on the phone with Travelworm they send us to another hotel saying they had booked us an upgraded room. We go to the new hotel and what do you know, they are completely full. After another hour of yelling at Travelworm over the phone, and having them tell me that the only open room in all of Vegas was at Arizonas Charlies East, I get them to admit that if I can find an open room in Vegas they will pay for it. What do you know, 5 minutes later they call me back and found us a room at the The Orleans. We drive over there and finally Travelworm comes through, we check into the room and it is a super nice suite, two rooms, a bar, dining room table, 4 TVs, the works, and I didn't have to pay a dollar more than my original reservation. So it all worked out in the end, but there is not a chance I will ever use Travelworm again.

So now onto the good stuff. We decided to stay and play at the The Orleans. I had never been there before, it is about two blocks off the strip, but they had $5 dollar double deck games, which is my game of choice. The penetration wasn't great but would vary with different dealers. I know I fit the casino counter profile but I have never been barred, or even experienced heat before, so I don't worry much about cover. I was spreading $5 - $40 and we stayed and played for about 6 hours. For the last two hours there were pit bosses standing right behind me and starring at the table but I didn't really worry about it. There was a guy at the table next to us with at least $8,000 sitting on the table all in black chips, and I couln't imagine the casino watching me over him. All of a sudden, on a hand jumping from $20 to $40, I get tapped on the shoulder and, "Sir, we can no longer allow you to play blackjack at this casino"... and some other rambling about how I could play any other game in the casino. I kinda laughed and mumbled something about it being only a $5 dollar table, and the pit boss actually looked embarassed.

In the end I left with about $350 and got away with staying in a deluxe suite for the standard room price, and they had a great 99 cent breakfast at 4 in the morning. You gotta love Vegas.

about how tough it it is these days to play BJ with an edge. $40.00 top bet and he gets barred. All our days are numbered. He probably had an expectation of about 80 cents on that hand. I've noticed on my recent trips that things suck.

I have lots of poker books and Sharp Sports Betting. I may just give BJ up.

Bert

That hotel problem seems to me to be common. I had a similar problem once with expedia.com (my fault for using a crappy microsoft product). And c'mon, any pit boss who watches you count for 2 hours has to throw you out, no matter what your bet. I'm surprised it took the monkey that long. Shoulda found another pit after 10 minutes. But then again, you won't be there again, so it doesnt really matter if you get barred... ahh the beauty of vacations!

1. Make sure you have an e-mail address ready to give them when you make the reservation.

2. The confirmation number will be sent to your e-mail, but you're not done yet!

3. Wait 24 hours, then CALL THE HOTEL and ask that hotel if they have your reservation for the correct day, the correct amount of people,the correct bed(s), smoking or non, and anything else you require. GET THE NAME OF THE PERSON YOU SPEAK TO AT THE HOTEL!!!
Write it down,take all the paperwork with you.

4. When you arrive give the clerk the same credit card you used to make the reservation, along with all of the paperwork showing how you made the reservation. If you do all of this, there is very little the hotel can do to deny you your room at the cheap price they hate to give you!

arjay

1. Whenever you book a hotel room using any means, always get a confirmation number! If booking directly through the hotel, you can get this when you make the reservation. If using an online booking agency, call the hotel a day or two before your trip. Don't leave home without that number!

There are few feelings worse that standing at a hotel front desk late at night after a long trip and being told that: a). They have no record of your reservation, and b). they are booked up.

2. Coast casinos (of which the Orleans is one) are notorious sweatshops. It is really quite surprising that you lasted as long as you did, spreading 1-8 with no cover. They don't really care about the size of the action - they just don't like counters, period.