Six months ago, Sam, my sister Linda, my parents and I belatedly celebrated Linda's 21st birthday with her first official, of-age gambling trip to Vegas. It turned out to be a mellow trip, with a side excursion out into nature (a first for me when I go to Vegas), minimal drinking, and only moderate amounts of gambling, most of which we concentrated at what is affectionately known as the 'WynnCore' by Steve Wynn's fanboys: twin hotel/casinos that sit on the north end of the Strip and generally considered to be two of the highest end properties in Las Vegas at the moment.
Though I would hardly call myself a fanboy of Steve Wynn, from what I know of the city's history, I definitely appreciate all that he did for the famed Las Vegas Strip, beginning with the design and construction of the Mirage property. I'll spare you the details, but Vegas would not be what it is today were it not for Wynn's vision to bring a Polynesian theme to the Mirage, to bathe some sections of the casino in sunlight, an idea unheard of at the time, and to elevate the levels of customer service to the highest strata of expectations.
He then went on to design some of the most iconic and well-received properties in Las Vegas, including the Bellagio, which stages intricately choreographed fountain shows in the lake outside. All of my best memories of Vegas happened near these fountains, from discovering them for the first time and feeling overwhelmed by the grandness of it all, the soaring vocals of Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman and the force of the nozzles that propel streams of water up dozens of feet in the air, all the way to the last time, when Sam and I sat outside at a restaurant on a seasonably warm October evening, stealing away for a long weekend, and every other time in between.
(You know, after reading the last few paragraphs, maybe I am a fanboy after all. . . or at least vying for a position on Steve Wynn's marketing team.)
Anyway, when we all visited last December, the Wynn casino held a promotion for new gamblers who signed up for their slot machine players' club: earn 500 points (which, if I remember correctly, is $1,500 played through their slot machines) and receive two free buffets (which, if I remember correctly, can be had for about $80). I hatched the genius plan for Linda to get five copies of her card so that all of us could play under her name, thus spreading out the risk a little bit and getting her to those "free" buffets that much sooner.
Two hours later, she got her points, her buffets, and four of us walked out of the casino with more money than we brought in.
And because of the amounts of cash we cycled through in the span of those two short hours, Linda received a letter the other day inviting her back to the Wynn hotel this summer for a couple of complimentary nights, as well as some money to gamble with and a meal or two. Apparently, we all triggered something in the system, flagging Linda as a high(er) roller.
She won't be turning down this offer, and though Sam and I would have to pay for our own room should we decide to go, we probably won't be turning down a reason to return either.
No comments:
Post a Comment