Went to Biloxi and then New Orleans and had a bad trip. In the first
minute (literally) at Biloxi, I hit a jackpot on Pinball slot machine. I
should have stopped gambling then and there. It was downhill from there with
losing on 5 play DDB $1 at Biloxi and then on to New Orleans, where I was
looking forward to playing their 5 play good NSU. Proceeded to play for hours
on one machine with only 1 set of deuces, finally got a Royal Flush, but
was still down on that machine. The next day had the 3/5 play machines
busy, so I played 10 play $1 NSU - mistake! Horrible cards, with no deuces,
and down over $5000 quickly. Finally got on the 3/5 play machine and hit a
Royal, but no deuces. Played over 6 hrs on that one with not a single set
of deuces. I kept being dealt 3 8's, but that doesn't help you when you are
looking for 2's. I probably was dealt 3 8's on the bottom about 30 times,
3 9's maybe 15 times, but 3 deuces only 3 times (and no 4th deuce ever
showed up).
After all the gambling (and losing!!) I have decided I hate video poker!
Argh! I can win on Pinball in 1 minute but lose on VP, even good VP after
hours and hours and hours of play. (And when I say lose, I mean L O S E.)
On top of that it was cold in New Orleans, and they don't seem to believe
in heat in the city, even in the winter. I actually wore my coat over my
sweater and shirt inside the casino. But that wasn't the worst of it - the
worst was Ruth Chris's restaurant (inside the Harrah's Hotel), where at
night inside it was about 50-55 degrees! No heat! They let people come in
and out of the doors directly to the outside, and when we complained about
lack of heat, they said "Harrah's Hotel controls the heat and won't turn it
on" or "We have just turned on the heat" (they didn't) or "The heat is
broken." I actually had to put on my coat, and put my hood up, and then my
gloves as we got to the middle of dinner! I wolfed down my main course and
took desert back to the room. There was a draft on the back of my head you
wouldn't believe. I dared the hotel manager (who wore a suit) to sit where
I did for half an hour in his shirtsleeves...but I don't think he did. I
believe the air conditioning units were on the whole time (at least it
seemed that way from the drafts we felt along the wall and over our heads).
The Bambu restaurant inside the casino was just slightly better - I wore my
coat but didn't need the gloves! It was also incredibly noisy since there
is no wall to the casino, and they were doing a drawing that went on and
on at full volume (full in this case being F U L L!!!!).
And there were also problems with the Harrah's hotel, which didn't warn us
when we checked in that our room on the 13th floor would be directly above
a Fulton street plaza that would have all day music the next 2 days. And
the music included a huge marching band that started at 8 a.m. The band
sounded like it was right in the living room of my suite. When it woke me
(after I'd been up til 3 a.m. playing VP), I called the front desk to ask for
another room, but too bad -- they were sold out. I asked for the manager,
so they transferred me -- to Voice Mail -- no manager til 2 p.m.! I asked
for earplugs...but none arrived. The music went on without the band, but
it was still extremely loud, all day til 10 p.m. for 2 days. No letter of
warning, no warning at check in, no letter of apology. There was a total
lack of consideration for the hotel guests. The band and music were playing
right on Harrah's own property, so obviously someone had planned for this,
and had scheduled it to start at 8:00 a.m., despite the fact that the
Harrah's hotel has poor (or maybe no) soundproofing.
Once again, when I asked for a newspaper to be delivered to the room (you
have to request it), it never showed up. Once again (as on previous trips),
when I asked the front desk for the code for free internet (free to 7 star
members and maybe Diamond), I was given an incorrect code and had to call
again for it.
Every time we've stayed at the Harrah's Nola hotel on recent trips there
have been problems, but this was the worst time (worse even that the
"short-sheeting" of the beds I complained of bitterly via an unanswered letter to
the manager, which I think I also mentioned on this board).
ARGH!
New Orleans used to be one of my favorite places to play, but between lower
offers (despite increased play, mind you), losses on VP machines that
can't seem to produce deuces wild (I was probably about 10 sets under for all
my play), noisy hotel rooms, cold casino (summer and winter), freezing
restaurants, etc., I've had it for the foreseeable future.
All I can say is that if you do go to New Orleans, be prepared for overly
cold air conditioning in the summer and lack of heat in the winter, and take
your sweater, and maybe your long johns and muck lucks too! Avoid staying
at the Harrah's hotel if possible, and if you do stay there, ask for the
"quiet rooms" away from Fulton street, should they be having an unannounced
marching band in the street below you.
Meanwhile, if I start to think of heading to Harrah's New Orleans, I'm
going to stop myself and head for the Wynn in Vegas! (or almost anywhere
else....)
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