Harrah*s Lake Tahoe:
Recent reports on the demise of NSU Deuces at Harrah*s Lake Tahoe
were a bit premature. Three $1 Triple Play machines have escaped the
downgrade, they are slant-tops in a bank of 8 (the other 5 are Fast
Action Poker) located between the south entrance and the California
Bar. You still get 0.1% CB, plus bounce-back checks between $125 to
$500 per month on these machines; comp rate (rc + brc) starts at
0.3% and after about 1.5 hours of play will go to 0.5% or even
higher. Despite the "Gaming day ends at 6 a.m." slogan, tracking
resets at midnight, so if you are going to play through midnight,
it's best not to interrupt tracking, that way your entire session
will be awarded the higher comp rate.
Silver Legacy, Reno:
The good news: "Comp Yourself" is now fully operational, comps are
now officially and transparently bankable and with your PIN, you can
access your comps at all points of sale.
The bad news: Comp rate has taken another noise dive and is less
transparent. Although $20 coin-in still gets you 1 point, the
clearly advertised "Comp Menu" (75 points for lunch buffet, 500
points for a room night, etc.) is gone. On the FPDW, comp rate went
from 1% to 0.5% on February of 2004; it now varies between 0.20% and
0.30%, depending on some unfathomable factors. But if you need
additional (almost) free food, you may want to consider...
Hit, Eat, and Run at the Circus Circus Reno: Officially known as
the "Eat For One Dollar" promotion (indefinite, Sundays-Thursdays;
$2 for Fridays and Saturdays). The Circus Circus buffet used to
be "All you can keep down for $4.99", but has improved so much that
it's now arguably the best buffet in town in both quality and
selections; the cafeteria setting, kids stations, and self-service
drink stations are also very family-friendly. It's certainly better
than it's counterparts at the Silver Legacy and at the El Dorado.
Their "One Club" offers 0.25% CB and 0.25% comps. For this
promotion, you need to first earn one cash back dollar ($400 coin-
in) and then go to the booth and trade this one CB dollar for a
voucher for a buffet. You can do this 3 times a day.
Since the SAB SpinPoker is MIA, the best game to do this is 25¢
Pick'em (3 in a bank of 6 slant-tops near keno, next to the down
escalator to the Convention Center). It'll take you 20 minutes of
play and an expected loss of 19¢ to get this, unless you want to
shave off another 11¢ (and perhaps get Knighted by the Queen Of
Comps) by first getting the 4-of-a-kind bonus card from the booth
before you start, just make sure you pick 9 or higher for your bonus
quad card. Remember you are trading in the cash back dollar - the
comp dollar that you also earned is banked. Rooms are now $25
Sundays through Thursdays (mention offer code NM205, good through
March) and at check-in you'll also get a coupon for a free night,
good for your second night or a subsequent stay. Fine print says
there is a charge of 75¢ per day for unlimited local phone service
whether you want it or not, don't know if there are any hidden
charges (e.g., the Silver Legacy charges a $3 per day "Resort Fee"
and the Peppermill still charges an energy surcharge).