Hi Gang:
Hedy and I are back from our visit to the cornfields of Iowa (strangely,
we kept hearing voices in our heads telling us to "build it and they will
come") and although we had an overall wonderful visit to Harrah's and the
Horseshoe in Council Bluffs, the Gambling Gods once again turned their backs
on us and the financial outcome was not a good one.
We flew into Omaha, Neb., (just across the Missouri River from Council
Bluffs) on Thursday and were escorted to a VIP Limousine Bus that was rolled
out for us and the other seven folks traveling with us on this special
Harrah's junket out of Newark.
The ride to the Harrah's hotel was a short one (five minutes or so) and
when we arrived we were assigned a nice, three-room suite and a standard
room. Hedy's niece, who lives in Des Moines (two hours away), drove in with her
four children to spend the weekend with us and we gave them the suite so
it would be more comfortable for her and the entire brood.
After getting settled in our respective rooms, we checked out the full-pay
DDB machines on the top deck of the riverboat that serves as the casino
for Harrah's but we failed to hit a single quad while playing for about an
hour at the $1 level. We moved downstairs to the second level to play some
single-line $1 9/6/4 DDB and some quarter/half Super Times Pay but didn't
have much better luck and our Day One bottom line number was a four-figure
loss.
That night we had tickets for a Train concert in Harrah's outdoor venue.
We had special Seven Stars seats set up for us on a raised, wooden deck with
a nice view of the stage but by the time Train came on (about 9:30), the
winds had picked up and it turned very cold. We listened to two or three
songs, then high-tailed it for some warmer environs.
On Day Two, we decided to take the shuttle over to the Horseshoe and try
our luck there. The Horseshoe is a more Las Vegas-like casino with a much
nicer, and larger, Diamond Lounge, and it features Super Times Pay with 9/6/4
DDB and a bank of 9/6/4 $1 DDB machines with a progressive royal. Right up
our alley, right? You would think so, but again our luck was non-existent
and we suffered our second straight humbling loss. Strangely enough, after
two days of DDB play, neither Hedy nor I had hit aces one time ... very,
very unusual for us.
Since Hedy's niece and kids were in town, we ate in the Harrah's buffet
all three nights we were there and found it to be above average and certainly
adequate for our gang of seven. It also was nice to know that the Diamond
Lounge at Harrah's opened for a continental breakfast at 10 a.m. and we
either had breakfast there or in the Aces Diner next door, which featured an
all-day, all-you-can-eat pancake special for $2.99.
Day Three (Saturday) was our best day of all. Thanks to a very nice Seven
Stars host at the Horseshoe named Jana we were able to obtain tickets to
the world-famous zoo in Omaha and she supplied limo transportation to and
from as well. The kids' eyes lit up when they saw this big, black stretch limo
pull up and their eyes got even wider when we got to the zoo. For me, it
was also a treat to see Rosenblatt Stadium (which is adjacent to the zoo)
after reading about it all these years as the home of the College World
Series. The stadium also served as the home of the Omaha Royals (Kansas City's
Pacific League affiliate) but the weekend saw the final game at Rosenblatt
because the team is moving into a new stadium next year.
The zoo itself was amazing. It's huge and features a vast array of animals
in their natural habitats. The highlights were the aquarium/tunnel with
sharks, stingrays etc. swimming above and around you, gorilla valley, the cat
complex (lions, tigers but no bears!), the penguin sanctuary and the rain
forest with its wide variety of monkeys. The kids ... and the adults ... had
a blast!
That night we decided to shuttle over to the Horseshoe again after dinner
and had a little better luck as I hit aces twice for $800 and Hedy got
dealt deuces with a kicker on STP triple-play for $600. The bottom line,
however, was just above break-even. We also checked out the General Manager's
Lounge at Horseshoe which is an upscale lounge open to Seven Stars guests and
Diamond players with a tier score above 70,000. It was very nice with tons
of leather chairs and loungers and a dart board game as well as a pinball
machine and a Wi game. They also served some nice hot dishes after 5 p.m. We
never got a chance to go to the dog track next door, however, to scope out
a couple of races. Maybe next time.
Sunday morning we again tried our hand at the full-pay DDB at Harrah's in
the morning but couldn't get anything going, then said goodbye to Hedy's
niece and the kids. Our flight from Newark was non-stop but, unfortunately,
the return flight to Newark was canceled and we wound up having to connect
in Houston with an hour-and-a-half layover. We survived, however, and,
despite the gambling loss, came away with some good memories of our first trip
to the Great Heartland.
We fly to Las Vegas tomorrow (Hedy's sweet 16 birthday ... she's a bit
dyslexic, she claims!) for the Seven Stars Signature Event there then come
home to gear up for my hip replacement surgery on the 28th. Hopefully, we can
turn around our negative gambling trend in Sin City.
Regards,
CoachVee & Hedy
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Iowa Trip Report
Sorry about your loss coach. I once went almost 40,000 hands without aces playing 10/7 DB (4 straight days). Hope that doesn't happen to you.
···
--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, coachvee@... wrote:
Hi Gang:
Hedy and I are back from our visit to the cornfields of Iowa (strangely,
we kept hearing voices in our heads telling us to "build it and they will
come") and although we had an overall wonderful visit to Harrah's and the
Horseshoe in Council Bluffs, the Gambling Gods once again turned their backs
on us and the financial outcome was not a good one.
We flew into Omaha, Neb., (just across the Missouri River from Council
Bluffs) on Thursday and were escorted to a VIP Limousine Bus that was rolled
out for us and the other seven folks traveling with us on this special
Harrah's junket out of Newark.
The ride to the Harrah's hotel was a short one (five minutes or so) and
when we arrived we were assigned a nice, three-room suite and a standard
room. Hedy's niece, who lives in Des Moines (two hours away), drove in with her
four children to spend the weekend with us and we gave them the suite so
it would be more comfortable for her and the entire brood.
After getting settled in our respective rooms, we checked out the full-pay
DDB machines on the top deck of the riverboat that serves as the casino
for Harrah's but we failed to hit a single quad while playing for about an
hour at the $1 level. We moved downstairs to the second level to play some
single-line $1 9/6/4 DDB and some quarter/half Super Times Pay but didn't
have much better luck and our Day One bottom line number was a four-figure
loss.
That night we had tickets for a Train concert in Harrah's outdoor venue.
We had special Seven Stars seats set up for us on a raised, wooden deck with
a nice view of the stage but by the time Train came on (about 9:30), the
winds had picked up and it turned very cold. We listened to two or three
songs, then high-tailed it for some warmer environs.
On Day Two, we decided to take the shuttle over to the Horseshoe and try
our luck there. The Horseshoe is a more Las Vegas-like casino with a much
nicer, and larger, Diamond Lounge, and it features Super Times Pay with 9/6/4
DDB and a bank of 9/6/4 $1 DDB machines with a progressive royal. Right up
our alley, right? You would think so, but again our luck was non-existent
and we suffered our second straight humbling loss. Strangely enough, after
two days of DDB play, neither Hedy nor I had hit aces one time ... very,
very unusual for us.
Since Hedy's niece and kids were in town, we ate in the Harrah's buffet
all three nights we were there and found it to be above average and certainly
adequate for our gang of seven. It also was nice to know that the Diamond
Lounge at Harrah's opened for a continental breakfast at 10 a.m. and we
either had breakfast there or in the Aces Diner next door, which featured an
all-day, all-you-can-eat pancake special for $2.99.
Day Three (Saturday) was our best day of all. Thanks to a very nice Seven
Stars host at the Horseshoe named Jana we were able to obtain tickets to
the world-famous zoo in Omaha and she supplied limo transportation to and
from as well. The kids' eyes lit up when they saw this big, black stretch limo
pull up and their eyes got even wider when we got to the zoo. For me, it
was also a treat to see Rosenblatt Stadium (which is adjacent to the zoo)
after reading about it all these years as the home of the College World
Series. The stadium also served as the home of the Omaha Royals (Kansas City's
Pacific League affiliate) but the weekend saw the final game at Rosenblatt
because the team is moving into a new stadium next year.
The zoo itself was amazing. It's huge and features a vast array of animals
in their natural habitats. The highlights were the aquarium/tunnel with
sharks, stingrays etc. swimming above and around you, gorilla valley, the cat
complex (lions, tigers but no bears!), the penguin sanctuary and the rain
forest with its wide variety of monkeys. The kids ... and the adults ... had
a blast!
That night we decided to shuttle over to the Horseshoe again after dinner
and had a little better luck as I hit aces twice for $800 and Hedy got
dealt deuces with a kicker on STP triple-play for $600. The bottom line,
however, was just above break-even. We also checked out the General Manager's
Lounge at Horseshoe which is an upscale lounge open to Seven Stars guests and
Diamond players with a tier score above 70,000. It was very nice with tons
of leather chairs and loungers and a dart board game as well as a pinball
machine and a Wi game. They also served some nice hot dishes after 5 p.m. We
never got a chance to go to the dog track next door, however, to scope out
a couple of races. Maybe next time.
Sunday morning we again tried our hand at the full-pay DDB at Harrah's in
the morning but couldn't get anything going, then said goodbye to Hedy's
niece and the kids. Our flight from Newark was non-stop but, unfortunately,
the return flight to Newark was canceled and we wound up having to connect
in Houston with an hour-and-a-half layover. We survived, however, and,
despite the gambling loss, came away with some good memories of our first trip
to the Great Heartland.
We fly to Las Vegas tomorrow (Hedy's sweet 16 birthday ... she's a bit
dyslexic, she claims!) for the Seven Stars Signature Event there then come
home to gear up for my hip replacement surgery on the 28th. Hopefully, we can
turn around our negative gambling trend in Sin City.
Regards,
CoachVee & Hedy
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
It's clear that playing VP will lead you into some unusually bad experiences. I have now had 3 days this year when I did not draw a single four-of-a-kind. And on 2 of those 3 days I was on a 5 Play machine.
Yet last year I had two $1 royals drawn within about 3 hours of each other. Both were from being dealt 3 cards of the eventual hand. And both were on single line machines.
I do know that on bad days I feel less "unlucky" if I've made smart choices along the way. This includes choosing the best available game, including any promotions, and not getting overextended financially as things go sour. The luck will eventually turn around. Unfortunately, it sometimes does not happen as quickly as we might hope.
···
--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "kiwiboy4921" <waynes@...> wrote:
Sorry about your loss coach. I once went almost 40,000 hands without aces playing 10/7 DB (4 straight days). Hope that doesn't happen to you.