Left work about 12:40PM last Friday, and was strolling down the
Sea-Tac terminal by 1:10. Departure status was late: 1:55, scheduled
for 1:45. Almost full flight. Bumpier than normal as we
descended thru the big winds coming off the mountains
surrounding Reno. The passengers actually applauded upon
touchdown, weird. I met my regular limo driver about
3:45 in Reno airport. No MR. P sign, he knows me. I
don't think I got to gaming until 4:45. I became awed at the
new huge plasma flat screen TV in my corner suite. It is mounted
up high on the wall, in the corner between the south and west
windows. I'd never seen that 3D effect, the depth in some
movies. Must be hi-def. So, I find my pal Mike playing the
3-play VP on the mezz where we spent about 1/3 of our time last
Dec. Same to be on this trip (14 of 41 hrs, says "stat-boy").
Friday dinner about 6PM at Fairchilds Oyster bar.
Scallop & crab pan roast for me, Mike got brave
and tried the catfish. Not so great, he said it was undercooked.
First hand of note of the night: playing 50c Dbl Dbl Bonus,
3-play, dealt and hold three 2's, the 4th one comes in on two of the
three lines: +200, twice! Alas, no kicker . The session is up 300.
The next exciting bit is from a tip posted on vpFree, I learn that there is a DDB prog
machine somewhere at SL that pays 10-1 for the full house instead of 9-1.
The posting included the machine number but not the coin amount
(could be quarters or dollars).
I looked thru all the 25c machines with no success. I finally
found it on my fave bank of $1 coin DDBs. I play this machine a lot this weekend,
this first time I snag a rare Str8 Flush for 250. Held KQJ diamonds,
in came the T9, one off the royal for the progressive jackpot
that's at about 4517 and climbing steadily. This session I'm
still down 350 despite a quad J for 250 & the SF. And yes I hit
a bunch of full houses, but spent the "extra" $25 or so I
earned by playing 5 more hands. Some of those hands won me money
to play more hands, and, well, you get the picture.
Back at 50c DDBx3 I get a quad 3 w/ a 2 kicker for
400. I have a short session playing 50-line nickels. My host came
by and chatted a while.
So there's this old guy nodding off while he's playing a
mindless video game of "Caveman Keno" - on the bank near
Keno lounge, where I play 25c FP KB JW. His
wife is next to him playing, but another older lady, friend or
family, comes up behind him and gives him a big bear hug. He
startles and flails wildly, nearly clocking her. I am laughing. He
regroups, she's oblivious and she carries on with the
hi-how-are-ya, how-ya-doin....
A steady drain of my bankroll most of the day, including about
1000 lost on the $1 DDB (in 2 hrs). So, right around midnite, on
50c DDBx3, I hold AAA. Draw comes A2 on TWO of the lines. that's
2000 credits, $1000, PER LINE. $2007.50 on the hand pay and a tax form. Big YAY.
Mike had gone to sleep about 9:30, so this'll be big
news to tell him tomorrow morn. 7 hrs gaming on the day, dead
nuts even on money in my pocket.
Day 2 is an early start for me: 8:30AM gaming. First highlight
is on (again!) 50c DDBx3, I'm dealt four 3s. No kicker so I toss it, but I only snag
one kicker for 200 + 200 +400 = 800 payoff.
Zoom ahead to about 6PM. I'm down 1800 on the day (yeow - it's
only day 2!) so I move up to play $10 per hand on a single line
ACE$Bonus poker. I hit two quads in short order, +250 each, up 300
for the session, so I stop. Dinner is a long one, Steaks & merlot.
Mike & I do some walkbout slots
afterwards, then settle in for some v-p on Joker wild near keno
on the main floor. I only have 1000 left of my 2500 trip stake.
Mike hits a 1000 Royal playing quarters next to me upstairs on
the mezzanine. That was exciting, but I watch my 1000 slowly
disappear throughout the evening, about 11PM I have only 150
left. Hard to make the big comeback on 150. It's ATM takeout
time! 500 saturday night, then 500 more after midnight if i need
it, 500 is the daily limit. ugh.
$1 DDB is my target. Mike sits next to me, he's playin good,
hitting one or two quads. But in about 30 min I feed my last 6
hundreds into my machine. No quads, no money. I got a couple
4RFs that juiced me but then burned me.
You know, I know I get the hand regularly, the 4 card Royal
Flush (RF), but it seemed to me more poignant when I got them
this trip. I mean, the machine is doing good for me, FHs, quads
on their average frequency, and I'm my usual slightly
optimistic, slightly "Zen" neutral self. Then along comes this
3 part RF I hold, the 4th part comes in and..... nada on the 5th
card. or it's the same suit for a flush, or the right rank for a
str8. But it's always those pre-climax moments when the ol'
brain's juices flip into action. I think I could write a whole
book on those magic moments -when the RF DOES come in and when
it doesn't. A hundred pages about that second or two. And you
get an average of 47 false alarm 4RFs before the real RF hits. I
can't help but think it's coming in, I play SO many hands.
To the room for a little reconnoitering. Oh yeah, It's 11:30 so
I gotta wait for midnight for another financial "day" for
another ATM visit. I am quite tempted to go to sleep and regroup
in the morning. But the John Belushi Animal House Rally speech
burns inside of me all the time. Out I go at 1AM for my shot at
it.
500. ATM. no thoughts of failure. I limp along, taking gains on
25c denom DW, JW, DDB and even stop while up on my $1 DDB machine.
This hand in JW was pretty: held black 22, Joker, (xx); in
comes the two red 2s for 5-of-a -kind which pays $250 (1000
creds). Oh and a little blurb when I first sat down at the $1
DDB. These terminals are now MULTI-game. I apparently forgot to
check what game I was playing. The DDB prog is safe to hit the "Play
MAX credits" button, for 5 is the max. When one of my hands
didn't pay off enough, I knew something was up. Turns out I was
playing a different game altogether, White Hot Aces, and I was
playing for $50 PER hand, which is what MAX play button gets you on the
crappy paying games. A very deceptive and dangerous button. We laughed
at it happening to people near us all weekend. & here I was the
victim. It had turned my $325 ticket into $175 in about 5 hands.
I kicked myself, but rallied with a quad to finish the session
up 175 despite my screw-up.
SO I take my stake, 900 now, up from 500, up to the 50c ACE$BP
single line. Even tho' it's late at night, there's plenty of
Saturday night weirdos. One guy comes up to me and tells me," I
just won 4800 bucks off that machine!" I say "Alright. Thanks."
with mock enthusiasm and a brush off. Another guy is walking
down the aisle announcing his human advertisement: "Ribeye steak
& eggs, 24 hrs, at the coffee shop." He was trying to be
sublimal, there were about 3 people within earshot, and I don't
even look up. Maybe he took this task on, rather than take a layoff.
Another guy bums a smoke. I'm smoking a backwoods cigar, but it's NO,
Man! Damn weirdos. So, in this environment, I hold TJ_K_
diamonds and wouldn't you know it, in comes A & Q diamonds for
$2000. The attendant takes my ID for the tax form. He comes back
with the W-2G form and the money, and a supe witness, a fun
young guy I know from a late night royal payoff last year. They
have typed out the WRONG name on the form! So, they have to fill
it out again by hand. I razz them mercilessly as they are both
having fun and being loose. I offer to fill out the form for
them, and tell a story of how the supervisor almost screwed up
my royal payoff last year ( a true story). That was another fun encounter.
I finish up the night about 3AM, shortly after a 400 loss on the
$1 DDB. I got 2400 cash in hand, not bad for zeroing out and
only a 500 stake to start me off with at 1AM. 14 hours of
gaming today.
Day 3 - I'm awoken about 8:30 by what I thought I heard- a one
ring of my phone. Thinking it was a clever wake-up call from
Mike, I call his room. He was getting dressed, but hadn't rung
me. Odd. May be it was a dream. Also, he says, "congrats on the
royal." He says he talked to his wife on the phone, she told him
the news from my late night e-mailing. So, he says, you don't
have to work on your "revealing the info to Mike" act. Funny.
It's part of the game to cooly slip him the tax form to see his
reaction, etc.
Today is "drawing day". You collect all your tickets at the
promo desk. One for every so much in coin-in. I got my 142 tickets in the morning, I
hate standing in line later on. Oh yeah - the promo desk has a nice new addition for
us important <grin> players - a separate line for Sterling and Baron card holders.
The Drawing is a big deal, one stiff gets
10,000, five others a grand methinks. It's not until 3PM.
I'm down over 1000, mostly on the mezzanine multi-lines and ACE$BP,
playing 50c DDBx3. I draw the 4th Ace after held 3, plus a
kicker for a 1000 handpay. The attendant is a bored but friendly
lady. She shows me her pager which shows my name, the
jackpot amount, and machine locn, I KNEW the technology was there, never
witnessed it. . I finish this session up 700,but still down on the day 600.
While down near Keno, I meet "Bob", a local, and I mention how I
keep up on the scouting by reading vpFree. He say, Yeah! there's
this guy Mark, who writes Reno trip reports. I SMILE and say "I'M
MARK!" He says sincerely, you write Very Well! Man, we chat a
while. Fun encounter. He's retired, he &
his wife play a few hours of quarter VP almost daily. HI BOB!
Mike & I find some machines with bonus poker near to the
drawing area about 3PM. We aren't 'chosen'. This time. I hover
fairly even until near dinnertime. Mike & I are playin' Deuces
wild in the alcove outside Sterling steakhouse, winding down to
a 5:30 dinner reso. I get quad ducks for 250.
A little bit quicker dinner than Sat, we both have crab cakes
for appetizer and the Jumbo prawns on fettucine. Sausage and a
spicy reddish sauce make this a great meal. After a room trip,
back to it. A lowlight I have a 500 loss session on the $1 DDBs,
no quads. I stick to quarters for a couple hours, very slow
losses. 11 PM I play about 10 hands on the 5c 50-play, 7/5 Bonus poker, I'm dealt
trip 3s. 6 lines hit quads for $10 a pop, so I cash out up $100.
This minor success spurs me over to the my $1 DDB. Mike is on
the adjacent machine, grousin' about a quad-less session he's
having. I hit two quads in about 5 minutes, cash out +500 and
tell Mike I'm goin' upstairs for triple-play before this dollar
machine beats me up again. Mike joins me, but not until I'd
already hit DEALT quad Js on a 50c DDB x 3 for + 375. Schweet, a
mini-run like this. A long 3-play session sends back this 375. I
play $1 ACE$BP and get a rare Str8 Flush (SF) for 250, but I
cash out even.
About 1:30 I think I'm done for the night, so I put $5 in the
internet kiosk and file my daily blurb to some friends.
I had 1000 in my pocket when I wrote the wrap-up. But the Belushi rally again calls,
so I go out again. It is REALLY quiet in the whole casino. I gather $50 wins at
each of the 25c games I play. I even cash out up about $50 on $1
DDB, my nemesis, thanks to quad 8s. Unfortunately, the 50c DDB
3-play and the 50c ACE$Bonus on the mezzanine ding me for 200 each,
and I get to my room about 4AM with only 700 to start Monday.
Monday, Mike gave me a pre-arranged one ring phone call, I awoke
enough to tell him I probably would still be sleeping as he was
heading for the airport for his afternoon return home, good luck etc. I just talked to
Mike and he finished the trip UP after scoring well on the $1 DDB
(HEY! that was MY machine!) I awoke about 1PM, packed up,
checked out and was gaming by 2:30. My limo reso was for 7PM,
for a 8PM flight.
1st stop mezzanine: 50c Bonus -100, 25c DDBx5, -200. $1
ACE$Bonus I hit a nice AAAA, held two, for 400. not 5 min later
I hit quad 4s for 200 and finished that session up 400, up 100
for the day. Seeing as I started with 700, plus I have one more
ATM w/d possible as a backup, I decide to try the $1 DDB again.
Machine number 7452. There's one old guy sitting at the machine
NEXT to my machine. I hit 3 quads in about 20 min. (I'd hit only
seven $250 hands in the previous 4 HOURS at this machine). The
1stquad I held one Ace from the deal and drew four Tens. Next was
quad 7s, + 250. The 3rd quad of this session was quad 2s for 400, at
which point I cashed out up 600. Yay!
I go and cash in the ticket, but I am drawn back to the same
machine. Down 300 with so many 4 part RFs I was exhausted.
Progressive RF Jackpot was up over 5200. I "cool down" on the
25c DDBs (WHICH ARE now GAME KING multi-games - nice and fast and TITO) near
the South wall mens room, where the jackpot hasn't been hit
all weekend and is up over 1500. I hit quad 2s, no kicker, for
100 and stop the session up 150. Up 550 for the day.
Next attack is the 50c DDB triple play on the mezz. I get 4
quads for 125 each. on one of them I hold two 6s and draw 2 more
6s on two lines! Then a SF for 100 and then quad 3s with a
kicker for 400. I quit the session up 550, up 1100 on the day and 1800
in pocket.
If this run is gonna continue, I wanna hit my royal on the $1s,
so I play the "safe" ACE$ bonus upstairs. Drop 250. A brief
losing run of 350 on the $1 DDB and then give back 150 on the $1
ACE$ BP as my closing attack before I head to the bell desk,
where my same driver Jason is waiting, with bags already loaded
in the limo trunk.
Up 300 on the day, still down over $2K for the trip.
One funny blurb on my flight back - only about 35 people on
board. They hand out the snacks, then there's an announcement,
just as I've opened my bag of peanuts and got them in my hand:
"We mistakenly handed out the peanut snacks. Please DO NOT OPEN
your peanuts. We have someone onboard who is allergic to
peanuts. Please return them or put them away for later. THIS IS
A NO PEANUT FLIGHT!" The kid in the row behind me is
well-lubricated and has laughing somewhat maniacally to all the
announcements. He lets out a laugh to this PEANUT announcement
that matches own sentiments. If you fly Southwest enough, you
come to appreciate the little humorous comments the flight crew makes. I
actually have to ask the attendant if they are serious about the
peanuts! Yup.
Trip from limo ride to my door at home I make record time. (from
entering security line at Reno to walking in my front door: 2
hrs, 30 minutes.
Losing trip, but I'm all booked for March 30. Jim is probable
and now Mike & Lin are scheming to go too, as Lin was sick with
the flu and had to cancel this trip at the last minute.
Stats to follow separate for you hardcores in a separate posting.
COULD we get some more detail on the location of the 25c BP prog with a $10,000
sequential/reversible RF? I never found it. It was in a trip report earlier. Maybe it
was in El Dorado? Easy to get confused.
Oh and the lobby kiosk on the casino side of the two has a sensitive keyboard that
writes "hhhhhhiiiiiiiiii" instead of the "hi" you typed in.
Only inventory change I noted: bank of twelve 25c DDB 9/6 progs was just south of
"comedy club bar" is now along south wall in SW quadrant of main casino floor.
Cheers,
~MARK