Continuing from Week 1 post… Highlight hands & sessions:
Day 8
I catch a limo from Silver Legacy to Peppemill so I can play in the Poker Tournament that starts at noon.
After I sign up, I hit the $1 DDB in hiLimit and snag AAAA for 800. For five minutes of video poker, I recoup my poker entry fee and probably cash more profit than I can make from up cashing in the poker tournament, unless I make it to the final table, which would take at least 8 hrs of play.
After crapping out of poker, I found an MIA 3-machine bank of fast 3-play/5-play multiline/mulitigame machines I call “squashed cards”. The display of the hands has the cards squashed vertically. But they are fast and used to be my favorite bank until the WMS machines came along to become my favorite.
Anyhow, Squashed cards grabs 800 from me on $1 x 3 NSUD.
I flee Peppermill by taxiing back to Silver Legacy.
$1 DDB AAAA for 800 and a +600 session
$2 ACE$BP 2222 for 400, quad 6 for 250 and a +700 session.
dinner at Hussongs and a double order of those baja fish tacos this time.
down 800 at $1 DDB - three Quads for 250 make it a long session, I favor six of the eight machines for subtle differences, speed, sound, display.
5c x 100 line DDB - even tho’ it’s short pay (9/5) I give it a whirl, hoping for enough quads to offset the short pay flushes. I get it very quickly: DEALT A4444 for $40 x 100 = $4000 !! tax form, hand pay.
After the hand pay, I’m playing a few hands to get to a round number before I cash out and score quad A’s with a 3 kicker for 100 on one line. +4200 session. Even for the usually jaded me, getting such a pretty dealt hand is very exciting. The joy of Multi-line poker.
Nothing to note for the rest of the evening, except that a session of $5 ACE$BP is a 600 spanking.
UP 3000 in video poker
Day 9
I pack up, check out (bill: $0) and drop my bags at bell, as today, sometime, I’ll head back to Peppermill for the rest of the trip.
I “donate” 1200 to the VP coffers, grab some cigars from the gift shop and a bottle of the F-C Tresor from the carriage house ($51 off my $500+ comp balance) and taxi to Pepps at 5:30. Check in, corner suite in Pepps tower per usual. Host sends me some water bottles on ice, a bottle of Baileys and a cracker-cheese-fruit platter. yeow. I have dinner at the cafe milano counter.
two 400 jackpots is my highest for the day. not good.
DOWN 3800 on the day.
Day 10
It’s a couple hours into play before I can report a winning session:
$1 x 3 DDB AAAA for 800 & a quad T for 250, session UP 1000
many hours of losing sessions later, after a nap during a room break, it’s after midnight
$1 x 3 DDB: dealt 666, I draw the 4th 6 on all three lines, in the same position! (photo at vpFree) for 750
and that session ends up +500
I activate my third 750 freeplay offer of the trip (all at Peppermill) and pocket 900 thanks to a quad 3 for 400 playing $2 ACE$ BP.
Last session of the day is UP 500 thanks to 44443 for 400 on 50c x 10 line DDB.
Another Down Day tho: DOWN 2400
Day 11
The Main poker event starts at noon, it’s moved to the Tuscany Ballroom.
It starts nearly an hour late, when their Nevada Gaming Comm. approval is delayed because of the location of some of the tables supposedly are outside the camera’s view.
Anyhow, during the first break, I play $1 JW at the chandelier bar. about 1o hands in I hold 3RF and draw a joker and a 4th RF card for a Wild RF for 500.
During the dinner break, after I have dinner in my room and get in a little 50c x 5 line. I cash out after hitting a dealt quad 5 for 5 x 125: a +300 session.
After the poker tourney is over for me, only my last session of the night is slightly up:
$1 x 3 NSUD I score a dealt WRF for 3 x 125
DOWN 700
Day 12
Noon start:
$1 DDB second hand 22223 for 800
$1 x 3 NSUD 2222 for 1000. I note that all jackpots containing that 4th digit in the jackpot amount, are good ones. When glancing over the multiline payoff boxes, look for FOUR digits. Brilliant observation, I know.
Dinner at Milano counter. Salmon “melt” sandwich, with avocado & waffle fries. yum.
3 x $1 DDB AAAA2 for 2000, tax form
after room break & 1st (8PM) drawing:
$1 x 3 NSUD dealt 222, Quad 2 for 1000 on one line, WRF on a second line for 125, SF on 3rd line for 50.
The screen total of 1175 is pretty. A +900 session and even on the day up until here.
on $1 x 3 DDB I get 2222 for 400, but these next 7 sessions are all DOWN. I give up before midnight.
on the day: 2100 DOWN
Day 13
My trip stake is taking a beating.
$1 x 3 NSUD 2222 for 1000
There’s a $1 DDB with suited RF progs in the No SMoking room. The prog meters are higher than the same machine which sits in Hi Limit. I dump 1000 into this NOSMO machine, I get no quads in the session and come away with zero. so much for the 1000 profit from the wild quad ducks I’d just pocketed.
$2 DDB in hiLimit has prog quad meters, I never score the AAAA with kicker which is up to over 5300, but in this session I take AAAA prog for 1665. and a +1400 session.
Dinner at Oceano and no jackpots to report until 11PM (!)
$2 DDA&F JJJJ for 800: held no cards, got four jacks all on the draw. in the same bank of machines session, KKKK for 800.
Otherwise a forgettable day: DOWN 3300.
Day 14
I have dream about getting 3333: it’s strange for me to dream about video poker WHILE I’m already IN RENO. usually I’m at hime and if I dream about Video poker, that means it’s time to book a trip.
I tell this to one of the many slot attendants I’ve befriended in my long stay. I sit at the WMS machine and about 25 hands in, playing $1 x 3 DDB, I get dealt 4RF. The missing Ah comes in on the first line! A surprise, as always. I grab the attendant I’d just told my dream story to to show him my quick fortune.
Proving I’m way down for the trip - my first thoughts are “Good- I won’t tap out on this, my last day.”
But the day goes on with all good things. It seems I am getting a quad jackpot in every session, and I am quitting the session soon after hitting to make sure it’s an UP session. UP 4600, I take time to take on food at the Milano counter, and come out to $2 DDA&F with a KKKK for 800. A bit later in this long session, I score two DEALT quads for 500 each. Only +700 for this very long session.
I switch to NOSMO $1 DDB and scor my hand from my dream: 3333 for 400.
I don’t stay on a $5 ACE$ BP session very long after hitting Quad 9 for 625: UP 400.
I toss $200 at a $1 x 5 line slot and another 300 at $5 x 3 line slot.
$2 ACE$BP quad 2 for 400, quit it UP 400
$2 DDB w/ prog quads, I hit a prog with 2222 for 900. session +500
Then a bit of a trickle down, the magic up runs seem over.
I give back 1000 in four sessions of $1 and $2.
My swan song session is on $5 ACE$BP. Down 300, I decide to stop here as it’s 6:30 and I got to head to bell, weigh my luggage as it holds three bottle of booze (50.5LBS, not bad), grab some stogies to whittle down my $1800 comp balance, and grab the limo I’ve reserved to the airport. And oh yes, I got a nice sharkskin top for my GF in the gift shop.
UP 5000 on the last day, YAY.
FINAL stats, includes all 14 days:
HRS VP: 106
paigow: 17
Live hold’em poker tournaments: 10
$VP: -5700
paigow: -2900
poker: -500
Total trip: -9100
Jackpots:
6 x 100
122 x 125
29 x 200
82 x 250
41 x 400
12 x 500
1 x 625
17 x 800
8 x 1000
1 x 1250
1 x 1600
4 x 2000
3 x 4000
total of 327 jackpots
worth $110,000
I did some rough calcs, I won’t share the math:
I saw 150,000 video poker hands
(hit 4 royals, expected 3.3)
I did about $700,000 coin-in
return was about 99.2%
Again, 17 jackpot photos are on vpFree.
Thanks for reading.
~Mark