DAY 1: Flew Southwest (R/T $157 from Seattle): landed in Reno Fri
about 4:20. Answered a page from my limo driver as I was walking down
the terminal. I brought a CD to play in the limo this time - Chili
Peppers - nice touch.
Painless check-in at VIP desk, except a lady was having a seizure
right outside the VIP glass doors: ironic that she was sitting on the
triple-sized "throne chair" where many tourists have their photo
taken. Instead of "Smile!" it was "Fight for your Life!". I had to
step around the three medics that were attending to the lady. I
tried not to think about her struggle.
What a room I got this time: upper floor 25, corner Suite. Three
windows, lotsa room. Light gold wallpaper & carpet, brighter red
drapes, bedspread. Large walk-in shower. Jacuzzi in one window. No
mini-fridge in room this time, that's OK. I quick hung up shirts,
stuffed my pockets for the night and got out of there. Yummmm, free
Room.
I pocketed my big postcard which is good for the $250 + $250 bonus
cashback as I rode the escalator, noting a line off to the left for
promo desk. I decided to get that money later. My money management
plan was to go $500 ea. on .25/.50/$1 denoms. next level options
were: .05 50-play, and/or $5 DDB. A Singer-ish progression thing.
Return to .25 if all losses get re-couped by wins at any level.
So, Gamin' by 5:20, 1st thing was to play $1 DDB. Ha Ha! Off the plan
already! For $200 anyhow. Blow or score on the $250 "free money".
Blown. No quads. So back to the Plan - quarters. A quick scouting
found ALL the same machines. - bank of 10 slants near Keno. 14 DW
prog speedy uprights near women's restroom. All .25 & $1 DDB Prog
banks intact. Even the 50c coin Bonus poker unchanged. .25 Bonus
Progs still there - the South wall uprights had a $1700+ level on
their Royal. I'm comfortable playing all these games, and in changing
strategies as I move around. I notice a few minor hold errors in the
first five minutes when I change, but not too costly.
I made the rounds on the .25 level. Got in the groove, but losses
were steady for 3 hrs.
Got my $250 Cash via Promo desk at Cashier's Cage. Yummm, Free
Money.
Broke for a quick Food Court dinner (cafeteria-style). Prime Rib.
Yummmm, Free food, charge to room and itdisappears from the bill (pre-
comped!)
Mini-(free) slot tournament set up at the middle East wall entrance.
I pounded the slot machine button for 5-min 3 times. Feel dumb, but
you got lotsa company. I also won a Free Entry into the Stay,Play &
Win Slot Tourney Oct 24/25. Million dollar prize fund, 500 entrants.
Ho hum. No plans to attend. Not on my schedule.
So back to VP, I'm at the .25 Bonus along south wall when my first
quad hits: dealt quad Aces for +$100. I fill a bucket with the
quarters and move one machine down and I'm dealt trip Aces and draw
the 4th for another $100. By the time I cash out this 2nd 400 creds,
I'm only up $100 for the session. I'll take it, Nice, a win. I have
some long sessions on a buncha other .25 banks until I'm down almost
$500 on quarters and it's 12:30AM.
I make my move to .50 Bonus, hit quad 3s for $100 and pocket the
profit. After another breakeven hour at .50, I decide to dabble at
the $1 level. Bonus poker - I hit quad 9's for $125, but stay even on
that session. on $1 DDB I'm dealt quad 5s for 250, pocket +$150. I
lose $100 on a new game to me, Nickel coin, (times 5 creds) , 50-
Play. $12.50 bet per draw.
You get average of 100 creds return on your 250 bet on most dealt non-
paying hands. But this game is ALL about getting a good (PAYING)
dealt hand. the draw returns are amplified by 50. Better follow
perfect strategy also.
So, it's 2:45AM, I am not yet REAL tired, but starting to think about
calling it a night. I score quad 5s again on $1 DDB and cash in the
bucket for an even session. I sit back down on a $1 DDB for a re-
start, first hand, hold AA, (Howard Cosell voice-over:) THERE Right
There!! he draws AA4 for the Quad Aces plus the all-important 2,3 or
4 kicker, which turns the $800 jackpot into TWO, Thousand, Dollars.
My Goodness. (End of voice-over).
The tax form comes plus the 20 Benjamins and I tip $30 and I wind
down a few more hands and wander around playing a few $1 slots for
$10 or $20 here and there, and then I'm in my room. It's more fun
emptying your pockets on the table or the bed when you KNOW you have
a profit in there. Oh, and my host had a basket of fruit (& nuts and
chocolates) sent up, plus a bottle of house Chardonnay, chilled. All
sitting in my room on a wheeled cart. Classy. But I quickly am
snoozin'.
DAY 2: I'm awake about Noon thirty, but I'm lounging around the room
for a couple more hours, TV, checkin' out the view, counting my
money. Planning my attack. Blah Blah Blah.
3PM I'm back on the main casino floor. After another 4 hrs I've
tried all levels in mini-sessions. I took +$100 after about ten hands
on $5 coin ($25/hand) Dbl Dbl Bonus in the High limit area. I also
took +$100 from the nickel 50-play when I held a 3-part RF and drew
one Royal out of the 50 hands (worth +$200). Actually kind of anti-
climactic, that Royal. Surprising. You'll have to try that machine.
Lotta leetle scrunched down cards. one box across them with the hand
value (if any) the outlines are colored, you end up looking for
different colored outlines or by-hand-type summary boxes. The Royal
reads "4000". (nickel creds at the level I'm playing).
So, 7PM, down 600 on the day. I'm on the $1 DDB and draw a 3 to
held trip 3s for a quad, +$400: only +$200 on the session. I drop
back down to .50 Bonus (drop 50) then .25 DDB (hit Quad 2'sw/o Kicker
for $+100) and drop another $50. Return to $1 DDB and hit another
nice AAAA, no kicker, for an $800 hand-pay. Puts me even on the day.
At 10:30PM I grab a Jambalaya/soupy seafood bowl at the Oyster bar.
Even some spicy sausage in it. First food I've had all day, except
for the fruit I gnawed on in the room, so I wolfed down all the bread
too. A+ meal = yum.
.25 and .50 after dinner. Quad 4s on .25DDB for +$100, then Quad 2s
with kicker +$200.
Then a Quad 9s on $1 DDB +250. These were the "over-$100" hands
(that's all I kept track of this trip), and they were off-set by
slight losses after dinner so that about 2:15AM I finish up even on
the day" still up 1100 on the trip. I also grabbed my 2nd $250 free
Cash Bonus from the Cashier window, as I had collected over 1250
points ($25,000 "coin-in") already on this trip.
DAY 3: up kind of early for me, 9AM-ish. I'm gamin' by 10:45AM. I'm
startin' with quarters, DDB, I get dealt quad 4's with a kicker for
800 creds and pocket the $200 profit with a bucket and a half of
quarters. Move up to $1 DDB. looks like a bad move here - but who's
to know? Down 400. move to .05 50-play Jacks or Better (9/6 = full
pay, best game on it). Down 280. Ouch, didn't think this game could
sting you. Why aren't I dealt more JJ or better hands? It's not
fair!! I usually don't think of such negative things, even on a down-
spin. No conspiracy theories, etc. It's just a wasted distraction.
Gotta sort that crap out "off-line" and keep your head on straight
when you're in the hot seat. So I make a stop in High Limit, again,
I dunno why , looks bad, but maybe I'm still up over $600 on the trip
and I wanna give it a try. Down 400. RUN!
Back to $1 DDB, I hit the bank of 4 machines where I hit back-to-back
dealt quad A's on my Jan 1st visit. It's early in the afternoon, but
this quadrant of Silver Legacy is packed. There's a lot of noisy
slots around here and they are all making their noises, and people
are wandering around looking for Something (??) and I have this
moment of inner peace, me and my machine, but I'm suddenly aware of
the ABSOLUTE FRICKIN' PANDEMONIUM SURROUNDING ME and how the hell can
any of these people keep their wits about them and not totally lose
their MIND? I mean, there's ten different ka-ching noises, ten more
loud song ditties, all at max volume at the same time and over the
house PA system is blaring "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds." I
appreciate the moment, but I had to get the hell outta there. Down
400.
A calmer area beckons- where the main 16-machine bank of $1 DDBs
are, but I drop another 400 here. Another moment captured: guy
talking on cell phone whilst piddling at a restroom urinal. What does
that say about who he's talkin' to?
Now it's time to regroup: I'm into my own stake here, day 1 wins are
GONE!
.25 Deuces wild Prog. Fast machines. I'm even after a healthy
session. 4 WRFs and two exciting dealt trip 2s, but no $100+
jackpots. In .25 DDB I score a rare Str8 FLush, but it's only 250
creds +62 but I cash out up 50. On .50 Bonus I'm DEALT Quad 2s +100,
but the session is even. It's about 6PM. My host stopped to greet me
for the 3rd time of the trip: he's laying it on thick, I think he's
trying to impress one of the other hosts who is walking around with
him. The 2nd greeting he gets my name wrong, but I let it go. Busy
guy.
Drop 50 on Joker Wild .25. Switch to $1 DDB and net 150 after quad
Js & Ks (+250 ea.).
I try some $1 Bonus poker. Even. I notice a nice plastic flower
arrangement in a mini-cement vase in the mens room. Then I notice a
cigarette butt well hidden in the middle of it. Beauty and it's
opposite. Also, the zoo atmosphere has not totally died down yet-
tomorrow is a holiday- there is a guy walking around on 4-ft stilts,
with a beautiful promo desk gal helping him navigate the low hanging
archways, lights, etc. Just another day in the casino.
So it's 8:30PM, time to eat, I go for Sterlings- the top-shelf place.
I even change out of my sneaks & jeans into my loafers & khaki pants.
Mark is settling in for a sumptuous dining experience at the Sterling
Steak House....Service is impeccable. I see many wines on the Wine
List named "Ferrari-Carano". I know the Legacy GM is named Gary
Carano, and his brother Glenn is my host's boss, the "Marketing
Manager" for the whole business. I ask the waiter, he says yes, the
wine is from the Carano family's business in Sonoma Valley, Calif.
I see Glenn stop in to chat with the restaurant boss while I'm eating
also. He's real tall, like 6-10. Babbling here, but I was struck by
the POISE of all the bosses and even the younger waiters and even the
busboys at this first class restaurant. Maybe there's a finishing
school where you learn this quiet strength, but I think much of it
comes naturally or is learned at a young age. My sons have this kind
of poise. Impressive.
The meal: I have a Ferrari-Carano Merlot. Perfect. my unprofessional
critique says: Rich, Dry, not over-fragrant, no bite nor aftertaste.
Spinach salad: it is perfect. each leaf. Eggs, shrooms, bacon bits,
thin slices of red onion and separate sweet & spicy mustard-y
dressing. A real treat. I have a Porterhouse 22oz. steak,
cooked "medium". The garlic mash potatoes were only OK, the carrots
and asparagus veggies were perfect. The Porterhouse edges were tasty
enough, but the non-fatty main piece wasn't that tasty. Porterhouse
cuts ARE over-rated. Next time I go Rib-Eye or Filet Mignon.
Anyhow, a great meal, topped it off with a cup o' coffee.
I head to the circular bank of .25 DDB uprights. The bank my brother
stayed up all nite playing in May. Not much traffic there, it's a
nice hideaway to smoke a stogie without bothering neighboring
gamers. I'm dealt 9-T-J-Q of diamonds with the K club. I'm reminded
of last May playing these same machines with bro', I was UP overall
at the time - I showed him my dealt 22233 boat and tossed the 33
(against proper strategy) and luck gave me the 4th 2. So, I toss the
K club and the 20 cred str8 and draw (you know it) the diamond King.
Sr8 Flush is 250 creds, $62, not a big whoop moneywise, but a feel-
good moment of dumb luck.
I cash out up $50 and actually take a walk OUTSIDE of the CASINO
(!!). On the real-life street. It's a little muggy, but I need the
walk after dinner and I need some fresh air to smoke my cigar. So,
the vignette I note from the street scene is a girl with bright pink
hair driving a blue convertible with heavy Rap music blaring from her
stereo. I'm starting to feel like Ralph Steadman: Hunter Thompson's
gonzo traveling companion and animator. I have one of his books
where he draws and captions sketches of odd moments like this in a
notebook during his vacation travels. I think Zippy the Pinhead
cartoonist Rick Griffith has a book like this also. Just little odd
juxtapositions. Good stuff.
I stop at a .25 Aces Bonus machine on my way back to the room, and
hold 3 Aces, draw the forth, cash it out immediately for up $100.
I'm in my room at 10:30PM. Was to be a nap opportunity. But I know
once my head hits the pillow - I'll be down for the count. I'm
back to even on my trip stake, having piddled away my $1100 profit
from day 1 today during Day 3.
DAY 4: I'm up nice and early Monday, 7:30AM, I'm
gaming by 8AM. The casino is a weird place this early in
the day, as I discovered my last trip. Nice and quiet.
I'm humming along, in the zone on .25 JW, the
slant-tops near Keno. Then the waitress, who is deaf
or English-challenged, screws up my coffee order. I
say " Coffee, with cream; water." She tries to
repeat. "Bottle of water?" "Yes." "Coffee, cream,...no
sugar?" I begin to be annoyed, so I keep it simple.
"True." She scrawls it down, she's off. Back not so
quick, but I still tip $2. She's gone before I spot
the trace of sugar on the rim, and sure enough, I
pucker at the distaste of sugar in my coffee. I
dismiss the notion that this is a conspiracy by the
Eye in the Sky boys to put me on tilt. I play very
slow, knowing she'll be back. And I'll get my snide
remark in. Yes, I'm on tilt, but I need that
cup-a-Joe. Service is slow in the morning, best to
get your Java at the Coffee stand if the line is
short. Which it rarely is on a weekend or a holiday.
I even walked thru a HUGE LINE of people, families
with antsy little kids, waiting for the elevator down
one or two floors to the parking garage. These people
are crazy! I'm in such a different world than so many
people under the same roof here. Lemme tell you.
OK, I'm playing me own grub stake now, so I'm back on
The Plan. I play .25 level for quite a few hours this
morning. I'm dealt four 7's in Joker Wild. Drum roll
when I hit the Draw button - the Jokerr coming in
would give me 5 of a Kind, worth 1000 creds: $250. No.
Denied. On deuces wild, i'm dealt trip wild 2s + AA.
I toss the five of a kind, 75 creds, and fish for the
4th deuce (worth 1000 creds, $250) nope. I drop about
$380 at .25 level, then a long stretch at .50 level
drops me another $360. Ugh! I run to $1 DDB time to
score and get even. No. Drop $400. Let's try the
nickel 50-play. HEY another Royal (+200) from holding
3-part RF. I quit this machine up $100. Back to $1 DDB
at 2:15PM. I start at one end of the bank. It coughs
up quad 9s, +250, I cash in my heavy bucket of dollars
up $100. Next machine coughs up quad Ks, and as I
play a little more to get to a nice round number of
credits to cash in, it yields another set of quads:
Js. I gotta lug 3 buckets to the coin redemption
machine, but I manage, and am up $370 on this machine.
Back to the third machine, down a hundred I move to
the 4th. Probably a sticky or touchy button makes me move. 4th
machine I recoup that lost 100 with a plus 100 session
after hitting quad 5s.
The 5th machine I don't hit quads and drop 300 and
quit. Up 170 on the $1 DDBs this run.
A quick, brave run to the $5 coin DDBs. Down $300, I
flee. A longish session on the nickel 50-play JoB, I
quit about even. Then a long session on the .50
Bonus. I chat up my favorite waitress. I finally
score the big quads on the .50 Bonus , Aces, for +200,
but end this run down $100. A quad Ace score (+200) on
the .25 DDB bank near the restroom nets me a +$100
session. I lose $400 at $1 DDB again and it's time
for dinner. The holiday crowd has gone home, so
there's finally no line at the Sweetwater cafe and I'm
looking for a simple meal.
I go for a glass of Merlot, Columbia Crest. A cheap
wine, it's got more bite than the good Merlot I had a
Sterling last nite. I test their Spinach Salad, which
is soggy from being smothered in a creamy mustard
dressing, but it is tasty in it's own way. The
lasagne and the garlic bread are barely edible, but I
wolf it down. I play 5 games of Keno at $1 per, via
the Keno runner, who seems amazed a my $2 tip. I get
no winning ticket playing 5 numbers. I take my time
here, but I head down the escalator afterwards to
enjoy a stogie at the $1 DDBs. I drop 200. I drop
another $50 on the nickel 50-play JoB. Returning to
the $1 DDB's I get only one highlight hand, a rare
dealt straight flush 6-thru-10 clubs. Which I stare at
a long time. +250 on the hand, but down 250 on the
session. I only got $500 left in my pocket from $2800
at the start of the day, and I hit the $1 Bonus bank
of 4 machines. One quad here for $125, I cash out up 100.
$1 DDB sucks up my last five hundreds. I finish off my
wallet on .25 DDB, .25 Aces Bonus and a few $1 slots.
I hit the cash machine before midnite, knowing I might
need another $500 the next day at the ATM to make it
thru the last day. I head for the room tapped of my
original trip stake. I'm strangely not disturbed,
thinking of some Zen saying about the empty glass
enjoys being filled. Or some such crap. It's midnite.
Near the end of Monday, I had two conversations with
ugly women who were not just interested in
conversation. I walked away after realizing even this
nice casino has it's ugly moments.
DAY 5: Late checkout, I'm on the floor for the big
last day. I'd schemed a game plan and it was to work
those $1 DDBs. My nemesis game, but the $250-and up
quads are a serious lure.
I hit two quads in a long session. I take a change of
pace run on .25 DDB and .50 Bonus, but drop my DDB
profits. I drop another $500 on $1DDB when I make a
nice plus run: I start at one end again, and cash out
shortly after a quad, four machines in a row. Plus
$700. 3 quads are for $250, one is quad 4s without the A,2 or 3
kicker: 400. It's 4PM and I'm running out of time,
having made a limo reso for 6:15 to get there for my
7:40 flight. I drop another $400 on the last DDB, it
just won't give me a quad like it's neighbors. It's a
little before 6:00, so I got enough for a last wild
run on the $5 DDB's in high limit. I ask the nice
desk lady there to pull me off the machine at 6:10. I
play fast and furious, up and down. I got $500 to
burn, I only drop 300 when the 6:10 alarm clock goes
off. I've squirreled away some tip money too, $10 for
the limo driver, a few bucks for the bell desk. I
arrive early enough at the airport, I piddle away $150
at the crappy paytable Aces Bonus game there. It only
pays 2-1 for trips, usually 3-1, every other hand in
the paytable is per usual. I hit a quad early there,
a couple of 4RF teasers, but I'm nearly tapped out.
The plane boards and I spend the flight sorting and
compliling my 3X5 index cards so I can blather on in
my trip report and satisfy the IRS should I ever get
audited.
Oh yeah- I brought back that bottle of Chardonnay that
Lacey had gifted me, unopened. Turns out it also is
from the Ferrari-Carano winery. We'll have to give it
a try some night.
One more tidbit: I tried the in-room Internet access via a wireless
keyboard and the TV set. $5.999 for 2 hrs. Don't do it. The keyboard
mouse doesn't work well, there are too many buttons that you don't
recognize on the keyboard, and I wasted about 40 minutes trying to
logon to yahoo e-mail. Somebody SPOOFED the hotel home site and
swamped the screen with pop-up windows, no matter where you clicked,
more pop-ups. Impossible to close window the little X button didn't
work. What a pain! It was like those phony phishing e-bay/paypal scam
e-mails. Late at night, but I worried about my yahoo password which I
had made the mistake of typing in early on. If I investigate this,
I'll share more later here. (No prob when I got home- I changed
password immediately.)
So that's IT. 65 4-part Royals, about 8 were on the
deal.
I grossed about 4500 points which equates to $90K
coin-in. I just calculated a 96.1% return on my $90K coin-in.
A loss, but Not that bad.
No Royals = No profit, as is often the case. No
miracle comeback again this trip. But it's an exciting ride.
WRAP-UP Stats:
Daily gaming hours/profits:
1) 10, +1150
2) 10, +100
3) 10, -1350
4) 15, -2600
5) 6, -1400
total 51 HRs, -$4100
Stake: $2600 +$500 bonus + $1000 ATM (all gone)
By Game, Loss
.25 JW -300
.25 DW -350
.25 Bonus -even
.25 nevada -100
.25 DDB +150
.25: 17 HRS, -600 total
.50 Bonus -800
.50 TDB -50
.50: 10 HRS, -850 total
$1 Bonus -500
$1 DDB -750
$1: 19 HRS -1250 total
.05 50-play JoB
4 HRS -200 total
$5 DDB (1 HR) -900 total
VP total -3800
SLOTS total -120
Tips total -180
TRIP: -4100
Jackpots over $100:
By day: qty: 7,7,5,9,6
totals by amount:
7x100
2x125
6x200
15x250
2x400
1x800
1x2000
total 9500
a few full houses (225) and flushes (150)
and straights (100) in the $5 coin DDB game not
tallied
$90,000 coin-in, 4500 points.
I think that is all, folks.
Labor Day wash-out@ Silver Legacy.
Thanks for enjoying the trip report!
~Mark