Day 1 (Friday)
My
2nd junket in six weeks, this one a solo stay at Peppermill. I
usually wait longer, but some offers lured me in and I had no other plans.
I
expect to receive 3 x $750 freePlay (Feb, promo drawing and March) plus $100
for Birthday month. I DID get that plus $1000 more freeplay during the week stay.
Note:
jackpot hands of $1000 and up I loaded today to vpFree photo section.
If
you wanna NOT spoil this report, wait until AFTER you read this before you check out
the photos.
Air
travel: seamless.
Limo:
stereo out of order. harrumph
Check-in.
2:30-ish: room not ready! harrrrrumph.
I
game on $1 ACE$BP and DDB in high limit for an hour playing off $400 in unexpected
freeplay that I found in my account.
I
lose the whole 400 freeplay, so EVEN on the day.
Finally
check-in to a big luxury suite in the Peppermill Tower
about 3:30PM Nice.
I
stick to my play plan: 10 line 25c until I drop 1000.
I
play BP, Deuces, DDB and SAB on the multi’s.
Then
move up to 10-line or 5-line 50c.
If
down over 2000 total, move up to multi-line dollars.
After
that it gets fuzzy whether I’ll stick to multi-lines or stick to single line,
but $2 and then $5 denoms are next.
Interestingly,
I ginned up this particular Play Plan after reading a thread on vpFree started recently
by the infamous Mickey Crimm discussing odds and returns of dealt Royals on
multiline plays. This got me a hankering
for more Multi-line play. Plus I’ve had
a general financially inspired urge to downshift to quarters, to relearn to
ENJOY this denomination that I rarely play these days, but used to be enough
excitement when I started playing 14 years ago, and for many years after that.
I
really have come to prefer the WMS bank of 3 multi-line video poker machines
near Buffet. Crisp graphics, like-new button condition, plus not the least, is
the added vig of 275 cred payoff for SFs on JoB, BP and DDB. The WMS’s has these 3 games, plus NSUD plus TDB which
I can’t play because I’ll never get used to a 2-1 payoff for trips.
For
SAB I have to go to one of the other dozen 3-/5-/10- play older machines all
over the casino floor, but many are in the area around the cube bar.
Start
with 10 x 25c BP, Deuces and DDB and pocket $1000 after downloading my promo
weekend $750 freePlay – which I had just activated at promo desk (I used the “back”
elevators almost every trip to and from my suite). A quad Aces on DDB for
200. Did another “cycle” of these games,
and gave back 700, despite a pretty dealt WRF with three ducks. Held all for $312.
UP
300 at 7:00: Milano dinner of salmon & wings.
Post-meal,
I’m on the multi nearest the Cube bar playing 10 x 25c Super Aces Bonus.
Held
2RF, hitting the RF on one line for $1000. No handpay, no tax form (as it’s
< 1200). Quarters: yeah! Breaks the ice wih my first Royal of the trip.
This
profit fueled a long but mostly negative session of more 10 x 25c (BP, Deuces,
DDB & SAB). Finish up 100 for long
sessions, UP 400 on the day.
I
drift off Plan, splurge 300 to $5 BP with a $22,278 RF prog meter in high limit.
I drop
400 on $1 DDA&F and another 600 DOWN on 3 line x $1 BP in high limit.
I’m
down 900 on the day, playing some single line $1 ACE$BP in high limit, when
they call my name during the 10PM drawing!
It’s for the “Mystery Board”, 12 players each
pick a big card off the board at cabaret lounge area. One card is worth $5000,
but none of the first 11 of us picked it, so the last person got it by
default. I picked one of the 7 or 8 $200 freePlay “booby prize” cards.
whoop-de-do
on my prize amount, but it was a rare and briefly exciting try at the big
prize.
Back
to 10 x 25c, in a DDB session I got a great dealt hand for multi-line play:
3333
no
kicker, so I had ten chances to improve this $100 hand to $200. Only hit
one.
SO,
that’s $1100 total for the play. No hand pay. no tax form.
I
could like this 25c denom.
I
slipped back to $1 single lines, drop 600 on $1 DDA&F, despite a dealt QQQQ
for 400. 400 more disappears into the $2 DDB in high limit with
progs on the quads, nothing high on the prog meters and NO quads for me.
During
my nightcap session of 3 line x $1 deuces, the fire alarm goes off in the whole
casino. Strobe lights everywhere, a horn blare every 15 sec, each time followed
by an announcement to NOT PANIC, the alarm is being investigated. I slide over
to a different machine, closer to the exit, just in case. It got turned
off after ten .annoying minutes. Nobody moved off their machines. So much
for a safety drill. I mentioned it to
some folks, they say bored kids who are left in their rooms while their parents
are out gambling often are the cause when they pull the fire alarm and that
this happens somewhat regularly. First time it’s happened when I was
there. Slightly unnerving!
lost
300 to the deuces.
3AM,
down 1000 on the day, plus pissed away 1350 in freeplay.
There’s
two more cash giveaway drawings tomorrow, Saturday, at 8PM & 10PM.
Day 2
After
my late nite (5:30AM) I got awoken about 9:30AM by the maid tapping on the door.
I was complicit in this FOUL as I neglected to hang my Privacy Please placard
on the door knob. Maid was undaunted
that I ignored her ridiculously early bid to get her job done, and she was back
about 12:30. I ignored that long knock also and cancelled housekeeping
for the day on the phone when I got up later.
I
enjoyed noshing on my veggie & fruit platter gift from host, and broke open
the gift baileys for my coffee. I managed to polish off the whole 1.75L bottle
by the end of my 6 night stay, but to do so, just a shot in my morning coffees
wasn’t making a dent in the bottle, so I was “forced” to take large glasses of
straight Baileys on ice (from the ice machine) with me to the casino in the
evenings.
Got
to gaming about 2PM.
cycled
thru my 10 x 25c BP, deuces and DDB. On the 2nd time thru, I was up 300 thanks
to two quad wild 2s for 250 each.
Then,
of a sudden: I hit a Royal on one line
$1000. No handpay, tip nor tax form.
Schweet.
two days, two Royals. My pals are calling me Royal Boy in e-mails. This
trip, it fits and might stick.
I
venture off-Plan for some $1 DDB and DDA&F - single line and drop 300 on
each.
I
get really wild and up my DDA& F denom to $2 (10 x $1 cred).
Ten
minutes into it, I get my first tax form:
That’s
a bonus quad and that’s a kicker and that’s $1600 cashola.
Hand pay, but it’s speedy enough, $15 tip, and
a W-2G for my collection and next year’s tax return pile.
I walk
ten steps to Oceano for dinner, up 2200 to this point, 5:30. fish tacos
(unremarkably simple) and
the
Halibut entry which sits atop cornbread with asparagus on the side with great
sauces. I discovered this dish last trip. Moist. Yum.
I
did a long session of 5 line x 50c all the same games and came out of it
Down 1700.
Still
up 500 on the day. During the session was the 8PM drawing and HEY! My
name got drawn again! This time for $300 freePlay.
I hit
High limit after the drawing and slid 100 into a $1 x 5 cred “Sphinx”
slot.
I
hit a bunch of coins on the main screen, picked three of five sarcophaguses on
the “bonus screen” for some creds,
and
then I went to some inner sanctum chamber screen where I picked a goddess
feline statue for $250.
Cashed out up 200. One of my few brief forays
into the SLOT world.
Back
to the dark corner recesses of high limit to load my 300 freePlay onto 3 line x
$2 denom BP.
Cashed
it all out thanks to hitting quad 4444 for 400.
Next
up on the hit parade is 5 line x 50c Deuces and DDB. Drop 800.
Still
up 200 on the day.
Then
a gratifying session on 3 line x $1 BP with a couple quads and two bonus
quads for a PLUS 700 session.
Then
on to 10 line x 50c DDB. Man this is a volatile game, as my results
reminded me. I hit three $400 bonus quads and seven regular quads for $125
each, in yes, a very long session.
In
the middle of it, was the 10PM drawing and no sh*t sherlock, my name gets
called AGAIN. 3 scores out of 4 drawing sessions.
This
one for “only” $100 freePlay. But the announcer lady and the computer
operator both mentioned my luck at getting called so often.
And
she pronounced my name correctly. Over
90 people get called for prizes, I was 3 of them.
Lot of redraws when people don’t show within the 2
minute clocked time limit.
Session
was down 400 after all them decent quads. Harrumph.
I
dash over to a $5 ACE$ Bonus game for a fix and get spanked for 500.
Even
on the day to here.
I
retreat to 5 line x 50c deuces, DDB and SAB and stay even on the day for
another long session.
Then,
a nightcap run that drops me into the red:
10
line x 50c SAB lose 400
10
line x 25c BP lose 300
5
line x 50c deuces, lose 300.
9
hrs of play and DOWN 1000 for the day, it’s 12:30AM & I’m unwilling to dip
into my bankroll any deeper.
Day 3
good
snooze, up & gaming at 12:20.
as
I’m down 2000 for the trip, I’m starting off with 10 x 50c BP, deuces and DDB.
a
Royal will bring me back to even.
Slow
start, down 600 and into the DDB phase. Hit this for $1000:
AAAA
with 3 kicker.
Cash
out up 1200 on this DDB session, up 600 on the day.
I
move over to the cube bar multi’s and play 10 line x 25c SAB
I
got dealt a 4-part Royal. Got some more action:
Another
Royal for 1000. Royal Boy. 3 RFs in 3 days.
It’s
a long & vicious session after this hand, only +100 (!!) for the SAB
session.
And
it’s only 2PM.
Even
on $1 DDB thanks to 3333 for 400.
Down
500 to $1 DDA&Faces.
Up
200 on the day.
I
decide to slide back to 10 line quarters.
Up
300 on the BP part.
Down 500
on the Deuces part.
During
the DDB part, something weird happens that’s never happened to me on multi-line
video poker. The MACHINE held my cards automagically…
That’s
A DEALT frickin ROYAL FLUSH. Wooo.
I
couldn’t get my head around how much I’d won as the credits rolled up.
$10,000 is
the answer. The little box figured it out for me. It’s STILL
surreal.
Question:
How many Royals are there?
Answer:
“It’s Royals ALL the WAY UP!”
I
posted this hand to vpFree DURING my trip, which I normally won’t do. I mean I REALLY don’t want to meet any of you
fine people IN-PERSON, so I don’t want to let on when I’m going to be at any
particular casino.
My
fave attendant shows up, after we’d said good morning an hour earlier. I
said I might dance a little jig to the happy music. She says “Do
it!”. I don’t. Hand pay comes in a bundle with a yellow
$10,000 wrapper. [ Tip: $60 ]
Yes,
I did count it again back in the room.
YAY!
SO,
I left the best hand I’ve ever been dealt on the machine and quit the DDB
session UP $10,000.
I
don’t write that very often in these trip reports. “…session UP
$10,000.”
4:00PM
and a peppermill breakfast at the Milano counter.
Mr.
Wonderful has a fine meal and has the waitress take a $10 tip to the head grill
cook/chef.
He
shouts out “thanks! Chief” with a wave. I always wanted to tip
the chef when the food is special. Feels good to start acting on those
impulses.
(I
did it previously at Hussong’s cantina at Silver Legacy.)
I
hit a $5 slot in high limit and play max creds which turns out to be 9 lines
and drop 300 in about 30 seconds.
Another
600 flies away on $1 DDA&F single line near Oceano doors.
Even
money on some 10 line quarters.
Then
I get the urge for some 3 line dollars deuces.
Down
a bunch until I get dealt three wild 222 and draw a hit on the bottom (1st)
line, for a cool Grand and a +700 session.
I
play it cool and get back to 5 line 50c DDB (down 300), BP (up 200) and
Deuces (down 500).
I
head to high limit for some $2 DDB which has prog meters on the 5 quad
hands. I hit two TTTT for 507 & 501, but somehow drop 500 on the
session.
Over
to the doors for $2 DDA&F where $600 disappears way too fast.
I
got a hankering for a room break, but it’s 8:00 and I head for nourishment to
Milano counter for my infrequent beef meal - patty melt and side (big)
salad.
Then
back to suite for fondling 100’s and writing trip report [exclaMATION point] !
7
hrs of Play and UP 8000 for the day, UP 6000 for the trip.
I
expect a reply from GF that says simply: “Time to come Home, honey.”
This
comes from my saying my ideal trip to Reno,
financially speaking, is to grab the next flight out of town after hitting a
big jackpot.
Maybe
a little nap is next, that’s a lot of excitement for one day for a retired
fellow. If I wake from it in the wee hours, I’ll go gaming, if not, well
maybe I’ll just get all caught up on my sleep and get to the casino floor
before noon tomorrow. Maybe I’ll see what’s on the TeeV… zzzzzzzzzz. (Mark dreams of a world full of dealt Royal
Flushes)
Day 4
I
went to sleep about midnite. No early AM sleepwalking VP action last
night.
And
yes, caught up on sleep and out before noon today.
Got
this heavy cash wad in my front left pocket. AM LISTING slightly.
For
first time this trip - I plugged my ears into my iPod: blaring Red Hot Chili
Pep-pers.
Give
it away Give it Away.
No,
Wait.
The
casino is much more vacant & quiet today than the previous 3 weekend days.
Dropped
by the Promo desk and activated my $750 Feb freePlay. Lost that free money to
long sessions of 10 x 25c BP & Deuces.
Switched
to DDB, hit many bonus quads for +200. Lost that 200 on BP. Stayed EVEN on
the deuces rotation. Got up and switched to the older cube bar multi’s to
play 10 x 25 SAB. HIT the AAAA for 2000 creds = $500. Only up 200
for the session.
Time
to take my regular run at the Suited RF progressives in high limit: $1 DDB.
Having
a down session when I’m dealt 4444 and draw the 2 kicker for an $800
jackpot.
Up
400 for the session and the song is Love Rollercoaster, one of my faves, and
the lyric “Step right up and get your ticket”
is
playing as I hit the cash out button and my ticket comes out the slot.
I
pair the DDB with another regular stop: the $1 DDA&F near Oceano doors.
Danged
if again I’m dealt a bonus quad, this one AAAA, and I again draw the kicker J. This time it’s worth 1600.
Beauty,
eh? Handpay, tax form. +1200 session.
Back
to DDB where another quad 4, sans kicker, for 400 gives me a +500 session.
I
reckon it’s back to the WMS multi’s. 10 line x 50c this time.
In
deuces, holding 3 RF au naturale, a good thing happens:
Another
Royal, this one for $2000, meaning I’ve hit one or at least one, eh?, every day
of the trip.
This
ten-line stuff increases my odds, fer sure. But RoyalBoy doesn’t quibble about
how he gets his Royal fixes that earned him the moniker.
Tax
form, hand pay and tip to my fave attendant.
UP
1500 to here on the multi’s. I Drop 800 of it in the next hour for +700.
Total
for the day so far is PLUS 3000.
Dinner
at Oceano, Yoshi Roll Sushi
and
a grilled salmon atop a caesar salad. yum.
$2
ACE$BP single line in high limit is what my muse says to play.
I
get 4444 for 400 and a KKKK for 250 for a +200 session.
Back
to multi’s, 10 x 50c. BP robs me of 400.
DDB
is firing me full houses, I guess, I only got 3 quads for 125 ea but finished
the session UP 600. I give back 200 to deuces, and down 400 on a DDB
refresh.
I
slog thru 200 on an old timey 777 reel slot with the bars, cherries, sevens and
double & triple ovals. all gone. some people do this all day
I’m told. It WAS mindlessly relaxing.
UP
2600 on the day. 6:00PM room break.
late
night action after long room break: 10PM-12:30AM
did
a cycle of 5 x 50c BP,deuces,DDB & SAB. lost 400 to each.
got
a quad AAAA in DDB for 400.
trying
to find a win, played 400 off on $1 DDB with suited RF prog.
I
went out to catch a taxi to do a 250 freePlay grab at Grand Sierra Resort
casino (“GSR” – GF calls it Gun Shot Residue - she scares me
sometimes with comments like this: either she watches CSI on the TV or she was
raised in tougher neighborhoods than me).
No
taxis in the taxi line. Odd. SO, maybe tomorrow.
played
a nightcap $1 DD Aces & Faces and dropped the last of my profit on the day,
Down 600.
WTF!
7 hrs play on the day. EVEN money for the day. Still up $6K for the
trip
Day 5, Tuesday.
You’re
thinking Mark’s due for a losing day… not sayin’, because that’s why
you read these things… but I never dwell on negative thoughts in the casino
but anytime, really - if they enter my mind they are fleeting - out the other
side. G’bye. No purpose.
Noon
start again. I went thru my starting paces of 10 x 25c and dropped $1000.
!
Moved
“up” to 5 x 50c DDB and dropped 500 more. Dbl <expletive
! My Zen-like attitude is being tested.
Played
$1 DD A&F on five different machines of the bank of 8. Hit two $400 quads
and two @$250 in the hour. But I quit the session only even money.
Headed
to my other fave single line: $1 DDB & scored a quad AAAA for 800…
plus
another quad for 250 and an UP 600 session.
over
$8000 if you get a hearts royal is a mighty-fine meter.
Spent
$100 on nostalgia: the 50c JoB at the cabaret bar. It has prog meters on the
top 3 hands - The RF was at 2151. I finished my long island ice tea when I
finally hit a quad for $66 (reset is $62.50). Ordered a Hendricks G&T
(only a splash of tonic please) and took it “to go”. This sunken bar
and the bartenders remind me of the bar in the movie The Shining.
So,
bartop play is rare for me.
I
gave 10 x 25c Bonus another chance. Good thing, I hit another ROYAL on
one line.
$1000
free and clear. A plus 1200 session put me up 200 on the day.
Then,
for some reason I stopped at a pai gow table. I’ve vowed to quit pai gow as I
dropped $2000 over 8 hrs on my previous trip.
Nonetheless,
I bought in for $300 and it lasted a solid hour. The Hendricks made me a tiny
bit dizzy. Only one player at the table, playing two hands like I like to. Our
witty banter reminded me I can still be sociable instead of being a machine
zombie. down 300 to pai gow. That was my only Paigow on the trip.
Next,
6:00, Bimini 16oz. prime rib, yum. I had a double espresso with my creme’
brullet dessert. Buzzz.
Back
to 10 x 25c. Down 600
10
x 50c, also the full cycle (Bonus, deuces, DDB) Up 600 thanks to this gem:
Quad
aces with the kicker. Red Payoff box.
another
$1000 freebie (i.e. no tax form nor handpay + tip) without the kicker it’s only
400.
Down
only 100 on the day to here.
I
realize it’s 10PM (the only way I can check the time of day in the casino is to
look at the timestamp on a cashout ticket). and my Feb GSR 250 freePlay expires
at midnight.
SO
I have a mission!
I
grab a taxi and I’m deposited at the GSR casino ten minutes later. ($15
fare). I get an updated player card at the promo-cashier cage. I
play off the freeplay, and yes, I should have quit my session when I was at
about +$200. But, I was sorta excited that GSR finally has some decent video
poker: FullPay NSUD, DDB and DDA&F plus a $1 JoB prog in high limit
that I neglected to scout the meter. Looks like vpFree2 database is up-to-date.
I
played single line 50c denom NSUDand DDB and no jackpots recorded. I decided
NOT to put any of my own money in, so I taxied back to Peppermill about
11PM. Down $40 to taxi fares & tips for the GSR excursion. worth it
for the change of pace, plus scouting the place a bit- it’s got a new owner and
actually looks swank - used to be an average but grubby sort of place many
years ago when I stayed & played there for scrabble tournaments.
Took
a room break until midnight.
Swiped
my card at a kiosk, it’s my birthday month coming up and I had to listen thru
the new happy birthday song & graphics to earn my birthday freePlay.
A grizzled street person was sitting nearby (king arthur: “old woman,…!”;
reply: “Man!”) and said something like Awwwww. I said yeah that was
embarrassing. She/he asked with that “bore a hole in you” stare “whadja
get?” I said $100. She/he said “that’s nice.” Funny
conversation.
I
loaded the $100 freePlay on 10 x 25c BP, hit a quad AAAA for $100 and took the
$200 profit to another machine to play 10 x 25c Super Aces Bonus. Had a
cool dealt 4 card Royal…and A peek-a-boo “sneaky” Royal shows up, no songs,
no frozen machine, just brrrrrrrip credits whizzing up another $1000. Two
Royals today keeping the 5-days in a row streak alive. That’s a cashout session
UP 800.
$1
DD A&F next. held 234 spades and the 56 spades came in for a rare Straight
flush which pays $250. Up 200.
Next
session is $1 DDB - I hold 3457 clubs and the 6c comes in for yet another rare
SF for 250. Even money on the session.
Even
money on $2 ACE$BP and 10 x 25c runs.
I
get a jones for 10 line x 50c and I get thru BP, Deuces & DDB up 300,
thanks to a quad wild 2222 for $500 - dealt 3 of them.
A
long $1 DDB turn, Even money despite a sweet 4444 for 400.
Then
a pig-headed BP play: 3 lines x $2 denom. That’s $30 a throw.
Somehow [ 
] I lose $900 on it- Bonus poker rarely fails me like that- it’s
a “conservative” game. I refused to back down. Ugh.
Still
up for the day, I decide it’s almost 3AM so I pick a $1 x 2 credit Triple
Double Diamond slot machine and load $100 in it. There’s a bank of 3, so
when one machine finally gets me back close to even with a $60 triple bar x 3
payoff, I switch to another. This one rewards me with a Double oval and
two red 7’s for a $320 payoff. I cash out up 300 and head to my suite.
10
hrs play on the vids, 1 hr on pai gow: = PLUS 800 for the day.
Last
full day tomorrow. No hemorraging anticipated.
If
I’m up past midnight, I can activate my March $750 freePlay which begins March
2. And I’m already scheming to have my airport limo make a freePlay Grab
stop at GSR which is very close to the airport. I get another $250 there
starting March 2nd.
Day 6
I
was still putzing at 5:30AM last night, so sleeping in until 1PM was good.
housekeeping
didn’t bug me with a knock on the door nor a phone call (both things have
happened on previous trips - grrr!). In fact, they didn’t even show at all
today, so I later pocketed the big $10 tip I had left for them.
2PM
gaming and 10 x 25c cycle of BP, Deuces & DDB lost me 600. One notable
hand: in deuces, held no cards and all four wild 2s showed up on one line for
$250.
switched
it up to 10 x 50c BP and deuces, then stopped when I fell 600 more.
4:15PM
Peppermill breakfast at Milano counter. Apple juice, croissant, 2 eggs over
medium atop well-done hashbrowns and link sausages. + coffee. yum as per usual.
Off
to $1 DD Aces & Faces at Oceano doors. Long session on only one machine.
Hit three quads for 250 each, with regularity to keep me close to even.
Then,
some excitement as I got dealt AKQJ of hearts. Held the 4, hit the
button, expecting the usual disappointment.
BOOM!
Big
Royal.
Very
cool.
as
I’ve mentioned before, I will someday write a story about the thousands of
emotions, thoughts & partially completed thoughts, jubilation but also
confusion that swirls thru my brain in the 1 second or so that it takes me to
register what my eyes are seeing “when Royals come in.” Hey that sounds
like a good title. Maybe I’ll try to count them, but I’m pretty sure I’ve
hit over a hundred Royals since I started playing video poker seriously, back
about December 2002.
In
rapid succession based on hundred of handpays, I take the photo, scribble down
the hand on my index card (“RF/4000”), move over to the adjacent
machine to give the attendant room to click a few buttons, forage in my back
right pocket for some tip money ($30 in this case, assuming it goes smoothly)
and then stare at the Royal until the attendant shows up. Or, I might even
start another separate session on this adjacent machine. The choreography of it
all , I think, is just one of those beautiful things where I feel in-synch with
my world.
For
this one, I had my iPod playing Red Hot Chili Peppers. A tune titled
“Special Secret Song Inside” was playing, with the lyric: “I
want to party on your birthday, baby” playing as the RF hit.
Attendant
reappears, I sign the casino copy of the W-2G tax form, I take my (pink) copy
and fold it in thirds - it goes in my back left pocket. A 2nd attendant appears
- the money person. They hold the wad and count it out into your outstretched
hand. If you want. I still have them count it once in a while, but rather
than bait all the nearby players into trying to befriend me or worse, I just
accept the wad without a count more often these days. Gotta mix it up tho to
keep 'em honest, eh?
It’s
6:00 and I leave that Royal showing on the machine, cash out what remained of
my $400 initial investment, $260 in this case. I put the $60 into my tip
pocket, which has gotten low. I scrawl the session total on the card in
the right side: +3800.
I
head to high limit, $1 DDB time. Down 400. $2 DDB time. Down 400.
10
x 50c SAB. Down 300. 5 x 50c Deuces. down 400. sheesh.
5
x 50c DDB. finally a jackpot to stem the flood of hundreds out of my
pocket.
That’s
AAAA4, held 2, for 2000 x 50c creds = $1000.
I
cashed out the $1300 which means I had to take it to the cashier.and return to
the same game, same machine.
Got
one more bonus quad jackpot: 4444A for 400. The rest of the session left me
even after my cashout, so just up the $1000.
7:15
and time to go check that I have a limo reso for tomorrow at bell desk,
then
check-in for my flight at a computer near the bell desk, outside the gift shop.
I
print my boarding pass & my bag tag.
All
organized: THIS guy.
Back
in the room, my usual fondling of the stack o’ hunnerds, then I reckon my index
card totals with what’s in my pocket and pleased when it comes out the same:
+$2100
so far today.
I
write up this part of my daily e-mail report and head back down to the casino
about 9PM.
Did
I mention the Dairy Association is having a convention here? Yesterday I wore a
dark blue cotton shirt - the kind your garage mechanic might wear -or- a
dairyman.
All
these guys are lunking around, flannel shirt with an outdoorsy vest over it -
that’s their uniform. They all seem to want to say hello to me. I
changed shirts for today. Anyhow, these, these HERDS of DAIRYMEN are all over
the place in the casino. Blocking the aisles, not gambling so much as yakkity
yak – like most conventioneers. MOOOooove it fellows!
I
hit 10 x 50c BP and dropped 500.
Next
up 10 x 50c Deuces and I snagged a quad 2 for 500. session up 400.
Over
to 10 x 50c DDB and another quad A with a kicker surprises me for $1000.
Altho held 3 so it shouldn’t be a surprise. Up 900.
3
x $1 deuces three WRFs for 125 ea, up 200.
10
x 25c BP MINUS 300
10
x 50c BP PLUS 300 thanks to four SF’s for $137 each.
shot
500 on $1 DDB single line
profited
200 on $2 ACE$ bonus thanks to a 2nd hand of 2222 for 400 and a later dealt
8888 for 250.
It
got to be after midnite, so I went over to the promo desk and activated my 750
March freePlay. all they do is make sure I am checked in to the hotel.
Loaded
250 of it on $1 DD A&F - I found an agonizing slow machine, but figured I
can slow down my busy life for 50 hands. Well, I’ll be darned if this came in,
in slow motion:
chunk,
plunk, blip. The credit meter rolled up very slow too, I might still be
down there if I let it run. But - hopefully y’all know this: if you press the
draw/deal key while the credits roll up, it scrolls right to the end. I
actually do this EVERY hand, well every hand that scores credits.
Hey!
5 sec extra is forever when you are playing at my speed, as many hands as I
play every day. As Einstein took years to discover: Time = $.
SO,
that was a nice treat whilst playing off freeplay. I cashed out $1000 plus
another $300 on the remaining freePlay. Plus 1300 for $1 DDA&F and
Peppermill bankrolled the session.
I
did a little 3 line $1 Deuces for even money, then a nightcap loss of 100 to
the diamond dollar slot. Kind of a tip to the house.
12:45AM
to the room. 9 hrs of effort on the day.
on
the day: PLUS $4000. wow.
all
benjamins stacked and accounted for.
I’m
UP $10,800 for the trip. That’s more than this trip’s bankroll.
We’ll
see if the T S A sniffers pull me aside and confiscate my cash tomorrow.
I will TRY not to look suspiciously happy.
Day 7
Limo
to airport reso is 9:50AM. Today.
Pre-packed
last night, so I’m out the suite door soon after waking up, which means getting
woken up by the 8:05AM alarm on my kindle. I use the alarm at MOST once a
month. Not enough sleep, but no options today.
I
usually take the last flight out of town on these junkets at 7:50PM.
With
that late departure, it’s easier to gamble all day on the same pace as all the
other days.
So,
I’m all checked out, bag(s) to bell, my last hour Play Plan is to hit the $1
DDB with prog suited Royals in High limit. I watched my best gambling
buddy get paid for a progressive RF on the same machine a few trips ago, then
get in the limo and get out of town with $60-something hundred last-hand magic
dollars. I gave it a run.
I
hit one quad, which helped me survive until 9:45 without dipping into my 10K
profit. Down 700.
Same
limo as on my way in- stereo not working. Oh, bother.
But
the driver gets good marks this time because he’s agreed to detouring to GSR
casino to grab my $250 March freePlay. I’m in and out in 8 minutes while he
idles at the 8-lane wide Main entrance/valet drop off.
I
played $1 Jacks or Better in high limit with a prog at 4410, hit a full house
and a few flushes in my 50 hands, no quads and cashed out for $200. Up 200 at
GSR,
still
DOWN 500 on the day.
At
Reno airport, I
tip limo driver $50, reminding him that includes his “share” of my
GSR freePlay. Bag weighs in at 39LBs, no comped liquor bottles to cart home this
time, pre-paid last night when I printed my bag tags, so that takes all of 1
minute with no line at Alaska Airline counter. TSA pre-check line is empty,
they do not sniff out all the trace powder on my two bundled stacks of benjies,
so I am allowed to pass without suspension due to suspicion. I park myself
& my heavy computer-laden briefcase at the gate on the same video poker
machine that gave me a $2000 quad Aces with a kicker on my way out of town last
trip (6 weeks ago).
I
slide in $200, plane won’t board for 20-30 minutes. Game is $1 DDB 6/5 shortpay
···
Hit
the quad AAAA after holding three maybe 20 minutes into the session.
WOW
- another airport quad aces to add to the incredulity of this whole frickin
week.
I
decide to cash it out at the nearest $100 - plane is not boarding yet, but
people who just arrived on our plane are streaming by.
THREE
hands later - that’s like, 15 seconds - it gets weirder -
weirder
good that is.
A
second AAAA without a kicker.
For
the last time on the trip, I am once again momentarily stunned by my sudden
riches.
The
credit meter on the lower right, shows $1660, but it spits out a separate
ticket for $800 so that I can use the redemption machine in the terminal.
So,
I DO manage to run it down to the nearest 100 without any more AAAA hands: two
$800 vouchers, redeem for sixteen 100’s for my collection.
UP
1300 at the airport. And first day without a Royal. .
UP
800 for the day in an hour & a half of play.
UP
$11,600 for the week. Yee ha.
Uneventful
flight home GF awaits in her car on departure level (our local knowledge trick
for arrivals to avoid the perpetual traffic zoo on the arrival/baggage claim
level).
I
flash her the wad, then I show her my bundles. That was a joke.
That
much money does inject a certain magic. At the very least, it’s fun to look at.
GF
asks should we stop at the Credit Union HQ on the way home for a deposit?
I
say yes, please! Of course, she’s talking about all them 100s.
After
the obligatory gangsta Instagram/Snapchat photo in the car in the parking lot
of me flashing my bundles of Legal Tender, I find a home for all my money in my
accounts. And all I got to show for it is two receipts with big numbers on
them. But it takes like 20 minutes at the tellers cage inside while
Claudia GF waited patiently playing a game on her cell phone in the car.
It
takes an extra 10 minutes as the teller has to fill out a tracking form for the
U.S. Treasury (for $10,000 or more transactions) to make sure I’m not a
launderer of ill-gotten gains. For the form, she asks what is my occupation? I
admit I’m a retired engineer for a large Pacific NW aerospace concern, but I
ask her to write “GAMBLER” as my occupation. She refuses.
And
thanks, really, for slogging thru the minutia of my trip reports to get to the
funny anecdotes.
total
trip:
53
Hours video poker
+11,600 total $
jackpots
100 x $100/125/137
21 x $200
30 x $250
17 x $400
5 x $500
5 x $800
20 x $1000
1 x $1600
2 x $2000
1 x $4000
============
202 total jackpots
17 RFs (!)
5 W-2Gs for: $1600, $2000, $2000, $4000 & $10,000