Day 1:
Smooth travel, per usual. Thurs eve flight in on Southwest ,
$174 R/T fare from Seattle. Limo & check-in to a nice Imperial corner suite
on the 14th of 17 floors at the Peppermill.
I got down to the casino within an hour.
Collected my full $200 freeplay (expires Oct 4) playin 25c BP. Piddled
that plus another $350 away in three hours before I played
5-play NSUD 25c near Romanzo. I got DEALT all four deuces,
which got me $1250 and a tax form. Yeee Haaa. But I didn't carry my disposable
camera- I left it in the room. Dang, What a screen-full of wild deuces.
Traveling with 'Diamond' Jim, he fades out about 11:30PM - we cross
paths every few hours the whole trip, maybe play a few sessions
on the same bank, meet up for dinner is about the only "plan".
Just about midnite is when I've piddled away that deuces profit
on 25c games and a few hundred on $1 Joker Wild (18/7 w/ a $4713 prog)
and I'm back to dipping into my original stake. It's the wee hours, and I feel
good about having a high limit session. The only thing high
limit gets me is a bit of peace and quiet when the casino is
busy - and a chance to play $2 and $5 coin. They have $1 coin
games, but those are everywhere in the casino too. I drop $500
on each of: $2 JoB (prog 9408- somebody musta just hit it), $2 DDB, $1 3-play
Deuces, $5 JoB, and $2 and $1 DDB. It's an oh-shit moment:
Day one and there's me at the ATM pulling $500 which has to last
me til midnite of the NEXT DAY. After some earlier
Baileys-coffee drinks, I'm feeling awake & alert, so I keep at
"it":
Lucky for me, I sat at a 50c DDB game and hit Quad Aces with a 4 for $1000.
Down 300 to $1 DDB, then back to quarters. I got dealt quad
Aces on 25c DDB, couldn't draw the kicker, but it was a needed
$200. I finished gaming at 4:30AM with 1200 in my pocket which
would get me well into tomorrow, and at least I could get to
sleep. Down 1750 on day 1 from 9 hrs play.
Pepps has some new design of video poker machines along the
hallway next to the new Sports bar right before the new Sports
book. I call them the Big flight deck machines: they have a
hood: about 18 inch wide covered sides and top, they have a big
display screen with squarish cards and the pay table on the upper-half
which highlights the current made-hands. Big flat area with buttons
and plenty of room for a drink and an ashtray. The rail where
you put your elbows is sorta rubberized- ultra comfy. There's
even a big rubber footrest underneath. The volume is adjustable
on the screen- crank it up - the clicks and chimes are new and
different and very pleasant. The speed has three settings too -
I enjoyed the fastest setting of course. It has only one choice
of video poker: 25c DblDbl Bonus, which is luckily one of my
fave plays. Eight machines, and it's got one (fast!) RF Prog meter:
it got hit numerous times during our stay and I saw the meter go up $150 in about 8 hrs.
The only slight negatives: they are located in a high traffic area (lot of late
night drunken sports fans nearby), and the card hold buttons are
about one quarter of an inch too wide on the gap- I have big
hands and I had to spread my hands a bit more than I do on the
standard machines. Overall rating: 4 1/2 of 5 stars. Whoever
designed these did their homework.
Day 2:
room service full breakfast at 9:45. I thought I set the alarm,
but didn't check the station setting, so the delivery guy's
knock wakes me from a deep sleep. Great meal, I gets to gamin
about 11:15. I start off where I left off- on the Big 25c DDB,
and am rewarded with another dealt quad Aces, this time WITH the
3 kicker for $500.
I do a little scouting of the dozens of new machines to the left
of the new sports book. I don't get past the bank of four 25c
10-coin (effectively 50c denom) DDB's with a group prog RF.
It's at $2762 when I wander by. And stop. and play. I have rarely
seen a 50c DDB with a progressive Royal.
I get a couple quads on it, but it accepts my net 200 loss.
I'll be back. I dabble in my usual 25c and 50c games, I'm
about even on the day when I try some $1 games. Drop 200 on
ACE$BP & then I find a DDB bank near the old sports book with a $4560 prog. I'm sittin
there, mindin my own business, letting my fingers do the thinkin
on what to hold, when the dang machine freezes up. What now?
This is the part where I will someday write a book about my
thoughts between hitting the draw button and the moment of
realization that I've hit a Royal flush. This one I held TJ of
diamonds- not a hand you typically even think "c'mon AKQ", if
you think that sort of thing. I mean, I didn't even notice this
one: but, I'll save it for my book. There was a lady sitting 3
machines away on the same bank - I looked her way and said "hey
- I hit it!" She was non-plussed. "Great." no exclamation
point. So, today I got my disposable camera,
I take a picture of this Diamond royal, get paid, tip
$25, and I'm back in the black for the trip. Yeah!
I do a short walkabout to find someone to tell my story to: I
find Jim playin Pai Gow. He says great WITH an exclamation
point, and we scheme up to meet for dinner at Romanzo in 20 min.
We both order the pasta - scampi dinner - monster shrimps,
those. I am mr. big spender with $5000 in my pocket, use my $50
off coupon and charge $16 net to my room. OK, so all the food
gets comped anyways. I take a long room break, watch some TV
about skydiving in Arizona on the Weather Channel, but return to
the casino at 9PM. I have some long sessions on $1 ACE$BP
(+550) and $2 JoB (-350), I keep even after dinner til a
night-ender on Super Times Pay 25c DDB- which takes me
for $300.
1:00AM quit - 11 hours gaming: +$3600 on the day.
Day 3:
No room service. It took me a couple hrs to get to sleep last
nite. My room has windows I can crack open, which is great for
fresh cold air, but there is a $400 Million building going up on
- an all suite hotel expansion for Pepps - supposed to be open
in mid-Dec. so it got a bit noisy interrupting my REM sleep,
know what I mean? So, it being Saturday, my other pal Mike arrives today.
I find Mike on the multi's just outside the fish bar. Jim stole
my thunder and told him I hit a Royal, but of course, my
version is the full story, which Mike enjoys hearing. He hears
my dealt wild 2's on 5-play story too and then he's all caught
up.
Nothin notable til 4:15, when I hit Quad Aces on $1 DDB for
$800, which leaves me still down 300 for the day. I ratchet up
to even by 6:30, when we all meet up for our dinner Reso at
Oceano. Dinners were good, salads and chowder not-so great this
time. Yoshi Roll sushi appetizer was great, my usual order.
Mike used his $50 coupon and charged the remaining $53 to his
room. Dinner's over and gaming again at 8PM. I'm playin 50c DDB
5-play, when I'm DEALT quad 2s. If I hit a kicker on the draw on any of the 5 hands,
the hand total gets to $1200. As it goes, no Aces, threes
nor fours come in for the kicker, so the hand is only $1000
total. Did I just say "only?"
Dunno if I was feelin rich or what, but I started another
denomination progression: I lost about $500 on 25c and 50c
5-play. Then 50c DDB ('chasing the Royal': prog at 2917) cost me
500 more. $1 BP : -200, $1 DDB: -300, $2 BP:-300 and $2 DDB:
I'm in 100 on $2 DDB when I get DEALT quad 2's with a 3 kicker
for $1600: machine locks up and I get a tax form and handpay by
the high limit slot attendant, who is real purdy by-the-way.
That one deal took care of those last 2 hrs of losses, sweet.
Playin 50c JoB with 3-way prog at the Cabaret bar- the place
that reminds me of the bar in The Shining, except this one has a
full stage for live rock bands above it. I get a rare DEALT
Straight flush for $138- one of the progs gets reset to 125 thanks to me.
An hour later I hit quad aces for $400 profit playing a $1 BP
bartop at the abandoned Oceano bar. Then a visit to the high
limit, up 100 on $2 BP, I have 900 profit on the day, so I gets
a hankerin for some $5 play. $25 per hand. Did you know, a
Royal on $5 coin is worth $20,000? I've taken a work hiatus for
less than that size jackpot. I score two Full houses worth $225
each, and I quit it up $300. I have a $600 ticket in my hand as
I walk by a $5 coin, 3-play machine. 3 lines @ $25 per line =
$75 a pull. It's got DDB, and I'm feelin like I gotta spin this
guy with my $600 ticket. I score a FH, I get about 10 deals on
it when up pops my "moment": I get dealt a 4-part RF. Hold.
hold. hold. hold. carefully. check it. check again. ok, karma
check, juju, be ready to leap: hit the Draw button. Long
pause (chapter 21 of future book??? )… nada …one high pair for
$25. I got another FH later, got in maybe 10 more hands, and
cashed out $50. I ain't no high roller: $5 coin is still way over my budget
and I sense the danger of gambling beyond your means when I play this for a
5-minute session. I stick to a fixed loss limit.
Night capper I dropped $300 on $2 JoB prog (@9426). 1 AM quit.
11 hours +400 on the day.
Day 4:
Got to gamin at 1PM - just in time to catch the first of 3
Sunday Big Spin drawings - once again, I did not get picked. I
drifted up and down less than 200 until during the 3rd drawing
I'm playin $1 JW prog. Ya know, I made sure that prog never got
above $4764.42 by golly. There can be a lot said about the
thrill of watching just one card APPEAR on your screen: that ONE
card you need to make you oh so happy. And then it does it: it
appears. From some RNG ether -=+ *POOF*. Read the b00k.
Anyhow, I held 4 parts: TKJQ spades, the Ace came in in the far
left slot. Cool. Got a photo. got paid fairly quick- the
attendant even came back to see if I wanted the photographer to
take my picture (I declined). $25 tip. Found Mike playin $1
DDB on our old favorite single lines near the old sports book,
(which got changed to 9/6 DDB) so we shared low-twos ( cooler
than high fives ) and he heard the story. Rare for me or my pals to
get two Royals on one trip.
Then I went off on a $1000 losing spree: -$200 at 25c 5-play
NSUD, -$300 at $1 DDB, and -500 at $2 JoB & BP. So, having the
bankroll for it, I decide to risk 500 at $5 coin. $20K Royal-
reminder of excitement level while playing this game- so, I'm
sure I saw a 4RF or two on this game, but I got somewhat
thrilled to see quad Js on the screen, worth 125 creds - that =
$625. I cashed out 600 profit for the $5 session and fled the
area.
Overheard in the posh pissoir: guy talking to hisself about the piped-in music:
"..this is Great pissing music...."
6:30 dinner at Steak House with me mates again.
Great food- new york steak & grand filet
mignon. Mark grabs the check and charges to room AND pops for
the $30 cash tip - mr big spender again. it's comped - not much
out of pocket. We all wander over to the self-serve computer
near the bell desk to print out our next day's flight boarding
passes- 'group A' being somewhat key on Southwest in case the flight is full.
Quick room break & gaming again by 8:30. I went with a quick
progression up denoms as I was losing: 25-50-$1- $2; stuck
$1000, playing $2 DDB when I got quad 4's with a 2 for $1600 -
tax form and hand pay about 10PM. Kept on $1 denom for -500,
$2 JoB for -500, $2 Bonus -200 despite a quad 3 for 400, Then $2
DDB and two quads for $500 ea returned me most of my losses.
Back to $1's for -350, $2's for -500 and $5 ACE$BP for an
all-too-quick -600. Back to $2 JoB, quad Qs for +250, but lost
300 on the session.
I give the multi-lines a spin and hit quad wild 2s on one line (dealt 3) for 250
playing 25c 5-play, up 250. I switch to 50c 5-play DDB and
surprise myself much like my first Royal, I hold TQ and hit a
Royal on one line for $2000. Tax form (6th for the trip) and
hand pay. This offsets my most recent losing run and puts me up
500 since dinner. I finish the night with an hour and a half
Royal chase on the new 50c DDB as the prog RF is up to 3134.
Two machines are shut down by a couple that had played them most
of the day. This is annoying, as there's only 4 machines- and
the Royal is quite high, so lots of folks wanna play them, me
and Mike included. The couple is there while I'm playing from
!:00-2:30. I hit a bonus quad for 400 and a regular one for 125,
but I drop 300 for the session.
2:30 quit. 11 hours. +4200 for the day.
Total 42 hours playtime for the trip, +6450.
Day 5.
Room service breakfast at 11AM. I'd pre-packed most of my stuff
the night before.
I took my time (host had gotten me my standard late check-out of
2PM), enjoyed a half of the pot of coffee that came with
breakfast, but got to gaming by 12:15. I headed for the 50c DDB
to do the Royal Chase, and was pleasantly surprised to find Mike
parked on one of the machines. Now, Mike has been bumping bottom, budget-wise,
for much of the trip. But he's had a good morning on this bank, since 8AM(!),
lots of quads, so he has a nice stake going. The RF is over 3200
now. I pump in 400 despite 6 quads for 125 ea plus a 125 rare
Straight flush. The couple is there playing next to me, she is
playing, he is watching. Jim shows up with great news: he got a
Royal!- playing the 25c BP (with the $12,500 Seq). he hit the
regular RF which had prog'd up to $1193. Hurrah. He joins our
50c DDB Royal chase on the machine next to Mike. About 2:30,
Jim takes off to try another game. About 10 minutes later, Mike
comes to my machine to point out the blinking Royal meter lights: another
way to say - I HIT IT! I come around to look at it, we're on back-to-back machines,
give low-twos, then return to my machine, play a few hands, and I hit the cash out
button. The lady next to me does also, the chase is over. So I
grab my card and go over to celebrate with Mike. I suddenly
realize I didn't grab my cashout ticket - $257. I go and look-
it's gone, and I get an immediate sinking feeling. I double
check all my pockets, and realize nope, it's been swiped. The
couple are my first suspects. I fast-walk over to near the Steakhouse,
where some attendants are hanging out, and tell the
most-supervisory-looking one what happened. She calls on her
walkie-talkie to see if my ticket is cashed ( they use machine # & look
it up real-time)- yes -it was printed at 2:44 and cashed at the
machine 10 yds away at 2:46. So, two other guys take down all
the facts, they review their video eye in the sky tapes, and
decide there's enough for them to persue it, and after a 20 minutes.
they decide to reimburse me (!!!) $257. Amazing. Impressive.
They didn't say anything to confirm to me who it
was, but they were treating it like a crime against the
Peppermill. Hardly seems the criminal will find it worth $257 if
they get caught. At a minimum I'd think they'll be barred.
So, not lost was Mike's enthusiasm. That $3260 got him back
close enough to even to turn around a bum trip up til then.
I dropped 550 on that 50c DDB RF chase. I played a bit more on
all my fave games at all denoms for the rest of the day, stopped
at the $2 level.
I dropped another 1900 for down 2450 on the
day. Hilights were few: a 250 Quad on $2 JoB and a $500 quad on
$2 DDB were my only plus sessions.
Plus, I collected another $200 freeplay (begins Oct 8).
We met up for the limo to the airport at 6:40. We stopped at the
Nugget in Sparks so I could run in to cash a $200+ freeplay bonus
I earned there from my visit last July. Thanks for the tip here on vpFree_Reno
that this reads "free-play" on the coupon, but the cashier cage will give you CASH.
Fun to jump back in the limo with $200 and tell the driver:
Step On It, as in: Escape!
I dropped another 100 on VP at the airport.
6 hrs of gaming on day 5, down 2350 for the day.
Full plane for the ride home.
Stats to follow.
Cheers,
MARK