Part 2.
Friday (continued):
I was now embarking on the second part of my 8 day VP adventure in the Silver State.
A few weeks previously, after I had finalized plans and purchased flight tickets to LV, I received an invitation from the Silver Legacy, in Reno, to attend their Super Bowl weekend party. EH read this offer when he picked up our mail, and decided that it would be fun to attend. He asked me if I would be willing to leave LV Friday afternoon and fly to Reno, meeting him there, rather than flying home on Saturday afternoon. Of course, he didn't have to ask me twice.
I quickly called the Silver Legacy and reserved the event. The marketing offer included one comped night, and another night at a casino rate. It also featured a cocktail party with some former NFL stars on Friday night, a Tail-gate party with food and beverages on Saturday afternoon, George Carlin in concert on Saturday night, and the Super Bowl party and and Prime Rib buffet on Sunday.
My next chore was getting EH to Reno, on Super Bowl Weekend. This proved to be impossible without purchasing an exhorbitantly expensive ticket. What I finally arranged was a reasonably priced flight from ORD to SFO late on Thursday afternoon. I was then able to buy him an inexpensive ticket for a flight from SFO to RNO. He would be arriving in Reno Thursday, at about 11:30PM. While he was not delighted with leaving a day earlier, and didn't care much for the connection or flight times, he ultimately decided that attending the event was worth the inconvenience. I then changed my flights so that I would arrive in Reno in time to meet EH for dinner on Friday, and fly back to Chicago on Monday.
After I was sure that these new plans were cast in stone, I called my host at the SL and explained that we were coming in for the SB party, on a Marketing Department offer which included only one comped night. I asked if the host would comp the other three nights for us. I was sure that this would not be a problem, as all my prior stays at the SL included full room comps. The host replied that it would not be problem, but, since I was coming in on a marketing offer, it would have to be arranged after I arrived.
I also checked with the Legacy Club and found out that I had a few hundred dollars of comp dollars left over from my last visit. I than assured EH that he would neither have to starve nor pay for a meal until I arrived on Friday evening.
Since the SL utilizes a "self-comp" system for non-discretionary comps, I advised EH of my password, so he could access the comp dollars, as needed, from any kiosk.
My last job was to provide EH with "cheat sheets" to use prior to my arrival on Friday. These identified the best machines to play, where they were located, the correct pay schedules and Optimum strategy for DW, JW & DB, games with which he is already familiar. After reviewing this material, he said that he was confident of hanging on to most of his bankroll until I arrived.
I also warned EH not to use the Player's Card on Thursday, should he not go directly to bed. I also suggested playing on it as heavily as possible on Friday, prior to my arrival. The reason behind these cautions is that Silver Legacy utilizes daily average coin-in to determine "tier staus", rather than total trip average. IMO, this is unfair to non-local players who frequently arrive late and depart early in the day. Out-of-town players have the choice of being penalized by playing short hours, thereby ruining their daily average, playing without a card, thereby forsaking comp dollars, going to a different property to play, or not playing at all. Non of these options are ideal.
Prior to checking out of Fiesta Rancho, I had called the Front Desk Manager to ask if someone could print boarding passes for my flights to Reno, via San Francisco. If you fly from LV to RNO on United Airlines, this is how you must go. Explaining why I'm stuck with UAL, is too long and OT for this report. Suffice it to say, that was my itinerary, and I was stuck with it.
Printing your boarding pass in advance can save many minutes of waiting time at the airport. The hotel manager told me that this was not possible because "every document printed on their computers goes to the Station's Corporate Office, and is saved. He said that the airlines (or the FAA - I'm not sure which) objects to the corporate office having airline intineraries in their possession, for 'security reasons'." While this made no sense whatever to me, I didn't argue. I was allowing plenty of time for airport check-in for a flight departure at 1:30PM.
I was picked up by my friend, at Fiesta Rancho, at 11:30 AM. We made a swift trip to the airport, arriving at 11:45. Check-in was reasonably speedy and I was soon on my way to the gate.
I was non-plussed to read on the Departure Monitor, that the flight to SFO was now "estimated" to depart at 2:00PM, instead of 1:30. Being a very frequent flyer and quite familiar with airline parlance and double-talk, I knew that the projected "estimated" departure time was very iffy at best. I had a one hour connection window for my flight from SFO to RNO. If I missed my flight, the next possible UAL flight was not until 8:00PM. This being the Friday of Super Bowl weekend, I was not at all sure that I would get on that flight as a stand-by, despite my high frenquent flyer status with UAL.
I called EH, who had arrived in Reno late the previous night, and prepared him for the possibility of missing my connection. I told him that as soon as I knew anything definite, that I would call back.
The late arriving aircraft that was to take us to SFO finally arrived at 1:40. It should have been no problem to get the plane turned around by 2:00. Unfortunately, no one had notified LV that two wheelchairs were required for de-planing of two handicapped passengers. The departing passengers could not board until the wheelchairs arrived to carry off the arriving passengers. The result of this oversight was a delay of an additional 30 minutes! My connection time in SFO was now about 5 minutes!
We finally arrived in SFO 4:18PM, having made up a few minutes in flight. My other plane was due to push back at 8:24, from a totally different part of the vast terminal.
The helpful flight attendant, after giving me arrival and departure gate information, assured me that I would miss the connection. I ran off the plane, dragging my wheelie. I raced the entire distance between gates at my top speed (which is much closer to the tortoise than the hare!) I reached the gate gasping for breath. The door to the jetway was locked shut. Almost in tears, I beseeched a gate agent to open the door so that I could board the plane. "What plane"?, he asked with an amused smirk. "The plane hasn't arrived yet. It's over an hour late!"
I arrived at Silver Legacy at approximately 6:30PM. By prior arrangement, I met EH in our 21st floor room. I noted that we had been assigned a rather small, but quite adequate room, with separate sink/dressing and toilet areas. The room was nicely furnished and pleasant. It overlooked a busy street, but, since we both sleep like rocks, that was not a concern.
During past visits, I have usually been assigned larger, quieter and nicer rooms, but I assumed that this room had been assigned by the marketing department rather than by the host. Since we would spend little time in the room, I had no real objection to the accomodations.
We were both happy that I had finally arrived. EH was pleased because a) he was hungry and b) he was losing his toosh! I was happy because I wasn't overly excited with the prospect of spending the evening in SFO.
We immediately proceeded to the first floor and were soon seated in Fairchild's Oyster Bar. I have always enjoyed good, reasonably priced seafood here. My one objection to Fairchild's is that, despite being a non-smoking facility, if you are seated along the railing that borders the hotel walkway, you will sometimes inhale tobacco smoke from strolling passers-by.
We both ordered the same menu: Excellent Clam Chowder, served in a Sourdough "bowl" and a Bay Shrimp Salad with plenty of crisp, fresh shrimp topped with a tangy dressing.
After this satisfying dinner, which we self-comped at the kiosk directly across from Fairchild's, we walked just a short distance to the alcove that contained the last of the SL's 8 upright FPDW. The deuces game no longer contains a prog. The prog. is now in the 9/6DDB game.
If you didn't know where they were located, it would be possible to overlook the Deuces altogether. There is nothing on the machines or the overhead banner that indicates that FPDW is included in the M/G M/D machines. The only printed material on the machines identify them as DDB. When EH looked for the Deuces on Friday morning to start his play, he feared that they were MIA. However, using my notes which clearly showed their location, he soon discovered that the Deuces were still there.
Within a few minutes, I hit the 4 Deuces, and EH lost $80.00. While he was happy for me and said that "I had the touch", he was getting crabby about losing. He had a poor day at BJ, in addition to losing at each VP session. He had been playing quite a bit because the earned points on the card were at 300 ($6K coin-in) when I first started to play.
We then walked over to the cocktail party which was part of the SB package. There was a lot of drinking and some rather boring (IMO) speeches by former NFL stars. Neither of us was interested in either activity, so EH left to play BJ and I attacked the FPJW bank.
EH won $200 at BJ before joining me at the bank of M/D M/G machines that included 10/7DB and FPJW (at a maximum .25c 5 coin bet) as well as several short-pay games in which the clueless were encouraged to bet 50 coins per pull.
We saw a few bewildered folks, playing quarters, lose their $20 in less than 2 pulls, by hitting the max bet button. One exceedingly lucky fellow, however, who couldn't grasp what was causing his windfall, kept hitting flushes, full houses and 4OAK while playing DOLLARS at MAX coin! It seemed like every few hands, bells were ringing, songs were singing and someone was handing him a WG2! Go figure!
EH & I played JW and DB for a few hours before retiring. I lost about $100.00 on the Jokers, but his upward trentd by hitting a few quads at DB. At bedtime I was ahead about $150 for the day. EH said that he was down approximately $200 for the trip.
Saturday:
By 6:00AM I was back at the FPDW bank. I was getting many "teaser" 3 deuce hands, most of which ended in the ubiquitous 4OAK. The 4th duck failed to materialize. At 8:00 I left to meet EH at the food court for breakfast.
Apparently, for lack of weekday business, the food court is only open on the weekend. Breakfast is available on Saturday and Sunday mornings at 8:00. A decent breakfast of eggs/breakfast meat/potatoes/toast and coffee is offered for under $6.00.
The only problem I've found with the food court breakfast, is the difficulty in paying for the food and getting your tray set up at table, in time to butter still warm toast.
The FC also has bargain shrimp cocktails, a salad bar and good, generously proportioned, made to order hot and cold sandwiches. Various hot entrees are also available. Because the service in the Coffee Shop ranges from bad to absymal, I personally wish that the FC was open 7 days a weeks.
The Super Bowl Festivities began in earnest Saturday afternoon. The Convention Center, located directly across the street from the SL, had been set up with a stage, on which NFL cheerleaders were posing for photos with invited guests. Many round, white-clothed tables were available for those consuming the plentiful barbecued ribs and BQ beef sandwiches, fried potatoes, beans, rolls, coleslaw and any beverage of your choice.
All SB invited guests were requested to wear a custom made SB pin, on which had been printed each guests name. By wearing the pin guests avoided being asked for further proof that all their food and drink was free. Each guest was also gifted with an official NFL SB cap. The SL was selling the same cap to non participants for $30.00. We both thought that the food was good, the party was well done and that the pin and cap gifts made very nice souvenirs. I would give the SL a strong A on their event planning.
After we were both photographed with the lovely 20something cheerleaders (the photo became another nice souvenir mounted in a SL SB folder) we went back to the casino for some more VP & BJ.
We tried 3 and 5 play .25c 9/6JOB and 10/6/40DDB. Unfortunately, I was getting very little play for my Bennies. I couldn't buy a good hand all afternoon. EH managed to stay fairly even.
We decided to try the special Chinese New Year menu in the coffee shop, for dinner. This proved to be a big mistake. The "hot" food was served cold, after an interminable wait. The dishes that we ordered ( shrimp spring rolls and chicken with almonds ) were at best, mediocre, and tasted as if they had been cooked previously and re-heated in the microwave. We were never offered a hot water refill for our tea. The service was generally terrible. A very unsatisfactory dinner. We vowed to by-pass the coffee shop for any future meals. This was the 3rd straight bad CS experience for us.
After dinner, we tried the Deuces again for an hour, while waiting for the George Carlin concert to begin at 8:00PM. In a very nice turn of events, we both hit the Deuces.
The auditorium was packed, but we had been given very good seats (which were selling separately for $70.00). We both commented that the seats were much too close together, and quite uncomfortable. By the end of the performance, we were both squirming.
Carlin had a warm-up act, another comedian named Dennis Blair. We didn't especially care for his routine, which seemed to last a LONG time. When George finally appeared, to thunderous applause and a standing ovation, he immediately launched into his fast talking routine about "who he was". Unfortunately, we had recently seen this routine on HBO. He then did what was, IMO, an extremely un-funny routine about suicide, and followed that with an even less amusing diatribe about politics. We were both very disappointed in his show though he has always been a favorite of ours. We agreed that his routine it was lacking in original new material, in addition to not being very amusing.
We played VP for a few hours after the concert. Nothing dramatic occured. At day's end, EH had recouped all his losses, and I was negative about $200 for the day.
Sunday:
We debated where to have breakfast, the choices being the food court, the buffet (which EH tried and didn't like on Friday) or the coffee shop. We settled on the food court again. Luke warm but OK.
After breakfast, EH decided to play BJ. I found the 50 play 1c/2c/5c M/G machine that offered 9/6JOB among other games. I selected the 2c denom. and played this fun game for a couple of hours. One of my good vpFREE buddies had tipped me off about the "turbo" button, on the bottom left of 50/100 machines. By engaging this button, the hands fill on the screen very quickly. This avoids the very slow "plink, plink" as the hands are completed at a snail's pace. The volatility was extremely low, and my Bennie remained unscathed for a long time. I was up or down a few dollars with each hand. Finally, I drew 4OAK on the bottom line, followed soon by a pat Full House and a pat Straight on the first line. I eventually cashed out a nice $150 profit.
When I found EH he had tired of the SL BJ. All N/S tables paid 6/5 for BJ. Most of the games were shoe games. Most of the table minimums were $25 with several at $50 & $100. Players were waiting in line for the one $10 table, where every single player was smoking. On hand dealt games, deck penetration was mediocre to poor. It's really necessary to go the PEPP or Atlantis for decent BJ. It wasn't difficult to
convince him to play the 2c 50 play with me.
We decided to be partners on the same machine. Each one drawing and holding as long as they produced a winning total. We were losing about half of our initial Bennie when, on his turn, he opened with a heart flush containing RF4. He dropped the pup heart and drew FIVE Royal Flushes for a 20,000+ coin payoff. Not a huge payoff, since it was a 2c game, but still lots of fun.
At lunch time, we decided to try the Sterling Sunday Brunch. It proved to be a very elaborate spread, and a good value for $25.00. All the usual hot and cold food items, including smoked salmon, peeled shrimp, excellent lamb chops, small filets, hot veggies, cold salads, ethnic specialities and a scrumptious dessert table. Everything was well prepared, fresh and appetizing. We were so full when we had finished that we were unable to eat a thing at the Super Bowl prime rib buffet. It was not good planning on our part, since the SB buffet also looked great. We could have saved $50.00 in comps, by having a light lunch and eaten that buffet instead.
The Super Bowl game was shown on 7 giant screens in the lower level auditorium. Every one had an assigned table, but not an assigned seat at the table. EH went down early and threw our jackets over two chairs facing the closest screen, so that we would be able to lean on and use the table, while watching the game.
I actually have no interest whatever in football. But since I bet $20.00 on the Seahawks, I had some rooting interest in the game. I sat through 3 quarters of the game, until I knew my bet had been irretrieveably lost. Then I went upstairs and lost some more at VP.
After the game the casino was extremely crowded but we managed to find two adjoining machines at the bank near Keno. I played JW til I lost $100. EH found a very friendly DB which was kind enough to produce quad 4's, quad 3's, plus another quad. He was able to cash out a $250 winner.
At bedtime, I was down for the day by about $200.00. EH, who had an 8:00AM non- stop flight on American, was leaving for the airport at 6:30AM Monday. He wound up ahead for the trip by about $300. Once again he had held up the family honor, while I was the dud!
Monday:
I was on a 12:15 United flight to SFO and did not need to leave for the airport until 10:30AM. Therefore, I played for about 3 hours in the morning. I had decided that there was not enough time to go to another casino, so I just played without my card. I was playing quite awhile at JW, on my initial Bennie, when I drew RF4 and bought the joker for a wild royal. I was only mildly disappointed that it hadn't converted to a "real" royal. I cashed out a $200 ticket and quit playing for the trip. When I tallied up my totals for the SL, I was down about $250 for the entire Reno visit. Not great, but not terrible either.
Prior to checking out, I stopped at the Legacy Club booth and inquired about our total coin-in amount for the 3 days. I was quite surprised to receive detailed information from their computer, about coin-in, coin-out and theo. I was told that we had $36,732.50 coin-in vs. $36, 545.50 coin-out, for a net loss of $187.00. (This did not jibe with our detailed figures, for some reason.) They calculated the total theo on the coin-in at $749.50 or a daily theo average of $149.96. I'm not sure how they determined the theo, but I found it most interesting that I was given this amount of information.
Our trips home were uneventful. We both considered this to have been a pleasant and fun experience, and agreed that we would do it again if the right offer presented itself.
Best regards,
-Babe-
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