Hello Reno Gang...As promised here's a Reno trip report centered around July 2010. As usual it contains unpublished information and highly opinionated thoughts, for novice and pro alike. Reno is different than Vegas, and they are both on my agenda as yearly Must-visit places. The weather was hot, but nothing compared to Vegas or Even NYC with the high humidity. ....Best wishes...Tom
Friday - flew in on US Airways JFK-Phoenix-Reno - arrived Casino 10:30PM. No Pepp shuttle waiting , but long line for someplace - was not going to find out since its only a $12 taxi to PEPP.
Day 1/2 FRI/SAT : Peppermill ( Great place thanks to my recent losses puts me in good standings )
Stayed thanks to host's/offer comped up front Tuscany towers room offer. I don't like these because they are such a long long walk to center casino so I switched the room to classic Peppermill tower. They really fixed these up , with Plasma TV's and new beds / modern bathrooms. Had a "magic hallway room" turned right elevator stops center casino , turn left elevator leaves you by front desk.
Check-in Tip: If your room is comped , bypass giant lines and go right to the VIP room to check-in. I saved 15 minutes by doing that this trip and free coffee is always brewing.
Food: Oceano ( very good ) , Coffee shop ( very good ), and Buffet ( its improving ).
Entertainment: OK bands, nothing great
Shuttle Bus: Best / most reliable of all the fleets. At the end of our stay , the driver dropped us off right at the Car Rental desk near luggage saving us a nice size walk.
VP: Started out with $200 in free play waiting
I ended up losing about $450, but always close to a break-away hit...it just never came.
-- $1 NSUD with 4600 coin royal
-- 50 play quarter machine with 9/5 super double bonus . Note the 2 quarter machines next to this one also have 9/5 super double bonus.
--- Various NSUD standalone and spin, and 5 play : Peppermill is the home of NSUD - literally everywhere.
--- 5 play Multistrike playing 20/13/4 bonus deuces. This was the best play on this lone machine for under a quarter.
--- 10C 50 play 9/7 triple bonus
--- 25c/$1 12/4 double bonus deuces ( 99.8). Hit DUCKS for $1000
--- 25C progressive joker ( not full pay at reset, but positive thanks to $1700 Royal .
--- $1 Deuces progressive ( not full pay at reset, but near positive thanks to 4 deuces paying around $1300 and wild royal at $165 . Mad swings but made about $100 and quit after I hit the Wild Royal Flush
-- 25C/50 C Big split jacks - its only full pay at 25C and up ( For the first time, took a beating on these losing over $1000 )
-- 25C jacks super times pay. ( Actually beat these thanks to a dealt straight flush )
-- Dummy slots 2-5-2 ( these are fun, we always play them..but the progressive at the Atlantis was double ).
--- 9/6 DDB Aces and faces ( Darn that dream, I never beat these )
--- 25C/50C/$1 8/5 super double double ( this was a rare unpublished find, over near the reef slot area ).
--- 25C nsud triple play and spin ( got Ducks for $500 )
--- $1 10 coin 9/6 Jacks with $9700 rf ( started with $200 ... quit at $500 ).
--- 50C/$1 9/6 BDLUX at the various bars. Bad choice/ not enough quads so burned $1000 .
--- MIA ?? Could not find the reported 2 pair jokers - I really looked hard for these, I think they are history.
--- Peppermillions were really bad this trip - Did not use a single offer.
Day 3/4 Sun/Mon : John Ascuaga's Nugget aka JAN ( Great Casino - time warped to Vegas in the early 80's )
Ok, so we picked up our rental car from Alamo. Quite surprised, a really nice 2010 Dodge Caliber with Sirius Radio. I now love Sirius Radio ! Total cost of 3 day rental was $135.
FIRST: before checking in we stopped off at the Grand Sierra. Got our players card and was rewarded with $5 in free play !
-- was not that impressed, dark casino - similar to Vegas Sahara ... mostly short pay games there ... some exceptions were found
* 12/8/4 loose deuce but with a $1700 progressive, the machine was positive ( blew $200 )
* 15/10/4 quarter loose deuce. No that's not a misprint its the near extinct 100.9 version on the deuce/joker locals carousel. ( blew $200 )
3PM ...finally made it over to JAN: Checked in with Rookie associate. He put me in a super noisy highway facing room , and it was so loud you thought you were in the middle of Route 80. Switched me over to same floor ( 20th ) even # room facing the train yards (much , much better ). Found out that my free suite upgrade coupon was only good for the much further walk West tower, so I chucked that in favor of being closer to the casino and Starbucks ( btw - one of the best casino Starbucks around with free refills and takes points direct ).
Food: Trader Dicks ( ok food, but great 70's style atmosphere when Polynesian restaurants were popular - along with its own ukulele band ).
VP:
--- Wheel poker ( played 5 playx5 NSUD, and 5playX6 8/5 bonus. Super lucky on these including RF, dealt Aces, quad deuces etc for a clear $3000 profit. Hope they dont shut these down after the beating I gave them.
-- 9/6 bonus deluxe at bars
--- 8/5 triple bonus plus
-- 10/6 DDB ( near super full pay/100.0% as SF pays 200 - did I get an SF on these , yes twice !!! ).
-- 8/5 triple bonus plus progressives with RF at $1900.
-- 9/7 DB double pay poker ( 99.2 )
-- various AA, nsud, jacks games, double deuces all FP or near FP
--- 25/15/9 Super bonus deuces ( these are fun with full JAN comps , but Atlantis has locals 25/15/10 version )
--- MS with 8/5 bonus, 9/6 Jacks, 9/7 DB in various denoms
MISC:
-- side trip to a crowded Western Village proved profitable ( +300 ) . Forget what the Vpfree listing says, this place is unbelievable !
was playing nickel 8/5 super double double spin deluxe when it dealt me aces. Hand pay for $1220
-- not much luck on the 2c nsud 5 PLAY MULTISTRIKE.
-- A 2 minute walk from JAN gets you to Renos best burger - the IN-OUT burger off Victorian AVE.
-- Visited our favorite Reno Thai restaurant Bankok Cuisine on Mt Rose for another wonderful lunch. Their shrimp Pad-thai is excellent.
--- Sparks is really dead. Its a shame, I blame those CA Indian Casino's killing off the business.
We left JAN on Tues 11AM , beating them for $400. I'm doing good there, and the $150 in free play , generous room offers and comps, pushes them into my Reno Top 4 list. Next stop ....Carson City...to be continued
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]