Hi Reno Board Friends,
I returned home from my Northern Nevada fun place on Friday evening. I enjoyed my stay in Reno, as always, and believe that I was treated exceptionally well at the Atlantis. W/O equivocation, I can report that I have found my new Reno home casino.
While I love my host at the Peppermill, and the casino has provided me with many
good times, nice comps, generous free play, and much VP enjoyment in the past, their current ravaged VP inventory is such that I will not continue to patronize them, at this time.
In addition to the previous removal of all FPDW and FPJW, the most recent downgrading of the $1.00 10/7DB prog.and the .25/.50/1.00 10/6/40DDB, the proliferation of 100's of penny slots where once stood 100's of M/G VP machines, and the changing of the minimum denom. to 5c, on the 100 play 9/6JOB, has finally convinced me to look elsewhere.
We had also been more than a little disappointed in the PEPP restaurants, hotel accommodations, and the annoying construction debris, on our most recent trip, a few months ago.
So, though I have a LONG history at the Peppermill, and many fond memories of the old glory days there, The Atlantis will be my new favorite Reno residence. "Management reserves all rights" of course. Should the Atlantis decide to follow in the footsteps of their chief competitor, I will re-evaluate my current position.
I was more than pleased to escape the sub-zero temps and snow showers that we have suffered in the great Mid-west recently. The 40's to 60's which were forecast
for Reno during my five day stay, sounded infinitely better.
So, on Super Bowl Sunday, I boarded my American Airlines non-stop flight, just as ready to conquer the Atlantis VP, as DA BEARS were prepared to defeat the Colts!
My introduction to the Atlantis couldn't have started any better. A smiling chauffeur, arranged by my new host, was waiting for me near the rental car area. I was quickly driven to the hotel and escorted to VIP Lounge, where my host was waiting to greet me. Despite my initial qualms, she was very warm and most welcoming from the start to the finish of my visit. If anything, she exceeded my expectations in every respect.
I was assigned a room in the Atrium Tower, described in the hotel brochure as a "luxury room". I thought it was as nice or nicer than most of the rooms that I have occupied at the Peppermill or the Silver Legacy.
The room was spacious and well appointed, with a very large marble tile bathroom, which contained all the usual amenities. It was near the bank of elevators, as I had requested, and had a lovely overview of downtown Reno from the 18th Floor.
I was soon down in the very crowded casino, waiting in line at the Sport's Book to place a $50 bet on the Bears, taking 7 points. That was the first of many bad "bets" that I made that day.
I had no dinner plans with any Reno friends that evening, so I settled for a solo dinner in the Purple Parrot Coffee Shop. In general, I found the food in the PP to be well prepared, of generous proportions and served by pleasant and accommodating wait persons.
When I realized that my VP playing was headed in the same direction as the Bear's SB dreams, I made an early evening of it, my bankroll down by about $500.
Monday morning I was up with the roosters, as usual. By 5:30am I was playing 50c BP. I thought that it might be a better day when I quickly popped 4 aces for $200. Alas, it was not to be. The rest of the morning was a dud.
I broke up several bad VP sessions, by having a terrific breakfast in the PP coffee Shop. The eggs, bacon, sausage (be strong, my heart!) toast and coffee were prepared exactly as ordered, and served by an attentive and smiling waiter.
At one point, early on Monday morning, I was down the equivalent of a quarter royal. Realizing that if I was lucky enough to pop a royal, I'd only be even for the trip, did not make me smile. I was prepared to pay an early visit to my Safe Deposit Box, as I inserted the last Bennie from my wallet in DDW machine.
My happy face quickly returned when I hit the Deuces for $500, then hit them again on the same lovely slant-top, an hour later. To keep me returning to this fun machine, many times, I hit the deuces for $250 twice, while playing NSUD that evening.
The identical machine, right next door, kept taking my money, while the first one kept giving it back. I was sure the other machine was going to cooperate, any minute. As a result, the bad brother now "owes" me several hundred dollars.
That evening, I had a lovely Sauteed Shrimp and Scallop dinner in the Atlantis Seafood/Steakhouse Restaurant, with a good friend from the Reno board. It's always a pleasure to have good company for a meal and some VP chatting, especially when I'm visiting town w/o EH.
It was another early evening as I began yawning the moment that dinner was over.
I retired to my room, down about $100 for the trip, a considerable bankroll improvement, thanks to the timely appearance of my new friend, the Deuces God.
My VP play on Tuesday was at best ordinary. By dinnertime, even though I had a few minor wins, most of my play was on the wrong side of the curve. I was more than ready for dinner time to arrive when I was meeting two new friends, a married couple, who live in the area.
We all enjoyed a delicious dinner at the Monte Vigna Italian Restaurant. I ordered meat stuffed Ravioli with a Porcini mushroom cream sauce. It was expertly prepared and most delectable. After a couple of hours of leisurely dining and VP chatting, we separated and went back to playing our favorite games. I should have stayed for dessert and coffee. By bedtime, I was once more in the hole about $500.
Starting off the day right on the $1.00 10/7DB prog. near the Atrium elevators, which had a RF meter of $4400+, I ran my Bennie up to $300 rather quickly. When the credits descended to $250, I cashed out. I then tackled .50c BP and soon hit 4 Aces for $200. After some 3 play JOB, and some 100 play BP, I was up about $500 for the mornings activities.
I finally seemed to be rid of the little black cloud that had settled over my head and followed me from machine to machine.
When hunger pangs were causing my tummy to emit strange and plaintive sounds, I took a break to have brunch at Toucan Charlie's Buffet.
Though buffets are usually not my dining choice, I was impressed with the variety and quality of the Atlantis buffet. All the food looked and tasted fresh and appetizing, and there were choices to satisfy all palates. IMO, the Atlantis buffet is much superior to the buffets at the Peppermill and the Silver Legacy.
After lunch I managed to squander all the morning's profits fruitlessly chasing the elusive Double Deuces. Alas, the Deuce God was apparently at the Silver Legacy!
Dinner that evening was with another new friend, from Carson City. We had a nice dinner and an interesting conversation at the Peppermill Coffee Shop. Dinner was fine and so was the chatting.
After dinner, I played my FP through once on the .50c DDW bank that also USED to have 10/6/40DDB. When I cashed out, my $200 FP had shrunk just a little, to $175. Still, IMO, found money.
Thursday, my last day in Reno, began, as had all the others, at the crack of dawn.
Since I had been lucky enough, so far, to avoid the dreaded pilgrimage to the Safety Deposit box to access additional bankroll, I decided to play conservatively, and settled in at the quarter, single line bank of 10/7DB prog. machines. I played there for almost three hours, and, having snared 4 quads (none bonus quads) I was lucky enough to cash out the same $100 that I had started with.
I did notice, with more than a little envy, that a young guy at the opposite end of my bank, hit the Aces THREE times during that session. Each time, instead of quickly hitting the Max. Bet, Play or Cash-out button, he just sat there, grinning, as the machine slowly and noisily added the 800 credits. Grrrrrrrr........!
Lunch was at Cafe Al Fresco, where I enjoyed a personal size four cheese Pizza and a green salad. Delicious, filling and very reasonably priced.
The afternoon VP sessions were spent playing .25c 3 and 5 line multiplay, and
3 play STP, with varying degrees of success. As EH would have surely commented, "You're going up and down so much, someone will think that you're on your honeymoon!" ( - :
I was bemused and fascinated by two side-by-side STP machines, near the Poker Room. I played them both for a considerable length of time. One of them never once showed the multiplier, and the other one seemed to produce a multiplier about every 3rd hand (instead of the average of every 15th hand). The friendly STP never gave a multiplying number higher than a "3", until the last hand, when it produced a "10"........ there was no winning hand among the three hands played, to produce a winner. ) - :
Dinner that evening was in the Oyster Bar, which is also a non-smoking slot and VP area. It's also a quiet place (UNLESS there are a bunch of kids there) with very few people playing.
Dinner was an excellent pristine fresh, Seafood Louie salad and a Bloody Mary. Very satisfying!
I enjoyed the quiet and the smoke-free ambiance, as well as playing while looking out the floor to ceiling windows at Reno traffic. However, early in the morning, this can be a problem, when the glare from the sun hits the VP screen, and it becomes difficult to distinguish clubs from spades.
The main casino was filled with smokers on Thursday evening, and my eyes, nose and throat were all prompting me to leave. I went back up to the smoke-free Sky Terrace for a couple of hours, but couldn't make any money. When my left eye starting twitching, I knew that it was bedtime for Babe. When I counted my bankroll, just before retiring, I was down $125 for the entire trip.
While I was still hoping for a visit from the Goddess of Royal Flushes the next morning, I was satisfied that, no matter how early I rose on Friday, there was little likelihood any more, of my being a "Big" loser overall.
I had checked with the club booth on Thursday, regarding the consequences of playing on Friday morning, for just a few hours. I was told, by a supervisor, that they do go by "daily average" when generating marketing offers. She also said that since I did have a substantial amount of coin-in, that aspect would also be taken in to consideration. She also told me that the point accrual period is for one year, and goes from June to June. Since I probably won't be back until July, or later, I will have to start over at that time
In any event, I decided that I was going to play, using my card, and "let the comps fall where they may"!
Friday morning, I was playing by 6:00am. I hit .50c BP Aces twice. Period. The rest of the morning was a dud VP wise. The $400 dollars soon disappeared down the mouths of the hungry coin-acceptors.
I went to the PP coffee shop for another good breakfast, and while there had them prepare a take-out sandwich for snacking on the plane.
At 10:00am, I quit playing, emptied my unsullied SD Box, and went upstairs to close my wheelie for an 10:30 departure to Cannon Airport.
Some Trip Statistics:
My coin-in total was a little over $60K.
I played single line .25c DDW, 10/7DBprog, 9/6DDB prog., .25c 3/5/play NSUD, 8/5BP & 9/6JOB., 50c NSUD, 9/6JOB, 10/7DB and 8/5BP, and $1.00 10/7DB prog. I also played .25 3play 9/6JOB STP and Multistrike, 10 play .5c 9/6JOB and 2c 50 play and 1c 100 play 9/6JOB. Quite an interesting variety of FP VP!
The only game that I really missed at Atlantis was JW. The best JW game at the Atlantis pays 85 coins for quads and 4700 coins for a RF. I took a pass on this sub-standard pay schedule. I believe that the only remaining FPJW, in Reno, is at the Silver Legacy, where it is available only at the .25c denom.
I checked my account balance on the machines, when I stopped playing, I learned that I had earned approximately 1800 points durimg that visit. Since I had about $60K coin-in, I believe that equates to about $34 per point.
I tried to find out specifically how many coin-in dollars are required to earn one point. I was told by a supervisor at the club booth that points are accrued by a combination of coin-in, type of machine played, denomination of machine and the length of time that the player stays at the machine. I'm not sure how accurate that is, but my host also explained point accrual in the same way. I do believe that theo is determined by those factors, so I suppose that the same factors may be used to determine point accrual.
This is not dissimilar to the Peppermill, where I have heard that coin-in amounts ranged from $30-$40 per point. At the Peppermill, however, there is no way to
verify this on the machine.
I enjoyed this option on the Atlantis machines, and frequently checked my account balance, both out of curiosity and to be sure that the points were registering.
At check-out, my host comped all five nights of room charges and all food charges which I had posted to the room. I was more than satisfied with this courtesy. It's what I've always experienced at the Peppermill as well.
Thanks for reading my report. I hope that you enjoyed it!
Best regards,
~Babe~
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