Monday morning: Off to O'Hare to board a 777 to SFO, in route to Reno. After an uneventful flight, which arrived on time, I caught a United Express flight to Reno. I arrived in Reno at 2:30pm. Walking towards the cab stand (unfortunately, I am not a high enough roller to qualify for the Limo experience) I saw the Peppermill shuttle turn into the parking lot. A good omen! My bankroll just increased by $10.00.
Check-in, at the Pepp, through the VIP Room, was fast and efficient. The room was comped for the 2 nights I would be there by my nice host, who has taken care of my room and most meals every year. After opening a safe deposit box, and leaving most of my 5 day bankroll inside, I went to my room.
I have stayed at the Peppermill, for at least a few days, almost every year, for more than 10 years. Most of the rooms I've stayed in have been more than adequate. They are comparable to a mid-level strip hotel; nothing really special but perfectly acceptable. This time, however, I was given a room that was sorely in need of refurbishing. Though it was in the "new" tower, the furnishings looked worn and drab. I briefly considered calling the VIP Room and requesting a change in rooms, but decided against it. I was only going to be there for two nights, and would spend very little time in the room. It also had a rather nice view, was neat and clean, and stocked with the usual hotel amenities and fluffy towels. Besides, I didn't want to waste any time moving. I unpacked quickly and was in the casino by 3:15.
The Peppermill had sent me a mailed offer that included $150.00 in free play. I intended to use this before attacking my own bankroll. In my little fantasy world, I thought that perhaps I could make the free play ticket grow large enough that I would never have to use my own bankroll. LOL !!
I had read differing opinions from members of vpFREEreno, as to how the free play could be utilized. Some folks opined that free pay could only be used on less than full pay vp and slot machines, and should only be played through once, before cashing out. Others disagreed.
I went to the Club booth in order to activate my free play. This is done by establishing a private pin number. While there I asked a friendly male boothling about the free play usuage. He noticed in my computer profile that he was born, and lived through his teen years, in the same suburb in which I currently reside. This made us immediate buds. He told me that I had an additional $15.00 in free play from a previous offer, that had not expired, and that he would activate $165.00 for my free play. He gave me a printout with simple activation instructions and told me, in whispered and conspiratorial tones, that I could utilize the free play on any slot/vp machine except for those that contained FPDW. This information proved to be absolutely correct.
The .25 denom vp machines that contained the free play sticker included two banks of full pay 10/7DB prog., two banks of 10/6/40DDB, many banks of 9/6JOB, 9/6DDB prog. and slightly short pay (15 FH instead of 20 FH) NSUD with progs. on the RF/Deuces/WRF. There were many other vp machines as well which could have been used, as well as popular slots such as Wheel of Fortune & Megabucks. I was more than pleased with the variety of machines available for free play, since I had incorrectly assumed that the choice would be much more limited.
I decided to start my play on the bank of 10/7DB progs. that are between the sportsbook and the main change booth. This bank is now TITO (as are all machines at Pepp) but I believe it replaced the old coin-dropper 10/7DBN prog. bank that was always popular and busy. A Poker Room is being built where the old bank was located. It is unbelievably noisy in that area during those times that the workmen are present . At the moment it was quiet. My machine was also quiet, but very hungry. It devored the entire free play in a couple of hours. Not a single quad showed up during all that time.
BTW, contrary to what I had been told, and also assumed, I was able to "cash out" the ticket
long before I had played all the free play through at least once. In fact, the first time I cashed out, I had played less than than half of the free play. I did (unfortunately) put the ticket back in again, but I could have cashed it in, or used it to play FPDW. There was nothing about the ticket that was any different than a ticket for which "real money" had been inserted.
After my free play evaporated, I moved to one of the two banks of FPDW. I selected the bank between Oceano and the North parking lot. Incidentally, there are short pay deuces in some machines in the other banks, in the same area, so one must be aware. However, the bank that I played (which faces east and a very noisy video slot bank) has 3 MG/MD Game Kings containing FPDW. At the .25 denom. they are defintely FP. I played them for many hours. The pay schedule is 1-1-2-3-5-9-15-25-75-200-250. It is possible to play these either 5 or 10 quarters per hand. If you only wish to play 5 at a time, you must hit the "deal" button after each hand (after first "setting" the machine by hitting the "play one credit" button 5 times). O/W, if you hit the "max bet" button, you will be playing 10 quarters at a time. If you are normally on auto-pilot, to hit max bet, you WILL be playing $2.50 a hand, whether you wish to or not. Though I thought that this might be a problem for me, it
turned out not to be. I just kept my button pushing finger on the deal button, and with just a couple of exceptions, managed to play the number of coins that I had intended to play,
For awhile I was doing quite well. My original Bennie had grown to $175.00. I decided to switch to the max bet of 10 coins, and make my fortune faster. It was a bad idea. My profit and my original Bennie rather quickly disappeared. Not wanting to vacate this "good play",
I shoved in another Bennie. It took flight. I cut back to 5 coins and tried to slow down a little from a very fast pace. No improvement. After trying all 3 FP machines (no one else was playing at this bank, though several players were banging away at short pay) and losing yet another $100 in short order, I decided to take a food break.
Not having a large appetite at the moment, I opted for a sandwich in the food court. I was surprizied to discover that the very reasonably priced, and quite tasty, daily specials were no more. I still ordered the nice steak sandwich, but the price was considerably higher than on previous visits. I charged it to my room and hoped for the best at check-out time.
After dinner, I moved to the area near the Blue Keno and the Steak House, where I had been told that .25 10/6/40DDB could be found. I quickly located the bank of machines containing this game. They had "Extreme Jackpot" written on the glass. I knew where to locate these machines due the thoughtful post of "Part Timer" the previous week. The denom. on these machines is .25/.50/1.00. The $1.00 DDB is a prog. The others are not. This bank also offers TDB, NSUD & DD in all 3 denoms.
This session I was able to play longer on my Bennie, but it eventually went south also.
I decided to try my old favorite bank of 9/6/50DDB Progs. thinking that perhaps the 250 coin SF pay+ the prog., which was at $1102.00, would counteract the FH payoff. While I didn't test it on my laptop (which was at home) I decided to go with my hunch. I was no more successful than before. I was starting to get a little discouraged (not enough to quit playing, of course) and began to hope that this would not be another one of expensive sessions that I've endured recently.
This caused me to start thinking about how much faster the money seems to disappears of late. I have come to the conclusion that this has nothing whatever to do with either "non-randomness" or any other kind of machine rigging. Rather, I attribute it too the proliferation of TITO machines.
I LOVE TITO and will not play coin-droppers if TITO is available in an equally favorable pay schedule. However, I know that I play much faster on the newer TITO machines, which are set to deal the cards more quickly (yes, I know that you can adjust the speed on some machines, but the slower speed settings are TOO slow for me) therefore, during a non-winning spell, of course the money goes more quickly. The 2nd reason is that I (and I believe many other players as well, tend to feed hundred dollar bills, rather than twenties into TITO machines. Having done that, they also tend to play the credits down to zero, before practicing some money management and retreating. I KNOW this is the case with my personal play, and, I believe that it accounts for faster and larger losses than those sustained prior to the advent of TITO.
It was now late evening, I had missed dinner due to a too late lunch, and I was beginning to feel fatigue setting in. The adrenalin rush that occurs the moment my plane lands in Nevada, had subsided to a dull headache. I decided to turn in and hope for a more lucrative day on Tuesday.
Before going to my room, I decided to walk past the FPDW machines that I had played in the afternoon.That was my last mistake of the day. Sitting at the machine into which I had feed the most money, was a very happy looking young fellow, obviously waiting to be paid for a jackpot. Glancing down at his credits, I read 9800 !!! A royal and probably the deuces at least once, at the 10 coin level!
I really am totally aware that I wouldn't have received the same hands/payouts that the other player had been fortunate enough to score. I hadn't been watching him play so I didn't even know whether he was knowledgable. All I felt was a lot of unwarrented jealousy. I was actually able to croak out, "Nice Going!", without much sincerity. But I really wanted to be the one sitting there with the grin on my face.
Tuesday: Dawned bright and early for me . I was up with the roosters at my usual 4:00am (Nevada) rising time. No amount of telling myself that I wasn't in the Central Time Zone, would coax me into a longer sleep. After a long, hot shower I was in the casino by 5:15. I fervently hoped it would be a better day for vp.
Since it was too early for breakfast, I decided to play for awhile on a bank of 10/7DB progs. at the entrance to the long hall leading into the coffee shop. My luck was somewhat better in that I played until 8:00, on the same machine, and still retained $75 of my orignal $100 ticket. That was far better than I had done on the previous day. I decided that I would have breakfast and come back to play on that bank again after I had quieted the rumblings in my empty stomach.
I requested a coffee shop comp from the booth, and received it immediately. I like the Peppermill Coffee Shop, especially for breakfast or lunch. I find their food to be high quality, fresh and well prepared. Their wait staff is usually pleasant and efficient. After a satisfying breakfast of crisp bacon, eggs over easy, sourdough toast and coffee, I was feeling good, and ready to attack my 10/7prog again. Uh oh.......not so fast. There's a woman sitting in front of MY machine, and the machine is playing a song. Sounds like........."You're in the money, you're in the money..........." ad nauseaum. Apparently, my fate on this trip is to be a warmer-up for the lucky individual who snares the machine I've just left. This is even more aggravating than watching all my immediate neighbors get royals, while I am losing my bankroll. I doubt that I'll have any more success in trying to sell the privilege of playing my vactated machine, than I was in trying to convince my neighbors
that I caused their royals to appear.
I now decided to try the second bank of FPDW, which are located in a quiet alcove to the side of the far end of the coffee shop hallway, near the Fireside Lounge. (If you are facing towards the coffee shop, at the entrance to the hallway, it is on your left.) This is a nice, semi-secuded area that doesn't seem to attract much play. At least on the days that I was there, I was the only player at a bank of 6 Game King MG/MD slant tops. After playing 10 coins per hand, and quickly devaluing my $75.00 ticket to zero, I retreated to the bank of Extreme VP, in the same area, and attacked the 10/6DDB once more. This time I scored a nice hand of quad three's and was able to cash out my first winning ticket.
As I was deciding what to play next, I heard a gentleman ask a slot attendant where he could use his free play. The Slot person told him it could only be used on regular slot machines. I promptly corrected this mis-information and explained that the free play could be used on VP as well. He then asked if there was 10/7DB that could be used. When I answered affirmatively he inquired if the 10/7 was also a prog. When I again said yes, he asked if I could guide him to the right bank. Being a helpful soul (most of the time) I took him to the bank at the top of the coffee shop hallway. All the DB machines were in use. I then led the way to the other bank of 10/7DB progs. near the change booth. He thanked me, and began his free play.
Having decided that the wild things were not going to be tamed by me, I sat down next to the free play gentleman, and lost the bennie that I had just won on 10/6DDB. As I pondered what to play next, my neighbor (whose free play had grown from $100 to $200), reacted happily to drawing the AH to the KH, QH, JH & 10H that had been his initial hand. I was relieved to realize that I hadn't lost my touch in scoring RF's for my neighbors. Trying to be a good sport, I high-fived him while offering my congratulations. Believe it or not, he actually wanted to give me a tip for helping him find the machine. While I thanked him for his surprizing generosity, I politely declined his kind offer, and moved away quickly.
I whiled away the next several hours by watching a couple of hundred dollar tickets turn into naught. I was getting tired of this and beginning to feel crabby and out of sorts. I knew that I was on the verge of steaming, and decided to quit playing, have lunch and go for a walk.
I remembered that I had a $25.00 food coupon to use during my stay, and decided to have a nice relaxing luncheon at Oceanos. It was a good idea. As I enjoyed a lovely cold seafood salad, pristinely fresh, and containing large delicious shrimp, tasty lump crabmeat, and other goodies from the ocean, while sipping an excellent, well chilled glass of Pinot Grigio, the black cloud over my head slowly drifted away.
Feeling much more peaceful, after lunch, I walked outside, intending to take an invigorating walk. It was COLD and WINDY. Bad idea. I didn't even have a jacket to put on, since it had been quite warm when I left Chicago. I have never experienced this kind of weather in Reno, in June. Usually it is at least in the 80's. I decided to go to my room and watch TV for an hour before braving the machines again. I never knew that I could fall asleep in the afternoon, when there was VP waiting in the casino below. I must have been exhausted.
I awoke in the late afternoon, and decided to brave the FPDW again. The deuces began to appear with some regularity, giving me hope of a winning session. Though one Bennie lasted until dinnertime, and at one point, I was ahead by $100.00, I finally entered the losing spiral, and cashed out with my original $100.00 in tact. I couldn't believe how happy I was just to break even for the session!
I had a nice T-Bone steak, baked potato and green salad with a glass of Cabernet, for dinner in the coffee shop. The steak was fine and cooked very rare as requested. I found the meal to be most satisfactory.
After dinner I played the slightly short pay NSUD prog. (15 coins instead of 20 on the FH, but with progs on the RF/4 Ducks/WRF). The RF meter was at about $1450, which I thought was
a little low to play, but since nothing else was working, I decided to give it try. This is the same bank that I was lucky enough to conquer last June, when the prog was at $2900. I hoped that Royal would find me again. No luck this time. Though my Benjamin lasted until bedtime, due to several WRF & 5oak, eventually it followed all of it's wallet-mates, into vp oblivion.
Wednesday: Moving Day. Today I take my wheelie and bankroll to the Silver Legacy, my favorite Reno casino, and, I assured myself, my soon-to-be lucky place.
After an excellent comped coffee shop breakfast of blueberry pancakes/crisp bacon/coffee, I tried for the last time to crack the FPDW. I went back to the machine that had produced the 10 coin royal for the other lucky player. I thought that perhaps it would give me at least one set of 4 ducks. 6 times I came in with 3 deuces, and wound up with............4 of a kind. It was not to be. At noontime I admitted defeat after an up and down session where I had been as much as $90.00 ahead (I would have cashed out $100 ahead) and wound up $100 behind.
It was time to move to the SL., down approximately 5 bills, less comps.
When I checked out at about 1:00pm, I owed nothing. The room and all meals had been comped. Not TOO bad, but not great either.
Wednesday Afternoon: I took a cab to the Silver Legacy, and checked in through the VIP Legacy Room. I had been pre-comped by my host for 3 nights. This was a smooth and fast transaction, and I was quickly in my high floor room, which though small, was furnished vey nicely, and had a lovely view of downtown Reno.
Before starting my play, I checked in at the booth to pick up my new club card. I had been advised by letter previously, that a new "self-comping" system had been installed, and that I needed to pick up my new card and establish a password. I was also told that room comps would no longer be charged against the comp account, and that there were self-comp machines throughout the casino and at the entrances to all the restaurants. I was also given a $25 dining coupon to use at any restaurant.
While waiting in a short line to speak to a boothling, I noticed signs stating that during June double points would awarded on Tues, Wed, and Thurs. Also, seniors (over 55) were to be credited with 10% additional comp earnings on their play. (After I returned home, I called a supervisor at the club to verify if the 10% senior bonus was applied on the base points or the double points. I was told that the 10% additional accrues only on the base points earned)
By 2:00 I was seated at my favorite bank of .25 FPDW prog. machines. The RF meter was at about $1058, but the deuces were what I was chasing. I selected the machine on which my excellent husband had hit a RF in August. It wasn't quite that good to me, but within 30 minutes, I did score the deuces. I cashed out a $350 ticket, with a smile on my face.
The SL FPDW progs are played very heavily. I've rarely seen a meter get as high as $1100 before it's cracked. These MG/MD machine have other games at the .25/.50 level, but the FPDW can only be played at 25. Actually, I've never seen anyone play any other game on this bank, though FP DBL Aces & Faces is also available at both denoms., as well as other games which all have short-pay schedules.
There is a cadre of local players, some of whom seem to be friends, who hit these machines every day, for several hours of play. I would judge that they are knowledgable amateurs, rather than pros. They are not unpleasant to play near, though there is too much smoking for me at times, particularly when the younger guys are playing. During the day, when I do the majority of my playing, I am usually able to move away from the smoke, if it is annoying me, and still find another FPDW to play.
The SL has 3 banks of MG/MD upright FPDW progs., each bank having a separate meter. If you have a bad back, it can be uncomfortable sitting for long periods of time, at these high uprights. I usually try to find a very high chair, snitched from an unoccupied close-by BJ table, and this somewhat alleviates the problem.
The first bank of 3 X 3 uprights, between the Lady's Room and a stairway to the street, is adjacent to an extremely noisy bank of slot machines, which periodically sounds loud gongs.
The 2nd bank, which has 4 X 4 upright machines, is directly in front of the Lady's Room. A very noisy nickle Wheel of Fortune game is directly behind this bank.
The 3rd bank, newly installed since last December, consists of a row of 6 uprights, located upstairs, in an alcove across from a woman's clothing/accesories store. The alcove is between the Legacy Room and the main escalater. It also contains a bunch of extremely loud penny slot machine, lots of smokers, and is inhabited mostly by citizens who would appear to have more important uses for their money. For me, this bank is only playable in the wee hours of the morning, when it is relatively quiet and smoke-free.
After my nice 4 deuces win, I moved to the FPDW bank near the Lady's Room. As I sat down at an end machine, I glanced to other end of the bank, past two empty machines, and recognized a nice local lady, whom I had met in December, while sitting next to her at this same bank. We had gotten quite friendly then because both of our husbands had been playing BJ, while we were pounding away, side-by-side at VP. She particularly remembered that she had gotten a RF shortly after we began to talk, and she had appreciated the fact that I had warmly congratulated her. We chatted across the empty machines for awhile, and she began to complain that the one she was playing was not being kind, and that she thrown a couple of hundred dollars at it already, without a significant win. I suggested that she move to the machine next to mine to see if that one was more generous. She did move next to me, played a few hands, received a J/Q/K of spades on the initial hand, and drew the A/K spades on
the draw. We were both speechless! I swear that I am not making this up! I have not lost my touch for getting royals for my neighbors. After some friendly bantering about how lucky I had been for her, she inquired how long I would be staying at the SL, as she wanted to be sure to see me every day that I was there. She did come the next day too, and we enjoyed each other's company, but I was not able to send another royal in her direction, and I didn't see her again.
When I had played the deuces a while longer without any significant wins, and my lower back started to bother me from the uncomfortably high uprights, I moved over to the 5 X 5 bank of
slant-tops, which included .25 FPKBJW, my most favorite game of all. These slant tops also include 10/7DB, 9/5DDB, 8/5Non-Prog.JOB and other short pay games, which can played for up to 50 coins at a time. Many unwary or tired players get an unwelcome surprize while playing these machines, after hitting the max play button. However, the Joker game can only be played with a 5 coin max.
At the time, I was the only one playing on either side of the bank. I played JW for a few hours, getting enough quads to keep me going without digging for more bills. It was getting close to 4:00pm and I was beginning to feel hungry, when I came in with a Joker and 2 fives.
I drew to this, and up popped the other 2 fives. How sweet it is! I had now done better at the SL in a few hours, than in two days at the PEPP. I cashed out a $385 ticket, and headed to Fairchilds Oyster House for dinner.
I have eaten at Fairchilds many times, and do enjoy the food. The location, out in the open, in the main corridor to the hotel elevators, check-in, shops etc. can be noisy and smoky.
I perused the menu outside Fairchilds, deciding what I would order. Noting the price of the meal, I walked over to a computer device nearby, which, after the insertion of a player card, shows the comp balance available, and gives simple instructions for printing a comp in the desired amount, at the selected restaurant.
I was seated in Fairchilds and ordered Chilean Sea Bass Fish & Chips, a tossed salad and a nice glass of Sauvignon Blanc. It was prepared well, and the fish was pristinely fresh and tasty. An enjoyable experience.
After dinner, I hit the deuces machines again, and received a 2nd set of 4 Ducks for my efforts. I then went back to the Jokers and played on the same machine til bedtime. It didn't give 5OAK, but so much other good stuff, that I was more than content. I cashed out a total winning ticket (including the Deuces) of $575.
Thursday: I'm up again with the chickens, and down in the casino at 5:30am. With no hesitation, I head straight for the upstairs bank of deuces. I'm not doing too well and briefly consider cashing out when my $100 ticket drops to $50. My little voice tells me to stay put.
I play a few more hands, come in with 2 deuces, and draw the other pair. Hooray. A good start to the day! I play a few more hands. Nothing special happens, and I cash out a $300 ticket.
I move over to the other end of the bank, as an unkempt and raggedy person has arrived to play the slot machine right next to where I'm sitting. While she's puffing away on a half inch butt, the slot machine is singing to her in an attempt to entice more pennies from her purse.
I'm not comfortable with this situation, but decide to stick one twenty into the new machine, and test the waters. On the third hand played, I came in with 4 pieces of the royal heart family and, wonder of wonders, drew the 5th! I nice prog. of $1088. My royal drought, in 2005 was over at last.
A slot attendant appeared almost immediately, got my RF money, paid me, and was tipped for his good service. I mmediately deposited the winnings in my safe deposit box, conveniently located on the 2nd floor.
As long as I was doing so well upstairs, I decided to attack the .25 3 play 10/6/50DDB machine located between the buffet and the Ami Jewelry store. My Bennie lasted about 20 minutes. I then switched to another .25 3 play machine and played 9/6 JOB, thinking that I would have much more play with a lower volatility game. Nope. Another $100 gone in the wink of an eye. Deciding that I was getting my comeuppance for being too cocky, I left the 3 play to have breakfast in the coffee shop. It was not as good as the Peppermill Coffee shop, and more expensive to boot. I did print up another comp to use, of course. I was happy to observe that, due to double points plus 10%, my comps were growing more qickly than I could use them.
The rest of Thursday was spent mostly playing Jokers & Deuces. I did score the deuces again in the afternoon. I also took a shot at a coin-dropper 9/6DDB prog., with a lovely meter reading of $1179. I did get 4 three's without the kicker, but was annoyed at having to wait for a fill, and getting my hands black from grabbing the quarters out of the hopper.
I had a nice Bay shrimp salad sandwich with a glass of Reisling, for lunch at Fairchilds. It was a pleasant interlude.
I spent the rest of Thursday, trying to get back into the winning mode, and hang on to what was still in my wallet. The last thing I wanted to do was to invade the safety deposit box for additional bankroll. I did avoid that unhappy circumstance but only because a great feeling of fatigue came over me, and I went upstairs at about 8:00pm.
Friday: Early to bed, early to rise.......I was down in the casino at 5:30am again. I tried to hit the same machines as on Thurs. in order to encourage a repeat performance of Thurs. morning. Not only were some other persons playing my Deuces and RF machines at that ungodly hour, but they had the nerve to give me a dirty look when I glanced at the machines (MY MACHINES!!) that they were playing.
I went downstairs to other deuces bank, but couldn't do a profitable thing. The rest of Friday morning passed pretty much in that same dismal mode. Losing, losing ad nauseum.
Finally, Friday afternoon. when my friend for whom I caused RF's to appear, arived, I hit the deuces twice. Much, much more fun! However, by that point, having foolishly given the triple play another whirl, all I did was get some bankroll back.
For the two full days that I spent at SL, I racked up over 1200 points. The half day, that I played, I accumulated 370 points. The last day, when I only played a few hours, I made 290 points. At $20.00 coin-in per point (for VP) I ran a lot of money (for me) through their machines. Because of the double points on one of the full days, I also have a lot of available comp dollars left in my account for my next visit in Mid-August.
I wound up the trip plus approximately $1100, in addition to fully comped RFB at both casinos.
A fun and successful trip!
Babe
ยทยทยท
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]