In this Reno trip report, I played most of the full pay "good machines" as listed in the VP free casino listings http://members.cox.net/vpfree/R.htm. Many of what I refer to as 50C machines were actually 10 play quarters. I won't bother too much with published details, but will expound on the exceptions or "treasures" that I found. I only played at 3 casino's this 6 day trip, so I should be getting better bonus's and offers from concentrated play.
Day 1&2 Atlantis:
We had "just missed" the airport shuttle, as it took 20 minutes to get our baggage from the very slow Reno baggage carousel. A $10 cab ride solved that problem. The room was really bad as it was right next to a noisy elevator shaft and you could hear whizzing and buzzing.
Food: Toucan Charlie's Buffet - the best of the 3 hotels I visited. The Atlantis Seafood Steakhouse is not as good as it use to be. The Italian festival "signature" event , was really good.
VP:
a.. My players card did not work. I went to the club, and they informed me I was "downgraded" from Platinum to Normal , for expiring points and lack of play. I had played there 8 months prior, but the good news was - I still maintained ALL of my food comps ( about $450 ).
b.. Hit the $ 9/6 Jacks for $6600 - starting with a $120 investment after 30 minutes of play. The pro playing next to me snarled as if my name was "Rob A Royal".
c.. Three of the "five Play" multistrike machines have full pay NSUD, super double, and double bonus deuces wild.
d.. No luck playing the $2 9/6 Jacks progressive ( jackpot at $11, 300 )
e.. Deal/No Deal slots were the 9 line nickel edition. The jackpot for 5-kind was a steep $8000. I prefer the Vegas 1C 20 line variety. In Vegas , this is a ubiquitous hot slot but ignored in Reno.
f.. Finally beat the sky terrace. It's a great place to play, but often reeks of stale sushi, from its open air restaurant that have poor ventilation. The $ 10/7 DB progressive was only at $4100, so I did not play it. I did play the 50C DDB and the 2 50C Double Bonus Deuce wild machines ( 12/4/3=99.8 ).
g.. Looked high and low, but could not find any 8/5 super aces in 50/100 play machines. I did play a lot of 10 play dime super aces.
h.. Played that amazing bank of 10/7 DB progressives ( around $4150 ) with 50K sequential . These machines still get a lot of play. Right next to these is one of Reno's loosest slots , the 1C hot shots ( could not resist so beat these for $125 ! )
i.. There are 2 new VP machines that are tons of fun. They are 8/5 bonus Super times pay spin bonus poker [99.5] , and 9/7 triple double pay spin poker [99.1]. These machines are offered in 5/10/25 C . It was fun and addicting, as I lost $500 on them. You can play these at http://www.videopoker.com/games/
Bottom line: +5100 ( This ended 3 straight $1800 losses for me .at last ! )
Day 3 & 4 Peppermill:
Food: Good - Romanza, coffee shop, and Buffet( the worst of the 3). I have to rate the coffee shops in Reno a lot better than Vegas ( but don't include the lousy Sweetwater ).
Room: The best room of the 3 with Jacuzzi and steam room.
VP:
- Started out on a bad foot, by quickly blowing my $170 in free play on the 1-20 coin 50C NSUD machines. This was an omen for things to come.
- Lost big on the $1 10/7 DB progressive machines at the Oceano bar.
- 5 play multistrike. There are 2 machines. In the high roller section there is a 25C machine with 10/6 DDB. This was way over my head , as I lost $300 in about 10 minutes on it ( ouch !). More reasonable is the machine outside, between the keno and buffet. This MS 5-play has 5C/10C 10/6 DDB, and 12/4/3 double bonus deuces as its best offerings. All in all, I made some money on these thanks to a AAAA3 on the 3rd line for $800.
- 25C 9/7 Triple double progressive ($1600). This positive machine was often "locked up" for hours on end by a local hog.
- NSUD and super aces 3/5 play machines
- 25C STP jacks. These were easier to get on, now that they eliminated the penny option.
- Peppermillions card swipe - 'ok' offers, the worst being a $1 free spin on roulette ( I chucked this one ) , the best being a $25 free ace blackjack card ( I won ! ).
- Mr. Money - Funny, I was so caught up with surviving the bad luck at the Peppermill, I forgot to play this fun event !
- 1C dummy slot progressives. Peppermill has some of Reno's best penny slot progressives. Its hard to believe , but I actually made $100 profit playing these, and I doubt any of them were over 97% EV.
- 10C 9/5 super double 50 play 5C/10C machines. There are 3 of these near the parking lot doors. The vast majority of these machines take 25C to get 9/5 super double.
- Regular multistrike - I could not find any machines. These use to have NSUD and were a great play.oh well !. The other MIA seems to be the 9/5 super double in the spins. None of the ones I played had it ???
- Found a single machine near the fish bar labeled "Double Bonus Deuces wild" that actually had that game! This one had it ( 99.8) in 50C and dollar.
Bottom line: -$2000
Day 5 & 6 Silver Legacy:
Food: This is a great eating place , as long as you avoid Sweetwater Café.
- Fairchild's: The San Francisco Cioppino 14.25 and Curry shrimp special were fantastic.
- Breakfast buffet: good, but not as good as Atlantis
- Sterlings: This is a pricy place but well worth it. The king crab and filet mignon were excellent, and they have an unbelievable wine selection.
Room: - nice , nothing fancy - but the SL was the only place of my 3 hotels that checked room keys with a 24X7 security desk.
VP:
- $ 8/5 bonus poker progressives ( $5300). These are located in the Silver Baron Lounge. I discovered these by accident as I went into the lounge only to listen to the fantastic Donna Lynn, who plays Reno often.
- 8/5 $Aces bonus poker in 50C/25C located at bar opposite slot club. This same bar also features the popular 9/6 ddb progressive ( $1150 ). Close by are a bank of 1C 50 play 9/6 jacks machines.
- 9/6/90 5C jacks machines. Had a really bad run on these over 2 days and dropped $800 despite 3 5C royals.
- 25C full pay jokers. These are near keno, and also have 10/7 DB inside.
- 25C full pay deuces. Had some bad runs on these, but more success on the 1-25 coin jacks which is inside these machines located in an alcove opposite Sterlings.
- 50C FP all american. There is only one of these so you have to hunt, all the rest have 150 for the 4 kind, which makes them un-playable.
- 3/5 play 10/6 DDB machines on the mezzanine ( got a royal and a SF (200) ).
- Played 9 coin 50C triple bonus plus machines located near sports book. I played 9 coins cause if you get ACES you avoid tax with the $1140 payoff. I did get quad fours for a nice $570 payoff.
Bottom line: -500 ( only 200 of this loss was VP, the rest were poor sessions at craps and dummy slots ). We took the shuttle back to the airport ( warning, this is one of the most packed shuttles you will find - so arrive early ). It leaves SL every 30 minutes on the 00 and 30.
Wrap up:
a.. Despite losing 85% of all my gaming sessions, I remained a $2600 trip winner thanks mainly to that one big hit at Atlantis.
b.. Everything was comped, even the adult movie charged to my room ! Tickets from New York were free thanks to frequent flyer programs.
c.. The clerk at the SL - informed me about a JetBlue flight direct from JFK to Sacramento daily. Good news ! - but there is also bad, very bad - it arrives at 11:45 PM - which means you can expect to drive to Reno and arrive somewhere between 2 and 4 AM !!! - No thanks , I don't like night mountain driving!
best wishes...Tom
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]