A few weeks ago I posted an inquiry here about planning a trip to
Reno to explore VP opportunities, and I received a number of very
helpful response for which I am grateful. We've tired of Las Vegas
and he 99-100% games offered by strip casinos have virtually
disappeared. So, my friend Jeff and I decided on a 3 night
exploratory trip to Reno to select a casino/hotel for a longer trip
with our wives in the future. All 4 of us are VP players at the
quarter and dollar level.
Based on the input received from this group's members my friend Jeff
and I chose to stay at Silver Legacy on this exploratory trip
arriving Wednesday 10/1 and departing Saturday 10/4. Jeff secured a
favorable rate by telephone with a casino host with assurances that
if we put $8,000 to $12,000 a day through the machines (as Jeff
indicated we would) then the room and food would be comped.
On Wednesday we had a pleasant short flight of 95 minutes and the
casino shuttle bus arrived 45 minutes after we arrived outside the
airport (it runs every 30 minutes). The room was clean, reasonably
well appointed, and as we requested high floor, away from the
elevators, with a nice view. We spent an hour walking the casino
checking out the games we were looking for Double Bonus, Dueces,
and Dueces Bonus machines for Quarters and Dollars and managed to
find enough full pay games to suit us. We also spotted FP machines
for Loose Dueces & Nevada Dueces and we will develop playing
strategies for those games before our next trip since they looked
like fun games as well. We had a good burger at the coffee shop
(excellent menu) and settled in at Dueces Bonus machines adjacent to
the coffee shop for our initial play (Jeff at quarters, me at
dollars). I had a great initial 2 hour session with 4 5-of-a-kinds
including Aces and fives and then we touched base with our executive
host who came on duty at 3PM. We played off and on for the rest of
the day and finished with 550 points for the day between us ($11,000
through the machines). At day's end Jeff was +$60 in quarter play
mostly at full pay Dueces progressives downstairs and I was +$420
mostly playing Dollar Dueces Bonus. I played $300 through 10-7 DB
progressive dollars bank downstairs with nothing in return (and no
significant playing time). We tried the buffet for dinner and the
food was excellent but the selection was a little weak on a weekday
with small #s of people in the casino.
On Thursday morning (I'm a morning person in the casino by 8AM Jeff
plays late at night and sleeps in) I had 2 more strong sessions at
Dueces Bonus with another weak $200 session at the DB progressives
sandwiched in between. By the time Jeff joined me at 10:30 I was
+$300 for the morning. He and I played quarters Dueces progressives
for an hour, ate breakfast, and walked outside for an hour to look at
the other casinos (unimpressive). We played for an hour in the
afternoon and then used the health club (outstanding value at $5 for
casino guests). In the late afternoon I settled in at Dueces Bonus
again and my good fortune continued with several 5kinds and 4 Dueces
for $1,000. Had great playing time of 3 hours and netted $800. We had
Chinese food at the coffee shop and it was outstanding! They have
about 30 chinese items on the menu and it is VERY good. We can
recommend first hand the won ton soup ($5 for a bowl which we split
a LOT of soup), pepper steak, almond chicken and fried rice. After
dinner we checked in by phone with our wives and played together at
the $1 Dueces Bonus where I AGAIN hit 4 Dueces for $1,000 and Jeff
hit 5Aces for $400. After donating ANOTHER $300 at DB I ended the day
at +$2,100 for the 2 days and Jeff was +$350.
On Friday morning I again attacked the Dueces Bonus dollars and
dropped $300 in a heart beat. Dropped $100 fast at DB and played
quarters Dueces Bonus to entertain myself the rest of the morning. We
had an excellent buffet breakfast and settled in for more Dueces
Bonus action and I dropped $200 with little effort. Jeff had a good
quarters DB session and netted $180. We spent an hour checking out
the Eldorado casino which is adjacent to and connected to the Silver
Legacy. That casino is full pay VP heaven! It is also attractive,
clean and well maintained just like Silver Legacy. We were able to
find a good number of full pay banks of machines for every game of
interest to us in every denomination, and many of the machines are
multi-game and multi denomination. Full Pay machines were also
plentiful at 2 bars. That prompted us to visit with an executive host
and after a pleasant conversation she readily offered us a comped
room for an initial visit next month. That will give us 2 great
option for future trips with the wives. In the afternoon we touched
base with our host at Silver Legacy and our play was such that he
offered us dinner at their gourmet restaurant Sterlings. We of curse
accepted. My play that afternoon was no better than the morning, and
by dinner time my winnings had been reduced to $1,300. I dropped down
to quarters play the rest of the night. Jeff had consistent luck all
day hanging around break even or a little better, all in quarter play
at the Dueces progressive game. At night's end my win was at $1,100
and Jeff was +$300 for the trip. We visited with our host who
verified our play and comped all of our room, food, spa, etc
everything but tips was comped. In 2 ½ days between us we had 1570
points representing $31,000 coin in. Check out in the morning was a
snap and the flight home was pleasant.
We're looking forward to returning to the Silver Legacy, and to
checking out Eldorado in the near future. Both hotels/casinos seem to
offer us precisely what we are looking for good games, a pleasant
environment, good basic food, and a nice room. We were lucky to come
home winners and next trip might be different, but the games were fun
to play with a good chance to hold on to most of your cash if you are
a skilled player.