Reno Trip

[Rick_and_Becky_Groff]

Travelled last week to Reno, spending two nights at the Peppermill and two
nights at the Atlantis. The nights at the Peppermill were the results of
offers from staying at the Peppermill in Wendover. I haven't played at the
Peppermill in Reno for years so it was interesting/sad to see the changes in
the video poker. The first time I was there was (I am guessing.) just about
five years ago. They were just starting the new additions. The video poker
was amazing. They had a whole section of spin poker; they had full-pay
deuces; you name it. At that time, they were just starting the new parking
garage. Within six months, the full-pay deuces was gone and within a few
years most of the really low-roller video poker was gone. I see by an email
that I just received that the trend continues. From the vpFree2 site I
learned that Big Split draw poker is a nearly even game and was offered in
low denominations. I had practiced it on the Internet and was really
excited to give it a try. Therefore, I was very disappointed that it had
been moved into the high-roller area with the minimum bet changed to
quarters. The basic bet would be eight quarters so I never even tried the
game. I generally get a lot of my comps from video blackjack. I can play
it fast and compared to video poker the variance is quite low. After I had
played video blackjack for quite a while the evening I arrived, I went and
checked my comp balance. It was essentially zero. I guess they don't award
comps at the 0.4% rate for video blackjack. I knew then, I was done with
the Peppermill and went exploring the next day.

The next day, I drove to John Ascuaga's Nugget and stayed for an extended
period of time. It was clean, quiet and had a wide array of multi-coin 9/6
video poker machines. There is a bank of six new uprights near Rosies that
offers spin poker and 3/5/10 play in both 9/6 JOB and Bonus Poker.

The next day, February 2, I moved to the Atlantis and was pleased to see
that all my usual games were there. I was really disappointed that the only
day I was going to be in Reno that the Atlantis offered double comps was on
Wednesday. I checked the Atlantis site every day starting 10 days before my
trip to see what the multipliers would be for the days that I was going to
there. They didn't post the multiplier on their website until either
January 31 or February 1. According to a boothling at the players club they
don't know the what the multipliers will be any sooner than the players do.
Therefore, my question to this email list is what is the purpose of the
multiplier comp days from the perspective of the Atlantis? The schedule
seems to really work for the locals. They can plan their visits to the
casino on the multi-point days especially the triple and quadruple points
days. For out-of-town low-rollers the system sucks. How can I plan around
the multiplier days when I don't even know what they are going to be?
Therefore, I am going to adopt two strategies to cope with these multiplier
days. One strategy is to plan all my trips to the Atlantis late in the
month as much as possible so I can schedule my trip around the multiple
points days. For this trip, necessity dictated that I come at the very
beginning of the month. My other strategy will be to adopt a relationship
with other casinos in Reno. Then, I can just go gamble somewhere else with
more generous comps on days that I am in Reno and the Atlantis only offers a
1X multiplier for comp points.

On Thursday, February 3, I went back to the Nugget again for a while to see
if I could perhaps score an offer from them since the Atlantis was offering
only 1X comps again that day. I continued to be impressed with the Nugget.

While I was in the area, I went to Western Village and played low roller
table blackjack. Someone else just emailed this list and said how much they
liked Western Village. I certainly feel differently. It was incredibly
smoky and the crowd there was scary to me. I played blackjack at a crowded
table for an hour or so, browsed the casino, and then left. Like the
Peppermill, its video poker has been significantly downgraded over the
years. I won't be back. Dollar blackjack isn't worth it.

Please give me feedback about the purpose of the multiplier points days at
the Atlantis from the perspective of the management as you see it.

Thanks

Rick

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Mike_aclin]

Hi, Rick. My wife and I have been traveling to Reno 3 or 4 times a year for the past 4 years or so. We are low rollers, and used to go to the Peppermill and Atlantis during each trip. We quit going to the Peppermill because of them taking most of comps away to pay for our 'Comp' rooms. I also play a lot of Video Blackjack, and the fact that your report of little comps earned at Peppermill for this game will still keep me away.....

However, the Atlantis does earn you about .31% on VB on non- multiplier days, is not too bad. Also 9/6 JOB progressive can earn about .35% on non-multiplier days.

And yes, the updates to the Atlantis calendar occur late in the previous month. But I have seen them update it 6 or 7 days before the next month...We live in the Little Rock area, and have to schedule our trips whenever airlines put their fares on sale, so we usually don't know what the comp multiplier days are going to be. I can tell you this....Usually (but not always) if you go on a Tue., Wed., or Thur., two of those three days will be multiplier days...You are right, the comp calendar is great for the locals and hard for us that must schedule a trip, but it is what it is, so we have to deal with it.

For our level of play, we can get free rooms and some food in DOWNTOWN Las Vegas. At the Atlantis, we are treated to all the free rooms and food you want, even upgraded rooms if you go through a host. We have never paid for a room or any food at the Atlantis. It is our main gambling destination because of that....Also, our monthly offers always contain free play and free entry into two slot tournaments each month. We have played in a few of them. Some of them even have a 'Everybody wins' clause where even last place earns you $25 in free play!

Good luck, and PM me with any questions...

Mike in Little Rock

···

--- In vpFREE_Reno@yahoogroups.com, "Rick and Becky Groff" <rbgroff@...> wrote:

Please give me feedback about the purpose of the multiplier points days at
the Atlantis from the perspective of the management as you see it.

Thanks

Rick

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[TIMSPEED]

I'm glad you went to JANugget and started playing. While their base comp rate is only .035%, they give very generous mailers. The particular machines you're talking about are the ones that get most of my play (even though I hate uprights)
FWIW, if you like 9/6 JoB, and can stand dollars..they have some $ that have a 4500 coin royal.
The simple fact that they DO offer multiplier days is good, even at only double points, it's still better than anywhere else (base there is .035% on sub-100% games). Just from what I've saw, the 4x points day is usually in the end of the month, on a sunday or friday.
Your next best bet for comp, is GSR, which has a base rate of .050%, but no multipliers.

···

The next day, I drove to John Ascuaga's Nugget and stayed for an extended
period of time. It was clean, quiet and had a wide array of multi-coin 9/6
video poker machines. There is a bank of six new uprights near Rosies that
offers spin poker and 3/5/10 play in both 9/6 JOB and Bonus Poker.
On Thursday, February 3, I went back to the Nugget again for a while to see
if I could perhaps score an offer from them since the Atlantis was offering
only 1X comps again that day. I continued to be impressed with the Nugget.
Please give me feedback about the purpose of the multiplier points days at
the Atlantis from the perspective of the management as you see it.

[Don_parks]

Haha, you are right this place won't be everyones cup of tea. You ain't at the Bellagio thats for sure. BTW if the customers scare you, please don't look for security..you WILL be scared &%#$less, the hunched over gentleman patroling the floor looked to be in his late 70s.

About your peppermill experience..you are correct, in the last 5 years
machines and comps tighted up slowly but surely. The great matchplay in your mailer, gone, the food coupon, gone, the vp bonus cards from the card swipe , gone, the REAL mr money machine plays for 1000 points gone and recently free play mailers have dropped twice (for me anyway) in the past year (no reduction in my action). But still beats most of the competition imo(for the time being!)

···

While I was in the area, I went to Western Village and played low roller
table blackjack. Someone else just emailed this list and said how much they
liked Western Village. I certainly feel differently. It was incredibly
smoky and the crowd there was scary to me. I played blackjack at a crowded
table for an hour or so, browsed the casino, and then left. Like the
Peppermill, its video poker has been significantly downgraded over the
years. I won't be back. Dollar blackjack isn't worth it.

Please give me feedback about the purpose of the multiplier points days at
the Atlantis from the perspective of the management as you see it.

Thanks

Rick

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]