Okay I admit this a very long-winded trip report,and I must blame its
length on
the enjoyment I derived from reliving the great time my Significant
Other and I
had on our trip only a few short weeks ago.
Arrived in Reno from Canada through Phoenix,Az (after not having
been in 8
years) and went to spend 2 nights at Reno Hilton courtesy of Adriana
the slot
host, who comped me based on checking my play at Caesars Las Vegas (I
just called to see if I could get a comp seeing they boasted the
connection
card) who she called to verify me. Got a decent room on the 25th
floor
overlooking downtown Reno. Felt like I had landed in 1983 because
that
really is the style of the hotel which is very well maintained. Not
unpleasant at
all. Played lots of fun stuff without settling down seriously until I
spotted the
multistrike poker machines close to the Sportsbook area. Played all
4 levels
at 10c and on the first night took out $400.00 thanks to combination
of 4
threes and kicker on third level and multiple 4 of a kind on 1st
level.
Wonderful meals (all comped thanks to play but very reasonably priced
should one have to pay for them) at Asiana, Andiamo and especially
the
amazing hamburgers at Johnny Rocket's. Went for lunch twice in a
row they
were so good! Did a day with my Significant Other visiting all the
joints in
downtown Reno. Silver Legacy, Fitzgeralds,Cal-Neva,Sienna
etc.
Lotsa fun
playing triple play DDB here and there and neither winning or losing.
Reno
really is quite charming and the improvements they have made on the
banks
of the Truckee Riber really make it a pleasant walkabout. On my last
morning
there, I decided to have a serious bout with the Multistrike Poker
machine and
because I was up by $300.00 I decided to go big time and play .25c
four
levels for $5.00 a hand. Onto my second $100.00 bill and feeling just
a tad
nervous, I got to the fourth level where I had an Ace and Jack of
Clubs to hold.
Like magic the Ten,Queen and King appeared and I watched the machine
lock up for 32,000 credits ($3200.00). My heart nearly burst. After
much to do
(It took me fifteen minutes to get an attendant's attention as I
was pretty
isolated and it was quite early in the a.m.) I finally got paid and
ran up to my
room to share the good news with my SO and to tuck the many 100's
in a safe
place. We left on cloud nine and took a cab to the airport where our
rental car
awaited us for our trip to Lake Tahoe.
I had rented through Alamo because of a good Internet deal and had to
wait
in line for a good twenty-five minutes as they were really busy. When
I finally
got to the counter a young man named Amir tried his level best to
saddle me
with unwanted insurance plans suggesting all sort of dire
consequences
should disaster in one way or the other strike me whilst in
possession of their
precious vehicle. I held firm and told him that I was covered
privately every
which way to Sunday and to please just give me keys so we could move
on.
After he had issued the paperwork, I was glad that I checked it
because he
had managed to slip in a insurance premium for "loss of use"
in the event the
car was struck by the fates and unable to be used. Once he heard the
murderous edge in my voice as I asked him to remove it, he speedily
gave me
keys to a new Malibu.
The drive to Tahoe was at its usual spectatular best. Gosh, what a
beautiful
setting! The mountains and the vistas especially after one leaves
Carson City
are simply awesome.
We stayed at Harvey's for three nights comped thanks to my
Diamond status
with Harrah's. On arrival we valet'd the car and checked in
at the Diamond
check-in lounge and were given an absolutely gorgeous room on the
16th
floor in the Lake Tower. We couldn't of been happier and the beds
were
incredibly comfortable.
The casino is pleasant enough and though there is little that would
be
officially playable we found lots to amuse ourselves with. My SO
became a
huge fan of Men In Black and proceeded to become happily addicted. I
meanwhile,decided to play some .25c 9/5 DDB and hit 4 aces and a 4
kicker
for $500.00 on my first $20.00 into the machine.
Blessed with a nice win on our first night there, we decided to have
a good
plain dinner (yummy fried chicken and mashed potatoes) at the
American
River Café at Harrah's across the street. After dinner we
decided to have a
couple of drinks at the Diamond Lounge in Harvey's which is
reachable after
one passes inspection by a concierge who also runs the private
elevator. The
lounge was delightful and the bartender that night a great fun young
local
woman named Patricia, was full of good humour and chatter. The
majority of
the people there were on a hit and run for the snacks and sandwiches
and so
were not interested in socializing as much as the free food. We
figured
because as soon as the food was gone the lounge pretty much
emptied.We
sat at the bar and had a grand time chatting with our fun bartender.
Once we went back down to the casino,we had a go at various games. SO
sauntered off to the MIB machines while I discovered more Multi
Strike Poker
machines and risked a couple of $20's at the.10c demonimation. I
was soon
rewarded with 4 deuces at the 4x third level for $160.00 and played
on for a
good long while before finally cashing out $100.00 as I couldn't
see straight
anymore and needed to go to bed.
Our second day morning was glorious with a dizzying trip by gondola
up to
Heavenly for some of the most breathtaking and incredible views of
Tahoe
and its surroundings. On our return down from the mountain we shopped
and
stocked up on some great T-shirts for the folks back home. We had a
neat
pizza lunch at Cecil's Steak and Brew before returning to the
hotel for a swim
in the pool. My SO went to have a nap and I went to tempt the fates
this time
playing some .25c 9/6 DDB to no great result. That night had a great
dinner
paid for by the comps we had accumulated in the new restaurant
"19" which is
on the 19th floor with a great view of town and lake and serves a
very eclectic
pan-asian type of menu. I had the Kobe beef hamburgers and my SO
several
appetizers as we were still full from the pizzas at lunch. Everything
was
delicious. After dinner I lost SO again to MIB and I went and played
some
multi strike poker to no great effect. As my eyes began to droop I
decided it
was time to make my way back to my room. On my way I stopped at a
bank of
machines called "Hyperlink?" which are sort of a reels game
with animation.
Suddenly my screen showed a bunch of locomotives rushing towards me
with
the instruction to press each locomotive to stop it. I did what I was
told without
the faintest idea of what I was doing only to freak out the lady two
machines
away from me who informed me that I had just won the progressive
jackpot for
$1958.00 dollars.
After being paid off by the attendant I went up to the Diamond Lounge
to have
a nightcap before it closed and to celebrate my win and the happy wad
of bills
now stuffed in my pants pocket.
Our last full day in Tahoe was spent doing a grand tour of the
glorious lake.
We stopped in Crystal Bay and went to have lunch at the Cal-Neva
lodge. The
dining room is unfortunately dumpy with some of the most indifferent
and
near-incompetent waitstaff we have ever experienced. The food was
okay but
nothing to write home about and we were quick to finish and get our
check.
Though the place is soaked in history (Frank Sinatra once owned it)
it seems
to have become neglected and is now coasting on a bygone reputation.
We
also visited two of the small casinos next to the Lodge. The Tahoe
Biltmore
and the Nugget which seemed to be a lot more active.
We made a small detour to Squaw Valley to get some T-shirts for folks
back
home and as we drove past the Truckee River, we watched all the river
rafters
lazing about on their dingys and inner tubes going gently downstream.
Great
fun. Our last stop was the lookout over Emerald Bay another
gob-smackingly
beautiful vista to look at. It was spectacular.
We returned to Harvey's in time for their Pacifica Seafood buffet
which we
managed to e up the last of our comps on and which was excellent.
Every
kind of seafood (except for lobster) and sushi was served. Everything
tasted
very fresh and seemed to be of top quality. Very happily we waddled
out of
there with full stomachs. We decided to say our goodbyes to Patricia
over
nightcaps in the Diamond Lounge and were surprised to find that we
were the
only ones in the bar. It closes at 10pm and this was only about
9.10pm. We
indulged in a few shots of Bailey's and listened to
Patricia's fascinating tales
of local things as she has lived in Tahoe for the last thirty years.
On our exit from the lounge we had another stab at the casino floor.
I tried to
duplicate my Reno win on the multi strike at the .25c level and after
feeding
the machine $400.00 to no avail, I gave up and went to bed.
The next day (Friday) we drove to Reno and dropped off the car sat
the airport
and boarded our flight to Vegas on America West which had cost only
$34.00
each (!). We checked into the Palms at around 4pm where we had been
comped for two nights thanks to a slot tournament invite I had
received the
previous month. We were given a great room on the 27th floor which
unfortunately was going to prove a nightmare but more on that later.
I was a charter member of their slot club having joined the second
day they
opened and never before had I ever received an offer from them in all
the
years since, in spite of the numerous times I have dropped in to play
over the
years. I `d always figured they probably couldn't figure out
how much postage
it took to mail a letter to Canada or couldn't be bothered. The
invite was a very
pleasant and welcome surprise.
I registered for the tournament and was a little surprised at the
very "no-frills"
nature of the reception com[pared to many of the other slot tourneys
I had
been a part of. Being a very early riser, I chose to play at 9am and
1pm the
next day with the final session at 9am on the Sunday.
After a nice comped dinner at Little Buddha, (I still had lots of
points from
previous visits) I put in some play at $1.00 DDB and went through
$500.00
very quickly. Quad queens and tens eventually appeared and kept me
playing the better part of two hours until I had a balance of $100.00
when
quad fours popped up. It was my exit cue to declare the session a
break even
and to go to bed. My SO had been heavily zapped by the Men In Black
and
had already retired.
We drifted off in our very comfortable bed into a very deep sleep
only to be
rudely awakened an hour or so later at 1am by the repeated banging of
a
suite door opening and closing opposite us. Then suddenly loud
raucous
bass driven music thumped away through the room's wall
threatening to bring
it sown.
Above the music could be heard screaming and yelling that resembled
what
one could only imagine be the sounds of what hysterical hyenas being
tortured by mentally challenged troglodytes would sound like.
We were quick to realize that our room was opposite a party suite in
which
dozens of tetostorone and alcohol fuelled young men were entertaining
their
similarly afflicted female counterparts.
I called the front desk to ask to be moved to another room. No dice.
The
excuse was they were sold out and there was nothing to move us into.
We
tried to be philosophical about this as we were on a freebie and also
because,as my SO pointed out, if we had been 25 years younger,
we'd of
been knocking on the door asking if we could join the party!We got
dressed
and went down to the casino and wandered about until about 4am upon
which were nearly falling asleep standing up. We returned to our
room,
plugged our ears with Kleenex and tried to get some sleep. The bass
beat
and hyena sounds bled through no matter what. It went on until
6.30am.
Exhausted we got up and showered and went down for coffee in the food
court.
The tournament room opened at 8am and served the players a
continental
breakfast which was quite nice. I played my session bleary eyed and
ranked
somewhere in the last 20.
My SO and I returned to our room and had a nice long nap.
I returned to play my second session not doing any better than my
first and left
the tournament feeling like crap. To get out of our funk,my SO and I
decided to
jump into a cab and go hit the fashion mall and the strip. Mid
afternoon we
landed at Harrah's and went to the Diamond Lounge for a drink and
to catch
up on emails thanks to their free access to the Internet.
After a a snack in the lounge we hit the casino floor and found a
bank of DDB
.25c poker machines tucked away and ignoring the paytables, I put in
$20.00.
On the fourth or fifth hand I hit four aces and a deuce for $500.00.
Feeling a lot better, we got into a cab and returned to the Palms.
After a nap,
we decided to hit the buffet which we found to be surprisingly good.
After
dinner we decided on a walk over to the Gold Coast and then to The
Rio. The
Gold Coast was not terribly busy but held no attraction for us. We
decided to
mosey on over to the Rio which was jammed. We watched the Masquerade
show which really is joyously infectious and a lot of fun. It was too
noisy and
busy to really play anything so we decided to return to the Palms at
about
10pm and put in a session before going to bed. SO,not being a serious
player
by any means, decided to try Jackpot Party before turning in and I
ventured off
to play 9/6 DDB .50c. Several hundred dollars later, the best I
seemed to be
able to do was a full house. I felt my eyes beginning to droop again
and
though I knew I wanted to go and sleep I forced on more hundred
dollar bill
into the machine fighting the urge to call it quits and go to bed.
About the third hand in, I was dealt three 3's and an ace and a
picture card. I
kept the 3's and the ace and ,discarded the picture to reveal the
fourth 3 for
$400.00.
I woke up somewhat and continued playing when suddenly I was dealt
four
6s. I continued and within four or five more hands, four
4's,several hands later
four Kings.
Convinced that the aces were going to pop up and now very jived and
awake,
I kept on playing maintaining a balance of approximately $800.00 and
then
the10,Queen and Ace of diamonds are dealt me. I hold them and ta dah!
the
King and Jack completes the Royal that fills out before my eyes. A
beautiful
thing to behold. The machine locks and I wait for the $2000.00
hand-pay
minus 30% and the 1040NR that goes with it.
Exhausted and happy I crept into bed after having stashed my new
gains into
the safe trying not to awaken the SO. We were lucky and very thankful
that
there was no party going on next door that night and so slept very
soundly.
I left the SO to loll about in bed as I went down to play my final
round in the
tournament, which I thought couldn't of been worse than the first
two and to
my dismay it was. Pity that there was no prize for being in the final
ten.
The tournament gift was kind of a tacky ferris wheel on which to hang
photos
and which weighed a ton. I couldn't see struggling with it all
the way home or
my SO wanting to add it to the home décor so I happily gave it to
another
contestant.
We were very happy to leave the Palms and go for our last two nights
to
Caesars in which we were booked on a limited comp (casual dining and
comp room) into a Palace Tower suite overlooking the pool area.
Check-in at
the VIP lounge was swift and we made our way to the Palace Tower
elevators through mobs of young multi-colored haired very trendy
looking
young men and women bent on having a good time. We found out that
Caesars was hosting a Paul Mitchell Hair Care product convention.
As soon as we unpacked our bags for the last time I hit the casino
floor and
went to play some $1.00 DDB in the area closest to the Café Largo
which
yielded no results in spite of three hundred dollars bills.
Disappointed that my
luck was a no-show I decided to try
some roulette and within twenty minutes won the three hundred back
plus two
hundred more. I cashed in and went for a walk and landed up near the
Elton
John store where I found some .25c NSUD machines. I put $20.00 in and
on
the fourth hand was faced with 3 ducks. I kept them and sure enough a
fourth
one popped up for a 2500 coin payout. I quit,cashed in and did a
little jig (in
my head) all the way back to the suite. That evening we had an
excellent
dinner overlooking the strip at Viole before going to see KA,the new
Cirque
Du Soleil show at the MGM. We had been told to get the lowest price
seats as
they were the best in order to see everything and the information was
absolutely correct!
We had great seats in the rear of the auditorium that afforded us a
spectacular
view of everything as opposed to all the people down front that
seemed to be
turning around all the time to catch what was going on. It ws an
amazing
theatrical experience that we thoroughly enjoyed.
On our last day ,we went for a tour of Wynn;s or Poor Cousin of
Bellagio as
SO called it and then some shopping,at the fashion mall. We has a
great
lunch at the asian restaurant at Harrah's called Ming's Table
(delicious!) and
went and picked up our emails at the Diamond lounge and enjoyed a
glass of
wine. Later in the afternoon we went back to Caesar's and I had a
nice run at
.50c ddb breaking even at the end of the session and SO made a
donation to
the MIB.
Our last meal was a wonderful one at the Terraza Italian restaurant
at
Ceasar's using up a good chunk of my comp dollars.
We ended the evening just playing this and that for fun and wistfully
wishing
that we didn't have to go home the next day. We had spent 8
glorious nights
with all of our hotels comped as were 95% of meals. Our net profit
after
airfares and incidentals was about $5900.00. which will be the first
time in a
very long time that we came home ahead.