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WoVCon ][- Part 4May 25th, 2012 at 4:51:27 am
So I woke up after my 2 hour nap and decided it was the best day to hit up the North Las Vegas casinos. When I heard North Las Vegas, everybody said it would be dangerous. I decided to start up at Aliante Station, and it didn't seem dangerous at all... little did I know that people were referring to the city of North Las Vegas! Well, I figured that out later.

1) ALIANTE STATION- I rather liked this casino. It was quiet and like every other Station property. I played PGP here and played heads up with a dealer who obviously doesn't deal the game often. I won a little money, collected my $1 chip and decided to play some 9/6. I got stuck on the machine, but eventually got back to even, earning a bunch of points along the way.

2) CANNERY- I was rather impressed with this casino. It seemed very nice with a fun pin-up theme. I loved the bar area with the leg lamps. I played on quick round of craps, where I won $5 plus my $1 chip. I saw the 21+3 game you find in the Midwest and excited to see its becoming a widespread bonus bet. Rio has it, but it's different and probably a higher HE. Anyways, the player's club wasn't open when I got there, but after a quick tour, I got a card. They have a $100 loss rebate, and found an 8-5 Bonus + Progressive in the non-smoking room.

I played the game, would get down to about $50 then hit quad deuces. Then went down, hit quad 4s. I couldn't lose or win a lot. I was on the machine a very long time. Finally, I get quad Aces. Now I have enough to be happy with the win, plus I can get some free play and a buffet. It was a good time, though I spent too much time there.

3) LUCKY CLUB- I may be hazy as to what was next, but I saw the casino on the side of the road. I went in, saw they had table mins and there was a coupon in ACG. I walked in, and the place was clearly a dive. When you have a cashier/gift shop/hotel check-in behind a glass window with a teller style microphone, you know it's bad. I got my card, and went to the BJ table. I played a few hands, 3rd base, as the guy on 1st was clearly the high roller here, betting $200 a hand. He was drinking Patron from the bottle, with the bottle at the table. You could smell it a mile away. Another kid walked up to the table, then doubled a 12 against a 2. The first guy about lost it, despite the fact that it didn't "change the cards" one way or the other. I left, then saw a sign in the parking lot about how they are not responsible for damages and the parking lot is not "bailment." Not sure I'll be back there again...

4) LONGHORN (or is it BIGHORN?)- I'm too lazy to go check out my chip now, but it's a tiny tiny casino in North Las Vegas. The BJ rules here are surprisingly good; BJ in Diamonds wins +$5, Late surrender, Double on any 2 OR 3 cards. If you can stomach playing there, it's probably not a bad place. It's also the only place I've ever seen the cashier smoking INSIDE THE CAGE! I played a shoe on the table, lost about $20, and left promptly.

5) JERRY'S NUGGET- This was the surprise of the day to me. I found the property to be rather nice. It was well laid out with a slightly higher clientele. I can imagine the property is not as nice during the nighttime, but I would consider going back for a great promo. The player's club/gift shop was strange. I played UTH here, and the two hands I played I almost hit a straight flush both hands. I was there just to get the $1 chip, so I won a few bucks and left quickly.

6) SILVER SLIPPER (?)- I'll update this later... The player's club, which is not connected to Lucky Club, despite similar ownership, took FOREVER. I got my card, and went to play double deck, which was dealt from a shoe. I had a nice run, and colored up my chips after one round. This was the only place I won my match play. Had I been less conservative, I probably would have won about 60, as it was I took 20. My $100 cash out at the cashier prompted a security call.

7) POKER PALACE- Walked in, looked around, walked out... they did have the shufflemaster machines, but the BJ rules I saw were super-lousy on the tables. I didn't see $1 chips and no craps or roulette, so they may only offer tokens.

8) ORLEANS- I forgot I also checked this place out earlier on Saturday. The New Orleans theme is taken to the hilt here, and there are some creepy mannequins up above the table game area waving at you. I'm not sure what my thoughts are on the place. I played some PGP while eating exotic Mexican candy. They have the only banking rule I've seen where it goes around from player to player, regardless if somebody banked or not. This is very generous, and the house wouldn't make much money on it if everybody opted to do so. Obviously, they aren't going to do that though. I'm not a Boyd property guy, but I'd consider taking them up on a free room offer if I ever got one.

After my N Las Vegas excursion, I decided to take yet another nap (bringing me to a total of 10 hours of sleep so far for the trip). After the nap, it was time to head back to Fiesta Henderson to meet the WoVCon group and PaiGowDan. I got there a bit early, so I played some JoB where I won $50. We opted for craps, since Dan was a relief dealer and it was tough to figure out where he was. The craps table was as cold as ice. I'm not sure what happened, but PGD was unable to get to us after his break, and unfortunately, I was supposed to meet a friend at 9pm. I said hi to him while at the table, and headed back to the Rio.

I went to the buffet for dinner, which was good though the quality has faltered just a little bit. It was the Mother's Day spread and so the selection was still pretty good. They have some great sushi on the menu. I then met up with my friend and we went out. Unfortunately, I left my iPod at the buffet, and when I realized it, it was already gone and nobody had turned it in! Oh well, I spent the evening with my friend, and we managed to get some PGP time. I was playing two hands, and was catching some bonuses. I upped my bet to $10 on each bonus, then got a straight flush! At $500, I figured that would go to pay for a new iPod. Unfortunately, the luck turned, but I still managed up $250. I then went to my room for my last 2 hours of sleep.

I got up early Monday morning, and decided to head to the Strip. I needed to check out some stores for some research in the retail world, and I wanted to buy my new iPod before the long flight home. I parked at Caesars, then did my normal walk to Bellagio (where I played Tiles), Cosmopolitan (PGP), Aria (Tiles), NYNY, down to Mandalay Bay. I checked out the Art of Shaving store, and met the nice manager who gave me some info I needed to know (I work for a place that sells the product). She convinced me to set up an appointment for a shave, which I did. I then realized I walked a LONG way without my car, so I took a taxi back to Caesars.

It was about 9:45 and it appeared as though the Apple Store was open. Alas, it wasn't, so I had to wait 15 minutes. I found a slot machine (Dean Martin's Wild Party), and opted to cycle through $100, since I hadn't really given my TR card much action for the trip. I ended up hitting a nice bonus that left me $60 up. I went and bought my new iPod, then got back to Rio to set it up and check-out.

Back to Mandalay Bay to get my shave. I was a bit nervous, as I've never shaved with a razor (I use an electric at home). IT WAS AMAZING!!! If you've never done an actual shave, I HIGHLY recommend it. It's very relaxing and the products they use leave your skin feeling so soft. After that was done ($65 with tip) I went over to MGM Grand. I went to the Tiles table, where I was carded for the first time. THE SHAVE WAS A MIRACLE!!! I decided to play $50 a hand, and for about an hour, I only lost 2 hands. It was a nice run to end the trip (a first for me). I ate at the great sushi restaurant at MGM and drove back to the airport.

A final note about the rental car return: it's much farther from the airport than I realized. I missed it the first time, but luckily I figured it out on the second go around. Returning the car was easy and I made it in plenty of time. My Wi-Fi in the terminal was spotty, so I just played around on my phone, got on the plane, and was back around 12:15am EST.

OVERALL, the trip was good. I ended down about $300, which included the new iPod purchase. For me, that's a huge win. I didn't play much at CET properties, and I notice for my August trip I'm not getting great options yet. If I were going by myself, I'd opt for a Station property and try to get it comped once I'm there, but I'm probably taking a friend who has never been, so I pretty much need to stay on the Strip. In that case, it'll either be Harrah's or MGM Grand (if I'm going to stay somewhere I have to pay, I might as well give them a second chance).

This weekend, it's off to Chicago to visit family. While it's not a gambling trip specifically, I will be hitting up Hollywood Joliet, Rivers, Ameristar (where we're staying since my mom is VIP there) and Horseshoe. Be prepared for another long, boring report!

Comments
TIMSPEED
May 25th, 2012 at 8:32:49 am
Quote:
I went to the Tiles table, where I was carded for the first time. THE SHAVE WAS A MIRACLE!!!

Hey, we're youngsters homie...amazingly, I was only carded ONCE while in Vegas...hell, I get carded more than that in RENO! lol

WoVCon ][- Part 3May 22nd, 2012 at 6:09:06 am
You may be curious at this point (if you are still reading it, which if you are, THANK YOU!) what kind of time frame I am on right now. Well, I got back to the hotel a little before 4pm on Friday evening (which is 7pm EST). This means I have now gone about 37 hours without any sleep. So I did what any sensible person would do... I got 2 hours of sleep!

Well, not quite 2 hours. Doc called to set up a time to meet at the Plaza to see The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. I also got texts from friends of mine, but I dozed through most of them. I woke up around 5:45pm. I showered, got changed, and drove on over to Downtown to see the show.

The parking deck at the Plaza is a bit tight. The ramp to get up is just barely a car and a half width, and the ceilings are extremely low. I'm not a fan of claustrophobic parking (I try to find spots that are farther away from all the other cars, which drives my parents crazy when I'm driving). After I found a spot, I went downstairs to check out the Plaza. I got a card (apparently they had my info from a couple years ago when I played at the Las Vegas Club) and found a nice Pai Gow Poker table to play at while I waited for Doc and Mrs. Doc. It was mostly back and forth at PGP, except the dealer got a Royal Flush one hand, which I would have gladly taken on my side.

We then went to the show. Our tickets were right at the front of the stage, which is not ideal for me. I like kind of the middle section about 6-8 rows back, but I suppose it could have been worse. I'll type a review of the show on the forum, since there might be others interested. Overall, the production was not worth the price of the tickets, but there were some performances that were worthy of a Broadway production (mainly the two leads).

After this, Nareed met up with us and we went over to Main Street Station. There was some confusion as to where to play, but we found a nice, empty $5 table that almost cried out "WoVCon over here!" We took up one side while we waited for others to find us. Unfortunately, the table min got increased to $10, so we were grandfathered in, while anyone else had to play at the higher mins. Then tupp(?) joined us with another guy who apparently is on the forum, though not an active member. Ironically, he said he subscribes to my blog, which if he does, thank you! Rdw and Timspeed found us eventually, and then the confusion set in as to where we would play the rest of the evening.

We found the next table was at $5, and a whole side opened up. I moved my spinning stool over to the table (I found this stool that was kind of fun to kneel on), and we started up over there. After about 20 minutes, I realized my mind had gone to crazy land, and I should probably get a few more hours of sleep. I bid adieu to the crew and drove back to the Rio. I went up to the room and got 2 hours of sleep...

WoVCon was at noon, so my plan was to go to the Strip to the Tropicana, redeem an old free play offer, go to MGM Grand and play some tiles and head to Riviera to do the $1000 promotion. I got to Tropicana, though the parking situation was a bit weird. Most of the spaces were marked reserved, so I had to park near the employee parking area. I got to the club, where they had a difficult time locating my free play. They finally added the $50 to my account, and I went and played some 7-5 Bonus Poker with a progressive at about 1400. I played through the $50, and had about 40. I decided the game was good enough to warrant a bit more play, especially if they might send me some offers. Unfortunately, the cards went South, and I couldn't capitalize on the offer, but I still had fun, and it didn't cost me a penny.

Next, I walked over to MGM Grand. If you haven't been there in a while, they are doing some major renovating throughout the entire property. It's unclear to me what they are doing; maybe they are putting the Lion's mouth entrance back in! They could just be getting rid of the Lion theme entirely, as they don't have the habitat anymore. Regardless, it took me a bit to get in, but when I did, I headed directly to the Tiles table. I was having a good time, and another gentleman sat down. We were talking it up a bit, but he kept raising his bets at the wrong times. He lost, then two other white guys sat down. The dealer joked that she should take a picture of 3 White guys at a Tiles table.

While I didn't lose track of time, I didn't budget my time well at MGM Grand, so now I had to head downtown without making the stop at the Riviera... Soon it was time for WoVCon.

When I got there, I saw Nareed. Actually, walking into the casino I saw the Wizard going out. I felt like I was seeing a celebrity; it was so cool!!! As mentioned before, the space was a bit small for all of us, so I sat at the table with the Wizard, Nicksgamingstuff, Tupp and Paisello. We did the quiz, I took second and then a bunch of us waited outside for the Wizard and Nareed to head toward ElCo. We waited, and waited... turns out they were already there!

So we walked down, watching people zipline over Downtown, while many others gawked at the Heart Attack Grill. We got to the El Cortez, and went outside to take the picture Doc posted. I went to get a club card (and free slot play), because at the time there weren't enough seats on Single Deck BJ. Finally I got a seat next to rdw who was on first base. I was second, some woman who was at the table (and making side bets galore) was third, fourth was Paisello and last but not least, the Wizard. Not wanting to get banned, I chose to flat bet $10, though I didn't turn in my card. On reflection, security could easily find out who I was, but whatever, I'm not all that worried.

During this time, the Wizard and I started doing trivia, specifically musical theater trivia. He got me on some Hair and Grease questions, while I got him on most of the others. He TRIED to stump me with an Evita question ("What other language is sung in the song "Argentine Melody"?), I told him there was no song titled that in the show. He said it was the opening number, which I replied was called "Requiem for Evita/Oh What a Circus," which is partially sung in Latin. He actually left the table to check (and try to update) wikipedia, but alas he conceded defeat!!! ;-) I say this all jokingly, because I really did enjoy myself. Next time I come to Vegas we are doing the musical theater challenge, and I look forward to it.

After a while, we all parted ways, and I headed back to the Rio. I had to get changed as I was going to meet my friends Tony and Bob for dinner that evening. I met them at some dive bar near where they live, and had a half meal of burger and fries. As stated before, I don't eat much while in Vegas, so I should have just split something. I gave them the quiz we did at WoVCon and Bob would have done well.

I decided post-dinner to catch some of the Strip vibe. I drove over to Paris/Bally's (where I finally found Ellis Island casino!) and found a Tiles table for $25. The table was nearly full most of the time, and the dealer was making some good hands. Every once and a while we would co-bank which usually resulted in a push. This seemed to get the tiles moved around. I ended up about $100. I had a friend who wanted to meet me at Palace Station for some low-roller Tiles action. He had never played but wanted to learn the game. He was quite drunk, but did very well for a newbie, at least better than I did my first time. After some time, I decided I HAD to get to bed, and headed back to the Rio for another 2 hour nap!

North Las Vegas, here I come...

Comments
Nareed
May 22nd, 2012 at 9:32:30 am
To clear things up:

After lunch I asked the Wizard to wait for me while I went up to my room to brush my teeth. When I came down, I found him by the VP banks. He asked "¿Lista?" ("Ready?") And led off. I assumed the rest of you had gone on ahead...
paisiello
May 23rd, 2012 at 7:11:00 pm
Nobody was impressed with my "two sisters" movie challenge?
Nareed
May 24th, 2012 at 7:12:03 am
I missed that challenge. Do tell?
EvenBob
May 24th, 2012 at 8:31:19 pm
Was seeing the Wiz on a par with meeting Howdy Doody, or
more like meeting Chef Bobby Flay from the Food Network?
paisiello
May 25th, 2012 at 1:28:01 pm
Google-proof movie challenge: Plot of a well known film has two sisters killed in very unusual ways, one at the beginning of the film and one at the end of the film. The killer however is not punished.

WoVCon ][ - Part 2May 21st, 2012 at 5:04:22 am
So after getting up to the room, I realized I wasn't quite ready for bed yet. Vegas has the tendency to change my metabolism and sleep cycle, to the point where I might eat once a day and sleep 4 hours if I'm lucky. I know it's not healthy, but hey, it's Vegas! Luckily I don't live there... (Keep in mind that it's now 7am EST, and I woke up the day before at 6:30am).

So I shower, hop online for a bit, then get downstairs. I figure I should probably give Rio some action, as they are putting me up in the hotel. I find a PGP table with a few players and sit down. I opt to play two hands, since I need to get some good action recorded. At first, the table was terrible, with the dealer pulling hands just big enough to beat at least one of mine every time. Eventually, the dealer cooled down, and I started winning a few. When I got back to even (after about 2 hours), I got up, cashed in the chips and went to my car to do the Southern Vegas/Henderson casino tour.

This trip was rather impromptu, but I applaud myself on actually making it a very logical sequence of casinos. I think I got nearly every one with table games, and never had to back track.

1) PALACE STATION- Before I headed down South, I thought I'd check out and see if the infamous Tiles table was open. It was, so I bet $20 a hand. Big mistake, though in a good way... I should have been betting more. I had about 4-5 hands in a row of Wong-Bo or High 9-Gong. I got up after I lost my first hand, and the dealer thought I was nuts, since I was running so hot. I also played some 9-6 JoB here.

2) SILVERTON- After reading the review on here, I was wondering what it would be like. I have to say I was impressed. I had an ACG Free $10 Slot Play, which I hit 4 Queens on, so I ended up about $50 from the machine. I also played the single deck 3:2 game, where in 4 dealt hands I got 21, 21, BJ and 21! I figured it doesn't get better than that, so I quit after one deck. I also got a free buffet for my play, good anytime, so I hope to get back there in August.

3) SOUTH POINTE- This casino reminds me a lot of Suncoast, which is good since it was built by the same people. Alas, the craps table was very cold to me, and the girl who was shooting dice looked like she fell off a turnip truck. I was surprised this place wasn't classier.

4) M CASINO- Beautiful casino that will convert easily to a Hollywood when Penn gets around to destroying it. Double deck destroyed me here, though I managed to get some of my bankroll back before cashing out. I do have to give props to the designers for the natural light element. When I read the reviews, I wasn't sure about that, but it really does make it different than most casinos.

Before you say I skipped GVR, I have been there before and had no need to collect a chip from that property.

5) FIESTA HENDERSON- As mentioned in the wrap-up threads, this is where I discovered the spot on the craps table that causes dice to fly off the table. I think the crew thought I was crazy, but I can make those dice land pretty consistently, and the die would just keep going off. As it was morning, Dan was not dealing. The casino is very nice, and it was here where I officially got my Gold Boarding Pass (Woo hoo!)

6) ELDORADO- Walked in, got my chip, walked out. Table games were closed, and I forgot it was a Boyd property until I got to Joker's Wild.

7) RAILROAD PASS- My GPS was convinced this place was in Henderson proper, so I spent a long time looking for something that was very obvious when I saw it. Basically did the same as Eldorado. The only table game open was one that had $1 coins

8) HACIENDA- There was a lot of traffic out to the Hoover Dam, so it took me a bit to get here. I played some TCP (which I don't usually do when it pays 3-1 on the flush), but it didn't matter, since I couldn't get a flush and the dealer was red hot on his hands. I was impressed with the service though, and actually the casino is nicer than what you would think it should be. I wanted a hot dog, so I waited about 4 minutes before the girl who was finishing up other orders even acknowledged me. I left without eating.

9) JOKER'S WILD- Again, forgot it was a Boyd property. They had $1 craps with .25 chips, so I bought in for $100 and played $3 on the pass line and come bets with odds (10x). I gave them my B Connected card, but they told me they were on a different system, so they took my license. I started in the middle of a roll, the shooter established the point then immediately 7d out. Then the next shooter went on a rampage, rolling numbers right and left. I eventually had my 6-8 at 10x odds and 5-9 almost there when he 7d out about 30 minutes later. THEN I got my license and new card, with a comp certificate for $10. The cashier line was exceedingly long, but the deli was fast, and the food was good.

10) KLONDIKE SUNSET- Um, I stepped in there, saw the abandoned slot machines and said this place wasn't even worth going to the cashier cage to get a chip.

11) SUNSET STATION- Much nicer place a mile down the road! Here I played some PGP, and started to have exhaustion set in. I left a bit down, and headed back to Rio for a couple hours of sleep (for real this time!)

I know I'm forgetting a place, but I have to get ready for work, so I'll update this later.

FINALLY, a word to travelers who might want to hit locals places on Fridays. Nearly every casino cashes payroll checks, so Fridays can be a tedious day if you want to cash out chips. There are separate lines for players, but it's hard to tell that, since they always look like high card holder lines. It seems the promotions they run for the payroll check cashing are pretty good... if you can avoid the temptation to gamble it all away, you could probably do well with them.

Next stop: The Whorehouse.

Comments
Doc
May 21st, 2012 at 11:45:16 am
RE: Klondike Sunset. My souvenir "chip" from there is a metal token. I did not see any clay $1 chips on my only visit, so you may not have missed out on anything.
teddys
May 21st, 2012 at 8:23:21 pm
Re: Jokers Wild. $10 comp sounds better than the six pack of Pepsi I got.
rdw4potus
May 22nd, 2012 at 9:17:12 am
Re: Klondike Sunset: Are you saying that the roulette table was closed when you visited?? I've been there twice. Both times, the same 3 sullen upper-middle-aged women were playing roulette. Both times, them, the dealer, me, and the cashier were the only people in the room. Talk about depressing...

WoVCon ][- Part 1May 19th, 2012 at 5:41:36 pm
Okay, so it's been about a week since I was in Vegas for WoVCon ][, and I've been putting off writing this, mostly out of exhaustion from the travel. However, I'm going up to Cleveland tomorrow, so I better start this now. This may be in multiple parts; I haven't decided yet.

First things first, I arrived on Thursday, May 10, around 8:20pm (10 minutes early), despite the plane leaving 40 minutes later. I've never figured out why they feel the need to schedule THAT much time (usually 4:30) for the flight, when it only takes about 3:30 hours. Regardless, I hiked over to the rental car shuttle buses and got my rental car.

SIDEBAR: If you haven't been to the new facility, it is very slick, though it's farther away from the airport than you realize, at least farther than I realized. However, it's set up great; I walked up to the counter, signed my life away (not really), and went downstairs to pick out my car. I chose a Blue Nissan Versa. Funny story: They told me to turn right and follow the road out. To do that, my car would have to make a 30 degree turn with a cement blockade on one side and a car on the other, with about 6 inches to spare. It took me about 5 minutes just to get the darn thing turned around so I could leave....

Anyways, I got to Rio, using my GPS, a little before 9pm. I checked into my room, and a friend met me there. He told me to park at Gold Coast across the street as the parking was terrible at Rio. I guess the San Genarro Festival was going on at the back of the property, so parking was terrible all weekend. They didn't have any major upgrades for rooms, but the clerk was very friendly and got me a decent view in the Masquerade Tower (the bigger one). The furnishings looked like they came out of the Golden Girls, and there was a strange window in the shower that peered into the bedroom. It appears as though there was a mini-bar at one time, but alas, there was nothing in there. However, the floor to ceiling windows of the back of the property and the North part of the strip on the 35th floor were pretty cool.

After freshening up, my friend Tony (who lives in Vegas) and I were going to travel and casino hop to collect $1 chips from some of the local places. I really appreciate him helping me do this, and it was fun to have somebody to gamble with. The following is the list of casinos we visited, with quick anecdotes of each one. I'm not going to do full-on reviews of each property, as 1) I probably don't remember, and 2) Most of the properties shared the same qualities... I learned that the locals market casinos tend to be a bit more cookie-cutter than other markets, but that's to be understood when you think about it...

1) TEXAS STATION- We played craps here... I got signed up for a Boarding Pass and was given, wait for it, $3 in FREE SLOT PLAY!!! I think this is the chinsiest offer I have ever received. Tony works for Aristocrat Gaming, so I played a Buffalo machine with the free play, won 1.30 and cashed out.

2) FIESTA RANCHO- Okay, this story will be longer, as it was the most interesting of the evening. We walked around when we got there, and I finally decided to play some PGP. We sat down at the table, and I bought in for $100. I was playing two hands, and the first hand I was dealt KK,22 on one hand, and a pai gow on the other. Dealer turns over her hand to reveal 5,6,Joker,8,9,9,9. The ONLY way to play the hand is a straight with a pair of 9s in the low, but she sets it as 9,9,9 with Joker,8 in the low. I debated saying anything, as PaiGowDan's voice is yelling in my ear, when the other player tells her she set it wrong.

The dealer at first doesn't react, then she puts up the 9,9, and moves the Joker,8 to the back. She goes, "I can't play it that way," and moves the cards back to the original set. She then proceeds to finish the hand. My Pai Gow and the player's hand lost, but my KK,22 became a push instead of a loss. The dealer starts to put the cards away, when the other player then calls the supervisor over and explains that she mis-set the hand. The supervisor agreed, and said there was nothing that could be done now. I think it's the first time I've ever seen a player correct the dealer, and the dealer still couldn't get it right...

Anyways, I lost money there, so we left... it was a good story for PGP dealers the rest of the trip.

3) SANTA FE STATION- Funniest thing there was after I told the aforementioned story to that dealer, she started making tactical errors for the rest of the evening. Nothing that was incorrect, just mental errors. I played PGP there.

4) RAMPART- This is where I had the best dealer the entire trip. I played on round of Double Deck, won, got my $1 chip, and we talked for a good 10 minutes without playing. She was very nice, and they were very interested in what I was about. They were especially interested in Horseshoe Cleveland opening.

5) SUNCOAST- I played craps at a very full table here. Tony couldn't get on, and I felt bad for him so I colored up as soon as the next shooter 7d out, which was fast. The box lady seemed very mad that I did that...

6) RED ROCK- Played PGP, and was the only time I was derided by a dealer about not playing the $1 Progressive. I'm sorry, but that bet is a HUGE ripoff. I don't mind playing sidebets if there is some decent return, but that was awful.

I forgot one other thing. Between Fiesta and Santa Fe, I had to get some stuff at a Wal-mart for toiletries, since I did carry-on luggage on the plane. There is a Wal-mart right behind Fiesta, and at about 1am, the place was VERY scary. I'm all about the late night culture you find at that store, but I never wanted to get out of a place so badly!

We headed back to Rio, where I said goodbye to Tony and headed up to my room to sleep... or so I thought...

Comments
teddys
May 20th, 2012 at 8:24:10 am
Heh, I got the $3 from Stations, too. In fact, everybody I know has. Stupid Stations. Be interested to see if you get any offers from Suncoast or Rampart (or Stations). I played craps for two hours at SC and have gotten some really generous offers from them. But I also played a little video poker. Rampart may be more generous now that they own the hotel.
Nareed
May 20th, 2012 at 10:23:03 am
I also got $3 from Stations.
EvenBob
May 20th, 2012 at 2:42:01 pm
Walmart is scary at 4pm, I'm serious. I can't imagine 1am.

Tunica trip- Weekend of 4-13/16April 22nd, 2012 at 4:52:19 am
This will be a relatively short post, as I will only be covering what I remember, with one review sprinkled in.

First off, the trip I made during this time was SUPPOSED to be to Atlantic City (it's roughly the same driving distance from where I live). I booked at Showboat on Sunday and Monday evening. I realized I should go ahead and book Saturday night too, and to make a long story short, it turned into a fiasco that left me quite upset with Caesars policies about how they quote rates. In a nutshell, if I'm not getting it comped, I'm not staying there in the future.

Anyways, an email exchange with my host at Horseshoe Tunica landed me the ENTIRE weekend free, two nights at Harrah's and two nights at Roadhouse. I was more than pleased with this, so on Friday night, after work, I made the trip. I had the flue a couple of weeks earlier, and even today I'm still getting the remaining junk out of my system. For the most part, I was fine, though I had a coughing spell that got really nasty on the drive down. I checked into Harrah's around 2:30am, went over to Harrah's and played some Pai Gow Poker.

For the most part, the gambling was rough for me. Video Poker has reared its ugly head against me, and I probably played too much Mississippi Stud (though I did have one good session). I do want to give a shout out to Sam's Town, who still features the optimal paytable on Three Card Poker, if there's no progressive. I was the only one playing it on Saturday night, but I hit trips one time, so that made the journey worth it. I also hit a few flushes and enjoyed getting paid 4-1 (I won't play TCP if it's not that schedule anyways).

I did my walk through of Hollywood again, and I'm sorry to say it's still going downhill. This is really too bad, because I used to really enjoy the property. However 16 table games and a makeshift poker area does not make for a good casino. No wonder they are offering the $1 (+.25) blackjack game.

I do want to give a quick review of 8 Oz Burger Bar at Horseshoe. It is the only restaurant in the Horseshoe/Roadhouse casinos that is open 24 hours. This is fine, except 1) the RC ratio is 200 credits = $1 comps (as opposed to 1:1) and 2) the selection of food is limited. I had a cheeseburger, fries and chocolate malt, and the total came to $20! This is ridiculous and if I had used my comps it would have cost me 4000 RCs. I probably could have asked for a comp from a pit boss, but at the time I ate, I was done gambling for the day, and I had already gotten buffets.

Overall, the trip was financially a bust, but I had a good time and really enjoyed my stay there. WoVCon ][ is next... see you soon!

Comments
Doc
April 22nd, 2012 at 3:15:43 pm
Did you happen to notice whether anything is happening on the ground at the old Isle of Capri site, where the Sportsman Casino is supposed to be built? Last I heard, they were still just discussing financing issues, even though they seemed to claim to have the investors. At one time, the claim was that it would be open in late 2012.
Tiltpoul
April 22nd, 2012 at 3:34:40 pm
I talked with a dealer at Sam's Town. Sounds like there are no plans as of yet to build that into anything, though the road looks like it's been repaved.
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