Veteran's Day Biloxi Weekend

We decided to take a trip to Biloxi for the long Veteran's Day weekend. This was actually a 'family' trip as it was me along with Mrs. Joeman, her teenage cousin, my parents, and my sister. We loaded up in my folks' van and tooled west down I-10 to Biloxi.

We stayed at Harrah's Gulf Coast. I was able to get 2 rooms comped Thu-Sun. The TR website would comp me 1 room, but was going to charge me for the second. I called the reservation line, and the representative was able to comp both rooms. Sweet!

We got there around 9 on Thursday night. After we checked-in, I headed to the casino for a little play before bed. Harrah's playable slots have been dwindling, but they still have two 50c 9/6 DDB machines (conveniently located next to both the cashier and Steak & Shake!;) ), so that was what I played.

I was into my second hundred when I had a hand where I held a single jack... and got four 4's on the draw! I decided to cash out there and find my sister & Dad at the BJ table. The BJ dealer was wearing his old Biloxi Grand (which was washed away in Katrina and later replaced by Harrah's) badge, so I said to him, "You must have been here for a while." Turns our he had been dealing at the Grand/Harrah's for 25+ years!

I played a shoe or two and figured I wasn't losing fast enough, so I went back to the DDB machine... and lost much faster this time, with no miracle quads to bail me out. I decided to call it a night down close to $300.

Friday morning after breakfast, we headed over to the Maritime Mueseum. Although it isn't too big, they did have a lot of good exhibits, many about the local seafood industry. They also had several boats on display, including a Popular Mechanicsdo-it-yourself boat from 1965.

Afterwards, we walked across the street to the Golden Nugget. I threw $10 into a Quick Hits machine, but that was about it for my gambling at the GN. Mrs. Joeman texted me that she & the kid had found an ice cream shop up on the 2nd floor, so I headed up there to meet them. As I'm walking down the corridor, I spot the "Hand of Faith" gold nugget.

Wha...? At first, I assumed it was just a replica, because I had seen "the real thing" not 12 months earlier at the Downtown Vegas GN. But I checked it out later, and both Wikipedia and the Golden Nugget site agree that it is in Biloxi now.

I'm curious when it moved. And what is currently in its display case at the Downtown GN? Are they remodeling and creating a better display for it? I can't imagine that Biloxi would be its permanent home.

Afterwards, we headed to the IP where my Dad had some food comps. We had lunch at their sports bar and then I headed to my favorite spot -- the Insomnia VP bar. Unfortunately, my Dad says they are now rationing drinks based on your play. This would be a disappointment, but I didn't seem to have any trouble getting drinks whenever I asked. In fact, I still saw people who would walk up to the bar, get a comp drink, and leave, without playing. It's good to see that the bartenders still have some discretion.

While I was playing, the guy next to me hit a Royal. I had no such luck. After losing a few bucks, I decided to walk over to the pits where I find Dad at the MS Stud table. I introduced him to the game earlier this year, and he liked it (it helps when you win the first time!) So, I joined him and ended up making back about what I lost on VP.

We headed back to Harrah's and I took Mrs. Joeman to the Diamond Lounge. Unfortunately, this will probably be the last time I will be able to take advantage of any Diamond benefits. Monetarily, I found the "no resort fee" perk to be the most valuable, but I do enjoy the DLs. I caught lightning in a bottle last year, but I doubt with my level of play that I will ever get Diamond again.

The Biloxi DL is nice, but very small. They had empanadas there on Friday, and they had boiled & peeled shrimp and jalapeno poppers on Saturday. The bartender, Kim, was awesome -- friendly, cheerful, and made great drinks, even though she busy non-stop the entire time we were there.

Oddly enough, I wasn't checked for ID either time we went. The receptionist was on the phone both times, and just waived us in when I flashed my card. She didn't even look at it closely. It could have been from years ago for all she knew.

Leaving the DL, we went over to the 5-play nickel Quick Quads machine. This has become Mrs. Joeman's favorite. We played for a while on $20, but it soon dwindled down. Her amount got below the 30 coins needed to activate the QQ feature, but she decided to play one last hand short rather than cash out for $1 or so. Wouldn't you know it, she gets dealt 9-9-9-A-8! :P Well that sucked!

After dinner, I decided to play some Pai Gow Poker. I have found that when I am winning, PGP is relaxing. But this time, I was getting beat up, and the slow pace of play seemed to make it excruciating! So, it was back to VP where "the beatings will continue until moral improves." I ended up heading up to the room with a little less than $50 in my pocket! :(

Saturday, We went to the Contact Sports Bar at the Palace to watch the Florida/South Carolina game. It's a decent place to watch a game -- lots of TV's. Although the big screen and the bar audio had the LSU/Arkansas game, they put the UF game on several of the smaller screens. Plus -- and this is the first time I have seen anything like this -- they gave us a wireless box that carried the audio for our game that they put right in the middle of our table, kind of like a wireless drive-in speaker. It was loud enough that we could hear the broadcast, but inaudible a few feet from the table. That was pretty cool.

I checked out the bar VP at halftime of the game. Not the best paytables, but certainly not the worst at the 25c level. Plus it had a progerssive for the royal that was over $1800. I have been learning BP Deluxe strategy, since it is very similar to DDB, and decided that the 8/6 BP Dlx game looked good. I dropped in my last $20 and fortunately, didn't have to wait too long for quads to hit. I was able to turn my $20 into $125 over the course of halftime.

However, our group broke up in the 3rd quarter when it was looking rather bleak for the Gators. Mom & Dad went back to the room, and Mrs. Joeman & the kid went to Margaritaville. Sis and I decided to watch the remainder of the game from the bar and play a little VP as well. The gators tried to make a game of it in the 4th quarter, but came up short. Unfortunately, my play seemed to follow suit, and the last of my cash dried up.

So, I had to hit the ATM. My bank refunds ATM fees, so it's not as painful to use the casino ATM's. With the first hundred, I headed to the craps table. Things seemed to turn around for me then. With the help of two good rolls, I was able to turn the $100 into $325. I then took $125 of that to the MS Stud table, and turned that into $190.

Near the end of that session, my sister joins me at the table. As I am trying to explain basic strategy to her, she gets dealt 74o. She wanted to play it, but I told her that hand should go in the muck. She hesitates, but finally does toss in the hand. Way to go, Sis, now you're playing smart! Then the dealer flips up 7-4-4! :P

Ummm... sorry I lost you $400, Sis! I did feel pretty bad that I talked her out of playing her hand, but she was a good sport about it and didn't give me too hard a time.

We found our way back to Harrah's, and I gave Mrs. Joeman the original $500 I had gotten from the ATM for safe keeping. ;)

After we get back from dinner, Mrs. Joeman and I headed back to play some more Quick Quads. She treaded water and ended up cashing out the same $50 she started with. I, on the other hand blew a couple of $20's in the adjacent UX machine. She decides that she's done enough gambling and is thinking about heading back to the room.

I ask her if she wants to do something 'crazy' first. To my surprise, she says, "Sure. Whatcha got in mind?" "Let's take one of your $100's and run it through the $5 machine," I reply. And to my further surprise, she agrees with me again.

You know, it's funny that this cropped up on the forums this weekend:


... because that is exactly what we did! ;)

On the fourth hand, we are dealt two black kings, and on the draw, find the two red ones!


... and we start having fun again! :P

So, the slot attendant comes over and unlocks the machine, handing me the jackpot reciept. I play off the remaining $25. Then while we continue to wait, I pull another $100 out and play a little more. Mrs. Joeman sees this and asks, "You still have money? I thought you were broke. Why did you ask me for the $100?" I replied, "Well, I wasn't about to spent one of my hundreds on this crazy venture!" ;)

After taxes, and a $12 tip for the attendant, we got our $1200. We then walked around the casino a bit, and I spotted an empty seat at the UTH table. I sit and after a few hands, Mrs. Joeman heads back up to the room. The cards were kind to me and I just about doubled up my $100 buy-in.

As I head back to the VP area, I decide to try the $1 BP Deluxe game. I put in a $100 and give it a go. I play for a bit, but then it's gone. As I am digging for another hundred, my Dad walks up, having just cashed out of his BJ game.

I'm thinking Dad is the ultimate cooler as I proceed to put in the $100 and lose all but 3 hands (where I got high pairs)! The next $100 is not much better. Aside from a few 5-coin "wins," I hit one 3oak, but that's it. $200 gone in an instant. Isn't it your bedtime, Dad?!

As I try to regroup, I spot a 25c DSTP machine. I've played STP before, but not DSTP, so I decide to sit and feed it a $100 bill. On one of the first few hands, I get dealt trip aces, and draw to quads on one of the lines (with no multiplier, of course!) But I lose most of it back chasing multipliers.

Then, it was back to 50c DDB. I continue my losing streak for a while, but then I get dealt a pair of aces and draw to 4 aces WAK! Woot! I wish I had gotten a picture, but I never seem to think about it if it isn't a handpay. Anyway, I continue to play and run well, cashing out at $1200!

I'm now up pretty big, it's late, and I have a long drive ahead of me in the morning. So, I decided to do the sensible thing -- head over to the high limit slots!

I should have gone to bed. I ended up giving a chunk back on the $5 (and even a couple of hands on the $25) VP machines. I decided to call it a weekend and head back up to the room, still with a couple hunderd in profit overall.

I wish they would move Biloxi a couple hunderd miles east. That drive down I-10 back to Jax is exhausting!

Thanks for the trip report!! Glad you ended up with a little more than you started with. I think a Biloxi trip is in my future so I always enjoy reading trip reports from there.

Nice report

Good write-up, Joeman. Nice that you had 3 generations there to socialize when you wanted a break.

Also nice the trip seems to have paid for itself.