Spring Fling 2019

I wasn't planning on writing a TR for Spring Fling but I was asked to by multiple people so I decided to do a short write up. Every year when I come to Vegas for Spring Fling I find an area to do some chip collecting either before or after the get together. This trip I decided to do it before as I flew home the Sunday after the main even to take care of my friends dog while they were on a cruise.

I have previously done chip collecting trips through Southern California and I guess mid California (Los Angeles area) is what I will call it. This time I was debating between doing Arizona/New Mexico or some of the more Northern California casinos. There is a casino in Arizona that is in the process of adding table games so to avoid doing that trip twice I decided to do that trip next year. My itinerary for California was to start at Terrible's in Jean, Nevada before heading to Eagle Mountain Casino in California and moving north (in a zigzag way) from there. I made a route that took me as North as Reno in California before driving to Reno for the night and heading back to Vegas while stopping at Wa She Shu which added tables in January.

So without further ado...

I flew to Vegas from Winnipeg via Vancouver on Sunday May 5th. I got in and checked into the California Casino for one night (comped). I met up with my friend Leor from Winnipeg for dinner at Pizza Rock where we ate way too much. It was happy hour so we ordered 2 personal pizzas, rosemary garlic fries, meatballs and garlic garlic bread. We devoured it all and were completely stuffed. We headed over to the nugget to play poker around 11 pm. We both sat a terrible table and both got moved to the best table in the room within the hour. The game was great but I was card dead and left up $44 around 2 am. Leor had a terrible session! First off he made quads and blew a guy out of the pot with a poorly sized raise. Next he mucked his quad 3's not knowing that there are bonuses for making quads or better. On top of that the dealer told us about 15 minutes later that he would have also qualified for the hourly high hand which would have netted him $300 at the end of the hour, 3's would have held btw. I left the game because I was going to California in the morning but Leor stayed to play. I got a text while I was laying in bed that he got coolered twice by the mega whale at the table for about $900 total, it was not a good day for him at all.

Monday morning I woke up and had the buffet for free (terrible idea) before taking the shuttle to Sam's Town and taking a cab to Budget from there. I hit up Terrible's (former Gold Strike) on my way to California. I vultured a couple machines for $65 and then played some VP to kill the 20 minutes until the BJ table opened at 11. I manage to hit quad 4's for $50 before losing $20 back playing BJ. In total I won just under $90 at Terrible's. I drove 5.5 hours to Eagle Mountain which was the only long drive other than Reno to Vegas. I got stuck in some traffic that extended the drive a bit I had XM radio so it wasn't too bad. I grabbed some cherries from the guy selling them on the side of the road and ate them while I drove. Here is where I made a mistake... I drink a lot of Diet Mountain Dew when I am driving long distances for the caffeine and because I love the taste. I also will use a little bit of it to wash my hands off after I have eaten in the car which I did after eating the cherries. The problem is I accidentally bought normal Mountain Dew and now my hands were very sticky, oops. I got a good laugh out of that one.

I played down under BJ which I had never seen before. Basically the dealer checks their undercard using a machine and it lights up yellow if they have a 10-A, red for 6-9 and yellow for 2-6, I might have the colours wrong but you get the point. I guess the idea is you have a rough idea of the dealers two card total, like most BJ variants BJ paid even money. I lost $20 during my short try at the new game, or new to me I should say.

My next stop was in Visalia where both card rooms were closed. Sundowner which is as scary as RDW said it was in his chip of the day post only opens on the weekends and Deuce Card Room closed at 7 pm on a Monday... I got there at 6:58. Next up was Tachi Palace which was enormous! I didn't sign for a club card here because for some reason they needed a passport and I was too lazy to go get mine from the car. I lost few dollars vulturing before winning a quick $60 on BJ. I made the 100 mile walk back to my car (I might be exaggerating) and headed to a couple of small card rooms that took my money. I lost $150 at Club One, I couldn't win a hand to save my life. The dealer kept on apologizing and I replied the same way I always do when dealers feel bad "they took the seat belts off these chairs years ago, nobody is making me stay". She laughed and wished me better luck when I left to go to the 500 Club. The 500 Club was your standard California card room, small and crowded with Asians. This generic card room took my $100 donation and sent me on my way.

My notes say I then visited Table Mountain in Fresno, I have no memory of that but apparently it happened. I also broke even but I didn't write in my notes what I played which usually means it was BJ. My next stop was a Chukchansi Gold Casino which got closed years ago for gaming violations, I kept it on my list because it seemed like it would eventually reopen even if it took a year, I was correct. Chukchansi Gold is a massive Indian casino and yet they had no good slot plays for me so I played a couple hands of BJ winning $60 before moving onto Merced where I had two stops to make. First was Poker Flats which I couldn't find so I went to Casino Merced where I lost $80 playing Spanish 21. It was a smaller card room with only 3 tables open when I got there. I managed to find Poker Flats after leaving Casino Merced, it was a block away from where maps said it should be. It was closed and someone was painting the walls inside. It looked like it might have been closed for the last little while. My last stop of the night before finding my hotel was Turlock Poker Room where I didn't play poker as I could barely see straight. I played some BJ quickly and walked away with $40 profit.

My hotel situation was very cheap for the whole week in California and Vegas. I stayed comped at California in Vegas the first night, I then booked 3 free nights in California using points and then I stayed at the Nugget in Vegas comped for 3 nights. Hotel grand total spent was $0! I try and book Motel 6's whenever I am travelling in the states as they remodelling all Motel 6's a few years back so you get quite the bang for your buck in my opinion.

The next morning I packed up my belongings and headed to my first stop of the day, McDonalds. That wasn't what you were expecting was it? I grabbed a couple of breakfast biscuit sandwiches and headed to Black Oak Casino. Black Oak had a little bit of everything for me, $25 FP, some nice vultures and $20 profit at BJ for a total win of just over $90. My next stop was half bust, Mike's card room in Oakdale is no longer in business. There were signs on the doors saying that the casino had closed and it gave a location where chips could still be redeemed. The plus side is the restaurant next door had really good boneless wings that would become my lunch. I grabbed a couple of groceries (nothing healthy) and to Empire Sportsmen Casino. I didn't stay long as this was one of the few card rooms I found on this trip that made me pay to play which I hate for obvious reasons. I played a 0few hands of pai gow before leaving $34 lighter in the pocket. Next on my list was Stars Casino where I donated $160 playing BJ, I lost and chased my losses for a while. There was a guy roaming around the card room betting near table max on all the games, he didn't seem to care what the games were. He even played baccarat without knowing how the game worked, he was clearly just there for his fix. This was the only casino for this trip where I took a $5 chip instead of a $1 chip as they were using $1 chips from the old Comstock casino.

My next stop was Real Casino which I have no memory of but they gave me $56 so they are A-Ok in my books. I then found a situation that I cam across a few times in Washington State, two casino licenses in the same building. Kings Casino and Westlane Casino are in the same building separated by a bar. They use chips that look identical other than the name. Westlane has the BJ and baccarat mostly while Kings had carnival games, I am not sure why this is. I lost $1 between the two casinos, I am still trying to recover from that massive loss. I hit up a chipotle for dinner and was thoroughly disappointed, I used to love eating there but I think since I got Qdoba back home I much prefer it there than Chipotle.

At this point in my notes I am seeing names of places that I visited but I don't have much memory of the gaming joints. It probably doesn't help that as the hours got later and the miles started adding up I started to lose focus a bit. Parkwest Lodi gave me $43 on BJ, small casino that was bought up and renamed with the Parkwest branding. My next stop was the brand new Harrah's Northern California which was exactly what you would expect from a Harrah's, huge and generic. I played card craps for only the second time ever, the crew had a dead table and was recruiting me to play with them. I looked around and found that all the table games had high minimums except the craps table so I went back for a little game of card craps. It is so weird to roll dice and then have to look for the corresponding cards to figure out what your roll value is. It was fun because the crew was fun but I am not a fan of card craps. I won $40 and tipped the dealers a few times since they made the gaming experience a lot of fun.

The total opposite occurred at Parkwest Cordova where I swear this dealer was the most miserable human in that place. She had no interest in talking, smiling or anything that make me think that she didn't hate that I sat at her table lol. Oh well, I won $20 and surprise surprise didn't tip her for her lovely personality. Parkwest Lotus was a very short visit as the tables were packed with everyone betting on each others hands and side bets which meant the dealer was dealing about 20 hands a hour. I won a whopping $12 before moving on. I arrived in Sacramento and visited 2 casinos, first was Capitol where I played BJ beside a smelly lady for a minutes and then left mostly because of her odour. Not sure where the homeless couple got $100 but they needed a shower badly. I won $17 while my name didn't move up the poker list. I gave up and went to Limelight, my last stop of the night. I was down to $10 of my $100 buy in before hitting a run to make a small $3 profit after tips. I spent the next 30 minutes talking to the room manager waiting for a poker seat that never came. Around midnight I gave up and called it a night.

The next morning I woke up and headed to my first casino of the day, Jackson Rancheria. I played either Spanish 21 or some other BJ variant to get my chip, I broke even but won a couple of dollars on the FP they gave me. My next stop was where I found the most disgusting thing that I have ever seen in a casino... 1-1 regular BJ. This wasn't a variant with different rules, just good old normal BJ where the players are happy to get screwed. I left the table as soon as I realized, the table was full btw. Gamblers are dumb! I sent a message in a group chat about what I had found and one of the guys said "oh they have that at Red Hawk casino too!" I responded with yes that is where I am :P

I drove to Folsom to collect at Folsom Lake Bowl which is a bowling alley with a tiny section for table games. I have been to a couple of these types of places in Washington before. The tables didn't open until two so I left and stopped at a Greek place for lunch. I got a Gyro to go and wolfed it down in the car. I forgot the bag in my backseat so the whole car spelled like tzatziki sauce for the rest of the day. Back at Folsom Lake Bowl they were ready to deal. The dealer had a great personality but he kept taking my money. I was down most of my $100 buy in when I jokingly said to the dealer I am going to win the next seven hands, I then proceeded to win the next seven hands. I was pressing my bet by $5 with every win as I always do, I had $40 up after the seventh win when the dealer said I should pull it down to $5 because I won the amount of hands I had predicted. We both thought that was funny so I did and I lost the bet. Obviously it was all a coincidence but we both found that amusing. I was tipping him while I was playing and I was up $60 after the great run so I cashed out and moved on with my day of collecting.

My next stop had two chips to collect. The place is called Stones Gambling Hall and it has both a poker room called The Saloon and a casino called The Tavern. They both use chips for their room in the building, I am not sure if they have two gambling licenses but the chips can't be used in the others room. I played 4/8 limit Holdem as it was the first game available and I wasn't planning on staying long. I lost $18 in about 30 minutes. The one hand of significance happened when I raised pre with 109 of spades and the flop came 876 with two spades. I bet the flop and the A on the turn. The river came the 4 of spades, I bet and got called by larger spades. That's limit poker for you. I racked up after winning some of my chips back and played a shuffle of DD BJ in the casino room winning $40.

I stopped at Popeyes for lunch because I love their spicy chicken strips and biscuits. For some reason the Canadian Popeyes are much more expensive and they don't taste as good. I ordered the $4 special of 4 strips and a bun. I asked how much for an extra bun and was told $1.30 so I passed. I opened up my meal in the car and they had given me the extra bun anyways. :)

Next was Thunder Valley Casino which has been lost from my memory which happens sometimes on these collecting trips. My notes say that I played 2 hands of BJ and broke even. Next up was Casino Marysville which is more of a card room than a casino. They had one BJ table open and I lost $124 in a very short time as I hit one of those shoes where you lose 90% of the hands dealt. The losing continued at Colusa Casino to the tune of $77 and apparently I have tried and succeeded in forgetting that I was ever there. Apparently I was really tired this day because Feather Falls Casino has also escaped my memory... Sorry this has turned into how senile is PokerGrinder. I did manage a $66 win here though so that's good lol.

My second last stop of the night was at Gold Country casino. They gave me a bunch of stuff with my club card sign up, FP, money for the cafe and a suited BJ pays double coupon. I played through the FP and had a chicken bacon ranch sandwich for my late 10 PM dinner. I gave the coupon to the dealer, the pit boss inspected it and said ok. The first hand I played I won and the dealer paid me double and took the coupon, I didn't feel like waiting for a suited BJ so I just went with the mistake. My last stop of the night was Towers casino which was 1 BJ table in a bar. There were 3 players betting between $25 all the way up to the big player betting up to $300. The dealer and house banker both said they that they never get action like that. I played for a while and left even before finding my hotel for the night in Reno.

Wa she Shu Casino in Gardnerville, NV was my last stop and I THOUGHT the tables opened at 5 (they open at 2) so I had some time to kill as the drive from Reno was only a hour. I went to Atlantis Casino where I played 3/5 NL Holdem, no that isn't a typo. I have never seen 3/5 NL before but apparently that is a thing in Reno. We played 7 handed for a couple of hours until the game broke. There were 2 good players in the game but overall it was soft. I won a big pot when I 3 bet pre and the fish called. The board comes QJ8, I bet and he shoves for 300+. I called the board ran out 84 and he showed me K10. I won a few other pots and finished up $360. I used my poker points for cake from Starbucks and stopped at Popeyes again for lunch. This time my 4 strip meal came with SEVEN strips, either the employees can't count or they just don't care.

I made the short drive to Wa She Shu and walked in at 4:30 to find the tables already open. I played BJ for about 20 minutes and won $35. I don't think they get much play on BJ because their tables opened in January but there chips are still quite sharp and brand new looking. One weird hand the dealer peaked for an ace but didn't see one, one player stood, another busted and then I busted. The dealer flips her undercard and shows BJ. She calls the pit who apologizes and gives the busted hands our money back and ends the hand. I told her that was the most player friendly ruling that I had ever seen. Her reasoning was they made the mistake, I laughed and said but you had BJ you would have won either way.

The next 6 hours to Vegas was uneventful, I stopped a few times, had junk food for dinner and drove the last 150 miles into Vegas in the rain. The rain was nice as it cleaned all the dead bugs off the car. All told I did 1800 miles of driving, spent $184 on gas and collected 33 new chips totalling $37 worth of chips. Not including gambling in Vegas or Reno so just my chip collecting I was down $29 which is not too shabby if I do say so myself!

I got to the Golden Nugget where I was staying for 3 nights comped around 2 am. I tried to check in and then the lady went into the back room for 20 minuted without saying anything to me. Her and her boss peaked out of the office to look at me once, I honestly wasn't sure what was going on. She came back and said we don't have any no smoking rooms but I fought for you and we are putting you in a suite on the VIP floor. The room was comfy but wow was it tacky! The room looked like it hadn't been renovated in 30 years.

I had to return my rental car on Boulder Highway Friday morning and Babs graciously offered to pick me up from Budget at that terrible hour. She picked me up and we went to Sam's Town to play VP for a bit before having breakfast at TGI Friday's in the casino. We had a great time although we both lost money. We then met up with a group of Wov'ers (Wizard, Axel, RS, Happhero, babs, Maxpen, and one more but I don’t know his forum name) for lunch at Nathan's Detroit Pizza, I think that's what it was called. We spent a few hours there eating and schmoozing before Babs and I met up with Doc, Mrs. Doc, RDW and Mrs. RDW at Red Rock Canyon. We drove along the trail and got out of the cars quite a few times to take in the beautiful scenery, chat and take pictures. That night we went to an Italian restaurant that they had all been to back east called Brio. The food was excellent! I started with the calamari and Babs got 2 orders of the curry shrimp with eggplant for the table. The sauce on the shrimp was so tasty. RDW told me how good the Gorgonzola crusted medallions in mushroom sauce were and I decided to take his advice, they were beyond words. Thanks RDW!
All the food was excellent and I always enjoy the company whenever I see this group. We went to play some craps at Red Rock Casino and found an extremely cold craps table, I think the main problem was that we weren't well rested or well hydrated. We probably would have all won if we had prepared properly. I want to thank Babs again for driving me all owe town all day, I had a great time!

(I managed to forget my GPS in Babs's car but she was able to get it to RDW and I will grab it from him when I see him next month)

Saturday I met up with a medium size group of Wov'ers at Pizza Rock downtown for lunch. I shared the New York Pizza with RS, it was solid but too much sauce for me. I finally got to meet GWAE which I have wanted to do for quite awhile. GWAE you are awesome! 2/3 of the group moved over to the Mob Museum and we spent a few hours in there. Thank you again to thatdonguy who got me a discounted ticket which I very much appreciated. The mob museum was quite interesting, those guys were crazy! I had been wanting to visit that museum for years so I'm glad that I finally got to.

After the museum Romes, GWAE and I went to the jerky store that I like just off of Fremont Street. We each grabbed something and we also decided to try the clam jerky. It was surprisingly really good, a little tough to chew but tasty. I think next time I will take the plunge and buy the scallop jerky. We waited in the VIP room for the suite that Mike got for us to be ready. Once we got in the room the guys had set up snacks, drinks and a poker table. I think there was also a crib board, chess and backgammon. I spent most of the time before dinner chatting with RDW, his wife, GWAE and his wife while others played poker or chatted in one of the many rooms. Before dinner I sat down with ZenKing and a few others and we just shot the sh*t for a bit. I know people including myself give ZK a hard time for his online persona but the guy is a genuinely good guy. He had me laughing my ass off for a good 15 minutes. The suite was huge! There were two massive bedrooms off the main already massive living room.

We had dinner with a group of 30+ at 777. The service was excellent, one lady served the whole group with only a little help with dropping off food and drinks. I had wings (always good at 777) and a bacon bbq blue cheese burger with sweet potato fries. I have never had a bad meal at 777 although Doc was quite unimpressed with his gristle steak sandwich. Axel did the trivia this year and wow that was way too hard lol. I didn't get any right and I actually gave up about 40% into the trivia. Could someone put together some trivia for the 27 year Canadians one of these days? Thank you to Darkoz and thatdonguy for paying the bill at dinner, as well there was $100 from another Wov'ers lost bet that paid part of the bill.

We made our way back to the suite for shenanigans after dinner. I played poker with a group and managed to donate a bunch of money to the fish (Axel) before finishing down about $100. We (mostly me) told a ton of inappropriate jokes and induced a lot of groans, cringes and a few laughs. The joke of the night definitely goes to Rigondeaux who got me really good. Mike played some crib and backgammon with Romes and Axel played chess with TomG while still playing poker. I headed out around 1:30 am as I had to leave for the airport at 6 am ugh. MaxPen and RS came downstairs with me and watched me lose 3 straight hands of BJ, 2 $25 Promo chips and a $60 Free Bet, oh well lol.

OHHHHH!!!! I almost forgot the fire drill story! SO...

Babs and a few others were going out for smokes, I just figured they were taking the elevator downstairs. Babs found an ashtray in a little room on our floor and smoked there. She told the woman who was dealing the poker game about it and she did the same. I believe a few other guests from our floor did the same. We then hear an announcement on the emergency intercom for everyone in the hotel and casino to evacuate the building. We debated whether to leave, Axel says hell no sit down and deal the damn cards to Babs who was giving the dealer a break. The whole situation was really funny, Axel was having none of it. The dealer comes back and informs us that it was them smoking that set off the alarm... Oops.

As always this is one of my favourite trips of the year and that is saying something because I travel a lot. I have made so many great friends from this forum over the years and it is always fun to spend the weekend with them. I have a group chat with a group of Wov'ers and another member and I text each other every couple of weeks. I honestly never thought that joining this site would allow me to make so many good friends.

Nice report, but you should have thanked She who You Won't Name by name. The way you did it seems weak.
Any dates for Fall Brawl yet?

Quote: PokerGrinder

My next stop was the brand new Harrah's Northern California which was exactly what you would expect from a Harrah's, huge and generic. I played card craps for only the second time ever, the crew had a dead table and was recruiting me to play with them. I looked around and found that all the table games had high minimums except the craps table so I went back for a little game of card craps. It is so weird to roll dice and then have to look for the corresponding cards to figure out what your roll value is. It was fun because the crew was fun but I am not a fan of card craps.

How, exactly, does "card craps" work there? I've been asking around, but nobody seems to know any specifics.
For example, are both dice the same color (and there might be one set of cards A-6 corresponding to numbers 1-6), or is it one of each color (and two sets of cards)?
Is it standard numbered dice? I seem to recall one version where one die was all 1s and 4s and the other all 2s and 3s.

Nice write up.. it was definitely a pleasure meeting you. Cant wait to hang out again. I am really hoping to make it again next year. I have a convention in Aug and Oct so gotta see if I can swing a 3rd trip.

I was worried that my wife would be bored but she claims she had fun.

Quote: billryan

Nice report, but you should have thanked She who You Won't Name by name. The way you did it seems weak.
Any dates for Fall Brawl yet?

The reason I did it as I did was because I wanted to thank the people who offered to pay for dinner, losing a bet and having the money go towards the dinner is much different imo.

Thatdonguy everything was the same as normal craps, two same coloured dice. The only difference is there are six cards shuffled and put on the possible outcomes of 1-6 from the dice. Let’s say you roll a 4 and a 3 then those two cards would be what the real roll was. Doubles on the dice work the same, they just use the same card twice. I hope that makes sense. Oh they reshuffle the cards for each new shooter.

Quote: GWAE

Nice write up.. it was definitely a pleasure meeting you. Cant wait to hang out again. I am really hoping to make it again next year. I have a convention in Aug and Oct so gotta see if I can swing a 3rd trip.

I was worried that my wife would be bored but she claims she had fun.

I really enjoyed your’s and RDW’s wives. I enjoyed the conversations with them a lot.

Quote: PokerGrinder

I really enjoyed your’s and RDW’s wives. I enjoyed the conversations with them a lot.

I am jealous that we got in late Friday. Would have liked to get together with everyone on friday

Quote: PokerGrinder

Thatdonguy everything was the same as normal craps, two same coloured dice. The only difference is there are six cards shuffled and put on the possible outcomes of 1-6 from the dice. Let’s say you roll a 4 and a 3 then those two cards would be what the real roll was. Doubles on the dice work the same, they just use the same card twice. I hope that makes sense. Oh they reshuffle the cards for each new shooter.

Got it. I'm a little surprised the tribal compact didn't outlaw this version; most of the newer ones prohibit games with "physical dice" (so E-craps, and card craps without dice, would be allowed, but not normal craps or even bubble craps).

I did notice what looked like a roulette wheel in one video for the casino, but the latest compact the tribe has with the state says:
"Nothing herein shall be construed to authorize or permit the operation of any Class III Gaming that the State lacks the power to authorize or permit under article IV, section 19, subdivisions (e) and (f), of the California Constitution. This includes, but is not limited to, the operation of the game known as roulette, whether or not played with or on a mechanical, electro-mechanical, electrical, or video device, or cards, or any combination of such devices."
I wonder how they get away with it.

I was very happy that I finally got to meet the world traveler Pokergrinder. We didn't have much time to talk but hopefully next time you will let me chew your ear off.

It was also a pleasure to meet GWAE and his lovely wife.

Quote: DRich

I was very happy that I finally got to meet the world traveler Pokergrinder. We didn't have much time to talk but hopefully next time you will let me chew your ear off.

It was also a pleasure to meet GWAE and his lovely wife.

It was very nice to meet you too DRich.

Sounds like a lot of fun. Wish I could have been there.

Quote: FCBLComish

Sounds like a lot of fun. Wish I could have been there.

Next year I will loan you one of my masks so you can attend

Quote: PokerGrinder

I really enjoyed your’s and RDW’s wives.

Hmm. I didn't know it was that kind of a party.

Loved the trip report. The parts about California involved all my stomping grounds, including small card rooms, even Lodi. There's a lot of history to those small rooms, used to be over 600 before the Indians did their thing. I would not be surprised if I was at the same place as you when you came through here, at least somewhere. I can't believe the traveling you do. That would wear me out now that I'm older. Great report, I really enjoyed it. Best luck to you.

Quote: bobbartop

Loved the trip report. The parts about California involved all my stomping grounds, including small card rooms, even Lodi. There's a lot of history to those small rooms, used to be over 600 before the Indians did their thing. I would not be surprised if I was at the same place as you when you came through here, at least somewhere. I can't believe the traveling you do. That would wear me out now that I'm older. Great report, I really enjoyed it. Best luck to you.

Thanks Bobbartop, this one wore me out a little bit. I prefer the slower travel that I usually do when I travel abroad.

Quote: PokerGrinder

Thanks Bobbartop, this one wore me out a little bit. I prefer the slower travel that I usually do when I travel abroad.

Pokergrinder

If you need it, I have some good bus traveling tips

Quote: darkoz

Pokergrinder

If you need it, I have some good bus traveling tips

Haha not that type of slow travel.

Quote: darkoz

Pokergrinder

If you need it, I have some good bus traveling tips

Imagine that😂

Quote: PokerGrinder

OHHHHH!!!! I almost forgot the fire drill story! SO...

Babs and a few others were going out for smokes, I just figured they were taking the elevator downstairs. Babs found an ashtray in a little room on our floor and smoked there.

Thanks for the trip report. I think I'm not understanding the story. You mentioned 777, so I assume this was in the Main Street Station hotel tower. If there were smokers in the group, why would they choose to light up on a non-smoking floor? Couldn't they just ride down and smoke in the casino? They wouldn't even have to venture outside.

Walk a hundred feet to an elevator, wait for the elevator, have to share it, possibly with foreigners, go down, have a smoke and repeat the whole dreary process or break a dumb law that none of us voted for. Tuff choice.

Quote: HugoSlavia

Thanks for the trip report. I think I'm not understanding the story. You mentioned 777, so I assume this was in the Main Street Station hotel tower. If there were smokers in the group, why would they choose to light up on a non-smoking floor? Couldn't they just ride down and smoke in the casino? They wouldn't even have to venture outside.

Just because we ate dinner there doesn't mean that's where the suit was =).

Quote: HugoSlavia

Thanks for the trip report. I think I'm not understanding the story. You mentioned 777, so I assume this was in the Main Street Station hotel tower. If there were smokers in the group, why would they choose to light up on a non-smoking floor? Couldn't they just ride down and smoke in the casino? They wouldn't even have to venture outside.

There were several smokers in the group, including me.

In order to go to the casino and then get back, you had to have a room key. The elevator was security-coded and would only work with a key swipe.

The elevator lobby on our floor had a large (about 18"x18" ashtray/trashcan) near the elevators. The ashtray had 30+ butts in it.

I went to smoke twice. The first time, I got the key and went down to the casino. Didn't really notice the ashtray.

The second time, I got to the elevators just as someone was putting one out in that ashtray. I said, oh, is this a smoking lounge? The guy, who I assume was a guest since we were on a secure floor, said, yeah, I guess, here's the ashtray. So I went with it. I have stayed at many hotels where they DO provide a courtesy smoking area on the floor, so it didn't seem unusual to me.

While I was there for my 5 minutes or so, 3 other people came along to smoke - two I didn't know, one I did. So it seemed common knowledge.

When I got back to the party, the dealer wanted a smoke break, so I handed her the key, and mentioned the courtesy smoking area. She used it to smoke, got busted and evacuated.

I feel kind of bad about it, but it was pretty funny at the time. And, I think, an understandable error on my part to think that was a smoking area.

Quote: beachbumbabs

There were several smokers in the group, including me.

In order to go to the casino and then get back, you had to have a room key. The elevator was security-coded and would only work with a key swipe.

The elevator lobby on our floor had a large (about 18"x18" ashtray/trashcan) near the elevators. The ashtray had 30+ butts in it.

I went to smoke twice. The first time, I got the key and went down to the casino. Didn't really notice the ashtray.

The second time, I got to the elevators just as someone was putting one out in that ashtray. I said, oh, is this a smoking lounge? The guy, who I assume was a guest since we were on a secure floor, said, yeah, I guess, here's the ashtray. So I went with it. I have stayed at many hotels where they DO provide a courtesy smoking area on the floor, so it didn't seem unusual to me.

While I was there for my 5 minutes or so, 3 other people came along to smoke - two I didn't know, one I did. So it seemed common knowledge.

When I got back to the party, the dealer wanted a smoke break, so I handed her the key, and mentioned the courtesy smoking area. She used it to smoke, got busted and evacuated.

I feel kind of bad about it, but it was pretty funny at the time. And, I think, an understandable error on my part to think that was a smoking area.

let me fix that for you. I think it was understandable wishful thinking on my part to hope that it was a smoking area.

Quote: beachbumbabs

I feel kind of bad about it, but it was pretty funny at the time. And, I think, an understandable error on my part to think that was a smoking area.

Thanks for the explanation, and props to you for being the only person expressing any remorse.

Did anyone from the hotel ever explain why they provide an ashtray in an area where, not only is it non smoking, but they will evacuate the hotel if someone lights a cigarette?

Quote: Rigondeaux

Did anyone from the hotel ever explain why they provide an ashtray in an area where, not only is it non smoking, but they will evacuate the hotel if someone lights a cigarette?

It's their standard trash receptor( probably not cheap since they are gold colored and polished) with an area on top that's designed to be an ashtray. No doubt, it's still there so people can put their trash in it. It flows and matches with the general design of the place, and matches all the others in the casino. I wouldn't be surprised if it's been there since the day they bought those models. Probably back when there was no such thing as a nonsmoking room.

Quote: AxelWolf

It's their standard trash receptor( probably not cheap since they are gold colored and polished) with an area on top that's designed to be an ashtray. No doubt, it's still there so people can put their trash in it. It flows and matches with the general design of the place, and matches all the others in the casino. I wouldn't be surprised if it's been there since the day they bought those models. Probably back when there was no such thing as a nonsmoking room.

You'd think they would not put any sand in them then, at least.

Quote: MaxPen

You'd think they would not put any sand in them then, at least.

Who said it did? Anyways, BBB brought her own.

Quote: AxelWolf

Who said it did? Anyways, BBB brought her own.

It had sand and about 30 smoked butts before I used it.

My guess is, it's a fire department regulation to have it there, whether it's a smoking or non-smoking floor, because of the elevators. Even back when smoking was not otherwise restricted, there were ashtrays like it outside elevator doors, and "no smoking in the elevator" signs.

Even if it is mere corporate inertia that kept the fancy trash can with ash tray atop outside the elevator I would applaud the idea, though I suspect it is some regulatory vestige. A small sign would have clarified the situation as to whether it is a de-facto smoking lounge or alarms are likely to sound.

I live in a facility where the alarms in public areas are very sensitive and smokers or cooks can easily trigger alarms if they open their apartment doors. I recently went to a luxury resort where rooms were non smoking and balcony doors had to be kept closed during cigarette breaks. Also exterior smoking was kept distant from doorways though this made those attending classes have difficulties when proctors slammed classroom doors in their faces.

I guess smokers are becoming a hounded underclass. Sometimes I agree with this and sometimes I feel its a simple matter to turn up the air change rates. Even at that luxury resort, I can understand the 'no minors in the outdoor bar area' policy but there are other factors that apply, such as they were young, attractive, half-naked females and it was raining. A little common sense goes a long way in these matters.