And as luck would have it, the RIO had recently sent us a postcard for some free nights to experience the NEW RIO. (I feel a little bad that we didn't play a lot there, and we probably burned one of our few remaining comp bridges, or at least singed it a bit, but cest la vie).
The "NEW" RIO is not quite finished yet. The exterior has been repainted and it looks like all the cool exterior lights work now. WELL DONE ! Our room on one of the upper floors had also been remodeled and updated.
But workers were still working noisily on several areas inside, and combined with the background music which is turned up about 2 notches too high (to help mask the construction noise ? ? ?), it was annoyingly loud a lot of the time.

Hopefully it will all turn out nicely when it is done:

I don't mind staying off the strip. We usually get a rental car to get around. What I do mind is driving on the strip, although getting into the TI parking garage off of Spring Mountain Rd is not too bad. Ditto for getting to the Venetian parking garage the back way.
New Things we Did this Trip
When I go to Las Vegas, I like to do at least one new thing each trip. We did several.
a) $ 120 pp - Las Vegas Rafting Adventure Boat at the Hoover Dam
This was more of a boat ride than a Raft. The scenery below the dam made it worthwhile, and another highlight was seeing bighorn sheep along the way. I recommend this one. Add $ 15 pp for entrance to the National Park, or in our case, $ 80 because I purchased the lifetime Senior Pass.
https://hooverdamraftingadventures.com/



b) FREE - Big Horn Sheep at the Tennis Courts in Boulder City, on Ville Drive
I recommend this if you are anywhere near Boulder City.

c) $ 20 pp - El Dorado Canyon Gold Mine Tour
If you have a car, this is a scenic drive getting there and a very interesting historical tour. Also recommended !
https://www.eldoradocanyonminetours.com/index.html

d) $ 104 pp - The Sphere Experience
Mrs. Q wanted to go. It was interesting and the Movie was visually amazing, but overall this attraction is TOO PRICEY imho.
e) $ 20+ pp - Flight Club at the Venetian Shops
A fun afternoon of throwing darts with automatic scoring done through some kind of video system. It is $ 20 pp to play for 90 minutes, but add a little food and a drink at Vegas Strip pricing, and it can add up. Quickly.


f) ~ $ 160 pp - BEATLES LOVE
We have seen this several times in the past when myVegas still had good rewards, so technically NOT new for us. But Mrs Q wanted to go one last time before it closes. So we went. At first she was going to go solo, but I bought a ticket on SEATGEEK a few hours before showtime. We both had seats close to the stage, and they ended up being one section apart from each other.


Where we Ate
a) The RIO Food Court where the BUFFET used to be
Prices were OK for Vegas, about $ 11 - 13 for a large Burrito or a Hamburger.
b) Starbucks on W Flamingo
We grabbed a bite to eat there while waiting for the Enterprise car rental location to open up.
c) Ellis Island for B-fast and Dinner
I didn't know that the Breakfast Steak special Deal price had been raised high enough that it is no longer Special or a Deal. But the Sirloin Dinner special is still a pretty good deal and we did that several times.
d) Denny's for Breakfast
It is conveniently located kitty-corner from the RIO, and the 55+ prices there are what you find at any Denny's.
e) Panda Express
We were getting gas for the rental car after seeing a movie at THE ORLEANS when we saw this. I think we had had enough steak at Ellis Island, so this was an inexpensive alternative.
Gambling
This was probably one of our worst trips ever to Vegas for gambling. I mostly played good paytables on Deuces Wild, but never saw quad deuces or a natural RF. Maybe next time ?
Quote: JohnnyQGood, but not great. They had a big poster that said all single hand VP was 98 % return or better.
link to original post
Wow, that is surprising.

And GC is a little quieter and has better drink service.
I think RIO should put in a couple machines with this pay table for the 1/2 of 1 percent of the tourists who care about that sort of thing.
Another picture:

Quote: JohnnyQ
I think RIO should put in a couple machines with this pay table for the 1/2 of 1 percent of the tourists who care about that sort of thing.
They just don't need to. Most tourists will play whatever is offered and they would rather you put your money in a stupid video slot.
So my thought is that it would actually be profitable for the Casino to let one guy who sortof knows what he is doing play a good VP paytable where long term he breaks even while his wife/friends go and play the stupid video slots.Quote: DRichThey just don't need to. Most tourists will play whatever is offered and they would rather you put your money in a stupid video slot.
We went over today, and it looks like all the noisy construction on the casino floor has finished up.
I thought it was interesting that all the single line VP machines I looked at had 9/6 JoB at the 25 cent denom. I haven't seen that game at that level around much.
We are only here for several days on our way to Cali to see family. I think the Electric Daisy Carnival made it harder for me to find an inexpensive room on Sunday night, and we ended up at Gold Coast. We like GC well enough.
https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/edc-traffic-clogs-up-i-15-215-and-las-vegas-boulevard/
- "Nevada State Police said around 185,000 people attended each night of this year’s EDC".
The ramen in the food hall is also surprisingly decent, and large enough that I didn't feel too gouged by current LV pricing.
Comps don't seem too great though; I clocked maybe 2 hours of black BJ and around 10k CI on... Regal Link? (The one that looks like Regal Riches, but isn't.) on a 2n stay (5n, no RF offer). Haven't seen an email in months.
And there's a monkey on the carpet!

Quote: calwatchThe new management of Rio seriously wants to be competitive. They also offer the highest payback versions of Ultimate X for bonus poker and deuces bonus as well.
link to original post
I would like to play the 16/10 version of DW there, but it isn't offered as far as I can tell.
This is:
98.91% DW44
Deuces Wild 44
LV Airport/Illinois Deuces
1-2-3-4-4-9-15-25-200-800
Quote: JohnnyQQuote: calwatchThe new management of Rio seriously wants to be competitive. They also offer the highest payback versions of Ultimate X for bonus poker and deuces bonus as well.
link to original post
I would like to play the 16/10 version of DW there, but it isn't offered as far as I can tell.
This is:
98.91% DW44
Deuces Wild 44
LV Airport/Illinois Deuces
1-2-3-4-4-9-15-25-200-800
link to original post
My favorite was the 17/10 Loose Deuces that paid 101.6%. I played that one a lot in Laughlin.