TIMSPEED's Blog

VEGAS! 9/16-9/18

Left Modesto at 6am Sunday morning..
Checked in to Palazzo at 3pm
$20 trick got me a strip view (usually a $50 PER NIGHT upgrade; Room 15-712) Our view looked directly over the pools and out at Treasure Island / Bucaneer Bay
Headed down to MainStreetStation...played 25c Treasure Chest...
Got a DEALT straightflush, quad jacks (180 coins), quad sevens (250 coins)
In line for buffet with 2:1 coupons at MSS...
After dinner, we walked down Fremont Street and watched the VivaVision...
Stopped off at The Cal, to see if we could gather that world-record-setting craps magic...HELL NO! Just a bunch of mopes and break-in dealers...lost $100 there, came back to MSS, and got on the dice table, played for about an hour, and cashed out +$250!

Monday morning:
Got up, drove over to Sunset Station for lunch buffet
Put $20 in a 25c 7/5 (bleh!) BP machine, and hit quad 6's to cash out +$22!
Went to buffet lunch...great taco bar!
After lunch, dropped $90 in 5-play 5c STP DDB...took my final $10 to a $ 8/5 BP..I played one hand...nada...Krista played one hand..held AA...WHAM! The other two came in for $400!! Nice!!
After Sunset, we drove over to MGM, to go to M&M World...
Then we came down to Stratosphere, played crapless craps for a few minutes, then up to the top of the tower watching the sun go down and MNF...
Next on the agenda was dinner buffet at MSS, however, prior to dinner I dropped $250 playing those damn Treasure Chest's (Dollars this time)
After buffet, went to crap table at MSS and made $250
Proceeded to go back to $ Treasure Chest...still no quads...BUUUT, we DID hit the SPADE ROYAL!!! $4000!!!!
After they paid me out, we cruised The Strip, then went back to Palazzo, where I proceeded to lose $200 playing $ Pinball Slot and Wolf Run 1c Slot

Tuesday Morning:
We rode out to Hoover Dam (Krista had never been) then we ate lunch at Sam's Town and watched the Sunset Stampede (not as good in the daytime as night!), and I proceeded to dump guts on $ 8/5 BP (to the tune of $500!)
Came back over to Palazzo and got on the Gondola's at Venetian ($16 per person for 15 minute ride!)
After the Gondolas, we thought craps would be fun..NOPE! Lost $200 QUIICK!!! (SHIIITTTY crap tables AND players at Palazzo; fuckers have no clue but they're playing a $15 table!)
Headed out from Vegas at 6pm.

Can't wait to go back in December on a $25 per night offer at MSS (weekend!)

Reno 2012 Balloon Races (9/7 - 9/9)

So another weekend in Reno in the books...
This weekend was different though...my host at JANugget basically shit on me (gave me a bottom floor SMOKING room) and I said was "very dissatisfied and will be staying elsewhere in town." and her reply was "Ohh Boohoo". SERIOUSLY?! WTF?!
LOL...I decided to absolutely tighten up with them..they get NOTHING unless it's on a 3x points day and it's disciplined out to be exactly my $10k coin-in...
Like I said...this weekend was different...we got a Tuscany Tower Suite at Peppermill (BELIEVE ME, BEST ROOM IN RENO, PERIOD!!!)
Peppermill also gave us four tix to the VIP tent at the Balloon Races (which was awesome!)
We got there friday night at 9pm, and checked into our suite at Pepps and went to bed (had to be up at 4am on saturday for balloon races)
Got up at 4, headed over to Rancho San Rafael to watch the balloon races...
We left out of there at 9am and went over to JANugget to get their cheap breakfast buffet ($6 each!)...Ate, picked up our $400 in freeplay and walked out.
Went back over to Pepps to take a nap for a few hours...slept until 4.
Got cleaned up and went over to Eldorado to play the Shoot-To-Win machine...WRONG! Dropped $200 there...went in and had the Eldorado seafood buffet.
After getting fat, we walked over to SilverLegacy and played craps from about 9-12, losing another $300 (OK, no problem, like I said, we got $400 from nugget; and it was a $10 game)
Sunday we got up, again, rode over to JANugget to get their breakfast buffet..and out the door.
Went back to try bubble machine AGAIN...ANOTHER misstep...$400 THIS TIME! FUCK! It keeps getting worse!
We took a break at 7:30pm and went and had the dinner buffet at SilverLegacy...
I told Kris and the family that we WERE going to get that $900 back...RIGHT HERE AND NOW!
We set our sights and headed over to the SL crap table...$5 game tonight, with a couple people we know playing and everyone had a good stack of chips (no $20 buy-in bullshit)
LITERALLY from 9pm-12am I MADE THE ENTIRE $900 BACK ON SILVER LEGACY CRAP TABLE!
No one got SUPER hot...but six shooters in a row made 4 passes, plus inside numbers...I told Kris that at one point I had $180 on the layout and I've NEVER gotten it up that high (and I'da went higher if the shooter kept going!; I had $60 8, $60 9, and $60 on a PassLine 6 point)
I actually thought I may have cashed out a little too soon (I JUST wanted to get my $900 back) but when I was walking back from the cashier I saw that everyone had cashed out ALSO..so I apparently timed it just right.
SO, then we had to run back over to Pepps and grab the luggage and head for home...by the time I got in to bed it was 5:30am and I got 2 hours of sleep and came in to work! LOL...
But it was SO worth getting the $900 back!
Next weekend is a 1-day turn-around to pickup $800 from JANugget, then it's off Sunday to Palazzo in VEGAS BABY!

Reno/Nugget Rib CookOff 2012

Well, another year of rib eating gone by...
This year was no exception to the previous years of being absolutely JAM PACKED...
51 of the other 52 weeks a year JANugget is a ghost town...however, the week of August 28th - September 3rd, over a MILLION people visit the property.
Since apparently I am not an "A" player (as said to me by my host recently; which I took to mean as a "huge loser") I could not get my usual 3-room suite...which was OK with me, as I still got a 2-room suite overlooking the entire Rib CookOff area (my usual view is of the trainyard & south)
We rented a 2011 Ford Escape for $100 (Picked it up Saturday/Returned it late Tuesday night)
We drove up Saturday about noon.
We absolutely AVOIDED JANugget as much as possible, to avoid the stupid crowds. We played mostly at Silver Legacy (live craps) and Eldorado (Shoot-To-Win craps machine)
Saturday night we managed to lose $400 on the bubble craps at Eldorado
Sunday we went to the VIP Rib Village and since there was four of us, and 24 ribs, we each decided to eat six, then rate them and sample each others top two and so on...we came to the conclusion that the best was "Back Forty" (Which won People's Choice) and "Sweet Baby Ray's" (Which got 2nd OVERALL)
After getting stuffed on ribs we went downtown and walked a lap or two of the TriPlex (CC/SL/Eldo) then settled in to play at Silver Legacy...we ended up winning $150 after playing for 5 hours ($5 crap game)
It was funny though...I've been going to JANugget almost every weekend for 5 years...and I have NEVER (EVAR!) seen a $25 crap game there...and I've even ASKED about it (just curious if they ever had one) and the dealers said not for YEARS (so I'd imagine 8 years)...and well, THEY HAD A $25 GAME ON SUNDAY!!! I couldn't believe my fucking eyes! It was even kinda crowded! These people were absolute SHEEP! LOL, stupid to think that...just two days later, it'd go back to a $2 game.
So monday, we didn't really gamble that much, considering tuesday was a 4x points day and we were focusing on playing our requirement on that single day (to get max comps). Had dinner at Eldorado buffet monday night and called it an early night
Tuesday we got up at 6am with full intentions on getting to work...well..apparently, my mom's card had the 4x point multiplier active...but mine somehow didn't (all cards were supposed to get them). Well, I had to wait until 8am for ANYONE at VIP to even get there...only for them to tell me the OFFICE MANAGER had to do it...who came in at 10am...So we concluded to just bang out the $20k on my mom's card that morning during the wait for mine..so we got hers slogged through between 6am-10am (and actually; playing $ Aces&Faces didn't lose a PENNY...cashed out an even $1200 that we put in!)
Funny note: While CHECKING to see if I did or didn't have 4x on my card (the kiosk didn't say, but I wanted to check for myself; just to clock the machine) My FIRST HAND! I got quad Jacks for $200! THE FIRST HAND!!! LOL
So 10am comes and I'm sitting in VIP waiting for the office manager...who casually strolls in at 10:30 (no problem, I can understand after the huge event, they all slack off)...SHE says that only IT can help me since it has to do with the card swipe kiosk (Which I KNOW is total BS considering it's through the players club, NOT IT dept.) So she said she'd call IT and get it taken care of ASAP...so I wait until 11:30 and I go check again to see if it's 4x points on my card..NO GO...so at this point, I had taken the day off work SPECIFICALLY TO PUT MY COIN-IN REQUIREMENT ON THE 4X POINT DAY, so I call my host (Who just happens to be the absolute HEAD of all casino business at JANugget AND who's on her day off) [I actually txt'd her] and I told her SHE told me to play more and I'm obliging and I'm going to absolutely leave and never come back if she doesn't get this resolved...
LITERALLY, no sooner than I sent that txt and walked over to the players club desk to talk to a friendly boothling; she called VIP services and the office manager told her that my 4x points was setup and ready to go (and at the same time my host txt'd me back and said "4x points is a go; Gamble away.")
Weird how the office manager was dragging her feet, but yet when the head hauncho spoke, she said "How fast?!?!" (FWIW: I'd absolutely hate to work in a situation like this; GOD BLESS AMERICA! Ohh and College Education too!)
SO, finally at noon, I got settled in to play my session...we slogged it out in 2 hours (2 people playing 2 machines) and when the dust settled We had lost $400 (split $300/$100 actually) and in total for $40k (8000 hands of vP) we hit a total of 21 quads (the highlights were 7's four times, and Aces three times)
SO, our play is in for the month of september, at a total cost of $400...
We recieved $480 dollars in comp
We are also will get $1600 in cashback this month (It's a doubler month; the usual is $800 cashback)

As an aside, I talked to a dealer from JANugget...who said 3 of their veteran crap dealers QUIT (walked away) weeks before the rib cookoff...I did not play any table games this weekend, nor do I have plans to ever play any at JANugget...

Reno 8/4-8/6

SO this weekend wasn't supposed to be a "play" weekend...only pickup cashback and lounge around..
ERR wrong!
Anyway, I picked up my $400 cashback friday night @ JANugget
Headed over to Peppermill to play craps (my mom and I play doey-dont to hustle comps) Well, even so it was a 5x points day..and we only got $5 each!! (we were playing $5 flat with 3/4/5) Ended up LOSING $80 because I was playing other bets (place 6/8, which is agreed upon split winnings/losings; so it was only a $40 loss for each of us)
Saturday AM got up played a little caveman keno..DUNNO HOW, but I hit a 5/6x4 on Caveman Keno for 1120 quarters (was playing 25c x4) So this covered my loss from last night and put me AHEAD (mom, granma, Kris and I had lost $20 each just a few minutes prior) So we decided to play $100 off at $1 vP...which was uneventful.
We had a free "VIP Party Bingo" thing @ JANugget at 4pm..well, we didn't win anything, but Krista (gf) got drawn for a $50 freeplay...which we promptly sucked out as cashback afterwards.
So, at 8pm, we headed out to Siena, because we each had a $25 off of $50 + $25 freeplay (read: sucked out as cash). So we got there and sucked out the $50 and went to the DaVinci steakhouse. We each ordered the 8oz Filet Mignon ($23) and I ordered the 10oz Ribeye ($29). So all we had to pay out of our pocket was like $5 for a $105 dinner.
After that we headed over to Silver Legacy to play some craps (again doey/dont to hustle comps)...It was JAM PACKED! Absolutely had a BLAST...I actually pressed my bets up pretty decently and at one point (bought in for $400) had gotten down to $50! and within three shooters rallied it ALL BACK to $500! (started playing $15 PL with 3/4/5 and had $36 6 & 8)
So, cashed out having only lost $40 total (remember, playing with a partner). We ended up getting $17/$35 in comps and bumping our cards up from base to 2nd/3rd tier!
Apparently Peppermill is GARBAGE for comps, and amazingly, SL is actually DECENT (It USED to be the other way around!).
LOL, we left out of SL at 3am on saturday night (we played a solid 4 hours, 10-2)
Sunday morning...well, LOL, how about 1pm on Sunday...we got up, and I told everyone that we were going to go to the SL Buffet @ 4pm because we had earned enough comps (and for being a 3rd tier, I get a free buffet on sundays). So, I told mom & granma that Kris and I were going to go down to the bar (@ JANugget) just to fart around and see if I could win back $40 that we lost to SL the previous night...
Well, I'd say it started out REALLY good, as we were playing 5c DDB Spin Poker and got DEALT Quad 8's for 2250 nickels. So we played on that until we got back down to about our original $100, and then amazingly, off of a 2-card hold, got a Royal on ONE line for $200! (Score Krista's SECOND royal!)
So we were really buzzing then...however apparently the machine wasn't! We played back the $200 on Spin Poker (remember $2.25 a pop) and then switched over to 25c BP SuperTimesPay 3play...kinda hovering around even...down to $78..held AcQc, middle line, BAM 10cKcJc for a $1000 royal!!!! Krista damn near jumped out of her seat (she's never hit big like that) and I hit CASH THE FUCK OUT!
So, by this time it was 3:45 and we headed over to SL to eat the buffet...which was very good (For free! lol)
After the buffet we just kinda piddled around on a few slots for a few minutes...which at one point, we ALLLLLMOST hit a $28k progressive on a penny slot (it had a wheel that spun and the needle actually STOPPED in the PROGRESSIVE spot then went BEEEP and clicked over to the next spot which was $60) We literally almost shit our pants cuz we thought we were going to hit that $28k progressive, LOL.
So, all in all, I came home with $600 to the good (aside from obviously the $400 cashback suckout)...I actually have $700, but I gave Krista $100 of that $1000 royal (We always play on my money, but hey, for $1000 I can give her $100!)
This coming weekend is HotAugustNights...and I told Krista that she has NEVER seen JANugget as packed as she's about to...LOL (I think it'll be packed anyway! haha)

Reno 6/15-6/17

So we got in to Reno at about 8pm...uneventful drive...stopped off at Boomtown to collect $20 free cash.
JANugget was a fucking GHOST TOWN friday night! There was more people in Rosie's Cafe than there were out in the casino!!
After eating dinner at Rosie's, we went out and collected our $400 bounceback/cashback
Actually, was kinda crappy...the $200 slot play is usually a suckout and done..but the stupid shit was TERRIBLE! Ended at $150, switched machines to see if we could get it up to $200..NOPE..played for a while, NO QUADS AT ALL (8/5 Aces&Faces 25c) and got down to $120
Cashed out and went over to play another bank of machines..
Mom took $100 to play Aces&Faces again, Krista and I took $10 each to just fart around on 5c Caveman Keno, LOL
Well, my mom didn't really hit anything (Cashed out with $100) but in probably the 15 minutes we were over there, Krista ran her $10 up to $20 and I ran my $10 up to $60!
So we cashed out and went up to bed (it was about 12:30am at this point) with $180/$200 of the free slot play (the free table play is guranteed $200)
We had planned on getting up early and heading out to Lake Tahoe for the day....well, LOL, ended up we didn't leave out of JANugget until 1pm, and got to Nevada Beach (Lake Tahoe) at 2pm.
We paid our $7 for parking there and carried our cooler and fold-up chairs down to the water...Had a pretty good time floating around on the lake (It was probably 85º outside, water temp was probably 60º)
We got back to JANugget at 7:30pm, so we could go over to Orozko's and burn up a $50 dining credit (the bill was $60)
After dinner, we headed over to Eldorado to play the bubble craps...got quite a few drinks and we ended up losing only $20 out of the $180.
Got back to JANugget at like 12am, Krista decided she wanted to go up and take a bath, so I stayed down with Mom and Granma and we each took a $20 and played 25c Aces&Faces...NOTHING! We each lost our $20 QUICK!
Sunday nothing spectacular happened...we just got the breakfast buffet at JAnugget, went over to get $20 freeplay at GrandSierra (played it on crappy 5c Bonus Poker).
Came back to JANugget at 6pm and had the dinner buffet and headed for home (Picked up another $20 free cash at Boomtown on the way out)
Until next weekend! (When we have a VIP Slot Tournament which should net us $100 cash each)
FWIW,
Every time I looked at the crap table at JANugget it was EMPTY!! When we were at Eldorado, all THREE of their crap tables were full. On sunday at GrandSierra the one table they had open was FULL...
On a funny note...they're apparently training more dealers at JAN to be crap dealers...I think the reason is, all the other dealers saw the crap dealers just STANDING around, whilst the other tables (BJ, PGP, 3CP) had action...so of course the dealers would want to JUST STAND THERE TOO, LOL.