Hit ‘em All Nevada – Day 15
I suppose I should take a moment and retract my disappointment with the City Center Motel that I stayed at last night. Yes, the TV was tiny (and a bit out of focus), and the room was basic of basics, but the truth is, it was just fine. Being an old place, the walls were actually made of plaster so noise from other rooms was never a problem. The bed, though a little too firm for my liking, was just fine. And I now remembered “what I was thinking” when I got my bill, which was $35.00.
The drive today will require back tracking past Reno going northeast toward my next stop, which is called Winnemucca. Fortunately, this also brings me back to Fernley. As I mentioned earlier, a member noted a casino that I missed earlier. This gave me the opportunity to check it out, and I soon drove into the Silverado Casino parking lot. This casino is a two level place with a couple of bars and a café. There were no table games and no machines with Blackjack in them. So I played a new 3D game called Thunder of Buffalo, which has very cool graphics but I couldn’t catch a bonus round, so I lost.
The Silverado in Fernley, NV
After an hour or so driving along the desolated I-80 east I came across an area that had some hot springs. There was a small factory there, no doubt grabbing that free energy, but the reason I’m mentioning this is the oddity of driving along in the middle of the desert and looking to my right and seeing these occasional steam blooms coming from the ground. I regret not pulling over and getting a picture close to one (though they were roped off). I finally arrived at Winnemucca, Nevada where I’ll be staying overnight at the Holiday Inn Express.
I might have easily driven on to Reno, which is just another couple hours away, but my thinking while planning this trip was to NOT rush from one place to another like I did last year on the national tour and actually take some time to get to know the town a bit. I actually arrived too early to check in to the hotel (about noon), so I took a little drive down the main street. This small town of just over 7,000 and began in the mid-1850s when the railroad was being built going west. Now, its main business is tourism for people traveling along Route 80 (like me), and some mining. There are five casinos and two brothels.
My first stop was the Model T’s Casino (interesting title). It’s a nice, little place and they have on their sign that they’ve recently brought back table games. Unfortunately the three blackjack tables and one craps table is only open on the weekends. There were no machines here with blackjack, so I didn’t play. I did play a penny game (another buffalo game but I don’t remember the title). I hit a bonus, won $5 and moved on.
According to the American Casino Guide there is a Red Lion Casino here; however, I’ve learned that the Red Lion was purchased by some local group and though the hotel and casino are still there, all the Red Lion signage has been taken down and now it’s just called Winnemucca Casino and Hotel. Considering it was a Red Lion property, I expected the casino to be much larger than it actually was. Also, I found the place to be pretty run down. Again, there were no tables or video blackjack (does this town have something against blackjack?). I played and lost at some penny game—we all know that if you don’t catch a bonus on these games, you don’t stand a chance.
Once again I was on my way further down the street where I stopped at the Sun Dance (yes, two words) Casino. This was a small, local’s joint. All the machines were pretty old, but as I looked around for anything with blackjack, I came across a Game King with full pay Pick ‘em. I put in a hundred and simply couldn’t catch a thing. Though I played for a good hour, I just watched helplessly as the hundred melted away. Sun Dance got me on this one.
The next casino down the road was a larger one called Winner’s. This casino, again, had no table games and no games with blackjack in it. And again, most the machines were the older variety (I get the distinct feeling that when Reno and Las Vegas move machines out for newer ones, the slot companies offer the older games to these small places at a discounted rental or sale price—makes sense). I played some machine that had stacked penguins. I gave it shot, hit the bonus staking up three rows of these little wobbling creatures and cashed out a twenty dollar profit. There is no cashier in this place. You take your ticket to the bartender, who cashes it for you taking the money out of the bar till—funny.
It was time to go check into the Holiday Inn Express. If you read my reports from last year, you’d already know this is my hotel of choice when on the road and at somewhere I don’t get a comp. I joined their frequent club and have gotten some nice little perks along the way including some free nights and welcome gift packs. I checked in and my room was on the second floor. As I’ve come to expect, the room is nice and includes a microwave, refrigerator, coffee maker, flat screen TV, and free Wi-Fi. The rooms average around a hundred a night, but this includes a small but excellent breakfast buffet in the morning.
Attached to the hotel are a small Mexican restaurant and a little casino called R & L’s Casino. It’s small with a bar and about 50 machines. They, too, have full pay Pick ‘em. This game, which is so rare in Las Vegas, seems to be everywhere in Northern Nevada. I put in another hundred hoping for a better outcome. I played for quite awhile but eventually cashed out with the same hundred. I was about to quit when I noticed a bank of Bonus Poker Deluxe machines that were slightly short pay (8/5), but the progressive royal was at $1800. So, I took my hundred and gave it shot. I didn’t catch a royal, but I did manage three quads (this quarter game gives $100 per quad) and end up cashing out a profit of $150, which brings me back even for the entire day—whew.
It was only 5 PM, and I really didn’t feel like gambling anymore and had three hours to kill before SYTYCD came on, so I drove down to the small town theater to see a movie. As I was driving around looking at the town, I came across two brothels. An LVA member had written earlier that it might be cool to grab a pic of one if I came across it. I followed the sign and was going to pull into the parking lot for the picture, but on the front porch were two “employees” having a cigarette. I will admit to be just a little too embarrassed to get out of my car and take a picture with them there. So, you’ll have to settle for the picture of the sign. Maybe an opportunity will present itself later in the trip.
The theater complex in town must have been built back in the 70s. They were small, all the employees were high school kids, and the screen was slightly blurry throughout the movie. I say X-MEN ORIGINS. I will say that I wasn’t expecting much here, but I end up really enjoying the movie and was impressed how the writers managed to make the prequel very believable and in line with the later movies, much like STAR TREK did a few years ago. I picked up a two-piece meal from Kentucky Fried and headed back to my room for the results SYTYCD show where to no one’s (ever her) surprise that Ryan was sent home.
Just a note: A reminder that the Bets Balance is the same from yesterday because I only count my $10 bets when there are table games. My personal gambling wins or losses aren't part of the "offical" count.
Trip totals: Casinos visited: 141; Bets Balance + $123
More tomorrow
I suppose I should take a moment and retract my disappointment with the City Center Motel that I stayed at last night. Yes, the TV was tiny (and a bit out of focus), and the room was basic of basics, but the truth is, it was just fine. Being an old place, the walls were actually made of plaster so noise from other rooms was never a problem. The bed, though a little too firm for my liking, was just fine. And I now remembered “what I was thinking” when I got my bill, which was $35.00.
The drive today will require back tracking past Reno going northeast toward my next stop, which is called Winnemucca. Fortunately, this also brings me back to Fernley. As I mentioned earlier, a member noted a casino that I missed earlier. This gave me the opportunity to check it out, and I soon drove into the Silverado Casino parking lot. This casino is a two level place with a couple of bars and a café. There were no table games and no machines with Blackjack in them. So I played a new 3D game called Thunder of Buffalo, which has very cool graphics but I couldn’t catch a bonus round, so I lost.
The Silverado in Fernley, NV
After an hour or so driving along the desolated I-80 east I came across an area that had some hot springs. There was a small factory there, no doubt grabbing that free energy, but the reason I’m mentioning this is the oddity of driving along in the middle of the desert and looking to my right and seeing these occasional steam blooms coming from the ground. I regret not pulling over and getting a picture close to one (though they were roped off). I finally arrived at Winnemucca, Nevada where I’ll be staying overnight at the Holiday Inn Express.
I might have easily driven on to Reno, which is just another couple hours away, but my thinking while planning this trip was to NOT rush from one place to another like I did last year on the national tour and actually take some time to get to know the town a bit. I actually arrived too early to check in to the hotel (about noon), so I took a little drive down the main street. This small town of just over 7,000 and began in the mid-1850s when the railroad was being built going west. Now, its main business is tourism for people traveling along Route 80 (like me), and some mining. There are five casinos and two brothels.
My first stop was the Model T’s Casino (interesting title). It’s a nice, little place and they have on their sign that they’ve recently brought back table games. Unfortunately the three blackjack tables and one craps table is only open on the weekends. There were no machines here with blackjack, so I didn’t play. I did play a penny game (another buffalo game but I don’t remember the title). I hit a bonus, won $5 and moved on.
According to the American Casino Guide there is a Red Lion Casino here; however, I’ve learned that the Red Lion was purchased by some local group and though the hotel and casino are still there, all the Red Lion signage has been taken down and now it’s just called Winnemucca Casino and Hotel. Considering it was a Red Lion property, I expected the casino to be much larger than it actually was. Also, I found the place to be pretty run down. Again, there were no tables or video blackjack (does this town have something against blackjack?). I played and lost at some penny game—we all know that if you don’t catch a bonus on these games, you don’t stand a chance.
Once again I was on my way further down the street where I stopped at the Sun Dance (yes, two words) Casino. This was a small, local’s joint. All the machines were pretty old, but as I looked around for anything with blackjack, I came across a Game King with full pay Pick ‘em. I put in a hundred and simply couldn’t catch a thing. Though I played for a good hour, I just watched helplessly as the hundred melted away. Sun Dance got me on this one.
The next casino down the road was a larger one called Winner’s. This casino, again, had no table games and no games with blackjack in it. And again, most the machines were the older variety (I get the distinct feeling that when Reno and Las Vegas move machines out for newer ones, the slot companies offer the older games to these small places at a discounted rental or sale price—makes sense). I played some machine that had stacked penguins. I gave it shot, hit the bonus staking up three rows of these little wobbling creatures and cashed out a twenty dollar profit. There is no cashier in this place. You take your ticket to the bartender, who cashes it for you taking the money out of the bar till—funny.
It was time to go check into the Holiday Inn Express. If you read my reports from last year, you’d already know this is my hotel of choice when on the road and at somewhere I don’t get a comp. I joined their frequent club and have gotten some nice little perks along the way including some free nights and welcome gift packs. I checked in and my room was on the second floor. As I’ve come to expect, the room is nice and includes a microwave, refrigerator, coffee maker, flat screen TV, and free Wi-Fi. The rooms average around a hundred a night, but this includes a small but excellent breakfast buffet in the morning.
Attached to the hotel are a small Mexican restaurant and a little casino called R & L’s Casino. It’s small with a bar and about 50 machines. They, too, have full pay Pick ‘em. This game, which is so rare in Las Vegas, seems to be everywhere in Northern Nevada. I put in another hundred hoping for a better outcome. I played for quite awhile but eventually cashed out with the same hundred. I was about to quit when I noticed a bank of Bonus Poker Deluxe machines that were slightly short pay (8/5), but the progressive royal was at $1800. So, I took my hundred and gave it shot. I didn’t catch a royal, but I did manage three quads (this quarter game gives $100 per quad) and end up cashing out a profit of $150, which brings me back even for the entire day—whew.
It was only 5 PM, and I really didn’t feel like gambling anymore and had three hours to kill before SYTYCD came on, so I drove down to the small town theater to see a movie. As I was driving around looking at the town, I came across two brothels. An LVA member had written earlier that it might be cool to grab a pic of one if I came across it. I followed the sign and was going to pull into the parking lot for the picture, but on the front porch were two “employees” having a cigarette. I will admit to be just a little too embarrassed to get out of my car and take a picture with them there. So, you’ll have to settle for the picture of the sign. Maybe an opportunity will present itself later in the trip.
The theater complex in town must have been built back in the 70s. They were small, all the employees were high school kids, and the screen was slightly blurry throughout the movie. I say X-MEN ORIGINS. I will say that I wasn’t expecting much here, but I end up really enjoying the movie and was impressed how the writers managed to make the prequel very believable and in line with the later movies, much like STAR TREK did a few years ago. I picked up a two-piece meal from Kentucky Fried and headed back to my room for the results SYTYCD show where to no one’s (ever her) surprise that Ryan was sent home.
Just a note: A reminder that the Bets Balance is the same from yesterday because I only count my $10 bets when there are table games. My personal gambling wins or losses aren't part of the "offical" count.
Trip totals: Casinos visited: 141; Bets Balance + $123
More tomorrow
