Hit ‘em All Nevada – Day 18
I was able to really take my time this morning because the drive to West Wendover is only two hours. I enjoyed my breakfast and checked out. The drive on I-80 has plenty of desert to drive through; however, it’s not long before you’re climbing to a peak of just over 7000 ft. The topography of the area here is really beautiful with jagged rock formations and green foliage growing right on top of the rocks. However, after reaching the peak, you come upon the Great Salt Lake Desert, which is made of the salt deposits from Lake Bonneville. This is famous place used for speed tests and such you’ve all probably seen on TV some time or other. The picture truly don’t do it justice—it’s truly a huge expanse of white.
Salt Lake Desert
The Great Lake Desert - bottom right is water. In the background, there is no water--it's a mirage
As I drive down the mountain pass into West Wendover, I stopped on the western part of town where you find the Welcome to Wendover statue, and to the right of is the entrance to the Victory Highway, which was the first dirt road connecting New York to San Francisco.
The major purpose of West Wendover is casino industry related. It’s called West Wendover because it sits right at the Utah/Nevada border with the Utah city of Wendover. The state line cuts right through the middle of town much like Lake Tahoe is part California and part Nevada. There are five casinos here, three of which are owned and operated by the Peppermill Corp: the Montego Bay, the Rainbow, and the Peppermill. My first stop, however, was a small casino on the western part of town called the Red Garter Casino and Hotel (motel, really). It’s a two level casino with about a hundred machines and a few tables. I waited patiently for the dealer to shuffle (two deck game), said I only had time for one game. She dealt me a 20 and we tied. She dealt me another 20, and we tied again. She dealt me a third straight 20, then dealt herself a 21. Yeah! -$10.
I drove down to the next casino, the Rainbow. Like all the Peppermill properties, this one was full of neon. Their video poker are all short pay, but barely (9/5 Jacks; 8/5 Bonus with all quads paying 150). I walked up to a blackjack table, played my $10 bet—lost again.
Inside the Rainbow
Down a block and across the street is the Peppermill. With the exception of the Red Garter, I will say that all these casinos are first rate with the exception that most of the machines are a year or so dated, so there are none of the new games like Lord of the Rings or Sex in the City and such. This time, my blackjack bet was a winner.
Next was the hotel where I would be staying. I remembered when I made this reservation last April, I went online and found this rate of $59, which had me a bit nervous; however, a couple of LVA members wrote saying this was the best of the three to stay, so I took their recommendation. It turned out this was the best of all the casinos in W. Wendover. The casino is modern with the usual neon jungle, but I was very pleasantly surprised to find that my room was VERY nice for the price. It’s quite large (it’s a corner room) and everything looks fresh and well maintained.
View from my room
The first thing I did was play my $10 bet in the Montego Bay casino, and lost my first double down. I had total of 7 with the dealer showing a 6 card. I doubled down, got a ten, but the dealer turned over a 6 and then hit an 8. -$20.
I walked across the street to the Wendover Nugget (you just knew there had to be some kind of Nugget here). This was also a very nice casino and hotel. I can only guess there are a lot of people in Utah that love to gamble. Regardless that all these casinos are quite large, all of them seem full with people everywhere playing the machines and the tables were all close to full. I played my blackjack bet, and this time, I won.
I’m only here for the one night as with my next two stops, Ely and Mesquite. So, my goal here is to take the pictures, play the bets, and just relax. Well, I did all that except I played some Ugly Deuces while watching the Americans lose to Japan it the World Cup (that was such a tough loss, but a great game—and I don’t like soccer). I lost at Deuces, I lost at bonus poker, and to really hit the nail in the coffin, I played live poker at Nugget (my first live poker game of the trip), and got felted by a drunk woman who beat my deuces full with tens to her river catching tens full of nines. Wow—rough day at the games. But tomorrow is another day, and here’s hoping the city of Ely will be a little kinder.
Trip totals: Casinos visited 155; bets balance: +$113
More tomorrow
I was able to really take my time this morning because the drive to West Wendover is only two hours. I enjoyed my breakfast and checked out. The drive on I-80 has plenty of desert to drive through; however, it’s not long before you’re climbing to a peak of just over 7000 ft. The topography of the area here is really beautiful with jagged rock formations and green foliage growing right on top of the rocks. However, after reaching the peak, you come upon the Great Salt Lake Desert, which is made of the salt deposits from Lake Bonneville. This is famous place used for speed tests and such you’ve all probably seen on TV some time or other. The picture truly don’t do it justice—it’s truly a huge expanse of white.
Salt Lake Desert
The Great Lake Desert - bottom right is water. In the background, there is no water--it's a mirage
As I drive down the mountain pass into West Wendover, I stopped on the western part of town where you find the Welcome to Wendover statue, and to the right of is the entrance to the Victory Highway, which was the first dirt road connecting New York to San Francisco.
The major purpose of West Wendover is casino industry related. It’s called West Wendover because it sits right at the Utah/Nevada border with the Utah city of Wendover. The state line cuts right through the middle of town much like Lake Tahoe is part California and part Nevada. There are five casinos here, three of which are owned and operated by the Peppermill Corp: the Montego Bay, the Rainbow, and the Peppermill. My first stop, however, was a small casino on the western part of town called the Red Garter Casino and Hotel (motel, really). It’s a two level casino with about a hundred machines and a few tables. I waited patiently for the dealer to shuffle (two deck game), said I only had time for one game. She dealt me a 20 and we tied. She dealt me another 20, and we tied again. She dealt me a third straight 20, then dealt herself a 21. Yeah! -$10.
I drove down to the next casino, the Rainbow. Like all the Peppermill properties, this one was full of neon. Their video poker are all short pay, but barely (9/5 Jacks; 8/5 Bonus with all quads paying 150). I walked up to a blackjack table, played my $10 bet—lost again.
Inside the Rainbow
Down a block and across the street is the Peppermill. With the exception of the Red Garter, I will say that all these casinos are first rate with the exception that most of the machines are a year or so dated, so there are none of the new games like Lord of the Rings or Sex in the City and such. This time, my blackjack bet was a winner.
Next was the hotel where I would be staying. I remembered when I made this reservation last April, I went online and found this rate of $59, which had me a bit nervous; however, a couple of LVA members wrote saying this was the best of the three to stay, so I took their recommendation. It turned out this was the best of all the casinos in W. Wendover. The casino is modern with the usual neon jungle, but I was very pleasantly surprised to find that my room was VERY nice for the price. It’s quite large (it’s a corner room) and everything looks fresh and well maintained.
View from my room
The first thing I did was play my $10 bet in the Montego Bay casino, and lost my first double down. I had total of 7 with the dealer showing a 6 card. I doubled down, got a ten, but the dealer turned over a 6 and then hit an 8. -$20.
I walked across the street to the Wendover Nugget (you just knew there had to be some kind of Nugget here). This was also a very nice casino and hotel. I can only guess there are a lot of people in Utah that love to gamble. Regardless that all these casinos are quite large, all of them seem full with people everywhere playing the machines and the tables were all close to full. I played my blackjack bet, and this time, I won.
I’m only here for the one night as with my next two stops, Ely and Mesquite. So, my goal here is to take the pictures, play the bets, and just relax. Well, I did all that except I played some Ugly Deuces while watching the Americans lose to Japan it the World Cup (that was such a tough loss, but a great game—and I don’t like soccer). I lost at Deuces, I lost at bonus poker, and to really hit the nail in the coffin, I played live poker at Nugget (my first live poker game of the trip), and got felted by a drunk woman who beat my deuces full with tens to her river catching tens full of nines. Wow—rough day at the games. But tomorrow is another day, and here’s hoping the city of Ely will be a little kinder.
Trip totals: Casinos visited 155; bets balance: +$113
More tomorrow
