Hit ‘em All Nevada – Day 25
My final day in Laughlin included a little gambling and some asses. I slept for almost nine hours (guess I was more tired than I thought) and finally got out of the room around 10:30 AM. I had a coupon for a free buffet, so I used it today for a breakfast of eggs, shrimp, bacon, sausage, orange chicken, and potatoes (it’s a buffet—why not?).
Today I needed to go to Target to get some toothpaste and a few other things. There’s a Wal-Mart and Target in Bullhead, AZ across the river, so I drove over to Target (I prefer it when possible). I also picked up a couple of shirts while there. One of the favorite things my mom and dad like to do when they’re in Laughlin is drive over to Oatman, AZ. Oatman is a small mining town in the mountains just west of Bullhead and only about 40 minutes from Laughlin, but when you’re there, it’s like your hundreds of miles from everything. It’s on the famous Route 66, so I thought I take a trip there to take some pictures for my mom and for any of you who don’t know of this place.
When the mines ran out of the gold and other minerals, the prospectors went on to the next place but left all the mules and burros behind. Since that time, the burros have had the run of the place. Many of the shops sell carrots and other food you can feed the animals and as you can see by the pictures, they’re doing just fine. The town itself smells of dung, but no one seems to mind. It’s now strictly a tourist destination now, but most of the buildings are the original ones built in the late 1800s, and they have daily “shoot-outs” in the street.
This is pretty much the entire town
My favorite spot
I drove back to Laughlin and though I was tempted to visit those Quick Quad machines at the Riverside again, I chose to simply go back to Harrahs. A couple of readers commented on my mentioning that the locals were welcome to use the beaches at Harrahs as well as the pools and wrote about a sign saying just the opposite. Well, I will say that my information simply came from the boothling in the Diamond registration. When I was checking in, I mentioned to her that there were so many people coming in with their coolers and floaters and she said the locals come all the time and no one really minds in that they make the place look crowded and fun and buy beer and such. Well, I did go back down to the beach today, and yes, there was a sign but there is no one enforcing this rule. My guess is that if there were to be a problem with someone at the beach or in the pool, at that time they’d ask for their room key, and then be able to easily have them leave when they couldn’t produce one.
Looks scary enough--ignore it
Another reader asked my how many slot cards I must have when I do these trips. I could have twice as many as I have if I had any reason to sign up with all the hotels and casinos I’ve visited over the years, but unless there’s a sign-up promo such as free play or swag, and I know I won’t be coming back, I see no need to get a card. That said, I still have lots of cards that I keep in a small plastic bag in my briefcase. I’ve taken a picture of them. You can imagine what this pile looked like when all of the franchises didn’t have a company card, such as Harrahs with over 25 properties. I used to have twice as many as these. But I do keep them and use them whenever I’m in one of their properties, which is why I get these free room offers and food and such.
Yea, I know...I got to get a life
I went down to the casino to play a little for the day. I went back to the 3/5 dime play machine and played deuces for dimes. Twice I was dealt four-to-the-royal, but none of them came in. However, over the course of the game, I managed to catch quad deuces twice. So, I put a hundred of it back in but quit up a hundred. I still have yet to catch a quarter royal this trip, so I sat down at a single line bonus poker machine and put in a hundred. When I had finished I had put 129 points on my card, which at $10 per point or eights hands per point, tells me I had played 1038 hands. Now I mention this because not only did I not get a royal, in all of those hands, I didn’t catch even one quad. Fortunately, I had a good share of two pairs, full houses, and flushes to keep the game going. But I did eventually lose the hundred. So, I end up breaking even for the day.
That’s the way it seems to go on these trips. I remember well reading other’s trip reports and how they had hit three or four royals and came home with just a small loss. For those who don’t play, that doesn’t seem to make sense. But note we tend to boast and take pictures of our jackpots and big hits and don’t even as much as mention the losses, which can be long and deep. Though I am keeping track of the official $10 table bets in each of the Hit ‘em All Nevada casinos (I’m slightly up), I will say that my personal gambling has been up and down and it is currently on the negative end—nothing serious. We’ll just say I could certainly use a quarter royal to come home with a little profit. But there are still two more weeks so anything can, and likely will, happen.
More tomorrow
My final day in Laughlin included a little gambling and some asses. I slept for almost nine hours (guess I was more tired than I thought) and finally got out of the room around 10:30 AM. I had a coupon for a free buffet, so I used it today for a breakfast of eggs, shrimp, bacon, sausage, orange chicken, and potatoes (it’s a buffet—why not?).
Today I needed to go to Target to get some toothpaste and a few other things. There’s a Wal-Mart and Target in Bullhead, AZ across the river, so I drove over to Target (I prefer it when possible). I also picked up a couple of shirts while there. One of the favorite things my mom and dad like to do when they’re in Laughlin is drive over to Oatman, AZ. Oatman is a small mining town in the mountains just west of Bullhead and only about 40 minutes from Laughlin, but when you’re there, it’s like your hundreds of miles from everything. It’s on the famous Route 66, so I thought I take a trip there to take some pictures for my mom and for any of you who don’t know of this place.
When the mines ran out of the gold and other minerals, the prospectors went on to the next place but left all the mules and burros behind. Since that time, the burros have had the run of the place. Many of the shops sell carrots and other food you can feed the animals and as you can see by the pictures, they’re doing just fine. The town itself smells of dung, but no one seems to mind. It’s now strictly a tourist destination now, but most of the buildings are the original ones built in the late 1800s, and they have daily “shoot-outs” in the street.
This is pretty much the entire town
My favorite spot
I drove back to Laughlin and though I was tempted to visit those Quick Quad machines at the Riverside again, I chose to simply go back to Harrahs. A couple of readers commented on my mentioning that the locals were welcome to use the beaches at Harrahs as well as the pools and wrote about a sign saying just the opposite. Well, I will say that my information simply came from the boothling in the Diamond registration. When I was checking in, I mentioned to her that there were so many people coming in with their coolers and floaters and she said the locals come all the time and no one really minds in that they make the place look crowded and fun and buy beer and such. Well, I did go back down to the beach today, and yes, there was a sign but there is no one enforcing this rule. My guess is that if there were to be a problem with someone at the beach or in the pool, at that time they’d ask for their room key, and then be able to easily have them leave when they couldn’t produce one.
Looks scary enough--ignore it
Another reader asked my how many slot cards I must have when I do these trips. I could have twice as many as I have if I had any reason to sign up with all the hotels and casinos I’ve visited over the years, but unless there’s a sign-up promo such as free play or swag, and I know I won’t be coming back, I see no need to get a card. That said, I still have lots of cards that I keep in a small plastic bag in my briefcase. I’ve taken a picture of them. You can imagine what this pile looked like when all of the franchises didn’t have a company card, such as Harrahs with over 25 properties. I used to have twice as many as these. But I do keep them and use them whenever I’m in one of their properties, which is why I get these free room offers and food and such.
Yea, I know...I got to get a life
I went down to the casino to play a little for the day. I went back to the 3/5 dime play machine and played deuces for dimes. Twice I was dealt four-to-the-royal, but none of them came in. However, over the course of the game, I managed to catch quad deuces twice. So, I put a hundred of it back in but quit up a hundred. I still have yet to catch a quarter royal this trip, so I sat down at a single line bonus poker machine and put in a hundred. When I had finished I had put 129 points on my card, which at $10 per point or eights hands per point, tells me I had played 1038 hands. Now I mention this because not only did I not get a royal, in all of those hands, I didn’t catch even one quad. Fortunately, I had a good share of two pairs, full houses, and flushes to keep the game going. But I did eventually lose the hundred. So, I end up breaking even for the day.
That’s the way it seems to go on these trips. I remember well reading other’s trip reports and how they had hit three or four royals and came home with just a small loss. For those who don’t play, that doesn’t seem to make sense. But note we tend to boast and take pictures of our jackpots and big hits and don’t even as much as mention the losses, which can be long and deep. Though I am keeping track of the official $10 table bets in each of the Hit ‘em All Nevada casinos (I’m slightly up), I will say that my personal gambling has been up and down and it is currently on the negative end—nothing serious. We’ll just say I could certainly use a quarter royal to come home with a little profit. But there are still two more weeks so anything can, and likely will, happen.
More tomorrow
