Hit ‘em All Nevada – Day 3
Oh, this one got off to a late start. Yesterday’s trip around the Strip didn’t get me back to my room until almost 10 PM, and I didn’t get to sleep until an hour later. For most, this is no big deal, but for the past many years, I’ve been going to bed at 8 PM for work and I’m in the habit of getting up at 4 AM. So, now things are all off the routine, and I didn’t wake up until 8:30. Because I got in so late, I didn’t write the trip report before I went to bed, so I needed to get it done this morning. Getting the pictures named and loaded to photobucket, the report being written, and posting to the different sites takes me about two and half hours. So, I didn’t get out of my room until 11:30 after all the other morning duties.
I decided to go ahead and have lunch here at the Hilton so I could use my last free buffet coupon. They still had breakfast items on the line, so I enjoyed some eggs and bacon. Today, I’m heading downtown to take care of all the casinos in that part of town. I pulled into my usual garage at Main Street Station, but was disappointed to find that it was closed. With the temperature going over three digits today, I had no intention of parking outside, so I drove over to the Freemont valet.
First stop was the California. For many of you that followed these reports over the past few years, you know that all year long, I save my change and then take all the quarters and play the coin-fed machines here. They do have full pay 9/6 jacks or better, so it’s the best place to play them. However, with all my good intentions and all the years I’ve done this, I continue to come up lame. I have yet to even catch a four-of-a-kind after all these years. Well, today was even worse than most. After going through all the quarters I had saved all year, I never got even one hand higher than three-of-a-kind. I end up cashing out $42 with the meager winnings. Some traditions need to end.
I went over to Main Street Station, which for years has been a place where I’ve gotten many free nights; however, the past year or so have dried up and now I don’t get anymore post cards with offers. I really don’t know why as I give them the same play I always had. However, on this day, I took ‘em for $10 playing blackjack.
Next was back to the California. For a long while, the California was Martin’s (mmoy) home base, but since he stopped playing, they stopped sending free rooms. It still has one of the best coffee shops downtown. I played blackjack, and I lost—boo!
Across the street is the Vegas Club. This is another place that I used to stay at occasionally, but they too have stopped sending out free rooms, which was no big deal—they weren’t very nice. I will say this: they may have finally figured out what to do with their lower floor, which has gone through myriad changes over the years, the silliest being the “ultra lounge” they tried. The walled off a section and turned it into a Bingo hall. When I was here last year and they had just done this, there were only about ten people playing. I figured it wouldn’t last very long; however, today it was packed I asked the security guard if it’s been like this lately, and he said it’s turned out to be a big success. Their dime Joker’s Wild progressive is almost $800, so I put in a twenty and though I managed five four-of-a-kinds, no royal.
As I headed for the blackjack table for my ten dollar bet, I noticed a different kind of claw machine: instead of stuffed toys, there were a lot of live lobsters floating in water. For $2.00 per try, you can use the claw and if you catch one, they’ll cook it for you in the coffee shop. It’s called The Lobster Zone Claw—weird. As for the bet? I won.
I walked into Freemont Street. The first place was the Golden Gate, the oldest hotel here. Everything is pretty much the same as it always has been except along with the demise of the 99-cent shrimp dish, the grand piano is gone as well. I gave craps a shot, and after laying the odds for a 5 to come up, I shot down $11.
I walked over to the Plaza, which has been going through a complete remodel, but when I got over there, the security guard told me they were completely closed until August 27.
Heading down Freemont Street passing an Elvis, and Superman, a Sponge Bob, and others taking pictures for tips, I walked into Binions. Before I became a video poker player, I played craps, and this was where I’d always play. The dealers and stickman were old, tired, and rude, but it was all part of the atmosphere. They, too, are long gone. Now the dealers are young girls with push-up bras and big smiles. I played blackjack and lost.
Across the way is the Golden Nugget. This place believes it’s a Strip property that just happens to be located downtown. The minimums are big but I did find a $10 table, which was too bad, because I lost again.
Back across the street to the Freemont. I won my blackjack bet, but afterwards I found the two remaining Game Kings that are still coin-ins and have full pay Pick ‘em, one of my favorite games. I put in a hundred and played for a good hour but after getting back to the original hundred, I cashed out—I had more casinos to get to today.
Next was the Four Queens. This was the casino that a couple years ago I was dealt a royal on a 50-play machine (playing only pennies, but it was still good for $2,000). They still have some good full pay progressive double bonus machines as well as some quarter 9/6 jacks and 8/5 Bonus Poker. Unfortunately, I lost my blackjack bet.
I went next into Fitzgerald’s where I thought I’d try Roulette again—bad call—I lost. As I was leaving, it occurred to me that David and Julie (timberwolf) were in town. I gave him a call and sure enough, they were sitting at the machines in the Four Queens, so I headed back there. They were there on a terrific offer which included rooms and show and food. Dave and Julie are some of the nicest people you’d ever want to meet, and no one knows his way around comps and discounts better than David. We had a nice visit, but I had a mission to complete. We said our goodbyes and I was off to the El Cortez Hotel and Casino.
The El Cortez is located a couple of blocks from the Freemont Experience, and on what they now call Freemont East, which is where the merchants are trying to make the area better and more “hip” by putting in some nightclubs with regular music festivals on the street at night. Many of the Vegas neon signs from the past are located here as well. It’s averaging 110 today, so my walk was a bit on the toasty side. The El Cortez, which for years had the reputation of a seedy, joint where you didn’t want to find yourself after dark, has also been remodeled. And though the ceilings are still low, and the smoke can be a bit stinky, overall, the place is quite nice and on this day pretty busy. I had a difficult time getting my $10 bet in which I had to settle for craps. My number was 9, and laid the proper odds and lost--$11 to the minus column. So far this trip, roulette and craps have been BIG losers for me. I’ll probably stick mostly to blackjack whenever I can.
I then took the walk down another couple of blocks to the Western Hotel (now closed) and Casino (still open). The big signs outside boast $1 draft beers and $1 food items. Once inside, you can immediately see that this advertising has paid off because it seems half the homeless in Vegas are all here at the bar and the tables surrounding it drinking their pints of $1 beer. The place smelled terrible, and once I made my blackjack bet and won, I was out of there.
On my way back to the Freemont Street Experience, I stopped at a place some folks have been talking about lately on the boards, the Insert Coin Video Lounge. Inside is a long neon lit bar and around the corners were lots of retro quarter video games like Pacman, and Centipede, and Donkey Kong. The Pinball Museum on Tropicana has no worries here. This place considers itself an Ultra-lounge. Along one of the walls are very large booths with video game monitors in front of them. I checked the menu, which included bottle service from $100 to $300 a pop! I’m not sure if there are enough couples out there that will want to shell out that kind of money so they can sit in a booth and play video games. I had a beer--$6.00 a bottle. I won’t be back anytime soon.
It took me a wrong turn or two, but I finally found the Gold Spike. This place for years was like the Western, but they recently went through a major remodeling and have been advertising that it’s a new, fun place. Inside, I would have to give them their props. The place is clean, the air filters work well, the café is cute, and even the dealers are young and friendly. I did lose my $10 blackjack bet and I checked out the video poker schedules—don’t expect to see any serious video poker players here, they’re terrible (7/5 Jacks or better). Once again, after uploading the pictures from my camera, I realized I didn't take a pic of the Gold Spike--my apologies.
I walked back (the three-digit temperatures were starting to wear me down) to the Freemont to get my car. On my drive back, I did make my stop at the Stratosphere. I won my blackjack bet and took a stroll up through the shops on the second floor. I haven’t been here in a while, and things are looking better. It seems a few of the newer stores are finally making a go of it and there was plenty of foot traffic today. I bought a bag of bacon-cheese popcorn from a gourmet popcorn store there (fifteen or twenty different flavors of popcorn). If you like popcorn, you’ve got to check this place out.
It was 7 PM and time for me to head back to the hotel so I could type up and send out today’s trip report as tomorrow I’m up early and heading for the first of two trips to Laughlin this summer. When I got to my room and began emptying my pockets, there were four 5-dollar chips from the Stratosphere—for crying out loud, I forgot to cash them in. Along with all the walking I’m reporting on this trip, I haven’t mentioned that added to my going from casino to casino, that whenever I win, I have to find the casino cashier to turn in the chips. I decided to go up and look at the shops before going to the cashier—a mistake. I suppose I could go back tomorrow, but what’s more likely is that I’ll hold on to them and return when I get back on Wednesday.
Trip Totals: 44 casinos visited. Bets balance: minus $54.
More tomorrow.
Oh, this one got off to a late start. Yesterday’s trip around the Strip didn’t get me back to my room until almost 10 PM, and I didn’t get to sleep until an hour later. For most, this is no big deal, but for the past many years, I’ve been going to bed at 8 PM for work and I’m in the habit of getting up at 4 AM. So, now things are all off the routine, and I didn’t wake up until 8:30. Because I got in so late, I didn’t write the trip report before I went to bed, so I needed to get it done this morning. Getting the pictures named and loaded to photobucket, the report being written, and posting to the different sites takes me about two and half hours. So, I didn’t get out of my room until 11:30 after all the other morning duties.
I decided to go ahead and have lunch here at the Hilton so I could use my last free buffet coupon. They still had breakfast items on the line, so I enjoyed some eggs and bacon. Today, I’m heading downtown to take care of all the casinos in that part of town. I pulled into my usual garage at Main Street Station, but was disappointed to find that it was closed. With the temperature going over three digits today, I had no intention of parking outside, so I drove over to the Freemont valet.
First stop was the California. For many of you that followed these reports over the past few years, you know that all year long, I save my change and then take all the quarters and play the coin-fed machines here. They do have full pay 9/6 jacks or better, so it’s the best place to play them. However, with all my good intentions and all the years I’ve done this, I continue to come up lame. I have yet to even catch a four-of-a-kind after all these years. Well, today was even worse than most. After going through all the quarters I had saved all year, I never got even one hand higher than three-of-a-kind. I end up cashing out $42 with the meager winnings. Some traditions need to end.
I went over to Main Street Station, which for years has been a place where I’ve gotten many free nights; however, the past year or so have dried up and now I don’t get anymore post cards with offers. I really don’t know why as I give them the same play I always had. However, on this day, I took ‘em for $10 playing blackjack.
Next was back to the California. For a long while, the California was Martin’s (mmoy) home base, but since he stopped playing, they stopped sending free rooms. It still has one of the best coffee shops downtown. I played blackjack, and I lost—boo!
Across the street is the Vegas Club. This is another place that I used to stay at occasionally, but they too have stopped sending out free rooms, which was no big deal—they weren’t very nice. I will say this: they may have finally figured out what to do with their lower floor, which has gone through myriad changes over the years, the silliest being the “ultra lounge” they tried. The walled off a section and turned it into a Bingo hall. When I was here last year and they had just done this, there were only about ten people playing. I figured it wouldn’t last very long; however, today it was packed I asked the security guard if it’s been like this lately, and he said it’s turned out to be a big success. Their dime Joker’s Wild progressive is almost $800, so I put in a twenty and though I managed five four-of-a-kinds, no royal.
As I headed for the blackjack table for my ten dollar bet, I noticed a different kind of claw machine: instead of stuffed toys, there were a lot of live lobsters floating in water. For $2.00 per try, you can use the claw and if you catch one, they’ll cook it for you in the coffee shop. It’s called The Lobster Zone Claw—weird. As for the bet? I won.
I walked into Freemont Street. The first place was the Golden Gate, the oldest hotel here. Everything is pretty much the same as it always has been except along with the demise of the 99-cent shrimp dish, the grand piano is gone as well. I gave craps a shot, and after laying the odds for a 5 to come up, I shot down $11.
I walked over to the Plaza, which has been going through a complete remodel, but when I got over there, the security guard told me they were completely closed until August 27.
Heading down Freemont Street passing an Elvis, and Superman, a Sponge Bob, and others taking pictures for tips, I walked into Binions. Before I became a video poker player, I played craps, and this was where I’d always play. The dealers and stickman were old, tired, and rude, but it was all part of the atmosphere. They, too, are long gone. Now the dealers are young girls with push-up bras and big smiles. I played blackjack and lost.
Across the way is the Golden Nugget. This place believes it’s a Strip property that just happens to be located downtown. The minimums are big but I did find a $10 table, which was too bad, because I lost again.
Back across the street to the Freemont. I won my blackjack bet, but afterwards I found the two remaining Game Kings that are still coin-ins and have full pay Pick ‘em, one of my favorite games. I put in a hundred and played for a good hour but after getting back to the original hundred, I cashed out—I had more casinos to get to today.
Next was the Four Queens. This was the casino that a couple years ago I was dealt a royal on a 50-play machine (playing only pennies, but it was still good for $2,000). They still have some good full pay progressive double bonus machines as well as some quarter 9/6 jacks and 8/5 Bonus Poker. Unfortunately, I lost my blackjack bet.
I went next into Fitzgerald’s where I thought I’d try Roulette again—bad call—I lost. As I was leaving, it occurred to me that David and Julie (timberwolf) were in town. I gave him a call and sure enough, they were sitting at the machines in the Four Queens, so I headed back there. They were there on a terrific offer which included rooms and show and food. Dave and Julie are some of the nicest people you’d ever want to meet, and no one knows his way around comps and discounts better than David. We had a nice visit, but I had a mission to complete. We said our goodbyes and I was off to the El Cortez Hotel and Casino.
The El Cortez is located a couple of blocks from the Freemont Experience, and on what they now call Freemont East, which is where the merchants are trying to make the area better and more “hip” by putting in some nightclubs with regular music festivals on the street at night. Many of the Vegas neon signs from the past are located here as well. It’s averaging 110 today, so my walk was a bit on the toasty side. The El Cortez, which for years had the reputation of a seedy, joint where you didn’t want to find yourself after dark, has also been remodeled. And though the ceilings are still low, and the smoke can be a bit stinky, overall, the place is quite nice and on this day pretty busy. I had a difficult time getting my $10 bet in which I had to settle for craps. My number was 9, and laid the proper odds and lost--$11 to the minus column. So far this trip, roulette and craps have been BIG losers for me. I’ll probably stick mostly to blackjack whenever I can.
I then took the walk down another couple of blocks to the Western Hotel (now closed) and Casino (still open). The big signs outside boast $1 draft beers and $1 food items. Once inside, you can immediately see that this advertising has paid off because it seems half the homeless in Vegas are all here at the bar and the tables surrounding it drinking their pints of $1 beer. The place smelled terrible, and once I made my blackjack bet and won, I was out of there.
On my way back to the Freemont Street Experience, I stopped at a place some folks have been talking about lately on the boards, the Insert Coin Video Lounge. Inside is a long neon lit bar and around the corners were lots of retro quarter video games like Pacman, and Centipede, and Donkey Kong. The Pinball Museum on Tropicana has no worries here. This place considers itself an Ultra-lounge. Along one of the walls are very large booths with video game monitors in front of them. I checked the menu, which included bottle service from $100 to $300 a pop! I’m not sure if there are enough couples out there that will want to shell out that kind of money so they can sit in a booth and play video games. I had a beer--$6.00 a bottle. I won’t be back anytime soon.
It took me a wrong turn or two, but I finally found the Gold Spike. This place for years was like the Western, but they recently went through a major remodeling and have been advertising that it’s a new, fun place. Inside, I would have to give them their props. The place is clean, the air filters work well, the café is cute, and even the dealers are young and friendly. I did lose my $10 blackjack bet and I checked out the video poker schedules—don’t expect to see any serious video poker players here, they’re terrible (7/5 Jacks or better). Once again, after uploading the pictures from my camera, I realized I didn't take a pic of the Gold Spike--my apologies.
I walked back (the three-digit temperatures were starting to wear me down) to the Freemont to get my car. On my drive back, I did make my stop at the Stratosphere. I won my blackjack bet and took a stroll up through the shops on the second floor. I haven’t been here in a while, and things are looking better. It seems a few of the newer stores are finally making a go of it and there was plenty of foot traffic today. I bought a bag of bacon-cheese popcorn from a gourmet popcorn store there (fifteen or twenty different flavors of popcorn). If you like popcorn, you’ve got to check this place out.
It was 7 PM and time for me to head back to the hotel so I could type up and send out today’s trip report as tomorrow I’m up early and heading for the first of two trips to Laughlin this summer. When I got to my room and began emptying my pockets, there were four 5-dollar chips from the Stratosphere—for crying out loud, I forgot to cash them in. Along with all the walking I’m reporting on this trip, I haven’t mentioned that added to my going from casino to casino, that whenever I win, I have to find the casino cashier to turn in the chips. I decided to go up and look at the shops before going to the cashier—a mistake. I suppose I could go back tomorrow, but what’s more likely is that I’ll hold on to them and return when I get back on Wednesday.
Trip Totals: 44 casinos visited. Bets balance: minus $54.
More tomorrow.
