Hit ‘em All Nevada – Day 4
Another so-so night of sleep and it’s out of bed and pack up to head out for my first of two trips to Laughlin. However, there are some loose ends to take care of. I got checked out and on the road by 9 AM and drove back to the Stratosphere to cash in the chips I neglected to the night before. Actually, my thinking was I could have waited until I returned, but if I did that, I wouldn’t be able to buy another bag of the bacon-cheese popcorn to take along with me on the trip. Unfortunately, it was all for not as they weren’t going to open for another hour.
It was still early enough to drive down the Strip which would allow me to hit the two casinos I missed a couple of days ago. I pulled into the Circus, Circus parking garage, which is located at the very back of the casino. I’ll say this about the place: It somehow manages to stay in business and be profitable by targeting the “Plumber Joe” clientele, which most of Strip properties ignore. Obviously with the “World Class Circus Acts” (hyperbole at its finest), and the second floor carnival games, this place is jammed packed full of kids and large families. Even as early as it is as I walk through the place, I have to walk around throngs of people. I make no excuses on how I feel about Circus, Circus: I hate it. The carpet appears to be the same since it opened thirty years ago, it has a strange, dusky smell, and there are so many booths hacking cheap trinkets and souvenirs, it’s just a big turn off.
I found a $10 blackjack game. When I’ve been making these bets, I usually just stand and wait for the result; however, even when I told the dealer I was only going to play one hand, she told me that all players have to sit…ahh…okay. When I sat down, the guy on my right pulled his two bets off insinuating that I just soured the table. The hand she dealt me was a 16, and his smirking and nodding was like congratulating himself that he made the right move. The dealer, however, busted and I won. The guy mumbles “shit” under his breath, and I just collected my winnings with a smirking and nodding as I walked away.
I walked out the side entrance and walked next door to the Slots of Fun Casino, which used to have a lot of blackjack tables and a popular craps table that was placed almost on the sidewalk in the front. I played that game many, many times. This place was also famous for its 1-pound hot dog. I remember almost getting sick on one trying to finish it off. However, the entire table game inventory is now gone and the monster hot dog joint has been replaced by the over-priced and over-hyped Nathan hot dog chain. Sad times.
I headed across the street to the Riviera. This is another once glamorous hotel that seems to be hanging on by its fingernails. It’s now 9:30 and I think I can count the number of customers in the place on two hands. The only $10 blackjack is a six-deck shoe and the dealer was just beginning to shuffle the cards, so I walked around a little. I may have (I really don’t remember) have stayed here but most likely not. I know I’ve watched a couple of comedy shows upstairs. I also remember years ago sitting at the bar playing and listening to the band when I was overtly propositioned by a pro. “Never gonna happen.” I went back to the table when the dealer began and was dealt a blackjack for a $15 profit.
I walked back to my car and headed out to Henderson by way of Sahara and the freeway. Whenever I go Laughlin, I make a point of filling up at the Costco across from Sunset Station. Gas on this day is $3.41 a gallon. I thought I’d go ahead and check off Sunset Station, so I drove across the street and found a blackjack table. I was dealt a blackjack again! This makes another $15 win, which brings my trip total now to just a minus $14.00.
The drive to Laughlin, which I’ve taken many times, usually takes me about an hour and half, but today it would be a little longer because I plan on making some stops along the way to see if the three casinos that I usually pass have any table games. I’ll also take a moment here to explain who Milly is as I’ll be referencing it during the trip. For those of you who read last year’s National Casino Tour journals, you might remember Tilly, who is the voice of the GPS system I was using to get across the country. Tilly belonged to my dad and let me borrow her for the trip and was named by my mother because she sounded like one of my dad’s old girlfriends (nice dig, Mom). I give Tilly full credit for making last year’s 11,000 mile journey a success. This year, I bought my own GPS system (a Magellan). I thought Milly would be good name as it would remind me of Tilly, and Milly is also the name of a favorite, diminutive drama student I taught the past couple of years. I’m writing about this because I’m driving along US 95 and Milly shows me driving on the desert adjacent to the freeway making me think something is askew. A few moments of this and I remember that this patch of US 95 was recently added so traffic going in opposite directions would be separated. Milly will need an update when I get the chance.
My first stop is in Searchlight, NV. Searchlight has recently had a moment in the spotlight last year when Sarah Palin chose it for a Tea Party speech (being Democratic Senator Reid’s birthplace might have had something to do with the choice). There are two casinos here, the Searchlight Nugget and Terribles Casino. The Nugget is the larger of the two with about 45 machines (expected bad video poker schedules) and there are three covered blackjack tables against the back wall. I asked the bartender about them and he said they closed them down quite awhile ago and now only use them for local charity tournaments where they don’t have to have (or pay) certified dealers. Terribles is really a gas station and a McDonalds with the bar and casino attached as an afterthought. There are no tables here as well.
Down US 95 about half way between Searchlight and Needles, CA is a community of 278 residents consisting mostly of trailers and mobile homes, but there is a casino here as well. It’s called Cal-Nev-Ari (this is the name, not abbreviations). I’ve always wanted to take a look inside but never really had a good reason until this trip. Its name is obvious, the founders, Nancy and Slim Kidwell, called it that because the land is the absolute farthest southern point of Nevada and I understand there’s some spot where you can stand in all three states. They plowed the now Kidwell Airport and developed the 640 acre section. The casino itself is really a café (old school, it would make a great location for movie in 50s), about twenty very old slot machines and a bar. When I walked in, there were six people at the bar, all of which turned towards me at the same time as I walked in the door. That was spooky; I turned around and left.
The drive into Laughlin went fine and I found a nice parking spot in the garage. You might notice from today’s pictures that the skies are overcast. Though it’s helped bring the temperatures down to the high 90s, it’s very muggy. The remnant of a Mexican hurricane is making its way through Nevada, which might very well hurt the fireworks display. I checked in was pleasantly surprised that I had a river view room in the Central Tower. Since I’ve been making my reservations through Tammy, my corporate host this past year, who I’ve never met, my rooms have been better. Easter vacation room was a suite, and this is perfect for catching the fireworks show from my window.
I unpacked and I needed to decide what I should do. I could get all of the bets out of the way along with the pics of all the casinos here in Laughlin (it will take only one day), or I could kick back the rest of the day and take care of business tomorrow. I regretfully chose the latter. Allow me to explain: I grabbed my ipad2 and went down to the Diamond Lounge to have a drink and catch up on some reading. I chose to have a Mud Slide on the rocks. I was watching the Mets/Yankees game on TV while playing Scrabble on my pad. There’s a very dangerous thing about drinks that don’t taste like “drinks.” I made the tragic error of mistaking my Mud Slides for water quenching my thirst. It’s nice getting all your drinks free in Diamond Lounges, but it can be a curse as well, as I thought nothing of ordering another, and then another. Keep in mind I am not a drinker and what most would refer to as a light-weight. Three mudslides within 30 minutes was a very stupid thing to do. You see, a mudslide consists of three…yes three…shots of liquor. And they pour their shots liberally here. So within just thirty minutes, I drank nine shots of alcohol. Stupid…stupid…stupid.
At this point after realizing I can no longer feel the skin on my face, I know I’m in trouble. It’s at this time, an elderly lady at the next table comes up to me and asks me about my ipad2 wanting to know how much they are, if I like mine, if it would be a good gift for her grandchild. Now I’m very aware of my condition and like many drunks, I try to act like I’m not. I think I’m giving a good performance and sounding lucid and clear, but as I write this report the next morning, I can’t say as I know how it all came about. I do remember trying to walk properly back to my room. People who are control freaks (me) should never drink more than one per hour as we don’t like being out of control. When I got up this morning and found a mustard stain on my shorts that I have no idea how it got there—that’s out of control. Lesson learned.
I was back in my room around four in the afternoon and I got up this morning at six—geez!
Trip Totals: Casinos visited: 52; Bets Balance: minus $14
More tomorrow.
Another so-so night of sleep and it’s out of bed and pack up to head out for my first of two trips to Laughlin. However, there are some loose ends to take care of. I got checked out and on the road by 9 AM and drove back to the Stratosphere to cash in the chips I neglected to the night before. Actually, my thinking was I could have waited until I returned, but if I did that, I wouldn’t be able to buy another bag of the bacon-cheese popcorn to take along with me on the trip. Unfortunately, it was all for not as they weren’t going to open for another hour.
It was still early enough to drive down the Strip which would allow me to hit the two casinos I missed a couple of days ago. I pulled into the Circus, Circus parking garage, which is located at the very back of the casino. I’ll say this about the place: It somehow manages to stay in business and be profitable by targeting the “Plumber Joe” clientele, which most of Strip properties ignore. Obviously with the “World Class Circus Acts” (hyperbole at its finest), and the second floor carnival games, this place is jammed packed full of kids and large families. Even as early as it is as I walk through the place, I have to walk around throngs of people. I make no excuses on how I feel about Circus, Circus: I hate it. The carpet appears to be the same since it opened thirty years ago, it has a strange, dusky smell, and there are so many booths hacking cheap trinkets and souvenirs, it’s just a big turn off.
I found a $10 blackjack game. When I’ve been making these bets, I usually just stand and wait for the result; however, even when I told the dealer I was only going to play one hand, she told me that all players have to sit…ahh…okay. When I sat down, the guy on my right pulled his two bets off insinuating that I just soured the table. The hand she dealt me was a 16, and his smirking and nodding was like congratulating himself that he made the right move. The dealer, however, busted and I won. The guy mumbles “shit” under his breath, and I just collected my winnings with a smirking and nodding as I walked away.
I walked out the side entrance and walked next door to the Slots of Fun Casino, which used to have a lot of blackjack tables and a popular craps table that was placed almost on the sidewalk in the front. I played that game many, many times. This place was also famous for its 1-pound hot dog. I remember almost getting sick on one trying to finish it off. However, the entire table game inventory is now gone and the monster hot dog joint has been replaced by the over-priced and over-hyped Nathan hot dog chain. Sad times.
I headed across the street to the Riviera. This is another once glamorous hotel that seems to be hanging on by its fingernails. It’s now 9:30 and I think I can count the number of customers in the place on two hands. The only $10 blackjack is a six-deck shoe and the dealer was just beginning to shuffle the cards, so I walked around a little. I may have (I really don’t remember) have stayed here but most likely not. I know I’ve watched a couple of comedy shows upstairs. I also remember years ago sitting at the bar playing and listening to the band when I was overtly propositioned by a pro. “Never gonna happen.” I went back to the table when the dealer began and was dealt a blackjack for a $15 profit.
I walked back to my car and headed out to Henderson by way of Sahara and the freeway. Whenever I go Laughlin, I make a point of filling up at the Costco across from Sunset Station. Gas on this day is $3.41 a gallon. I thought I’d go ahead and check off Sunset Station, so I drove across the street and found a blackjack table. I was dealt a blackjack again! This makes another $15 win, which brings my trip total now to just a minus $14.00.
The drive to Laughlin, which I’ve taken many times, usually takes me about an hour and half, but today it would be a little longer because I plan on making some stops along the way to see if the three casinos that I usually pass have any table games. I’ll also take a moment here to explain who Milly is as I’ll be referencing it during the trip. For those of you who read last year’s National Casino Tour journals, you might remember Tilly, who is the voice of the GPS system I was using to get across the country. Tilly belonged to my dad and let me borrow her for the trip and was named by my mother because she sounded like one of my dad’s old girlfriends (nice dig, Mom). I give Tilly full credit for making last year’s 11,000 mile journey a success. This year, I bought my own GPS system (a Magellan). I thought Milly would be good name as it would remind me of Tilly, and Milly is also the name of a favorite, diminutive drama student I taught the past couple of years. I’m writing about this because I’m driving along US 95 and Milly shows me driving on the desert adjacent to the freeway making me think something is askew. A few moments of this and I remember that this patch of US 95 was recently added so traffic going in opposite directions would be separated. Milly will need an update when I get the chance.
My first stop is in Searchlight, NV. Searchlight has recently had a moment in the spotlight last year when Sarah Palin chose it for a Tea Party speech (being Democratic Senator Reid’s birthplace might have had something to do with the choice). There are two casinos here, the Searchlight Nugget and Terribles Casino. The Nugget is the larger of the two with about 45 machines (expected bad video poker schedules) and there are three covered blackjack tables against the back wall. I asked the bartender about them and he said they closed them down quite awhile ago and now only use them for local charity tournaments where they don’t have to have (or pay) certified dealers. Terribles is really a gas station and a McDonalds with the bar and casino attached as an afterthought. There are no tables here as well.
Down US 95 about half way between Searchlight and Needles, CA is a community of 278 residents consisting mostly of trailers and mobile homes, but there is a casino here as well. It’s called Cal-Nev-Ari (this is the name, not abbreviations). I’ve always wanted to take a look inside but never really had a good reason until this trip. Its name is obvious, the founders, Nancy and Slim Kidwell, called it that because the land is the absolute farthest southern point of Nevada and I understand there’s some spot where you can stand in all three states. They plowed the now Kidwell Airport and developed the 640 acre section. The casino itself is really a café (old school, it would make a great location for movie in 50s), about twenty very old slot machines and a bar. When I walked in, there were six people at the bar, all of which turned towards me at the same time as I walked in the door. That was spooky; I turned around and left.
The drive into Laughlin went fine and I found a nice parking spot in the garage. You might notice from today’s pictures that the skies are overcast. Though it’s helped bring the temperatures down to the high 90s, it’s very muggy. The remnant of a Mexican hurricane is making its way through Nevada, which might very well hurt the fireworks display. I checked in was pleasantly surprised that I had a river view room in the Central Tower. Since I’ve been making my reservations through Tammy, my corporate host this past year, who I’ve never met, my rooms have been better. Easter vacation room was a suite, and this is perfect for catching the fireworks show from my window.
I unpacked and I needed to decide what I should do. I could get all of the bets out of the way along with the pics of all the casinos here in Laughlin (it will take only one day), or I could kick back the rest of the day and take care of business tomorrow. I regretfully chose the latter. Allow me to explain: I grabbed my ipad2 and went down to the Diamond Lounge to have a drink and catch up on some reading. I chose to have a Mud Slide on the rocks. I was watching the Mets/Yankees game on TV while playing Scrabble on my pad. There’s a very dangerous thing about drinks that don’t taste like “drinks.” I made the tragic error of mistaking my Mud Slides for water quenching my thirst. It’s nice getting all your drinks free in Diamond Lounges, but it can be a curse as well, as I thought nothing of ordering another, and then another. Keep in mind I am not a drinker and what most would refer to as a light-weight. Three mudslides within 30 minutes was a very stupid thing to do. You see, a mudslide consists of three…yes three…shots of liquor. And they pour their shots liberally here. So within just thirty minutes, I drank nine shots of alcohol. Stupid…stupid…stupid.
At this point after realizing I can no longer feel the skin on my face, I know I’m in trouble. It’s at this time, an elderly lady at the next table comes up to me and asks me about my ipad2 wanting to know how much they are, if I like mine, if it would be a good gift for her grandchild. Now I’m very aware of my condition and like many drunks, I try to act like I’m not. I think I’m giving a good performance and sounding lucid and clear, but as I write this report the next morning, I can’t say as I know how it all came about. I do remember trying to walk properly back to my room. People who are control freaks (me) should never drink more than one per hour as we don’t like being out of control. When I got up this morning and found a mustard stain on my shorts that I have no idea how it got there—that’s out of control. Lesson learned.
I was back in my room around four in the afternoon and I got up this morning at six—geez!
Trip Totals: Casinos visited: 52; Bets Balance: minus $14
More tomorrow.
