My Farewell Year – Chapter 4
It’s already April, so this means that I now have just less than one year left as a 7 Stars cardholder. The plan for the my final year was to take every possible advantage of tournament offers available, grab that free play, any winnings, the free rooms, and the food and in return, give the nothing of my own…for the entire year. Like many of my long term plans, I’ve found that I need to tweak them a little along the way as circumstances change. For me, the biggest change was that I accepted an offer for a part time job as one of two assistant managers of my mobile home park, which requires me to be home every other week. I can trade with the other managers the weeks when really necessary, but this means I will miss many of the opportunities that come my way. That’s okay. It seems I can still get here in Laughlin or Las Vegas at least once a month.
This brings me to today as I sit in my room at Harrah’s in Laughlin. I received a mailer for a video poker tournament in Las Vegas along with a room at Ballys over the weekend. However, because I don’t like the five hour drive each way for just three nights, I also accepted an offer from Laughlin for three nights previous to the tournament. This offer comes with $30 free play each of the three days—not life changing—but as it includes rooms, it’s all good. So, I booked the six night trip. No much later I get a call from my friend Terry (LVA’s dorianmac), who is recently retired and found a great round trip air fare to Vegas for $86 from Denver. I told him I could drive from Laughlin to the airport to pick him up and also book him at the Laughlin Tropicana for three nights, which he gladly accepted.
Tuesday
I arrived in Laughlin at 9 AM (too early to check in) and went to the theater at the shopping mall to see INSURGENT. It was okay, lots of fighting and special effects. I then checked into the Tropicana (this offer I used last month but was told that as long as there was a week in between each stay, I could use it as often as I liked throughout the three month offer). After getting the keys, I headed over to Harrah’s to check myself in and was given a suite in the South Tower. I went to unpack my things and was surprised to see that not only was there a welcoming bag already in the room, but here was also a pack of cookies left on the bed as they usually leave at turndown service. It was only 1:30 in the afternoon, so I thought it might have been left for the previous person who stayed in the room (the welcome bag is the type usually for Diamond members as 7 Stars gets a larger basket of goodies). So, I wanted to test to see if I was right and put the bag and the cookies in a drawer to see if I got another one later.
After unpacking and setting up my laptop, I headed for Las Vegas. The 85 minute drive was a breeze and I stopped at the Costco in Henderson to fill up ($2.55 per) and then had a couple hours to kill before Terry’s plane arrived so I went over to Sunset Station and played some penny games. I had a couple of nice hits on some and lost on others, but after two hours of playing managed a $40 win. I picked up Terry and it was back to Laughlin. We had dinner at the Tropicana café and caught up on things and finally I headed back to Harrahs. When I came into the room (about 9:45 PM), sure enough; there was a welcome basket on the bar top and a package of brownies on the bed from turndown service (is it any wonder I’ve put on so much weight since becoming Seven Stars?).
Wednesday
Every month I receive in the mail a packet from Harrah’s Laughlin with coupons good each week throughout the month. I received, and used, March’s coupons, and I had already received May’s; however, I never got a mailer for April. So, this morning I went to the promotions desk to see if they could print them out for me. When I was in line waiting in the VIP promotions area, I noticed a sign that read, “As of July 2014, we can no longer reprint lost or missing coupons.” Damn! Then, I looked a little closer and in small print said, “We will reprint for each member one time only.” I asked the boothling to see if I had an offer for April and if so, to please print new one’s up. She did and gave me $100 free play and a $40 food comp. Sweet! This now gives me yesterday’s $30 and today’s $30 freeplay along with the hundred so I now have $160 to use later.
Bullhead, AZ, directly across the river from Laughlin
Terry was happy to come to Laughlin because he wanted to check out some locations in Bullhead, AZ (across the river from Laughlin) as a possible place to stay during the winter months. We checked out a mobile home park where we gathered some sales literature (single and double mobile homes were priced from $19K to 59K). We then went to an RV park, called the River View Resort where we spoke with an owner and checked out some RVs that were converted to be more-like permanent called park models. We found that the rents for snowbirds were high and the cost to buy, though reasonable didn’t make a lot of sense for just a few months per year. But it was an enjoyable day just walking all over the parks. The weather is all but perfect.
This is the outside of the Park Model we looked at. The owner wanted $995 per month (it took all our effort for Terry and me to not bust-out laughing when she said this)
The kitchen, though small at least seemed fairly functional
We drove to the AVI casino to have some lunch and play a little. The food in the café here is good and after picking up some slot cards played some 8/5 Bonus. The casino is undertaking some remodeling as the middle was roped off because they were installing all new carpeting. For a Wednesday afternoon, the place was surprisingly busy and now very cramped with all the machines pushed together (why aren’t they doing this in the early morning?)
We headed back to Laughlin and made a stop at The River Lodge (previously River Palms) that is owned by Dotty’s. Terry hasn’t been to Laughlin in almost 20 years, so I expect to check out all the hotels during this trip. They’re finally getting to painting the outside of this old property and the casino itself is really nice. It’s only a slot house, no table games. We couldn’t find any video poker that was playable but did come across a game called USA poker (also known as All American) which pays 8 to 1 for all straights, flushes, and full houses. It’s a game that was popular in Atlantic City and you don’t see it here. This was almost a full pay game with the exception of the quads that were only worth 125 instead of 200. I do have the game on my Win Poker app on my phone. The strategy for this game is near impossible to memorize so for a lark, Terry played and I sat next to him with my phone as we figured out how to play each hand. Then we traded places. We had a really good time figuring out and playing this game.
The once River Palms now the River Lodge has begun painting the outside of the building
We drove to Harrah’s where I showed Terry my suite and then headed down to the casino to pick up my free play and sat down at a couple of triple play machines. I stuck to 7/5 Bonus and Terry played Ugly Deuces. I caught some quads and did well playing all my free play and cashing out just over $200. Terry, however, hit the wall and took a bit of hit to his bankroll as the elusive deuces just wouldn’t appear.
We had dinner at Guy Fieri’s Mexican restaurant and split a couple of Fajitas. The food and service was excellent. I was able to use my $40 food comp, which covered the entire meal. I drove Terry back to the Tropicana and we called it a night.
Guy Fieri’s new joint in Harrahs located next to the café.
The Tropicana Laughlin…looking like it could use a fresh coat of paint
Thursday
This is the final day in Laughlin and I drove over to Tropicana where I met Terry. The plan for today was to visit all the rest of the casinos in Laughlin. We walked across the street to the Aquarius to enjoy breakfast. I had an omelet and Terry had a bowl of oatmeal. Both dishes were good. It’s sad to say that all the Ultimate Poker bank of full pay machines has been removed. It was funny asking different floor personnel about the bank as some said they were removed and others pointed us to directions where they didn’t exist. We picked up some slot cards and played some 9/6 Jacks that we found in a bank of Game Kings across from the slot club adjacent to the sportsbook.
The Aquarius Hotel and Casino in Laughlin
We took the River Walk (another Chamber of Commerce day) to the tiny Regency where we were just going to walk through but found a machine that also had a USA poker game on it, so we sat down and played some more. We talked about using my app on the phone for the proper strategy is technically illegal in casinos, but I’ve been using it now for the past couple of years and have never been approached. It really is no different than using strategy cards, but the rules state no electronic assistance. We broke even but were getting better at not having to look up every hand.
The tiny Regency Casino in Laughlin
We walked down to the next in line, which is the Edgewater. We didn’t play here but checked out the new sportsbook before heading to the Colorado Belle. I showed Terry the poker room and though it was past noon, there was only one table active and they were playing a tournament. The wait list for 2/4 only had two people on it. We moved on to the Pioneer next. This is really a motel casino and is very old school. Terry really liked the vibe here. We picked up some cards and sat at the bar, which faces the Colorado River and played some 8/5 Bonus (all quads played 150—but the best game to be found here) and had a couple of beers. I had a good run of cards and cashed out a fifty dollar profit. Terry had it a little tougher (he never seems to win when sitting next to me—I’m beginning to get a complex).
The Edgewater Hotel and Casino
The Colorado Belle Hotel and Casino in Laughlin being spruced up
The Pioneer Motel and Casino…in desperate need of a new coat of paint
Next in line is the Golden Nugget. This is a really nice casino, but they have so many machines in the casino, that it seems cramped. We sat at their bar facing the river and had another beer and played some more poker (7/5 Bonus was the best they have here). It was a day of walking and playing along the way, but we were tired so went back to the Tropicana where I left Terry and went back to Harrahs to rest for a couple hours.
The Golden Nugget Laughlin—has just been re-painted and looking good
Just before 5 PM, I picked Terry up and we drove over to the Riverside where we were going to have dinner in the Prime Rib room. I had enough comps built up to pay for the meal and we enjoyed prime rib. Terry gave an extra thumbs-up to the scallop potatoes. It was a good meal (though the cost went up $3 to $15.95). Terry and I played some double-double bonus but after losing $50, I moved over to the Quick Quads and Terry stayed with the DDB. I was dealt quick quads on one hand and had recovered my $100 investment, but unfortunately kept playing until all that was gone. I walked back and Terry was still hanging in there. Of course, as soon as I sat down to watch he went on a losing streak and eventually cashed out. I drove him back to the Tropicana and I went back to Harrahs. I watched TAKEN 3 in my room before calling it a night.
The Riverside Hotel and Casino—the Grand daddy of Laughlin and easily the most popular among the retired set
Friday
It’s moving day as we head to Las Vegas for the final three days in Nevada. I picked up Terry at 10 AM and before leaving, he wanted to back to the River View Resort as there was one more park model he wanted to check out. The owner wasn’t there, but it did look better than the one we saw yesterday. We then looked (and couldn’t find) a condo complex and finally headed for Las Vegas. We arrived around noon, which was too early to check in to either of our hotels, so stopped at another RV park next to Sam’s Town as there was one park model for rent there. Again, these things are just so small and compact, that I just couldn’t see living there for months when you could just as easily stay in a condo or mobile home—but that’s just me.
As we drove into Las Vegas, I made a small detour on Horizon Ave to show Terry a small neighbor casino called the Fortune Club. It’s located east of Boulder Highway and I was curious to see if an old game I used to play called Ace Invaders was still available there. This is a really nice little locals’ casino with plenty of machines and a small snack bar and poker room. The same two Ace Invaders were there but someone was playing one. We did find a couple of Optimum machines for nickels/dimes/quarters which had NSUD and 10/6 DDB. We sat and played for a while playing dimes. It was a nice diversion after the long drive. We walked around and I came across a new Lord of Rings machine. This is the same design as the Mad Men games. I put in a twenty to check it out and hit a couple of fast bonuses.
The new Lord of Rings machine at the Fortune Club
Club Fortune located in the eastern part of Henderson on Racetrack Dr.
We drove downtown where Freemont St. was closed for a huge beer festival this weekend, so after taking a few detours, I waited in the car as Terry checked into the 4 Queens, his home for the next three nights. Then it was to Bally’s where I’m staying. We parked in valet and they gave me a room in the Jubilee Tower facing the Paris and east end of the Strip. The room was fine though once again, I was warned I needed to be aware of the music from the nightclub at the Paris across the way. It peeves me that not only do they have the music WAY too loud but that Caesar’s simply doesn’t care that it inconveniences all of their paying hotel patrons in both the Paris and Bally’s of having blasting music from 10PM to 4AM during the weekends.
My room at Bally’s
My view from the room this time around
After unpacking at Bally’s, Terry and I headed over to Planet Hollywood (PH) where I was to register for the video poker tournament. This is a three session tournament with the first at 10 AM Saturday, then at 2 PM the same day (they wouldn’t want their players the chance to get away) and then again on Sunday at 10 AM with the prizes allotted at 7PM Sunday night. After getting registered with my times and machine numbers we walked across the way to the PH Diamond Lounge and had a couple of relaxing drinks while watching the Masters Golf Tournament of TV. Though they were about to serve the hot food, we decided to wait for dinner.
This new restaurant has replaced the Sugar Factory (?) in front of the Paris…more eats with a fountain view
The shopping district in front of the Bally’s is finally open with about 70% of the stores doing business and the rest still getting set up. After watching (and taking pictures) of the construction of premium Strip property since the beginning, I was anxious to see what they finally came up with. I was really surprised to find that the majority of the stores are teeny-tiny (even smaller than the Container Park shops). However, in an odd way, it looked pretty economically efficient. There seemed to be just enough product and room for one salesman and a couple customers at a time. I’d be curious how much the rent is for these shops considering their size and location.
This is one of four rows of small shops at the shopping Bazaar at Bally’s.
Though there are some double sized stores, the majority of them are this size.
We picked up the car from valet and headed back to Downtown via the Strip. We both remarked at the sprouting up of so many drug stores on the main Strip. It seems there’s a CVS, Walgreens, or Right-Aid drug store every two blocks or so. Even the corner where the Holy Cow casino across from the SLS used to be, there is a huge Walgreens under construction. Terry remarked it could be a good thing as there is finally going to be a convenient place to pick up small necessities and snacks that the hotel gifts shops have been gouging customers for years.
We parked at the Freemont and put Terry’s bags in his room at the 4 Queens. He requested a room as far from the Freemont noise as possible and they gave him one in a good location. Though the room is small, they’ve remodeled some and it actually looks just fine. It’s clean with decent furniture and a flat screen TV.
It’s Friday and the all the casinos are filling up and the Freemont Street crazies are all out in force. We decided to have dinner at our favorite pizza place, the Chicago Brewing Co. on the second floor of the 4 Queens. We sat at the bar and played video poker while watching baseball highlights on TV, eating delicious pizza and downing some fine brews. This is how vacations should be. After eating and playing (I won a little, Terry lost a little), I was feeling tired and said my goodbyes. Terry agreed to take the bus tomorrow morning and meet me at Bally’s in the morning. We’ll go have breakfast and then on to the tournament. I watched a little TV and to bed early as I knew I’d likely be woken up to the music later.
Saturday
I got up at 5:30 and though I did wake up a couple of times thanks to the music across the way, it wasn’t as bad as when I stayed at the Paris. I could hear it, but it really wasn’t much louder than the usual Friday nights Strip traffic noise.
Terry came to the room (he took the bus) at 8:30 AM and we went down to the buffet at the Paris for breakfast. Interestingly, there was a line in the Diamond cashier but the regular line had absolutely no one there. So, I used my comps and we had a nice early meal. The
atmosphere in the buffet at the Paris is about the best in Vegas. I had some time before I needed to be at the VP tournament and thought I’d put some points on my card so as to not hurt my host. We sat down at the usual 3-play quarter machines and played 7/5 Bonus. I did quite well at first catching a couple quads and after about ten minutes hit my first full house. I was taken aback because I noticed it only paid 30 coins I checked the schedule and it turns out they’ve lowered all the games to 6/5 on the Bonus schedule. I immediately cashed out with a little profit and we headed over to Planet Hollywood.
We checked all the video poker at PH, and they, too, had lowered all their pay schedules. Come on! I went up for my first of three sessions, which was ten minutes. It was a bad session as not only did I not hit any quads, I was only dealt three of a kind once. I ended up with 885 points, too low. However, with video poker tournaments, it only takes one Royal to make it into the money, or at least a few quads.
After the session, Terry and I walked over to the Cosmopolitan as he had read on VP Free that there were two 100-play machines that had 8/5 Bonus poker for dimes (interestingly, only dimes). We got some slot cards and each of us played the game, but we were being stymied by crappy dealt hands. We played 10 hands at a time ($5 per hand) and couldn’t catch a thing. Between us, we were dealt 7 three-of-a-kinds and none of them converted to the quad. It was a rough session with both of us losing a hundred. Conspiracy theories abound, but it was probably just a bad session.
We took the walk from the Cosmo to the Bellagio where they have a new spring display in their atrium. It was beautiful and smelled amazing.
This year’s spring display at the Bellagio atrium
It was close to noon, so we walked over to Caesars to hit the Diamond Lounge, which opened at noon. We each had a drink at the bar and some small snacks and hung out there for an hour before heading back to Bally’s and finally to on to PH for my second session at 2 PM. For the second session in a row—not one quad or higher. We came back to Bally’s and picked up my car as I wanted to make a quick stop at the Silverton because I thought I might as well play my monthly free play plus Terry hadn’t seen it since a lot of their remodeling had been done.
April is one of the best months to visit Las Vegas. The temperature is 75 and it’s a beautiful day
Another pic of how gorgeous a day it was looking towards the Paris from the Bellagio
After arriving at the Silverton, the first stop was the high limit area where there were two multi-play machines that both have 8/5 Bonus; however, some guy was playing the hundred play at the dime level ($50 per hand—wow) and so we headed over to the bar where I knew of two bar tops that also had 8/5 Bonus. Both seats were empty, so we sat down, ordered a drink and began to play. So far this trip I had been up a little bit and Terry had been hitting some bad streaks and was down a good amount. After about 10 minutes of play, Terry held two high diamonds and Halleluiah, the other three popped up for a Royal Flush. There were high fives all around. On the flip side of the coin, aside from one quad, I was sinking fast and after almost an hour of play, my hundred was gone. Terry cashed out after hitting a few more good hands and we swiped our cards through the kiosk. I won $10 free play and Terry won $15. By the way, it turned out my monthly free play was removed but it’s a good thing we came as this now puts Terry up for the entire trip.
Terry’s much needed hit at the Silverton
We drove downtown. I had to park at the 4 Queens, which only allowed me to because Terry was a hotel guest. All the parking downtown is full due to the street beer festival taking place. We walked around the zoo known as the Freemont Street Experience. There were the usual costumed panhandlers, but most alarming to both of us was increase of almost nude girls (g-strings and pasties) and a couple of groups of really old, fat-bellied men wearing only g-strings walking around asking tips for pictures. I’m not an old prude by any stretch, but this place is full of families with small kids, and this just ain’t right.
It was a tad too early for dinner, so we took a walk down Fremont to the El Cortez to play some blackjack. We sat at one table and I was in the 5th seat. I caught a couple bad breaks and the dealer made some cracks about messing up the table (I thought in jest but Terry felt he was being rude) so we moved to a different table. We sat at a single deck $5 table that oddly enough was still dealt out of the shoe. We played for a good hour or so going up then down again and I finally lost my $40 buy in and Terry lost a little as well.
The El Cortez downtown—still the best place to play blackjack with reasonable rules
We went to the back of Binion’s to their BBQ restaurant and bar and each enjoyed a half-rack of the BBQ ribs and lucky for me the Padres/Giants game on the TV overhead. The meal, as always, was excellent and when we finished, we walked over to the Plaza to their sportsbook to finish watching the game along with the Cubs/Rockies. We were awarded with a nice sideshow as there was an old guy at a table close to us buried in bet sheets and forms watching the Minnesota/Golden Gate basketball game. Every time the Warriors missed a shot, he yelled “Goddamit!” and each time they scored it was, “Yeah!” Then he’d bury his head back down into his forms and scribble something. You had to have been there, but it was pretty funny.
When our games were over with my Padres victors and Terry’s Rockies losers, we walked back to pick up my car. I had used my two monthly free tickets to see the new Jubilee, and had the tickets, but the show wouldn’t be over until 11:00 PM and Terry hadn’t gotten much sleep last night, and I wasn’t in the mood and tired as well, so we skipped it. We said our goodnights and I headed back to Bally’s and called it a night.
Sunday
Today is my final session at 10 AM, Before I headed to PH, I packed up all my things as in the event I don’t catch any quads again during this round, there will be no reason for me to stay until the 7 PM prize distribution and I’d like to get an early start back home. I have the room here at Ballys for one more night, but I don’t need to stay. The music from the disco last night wasn’t so bad that I didn’t get a good night’s sleep, so the drive home would be just fine.
At the tournament at PH, which is on the second floor, they set up a nice little breakfast buffet of assorted fruits and pastries with coffee and tea. I enjoyed some cut fruit before the session. The ten minutes went by and I was left with zero quads—for the third day in a row. There’s no need for me to hang around. I went back to Ballys and picked up my things, took my car out of valet and headed downtown where I was going to meet Terry at the 4 Queens.
We sat down at the full pay pick ‘em machines in the Fremont and each put in a hundred. I’ve had reasonably good luck on these over the years. Things started out well, but eventually, the quads just didn’t come (seems to be my theme this trip) and I lost. Terry, however, managed quite a few full houses and lost only $10. Because my tournament times were 10 AM, I wasn’t able to play in any of Sam’s Town poker tournaments, which I wanted to introduce Terry. We decided drive out to South Point to play some 2/4 hold ‘em. Terry had played live poker in a while and he read up on it on the flight into Vegas.
When we arrived at the South Point, the poker room had only one available seat, so we decided to have lunch in the café instead. I had $31 in comps from the poker room, so we enjoyed a couple of ham and cheese sandwiches using up the comps. South Point is busy every day of the week. This local’s casino gives decent comps and promotions and has full pay video poker schedules on many of their machines. The poker room now had a long waiting list so we decided to just play video poker. In reverse of yesterday, I had some decent hits on 9/6 Poker Deluxe and Terry couldn’t catch anything. He switched to NSUD and couldn’t hit a thing there as well. I end up ahead a hundred and he was down two. I slid my slot card at the kiosk to see if there were any promotions, and I spun a wheel that gave me $50 in free play. Terry did the same and won $25. I also had $10 more in free play from a mailer. We sat back down and ran it through the machine. I walked away with $50 cash and Terry $30…love that free play! Earlier in the morning, Terry had run $80 free play from the 4 Queens and profited $200.
We drove back downtown where I dropped Terry off and said our goodbyes as I was going to head on home. His flight was early tomorrow and he was fine taking a bus to the airport. Driving from Las Vegas to San Diego on a Sunday afternoon was not a smart idea on my part. Yes, I was expecting some slower traffic, but when it took my almost 45 minutes to get 15 miles, I’d had enough and pulled into the Primm Resort and hung out there for a couple of hours hoping the traffic would ease up. It did and managed to pull into my driveway at 11PM.
Overall, I only lost a couple hundred for the entire trip; whereas, Terry with his Royal and some last minute nice hits (including $300 in wins at the airport—he texted me) went home with a sweet little score. Next up is the first week of June when I return to both Laughlin and Vegas. I am still crossing my fingers that sometime this year, I will win a tournament. I’m forever hopeful.
More later…
It’s already April, so this means that I now have just less than one year left as a 7 Stars cardholder. The plan for the my final year was to take every possible advantage of tournament offers available, grab that free play, any winnings, the free rooms, and the food and in return, give the nothing of my own…for the entire year. Like many of my long term plans, I’ve found that I need to tweak them a little along the way as circumstances change. For me, the biggest change was that I accepted an offer for a part time job as one of two assistant managers of my mobile home park, which requires me to be home every other week. I can trade with the other managers the weeks when really necessary, but this means I will miss many of the opportunities that come my way. That’s okay. It seems I can still get here in Laughlin or Las Vegas at least once a month.
This brings me to today as I sit in my room at Harrah’s in Laughlin. I received a mailer for a video poker tournament in Las Vegas along with a room at Ballys over the weekend. However, because I don’t like the five hour drive each way for just three nights, I also accepted an offer from Laughlin for three nights previous to the tournament. This offer comes with $30 free play each of the three days—not life changing—but as it includes rooms, it’s all good. So, I booked the six night trip. No much later I get a call from my friend Terry (LVA’s dorianmac), who is recently retired and found a great round trip air fare to Vegas for $86 from Denver. I told him I could drive from Laughlin to the airport to pick him up and also book him at the Laughlin Tropicana for three nights, which he gladly accepted.
Tuesday
I arrived in Laughlin at 9 AM (too early to check in) and went to the theater at the shopping mall to see INSURGENT. It was okay, lots of fighting and special effects. I then checked into the Tropicana (this offer I used last month but was told that as long as there was a week in between each stay, I could use it as often as I liked throughout the three month offer). After getting the keys, I headed over to Harrah’s to check myself in and was given a suite in the South Tower. I went to unpack my things and was surprised to see that not only was there a welcoming bag already in the room, but here was also a pack of cookies left on the bed as they usually leave at turndown service. It was only 1:30 in the afternoon, so I thought it might have been left for the previous person who stayed in the room (the welcome bag is the type usually for Diamond members as 7 Stars gets a larger basket of goodies). So, I wanted to test to see if I was right and put the bag and the cookies in a drawer to see if I got another one later.
After unpacking and setting up my laptop, I headed for Las Vegas. The 85 minute drive was a breeze and I stopped at the Costco in Henderson to fill up ($2.55 per) and then had a couple hours to kill before Terry’s plane arrived so I went over to Sunset Station and played some penny games. I had a couple of nice hits on some and lost on others, but after two hours of playing managed a $40 win. I picked up Terry and it was back to Laughlin. We had dinner at the Tropicana café and caught up on things and finally I headed back to Harrahs. When I came into the room (about 9:45 PM), sure enough; there was a welcome basket on the bar top and a package of brownies on the bed from turndown service (is it any wonder I’ve put on so much weight since becoming Seven Stars?).
Wednesday
Every month I receive in the mail a packet from Harrah’s Laughlin with coupons good each week throughout the month. I received, and used, March’s coupons, and I had already received May’s; however, I never got a mailer for April. So, this morning I went to the promotions desk to see if they could print them out for me. When I was in line waiting in the VIP promotions area, I noticed a sign that read, “As of July 2014, we can no longer reprint lost or missing coupons.” Damn! Then, I looked a little closer and in small print said, “We will reprint for each member one time only.” I asked the boothling to see if I had an offer for April and if so, to please print new one’s up. She did and gave me $100 free play and a $40 food comp. Sweet! This now gives me yesterday’s $30 and today’s $30 freeplay along with the hundred so I now have $160 to use later.
Bullhead, AZ, directly across the river from Laughlin
Terry was happy to come to Laughlin because he wanted to check out some locations in Bullhead, AZ (across the river from Laughlin) as a possible place to stay during the winter months. We checked out a mobile home park where we gathered some sales literature (single and double mobile homes were priced from $19K to 59K). We then went to an RV park, called the River View Resort where we spoke with an owner and checked out some RVs that were converted to be more-like permanent called park models. We found that the rents for snowbirds were high and the cost to buy, though reasonable didn’t make a lot of sense for just a few months per year. But it was an enjoyable day just walking all over the parks. The weather is all but perfect.
This is the outside of the Park Model we looked at. The owner wanted $995 per month (it took all our effort for Terry and me to not bust-out laughing when she said this)
The kitchen, though small at least seemed fairly functional
We drove to the AVI casino to have some lunch and play a little. The food in the café here is good and after picking up some slot cards played some 8/5 Bonus. The casino is undertaking some remodeling as the middle was roped off because they were installing all new carpeting. For a Wednesday afternoon, the place was surprisingly busy and now very cramped with all the machines pushed together (why aren’t they doing this in the early morning?)
We headed back to Laughlin and made a stop at The River Lodge (previously River Palms) that is owned by Dotty’s. Terry hasn’t been to Laughlin in almost 20 years, so I expect to check out all the hotels during this trip. They’re finally getting to painting the outside of this old property and the casino itself is really nice. It’s only a slot house, no table games. We couldn’t find any video poker that was playable but did come across a game called USA poker (also known as All American) which pays 8 to 1 for all straights, flushes, and full houses. It’s a game that was popular in Atlantic City and you don’t see it here. This was almost a full pay game with the exception of the quads that were only worth 125 instead of 200. I do have the game on my Win Poker app on my phone. The strategy for this game is near impossible to memorize so for a lark, Terry played and I sat next to him with my phone as we figured out how to play each hand. Then we traded places. We had a really good time figuring out and playing this game.
The once River Palms now the River Lodge has begun painting the outside of the building
We drove to Harrah’s where I showed Terry my suite and then headed down to the casino to pick up my free play and sat down at a couple of triple play machines. I stuck to 7/5 Bonus and Terry played Ugly Deuces. I caught some quads and did well playing all my free play and cashing out just over $200. Terry, however, hit the wall and took a bit of hit to his bankroll as the elusive deuces just wouldn’t appear.
We had dinner at Guy Fieri’s Mexican restaurant and split a couple of Fajitas. The food and service was excellent. I was able to use my $40 food comp, which covered the entire meal. I drove Terry back to the Tropicana and we called it a night.
Guy Fieri’s new joint in Harrahs located next to the café.
The Tropicana Laughlin…looking like it could use a fresh coat of paint
Thursday
This is the final day in Laughlin and I drove over to Tropicana where I met Terry. The plan for today was to visit all the rest of the casinos in Laughlin. We walked across the street to the Aquarius to enjoy breakfast. I had an omelet and Terry had a bowl of oatmeal. Both dishes were good. It’s sad to say that all the Ultimate Poker bank of full pay machines has been removed. It was funny asking different floor personnel about the bank as some said they were removed and others pointed us to directions where they didn’t exist. We picked up some slot cards and played some 9/6 Jacks that we found in a bank of Game Kings across from the slot club adjacent to the sportsbook.
The Aquarius Hotel and Casino in Laughlin
We took the River Walk (another Chamber of Commerce day) to the tiny Regency where we were just going to walk through but found a machine that also had a USA poker game on it, so we sat down and played some more. We talked about using my app on the phone for the proper strategy is technically illegal in casinos, but I’ve been using it now for the past couple of years and have never been approached. It really is no different than using strategy cards, but the rules state no electronic assistance. We broke even but were getting better at not having to look up every hand.
The tiny Regency Casino in Laughlin
We walked down to the next in line, which is the Edgewater. We didn’t play here but checked out the new sportsbook before heading to the Colorado Belle. I showed Terry the poker room and though it was past noon, there was only one table active and they were playing a tournament. The wait list for 2/4 only had two people on it. We moved on to the Pioneer next. This is really a motel casino and is very old school. Terry really liked the vibe here. We picked up some cards and sat at the bar, which faces the Colorado River and played some 8/5 Bonus (all quads played 150—but the best game to be found here) and had a couple of beers. I had a good run of cards and cashed out a fifty dollar profit. Terry had it a little tougher (he never seems to win when sitting next to me—I’m beginning to get a complex).
The Edgewater Hotel and Casino
The Colorado Belle Hotel and Casino in Laughlin being spruced up
The Pioneer Motel and Casino…in desperate need of a new coat of paint
Next in line is the Golden Nugget. This is a really nice casino, but they have so many machines in the casino, that it seems cramped. We sat at their bar facing the river and had another beer and played some more poker (7/5 Bonus was the best they have here). It was a day of walking and playing along the way, but we were tired so went back to the Tropicana where I left Terry and went back to Harrahs to rest for a couple hours.
The Golden Nugget Laughlin—has just been re-painted and looking good
Just before 5 PM, I picked Terry up and we drove over to the Riverside where we were going to have dinner in the Prime Rib room. I had enough comps built up to pay for the meal and we enjoyed prime rib. Terry gave an extra thumbs-up to the scallop potatoes. It was a good meal (though the cost went up $3 to $15.95). Terry and I played some double-double bonus but after losing $50, I moved over to the Quick Quads and Terry stayed with the DDB. I was dealt quick quads on one hand and had recovered my $100 investment, but unfortunately kept playing until all that was gone. I walked back and Terry was still hanging in there. Of course, as soon as I sat down to watch he went on a losing streak and eventually cashed out. I drove him back to the Tropicana and I went back to Harrahs. I watched TAKEN 3 in my room before calling it a night.
The Riverside Hotel and Casino—the Grand daddy of Laughlin and easily the most popular among the retired set
Friday
It’s moving day as we head to Las Vegas for the final three days in Nevada. I picked up Terry at 10 AM and before leaving, he wanted to back to the River View Resort as there was one more park model he wanted to check out. The owner wasn’t there, but it did look better than the one we saw yesterday. We then looked (and couldn’t find) a condo complex and finally headed for Las Vegas. We arrived around noon, which was too early to check in to either of our hotels, so stopped at another RV park next to Sam’s Town as there was one park model for rent there. Again, these things are just so small and compact, that I just couldn’t see living there for months when you could just as easily stay in a condo or mobile home—but that’s just me.
As we drove into Las Vegas, I made a small detour on Horizon Ave to show Terry a small neighbor casino called the Fortune Club. It’s located east of Boulder Highway and I was curious to see if an old game I used to play called Ace Invaders was still available there. This is a really nice little locals’ casino with plenty of machines and a small snack bar and poker room. The same two Ace Invaders were there but someone was playing one. We did find a couple of Optimum machines for nickels/dimes/quarters which had NSUD and 10/6 DDB. We sat and played for a while playing dimes. It was a nice diversion after the long drive. We walked around and I came across a new Lord of Rings machine. This is the same design as the Mad Men games. I put in a twenty to check it out and hit a couple of fast bonuses.
The new Lord of Rings machine at the Fortune Club
Club Fortune located in the eastern part of Henderson on Racetrack Dr.
We drove downtown where Freemont St. was closed for a huge beer festival this weekend, so after taking a few detours, I waited in the car as Terry checked into the 4 Queens, his home for the next three nights. Then it was to Bally’s where I’m staying. We parked in valet and they gave me a room in the Jubilee Tower facing the Paris and east end of the Strip. The room was fine though once again, I was warned I needed to be aware of the music from the nightclub at the Paris across the way. It peeves me that not only do they have the music WAY too loud but that Caesar’s simply doesn’t care that it inconveniences all of their paying hotel patrons in both the Paris and Bally’s of having blasting music from 10PM to 4AM during the weekends.
My room at Bally’s
My view from the room this time around
After unpacking at Bally’s, Terry and I headed over to Planet Hollywood (PH) where I was to register for the video poker tournament. This is a three session tournament with the first at 10 AM Saturday, then at 2 PM the same day (they wouldn’t want their players the chance to get away) and then again on Sunday at 10 AM with the prizes allotted at 7PM Sunday night. After getting registered with my times and machine numbers we walked across the way to the PH Diamond Lounge and had a couple of relaxing drinks while watching the Masters Golf Tournament of TV. Though they were about to serve the hot food, we decided to wait for dinner.
This new restaurant has replaced the Sugar Factory (?) in front of the Paris…more eats with a fountain view
The shopping district in front of the Bally’s is finally open with about 70% of the stores doing business and the rest still getting set up. After watching (and taking pictures) of the construction of premium Strip property since the beginning, I was anxious to see what they finally came up with. I was really surprised to find that the majority of the stores are teeny-tiny (even smaller than the Container Park shops). However, in an odd way, it looked pretty economically efficient. There seemed to be just enough product and room for one salesman and a couple customers at a time. I’d be curious how much the rent is for these shops considering their size and location.
This is one of four rows of small shops at the shopping Bazaar at Bally’s.
Though there are some double sized stores, the majority of them are this size.
We picked up the car from valet and headed back to Downtown via the Strip. We both remarked at the sprouting up of so many drug stores on the main Strip. It seems there’s a CVS, Walgreens, or Right-Aid drug store every two blocks or so. Even the corner where the Holy Cow casino across from the SLS used to be, there is a huge Walgreens under construction. Terry remarked it could be a good thing as there is finally going to be a convenient place to pick up small necessities and snacks that the hotel gifts shops have been gouging customers for years.
We parked at the Freemont and put Terry’s bags in his room at the 4 Queens. He requested a room as far from the Freemont noise as possible and they gave him one in a good location. Though the room is small, they’ve remodeled some and it actually looks just fine. It’s clean with decent furniture and a flat screen TV.
It’s Friday and the all the casinos are filling up and the Freemont Street crazies are all out in force. We decided to have dinner at our favorite pizza place, the Chicago Brewing Co. on the second floor of the 4 Queens. We sat at the bar and played video poker while watching baseball highlights on TV, eating delicious pizza and downing some fine brews. This is how vacations should be. After eating and playing (I won a little, Terry lost a little), I was feeling tired and said my goodbyes. Terry agreed to take the bus tomorrow morning and meet me at Bally’s in the morning. We’ll go have breakfast and then on to the tournament. I watched a little TV and to bed early as I knew I’d likely be woken up to the music later.
Saturday
I got up at 5:30 and though I did wake up a couple of times thanks to the music across the way, it wasn’t as bad as when I stayed at the Paris. I could hear it, but it really wasn’t much louder than the usual Friday nights Strip traffic noise.
Terry came to the room (he took the bus) at 8:30 AM and we went down to the buffet at the Paris for breakfast. Interestingly, there was a line in the Diamond cashier but the regular line had absolutely no one there. So, I used my comps and we had a nice early meal. The
atmosphere in the buffet at the Paris is about the best in Vegas. I had some time before I needed to be at the VP tournament and thought I’d put some points on my card so as to not hurt my host. We sat down at the usual 3-play quarter machines and played 7/5 Bonus. I did quite well at first catching a couple quads and after about ten minutes hit my first full house. I was taken aback because I noticed it only paid 30 coins I checked the schedule and it turns out they’ve lowered all the games to 6/5 on the Bonus schedule. I immediately cashed out with a little profit and we headed over to Planet Hollywood.
We checked all the video poker at PH, and they, too, had lowered all their pay schedules. Come on! I went up for my first of three sessions, which was ten minutes. It was a bad session as not only did I not hit any quads, I was only dealt three of a kind once. I ended up with 885 points, too low. However, with video poker tournaments, it only takes one Royal to make it into the money, or at least a few quads.
After the session, Terry and I walked over to the Cosmopolitan as he had read on VP Free that there were two 100-play machines that had 8/5 Bonus poker for dimes (interestingly, only dimes). We got some slot cards and each of us played the game, but we were being stymied by crappy dealt hands. We played 10 hands at a time ($5 per hand) and couldn’t catch a thing. Between us, we were dealt 7 three-of-a-kinds and none of them converted to the quad. It was a rough session with both of us losing a hundred. Conspiracy theories abound, but it was probably just a bad session.
We took the walk from the Cosmo to the Bellagio where they have a new spring display in their atrium. It was beautiful and smelled amazing.
This year’s spring display at the Bellagio atrium
It was close to noon, so we walked over to Caesars to hit the Diamond Lounge, which opened at noon. We each had a drink at the bar and some small snacks and hung out there for an hour before heading back to Bally’s and finally to on to PH for my second session at 2 PM. For the second session in a row—not one quad or higher. We came back to Bally’s and picked up my car as I wanted to make a quick stop at the Silverton because I thought I might as well play my monthly free play plus Terry hadn’t seen it since a lot of their remodeling had been done.
April is one of the best months to visit Las Vegas. The temperature is 75 and it’s a beautiful day
Another pic of how gorgeous a day it was looking towards the Paris from the Bellagio
After arriving at the Silverton, the first stop was the high limit area where there were two multi-play machines that both have 8/5 Bonus; however, some guy was playing the hundred play at the dime level ($50 per hand—wow) and so we headed over to the bar where I knew of two bar tops that also had 8/5 Bonus. Both seats were empty, so we sat down, ordered a drink and began to play. So far this trip I had been up a little bit and Terry had been hitting some bad streaks and was down a good amount. After about 10 minutes of play, Terry held two high diamonds and Halleluiah, the other three popped up for a Royal Flush. There were high fives all around. On the flip side of the coin, aside from one quad, I was sinking fast and after almost an hour of play, my hundred was gone. Terry cashed out after hitting a few more good hands and we swiped our cards through the kiosk. I won $10 free play and Terry won $15. By the way, it turned out my monthly free play was removed but it’s a good thing we came as this now puts Terry up for the entire trip.
Terry’s much needed hit at the Silverton
We drove downtown. I had to park at the 4 Queens, which only allowed me to because Terry was a hotel guest. All the parking downtown is full due to the street beer festival taking place. We walked around the zoo known as the Freemont Street Experience. There were the usual costumed panhandlers, but most alarming to both of us was increase of almost nude girls (g-strings and pasties) and a couple of groups of really old, fat-bellied men wearing only g-strings walking around asking tips for pictures. I’m not an old prude by any stretch, but this place is full of families with small kids, and this just ain’t right.
It was a tad too early for dinner, so we took a walk down Fremont to the El Cortez to play some blackjack. We sat at one table and I was in the 5th seat. I caught a couple bad breaks and the dealer made some cracks about messing up the table (I thought in jest but Terry felt he was being rude) so we moved to a different table. We sat at a single deck $5 table that oddly enough was still dealt out of the shoe. We played for a good hour or so going up then down again and I finally lost my $40 buy in and Terry lost a little as well.
The El Cortez downtown—still the best place to play blackjack with reasonable rules
We went to the back of Binion’s to their BBQ restaurant and bar and each enjoyed a half-rack of the BBQ ribs and lucky for me the Padres/Giants game on the TV overhead. The meal, as always, was excellent and when we finished, we walked over to the Plaza to their sportsbook to finish watching the game along with the Cubs/Rockies. We were awarded with a nice sideshow as there was an old guy at a table close to us buried in bet sheets and forms watching the Minnesota/Golden Gate basketball game. Every time the Warriors missed a shot, he yelled “Goddamit!” and each time they scored it was, “Yeah!” Then he’d bury his head back down into his forms and scribble something. You had to have been there, but it was pretty funny.
When our games were over with my Padres victors and Terry’s Rockies losers, we walked back to pick up my car. I had used my two monthly free tickets to see the new Jubilee, and had the tickets, but the show wouldn’t be over until 11:00 PM and Terry hadn’t gotten much sleep last night, and I wasn’t in the mood and tired as well, so we skipped it. We said our goodnights and I headed back to Bally’s and called it a night.
Sunday
Today is my final session at 10 AM, Before I headed to PH, I packed up all my things as in the event I don’t catch any quads again during this round, there will be no reason for me to stay until the 7 PM prize distribution and I’d like to get an early start back home. I have the room here at Ballys for one more night, but I don’t need to stay. The music from the disco last night wasn’t so bad that I didn’t get a good night’s sleep, so the drive home would be just fine.
At the tournament at PH, which is on the second floor, they set up a nice little breakfast buffet of assorted fruits and pastries with coffee and tea. I enjoyed some cut fruit before the session. The ten minutes went by and I was left with zero quads—for the third day in a row. There’s no need for me to hang around. I went back to Ballys and picked up my things, took my car out of valet and headed downtown where I was going to meet Terry at the 4 Queens.
We sat down at the full pay pick ‘em machines in the Fremont and each put in a hundred. I’ve had reasonably good luck on these over the years. Things started out well, but eventually, the quads just didn’t come (seems to be my theme this trip) and I lost. Terry, however, managed quite a few full houses and lost only $10. Because my tournament times were 10 AM, I wasn’t able to play in any of Sam’s Town poker tournaments, which I wanted to introduce Terry. We decided drive out to South Point to play some 2/4 hold ‘em. Terry had played live poker in a while and he read up on it on the flight into Vegas.
When we arrived at the South Point, the poker room had only one available seat, so we decided to have lunch in the café instead. I had $31 in comps from the poker room, so we enjoyed a couple of ham and cheese sandwiches using up the comps. South Point is busy every day of the week. This local’s casino gives decent comps and promotions and has full pay video poker schedules on many of their machines. The poker room now had a long waiting list so we decided to just play video poker. In reverse of yesterday, I had some decent hits on 9/6 Poker Deluxe and Terry couldn’t catch anything. He switched to NSUD and couldn’t hit a thing there as well. I end up ahead a hundred and he was down two. I slid my slot card at the kiosk to see if there were any promotions, and I spun a wheel that gave me $50 in free play. Terry did the same and won $25. I also had $10 more in free play from a mailer. We sat back down and ran it through the machine. I walked away with $50 cash and Terry $30…love that free play! Earlier in the morning, Terry had run $80 free play from the 4 Queens and profited $200.
We drove back downtown where I dropped Terry off and said our goodbyes as I was going to head on home. His flight was early tomorrow and he was fine taking a bus to the airport. Driving from Las Vegas to San Diego on a Sunday afternoon was not a smart idea on my part. Yes, I was expecting some slower traffic, but when it took my almost 45 minutes to get 15 miles, I’d had enough and pulled into the Primm Resort and hung out there for a couple of hours hoping the traffic would ease up. It did and managed to pull into my driveway at 11PM.
Overall, I only lost a couple hundred for the entire trip; whereas, Terry with his Royal and some last minute nice hits (including $300 in wins at the airport—he texted me) went home with a sweet little score. Next up is the first week of June when I return to both Laughlin and Vegas. I am still crossing my fingers that sometime this year, I will win a tournament. I’m forever hopeful.
More later…
