Spring Break 2011 (part 1)
This trip report is going to be somewhat fragmented and disjointed, but it’s been and going to be an unusual two week trip. This sojourn will consist of three days in Denver, including two at the Black Hawk and Central City casinos.
Then there will be two nights at the Silverton, three nights at Harrahs in Laughlin, two nights at the Orleans, and the final two nights at Harrahs, Rincon. All this time I’ll be keeping close to the phone with my dad as my mom is in the hospital with a kidney infection, but insisted that I keep my plans.
I will also use this opportunity to answer those of you who have been asking about this year’s summer plans and the end of today’s report.
As those of you who follow these reports, you know that I love to include pictures. I brought along my Canon camera, and took some at Black Hawk. When I sat down here (currently in my room at the Silverton), I found that my camera’s battery has died. I went to get the adapter for it (it has a special one…of course), and I left it at home. Why do I always leave something at home every trip? I did bring another one, plus I have my iphone, so though I won’t get the Black Hawk pictures in here, I’ll include others as the days wear on.
Friday, April 15
I flew into Denver on Friday night where Terry (LVA member dorianmac) met me at the airport. We slept that night at his house (he and wife Louise are doing great), took a nice brisk walk around the neighborhood in the morning and then set out for Black Hawk, CO.
Saturday, April 16
For those of you who have never visited Black Hawk, I can’t recommend it strong enough. The drive up the mountain (its elevation is over 8,000 ft) is beautiful as you follow along the path of river. The trip took a bit longer than intended when we were stopped by a police officer, seems my driver (known by the Highway Patrol as “lead-foot Terry”) had been going 52 in a 40. Fortunately, because of our nice smiles, he let us off with a warning.
We pulled into the Ameristar Hotel and Casino, which was to be our resting stop for the next couple of nights. Terry was able to get two rooms, and like last summer, my room was fantastic and my view (sorry about the lack of pictures, which I did take with the last bits of battery juice from my camera) this time was of snow covered mountains and building tops (the stuff of postcards).
Ameristar Hotel in Black Hawk (taken last trip)
We played some 8/5 BP (150 all quads) at the bar tops. I got a slot card this time because there is a promotion that offers a free buffet for only 25 points. We each easily made that. As a matter of fact we end up playing for a few hours (after reaching my 25 points, I put in Terry’s card so he could get the points). We put almost 2000 points between us, which afforded Terry the little known fact that one can get a day pass to the Star Club (their VIP lounge) for two. The line for the buffet was silly-long, so we opted for the Star Club.
I should mention that I would love to take the managers of the Las Vegas hotels by their ears and drag them to the Star Club. This is what the Diamond Lounges should be like. There was a full dinner menu including a carving station that tonight was slicing amazing prime rib. There was shrimp with cheese sauce you put in a pastry bowl, two types of soup, veggies, breads, salads: the works! The lounge itself is large with over-stuffed chairs and couches all facing wide screen TVs. Of course, all the drinks (including premiums) were free as well. We camped ourselves down, enjoyed our meal and watched the entire Colorado Rockies baseball game. We had a great night.
I’m an early night guy and was ready for bed, but Terry, who was down a few hundred wanted to play some more. We said our goodnights.
Sunday, April 17
I slept beautifully. I went down to the fitness center, which is on the 9th floor and overlooks the beautiful snow-capped mountains. I thought that being this high in elevation that my treadmill jog would be hampered, but I was pleasantly surprised at just how much energy I had.
After breakfast at the Golden Mardi Gras Casino, we played (and lost) a little. The original plan was to drive down to Denver to see a Rockies game at the stadium, but the wind was blowing, and though the weather was nice, we decided to stay and play some more. Terry, the night before had fortunately won back most of his losses from blackjack and some games. We played some more at the bar tops, and I wasn’t doing very well. I was down almost $200 and was playing with just a $1.25 left when I hit a quad—just in time. Then things began taking off and after another hour or so, I had recapped all my losses and had broken even. Time to cash out!
We had enough points to once again go into the Star Club where we enjoyed their Sunday brunch and again watched the Rockies game on TV (congratulating ourselves for choosing to stay here instead of dealing with the wind that was blowing on the fans at the game). Instead of $10 beers and $5 hot dogs, we enjoyed a free breakfast and desserts. After the game, we played a little more and then I was again done for the night (God, I’m old). Terry, once again, wanted to gamble some more so we said our goodnights.
Monday, April 18
Again, up at 7:00 AM and down to the fitness center for a jog. Terry’s trying to talk me into doing some weights or at least some push-ups to add to my routine—I’m resisting.
I headed back to my room where Terry came in and showed my his latest surprise: a W2G form for $3,000. There’s a triple play that a few months ago he was dealt a Royal for $3k, well—he was dealt another Royal for another $3k! Are you kidding me? Needless to say, the rest of Terry’s trip was going to be one with a smile.
We enjoyed a breakfast at the café in the Ameristar, which I had spinach crepes and Terry a (what else?) Denver omelet. The food was good.
We checked out of the hotel and put the bags in the car. The plan was to drive back to Terry’s house, and then off to the airport, but I thought that would be an extra hour or so and why not just stay here today, revisit the casinos we had seen last summer, and then he could just drive me directly to the airport. I really enjoy the casinos here because they’re all very small (not Ameristar, which could rival any Las Vegas property), and all have a very unique atmosphere and vibe.
We played some blackjack at one place (Bullwhackers Casino, or Canyon Casino—I don’t remember which), I hadn’t played cash blackjack in years but Terry could help me. The Blackjack rules here are great: Dealer stands on soft 17; you can double down and split as often as you want, etc. We had a new dealer (I believe it was her first day), and she was making mistakes right and left, so things went rather slowly. Terry end up losing and I end up breaking even, but we had a good time.
Canyon Casino (taken last trip)
Bullwhackers (taken last trip)
Between Black Hawk and Central City (just up the road a piece) there are about 27 casinos. We enjoyed a beer one of the oldest bars in town known as Crooks and then headed back to the car.
The drive to the airport went without a hitch. Terry bought me lunch in the airport and we said our goodbyes. I was honored with having to go through the full body scanner in security (much ado about nothing), and the flight home was fine.
Tuesday, April 19
Okay, this isn’t part of the trip report because I’m back home in Pine Valley for the day because I have an important meeting with my financial planner. You see, many of you know me enough over the years to know that I’m an English and Drama high school teacher. Well, our district, in an effort to balance the continuing shrinking budget and not wanting to force any layoffs, came up with a “golden handshake” plan to get rid of us old teachers at the top of the pay scale and hire new, young teachers at the bottom. Though I’m only 60 and have been teaching only 20 years, the offer was just too good to pass up, and I put in my retirement papers this month. I’ll be joining the legions of other baby-boomers out there looking for senior discounts and eating at the early bird specials.
Wednesday, April 20
I woke up at 3 AM, jumped into my car and drove to Las Vegas. First stop was the M Resort and Casino. Though the place was recently purchased by a different company, everything here still seems pretty much the same. I had a coupon for some swag, which was my choice between an M Resort Fleece jacket, a bottle of Barcardi Rum, a baseball, or a tote bag. I went to the desk and was told they were out of the fleece jacket and the rum. Would I like the baseball or the tote bag. WHY would I want a baseball? I took the tote bag.
I sat down at the Bonus Aces machine and lost a fast hundred (no quads at all). I played some Xtreme deuces poker—another hundred is gone. This is turning out to be a very expensive tote bag. I then tried my last hundred into a 7/5 BP Five Play Quick Quads machine. This went much better even being dealt a Quick Quad, so I end up winning most my money back. I then made the mistake of wanting to use my free buffet coupon. After standing in line for an hour (and I only got into the line because it was small), I finally sat down to eat. The M buffet continues to impress, but it’s the last time I’m going to eat here until they figure out how to move their lines a little quicker.
I then drove down to South Point. Terry had wondered why I didn’t give them more play. And quite honestly, he’s right. They have very good VP, and I’ve stayed there in the past. Their rooms are outstanding, and the people are all very nice. So, I decided to get back on their radar. I played Bonus Poker Deluxe, no quads—lost a hundred. I then played Bonus Poker and had only one set of quad 10s in over 600 hands. Ouch!
It was time to check into the Silverton. No problems with check in. They still have their outrageous “Resort Fee” of $12 per night (which I didn’t have to pay because my room is comped), which allows you to use the pool and the fitness center—big deal! Someone should sue!
I took my bags to my room and took a short nap (I never take naps, but after the long drive I needed it). I went down to get my free play--$15—big whoop. The Silverton has all the latest machines. I’ll say this for them. The slot floor is beautiful and you can find just about anything here. All the VP machines on the floor are severely short pay; however, they still have the nickel full pay bonus poker on their 100-play machines in the high limit room. I sat down and played ten games at a time for nickels ($2.50 per hand). I was holding my own when holding three to a Royal, caught it on the last line. I then played on and had my fair share of quads and full houses. I end up cashing out $300, which turned my $400 down for the day to a very manageable $100 down.
Held three caught the other two
I celebrated with a turkey club sandwich in their café (still excellent) and finally headed up for bed.
Thursday, April 21
Okay, it’s only the morning as I type this, so the day’s events will be explained tomorrow, but I did promise those of you who have followed my summer trips the past few years, what I am going to do this summer.
First of all, “summer trip” was always the standard because of my teaching schedule. I can only wonder if that is still going to be the case in the years ahead. I had put it out there on the blogs that I was looking for suggestions as to what to do this year. Some mentioned overseas trips to the casinos in China, the Bahamas, and other such destinations. That’s likely to never happen (if you knew me, you’d know why). Then one member suggested that I might consider going into every single casino in the state of Nevada.
At first I dismissed this, but the more I thought about it, the more intrigued I became. I started to do a little research and my criterion was clear: licensed full service casinos only (no taverns or slot houses). There are just over 190 of these scattered through the state of Nevada. Yes, the majority are in the three major areas of Laughlin, Las Vegas, and Reno/Tahoe; however, there are also those in Elko, Bly, and many (many) smaller towns scattered all over the state.
So, what I could I possible do that would make this at all interesting (after all, I had already reported on many of these in the past years). I thought it might be fun to go into every casino and make a $10 table bet and then keep a running total each day. Now, I understand that if I were to lose EVERY time, I would be out almost $2,000. I don’t see this happening. Sometimes I’ll do roulette, sometimes craps, sometimes Blackjack. I’ll mix it up. Of course, along with the bets, I’ll also take pics and report on all that I see.
What I still need is a catchy name. Summer of ’55 a couple of years ago, the National Casino Run last year, and others were great. So, I’m up for suggestions.
Yes, I am CRAZY to drive all over the state of Nevada in the summer and all the heat—but like Steve Martin, I’m wild and crazy guy.
More tomorrow.
This trip report is going to be somewhat fragmented and disjointed, but it’s been and going to be an unusual two week trip. This sojourn will consist of three days in Denver, including two at the Black Hawk and Central City casinos.
Then there will be two nights at the Silverton, three nights at Harrahs in Laughlin, two nights at the Orleans, and the final two nights at Harrahs, Rincon. All this time I’ll be keeping close to the phone with my dad as my mom is in the hospital with a kidney infection, but insisted that I keep my plans.
I will also use this opportunity to answer those of you who have been asking about this year’s summer plans and the end of today’s report.
As those of you who follow these reports, you know that I love to include pictures. I brought along my Canon camera, and took some at Black Hawk. When I sat down here (currently in my room at the Silverton), I found that my camera’s battery has died. I went to get the adapter for it (it has a special one…of course), and I left it at home. Why do I always leave something at home every trip? I did bring another one, plus I have my iphone, so though I won’t get the Black Hawk pictures in here, I’ll include others as the days wear on.
Friday, April 15
I flew into Denver on Friday night where Terry (LVA member dorianmac) met me at the airport. We slept that night at his house (he and wife Louise are doing great), took a nice brisk walk around the neighborhood in the morning and then set out for Black Hawk, CO.
Saturday, April 16
For those of you who have never visited Black Hawk, I can’t recommend it strong enough. The drive up the mountain (its elevation is over 8,000 ft) is beautiful as you follow along the path of river. The trip took a bit longer than intended when we were stopped by a police officer, seems my driver (known by the Highway Patrol as “lead-foot Terry”) had been going 52 in a 40. Fortunately, because of our nice smiles, he let us off with a warning.
We pulled into the Ameristar Hotel and Casino, which was to be our resting stop for the next couple of nights. Terry was able to get two rooms, and like last summer, my room was fantastic and my view (sorry about the lack of pictures, which I did take with the last bits of battery juice from my camera) this time was of snow covered mountains and building tops (the stuff of postcards).
Ameristar Hotel in Black Hawk (taken last trip)
We played some 8/5 BP (150 all quads) at the bar tops. I got a slot card this time because there is a promotion that offers a free buffet for only 25 points. We each easily made that. As a matter of fact we end up playing for a few hours (after reaching my 25 points, I put in Terry’s card so he could get the points). We put almost 2000 points between us, which afforded Terry the little known fact that one can get a day pass to the Star Club (their VIP lounge) for two. The line for the buffet was silly-long, so we opted for the Star Club.
I should mention that I would love to take the managers of the Las Vegas hotels by their ears and drag them to the Star Club. This is what the Diamond Lounges should be like. There was a full dinner menu including a carving station that tonight was slicing amazing prime rib. There was shrimp with cheese sauce you put in a pastry bowl, two types of soup, veggies, breads, salads: the works! The lounge itself is large with over-stuffed chairs and couches all facing wide screen TVs. Of course, all the drinks (including premiums) were free as well. We camped ourselves down, enjoyed our meal and watched the entire Colorado Rockies baseball game. We had a great night.
I’m an early night guy and was ready for bed, but Terry, who was down a few hundred wanted to play some more. We said our goodnights.
Sunday, April 17
I slept beautifully. I went down to the fitness center, which is on the 9th floor and overlooks the beautiful snow-capped mountains. I thought that being this high in elevation that my treadmill jog would be hampered, but I was pleasantly surprised at just how much energy I had.
After breakfast at the Golden Mardi Gras Casino, we played (and lost) a little. The original plan was to drive down to Denver to see a Rockies game at the stadium, but the wind was blowing, and though the weather was nice, we decided to stay and play some more. Terry, the night before had fortunately won back most of his losses from blackjack and some games. We played some more at the bar tops, and I wasn’t doing very well. I was down almost $200 and was playing with just a $1.25 left when I hit a quad—just in time. Then things began taking off and after another hour or so, I had recapped all my losses and had broken even. Time to cash out!
We had enough points to once again go into the Star Club where we enjoyed their Sunday brunch and again watched the Rockies game on TV (congratulating ourselves for choosing to stay here instead of dealing with the wind that was blowing on the fans at the game). Instead of $10 beers and $5 hot dogs, we enjoyed a free breakfast and desserts. After the game, we played a little more and then I was again done for the night (God, I’m old). Terry, once again, wanted to gamble some more so we said our goodnights.
Monday, April 18
Again, up at 7:00 AM and down to the fitness center for a jog. Terry’s trying to talk me into doing some weights or at least some push-ups to add to my routine—I’m resisting.
I headed back to my room where Terry came in and showed my his latest surprise: a W2G form for $3,000. There’s a triple play that a few months ago he was dealt a Royal for $3k, well—he was dealt another Royal for another $3k! Are you kidding me? Needless to say, the rest of Terry’s trip was going to be one with a smile.
We enjoyed a breakfast at the café in the Ameristar, which I had spinach crepes and Terry a (what else?) Denver omelet. The food was good.
We checked out of the hotel and put the bags in the car. The plan was to drive back to Terry’s house, and then off to the airport, but I thought that would be an extra hour or so and why not just stay here today, revisit the casinos we had seen last summer, and then he could just drive me directly to the airport. I really enjoy the casinos here because they’re all very small (not Ameristar, which could rival any Las Vegas property), and all have a very unique atmosphere and vibe.
We played some blackjack at one place (Bullwhackers Casino, or Canyon Casino—I don’t remember which), I hadn’t played cash blackjack in years but Terry could help me. The Blackjack rules here are great: Dealer stands on soft 17; you can double down and split as often as you want, etc. We had a new dealer (I believe it was her first day), and she was making mistakes right and left, so things went rather slowly. Terry end up losing and I end up breaking even, but we had a good time.
Canyon Casino (taken last trip)
Bullwhackers (taken last trip)
Between Black Hawk and Central City (just up the road a piece) there are about 27 casinos. We enjoyed a beer one of the oldest bars in town known as Crooks and then headed back to the car.
The drive to the airport went without a hitch. Terry bought me lunch in the airport and we said our goodbyes. I was honored with having to go through the full body scanner in security (much ado about nothing), and the flight home was fine.
Tuesday, April 19
Okay, this isn’t part of the trip report because I’m back home in Pine Valley for the day because I have an important meeting with my financial planner. You see, many of you know me enough over the years to know that I’m an English and Drama high school teacher. Well, our district, in an effort to balance the continuing shrinking budget and not wanting to force any layoffs, came up with a “golden handshake” plan to get rid of us old teachers at the top of the pay scale and hire new, young teachers at the bottom. Though I’m only 60 and have been teaching only 20 years, the offer was just too good to pass up, and I put in my retirement papers this month. I’ll be joining the legions of other baby-boomers out there looking for senior discounts and eating at the early bird specials.
Wednesday, April 20
I woke up at 3 AM, jumped into my car and drove to Las Vegas. First stop was the M Resort and Casino. Though the place was recently purchased by a different company, everything here still seems pretty much the same. I had a coupon for some swag, which was my choice between an M Resort Fleece jacket, a bottle of Barcardi Rum, a baseball, or a tote bag. I went to the desk and was told they were out of the fleece jacket and the rum. Would I like the baseball or the tote bag. WHY would I want a baseball? I took the tote bag.
I sat down at the Bonus Aces machine and lost a fast hundred (no quads at all). I played some Xtreme deuces poker—another hundred is gone. This is turning out to be a very expensive tote bag. I then tried my last hundred into a 7/5 BP Five Play Quick Quads machine. This went much better even being dealt a Quick Quad, so I end up winning most my money back. I then made the mistake of wanting to use my free buffet coupon. After standing in line for an hour (and I only got into the line because it was small), I finally sat down to eat. The M buffet continues to impress, but it’s the last time I’m going to eat here until they figure out how to move their lines a little quicker.
I then drove down to South Point. Terry had wondered why I didn’t give them more play. And quite honestly, he’s right. They have very good VP, and I’ve stayed there in the past. Their rooms are outstanding, and the people are all very nice. So, I decided to get back on their radar. I played Bonus Poker Deluxe, no quads—lost a hundred. I then played Bonus Poker and had only one set of quad 10s in over 600 hands. Ouch!
It was time to check into the Silverton. No problems with check in. They still have their outrageous “Resort Fee” of $12 per night (which I didn’t have to pay because my room is comped), which allows you to use the pool and the fitness center—big deal! Someone should sue!
I took my bags to my room and took a short nap (I never take naps, but after the long drive I needed it). I went down to get my free play--$15—big whoop. The Silverton has all the latest machines. I’ll say this for them. The slot floor is beautiful and you can find just about anything here. All the VP machines on the floor are severely short pay; however, they still have the nickel full pay bonus poker on their 100-play machines in the high limit room. I sat down and played ten games at a time for nickels ($2.50 per hand). I was holding my own when holding three to a Royal, caught it on the last line. I then played on and had my fair share of quads and full houses. I end up cashing out $300, which turned my $400 down for the day to a very manageable $100 down.
Held three caught the other two
I celebrated with a turkey club sandwich in their café (still excellent) and finally headed up for bed.
Thursday, April 21
Okay, it’s only the morning as I type this, so the day’s events will be explained tomorrow, but I did promise those of you who have followed my summer trips the past few years, what I am going to do this summer.
First of all, “summer trip” was always the standard because of my teaching schedule. I can only wonder if that is still going to be the case in the years ahead. I had put it out there on the blogs that I was looking for suggestions as to what to do this year. Some mentioned overseas trips to the casinos in China, the Bahamas, and other such destinations. That’s likely to never happen (if you knew me, you’d know why). Then one member suggested that I might consider going into every single casino in the state of Nevada.
At first I dismissed this, but the more I thought about it, the more intrigued I became. I started to do a little research and my criterion was clear: licensed full service casinos only (no taverns or slot houses). There are just over 190 of these scattered through the state of Nevada. Yes, the majority are in the three major areas of Laughlin, Las Vegas, and Reno/Tahoe; however, there are also those in Elko, Bly, and many (many) smaller towns scattered all over the state.
So, what I could I possible do that would make this at all interesting (after all, I had already reported on many of these in the past years). I thought it might be fun to go into every casino and make a $10 table bet and then keep a running total each day. Now, I understand that if I were to lose EVERY time, I would be out almost $2,000. I don’t see this happening. Sometimes I’ll do roulette, sometimes craps, sometimes Blackjack. I’ll mix it up. Of course, along with the bets, I’ll also take pics and report on all that I see.
What I still need is a catchy name. Summer of ’55 a couple of years ago, the National Casino Run last year, and others were great. So, I’m up for suggestions.
Yes, I am CRAZY to drive all over the state of Nevada in the summer and all the heat—but like Steve Martin, I’m wild and crazy guy.
More tomorrow.
