Summer of Cal/Nev – Day 17
It’s up very early so I can drive to Las Vegas while the temperatures are reasonable. After checking out, I headed out on east Interstate 10. When I got to San Bernadino, I turned north on Interstate 15 and arrived at Primm around 8 AM. I had read that Buffalo Bills at Primm had gone through a major renovation. As I parked, the roller coaster whizzed by overhead, so it’s obviously back in business. When you step inside you almost feel like you’ve walked into a Disneyland attraction as the pioneer/miner theme is throughout the building.
Buffalo Bills in Primm, NV
Inside Buffalo Bills...sorry about the glare--monitors everywhere!
It’s been a couple of years since I’ve been in here, but I honestly don’t see much of a difference. There’s a food court and a Denny’s has replaced what used to be their café, which is too bad because it used to have some great breakfast specials. The video poker schedules were all poor. I was surprised how many people were playing this early on a Sunday morning.
The Primm Resort in Primm, NV
I went across the street to the Primm Resort to see if anything has changed over there. If you’re not familiar with Primm, it used to be called Stateline as it borders Nevada and California. Just on the California side of the border, there’s a small store called the Lottery store. As early as it is, there is a line outside the door of people waiting to get in and put a few bucks down on the Super Lottery. Nevada has no state lottery—an amusing irony. Whenever the mega jackpot gets really high, the local news people always report on this little store, which is the highest grossing lottery store in the nation. It wasn’t open yet, but I’ve been inside before. It reminds you of a betting window in a sports book with a desk for people ready to accept your money along with ten or so machines.
Also at the other end of the Primm Resort is an Outlet Center with about 70 stores. I always not only marvel at how this place stays in business but how they’re able to keep the hundreds of employees who are willing to drive all the way to Primm to work every day. Las Vegas is the closest place to live—about 35 miles away. I didn't bother to go across the street to Whisky Pete's because they closed their hotel and converted to a slots only house...boring.
I made a stop at the M Resort for no other reason than to play my $7 free play. It used to be much higher along with room offers, free buffets, and all kinds of swag. My previous trip reports have pictures some of some of the wild goodies they’d give away for just showing up from jelly beans to Jim Bean Whiskey. They’ve since been bought out and everything was cut back. But a free $7 today and then next month another $7 is just fine with me. I played it, won $11, tried to parlay that on their nickel progressive video poker machines and lost it all. Ahhh.
Another, "Look who's still alive!" It goes to show all you need is one hit, "After the Lovin'" and you're good for life.
I did make a fast stop in Jean, NV (half way between Primm and Las Vegas at the Gold Strike casino. Nothing really to note here as everything is pretty much the same, except that they STILL have nickle coin-fed slots. I'll have to remember that next year when I have my saved coins.
Gold Strike Hotel and Casino in Jean, NV
It’s now 10 AM and the temperature is already 105 degrees. I have no intention of driving around in this heat (it eventually hit 117), so I went directly to my next stop which is the Suncoast Hotel and Casino. This is a very nice place that caters to locals. It’s located in Summerlin, which is 20 miles west of Las Vegas. Like many of the Boyd properties, it’s a mini-city with a Kid’s Zone, a movie complex, a bowling alley, and every type of restaurant you can think of. They have some decent video poker if you know where to look. The sports bar has 9/6 Poker Deluxe, 9/6 Jacks, and 8/5 Bonus. They also have nickel and dime progressive banks, which can get very high for a dealt royal. Today, the nickel five-play progressive is $11,350 and the five play dime dealt royal progressive is $19,890. I’ve been dealt a royal three of four times in my life, so it’s not virtually impossible like the Megabucks machines. As I was walking around, some lady with her husband just hit a 6 for 6 Keno she was playing for a dollar and was waiting for her $6,610 payoff (must be nice).
It was too early to check in, so I decided to watch a movie (big surprise). WHITE HOUSE DOWN had just come out, so though I knew what I’d think, I bought a ticket (I’m still adjusting to the “One senior please”). It was silly, predictable, and you needed to really extend your threshold of belief, but it is what it is and that was okay—typical summer action flick.
After the movie, I went over to check in. Now, I pulled a parlay here. The Suncoast offers me one free night per month. I told the clerk that she’d see that I used my June offer on the 30th and my July offer on the 1st. She laughed, looked me slyly and said, “Nice one.” I got room 724. It has a view of the Strip if you look to your left. The other side has a view of the golf course. Whoever designed the hotel goofed up as had they built the hotel at a different angle, they could have had one side facing the Strip and the other side facing the Red Rock mountain range. I wanted to take picture of the Strip at night for you, but they have these flood lights facing up the sides of the buildings to show it at night, but destroys the view as you can’t see beyond the reflection.
My room at the Suncoast--nicely appointed but furniture and bed are not very comfy--too stiff.
I pretty much stayed in the hotel the rest of the day. This heat wave is REALLY putting a damper on my trip, as well as these reports. I simply cannot walk around in this kind of heat. So my apologies for that. As I close this out, the news is reporting that a performer from KA at the MGM has fallen to her death during the closing scene of the show. She was an aerialist that flew high above the stage on sheets. My son and I had just seen that show last January. It is the first death with Cirque du Soleil show in Las Vegas history. They’ve closed the show indefinitely. Sad.
My reports will be a little later than usual as I don’t have Internet in the room here at the Suncoast. I’ll be taking my computer to a local Starbucks first change I can each day.
More tomorrow
It’s up very early so I can drive to Las Vegas while the temperatures are reasonable. After checking out, I headed out on east Interstate 10. When I got to San Bernadino, I turned north on Interstate 15 and arrived at Primm around 8 AM. I had read that Buffalo Bills at Primm had gone through a major renovation. As I parked, the roller coaster whizzed by overhead, so it’s obviously back in business. When you step inside you almost feel like you’ve walked into a Disneyland attraction as the pioneer/miner theme is throughout the building.
Buffalo Bills in Primm, NV
Inside Buffalo Bills...sorry about the glare--monitors everywhere!
It’s been a couple of years since I’ve been in here, but I honestly don’t see much of a difference. There’s a food court and a Denny’s has replaced what used to be their café, which is too bad because it used to have some great breakfast specials. The video poker schedules were all poor. I was surprised how many people were playing this early on a Sunday morning.
The Primm Resort in Primm, NV
I went across the street to the Primm Resort to see if anything has changed over there. If you’re not familiar with Primm, it used to be called Stateline as it borders Nevada and California. Just on the California side of the border, there’s a small store called the Lottery store. As early as it is, there is a line outside the door of people waiting to get in and put a few bucks down on the Super Lottery. Nevada has no state lottery—an amusing irony. Whenever the mega jackpot gets really high, the local news people always report on this little store, which is the highest grossing lottery store in the nation. It wasn’t open yet, but I’ve been inside before. It reminds you of a betting window in a sports book with a desk for people ready to accept your money along with ten or so machines.
Also at the other end of the Primm Resort is an Outlet Center with about 70 stores. I always not only marvel at how this place stays in business but how they’re able to keep the hundreds of employees who are willing to drive all the way to Primm to work every day. Las Vegas is the closest place to live—about 35 miles away. I didn't bother to go across the street to Whisky Pete's because they closed their hotel and converted to a slots only house...boring.
I made a stop at the M Resort for no other reason than to play my $7 free play. It used to be much higher along with room offers, free buffets, and all kinds of swag. My previous trip reports have pictures some of some of the wild goodies they’d give away for just showing up from jelly beans to Jim Bean Whiskey. They’ve since been bought out and everything was cut back. But a free $7 today and then next month another $7 is just fine with me. I played it, won $11, tried to parlay that on their nickel progressive video poker machines and lost it all. Ahhh.
Another, "Look who's still alive!" It goes to show all you need is one hit, "After the Lovin'" and you're good for life.
I did make a fast stop in Jean, NV (half way between Primm and Las Vegas at the Gold Strike casino. Nothing really to note here as everything is pretty much the same, except that they STILL have nickle coin-fed slots. I'll have to remember that next year when I have my saved coins.
Gold Strike Hotel and Casino in Jean, NV
It’s now 10 AM and the temperature is already 105 degrees. I have no intention of driving around in this heat (it eventually hit 117), so I went directly to my next stop which is the Suncoast Hotel and Casino. This is a very nice place that caters to locals. It’s located in Summerlin, which is 20 miles west of Las Vegas. Like many of the Boyd properties, it’s a mini-city with a Kid’s Zone, a movie complex, a bowling alley, and every type of restaurant you can think of. They have some decent video poker if you know where to look. The sports bar has 9/6 Poker Deluxe, 9/6 Jacks, and 8/5 Bonus. They also have nickel and dime progressive banks, which can get very high for a dealt royal. Today, the nickel five-play progressive is $11,350 and the five play dime dealt royal progressive is $19,890. I’ve been dealt a royal three of four times in my life, so it’s not virtually impossible like the Megabucks machines. As I was walking around, some lady with her husband just hit a 6 for 6 Keno she was playing for a dollar and was waiting for her $6,610 payoff (must be nice).
It was too early to check in, so I decided to watch a movie (big surprise). WHITE HOUSE DOWN had just come out, so though I knew what I’d think, I bought a ticket (I’m still adjusting to the “One senior please”). It was silly, predictable, and you needed to really extend your threshold of belief, but it is what it is and that was okay—typical summer action flick.
After the movie, I went over to check in. Now, I pulled a parlay here. The Suncoast offers me one free night per month. I told the clerk that she’d see that I used my June offer on the 30th and my July offer on the 1st. She laughed, looked me slyly and said, “Nice one.” I got room 724. It has a view of the Strip if you look to your left. The other side has a view of the golf course. Whoever designed the hotel goofed up as had they built the hotel at a different angle, they could have had one side facing the Strip and the other side facing the Red Rock mountain range. I wanted to take picture of the Strip at night for you, but they have these flood lights facing up the sides of the buildings to show it at night, but destroys the view as you can’t see beyond the reflection.
My room at the Suncoast--nicely appointed but furniture and bed are not very comfy--too stiff.
I pretty much stayed in the hotel the rest of the day. This heat wave is REALLY putting a damper on my trip, as well as these reports. I simply cannot walk around in this kind of heat. So my apologies for that. As I close this out, the news is reporting that a performer from KA at the MGM has fallen to her death during the closing scene of the show. She was an aerialist that flew high above the stage on sheets. My son and I had just seen that show last January. It is the first death with Cirque du Soleil show in Las Vegas history. They’ve closed the show indefinitely. Sad.
My reports will be a little later than usual as I don’t have Internet in the room here at the Suncoast. I’ll be taking my computer to a local Starbucks first change I can each day.
More tomorrow
