Summer of Cal/Nev – Day 29
This morning I headed down to the buffet for breakfast. Both the Gold Coast and Sam’s Town both belong to Boyd Corp and they’re basically the same kind of hotel/casino attracting the same demographic, so one would think they’d share the same pricing structures—but as you can tell by my writing this, they don’t. Whereas Sam’s Town charges $5.99 for their buffet and gives you a 40% discount if you pay with your points, the Gold Coast charges $6.99 for their buffet and don’t give you a discount when using your points. I suppose I could have raised a stink about the discount as I’m sure it’s a companywide policy, but I didn’t want to seem petty over two bucks.
After I checked out and was back on the road, I was considering stopping over at the Silverton to catch another pull-tab, but thought better of it. I made a stop at Starbucks to send in the report and catch up on the messages and replies. One person thinks I should have bet on the final found when I had the Royal Flush—why not, he argues, if he had a full boat he would have paid. That’s true, however, there was only one player left and he checked. I could have bet the highest allowed, $4, which knowing I had already won the pot and the bonus, I didn’t feel four bucks was worth sticking it to the guy, who end up having two pair. Perhaps this is why I could never become a pro poker player—too soft.
After leaving Starbucks, I got back on the freeway past the Green Valley Ranch when I got a text from Cindy telling me that I had sent the wrong trip report on the Facebook and email list. At first I couldn’t have thought how this happened and then I realized that when I was reading the replies from Day 27, I copied that URL and sent it to those addresses. So, it was back to Henderson and another Starbucks to correct that problem—old age—it sucks!
I was finally on Hwy 95 heading once again to Laughlin when another beeping weather warning came over my iphone. It said that I was approaching a flash flood area ahead (how they know this stuff—technology today!) I looked ahead of me and sure enough there was some rain up ahead, but it didn’t look that bad.
Approaching storm looks harmless enough...mistake.
Little did I know what I was heading into—after about ten minute the first drops hit and then more…and more and eventually it was pouring. I’ve been in big storms before, so I slowed down, along with everyone else, to about 45. Visibility started to become an issue, and as I saw ahead, there was a line of vehicles pulled over to the side. I’m no fool, I pulled in behind them and the people behind me did the same. Keep in mind that Hwy 95 is pretty desolate in this area and there were now about twenty cars all pulled over waiting for the storm to pass. The roadway itself looked like a river…I won’t lie…I was getting a little nervous. Fortunately, the spot where we all pulled over was on a higher part of the desert so the water did drain away. After about ten minutes, the storm let up enough for everyone to finally get back on the road—slowly. Eventually, as is the case in these circumstances, 15 minutes later, the highway was bone dry and we are all screaming on at 75 MPH. I was thinking to myself, “That was kind of scary—ooh, I’ve got something to write about!”
It was about 11 AM when I pulled into the Riverside in Laughlin—in my VERY clean Saturn. It was too early to check into Harrahs so I thought I’d take a shot at the Quick Quads to kill some time and maybe pick up a little money. As are many my ideas, this one tanked, as though I did play for a good hour or so, I just couldn’t break that cash-out point, and finally lost my hundred. I went over to the small snack bar on the parking garage side and had a seafood cocktail ($1.99, a great snack) and played some Keno—nada—zilch.
I drove to Harrahs and checked in. The lady in front of my was being told by the registration clerk that she had no river views left and that the room she does have is still being cleaned. They’re sold out this weekend, so it’s hard to get a better room. When it was my turn, she said, “We have your river view room and it’s ready—here are your keys.” Somebody at Harrahs, Laughlin is looking out for me. Last time here, I get the Babbitt Suite, this time there’s no suite, but the room is right across from the elevator with a nice view. What gives?
View from my room...honestly, it's a new picture...not one of the 20 or so that look just like it.
I unpacked all my things and went down to the Diamond Lounge. All I could do is roll my eyes because again, the food selections were tuna salad, potato salad, and other sandwich fixings along with the gruel soup. Who runs this place? I opted for a few tortilla chips and salsa with a Corona and sat outside. One thing the storm did was cool things down quite a bit. It was still 93, but seems very comfortable now.
I went over to the promotions booth to pick up my time for tomorrow’s slot tournament. This stop of the trip is a slot tournament that comes with three free nights, along with $50 in free play. I asked for the earliest time available, and she got me a 10:00 AM start and then handed me my $50 free play coupons. I also had a $50 mailed free play coupon, so I took my $100 free play and put it into an Ugly Deuces 3/5-play for quarters (I’m guessing you readers that don’t play video poker are saying, “Huh?”) After running $1200 through the machine, I finally lost it all. I put in another hundred of mine and changed over to the 7/5 BP (the best they offer—ugh). That didn’t last very long as well.
I was pretty close to the 500 point threshold for 125 bonus tier points, so I decided to go for it and put in another hundred (this is more than I’m usually willing to lose in one day, but I’m still feeling the royal’s enthusiasm) at the 2-cent 50 play. It was just about 5 PM. I did not get up from that machine until almost 11 PM. Even I can’t believe I sat there for six hours—no bathroom break, and only one diet Pepsi. At $5 per deal, it was easy to tabulate how many hands I was playing (1-point equals $10; so one point is two dealt hands). In this game, everything is about the dealt hand—almost like a stud game. If you’re dealt two pair or three-of-a-kind, you’re in for a good hand. Well, I just kept going up and then going on cold streaks, then I’d get dealt a full house and back up again.
In the back of my mind I knew that I was going to make it to the next threshold of 1000 points, so that I could get a bonus of 1000 tier points. That’s $10,000 in play and to get to that mark, I was going to have to run another $65,000 through this game—thus the six hours at five bucks a hand. Now here’s the rub: I kept waiting, and waiting, waiting to get dealt three aces. I told the lady next to me that I’ve been dealt (at that time) almost 1000 hands, and I’ve yet to be dealt three Aces (BTW-I’m playing 8/5 Super Double Bonus). I’ve been dealt three queens, three jacks, three kings and others a few times, but not Aces—even once. It was becoming a “thing” with me. I did get dealt four-to-the-royal once and hit one Royal. I hit another Royal holding three a little later. I finally got up having achieved the 1000 points for the day and the best part? I walked away with $350. So, I made up for the rest of the day’s loses. I went to the Starbucks to get a pound of French Roast for my coffee maker in my room. They said it would be about ten minutes. I sat down at a Unicorn penny machine and put in a twenty while waiting. I hit two bonuses and pulled out another $80 profit. Wow! What a weird day.
So, I go up to my room to fill the coffee maker for tomorrow and there sitting on the self is a Gift Pack, like the one that was delivered to me when I was in the Babbitt Suite: two bananas, two oranges, two waters, a bag of pretzels, a bag of peanuts and some cookies.
A little fairy had left this for me when I returned to my room.
I suppose it’s time to fess up. Those of you who are experienced Caesar’s (Harrahs) players certainly have sniffed this out by now. I renewed my Diamond though March 2015 last January. When Caesar’s announced their “new” system and that Diamond would now require 15,000 points (compared to 11,000 before), I had made the decision that this would be my last year. However, upon closer examination, this new system included this thing about the bonus tier points. The one that really struck me was that if you make 2500 tier points in one day, you get a 5000 tier point bonus. It occurred to me that I could renew my diamond in only two days with some serious play. And that is exactly what I did. Harrahs, Rincon (about an hour and half from my house) offers me free nights and they have a 3/5 play 8/5 BP. Making the first 15,000 points worked out so well for me (it didn’t hurt that I caught a couple of Royals), I made the decision that I would try to check off a bucket list item: make 7 Stars (Caesar’s highest tier level) just once in my life.
I readily admit that 7 Stars is seriously not worth it when you compare it to the goodies you get versus Diamond players. However, it’s been something nagging at me for a long time. I would love to check this off the bucket list, so I’m going for it. I was going to call this trip report “Chasing the Stars,” which I thought was pretty catchy. However, I knew I would never be able to make it during this trip, plus, if things went terribly wrong and I’d have give it up, which could very well still happen, I didn’t want to share that defeat with the world.
So, here’s the deal: to make 7 Stars you have to make 150,000 points ($1,500,000 in video poker play), but with the bonus tier points, though it would STILL take a hell of a lot of time and play, especially at my quarter level mentality. I’m a retired school teacher; I can’t afford to bet a MILLION dollars! My mother is already freaking out when I renew diamond. Right now, I am at the third Diamond level with 88,000 points. So, you can see why I wanted to hit that 1000 point threshold. My goal is to get 100,000 points by the time this trip is over and then get the final 50,000 points back home at Harrahs, Rincon. Being a third level Diamond has had its perks: $100 food comp for renewing diamond, a four any-night stay at any property, a companion Diamond card for a friend for family member, and a $750 flight reimbursement to any place there’s a Caesar’s property (I’ve yet to use any of these but will when I meet friends in Reno later during this trip), and now I suppose, I’m on the radar of a host here at Harrahs, Laughlin, which probably explains the suite, the nice room today, and the gift packages.
I wasn’t intending to discuss this on these reports because I didn’t want it to be about the gambling—because it really isn’t. But perhaps in the newly coined phrase being bantered about “transparency” it’s good to share it with you today, but I will not be focusing on this much more. But now you know.
More tomorrow.
This morning I headed down to the buffet for breakfast. Both the Gold Coast and Sam’s Town both belong to Boyd Corp and they’re basically the same kind of hotel/casino attracting the same demographic, so one would think they’d share the same pricing structures—but as you can tell by my writing this, they don’t. Whereas Sam’s Town charges $5.99 for their buffet and gives you a 40% discount if you pay with your points, the Gold Coast charges $6.99 for their buffet and don’t give you a discount when using your points. I suppose I could have raised a stink about the discount as I’m sure it’s a companywide policy, but I didn’t want to seem petty over two bucks.
After I checked out and was back on the road, I was considering stopping over at the Silverton to catch another pull-tab, but thought better of it. I made a stop at Starbucks to send in the report and catch up on the messages and replies. One person thinks I should have bet on the final found when I had the Royal Flush—why not, he argues, if he had a full boat he would have paid. That’s true, however, there was only one player left and he checked. I could have bet the highest allowed, $4, which knowing I had already won the pot and the bonus, I didn’t feel four bucks was worth sticking it to the guy, who end up having two pair. Perhaps this is why I could never become a pro poker player—too soft.
After leaving Starbucks, I got back on the freeway past the Green Valley Ranch when I got a text from Cindy telling me that I had sent the wrong trip report on the Facebook and email list. At first I couldn’t have thought how this happened and then I realized that when I was reading the replies from Day 27, I copied that URL and sent it to those addresses. So, it was back to Henderson and another Starbucks to correct that problem—old age—it sucks!
I was finally on Hwy 95 heading once again to Laughlin when another beeping weather warning came over my iphone. It said that I was approaching a flash flood area ahead (how they know this stuff—technology today!) I looked ahead of me and sure enough there was some rain up ahead, but it didn’t look that bad.
Approaching storm looks harmless enough...mistake.
Little did I know what I was heading into—after about ten minute the first drops hit and then more…and more and eventually it was pouring. I’ve been in big storms before, so I slowed down, along with everyone else, to about 45. Visibility started to become an issue, and as I saw ahead, there was a line of vehicles pulled over to the side. I’m no fool, I pulled in behind them and the people behind me did the same. Keep in mind that Hwy 95 is pretty desolate in this area and there were now about twenty cars all pulled over waiting for the storm to pass. The roadway itself looked like a river…I won’t lie…I was getting a little nervous. Fortunately, the spot where we all pulled over was on a higher part of the desert so the water did drain away. After about ten minutes, the storm let up enough for everyone to finally get back on the road—slowly. Eventually, as is the case in these circumstances, 15 minutes later, the highway was bone dry and we are all screaming on at 75 MPH. I was thinking to myself, “That was kind of scary—ooh, I’ve got something to write about!”
It was about 11 AM when I pulled into the Riverside in Laughlin—in my VERY clean Saturn. It was too early to check into Harrahs so I thought I’d take a shot at the Quick Quads to kill some time and maybe pick up a little money. As are many my ideas, this one tanked, as though I did play for a good hour or so, I just couldn’t break that cash-out point, and finally lost my hundred. I went over to the small snack bar on the parking garage side and had a seafood cocktail ($1.99, a great snack) and played some Keno—nada—zilch.
I drove to Harrahs and checked in. The lady in front of my was being told by the registration clerk that she had no river views left and that the room she does have is still being cleaned. They’re sold out this weekend, so it’s hard to get a better room. When it was my turn, she said, “We have your river view room and it’s ready—here are your keys.” Somebody at Harrahs, Laughlin is looking out for me. Last time here, I get the Babbitt Suite, this time there’s no suite, but the room is right across from the elevator with a nice view. What gives?
View from my room...honestly, it's a new picture...not one of the 20 or so that look just like it.
I unpacked all my things and went down to the Diamond Lounge. All I could do is roll my eyes because again, the food selections were tuna salad, potato salad, and other sandwich fixings along with the gruel soup. Who runs this place? I opted for a few tortilla chips and salsa with a Corona and sat outside. One thing the storm did was cool things down quite a bit. It was still 93, but seems very comfortable now.
I went over to the promotions booth to pick up my time for tomorrow’s slot tournament. This stop of the trip is a slot tournament that comes with three free nights, along with $50 in free play. I asked for the earliest time available, and she got me a 10:00 AM start and then handed me my $50 free play coupons. I also had a $50 mailed free play coupon, so I took my $100 free play and put it into an Ugly Deuces 3/5-play for quarters (I’m guessing you readers that don’t play video poker are saying, “Huh?”) After running $1200 through the machine, I finally lost it all. I put in another hundred of mine and changed over to the 7/5 BP (the best they offer—ugh). That didn’t last very long as well.
I was pretty close to the 500 point threshold for 125 bonus tier points, so I decided to go for it and put in another hundred (this is more than I’m usually willing to lose in one day, but I’m still feeling the royal’s enthusiasm) at the 2-cent 50 play. It was just about 5 PM. I did not get up from that machine until almost 11 PM. Even I can’t believe I sat there for six hours—no bathroom break, and only one diet Pepsi. At $5 per deal, it was easy to tabulate how many hands I was playing (1-point equals $10; so one point is two dealt hands). In this game, everything is about the dealt hand—almost like a stud game. If you’re dealt two pair or three-of-a-kind, you’re in for a good hand. Well, I just kept going up and then going on cold streaks, then I’d get dealt a full house and back up again.
In the back of my mind I knew that I was going to make it to the next threshold of 1000 points, so that I could get a bonus of 1000 tier points. That’s $10,000 in play and to get to that mark, I was going to have to run another $65,000 through this game—thus the six hours at five bucks a hand. Now here’s the rub: I kept waiting, and waiting, waiting to get dealt three aces. I told the lady next to me that I’ve been dealt (at that time) almost 1000 hands, and I’ve yet to be dealt three Aces (BTW-I’m playing 8/5 Super Double Bonus). I’ve been dealt three queens, three jacks, three kings and others a few times, but not Aces—even once. It was becoming a “thing” with me. I did get dealt four-to-the-royal once and hit one Royal. I hit another Royal holding three a little later. I finally got up having achieved the 1000 points for the day and the best part? I walked away with $350. So, I made up for the rest of the day’s loses. I went to the Starbucks to get a pound of French Roast for my coffee maker in my room. They said it would be about ten minutes. I sat down at a Unicorn penny machine and put in a twenty while waiting. I hit two bonuses and pulled out another $80 profit. Wow! What a weird day.
So, I go up to my room to fill the coffee maker for tomorrow and there sitting on the self is a Gift Pack, like the one that was delivered to me when I was in the Babbitt Suite: two bananas, two oranges, two waters, a bag of pretzels, a bag of peanuts and some cookies.
A little fairy had left this for me when I returned to my room.
I suppose it’s time to fess up. Those of you who are experienced Caesar’s (Harrahs) players certainly have sniffed this out by now. I renewed my Diamond though March 2015 last January. When Caesar’s announced their “new” system and that Diamond would now require 15,000 points (compared to 11,000 before), I had made the decision that this would be my last year. However, upon closer examination, this new system included this thing about the bonus tier points. The one that really struck me was that if you make 2500 tier points in one day, you get a 5000 tier point bonus. It occurred to me that I could renew my diamond in only two days with some serious play. And that is exactly what I did. Harrahs, Rincon (about an hour and half from my house) offers me free nights and they have a 3/5 play 8/5 BP. Making the first 15,000 points worked out so well for me (it didn’t hurt that I caught a couple of Royals), I made the decision that I would try to check off a bucket list item: make 7 Stars (Caesar’s highest tier level) just once in my life.
I readily admit that 7 Stars is seriously not worth it when you compare it to the goodies you get versus Diamond players. However, it’s been something nagging at me for a long time. I would love to check this off the bucket list, so I’m going for it. I was going to call this trip report “Chasing the Stars,” which I thought was pretty catchy. However, I knew I would never be able to make it during this trip, plus, if things went terribly wrong and I’d have give it up, which could very well still happen, I didn’t want to share that defeat with the world.
So, here’s the deal: to make 7 Stars you have to make 150,000 points ($1,500,000 in video poker play), but with the bonus tier points, though it would STILL take a hell of a lot of time and play, especially at my quarter level mentality. I’m a retired school teacher; I can’t afford to bet a MILLION dollars! My mother is already freaking out when I renew diamond. Right now, I am at the third Diamond level with 88,000 points. So, you can see why I wanted to hit that 1000 point threshold. My goal is to get 100,000 points by the time this trip is over and then get the final 50,000 points back home at Harrahs, Rincon. Being a third level Diamond has had its perks: $100 food comp for renewing diamond, a four any-night stay at any property, a companion Diamond card for a friend for family member, and a $750 flight reimbursement to any place there’s a Caesar’s property (I’ve yet to use any of these but will when I meet friends in Reno later during this trip), and now I suppose, I’m on the radar of a host here at Harrahs, Laughlin, which probably explains the suite, the nice room today, and the gift packages.
I wasn’t intending to discuss this on these reports because I didn’t want it to be about the gambling—because it really isn’t. But perhaps in the newly coined phrase being bantered about “transparency” it’s good to share it with you today, but I will not be focusing on this much more. But now you know.
More tomorrow.
