Summer of Tournaments – Day 13
Every morning I get up and it’s the same routine. Put on the coffee, open the curtains to see what’s happening out there. Turn on the TV to NBC news and “Morning with the Wagners.” Turn on the computer and load in yesterday’s pictures first on the computer and then onto Photobucket. Write the report, put in all the pics, send it off to Las Vegas Advisor in both the Vegas-Free-For-All and the Trip Reports (member side), and then to LVAdvice where many of the East Coast readers catch up. Finally, I email it all to my personal friends and family who’ve requested it each day. Before I turn off the computer, I read any replies you might have added from all the previous reports and answer any of those questions. I also check the News on the Las Vegas Advisor to see if anything noteworthy is going on in Las Vegas that day that I might want to check out. I then shower and all that (by the way, during the heat of the summers in Las Vegas, I’ve added baby powder to absolute needed bathroom items—it’s hot—it’s needed—‘nough said). So, all of this takes me between two and three hours each morning. A few have asked why I always go to bed early when I’m in the Great Party Town of America, and this would be one of those reasons. I’m usually up by 5:30 and I have just enough time to make it down to the slot tournament by 9 AM.
The tournament this morning began a little late. It seems someone forgot to bring the keys to reset the machines. After that was resolved, we all tapped away for ten minutes. I did a little better than yesterday and ended with 7200. I left pretty sure I was in the money. I’m expecting $50 but would love it to be a little higher. We’ll see later.
I debated what to do today whether to stay at the hotel or get off the property and go somewhere. The question was…going where and doing what? Finally, I made the decision to just get the car and start driving—something would come to me. One of the things I don’t like about the Paris is that the valet is SO slow. I show them my 7 Stars card when I turn in the tag and I’m supposed to go to the head of the line. It still took almost 15 minutes for my car to come out of the tunnel. While I was waiting, there was a guy with some golf clubs who was becoming a little irate. He sternly told one of the attendants that he’s been around the world and he’s never seen a valet run so poorly run as this one. And I agree.
I received a mailer a month or so ago saying the Jerry’s Nugget in North Las Vegas had changed ownership (they were within days of closing down) and that new slot cards were being issued along with some swag, so this was as good a time as any to check it out. The drive out there isn’t difficult; simply stay on Las Vegas Blvd passing downtown and then all the way into North Las Vegas and Jerry’s Nugget.
Jerry’s Nugget in North Las Vegas
The new owner may have saved this place from the wrecking ball, but he’s yet to put a nickel into the joint. It looks exactly the same as it has for years. There were a sprinkling of locals, but I think most people come here for the good eats (reputed to have excellent, inexpensive food). It turns out, I had the new card already, so I wasn’t eligible for anything, but I’m still glad I made the drive out to at least give an update on the place.
The Silver Nugget – Avoid this place
Down the street about three miles north is the Silver Nugget, a very old casino and bowling alley. Of all the places I’ve been to this summer, this is by far the grossest to date. The joint smelled of stale smoke. The carpet was old and soiled and the clientele were seedy at best. I didn’t stay long. Another few blocks north is a little place called the Opera House Saloon and Casino. This is a really small slot house with a café and bar. I’ve been here a few times in past and have actually won a little money. I put $10 in a 4-Card Keno and gave it a shot—nada. I still have my slot card for this place (I’ve held on to all my slot cards from my Hit ‘em All Nevada summer a couple of years ago) and I have 760 points. I’m not really sure how I got that many, and I have no idea what the points are good for, but I’ll hold on to it for the next time I venture down this way. You know what part of town you’re in when in the Opera House because all the TVs are on the Spanish channels.
The Opera House Casino and Saloon
I still had a lot of time, so I drove west to Rancho where both the Texas and Fiesta Hotels are located next door to each other. I walked through both of these places and found them to also be exactly the same as they were last time I visited a couple years ago. The properties on the Strip always seem to be remodeling year round—never content to leave things alone. The local places rarely put money into remodeling. However, as evidenced today, both are kept up very nicely. If you’re visiting them for the first time, you’d think they were just built a couple of years ago.
The Texas Hotel and Casino caters to locals. Rooms are clean but motel size and quality.
At one time, the Fiesta Hotel was a chain owned by the Maloof family who later sold them in order to build the Palm Hotel. Its big claim to fame supposedly was that it was known as the place where “The World’s Most Royal Flushes Won.” Of course, this was all hype and couldn’t ever be proven, but it worked and kept it a hot spot for locals. This place also still has a Mexican Restaurant that’s a favorite of mine called Garduno’s, which used to be at the Palms. Now both the Fiesta hotels and the Texas are both owned by Stations casinos and share the same slot club. Like the Texas, as I walked through Fiesta Rancho, almost everything is exactly as it was before. One thing I have noticed in all the Stations properties is that the game I liked here is called Triple Deuces Wild. This game shorted you on the Wild Royals and Five-of-a- Kinds, but if you hit the quad deuces it paid triple the usual 1000 coins. They used to all be 10 coins per deal. Now the machines have all been changed to 20 coins per spin, which is $2.00 per deal when playing for dimes. So, they’ve taken a good thing and made it bad—typical.
The Fiesta Rancho Hotel and Casino
I finally drove back to the Paris and dropped the car off at the dread valet and headed up to my room for an hour or so. I was going to rest up. I was to meet my step-sister and her husband (Pam and Rick) for dinner. One thing I enjoy as a 7 Star member is being in a position to buy my family meals and get them rooms when I have the chance. Rick built his own home in Kingman, AZ, which is where they live; however, Rick is a roofer and there simply was not enough work there, so they rent a small apartment in Las Vegas where he works and then makes the two hour drive home every weekend.
I met Pam and Rick in front of the buffet and we a very nice dinner catching up on the latest of things. We enjoyed the 7 Star perk of steamed, cut crab legs and Pam agreed with me that what sets this buffet from others are the crepes and desserts. Very good.
We said our goodbyes and it was 7 PM, so I needed to go find how I did in the tournament. My final score was 13,455; there were 500 positions that came in the cash; I was number…516. Wow! I was shocked that I didn’t come in the money. Oh well…
It’s Wednesday and so I needed to get back to my room in time to see SYTYCD. All in another day in Vegas.
More tomorrow.
Totals:
Tournaments: 8 Cost: $115 Won: $1000 Balance: $885
Every morning I get up and it’s the same routine. Put on the coffee, open the curtains to see what’s happening out there. Turn on the TV to NBC news and “Morning with the Wagners.” Turn on the computer and load in yesterday’s pictures first on the computer and then onto Photobucket. Write the report, put in all the pics, send it off to Las Vegas Advisor in both the Vegas-Free-For-All and the Trip Reports (member side), and then to LVAdvice where many of the East Coast readers catch up. Finally, I email it all to my personal friends and family who’ve requested it each day. Before I turn off the computer, I read any replies you might have added from all the previous reports and answer any of those questions. I also check the News on the Las Vegas Advisor to see if anything noteworthy is going on in Las Vegas that day that I might want to check out. I then shower and all that (by the way, during the heat of the summers in Las Vegas, I’ve added baby powder to absolute needed bathroom items—it’s hot—it’s needed—‘nough said). So, all of this takes me between two and three hours each morning. A few have asked why I always go to bed early when I’m in the Great Party Town of America, and this would be one of those reasons. I’m usually up by 5:30 and I have just enough time to make it down to the slot tournament by 9 AM.
The tournament this morning began a little late. It seems someone forgot to bring the keys to reset the machines. After that was resolved, we all tapped away for ten minutes. I did a little better than yesterday and ended with 7200. I left pretty sure I was in the money. I’m expecting $50 but would love it to be a little higher. We’ll see later.
I debated what to do today whether to stay at the hotel or get off the property and go somewhere. The question was…going where and doing what? Finally, I made the decision to just get the car and start driving—something would come to me. One of the things I don’t like about the Paris is that the valet is SO slow. I show them my 7 Stars card when I turn in the tag and I’m supposed to go to the head of the line. It still took almost 15 minutes for my car to come out of the tunnel. While I was waiting, there was a guy with some golf clubs who was becoming a little irate. He sternly told one of the attendants that he’s been around the world and he’s never seen a valet run so poorly run as this one. And I agree.
I received a mailer a month or so ago saying the Jerry’s Nugget in North Las Vegas had changed ownership (they were within days of closing down) and that new slot cards were being issued along with some swag, so this was as good a time as any to check it out. The drive out there isn’t difficult; simply stay on Las Vegas Blvd passing downtown and then all the way into North Las Vegas and Jerry’s Nugget.
Jerry’s Nugget in North Las Vegas
The new owner may have saved this place from the wrecking ball, but he’s yet to put a nickel into the joint. It looks exactly the same as it has for years. There were a sprinkling of locals, but I think most people come here for the good eats (reputed to have excellent, inexpensive food). It turns out, I had the new card already, so I wasn’t eligible for anything, but I’m still glad I made the drive out to at least give an update on the place.
The Silver Nugget – Avoid this place
Down the street about three miles north is the Silver Nugget, a very old casino and bowling alley. Of all the places I’ve been to this summer, this is by far the grossest to date. The joint smelled of stale smoke. The carpet was old and soiled and the clientele were seedy at best. I didn’t stay long. Another few blocks north is a little place called the Opera House Saloon and Casino. This is a really small slot house with a café and bar. I’ve been here a few times in past and have actually won a little money. I put $10 in a 4-Card Keno and gave it a shot—nada. I still have my slot card for this place (I’ve held on to all my slot cards from my Hit ‘em All Nevada summer a couple of years ago) and I have 760 points. I’m not really sure how I got that many, and I have no idea what the points are good for, but I’ll hold on to it for the next time I venture down this way. You know what part of town you’re in when in the Opera House because all the TVs are on the Spanish channels.
The Opera House Casino and Saloon
I still had a lot of time, so I drove west to Rancho where both the Texas and Fiesta Hotels are located next door to each other. I walked through both of these places and found them to also be exactly the same as they were last time I visited a couple years ago. The properties on the Strip always seem to be remodeling year round—never content to leave things alone. The local places rarely put money into remodeling. However, as evidenced today, both are kept up very nicely. If you’re visiting them for the first time, you’d think they were just built a couple of years ago.
The Texas Hotel and Casino caters to locals. Rooms are clean but motel size and quality.
At one time, the Fiesta Hotel was a chain owned by the Maloof family who later sold them in order to build the Palm Hotel. Its big claim to fame supposedly was that it was known as the place where “The World’s Most Royal Flushes Won.” Of course, this was all hype and couldn’t ever be proven, but it worked and kept it a hot spot for locals. This place also still has a Mexican Restaurant that’s a favorite of mine called Garduno’s, which used to be at the Palms. Now both the Fiesta hotels and the Texas are both owned by Stations casinos and share the same slot club. Like the Texas, as I walked through Fiesta Rancho, almost everything is exactly as it was before. One thing I have noticed in all the Stations properties is that the game I liked here is called Triple Deuces Wild. This game shorted you on the Wild Royals and Five-of-a- Kinds, but if you hit the quad deuces it paid triple the usual 1000 coins. They used to all be 10 coins per deal. Now the machines have all been changed to 20 coins per spin, which is $2.00 per deal when playing for dimes. So, they’ve taken a good thing and made it bad—typical.
The Fiesta Rancho Hotel and Casino
I finally drove back to the Paris and dropped the car off at the dread valet and headed up to my room for an hour or so. I was going to rest up. I was to meet my step-sister and her husband (Pam and Rick) for dinner. One thing I enjoy as a 7 Star member is being in a position to buy my family meals and get them rooms when I have the chance. Rick built his own home in Kingman, AZ, which is where they live; however, Rick is a roofer and there simply was not enough work there, so they rent a small apartment in Las Vegas where he works and then makes the two hour drive home every weekend.
I met Pam and Rick in front of the buffet and we a very nice dinner catching up on the latest of things. We enjoyed the 7 Star perk of steamed, cut crab legs and Pam agreed with me that what sets this buffet from others are the crepes and desserts. Very good.
We said our goodbyes and it was 7 PM, so I needed to go find how I did in the tournament. My final score was 13,455; there were 500 positions that came in the cash; I was number…516. Wow! I was shocked that I didn’t come in the money. Oh well…
It’s Wednesday and so I needed to get back to my room in time to see SYTYCD. All in another day in Vegas.
More tomorrow.
Totals:
Tournaments: 8 Cost: $115 Won: $1000 Balance: $885
