Whew! Just catching my breath after another move, hopefully the last one for a good long time!
During the last month, medical issues for both Brad and me necessitated some major decisions. First, my eyesight – a decrease in peripheral vision and space perception – was making me a menace on the highway, so I had to give up driving. Brad’s mental and physical condition is continuing to decline and I needed to give more attention to his needs. And seemingly good timing, a new senior-living facility just opened not too far from family – with wonderfully frugal pre-opening prices!
So here we are moved in – though not fully unpacked yet – in an independent-living apartment at Legacy Reserve at Old Town, with many helpful benefits included. Breakfast and a gourmet dinner every day. Housekeeping once a week and maintenance whenever needed. Free transportation to stores and doctor appointments. And our favorite perk – a large heated indoor swimming pool available 24/7 – which we enjoy most days.
We love it here. We are on the ground floor with a patio facing the large courtyard square, the fountain right outside our door. Lots of opportunities for group socialization, and we are making friends quickly.
Taking a hayride during the Fall Festival put on by the employees of our new home at Legacy Reserve. They do a good job of making Brad smile.
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There is another section in the building with assisted-living apartments and a separate locked memory-care unit. Hopefully, we won’t need those, but they’re options if we need either or both in the future. With no cooking or transportation responsibilities, right now I have the time and energy to take good care of Brad. However, VA can provide home health visits if in the future Brad needs more care than I can presently give. I am learning to take one day at a time!
I still plan to share gambling and casino information in this blog space as long as I have something helpful to say; however, it will be on a more irregular schedule. If you want an email when I do post, go to the LVA website and on the right side of my blog, you can sign up for post notifications.
Today, I want to continue to expand on the same subject I covered in my last blog – looking for information resources. Although looking in books, magazines, and Internet gambling websites and forums is useful, there is nothing like being eyes-on in the casino. If we still lived in Vegas, we would have to be scouting even more than in the past.
Obviously, if there was a new casino opening, I would want to check every VP machine in the place. I would be at Circa today! And I would check back many days after! If I read that a casino had a new players club – like the Sahara recently – or a casino modified the benefits – like the Stations did post-Covid closures – I would check the new details. Then I would check the VP games to see if there were any that, combined with the players club benefits, might become a good play or had fallen out of that category. Sometimes when there are changes in the club, some of the games have been changed also. Also, if you hear that a casino has new management, new executives are apt to make new changes.
You might argue that you can find out all this information on the Internet. Yes, you should check online first, like at https://www.vpfree2.com/ which not only gives the “good games” but also players club information. But although this website does a pretty good job of keeping current, sometimes the information is not complete. And occasionally there is a too-good opportunity that scouts just don’t want to share with the general public.
Casino scouting is a fine art – and very time-consuming. Old hands at VP often make up teams, with individuals assigned a more doable number of casinos to check out. Then they all share their information. This is often done by those that chase progressives since they need constant updates. But it also works for those who are looking for good opportunities, what I call mining for “gold nuggets” of information that the general public doesn’t have.
I wrote a whole chapter on scouting in my book Frugal Video Poker, listing scores of hints on how to ferret out good games. Although some of the specifics in this book are outdated, it has a wealth of still-usable information for those who are new to video poker or just wanting to up their play and need more help.
A last note: Welcome to all of you who have become “friends” on my Jean Scott Facebook page.
Looks like you have found a great place and the pool will really help. Thanks for all the knowledge that you have given us over the years. Always looked forward to your blog. It helped us so much. Maybe it is time to reread your books. After all, we hope to go back to Vegas during the coming year. Think of you and Brad and wish you both the very best. Sheila P
Sending blessings your way for you and Brad. Love your Snoopy shirt.
Hi Jean,
Its Bill and Mary Lou. we remember that you were at our wedding and we still have the beautiful bowl that you gave us for our wedding present. it is still in our home in Houston, TX. we love it so and it reminds of both of you when we picked it out of your garage “stash” ha-ha. You said we had such great taste and it was such a beautiful gift! We are currently on another project in Oak Ridge TN for a few months. We pray you both stay well and please stay in touch. thank you for everything you did for us!!
You didn’t miss out on anything at Circa, 6/5 everywhere 🙁
Hi there…..You hang in there,,Jean,, don’t give up the ship…..You keep on plugging along….no matter what it takes…..I have been alone for 5 yrs now…after having my Honey with me for 65 yrs!……I still live alone…and I have a great son and his lovely little wife….who keep an eye on me…..so ….life is not over…….I have so much to live for….You take good care of Brad….stay well….My love and happiness to you both….Virginia
Thanks for sharing. Looks like you hit the jackpot by moving into the Legacy Reserve. If you get into any card games with some of the other residents, take it easy on them! Wishing you and Brad the best of health and every happiness.
I am so glad to hear that GA has such a great solution to your current health problems.
I think that your being together during covid in a place that will help you manage your current “one day at a time” is fantastic.
Thanks for your updates, personal or gaming, we all wish you the best….
Take care and stay safe,
MO
I hope you and Brad will be happy
The swimming is great to hear for both of you just wanted to say hi and let you know I still talk of all the fun times in the past
Hope to go out to Vegas next year didn’t go any this but we got the table games and sports betting now
Rick from Indy
I an happy your new home is the solution you are needing. Sounds like a winner for both of you. I live with my daughter and son-in-law and it is working great (has been 6 years). We all have to adjust as we get older!❤
Thanks so much for the update. I will be thinking of both of you. I enjoy reading about all of your adventures and casino info. Bad health has kept my husband and I from enjoying Vegas as we did once. Prayers for y’all.
I hope you enjoy many happy hours there. It looks great.
Senior living facilities are great. I am amazed you get to socialize with other residents. In NEVADA that is not the case. The facility where the in-laws live is on lockdown for the foreseeable future. They are not allowed to mingle with others who live there. No activities to meet others outside their cottage. (6 rooms some are empty ) They can’t leave, we can’t enter, and it is quite lonely for them, I think, even though they say they are fine, we call every day. They can talk to the staff, but that is about it for social interaction. No pool, no movies, no communal games or trivia, but they do have TV Bingo a few days a week, with candy bars as prizes. I guess if they are content and safe, that is all that matters. They are 91 and 94, both have memory issues.
Good decision, Jean, and sounds wonderful….I like the ‘Breakfast and a gourmet dinner every day.’ And transportation too! fantastic! Love your continual ‘gold nuggets’ at the end of the blog, thanks for sharing………My ‘tip’ to other Frugal Followers (if that’s the correct term) is if you love to play Deuces Wild, make sure it’s the ‘right paytable’ and if dealt 3-deuces (2-2-2), no wild RF or 5-kind …Hold just those 3-Deuces and hope for the best~ worked out for me, in my first trip back since reopening…LOL I set a personal best new record of 4-Deuces daily for 3 days in a row on minimal (< 4 hours) of play. 3 different casinos (Gold Coast in LV on YAH day). I was in Laughlin, so played (to generate offers) at Riverside, a nice hotel with many amenities (Movies, car museum, bowling, etc. and 15-9 ugly 2s as best game at .25c lvl)…hit my First ever set of ducks there, holding 3. And finally on way out of town (best time to 'hit and run'), playing at the Aquarius on 5x pts day for VP. Same- held 3-lone 2s, and that 4th 'duck' showed up! Quack-Quack-1000 winner! Thanks for your years of wisdom in pointing us recreational players in the right direction……I will always enjoy your blogs. I hope they can be archived here for many yrs… Martin San Diego, younger YAH just starting out, LOL!
Your new accommodations sound fantastic. Love to you and Brad and the rest of the family.
I suspect that looking for good plays at Circa is like looking for gold nuggets in a dirt parking lot. Plus, if there ARE any good plays, a swarm of APs will descend in a matter of minutes and thoroughly burn them out. Scouting is a waste of time these days, because of the barrenness of the casino landscape and the fact that so many people are looking for the same thing you are. How many people do you suppose did a complete survey of every machine in Circa within an hour of when it opened?
Unfortunately, the casinos are savvy enough these days that they rarely put a “mistake” on the floor; plus, they catch such errors almost immediately and fix them–while recording the player info of everyone who attacked the mistake.
Sorry to hear about yours and Brad’s failing health. It sounds like you have moved into the right place. Can’t go wrong with not having to cook 2 meals a day! I think Legacy Reserve will keep you and Brad pretty active for a long time! Stay safe.
Best of luck in your new abode. May you have a long healthy stay!
Keep up the good fight and take care of Brad. It is hard I know first hand but it is also quite rewarding in its own way. I took care of my wife in her final years and it was not easy but she was my VP guru and best friend. We were married for over 50 years and enjoyed your books and information which helped us immensely in our pursuit of profits at casinos. (More like lower loses in our case) But more fun time in any case. Best wishes to you and Brad.
Great to hear you and Brad found such a great place to move in, looks great, hope Brad will start to feel better.
Sounds like a good & safe move for you & Brad. My oldest sister & her husband moved to the same type of living space a couple of years ago in Texas & it has been very good for them..like you said, good food, have made friends & enjoyed the activities. Best wishes to you both.
Happy Holloween to Brad and Jean!
My father just moved into an assisted living place about 8 miles from me. I really need to visit him more often. We both like Mexican food and there are a few places to eat near his complex.
He gets around OK, just a little slower than I. 90-something guy.
He is quite sociable and makes friends easily.
Has a land- phone but no computer .We get along just fine.
My dad spent 8 years in Thailand and just could not GET the language down. Thai is very weird. Happy to be among English-speaking people!
I’ll see him this week. Thanks.