A Textbook Trip Report Part 3

Before I start addressing some of the many questions I’ve been asked about the gambling part of our Harrah’s Cherokee casino visit, I need to give some details about the non-gambling part for those who wanted some up-to-date information for their future visits.

There were some changes since our previous trip back in March 2022. Selu Garden Café, our favorite breakfast/lunch choice, has been renovated, with the gift area replaced by a comedy club venue that includes a bar and evening food selections. Also, the nearby Starbucks was closed, as they’re doing a major expansion to provide a much-needed larger sit-down area.

As had been announced when the buffet was closed during the pandemic, that space was turned into a Gordon Ramsay Food Market. We weren’t impressed. I don’t care what fancy name casinos are putting on this new option these days – a food market, food hall, food festival, or food forum, I just refer to it as a food court with higher prices. And to add salt to the wound, the old food court at Harrah’s Cherokee, with several reasonably priced choices that we loved as an easy option right on the casino floor, now has only two choices, Earl of Sandwich and Dunkin’ Donuts. And it’s now open only 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. when most everything else is closed. I guess TV chefs don’t like competition.

It seems that there are still some staffing problems. Most food venues are very crowded, some have limited hours, and service is slow. One exception was the Brio Italian Grill; although always busy and a reservation is recommended, we again found the food and service were top-notch.

We stayed in the older Creek Tower and the two rooms were quite comfortable, although not fancy. It was convenient to have a coffeemaker, a small fridge, and small microwave. All hotel rooms are a good long walk to the casino; we knew that the new tower rooms were more upscale, but a longer trek to the casino. One plus for Brad: They have a whole new fleet of modern wheelchairs to replace the ancient ones we used in the past. No fee for this convenience: Check them out on arrival and use until you leave.

Most of your gambling questions centered around casino tier systems. That’s a complex subject that would require a long detailed discussion, but I’ll give you a condensed version. First, every casino or casino group has their own and very different system and none are simple. So you must do a deep dive into the website of each one that you’re considering, so you know what the play requirements are for each tier.

Then you look at the benefits of each and see which ones you’ll actually use. Or can you “buy” some of these yourself at a smaller cost than what you would lose trying to earn them? Many casinos have been drastically cutting their tier benefits. For years, Brad and I were CZR Seven Stars, but we dropped down to Diamond Elite when we no longer used some of the benefits. And many people are finding “free” casino cruises have hefty surcharges and fees, when they can find less expensive ones by checking internet specials and discounts. The long and short is that players must consider their bankrolls, goals, their interests and then do the math!

Now, before I give you a final financial report for this visit, I need to confirm the rumors that I’m retiring. I’m not saying I’ll never play video poker again or visit a casino, but I’m leaving the advantage gambling arena. No more long hours of research and scouting to find the best plays. No more wading through pages of fine print to decide what promotions are worth my time. And definitely no more pushing to reach the higher tier levels of players clubs. No longer will I try at every point to balance fun and profit. At long last, fun will trump EV.

I decided in advance that this casino visit would be my last as an advantage player. Getting to Diamond Elite was a good goal, since it will probably generate enough future benefits that I can plan as many just-fun casino visits as I want to through January 2025.

Of course, being human, I would have liked to hit a $20,000 royal and go out with a bang. However, from past experience, playing six hours, I figured I’d lose around $5-$7K if I not only didn’t hit a royal, but also didn’t land at least one $5,000 4-deuce jackpot. Well, I didn’t hit either of the biggies, but I could title this session with the same one I used for the last chapter in my first book so long ago: “Breaking Even is a Terrific Thing.” It was a wonderful textbook ending of a 39-year career.

And now, for the cherry-on-top story I’m so so happy to share with you. I’ve talked more about my own gambling experiences for the last few years, since Brad has forgotten almost everything he knew about casinos and advantage gambling. After our many hours on the road getting to Cherokee, that evening we put Brad to bed thinking he’d be down for the night. Much to our surprise, after about an hour’s nap, he almost jumped out of bed. “Time to go to the casino!”

We helped him get dressed and into the wheelchair and the whole family headed for the long walk from the hotel over the bridge to the casino. In past casino visits, Steve pushed him around, looking for fun slots to play, while I went to a video poker machine. This time, I was looking for another bank of VP, so we were all walking around together, stopping to look at all of the new splashy slot machines. Steve stopped at one and asked Brad if he wanted to play it, but Brad just frowned and waved us away. He’s not very verbal these days, but his gestures seemed very negative toward all the slot machines we were looking at. Finally, he saw the bank of video poker machines I was looking for and he immediately motioned to all of us to come to them.

“You sure remember the best games to play!” I exclaimed as we all gathered around excitedly. He couldn’t wait to get out of the wheelchair and start playing. I sat down beside him, keeping a close watch; it was $25 a hand and I wasn’t at all sure if he remembered accurate strategy. These days, he often can’t remember what happened a couple of minutes ago.

His short-term memory is gone, but the long-term one kicked in strong and he started playing, very fast, just like he’d always done in the past. And surprisingly to all of us, he was extremely accurate, even choosing inside straights without a pause. The main errors I had to keep him from making, like keeping only one of two pairs, I soon realized was because he was remembering the somewhat different strategy for the full-pay Classic Deuces that was our core game for several years when we first started playing video poker. He probably hadn’t played that game for 30 years, but those were the brain cells that suddenly came alive.

We all watched in utter amazement for almost an hour, so happy he was having good luck and was up about $1,000. But then he started slowing down, having trouble deciding what to hold, looking to me for help. The long-term memory was fading. Yes, he just wanted to watch now.

This will probably be the last time he will ever be at a video poker machine, or even in a casino. But it’s a sweet memory that I and the whole family will always treasure.

I know your last question.

No, I’m not retiring from writing about casinos and gambling. Maybe just slowing down? Who knows when or where my words of advice might pop up!