Watch for special promos during college basketball’s March Madness days. And then there are always lots of St. Patrick’s Day menu specials; Brad and I will be looking for good corned beef and cabbage meals!
Again, I need to remind everyone that you should not depend solely on a promotion blog from me the first of each month to figure out where you should play that month. I don’t always have complete information until I have actually visited a particular casino, and I stumble on news that I want to share in blogs all month long, not just early in the month. For a long time I have been encouraging players to check gambling forum discussions and data bases as well as individual casino websites, and I have listed various helpful resources. No one person or website can take the place of intensive and wide-ranging research on your own to keep up these days. (One frugal hint: If you don’t want to miss one of my irregularly-posted blog entries, it’s easy to “Subscribe” on the right side of any of my blog pages and you will get an e-mail telling you when a new one is up.)
One other note: I don’t write just about the casinos we personally visit. However, I do share news of other casinos that I feel will be helpful to others.
RAMPART CASINO
Here are some details from a press release about their newly-revamped senior program:
50+ Tuesdays– For guests over 50 years of age
- $5,500 Slot & Video Poker Tournaments
- Slot Tournaments held on the first & third Tuesdays
- Video Poker Tournaments held on the second & fourth Tuesdays
- $3,000 Weekly tournament from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
- Best score will be used for tournament
- $25 Free Slot Play bonus
- $4,000 Free Slot Play Bonus Drawings held at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m.
- 15 winners at each drawing
- Earn one entry for every 50 points in Slots or Bingo and for every hour played at $5 average bet in table games or equivalent
- Top prize is $1,000 in Free Slot Play
- Earn 50 points and receive a swipe on the kiosk for cash, Free Slot Play, points, and dining
- $100 Free Slot Play Bonus on all jackpots on Video Reel Machines (jackpot value over $1,200)
- One free Small Rainbow pack in the electronic unit with minimum buy-in at the Bingo Room
- $5 Lunch Buffet
- Free Size Upgrade at Starbucks
- 30 percent off Salon Services at Spa Aquae, plus a free foot scrub with the purchase of any massage treatment
Go to their website for details of many other promotions: multiple-point days, an Earn & Spa voucher, Earn & Redeem buffets 7 days a week and other food specials.
WESTGATE LAS VEGAS
On March 1, they introduced a new players club, named WOW.
VP details: $10 coin-in = 1 point and 100 points = $1 in free play or comps (0.10%)
See other details at their website under “Casino.” Be sure to click on two links given there for more complete information: “See Official Rules” and “Click Here for Benefits.”
PALMS
More formerly closed sections are being opened up and machines are being moved around big-time. Some MIA machines are back. vpFREE2 is trying to keep up but you must use your best scouting skills each and every day in this very fluid major remodeling situation.
One warning if you want to have a good selection of breakfast items at the buffet. Although you get the lower breakfast price up until 11 a.m., they start the change-over to lunch selections around 10:30 and you have to be quick to find your favorite breakfast items before they disappear.
BAD NEWS CONTINUES
Seems like Caesars and MGM are in a contest to see which one can make their customers hate them more. Both have recently raised parking and resort fees. If you haven’t checked recently, do so you won’t be blindsided by new changes.
Please don’t come to Laughlin. There is only the Aquarius if you want decent video poker and it gets crazy crowded on the weekends. The buffet is not good and the coffee shop service is terrible. Duet is way overpriced and The Cove (lousy menu) is too. However, if you get to green or red, the slot club benefits are pretty darn good.
One item of note since St Pats is coming up: The Arizona Charlies Decatur buffet is a very nice smaller buffet and it serves corned beef (really good) every Thursday. We eat there every time we’re in Las Vegas on a Thursday no matter where we stay. I’m sure they’ll have it on Saturday, but now you don’t have to fight the masses.
If you are staying overnight in Laughlin midweek or over the weekend and can return Monday morning, the Silver Rider shuttle that goes back and forth between Laughlin and Las Vegas Monday through Friday should work for you. It’s geared for people who are in Laughlin to make a day trip to Las Vegas. The number to call for a reservation is (702)298-4435 and the cost is $20 round trip or $15 for people 60 and older, and you need to make your reservation at least the day before.
For more about Silver Rider, http://www.sntc.net/schedule.html
The shuttle carries about 20 people and picks up at the South Strip Transit Terminal at 1:45 p.m., the District at Green Valley at 2:15 p.m., The Galleria Mall/Sunset at 2:45 p.m., the Railroad Pass Casino at 3:00 p.m., and Searchlight at 3:35 p.m., arriving in Laughlin at the Riverside West Parking garage at 4:15 p.m. If you want to take a bus down casino row, it is $2 each way for people under 60, $1 each way for people over 60. One and three-day bus passes are available. The 777 bus, which runs 24 hours, picks up at the Riverside West parking garage bus stop at 10 past the hours and at the Riverside at 50 past the hour, but if you are riding the bus around, you’ll stop for a few minutes at the Silver Rider Terminal. The 888 bus runs from 5:44 a.m. until 12:31 a.m., and stops at the Riverside west at 45 past the hour and at the Riverside at 30 past the hour. As with the 777 bus, getting picked up at the Riverside means that you will go to the bus terminal, which could be convenient once if you need to get the reduced fare card, though they do accept a driver;s license from Nevada DMV.
Coming back to Las Vegas, the shuttle departs the Riverside West parking garage at 7:00 a.m., Searchlight 7: 50 a.m, Railroad Pass 8:40 a,m, Galleria/Sunset at 9:00 a.m, the District at Green Valley Ranch at 9:20 a.m., and the South Strip Transit Terminal at 9:40 a.m. There is an additional stop at the Regional Transit Center downtown at 10:15 a.m., but you won’t be picked up there when heading to Laughlin.
Walter, old Palms cards do not work; you must get a new Station card at the players club.
I have gone back to Silver Seven, went on saturday night, good prime rib and crab legs for $18.00 but 2for when you scan your card. Free $5.00 or $10.00 free play and I got 20 times on slot play. Went back on Thursday night and had ribs $10.00 got 2for when I scanned my card. New man running the buffet,
I haven’t read, can you use regular Station Casino cards at the Palms? Or still use old Palms cards?
Emerald Island in Henderson serves a killer St. Patrick’s Day dinner in their coffee shop. Y’know, their theme and all.
The Palms machine location roulette is important, because there are only a few good machines, and in particular 9/6 JOB is good for point accumulation for promos (such as the AYCE buffet instacomp). I don’t know if the FPDW machines still exist (at one point, they took them out and replaced them with slots), but you didn’t get any points for playing them anyway.
One thing I wish the Palms would do is put their current promos on their website. In general, their website is an uninformative mess.
I see Laughlin casinos have started advertising in LVRJ promoting no parking fees and no resort fees. Now all we need is a nice bus service, preferably free, from Vegas to Loughlin.