Nevada trip report

Over the next 2 weeks the gf and I will be driving to literally every corner of Nevada. This is our first real post-COVID trip together, and my first trip out west since the eliminating of restrictions. (I spent a good deal of time out west last fall by myself.)

We pretty much both loathe Las Vegas with a passion, so other than spending one night there on the front end of the trip to collect a freeplay offer and using the airport to fly in and out of, we will be spending the rest of the time elsewhere in the state. We will likely do the Wynn status match Druff talked about on radio this morning, though I was disappointed it didn't come with any freeplay. She will make good use of the spa credits.

We will be in South Lake Tahoe on the 15th, which is the day that California is slated to return to normal, so that will be interesting to see.

We are both part-time slot hustlers and historically those proceeds have covered all of our trip expenses and then some. (She calls them "cost-effective vacations.")

I fear her favorite machine (PVZ) has gone the way of the dodo bird though. We're hoping to find it in some far-flung outpost in the middle of nowhere.

I'll report our experiences in this thread.

So Vegas is most definitely back... other than a few signs that haven't been taken down yet, there's really not much indication that COVID ever really happened. The strip was jam packed on a Saturday night, It's such a stark contrast to the last time I was there, which was for Great Gift Wrap-Up back in December. It was so dead that I felt like I was a character in an apocalypse movie.

Interestingly, there was a much lower percentage of people still wearing masks in the Las Vegas casinos than there are in the New Orleans/Biloxi casinos. That surprised me for some reason.

I lived briefly in Vegas about 15 years ago, and I absolutely loathe what it's become with all the nickel-and-diming at every turn. I had high hopes that COVID would change some of that, and I guess at least temporarily it did? (I know both Caesars and MGM dropped their parking fees temporarily) It's all back though, and just as before the people don't give two shits about their $45/night resort fees and the "experience fees" when they order drinks... Sad but predictable I suppose.

Anyway, we arrived and got our car, then headed directly to In-n-Out, which is always our traditional first stop after arriving somewhere in the West. We then checked in at Bally's, chilled for a bit then went to see the Bellagio fountains and the Mirage volcano. We then wandered around inside the Mirage for a bit and I couldn't believe how many good machines were in there. We poked around at those, then sat at the sportsbook bar and had a drink (which they surprisingly comped for playing just a couple hands of $1 VP... ) Crossed the street and walked back through the row of Caesars properties and that was our night.

We found a lot more slot plays than I was expecting, I think mostly because it was Saturday night and the casino floors were packed. My girlfriend quipped that maybe the slot hustlers were refusing to go back to work post-COVID along with so many other people. The level of competition definitely seemed reduced somewhat.

Since she brought it up, I do know of a couple of full-time AP's who were actually able to get unemployment benefits when the shutdowns first happened last year...

Yesterday we headed to Red Rock Canyon before heading out of town. It's definitely worth visiting if you haven't been... some of the rock formations on the first part of the drive are otherworldly, and hiking opportunities abound if that's your thing.

So after Red Rock Canyon we headed northwest, making a couple of stops at small casinos in Indian Springs and Beatty. Beatty is also home to Nevada's largest bulk candy store. Gas and a bag of Sprees later, we continued on.

Most people find the Vegas to Reno drive boring but we actually really enjoy it, just because it's such different scenery than what we're used to. We usually break it up into 2 days and stay in Tonopah, and we did the same this trip.

Tonopah is actually a neat little town, provided one doesn't have to live there. There are 3 small casinos with plenty of beatable machines, and it has a fascinating history. Tonopah was quite the boomtown in the early part of the 20th century when the silver mines were running at their peak. There's a mining park on the grounds of the old mines that you can drive through and see a bunch of the old equipment and buildings that are still there. Obviously the town fell on hard times when the mines closed, but it's reinvented itself a bit as a touristy stop. It's known now for stargazing of all things. Go just a few miles out of town and you get the darkest skies in America. It's just far enough away from both Vegas and Reno that you don't get any glare from either city.

Usually we stay at Tonopah Station, which is the first casino you come across when entering town from the south. They have a cool promotion... 3 dice in a bucket at the front desk. Each person in your party gets to roll the dice once and if you get 3 of a kind your room is free. (1 in 36 chance.) This time however we stayed at the Mizpah Hotel downtown. Apparently it recently won some Most Haunted Hotel in America award and my gf is all into that shit so we forked over a little extra. It's actually a really nice building with a 1920's style interior with lots of antique furnishings. The rooms were (predictably) small but nicely appointed as well. We had dinner at the Tonopah Brewing Co. I had the ribs which weren't tender enough but had fantastic flavor, and she had a brisket late which was also very good. Like seemingly everywhere else these days they were super short staffed. (2 girls working the whole place)

Pro tip: when a restaurant is obviously light on help, sit at the bar if there is one and you will almost always get MUCH better service.

Monday morning we headed for Reno-Tahoe with stops in Hawthorne, Fallon and Fernley on the way.

I'll cover this part of the trip in my next report.

See Lake Mead before it finally dries up. It has never ever been this low.

Have you seen any hint of water concern in the hotels or whatever?

Thanks for these reports. Very cool.

The drive between Reno and Vegas is WIDE open, with few cars, and just about no obstructions or curves. If there's a place to safely speed, this is it.

For this reason, I set my all-time record regarding fast drives for a long distance. I covered 450 miles in 5.5 hours. This was especially tough because of the slow speeds required through Carson City, Gardnerville, Minden, and Fallon. I did this in 2008.

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Originally Posted by Sanlmar

See Lake Mead before it finally dries up. It has never ever been this low.

Have you seen any hint of water concern in the hotels or whatever?

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Not yet, no. A wildfire in Washoe Valley briefly closed 395 through the Washoe Flats today though. It was contained relatively quickly from what I understand. Nonetheless, when your wildfire season begins before the first day of summer, it's a bad, BAD sign. The west is gonna burn like a motherfucker this summer and fall.

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Thanks for these reports. Very cool.

The drive between Reno and Vegas is WIDE open, with few cars, and just about no obstructions or curves. If there's a place to safely speed, this is it.

For this reason, I set my all-time record regarding fast drives for a long distance. I covered 450 miles in 5.5 hours. This was especially tough because of the slow speeds required through Carson City, Gardnerville, Minden, and Fallon. I did this in 2008.

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You would think that, but not necessarily. Depends on whether you're driving a car with Nevada plates or not.

In December 2015 while going 73 mph (speed limit is 70) I got stopped by a Nevada state trooper between Goldfield and Tonopah. He claimed he clocked me at 83 but wrote the tiicket for 73 as he winked at me....... The real reason he pulled me over was because I was driving a rental car with out-of-state plates and he wanted to search for drugs.

A similar trap exists to this day on eastbound I-80 just east of Reno after the Greg Street exit. A Washoe County sheriff will sit there and do nothing but look for cars with out of state plates to pull over and search. An AP friend got caught in this trap in 2014 and was charged with several counts of identity theft because he had several other people's players cards on him (with their permission of course.) Obviously the charges were dropped but it was still quite a hassle.

The Humboldt County sheriff's department (northeast of Reno) is notorious for stopping out-of-state vehicles on I-80 in order to attempt civil asset forfeitures.

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Originally Posted by go_buccos

Not yet, no. A wildfire in Washoe Valley briefly closed 395 through the Washoe Flats today though. It was contained relatively quickly from what I understand. Nonetheless, when your wildfire season begins before the first day of summer, it's a bad, BAD sign. The west is gonna burn like a motherfucker this summer and fall.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Thanks for these reports. Very cool.

The drive between Reno and Vegas is WIDE open, with few cars, and just about no obstructions or curves. If there's a place to safely speed, this is it.

For this reason, I set my all-time record regarding fast drives for a long distance. I covered 450 miles in 5.5 hours. This was especially tough because of the slow speeds required through Carson City, Gardnerville, Minden, and Fallon. I did this in 2008.

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You would think that, but not necessarily. Depends on whether you're driving a car with Nevada plates or not.

In December 2015 while going 73 mph (speed limit is 70) I got stopped by a Nevada state trooper between Goldfield and Tonopah. He claimed he clocked me at 83 but wrote the tiicket for 73 as he winked at me....... The real reason he pulled me over was because I was driving a rental car with out-of-state plates and he wanted to search for drugs.

A similar trap exists to this day on eastbound I-80 just east of Reno after the Greg Street exit. A Washoe County sheriff will sit there and do nothing but look for cars with out of state plates to pull over and search. An AP friend got caught in this trap in 2014 and was charged with several counts of identity theft because he had several other people's players cards on him (with their permission of course.) Obviously the charges were dropped but it was still quite a hassle.

The Humboldt County sheriff's department (northeast of Reno) is notorious for stopping out-of-state vehicles on I-80 in order to attempt civil asset forfeitures.

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Yeah I knew about the I-80 civil forfeiture crap. That's really awful.

I have a radar detector, so as long as they don't hit me with laser (or turn on their gun just as I'm passing them, which most are too lazy to do), I'm good.

It's very possible your AP friend was ratted out by some casino, as I've mentioned before on radio. In 2014, that shit was going on a lot.

We are not far off from a Saskatchewan trip report that will shock and awe

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

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Originally Posted by go_buccos

Not yet, no. A wildfire in Washoe Valley briefly closed 395 through the Washoe Flats today though. It was contained relatively quickly from what I understand. Nonetheless, when your wildfire season begins before the first day of summer, it's a bad, BAD sign. The west is gonna burn like a motherfucker this summer and fall.



You would think that, but not necessarily. Depends on whether you're driving a car with Nevada plates or not.

In December 2015 while going 73 mph (speed limit is 70) I got stopped by a Nevada state trooper between Goldfield and Tonopah. He claimed he clocked me at 83 but wrote the tiicket for 73 as he winked at me....... The real reason he pulled me over was because I was driving a rental car with out-of-state plates and he wanted to search for drugs.

A similar trap exists to this day on eastbound I-80 just east of Reno after the Greg Street exit. A Washoe County sheriff will sit there and do nothing but look for cars with out of state plates to pull over and search. An AP friend got caught in this trap in 2014 and was charged with several counts of identity theft because he had several other people's players cards on him (with their permission of course.) Obviously the charges were dropped but it was still quite a hassle.

The Humboldt County sheriff's department (northeast of Reno) is notorious for stopping out-of-state vehicles on I-80 in order to attempt civil asset forfeitures.

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Yeah I knew about the I-80 civil forfeiture crap. That's really awful.

I have a radar detector, so as long as they don't hit me with laser (or turn on their gun just as I'm passing them, which most are too lazy to do), I'm good.

It's very possible your AP friend was ratted out by some casino, as I've mentioned before on radio. In 2014, that shit was going on a lot.

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That's what we thought at first, but during pre-trial discovery (before the charges were dropped) it actually came out that the opposite happened. (the cops ratted him out to the casino-GSR)

Tribal casinos are notorious for doing what you mentioned... if a player they chase out refuses to show ID, they will get their tribal police to stop them just so they can get a name.

If you think there would be enough interest, I would be happy to come on radio tomorrow night and give an audio trip update.

So we spent 4 nights last week in South Lake Tahoe on my 7-star retreat at Harrah's. We were given a corner suite despite the fact that my MDV in Tahoe is meh, so that was really nice. You're supposed to get a suite on your 7-star trip regardless, but Caesars will resist this sometimes if you have a bad or no ADT in the market you want to go to. If they hassle you about it, be persistent and don't take no for an answer. If they say they don't have any suites available when you book, they're lying. Straight up. Your best option at that point is to contact your host in either your local market or in the market where you have the highest MDV and ask if they can help. They usually can. I know that Druff and maybe a couple others here have run into that issue.

Another 7-star retreat pro tip, Cheap Jew style: Caesars offers up to $1,200 in airfare reimbursement for your 7-star trip. It used to be that you had to book your air travel through their 3rd-party provider, but now in most markets you can book it yourself and get the airfare reimbursed in free slot play by taking the receipt to the players club at your destination. You can totally profit off this. We used my gf's credit card reward miles to fly out, so we literally paid $22.40 for our flights. Then a few days before the trip I booked a super-expensive fully refundable RT ticket that fell just under the $1,200 limit. Got that ticket refunded, but presented the original booking e-mail for the reimbursement and wound up with almost $1,200 in free money.

Obviously if you do this, make sure the dates and times match up with the actual dates/check in times of your trip.

Anyway, Tahoe was hopping. It was weekend-type packed all week long. Obviously there is a ton of pent-up demand for travel these days and with California fully reopening while we were there I'm sure that was a driver as well. Everything was mostly normal with a couple of exceptions, the most glaring being the poker room at Harvey's. Pre-COVID it was open 7 days a week beginning at 10:00 AM, but now it's only open Thursday-Sunday at 3:00 PM. They are playing 9-handed, so at least there's that. If you're not aware, that room has some of the softest NL action in the whole country. (especially on weekends) I'm strictly a Limit O8 player and even I can beat those NL games. It's a relic from the pre-Moneymaker days when NL was beatable pretty much everywhere.

Also, the Lakeside has closed permanently. It didn't have a whole lot to offer, but it was the only casino I've ever been to that had a jukebox that would play on the casino floor, and it was also the Tahoe service industry hangout making for some fun nights at the bar there.

Unfortunately the slot hustling competition in SLT is also super intense, but I expected that.

Our second day we took a drive around the entire lake and stopped at Emerald Bay for pictures which is always a favorite of ours. Stopped also at the tiny casinos in Crystal Bay on the north shore and found some decent slot plays. On Day 3 we rented bikes from a local bike shop and rode them down to a couple of beaches on the Nevada side. That night a couple friends came up from Reno and we used the $500 dining credit that comes with the trip at Friday's Station on top of Harrah's hotel. Food was meh, but the view... holy fuck! Awesome.

On Day 4 we pretty much chilled. GF went to the pool at Harvey's and I sat at the bar at the Lucky Beaver and watched the Giants game.

Speaking of the Lucky Beaver, it's a bar/restaurant between Harrah's and Montbleu. It is simply hands down the best bar food in America. Incredible attention to detail on everything they do. We eat a vast majority of our meals there when in Tahoe and we save the dining credit for one big dinner. It's a must-stop the next time you're there. You will NOT regret it.

Friday we packed up and headed for Reno. I'll cover that and subsequent adverntures in my next report.

Thanks for this thread! Keep it up.
As a long time road warrior (since 2nd grade, traveling VA to CA and back with my family!) I love hearing about new places and adventures.
I traveled around the western states in the late 90's in a 23 foot RV going from one casino to the next. I used to post trip reports on rec.gambling.poker,
the social media of its day!
My last trip was October 2019 when me and my Best Dog drove from Long Island to Berkeley. 3000 miles over six days along I-80. Good times!

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Originally Posted by go_buccos

So we spent 4 nights last week in South Lake Tahoe on my 7-star retreat at Harrah's. We were given a corner suite despite the fact that my MDV in Tahoe is meh, so that was really nice. You're supposed to get a suite on your 7-star trip regardless, but Caesars will resist this sometimes if you have a bad or no ADT in the market you want to go to. If they hassle you about it, be persistent and don't take no for an answer. If they say they don't have any suites available when you book, they're lying. Straight up. Your best option at that point is to contact your host in either your local market or in the market where you have the highest MDV and ask if they can help. They usually can. I know that Druff and maybe a couple others here have run into that issue.

Another 7-star retreat pro tip, Cheap Jew style: Caesars offers up to $1,200 in airfare reimbursement for your 7-star trip. It used to be that you had to book your air travel through their 3rd-party provider, but now in most markets you can book it yourself and get the airfare reimbursed in free slot play by taking the receipt to the players club at your destination. You can totally profit off this. We used my gf's credit card reward miles to fly out, so we literally paid $22.40 for our flights. Then a few days before the trip I booked a super-expensive fully refundable RT ticket that fell just under the $1,200 limit. Got that ticket refunded, but presented the original booking e-mail for the reimbursement and wound up with almost $1,200 in free money.

Obviously if you do this, make sure the dates and times match up with the actual dates/check in times of your trip.

Anyway, Tahoe was hopping. It was weekend-type packed all week long. Obviously there is a ton of pent-up demand for travel these days and with California fully reopening while we were there I'm sure that was a driver as well. Everything was mostly normal with a couple of exceptions, the most glaring being the poker room at Harvey's. Pre-COVID it was open 7 days a week beginning at 10:00 AM, but now it's only open Thursday-Sunday at 3:00 PM. They are playing 9-handed, so at least there's that. If you're not aware, that room has some of the softest NL action in the whole country. (especially on weekends) I'm strictly a Limit O8 player and even I can beat those NL games. It's a relic from the pre-Moneymaker days when NL was beatable pretty much everywhere.

Also, the Lakeside has closed permanently. It didn't have a whole lot to offer, but it was the only casino I've ever been to that had a jukebox that would play on the casino floor, and it was also the Tahoe service industry hangout making for some fun nights at the bar there.

Unfortunately the slot hustling competition in SLT is also super intense, but I expected that.

Our second day we took a drive around the entire lake and stopped at Emerald Bay for pictures which is always a favorite of ours. Stopped also at the tiny casinos in Crystal Bay on the north shore and found some decent slot plays. On Day 3 we rented bikes from a local bike shop and rode them down to a couple of beaches on the Nevada side. That night a couple friends came up from Reno and we used the $500 dining credit that comes with the trip at Friday's Station on top of Harrah's hotel. Food was meh, but the view... holy fuck! Awesome.

On Day 4 we pretty much chilled. GF went to the pool at Harvey's and I sat at the bar at the Lucky Beaver and watched the Giants game.

Speaking of the Lucky Beaver, it's a bar/restaurant between Harrah's and Montbleu. It is simply hands down the best bar food in America. Incredible attention to detail on everything they do. We eat a vast majority of our meals there when in Tahoe and we save the dining credit for one big dinner. It's a must-stop the next time you're there. You will NOT regret it.

Friday we packed up and headed for Reno. I'll cover that and subsequent adverntures in my next report.

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Lakeside was absolutely the best, South Lake Tahoe won't be the same without it.

First drink free, free $5 match play, steak & lobster, single deck blackjack, and the biggest craps table in Nevada! which they always loved to remind players about.

Hitting up the steak and lobster dinner after a full day at Heavenly and a quick dip in the hot tub, then playing blackjack all night was my idea of the perfect Tahoe trip.

My backup life plan (if everything else failed) was always to move to SLT and deal blackjack there. I was probably Lakeside's biggest fan, and shared a lot of times there with people who aren't here anymore, but nothing good lasts forever.

Did you go east from Reno on I-80 to play at the casinos in West Wendover? There are truck stops within walking distance of two of them that I know of (Rainbow and Peppermill).

My buddy flew in last night for a few days after a meeting in Scottsdale. Got his free room at Harrahs and went down to book to catch last few minutes of the Hawks-Bucks game. Said he paid $17 for a Blue Moon. Ordered small side of nachos and another beer elsewhere and it was $49.

He lived there for 15 years and said the gouging on the strip is just laughable at this point. Said it was jammed as fuck as you said. Said that road that used to be an actual road between Flamingo and what used to be Imperial Palace, where they built Linq that is now just foot traffic was so crowded it was like trying to navigate the pit of a concert venue. He wasn’t sure if it’s always like that or something was going on. I almost went out with him, but he only had like 2 days, so I said fuck it, and from what he described, I was kind of happy with my decision.

I'm currently at LAS about to fly home, will share my thoughts tonight/tomorrow about this trip.

But yeah....BCR your buddy is not wrong. Very strange time here it seems. Take the 2008 recession and multiply by covid-19.

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Originally Posted by gut

I'm currently at LAS about to fly home, will share my thoughts tonight/tomorrow about this trip.

But yeah....BCR your buddy is not wrong. Very strange time here it seems. Take the 2008 recession and multiply by covid-19.

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Yeah he said Vegas feels strange too. I guess there is a big opening tonight. A Resorts World? He said it had the worst logo he had ever seen, as he couldn’t even make out what it was called until he was right next to it. Said the sign is horrible.

He had some free stay at Harrah’s, I don’t know if it’s from his company or credit card or whatever as he isn’t a gambler. I asked him how it was and he just said “dark“.

You have to know him, like I’d know what I meant if I said it because I prefer the company of white people and I’m not shy about it, but he never talks that way, so when he said it I literally thought he meant like the lighting or something and I asked, what do you mean?

He said it reminded him of when he got his first corporate job years ago and they sent him to Atlanta during freaknik for training. Said he was the only white guy in a long line checking in, and he’s white like he just jumped off a ski slope in Sweden white.

For him to say that he must legit be the only white guy in the entire hotel. He went to dinner with an old Vegas friend and said he was staying at Harrah’s, and his friend said, “you know that place is really diverse now?” He said he noticed.

The polite racism of middle aged white people. I hadn’t heard that about Harrah’s.

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Originally Posted by BCR

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gut

I'm currently at LAS about to fly home, will share my thoughts tonight/tomorrow about this trip.

But yeah....BCR your buddy is not wrong. Very strange time here it seems. Take the 2008 recession and multiply by covid-19.

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Yeah he said Vegas feels strange too. I guess there is a big opening tonight. A Resorts World? He said it had the worst logo he had ever seen, as he couldn’t even make out what it was called until he was right next to it. Said the sign is horrible.

He had some free stay at Harrah’s, I don’t know if it’s from his company or credit card or whatever as he isn’t a gambler. I asked him how it was and he just said “dark“.

You have to know him, like I’d know what I meant if I said it because I prefer the company of white people and I’m not shy about it, but he never talks that way, so when he said it I literally thought he meant like the lighting or something and I asked, what do you mean?

He said it reminded him of when he got his first corporate job years ago and they sent him to Atlanta during freaknik for training. Said he was the only white guy in a long line checking in, and he’s white like he just jumped off a ski slope in Sweden white.

For him to say that he must legit be the only white guy in the entire hotel. He went to dinner with an old Vegas friend and said he was staying at Harrah’s, and his friend said, “you know that place is really diverse now?” He said he noticed.

The polite racism of middle aged white people. I hadn’t heard that about Harrah’s.

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Resorts World is obviously a big deal

what is actually very interesting to me, is how the Asian problems here seem to be very high now. And Resorts World is essentially, China and will be them catering to the actual, Macau people. Resorts World looks awesome, and I think it's great, obviously the best new thing in Las Vegas, or the Strip maybe ever. Its a big deal, id say Resorts World will be a place I'm going to look forward to seeing, and going to the first time now.

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Originally Posted by garrett

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BCR

Yeah he said Vegas feels strange too. I guess there is a big opening tonight. A Resorts World? He said it had the worst logo he had ever seen, as he couldn’t even make out what it was called until he was right next to it. Said the sign is horrible.

He had some free stay at Harrah’s, I don’t know if it’s from his company or credit card or whatever as he isn’t a gambler. I asked him how it was and he just said “dark“.

You have to know him, like I’d know what I meant if I said it because I prefer the company of white people and I’m not shy about it, but he never talks that way, so when he said it I literally thought he meant like the lighting or something and I asked, what do you mean?

He said it reminded him of when he got his first corporate job years ago and they sent him to Atlanta during freaknik for training. Said he was the only white guy in a long line checking in, and he’s white like he just jumped off a ski slope in Sweden white.

For him to say that he must legit be the only white guy in the entire hotel. He went to dinner with an old Vegas friend and said he was staying at Harrah’s, and his friend said, “you know that place is really diverse now?” He said he noticed.

The polite racism of middle aged white people. I hadn’t heard that about Harrah’s.

---

Resorts World is obviously a big deal

what is actually very interesting to me, is how the Asian problems here seem to be very high now. And Resorts World is essentially, China and will be them catering to the actual, Macau people. Resorts World looks awesome, and I think it's great, obviously the best new thing in Las Vegas, or the Strip maybe ever. Its a big deal, id say Resorts World will be a place I'm going to look forward to seeing, and going to the first time now.

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Yeah he said it looked like an awesome place, just the actual name of the property is kind of boring and generic and the actual logo and signage didn’t seem appropriate for such a high end property. I guess it’s some Hilton enterprise and he said there is a Hilton logo on it but he said he couldn’t even see what the first word of the building was until he got right on top of it. Just struck him as weird.

I mean you have Aria, The Venetian, Wynn, Bellagio, The Cosmopolitan, all those names have a certain high end sound to them. Resorts World sounds like something Bob Stupak would have opened in 1975.

Doesn’t matter. Maybe they did a focus group and it translates beautifully in Mandarin and Cantonese and the Chinese love the name. I doubt it will matter to the bottom line if the property is awesome.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BCR

Quote:

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Originally Posted by garrett

Resorts World is obviously a big deal

what is actually very interesting to me, is how the Asian problems here seem to be very high now. And Resorts World is essentially, China and will be them catering to the actual, Macau people. Resorts World looks awesome, and I think it's great, obviously the best new thing in Las Vegas, or the Strip maybe ever. Its a big deal, id say Resorts World will be a place I'm going to look forward to seeing, and going to the first time now.

---

Yeah he said it looked like an awesome place, just the actual name of the property is kind of boring and generic and the actual logo and signage didn’t seem appropriate for such a high end property. I guess it’s some Hilton enterprise and he said there is a Hilton logo on it but he said he couldn’t even see what the first word of the building was until he got right on top of it. Just struck him as weird.

I mean you have Aria, The Venetian, Wynn, Bellagio, The Cosmopolitan, all those names have a certain high end sound to them. Resorts World sounds like something Bob Stupak would have opened in 1975.

Doesn’t matter. Maybe they did a focus group and it translates beautifully in Mandarin and Cantonese and the Chinese love the name. I doubt it will matter to the bottom line if the property is awesome.

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Pretty sure they are actually here to cater to the Chinese, and Macau people first. Resorts World is not made to cater to American's FIRST I don't think but I could be wrong. They are China focused, not just by the way it looks. Also Interesting today, and I do not totally understand this but, China who is a Country that just crushed cryptocurrency but Resorts World said they plan on accepting cryptocurrency.



https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/24/reso...akes-hold.html

'resorts world' sounds like a shell corp triads set up to launder money through gambling travel packages.


which.. is probably a big part of the business model if i had to guess.

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Originally Posted by sonatine

'resorts world' sounds like a shell corp triads set up to launder money through gambling travel packages.


which.. is probably a big part of the business model if i had to guess.

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That’s what I thought. Like a shell or some business trying to sell you a timeshare in a high end hotel lobby, not the actual high end hotel.

I was just thinking, Sonatine has an opt out just like Bauer.

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Originally Posted by BCR

My buddy flew in last night for a few days after a meeting in Scottsdale. Got his free room at Harrahs and went down to book to catch last few minutes of the Hawks-Bucks game. Said he paid $17 for a Blue Moon. Ordered small side of nachos and another beer elsewhere and it was $49.

He lived there for 15 years and said the gouging on the strip is just laughable at this point. Said it was jammed as fuck as you said. Said that road that used to be an actual road between Flamingo and what used to be Imperial Palace, where they built Linq that is now just foot traffic was so crowded it was like trying to navigate the pit of a concert venue. He wasn’t sure if it’s always like that or something was going on. I almost went out with him, but he only had like 2 days, so I said fuck it, and from what he described, I was kind of happy with my decision.

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Yeah, my annual pilgrimage to the Southwest isn’t going to be Vegas this year. Like Druff, I’m doing Colorado instead.

I’m committed to treating myself better. Posts like the above affirm my decision.

It’s like the cruise industry annexed the strip. The unwashed and the hood from LA can have my room

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sanlmar

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BCR

My buddy flew in last night for a few days after a meeting in Scottsdale. Got his free room at Harrahs and went down to book to catch last few minutes of the Hawks-Bucks game. Said he paid $17 for a Blue Moon. Ordered small side of nachos and another beer elsewhere and it was $49.

He lived there for 15 years and said the gouging on the strip is just laughable at this point. Said it was jammed as fuck as you said. Said that road that used to be an actual road between Flamingo and what used to be Imperial Palace, where they built Linq that is now just foot traffic was so crowded it was like trying to navigate the pit of a concert venue. He wasn’t sure if it’s always like that or something was going on. I almost went out with him, but he only had like 2 days, so I said fuck it, and from what he described, I was kind of happy with my decision.

---

Yeah, my annual pilgrimage to the Southwest isn’t going to be Vegas this year. Like Druff, I’m doing Colorado instead.

I’m committed to treating myself better. Posts like the above affirm my decision.

It’s like the cruise industry annexed the strip. The unwashed and the hood from LA can have my room

---

Few options here:

1. Get a room in a better place.

2. Wait until the stimulus money runs out.

It'll go back to normal.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Walter Sobchak

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sanlmar

Yeah, my annual pilgrimage to the Southwest isn’t going to be Vegas this year. Like Druff, I’m doing Colorado instead.

I’m committed to treating myself better. Posts like the above affirm my decision.

It’s like the cruise industry annexed the strip. The unwashed and the hood from LA can have my room

---

Few options here:

1. Get a room in a better place.

2. Wait until the stimulus money runs out.

It'll go back to normal.

---

Actually this thread has inspired me to put South Lake Tahoe on my list instead.

@go_buccos

any rental car advice or war stories?


this has been an issue for us on trips in the east. Relatively easy trips are turning into exercises in anger management over availability and price gouging.

Just picking up your car at an airport can be an hour or more. Never ending surprises await you at the counter. Ft Meyers had a line out the door and crowd control.

I understand fleets got sold and there just aren’t any but it sucks.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sanlmar

@go_buccos

any rental car advice or war stories?


this has been an issue for us on trips in the east. Relatively easy trips are turning into exercises in anger management over availability and price gouging.

Just picking up your car at an airport can be an hour or more. Never ending surprises await you at the counter. Ft Meyers had a line out the door and crowd control.

I understand fleets got sold and there just aren’t any but it sucks.

---

My buddy said there was no selection and it was like $249 for an economy. Said there was like 4 cars on the lot. Don’t think he had to wait long as he was at hotel too quickly after flight landed, so he got lucky there.

You had asked about temp tags in Ohio a few weeks back and I had no idea as I hadn’t bought anything and no one had mentioned anything and I forgot to respond by the time I asked, but my dad got a new car this past week and his normal sales guy was telling him what a nightmare the temp tag situation was.

They just got it opened back up, and he was thrilled to get my dads trade in just to have some used cars on the lot. They don’t even have loaners for people dropping off cars under warranty for repairs. Used cars are so off the hook that even the people who leased cars are just buying them for the price that was locked in pre-pandemic rather than try to buy something new with nothing on the lots and the buyout prices being $5-10k lower than what they’d sell for now with the prices so up. My dad wasn’t even planing on buying one yet, he had just called to get an idea on a few vehicles, and his dude said I’ll give you a $1000 extra if you do it right now just to get some used cars on the lot.

So my thoughts (sorry buccos, if you would prefer this to not be in your thread then Druff can re-arrange).

I stayed at Flamingo for 3 nights, when I checked in via kiosk i wound up in a dirty room. Not like "Druff" dirty, literally an uncleaned room. Hadn't been turnover from whoever stayed there the previous night.

Well, they switched me to a better view, lol. So anyway, Flamingo was operating like a place that could not get enough employees back. Poker room closed on tues & wed, convenience store....who knows what their hours were. Kinda wild west type shit going on.

First thing: nickel-n-diming has gotten way worse. I remember being shocked when I was told only 1 free drink ticket for every $50 in the book, I guess now it is 1 for every $100. LOLZ

I'm no AP like Mickey Fuckin Crimm, but the slots were tight as fuck. Like "should just burn your money" tight.

Poker still =faggot, but being that I couldn't even play at my home casino most of the time, I went to Bally's for some 1-3 NL and tourneys. Couldnt find any limit less than the 20-40 at Bellagio on center strip. Guess limit players midweek just have to go downtown.

$17 for a blue moon sounds about right.

I feel like Vegas will soon have to face a reckoning. People can legally sports bet from their house. Maybe poker again soon. I can play slots at stupid dive bars here in Portland. Why am I going to Vegas again?

It was also fucking packed on Monday-Tuesday in center strip, couldn't have been a lot of visiting hockey fans since it was vs Habs and those fucks would have to quarantine to get back home.

Like, I thought I was there for a weekend during midweek. Most of the casinos/restaurants were not prepared for this.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gut

So my thoughts (sorry buccos, if you would prefer this to not be in your thread then Druff can re-arrange).

I stayed at Flamingo for 3 nights, when I checked in via kiosk i wound up in a dirty room. Not like "Druff" dirty, literally an uncleaned room. Hadn't been turnover from whoever stayed there the previous night.

Well, they switched me to a better view, lol. So anyway, Flamingo was operating like a place that could not get enough employees back. Poker room closed on tues & wed, convenience store....who knows what their hours were. Kinda wild west type shit going on.

First thing: nickel-n-diming has gotten way worse. I remember being shocked when I was told only 1 free drink ticket for every $50 in the book, I guess now it is 1 for every $100. LOLZ

I'm no AP like Mickey Fuckin Crimm, but the slots were tight as fuck. Like "should just burn your money" tight.

Poker still =faggot, but being that I couldn't even play at my home casino most of the time, I went to Bally's for some 1-3 NL and tourneys. Couldnt find any limit less than the 20-40 at Bellagio on center strip. Guess limit players midweek just have to go downtown.

$17 for a blue moon sounds about right.

I feel like Vegas will soon have to face a reckoning. People can legally sports bet from their house. Maybe poker again soon. I can play slots at stupid dive bars here in Portland. Why am I going to Vegas again?

---

Yeah, he flew back at 230 and pretty much echoed your sentiments. Said he was sitting and talking to two girls last night and they were all playing video blackjack. They were playing to drink. He was just drinking beer, but the girls were playing and drinking Titos and all were novice gamblers just used to drinks being free if you played and the only reason any of them were playing.

Girls were old friends who meet up a few times a year. The one he was talking with lives in Long Beach, Seattle natives. Said the bartenders never said a thing. No running tab apparent. Nothing posted.

Girls were peppering him with strategy questions, which he only knew from watching me play and machine had no doubles or splits, so he knew enough.

The girls got up to leave and had a tab of maybe $150. They weren’t happy. My buddy realized he must have one also. Wasn’t bad, like $9 a beer for 4 or 5, but said he would have walked off if it didn’t happen to them first. He isn’t a gambler, only plays in that spot.

As a bartender, stupid to be in a tip industry and not let people know they aren’t playing high enough or qualifying. He didn’t care as his company picks up everything, and he was going easy on them all trip as he had banged them for a high priced tee time in Scottsdale and wanted to take it easy on them in Vegas.

He lived there for years and loves the town, wants it to prosper, hopes the wife might think about it come retirement, and was more just disappointed in the direction they’ve took and how it seemed to irritate everyone and leave a bad taste.

He had became Facebook friends with the girl he was talking to and said she was irritated as hell and thought maybe it was a lot of $ to her, but looked at her page and was some fairly high level exec for a clothing company, so it wasn’t like she couldn’t afford it. LA people come to Vegas as a cheap fun diversion and she didn’t love getting a bar bill like she was at home. Seems bad business.

He said half the conversations with strangers were about the nickel/diming everywhere.

His takeaway was same as yours. He tags along with me to casinos in regional cities all the time, and I tend to hit pits as poker is too time consuming if you want to go have dinner and drink and golf, and he sees I have to pay for drinks but little else, and drinks are cheap. He said they’re going to face a reckoning and basically what you said. If you aren’t a young person wanting to club, why come with gambling everywhere?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BCR

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gut

So my thoughts (sorry buccos, if you would prefer this to not be in your thread then Druff can re-arrange).

I stayed at Flamingo for 3 nights, when I checked in via kiosk i wound up in a dirty room. Not like "Druff" dirty, literally an uncleaned room. Hadn't been turnover from whoever stayed there the previous night.

Well, they switched me to a better view, lol. So anyway, Flamingo was operating like a place that could not get enough employees back. Poker room closed on tues & wed, convenience store....who knows what their hours were. Kinda wild west type shit going on.

First thing: nickel-n-diming has gotten way worse. I remember being shocked when I was told only 1 free drink ticket for every $50 in the book, I guess now it is 1 for every $100. LOLZ

I'm no AP like Mickey Fuckin Crimm, but the slots were tight as fuck. Like "should just burn your money" tight.

Poker still =faggot, but being that I couldn't even play at my home casino most of the time, I went to Bally's for some 1-3 NL and tourneys. Couldnt find any limit less than the 20-40 at Bellagio on center strip. Guess limit players midweek just have to go downtown.

$17 for a blue moon sounds about right.

I feel like Vegas will soon have to face a reckoning. People can legally sports bet from their house. Maybe poker again soon. I can play slots at stupid dive bars here in Portland. Why am I going to Vegas again?

---

Yeah, he flew back at 230 and pretty much echoed your sentiments. Said he was sitting and talking to two girls last night and they were all playing video blackjack. They were playing to drink. He was just drinking beer, but the girls were playing and drinking Titos and all were novice gamblers just used to drinks being free if you played and the only reason any of them were playing.

Girls were old friends who meet up a few times a year. The one he was talking with lives in Long Beach, Seattle natives. Said the bartenders never said a thing. No running tab apparent. Nothing posted.

Girls were peppering him with strategy questions, which he only knew from watching me play and machine had no doubles or splits, so he knew enough.

The girls got up to leave and had a tab of maybe $150. They weren’t happy. My buddy realized he must have one also. Wasn’t bad, like $9 a beer for 4 or 5, but said he would have walked off if it didn’t happen to them first. He isn’t a gambler, only plays in that spot.

As a bartender, stupid to be in a tip industry and not let people know they aren’t playing high enough or qualifying. He didn’t care as his company picks up everything, and he was going easy on them all trip as he had banged them for a high priced tee time in Scottsdale and wanted to take it easy on them in Vegas.

He lived there for years and loves the town, wants it to prosper, hopes the wife might think about it come retirement, and was more just disappointed in the direction they’ve took and how it seemed to irritate everyone and leave a bad taste.

He had became Facebook friends with the girl he was talking to and said she was irritated as hell and thought maybe it was a lot of $ to her, but looked at her page and was some fairly high level exec for a clothing company, so it wasn’t like she couldn’t afford it. LA people come to Vegas as a cheap fun diversion and she didn’t love getting a bar bill like she was at home. Seems bad business.

He said half the conversations with strangers were about the nickel/diming everywhere.

His takeaway was same as yours. He tags along with me to casinos in regional cities all the time, and I tend to hit pits as poker is too time consuming if you want to go have dinner and drink and golf, and he sees I have to pay for drinks but little else, and drinks are cheap. He said they’re going to face a reckoning and basically what you said. If you aren’t a young person wanting to club, why come with gambling everywhere?

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Yeah man, that is a shit bartender. Was that at Harrah's?

My last trip in August 2019 I already was getting the occasional orders to max bet vid poker for comped drinks, so I just did that this whole time and never had an issue. Majority of my time was spent at Flamingo/Ballys/Linq/Cromwell.

I did notice that, at those spots, the casino bartenders now were kinda 50/50 like: Half you can tell really enjoy bartending and talking to people, the other half were there for the service bartending and didn't give two shits about the people actually sitting at the bar. I feel like 10 years ago it might have been 67/33 in favor of the "real" bartenders. Small sample size and all that of course.

One cool bartender I chatted with at Flamingo was saying she was thinking of moving to Portland. I was like "well, I'm thinking about moving here....take what you will from that"

2 addendums to the TR:

1. Hammered MLB overs, was my only profitable gambling there. Hit 75%. Thanks MLB.

2. Casino Royale still exists in almost all its glory. No longer $1 Michelobs/frozen margs, but $3 domestic bottles and $2.49 hot dogs are still the best deal on the strip for some quick degen fuel.

I saw a missed call from my buddy who I assumed was back in Columbus by yesterday.

Then I saw group text from when I was sleeping that said he saw Mike D of the Beastie Boys in an airport bar in Phoenix.

I call him back and he’s in Sedona today and American had cancelled basically every flight. He was up in mountains and breaking up and I don’t know if they did it in Phoenix or Vegas, but said people were crying and customer service had no answers.

Started talking about we can get this plane by this time but it’s not big enough for all of you, and we can get this plane that is big enough, but don’t have a pilot certified on that plane.

Said his wife is a little tilted at him as the Scottsdale part was a necessary work function, but he kind of made up the Vegas part and now he’s stuck though the weekend.

Said they put him in up in some cheap hotel by ASU last night geared towards young budget people and he walked in and it had a queen size and a bean bag chair. Can’t get out until tomorrow at 5pm and just used his own points to grab another room. He needed Druff to negotiate this situation and he’d probably be staying at the Ritz and have 4 round trip tickets by this point. American sounds like a complete nightmare.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BCR

I saw a missed call from my buddy who I assumed was back in Columbus by yesterday.

Then I saw group text from when I was sleeping that said he saw Mike D of the Beastie Boys in an airport bar in Phoenix.

I call him back and he’s in Sedona today and American had cancelled basically every flight. He was up in mountains and breaking up and I don’t know if they did it in Phoenix or Vegas, but said people were crying and customer service had no answers.

Started talking about we can get this plane by this time but it’s not big enough for all of you, and we can get this plane that is big enough, but don’t have a pilot certified on that plane.

Said his wife is a little tilted at him as the Scottsdale part was a necessary work function, but he kind of made up the Vegas part and now he’s stuck though the weekend.

Said they put him in up in some cheap hotel by ASU last night geared towards young budget people and he walked in and it had a queen size and a bean bag chair. Can’t get out until tomorrow at 5pm and just used his own points to grab another room. He needed Druff to negotiate this situation and he’d probably be staying at the Ritz and have 4 round trip tickets by this point. American sounds like a complete nightmare.

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Dude yeah, 1 of my group flew American and got fucked on the way home. Coincidentally, he lives in Cleveland. He never actually flew back into Cleveland. He was scheduled to leave for home about 25 hours before me, and I made it home first.

Flight got delayed first to where he wouldnt make a connection, he switches to a later flight which then also gets delayed. Goes Vegas-CHI, where they then were like "sorry, no more cleveland flights anytime soon" He eventually gets a flight to Detroit, where a relative came and picked him up and drove him back to Cleveland.

He should also employ Druff right now. I'm curious what he will get for that clusterfuck.

Meanwhile, cheap-ass no legroom Spirit airlines was once again great and efficient and basically on-time for me!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gut

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BCR

I saw a missed call from my buddy who I assumed was back in Columbus by yesterday.

Then I saw group text from when I was sleeping that said he saw Mike D of the Beastie Boys in an airport bar in Phoenix.

I call him back and he’s in Sedona today and American had cancelled basically every flight. He was up in mountains and breaking up and I don’t know if they did it in Phoenix or Vegas, but said people were crying and customer service had no answers.

Started talking about we can get this plane by this time but it’s not big enough for all of you, and we can get this plane that is big enough, but don’t have a pilot certified on that plane.

Said his wife is a little tilted at him as the Scottsdale part was a necessary work function, but he kind of made up the Vegas part and now he’s stuck though the weekend.

Said they put him in up in some cheap hotel by ASU last night geared towards young budget people and he walked in and it had a queen size and a bean bag chair. Can’t get out until tomorrow at 5pm and just used his own points to grab another room. He needed Druff to negotiate this situation and he’d probably be staying at the Ritz and have 4 round trip tickets by this point. American sounds like a complete nightmare.

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Dude yeah, 1 of my group flew American and got fucked on the way home. Coincidentally, he lives in Cleveland. He never actually flew back into Cleveland. He was scheduled to leave for home about 25 hours before me, and I made it home first.

Flight got delayed first to where he wouldnt make a connection, he switches to a later flight which then also gets delayed. Goes Vegas-CHI, where they then were like "sorry, no more cleveland flights anytime soon" He eventually gets a flight to Detroit, where a relative came and picked him up and drove him back to Cleveland.

He should also employ Druff right now. I'm curious what he will get for that clusterfuck.

Meanwhile, cheap-ass no legroom Spirit airlines was once again great and efficient and basically on-time for me!

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I copy and pasted your response to him via text as they were giving him some red eye option with 3 connections or the option at 5PM tmrw. Said he probably made the right choice as I wouldn’t want to roll the dice on 3 connections atm.

So from Tahoe we went to Reno and stayed at Peppermill for 2 nights. I get sweet offers there from a big machine play a few months back.

The Peppermill is a really well-done property. It completely remade itself a few years ago from a neon palace (which to be fair all Reno-Carson casinos were back then) to an Italian Villa-type setting. The rooms in the Tuscany Tower are spectacular, and the pool is top-notch. The food is very good and the video poker is probably the best in the whole country when it comes to return settings.

Unfortunately they are EXTREMELY sweaty toward AP's and they will kick out even low-level slot hustlers so we had to be really careful. Of course this presents an opportunity as well, since because of that policy the place doesn't get hustled nearly as much as other places in Reno. Still, the only time we thoroughly cleaned the place out was on the morning of check-out, with all of our stuff (including ID's) already in the car.

The poker room is 9-handed I believe, no plexiglass or masks required. On a Friday night they were spreading 1-3 and 2-5 NL, and 4-8 limit. A 2-2 PLO game started Saturday afternoon and went all day/evening.

A couple other interesting Reno notes:

-Grand Sierra Resort (GSR for short) now requires ALL customers entering to go through a metal detector on Friday and Saturday nights. (not just the clubgoers.) I can't imagine that being great for business.

-If you've never had Jimboy's Tacos, you're missing out. If you live in or spend a lot of time in NorCal, you almost certainly know what I'm talking about. There are also 3 stores in the Reno area and they're hands down the best tacos I've ever had in my life. Be sure to order them "extra crispy."

We used Reno to basically recover from our drinking binge in Tahoe so we didn't do much else.

From there we hopped on I-80 and headed east.

Oddly enough, an old college friend of mine somehow wound up living in Winnemucca, so we had dinner and drinks with she and her husband. Winnemucca is the largest town between Elko and Reno, which isn't saying much. (about 7,500 people) It's known for its large Basque population and a couple of Basque restaurants, both of which were unfortunately closed when we were there.

Several small casinos, only one with table games and no live poker. Johnny Cash actually mentions Winnemucca in "I've Been Everywhere."

From there it was on to Northeast Nevada, which I'll cover in my next (and final) report.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sanlmar

@go_buccos

any rental car advice or war stories?


this has been an issue for us on trips in the east. Relatively easy trips are turning into exercises in anger management over availability and price gouging.

Just picking up your car at an airport can be an hour or more. Never ending surprises await you at the counter. Ft Meyers had a line out the door and crowd control.

I understand fleets got sold and there just aren’t any but it sucks.

---

I keep seeing ads for Turo car rentals. Haven't really checked it out but seems interesting. I think it's like the Airbnb for cars

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gut

So my thoughts (sorry buccos, if you would prefer this to not be in your thread then Druff can re-arrange).

I stayed at Flamingo for 3 nights, when I checked in via kiosk i wound up in a dirty room. Not like "Druff" dirty, literally an uncleaned room. Hadn't been turnover from whoever stayed there the previous night.

Well, they switched me to a better view, lol. So anyway, Flamingo was operating like a place that could not get enough employees back. Poker room closed on tues & wed, convenience store....who knows what their hours were. Kinda wild west type shit going on.

First thing: nickel-n-diming has gotten way worse. I remember being shocked when I was told only 1 free drink ticket for every $50 in the book, I guess now it is 1 for every $100. LOLZ

I'm no AP like Mickey Fuckin Crimm, but the slots were tight as fuck. Like "should just burn your money" tight.

Poker still =idiotic, but being that I couldn't even play at my home casino most of the time, I went to Bally's for some 1-3 NL and tourneys. Couldnt find any limit less than the 20-40 at Bellagio on center strip. Guess limit players midweek just have to go downtown.

$17 for a blue moon sounds about right.

I feel like Vegas will soon have to face a reckoning. People can legally sports bet from their house. Maybe poker again soon. I can play slots at stupid dive bars here in Portland. Why am I going to Vegas again?

---

Were you there a week ago? If so, you could have see me and Brandon!

We were with friends who like doing recreational gambling at UTH, so we went to Flamingo to get a lower limit table. We also noticed the poker room being closed (this was Tuesday).

We noticed the same thing with the skeleton crew. Laughably, they weren't able to re-generate Brandon's Caesars Rewards card from the pit. He kept saying, "Just log me in, don't worry about the physical card", and it took them like 6 times to understand.

Not surprised to read that Peppermill is very "sweaty". I got kicked out of there like 15-20 years ago for card counting. In general, Reno was fairly paranoid regarding counters, at least back then.