Visitreno

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SATURDAY, 4/21

I got up at three. Egads, who does this? Me, the bargain hunter, that's who. I wasn't quite ready for it, but I'd already packed, so I left in plenty of time. It was cloudy and upper 30s on the drive - good enough. Since there wasn't much construction on the road I made good time to the airport. I parked in Big Blue – it’s still $10/day. Security was busier than I expected but moved efficiently. Got the new scanner - guess they're not going away. One odd thing is they busted one guy for having an oversized alleged carryon. This was not the last time I would see that.

All my flights on American this time- you've probably heard about their troubles. Both flights were on MD-80s. The first flight to DFW was about 60% full - lots of room to spread out. American didn't serve free snacks, just drinks. Flights were all on time leaving and arriving, and otherwise eventless.

I picked up my car from Alamo. I requested a compact and for once I got a compact, a Hyundai Elantra. I parked at the 6 because I had some places to visit. First the Peppermill. They've changed the location of their players club since I was last there. And they've added a Heads Up Video poker game. I'd better explain this – it’s a 1/2 or 2/4 LHE game against the AI - let's call him Phil. The betting process was the same as any limit hold ‘em game, with the survivor or best hand getting the pot. I wanted to try this out, even though my limit HU cash skills were all rusty.

In my game I was dealt A3 - not bad. As the SB Phil led out, I raised, and he called. Flop was A5x - nice for me. I checked, he bet, I raised (ha), and he called. Rag on the turn - I bet, he called. Another rag on the river. I checked, he bet, I called. He had 65 off and lost. I beat the virtual Phil out of $12!!! I didn't want to press my luck, so I left and toured the joint. Not much else has changed that I could see - they're not ripping out the neon or anything like that. I blew $24 @ STP and said goodbye.

Next stop, Atlantis. I lost about $20 @ STP Spin and a 100x game. I lost another $20 to the slots. On to blackjack. I stuck around for 3 hours, too long, and got singed for a $214.50 loss. I couldn't get anything started. So I walked back, stopping @ El Pollo Loco for some chicken.

I checked in at Motel 6. My room on the first floor was in every way typical of a budget motel room. Fair value, but not sure if I'll come back. I didn't do anything else of interest, so I went to bed @ 11.

SUNDAY, 4/22

I got up at 6. I headed to the nearby Shell station to pick up a newspaper & map. I had a few hours to kill and wanted to put a few miles on my car, so I drove my degenerate self down to Atlantis. I found the VP games VoR pointed out. While getting 11 on a full house is nice, I still prefer my STP and others. I played straight dollar VP for tip money. Then some hair of the dog - more blackjack. This was a $3 single deck table - something even the Tez doesn't consistently offer. I was there with 1-3 other players. Penetration was really deep by modern standards - 7 rounds to 1, 5 rounds to 2. A few of you are already booking tickets. I should point out that SD is still d10. I was up most of the time and was able to escape $103 ahead, roughly cutting yesterday's losses in half. Good enough for now.

I went back to the 6, packed up, and headed out. I had an errand to run, then I went to Harrah's.

(NSFW portion of adventure deleted - sorry )

I drove to Reno and Harrah's - 395 to 2nd, to Kietzke, to Kuenzli, to Center. There was a ballgame going on at the time, so traffic was restricted, as was parking. I told the attendant at Harrah’s parking garage that I was a guest but had not checked in yet. He looked me up on his list, found me and waved me through. The garage has seen better days, but it's really convenient to many places downtown. I parked on level 5 and went to hotel registration. I got a nice surprise - they put me in the West Tower, which was a consistent $10/nt extra when I looked. The room on the 6th floor was nicer than I expected. I got a view of the pool (nobody ever there, probably closed), Fitzgeralds (RIP), Eldorado and Silver Legacy.

After a few minutes to unpack and rest, I went into the belly to check things out. This is an old-school sprawly casino that goes here and there willy-nilly. There's no place they didn't try to put slot machines. The table games are in the West Casino. I saw a $5 min BJ table. 8 decks was OK, but 6:5 never is. I also saw a $25 SD table. But that too paid 6:5. The casino was fairly busy. I found a dollar 8/5 bonus machine to donate to. I gave $5 at the office, but got a buck back from various slots. I copied down some details for the buffet and went back there a couple of hours later. Call it $19, mostly comped of course. I'd say it was worth it. Short line, fast mover. Solidly attentive CZR service, as I've come to expect. The Hawaiian ribs were good, fried chicken a little dry and tough. The lemonade wasn't quite right, the peaches tasted OK for store bought, the pineapple chunks were tasty, apple pie not so hot. Actually not hot at all, which was part of the problem. Went back and rested, then hit bed @ 11.

MONDAY, 4/23

I got up at 6:30 and prepped for the day to come, then took a short walk to the stadium. It looked nice, but I expected no less. It was built in 2009, after all. Then a short walk to Harrah's garage exit. It's on Lake St, useful to know. Then another short walk to the Eldorado for their breakfast buffet, attractively priced. Everything was kinda OK, not as good as Paris or Gold Coast or Santa Fe Station. Then I tried the #3 game at the Silver Legacy. I was dealt three threes. Only one improved - to quads. I left ahead $15. To the BJ table I went for a longish session. This had the same house rules as the Atlantis – single deck, d10 – but penetration wasn’t quite as good (six rounds to 1 player, four to two). I didn’t have a lot of company. I had a matchplay, lost it, and lost $54 overall. Not great, but not horrible. Here I had the hand of the trip: I had $30 out, and was dealt 55 vs. 9. The dealer hit to 18. What did I get? Another freakin’ 5, taking the wrong end of a $120 swing. Ouch.).

By now it was time to go return the rental. I stopped at a gas station that didn’t take credit, only debit cards and cash. So I paid in cash. It was a bit over $8 for my 80 miles. That’s compacts for you. No problems navigating to the car dropoff place, though they were slow to check my return (they were busy). No other issues.

I took the shuttle back to Harrah’s – pickup is outside, just past hotel registration and near the garage. After a brief stop in the room, it was back to the Silver Legacy for more single deck fun. This went well from the start and I got nearly $100 clear but could never hit that mark before falling back. Sorry Julie, I didn’t like that. I left a paltry $1.50 ahead. I took a diversion to the craps table, broke even in limited play. I made a quick stop at the book at Harrah’s – no interesting races, passed on all the games. I did win tip money at Country Cash. Then it was back to the room.

After some rest it was off to the game. I didn’t have any issues at Will Call (I ordered the tickets a month ahead). The stadium was as nice inside as out. I got a good seat down the left field line. I had a cheeseburger and soda – expensive, but it hit the spot. The game was sparsely attended and late arriving. The final, official tally of the crowd was slightly over 4000. I’ll go with that. Anyway, everyone there saw a thriller. The Aces jumped out to a 4-0 lead after 2, but Sacramento came back with four of their own in the 4th, primarily thanks to an error by new 3B Bell, his first of THREE miscues. He also showed alligator arms on a couple of sharply hit ground balls hit his way that were called hits. He did get an assist, so his fielding percentage was .250 – pretty horrible by pro standards. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Reno scored 3 in the 5th, one in the 6th, and 2 in the 7th. Sacramento scored one in the 6th, but they looked to be in big trouble, right? Not so fast. Rockets were shot all over the park as the ball seemed to carry extremely well. But only one home run was hit. Sacramento scored 5 in the 8th to tie, fueled by error #3 by Bell. Then they scored 2 in the 9th to take a 12-10 lead. Game over, right? Not quite. Reno got four singles and a sac fly to tie. So it went to extra innings.

Sacramento scratched out a run in the top of the 10th to take a 13-12 lead. But Reno got the last laugh. Against Sacramento’s fifth pitcher of the night, they got a walk, double, and intentional walk to load the bases against Harbin, who hadn’t done anything all night (0-4) or indeed all season (.140 or so). Grounder to short, picked up well, bad throw. It was ruled a hit and the bases were still loaded. The next guy got plunked and it was all over. I’ll probably never see a game quite like this even if I attended every possible game for the rest of my life. I won’t do that, but I had another ticket for the next day. I went to bed around 11:30.

TUESDAY, 4/24

I got up at 7. I cleaned myself up, then took a tour of the Cal Neva, which is right across from Harrah’s. When I entered I was hit with another funky smell that I didn’t care for. What are these casinos up to? I only saw one lonely BJ table go, and I didn’t check the rules on it – sorry. I found it bigger than I expected, and sprawly, and dark. It reminded me of the Longhorn, but many times bigger and not as much fun. They did have a decent sized sports book. Their odds boards were handwritten, just like their clientele prefers it, I’m sure.

I got out of there intact and moved along to the Eldorado. This is another big, sprawl casino, but much nicer. Their sports book, which I finally found, uses the Cal Neva lines. After a brief tour of the nearby Silver Legacy (not much going on at that time), I headed back to Harrah’s. Eventually I sampled their lunch buffet. No line. The chicken was better at this hour. The pineapple remained a highlight, as was the cantaloupe. The other stuff I had was OK. Worth the $11 I mostly didn’t pay.

After lunch I went to the sports book. I bet on a couple of baseball games (split, won tip money) and a couple of Kentucky Derby props (pending; I’ll cash ‘em in June). I killed time watching the ponies – but didn’t bet – until it was time to head to the game.

I had the same seat I had yesterday and I got the whole row to myself. This game was even more sparsely attended than the last one – as you might expect from a mid-week day game in April. This was another back-and-forth game. Sacramento scored two in the 1st, then Reno followed with a single run. In the 2nd Bell fielded two routine grounders and made routine throws. Yay for him. Then the fielded a fould pop while running backwards over the tarp. Why yes, I did have a good view. It was a nice play and I’m almost sorry I ever doubted his ability. Sacramento scored a run in the 3rd on a walk, a wild pickoff throw, a fly ball and a sac fly. Reno answered it with a run of their own as Bell smacked a solo shot in the cheap seats. Sacramento scored 3 in the 4th, while Reno scored 2 in the 5th. Bell had an RBI groundout. Reno scored 3 in the 7th on another homer by Bell. But Sacramento scored 5 in the 8th on a series of walks and singles. I left after that with Sacramento up 12-7. I found out that Reno scored three more, but it wasn’t enough to win.

Back at Harrah’s I didn’t do anything of interest. My losses for this trip were about $200 – sigh. Maybe the Derby will help save me.

WEDNESDAY, 4/25

I got up at 7, started packing, then headed for the Eldorado for another sampling of their breakfast buffet. It was still OK. There were no issues at checkout as I paid with my points. I shuttled my way to the airport for my flight. I had a 4 ½ hour layover in Dallas – groan, ugh – so I got to DTW after midnight. I drove home and that ended another adventure.

I go back to Reno in another 3 1/2 weeks. Thanks for reading.

[mjames1229]

Nice TR. Thanks.

In 2010 I went to an Aces game right off of the plane (landed around Noon, got the rental, parked it at Harrah's, then got to the game in time for the 1:00 PM first pitch). It was a Wednesday in early-May, bought my ticket at the game and sat in the 5th row behind the dugout.

I like baseball. I try to get to an AAA game each time I go to a city with a team... Even in Vegas (and I get razzed about it all the time).

[LilyJDragonfly]

Thanks for the post! The Dog and I will be hitting Reno come July as we're hopping off our cross-country Amtrak adventure there for a few days of debauchery and whatnot-ing...

So what happened with yer Derby tickets??

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mjames: Thank you for sharing your story.