Visitreno

[irishmick]

I/we have been visiting parts of Nevada that we have not seen for a long while (or never seen). A while back there was some good advice given to me from the members here and so I am asking for help once again.
We have a chance for an inexpensive flight to Wendover in the fall; October to be exact. We would have our choice of these Casino/Hotels. "Rainbow", "Peppermill", or "Montego Bay" We have never known anyone that has been/stayed at any so have no idea as to which place. The trip would be for four or five days and include air for the price of $150 bucks per person from PDX. What place would you recommend and what are the items to request? View, Non smoking room, certain floors or wings? Help me to choose...........Thanks, your advice about Reno was great except for the shooting of the judge.....

[DuckMan]

We've been on the junket a couple of times. We're going again next week. All 3 properties are linked, your players card will work at all 3. Rainbow is the largest property and casino. Montego the newest. Peppermill the oldest and smallest. There is free s24-hr shuttle between all 3. Usually Montego is $10 per person for the stay, but the rooms are worth it. All three look remarkably like the Reno Peppermill inside (can you say neon?) Keep in mind there is NOTHING to do in Wendover but gamble. It is literally a town of casinos alongside the interstate. there is 1 car rental company (you can get info. on them through the Montego switchboard) if you want to rent a car for a day to drive to SL City (about 140 miles).

Let me know if you have other questions and I'll see if I can answer them. it's a great place to gamble, low limits, fair games and easy comps. What games do you play?
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Go Ducks!

[jerry]

Wish I could help but I don't have much to offer.
I have only stayed at the SilverSmith and the one across the street with the overhead walkway. As I recall, the SilverSmith was better. No views to consider. I think the rooms would be pretty much the same.

Montego Bay is a name I have never heard, so someone must have changed their name. There certainly is NO WATER around there so Montego Bay is a misnomer, IMO.
The Rainbow, I think, was a dump. Many many years ago, it was a truckers stop/casino/etc. I did play there last trip and enjoyed it. It seemed a bit brighter inside at that time (4 years ago).

Good luck. Sounds like a pretty good deal from PDX. It is a bit of a walk between most places. The Pep is by itself and seemed very cramped and dingy to me. It is the worst of the (former) Peppermill properties that I have seen. OTOH, I had a friend book there from the Internet last year and he enjoyed his stay.

[irishmick]

Duckfan & Jerry: Thanks for the replies!
My game of choice is blackjack, but I am a red chip player unless it is the house's money. Wife is a nickle and quarter slot junky; she can spend somewhere around 12 to 14 hours per day on these babies! If I read you correct the "Montego Bay" is well worth the extra ten bucks? My wife has asthma so I will ask if they have a non smoking area and/or rooms? How are the restaurants and staff (friendly?)?
Jerry just dashed my hopes as he states that it isn't on a bay... but that is the one that I think we will take. I certainly do appreciate your answers................

If any other board members wish to comment bring em in!..........

[DuckMan]

There is definitely no "Bay" in Wendover. Your view will be Freeway, desert or parking lot. Great choices huh? All 3 properties are owned by the Peppermill in Reno. All 3 are clean, modern facilities. The 10 bucks is well worth it for Montego Bay as it is a recent remodel-upgrade. Pepp just bought it a year or 2 ago. It is connected via skybridge with anotherlarge casino (Nugget maybe?) which is usually empty most of the time. Weekends get very busy at the casinos as alot of people come in from SL City. If your wife is playing quarter slots 10 hours a day you should get GREAT comps, i.e ALL meals paid for, gift shop credit etc.. There is one steakhouse (at the Rainbow) which is pretty good. All 3 properties have a buffet, The MB has the largest, nicest one. All 3 have coffee shops and that is about it for meals. You can comp yourself at any of the restaurants. All of the slot club desks are forthcoming about how much you have available (very UN-Peppermill Reno like). They also run a seperate gift shop comp account on your card. Gift shops are small, but you can pick-up some trinkets, logo stuff, snacks etc.. I did not see any non-smoking areas in the casinos. We have had no problem in non-smoking rooms though. The non-smoking rooms are are non-smoking floors. If you play poker, the Rainbow poker room is non-smoking while the MB poker room is smoking. Most common game is 2-5 limit. Thery have NL with a $200 max buy-in when enough people sign up. Some good poker tourneys throughout the week. No Poker room at the Pepp. BJ is all single deck, double on any 2 or double on 9-11, depending on the table.

Any other questions, let me know. Have a good trip!
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Go Ducks!

[jerry]

Duckman, thanks for the Wendover info. You have me curious. We now have isolated the Montego Bay as connected to the Skybridge. But which side? I am guessing that it is the freeway side.

For the life of me, I can't remember the name of the other casino. (And I called on them for 14 years) It has been there forever. Montego (if it's on the freeway side) was built in late 80s and had a previous name before SilverSmith.

If it's the former SilverSmith, it was always my favorite there.

[DuckMan]

Yup. MB is the former SilverSmith, on the freeway side. It is connected by the skybridge to the Nugget (former Stateline). The Utah border actually runs throught the MB parking lot. The MB was fully renovated in 2005 after the purchase by Peppermill. It's a beautiful property in every way, especially if you like neon. Think of the area around Oceano at the Reno Pepp and you'll get a picture of MB. Lots of blue and green neon. But alas, no "bay" in site.

There is one other casino in town, The Red Garter, a slot joint and a real dive with a motel attached. I saw a sign in February advertising rooms for 7.95 a night for truckers!

Don't get me wrong, I love Wendover, for blackjack, poker and pretty decent Video poker, oh, and for good naps in comfortable beds. But beyond gambling there is nothing but desolation.

You can visit the "museum" at the "airport". The museum is smaller than my 2-car garage. The airport is an old Air Force Base whose claim to fame is the launching point for the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the Bomb on Hiroshima to end WWII. (Hope I got all those WW2 facts close to accurate!). It's quite something to land in a big Boeing jet a htis tiny outpost in the middle of nowhere. Other than a an old helicopter and a bi-plane, the PepperMill jet is the only plane around.

Quite an interesting place to visit. And a good deal at only $129 right out of Eugene, OR. That include 3 nights, airfare and some good coupons.
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Go Ducks!

[irishmick]

Everyone was so helpful when I first posted this that I will now ask some questions again...
In a month (2/2/07) we are returning to Wendover and this time we will stay at the "Peppermill". I did visit there for just a couple of hours last trip, but didn't pay much attention to other than the Casino.
Is there any advice that you may give us concerning other portions of the place?...Restaurants, Service, Rooms, whatever...??
It would all be greatfuly appreciated....Thanks

Also any other items in town to see...we will have no car rented for just a couple of days..

[Yo Man]

Hey folks just a couple questions. Where are you getting these offers from? Does Windover have any entertainment, or Showrooms? What about the Craps Tables, mini's and odds?

Thanks,

Yo Man over and out.....................

[DuckMan]

The Peppermill is the smallest and oldest of the 3 Pepp properties. There is a buffet and a coffee shop. Gaming is basically identical at all 3 properties, Never stayed at Pepp so can't comment on the rooms. If I remember correctly Craps minimum during the day is either $2 or $3, everything goes up on the weekend when the SLC crowds arrive. I think odds are standard 3,4,5 times. There really is othing else to do in Wendover. They have just recently built a new showroom with some nationally known acts stopping by, usually on weekends. You can check out the schedule at wendoverfun.com

Best of luck!

DuckMan
Reno bound on January 1!
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Go Ducks!

[lvbear584]

Copied from a post I made some time ago on www.BJ21.com Green Chip; edited as appropriate:

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Everyone at the three Peppermill properties (Peppermill, Montego Bay, and Rainbow) appears relaxed and unconcerned with my play, though my bets are higher than most of the action there.

The three Peppermill properties are all well-managed and pleasant with identical blackjack games. The atmosphere is friendly; comps are generous. The games are mostly dealt by Reno standards with better rules. Player’s cards are the same for all three properties.

My only complaints about The Peppermill properties are:

(1) Peppermill does not offer safe-deposit boxes at the desk or the cage. The boxes are located in the Security Office. Why they were put in the most dangerous place in the casino is a mystery to me. I do not want casino guards knowing I have enough cash on me to merit bothering with a safe-deposit box. Who do I call when they try to rob me, or sneak into my room to steal whatever else they can find?

(2) The independent sports book in the Rainbow and the Montego Bay does not like much action, and is sneaky. Beware, the line you are given when placing a bet may not be the line that’s on the board. Check tickets carefully before leaving the window. Montego Bay and Rainbow have identical lines, but not necessarily the same as Peppermill Reno lines. Wendover Peppermill closed its book a couple of years ago.

(3) “Money plays" is not allowed; cash must be changed into chips. A silly waste of time that complicates accounting.

(4) The stupid Royal Match that slows the games down everywhere, including the $25 tables. I can’t blame management for offering it, though. Many Wendover ploppies play it, some for as much as $50 or $75 a hand. LOL!

By contrast, the Wendover Nugget is a mismanaged, paranoid sweatshop. It’s owned by the same bozos who own the Pahrump Nugget (sold since I originally made this post) and part of Boulder City Hacienda. One dealer told me, “The casino manager is so scared of action that they chased off all the big players.” Most dealers deal a pitiful five rounds heads-up, and only three rounds to two hands. A few deal four rounds to two. A $100 bet drew a “checks play” call. The table max is $1000, but I don’t think anyone playing anywhere near $1000 would last long there. Unfortunate, because it's a nice facility, but saddled with incompetent management. It had only about half as many customers as the well-run Peppermills. The constant shuffling substantially reduces the hands-per-hour and the casino’s profit. Needless to say, I didn’t spend much time at the Nugget. I had to laugh when my buy-in nearly emptied the rack of greens. There were about five tubes of $1 chips, the rest mostly red chips. LOL!

The other inferior property is the Red Garter. It has all double deck with bad rules, mediocre penetration, and a too-low table max. I did not play there at all. It seems to attract the lowest-level ploppies in the city. It is similar to El Cortez in Las Vegas, Diamond's in Reno,or Baldini's in Sparks. Red Garter is owned by the same folks who own Silver Club in Sparks, but even the lowly Silver Club seems like Bellagio compared to Red Garter.

Peppermill has free high-speed Internet in the lobby, but you cannot hook up your own computer – you must use the Peppermill’s computer. Be careful -- the screen is easily visible to anyone standing behind you.

If you need private Internet access, the best you can do is a dialup modem. If you use Earthlink, you must sign up in advance to use the 800 number service. Otherwise, you have to make long-distance calls to reach modems in Salt Lake City or other cities in Nevada. There is no local Wendover number. Verizon wireless is spotty at best.

The Rainbow’s “Over the Rainbow” coffee shop is a good place. Though I don't have to pay for any meals in Wendover, I would be glad to pay --- food and service are excellent.

On a recent Wendover trip, I took a side trip to Jackpot, where I had not been in a couple of years. It’s as small as I remember it; only three casinos offering table games, all with table maximums less than my max bet, except for one table at Cactus Pete's in the back pit, open only on Friday swing shift through Sunday day shift. It was entertaining, though, watching the ploppies and playing a bit at lower than my normal stakes.

One ploppy stood on A, 5. Another ploppy told him, “You should hit your six.” The stupider ploppy replied, “No, its sixteen, and ‘the book’ says not to hit a sixteen against dealer’s four.” LOL!

At one table where I briefly played, a ploppy kept telling the dealer to slow down. I kept telling the dealer to speed up. Eventually the ploppy left, giving me a fast heads-up game.

Cactus Pete’s and Barton’s Club 93 do not use discard trays. The dealer holds the used cards in his or her hand, like at Laughlin Riverside. This is a good thing, if you are alert.

Barton’s free pens are nicer than those from most casinos. I bagged a dozen or so.

Cactus Pete’s has translucent plastic player’s cards, and only your first name is put on the card. A nice touch.

One employee told me she commutes ninety miles round trip every day from Twin Falls, Idaho. How sad, to have to go ninety miles over deer-infested two-lane highway every day to work at a low-level job in a small casino.

I got a room comp in Jackpot, planning to sleep a few hours, play graveyard shift, then drive back to Wendover. Big mistake. When I awoke, Jackpot (elevation 5200 feet) was covered with snow, and huge chunks of snow were coming down. The wind was howling. It was awful. Ugh! I skipped graveyard play, and quickly hit the road, thinking the road conditions might get even worse if I waited. The yellow flashing lights were lit on the sign that said CHAINS OR SNOW TIRES REQUIRED on southbound Highway 93. I ignored the sign, and made it safely to Wells, 68 miles south of Jackpot, before grabbing a quick breakfast-to-go at the Wells Burger King. I saw exactly one other vehicle the entire 68 miles.

I-80 also required CHAINS OR SNOW TIRES. But I ignored this, too. I made it safely back to Wendover without incident.

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