Visitreno

[john]

Checked into Harrah's Wed. for 5 nights at $159. "Greased" the clerk $20 and got an upgrade to a huge "mini"-suite. Nice start. Tears for Fears was a great show, but some of the younger fans got a little nutty. Or maybe I'm too old. Local friends took us to a play called Ruthless at the Bruka Theater, 1 block south of the CalNeva. Wow! What a terrific little venue. You sit on used couches and there's a small bar downstairs. The acting and singing were superb. Seats about 50. Well worth the $16. We urge all locals to support this group. Took wife to Steinmart, which she had heard so much about. Wisely, I stayed in the car. She returned with nothing. Life is good. LOL.
Had a pretty good meal at On The Border, near there. At the Eldorado, the Golden Fortune was delicious. But mixed reaction at La Strada. Wife liked her veal parmagiana, but my lasagna and bread was over-priced at $18.95. And the salads are extra! Un-listed price on the menu should have been my first clue. Their buffet has always been good, highlighted by their coffee.
As for our VP adventures, we played full-pay 25c Jacks and Deuces. The Xanadu bar at the Atlantis has PROGRESSIVE FP Jacks. They were below the $1200 tax threshold, so we hit them pretty hard. At Circus-Circus, there's some new Jacks just inside the main door where the big clown stands. They're 20-coiners, but FP at the 5th coin. Carousel bar has prog. Jacks, but they were over $1200 so we skipped them. Looked like everyone else did, too. Wife hit 4 deuces at the FP Deuces in the Silver Legacy, near the pai gow. But, there're uprights, so your arms get tired sooner. I hit a straight flush at the prog. Jacks near the Eldorado poker room. Only good machines at Harrah's are the 4 Pick 'ems at the back of the rear casino. I was playing them when the lady next to me had 900 credits and hit the Cash-out. Well, the coins were hitting the tray steadily, but the credits were coming off the meter very slowly, like 2 or 3 for every 10 coins spit out. This went on, to our amazement, until the hopper went dry. The smart computer chip inside picked up on this by displaying "Technician Needed" on the screen. The slot hostess gave her the $225 cash-out, but balked at cashing her out for the coins she already had in the tray before cashing out. At that point, I jumped in and vouched for her. They gave her an extra $100, or so, which seemed fair.
For the trip, we lost $360, which is not bad since we did not hit a Royal and ran through over $5000(95% credits). To our credit, we did have several free meals, including the Sunday Brunch at the S-L Sterling Steakhouse.
Hope you enjoyed this. Happy Holidays!