Visitreno

[lvbear584]

General observations

Harrah’s only single deck blackjack table on the main floor now has a No Mid Entry sign on it. Previously, no mid-entry was inconsistently enforced at the whim of the dealer and/or floorperson on duty. The single deck in the High Limit Room still does not have such a sign.

I played some nights/early mornings on graveyard shift, which I rarely do anymore. One night I stayed out until after 4 am, another morning I got up at 3:30 am and was at the first table at 4:05 am. It was hard to play because of lack of anything else to occupy the pit’s attention. At one place, I won enough to where I felt guilty that I might put the lonely graveyard shift into a loss. Not wanting to embarrass the amiable shift boss, I departed after less than fifteen minutes of play.

Sands Regency has increased its blackjack table max from only $200 to $500. I enjoyed tormenting that dump despite the low table max because of the sleazy Ace, 8 double down incident last year, but now with a $500 max, it has become a legitimately playable venue. But it remains to be seen how they will tolerate multiple black action. Perhaps the ownership change to Terrible’s might reduce the sweat level a bit. It can't get any worse. Laughably, one of its carnival games is still only $25 max.

I'm told that the other Terrible’s acquisition, Rail City, is going to experiment with a $500 max on weekends, too. I don’t think it’ll last; probably the only ones playing $500 in that little dump will be skilled patrons. Most of Rail City’s ”good customers” play coins.

Grand Sierra updates

I dined for the first time at the Grand Sierra temporary (during construction) steakhouse. Food and service were excellent; I highly recommend it.

Grand Sierra comp balance can now be checked in a slot machine. It appears in actual dollars and cents like JA Nugget and Fitzgeralds. Comp slips issued by the player’s club are good for 72 hours, so if planning a steakhouse dinner or other expensive comp, I recommend getting the comp slip in advance, so it’s still good if comps are subsequently revoked by the casino or other troublesome issues arise.

Grand Sierra is cheap with comps. I played a total in excess of three hours for which I was rated at an average of over $100 per hand. I received a total of only $26 in comp value. Almost as cheap as Harrah’s!

Virginia Street updates

For the first time in a couple of years, I felt reasonably safe walking on Virginia Street at 4 am between Eldorado and Cal-Neva. The new bright white streetlights are great – they are identical to the ones used on Fourth Street for about a mile in each direction from Virginia. They have been installed on Virginia between Fourth Street and the river.

The street has finally been reopened to vehicles. When I saw the temporary lane markings a few weeks ago for one lane in each direction I thought it was stupidity. But the city folks did a nice job, properly carving out left turn pockets where appropriate. I think the intent is to divert traffic to Center northbound and Sierra southbound, but the traffic light synchronization on those streets is terrible. Maybe it’ll be updated as part of some downtown redevelopment plan.

The nice white streetlights have also been installed on Second Street west to Arlington and east to Lake. But they were not working between Center and Lake. Unfortunately, the walk from Cal Neva to Siena and the walk to Sands Regency still appears unsafe at night -- too many bums, gang-member types, and other assorted lowlifes hanging around.

I saw something unusual on East Fourth Street, which I use as a direct route between downtown and Sparks when I want to avoid I-80: At Fourth and the Wells overpass, a useless traffic signal has a sign on it, “Signal under study for possible removal.” Good for the city bureaucrats. It isn’t often that a unnecessary signal is actually removed, even when its usefulness has long expired, as this has because of the construction of the overpass several years ago.

Crime report

Because I spent a lot of time out in the wee hours, I observed more criminal and police activity than normal. Three incidents come to mind:

(1) Gang activity at JA Nugget. There were about ten Sparks Police cars around the Nugget and the self-parking garage. Officers had about a dozen gang-member types sitting on the curb between the casino and the garage. I didn’t bother to go into the casino. thinking everyone would be on edge and might overreact to something like a player winning.

(2) More gang activity at Fifth Street and Arlington. Reno Police had six or seven gang-member types sitting on the curb there, too. Two officers had guns pointed at the punks, and several officers were taunting and shouting at the gang-bangers, calling them “mother------s” and “a------s.” An officer shoved one punk, forcing him face down on the pavement, then put his knee on the punk’s back while handcuffing him.

(3) A fight on Virginia Street in front of the bar just north of McDonald’s (I think it’s called Shooters). Three or four men were shouting and cursing at each other. Eventually they jumped and began to beat up one of the group, knocking him to the sidewalk. Police quickly arrived and efficiently restored order.

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As usual, an enjoyable and profitable trip. I'll be back again soon.

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My casino-related website: www.TheBearGrowls.com

[BC Dave]

Jerry, Hawk and John arguing over the Shooter's tab again!

[spinner]

Good report. I think that Reno just does not have a stomach for real "action" and while they may try it, when put to the test, they will fold. I have seen the quality of games decline markedly over the last 3 years.

Seems that you must have a police scanner to find all the hot spots in town. I have been out in the early morning and see nothing but bums that seem to be moving slowly because it is late.

Reno seems to be trying to improve and such, but too little too late I am afraid. Vegas keeps pumping up the action, the indian casinos are getting better and Reno is just stagnating. I was recently at Harrah's in San Diego and found the play to be pretty good on Blackjack, high limits ($2000) and generally good rules. Some of the tables have continuous shuffle machines but you could easily steer away from those. Also, the rooms and property was very nice. I was a comped guest and they seemed very easy with the comps.

[alison]

Sounds like John and the gang were getting into trouble again.

Crime is everywhere in every major city unfortunatley. And just because someone "looks" like a gang type, does not mean they are. There are so many punk kids nowadays trying to look tough and what not. It drives me crazy. Its unfortuante that we have so many kids being raised poorly nowadays. Parents just don't give a crap! Nor do the kids.

Besides that, thanks for your recent observations. I appreciate it.

[stan_allen]

Good stuff; thanks for the detailed report.

I must confess ignorance to the "No Mid Entry" sign - what does that mean? They don't want you joining the game between shuffles or something?

As for the downtown, I would much rather hear of police rounding up troublemakers than having the troublemakers run the show - if downtown can keep up a heavy police presence, it will be well-positioned to reverse its decline.

[lvbear584]

[stan_allen]

Okay, I was afraid that's what it meant; now I can be mad!
This is the type of mindless garbage promulgated by MBA-egghead-casino bosses who will probably be off to ruin some other business establishment every year or so.

From now on, Harrah's will be "Harrumph's" to me - what a bunch of shmoes.

I guess I should be thankful that this has thus far been limited to one table at one casino.

Thanks for the info; also, I enjoy your Growling Bear blog very much; keep up the good work.