Visitreno

[thegambler]

My wife and I used to be Reno regulars but since having kids three years ago, we are able to go only 1-2 times a year at most, usually for just a day trip from the Bay Area. (This is about a 4-hour drive, each way.) Since both sets of grandparents were nice enough to watch our sons for the day, we were able to take a day trip this past Friday, right before Hot August Nights hits town. (We had also taken a day trip in June, so I might incorporate some of the details from that trip into this report.)

Here is a recap of the gambling:

Harrah’s: this is where we stayed when we used to be able to stay in Reno. (I even worked my way up to Diamond status one year, by playing mostly table games.) This is also where we had great luck at the craps table. My wife had a couple of strong rolls, and I was able to hit on a 4-point firebet (a 25 for 1 payout for hitting 4 unique points during my roll). At the end of an hour, my wife was up $500 and I was up about $150. (I guess I should have bet on the same things she was betting on. She was also wise enough to make this her one and only gambling session of the day, except for when she “borrowed” some chips from me later in the day. ) I then played the 9:6 JOB Video Poker machine for about 15 minutes and hit a 4OAK, so I cashed out up over $100. Craps table was relatively empty when we first played (Friday at noon) but two tables were full when we tried to go back Friday evening.

Cal Neva: One of the reasons why this has one of my favorite casinos is that they serve Fat Tire beer on tap. Sadly, they don’t anymore, having replaced it with Lagunitas IPA. Perhaps I should have taken this as an omen, not to play. The craps table was cold as was blackjack. I even went back to the Cal Neva for a second session later and lost about $100 more. I did have a $12 free play, however, that turned into $52 after 5 minutes at the .25 poker machines at the bar. I dropped at least $300 at this casino, however. Even on a Friday night, the craps tables weren’t very crowded here and were only $3. Sadly, that didn’t prevent me from losing money.

Siena: This was also one of the places we frequented before we had kids. We had visited briefly in June, and while the dealers were nice, our luck was not, as I lost about $350. This time wasn’t much different, but I didn’t stay long enough to lose that much money, but I did have enough time to enjoy a couple of glasses of Newcastle on tap. (I was starting to get a little happy, at this point.) Lost about $150 in 45 minutes. For those craps players out there who haven’t gone back, they have $5 craps with 6-8-10x odds (not the $2 table with 10x odds). I didn’t play blackjack this time but had played briefly in June and I think the rules were relatively liberal. Just like in June, there were not many people in the casino. Hopefully, things will work out for them. I think I donated enough money to keep the lights on for a few minutes, at least.

Eldorado: Played about 10 minutes of video poker (9:6 JOB) before dinner and had some sweet luck. Hit a 4OAK and my first ever straight flush, so I cashed out a profit of $300. After dinner, I played craps for about 45 minutes and rolled another firebet. I had hit 4 unique points, and established a point of 9, which would have been my fifth unique point (which would have paid 250 for 1 on my $2 Firebet). I briefly got excited when I thought I had rolled a 5-4 but it was actually a hard 10. (When my wife was pregnant, I twice had a 6-point Firebet for a 1000 for 1 payout and two 1099-Gs.) Oh well. It was still fun and profitable. Had a profit of $100.

Harrah’s (Part Two): On our way out, I had to cash out my winning sports bets, and my wife wanted to get some chips for my father-in-law’s birthday. To get these chips, I did something that many on this board would find reprehensible: I played in the Harrah’s party pit with the scantily-clad dealers/dancers and the tourist-trap 6:5 blackjack. In 10 minutes I got to hear a story from the dealer about how another dealer got drunk, I watched her fumble my chips after I gave her money, but I also got two blackjacks (the 6:5 shorted me a total of $7 on those blackjacks) and I eked out a $25 profit and my father-in-law’s birthday chips. Then, I let my gambler’s tendencies get the better of me. Instead of being satisfied with my winnings, I went back to the video poker and lost about $180 of my profits in 10 minutes.

As for dinner, we tried out the new Sushi Sake all-you-can-eat sushi bar at the Eldorado that was featured in the RGJ the other day. I’m Japanese-American and from the Bay Area where there is some high quality sushi. Knowing that Reno is not going to have great sushi, I temper my expectations. But this was a disappointment. Some of the dishes (like the Seaweed salad) were inedible. The free sake was nice, but it didn’t compensate for the average to poor food quality. We have been to several sushi bars in Reno. I would recommend the sushi bar at the Atlantis, Sushi Club, and Sushi Peer over this one. I probably should have had second thoughts about Sushi Sake when I looked at the misspellings on the menu (“Sushimi” for “sashimi” and “Gyozos” for “Gyoza”.) The only one that was worse than this one was Kokopelli’s, which was probably the worst I’ve ever had. It was cheap, but the fish quality was extremely poor, so poor that they put heavy salt on the salmon, probably to disguise its lack of freshness.

Reno didn’t look too busy, but maybe people are waiting for Hot August Nights, which hopefully will help business. During our trip in June, I won enough money to pay for gas and a couple of Awful, Awfuls which are still awfully good. (Now, they have TVs there that replay the Travel Channel show that featured them.) It was about the same this time, but my wife also came home with a nice profit. Most importantly, we had a good time, even if we could stay for only 9 hours.

[LilyJDragonfly]

[remano]

Thanks for the trip report - much enjoyed.

As for sushi, especially since you visit the Siena occasionally, I have read some very positive things about their new sushi bar, next to the coffee shop. Mind you, I have never had a piece of sushi in my life and wouldn't know good from bad from inedible, so take this for what its worth. Maybe someone who reads this could give us a knowledgeable, first hand review.