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TR July 2012

 
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dfens



Joined: 19 Jul 2012
Posts: 59

PostPosted: Aug Thu 23, 2012 8:17 pm    Post subject: TR July 2012 Reply with quote

I had more! questions on the bottom of the Trip Report. I appreciate your responses in advance!


Who we are:

We’re a couple in our 30’s from San Francisco and frequent visitors to Vegas. Our first trip to Reno was in 2011 when I proposed under the Arch. We love gambling (frequent trips to Vegas and Indian Casinos in California and Oregon) but unlike some of you crazy Visit Reno readers, we are low rollers.

Saturday afternoon:

We’re hooked (or degenerate gamblers) as this was our second trip to Reno in July 2012. We drove from San Francisco and arrived in the late afternoon to check into the Eldorado (Eldo). I checked weeks prior online and they were completely sold out of suites. We checked into the Luxury room. I think the Luxury rooms have the same floorplan as the Deluxe Room except they’re on a higher floor. The Luxury and Deluxe rooms are all located in the Skyline Tower. The Standard Rooms are smaller and located in the Virginia and Sierra Tower. When I reserved the room, all three types of rooms had the same price. There was nothing remarkable of the room except the flatscreen tv was nice though the furniture was showing its age.

Interestingly, Eldo, typically does not allow you to check in on Saturday. This is regardless if you are staying for one night or twenty. I had to log into the Eldo website with a Players Card to be able to make the reservation start this Saturday. I have no idea if this will ever work again. (note I have been to make reservations but it came with an offer associated with my players card, by just logging in with a players card on the website without an offer I still can't check on on Saturday)

With an Eldo players card you are able to swipe it at a “Treasures of the Eldorado” kiosk. You are playing a game where you have to collect symbols to win and you also get a coupon. You can play every two hours up to six times a day. That ended up being the most fun “gambling” we did at the Eldo. I’ll list the coupons we received in order of our favorites.

1. Free microbrews at the Brews Brothers Bar. Holy crap, we could have destroyed our livers if we used all our coupons. This was super easy to honor at the bar as the server said to put the coupons with the check and she would remove the drink charges.
2. 2-1 blackjack (max $25). Good for one deck. Unfortunately, during our stay we couldn’t find a 6 deck BJ table that didn’t have at least four seats open. We ended up using six tickets at a single deck table. M wife got lucky with a few blackjacks.
3. Room discounts for future dates (I think a month later). Not really worth it.
4. Discount show tickets. Rather spend the time at Brews Brothers getting my drink on.
5. 10% discounts at the gift shop. No thanks!

I’m not sure if I was just lucky, but my system would be to ask what someone got from a machine. If it was good, I would swipe the same machine and get the same thing as the previous person. This system did not fail me the entire time I played the Treasures game.

The Eldo craps tables were packed but still on $5 minimums on a Saturday night. I was getting tired of the slow pace of the packed tables so I took my wife to her first visit to Cal-Neva Casino.

The Cal-Neva casino is my favorite casino in the downtown area. It’s a low stakes (many open tables with $3 BJ minimums paying 3-2 ( D10, Ni, Nr), $3 craps with 3x4x5 odds. The downsides to the low-stakes is that it’s also no frills and draws very weird characters. Our first order of business was to see the Party Pit. Well the party pit consisted of four or five Blackjack tables on the second floor near the Top Deck Restaurant. The girls were attractive and wearing customs but there was only one player at the Party Pit and this was a Saturday night. The dealers were just standing there with a look of serious boredom. The party pit is also stuck next to the none existent beer pong so it was downright depressing so we left the party pit.

We would play some craps at the Neva during our stay. They have two tables though typically only one is used (but open all night). If you like being the shooter you can often find the craps tables empty during the mornings as we did during the other days during our stay. The dealers at the Neva are nice but can get rough especially dealing with the crazy patrons that were there. Here’s a list of random things that I noticed at Cal-Neva:

1. It told my wife about the patrons wanting to always start a fight with the pit boss. Well while I left the table momentarily, a customer got into it with the pit boss about the dice not being thrown hard enough. As the pit boss walks away the dice gets pushed back to the shooter who then yells out, “This is for the #!@!#! pit boss” and chucks the dice at to the wall. Of course the roll sevens out pissing this guy off even further.

2. The Neva smells funky. My wife said it smelled like “old meat” while I thought it smelled like an old man wearing Old Spice deodorant. I made her walk with me through the casino to find out what it was from. We finally realized the awful smell was from the downstairs grill near the gaming tables mixed in with the horrible cigarette smoke and poor ventilation. I think we were close on our guesses!

3. When I used the restroom on numerous occasions I noticed a stream of people depart from the urinals and stalls but something didn’t seem right. Before you get your mind in the gutter it wasn’t any funning glory holing going on. I took me a while for my subconscious to break through but I realized no one washed their hands. Since everything is shared at the casino I just might prefer the glory hole because at least that has to be cleaner. (btw.. I do realize that at casinos many players are in a hurry to get back onto the casino floor but for god sakes.. we’re all touching the same slot handles)

Sunday:

I woke up early and went longboarding (the four wheel kind) on the Riverwalk and Downtown. Part of the Riverwalk trail doesn’t allow bikes so I rode parts of it in the street. It was really fun as Reno is flat (and I’m from an extremely hilly city). Part of downtown was closed to traffic due to the Tour de Nez bike race. I was at the start of the recumbent race. A few hours later we saw the kid’s bike race and it was hilarious. Later in the afternoon we just saw the leaders and the chase pack in the professional race. Someone in the chase pack was screaming at the other rides to go faster because they needed to catch the leaders. I never told my wife until that day but I used to be an avid bike racing fan so I thought it was awesome.


Recumbent race start


Each night I saw skaters at the Riverwalk Rink (between Cal Neva and Siena). One night we also saw the local roller derby team practicing out there which was really entertaining. They were skating hard and did technical things I couldn’t imagine doing. I looked online, and apparently that space becomes an ice rink in the winter.

We visited the Eldo’s Champagne brunch ($15 but $12 for Gold Members and above) aka “all you can eat food and all you can drink mimosas”. This was an incredible deal as the server brought huge glasses of champagne and an extra cup of orange juice. She must have known that we weren't just there to eat. We drank so many mimosas that I remember stumbling away from the tables drunk from both alcohol and food. We both enjoy the Eldo buffets though other than the champagne there wasn’t anything noticeably different from the other meals the Eldo serves.

I try to do something special for my wife on trips and this time I researched doing a tubing trip on the Truckee river. I set the trip with Sierra Adventures for $78 for two. This included two high quality tubes, helmets, life jackets and transportation to the drop off point. It was 90+ degrees out so the river was packed with other tubers. While most people looked like locals who grabbed a kiddie tube and a beer and jumped into the river, it looked like we got off the short bus with our helmets and life jackets. I do have to say that we had the time of our lives on the river. It lasted almost two hours and extremely fun. My wife who can’t swim was worried but once in the river the water rarely ever got deeper than three feet and he rocks arranged and smoothed so we never caught anything. The river runs right next to the downtown core so once we were finished we just walked a block with our tubes back to Sierra Adventures and the walked a couple blocks back to the Eldo. My wife loved it and I definitely want to do it again.

Later, we hit up the Siena for the first time for their “$200 on us” promotion. The details were sketchy online but it's a great deal. For first time Siena Player Card enrollees, they would give you up to $200 freeplay based on your losses on the first 24 hours of play after enrolling in their club. What makes this offer better than the ones at the Palms in Vegas (up to $1,000) or Riviera (expired now) is that that the Siena gives 50% of your freeplay (based on your losses) one day your initial 24 hour period ends. Then the other 50% of your freeplay is given on the next calendar day. Most promotions with loss rebates give you back 50% of your loss in freeplay a week then the other 50% a month later. This usually mean multiple trips over a month to get your entire loss rebate which isn't the case at the Siena if you allocate 3 days for the promotion.

Basically this is what we did for the Siena promotion:

Sunday signed up for the Freeplay. Immediately went to the slots. I had the goal of losing $200 but found myself up $200 at one point. Instead of stopping, my wife pointed out that I never play the slots. Apparently, we were whooping it up as the nice slot attendant would make fun of us dancing around the machines when we won. Basically, I used that as an excuse to proceed to lose all my winnings and went into the hole $200.

To use our cards we headed back to Siena on Monday afternoon. The slot booth will then associate the loss rebate to your players card. The first half of the loss rebate ($100 freeplay) was programmed to be used that afternoon. We then had to wait the next day (which started on Tuesday at 2am) to play the other $100. I found a $1 9/6 JOB video poker machine and earned exactly $100 back with my first freeplay. My wife actually went back to her favorite slot machine and went up $100. Then we on Tuesday I stupidly went back to the slot machine and got creamed only earning $50 on the remaining $100 freeplay while my wife played the hell out of the machine (aka played it over two hours) basically ending up losing the $100. My wife ended up even over the freeplay promotion, while I was down $50, but had hours of entertainment playing the slot machines that I would never have played before.

Siena also upgraded us to a one diamond level as we showed them our Eldorado Gold Club cards. The Siena players club is extremely vague on their players club details (not online and not many details in the casino) and I know that after running approximately $1200 through their slots I earned about $10 in comps. I also noticed not much was spelled out on the VPFree website.

I agree with JD on the Siena. The place is really nice and new but empty like their ads. The casino is fairly large, the remodel in 2010 has kept things feeling new but there’s something about being a few blocks from the downtown core that attracts some shady characters into the casino. I also played solo on their $5 minimum craps table (3x4x5 odds) and saw empty blackjack tables. I like the Siena but it looks like a shiny Porsche with a granny driver. The casino has all the potential in the world, but either they need to drop their limits to at least rival Cal-Neva, liven up the atmosphere or find a way to get a moving, safe or covered walkway that will take gamblers from the downtown core out a couple blocks to their casino.

I also wanted to show my wife Sands Regency. I had to brief her on the walk from the Eldo to the Sands which requires about four isolated blocks of crossing through shady motels and apartments. My travels in Central America has made me in dealing traveling through shady neighborhoods. I carry five singles in my pocket and if someone tries to mug me I just throw the bills in the air and run (this has actually been used by my coworkers). My wife usually laughs at my antics. This time she was happy that I had those singles as our return involved walking through the isolated blocks with the homeless.

The Sands was what we were expecting, a smallish casino that was showing some age. I played craps on the $5 table (again 3x4x5 odds) solo. The dealers were nice and the drinks came frequently since it’s a small place. My wife played some slots but most were dated. I didn’t feel like the walk to the Sands was worth it and my wife agreed. Unless they have a great promotion or drop their minimum limits to the Cal-Neva $3 BJ/craps level, there’s no reason for us to visit again.

Monday

My wife is a late sleeper. My last trip involved me heading to Cal-Neva to play craps to get an extra session in the day. This time I saved myself some money by exercising in the morning. Monday morning I decided to run the Riverwalk trail. Of course I packed everything but my GPS watch. I started late (a little before 10) and ended up going about 8 miles. The trail is great for running with only a few places where you had to cross streets. I loved that certain parts of the trail had ¼ mile markers. I saw a few other runners on the trail but I definitely would not run the course at night as I didn’t see many lights and I saw some homeless people laying in the shade and the trail is isolated in many parts. The trail goes past a few parks which I assume would have drinking fountains available if you needed them. It was a great run and I’m definitely planning to do it on my next trip.

My goal this trip on most trips is to try something new. In this case we decided to hit up a local casino. I went on yelp and found the Bonanza Casino. It’s a few miles away from the downtown core (north of UNR). The drive is definitely worth it because this was by far our favorite casino. We found a $1 craps table with the nicest dealer ever. The table was split in the middle so you only had to throw the dice halfway down the table. Bonanza also has 25 cent chips so they can do full pays on uneven odds bets. The $1 minimum was insane so we played there for hours and not losing much except for some tokes. The odds were only 2x but the drinks came fast and I eyed some $2 blackjack but try it out.





Tuesday – Since this was my last day I woke up at 5am which is when the Eldo gym opens. I spent 45 minutes on their climbing machines and have to say that it’s one the best cardio machines I ever used. But the gym wasn’t the real goal of the day. I woke up early so I could check out some other local casinos before my wife could wake up

So I went to Rail City (owned by Terrible’s) and it was awful. It was surprisingly bigger than I thought it would be.



Diamond’s Casino. Wow, what a dump. Small place with about 6 BJ tables. I walked in and walked right out.



Western Village: Played some video poker here but nothing that would make me go back



When I got back it was only 10am so we had time to go back to the Siena. I finished my freeplay there and went back to the craps table at Cal-Neva and got killed. My wife loved playing her slot at the Siena so when the noon checkout came at the Eldo, I told her I’d pack and for her to take her time. I went back to the room waited with a $10 bill in case I needed help convince room service to prep our room last so I wouldn’t get kicked out. At 1pm, my wife finally lost her $100 freeplay and we were out of the Eldo!

So what do degenerate gamblers do when they check out of their hotel? Go back to the Bonanza Casino. This time the craps limits was $2 but that didn’t stop me from playing. We spent over 3 hours where the following happened:

1. The nice staff must recognize degenerate gamblers. We were standing in the casino when a gentleman walked up to us identifying himself as an employee. We thought we were able to get kicked out (we had a small furry critter hidden with us) but he was just getting us to sign up for a players card. We sat down and the rep gave us the most detailed explanation of their program that last over 15 minutes. When I say detailed this included a explanation on each button to press to use the $5 freeplay for signing up. I have to say that the Bonanza details their players club very well with point earning on slots/video poker on their website.

2. Though I generally played at the $2 limit with action on the come-out roll, comes, and only a few field bets, I found myself down almost $200 at one point. How the hell can I be down $200 playing $2 minimum bets? My savior came when a player went on a 45+ minute monster roll. Since there’s only one dealer/stickperson he/she was dealing with crazy action all over the table. The entire layout was filled with chips and chip racks started to overfill. To make things worse, all the players started putting down bets for the shooter, dealers and other players on the table. It was crazy nuts and like the movies. There were high fives, dancing, screaming, and the off-going dealers remained on the side during the breaks to watch the crazy roll.

3. This is the only casino where I saw regulars place bets for other people. Other than the previously mentioned monster roll, two regulars placed bets for my wife and I at the craps table. This isn’t the type of generosity I expected at all. I could only make the bets for them when they were shooting to make up for it. But incredibly nice people like that makes me want to visit the Bonanza more.

4. One of the dealers was super nice. I took a short break from the craps table to look for my wife where I saw one of the craps dealers on a break talking to her. I walked over and joked that I paid him $100 to tell her that I wasn’t losing money. He talked to us during his entire break. During our drive home, my wife told me that he had come over to tell her that I was one of the nicest players he ever dealt to and that the dealer told her not to tell me until after we left the casino. That was awesome, though I am sure my wife thinks I paid him to say that.

5. The other person dealing craps looked like a floor sup trainee. She was extremely nice. I’m used to the service industry hustling for tips but I feel like the dealers were genuinely awesome.

Our trip was great! Reno has not let us down yet! We talked some friends of ours to come back in the beginning of October. One couple coming doesn’t gamble but into midway/arcade games. I was hoping that someone could give some advice:

1. Circus Circus is obviously the midway/arcade king. I saw the JA Nugget was huge and the Grand Sierra Resort looks like a kid’s paradise. But are the Atlantis or Peppermill worth going to for the arcade? Are there any other arcade type things worth going to in the area not listed above?

2. Has anyone use the driving range or simulated indoor golf course at the GSR? Are they worth bringing clubs for? Are the go karts worth doing at the GSR? If I get drunk, will they let me ride the slicktrack?

3. Does anyone know of a craps table that has a minimum less than $3 that isn’t Bonanza?


Last edited by dfens on Aug Sat 25, 2012 11:03 am; edited 2 times in total
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LilyJDragonfly



Joined: 03 Mar 2009
Posts: 425

PostPosted: Aug Fri 24, 2012 9:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice TR! Thanks for posting.... especially the part about the recumbent race - The Dog has two recumbents and didn't know about that race!

As to your questions, I don't remember Atlantis or Peppermill being impressive as to arcade areas. JA Nugget looked cool, though, when we walked past it a couple of trips ago.

And I can't believe we haven't scoped out the Bonanza - it sounds almost as awesome as the Cal-Neva! Bonanza's craps tables sound like the absolute lowest you'll find anywhere in the world!
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JD



Joined: 18 Dec 2005
Posts: 956

PostPosted: Aug Fri 24, 2012 9:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

BEST TRIP REPORT in Ages.

Thanks for the run down...I haven't been to the RENO Bonanza in ages. As I recall, they have some great meal deals as well.

I had to laugh at the Diamonds comments. I accidentally HAD to wait there to give a ride to a guy who dealt BJ there several years ago. I hit the biggest 25 cent progressive Royal of my life at the bar and instantly had a crowd of low lifes around me including the bartender that previously ignored me. Nice $ 2,500 progressive on my first $ 20 !! I did NOT loiter around.

Did you happen to enjoy the outdoor patio at the Siena? I find that a great place to get out of the casino on a nice day.

1. no
2. no
3. no
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remano



Joined: 20 Dec 2005
Posts: 717

PostPosted: Aug Fri 24, 2012 4:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great TR - thanks for sharing.

As to: "3. Does anyone know of a craps table that has a minimum less than $3 that isn’t Bonanza?" - no, but I saw one of those craps machines with the big dice that tumble around under a glass dome at (I think) SL, if not there then ElDo. I didn't play it, just noticed it while passing through. Limits for those things are pretty low and they're supposed to play like the real game, I guess.
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Mammothgambler



Joined: 25 Dec 2005
Posts: 619

PostPosted: Aug Fri 24, 2012 8:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

thanks for the tr dfens! jeez, it really looks like you hit up just about everywhere around these parts!

I've never been in the Bonanza but always wondered if it was worth a look. And thanks for the info about Diamond's - I passed by it earlier when I was switching hotels and it didn't really look like it was worth it.

Regarding the arcade, go karts, driving range, and other non-gambling amenities at the GSR - yes, they're totally worth it, especially if you've got a few in you! : ) Some have complained that the prices they charge are a bit steep, but everything I've checked out their has been free so far.

And thanks for all the info about the Siena. I'll have to give it a go one of these days.
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dfens



Joined: 19 Jul 2012
Posts: 59

PostPosted: Aug Sat 25, 2012 11:39 am    Post subject: Thanks for the replies! Reply with quote

Lily - I did go through the JA Nugget, but their arcade was closed in the early morning. Somehow a kid with his dad were able to play behind the closed entrance (I think the dad was an employee with a key) and that kid looked like he was in heaven getting all the video games to himself!

The $1/$2 craps at Bonanza blew my mind. I also had trouble with some odds bets because Bonanza has 25 cent chips!!!!!

JD - Something at Diamond's make shudder. For some crazy reason I felt safer at a casino in Tijuana when was 17 than when I was at Diamond's in my 30's. It's incredible that you hit the royal there. I would have believed it if you said you fought your way with your winning out of Diamond's like Mel Gibson fighting his way out of the Thunderdome!

I haven't hit up the Siena restaurants. My wife and I just got a room offer from them and might return to try it out.

Remano - I've played the "Shoot' to Win" popomatic craps in both Vegas and at the Eldo. The Eldo "Shoot to Win" craps has a $1 minimum and allows you to use your players card (I played it with my wife..the fun part is that if you hit your points you can run the circle around the machine for high fives!). I don't know if the Eldo gives player points at the machine even though they do let you insert your players card. In Vegas, the casinos do not allow you to earn any points on the machines because players were earning a crap ton of points playing questionable ways (betting both sides) with an already low house advantage.

The $1 minimum on the Eldo "Shoot to Win" in the lowest I've ever seen with the machine anywhere.

Do you get nightmares of of a woman's voice that constantly repeats:

"Hot Shooter"
"Mystery of Fifty Series"
"Press the button.. PRESS THE BUTTON!!!"

My wife taught me craps on the "Shoot to Win" craps machine at the Mirage in Vegas. We got there at around midnight and didn't leave the machine until after 3am. Damn, that game is addicting!


Mammoth - Thanks for the heads up! On our next Reno visit, we're going to live out our 8 year old dreams at the GSR!


Last edited by dfens on Aug Sun 26, 2012 10:44 am; edited 1 time in total
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mjames1229



Joined: 23 Dec 2009
Posts: 406

PostPosted: Aug Sat 25, 2012 2:30 pm    Post subject: Re: TR July 2012 Reply with quote

dfens wrote:
I went on yelp and found the Bonanza Casino. It’s a few miles away from the downtown core (north of UNR). The drive is definitely worth it because this was by far our favorite casino.


Were the Moopets playing there that day?
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dfens



Joined: 19 Jul 2012
Posts: 59

PostPosted: Aug Sat 25, 2012 3:50 pm    Post subject: YES!!!!! Reply with quote

Holy hell! ONE OF THE DEALERS LOOKED LIKED LORNE GREENE!!!!!

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BC Dave
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Joined: 18 Dec 2005
Posts: 1592

PostPosted: Aug Sat 25, 2012 4:31 pm    Post subject: Thanks Dfens Reply with quote

Wow, that guy really does look like Lorne Green! Great report! Sounds like you had a good time. I like the Bonanza too. A friend and I once walked there from downtown Reno. It was a lot further than I thought. But once we told the cashier what we had done she comped us a couple of lunches in the cafe.
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remano



Joined: 20 Dec 2005
Posts: 717

PostPosted: Aug Sun 26, 2012 8:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cactus Creek Steakhouse at the Bonanza is well worth the trip. While the casino is totally low-roller/basic, the steakhouse is a cut or two above. It is the equal of any other place in town.
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dfens



Joined: 19 Jul 2012
Posts: 59

PostPosted: Aug Sun 26, 2012 10:41 am    Post subject: Thanks! Reply with quote

BC Dave - I can't believed you walked there from downtown. That's an insane walk (and I believe a little hilly too). You deserved marathon finisher medal with that well deserved lunch!

Remano - You're totally right. The Bonanza isn't glamorous and the slot selection is pretty slim though my wife found her favorite Breakfast at Tiffany's slot there. I make fun of her love of that machine as it's an IGT game targeted for players 50 and above.
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BC Dave
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Joined: 18 Dec 2005
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PostPosted: Aug Sun 26, 2012 11:46 am    Post subject: You're right Reply with quote

I remembered it being just a little ways past the university (by car). Found out that, by foot, it's a looooooong way past the university. We felt like we were trekking off into the desert.
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