The first (and only) time I took my parents to Vegas, I said to them, �It is pleasurable to go to the art museum or see a play by Moliere, but it�s also pleasurable to roll in the mud. This vacation is going to be more like the latter experience�� Although I can appreciate the beauty of the Bellagio, and I really like to stay there, places like the El Cortez will always be the �real� Vegas to me. Perhaps that�s why I prefer Reno to Vegas.
I decided to take the bus from the Bay Area in order to get the full �Reno Experience.� Frontier has a good looking deal � about $100 for the weekday bus ride and 2 nights at the Sands, and there�s cash back at a few places so the net cost is about $90 �so I went into their office ready to buy my ticket, but when I get there I�m told, �We only do the 2 day trip on the weekends.�
Somehow my tart, �You just lost a customer, buddy!� didn�t seem to bother him.
My next try was Greyhound, and here I made a big score � the normal fare is about $60, but if you get the �Casino fare�, it�s only $31. All you have to do is get off at one of the casino stops. An extra bonus is that a casino greeter gives you coupons for $5 in quarters and $5 in match play. What a deal. Some runs have more stops than others and, although I wanted the Reno experience, I took one that had relatively few stops; don�t want to OD.
My room had a lovely view of the Sundowner. I wiped a tear from my eye as I remembered getting my first ever preferential shuffle at the �downer.
I hadn�t been to Reno in over a year, and I don�t expect to return for several years, so I didn�t plan on using much cover, and if I found something good, I figured I�d camp out for a while.
I was feeling a little tentative at first because I had been riding a losing streak, so I thought I�d soak up a little of that special Reno ambience before starting play. Walking through the casinos, I was struck by the number of penny slots. They�re even in the nicer hotels.
Not a good sign for the city�s long term prospects.
I decided to make my first playing stop at the casino formerly known as the Flamingo. The casino floor was pretty quiet, but there were a couple of BJ tables open, one single deck and one double deck. At single deck I found a gentleman of Asian ancestry who was giving remarkably good penetration � easily 75%. Excited, I went over to check out the double deck table to see how that looked. Big mistake. The pen at the double deck table was OK, but not fabulous, so I sauntered back over to the single deck table only to find that it now had 5 spots in play. Disappointed, I figured I�d move on and return later.
My next stop was the Lost City at the South end of Virginia. I�ve won some and lost some in every major casino in Nevada except for this one; I�ve only lost here. I hadn�t played there in years because I was suspicious, but decided to give it a go.
Based upon what I had heard, I looked around to see if I could see different color felt on some tables, but maybe I was looking in the wrong place because all the tables looked like they had the same color felt. I shrugged and sat down.
Since I was not worried about a back off, I spread 1-8, and I�d like to say that my exceptional play won me some big bucks here, but it was just dumb luck; I got a bunch of 19�s and 20�s, even on poor counts. There was nothing at all interesting to report about the session except that, for the first time at that venue, I colored up a winner� a nice 36 unit win.
It was after dinner hour when I got back down town, so the buffets would be clear. I went over to my traditional haunt (at least once per trip) at Harrah�s. I wouldn�t dream of playing in the casino, but their buffet looks better than each time I�ve visited recently. (Maybe because it doesn�t have my ex-wife in it anymore.)
After dinner I headed back to the old Flamingo and found that, although the gent�s shift had long since ended, the long haired female dealer there was giving about 70% penetration. Once again, dumb luck was with me as I was dealt a high percentage of 19�s and 20�s. I�m not one to look a gift horse down in the mouth, but I did think it would make a better report if I could tell how I had to struggle to snatch victory by pulling a couple snappers on big bets. However, if this trip was to be a winner due to shear luck well, I�ll take it.
Something I ate at dinner wasn�t agreeing with me, so I decided to call it a day early and cashed out with a 38 unit win.
I slept in late the next morning and still wasn�t feeling that well, but I like to think of myself as a professional, so I finally willed myself out of bed. I decided to see if the gent was back at the old Flamingo and, as luck would have it, he was dealing double deck. The penetration was not 75%, but it was better than average for double deck, and my luck was still holding as I cashed up a 20 unit win.
I decided to take a walk to settle my stomach and found myself by an Italian place on the Truckee River. I love the hotel rooms there, although the casino does have something of a reputation. Throwing caution to the Truckee, I went inside and sat down.
The session marked something of a turning point for me; in more ways than one. The first is that, perhaps subconsciously aware of its reputation, I found myself only spreading 1-4. I was playing reasonably well though, and I was having a good time until the room seemed to get a little warm. I noticed that the problem was the pit boss, who seemed to have either taken a shine to me, or was interested in my play. (I guess it could have been both.) The deck was positive so I flat bet until the shuffle and then colored up an 18 unit winner.
The second manifestation of the turning point was that the trip went downhill from there.
I decided to take a ride out to Sparks. For old time�s sake, I stopped in at the AgClub; I had many a good session there earlier in my career. Usually, anything other than red chips sticks out like a sore thumb there
