Reno on the cheap puts you in market competition with down-and-outers.
You can find motel weeklies in the low hundreds that are almost okay. I was in a weekly that had been busted as a meth lab the month before. I can't stay in Reno for long: too depressing. Your goal should be short, comped stays in real hotels. You'll be getting some room offers in the mail once you're a rated sucker.