I've played in Vegas for decades but in August I'll be going to Reno for the first time. Can anyone tell me which casinos have the most favorable BJ rules in Reno? Also, any advice on a comfortable hotel with good food and entertainment? Thanks.
Get CBJN.
Note: How surprisingly BAD the e.v. off the top is in ALL of the games.
Note: If the e.v. is reasonable the game is severely sweated. Ditto if you bet Green on any table anywhere.
I make about fifteen trips to Reno a year. It's easier to tell you which places to avoid than to try to quantity "best." What's best for me might not be best for you. It depends on stakes, playing ability, and other factors. But the following are all blackjack burn joints that should be avoided at any stakes:
Circus Circus
Fitzgeralds
Alamo
Silver Club
Harrah's has only one playable game on the main floor, a single deck that is closely watched, and a single deck in the High Limit Room, usually $100 min, often closed.
All other Reno-area casinos offer at least a few good to excellent games, depending on your stakes. See Current Blackjack News for specifics, and read the link posted below. Single deck is a very different animal than the games available in Las Vegas. Don't worry about the commonplace D10 rule; those games are fine as long as penetration is adequate and consistent.
I respectfully disagree with Flash as to sweat and harassment -- it varies widely depending on casino and sometimes even the shift, and is certainly no worse than Las Vegas. Exceptions are Peppermill and Eldorado, where game protection is primarily from the eye; both stores are intolerant of brain-using patrons at any stakes, any time. Play short sessions there, not too often, and you should be fine.
Carson City and Tahoe are not worth the trip for blackjack. Carson City used to be worth it for low to mid-stakes players, but Fandango casino has become unplayable because of blatant pref-shuffling procedures now in place there under a new casino manager.
When in Reno, I am too busy to have time for entertainment, so cannot help you there. As for rooms, all are tolerable except for Sands Regency and the Holiday Inn adjacent to Diamond's. I don't know about Cal-Neva -- the only Reno casino hotel at which I have never stayed. The casino is a dump, so my guess is the rooms are probably not much better. Fitzgeralds rooms are marginal.
Good rooms are found at Siena (best rooms in town, but a bad neighborhood to the east), Atlantis, Peppermill, Grand Sierra, and JA Nugget.
Reno is a great change from the constant hostility of Las Vegas. You will enjoy it.
Bear, why do you include the Alamo? SD: H17, ls, 6. Edge 0.10. Pen 0.4. Thems great rules; great pen. Now I realize it's a low roller joint and the cage calls the pit if you have a greenie. But when I've been there, there are 2 $5 tables full of truckers and 1 $10 table which is often heads up. Did not observe PS. I think it's worth the drive for a red bettor, especially if you stop at the WV either on the way there or on the way back. One word of caution -- do NOT eat the free hot dogs they bring around!
Well on a reecnt trip to the Alamo I got constant PS and tip hustling. I was trying to play green 1-4 but they shuffled on me anytime I bet two green.
Maybe a red chipper would fair better but they sweat green action profusely.
His Reno experience exceeds mine by far.
I used to be a trucker so I know how to act and dress the part at that joint. I even cut my finger nails to the quick, didn't shave, had simi dirty hands, talked to other drivers about my load and where I was headed.
You can get away with some green action if you have your act down and don't stay more than about 45 minutes if winning.
Boomtown was a favorite years back. If they haven't changed their mentality or games much check it out.
I guess I should weigh in this one since I live up here. Just got back from a very successful trip down in Southern Nevada so I couldn't respond sooner. I really should start bringing a laptop with me on my gambling road trips.
Circus, Circus - you will be constantly shuffled up there if raising your bets. I agree, total waste of time.
Alamo is also a big waste of time, just betting a green chip will at the $10 table mentioned while playing heads up will get you only about 3 to 4 hands out of a deck before the dealer shuffles (about 30% to 40% Pen.) I don't think it matters whether not you raise your bet - you could just flat bet and they would do the same. They just don't want any action in that joint.
Fitzgeralds I don't feel is a total waste, just keep the sessions very short - hit and run. The penetration is usually only about 50%, but you can get their $25 table usually heads up for a quick 20 or 30 minute session. Stay too long and they will back you off. Its the only place down there on Virginia Street that will let you double on any first two cards AND offers Late Surrender (Single Deck).
I used to play the Silver Club when they had a $200 max bet, but they have since lowered it to $100 which makes it a lot less enticing when compared to other games around town, so I would agree that this place too ranks as a waste of time. Word of caution also: Look, I'd like to believe that dealer cheating doesn't go on in any hand held games anymore, but the Silver Club did have one male dealer, that I really did feel he may have been cheating me. I am not one to make this statemnet lightly and I am not the kind of person who blames losing sessions on cheating dealers, but his behavior and how he dealt was highly suspicious. This event happened about 9 months ago.
I agree, the Nugget in Sparks has pretty good rooms and the Sienna would be a favorite of mine for rooms as well. That's where I put my extended family up when they come to visit Reno. For an all around gamble Sienna seems to offer some of the best rules on all table games. ie. single zero on roulette (European Style), 10x odd at the craps table, double on any first two first cards on single-deck blackjack with decent penetration, and a pretty friendly pit crew to boot. (well, I guess until they figure out your a counter - haha)
JA Nugget in Sparks has a good game, but again don't make your sessions to long. They will back you off at the good $25 table if they think you're too good, and it won't matter whether or not you are winning or losing - they will back you off in that joint just as easily when you are down a grand or two. I think it is kind of their way of saying, "Hey buddy, thanks for losing your money here, but now that we know what you are doing, there is NO WAY we are going to let you make a come back, at least not in our house!"
Entertainment wise - Look for the shows at the Grand Sierra, Eldorado, and Harveys on South Shore Lake Tahoe.
Side Note - Best Poker Rooms: Eldorado, Peppermill, and Harvey's, South Lake Tahoe.
Good Luck!
Hey LV Bear,
I like to take the piss out of the casino industry, particularly the executives, and I took a liberty and included you in those 'Misguided head wiseguys' in my recent Deep Throat post. I hope you got a chuckle.
Characters such as you are rare and valuable indeed, in today's world. I appreciate the work that you do. Some others don't and is the reason why casino bosses such as Wily Snak E. Yes hate your guts! Anyway, keep up the good work pal.
My question concerns your Reno post wherein you wrote ...'from the constant hostility of Las Vegas'...
I have not as yet had the pleasure of a Vegas visit and I was considering it. Until I read that. It put the wind up me a bit. I need to know what you meant about hostility. Were you referring to street gangs when you go outside? Dope dealers and hookers? Or is it from the Security personnel or Police?
Or is it from BJ dealers, the pit, or the craps crew? Hotel staff? (Don't they say, 'Have a nice day?) Or is it a general feeling in the air, like a BAD VIBE man, as Cheech might have said back in the...whenever. As you just saw, my imagination ran wild.
In your opinion is this hostility now a permanent aspect of the Vegas landscape?
I hope you can fill me in on this one Bear, otherwise, I'll go East and look for gold.
Regards NB
compared to CT and AC games. Never had experience with gangs, etc. but the games and pit (there are exceptions, of course)are far superior in LV.
I'm sure the pro athlete who got beat up in LV recently was in a fine part of town at 2 o'clock in the afternoon with his wife and girlfriend and six kids from five different women and not showing off his bling and cash and car.
Just played CT for the first time. What a difference! The pit seems completely indifferent to bet spreading.
And I think Foxwoods is a dream compared to Mohegan Sun.
. I need to know what you meant about hostility. Were you referring to street gangs when you go outside? Dope dealers and hookers? Or is it from the Security personnel or Police?
Or is it from BJ dealers, the pit, ...
Las Vegas is a relatively safe city. Gangs, dope dealers, and hookers all exist in abundance, but are not a threat to you if you use common sense. I meant hostility from casino personnel. The casino industry in Las Vegas is not known for "good customer service." or even civility towards its patrons, most especially those patrons who use their brains inside a casino. Nothing to be particularly worried about; it is just a different world from Reno, where most casino personnel still seem to appreciate having customers.
Thanks Bear,
Now that I know WW3 is not breaking out in LV, plus some other posts here - thanks guys,- I will be going there instead of East Coast. I can handle casinos and pit hostility, that's no big deal. After all, I'll be there looking for some of their green and black cash, not to join any admiration/friendly societies. NB
Now that is very interesting, 2goodformyowngood. I met one of the children of the late owner of the Silver Club about 18 months ago. He told me he sometimes dealt when he worked there with his family.
He also told me he was a mechanic. So you may be right, not paranoid.
I had confirmed proof (shortly after) I was cheated at John Ascuaga's Nugget - by a mechanic.
That was over 20 years ago.
