Made my first trip to Tunica this weekend. Good video poker, bad everything
else.
I presented myself with a challenge: could I get DIAD with a bank roll of
only $1,000? My game of choice, the APDW which I (at one point) knew so
well. I used to play the APDW at Tamarack in Reno before they were pulled,
and I had since lost my ability to play. It is a game with quite a few
penalty situations (comparatively) and I forgot most of them.
I figured with a roll of $1,000, to get $30K in coin-in I would almost
certainly need a 4 deuces. My gambler's gut told me if I made the 4 deuces,
I would make DIAD and if I didn't, I would be short of my goal.
I leave after work and get there very late, blasting "Up On Cripple Creek"
by The Band (necessary mood music for southern gambling). Herein lies
problem 1: Mississippi. I had fully expected that the path to Tunica would
be clearly marked. I took US 78 a short ways and I was looking for MS 304 to
pull off. I saw no such sign and eventually entered Tennessee. (Looking at
my directions later, I realized I should have been looking at MS 309). I
quick detour found me on I-55/I-69 multiplex, with very clear directions
from there on how to get to Tunica.
So that's problem 1. Problems 2-25 are all Harrah's. I went on Harrah's
Parkway or something. My night vision must be poor, or I'm vitamin A
deficient, or *something* because I couldn't read any of the gosh darn
direction signs. Everything was very dark. I eventually find my way to what
I assumed was the casino/hotel. I park by the valet and wait. No one. No
problem, I go back to the parking lot, and look for the entrance for
registration. Nowhere to be found. So I walk over to the casino barge and
ask the gal who checks IDs where I'm supposed to check in. I had to go to
the second floor - no where does it say or give any indication that this was
the case.
I'm tired, and grumpy, especially with my Memphis detour, so I go back and
check in, eager to get to my room. "Oh no, sir, you are not at this hotel.
You are in the Terrace across the street." She gives me terse directions in
a less-than-friendly manner. I sighed as I left back to my car. I eventually
bumble through the blindness of light and find where I believe I am supposed
to go. I walk in, find the registration immediately. The clerk checks me in
in RECORD time (probably under 3 minutes), and I sleepwalk my way into my
room.
Room was okay. Not my bed preference. Old TVs, and older stuff in general. I
like sleeping with the TV on, but the volume was either waaaay too soft or
waaay to loud, with nothing in between (I've never experienced that before).
The refrigerator was loud. The cooling was subpar. I slept like a baby.
The next day, I wake up with the gigantic itch still unsatisfied. Time to
get gambling.
Now the other annoyance: you have to take a shuttle to the first casino, and
then another shuttle (which runs much less frequently) to the Roadhouse
casino. The Roadhouse is my ultimate goal as they had the APDW that I hold
so dearly.
At the first casino (I apologize, I forget what it's called - Harrah's
Tunica), I get a quick breakfast of junk food, a Red Bull, and get my total
rewards card. I mention I am going for DIAD which was ignored by the
boothling (I thought I had to declare my intentions or something). I put
through $200 playing 8/5 JoB at the bar and lose it in record time. I end up
with something like 60 points on the dollar denom (I was in it for the
drinks to loosen up). I'm thinking, "great, my roll is 20% gone and I'm
about 1% there."
I looked around Harrah's Tunica and their video poker coral especially. What
I saw was the most haphazard, bizarrely laid out floor I've ever seen. There
were, say, 4 DDB games on a bank, with no multi-denom or multi-game option.
And they would all be different. One would be a 9/6, next to it an 8/5/ next
to that a 9/5, etc. I've never seen anything like that.
In terms of "novelty" games (Action Gaming games specifically), across all
properties I saw only Super Times Pay, Ultimate X, and 3/5/10 plays in a
couple properties. There may have been a 50/100 sitting around Harrah's
Tunica, I don't remember.
Anyway, time for the main event. I take the shuttle to the Roadhouse. I poke
around for a while, play a little blackjack and break mostly even, get
another drink, etc. I eventually find the APDW. A warning! There's only 3
left. The bank of 6, on the other side, the 3 machines were 15/9. This
actually caught me and I didn't even notice.
I play and I'm doing remarkably well in the sense that I'm maintaining my
credits. I earn about 500 points or so with minimal to no loss yet and I
get my first
http://i.imgur.com/TPeMr.jpg
I realize at this point that it's too early to called it a "success." I
could very easily have a nasty run and I'd go busto without making DIAD. The
average person would be dejected, or apprehensive. Instead, a short time
later, I just decided to get another set of ducks:
http://i.imgur.com/bYxrr.jpg
So I was pretty healthy at this point and I was, frankly, getting tired of
playing VP. So I was going to play a $2 machine to help speed things along.
I still had 2000 points to go which was ... a depressing prospect at this
point. So I looked and there were NO $2 machines anywhere! I would have
played a (slightly) subpar table since I was confident enough that I would
make it.
So I go to casino cage and asked, "Can I go next door and get the rest of my
points." They had no idea and referred me to the hosts (which were also next
door). I went next door and asked the hosts, "Can I play off the rest of my
DIAD requirements here." I assumed I could but I just wanted to make sure.
They didn't know either. I was surprised that this doesn't come up more
frequently.
One gal was going to check their TR desk for the answer. While she was gone
I was chatting up the other gal. She had a general disparaging tone about
the Roadhouse, which I found interesting. She was saying things like, "If
you asked *here* we wouldn't have sent you away, we would have found the
answer for you."
The answer, it turns out, was no. I had to go back and finish it off at the
Roadhouse. Sigh...
So I play a little longer and then I have an idea - what about GameKing
Blackjack? There's a wall of GKs with Blackjack on it. In $1 denom, they are
10 coin max bet (in hindsight, I should have seen if the quarter were 100
coin max bet). I blew through like 600 hands in what seemed like no time,
which turns out to be ~700 points (because of splits and doubles). I was
literally betting $10 on a $100 buy in, and I ended up cashing even. With a
renewed vigor, I finished off the remaining points off of the APDW game,
without anything noteworthy. However, while I was playing, someone from
security or a host came up to me, verified my identity, and gave me a ticket
to the Diamond lounge. It was from the girls from the booth, presumably
because of my "inconvenience" which really wasn't much of one. It was a nice
gesture.
To celebrate my achievement, I go to the bar in the back for a few drinks. I
was playing 7/5 Bonus with a progressive (at about ~$1,200, obviously a huge
loser but I was in enjoyment mode at that time). I hit 4 aces w/kicker.
Unfortunately, not the most ideal game, and I was only playing quarters.
I headed off to the Diamond lounge. It seemed nice, free drinks. The
bartenders all seemed like they didn't want to be there. The clientele was
somewhat "rude" (in the sense they weren't friendly to the help). I hope
that dynamic isn't replicated everywhere. I'm looking forward to using the
Harvey's Tahoe lounge sometime soon.
I played some craps and got ahead a few hundred dollars quickly, and left. A
band was playing in the back and there was a seat at the Riverstage Bar,
where I was playing the progressive DDB. I got a few quads (nothing
bonused), but I was hitting Straight Flushes out of my ass. I hit like 3 or
4 of them in ~ 1000 hands or so. I couldn't believe it was really happening.
In the end, I finished ahead in every game except blackjack. I got DIAD and
I got about $1K take home profit on top of it all. Not a bad trip.
I also walked through Gold Strike next door. It is a very nice floor, but I
didn't stick around and play. I didn't see anything noteworthy from a VP
stand point there. But it's clearly a newer, fresher casino.
Soooo... now that I have Diamond, what do I do with it?
At any rate, I will not be returning to Harrah's any time soon. I like to
drink when I gamble, so I can't drive property to property. If I can't
drive, I have to use their shuttle service. Their shuttle service is
insanely bad. At 1:00 AM on Saturday night (Sunday morning), there was a
line for the shuttle. It was hot and humid and a lot of mosquitoes took me
for a snack. I have quite a few bites on my ankles because I had to wait
outside for their inadequate shuttle service.
Anyway, if anyone has any questions about what is there/isn't there, I might
be able to answer. I hope you enjoyed reading my report.
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