Recently we went to Reno's Atlantis Hotel for one night. Whether we
lucked out because we arrived midweek, or my host took pity on me (because on
the previous trip I lost a lot of $ and also had my purse stolen...long story
but I got it and most of contents back after a day when it was dumped
outside somewhere).... but somehow they put us into a H U G E, and I mean G I
G A N T I C suite. It was probably the square footage of my house (2600
sq ft or something like that), with an extremely long living room area that
contained a pool table, chess table, pocket billiards table, huge sofa,
bar, a bed, poker table, bathroom, etc. Also a separate bedroom with a big
bed, another couch, and a HUGE jacuzzi (big enough for maybe 8 people), and
bathroom. Two refrigerators (one in each room), stocked with V8, soda,
water, etc - help yourself. A host told me it was the largest suite in the
hotel. Wow. It was the largest suite we've ever been given.
Then they treated us to a winemakers dinner event in Bistro Napa. This
was a real bargain for those who had to pay ($125 pp), but even more of a
bargain for us with a comp. The food was excellent (5 courses), and each
course paired with a different delicious wine. The winemaker (Justin
Vineyards)appeared and spoke a little with information on the wines. The Atlantis
holds these dinners every month, and I recommend them (the next is a Bacardi
Rum dinner on May 31, $85 pp, phone 775-824-4411 for details).
We were impressed with the large size of the Atlantis, and all the
machines. Most, if not all, the VP machines, seemed to be of the 10 coin variety.
It took me awhile to adjust to this. If you normally play $1 machines,
you should play 50 cent, and so on. There were many many machines of
different types all around, and some were progressives. I didn't check all that
many machines, but I didn't notice any 9/6 JB or other FP machines, though
they may have existed. The club also has a special "swipe" machine, where
you should swipe daily to see if there is a point multiplier or other
promotion. Since we were there on March 31, I just missed getting $300 free
play for my monthly offer.
I wandered around, playing a bit, trying to avoid the machines where I'd
lost $ on a previous visit, and noticed a single line progressive with over
$9800 on the meter. I sat down and realized it was a $1 progressive, with
the $9800 for the 10 coin in. I felt "drawn to" the machine (ESP feeling
which usually doesn't work by the way...) so decided to try it on DDB (9/6)
for awhile. I quickly got a quad ($500 instead of the usual $250), so now
had enough profit to keep playing awhile. Kept playing, more quads,
enough to keep me going, and then, holding 3 to a royal, wham -- beautiful
hearts and one of the biggest royals I've ever had! I'm so happy....but
happiness can be fleeting for a gambler.....
For a change I decided to leave the machine quickly, rather than putting
back $ as I usually do, and wandered around, plunking money in and out of a
few machines (I'm usually a sit-and-stay-for-4-hours person....), eventually
I found the "high roller" lounge area, which had some nice snacks set out
(now getting a little peckish hours after the huge winemakers
dinner...hardly any wine for me, by the way, since I was planning to gamble, but my
husband had tottled off to bed after the dinner feeling no pain). I noticed a
$5 Top Dollar, one of my favorite slots, and played a few hands. Next to
it was a multigame machine I'd never seen before with some sort of a Hot
Roll bonus where you "threw" "dice" for a bonus. I switched over and started
to play, and play and play. The bonuses kept rolling in every few minutes,
giving me $ to keep me going. It was really fun, and I managed to win a
little.
The Atlantis has many restaurants and a big spa, as well as an indoor
pool. Very nice place.
But the next day (we only had 1 night there), we headed to Lake Tahoe's
Harrah's/Harvey's for a special "play up" promotion. Play 5600 points, get
$800 in free play (but it turned out you had to play twice as much for VP -
argh!). Play higher levels, get more free play - enticing -- and you keep
your points for comps. And they had already sent along a $400 coupon to
insert in a machine for free play.
I arrive at Tahoe with most of my $9800 win intact, raring to go!
We prefer to stay in Harvey's, because the rooms have the better view of
the Lake. A Harrah's limo picked us up from the Atlantis and took us
there. Both my husband and I are 7* members, so we had asked our host for a
suite overlooking the lake, and got a beautiful room with a balcony in
Harvey's. My husband LOVES the Lake, and spent hours sitting and standing and
watching the Lake. The view was great on the first night, but suddenly (as
often happens) a storm blew in, along with snow, it was like a blizzard!
Fortunately there is a tunnel connecting Harvey's to Harrah's, so you never
have to go outside. Thankfully the storm ended in time for us to return to
the Reno airport.
The host also arranged to send some soda to the room, which was good, and
sent a basket with a few goodies and a bottle of California wine. Nice.
While hubby watched the Lake, naturally I headed to Harrah's, where I knew
they had 3/5 play $1 machines with 9/6 DDB and JB. The ones in the high
roller area were extremely popular, and people often locked them up for hours
at a time. I found an empty one near the bar, and started to play $1 5-
play DDB. Of course after the big win in Reno, I had no fear -- at first --
but as I plunked in my $400 free play voucher and then about $2000-2500
more -- and got NO QUADS -- fear started! The guy sitting next to me, who
was losing at 9/6 JB, left, so I switched machines. Normally I stubbornly
keep playing, even a bad machine, figuring "it will change" - but machine #1
had to be the worst ever! So I switch to machine #2, playing 9/6 DDB, and
it too started sucking and sucking and sucking -- finally boom - a royal
flush ($4000), but I was still down over $3000 for the two machines. Argh!
I slunk off to bed at last.
The next day the onslaught of bad machines continued. I figured the "play
up" promotion was a good one to get me to 7* status for 2012, and I still
had Reno money in my pocket, so I played on and on, passing the $800 in free
money point and heading to the $1000 then the $1500 etc. But I kept
losing and losing. I got Aces with the kicker ($2000) somewhere in there, but
quads overall were just lacking. It was hard to find a machine if you
left, because 2 of the machines were constantly busy or locked up. I tried a
bit on $5 progressive (this was the progressive where on my last trip to
Tahoe I had hit for 2 royal flushes - my biggest win ever for a trip), but this
time, nothing - no deuces playing deuces (75/45 version), not even a wild
royal, no quads playing DDB. Back to 3/5 $1 play - losing. I took a
respite and played "penny" machine The Hangover, and managed not to lose
anything on it, then back to VP - losing.
Well you guessed it, by the time we left Tahoe after 3 days, my $9800 win
from Reno was gone, and so was another $5000 -- this despite having various
free play coupons and the playup freeplay of $3000. One of my worst losing
trips ever if you counted all the Reno money that disappeared as well as
free play. But I had earned enough for 7* status....woopie....(not)....
Well, another play-up offer has just appeared for Tahoe for May 1 -- nope,
don't think we will go. VP must be the most volatile game ever!
A few notes on food in Tahoe -- strangely there are 3 very similar
steakhouses to choose from. Kitchen 19 in Harvey's has a great view of the Lake,
but unless you are there in summer, the sun will go down too soon to do
you much good. Harrah's has a similar steakhouse on its top floor. Harvey's
also has The Sage, which features some old-fashioned table side cooking of
some salads and entrees and deserts, and is thus probably the best one of
the three. Harrah's also has a Chinese restaurant (not open all nights),
but we had a bad experience on the last trip with Peking Duck, so didn't try
it this time. Harrah's comp points are not usable at the Hard Rock
restaurant in Harvey's. There is a good deli there though. The buffet at
Harrah's is also on the top floor, and is quite good (though sometimes not open
for breakfast). Their coffee shop is quite good (down in the basement).
Harrah's also has a mini food court, but comps cannot be used.
While it may be that theoretically VP is a better game than slots or most
table games for the player, the truth is that the volatility can be a
killer, and it does seem like I (and friends too) are getting fewer quads than we
used to get.
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