Visitreno

[remano]

RenoLady asked for a trip report, so this for her and anybody else who's interested. Our trip had nothing to do with Reno, except that we left town driving west on I-80 and 1600 miles later returned driving west on I-80. Though most of the trip is off topic for this board, the subject of Las Vegas sometimes comes up so I will report on that part of the trip.

We stayed at El Cortez downtown. The rooms were of average size and a bit tattered, but comfortable and fairly clean. We only paid $30 a night, and at that price it was a good value. The biggest negative for me was that there was no pool. Parking was convenient, food in the restaurants was okay, and the gambling (blackjack, video poker and poker) was very good.

They had good rules for single and two deck blackjack and a lively hold 'em game with a $1 to $3 spread limit and $1 to $6 on the last bet. I had one winning session and one losing session. In one hand with 2 K's on the board a player to my left had K-A in the hole and was betting big. I had K-J so she had the winning kicker until I caught another J on the turn for a full house. In the losing session it seemed nothing would go right, such as when I was dealt a pair of eights and flopped two more for four of a kind, and the whole table folded when I made a $2 bet.

We had one breakfast at the Main Street Station buffet, which is still one of the better ones downtown although I think the Golden Nugget gets better reviews. We also had the famous $.99 shrimp cocktail at the Golden Gate. The price was recently raised to $1.99 but you can still get the cheaper price if you have their slot card, which is free and only takes a minute to get.

One night we went to Mother's Korean Grill on West Spring Mountain Road. This is the kind of place where there is a barbecue grill built into the table to cook the food. We had a huge combination plate that featured several different types of meat and vegetables. We did most of the cooking ourselves, but the waitress would occasionally stop by and help out. As far as we could tell, she was nearly totally unable to speak English but the service was good nevertheless. I have seen other reviews online which complain about the lack of service, especially for non-Asian customers, but this was not our experience. The price was on the high side but we were all satisfied with the food.

One night we saw "Jersey Boys" at the Palazzo, which is the second stage of the Venetian mega-resort. Getting there reminded me of why I prefer Reno or downtown Vegas to the strip. After dropping off our car at valet it seemed we walked about a mile to get to the showroom. It's true there were a lot of stores, shops and restaurants along the way, but if I want to go to a mall I will go to a mall, not a casino. Also, the gambling stunk. Lots of multi-deck shoes and no tables less than $15. On the other hand, the show, which is the story of Franki Valli and the Four Seasons set to their music was very good. I was not a Four Seasons fan during their heyday, but I guess 45 years can make a difference and I still find myself humming some of the songs. All of the singers were exceptional and the show was well paced, in two acts with an intermission. We got the cheaper seats but the turnout was light that night so the usher moved us down and we were in the second row in the balcony. All in all a very good night but we waited to get back downtown before we did any gambling.

As an aside, on the way to the show one in our party forgot something back in the room so we made a quick turnaround, pulled up to the hotel and waited in the car while she ran up to the room. She was back in just a few minutes. Try doing that at any Strip mega-resort. You're looking at a one hour delay, minimum.

Another night we saw "Marriage Can Be Murder" at the Four Queens. This is an interactive mystery play with dinner, in which various actors get murdered as you eat and the host interviews guests as to what they saw and did. Some of the guests are part of the show and the idea is to guess "who dun it." I would describe the show and is mildly entertaining and the food was not good. There are better ways to spend your time.

One thing that did help to appreciate the show was that we got our tickets for half price at a place called "Tix4Tonight." On the day of the show they wholesale tickets for many Vegas shows which have not sold out. You won't get the very top level shows, but I was impressed with the variety and quality of their offerings. They also have discounts on golfing and other entertainment. They have four or five locations around Las Vegas and are definitely worth checking out:

http://www.tix4tonight.com/

We also took a day trip to Mount Charleston. There is not much up there but the scenery is beautiful and it seems like a world away from Las Vegas, not to mention that the temperature was about 20° cooler than the 110° highs in Vegas.

We had fun one afternoon playing a bank of video blackjack machines where one player played seven hands at a time. If the dealer got a Black Jack you were wiped out on all seven bets, but when the dealer busted you could do pretty well. You can play for as little as a nickel so the risk was manageable. The rules were okay as video blackjack goes. Naturals only paid even money which was a big house advantage, but you can double on any two cards, split and re-split pairs and the dealer stood on soft 17. This was at the Vegas Club but I was told it was available at a few other casinos in town. To get back on topic, I have never seen it in Reno but I hope it is coming.

The drive back to Reno was uneventful except for passing several drivers pulled over by the Highway Patrol. Even though the road seems pretty desolate, there is more out there than meets the eye. The temperature in Reno when we arrived was a comfortable 85 or so, while it was still in triple digits in the big city, just another reason why we won't be returning to Vegas anytime soon.

RenoLady, hope you have a good time in Vegas and Reno, and that the wildfire smoke has cleared by the time you get here.

[RenoLady]

Thanks Remano, needed the fix!

When folks ask me to describe Reno, I often use the analogy of downtown Vegas, older, different crowd, but better deals, gambling conditions, and you can actually visit several places in a few minutes, try that on the strip!

I'm interested in the new video BJ game; R and I often use it to up our slot points as it's generally treated as slots and not video poker, cranking up the points quicker, playing 7 hands sounds fun. Hope it shows up in Reno soon.

The smoke is nasty right now, they claim no clearing until next week, and I understand there are more storms/lightening due this weekend in the foothills.