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Thread: Just for Freightman and Anybody Else Who Likes Trip Reports

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    Just for Freightman and Anybody Else Who Likes Trip Reports

    Quote Originally Posted by Freightman View Post
    I could use another MWP trip report story though.
    Below is a trip report on my first blackjack trip to Laughlin which was a couple of years ago. Since then American Airlines in 2017 started offering one commerical flight to Laughlin each day. Their fight is so poorly scheduled one would be better off to go to Vegas and rent a car or take a shuttle to Laughlin. This report was posted on BJ21 in the paid subscription area so some of you probably have already seen it.


    My Maiden Voyage to Laughlin with Comparisons to Wendover (long)

    I have been to Wendover many times before. I also have posted on BJ21 many of my trip reports on Wendover. However, this fall saw my first ever trip to Laughlin and I wanted to share a few things as very little has been posted on BJ21 about Laughlin.

    Both Laughlin and Wendover are similar in many ways. They both don’t have any commercial air service, but both are served by charter flight programs. They are both located not too far from large cities. Laughlin is located about 100 miles south of Las Vegas and Wendover is located about 120 miles west of Salt Lake City. The short drive from these small town airports to the casinos is just about a mile or two in both casino towns.

    If you are located in the upper Midwest there are many flight cities to choose from for a charter flight to either Laughlin or Wendover. Sun Country flies to Laughlin and Allegiant flies to Wendover. Both these airlines have flight cities in both WI and MN with Sun Country having a few flights out of MI and even an occasional flight out of the U.P. of MI. I do like flying on Sun Country better than Allegiant, but if you fly out of the upper Midwest flight time is about a half hour longer if you fly to Laughlin instead of Wendover. Also the flight fare is slightly higher to fly to Laughlin, but it’s still a great bargain.

    Okay, let’s get right to the Laughlin trip. On this trip I took the Riverside Casino flight charter and just like Wendover’s charter your hotel stay is included in the charter price. There were almost no comps included in the package you receive upon arrival which was handed out at the airport along with your hotel key. There was no notice it would be done this way and I actually got on the bus without my package. I had to ask someone where they got them. Fortunately, I was heads up in this situation and managed to go back and get my package before the bus left. The best comp I found in my package was a coupon for a half price buffet at the Riverside buffet. Wendover on the other hand has at least a couple of decent comps.

    I did not like the Riverside casino. My room in the Riverside was good, but the casino itself seemed old, cluttered and dirty. The blackjack playing area seemed dark. The table games main area seemed to be tucked away in a corner and not in the center like most casinos. In fact every nook and cranny had some little shop tucked away in it.

    These are the Laughlin casinos I played on this trip listed in order of largest win to smallest win or loss.
    Tropicana - Net Win
    Aquarius - Net Win
    Edgewater - Net Win
    Co Belle - Net Win
    Harrah’s - Net Win
    Nugget - Net Loss
    Riverside - Net Loss
    Total Laughlin blackjack win before expenses was $1,300. I managed to get 28 hours of playing time in with no back offs. My maiden voyage to Wendover many years ago yielded a blackjack win of $1,755 before expenses with only 22 hours of play.

    Here are a few things that pissed me off on this trip.
    At the Riverside casino I only played their single deck game which is 3:2. As I have posted before I’m not very good at single deck, but what they do at the Riverside can really piss you off. If you jump your bet 3 times they will shuffle up on you. I was aware of this from a post made by LVBear and always tried to make my bet less than 3 times the previous bet. However, on one occasion I was playing heads up and the dealer pulled about a 7 card bust with all little cards on the first hand. I had a great opportunity and was very careful not to raise my bet more than 3 times but the dealer still shuffled up. This dealer was doing this quite often to me and I finally asked how much can I bet without a shuffle up. The dealer said he couldn’t discuss it and to talk to the pit boss. Oh sure. This dealer had the gall to pay part of one of my winning bets in dollar tokens. This pissed me off big time. Also at the Riverside the have a side bet only at the beginning of each shuffle. The dealer goes through a little chant describing it not just once, but every time he shuffles. It drives one crazy. Oh, by the way. I witnessed a player using the jump your bet 3 times rule in reverse. If he didn’t like what he saw he would jump his bet and they would shuffle. I witnessed it at least a couple of
    times.

    Another thing that pissed me off was the free buffet I was suppose to get at Harrah’s. They said with a new card I could get a couple of free buffets after earning 50 points or one after something like 30 points. I played blackjack for several hours and they finally said I enough points for a buffet. I was as hungry as hell and when I went to get my slip for a free buffet they mentioned I had a card from another property from about ten years ago. At the time, I don’t think the property was even a Harrah’s property. No free buffet. I left hungry.

    Speaking of food, I ate at several different places in Laughlin. The first night I stopped at “In and Out Burger.” The food was real cheap and fast, but I sure don’t rate it the number restaurant in Laughlin as listed by Trip Advisor. I thought their fries had a bad taste to them. The worst food was definitely the Riverside buffet. The only reason I ate there was because I had a half price buffet and enough comps to pay for the other half. Of the places I played rated I think Riverside gave the best dollar value comps. I did eat a buffet at the Tropicana and think this was the best place of anyplace I ate. I did see a guy who looked like LVBear there, but not as heavy. This guy was with his wife.

    I played rated for several hours at Aquarius and when I asked how much I had in comps they said a number that was less than 40 cents. Then the player card lady said if you use it on food its double. I figured I might as well use it when I went to eat at their restaurant as there was a good chance I won’t ever be going back soon. When I tried to use the little bit I had I was told it had to be at least a dollar before you could use it. It was another piss off.

    Another piss off was getting caught in a flash flood. One night it was raining very hard and after it stopped, I set off for a walk to the casinos on the southern end of casino drive. I got as far as the Edgewater only to come to a huge water puddle that was coverng the sidewalk and road. I crossed to the other side where the sidewalk wasn’t completely under water only to find the water flowing down Edgewater drive so fast and deep I could not get across. I had to head back and ended up wasting about 40 minutes.

    Another interesting thing happened at Tropicana. I was playing heads up at the time and some how a conversation started with the dealer about blackjack. Out of the blue this dealer mentioned that the Tropicana was “sweaty.” Then the dealer added “real sweaty. “ I asked if this was the sweatiest place in town and the dealer answered that the Edgewater and Colorado Belle were probably worse. I did get a couple of shuffle ups at the Colorado Belle. I asked what the hell is going on. It was the only place besides the Riverside where this happened.

    Overall my expenses were quite low for this trip. They only came to $107 excluding the cost of the charter and that is pretty good for not having any comp balance built up. This includes $25 for the airport parking fee and $15 for the Laughlin water taxi which was for a day pass. It would have been better for me if I only paid for each time I used it. I did not use any bus at all. I walked everywhere except for my one trip to Harrah’s which was really a waste. In the Harrah’s main pit they had a 6:5 single deck and a 6:5 six deck and only one normal 2 deck game which was full most of the time I played there. I didn’t check out the non smoking pit as they said there was no double deck there. Harrah’s on their double deck game burns 20 cards off the bottom and one card off the top.

    One note before I end this long post. The best way to get around Laughlin is probably walking. There are not any shuttle buses like Wendover has and the buses drop off at the main drag. You still have to walk to the casino. I didn’t use any buses at all. You basically have two walking choices. You can take the River Walk which is a sidewalk along the river or walk out to the main drag and walk there. If the Tropicana is a planned stop you are probably better off walking on the main drag. You can walk faster on the main drag as most folks take the river walk. I found the river walk kind of congested at times. You cannot walk through the casino parking lots which is a shame since each casino has their property fenced or walled off. Just one more piss off. Harrah’s is probably too far to walk to as it is a mile down the road from the Golden Nugget. I used the river taxi which I enjoyed for Harrah’s but a taxi would also work fine. There are a lot of taxis that hang out at the Golden Nugget and most are Lucky Cab.

    PS. Thanks to all who answered my questions about Laughlin.


    Charter to Laughlin. http://www.riversideresort.com/flights.aspx?id=217

    Charter to Wendover. https://wendoverfun.com/flights/
    Last edited by Midwest Player; 07-28-2017 at 11:55 PM.

  2. #2


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    Thanks MWP.
    No ball scratching this trip I note. Next trip, try the stimulating dick height shower heads at the Edgewater. Goes with the ambience if dust and dirt in the rooms.

    Laughlin us a dump, but contrary to popular opinion, a guy can actually make some decent coin there.

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