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Thread: Is Reno a Good Casino Destination

  1. #1


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    Is Reno a Good Casino Destination

    I been looking at the possibility of making a trip to Reno. I guess my main reason for wanting to go there is because I never been there. For me it would involve changing planes twice. It would take at least 10 or 11 hours just to get there.

    I would like to get by without a car if possible so probably would stay downtown. Any recommendations on where to stay? I noticed the casino hotels have free shuttles to and from the airport. I read on trip advisor one way to shuttle between casinos is to shuttle thru the airport. Here is link to live shuttle map from airport to downtown casinos. Anybody use it?
    http://www.therowshuttle.com/

    Is it safe to walk the streets at the downtown casinos. It appears they are very close together. How about walking from Peppermill to Atlantis? It looks to be only a little more than a half mile. Do folks walk it?

    It appears Reno is a pretty unsafe place. Is this true? Is it safe in daytime hours?

  2. #2


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    5 years ago I played low stake in Reno, boomtown had good rule but far from other good stores. Black chip action seems not achieveable for me, don't know if it's a good place for high stake play.

    ???? PACM00 ?? Tapatalk??

  3. #3


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    You'll find the sweat in Reno to be profuse compared to Wendover.

    Walking around downtown on Virginia Street is reasonably safe until about 10 pm on weekdays, midnight on weekends. I recommend not venturing off of Virginia Street after dark. The only reason to do so would be to go to the Sands -- do not walk to or from the Sands after dark. There is not much reason to go to the Sands anyway. I suppose walking between Atlantis and Peppermill is doable, but since you need a car anyway, it's silly.

    This may be helpful to you: Counting Cards in Reno (Updated April 2017) Also see Harold Harvey's post in the linked thread.

    Email or PM me re when you'll be there. If I'll be there at the same time, lunch at a non-casino location is on me.
    Last edited by LVBear584; 10-21-2018 at 03:56 PM.
    Opinions and Commentary on the Gaming Industry: The Bear Growls

  4. #4


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    Bear, I'll be out that way next month.

    Midwest, Bear guided me with his Reno posting from a few years back (updated since then). His description of the games and casino's are spot on. I like Reno, but the games and parts of the city have deteriorated over the last 4-5 years. Smaller spreads will give you longevity. Have fun....

  5. #5


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    Quote Originally Posted by albee View Post
    Bear, I'll be out that way next month.
    Sorry I'll miss you. I won't be in Reno in November, as far as my schedule now indicates.
    Opinions and Commentary on the Gaming Industry: The Bear Growls

  6. #6


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    Quote Originally Posted by LVBear584 View Post
    You'll find the sweat in Reno to be profuse compared to Wendover.

    Walking around downtown on Virginia Street is reasonably safe until about 10 pm on weekdays, midnight on weekends. I recommend not venturing off of Virginia Street after dark. The only reason to do so would be to go to the Sands -- do not walk to or from the Sands after dark. There is not much reason to go to the Sands anyway. I suppose walking between Atlantis and Peppermill is doable, but since you need a car anyway, it's silly.

    This may be helpful to you: Counting Cards in Reno (Updated April 2017) Also see Harold Harvey's post in the linked thread.

    Email or PM me re when you'll be there. If I'll be there at the same time, lunch at a non-casino location is on me.
    If I make a trip to Reno it won't be until spring. I often plan trips out on paper, but often never make them.

    I was trying to remember where we ate lunch on my first trip to Wendover over 12 years ago. I checked my trip report on my first Wendover trip, and I think it was probably the restaurant in Montego Bay, but my report doesn't mention where. I do remember your wife being afraid we were going to get booted. It looks like I didn't mind walking from Peppermill to Montego even though I had a rental car.

    Anyway, I decided to repost my first trip report to Wendover for those who didn't see it at BJ21. Warning its long.

    Wendover Day 1: I Thought This Place Was a Candy Store, Didn't Know You Could Lose.

    The alarm goes off at 4:15 am. It's the start of another workweek, but this week is going to be different from my usual workweek because I'm going to pretend I'm a blackjack pro for a week.

    I have counted my money and I'm loaded with $6,660 dollars. I really had a few more dollars than that as I skipped counting some of the smaller bills. However I now wish I counted every dollar so I knew exactly how much this trip would cost.

    I'm at the airport by 6:00 am and arrive in Salt Lake City at 11:00 am (1:00 pm eastern time). I car rent with Alamo which is located right at the airport within easy walk from baggage claim. I discover I don't know how to operate the cruise control so check the glove box for manual and find owners' manual. I waste more time reading about the cruise. Then find out I can't set the mirror adjustment to see out the side mirrors. I didn't know this car had flip back side mirrors. I finally call the attendant for help. I think she was rude, but she flipped them back for me. More on the horrors of not knowing how to operate the car controls later in the trip.

    I arrive in Wendover around 4:00 pm eastern time. I never did change my watch to mountain time. It was an easy drive from SLC, and easy to get on I-80 from the SLC airport.

    I had no trouble finding the Peppermill Casino. I check into the hotel, but find my room is not ready yet. It's just a little after 2:00 pm mountain time. They say to come back in an hour so I go and get a player's card and hit the blackjack tables.
    My plan was to play $25 min tables, but I see a $10 min table with only one player. I decide I have to feel out this game first, and feel out the pit before I play green.

    I play my first blackjack session of 40 minutes at the $10 table and win $300. I say to myself JimmyB was right. This place is a candy store. I decide to start my green action right after I check into the hotel.

    I check into my room at the Peppermill. I was put on the third floor, but on the west end close to the casino. I got a bunch of coupons with the check in, and one was good for a half price buffet so I got my first meal of the day.

    After eating, I then walked to the Rainbow, which is about a quarter mile away and started my green action. Then walked to Montego Bay which is about .4 miles from Peppermill and then the Nugget located across the street from Montego Bay, then walked back to the Peppermill as it was getting dark. I finished the night off back at the Peppermill. In every one of these sessions I lost and found myself down $1,055 at end of day one.

    Results Day One:
    Session 1 +$300.00 40 minutes
    Session 2 (85.00) 55 minutes
    Session 3 (285.00) 90 minutes
    Session 4 (185.00) 50 minutes
    Session 5 (800.00) 90 minutes

    Man, I thought this place was supposed to be a candy store. I'm convinced I'm doing something wrong. I hardly ever lose 4 sessions in a row. I didn't know it at the time, but this would be the low point of the trip.
    ....to be continued.
    Day 2 begins around 9:30am Eastern Time which is 7:30am Wendover time. I'm concerned about the large loss I have so far, and decide I will play $10 min tables instead of the $25 min tables. Yes, call me chicken.

    I head down to the Peppermill from my room and find the place dead. Only a few people playing and they are all on $5 or $3 tables. There is one lone $25 table open and no $10 tables open. The casino is still on night shift, and day shift won't begin until 11:00 am Mountain Time.

    I ask the pit boss if he could open a $10 table, but instead he adjusts the sign on the $25 table to read $10 min. I have a table all to myself and no heat at all. I play for 60 minutes and win $130 and so begins the best day of my trip. I will win 7 out of the 9 sessions I play today.

    I knew the LVBear was supposed to be in town and I'm debating if I should call him. I decide to give him a call and we agree I will call him back in a couple of hours.

    Now its time for some more blackjack. I head to the Rainbow. More good luck. The pit boss wants to know where I'm from. I wasn't ready for this question, and I just answered "xxxxx"(the region of the country not my town's name)". He goes to his computer and types something in. He wasn't asking anybody else this so I took this as a form of heat and cut the session short at 30 minutes.

    Back to Peppermill, which was now on day shift. I can't remember if the table was still a $10 table or if it was back up to $25. Anyway, I started to play it again and this day shift pit boss started to really hawk me. I was sitting at first base and he was at an angle to me where I couldn't see him very well. This was the worst hawking of the entire trip. Finally he comes over and asks where I'm from in the tone a policeman might use when he pulls you over. Again I answer "xxxxxx" and he goes and types something in the computer. Then I see him going over to the next pit to use the phone. I leave right away after only playing 20 minutes with $165 win.

    Now on to another casino. As I enter the table area I see this lone guy playing quarters at a $5 table all by himself. Nobody plays quarters this early in the day. I say to myself I wonder if this guy is the Bear. I never meet him before so I had no idea what he looked like. He wasn't making any royal match bets. All the other big players would play the royal match. I didn't want to jump in on his game so sat down at a table next to his. I decided I would ask him how his luck was we he got up to leave. Well, when I asked how his luck was he answered with the same answer I always use. Something like terrible or no good. We then ended up asking each other a few questions and he discovered I was the Midwest Player and he was the Bear. Then we had a good lunch together.
    Results Day 2:
    Session 6 $130.00 60 minutes
    Session 7 $435.00 30 minutes
    Session 8 $165.00 20 minutes
    Session 9 $ 40.00 15 minutes
    Session10 $130.00 30 minutes
    Session11 $(50.00) 15 minutes Red Garter (a dump)
    Session12 $(195.00) 50 minutes
    Session13 $260.00 40 minutes
    Session14 $260.00 50 minutes
    On day 2 I won $1,175.00 and found myself $120 to the good by the end of day with play mostly at $10 tables.

    Day 3 begins around 8:30 am Wendover time. I slept a little longer than planned. This would be another lucky day for me. Today I would win over a thousand dollars winning 7 of my 10 sessions.

    After my good luck yesterday, I decided to play more $25 min tables today. The pit boss at the Peppermill would not lower the table to $10 so I had no choice but to play the $25 min table. The other tables were to crowded.

    One of the things I hated about playing this single deck game was the short sessions. I was told by you guys to keep the sessions short, and I tried to but sometimes I lost track of time.

    When I first started playing the $25 min tables I would buy in for only $500. I felt uncomfortable with this because I didn't feel I had enough chips so I then started buying in for a $1,000. Then after playing for 30 minutes to around an hour, I would end the session. Then I headed to the bathroom went in the handicap stall and counted my chips. Then I would make a hand written entry in my pocket size notebook. I would write minutes played, amounts won or lost, and update the cumulative along with where I played. I did not note time played as my watch was still on Eastern Time and it would have been just one big mess. Anyway it seemed like all I was doing was counting my chips, making notes, and cashing out.

    I soon discovered that any casino would cash the other casinos chips. And better yet, I discovered you didn't have to cash your chips from your last casino. You could use your chips from your last casino as your buy in at your new casino. This was even better, but I didn't discover this until the trip was half over.

    On Day 3, I had my biggest winning session of the trip. It was $605. I think I bought in for maybe $900 and when I went to cash out I was cashing out for $1,500. Then the cashier wanted my player's card. I said why? I always cashed out without showing it before. Then he said if I cash out for $1,000 and over he has to make a note of it and let the pit know how much I won. That was the last time I ever cashed out for more than $1,000 at a time.

    One more thing I discovered on this trip had to do with room comps. A weekday room at the Peppermill was $39.95 and with tax it came to $47. If you got a comp rate it was $33, but you had to use the comps before the next day. Otherwise it would go back to $47 even though you used you comps to pay for it. The cute desk clerk gal had to explain this to me about five times before I understood it. At $33 a night you can't beat this price for a good place to stay. I could all my rooms comped 3 nights at $33 and 1 night at $47 Make sure you use your room comps before the rate goes back up to the rack rate.

    Results Day 3:
    Session 15 (400.00) 40 minutes
    Session 16 $235.00 35 minutes
    Session 17 $ 10.00 50 minutes
    Session 18 $200.00 30 minutes
    Session 19 (430.00) 40 minutes
    Session 20 (570.00) 60 minutes
    Session 21 $605.00 30 minutes
    Session 22 $520.00 60 minutes
    Session 23 $490.00 40 minutes
    Session 24 $450.00 50 minutes
    Won $1,110 on Day 3

    One more thing. I would have to say the pen is better than the .4 listed in CBJN. At least at the Rainbow it was. All the dealers would deal down to a quarter deck. I would have to call the pen at the Rainbow a .3 I asked one dealer how he knew when to shuffle and he said when a quarterdeck is remaining. He then said watch there will be about 13 cards remaining. He the counted out the remaining cards for me and there were 15 left. That's less then .3 pen.

    My last day in Wendover was kind of a wind down day. I was ahead and didn't want to give it all back so decided to play mostly $10 min tables. I think a session or two might of been at $25 min tables. I really didn't keep track if I was playing $10 min or $25 min tables. Over the entire trip I would guess that about 2/3 of my sessions were at $10 min tables and 1/3 at $25 min tables.

    Results Day 4:
    Session 25 (45.00) 25 minutes Rainbow
    Session 26 (40.00) 60 minutes Peppermill
    Session 27 (200.00)45 minutes Montego
    Session 28 $320.00 30 minutes Rainbow
    Session 29 $325.00 40 minutes Peppermill
    Session 30 $150.00 50 minutes Montego
    Session 31 $15.00 5 minutes Peppermill
    Day 4 Won $525.00

    My total trip win before expenses was $1,755.00 My necessary expenses were $527.04 which consisted of $372.60 for air fare and $154.44 for car rental which included a gas prepayment. I used 3/4 tank of gas on the entire trip. My net win was $1,228.00

    My hotel and meals were pretty much covered by comps although I did spend a little of my own money on meals. My total hotel before phone calls came to $146 which was all comped. I had about $15 in phone calls that they can't comp so I had to pay for them but I consider that a personal expense. I would only eat twice a day and used $74 in comps for meals plus the Bear treated me to one meal. I estimate about $50 of my money was spent on meals and tips but I figure if I was home I would of spend at least that much anyway.

    Here is summary of my win by location.
    Montego- Loss (335.00)
    Nugget - Loss (175.00)
    Peppermill-Win $580.00
    Rainbow - Win $1,735.00
    Red Garter -Loss (50.00)
    Total Win $1,755.00 - before expenses

    I did the best at the Rainbow, and the Rainbow had the best pen of all the places I played.

    I may make one more post on some general observations on Wendover.

    I must admit I enjoyed my trip to Wendover. I don't like big crowded cities and that's one reason why I never went to Vegas. Wendover is small. It's almost too small, but I'm from a small town and that's what I like.

    I think I liked Wendover better than my trip to Tunica. I felt safe in Wendover even when I was walking in the dark from Montegobay back to the Peppermill with over $6,000 on me.

    Two things stand out about the blackjack players in Wendover. First, I was surprised by how many people play the royal match bet. It seemed like almost everyone was playing it. Second, I was surprised by how many people jump in on a deck in progress without anyone ever complaining. If they did this at my local casino they would get bitched at like I did this weekend after I missed the first round of a DD game.

    I'm kind of disappointed I didn't get more hours of bj play in. I was hoping for about 32 hours of bj play, but only got 22 hours in. I think with better time management I could have got more hours in.

    Oh, one more thing. I wanted to mention about my car rental experience. I mentioned in my first post about having to figure out the cruise. Well, around the second day of my trip, I unlocked the car with the key instead of pushing the button on the key ring tab. The horn started beeping and I knew I set off the security, but had no idea how to fix it. I shut the door again locked the car and opened it with the tab and it stopped. Same thing happened when I opened the trunk with the key. Boy, was I embarrassed. Then when I was about to drive back to Salt Lake City about 3:30 am I couldn't figure out how to put on the brights so I got out the owners manual and started reading it the Peppermill parking lot with over $8,000 on me. Good thing I figured out the brights before I left because about 10 miles outside of Wendover I came across this guy walking down the freeway. No cars around and I might of not seen him if didn't have the brights. He was walking on the side of the left lane and I just happened to be driving in that lane at the time. Then when I dropped off the car I told the attendant how glad I was to have an owner's manual. Then he said normally we don't keep them in the glove box, but instead hide them in the truck under the spare tire so nobody will steal them. I'm always going to insist on an owner's manual if I rent a car again.

    One final note, when I got home I counted my money and had more than $100 over what I thought I should of had. Then when I entered my results into my excell spreadsheet I discovered I made a math error in my hand written cumulative notes. So that was I nice surprise.

    I'm ready for another trip to Wendover.

    Last edited by Midwest Player; 10-22-2018 at 06:28 PM.

  7. #7


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    Midwest, if heat asks you, how do you explain your presence in town? I mean, when in Las Vegas, it can be a convention of just sightseeing, if Tunica, visiting family in Memphis, if Biloxi, passing through on way to New Orleans.I

    I don't get to play SD in Las Vegas, I tried $25 minimum at the sweaty spaniard and lost $700. I was off on bet spread and deck estimation and cover issues. Won it back down the road.

  8. #8


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    Well, in Wendover the only reason to come to town is to gamble. I wouldn't say anything about coming to town to gamble. I would probably say something like had an offer for a free charter flight and was too good of a deal to pass up.

    By the way, single deck is a different animal. If you aren't use to it, it can be pretty hard to win at.

  9. #9


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    why do so many places in reno have worse rules on their 6 deck shoes? silver legacy, nugget, etc. when they also got 3-2 games with far less decks used? seems the house must feel like all the 6 decks are games preferred by counters? otherwise why give them worse rules?

    im in reno all this week and next and if u want to hang out ill be in poker room at the peppermill every night. i like blackjack but i sure hate having to play with less than 6 decks because i feel like if i do, the dealers will continually shuffle up and know im counting. a full shoe tends to hide it

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