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Oaks, oaks, and more oak!

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by PokerrNutt, Nov 14, 2008.

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  1. PokerrNutt

    PokerrNutt High-Roller

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    My Trip Report

    Well, I'm back after another fun trip to Vegas - actually, Laughlin and Vegas. I spent the first night in Henderson, the next four in Laughlin, and the final two nights in Vegas...

    I'm going to copy some others and categorize this trip...

    Air and car -

    I flew out on Airtran on Tuesday (11/4) - great flight. Comfortable, but long, flight from WPB. I arrived around midnight and went directly to the rental car site. On the good advice of one of the board members (sorry, I forgot who), I paid for my rental online and went directly to the garage to pick up my economy car. Oh, oh - no more economy cars - the lady tells me to pick up the Chevrolet - nice, shiny red PT cruiser looking car - brand new, with only 1100 miles clocked on it! First win!

    Hotels -

    First night - Railroad Pass in Henderson. Oh my gosh! It took me forever to find this little gem in the rough! LOL! I only stopped at about three gas stations and one bar to finally get the right directions! The room was nice and clean - the casino was small and a little smoky, but generally alright. When I woke up in the morning - I not only saw mountains in a distance, but mountains right outside my window.

    Second to fifth nights - Colorado Belle in Laughlin. Nice hotel among a strip of about 10 casinos. The room was nice, clean, comfortable. Nothing incredibly special, but very livable.

    Sixth and seventh night - Binion's. Oh my gosh - it was too funny! I thought I was not getting a DEAL, but a STEAL on the internet! I mean - I've stayed at Binion's many times, and I was used to a simple, but clean room with two queen size beds. Ok, so this time, I find a Binion's room on Hotels.com for $13.50 per night - that's a whopping $6.75 a night charge when you split it! Well, the clerk taps some of her keys and hands us the room keys in the little envelope which says "325." Hmmmmm - I know the new tower doesn't have those low numbers in it....She says, "No, this is The Mint tower." Ok...so, off we go....We go up the back elevator and we're both feeling like we're in a Norman Bates movie. We slowly walk down the narrow, dimly lit hallway when we reach Room 325. We slide the key in, open the narrow door and Voila! one small queen size bed. Now, my friend Pat and I are good friends - but, not THAT good!! LOL!! We call down to the desk and tell them of our plight - and they tell us that they're booked solid - no other rooms! So, we order up a rollaway bed.
    I must admit, the room was not smoky, very clean, but small, cramped, and antiquated! Besides the bed, there was an oak dresser, night stand, and armoire. Oak molding (even the chair rail) throughout the room. The room was cute, but it sure made you wonder about the past sidebets that were made in it!

    Food -

    My friend and I didn't pay over $12 for any meal throughout the entire trip! And did we eat!!! WOW!! In Laughlin, we tried out Harrah's and Aquarius buffets with our 2-for-1 coupons, as well as Colorado Belle (comp dollars). The Harrah's buffet was excellent - so much, that we ended up there twice. The icing on the top of that cake was the chocolate covered strawberries! Mmmmmmmm!

    Downtown, we ate at the Mainstreet Station - always good stuff on that one.

    Our final night, as tradition speaks, we ate at Ellis Island. Besides that great steak dinner - the homemade cheesecake was delicious!

    Gambling -

    Poker -

    Colorado Belle has a great $2/6 limit game with a full kill. This game is fun, but with the variation of bets - it really makes it interesting. Colorado Belle has a lot of promotions too - progressive jackpots on straight flushes, Aces cracked, and oaks. I got to witness two straight flushes - one to the 10 which won the guy $710 and the other to the Jack, which won the guy $2200!!! I got my Aces cracked one day and won $100 rack! A few times, I walked away with a nice profit of $150 plus and only had one losing session.
    I also played a couple of NL tourneys, but didn't fair so well at those...

    Binion's - played $2/4 limit a couple of times in their new room. Unfortunately, my luck was running thin in these sessions. The new room is nice - comfortable seats, interesting pictures, and plenty of TV screens - they did a great job, but left out a few vital parts. First, the room is off to the side (replacing the sportsbook/bar) and sunken. It definitely gives you a feeling of seclusion. This secluded feeling is also a missed opportunity for any railbirds or onlookers that may want to test their skills. If you didn't know there was a poker room in Binion's, you still wouldn't know it when you walked through the casino. It's that hidden. Second, there's no bathroom close by. Any bathroom is a little walk aways from the room. Did they forget that there's real people playing here that really have to go??? Another missing item is an electronic board displaying the games. I was told by one of the managers that the board is en route and will be up in the next week.

    Video Poker -

    I played everywhere - and lost count of the OAKS after about 13 or 14. At one session in Railroad Pass, I got three OAKS in a matter of 30 minutes!! Unreal! Everytime I sat down, I would not wonder if I would get one, but when would I get the next one! A few sessions, I switched from dimes to quaters - and it stopped spitting out the good hands. Stupid me - I only played nickels and dimes (was playing max bet), so, I didn't make a ton of money! But, it was fun!

    One crazy session - Tropicana in Laughlin - I found a long line of VP machines and started playing my DDB VP. My first session here was unbelievably good, so, I returned. The line was empty, except for a lady playing KENO a couple of machines down. Well, the KENO lady was slightly KENO crazy! She was patting and banging on the machine, yelling at it "Come on now, you can do it...that's it, there you go (pat, pat, pat) do it for me now, come on!" In her own little world playing her own little KENO game! LOL!! At one point, she looked over at me (did she notice me staring?) and said, bearing her toothless grin, "This is the only way I win...I gotta do it this way!!" (Pat, pat, pat followed by hit, hit, hit)!!! I'm thinking - you keep talking to the machine lady, but, please, please - don't forget your daily dose of Haldol!

    Slots -

    Why do I play these things? I do alright at VP and poker - why do these goofy machines get me everytime? I had one "big" win at Golden Nugget in Laughlin - won $170! Woohoo! The rest of the time, I fed them twenty after twenty.

    I did notice that my twenty dollars lasted much longer in Laughlin than Vegas. And, I saw more than one winner in Laughlin too. When I was playing poker, one lady came up to show her husband a ticket for $5000. And he said earlier that day, she won $2400!!! And on one of those Mr. Cashman penny machines, no less!

    Side trip -

    This was soooooooo much fun - we went to Oatman, AZ on Saturday. Beautiful scenery on the way there. Our last turn to Oatman landed us on old Route 66 - real neat! A few more miles, and we were in the little ghost town of Oatman. Oatman, known for Clark Gable and Carole Lombard honeymooning there, consists of one long city block of leather and bead shops, with other tattered and worn mobile homes scattered in the foothills.
    While this is considered a ghost town, there are still about 150 residents and 15 burros. Most of the people own their homes, but pay land rent to the man that owns most of the land and mining rights to the town. Most of the burros own the visitors who are feeding them a steady diet of carrots!
    The pack of burros consisted of about 10 females and 5 babies. The one male burro (that leads the packs) stays up in the mountains. The females and their young come down from the mountains everyday to feed off the tourists. These are wild burros - but very tame...except when you have a bag in your hand!
    There's one restaurant and one bar/restaurant. The bar/restaurant - I think called Mission Inn - was interesting. Every wall, ceiling, and door was covered with one dollar bills! COVERED!! Sometimes, two to three dollar bills thick! It was amazing!
    For anyone that wants to take a neat little sidetrip - I highly recommend this one - fun and interesting, along with some fun shopping.

    FINAL TALLY -

    Airfare - Airtran - $220 RT from WPB to LAS.
    Car rental - Alamo - $141 including taxes - split with friend $70.50 each.
    Hotels - Railroad Pass (1 night) - $42.
    Colorado Belle (4 nights) - $142.00 - split with friend $71 each.
    Binion's (2 nights) - $30.50 - split with friend $15.25 each.
    Gambling/Meals (7 days/7 nights) - $450
    Entire trip - $868.75

    Where else can you go for that amount of money for a week????

    P.S. Thanks for the boardmember that mailed me the 2-for-1 coupons, as well as the member who suggested the Railroad Pass! Both worked out well!
     
  2. aggie182

    aggie182 Off Key and Out of Tune

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    great write-up. glad you had a good time.
     
  3. gmoney590

    gmoney590 VIP Whale

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    Very nice. So Binions put you in their Norman Bates Tower...too funny. The Mint Tower needs either a major redo or just implode it and build a new. $868 is great for 7 days Laughlin/Vegas and a side trip.
     
  4. dannta

    dannta Tourist

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    Thanks for the trip report Pokerrnutt, could you explain to me what is: OAKS when you play video poker.
     
  5. PokerrNutt

    PokerrNutt High-Roller

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    gmoney - great name for that tower - the Norman Bates tower - while the room was clean, not real smokey, it gave me the spooks. Once, when I went up there alone, the bathroom light started flickering a bit - I think the ghost of Benny Binion was reminding me to save him some money by turning off the light!!! LOL!!!

    Oak is 4 of a kind - JJJJ or 2222. It's one of the higher ranking hands (because it's more difficult to get) in poker - Video Poker or a live game.
     
  6. mikenhe

    mikenhe VIP Whale

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    I was disappointed - I though the title was going to refer to post oak bluffs and a report with LOADS of poker content.


    still, I got over it real quick! cheers for the report:thumbsup:
     
  7. texas_aggie_girl_93

    texas_aggie_girl_93 VIP Whale

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    I think the Norman Bates Tower would give me the willies! Thanks for the report.


    "Where else can you go for that amount of money for a week????"

    That's what I tell people when they give me a funny look when I say I'm going to Vegas again. :)
     
  8. gotavegasjones

    gotavegasjones VIP Whale

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    Nice write-up. Thanks for posting.

    later, GVJ
     
  9. Dewey089

    Dewey089 VIP Whale

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    Wow! Great trip. I am happy that you had such a good time in Laughlin. I have been seeing $7.77 rooms at Edgewater this December and wishing I could go. Also, it was interesting that even slot play seemed to have an advantage there.

    Good poker details too. The way they fund those promos in Laughlin is they only take a $3 rake and then an extra $2 for the promos. Some of that money is bound to come back to you eventually. Did you like the 3-6 games? Did you find a mix of players or mostly locals? I guess you did not get up to the River Palms for their games.

    And you sure seemed to get the most out of Oatman. Lombard had a sad death and from what I remember the plane crashed not too far from where she honeymooned. It was off course and the normal lights used for navigation were dark because of the war. I've been thinking of renting her old movies from Netflix.

    Seems you had a full, rich, frugal trip. Thanks for sharing. I can't go now until April/May but will hit both Vegas and laughlin at that time and then again in December of 2009.
     
  10. PokerrNutt

    PokerrNutt High-Roller

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    Dewey -

    To answer your questions -

    First, I really enjoyed the $3/6 game with a full kill! There was enough room in the bets to make people fold, but not too much, so every hand had a lot of play in it!

    The players at Colorado Belle varied from the older, well seasoned locals to the fresh tourists - everytime I sat down, there was a pretty even mixture. Besides these two sets of players, was the regular tourist. I met a few very nice people that come to Laughlin on a yearly or bi-annual basis and only play at Colorado Belle. Really nice people. I didn't see too many donkeys - even the tourists seemed to know what they were doing. Only one time did I cut my game short due to a couple of extremely slow, drunk, and aggravating players - usually, I'll stick around for their loose chips - but, as drunk as they were, they were still kind of cheap with their chips.

    I really like the promos too - I got to see two straight flushes win there (unfortunately, they didn't hit me) - one for $700 and the other for $2200. I liked it when I had the cracked Aces too - got me an extra rack of chips! Besides the promos, they also paid you $1.50 an hour in comp dollars to use in the restaurants.


    Unfortunately, I went to River Palms, but never played poker there....next time!

    I was seriously considering going to Reno on my next trip in June 2009, but - after hearing some horror stories about the drug/prostitution scene in Reno, I might try to persuade my friend to go to Laughlin again. I really enjoyed my stay there - very relaxing, lower stakes, better poker games, and nice buffets (can't say enough about Harrah's buffet!).

    So glad you peaked my interest about Laughlin Dewey! Thanks again!
     
  11. Dewey089

    Dewey089 VIP Whale

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    Well, I won't manage to run into you in June as I go in April/May. Good luck. Hope you win a bundle.
     
  12. Blondie76

    Blondie76 Low-Roller

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    Great TR. I enjoyed reading it and feeling all your enthusiasm. Glad you had such a good time. :)
     
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