Any advice for a Reno Virgin?

Oops

 

The National Automobile Museum
Nevada Museum of Art
Do get up the hill, Tahoe is sublime (you'll need a rental for this)

 

We moved to the Reno area one year ago today. When we play downtown (which is probably once or twice a month) it is at Silver Legacy. 9/6 DDB on the paytables......you won't find that in Vegas. Silver Legacy has two restaurants that we frequent......Sterling Steakhouse and Hussongs.

We are Peppermill fans and GSR fans......not so much at Atlantis. At Peppermill, Biscotti's is a great place for any meal......I have never been disappointed. It's a high end café with a daily fish special and wonderful pizza. If you like pasta, they have some great dishes and always a wonderful soup of the day. We also love Romanza (Italian), Chi (Chinese) and the Bimini Steakhouse. GSR's dining options are also really good--had dinner at the Cantina (Mexican) last night, but their Italian and steakhouse options are very good. At Atlantis, I think Bistro Napa is an excellent dining choice.

All of these restaurants will cost you about 1/2 of a good Vegas restaurant.

Your money will last longer in Reno.....Strictly Slots magazine posts the payback here as being 2-3 percentage points higher than Vegas. But, it's not Vegas as you're going to see an older crowd and a lot more homeless people. But, your comps will be better.

On Tuesdays, GSR has a daily slot tournament, if that interests you. I don't play many table games, so can't really help you here, but if you want to know about slots or video poker, ask away.

You should definitely go to Tahoe.....one of the most beautiful places around. Everything is marked up about 15-25% vs Reno though, so be prepared.

 

Thanks for the information Ken. I ended up getting a car for the first 3 days of my stay (my play days before the work conference) for right at $100, and got it primarily so I can head up and see Lake Tahoe. Maybe even stop into Harrahs and check it out.

 

I would love to know where you moved from Luvstp? I live in Alaska right now and work a rotating schedule which will allow me to live anywhere. I bought a house in Arizona last year thinking that I would retire someplace warm but have since been thinking that Nevada is the place to be if for no other reason than I won't be having to give any of my hard earned money to the state in income tax. Thanks for all the info on places to eat. I think I have talked myself into cancelling my comped room at Harrahs and just sticking it out at Peppermill. A nice quality room and although I will visit downtown during the day, a good place to concentrate my play for comps. Caesars Entertainment (Harrahs) has gotten enough of my coin in while in Vegas twice this year. I am not much a slot player, but the friend coming with me is. She loves the Sex in the City slots, but any machine recommendations you may have would be appreciated. I play a lot of video poker when in Las Vegas at Main Street Station as they have full pay JoB machines. It looks to me like the Peppermill also has full pay 9/6 99.54% payback JoB bartops at Qube bar. I usually hit the bartops in the evening when I need to catch up on a couple of drinks ) I am not too worried about comps for the last 4 days of my stay since the company is paying for everything, but it would be nice to get some comps for the first 3 days. I got the hotel room through Hotels.com just because they were $100 less than the Peppermill's web site. I even called and asked about the difference and they would not match the price. So I know I won't get any room reservation money comped but I will definitely be charging all my meals and pool side drinks to the room while I am there.

 

We moved here from the Houston area. We wanted 4 seasons, no state income tax and good gambling options. Nevada was our best bet and Las Vegas was too much summer again. We live in Washoe Valley, so are halfway between Reno and Carson City adjacent to the Toyiabe National Forest. We can be at Tahoe in 30-40 mins.

No sex and the city at Peppermill....... You will need to go to GSR for that. Peppermill doesn't carry any of the branded slots......maybe to keep their paybacks higher or expenses lower? So, no Wheel of Fortune or Megabucks, etc.

I do like how you can walk around downtown between Eldorado, Silver Legacy and Circus Circus (which still has some coin dropper slots).....but, it can be a bit sketchy. You can drive from downtown Reno to the Peppermill in less than 15 mins......everything here is pretty close.

All casinos here are very competitive with the VP.....lots of good progressive options. You will not see 7/5 JOB anywhere. I haven't been to Harrahs in Reno though.

 

I have dealt with and work in the Arctic so I am kind of looking for a place that I will never or at least very rarely see snow again. I got a High School freshman at home so when he gets out of the nest I am packing up and will be gone. Well I would rather have slots that have higher payback than the name brand ones anyway. Speaking of name brand slots, I see that GSR advertises something about their Buffalo Stampede slots being the highest payback in Reno? As I mentioned in my previous posts I will be attending my work class at the GSR so I am sure that I will not be able to go the whole days without slipping some money into a slot machine or two ) Vpfree2 shows some full pay JoB machines on the floor but the payoffs are so bad on the bartops they do not even list them. This is another reason why I am thinking of just moving all 7 days to the Peppermill.

 

I will be at GSR later this week, and will check some paytables for you. You are looking for quarter single line JOB?

We had snow twice this winter........once in January and once in February.....consequently, several of the ski resorts in the area are closing down early. The seasons here seem pretty true to the calendar.....lows in the 40's this week and highs in the low 70's. It is definitely spring. If you are at GSR, be sure and check out the 10 times pay machine in the high limit area. It's a two coin dollar reel machine and if you could hit those three 10 times symbols, you would win $85K.....ahhhh if only.

GSR looks more like a Vegas casino when you walk in.....beautiful chandeliers, wide aisles, bright and cheery. Peppermill is currently updating their casino areas to be more contemporary as well.....far less of the neon these days. Atlantis also has all the themed slots you could want and is within 5 minutes (door to door) of the Peppermill.

 

I am a frequent poster on the Visit Reno Forum, and I've written numerous trip reports which are linked in that forum... I like to eat, so I have numerous dining adventures.

However one that I don't mention in the blog is the Oyster Bar at the Atlantis. it is actually in the skywalk above Virginia St. Excellent cold appetizer tray, and I love their Shrimp and Scallops pan roast.

But if you're slummin' it (and from reading this thread, you're probably not) the Top Deck restaurant at the Cal Neva has a Jalapeno Popper Bacon grilled cheese sandwich... which tastes even better than it sounds!

 

I will be at GSR later this week, and will check some paytables for you. You are looking for quarter single line JOB?

We had snow twice this winter........once in January and once in February.....consequently, several of the ski resorts in the area are closing down early. The seasons here seem pretty true to the calendar.....lows in the 40's this week and highs in the low 70's. It is definitely spring. If you are at GSR, be sure and check out the 10 times pay machine in the high limit area. It's a two coin dollar reel machine and if you could hit those three 10 times symbols, you would win $85K..... ahhhh if only.

GSR looks more like a Vegas casino when you walk in.....beautiful chandeliers, wide aisles, bright and cheery. Peppermill is currently updating their casino areas to be more contemporary as well.....far less of the neon these days. Atlantis also has all the themed slots you could want and is within 5 minutes (door to door) of the Peppermill.



Quarter primarily but I wouldn't hesitate to play $1s either. I will definitely have to check the high limit slot area at the GSR for that 10 times pay machine. Atlantis was definitely going to be a stop for us so its good to hear that they have the new themed slots. Thanks again for all the advice.

 

Thanks for the information. I checked out the Visit Reno Forum and checked out a couple of your recent trip reports. I used to be a bowler myself, at least until I got a new job that I worked 2 weeks away from home every 4 weeks. Although I haven't played in a while I still get invitations to our local 700 club tournaments. Slummin' it or not, I am always up for some good eats. Do you have any recommendations of the better sushi places? I hear there are a lot of all you can eat sushi joints in town.

 

If you're comped at Harrah's Reno you may be able to get a night or two at Harrah's/Harvey's Lake Tahoe. Since you will have a car for a few days, I would consider staying in Tahoe at least one night. The gambling there sucks but the beautiful scenery will make up for it. Take a drive around the lake and stop at some of the turn-outs for some spectacular sights. In Reno, we stay at the Pep and love it. The suites are on par with any of the better rooms in Vegas and the casino is huge.

 

Sorry, don't do sushi too often. When I do, I coat it in wasabi and it all tastes like, well, wasabi...

 

There are several sushi places listed on yelp if you haven't already checked there.