My Quest for Diamond

I used the kids Spring Break (9 and 11 year old girls) as an excuse to go on a Quest for Badges for the CET Quest for Rewards promotion. I had already earned the 9 Las Vegas Badges, plus Caesar’s Windsor Badge and had arranged for trades with other VMBers. By the end of the Quest I will have earned 30 of the 36 badges.


Our end destination was Harrah’s Biloxi and on the way there from Columbus Ohio, I could hit Harrah’s Southern Indiana, Harrah’s Metropolis, Horeshoe Tunica, and Tunica Roadhouse. I would also be able to hit Harrah’s New Orleans that was a little over an hour away from Biloxi. I was able to book one night comped at Tunica Roadhouse, one night free at Beau Rivage from MyVegas, and one night comped at Harrah’s Gulf Coast in Biloxi, plus two paid nights at Harrah’s Gulf Coast for $44 per night, plus resort fees. Before leaving, I had 2,000 Tier Credits, 30 badges would give me 10,500 Bonus Tier Credits, so my goal was to earn 3,000 Tier Credits to make Platinum and the bonus Tier Credits would get me to Diamond.


Let the Quest begin……


We left Columbus Ohio on Saturday 3/18 at 8:00am and headed Southeast. We arrived at Harrah’s Southern Indiana about 3 ½ hours later. I had to earn 25 Tier Credits for myself as well as another VMBer whom I had swapped player's cards with. I strictly played Video Poker and would need to run at least $250 through to earn 25 TCs. I took a beating earning our TCs this first stop and feared I would not have the bankroll to earn all the badges at all the other properties. This property was old and very smokey. Service was poor, video poker tables were poor. I can say that is the one and only time I will visit that CET property. I was very disappointed overall. Thankfully it was just a 20 minute stop.


We left Indiana and headed Southwest to Metropolis Illinois. Another 3 ½ hours and we arrived in Metropolis. I booked a room at the Holiday Inn Express Metropolis for $70 for the night. I was excited to stay in Metropolis because it is the official home of Superman. Our first stop was at the Superman museum. It was cheesy, overpriced, and incredibly disappointing. I’m really glad we did not opt for the official tour. We took a few pictures and left. We headed less than a mile to Harrah’s to earn badges for myself and two other board members. I earned enough Tier Credits with a minimum loss and received badges for all three of us! I would say this property was “fine”, nothing too memorable and another CET property I won’t need to visit again. We checked into the Holiday Inn Express and ordered a pizza from Pizza Hut. It took over an hour for them to “find” our pizza, that ended up being on the rack in a delivery bag. I was too tired and hungry at that point to complain. We ate and I took the kids swimming at the indoor pool. The Holiday Inn Express was old, but the beds were very comfortable and the service was outstanding. If I had to go to Metropolis again, I would stay there.




Woke up early Sunday morning and enjoyed the complimentary breakfast at the hotel that was very good. We got on the road at 7am and headed Southeast towards Tunica Mississippi. We arrived in Memphis about 3 hours later and went to the Peabody Hotel for the Duck Parade, that was a neat experience for the kids. We had lunch at Corky’s BBQ restaurant in Memphis that was very good and then we drove to Graceland to get some pictures. On the way to Graceland I said to my wife “I wonder if Graceland still gets big crowds.”Well, that question was answered with a resounding YES when we arrived. There were hundreds of people around Graceland taking the tour or just photos from the street. We stopped on the street out front for some pictures of our own and then drove about 40 minutes to Tunica.





We arrived at The Tunica Roadhouse and I was immediately impressed with how clean the resort was and how friendly the staff were (this became a recurring theme in Mississippi). We were given a very clean and comfortable 1 King bed room on the first floor. I needed to earn badges for me plus 5 others at both properties. I knew this would be a daunting task, but I was able earn badges for all of us at both properties and also earn 500 tier credits on my card to earn an additional 125 Tier Credit Bonus. I ended up slightly down, but was able to put a lot of play in. I primarily played at a 1 cent 100 play 9/6 Jacks or Better (99.54%) progressive video poker machine at Tunica Roadhouse that I found thanks to vpfree2.com. We had dinner at 8oz Burger at Horeshoe that was literally next door to Roadhouse. I really enjoyed my burger, fries, and shake, and again the service was excellent. I really enjoyed Tunica and the casinos, but I would not bring the kids there again. There was really nothing for them to do there. But, both CET properties were great and the service from all of the employees was outstanding. Both casinos were quite smoky, but I would definitely go to Tunica again.



We got an early start Monday morning and arrived at The Beau Rivage in Biloxi about 6 hours after leaving Tunica. The Beau Rivage is an absolutely beautiful MGM property. I was able to get a free night from MyVegas for 99k Loyalty Points. We spent some time at the gorgeous pool and had dinner at the buffet that I used a 2-for-1 MyVegas reward for (15k LPs). It ended up costing $39 for 2 adult and 2 children’s buffets. My 11 year old was in heaven when she saw the build your own grilled cheese bar. She declared it “the best grilled cheese ever!” I had peel and eat shrimp, seafood gumbo, baked scallops, and shrimp and crawfish fettuccini alfredo. The meal was great! The resort fee was waived with the free room which was a nice bonus. The one negative experience we had was when we were getting out of the elevator my younger daughter almost bumped into an older woman getting on the elevator and declared “what are kids doing here anyway?” Other than that it was a perfect stay. I gambled very little there, but did play some $0.25 DDB VP Tuesday morning for about 20 minutes and hit 3 quads, including 4 Aces, for a nice $300 profit.



We had breakfast Tuesday at Waffle House and headed to Harrah’s to request an early check-in. I was told I could check-in for a $16 fee or wait till 3:30 to check-in. I agreed to pay the fee (it was never charged). We got a 2 queen bed room on the 10th floor, Again, the cleanliness and friendly service were immediately noticeable. I had to earn a total of 3 Badges at Harrah’s Gulf Coast and kicked that out quickly and earned another 500 Tier Credits on my card while my wife and kids spent their time at the pool. We enjoyed a crawfish boil Tuesday night at IP Casino that included $1/pound of crawfish, $1 boiled corn and red skin potatoes, and $1 Blue Moons. Maybe the best deal of the entire trip. It was our first crawfish boil, and even though it is quite a bit of work to get small pieces of crawfish out, we thoroughly enjoyed it. This was my favorite day of the trip and was highlighted by a $2,000 Royal Flush playing $0.50 8/5 (98.48%) Bonus Poker!






Wednesday we drove 1 ½ hours to New Orleans so I could earn 3 Badges at Harrah’s New Orleans which I did very quickly and ended up $1.25. We walked to the French Quarter where my wife and I each had a Hurricane, while we enjoyed grilled gator bites and cajun potatoes. The kids tried the gator, but weren’t very impressed. We then had Beignets at Cafe Du Monde, and bought some pralines at Southern Candymakers. When we got back to Biloxi I was able to earn 1,000 Tier Credits (plus a bonus 1,000 Tier Credits). We had dinner at Harrah’s newest restaurant T.B.T. (The Blind Tiger) Wednesday night. We had the smoked tuna dip that was very good. My wife had seared Ahi Tuna that she really enjoyed, and I had the Cantina wings and fries that were both very good. Service was a little slow and the food was slightly overpriced, but overall we enjoyed our meal.



Thursday we had breakfast again at Waffle House and even though it was nearly 80 degrees, we took the kids to see Beauty and the Beast. Everyone liked the movie. We went back to the room, got our swimsuits on, and headed to the beach. It was extremely windy and the water was too cold to swim in, so we went back to the heated pool at Harrah’s. We had dinner Thursday night at The Half Shell Oyster House. I had a bowl of Seafood Gumbo and the Oyster sampler that was amazing and my wife had Royal Red Shrimp which are a little sweeter than normal shrimp. I gambled a little more Thursday night, but lost playing Video Poker and Blackjack.



Friday morning we left Biloxi at 6:30, stopped in Nashville at 2:00 for lunch and arrived home at 11pm. It was a long travel day, but gave us the chance to sleep in our own beds.


It was a great trip! I made Platinum with CET and with the bonus Tier Credits, I will make Diamond. I never thought I would ever make that level. I would really like to thank board members mosquito, Anton, CenterfieldNine, ducc, and emg06919 for their trades. Without these guys I would not have been able to earn as many Badges as I did. This is such an amazing group. It took a lot of blind trust to earn Tier Credits for people you had never met. Thank you guys!


Thanks for reading!


Matt

 

Great report, Matt!

You certainly didn't find any Kryptonite at that Superman museum because you had a strong showing with those nice quads and the royal!
Congrats!

Thanks for the report--and Happy Birthday!

RICHARD

 

Nice job! Nice clutch hit on the Royal to take the pressure off the bankroll.

 

Seafood is looking good in those pics. Thanks for making me want some

 

Very nice report!

Couldn't agree more about Horseshoe Southern Indiana. I never felt comfortable there with the low ceilings and haze of smoke. The buffet is good though.

Nice to hear they're cleaning up the Roadhouse. It was kinda musty last time I was there, but that's been a couple years.

You picked the best restaurant in Biloxi IMHO, and nailed the best items on their menu. I always get the gumbo, charbroiled oysters, and Royal Reds at the Half Shell. The Oysters Orleans are heavenly and the Royal Reds are as close to lobster as shrimp can get!

Congrats on the Royal Flush!

 

Nice report and congrats on the royal and the Aces! If I would have realized you were there, I would have walked over from the Gold Strike on Sunday evening and said hi. Apparently a lot of forum members were in Tunica for parts of that weekend. I tried that 100-penny progressive the next night, no quads though.

And yeah, the superman thing in Metropolis is nothing exciting, but something worth going to to see once. We still never made it to the Peabody hotel yet...lol Maybe I should visit if it will lead to a 50c royal...hahaha

 

Great report and congrats on the Royal. I have only been to Tunica one time and the wife and myself also really enjoyed the burger place.

Mark

 

I guess I didn't find the Southern Indiana location any smokier than my local tribal casino here? The area that was the smokiest was the penny area on the uppermost (I believe) level. Other than having to leave a trail of breadcrumbs to get back to the hotel, I really enjoy the place!

Also, the hotel at Metropolis is VERY nice. Seriously one of the best beds I have ever slept in. Comp room for us based just on play in other CET locations.

In Tunica we always stay at Horseshoe vs. Roadhouse. Nice rooms there. I would suggest if you cruise through again maybe taking the kids to the river museum that is about a mile away from the CET/mLife casino area. Very interesting museum & seasonal boat ride. Also a small local museum at edge of town and another blues museum up near where the entry road to Harrahs former location is. The Waffle House there is pretty good too - that's our breakfast go-to spot. (We stay at Tunica & drive up to Memphis for the tourist stuff each day.

 

During the last "quest" in 2012, I found S. Indiana to be pretty smoky. Maybe the worst in the CET family that I've visited. I tend to find most of the riverboat casinos that are still actually a riverboat to be that way. It's too cramped for appropriate ventilation.

And ugh that walk. I'm pretty sure we were lazy a couple of times and took the golf cart. Never have done the river and blues museums in Tunica either. But we visited the old kids quest once. Lol

And I glossed this over in the report at first, but I would have also stayed at Horseshoe vs. Roadhouse too unless the kids got a separate room. But we also have never stayed at horseshoe to compare...lol Gf loves the whirlpool tub at Roadhouse.

But by the time we decided to want to go for the weekend (earlier that week), the king rooms Sunday night was actually sold out thanks partly to a Bluesville concert at Horseshoe! Way busier than a typical Sunday. That Sat-Mon may have been the busiest I've seen Tunica since we've been going in 2009.

 

Nice report and congrats on getting your badges.

 

I would have most definitely preferred to stay at the Horseshoe to have 2 Queen beds, but I had Sunday comped at Roadhouse not Horseshoe. The girls loved the jacuzzi bathtub in middle of the room. We made it work for one night.

 

Thanks for putting this together and congrats on the Royal! I almost never play quarters any more after getting my first Royal in Vegas. Hated that the winnings weren't there haha

 

Enjoyed thoroughly.

Been a while since we've been to the Roadhouse but I had fun on a 2 cent, 100 play machine that disappeared. I think I played deuces and hit 4 deuces and then let it run through the racking up of credits. Took a while but was fun.

Thanks for posting.

Don

 

Sounds like a great trip! Glad you had a good experience with your trades.....I did it with several members of this board a few years ago when you got the massive TR credits & all went well....Horseshoe SI is my home casino & can agree with your comments....it is old & tired but don't notice it be any worse on the smoke than most boats. Do really enjoy their diamond lounge....free drinks on Tues & Thurs. Thanks for sharing.

 

Thanks for taking the time to write (and show) an interesting and informative TR. Biloxi is my choice for now and the Beau is the home casino. Glad to hear you found the Half Shell Oyster House as it is a hidden local gem even with a location in the Hard Rock there. Would you do the trip again to acquire those badges?

 

Badges or not, I would definitely do the trip again. Maybe not Southern Indiana and Metropolis, but I really liked Tunica, Biloxi, and New Orleans.

 

Thanks for the TR, I enjoyed reading it. Congrats on the Royal!