One week in November
- Thread starter Terryray
- Start date
Saturday I spent a bunch of my time handicapping...and moving out of my small weekly rental room ($300, pic from website) here:
then into a nicer one next door, in the tower at The El Cortez Casino ($146 for Sat and Sun nights, includes $20 food comp):
driving by Wynn Casino, I stopped by to put in a bet. Turns out they charge for parking now:
Caesars charges $10. But Venetian/Palazzo is still free (and Treasure Island, Circus Circus, SLS, Tropicana...the malls - Forum Shops, Miracle Mile at Planet Hollywood and Crystal shops - have free valet parking!)
there was buncha food booths set up by Fremont Street Experience. I got this Indian food to eat:
and midnight I got this excellent sandwich "The Complicated Order" from The Bronze Caf?, inside The Market across the street from The El Cortez....house made bacon jam, bacon strips, mixed greens, tomato, cucumber, basil aioli, house made lemon vinagarette, turkey and avocado on a ciabattta bun....darn good!!...and smells great - not many sandwiches have a big smell...
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then into a nicer one next door, in the tower at The El Cortez Casino ($146 for Sat and Sun nights, includes $20 food comp):
driving by Wynn Casino, I stopped by to put in a bet. Turns out they charge for parking now:
Caesars charges $10. But Venetian/Palazzo is still free (and Treasure Island, Circus Circus, SLS, Tropicana...the malls - Forum Shops, Miracle Mile at Planet Hollywood and Crystal shops - have free valet parking!)
there was buncha food booths set up by Fremont Street Experience. I got this Indian food to eat:
and midnight I got this excellent sandwich "The Complicated Order" from The Bronze Caf?, inside The Market across the street from The El Cortez....house made bacon jam, bacon strips, mixed greens, tomato, cucumber, basil aioli, house made lemon vinagarette, turkey and avocado on a ciabattta bun....darn good!!...and smells great - not many sandwiches have a big smell...
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Great pics Terryray, looks like a blast. Hoping to get out there myself in January. Keep the write-ups coming...:0074:toast:
Saturday lunch I went back to the food booths set up next to Fremont St. Turns out it's actually this festival:
too much good stuff to choose from
I paid $20 for this big ass bowl of seafood gumbo, cooked from scratch and loaded with grilled shrimp and turkey and pork sausage. The ladies told me beef sausage is better, but many folks object to the beef...it also had chicken and crawdad meat, topped with a healthy handful of crab meat....it was really good, but the broth a bit thin, I prefer my gumbo with a thicker and darker roux...
then was a boring but fun day of handicapping and relaxing in the room.....
The El Cortez Casino is playing up it's historic past to try and gain some style and theme, part of that is this fine 1948 Cadillac on display (from the "Phil Maloof Collection"). It was the first car to feature tailfins, and Elizabeth Taylor was given one on her sixteenth birthday....
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too much good stuff to choose from
I paid $20 for this big ass bowl of seafood gumbo, cooked from scratch and loaded with grilled shrimp and turkey and pork sausage. The ladies told me beef sausage is better, but many folks object to the beef...it also had chicken and crawdad meat, topped with a healthy handful of crab meat....it was really good, but the broth a bit thin, I prefer my gumbo with a thicker and darker roux...
then was a boring but fun day of handicapping and relaxing in the room.....
The El Cortez Casino is playing up it's historic past to try and gain some style and theme, part of that is this fine 1948 Cadillac on display (from the "Phil Maloof Collection"). It was the first car to feature tailfins, and Elizabeth Taylor was given one on her sixteenth birthday....
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It took a long time for the promotions booth to issue me these tickets for my $20 food/beverage comp the El Cortez website gave me when booking. Turns out the comp offer is region specific and I still had my laptop VPN set to "Midwest". I use the VPN to hide my ass, all my internet traffic is anonymized tunnelling thru their random ISP. Evidently it was an ISP from Michigan (I wondered why my booking said "Michigan comp") and my ID is Kansas - which is not in the regional promotion.
But the promotions booth, after a phone call and consultation, noticed in their records I used to have a Texas address, which is included in this regional promotion. So they issued these comp coupons as Texas!
I asked for a West Coast USA ISP when I got into Nevada, I checked and it shows my current ISP as 173.244.36.36, City: Phoenix, State: Arizona.
sometimes I have to assign a Swiss or Thai ISP address when I come across a Youtube video "not currently available for viewing in your country".
I activated my comp last night at the "Siegel's 1941" restaurant. They still have a classic cocktail menu, so I ordered a Sidecar. This used to be a top 10 drink, about 80 years ago...the waitress had no idea what I was talking about, I had to point it out on the menu.
then I ordered the $10.95 Prime Rib special they are running 24 hours a day Nov and Dec....it tastes better than it needs to be!
won my POD last night, posted in the daily POD thread in baseball forum. That takes me to 7-2 for my posting in the POD threads since I entered the state of Nevada!...a couple of my other postings this week too, in case you missed them....
I drive up to Reno today, promised the Oregon family I'd be there for Thanksgiving...
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But the promotions booth, after a phone call and consultation, noticed in their records I used to have a Texas address, which is included in this regional promotion. So they issued these comp coupons as Texas!
I asked for a West Coast USA ISP when I got into Nevada, I checked and it shows my current ISP as 173.244.36.36, City: Phoenix, State: Arizona.
sometimes I have to assign a Swiss or Thai ISP address when I come across a Youtube video "not currently available for viewing in your country".
I activated my comp last night at the "Siegel's 1941" restaurant. They still have a classic cocktail menu, so I ordered a Sidecar. This used to be a top 10 drink, about 80 years ago...the waitress had no idea what I was talking about, I had to point it out on the menu.
then I ordered the $10.95 Prime Rib special they are running 24 hours a day Nov and Dec....it tastes better than it needs to be!
won my POD last night, posted in the daily POD thread in baseball forum. That takes me to 7-2 for my posting in the POD threads since I entered the state of Nevada!...a couple of my other postings this week too, in case you missed them....
I drive up to Reno today, promised the Oregon family I'd be there for Thanksgiving...
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The last stop in Las Vegas, I had a passerby take a pic of me with my car....this trip was the first time in 27 years I was able to smooth-cruise about Las Vegas in a full size American sedan featuring a V8 with nice torqey power off the line....real nice!....I had a few tickets to cash inside the Superbook here
driving this Mercury Marquis is like piloting your leather couch down the road. Perfect for the highway, it's geared for that use - rolling 70 mph it's only going 1800 RPM!...I got up real early, had visions of arriving in Reno before dark, but no. Left real late, was immediately tired, took a nap at my usual nap spot, in the parking lot of Stagecoach in Beatty, NV.
Stagecoach had this interesting display
these $1000 bills were last printed in 1934, and taken out of circulation (to fight the war on drugs) in 1971. The collector value of a $1000 bill, in a bit worse circulated condition than this, is about $1600.
I had two road construction waits of about 20 minutes each
got room at Travelodge in Hawthorne, NV, which is the hotel rooms for the El Captian.
This small but nice casino has a William Hill sports betting kiosk. Works like an ATM, has a touch screen. Has a menu like an offshore book. You can cash your winning ticket at any William Hill location, they are all over Nevada. But don't win big! They cut you off or down real fast...
dinner was at Maggies, excellent as usual. This patty melt ($9.99) had mushrooms and swiss, big beefy flavor from the hand made patty. And hand battered onion rings excellent!
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driving this Mercury Marquis is like piloting your leather couch down the road. Perfect for the highway, it's geared for that use - rolling 70 mph it's only going 1800 RPM!...I got up real early, had visions of arriving in Reno before dark, but no. Left real late, was immediately tired, took a nap at my usual nap spot, in the parking lot of Stagecoach in Beatty, NV.
Stagecoach had this interesting display
these $1000 bills were last printed in 1934, and taken out of circulation (to fight the war on drugs) in 1971. The collector value of a $1000 bill, in a bit worse circulated condition than this, is about $1600.
I had two road construction waits of about 20 minutes each
got room at Travelodge in Hawthorne, NV, which is the hotel rooms for the El Captian.
This small but nice casino has a William Hill sports betting kiosk. Works like an ATM, has a touch screen. Has a menu like an offshore book. You can cash your winning ticket at any William Hill location, they are all over Nevada. But don't win big! They cut you off or down real fast...
dinner was at Maggies, excellent as usual. This patty melt ($9.99) had mushrooms and swiss, big beefy flavor from the hand made patty. And hand battered onion rings excellent!
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The last stop in Las Vegas, I had a passerby take a pic of me with my car....this trip was the first time in 27 years I was able to smooth-cruise about Las Vegas in a full size American sedan featuring a V8 with nice torqey power off the line....real nice!....I had a few tickets to cash inside the Superbook here
driving this Mercury Marquis is like piloting your leather couch down the road. Perfect for the highway, it's geared for that use - rolling 70 mph it's only going 1800 RPM!...I got up real early, had visions of arriving in Reno before dark, but no. Left real late, was immediately tired, took a nap at my usual nap spot, in the parking lot of Stagecoach in Beatty, NV.
Stagecoach had this interesting display
these $1000 bills were last printed in 1934, and taken out of circulation (to fight the war on drugs) in 1971. The collector value of a $1000 bill, in a bit worse circulated condition than this, is about $1600.
I had two road construction waits of about 20 minutes each
got room at Travelodge in Hawthorne, NV, which is the hotel rooms for the El Captian.
This small but nice casino has a William Hill sports betting kiosk. Works like an ATM, has a touch screen. Has a menu like an offshore book. You can cash your winning ticket at any William Hill location, they are all over Nevada. But don't win big! They cut you off or down real fast...
dinner was at Maggies, excellent as usual. This patty melt ($9.99) had mushrooms and swiss, big beefy flavor from the hand made patty. And hand battered onion rings excellent!
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Do you need an acct to use those betting kiosks?
Or can you just walk up, make a play and deposit the cash in machine to pay for ticket (s)?
You can have an account, or no account at all. Can put in cash or a winning ticket as your payment. They have a camera to see if you are underage, besides that you are good to go.
Was wondering how they could shut you off for big wins if you didn?t need an account. How would they know who anyone was?
There are limits on the Self Service Betting Terminals, but yes I suppose if you were banned from every Nevada Sportsbook you could use a disguise and use those Self Service Betting Terminals. Or of course you could give your wagers to your third uncle and have them place the bets via the terminals:lol:
Note 1: Those Self Service Betting Terminals are all over Australia and the UK.
Note 2: The main reason for the cameras are so 12 year olds don't wager at em, I don't think they pay that much attention who is betting at the Self Service Betting Terminals. As long as you don't look like you are 12 years old, I don't think they pay much attention.
I activated my comp last night at the "Siegel's 1941" restaurant. They still have a classic cocktail menu, so I ordered a Sidecar. This used to be a top 10 drink, about 80 years ago...the waitress had no idea what I was talking about, I had to point it out on the menu.
Nice to see Templeton Rye has made its way to Las Vegas...:toast:
Its from a tiny town in Iowa called, naturally, Templeton. During prohibition they continued to distill it and it was rumored to be Al Capone's favorite whiskey. He would send trucks to Templeton from Chicago to get it for his speakeasys-- half for sale and half for his own private stash.
It was started up again about 10 years ago and when it first hit the market in Iowa it was an instant hit. If you came across an outlet that had it, you bought everything they had because you never knew when you were able to get it again.
They've expanded and its currently being distilled in Indiana as a new, much larger distillery is being built in Templeton.
Here's the website if anyone cares...http://www.templetonrye.com/age-gate/
They used to hand label the bottles and mark the batch and bottle number on the back.
Here is my oldest bottle of Templeton Rye. Aged 4 years and bottled in 2011, making it almost 11 years old now.
Not sure what will entice me to crack this bottle, but it?s gonna have to be something spectacular...
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Not sure what will entice me to crack this bottle, but it?s gonna have to be something spectacular...
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You can smoke weed just about anywhere out here, you will get a citation IF CAUGHT and believe me they look the other way. Not only that but they sell these pens now (either refillable or disposable) that have concentrated THC in the cartridges. These you can smoke anywhere. I use one often right at the poker machines and have even smoked in my seats at a Golden Knights game. It does not smell like weed and some actually smell flowery.
:weed::weed::weed::weed:
I also checked out The Lucky Dragon Casino and Motel. It was the first Las Vegas new-built casino hotel in 6 years (Cosmopolitan was previous one). Opened a year ago. Lots of gaming tables, not as many slot machines, does cater to the Asian crowd.
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Ooops, I thought this was Chinese restaurant!! It is a Casino??? I go to the Golden Steer Steakhouse right next door and when passing that I thought it was a massive Chinese restaurant....I gotta lay off the :weed::weed::weed:
Friday...
?North Vegas is where you go when you've f*cked up once too often on the Strip, and when you're not even welcome in the cut-rate downtown places around Casino Center.? - Hunter S Thompson
a trip out to Jerry's Nugget in North Las Vegas, check out the independent sports book lines there, one of the very few independents left...and they offer the best parlay payouts in the area.
First thing you notice driving up Las Vegas Blvd from Fremont St and Glitter Gulch is the homeless corridor along the road - tarps, blankets, old tents, grocery carts form makeshift shelters for 100 or so folks lining the fence on the sidewalk alongside Las Vegas Blvd beside Catholic Charities and HELP Las Vegas. The city of North Las Vegas is so strapped for cash they almost declared bankruptcy a few years back, and can't afford to chase off the homeless on a regular basis..
I first visited Silver Nugget tho, as new card members get anywhere from $3 to $100 free slot play. I got $5 when I put in my $20 bill. I played out the free play and made about $3 off it!...The Silver Nuggets has a small William Hill sportsbook...then I was off to the nicer Jerry's Nugget down the road.
The building you see up the street with the red roof is the famous Palomino Club - it is the only strip club in the valley with both a full alcohol bar & totally nude strippers. All other stripper clubs in Las Vegas area are limited to topless if they serve alcohol, but the old Palomino Club got their practice grandfathered in when the updated regulations came out.
the cafe at Jerry's Nugget is famous for their pies and big old fashioned desserts.
for late night snack, I went to Cheffini's Hot Dogs in Container Park, got the Panchero Dog (grilled frank, dry chorizo bits, carmelized onions, red bell pepper aioli and chimichurri sauce) $6.99 seems a lot for a hotdog, but it was so darn good! Next time I'm gonna order extra chimichurri.
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LMFAO, I work for the City of North Las Vegas (I'm actually working OT right now) in their Water Reclamation Facility (we call these shit plants back East where I'm from)!! You are right, North Vegas is not for the faint of heart!! But you found a hidden Gem at Jerry's Nugget. I believe their cafe is run by an old time Greek (like me) and dishes out some pretty great food. I have gotten pizza from there before and lost 20 bucks while I was waiting for it.
Awesome stuff TR!!
The last stop in the state was Reno.
it was strange walking down Virginia street, along all the casinos, and noticing the trees planted in the sidewalk had leafs turning color and falling to the ground! Reno is a true 4 season location, unlike Las Vegas, and has a river too.
I stopped in the Cal Neva, which used to be The Place for sports bettors, with it's strong independent lines - sometimes quite different as it catered to a northern California crowd. But no more, it just has a William Hill now.
The Silver Legacy I stayed at, which is part of Eldorado Resorts, is connected to Eldorado and Circus Circus Casinos. They all have a William Hill..But at least Cal Neva had the scratch sheets out with overnight lines, not so at these other William Hills that night..
I had a good corned beef on rye at the outpost of LA's Canter's Deli they have on casino floor in Silver Legacy. Nearly as good as you get on Fairfax Ave!
and a visit for the holiday in Oregon - here is my 92 year old dad cutting up the turkey he baked and telling stories (he was a cook in the merchant marines in WWII)
I was gonna stay at a buddy's place in Portland for a week or so (then some with family), but he has a real bad cold/sinusitis now...So I am back in Reno. Fortunately, the snow forecast for the mountains didn't appear. So was nice drive:
Room at the Silver Legacy now $31 a night (plus the resort fee)...one of the few slow times of the year for casinos in Nevada...and Reno's gaming industry been in bad shape since those Indian casinos in N.Calif opened and siphoned off 65% of the gaming traffic from Sacramento and SF which all used to flow to Reno. Then the recession hit hard....view from my room on 23rd floor.
that big sphere you see in picture is a feature of The Silver Legacy casino floor. Underneath it is housed this 120 foot automated mining rig
You can get $18-$22 rooms all over Las Vegas midweek this time of the year at cheaper resorts, such as Excalibur or Circus Circus, with that resort fee being more than the room! (except during Rodeo Finals, Dec 7-16, big crowd in Las Vegas for that)....dinner was a big bowl of this fine seafood Phở ($10.95) in a celebrated Asian restaurant by street entrance at Eldorado Casino
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it was strange walking down Virginia street, along all the casinos, and noticing the trees planted in the sidewalk had leafs turning color and falling to the ground! Reno is a true 4 season location, unlike Las Vegas, and has a river too.
I stopped in the Cal Neva, which used to be The Place for sports bettors, with it's strong independent lines - sometimes quite different as it catered to a northern California crowd. But no more, it just has a William Hill now.
The Silver Legacy I stayed at, which is part of Eldorado Resorts, is connected to Eldorado and Circus Circus Casinos. They all have a William Hill..But at least Cal Neva had the scratch sheets out with overnight lines, not so at these other William Hills that night..
I had a good corned beef on rye at the outpost of LA's Canter's Deli they have on casino floor in Silver Legacy. Nearly as good as you get on Fairfax Ave!
and a visit for the holiday in Oregon - here is my 92 year old dad cutting up the turkey he baked and telling stories (he was a cook in the merchant marines in WWII)
I was gonna stay at a buddy's place in Portland for a week or so (then some with family), but he has a real bad cold/sinusitis now...So I am back in Reno. Fortunately, the snow forecast for the mountains didn't appear. So was nice drive:
Room at the Silver Legacy now $31 a night (plus the resort fee)...one of the few slow times of the year for casinos in Nevada...and Reno's gaming industry been in bad shape since those Indian casinos in N.Calif opened and siphoned off 65% of the gaming traffic from Sacramento and SF which all used to flow to Reno. Then the recession hit hard....view from my room on 23rd floor.
that big sphere you see in picture is a feature of The Silver Legacy casino floor. Underneath it is housed this 120 foot automated mining rig
You can get $18-$22 rooms all over Las Vegas midweek this time of the year at cheaper resorts, such as Excalibur or Circus Circus, with that resort fee being more than the room! (except during Rodeo Finals, Dec 7-16, big crowd in Las Vegas for that)....dinner was a big bowl of this fine seafood Phở ($10.95) in a celebrated Asian restaurant by street entrance at Eldorado Casino
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