I was going into withdrawl and getting downright antsy for July to arrive, so I headed up the hill to Reno - stayed downtown at Harrah's for the first time in several years and did a lot of walking around to see what had changed.

My free nights were for the east tower - the last time I stayed there, these rooms were the Hampton Inn @ Harrah's, and I had a fax machine sitting on my desk. This time, I didn't even get a desk<g>. The room was still comfortable, but I got the idea that they hadn't put a lot of money into maintenance or remodeling since my last visit.

Downstairs, I was surprised by the VP paytables. I'm normally a quarter player, partly because that's where I've found the best odds. This is the first time I've ever noticed the dollar paytables to be better than quarters. JOB and DB were 9/6 in both cases, but DDB was 9/6 on dollars and 9/5 on quarters, and BP was 8/5 on dollars and 7/5 on quarters. I did play some dollar BP but mainly quarters on DDB because they had a couple of banks of progressives at that 9/5 table. There were quite a few people playing, and I think the Royals were hit around the $1500 range 5 times during my two day trip. Harrah's finally got rid of their obsolete penny alley, and there was a good selection of penny video slots.

There were more people walking around Virginia St - enough that I felt safe walking across the street to the Fitz at 9 or 10 pm. The last time I stayed downtown, there was hardly any pedestrian traffic after dark. The strange thing was there was hardly any vehicle traffic this time. I had intended to walk over to the Sienna, but there were very few people on that 2-3 block stretch at any time of day so I elected to make it part of my driving tour.

I was hoping to find 10-7 DB at the Siena, but their paytables have gone downhill (ie, worse than Harrah's<g.) so that might have been my last stop there. I continued on to the Peppermill where I tried chasing progressives on DW, but I couldn't even hit a Wild Royal. I did leave a few bucks ahead thanks to a bonus quad on DDB.

Next stop was dinner at the Purple Parrot coffee shop at Atlantis, a consistent favorite. I think I spent more money on keno during dinner than I did on VP at Atlantis because the pay tables have been trashed here also. They used to have a lot of 10-7 DB, but I couldn't find a machine better than 9-6.

The old Reno Hilton is now the Grand Sierra Resort & Casino, and (to be charitable) it may be a work in progress. There was a lot of construction but very few patrons, and I didn't see anything that would cause me to drive out there on a regular basis. I may wander out in a year or two to see the final product, but it looked like they're trying to create more resort than casino. I wish them luck trying to draw the high priced spa crowd in Reno!

I did my walking tour of downtown the second day, and it was easier than anticipated because downtown has "shrunk." The old Flamingo became the Golden Phoenix, but that has closed, and it looks like they are putting in an apartment building there. The Old Reno finally closed; I have fond memories of some really old penny machines there back before pennies became high tech or fashionable. The Horsehoe has closed (again<g>), but the little Nugget was still going strong, and it smelled like their hot dogs are still the best in Reno.

LOL, I don't think the Fitz will ever change. They might put in different machines, but they will find a way to be a throwback to the 60s, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. I think we've all gotten used to the TITO machines by now, but I wasn't surprised to find their VP machines were still coin out. However, I was surprised when I decided to do my ritual Megabucks donation there - stuck $100 in and cashed out $70, in silver tokens with no coin bucket anywhere in the vicinity.

Next stop was the El Dorado-Silver Legacy-Circus group. This is a nice complex, and I've stayed and eaten at all three over the years, but I just can't get excited about them anymore, and I'm sitting here trying to figure out why. Maybe I'd feel differently if I stayed at one of them, but casino-wise there just didn't seem to be enough difference from Harrah's to justify even the short walk down there. The best thing I noticed was some nickel VP machines with the same paytables as quarters at the Silver Legacy. The El Dorado does pull in some good shows, but I can drive in from the Peppermill for those, and I'd probably eat at either the El Dorado or Silver Legacy buffet while I was there because I think they're still the two best dinner buffets in Reno.

I had just about given up the idea of finding any full pay VP in Reno when I made my last stop at the Cal-Neva ... and found multi-play machines with FP DDB, DB and Bonus Deuces. This was really a surprise since they had trashed the paytables a couple of years ago, but those FP machines quickly cleaned me out of my stake so I went back to Harrah's where I at least felt lucky<g>.

My trip was a lot like this report, I just relaxed and rambled. I'm glad I did it; I'll probably stay downtown again in a year or two, but I am looking forward to my next trip to the Peppermill - it looks even better after my downtown tour.

Daisy - Thanks for this TR - sounds like you had some fun and got to relax too.

One question - I'm not at all familiar with Reno. Is there a downtown section with casinos and then another area where there are more casinos?

From what I read, the Peppermill seems like the nicest place of all.

hmmm the bark in 08??

Thanks for the ramble Daisy

Never been to Reno. I'll have to get that on my "To-do" list.

Less than half of the Reno casinos are in a three block downtown section; the rest are scattered around within a 5-mile radius.

If I were strictly a slot player, I'd stay downtown for the variety, but the Peppermill just suits me - a fair selection of video poker, good mix of penny slots & table games, good dining choices and extremely comfortable rooms - and 11 bars<g>. (2 down, 9 more to check out )

Somehow that reminds me of one thing that turned me off out at the Grand Sierra. They used to have decent pay tables at the bar closest to restaurant row and a nice lounge section with VP also. The lounge games have disappeared, and the pay tables at the bar were downright insulting - I think it was 7/5 for DDB.

LOL, DAG, if we do well barking in Las Vegas, they still have Hot August Nights in Reno - now that's something the Senator would enjoy!

You got that right Daisy!

Daisy, How does the Siena look inside, are they keeping up the apperance? It seems like so many of the old places have been let get run down.
You know gambling isn't good whan Harrahs has the best paytables! LOL

Thanks for the report.....I think we may sneak off to AC for a midweek fix, before our Vegas trip. Us, Like you, are needing a gambling fix!

Thanks for your report.

I too am a big Peppermill fan. I only stay there.

How is the expansion coming along there.

The Siena has lost that brand-new look, but it still looks clean - and SMALL. There didn't appear to be much foot traffic heading over there from Harrah's, but the parking lot was fairly full so I guess they've got a regular locals crowd.

The Peppermill expansion is still a work in progress. They have finished the parking garage, and you no longer have that long walk down the hallway from the hotel to the casino - they moved the outer wall out about 100 feet and moved the sports book there -and put in yet another bar, along with an assortment of slots. I didn't notice any additional table games.

LOL, I think I'll make one Reno trip a bar-hopping trip ... and I won't have to leave the Peppermill, just dedicate the trip to finding out where all those 11 bars are<g>.

SO how did they make it so you dont have that long walk from the hotel lobby to the casino? My mind is bogled on how they pulled that off. Do tell!

Good luck with your bar search. They seem to be spread all over, tucked away.

I guess I didn't explain it that well - imagine that you just walked out of the hotel elevator, ignored the bar on your left, grabbed a cup of coffee at Cafe Expresso and are standing there at the beginning of the old hallway facing the casino.

The inner wall on your left is unchanged, but the old row of slots on your right is gone, and that is the casino expansion area. There are slots there, a new round bar about half way down to the old casino floor, and the new sports book runs along most of the new outer wall.

It gives me a lot more to look at while I keep right on walking down to the old section and MY machines.

I see. SO the hallway that runs to the casino is where the new expanded slot ares is. It used to be a row of slots along a wall, and now its the expansion. Is it a pretty large expanded slot section. That old wall used to face out to the valet area. So it goes out into that area??

The expansion did indeed move out into the old valet area, and there are a lot of new slots surrounding the sports book and bar.

Great Thanks! I am so excited to get there and see it all for myself!