Friday, August 31, 2018

Rivers again

John Blowers. the author of

https://www.amazon.com/Life-Tilt-Confessions-Poker-Dad/dp/1434376028  was at the table.  

I could not lose. 
Bought in for $100;  Cashed out for $401.  Then lost on the video poker.  I came home ahead $181.
So it was a great night and a fine game.  The same people come back again and again.  Most are passive callers.  
John Blowers was there and I got to banter and tell tales and miss Gregg and catch up.  It was fun.
For the first hour I played practically nothing.  Because the table plays about every hand in search of the high hand,  hand selection is important.  John was harassing me because I was never in a hand.  He raised my big blind and I folded the three dollars.  That made for a good bit of banter.  I had 2/3 offsuit.

Then I started to get cards and they all developed.  I should not have won about three fourths of the hands I was in.  Sometimes I won with fifth best hand.   Besides that, in spite of my rock hard playing, the callers did not go away when I started betting as usually happens.  I did bluff some river pots.  I got that respect.
At one point I got 7/5 offsuit, John's favorite hand. There was some raising preflop which usually is a signal of high cards.  So I capped the preflop raising, just for fun.  The flop gave me a pair of sevens and nothing else developed.   Still, I won!!!!!!!!!a huge pot.
John lost all night. 
He bought back in for two trays $200 and started raising preflop almost every hand.  I was two behind him, so if I played, I reraised.  We built some fine, big pots and I took down most of them.  I think John tries this in no limit.  He overwhelms and wins for a while.  
He did it at Gregg's.   
He lost and lost and lost and then quit being a maniac but he was pretty depressed.
I cashed out my 100 buy in for 401, lost some at video poker, and took home 181.  I'm very happy.
The game was amazing.  A perfect game.  And these folks come almost every Thursday.
I almost got the royal.  Had I got a jack of hearts on the river, that hand would have been worth $800 plus the pot.
I was on the board with highhand of 22244   and almost won the half hour $300

Blowers was fun.  The people are nice.  They are passive callers and easy to put on a hand.

Tuesday, August 28, 2018

RIVERS SCHENEDTADY VP AUGUST 27

While Boyd was sorting out how to fleece us yet again with some new and complicated card system, I was at Rivers having a third discussion  on why I can't just get one account.

This time the manager came up and saw all my mailings and cards and such on the counter.  So, he took over the job.  
I had two accounts that had not been really successfully merged.  Ironically, the one that was locked generated mailings that were better than the one that held my points.

Well, we talked. I was firm but polite.  He was going to send me away with just the paperwork.
"So, I have one card now but only $5 in freeplay rather than $10 on the offer?

" And he shuffled talked trying to eplain why that was."

"Well, I'm losing less than the last time I tried to straighted things up. That time they took my email incorrectly and I had no mailings for a while and missed the promo sales. That cost me $50 when I rented."
And he shuffled that one, saying that was up to the hotel.

Then all of a sudden he stopped the shuffling and took care of me.  I ended up with $30 in freeplay and with $20 in food credit for that day.  I had my points on the card.  I was good to go except I mixed up how the card went in my video poker machine the  younger female clerk, who was very nice to me the entire time, walked me back and showed me my error.
I was a winner before I played.

I am working the Ultimate X VP, playing an 8/5 poker deluxe.  The strategy is very different, but a bot a fellow on the Vegas Message Board gave me a way to make a strategy sheet.  Although I remembered the game as 7/5 Bonus so the sheet is off perhaps in some respects.

I cashed out my freeplay at $9 because I did not keep a good count of it.  That was played on a slot.
I put $109 in the Ultimate X VP and played 5 handed nickels.  It drained very quickly.  I put another $100 in and it started to like me.  I hit four 3's, but without multipliers it did not seem like much of a win.  And, actually, a few hands later I made more points on a full house.  But I ground up to over $200 and decided to eat, being exactly even.

Without the freeplay, I would have been down $9.

I sat myself in from of the large screen television and watched the Chicago White Sox and the Yankees.  It was a game the White Sox were to win, but at this point they were ahead by 2-0.  It was the sort of game I liked.  Plenty of action.  I don't watch baseball much and I'm not a fan of any team, nor do I know much about it.  But if it not repetitive or slow, I like it.  I especially like not hearing the noise of crowds and not being constantly assaulted by commentary.  When the commentary is in subtitles, the game is very quiet, and yet I can look up quickly if I want a bit of information.   There was a throw to first that was too high and a runner scored while the first baseman was in the air.  There a chipped bat that sent a ball delicately down the third base foul line and earned a base hit because the bat chipped.  Hit hard the spin on the ball would have take it foul.
I had garlic parm wings, off diet waffle chips, and a mushroom burger with bluecheese.  I skipped the bun.  It was a lot of food.  I used a dollar and change in points.  So, there was a free meal for a $2 tip.

However, the next time I go, I am going to try the Asian place again.  My one comp ticket was ear marked for the fast food, but some of that Asian looked wonderful and the prices are not bad.  I think I can manage to get a meal with no noodles or other carbs.

DRIVING

I had not been driving much for many months.  This past week I got out an old Garmin and set that up.  The phone is good for up to dates maps and traffic, but it is too small to see, too low in volume to hear and difficult to operate with those small buttons.
I have never been one to remember routes.  Now I can see to drive, but not to drive and look for places along the route to stop.  So, I'm putting in Albany places common to my travels.
I certainly like this old system.
I wanted to use the phone as backup but I never did get it to register the casino, and I never did get anyone speaking to me.  The garmin in much simpler.
I had a few stops in Albany and made all of them.  Then I headed to the Casino, navigating with no highways so as to stay on simple streets.

I had a way that Frank's phone took us, but the garmin took me out Ball Town Road and took me through Schenectady to Nott Street.  I had searched for Johnny ricitello's just off Nott Street.  That was in the restaurant search.  It was perfect.  I just skipped the last turn and went right into the Casino.

There was no 3-6 poker.  Too bad.  I suspect I am going to have more difficulty there because in Springville they had two 3-6 tables going and a waiting list of 6.  It is another hour a way, but could I drive there, I just can't drive in the crowded conditions of Springfield now in these opening days.  Also, for safety, when I go I want to park in the MGM lot, not down the streets where sometimes lurking people wait for a mugging.

I spent some time copying paytables.  That way I can tweet the strategy sheets and perhaps put the other games in my WinPoker.

After supper I was tired, so I did not play again.  Also, I want to start limiting my play and not losing when I could leave a winner.  I know the math is the same, but the experience between trip is happier if not clouded with losses.
I did take the highway home.  I can find 890 easily.  I know the decisions  And the Thruway is easy too.
The darkness makes the driving difficult.  My driving glasses take out the glare.  The low traffic means I don't have difficult lane changes.  I found it easy to get home.

This is the first I have gone by myself since last Fall.  It felt good to out and empowered.  It also felt good to go home after a free meal.






































Saturday, August 18, 2018

FATHER SON TRIP WITH FRANK TO RIVERS

Once a year son Frank from Chicago and I generally meet up for a few days in Vegas or at some casino venue.

With my eye giving me so much difficulty, I thought we would have to skip this year, but Frank and family came for a visit and Frank planned a couple days for just the two of us at the fairly new Rivers Casino.
Health issues have kept me housebound, and to a large extent this was a coming out trip as well as father/son  time.

It was a grand time as always.  Frank did not do well in the gambling, but I walked away with $108 extra dollars, all of them due to a little nickel Royal on the Ultimate X Poker, a game  that has recently caught my attention.

OUR ROOM

Although we are just forty minutes away, we treated ourselves to a room at Rivers.  They have nice rooms, and we were very comfortable.  Other times I have stayed in a more upscale room than the standard queen and I did miss that. I think I always had two sinks.  Just one this time.
The view was of the parking lot rather than of the river.
And it was expensive.
Paperwork mailings were not working and the best they offered was a Personal Rate, $135 with tax included.  No resort fees here.  Over the course of a few months, they had managed to give me three accounts and not seem to be able to eliminate two of them.  They managed to mangle my email.  They managed to note that their records showed my license was expired (it was not) and then not correct it.

I see now as I write up my trip report that my paperwork issues are cleared up at Rivers that I am getting $80 offers again for some nights next week.  They came well before the casino could evaluate my play from this trip.  I hammered that video poker pretty long.  Perhaps I'll get a free night once they see the play.

For this trip I called to check rates after a mailing finally got to me telling me to call for my "personal rate."
That was an annoying experience.
I can't see why they can't just have a site for me to check, like Boyd does.  I waited twenty minutes for the phone to be answered, and then the fellow was a bit snotty, telling me he almost hung up because it took me two rings to get to answer and cancel speaker phone so he could hear me.
I was snotty back.
Then he had to ask me a billion questions.  I understand that they have to know that I am Dewey Hill.  But they don't have to update every f%ucking bit of my information before answering my question on what is the "personal rate", especially since the need to update came because of their incompetence.
On an earlier visit I discovered they had three separate accounts in my name.  I think it worked in my benefit once as a second account generated a second set of newbie free room.
But it annoyed me, and I thought it would interfere with my points.
It took me two visits to clear that up.
Last time I updated my license which they said was expired.  Now the phone guy still saw an expired license.
I told him I just wanted a rate.  I'd take care of the license when I came there next.
Also, he just started booking, asking me booking questions.  I tell him that I am just checking my rates.
He says this is what he always does.
I tell him I want the cheapest queen.
He wants to know who is coming with me.  I tell him I am not booking, and I just want to check my rate from the vague mailing, and he tells me that this is what he always does, ask these questions.

I want to tell him his Momma is coming with me and ask for her phone number because I've misplaced it from our  last intimate  visit together.
I don't.

The come-on in the mailing once defined was offering me a rate that was no different than the one I had already booked.
I said thanks and got off the phone.
I understand why, when I call for information, I am on hold for twenty minutes waiting for an answer.
Someone is looking up blood type and religious affiliation, so they can check the rate.
I also learned that when I fixed the three accounts, they took a wrong email address and only typed in some of the letters.  That is one reason I was not getting emails.
I don't know why I never got an email confirmation for this room  The girl promised but it was never sent or did not come.  I told her the correct addresses.
I hate incompetence and hate it most when it is attached to attitude.  I'm paying to get a break from my frustrations in daily life.  Take care of me well and efficiently, Rivers.  I can get surliness in a $50 motel down the street.
But then I am getting old and cantankerous.
I have a young phone voice.  Perhaps I should work on that.  I know if I get this guy again, for every question I'm going to say, "Let me just check that" and let him hold for at least a minute.  Then I'll give my information slowly, one number and letter at a time and ask for him to read it back to me and interrupt to say I did not quite get that last letter and could we start over again.
I did find out that when I called for the Player's Club to see if I could check my rates, I got the same front desk person who had just booked a room for me at the front desk.  I was at the time trying to get them to tell me what a promotional mailing would have offered had they had the correct email address.
That time it was a sweet and accommodating woman who dealt with me patiently. She still had asked too many questions, but then that time I really was booking.

It was the same when I asked for an extended check out time.  Most places give an extra hour if I ask.  When they do, it makes me want to come back.
I understand that they were going into Friday and wanted to get the rooms cleaned, but I also understand that those rooms would be ready for guests checking in at 3:30 PM and certainly ready for those who would come a bit later, as I suspect weekenders would.
They had not let me check in early on Thursday, although clearly there were plenty of my type of rooms available. On my entire corridor less than half the rooms had been occupied and needed cleaning.
That too is a mistake.  It makes packing a hassle.
Next trip I'll leave luggage in the car until later.  Then my meds won't be with the bellman when I remember I need them. 

I could not get them to even do the paperwork on a room ahead of time and just have me stop for a key.  Really busy casinos often do that, locking up a room a customer wants and making their actual check in lines go more quickly.  Check in on Thursday at the key time, 3:30PM meant there were just two people ahead of me.
I also was dumb and tipped the bellman to deliver our bags.  Had they been in the car, I could easy have saved that $5 and had the drugs I needed with no wait for the bellman.  Sometimes I am not so frugally smart.

Part of it is that I am just coming out of an eye healing regimen where lifting was not allowed.  I forget I am off that restriction.  I'll remember next time.

I sure am glad I bought this little, light suitcase last year.  It all was heavy enough.  I love how the four wheels allow it to be pushed easily, how it fits down train and plane isles, and how I cannot seem to ever pack more than 50 pounds, even when I carefully stuff it. so there won't be those repacking moments at Southwest when I weigh in over a few pounds.

I missed seeing the river views from my room window.  Three times before  they have given  me a free upgrade to a higher floor and a good view with a more plush room as well.
Not this time.
I wonder if that policy changed.
It costs about $22 for the casino to prepare a room.  So if they get a local guy like me taking one just for the treat of it, and the escape and the ease of dropping down to sleep right after gambling, they make a profit that should be enough for them to want my business when they are not overbooked.

It was a quiet night there with few folks in rooms and no one in the lobby.
There were plenty rooms available.
I guess they do market studies, but the decision not to upgrade me along with all the paperwork errors (errors which may have cost me $65) do the thing they should not want to do.  They don't make me feel welcome or encouraged to come.
 If I am going to just replace frustration with them for my normal lifetime frustration I am avoiding when I treat my local self to a room, I'll look for alternatives in places to stay.
And I am looking for them, and I am wondering if I am healed enough to drive the 40 minutes home.

I did like never having to do the elevator.  The free morning coffee was right outside the hallroom door with all the fixings, including the sugar free hazelnut syrup.  Pikes Coffee.  Quite good.   I bring my own ceramic cup when I travel and don't have to struggle with paper cups that collapse and are too hot to handle.

Also there for later is a jar of lemon water.  I get one everytime I pass by. I love lemon water.  There is also a water fountain at that end of the casino.  So buying drinks is not necessary.
In my room, I put a bit of my own Black Velvet in the empty cup and put that in my pocket to walk by the guards.  I have another free water in my hand  for sound in case they hear the whiskey sloshing.
I never had to pay or tip at the machines for a drink. However, I don't drink much anymore.
Turning Stone and many other casinos around the country are making little areas where we can get coffee or water or soda ourselves.
Not Rivers yet.
The room has a refrigerator for seltzer as well.  I brought a few cans and that was fine.  I drink seltzer most of the day at home now.
They offer a microwave, but we declined.  It is free, but must be ordered.  Last time I remembered too late and while they promised me one, I never got it.  This time the bellman offered to get one for me after the $5.  I like it for popcorn before bed, but we were not going to spend much time in the room.
Frank was delighted to find a candy popcorn in the lobby and he chopped the $8 price of a small bag in half with his points.
I missed a free kitchen chopper giveaway because I just did not go back to get it early enough.  I had enough points.  I'll have to pay more attention to Bling.
I did use the $5 freeplay this time.  I forgot on my last visit.
Somehow it grew into $15 dollars.  Perhaps it had something to do with bringing a friend.
Frank was a newbie and declined the $10 freeplay for a chance at $500 and got a result of $5 which also raised itself to $15 on the machine.
Odd.  I won a little.  It has to be used on slots.  I came away with $6 on my freeplay.

At 5-6 they have two free glasses of wine at the little bar there. I drink one and carry the other to the poker room.  At the bar I tip.
The glasses are nice fine long stemmed glasses and I tipped one a bit at the poker table with the wine spilling on my shirt.  After this, I'll put the wine in plastic cups as well.  In every aspect of my life I now have to give  complete attention to every little act.  Generally, these were controlled by the subconscious, but now I have to make myself be conscious and set up new routines to protect me from injury and from making messes.
I think the free wine is a promotion for hotel guests, but no one has ever asked me for a key.  Perhaps they know I'm there at the hotel.
And that was  enough alcohol for me for quite a while.  I'm not drinking like I did years back when I figured in a trip to Vegas I got an average of $40 a day in free alcohol value.
I can't drink on my meds except for a glass or two.  There is a good bit of talk about the new system of linking play with drink offers.  I can see how some might be slowed down.  I don't think that will actually affect me.  I guess it is in Laughlin too.  Even there I can't imagine needing more alcohol than is offered.  In VP we play always full coin.  I am curious as to whether they have restrictions at the poker table.
Live poker free drinks are strange.  For example, in Mohegan Sun I can get good branded alcohol, but they won't bring me Perrier unless I were to get a higher level player's card.

In Vegas my favorite spot to drink has been  the Golden Nugget poker room where they keep the large bottles of Perrier coming.  Good stuff, and it does not affect my judgement, although it does make me search out the bathroom too often.

I was playing one night when an old woman opponent  there said, "You certainly do toss those back, don't you," putting in a jab at what she thought was my excessive drinking, and perhaps my drunkeness.
"Yes I do," I answered, never informing her that I was only drinking carbonated water, hoping it might affect her play against me if she thought I was inebriated.

Frank was happy to find they carried his Woodford Reserve bourbon at Rivers.

I am happy that Canada has not yet put a revenge tariff on Black Velvet, so I brought along my own, the 8 year old stuff I am drinking here now as I write.

One old woman at the poker table was sure I was drunk when I spilled the wine on my shirt.  It did little good to tell her that only one of my eyes is working and I'm adjusting, especially to depth of field.
When I come later with more lemon water, I'm certain she did not believe it was not vodka.
 I actually to some extent encourage all of that misperception because I win more at limit poker if my table image is of a drunk, whether I've earned it or not. So I wonder now why I even contradicted her raised eyebrows and slightly disconcerted comment.  I guess I just got too friendly.

One of the harder things for me to do at poker is lie or misrepresent.  I'm sure players often read my face easily.  And I rarely play many mind games.  I have told some whoppers.   Once I told everyone at Turning Stone that my favorite hand was 6-9.   I will play it once in a while because it is my one son's favorite hand, but generally I toss it.   It works well for me when I have a nice pair of Aces and 6-9 comes on the flop.  I can get people to fold good cards by betting the Aces and pretending to be my "favorite hand."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
LIVE POKER
It takes time to create a 3-6 Limit game at the Rivers.  It is mostly popular when they offer high hands, which they offered from 5PM to 12 midnight. This night it was $300 every half hour, and the player only needed one card to win.
The rule of one card is unusual.  Most high hand promotions require two playing cards in the hand.  Generally, although the room in not crowded, the high hands are high quads or straight flushes.
Next month it won't be required to get $15 in the pot to win.  That is very unusual.  I did not check to see if the promotion rake increased to cover this.

When the promotion stops, the game breaks up.
This day they actually opened (but could not fill up) two tables.   None was a "must move" nor would they change it to that when we asked.  So for a while we played with seven people and  two empty seats as did the other table.  It helps build casino rakes, but I would not have stayed around for too long with just six at the table when they could have kept the table filled.

Poker Bravo is helpful, but they will show a waiting list of two when I check from home, and when I go,  that might either fill up or just stay unopened.  Calling for a reservation has not been very helpful. I got on a local text list that might help me know when a few locals are sure to be going.
This is not a casino visit where I can wake up sleepless at 3 AM and sometimes bump down for a game with sleepless drunks.  Sam's Town used to be like that with their spread limit game.

The game itself is the kind of game I like.  There are generally no maniacs.  There was only one fellow waiting for the 2-5 NL and on a,  " Let's get some action; it's only money" roll.  I left after two of his preflop raises.  He acted two behind me, so I could not know when he might raise.    The rest of the time it was usually a flop game.  I better like those. The high hand awards encourage a flop game.
It is to everyone's advantage to see the flop cheaply in order to know what to do if there is opportunity for a high hand.  With one card playing, every hand is a potential winner.  I still only play the better hands, but there are hands that are worth an opening of $3 but not $6 because the raise generally indicates good cards in the hands of the raiser.  I can tolerate one habitual raiser if he is to my right, but not if he is close to my left.
He moaned when I left because he did not want to see the table go down in players.
I used the excuse of supper and my son.
That was partially true.

However, If he wanted players to stay, he should be a bit less aggressive in the beginning.  We like action in this game, but not one guy raising too often preflop for no other reason other than to up the game above the 3-6 limit we have chosen for bankroll reasons.  Otherwise, we would play no limit.

Most of the folks were regulars, as regular as anyone can be when there is often no game at all.  They were experienced in limit at other casinos as well, including Atlantic City.

One took my phone number, and he'll let me know when some of his pals are coming, so I can be sure of a game. I might go more often.  I have a couple buddies who might go too, so if I decide to play I might make a game happen.
I am delighted to see that they want to manage the room so that this game stays alive. The 2-4 at Turning Stone is always there, but it is impossible, if playing without action,  for folks to overcome the rake over time.
At 3-6 it is quite possible, especially for these players.
Few were rocks.

I lost a little, went to supper with Frank, came back and played about five hours and lost a dollar.  Just fun. No high hands for me, but in the final offering, just before midnight, the old woman, who had commented on my drinking, caught Aces full of 8's and it beat out Aces full of 7's with just 8 seconds to go.
She did not notice it until someone pointed it out.  Lucky for her she turned the cards over.
I liked her.
She was surprised when I warned her to be careful going to the parking lot because someone in the room might be pretty angry that she beat him out of the high hand award with just seconds left.
I knew outside was very deserted.   I hope they have good security cameras.
She said that I had scared her.
I told her I'd once met a guy in Tampa who bragged about being banned from a casino after a fight in their parking lot.  He was mad that a guy check raised him and made it personal when the guy went to his car.
I left the Tampa game after I heard that story.  I can sometimes tolerate maniacs in the euphemistic poker sense, but actual maniacs make me very unsettled.
 I suspect the locals rarely check raise to stay friendly.  But I check raise from early position.  Not often, but when I know I have the goods.

Half the table were women and they did quite a bit of bantering.  It was what I am looking for in poker.  All the talk was not of cards and poker.  Just a few comments. There was plenty of joking.  I could generally put these guys on a hand.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Son Frank played for a while, but he lost.  He played well I thought from what I could see.  He rarely was second best, but he often was one of three players chopping small pots.
He likes video poker and we played a good bit of that, sitting together and sharing hopeful expectations.
It is a great game for that.

They offer a traditional 7-5 Bonus Poker and a 9-5 DDB.  It is not great, but it is better than anything I have found at Turning Stone.
I lost at both.
They also offer this multihand game called Ultimate X.  Five hands on a nickle pay table.  You pay a dime but still use a nickel pay table,  and that generates a multiplier feature so that wins in one hand offer multipliers on the next hand.
It is $2.50 a pull, but it is a great deal of fun.
I pick the Bonus Poker Deluxe option.  There is a way to play ten hands on some machines, but five is plenty for me.
The multipliers tell you which hands to watch as you hit draw for the thrill of that instant fill up.  You never know how things might go.   And it would be possible to get a two hundred dollar royal multiplied 12 times.
That would be a unique royal on a nickel machine.
It would also be very rare.

It is actually possible to get dealt a full house and then a royal.  The full house would create five hands with 12X multipliers.  The dealt royal would then be woth 12 times $200 times 5.  However, I had read the odds are the odds of hitting the lottery.

I poked around on the internet when I got home,  and got a strategy sheet......well, at 32 pages it is a strategy book.   This strategy is very counter intuitive in many ways.
I decided to look up most hands, and I was surprised how it differed from my usual Bonus Poker play.  I have more reading and work to do. I know this is a BP strategy, but I'm not certain if it is Deluxe.
After some reading, I guess the payback is about 97% and lower than the standard VP 7/5.  The volatility is much higher.  Well, I'll have to see how it goes.  It went well this trip.


I'm reading they have ( or at least had) this game in Laughlin and the tables were better there.  I am still hoping to go in October.  So, I'll have to get busy and start learning.
I don't remember strategies well, especially those that are counter intuitive, but if I get a large type printout, I can check each hand  This also slows my play a bit.  I tend to play too fast and make mistakes in regular VP.
This is some information.  Old but interesting
video poker forum
I got a great link from Tringlomane  on the Vegas Message  board.
https://www.vegasmessageboard.com/forums/index.php?threads/any-decent-ultimate-x-tutors-out-there.154153/#post-1687732
This generates the strategy sheets that are more definitive and gives me a way to update my Win Poker to tutor me a bit.  It will work to improve my play.  It already has.  I see I need to keep AJ and to also play for flushes with just 3 cards, similar to DB play.

I suspect this is a game the casino designed to have lower paybacks for the average video poker player and yet offer complicated ways to improve the odds just a bit for experienced players.

At Rivers it is just a way to add action, fun, and volatility.
It has been around a while, but I've not been doing much in VP except playing my 10/7 DB when I can find it and then once a year or so.
I don't get to Vegas much, and expect to get there less now that Laughlin has also gone the resort fee route, unless they just drop prices or offer free basic rates or promos with no fee or comp me rooms without resort fees.
10/7 DB is the game I know best.  It used to be the Orleans signature game.  There were banks of it at the Hard Rock, and it was generally scattered around downtown.  Last trip I played old coin droppers upstairs in the California.  All that is downgraded or gone.
The Orleans downgraded it to 9-6 which shows how much they respect the mathematics of gamblers.  And they were right to be disdainful.  I have seen players playing 9-6 DB when right next to it was a 9/6 DDB with much higher payouts.  I actually was there at the Orleans years ago for much of the downgrade, playing 10/7 one night and seeing them changed the next morning.
I don't get there much now.  When I have gone, I play a local favorite game of triple play nickels with a progressive.  I think on that the DB is 9-7 and the progressives make up the EV most of the time.  I always booked a Wednesday there because seniors could eat for free twice and there were good drawings and sometimes small cash give-a-ways or decent bling.  Then too the music there on Wednesday nights was the Nite Kings, my favorite lounge group.
The Orleans would always send me two free nights and drop resort fees.  Those days are now gone.

At any rate, I think I am hooked on this Ultimate X game.
And while it is not full pay, it is also not a plane ride away.
Frank did well for a while, but he was not into the strategy sheets and he played an 8/5  JOB version using just standard strategy. He lost in the end.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
RESTAURANTS

I'm not impressed with food at the Rivers casino. The last time I had an upscale steak which was overpriced and poor quality.   I did use points for some boneless parm wings and they were good except the blue cheese was not up to my usual Marie's.
I like better this little Italian restaurant in the neighborhood:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g48572-d420280-Reviews-John_Riccitello_Restaurant-Schenectady_New_York.html

It has been serving food in the same way since Lou Riccitello's dad John opened it 55 years ago.
The table cloths are linen.
The ambiance is old neighborhood.
There is a little intimate bar with a television, but talking was easy at a table in another room.
We arrived in the last hour before closing.  They had been starting to pick up the tableware, but stopped when we came.
No Problem.  We were served with friendly attention.
I don't eat pasta so I can  avoid carbs.  Lately at Italian places I've been having two appetizers for delightful small tastes and no struggle with a pasta or whatever comes with entre dishes.  Here I ate clams casino and greens and beans soup.  Both were excellent.
The soup was the best.  I love soup.
My son had a steak.  It was on the small side, but deliciously marinated in some spices.  I had a couple tastes.  His steak beat the Rivers steak by a mile.  Those cows were not in the same bovine class at all.
I do not do dessert to also eliminate sugar and carbs, but I had to try something to celebrate the day of father/son and of getting out my hibernation.

I had cheesecake which was made on premises by the owner's wife.  It was wonderful. A white chocolate.
For wine we had a $13 half bottle of Ruffino Chianti.
This is my third trip to this spot, and I'll go again.

MENU

Afterwards, we talked to the owner Lou who is a man my age ;  his father John who first opened the restaurant.  He was delightful.
He does get some overflow from the casino.  He askes folks how they found him and is amazed they just checked their phones.  He chuckled at such a thing.
I'm amazed that more gamblers don't just come down.  It is  five minutes by car on easy, neighborhood streets.  Parking is easy. We parked right in front.  It could be walked.  We did that once at supper time. After dark I'm more comfortable driving.
I took his cards and passed them out at the poker table.
Earlier I had asked my fellow players, the regulars, for the name of this place when it slipped my mind earlier.
They had no idea what I was talking about.
Some were still there when I got back to play.
It makes me wonder about all this talk of a casino adding business to the neighborhoods. The gamblers come in and go out of the casino.  They skip the town. They don't have an interest in exploring. I suppose for food they use points and eat at the casino in a hurray to get back to the gambling.
I don't get it, really. But we are different sorts of people.
Some of my fellow gamblers took the cards I brought back.  I wonder if they will try it out.
One local woman, who had not been at the table before, was full of distain for Ricitello's.
She had her other favorite spots.
She had only eaten at Ricitello's ONCE!
She was about thirty, so she was much too young to appreciate the ambiance of the place as an authentic piece of history.
She probably missed loud rock music with her spaghetti.
She did not give names of other places or offer cards or review what she had eaten or give us reasons, That would have been helpful.  I just thought she was annoying.
In spite of my feelings that there is not enough overflow of business into the old neighborhood, I think sometimes restaurants do get some from the casino, it just may not be on the days or times that I come. I asked the owner in Rome NY Savoy restaurant (a favorite of mine 8 miles from Turning Stone) and he said that he got overflow, especially when there was a convention.
Perhaps folks who are going to a casino, but whose interest base is not primarily on the gambling, do explore the area.

PETER PAUSE
https://www.bing.com/search?q=peter+pause+restaurant+schenectady&form=EDGEAR&qs=AS&cvid=9a5e9e9cd33d406c84f65576db6a4ff7&cc=US&setlang=en-US&elv=AXK1c4IvZoNqPoPnS%21QRLONjGRrDouy11aHeIQCZu8j7tWW9HZg46jCERFzw8guQg%21XKMjvfEJV75Rk3MFeWrQ8QiSIN9NBe7ztqp1DlDXQ8

This is another old breakfast/ lunch place right across the street from Union college.  We did breakfast there.  I like this place, but it can get crowded and a bit noisy.  Good food.  Low price.   I forgot to get the Dutchman special.  The ten dollar buffet breakfast at the Rivers looked tasty, but was dominated by pastry.  I have to not be tempted to eat that.  At Peter Pause I did have a muffin.  It was really a good one too, thick and buttery and just better than I usually find at diners.
The coffee should be skipped unless you like a weak imitation.  After the free Pikes Peak coffee at Rivers, I did not like the experience.  If I go again, I'll sneak in a travel cup of Pikes.

MEXICAN RADIO
Mexican Radio
I have been to this chain of restaurants twice and not liked them either time.  The first time was almost a two hour drive from home.  I wanted to try this one in Schenectady, but it was sad.
There was no one eating when we arrived.  It is a large, specious place.  The ambiance is very nice.  There is a huge assortment of all sorts of hot sauce.  I wanted to sample some so I ordered chips with my meal which were $2 extra.  They were terrible!
I told the waitress that they were stale.  She thanked me and would pass that on to the chef.  She said they make them fresh everyday.  That seemed impossible to believe.
I had an appetizer portion of one stuffed chili releno which would have been fine had it not sat to cool while Frank's food was being made. It was luke warm. I should have sent it back, but I don't like doing that because sometimes the chef gets revenge on the complaint.
Frank had three tacos with added  rice and beans.  He said it was the worst Mexican food he had ever eaten.  The taco meat was tough and unflavored.  The rice was dry.  The beans were okay, but the whole experience was depressing and most of our food we left to be tossed out.  Not even a box to go.  The waitress must have noticed, but there were no questions from her about how we had faired.  My guess is that she knows the food is poor.
We parked around the corner in a pay lot that offered two free hours parking, and that was the best of the experience.  There are other eateries along that street in Schenectady, so I might use the parking again.

THE RIVER

Although I brought folding chairs, we did not sit out by river.  We just had a bit of coffee there in the early morning and watched it for a while.  It was just outside our corridor door. I don't think it does for son Frank what it does for me.   I love to be near it.  A river is one of the things I find so appealing in Laughlin.  I liked it better there when I could feed catfish, but it is still quite wonderfully comforting.
No long boats these days in the back of Rivers Casino.  Perhaps they don't row in winter.
We did not hike along the little trail.  We did meet Mark from Dallas coming back from finding coffee.  He was happy when I told him about the free stuff in the lobby. He had missed that offering. He was friendly guy. His wife was the gambler. They were meeting friends.  We talked a bit in the way folks do, about nothing.

TELEVISION

Great channels. Not that limited stuff we get in Vegas and other casinos.  They even had TCM.  We watched a bit of Aretha Franklin Memorial stuff, and then I slept 5 hours, my longest single session sleep in a month.
Gambling is a great therapy for sleep. If must tire a part of the brain.  I always sleep well after gambling into the night.
These eye issues and now the meds (especially prednisone) limit me to 3 hour sessions and plenty of stare time.  Nights are long and full of books on tape, old comedy shows, perhaps some television, writing this trip report. However, they are not full of intense pain, ice on the eye, counting the minutes to Tylenol.  So that is a vast improvement.

We could have stayed away until later in the night, but we decided to go back home early, catch a nap, unpack.  Frank had lost enough money.  I had my profit to protect.
I don't seem to have the same casino stamina I once had.  I wonder how I will do in Laughtlin.  I think one thing I might do is buy a folding chair and sit out by the river with a good drink of Black Velvet or seltzer.  I'm going by bus, so I won't have a car for Oatman or such trips.  I will take a steamboat ride if it is still offered in November, or perhaps just take a water cab up and down the river.  I'd like to hike Grapevine Canyon and I can go by Uber, but I don't know if they have phone service in the canyon. Most folks I have communicated with say to be careful and not get stranded.
Maybe my buddy Wild Bill will come to Laughlin for a while.  He'll rent a car.  Maybe I'll rent one in Bullhead for just one day.
However, I am fairly sure now I will get to West and thrilled.  It was touch and go.  I was making plans for a shorter trip, more in December.  I'd rather go in October.  Live poker is especially better then.

Okay.  those are the details.  Below are links to my previous visits to Rivers.  I like having it in the neighborhood, but the new MGM in Springfield will be less than 2 hours away and is opening at the end of this month.  We'll see.

VISIT TWO

VISIT ONE





















































Saturday, May 19, 2018

Turning stone




Old pal Charlie and wife Kathy treated me to a day at Turning Stone.  They had more comps than they could use, so I ate for free, and they even refused gas money.  I'll think of something nice to do for them.

I had a terrible session before the buffet and lost $142,  
The buffet was very good, but the beef was way too tough.  No more flank steak.  Good meatloat.  You can't make tough meatloaf.  Good veggies and fish.  All good for free.

My second session I did better.  Sometimes I had my opponents well confused.  I pissed off three people in the course of my play.
I had a grand time. Basically I lost $142 before the buffet and then went on a bit of tilt and got $32 back while pi$$$in off three players.
My most unforgiveable hand was 6-8 offsuit which I stayed with for no reason.  The river was an 8 and that was enough.  The rest were all chasing.
When the main better whined, I told him what my 88 year old buddy Dale  in Ocala says.  "6-8 always wins........sometimes........yeah ...........sometimes 6-8 off suit always wins."  I repeated it when my opponent whined, as bad beat losers do, to some other regular who he was talking too at his end of the table.  My attitude is if I can't win money at limit poker, at least I can pi$$ off a lot of old, gumpy  guys.
I was laughing because I last wrote Dale's joke as part of a Spanish lesson in Heredia, Costa Rica.
Oh,  I never showed my cards either, unless I had to, and I did not do that "you and me, check it down bit." 
I'm sure they know me now as poker bastard. 

I checked out the Joker Poker and it is a joke.  I won't be playing that.



Monday, January 29, 2018

Blackhawk Colorado

NOTE:  THIS IS AN OLD TRIP REPORT FROM LAST NOVEMBER 2017.  THE BITS AND PIECES AND PICTURES HAVE BEEN SITTING ON MY DESKTOP WAITING FOR ME TO COMPILE THEM INTO A REPORT.  SO I JUST PUT THEM TOGETHER WITHOUT MUCH POLISH.

I spent a week here in November.  Son Frank joined me for a few days.  Son Cory and Katy visited a day from Denver.  Otherwise I was on my own.
I went up on an Uber and then to the airport with a paid ride to my landlady in Central City.

I lost a good bit of money, most of it on video poker.  I just could not seem to have a winning session.  It was disappointing because I liked playing there, especially in Bull Durham Casino where I could play a nickel machine that was not full pay, but close enough.


I paid too much for lodging.  I went to Ameristar and then up to Central City to a bed and breakfast there.  Both were great places.  The Ameristar had wonderful rooms and a grand rooftop pool with Jacuzzis inside and out. They gave me free early check in.  There were no resort fees.   

They also had some full pay machines, but had the worst comp rules I have ever heard.  Basically, one got nothing until they reached a high level of play and were unable to use accumulated points which would then go away before I ever went again.  
Contrast that with the Bull Durham where points could be used for cash immediately, a thousand got five dollars, and any left would bet there as long as the casino was there.  


There was nothing else to do but gamble in Blackhawk.  I even had difficult because I worried some eye meds might run out and there was no place without a car to get a script filled.  Even room snacks were hard to buy. 

But I did well.  There were a good number of free buffets for new signers, there was a good Veteran's free lunch at Ameristar and an every day discount for Veteran's   In the second part of my stay I had a fine healthy breakfast every morning, then went down and had a free hot dog at Bull Durham, free popcorn, even sometimes a free cup of soup.  
I used my points at Lady Luck to eat twice.  I was not impressed with their food.

Here are more details on the trip:


HOW DOES REDROCK COMPARE WITH VEGAS?




I substituted Blackhawk for Vegas for my yearly November trip this year. It was a grand decision for me, but it might not be right for everyone.





Especially disturbing is that recently in the news Blackhawk casinos were called out for prosecuting people who inadvertently played credits left on machines.
http://kdvr.com/2017/11/15/casino-customers-prosecuted-for-playing-abandoned-slot-credits/











This is disturbing on a number of levels. I will say that in the list of casinos doing the prosecuting, I did not see Bull Durham.


Blackhawk is not about the shopping experience that Vegas has become. In fact, without a car it was hard for me to pick up my usual room food, and I was happy I had brought cheese and hard boiled eggs for times when I did not want to eat out. The second place I stayed, in Central City, Nickilee Mansion did not allow food in the room, so I carried a good bit of cheese back home with me.


I expected Blackhawk would be similar to Oatman, with little mining themed tourist places here and there along the path. It was not. For me, that was a relief.


However, the flip side was that it was difficult with no car to find room snacks. While I had a refrigerator at Ameristar, I did not have access to my favorite drink, seltzer. That would have been very refreshing in the middle of the night. I did find a small plastic lime with lime juice, so I added that to the water.





Blackhawk is not about dressing up and having a fancy time. Most people here wore the same sort of practical clothing: warm plaid shirts, layers, jeans or similar pants. I fit in with my nicely lined plaid shirt. Perhaps my warm "newsboy" style hat was different from most of the head gear, but it sure worked for me. And a scarf was needed.








Blackhawk is not about escaping winter. We needed to have coats and hats and a scarf to be comfortable walking. A rain coat was also a good thing to pack, although I did not use mine. Snow is possible. We had a light dusting one day.


I could see how the right timed huge snowstorm might delay an outgoing flight. In Vegas I could always count on getting in and out.


However, now that the direct Southwest flight from Albany to Vegas has been discontinued, there is more chance for a delay along the way, especially if Chicago is the mid airport where delay is a common pattern even when it is not winter.


Now Southwest flies Albany to Denver nonstop. That is cheaper for me and much more comfortable. The trip time is half what it would now take to go to Vegas, and an hour less than even the old direct flight.


My cost was $236 which I got by booking early. That is almost half the cost of going to Vegas.


I used to hate that last hour on the plane, even for the five and a half hour flight to Vegas. Now that the flight is more like 8 hours, I just can't see going to Vegas directly.


However, I could see a week in Blackhawk playing 2-10 spread limit poker and then an inexpensive flight to Vegas and some sort of transportation to Laughlin, where I would spend most of my time.


I suppose a few nights downtown playing at the Golden Nugget would set me up for a Greyhound ride to Laughlin from the downtown station.





Also, for some, Vegas is an escape from winter because it is warm there and warmer still in Laughlin.


For me, cooler is a benefit. I would not have liked it to be below zero F; but I enjoyed the crisp cool air of winter and the snow. I have more difficulty with hot and humid than I do with cold and dry.





Blackhawk is not about entertainment. There are no performing shows. I did find some stage music at the Monarch and perhaps that will increase because the Monarch is adding on and becoming bigger. However, it was only on weekends and did not seem very attractive to me.





Of course, Blackhawk is much smaller. I could walk from Ameristar to plenty of other casinos. In that way it reminded me of the way downtown Vegas was a couple decades ago.


However, there were no cheap rooms in this area and the weekend prices were really high.





The Lady Luck would be a good place for me to stay because I could get some free weekday nights for 6 hours of poker play. After 6 hours the player gets a certificate to use anytime in the next two weeks for weekday nights, but not for the night of play.


So if I paid for a Sunday night, I could get a free Monday for play on Sunday, free Tuesday for play on Monday, Free Wednesday for play on Tuesday. The limit is 3 free nights. At the cost of rooms, this would decrease the cost of the trip.


Then I could use my $2 an hour to help pay for another night.


It is rare to get free rooms based on Poker Play. I had them last year at the Colorado Belle in Laughlin.


I still don't know why because I once had a host at Edgewater and the poker play just did not count for anything with her although the nickle VP did. That was back when they had full pay.


The Old Laughlin River Palms had some great deals on free rooms. I could actually win them at the poker table. However, having spoiled my self with the Ameristar, I wonder if I'd be willing to stay down scale. Perhaps I'd do my first night in town there.





Points for play do me no good at the Ameristar. They can't be exchanged for small amounts, and they don't last over six months.


However, I met a fellow at the Nickilee Mansion where I stayed in Central City who gets free offers at Amerisatar all the time for his quarter play. However, he plays quarter progressives that are 6/5 for double bonus. That has to be a short pay machine even with a healthy progressive.


Perhaps my losses there, and Frank's losses using my card will generate some future offers.


It would be difficult to cover the weekends, but if Cory came and got me on the weekend, even to just deliver me to Arvada for cheaper rooms, I could skip one weekend and have a good, long trip none the less.


Or I might take a Rambling Express for $14 to a hotel in Arvada or Lakewood.


Even using a Lyft from Blackhawk to Arvada might be a reasonable way to beat the high weekend rates here. The Savanah suites was just $70 a night with a washing machine and kitchen

SWIMMING AT AMERISTAR




I walked outside to see the view from the roof, but I did not stay long. It was cold both times.


The pool was huge and comfortable. Each time we went it had a few kids playing games. I did not want to get splashed in my healing eye with Chorine water to I avoided them. Otherwise, the swimming was great. It is a shallow pool. There is not a life guard on duty, at least the times we went. I think it is open to hotel guests from 7am until 11pm. This is incredible, especially since we were in the off season.
The indoor hot tub was large and bubbling and foamy. It was very comfortable and made me feel better each time I went in it.



NICKILEE MANSION IN CENTRAL CITY



This trip I did 5 nights at this spot in Central City. That let me evaluate that area. It was a great place, but none of the casinos there caught my attention.

Here is my review:
This place is quite an adventure. It is a bed and breakfast in Central City just three blocks from casinos like Bonanza and Century, and from the shuttle stop that will take guests all around Central City and Blackhawk casinos for free.


The small Visitor Center just a block away had a woman who I think would tell stories about the past all day long, and a series of photographs showing Central City in the old days. They usually have art, but it was in transition when I visited.


There is also a little old fashioned thrift store a half block away where I spent $2.67 on a fine Saratoga Casino cap, a Central City mug, a BHA free water bottle, a magazine on Buffalo Bill, and a book of Aphorisms.


Nicki is a fine and friendly host, and the stay comes with a tour of the the house, an old historical place that was renovated by her and filled with antiques. It is quite a lovely place, like going back into the 19th Century.


Downstairs is a steam shower that is quite delightful. Quickly the shower are fills with steam so it is like a steam bath.


Each room had interesting old pieces. I was especially intrigued by the variety of old lamps, with interesting shades.


Nicki has two cats who were very laid back and easy. The house is pet friendly, so one day we had a couple small dogs. They had to stay downstairs.


Most of the rooms had televisions. Then there is a large screen television in the maid common room. Nicki asks that news and commercials not be played on the common television.


The wifi worked well. I listened to music from my phone.


She also wants shoes removed at the door, and that keeps the place meticulously clean.


As a host, Nicki was just grand: friendly, willing to help solve problems, full of stories, and good humored.


My major issue in Central City was that the air is even thinner than in Blackhawk and I just had one hell of time climbing the hill up to my room at midnight.


Blackhawk is about frugal gambling. A place like Bull Durham will have playable tables in nickles and still give some free food and drink.


Drink was available everywhere and the service was quite good. Dewar's is usually my choice. When I was checking out the VP in the place with the most fugal prices for food and many nickle games, a waitress offered to get me a drink while I was walking around.


The drink stations for soda and water were common. So that saved the dollar tip every time I helped myself to coffee or water or iced tea. They gave a free hot dog everyday and had chicken soup along with popcorn. Those made my lunch.





At the Wild Card casino (which we ended up not liking much because it was too loud and crowded)They set up a small wheel on the street and had folks who were passing spin for small benefits to get them in the casino. Frank won $2 cash. I won $6 free play, which I lost. It seemed like a scene out of a long time ago. Imagine encountering a wheel that was not electronic, but just clicked along the pins until it stopped on something like in the old carnival days. They have a fifty cent ATM, but my bank added $2.50 to any transaction.





Blackhawk is about customer service. Every worker in every place was friendly and went out of his or her way to do whatever might be needed. Places had signs to put in front of a well loved machine to give the player time to go have a meal. In the Monarch an attendant actually shut a machine down so the woman could go have her supper.


At Bull Duram a young fellow met me when I went in to get a sense of the VP and gave me a complete tour of the place, showing me where the nickle plays were, showing me that at the bar were Double Bonus machines (9/6 so not full pay) that required just three quarters for full play. When I checked the next day, the royal progressive was over $900. I can't do the sophisticated math, but it seems to me that with the decreased volatility, that progressive would to a large extent overcome the short pay table. At any rate, when Vegas Orleans took out their signature 10/7, they replaced them with 9/6 double bonus and people played them in spite of their being 9/6 DDB right nearby. Those needed 5 quarters for full paid royals, not 3. And they were not progressive.





JOB was for the most part 8/5 everywhere. It was the worst pay table. And I did not see progressives on those games. DDB was often 9/5 with progressives. Bonus poker was 7/5, sometimes with progressives. I hit Aces at the Bull Durham, but it had not progressed very much. The Royal was $273.





I did not do a full inventory of everywhere, especially once I decided I liked Bull Duram or Gilpin in that section of Main Street and Monarch or Lady Luck in the other.


Since coming home I have read about some of the casinos pressing charges on people playing points they find on machines or picking up as little as ten dollars off the floor. That depressed me. However, Bull Durham was not listed as a casino that did that.


Points at Bull Durham are not erased after six months. In fact, were I to die, my children could come with a death certificate and get my points. That would be unlikely, because once 1000 points are earned, they can be turned in for $5 cash.





Incredible for me was to find the 2-10 spread limit game at Lady Luck. What a perfect game for m! I am basically a limit player, but I like stakes high enough to overcome the rake. This was. It was also at times a flop game where few people raised preflop. So we saw the first five cards for $2.


Players were for the most part good, and there were regulars. As I played there day after day I got to know them and their play.


Once in a while there would be a loose, poor player who would be passed around. I found most folks very friendly and easy. The banter was good natured.


There were a few who were overly anxious, and one old guy who kept huming Christmas songs, but that was the worst of the table ambiance, except for one fellow who objected to something I said about his play to the woman next to me.


I could be content just in this one area of Blackhawk.


Bull Duram even had a wall of nickle slots that were the old coin machines and dropped actual nickles.


Also, most of the machines I played at were very familiar to me. Some let me set the pace of the dealing. I like the slowest dealing because I enjoy the expectation when a trips comes on the first card and I'm hoping for quads.


The music in the casinos, however, was not to my liking except late at night at the Bull Durham. They played some very interesting sets there.




GILPIN




Gilpin was nice. It was cleaner. It has Deuces, which while not being full pay, were similar in payback to other pay tables. Frank played a 7/5 Bonus, hit no big hits, and still walked away with $60 and enough points to get a voucher for the restaurant and $10 off the meal.


I lost there as I did in almost every VP session I played. I played Deuces with a strategy sheet for the harder hands. But nothing came of it.


We also found it very noisy in the morning when the fellow was changing the light bulbs using a lift that made the most annoying beeping.


Blackhawk is a place to go off on moutain hikes. However, this is not a good area for me to hike. The air is thin, and I easily get winded and react to the change in atmosphere in other ways.


So, not having a car to access the hikes was not an issue. I also had injured my foot in Denver, and while it was pretty much healed and kept comfortable in my hiking boots, I did not want to walk long distances on this


trip.





AMERISTAR HOTEL


All reports on these casino hotel rooms set up my expectations for a great room, and I was not disappointed. At check in they upgraded me and I ended up with a refrigerator, although they told me that these are only setup in rooms for medical reasons.


There was also a one cup coffee maker, and a note to housekeeping got us some extra coffee on the second day. It was the kind that takes the black plastic trays, and I had carried some from other hotels that would fit in those trays, but as it was we had enough coffee from housekeeping.


I thought the coffee was good.


Frank went down to Starbucks for his five dollar special coffee.


The bathroom was exceptional. There was a separate section for the toliet with another door, and the tub and shower were also separate. Frank and I each had our own sinks. At night the lights were on a dimmer which gave just the right amount to find the bathroom but not enough to wake up anyone.


Supplied soaps were nice.


The beds were comfortable with plenty of pillows.


The television had quite a few channels and it was possible to see some movies without commercials. TCM was not in the mix, but there were some stations that played old westerns one night. The large screen tipped so it could be watched from the fine comfortable chair with ottoman.


The electric outlets were plentiful. I did not need the extention cords I carry for my sleep apnea.


A large oval table with a lamp accommodated my computer, and during sleepless times I could position it with the screen away from Frank so I did not wake him while writing.


A smaller oval table was next to the large comfortable chair.


Wifi was easy. No passwords. It worked well for the phone. I carry a computer that is very old, but small with a complete keyboard, and I don't hook it up to wifi to avoid viruses.


I just use it to develop my trip reports.


I suppose here in Blackhawk I might connect to the internet without worrying about getting bothered with a virus, but I hit one at Monte Carlo in Vegas one time, and so I limit my internet to the smartphone and find that is sufficient.


The construction used heavy materials. The doors were solid in this place. Stone was used in some places.


One time returning to my room I heard my neighbor playing music rather loud, but once out of the hallway and in my room, I could not hear it.


The only noise we had was some noise from the hall cleaning people on a walkie talkie one afternoon.


Everything is compact and out of the way. small sliding shelves held the coffee maker and it could be rolled back away when not in use. The closet was full of hangers. Larger drawer space was a bit limited, but I generally keep things in my suitcase anyway.


When I come again, I'll ask for a room higher up, but I had a good view and enjoyed it.


There was nothing to fault in this space.


I did set the air too high and was uncomfortable in the night. Also, I caught a little cold and got dehydrated. I let the water run out in my sleep apnea machine. Of course, in the middle of the night, I did not want to disturb Frank, but in the end I had too. Once I got liquid in me, and the heat lowered, I was much better.


With all my sleep issues, it is hard to share a room, even one as plush as this one.


The pool on the roof was everything I expected. It was very fine. I only went once in daylight. The views then were delightful. The inside jacuzzi was large and easy. The outside jacuzzi was fine too. It was cold to go to it, but coming back did not feel bad at all.

It snowed one day and I got some photos of it.














Here are some shots of Central City where I stayed at the Bed and Breakfast.  There were casinos there, but I was impressed with them.  From there I could take a free shuttle down into Blackhawk and back.  It was a fine ride and old trolly like car.
Gold created this town when it was discovered by a greenhorn not to far from the city.


 This was my bed and breakfast








 These shots below were from a visitor's center around the corner from my B and B.





The inside is like a museum of antiques







































 Nicki at her antique stove.  It looks like new and it still works fine.

 Flush plumbing





I stay here again.  It was delightful in many ways.  I met people at breakfast each weekend morning, and Nicki ate and talked to me other times.  We hit it off well.  She is not a gambler, but she appreciates that her business is built on gamblers staying there.  

What was hardest was the oxygen weak air.  I did okay in Blackhawk, but in Central City it was a real chore to hike the hill to the Nicki Lee Mansion.  I had to rest every free feet.
Of course, the Lady Luck deal will draw me in the future.  

Around the corner from the B and B is also a thrift store with great old fashioned prices.  I bought a souvenir Central City mug, an old Western magazine, and one other thing for practically nothing.

I also appreciated that going off season there were no crowds to negotiate.  As I age, and now with this bad eye, I hate being in crowds.

Katie and Cory visit



Cory and Katie came down for an evening. They met me at Lady Luck in the poker room. We pooled out money and tried a bit of craps, but our luck did not hold out.
This craps table had a bet that paid if 5 numbers were hit before the 7. There was one section for low and another for high. Katie hit for the high and that gave her a fine $34 win.
The craps table had been $3 until we joined. It then turned $5. Still a good find. It was Katie's first time to play.
I took them to see the Nicki Lee house and they were impressed. Nicki was not there.
We then went out to Safe Way, The pharmacy was not open, but we bought batteries for my diabetes tester, lozenges, and chap stick. Katie took care of me by finding things and Cory put in the batteries. Now I can test again.
Then we went to the Monarch for another lobster buffet. It was good, but more expensive than the weekday. They took my second card as Cory's card and that saved us $2. They took $4 of comps that must have been run up when Frank and I played.
The lobster and crab legs were good as were other treats.
It was fine to have Cory bring me home again and not have that hill to negotiate.