Journal

Game of 21

Spring 2010

Starting back at it again. Went to the local office for a quick win. After a couple days of brush up, was able to make about a dollar/hour. Hope this is a start to a hot streak!

Oct 09 - Lake Tahoe

Took a three day trip to Lake Tahoe to take advantage of a reduced players price for us and our friends via the "friends & family" offer with the Harrah's players club card. We stayed at Harvey's and immediately were impressed by our top 19th floor spacious room overlooking the lake. As we started to walk around and play, first thing we noticed was nobody was there! Empty dealers and tables everywhere which made it easy to play but the usual mediocre rules. I usually like to play at Bills and Horizon but a walk down there was quite a surprise - no tables at all, only slots! They cannot afford to pay the dealers and all tables were removed. I was amazed - these places felt like a ghost town. Only places to play were Lakeside, which wasn't very fun and Harrah's/Harvey's. With very little tourists there, we were treated great at the restaurants and by the hotel so it was a great three days despite the lack of good 21 games. I did get to play enough to keep the advanced techniques up to speed. Hope the snow will bring the people back so good games return soon.

December 08 - Reno

I'd been comped a couple nights at Harrah's in Reno and had the time off, so we went and spent a couple days in Reno. I was able to play a good amount of 21 at many casinos and heard the grumblings of the dealers in regards to low player action all around. Many empty tables but still very good games to be had. I played a while at Sienna and enjoyed it there as I'd never been there before. Signed up for their players card too. My wife won some $$$ at the big wheel of fortune, so we all had a good trip for very little cost. Reno is still my favorite place to play 21, which includes the stops to Boomtown on the way because they have the best game in the US.

July 07 - Las Vegas

I was fortunate to be able to accompany my wife on a business trip to Vegas. She was in meetings for almost two whole days and that left me to explore many casinos that I haven't had the time to visit in previous trips on the strip. I was hoping to find some games with good rules and low minimums but those I found are few and far between.

My goal was to hit the pavement as early as possible on that first day. I was ready to go at 8AM that morning with temps in the low to mid 90's at that hour. We were staying at Paris so I wanted to start at one end of the strip and work my way back. First stop, Mandalay Bay. The games were good there at this hour, $10 minimums with few people playing. With it being so early, I decided to keep walking although I did like the casino atmosphere there. I proceeded to hit every casino on the strip that day. I played for a bit at MGM Grand and by noon the minimums on the decent games were at $25 and the temperature was hitting 110 degrees.

By 3PM I was ready to crash. My feet hurt and I was exhausted. I always enjoy watching as much as playing, so I recommend paying a visit to the Bellagio and watch the $1K minimum tables located out on the floor. You'll quickly see why the casinos are as elaborately built as they are. I am a red chipper but couldn't find any great games that day.

Next day, I had until noon to play and spent it in Paris. I played for about two hours and lost $60. Not too bad and I had fun. One positive note, I didn't see nearly as many CSM's (continuous shuffle machines) as I did on my previous trip however, I did see an increase in 6:5 games.