Lake Tahoe Comeback Tour

Last weekend I went to Harrahs Lake Tahoe with the wife. As we drove across Northern California we ran into a lot of smoky skies due to the fires centered near Chico, California but as we climbed in elevation and approached Lake Tahoe, the skies began to clear. It was a fairly crowded place as I understand that many people cleared out of Northern California due to the poor air quality. Moreover, there was a Millionaire Maker Qualifier slot tournament and a Seven Stars dinner that weekend too.

The slot tournament consists of 3 minute rounds and if you get to Tahoe Friday you can do the “Early Bird” round as well as the Saturday and Sunday round. The top two rounds of your score are combined so if you expect a decent chance to win, you should be there for the early bird round of the slot tournament. My wife and I both participated in the tournament the weekend but came out with mediocre scores topping at 257,000 points. Only the top 20 participants were in the money and the min score was around 275,000.

The first day’s gambling was rough for us as the video and slot machines were just killing us. I also was punished at the craps tables. It was so bad I went to sleep early while my wife decided to stay up and lose more money.

The following morning, my wife and I had some room service and decided to have a fresh start. And did we ever. My wife rarely plays double double bonus, but she did so as I was watching college football and she hit this 4 Aces with a Kicker.

After lunch had a massage and eventually we went to the Seven Stars dinner with about 200 people, a band and four wines paired with each of three dishes and a dessert. The food was quite nice including steak and king crab. Not your usual rubber chicken.

Later than evening, as I was losing at craps, my wife sent me this image below. She did not take a photo of the underlying cards but it is four Aces (two Aces held) and a seven. She said she was somewhat frustrated with losing at 9/6 Jacks and so switched to DDB and in three hands came up with this.

We decided to head to bed but when we got back to the room, wife told me she had some misc ticket vouchers and asked me to go down to the casino to cash them out.

After I did so, I decided since our luck had turned, I would take a flyer on 50 play video poker with a Benjamin. The first hand had three 8s dealt and so made a profit. Almost every subsequent hand made some money including dealt straight. Then after I had rode the original $100 into $770 credits, I was dealt a four to a royal. I held the four cards, prayed to the video poker gods and got this result. A four to a royal has a 1/47 chance of being filled by the missing card, but against the odds, I filled two of them with the missing Ace of Spades.

When I came back to the room, my wife was wondering what took me so long to cash out vouchers and I showed her the video I took and explained I was delayed by the handpay. We slept well that night. Having come from losing a few thousand to winning a few thousand in one day.


The following day, we did not want to give much back so played at low variance table games until the unsuccessful results of the slot tournament. The one exception was some triple play 8/5 Bonus poker I played that resulted in this.

The slot tournament results were announced after 3:30 Sunday and we asked if we could have a late checkout, but were told that they were unable to accommodate us as there was a bunch of people coming in to avoid the smoky air. So we checked out a noon and put our gear in the car trunk. As some may know, CET hotels chew up your Reward Credits prior to issuing discretionary comps. So after expending our Reward Credits, we were told that all was comped but for tips.

My wife then asked if we left discretionary comps on this trip we did not use up. We were discretely told that we had some $150 that could be allocated. My wife then said, we want to eat a late lunch, what can you do? After some scrambling, we were given a business card sized comp receipt good for $50 usable at the coffee shop or at Straw Hat Pizza. This was the first time I had seen CET give me a paper comp since it was owned by Park Place. I have no idea if this is done at other CET properties when there is left over comps at checkout- but we were happy.

It took two employees at Straw Hat Pizza at Harveys’ to figure out how to input the codes, but we not only got lunch, we got a pizza for the road. On the four hour drive, we savored a nice winning trip that could have been a sharp loss.

Always love a good FAB trip report.

I would like to go to Harrah's again this winter, but I'm afraid I won't get comped this time. Maybe they'll do it based upon the action I gave when I was there in early 2017, which was my last time there.

Doesn't surprise me that they had a problem with the codes at Straw Hat. Tons of disorganization there, typical of Caesars properties. You remember the LOL story I told regarding Cabo Wabo where the assistant manager didn't know if RCs were taken at 2:1 and 1:1, and created a huge altercation with me about it!

Good hits on those video poker games. Whenever I get 4 to a royal in those massive multiplays, I always brick them all.

Awesome Lake Tahoe trip report, FABismonte. You know how on the latest episodes of YCBOT, Dr. Taylor keeps taking Tara's royals?

You stole all of DanDruff's royals. :o

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Originally Posted by nerakil

Awesome Lake Tahoe trip report, FABismonte. You know how on the latest episodes of YCBOT, Dr. Taylor keeps taking Tara's royals?

You stole all of DanDruff's royals. :o

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Hi Nerakil:

All I can say is that Dan Druff had a string of royals when we were in Harrahs Rincon a couple of years ago so obviously I am Dan's lucky charm. He only needs to play when we are in a casino together!

FAB

That's true, FAB, much like the Dodgers should invite me to all of their postseason games, as they are 10-0 in the 2010 in home postseason games I've attended, and 9-12 in home postseason games I didn't attend.

It is also sadly true that I hit 6 royals at Rincon during that 4-day stretch, and zero other royals lifetime, unless you count a few 50-play royals I've hit, which I don't count.

It was during that same trip where I set a personal record (at least since being a little kid) of never setting food outdoors. I went 4 straight days without ever once being outdoors (not even for a second) during that trip.

Nice report. While Harrahs and Harvey’s have gotten tighter on comps for me over the past few years, still love Tahoe. So much to do around the lake to get you out of the casino when the weather is decent. Interested in what type room you got since it was a 7 Star event.

Hi Boz:

I agree that Tahoe is a slice of heaven. I find it most crowded during the summer when people go hiking, biking and picnics. The second most crowded is ski season. My trip was in between those seasons. We had a suite but I believe it was because the room was under my wife's name and she plays slots and so is more valuable a player than me -- at least in Tahoe.

Thanks for the information.

We have only done Summer, but Winter is on my list in the future. Zephyr Cove has an escorted snowmobile tour we want to do. In summer we have hiked down and back to Emerald Bay and Vikingsholm, and walked around Falling Leaf Lake.

As for rooms we usually get a Lake Tower Executive Room on the top floor, which has a nice view of the Lake. We fly into either Reno or Sacramento depending on cost and flight times. AA usually offers a non stop from PHL to SAC. Nice drive through the mountains coming over.

Still find Tahoe as an incredible place to visit but it definitely has lost some of the casino interest as CZR has tightened up.

Hi Boz:

You are more adventurous than I although my wife and I do hike to the beach and love the Bill Harrah's yacht ride on the lake. I have heard that the hike near Emerald Bay down to the Vikingsholm is nice, the hike back up the mountain to the road -- not so nice.

I haven't done escorted snowmobiling in years but Harrahs/Harvey's is an easy hike to the Heavenly gondola to go skiing. If you are flying in during winter, consider Reno airport where you can get on the scheduled bus to and from Tahoe. If you rent a car, you probably need to pay extra for a 4 wheel drive during winter as you will be responsible for damage to rental cars if you need chains.

As for rooms, a suite is of course nice but any room with a view works for us. Finally, CZR like many places have tightened up comps but at least Harrahs and Harvey's Tahoe has some of the best paying video poker in the CZR empire so at least I can usually get a run for my money.

FAB

Hi Fab / Boz:

Congrats to your wife and you Fab for your nice handpays. Tahoe is like a second home to us and we go there 5 or 6 times every year. My wife likes the reels in the high limit of Harrah's and does most of the heavy lifting as far as getting our points for 7 star every year. I play VP and for the most part play at the bars at both Harrah's and Harvey's where you can play from quarters to dollars on the same machine. As far as I know Tahoe has far and away the best VP paytables of any of the CET properties. I don't know anywhere else in CET's network of properties that you can find 8-5 BP, 9-6 JOB, 9-6 DDB, and 9-7-5 DB all at $1 level or below.

There is not a bad time of year to go to Tahoe. Probably like fall and spring the best as it is less crowded. But there is more to do in the winter and summer. We have done the snowmobiles at both Zephyr Cove and at Kirkwood and like Zephyr Cove best because of the views of the lake. Heavenly is convenient and a unique place to ski. If you ski down the Nevada side you can see the desert in the distance while you are skiing which I have never experienced before.

We have hiked or walked just about every trail throughout the year. In the late spring the waterfalls are flowing. In the summer you have plenty of trails to see wildlife and wild flowers. In the fall you nave fall foliage. In the winter it is never really that cold in Tahoe to do some of the local walks in and around the casino. Tahoe is a magnificent place and we always look forward to our next trip there.