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  1. #1
    When I put the Total Rewards Air flight package for late October up in the Total Rewards section I didn't mention that CET had also sent me a 4 night flight/hotel package for Oct 2nd to 6th. I got back home yesterday.
    "More importantly, mickey thought 8-4 was two games over .500. Argued about it. C'mon, man. Nothing can top that for math expertise. If GWAE ever has you on again, you can be sure I'll be calling in with that gem.'Nuff said." REDIETZ

  2. #2
    Tuesday Oct 2, 2018. Great Falls International Airport. 37 degrees, cloudy, overcast, mixed rain and snow. Sun Country flight scheduled to leave at 3:15 PM for a stop in Bozeman, Montana then on to Laughlin, Nevada. The flight got off on time.
    Attached Images Attached Images     
    "More importantly, mickey thought 8-4 was two games over .500. Argued about it. C'mon, man. Nothing can top that for math expertise. If GWAE ever has you on again, you can be sure I'll be calling in with that gem.'Nuff said." REDIETZ

  3. #3
    The flight was cramped. They had us packed in like sardines. About 170 people. Half hour flight to Bozeman. On the ground for an hour. Then the hour 40 minute flight to Laughlin. I was on my phone kindle the whole time. The flight host got everyone in a gambling mood with a money pool game. I didn't participate just observed.

    Everyone wrote their seat number on a dollar bill. The host came along and deposited the bills in a garbage bag. Then they drew a bill out of the bag. One lucky winner of $167. Then they did it with five dollar bills. One lucky winner of $680. Then twenty dollar bills. One lucky winner of $1280. I wanted to yell out "Give him a W2-G!" but kept my cool. Then they did it with hundred dollar bills. Most everyone chickened out on this one. Only $1400 to the lucky winner. Again I wanted to yell out "W2-G" but kept my demeanor. I don't even know if you are supposed to get W2G's for such a gambling game.

    The money pool game made the time pass by quickly and it was time to dive down to Laughlin Bullhead International Airport.
    "More importantly, mickey thought 8-4 was two games over .500. Argued about it. C'mon, man. Nothing can top that for math expertise. If GWAE ever has you on again, you can be sure I'll be calling in with that gem.'Nuff said." REDIETZ

  4. #4
    Originally Posted by mickeycrimm View Post
    Everyone wrote their seat number on a dollar bill. The host came along and deposited the bills in a garbage bag. Then they drew a bill out of the bag. One lucky winner of $167. Then they did it with five dollar bills. One lucky winner of $680. Then twenty dollar bills. One lucky winner of $1280. I wanted to yell out "Give him a W2-G!" but kept my cool. Then they did it with hundred dollar bills. Most everyone chickened out on this one. Only $1400 to the lucky winner. Again I wanted to yell out "W2-G" but kept my demeanor. I don't even know if you are supposed to get W2G's for such a gambling game.
    They play the very same money pool game on my charter flights to Wendover. I never play, but it does make the time go by faster. Also on the charter flights to Wendover they will have a few drawings for free buffets and free play. They must have at least 10 drawings so you odds are pretty good as there is only around 150 folks on the plane. And unlucky me out of all the trips I made to Wendover, I only won $25 in free play in the airplane drawing just once.

    There are also charter flights to Wendover from various parts of the country. Again it is fairly easy to qualify for free or half price after your first flight. Notice there are charter flights from Montana to Wendover. https://wendoverfun.com/flights/

  5. #5
    Originally Posted by Midwest Player View Post
    Originally Posted by mickeycrimm View Post
    Everyone wrote their seat number on a dollar bill. The host came along and deposited the bills in a garbage bag. Then they drew a bill out of the bag. One lucky winner of $167. Then they did it with five dollar bills. One lucky winner of $680. Then twenty dollar bills. One lucky winner of $1280. I wanted to yell out "Give him a W2-G!" but kept my cool. Then they did it with hundred dollar bills. Most everyone chickened out on this one. Only $1400 to the lucky winner. Again I wanted to yell out "W2-G" but kept my demeanor. I don't even know if you are supposed to get W2G's for such a gambling game.
    They play the very same money pool game on my charter flights to Wendover. I never play, but it does make the time go by faster. Also on the charter flights to Wendover they will have a few drawings for free buffets and free play. They must have at least 10 drawings so you odds are pretty good as there is only around 150 folks on the plane. And unlucky me out of all the trips I made to Wendover, I only won $25 in free play in the airplane drawing just once.

    There are also charter flights to Wendover from various parts of the country. Again it is fairly easy to qualify for free or half price after your first flight. Notice there are charter flights from Montana to Wendover. https://wendoverfun.com/flights/
    We get the Wendover offers from Peppermill as well, but have never been to that part of the state. Is Wendover preferable to Laughlin?

  6. #6
    Originally Posted by dannyj View Post
    We get the Wendover offers from Peppermill as well, but have never been to that part of the state. Is Wendover preferable to Laughlin?
    There is much better blackjack in Wendover than Laughlin.
    I'm going to post an old trip report I made from about 3 years ago that mentions some comparisons of Laughlin to Wendover. This was originally posted on BJ21.

    My Maiden Voyage to Laughlin with Comparisons to Wendover (long)

    I have been to Wendover many times before. I also have posted on BJ21 many of my trip reports on Wendover. However, this fall saw my first ever trip to Laughlin and I wanted to share a few things as very little has been posted on BJ21 about Laughlin.

    Both Laughlin and Wendover are similar in many ways. They both don’t have any commercial air service, but both are served by charter flight programs. They are both located not too far from large cities. Laughlin is located about 100 miles south of Las Vegas and Wendover is located about 120 miles west of Salt Lake City. The short drive from these small town airports to the casinos is just about a mile or two in both casino towns.

    If you are located in the upper Midwest there are many flight cities to choose from for a charter flight to either Laughlin or Wendover. Sun Country flies to Laughlin and Allegiant (now Swiftair) flies to Wendover. Both these airlines have flight cities in both WI and MN with Sun Country having a few flights out of MI and even an occasional flight out of the U.P. of MI. I do like flying on Sun Country better than Allegiant, but if you fly out of the upper Midwest flight time is about a half hour longer if you fly to Laughlin instead of Wendover. Also the flight fare is slightly higher to fly to Laughlin, but it’s still a great bargain.

    Okay, let’s get right to the Laughlin trip. On this trip I took the Riverside Casino flight charter and just like Wendover’s charter your hotel stay is included in the charter price. There were almost no comps included in the package you receive upon arrival which was handed out at the airport along with your hotel key. There was no notice it would be done this way and I actually got on the bus without my package. I had to ask someone where they got them. Fortunately, I was heads up in this situation and managed to go back and get my package before the bus left. The best comp I found in my package was a coupon for a half price buffet at the Riverside buffet. Wendover on the other hand has at least a couple of decent comps.

    I did not like the Riverside casino. My room in the Riverside was good, but the casino itself seemed old, cluttered and dirty. The blackjack playing area seemed dark. The table games main area seemed to be tucked away in a corner and not in the center like most casinos. In fact every nook and cranny had some little shop tucked away in it.

    These are the Laughlin casinos I played on this trip listed in order of largest win to smallest win or loss.
    Tropicana - Net Win
    Aquarius - Net Win
    Edgewater - Net Win
    Co Belle - Net Win
    Harrah’s - Net Win
    Nugget - Net Loss
    Riverside - Net Loss
    Total Laughlin blackjack win before expenses was $1,300. I managed to get 28 hours of playing time in with no back offs. My maiden voyage to Wendover many years ago yielded a blackjack win of $1,755 before expenses with only 22 hours of play.

    Here are a few things that pissed me off on this trip.
    At the Riverside casino I only played their single deck game which is 3:2. As I have posted before I’m not very good at single deck, but what they do at the Riverside can really piss you off. If you jump your bet 3 times they will shuffle up on you. I was aware of this from a post made by LVBear and always tried to make my bet less than 3 times the previous bet. However, on one occasion I was playing heads up and the dealer pulled about a 7 card bust with all little cards on the first hand. I had a great opportunity and was very careful not to raise my bet more than 3 times but the dealer still shuffled up. This dealer was doing this quite often to me and I finally asked how much can I bet without a shuffle up. The dealer said he couldn’t discuss it and to talk to the pit boss. Oh sure. This dealer had the gall to pay part of one of my winning bets in dollar tokens. This pissed me off big time. Also at the Riverside they have a side bet only at the beginning of each shuffle. The dealer goes through a little chant describing it not just once, but every time he shuffles. It drives one crazy. Oh, by the way. I witnessed a player using the jump your bet 3 times rule in reverse. If he didn’t like what he saw he would jump his bet and they would shuffle. I witnessed it at least a couple of times.

    Another thing that pissed me off was the free buffet I was suppose to get at Harrah’s. They said with a new card I could get a couple of free buffets after earning 50 points or one after something like 30 points. I played blackjack for several hours and they finally said I enough points for a buffet. I was as hungry as hell and when I went to get my slip for a free buffet they mentioned I had a card from another property from about ten years ago. At the time, I don’t think the property was even a Harrah’s property. No free buffet. I left hungry.

    Speaking of food, I ate at several different places in Laughlin. The first night I stopped at “In and Out Burger.” The food was real cheap and fast, but I sure don’t rate it the number one restaurant in Laughlin as listed by Trip Adviser. I thought their fries had a bad taste to them. The worst food was definitely the Riverside buffet. The only reason I ate there was because I had a half price buffet coupon and enough comps to pay for the other half. Of the places I played rated I think Riverside gave the best dollar value comps. I did eat a buffet at the Tropicana and think this was the best place of anyplace I ate. I did see a guy who looked like LVBear there, but not as heavy. This guy was with his wife.

    I played rated for several hours at Aquarius and when I asked how much I had in comps they said a number that was less than 40 cents. Then the player card lady said if you use it on food its double. I figured I might as well use it when I went to eat at their restaurant as there was a good chance I won’t ever be going back soon. When I tried to use the little bit I had I was told it had to be at least a dollar before you could use it. It was another piss off.

    Another piss off was getting caught in a flash flood. One night it was raining very hard and after it stopped, I set off for a walk to the casinos on the southern end of casino drive. I got as far as the Edgewater only to come to a huge water puddle that was covering the sidewalk and road. I crossed to the other side where the sidewalk wasn’t completely under water only to find the water flowing down Edgewater Drive so fast and deep I could not get across. I had to head back and ended up wasting about 40 minutes.

    Another interesting thing happened at Tropicana. I was playing heads up at the time and some how a conversation started with the dealer about blackjack. Out of the blue this dealer mentioned that the Tropicana was “sweaty.” Then the dealer added “real sweaty. “ I asked if this was the sweatiest place in town and the dealer answered that the Edgewater and Colorado Belle were probably worse. I did get a couple of shuffle ups at the Colorado Belle. I asked what the hell is going on. It was the only place besides the Riverside where this happened.

    Overall my expenses were quite low for this trip. They only came to $107 excluding the cost of the charter and that is pretty good for not having any comp balance built up. This includes $25 for the airport parking fee and $15 for the Laughlin water taxi which was for a day pass. It would have been better for me if I only paid for each time I used it. I did not use any bus at all. I walked everywhere except for my one trip to Harrah’s which was really a waste. In the Harrah’s main pit they had a 6:5 single deck and a 6:5 six deck and only one normal 2 deck game which was full must of the time I played there. I didn’t check out the non smoking pit as they said there was no double deck there. Harrah’s on their double deck game burns 20 cards off the bottom and one card off the top.

    One note before I end this long post. The best way to get around Laughlin is probably walking. There are not any shuttle buses like Wendover has and the buses drop off at the main drag. You still have to walk to the casino. I didn’t use any buses at all. You basically have two walking choices. You can take the River Walk which is a sidewalk along the river or walk out to the main drag and walk there. If the Tropicana is a planned stop you are probably better off walking on the main drag. You can walk faster on the main drag as most folks take the river walk. I found the river walk kind of congested at times. You cannot walk through the casino parking lots which is a shame since each casino has their property fenced or walled off. Just one more piss off. Harrah’s is probably too far to walk to as it is a mile down the road from the Golden Nugget. I used the river taxi which I enjoyed for Harrah’s but a taxi would also work fine. There are a lot of taxis that hang out at the Golden Nugget and most are Lucky Cab.

    Last edited by Midwest Player; 10-09-2018 at 12:31 PM.

  7. #7
    Laughlin Bullhead Airport. 88 degrees, mostly sunny. Nice.
    Attached Images Attached Images     
    "More importantly, mickey thought 8-4 was two games over .500. Argued about it. C'mon, man. Nothing can top that for math expertise. If GWAE ever has you on again, you can be sure I'll be calling in with that gem.'Nuff said." REDIETZ

  8. #8
    Originally Posted by mickeycrimm View Post
    Laughlin Bullhead Airport. 88 degrees, mostly sunny. Nice.

    Thanks for reporting on this, mickey. One of my guys who makes the December LV trip said he wanted to do a day trip or an overnighter to Laughlin. Anything you can mention regarding video poker, sports books, or tourist type stuff ( still classic cars showroom? any coffee shop/restaurant recommendations or avoids?) would be really appreciated. I haven't been there in a good 12 years.

  9. #9
    The money pool game was probably illegal. I never heard of such a thing on a flight over US territory and if the flight was over Utah OMG.

  10. #10
    Originally Posted by Alan Mendelson View Post
    The money pool game was probably illegal. I never heard of such a thing on a flight over US territory and if the flight was over Utah OMG.
    Only you would be concerned about that Alan. No house edge, all money paid back, no one forced to play. Somehow I don’t think anyone would take the resources to look into it.

    Glad to hear you went on the trip Mick, never say never. Not sure if you will share the plays you found but it would be cool to hear your observations on how it has changed, or hasn’t since when you were there years ago. Your original stories were great reading from your early gambling days there.

    Haven’t been there in a few years but the Pioneer was like a step back in time, as were others.

    Thanks Mick!

  11. #11
    My wife and I have been getting those Laughlin offers as well. We would fly out of Medford. Haven’t been to Laughlin in years.

  12. #12
    I was surprised on my first (and only) trip to Laughlin to see that the Colorado river was as wide, deep, and fast running as it was.

    I figured it would have been petering out by then due to all the upriver drawn downs, but no, it was pretty impressive.
    What, Me Worry?

  13. #13
    The Riverside casino in Laughlin also offers charter flights. It is pretty easy to earn comped flights with very little machine play.
    http://www.riversideresort.com/fligh...el-and-casino/

  14. #14
    Originally Posted by Midwest Player View Post
    The Riverside casino in Laughlin also offers charter flights. It is pretty easy to earn comped flights with very little machine play.
    http://www.riversideresort.com/fligh...el-and-casino/
    MP, thanks for putting this link up.
    "More importantly, mickey thought 8-4 was two games over .500. Argued about it. C'mon, man. Nothing can top that for math expertise. If GWAE ever has you on again, you can be sure I'll be calling in with that gem.'Nuff said." REDIETZ

  15. #15
    The office pools where you buy a square for the Super Bowl also have no house/casino edge, also have all money paid back, also don't force anyone to play, and also are illegal in California and other states.

    Of course this comment like my other comment above was just part of the conversation... just as if we were at a dinner party talking about mickey's trip. But only a troll would attack me for making it.

  16. #16
    Originally Posted by Alan Mendelson View Post
    The office pools where you buy a square for the Super Bowl also have no house/casino edge, also have all money paid back, also don't force anyone to play, and also are illegal in California and other states.

    Of course this comment like my other comment above was just part of the conversation... just as if we were at a dinner party talking about mickey's trip. But only a troll would attack me for making it.
    Yea they are illegal and when was the last time anyone was busted for one? Perhaps you should do an investigation jackass.

    Yea I’m a troll, Alan. How about this Alan. I’ll give you 5-1 odds I won’t meet you in person at Red Rock later this week, you pick the day, Wednesday to Friday. You put up $2000, I’ll give you $10k if I don’t show. No troll as you call them would be willing to show their face. I’ll send Dan the 10k, you send the 2, assuming you have it. The bet stands until Monday Oct 8th Noon Eastern to be accepted. Money with Dan by 3PM Eastern,

    Just because you are public figure doesn’t make you a righteous individual. And who the fuck would invite you to a dinner party, unless they wanted a deadbeat dad to make fun of?
    Last edited by The Boz; 10-07-2018 at 04:57 PM.

  17. #17
    And don’t ruin Mickeys incredible thread with your garbage loser.

  18. #18
    Harrah's had two busses to pick us up. That meant those at the back of the line would have to wait for the first bus leaving to return. I decided to grab a seat and wait on the 2nd bus that wouldn't be packed. Took a few pics on the way to Harrah's. The last two pics are of Harrah's.

    Edit: I didn't know that the last pic was blurry.
    Attached Images Attached Images     
    "More importantly, mickey thought 8-4 was two games over .500. Argued about it. C'mon, man. Nothing can top that for math expertise. If GWAE ever has you on again, you can be sure I'll be calling in with that gem.'Nuff said." REDIETZ

  19. #19
    Harrah's was having our luggage delivered from the airport to the rooms. I got off the bus and received an envelope with the slot card, room keys, and instructions for the day of departure. I already knew it was going to be a video poker wasteland but confirmed it anyway. And they had only 4 vulturable games. I caught a few plays. I knew right then that I wasn't going to run much action at Harrah's.

    I caught some of the Cubs/Rockies game then went up to the room to make sure my luggage had arrived and took a few pics. Big screen television with the cable limited to the news channels and ESPN channels. That's a change from 16 years ago when they had no cable channels at all. You can't see it in the pic but it was a walk-in shower. Very good.
    Attached Images Attached Images   
    "More importantly, mickey thought 8-4 was two games over .500. Argued about it. C'mon, man. Nothing can top that for math expertise. If GWAE ever has you on again, you can be sure I'll be calling in with that gem.'Nuff said." REDIETZ

  20. #20
    Originally Posted by mickeycrimm View Post
    Harrah's was having our luggage delivered from the airport to the rooms. I got off the bus and received an envelope with the slot card, room keys, and instructions for the day of departure. I already knew it was going to be a video poker wasteland but confirmed it anyway. And they had only 4 vulturable games. I caught a few plays. I knew right then that I wasn't going to run much action at Harrah's.

    I caught some of the Cubs/Rockies game then went up to the room to make sure my luggage had arrived and took a few pics. Big screen television with the cable limited to the news channels and ESPN channels. That's a change from 16 years ago when they had no cable channels at all. You can't see it in the pic but it was a walk-in shower. Very good.
    I last stayed there maybe 12-13 years ago. Does Harrah's still have that little beach area down on the river bank?

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